LEX put his jacket on in record timing, sticking his key into his bag. He swung his bag onto his shoulder and dashed out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. Isabel followed on his heels as he stormed down the stairs, the wind howling ominously in the background.

He hardly slowed down as he burst onto the street, despite the fact that he could barely see three feet in front of him. The storm had sprung on them faster than a streak of lighting, and a glance at the sky told Lex that Mother Nature could very well be planning to throw some lightning bolts into the mix.

"LEVI!" he shouted, his voice whipped around by the wind as he struggled forwards. His jacket was flapping in the strong winds, and Isabel's ears were flattened backwards as she forced her way through the ankle-deep snow.

The snow crunched beneath his sneakers, and Lex was already starting to wish that he'd worn boots instead, as small doses of crushed snow infiltrated his socks and melted against his hot skin. His sneakers were becoming more soaked by the second, and there was still no sign of Levi.

"LEVI!" he hollered again, pausing to listen for a reaction. Isabel perked up as a strange echo came back to them.

"...MIE!"

"There's no 'm' in 'Levi'," Lex frowned to himself, heading in the direction that the odd cry had come from. Isabel trotted along behind him, a disgusted look plastered on her face as her paws quickly became as wet as Lex's sneakers.

"LEVI!" Lex shouted once more, and this time the answer came slightly clearer.

"JAMIE!"

There was a pause, and then.

"NEALL!?"

Realization dawned on Lex seconds before the owner of the voice came into sight.

"Lexon?"

Lexon stopped short in surprise.

"Lex! Fancy meeting you here. Say, you don't happen to have seen Jamie and Neall around, have you? They were supposed to be home by now, but I fear they've gotten entangled in this amateur snowstorm."

Lex chuckled softly.

"Nice to see you too, Lexon. I saw the twins earlier this afternoon, they were having a snowball fight somewhere around here. We could search together -- I'm looking for Levi, he was with them earlier."

Lexon grinned broadly.

"Sounds superb. Which way, Lex?"

They both fell silent at the sound of a high-pitched shriek, followed by peals of laughter.

"I say we follow the sound of chionophobia and go from there," Lex suggested dryly.

"Ohhh, fear of snow, I like it!" Lexon smirked, and they walked into the direction of the ongoing laughter, Isabel trailing along behind them.

"Ahhh, I'll get you back for that, Tim!" a young voice shouted.

"Hah, I'd like to see you try!" another hollered back, followed by a squeal and a triumphant "hah, you missed!"

"Wait, where's Neall?" another voice asked.

"BEHIND YOU!" a fourth speaker exclaimed, once again resulting in incessant giggling only interrupted by intermittent joyful screams.

Lex and Lexon both came to a halt as they reach a lull in the storm, the shelter of a tall apartment block making it possible for them to see slightly further ahead of them, although flurries of snow were still all over the place.

Throughout this small not-clear clearing were scattered five teenage boys, each more snow-covered than the last, hurling snowballs at one another. Jamie was chasing Tim in circles, tossing handfuls of snow at him in a pitiful attempt at revenge. Luke was trying to get the snow out of his hair where Neall had attacked him, and Levi was building a fort that he could use as fallback position.

"Lexon, hold my bag," Lex instructed, pressing his bag into a stunned Lexon's hands before marching towards Levi.

"LEVI RICHARDS!" he thundered with a voice loud enough to rival his brother's annoying bellows, and Levi froze in surprise, before grinning broadly.

"Lex!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide like Tony Stark at a weapons exposition, "look at all this snow!"

"You're going to catch a cold, Levi," Lex answered, pulling his jacket slightly tighter as tiny snowflakes crept into his collar.

"Awww come on Lex, don't be such a spoilsport," Levi pouted, "why don't you join in? You were pretty good this afternoon, it's not often that anyone manages to hit the twins."

"Not now," Lex answered, pivoting on his heel and starting back towards the apartment.

He had barely taken three steps when a ball of freezing snow hit his neck, collapsing on impact and sliding down his collar.

Lex swore.

"TAKE COVER!" Jamie shouted, diving into Levi's half-finished fort.

"And watch your language," Tim added, wrinkling his nose.

Lex stood absolutely still, complete shock written all over his face as the snow melted, sending shivers down his back. He made eye contact with Lexon, who put Lex's bag down against a lamppost and crouched to the ground, gathering a handful of snow and squeezing in into a compact ball.

"Lex?" Levi called out hesitantly, peeking over the wall of his fort, "are... are you alright?"

He had barely finished his sentence when three snowballs crashed into him, and as he wiped the snow out of his eyes he was met with the sight of Lex and Lexon standing side by side, smirking triumphantly. Lex casually threw the snowball he was holding in his right hand into the air, before catching it again.

"You're going to regret that one, Levi," he grinned.

-

TWO HOURS LATER

"That was... surprisingly fun," Lex decided, stirring his hot chocolate as he sat on the couch, huddled in a cocoon of at least three blankets.

"Yeah, it was," Levi agreed with a smile.

There was a silence.

"Hey, Lex?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Haha," Levi rolled his eyes.

"Well, did you have a question or not?"

"Um... yeah," Levi scratched his neck nervously, "um... you don't have to answer if you don't want to..."

Lex raised one eyebrow.

"Cut to the chase, Richards."

"I umm... you said you had a cat, right?"

"Yessss...?"

"How... how come I've never seen it?"

Lex's gaze automatically flickered to the top of the bookshelf, where Isabel was watching him with interest, her tail swishing from side to side.

You're on your own for this one, her eyes seemed to say.

"She's uh... she's a bit shy," Lex shrugged, "I'll... I'll explain some other time."

Levi tilted his head in curiosity, but didn't press further. Instead, he took a sip of his own hot chocolate, emptying the mug and setting it down on the coffee table.

"Well, I think I'm going to bed," he excused himself, standing up, "goodnight, Lex."

"Goodnight Levi," Lex smiled slightly, watching the teenager trudge to his room and shut the door behind him.

Then he turned his gaze to his hot chocolate, studying his vague reflection in the dark brown liquid. Levi's question had reminded him of something. Something Lex had been -- and still was -- trying to forget.

As he slowly stirred his hot chocolate, the distorted reflections seemed to shimmer into a different scene, one from many, many years before...

-

[FLASHBACK]

"Come on Lex, come help me!" Marshall shouted, before bursting into a fit of giggles as their father tickled him.

Mr London let out a fearsome roar, pretending to attack Marshall and falling to the floor in mock-defeat as Marshall leapt onto his shoulder.

Lex stayed motionless behind the window, watching without any enthusiasm.

"Are you alright, Lex?" a soft voice from behind him asked.

"I'm fine, mom," Lex replied, although his cold demeanour cracked slightly at the genuine concern in her voice.

Two arms enveloped him from behind, pulling his sixteen-year-old self into a hug.

"You're allowed to mourn, you know."

Lex bit on his lip, acutely aware of the tears that threatened to spill onto his cheeks.

"She's gone, you have to admit that to yourself," his mother's voice whispered softly, "sometimes, crying helps."

Lex turned around, burying his head into his mother's warm hug.

"Why did she have to die?" he whispered hoarsely, his throat feeling dry as all the moisture in his body built up behind his eyes.

"I don't know, honey. But there's nothing we can do to change it. Tauriel would've wanted you to be happy, right?"

Lex sniffed softly at the mental image of the black cat, Tauriel, but nodded.

"I'm not saying you should forget her," his mother continued softly, "I'm saying you should mourn her properly, and always keep her with you in your heart, but you also need to move on. Tauriel wouldn't want you to become depressed."

Lex nodded, the heavy feeling in his chest lifting slightly he buried himself deeper into his mother's hug.

"Isabel!" his father's voice thundered down the passage, and Lex's mother hug loosened, leaving only her hands resting lightly on his shoulders.

"Yes, Robert?"

"I came to take Lex off your hands so you can start on supper."

Lex slipped out of his mother's grasp adroitly, dashing up the stairs before either of his parents could stop him. He stomped to the top of the stairs, and then tip-toed down again silently, listening along to his parents' conversation.

"...a little bit of wrestling will do him good, it'll get his mind off things!"

"Robert, you know that's not his style."

"It's only not his style because he's never tried it."

"He has, Robert, and he came home with a broken nose, remember?"

"Exactly! He needs to learn how to defend himself!"

"I'll see if I can get him on karate or something. But for now, you should give him a break, Robert. He's really torn up about Tauriel."

Robert London shook his head.

"I just don't get it! She was just a cat, right?"

Isabel London smiled.

"That's exactly the problem, honey. For Lex, Tauriel was more than just a cat."

"If you say so," Robert grumbled, before letting out a ragged sigh, "I just can't say I understand, but I know you know what you're talking about."

"I love you honey," Isabel smiled.

"Love you too, sweetheart," Robert replied.

Lex turned and clambered up the stairs so he wouldn't have to watch them kissing, alone with his thoughts once more, although his mother's hug lingered on his senses, calming his raging thoughts.

When Tauriel died, his mother was there to comfort him.

When his mother died... there was no-one.