Disclaimer: Dear Santa- I have been ever so good this year. All I want for Christmas is Inu-Yasha. May I have him, please?

Author's Note: Hello, my beautiful and loyal reviewers! And how are we?

Here it is, just for you, my fluffy holiday one-shot. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Joyful Kwanza (sp? ^_^;;) or whatever you happen to celebrate! ^_^

Enjoy! XD

~*~

"SIT!"

WHAM.

"SIT SIT SIT SIT SIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Kagome screamed, frustrated beyond all reason.

"Wench!" Inu-Yasha's muffled voice came from the floor- which was now adorned in deep, hanyou-shaped imprints. "What the hell was that for?!"

"FOR YOUR BAD ATTITUDE! Are the Shikon shards ALL you ever think about?!" the girl raged, clenched fists on her hips as she glared down at the male.

"Well, SOMEONE around here needs to care about them!" the agitated boy retorted as he stood, eyes smoldering. "Especially since YOU don't seem to EVER give a damn!"

"That is NOT true and you KNOW IT!" Kagome hissed, taking a step closer so the pair's angry faces were only inches apart. "I haven't asked you for over a MONTH to come home!"

"Well, you did today!"

"Because it's the HOLDAYS!"

"Keh!" Inu-Yasha snorted, looking out the gray windows as large flakes of snow drifted down from the heavens. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

Grr. . .

"YOU MORON!" she bellowed, digging her nails deeply into her skin to control the urge to slap the male before her. "That has EVERYTHING to do with it!"

The hanyou sullenly glanced her way, asking without words for her 'petty definition'.

"You're supposed to spend the holidays with the ones you care about," she explained, her face solemn. "Your loved ones. It's a time to reflect on the past, to look towards the future. To think. To celebrate."

"You can do that while looking for the Jewel shards," Inu-Yasha grumbled, dropping to the floor and crossing his arms and legs in his own classic style.

The girl squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trembling in furry. 'He just DOESN'T GET IT!'

"Besides," the boy continued in a slightly offhand matter, "what should I 'celebrate'?"

"Stuff that you're thankful for!"

"Like. . . ?" he drawled dryly.

"How about your friends?" the girl suggested, still flexing her fingers rather dangerously. "Your strengths? Your health?"

He shrugged off each.

"Isn't there ANYTHING you're thankful for besides the Scared Jewel?!"

He said nothing, staring silently- and stubbornly- into space.

GRR. . .

"You're impossible!" Kagome barked, storming out of her bedroom and slamming the door with a loud SNAP.

*

" 'You're impossible!' " the hanyou mocked silently as soon as he could no longer hear the female's far off footsteps. "Keh. Stupid girl! I just have my priorities straight, that's all!"

He snarled into the quickly descending darkness of the small room, drumming his claws on his forearms.

'And what does Kagome mean, 'look into the past'!? What happened back then that I should celebrate?! Mother dying? Sessho-Maru forsaking me? Naraku's tricks? Kikyo's betrayal?

My life couldn't have *possibly* sucked more.'

"If there was *one* thing that could have made it worse," Inu-Yasha grumbled, gazing icily at his idle claws, "I'd *love* to see what it would have been."

Feh.

That was dumb.

Nothing could have made it any worse!

Anger building up inside him, the boy grabbed the closest thing-, which happened to be one of Kagome's many school books- and chucked it blindly into the shadows.

THWOCK!

It smacked into something very hard, very loudly- causing said thing to whirl into life. With a small crackle, some sort of pretty tune began pouring from nowhere, filling the thick silence with a tinkling melody and soft words.

"- - - Ngels did say

Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay," a voice sang, causing the hanyou to freeze in shock.

?! A youkai?!

Where was it coming from- - -?!

"Shut up!" he whispered menacingly into the room, glaring left and right- hairs on the back of his neck prickling.

"In the fields where they lay," the bodiless person continued, the sound unbroken, "Watching over their sheep

On that cold winter's night that was so deep."

Only then did his ears catch the soft sound of rushing 'e-lec-tre-ci-ty' racing through those tubes Kagome called 'wires'.

'It's not a threat, then,' the hanyou sighed in soft relief, throwing another test book in the same direction and relieving himself of the sound- - -

But not before a few more haunting words leaked through the mysterious machine:

"Nowell*, nowell

Nowell, n- - -"

And then the tune disappeared completely.

Except- - -

Except for the last few words. The last few words- that seemed to cling like a lifeline to the dark room.

The boy's eyes widened as his ears twitched back and fore.

'No. . . No well. . . ?'

*

"I'm telling you, mama!" Kagome fumed, tearing up lettuce head with a face that would scare most youkai out of their mind. "He's the stupidest person I've ever met!"

"He's a teenage boy," the girl's mother soothed, calmly chopping tomatoes.

"But he shouldn't be *this* much of a blockhead! It can't be natural!"

The teen sighed deeply, dropping the salad into a large wooden bowl. "I just wanted to spend a nice couple of days with him. . . You know. . . without fighting . . . maybe getting some things done. . ." 'Like telling him how I feel. . .'

She sighed again, hanging her head. "But I guess that just isn't going to happen. . ."

Kagome started slightly as she felt a comforting hand lay to rest on her shoulder.

"Don't be so depressed," the elder smiled kindly. "Just give him some time to think about what you said and give *yourself* a little time to cool off. It'll all work out."

The child smiled weakly up at her mom. "I guess. . ." 'I hope.'

*

Inu-Yasha blinked as the words sunk in.

. . .

No. . .

No well. . .

. . .

What if there had been no well. . . ?

What if he had never met Kagome. . . ?

What if, as he had once suspected, his life *had* ended when Kikyo shot him to the tree. . . ?

What about *that* part of his past. . . ?

"Keh!" he announced defiantly, shaking his head. 'If here had been no Kagome then the Shikon Jewel wouldn't have been brought back or broken! I wouldn't have to keep playing bodyguard for a bunch of weaklings! I would have had a lot less work on my part and I would have been left in peace!'

. . .

In peace. . .

Lonely peace. . .

Depressing solitude. . .

With no place to belong. . .

. . .

He swallowed, his tight fist weakening as his grip quickly loosened on the air he had been grasping.

. . .

No well. . .

No well meant no time hole. . .

And no time hole meant no Kagome.

No Kagome to insult him.

No Kagome to annoy him.

No Kagome to sit him.

No Kagome to bandage him.

No Kagome to cry for him.

No Kagome to smile for him.

No Kagome. . .

No Kagome at all.

. . .

No well. . . .

Would that have made his bleak history bleaker?

. . .

Yes.

Without a question.

Without a doubt.

Without a well.

'Without the well,' he thought, his eyes large and locked on the ground. 'I would have never have found Kagome. I would never have found a place to belong. I would have never had a second chance. . .

A second chance at everything. . .'

Including love. . .

A second chance at love-

At having friends. . .

At being cared for. . .

And caring.

. . .

Caring. . .

~"You're supposed to spend the holidays with the ones you care about," she glared, her face solemn. "Your loved ones."~

'My loved ones. . .'

~"Isn't there ANYTHING you're thankful for besides the Scared Jewel?!"~

. . .

These holidays. . .

~"It's a time to reflect on the past, to look towards the future. To think. To celebrate."~

. . .

No well.

*

"Inu-Yasha. . . ?" Kagome whispered, knocking softly on the wooden door to her room, unnerved by the lack of sound from inside. 'Maybe I should try to 'cool down' in less time. . .' she thought wryly. But stupid comments of any and all kinds died as a musing crossed her mind- - -

'Perhaps he went back through time. . . ?' she thought sadly, slightly angry at herself for causing their fight.

Maybe she SHOULD have just stayed in Feudal Japan and collected those stupid shards!

. . .

But. . .

But she had only wanted to spend the holidays with the ones- the *one*- she loved- - -!

"Inu-Yasha?" she called again, slowly pushing her way through the doorway and entering the dark room. "Inu-Yasha, are you her- - - ?!"

She cut herself off with a sharp gasp as- from somewhere in the dark- she felt warm, strong arms wrap themselves around her waist, pulling her into an haroi-adorned chest.

. . . ?

Wh . . . what. . . ?

"I-Inu-Yasha- - -?" the girl breathed; a blush blossoming on her face as he embraced her, gently resting his chin on her forehead.

What was going on- - - ?

"You said we're supposed to celebrate what we're thankful for this time of the year," the boy murmured, his voice almost undetectable though the blanketing darkness. "And . . . despite what you may think . . . I am thankful for more then just the Jewel."

"Really?" Kagome replied quietly, the sarcasm she'd meant to put in her statement dying before the words had left her lips. "And what are you thankful for?"

. . .

"The well," he whispered after the briefest of hesitations. "I'm . . . I'm thankful for the well."

. . .

The female blinked before turning her face up to look into his in exasperation.

"The well," she repeated. "You're thankful for the *well*."

"Yes," he nodded seriously, his amber eyes holding neither jokes nor lies. "I'm thankful for the well."

"Is there a reason for that?" Kagome inquired, wrapping her arms slowly around his neck, unable to suppress the smallest of smiles as it took control of her lips.

The boy nodded once, returning her gentle grin with one of his own.

Pulling her even closer, he lowered his mouth to her ear.

"Because it brought you to me."

~*~

^_^ Hope you enjoyed.

Please R&R!

Ja ne!

* Just a single note as to the spelling of 'Nowell'. I'm sure you've all heard the song, and yes, generally it is spelt 'Noel'. But in the old English version it can be spelt Nowell or Nøwell or all these other different ways. ^_^; I just don't want anyone reviewing and saying I spelt it wrong- I got 'Nowell' off of an actual piece of music.