Title: Once Upon A December
AN: **Lyrics from Once upon a December by Denna Carter

In the present…

Winter came to the small planet of Arus. White snow blanketed the land. Though the lake remained free from winter’s icy grasp, as the underground tunnels of lava kept the water warm. Christmas, the one holiday everyone on Arus celebrated, was fast approaching. The castle of lions was beautifully decorated, the halls were decked, lights twinkled and the ornaments glittered. The sweet smells of Christmas cookies being baked wafted through the air. The soft sounds of carols could be heard throughout the castle. It was proving to be a joyous celebration, even planet Doom seemed to be too busy with Christmas to plan any attacks. Everyone was happy. Everyone seemed to be swept away by the euphoric sentimentalism of the season.

Allura sat beside the tall Christmas tree with Pidge, stringing long strands of popcorn and dried cranberries. Both were happily singing carols, and seemed as excited was young children about the upcoming holiday. Hunk sat on a nearby chair, watching them and eating sugar cookies. Keith and Lance were sitting on the couch, talking and laughing as Lance kept snitching popcorn out of the bowl (and trying not to get caught by Allura and Pidge while doing it).

"So, is the this Santa Claus you speak of much the same as Talvi Noita?" Allura asked Pidge.

"Who is Talvi Noita?" Pidge asked.

"Her name means winter witch." Allura explained. "She is the goddess of winter. She is goodness of love, family and togetherness. A goodness of both death and rebirth."

"Umm, well Santa Claus is more just… a fictional character, kind of a symbol of Christmas for children. You know, brings toys to good little girls and boys, and leaves a lump of coal in the stockings of the bad children." Pidge glanced at Lance. "Isn’t the right, Lance?"

"How would I know? I have always been on the ‘good’ list." Lance retorted with a grin.

"Oh, so in a way Santa Claus is like Talvi Noita. She is said to leave gifts for those who have been truly good."

"Many cultures on Earth have a different name for Santa Claus, so it’s not surprising that Arus has it’s own version as well." Keith said.

"Yeah, well I doubt either Santa or Talvi Noita is going to do my Christmas shopping for me… so I had better go do that." Lance said as he stood up.

"You’re still not done?" Hunk questioned, from between cookies.

"Haven’t even started yet." Lance said.

"Why do you always wait until the nearly the last minute?" Keith asked.

"It’s just more fun that way." Lance said, and grinned. "Besides it tends to bother everyone."

Lance quickly darted out of the room before anyone could reply to his comment.

Lance walked around the small antique store, looking everything over in search for the perfect gifts to give. There were antiques from many different cultures, all having been collected over many years by the owner’s family. Some of the things looked so old that Lance was almost afraid to touch them for fear they would fall apart. A small golden box caught his attention. Lance carefully picked the box up, the symbol, etched in silver, on the lid looked familiar though he couldn’t recall where he had seen it before. Different coloured crystals circled the pattern. Lance realized it was a music box as his fingers brushed against the key at the back.

‘Allura might like something like this.’ Lance thought.

Wondering what melody it played he turned the key and opened the lid. The inside of the music box was lined with a dark blue velvet, along the sides, he bottom was clear crystal so the gears of the ‘music box’ itself could be seen turning. As the lid was fully opened a soft melody began to play. The song seemed to flood through Lance invoking powerful, yet indescribable emotions within Lance’s soul.  He closed his eyes as he listened to the melody. Visions of a ballroom came to him, glowing so brightly the figures that danced so closely together, were like blurs of light, faceless and formless. It seemed like a long forgotten memory.

~~~~

Someone holds me safe and warm

Horses prance through a silver storm

Figures dancing gracefully

Across my memory

Far away, long ago

Glowing dim as an ember

Things my heart

Used to know

Things it yearns to remember

And a song

Someone sings

Once upon a December

~~~~

The music wound to a stop, snapping Lance out of the trance. His fingers trembled ever so slightly as he closed the lid. He wondered if what he saw was truly a forgotten memory, a memory of time long ago in another life, or if it was nothing more then an illusion created by the music box itself. Lance looked down at the music box, lightly running his fingers over the smooth surface. He still thought the small music box was the perfect gift, though not for Allura, for Keith.

An elderly woman walked over to Lance. "May I help you?"

Lance never heard the woman approach until she spoke, and was so startled that he almost dropped the music box. "Um… yeah, I want to buy this."

"A fine choice. It is a beautiful piece."

Lance nodded in agreement. "You wouldn’t happen to know what the name of the song it plays is, do you?"

"I’m afraid not. It is a very old piece and I only recently acquired it."

"Oh." Lance said. He followed he to the cash register, not even bothering to ask what the price was, no matter the cost he was going to buy it.

It turned out to be far less then Lance had thought it would be, it was a price he could easily afford. Even though he still had shopping to do he returned to the castle, hoping to slip into his room before anyone could see him. However, before he could make it he practically ran into Keith.

"Sorry." Lance mumbled under his breath, hoping that Keith would just keep on walking, but once again his wishes didn’t come true.

"Doesn’t look like you had much luck with the shopping." Keith commented.

Lance shrugged. Even though he hadn’t actually finished his shopping or buying all the gifts that needed bought, one of the few gifts he had, the music box, made Lance feel he had a lot of luck shopping.

"You look a little... pale. Are you feeling okay?" Keith asked. Genuine concern could be heard in the captain’s voice.

"Yeah, I feel fine." Lance replied. It wasn’t entirely a lie after all, health wise he did feel fine, he just felt a little drained since the vision he had when he listened to the music box.

"Are you sure?" Keith asked concernedly. He gently pressed the back of his hand against Lance’s forehead to check for any sign of a fever.

Lance couldn’t help but smile slightly at Keith’s concern. The concern that he could hear so clearly in Keith’s voice was practically palpable and along with the gentle touch it warmed Lance. Lance looked at Keith and smiled. "I’m fine. Stop worrying, wouldja ya."

Keith looked skeptically, but from his expression it was obvious that he was willing to accept Lance’s statement about feeling okay.

Both men remained standing perfectly still for a moment, black eyes locked on brown. Finally both men moved along on their way to the destination that they had been headed to before running into each other.

Lance sat, cross-legged, on his bed, holding the music box in his hands. He turned the key with slightly trembling fingers. He moved to open the lid and paused, pulling his fingers back.

"This is silly." Lance whispered to himself. "It’s just a music box, nothing more. What happened before was just…" his voice trailed off as he tried to think of how to explain it.

The rational part of his mind tried to explain it, while his heart told him the truth. The song had indeed invoked a forgotten memory, one that he longed to remember. For it was a memory of a love so deep that he longed to remember who it was that loved him and held him in such a warm embrace. A love that he wished he could have again.

Lance opened the lid and the sound of the soft melody washed over him, the music filled his soul. He closed his eyes, his whole body seemed to sway slightly to the music. Visions danced at the edges of his memory and the harder he tried to grasp the memory the more it seemed to slip away. He laid back on the bed, the music box still clutched in his hands.

~~~

Glowing dim as an ember

Things my heart

Used to know

Things it yearns to remember

~~~

The window in Lance’s room began to frost over. At first the patterns of frost slowly crept over the glass, then it began to spread quickly. The window opened soundless and an icy breeze billowed through the room. But, Lance didn’t stir from where he lay. Another breeze billowed in through the open window, bring with it flakes of a snow, and a woman. The woman was in fact Talvi Noita. She stood at the end of Lance’s bed. Her long dress was an icy blue, the blue of very deep and frozen water and it billowed around her body like drifting snow. Talvi Noita’s hair was hair was white, with highlights was many shades of blue and it reached half way down her back, or it would if the breeze was not carrying it up and behind her. Her skin was soft and pale and almost seemed to glitter in the dim light. Her features were all so soft that she looked like a delicate porcelain doll. She brought one hand up in front of her blue lips, her fingers tips stretched out and pointed towards Lance. She gave a gentle blow, her breath coming out white. As her breath crossed the palm of her hand it changed into a glittering snow. The snow gently settled onto Lance.

////////////////

Lance wandered through the thick mist, barely able see where he was walking.

He didn’t know where he was but he continued forward, moving on almost instinct, towards an unknown destination. The tall trees that lined the path looked like any of the trails through the forests on Arus, however Lance knew that this was not Arus.

He felt as though he had been walking forever before he stepped into a clearing. A large castle sat nestled in the woods. Lance couldn’t help but stand there and stare at the castle, filled with a sense that he had been there before. Moving slowly he walked through the gateway into the castle, a little curious and a little afraid of what he was going to find inside.

The castle seemed deserted, lay forgotten memories seemed to lay dormant within the shadows. The memories seemed to cry out to be remembered, whispering around Lance though never being heard. As he moved through the castle, the dust that covered everything floated into the air and swirled around him much like snow.

Lance paused before a double set of large oak doors, intricate, though abstract, patterns were carved into the wood. Lance reached out to open the door. The second his fingers touched the golden handle he felt a cold, tingling sensation wash over him as though he had just fallen through ice into frigid winter waters. As the door slowly creaked open Lance wanted to turn and run, he didn’t want to see what secret lay behind the double doors… yet he found himself frozen in place.

A large ballroom lay beyond the doors, looking just as dismal as the rest of the castle. Soft music began to play and it took Lance a moment to realize that it was the song for the music box. The combination of dust and snow that filled the ballroom made it look as though it were truly snowing. Lance watched as figure emerged from the shadows and almost seemed to float while dancing around the ballroom. The sight of the unknown person seemed to warm Lance, like the sun on a warm spring day that melted away all the snow.

Lance slowly moved towards the figure, afraid the slightest wrong movement would make it vanish as quickly as it had appeared. But that didn’t happen, and he finally made his way over to the dancing figure, who turned to face him the second Lance stepped up behind. A look of pure shock spread across Lance’s face, he knew the face that stared back at him all too well – it was Keith. Even though Keith was dressed in clothes that he had never seen his friend wear before.

"K-Keith?" Lance stammered, once he could find his voice.

Keith smiled gently at Lance and nodded, saying nothing.

"I… I don’t understand…" Lance’s voice trailed off as he tried to make sense of everything, mostly Keith’s presence, and came up with no answers.

Keith lifted his hand and traced his fingertips across Lance’s cheek. Lance closed his eyes against the gentle touch, as Keith’s other arm gently wrapped around his waist. Then it hit him like a bolt of lightening, though pain free, forgotten memories flooded through him. He wrapped his arms around Keith’s as the memories filled him, shivering slightly from the intisty of the memories. The last memory to return to him was of his last moment with Keith… before he had taken both their lives.

Lance opened his eyes, not caring that tears were streaking his cheeks, and looked at Keith. "I… I’m sorry."

"Sh," Keith softly whispered as he laid his finger over Lance’s lips, "someday has finally arrived, my love."

Everything around Lance began to fade away….

///////

Lance sat straight up, trembling slightly, and wondering if it had been a dream or if it had truly been a memory of a time and a love he had forgot. He stared into the darkness of the room for a long moment before coming to the realization that it has indeed been a memory. He wanted to do nothing more then jump out of the bed and rush into Keith’s arms. But he realized that even though he had remembered Keith had not.

"What am I suppose to do?" Lance asked himself in a whisper. "How do I make Keith remember…"

No answer came only more questions.

"Will he still love me? Was the love we shared truly eternal?"

Lance grabbed his light brown leather jacket off the back of the chair and slid it on. He carried the music box with him as he headed outside. Hoping perhaps some fresh air could help to clear his thoughts.

Lance leaned forward against the railing of the balcony, staring out across the white landscape. He never heard the figure that approached him until the person spoke.

"Lance? What are you doing out here?"

Lance spun around, discreetly sliding the music box into the pocket of his jacket as he did so. "Keith…?" A smile spread across his face though quickly faded as he realized he couldn’t just gather this Keith into his arms. There were so many things he wanted to say, so many ways he wanted to show his love, but he couldn’t do any of that because ‘this’ Keith didn’t remember their past together.

"What’s wrong?" Keith asked concernedly.

"Nothing." Lance lied.

"You’re a terrible liar." Keith said jokingly, hoping to at least get a small smile out of Lance. Or a smile like the one Lance had worn on his face when he first turned around, a smile so bright that it even cut through the darkness of the night.

"It’s nothing, don’t worry about it." Lance said, turning back around to stare across the snowy white hills.

"You wish it was someone else who came out here to check on you, don’t you?" Keith asked quietly.

Lance spun back around, lightly grasping Keith by the shoulders. "No. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else." Lance said. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you were happy until you saw it was me."

"Why…" Lance started to ask, but the answer became apparent to him before he could even finish the question. Lance brushed the tips of his fingers lightly across Keith’s cheek. "I’m glad it was you. It’s just…"

"Just what?" Keith prodded. "You can talk to me, you know that."

Lance reached into his pocket and pulled out the music box, handing it to Keith.

"What’s this?" Keith asked, as he looked over the music box with great interest.

"Your Christmas present." Lance said.

"That’s still a couple days away."

"I know but… it’s complicated." Lance said. He prayed that the music the music box played would have the same effect at reviving Keith’s memories as it did his own.

"It doesn’t look complicated…" Keith’s voice trailed off, leaving the rest of the joking words he had been about to say unsaid. He remained silent for a moment. "It’s familiar."

Lance grinned in relief. "I was hoping you’d say that."

Keith wound the music box and lifted the lid.

The soft music sounded so familiar and as he tried to remember the song the music filled him. Memories danced, like leaves on a fall breeze, always twisting and turning, blowing out of his reach.

Lance gently put his hands on Keith’s arms, after Keith had been silent for several minutes. "Keith, are you okay?" his voice was thick with concern.

Keith blinked before looking up from the music box into Lance’s eyes. "What?"

"I asked if you were okay." Lance said. He rubbed Keith’s arms gently in a warming, comforting fashion… even though what he really wanted to do was pull Keith into his arms and never let go.

"Yeah… I just…" Keith shrugged his shoulders as he failed to come up with any sensible words.

"Remembering a place and time you’ve forgot." Lance offered.

Keith just looked at Lance in surprise for a moment, wondering how Lance knew that was what seemed to have happened.

"It’s okay, Keith, it’s nothing to be afraid of." Lance told him as he gently brushed his fingers across Keith’s cheek.

"How do you know?"

"Because the memories of this music box… this song are also my memories." Lance explained. When he noticed that seemed to make Keith even more confused he continued. "From a life we shared together."

Lance took the music box from Keith, and wound the key with several long turns. He set the music box down on a table that was near the balcony doors, and opened the lid. As the music drifted through the breeze he extended a hand out to Keith. "Dance with me."

"What?"

"Dance with me." Lance repeated.

Keith felt as though he should laugh at Lance’s request, any other time the thought of dancing with his best friend would’ve been humourous, but now Lance looked so serious that it made Keith unable to say no. Keith took Lance’s hand.

Lance gently pulled Keith closer, without a word needing to be spoken Lance led the slow dance around the balcony. They held each other close, becoming lost in the beauty of the song. Black eyes met brown as they stared into each other’s eyes, their breathing and the beating of their hearts became like one.

The image of Talvi Noita appeared across the face of the bright full moon for a brief moment, she seemed to be smiling at the two dancing figures. A gentle breeze blew across the sky, then fresh flakes of pure white snow began to gently fall.

The light snow that billowed around Keith and Lance almost seemed to glitter. In the magick of the moment Keith remembered all that he had forgotten.

"We are together again, my love." Keith whispered, before capturing Lance’s lips in a soft, loving kiss.

"And we will never again be apart." Lance whispered once the kiss had broken.

"I love you, Lance."

"I love you too, Keith." Lance leaned his head forward and captured Keith’s lips with his own with a tender kiss, holding Keith close as Keith embraced him.

The two lovers continued to dance slowly to the soft melody of the music, their hearts rejoicing at their rediscovered love and at the knowledge that they were now free to be together.
 
 

~The End~