Jingle Bells

by KatiKat

"Treize, where are we going?" I ask for the umpteenth time and for the umpteenth time, he ignores me. I twist a little in the wheelchair he is pushing to look up at him, only to see him wearing a smug expression on his face. I scowl even further. "Treize..." There is a warning note in my voice, but he just grins more and even starts to whistle.

I lean back in the chair and cross my arms over my chest, frowning deeply. For a reason he refuses to share with me, he pulled me away from our Christmas dinner, forced me to dress "warmly" as he calls it - warmly my ass, he stuffed me into the warmest clothes we have at home and even laid a warm plaid on my knees - a started to push my chair towards the main entrance. I hate it when he keeps something from me.

As we pass the door to our dining room, I see our friends - all of them - squeezed in the doorway, grinning at me openly. I huff at them and they laugh. I huff again and twist my mouth in a grimace. So, even our friends know. Am I the only one left in the dark here?

We reach the main door of Treize´s... no, OURS - I will never get used to the fact that thanks to the generosity of my lover, I now own the half of his mansion. Treize stops the wheelchair and walks around it. He is about to open the door, when he hesitates, turns and looks at me with a suddenly serious face. My frown disappears and I feel myself tense. I´m really not in the mood to have a serious conversation right now.

He lets go of the door handle and crouches in front of my wheelchair. He lays his hands on my knees to keep his balance. It´s still strange to me to SEE him touch me, but not be able to actually FEEL his touch on my legs. I swallow painfully and look down at him.

"Wufei, I..." he pauses, swallows, then coughs nervously. "A lot has happened this year." He pauses again.

I nod slowly. I know what he means. The accident, my painful recuperation, his misplaced guilt… I had hoped that we had left it all behind already.

"Treize..." I begin and uncross my arms to cover his hands with mine.

"No," he interrupts me. "Let me... I just... I just wanted to tell you how much I love you, how much I... feared I might lose you." He grips my hands tightly, then brings them up to his face, closes his eyes and kisses them.

I open my mouth again to tell him, that I love him too, more than my life. That even though the prospect of being tied to this chair for the rest of my life still hurts, I´m still glad that it´s me and not him that became the victim of this terrible fate. But he stops me again. When he opens his eyes, they are full of mischief once again and I become wary, my eyes narrowing with suspicion.

He lowers my hands, blinking fast to push away the last bits of the brooding nature that often came upon us this year, and I see him grin widely again. "And that´s why I decided to give you a special gift this year," he says.

I can hear someone - probably Duo - cough behind me, trying to make a point. Treize looks over my shoulder and his grin widens even more. "Okay, WE - me and our friends - came up with this idea," he corrects himself and I hear a muffled laugh from the hallway behind me.

"Treize..." The warning note in my voice is back. I really hate surprises. Usually they are the complete opposite from what you would have wished for and cause a lot of trouble - like Duo giving me this darn patchwork kitten called Romeo. I really should´ve asked back then, actually why his name is Romeo. It isn´t because he likes to chase cats, no, it´s because he has the awful habit of wailing under my balcony at night.

Treize gives my hands one last kiss, then stands up quickly. "Don´t worry, you´ll like it," he promises.

He then bents down to lift me up from the chair, while Heero opens the front door. I close my arms around my lover´s neck to keep my balance and he steps with me through the main door.

It´s dark and cold outside, but luckily the wind died down some time ago. Then I hear it. Jingles. My head snaps round and I can´t help but gape.

There, right in front of our main door is a sleigh. A real sleigh. With a horse. And furs. And jingles. I blink a couple of times, but it´s still there. The horse is moving restlessly, causing the jingles on his harness to sing even more.

I turn to Treize, who is grinning like a kid now. "That´s a sleigh," I say, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, it is," he nods. "I thought you might like to change the wheels for something else. At least for a short while anyway."

Before I can say more, he is moving down the stairs and crossing the short distance to the waiting sleigh. Heero, dressed in a warm sweater and boots, appears on the other side of the sleigh and lifts up the furs from the seat. Treize lowers me onto the seat, then bundles me quickly into the afghan and the furs, to keep me warm. I´m surprised that the furs are so warm, but then I discover the source of heat - a traditional heated stone.

I just sit there and let him pile more and more furs on top of me. He really did manage to surprise me. I would have never expected this, but when I look around at the traditional sleigh, the horse, jingles... a happy looking Treize and my grinning friends... I can´t stop the little smile that feels the need to form on my face.

"So, does this smile mean that you like it?" he asks as he leans closer to me.

When I nod, he closes the distance between us completely and kisses me on the mouth. The gentle kiss slowly turns into something deeper. Hearing the catcalls coming from the stairs leading to the main door, we separate and Treize looks towards our friends, giving them the thumbs up sign. He then climbs quickly into the sleigh with me, joining me under the covers. For some reason it feels really intimate.

"Shall we go then?" he asks as he takes the bridle and nuzzles my ear with his nose.

I smile. "Lead on, coachman."

He laughs and clicks his tongue at the horse.

When the sleigh starts to move, I snuggle closer to my lover and smile happily. This really IS a merry Christmas.

The End