Contains spoilers for up to book 9 of the manga. This story is placed in a future (alternate, probably) continuity wherein Sakura finally obtains her full powers as the Card Captor and hence Kero-chan (Cerberus, here) and Yue are both able to maintain their true forms indefinitely. When that happens, Yue's and Yukito's personalities merge.... Yaoi/Lime rating. Sweet Snow - Peaches and Cream 1/? by Kristin Huntsman revision posted October 17, 1999 Touya opened the window of his room to let some fresh air in. He was finding concentrating on his homework was difficult without even a breath of coolness in the house. The moon hung low over the horizon, full and infinitely bright. "Yuki...." "Yes?" Touya jumped half a foot as Yue's very long hair lowered itself past the window, followed by Yue himself, upside down and smiling like Yukito. "Don't *do* that!" Touya growled. "Why not?" Yue asked. Touya sighed. His eyes fell away from Yue's. "We need to talk," he softly said. "Yes," Yue agreed. "Do you want me to come in, or...?" "Come in." Touya walked away from the window, letting Yue enter it behind him. He sat on his bed, watching as Yue carefully maneuvered his wings in behind him. He watched and compared... Yuki's smile was the same, as was the paleness of that too-long hair, and the eyes were almost the same ones as Touya remembered looking at him from behind the pair of glasses every day at school. But the person that Yuki was now had the pale, fine hair draped well past his ankles and onto the floor; those great white wings that reached from Yue's back made Touya's room seem small. "I thought," Touya said, containing his voice at a level sound, "that Yukito was going to be around forever." "He... is," Yue said, looking uneasily at the poster on Touya's wall. The moon in the picture was far above the fisherman on his lonely seas. "I'm not sure exactly what happened... but somehow he's still part of me. I don't know how much." Yue's eyes fell to the floor below the poster. His arms crossed over his chest, defensive. Touya didn't take his eyes away from that figure. "We've never fought before," he observed. Yue looked up at him, dark brown eyes questioning. "Are we having a fight now?" he asked, voice soft. "I don't want to be having one," Touya said. "It's no one's fault, what you are, what's happened...." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "That did *not* come out right!" he announced. Yue smiled then, a smile Touya knew by heart, and crossed the room to him, those ridiculously large wings somehow graceful as Yue knelt before Touya. "To-ya," he said, causing a stutter of hope in Touya's heart at the pet name. "Let's go talk someplace where the Card Captor... where Sakura-chan isn't in the next room." Touya stared at him. "She's completely hung up on you, you know. And I can understand why." He very lightly hit Yue on the head. "Come on, let's go." "Do you want to try flying?" Yue asked as Touya stood. Touya stopped. "Flying?" he asked. Yue smiled at him. "Flying," he repeated. Somehow, flying wasn't as bad as Touya had thought it would be. At least, not with Yue. He reserved judgements about any other kinds of flight. "Where are we going?" he asked, looking at all the glittering lights of their hometown as it spread itself out below his and Yue's feet. "School," Yue replied. Touya could feel the beats of wings as Yue kept them aloft. "There won't be anyone there now. It's difficult for me to blend in." "Yeah, I guess," Touya said. He couldn't quite restrain his smile at imagined reactions of their teachers and classmates if Yue were to return to school now. Then that smile faded. What would his life be like without seeing Yuki every day in school? "Yuki...." "Feet up, To-ya," Yue warned as they flew in low over the fence of the school's roof. They set down quite easily on the flat surface contained within. Touya turned to face his friend as Yue released him. "So what happens to you now?" he asked, very quietly. Yue shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Unlike Cerberus, I didn't want this... I was happy with the way things were. But... what we are will always come to the fore, when the Card Captor gains her full powers." Yue folded to the ground and rested his chin on one knee. "The pathetic thing is, I'm no longer even certain of what that is. Who am I?" he questioned softly, echoing Touya's earlier thoughts. "Do you know, To-ya? I no longer do." Touya wondered, and was silent for a long time. Finally he moved, knelt before Yue and tipped the other's chin up with one finger. He met those deep eyes calmly. Absolutely scared at what he was about to say, and who he was about to say it to, Touya nonetheless gave a soft smiled, hoping desperately that Yukito was as much a part of Yue as he was seeming to be. "You are whatever you want to be, Yue, whoever you choose to be. You are the person I love, whatever happens." It was right to be saying this now. It felt right. If Yukito was Yue and the Judgement Maker of the Clow Cards, so be it. "I love you, Yuki, and I am not letting you go without telling you." And if Yue didn't care for him the same way in return and Yukito never had... so be it. Yue's deep eyes were wide, surprised. "To-ya...." Touya waited, acutely conscious of his fingers where they touched Yue's skin, waiting to be pounded into the pavement by a sheer wave of power. Yue smiled a dazzling smile out of nowhere. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked with a simplicity that almost floored Touya. It implied.... Fingers brushed like cool fire over Touya's cheeks as great white wings shrouded the world from them. "I've loved you for a long time, too," the person before Touya whispered, as if the entire world was listening and he only wanted one person to hear. "Even though what I am has changed, To-ya, my feelings certainly haven't." Touya didn't get a chance to say anything before Yue stole a kiss from him, one which somehow seemed to be brief at the onset but lengthened and deepened and sweetened until Touya didn't know where he ended and Yue began.... Some time later, Touya had his head over Yue's heart, listening to its humming. "Your heart beats fast," he observed. "It's supposed to," Yue replied. "I'm not exactly entirely human anymore." "Hmm." Touya considered that. The moonlight washed over the two of them, making Yue's pale skin glow like a white pearl. "You know, you looked amusing the first time you saw me like this," Yue said with a thoughtful note in his voice. "What, naked?" Touya dead-panned. "That too," Yue responded. "But I meant after I reawoke as Yue." Touya propped himself up, careful about Yue's wings. "That was meant to be a joke," he informed his lover. Yue's eyes were wide. "You have a sense of humor, To-ya?" he asked. "I am going to get you for that," Touya threatened. Yue smiled, appearing to completely disregard the threat. "So what happens now?" "Hmm." Touya collapsed back down and considered for a while. Finally he rolled over onto his back, still being careful of Yue's soft wings below him, and crossed his arms behind his head. "No idea," he admitted. "But we've got the world before us and Sakura on our side. It'll turn out alright." "You're sure Sakura-chan will still be on our side when she finds out about 'us'?" Yue asked, turning his head to look at Touya. Touya nodded. "She will. Trust me. She wants both of us to be happy, and she's a good little kid. Besides... she's got Tomoyo-chan still, and I suppose the brat isn't *too* bad of a friend for her." He growled lightly, irritated by just the thought of that sorcerous little monster. Yue used the end of his hair to dust Touya's face. "Why, To-ya, I do believe you're jealous! Now, about this sister complex of yours...." Touya swatted at Yue's hair. "Shaddup," he growled, smiling, too happy to be irritated by his lover. Yue smiled at him, and everything was alright between the two of them. "When I have the moon," Touya murmured softly, "why would I need the stars?" "Cliche," Yue pronounced, "but romantic and poetic nonetheless." He was silent for a minute. "To-ya, would you like me to go back to being Yukito?" "What do you mean?" There was another short silence, then, "Just because I can maintain my true form indefinitely... it doesn't mean I have to. And there are certain advantages to being Yukito. Like seeing you in school every day." "Do you want to?" Touya asked. "I think so. It would be easier...." "...Would you remember everything?" Yue sighed. "I really don't know. I might just remember being Yukito, I might remember everything." "Hmmm...." Touya breathed a sigh. "I suppose whatever you want. Besides, I need my study partner for Biology." "I willingly volunteer," Yue said with a grin. Touya swatted at him with one hand. Yue caught that hand and held it to his lips. "If I don't remember," he murmured, "take it easy on me. Yukito is fairly naive in some areas...." "As you wish," Touya granted, moving to his hands and knees and looking down to Yue. Yue smiled and closed his eyes. In one breath he shimmered brightly, in the next he faded away, leaving Yukito's shape fast asleep where he had been. Touya leaned forward over the sleeping form, assuring himself of Yuki's regular breathing. Glancing to the scattered clothing around them, he smiled to see that Yue's discarded garments had metamorphized into Yukito's. Running his fingers through it, he discovered that Yukito's silver-white hair had the same delicate texture as Yue's. And Yuki's skin was just as pale in the moonlight, just as soft. "Oh, Yuki..." he said, shaking his head. He leaned down and touched his lips to those of his sleeping prince. Yukito woke from a warm, strange, wonderful dream that faded away as he came into the world of waking. But enough of it remained that he nestled willingly into the arms around him, sighed into the kiss that parted his lips. Whatever had been wrong before, for so long, was gone now.... --To Be Continued-- Author's note: Since this is a blatantly Touya&Yukito story, I wanted to get part of both of their names in the title. "Touya" is "Peach Arrow" and "Yukito" is "Snow Bunny" (and what delicious and interesting imagery that conjures up...). "Sweet snow" is a synonym originating on one of the YYH MLs for the wonderful stuff known as ice cream. And, yes, the title is an etchi pun.... This is a revised version of the story, rewritten to better merge with the events and relevations of book 9 of the manga. (Thanks to Steph for letting me read said volume.) More will be coming; the next chapter is half-done and will have Kero-chan showing up! I hope everyone enjoyed this work.