::You're unavoidable

Simply irresistible

And certainly you're kissable

But next to you I'm way to shy::

Hilde got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, hoping that it wasn’t being used at the moment. While she walked down Quatre’s unreasonably long hallway she replayed the dream in her head. Wufei had been covering her body with whipped cream and then licking it off with his warm, wet tongue while she shuddered and squealed beneath him. I really need to lay off the Harlequins, Hilde thought as she caught sight of the bathroom. Unfortunately it appeared that someone was in there already. Hilde could see a faint column of steam rising from underneath the door and hear the sound of the shower running. Hilde sighed impatiently and looked around. Quatre must have other bathrooms in this estate but she couldn’t even begin to guess where they might be and she didn’t want to wander all over the house in her nightgown where everybody could see her, looking for them. Hilde pounded on the bathroom door and shouted,

"Excuse me, but are you going to be much longer?"

The sounds of running water stopped and after a few moments of silence the bathroom door swung open and a towel-clad figure stepped out, along with a could of misty steam. Hilde’s breath caught in her throat as she glimpsed a pair of long slender legs, leading up past the skimpy blue towel, to a decidedly male torso, muscular arms, and an oval face with loose, wet, shoulder-length ebony hair, a pair of deliciously curved lips, and two obsidian coloured eyes. Wufei. His skin was still wet and slick from the shower and the damp strands of his hair clung to his cheeks in an incredibly sexy manner. Hilde swallowed hard and felt her pulse quicken, her heart thumping so loudly against her chest that she was certain that he could hear it. God, he’s so beautiful. It’s just not fair. Humans aren’t supposed to be that beautiful. But then again, who ever said that he was human?

::I lose my backbone

Leave my feelings unknown

Play should've could've on my own

Then I'm left to wonder why::

They stood there, staring at each other, until Wufei’s eyes flicked nervously away from hers and he cleared his throat.

"It’s all yours now."

For a moment Hilde couldn’t comprehend what he was talking about. "Huh?" she said eloquently.

Wufei made a gesture towards the door, making sure he kept one hand holding up his towel. "You did say you wanted the bathroom, right?"

Hilde blushed and forced her eyes away from his body to look at the room. "Oh, yes of course. The bathroom. Right. I’ll just…go in there and…take my shower. See you at breakfast, Wufei." Hilde slipped into the bathroom and closed the door firmly, trying to control her erratic breathing. Get a grip, girl! He’s only a man. Hilde shed her nightgown and turned on the shower. Only a gorgeous, sexy, beautiful, perfect man. Hilde wondered what she would see behind that towel of his. I better make this a cold shower…

**********************

Wufei hurried back to his room, praying that a huge blush wasn’t staining his cheeks. Damn, damn, DAMN. It just HAD to be her, didn’t it? It couldn’t be one of the guys or any of the other girls catching me when I’m stepping out of the shower. Oh no. That would be to kind to Wufei. Can’t have that happening. She’s probably in there laughing her ass off at my physique or at the very least she’s comparing it to Maxwell’s. Wufei entered his room and slammed the door shut behind him, flipping on the light switch as her yanked open the closet door to reveal row upon row of pristine white pants and blue tank tops. Not the most practical thing for winter but Wufei never was one for changing his ways. I’m sure that living with Maxwell all this time she’s had plenty of opportunity to see him butt naked. Wufei gasped at the unexpected stab of jealousy clenched his fists in anger. Baka. She’s not interested in Maxwell. She told you that herself. They’re just friends and besides, Maxwell and Yuy are obviously lovers. Wufei grimaced as he recalled walking in on Heero and Duo and some missletow in the living room after putting Hilde to bed last night. They didn’t see him. They were too……involved at the moment. Obviously lovers. So why am I still jealous? It’s all that onna’s fault. She’s screwed up my brain somehow.

::This is so hard

Letting down my guard

It's all the same, it's me I blame

But maybe that's not right::

Wide blue eyes suddenly assaulted Wufei’s thoughts and he smiled slightly, remembering the way she had snuggled unconsciously in his arms and laid her head in his shoulder, the small white neck under a dark tumble of curls, the pink bow of her lips, wet with moisture. Nonononononono. Don’t think about that. That’s bad. Thinking hentai thoughts about a girl you don’t even know is bad, bad, bad. The hard bulge, now apparent underneath the scantiness of the towel, was not co-operating. But you’d like to get to know her better, wouldn’t you? "Shut up," Wufei said out loud, his voice echoing ridiculously in the room. Stupid. Now you’re talking to yourself. Wufei sighed and surveyed the contents of his closet with disdain. I need some new clothes. I wonder if she’d notice if I wore something different. Argh! Why am I concerned with what she thinks? Wufei sighed once more and threw a housecoat, which, he admitted to himself, might have been a good thing to bring with him to the shower, over himself and left his room. Maxwell’s gotta have something I can borrow…

***********************

Hilde sat in the kitchen, watching the steady trickle of snowflakes sprinkle the ground until it looked like someone had taken a huge jar of four and just tipped it over onto the place. Trowa was sitting beside Hilde with a decidedly smug looking Quatre perched in his lap, feeding him bits of buttered bread. Catherine and Dorothy were helping Rashid with breakfast, or rather, Rashid was trying to make breakfast and Catherine and Dorothy were getting in the way, each girl arguing endlessly over how to do the eggs.

"Over easy."

"Scrambled."

"Over easy!"

Scrambled!"

"O-V-E-R E-A-S-Y!"

"S-C-R-A-M-B-L-E-D"

"SHUT UP! I AM MAKING AN OMELET!"

"What crawled up his butt and died," whispered Dorothy loudly to Catherine who nodded and replied, "He does seem to be a little high strung lately." The two then proceeded to argue about what to put in the omelet.

"Ham."

"Peppers."

"HAM."

"PEPPERS."

Rashid’s mouth dropped open and he made a few strangled noises before shaking his head in defeat and adding both ham and peppers to the omelet. Hilde giggled and turned her attention to the other occupants of the table. Heero and Duo were sitting across from her, reading the paper. At least, Heero was reading the paper. Duo was trying to make Heero laugh by tickling him in the back of the neck with the end of his braid. Heero was trying his best to ignore it but Hilde could see the corners of his mouth twitch and turn up in an almost half-smile as he reached up a hand to brush the back of his neck repeatedly. Each time he brought his hand up Duo would stop, wait a few moments and tickle him again, his violet eyes sparkling with mischief. Finally Heero got fed up.

"Duo…" he growled warningly.

"What Hee-chan?" Duo asked, giving Heero an innocent that was ruined by the fact that his eyes still sparkled.

"You know what. Do that again and I’ll stuff that cute braid of yours down your throat."

"You think my braid’s cute?" Duo blinked hopefully up at Heero and got a glare in return. "But Hee~ro I’m soooo bored. It’s Christmas day! We should be doing something special. Something Christmassy."

"Like what, Duo?" Hilde asked.

The braided pilot thought for a minute before grinning and saying, "I’ve got it! There’s a lake not to far from your house isn’t there Q-man?"

Quatre tore his attention away from the task of feeding Trowa to answer, "Yes. But I can’t see why you’d want to go there. It’ll be all frozen over."

"Exactly," Duo snapped his fingers. "We can all go skating!"

Heero snorted. "Baka. We don’t have any skates."

"Actually," said Quatre, "We have a few extra pairs. I’m sure we could find some to fit everybody."

Duo grinned. "Then it’s settled. After breakfast we’re all going skating!"

"We’re what?"

All eyes turned to the direction of the voice where Wufei stood, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest in the usual manner. Hilde’s mouth dropped open and she stared in shock. Gone was Wufei’s usual outfit of white pants and blue tank top with a white overcoat. Instead he had on a red turtleneck and a pair of tight, black jeans that showed off his…figure nicely.

::So I'll blame gravity

For always holding out on me

When I just want to run away

It trips me and I fall for you::

"Lookin’ good, Wu-man," Duo greeted him. "I’m glad my clothes fit you. Y’know, you should wear red more often. It brings out your eyes."

"Shut up, Maxwell," Wufei growled as he stomped over to one of the chairs and sat down.

Duo continued talking, ignoring the scowl of Wufei’s face. "I was just telling the other guys about my idea to go skating out on the pond after breakfast. Q-man has some extra skates. It’ll be so much fun!"

"Skating?" Wufei blinked. "But I’ve never gone skating before. I…don’t know how."

"That’s okay," Duo replied cheerily. "There’s a first time for everything. And besides, Hilde can teach you. She’s the best skater I know."

Wufei suddenly gazed with interest at the petite girl sitting across from him. Hilde squirmed in her seat and vowed to KILL Duo the first chance she got.

**********************

"Whoa, Quatre. You call this a few extra pairs?" Catherine exclaimed, gazing at the rows and rows of different brands of skates placed all along the shelves of Quatre’s storage room. Quatre blushed and said,

"My sister’s kind of had a skating fetish for a while."

"How do you explain all the pairs of Men’s skates?"

"Maguanacs."

"Huh?"

"Someone had to guard my sister’s while they skated and you can’t run very fast on ice."

"Oh," Catherine nodded and went back to choosing a pair of white figure skates that would fit her small feet.

Hilde looked over the many different brands and style of skate carefully before making her selection. It’ll feel good to be back on the ice again. I haven’t skated in ages. I hope I still remember how. Hilde watched Wufei pick his own pair of black hockey skates out of the corner of her eye. She noticed that he wore a size 13. Hmm…you know what they say about guys with big feet—Argh! Stop with the hentai thoughts already!

::Makes perfect sense to me

Lose responsibility

Then every time I fail to see

How easy this could be

I can put the blame on gravity::

Hilde slid her feet into her skates and, seeing that they fit perfectly, slung them over her shoulder with an easy, practiced gesture.

"I’m ready."

"Me too," called Duo, brandishing his pair of skates, nearly taking Heero’s head off as he tried to sling them over his shoulder in the same way Hilde had.

"Baka," Heero muttered, but he smiled when he said it.

"We’re ready," Dorothy said as she took Catherine’s hand in her own.

Quatre smiled up at Trowa who took Quatre’s skates from him so that he wouldn’t have to carry them.

"What about you, Wu-man?"

"I told you not to call me that, Maxwell," growled Wufei, but he held up his chosen pair of skates and indicated his readiness.

"Then let’s go!" shouted Duo, before running out of the room at top speed, almost taking out a maid as he went.

 Hilde and Heero shared a look of exasperated amusement as they followed after the braided baka. Wufei saw the look and felt jealousy took hold of him once more and he struggled to keep his face expressionless. I don’t think that I’m going to like skating.

**********************

"Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!! Watch me, Hee-chan! Watch me!"

"I’m watching baka. Just don’t fall over."

Duo was trying out various tricks on his new skates. He tried skating on only one leg, then the other. Then he tried what might have been a spin except he lost his balanced and barreled right into Heero, knocking them both over.

"Kisama!"

"Hehe. Sorry, Hee-chan."

At the other end of the lake, Dorothy and Catherine were having a spirited race. At the moment, Catherine was winning. Dorothy took hold of the end of her scarf and yanked her back, causing them to tumble over together in a heap.

"That was a dirty trick!" Catherine protested.

"All’s fair in love and war," murmured Dorothy, before taking her lover’s lips in a heated kiss. Catherine threw her arms around her partner, her complaint forgotten.

Meanwhile, Quatre and Trowa were skating together in a slow waltz, their cheeks flushed and rosy as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Wufei had yet to set foot on the ice. He couldn’t seem to get his other skate tied up. The laces wouldn’t pull tight enough and it was impossible to do them up with the awkward gloved he was wearing. Wufei cursed inwardly as the section he was trying to tie came undone once again.

"Need a little help?"

Startled, Wufei looked up directly into a pair of wide blue eyes that twinkled with held-in laughter. Hilde stood before him, comfortably standing on her own skates, looking for all the world like an expert. She probably is, thought Wufei ruefully and nodded his head in assent, thrusting his foot forward for Hilde to investigate. He watched as Hilde took the laces in her delicately gloved hands and tied them tightly, pursing her lips in concentration as she worked.

::You're undeniable

Truly unbelievable

And certainly achievable

If only I could speak my mind::

"There you go," Hilde said giving the tied skate a satisfied pat. Wufei muttered a thank you and struggled unsteadily to his feet. The solid smoothness underneath his legs felt strange and Wufei held his arms out from his sides for balance.

"Well come on," Hilde exclaimed, gliding backwards across the ice with a quickness that Wufei couldn’t hope to imitate. "Skate!"

"How?" Wufei asked.

"Just take a step forward."

Wufei did so and immediately ended up flat on the ground.

"Shimatta!"

::But I deliberate

Simple things, I complicate

Then I think it best to wait

It happens to me all the time::

Hilde giggled and helped him up, slowly. "Try again."

"I don’t know if I want to," Wufei exclaimed, rubbing his sore backside.

"Here," Hilde said. "Take my hand."

Wufei hesitated and then placed his hand in Hilde’s feeling the now familiar tingle of warmth where they touched. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice screamed ‘This is not right!’ Wufei surreptitiously told the voice to shut up as Hilde started to skate backwards again, pulling him along after her.

::This is all so hard

Letting down my guard

It's all the same, it's you to blame

But maybe that's not right::

Wufei felt the shaking in his knees and he wasn’t all too certain that it was because of being on the ice for the first time. He glanced down at his feet and almost tripped, managing to catch himself at the last moment.

"Don’t look at your feet, you’ll fall. Just look at me," Hilde ordered.

Wufei gulped and complied, focusing on Hilde’s pink mouth, her breath making tiny clouds of steam rise up into the air. She’s so perfect.

"That’s good," Hilde smiled. "That’s great. You’re doing fine. Just keep looking at me."

::So I'll blame gravity

For always holding out on me

When I just want to run away

It trips me and I fall for you::

"Look Wu-man! You’re doing it! You’re skating!"

Duo call broke Wufei’s concentration and he started, pitching himself forward until both he and Hilde lay in a heap on the ice."

"Oops," commented Duo.

"Maxwell I’m going to kill you!" called Wufei.

"Ya have to catch me first," laughed Duo as he skated away quickly.

"Are you okay?" Wufei asked the petite girl who lay beneath him, taking her hand in his.

"Yeah, I’m fine," Hilde replied, her chest heaving as she struggled to intake air. "Nothing’s broken at least." They stayed that way a minute longer before remembering their somewhat…friendly position. Wufei hurried to his feet once again and pulled Hilde up after him. He muttered an apology, which Hilde waved off with a laugh.

"Ready to try again?"

"Actually," Wufei said. "I think I’m just going to sit down somewhere. Skating isn’t really my thing."

Wufei turned away so quick that he didn’t see the look of disappointment that flashed across Hilde’s face before she said, "Okay," and skated off quickly.

::Makes perfect sense to me

Lose responsibility

Then every time I fail to see

How easy this could be

I can put the blame on gravity::

Wufei wobbled over to the shoreline and sat down in the snow with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances.  He watched as Hilde circled the lake a couple of times, picking up speed as she went. His breath caught in his throat as she began a series of graceful turns and movements, creating crisscross patterns on the ice. How can she be so clutzy on her own two feet and then be so agile on the ice? It was like she was dancing to a melody no one else could hear. Wufei dared not breathe lest he disturb her own little world with his unworthiness.

::There is something I must confess

I was happy with loneliness, oh yeah

Weightlessness is so easy to be::

Wufei’s eyes never left Hilde’s form as she glided and spun across the lake. As much as he hated to admit it, he really was smitten with her and he couldn’t understand why it was so hard for him to talk to her. He wasn’t exactly new to the whole dating experience. I was married for God’s sake! I ought to be able to ask her out. But he knew it wasn’t that simple. It would never be that simple. Everything just has to be so complicated. I never get a break.

::Now I'm up in a different spin

Out of control and completely into you

So why put the blame on me

When I can put the blame on gravity::

 Hilde skated furiously, trying to forget the way Wufei had just brushed her off. If he doesn’t want me to help him, fine. That’s just fine with me. I don’t care anyway. But she did care. And it wasn’t helping that her heart was still jumping from the way that he’d touched her. Damn you, Chang Wufei. I wish I’d never seen your gorgeous face. I hate falling in love. Hilde nearly fell out of her spin when she realized what she’d been thinking. I didn’t just think that I loved him, did I? No way. That’s silly. I just want his body. That’s all. He’s just a stupid crush and it will go away eventually. But the way her eyes kept wandering over to where he sat and the way her heart responded told her different. Damn, damn, DAMN. I hate Christmas.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AP