Artemis looked up at the door in front of her. Painted a green-blue, this door had been the first friend's door she had ever knocked on. Back then it had been white, like the ground around her now, but though the door and the ground had both changed, Xavier had not. Her oldest friend, he may be two years older than her, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to be his friend. She needed her friend's help now more than ever. She was reluctant to remove her hand from the warmth of her pocket, but she had to knock on the door somehow. It didn't take long for Xavier to open up.

"Artemis!" he smiled, "what are you doing here?"

"I need your help Xavier" she told the red-head.

"What with?"

"Ranger" She saw a spark in his eye, a flicker of teasing in his face.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The gentle chattering and the clincing of teacups was a welcome background noise to Artemis as she sat with Xavier in Ikawa, the local coffee shop. The snow was still fluttering down outside, it had been on and off since it started about this time yesterday, but it never had enough time to melt. It had been up to Aretmis' knees on the walk from Xavier's house to Ikawa. It was the perfect setting to begin her Christmas holidays.

"So, what is it about Ranger this time? You are really obsessed with him" Xaveir teased.

"I- Xavier!" Artemis half laughed half scolded.

"Sorry, sorry"

"It's fine" she smiled at him, then pulled the card Ranger had given her yesterday out of her pocket.

"I gave you a christmas card too!" protested Xavier, "you can't be in love with him just because of that!" Xavier had a long history of randomly falling in love with any new girl he made friends with. Artemis knew that even all these years later, he really wasn't over her. He tried to suppress his feelings, to just be a normal friend, but she knew all too well that it was impossible to kill love.

"No, look" she pushed forward the card "he signed it 'Love Ranger'"

"I signed mine 'Love Xavier'"

"I've known you forever, Xavier. I've known him little under a year"

"But you're super close to him" their conversation was stopped by the waitress coming over with their hot chocolates.

"The extra marshmallows and cream?" she asked.

"That's me" Xavier took the drink from her.

"And the small hot chocolate?"

"Me, thank you" Aretmis smiled at the young woman.

"She's pretty" Xaveir said, as the waitress left.

"Xavier!"

"What?"

"You don't even know her!"

"Yes I do, that's Hannah from my P.E class" ever since the start of the year, Xaveir had been on about this girl named Hannah in his P.E class. She was indeed pretty, a mixed race girl with skin the color of the hot chocolate in Artemis' hands, and a smile just as warm. Her eyes were a dark brown, and though Artemis had only caught a glimpse of them she had to admit they did look pretty.

"Let's not get off trak" she said, watching as Xaveirs blubelle eyes followed the waitress.

"Right, sorry" Xavier took a sip of his hot chocolate.

"I feel like he likes me back" Artemis said, "but I don't know"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, the card, and then he just happened to be on my walking route, witch may I add is nowhere near his house, and he said if I was to have a crush on him it would be different to if someone else did...oh, and he invited me back to his house after just randomly bumping into me"

"I really don't know man, I'm sorry" the door to the coffee shop opened and a cold draft blew through the small room. "But you know who might know" Artemis could tell by Xaviers smile something good had just happened.

"Hey guys! Fancy bumping into you here!" If you couldn't tell by the strong accent, or the dark hands that were now leaning against the small table, it was the open enthusiasm that gave it away. The oldest son of a large family of refugees, Hunter, stood with his normal broad smile beside them now. Aretmis loved Hunter, he had fitted in with their group in a way no new person ever had before, more than that, Ranger got on really well with him, which was rare for the boy.

"Hunter doesn't know" Artemis said to Xavier.

"We could tell him" Xavier pressed.

"I mean I'm sure I can trust him, it's just he is so close to Ranger"

"Well look I'm standing right here, I know somethings going on, you've gotta tell me now!"

"It's a long story" Artemis said, "sit down, and Xavier call Hannah over to get him a drink, no flirting ok"

"No flirting?" asked Hunter, confused.

"Yeah, Xaveirs got an eye for the waitress"

"It's not like that!" Xavier conpained.

"I don't even want to know" Hunter laughed. Afew minutes later all three of them had a warm drink, hugely welcomed after the bitter cold of the outdoors. Artemis began her story.

"Ok, so, Hunter, Agh I don't know how to say this, right can you promise me you'll keep a secret?"

"You have my word, and if I do spill it what will you do?"

"Ranger will never believe you so it's ok"

"What's the secret then?" Artemis took a deep breath. After this moment, her secret would be out there forever.

"I have a crush on Ranger" she hid her face, scared to see his reaction.

"Wait really? But what about all those times you've had people grounded for saying you did?"

"I was scared, I'm always scared" she confessed.

"Well, if you like him, just tell him"

"But it's not like that!" she moaned, "it goes deeper, I just can't be open with him, no matter what I do, I always overthink things and everything becomes so much more complicated. Literally waving at him is complicated!"

"Okay" Hunter put down his coffee. "What can I do to help?"

"I need to know if he likes me back" Artemis was straight to the point, that was all she would ever need to know. She didn't care about world hunger, she didn't care about natural disasters, she didn't care about sickness or pain or grief, she just cared about Ranger.

"If anyone can get that information out of him, it's you" Xavier told Hunter.

"Now you're putting pressure on me" joked the younger boy.

"Sorry, sorry"

"Nah you're fine, I'll do everything I can to help"

"We need a plan" Artemis pointed out, "a way you can bring this up in conversation, and get an answer out of him"

"Anyone got any ideas?" asked Hunter, totally on-board with this whole thing.

"Nope" laughed Artemis.

"I've got none" apologized Xavier.

"I'm sure I can wing it, and if I mess up blames on me, ok" Hunter smiled at his friends.

"Good luck" Xaveir smiled back.

"And thank you. Thank you one million times" Artemis took both his hands in hers and squeezed them.

"Hey, you're welcome" he grinned, "now, I better go see Ranger, bye" he got up and walked out the show, sending another cold draft blowing through the small space.