For disclaimer see first chapter.
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Epilogue
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And then there was peace on earth.
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It was almost night, late evening to be precise, but one could still see a lot because of the snow. It had snowed last night again and so they really got a white Christmas this year, but things had been too gloomy for anyone to really appreciate it -- until last night.
"I had almost thought this wouldn't be a merry Christmas this year." The headmaster took in the sight of the snow-covered park in with a wistful smile on his lips. It was really beautiful.
"You must be really happy with what you have accomplished this Christmas." Yagari said thoughtfully to his old friend while taking in the sight below. It was indeed a peaceful sight with Zero, Yuuki and Kaname enjoying the freshly fallen snow.
"I am, dear friend, I am." Kaein Cross nodded solemnly. "You know, something like this. It's what I had hoped for for years." He swallowed, fighting back tears so deeply did this touch him. Yes, indeed it seemed more like a wonder than anything else.
Had it been only yesterday since things had changed into this dream? He knew, he had been afraid that he had misinterpreted things -- and that he made things only worse, with that Christmas Bushel and all. Yet, he felt overwhelmed that it turned out that he had been right and hadn't read things wrongly.
Peace without love … was not worth much after all.
Yes, indeed, there was the sound of laughter and tentative happiness coming from them. Zero was smiling and grinning at both Yuuki and Kaname while throwing snowballs -- and trying not to get hit by one of those too, of course.
The two vampires had slowed down their speed for the sake of Yuuki, of course, but they seemed to have just as much fun like this then Yuuki obviously had. It was a very precious evening for them to enjoy like this, as they could be themselves with nobody expecting to be someone else. They could be only Zero, Kaname and Yuuki having fun in the snow and nobody frowned at them for behaving so childishly.
Everyone else was gone to visit their families, which left only the three, the headmaster and Yagari-sensei to remain here, enjoying this exceptional Christmas holiday.
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xExPxIxLxOxGxUxEx
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"Zero, you have snow in your hair." Yuuki giggled happily while observing the silver haired boy as he tossed the silver strands to get the snow out of his hair. It somehow reminded her of White Lily. The white mare had done exact the same thing with her mane when Zero had come back from taking her for a ride in the afternoon -- and what a lovely sight that had been too. The white of the snow, Lily's fur and Zero's silver hair had complemented each other very nicely -- almost like a dream or a fairytale of sorts.
"Yuuki?" Zero asked, sounding thoughtful then when she turned around to look at him he threw the snow he had gathered in his hands behind his back at her. "You too have snow in your hair… " He said innocently.
"Aww." She giggled then looked uncomfortable because of the growing frown on the silver haired boy's face. What was wrong? She thought then shivered because some of the snow had managed to get under her winter coat. "It's cold, Zero ... the snow."
"Yes, it is." Zero nodded and took a step closer to her. "Shish, I'll remove it." He added and started trying to remove the snow out of her uncovered hair and neck, but Yuuki giggled again and pushed him forward and into the snow.
"You did that on purpose, right?" Zero pouted for a moment then smiled, seeing the conspiratorial look she was giving the pureblood on the other side.
"Now, you're going to need someone to … remove all this snow too, don't you think?" Yuuki explained and nodded towards Kaname. "Kaname?"
"Yuuki's right." The pureblood murmured and knelt down next to Zero. "Here, this must be rather cold … and uncomfortable."
"Kaname?" Zero muttered suddenly feeling rather warm, even with all the snow around him. He tried to say something else but was silenced by a pair of all too familiar lips. The pureblood had pulled him into a kiss but in the end they both ended up in the snow, yet were unaware of the cold around them.
When they broke their kiss after a while they noticed how awkward Yuuki looked -- and now she seemed to be cold too. She shivered noticeable.
Kaname looked at Zero and motioned to Yuuki, as in saying that they had to do something about this. The silver haired hunter nodded, seeing that Yuuki indeed looked like she could use some warmth. Warmth that they had enough of and were sharing right now.
"Come here." They said together, smiling at the timing but happy that it worked and Yuuki came closer to them. When she was close enough they pulled her down to them, each one placing their arms around so she wouldn't get cold.
"This is much better." Kaname smiled at them both -- and he was radiating pure happiness at this, for he could hold them both like this.
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xExPxIxLxOxGxUxEx
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"See? If they can do it, why not anybody else too?" The headmaster asked after a long while of watching in an enraptured way what was going on below. He couldn't help but smile at this too.
"It's still a dream Kaein." The master hunter replied dryly. "You cannot expect that everybody else thinks like this." He paused then shook his head, knowing that nothing he could say or do would change his friend's opinion about peace. "It took you a lot of meddling to even get them around … and it wasn't like they were truly hating each other at that."
"I know," Kaein said and sighed deeply. "But there has to be hope Touga, you know. Without hope everything we do would be in vain."
"You're right, of course." Yagari nodded. "We all need hope." Then the master hunter frowned, noticing the way Zero and Kaname held Yuuki between them … and then they shared another kiss while Yuuki snuggled closer to them. She seemed to really accept what happened and didn't seem to mind at all but looked happy instead.
Well, it reminded Yagari of something, something he needed to do -- getting back at his old friend Cross. He grinned while watching him from aside. "Would he mind?" he asked himself but kind of hoped that his friend wouldn't mind at all.
"Kaein?"
"Yes?" The headmaster asked feeling a little confused at hearing this strange tone in his friend's voice.
"You know, there's something I need to do." Yagari began and grinned mischievously. "I need to get back at you."
"What?" Cross swallowed uneasily. He hadn't done anything to his old friend that he deserved to be punished for, right? "What for?"
"For kissing me." The master hunter explained and chuckled at seeing the confused expression on his friend's face.
"Kissing you … you mean that… the Christmas Bushel?"
"Yes, exactly that." Yagari agreed then leaned forward to close the distance between them and kissed him. "Only I don't need one."
"Touga?" He murmured but it sounded suspiciously like a moan. Cross was taken by surprise -- and for once lost control. He really had been alone for a very long time, with his opinions so different from his previous friends and colleagues, yet he always told himself he wasn't. He had a wonderful daughter and wonderful son too, if the latter was in more mellow mood that was. Yet, that was different, none of them could hold him when he couldn't sleep or share his sorrows with them -- and he had been very fond of his old friend for a very long time, yet never dared to do anything about it.
But now, now he couldn't help but respond in kind, kissing Touga back, despite that he should probably feel embarrassed about it. He couldn't help it.
Even more so, that Touga didn't seem to mind either, which made the kiss much longer than the latter had planned it to be. They both were reluctant to let the other one go, to let this warmth go, but in the end they had to do break the kiss for the sake of taking in fresh air.
After this they stared at each other for what seemed eternity. What had just happened?
It was the headmaster who managed to untangle his thoughts first though and pulled his friend into a close hug.
"Kaein?"
"Don't, don't say … anything, yes?" Cross muttered while holding the taller man close to him. Then he swallowed while touching the dark locks right in front of him. He had wanted to touch these too, but had never thought he would get the chance to do so.
"We're still friends?" The master hunter asked after another long while -- and his voice sounded strangely rough. It was clear how important this was to him. What if … no, he couldn't think about that.
"Yes … of course." Cross smiled softly then chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Touga."
"To you too." Yagari replied and then slowly returned the smile to his friend.
"Merry Christmas indeed." The master hunter added dryly, noticing the slightly amused looks coming from the three teens from behind. Had they seen this all?
It didn't matter he thought a moment later while seeing the happy glow in his friend's eyes.
No, it really didn't, but love did.
Christmas, it was all about love.
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Ehem, I hadn't really planned to write an epilogue but I got a really nice review asking for one -- and so I wrote this.
It's a little more about Cross and Yagari than Zero and Kaname but I hope you still like this.
Thank you for reading,
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Miarath