Heh. Jumping to a December one:

This is early,

And this is late. :)

 but I might not remember to/be able to later.

Plain Okonomiyaki

Always the best, IMO. Or it would be if I ate okonomiyaki.

---------------------------

Christmas, as far as she could remember, was a romantic holiday.

A day for lovers.

Which made her wonder where Ranma was.

Snoring asleep, dreaming of food rather than wine and women. :)

Sighing, she shut down the grill, preparing to close early. It wasn't
a great day for business,

think you can drop that comma

either, because okonomiyaki was generally

not considered romantic. She disagreed with the sentiment of
okonomiyaki being unromantic,

Ukyou: It is the food of the Gods!

 but could easily understand the desire

to go somewhere nicer instead, hence the relative lack of business.

With a shake of her head, she trotted out to the street, where a
light fall of snow was drifting down. She spent a moment with the
door open, merely staring upwards, watching the little motes of
white flit about on their way to the ground.

Descending in their slow dance, they whirled merrily, coating
everything with a pristine, clean white shroud.

And then the salt trucks came, partially melting the snow and changing to to
slush as it mixed with the dirt and grime of the street.

Born among the stars,
they dance to Earth, and apart,
then dance close once more.

Cute. Never was good with haikus, assuming this is one.

Her smile faded, as she returned ink, papers, and brush to their
proper places. A gift without a recipient was useless, though.

Not true. It's always the thought that counts. :)

Of course, in her dreams, Ranma would come, and she would answer the
door, and he would shyly present her with a gift -- maybe a ring, or
a scarf, or chocolates... But then she would give him his gift, and
they would talk softly and hold hands deep into the night, which
would end with a kiss.

And marriage, and kinds, and okonomyaki being declared the official food of
the Eastern Hemisphere. Life was good, in dreams.

The reality of the situation would likely be different, she admitted
to herself. Most likely there would be no Ranma at all, and were he
to arrive, it would be without a gift, and most certainly the night
would end without any handholding, or... a kiss.

Ranma; The very thought of a kiss makes be contemplate going on a training
trip.

He accepted the paper, unfolding it carefully and reading it,
scanning the page several times to consider the meaning before he
looked up. "Oh," he said quietly. "I... I guess I never really
looked at it that way before."

He then blew his nose in it. "So where's the okonomiyaki? I'm starving."

Drawing him to the center of the street, she turned to face him, and
said, "If you'll do anything for me, then I want... I want..." She
broke off, flushing crimson, and managed, "I want you to dance with me."

He stared at her, bewildered and nervous. "Dance? I mean, uh, me? Here?"

"Yes," she insisted, recovering some of her resolve. "You promised,
after all."

Ranma; But I didn't mean it.

A third time, much more slowly, they danced without a need for music
beyond the presence of one another. Ukyou sighed contentedly,
leaning her head on Ranma's shoulder as they moved.

"You know what I wish?" Ukyou murmured quietly.

Ranma: I was cured of my curse?

Ukyou: No.

Ranma; Oh, well if you get a wish, wish for that. Around here you never know
when you'll come up with a wish.

"I wish that we could be like this forever."

A freak flash icestorm froze them solid.

Ukyou would have shoouted, "This is not what I meant!" but it was too late.
She learned the lesson of being careful of what you wish for.

 So saying, she broke

away gently, staring at her feet, and the snow marked with the
footsteps of a pair of dancers, slowly being covered by the still
falling snow. Voice quavering, she continued, "But it can't, can it?
Tomorrow... tomorrow, what we had tonight will be gone, and all that
we'll have for it is a badly written poem about snow, and our memories."

Ranma: Sounds about right.

Ukyou: You really need to work on that whole empathy thing, Ranchan.

Cute little seasonal piece.

D.B. Sommer




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