Full Metal Panic Fan Fiction ❯ Christmas Panic ❯ chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kaname stirred from her deep slumber. She awoke to realize that she was still on the couch, the fire had burnt down to a small flame. As she began to sit up, the blanket that had been carefully wrapped around her, slipped down. She smiled realizing that it must have been Sousuke's doing. Looking over she found him sleeping haunched over on the couch. She got up and carefully draped the very same blanket around him, that he had placed around her. Retreating to the warmth of the fire, she decided to add another few logs to the fire. It was soon cheerfully popping and filling the room with its warmth.

“Good morning.”

Kaname jumped, startled by the sudden voice. Turning she saw Sousuke sitting on the couch, the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“Oh, ahhh, morning to you to!” She smiled back. She turned, and proceeded to where the large windows were. Finding the separation in the curtains, she pulled one back to let the morning rays fill the large room. She soon felt the need the pull the other curtain back, flooding the room with sunlight. The vision outside was spectacular. The snow storm during the night had blanketed the land in thick fluffy powder. Pine trees where heavily weighed down by the fresh snow, their bows bending dangerously. Not a building was in site, not a person, and the only noise that could be heard was the joyful chirping of the birds. It was a winter wonderland, perfect for Christmas.

Suddenly, the memories of the prior night came flooding back. Kaname remembered her embarrassment at Sousuke not only seeing her naked, but ending up in the same tub with her. The embarrassment passed somewhat as she remembered that Sousuke had bumped hi head in the mishap and had acquired a nasty cut to his head.

“Sousuke? How is your head feeling this morning.” she asked, still staring at the winter wonderland before her.

“It's not a problem.” he returned.

Somehow she knew that he would answer with that recurring phrase of his. He never wanted her to worry, taking everything in stride. It didn't seem to matter if it was a small bump or a huge wound. He always answered her in the same manner.

Sousuke sat, wrapped in the blanket, watching Kaname as she greeted the morning sun. She looked so cute, hair everywhere, pajama's wrinkled. In that very moment, he was the most content he had ever been. The warmth of the fire made the atmosphere most comfortable and the views were indeed spectacular. He was about to stand and join Kaname at the window, when there was a sharp knock at the door.

Rather than making his way to the window, Sousuke went to answer the door. Upon opening it, he found that the butler was already half way down the hallway, leaving a few trays for them on a rolling cart.

“Mmmmmm, smells good.” Kaname approached Sousuke as he rolled the cart into the room. “What service, this is too good to be true. Breakfast in bed!!!!”

“Bed? Shouldn't we eat at a table?” Sousuke inquired.

“Table, Ha!!! We're on vacation. Let's relax. Take the cart over by the bed.” Kaname couldn't wait to dig in. It smelled hot and delicious.

Sousuke rolled the cart between the two large beds. He stood still, unsure of what was required of him. Kaname threw the pillows from one bed onto the other, then propped all of the pillows up on the headboard. She crawled up onto the bed pulled two trays of the bottom of the cart. These trays had legs which folded out so that you could sit with the trays over your lap. Constructing the two trays, she proceeded to place two small plates on each one.

“Well, Sousuke are you going to join me or what?” Kaname patted the bed beside her motioning the soldier where his seat was. She ignored him as he blinked strangely and blushed before moving to take up residence beside her. She was careful not to spill when she dished them the hot breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. She passed Sousuke the syrup and was grabbing their drinks, when she noticed the note on the cart.

“What do we have here?” She eyed the envelope, picking it up to inspect it.

Sousuke grabbed the envelope from her hand, before she had the chance to open it.
“It could be rigged. Perhaps I should dispose of it, just to be safe.”

“Sousuke!!!!” Kaname warned, causing him to flinch out of reflex. Retrieving the envelope from him, she gave him dirty look as she proceeded to open the envelope. Clearing her throat she began to read out loud. “Dear Kaname and Sousuke, I hope you will enjoy the breakfast prepared for you. After you finish, please dress warmly and make your way down to the main foyer. We will be heading out to find a suitable tree for decorating later. See you soon.....Kurz.”

Setting the letter down, Kaname took a large bite of her breakfast. She still couldn't believe how incredible this place was. Despite the minor set back last night, she had to give Sousuke credit for going through all this trouble for her.

The couple made light conversation as they finished breakfast. Sousuke cleaned up as Kaname changed out of her pajama's. She returned from the bathroom wearing a snug pair of jeans and a tight fitting red turtleneck sweater. Her hair was pulled up with a red ribbon into a ponytail high on her head. Sousuke changed himself as she pulled on a pair of knee high emu boots. She had bought them just for the occasion, loving them the instant she had spied them. She adored the fluffy white fur lining and the lace up style, not the mention the pom poms at the end of each lace.

Sousuke had changed as well and waited patiently as Kaname sorted through her bag trying to find her digital camera so Kyoko wouldn't be disappointed. As she passed Sousuke at the doorway, he noticed a bright red twinkle on her ear. She was wearing the earrings that Tsubaki had given her. His heart sunk at the sight of those earrings. Did she prefer Tsubaki's company over his? What did she think of his trip so far? Did he screw things up too badly the night before? He followed her dishearteningly down the grand staircase and into the foyer below.

“Wow! Must have been a good night! A little love scratch on your head Sousuke?” Weber's eyes twinkled as he wickedly pestered his comrade.

Kaname blushed readily as she again recalled the incident in the bathtub. She avoided both Weber's and Sousuke's gaze when they turned to her.

“Miss Chidori, are you up for coming with us to get the tree?” Sousuke inquired, trying to get Weber of the topic of his wound. His foul mood was not helped, when Kaname again avoided his eyes.

“Sure. Let's do this! Ummmm is Melissa coming with us?” Kaname searched the room for any sign of the fiery agent.

“She's gone to dig out the decorations for the tree. Just the three of us, my dear. Perhaps you would like to ride in front of me.” Weber took a long one over glance of the curvy girl before him. His eyes sparkled in appreciation.

The action did not go unnoticed by Sagara, who casually stepped in front of Kaname, making it look as though he was simply grabbing his coat. “No need Sergent Weber, there is plenty of room on the snowmobile I have selected.”

Kaname blushed even more at Sousuke's obvious dislike of Weber's train of thoughts. She suddenly realized after his remark that she would be riding with him on the snowmobile. A very short seated one at that she observed as they made their way into the cool winter morning. This would mean some definite close contact with the soldier she had become to adore over the past year.

They fired up the snowmobiles, letting them idle while they grabbed some tools to bring the tree down with. Sousuke jumped onto the snowmobile and motioned for Kaname to do the same. She had decided to ride on the back, allowing him to navigate the machine. She straddled the machine and found that in order for her to sit, she had to nudge herself flush against Sousuke. Her knees came just past Sousuke's thighs, her feet braced against his heels. As they began their trip into the woods behind the manor, she found herself gripping Sousuke around the waist tightly. She felt as though she would slip off the back at any minute. A small bump caused her to squeeze her legs tightly and she shut her eyes, preparing for the worst. Once the machine had settled, she felt Sousuke's hand reach back from the handle bars and gently squeeze one of her hands in subtle reassurance. She instantly felt calmer and relaxed her hold on him somewhat.

Sousuke's pulse had raced when she had draped a long curvy leg over one side of the snowmobile. He felt like his entire body was on fire when she had wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled herself closer with her legs. During the ride, the odd bump had caused her to squeeze her legs tightly against his inorder to stay on. He could tell that she was a little scared and had offered her some reassurance as they made their way throught the trees. He was disappointed when Weber had slowed at the opening of the clearing, so soon after they had departed the manor.

Not long after their journey began, they came to a clearing in the trees. Both slowed, parked, then shut the engines off on the snowmobiles.

“Ahhh, here we are! What do you think about that tree right there Kaname?” Weber was point to a very thick 5 ft spruce.

“It's perfect!” Kaname exclaimed. While the boys were busy getting the hatchet and rope out of the packs they had carried, she went to stand under a giant evergreen. It's bows hung heavy with snow. In the distance you could hear the odd slump of snow falling off trees. Birds chirped cheerfully above her as the morning sun warmed their perches. This was the perfect opportunity to capture some great shots of scenery.

As she fumbled through her pocket to find her camera, she heard Weber curse. She looked over to see him hanging onto the handle of the hatchet. It had broken clean off. Weber was scratching his head and cursing obviously trying to figure out what to do next. She heard Sousuke's famous line..... “Not a problem” , before turning her attention back to photographing the scenery and animals around her.

Sousuke fixed the last tiny explosive to the base of the tree. The arrangement assured that the tree would come clean off. He had checked to see where Kaname was before preparing to detonate. Assuring himself that she was a safe distance away, Weber and himself took shelter behind one of the snowmobiles before detonating.

BOOM

Birds scattered as the explosives went off, sending the tree sky high. Weber was hooting and hollering as he watched the tree come crashing into a nearby snow bank.

Quite proud of himself he turned to smile at Kaname. He was glad he had brought those explosives, otherwise they would have been going home without any tree. The smile on his face vanished when he saw where Kaname had been standing.

Kaname had been just about to take a picture of a very cute bunny, when that god awful noise had scared the rabbit away. She had turned abruptly to see a puff of smoke and their beautiful tree shooting off like a rocket. Then she heard the rumbling above her. Looking up, she wasn't really all that surprised to see a wall of white cascading down towards her.

Sousuke began to nervously sweat as he quickly approached the snow pile under the tree. The explosion had caused the snow on the tree to collapse right on top of Kaname. He turned to Weber as he ran towards the tree, yelling at him to grab a shovel. As he turned again to focus on the pile his vision went white.

THWAP!

Kaname emerged from behind the massive snow pile, luckily only to have had a smaller portion of the heavy snow fall on her. She had been fuming when she had heard Sousuke's shouts. She quickly formed a snowball, and when he had turned again she had sent it flying with deadly aim. It connected squarely with his face. Not yet feeling appeased with his small amount of pain, she sent another flying.

THWAP!

“You idiot! What were you thinking? You blew up our Christmas tree. AND!” She hesitated, drawing in another deep breath to continue her rant. “You're stupid explosion made me into a walking snowball!”

“Kaname, I'm sor..” was all he could get out before another snowball took deadly aim.

THWAP!

“Sousuke, we're under fire! Take cover!” Weber yelled. He had been watching this for a few moments and had taken the opportunity to build a small arsenal of his own.

Sousuke had by this time already taken up position behind another large tree, desperately avoiding the assault of cold projectiles that were constantly shot his way.

Weber stood up from behind the snowmobile and sent a large snowball rocketing towards Kaname. It caught her in the shoulder, causing her to squeal in alarm. She recovered quickly, laughing as she spun and took aim at Weber. He soon found himself the new target of her deadly aim.

Sousuke saw this as an opportunity to infiltrate her defenses, he carefully edged around some bushes to bring his attack from behind her. She was busy dodging snowballs from Weber, when he made his first advancement. He soon found himself hiding behind the very same tree she had been standing under earlier. She was too preoccupied with firing a round at Weber to notice Sousuke creep up behind her. In one instant, he launched at her catching her around the waist and sending them both tumbling down a small embankment.

Weber grinned as he saw the attack. Sousuke had taken her out, in the process he had managed to come to land on top of her after the short roll down the embankment. Envisioning the potential of the situation, he decided to make a quick run for it, leaving the two with some privacy. He fired up the snowmobile and drove over to the slightly singed Christmas tree. Slinging a rope around the base, he was soon towing the tree away from the clearing, leaving the unknown love birds to their own accord. He just hoped for Sousuke's sake that she had cooled down enough not to knock him senseless when she opened her eyes and saw his mere centimeters from her own.