Author's notes:

Writing the last chapter of "Without Her" is very taxing (I've redone one part thrice and there will probably be a fourth time) so I'm taking a break by writing a little Christmas fic. Since there seems to be a proliferation of stories about Ranma and Akane during this time of the year, I decided to write about two people who rarely get enough fun out of the holidays. I honestly am not too satisfied with it, but here it is, hot off the press, and I do hope that it makes you smile, even just a little.

Merry Christmas, everyone. ^_^

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and all related parties.

Lunar Ember Presents

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction

A Merry Little Christmas

His breath came out in puffs of hot air against the cold that blanketed the city. He didn't know where he was, or what date it was, but if the lights and the decorations in the stores he passed were any indication, it would seem that it was Christmas.

It was Christmas, he thought, and he was alone.

He was used to it, actually. He could't count the times when he spent special holidays all by his lonesome, what with his inability to find his way home. He rarely saw his family or his friends: in fact, one of the few miracles he had was that he found himself at the Tendos last year, where he somehow managed to have a bit of fun.

Dusk was settling in, but the streets remained alive with last minute shoppers carrying bags of presents. Far away, he spotted a familiar pigtailed boy hopping out of a boutique, peeking inside the small paper bag he carried. A tattered yellow scarf hid his mouth, but the way his eyes lit up told him that he was smiling. He would probably keep on smiling that night, especially when he gave a certain bob-haired girl whatever it was that he held in his hands.

His happiness doused him like a bucket of cold water. He wanted to wipe that smug, satisfied grin from his face, wanted to get mad and hit him for it, but found that he was frozen to where his stood. He felt someone roughly brush against his shoulder, heard a shrill "sorry", but nothing shook him to follow Ranma and deliver his righteous anger as the other boy disappeared into the next corner.

He stood in the middle of the crowd, the fight suddenly gone out of him, and had never felt so alone.

"Ryouga?"

He blinked, the familiar Kansai accent taking him out of his reverie.

"Ukyo? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that question," the girl said with an amused glimmer in her eyes. "What are you doing in front of my restaurant?"

Ryouga blinked once more. Looking past her, he saw the familiar banner of Okonomiyaki Ucchan's. "How did I get here?"

"I don't know, sugar, but you should as hell get somewhere warmer." The chef gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Come on in."

He nodded dumbly and followed.

The restaurant was closed for the night. Only a few overhead lamps were on, including those near the hot grill. A string of Christmas lights were strung along the perimeter of the ceiling, and they blinked softly, almost lullingly.

"I thought it was a nice touch," Ukyo said as she followed his gaze. "What do you think?"

It made the place look cozier, and he would have said that they were nice if he didn't feel that he was intruding.

"Hey, Ukyo. I better go. It's Christmas after all, and I wouldn't want to disturb your night - "

"Konatsu will be out for the last few deliveries, and I'll be alone until then, so why not keep me company?" The chef smiled, walking behind the hot grill and pulling a bottle of sake from under the cupboard. "Besides, you seem like you need it."

In spite of himself, Ryouga felt slightly irritated. How can this girl take things in stride? He knew that her life wasn't as happy as she tried to make it appear - why was she being so hypocritical?

His sudden annoyance made him want to lash out, and he knew where it would definitely hurt.

"I saw Ranma buy a present for Akane."

She regarded him with a satisfying pause. There, he thought. Merry Christmas.

But the chef simply went on pouring sake for the both of them, her eyes suddenly soft with emotion.

"I know."

"Then how can you be so okay with it?" Ryouga bursted, walking up the counter. "It's Christmas and you're all alone - save for that gender-confused omnitsu - but they…"

"Ryouga."

"THEY…"

"Ryouga."

The lost boy met her steady gaze.

"It's Christmas," she said, handing him his cup. "Let them be."

Her words had the underlying tones of both hopelessness and understanding, and with her accent, they seemed all the more lonely.

Ryouga sighed and accepted her offering before sitting on the stool before her.

"You know how they feel for each other, don't you?"

"I've known for a very long time, sugar."

They sat across each other in silence. It was sad, he thought, that this wonderful girl lost the man she loved even before she found him again. But then again, her predicament was the same as his.

Outside, they heard the faint song of carollers.

"You know, some people still think that Santa Claus is real," Ukyo said as she poured herself another cup. "I believe that he is."

Ryouga chuckled sarcastically. "Santa won't magically bring you Ranma tied up in a bow."

"I know he won't," she raised her cup to him. "But tonight, he brought me a friend."

He looked at her, feeling chest fill up with warmth and wonder. All of a sudden, he felt a rush of contentment and a sense of belongingness, and as he raised his cup with hers, he knew that somehow, in spite of lost families and botched romances, this Christmas won't be as lonely as he thought it would be.

"To friends."

Later that evening, Konatsu found them slightly tipsy but happy, waving at him to join them for a late-night serving of okonomiyaki and drunken karaoke renditions of The Chipmunks' Christmas carols.

As Ryouga handed the effeminate omnitsu the microphone and felt Ukyo give him a casual slap on the shoulder, he thought that maybe, she was right. Santa was real.

After all, that Christmas, he gave him a home.

*owari*