DISCLAIMER: The characters of The Magnificent Seven do not belong to me. Their legal copyright is in the hands of MGM/Trilogy/Mirisch.
Ezra Standish shivered, pulling the collar of his grey uniform more tightly around his neck, not that it made him any warmer. Nothing but a roof over his head, preferably with a roaring fire, would make him feel warmer, but that wasn't possible now. It might not be possible ever again."What a way to spend Christmas Day," he murmured to his second in command, Andrew Williams.
"It could be worse, sir," the younger soldier replied.
"I fail to see how," Ezra answered, shivering once more, and gratefully accepting the cup of coffee the other man handed to him.
"I can think of many things that we have not had to suffer," Williams said, softly, remembering some of the rumours of other units, with less kind commanders. Men who marched for days in freezing weather with no shoes, men who were beaten into submission, and there were worse atrocities that Williams had heard of.
"I wonder if the other side is thinking of such things," Ezra said thoughtfully, wondering if the Northern soldiers were missing home and family as much as he was. It had been the reason that he had agreed to the Christmas truce...just a few hours to go.
Ezra would miss the silence, he thought.
Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence...
Over Belleau Wood that night...
For a Christmas truce had been declared...
By both sides of the fight...
As we lay there in our trenches...
The silence broke in two...
By a Northern soldier singing...
A song that we all knew...Suddenly, the silence was broken, and not by one of Ezra's men. Ezra was surprised, it sounded like...singing?
Curiously, Ezra moved out of his tent, Williams following him.
"I'll be damned," Ezra whispered, as he realized.
The song was "Silent Night"...
Then I heard my buddy whisper,...
"All is calm and all is bright"...Beside him, Ezra heard Williams whisper the next lines of the song.
Ezra looked into the darkness, trying to see the other soldier, the one who was singing. He could only see that the man was tall, and he thought he was dark- haired, but it was too dark to tell any more. The thought flickered across Ezra's mind that the man could be bald in this light, and he would never know. Then Ezra gathered his courage.
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me...
'Cause I'd die if I was wrong...
But I stood up on my trench...
And I began to sing along...Taking a deep breath, Ezra sang along to the song, finding comfort and peace in the familiar words.
Then across the frozen battlefield...
Another's voice joined in...
Until one by one each man became...
A singer of the hymn...Slowly, as each man on both sides caught the idea, the chorus began to swell, until both companies were caught up in the song. Ezra thrilled to the sound of voices raised in song, wishing for a moment that it could be this way forever, but knowing it couldn't be.
Then I thought that I was dreaming...
For right there in my sight...
Stood the Northern soldier...
'Neath the falling flakes of white...
And he raised his hand and smiled at me...
As if he seemed to say...
Here's hoping we both live...
To see us find a better way...Ezra moved forward, and then, right in front of him was the Northern soldier who had started the song, he just knew it was him, in a way that defied reason and logic. Ezra still couldn't see his face, it was hidden by the uniform hat, but he could see the wide, almost welcoming smile, as the other man raised a hand in a gesture of friendship.
He could hear the other man talking.
"Maybe one day...we'll meet under better circumstances, and you can buy the first whiskey."
"Agreed," Ezra smiled, hoping that would be the case, but knowing it would probably never be.
"Merry Christmas," whispered the other man, and Ezra could hear the despair in his voice.
"Same to you," Ezra whispered back, knowing the despair could be heard in his voice too.
And then it was over.
Ezra wasn't sure the other man had really been there. It seemed impossible to him.
Then Ezra looked at his watch.
Midnight.
A second later, it started again. The truce was over.
Then the devil's clock struck midnight...
And the skies lit up again...
And the battlefield where heaven stood...
Was blown to hell again...It was as if, Ezra would recall later, heaven had visited the battlefield for a moment, then it had turned into hell once more.
Ezra didn't have time to remember that moment of friendship that a soldier had shown him for many days, but later he would recall that moment and wish he could buy the other man that drink.
But for just one fleeting moment...
The answer seemed so clear...
Heaven's not beyond the clouds...
It's just beyond the fear...It had all made sense during that one brief moment when Ezra had been able to go beyond his fears and reach out in friendship.
He had felt a blessing, the knowledge that even in the darkest of circumstances, friendship could still grow and blossom.
No heaven's not beyond the clouds...
It's for us to find it here...And often, after the war ended, at night he would remember those moments of heaven that had taken place in the hell of battle. He remembered the occasion every Christmas with a glass of whiskey, and one for his friend and absent companion. Ezra knew he and the other man would never meet, but he continued the tradition in memory of a time in his life when he had not had much to believe in, and he had found something to believe in for those brief moments.
CHRISTMAS EVE FIVE YEARS LATER: FOUR CORNERS
Ezra was playing poker. Again. Vin Tanner and JD Dunne were watching the game, and clearly had a wager on the outcome themselves. Buck Wilmington was flirting half-heartedly with Inez, Chris Larabee and Mary Travis had their heads together over plans for a gift to Mary's son, Billy, and Nathan Jackson and Josiah Sanchez were talking quietly over drinks at another table.The gambler smiled. Five years ago, he would never have dreamed that he would be in a place like this again. It wasn't the gambling that he enjoyed, although that was an extra pleasure, it was the sense of belonging, of family. He had never had that growing up, and to have it now, well, Ezra finally understood the saying to count one's blessings. He folded the last game. The man he was playing had a family, and he needed the money more than Ezra did. Vin winked at him, he knew damn well that Ezra could have beaten the other man with one hand tied behind his back.
After clearing the table, Ezra spoke to the others.
"I believe that as it is Christmas, ladies and gentlemen, that we should observe tradition and sing some of the lovely carols that are tradition at this time of year. I will play, if Inez will allow me to?"
"Please, senor," Inez indicated the piano that had been hauled to Four Corners at great expense.
Knowing that he was under pain of death if it was not in the same condition when he finished as when he started, Ezra sat down and ran his slender fingers across the keys, coaxing sounds of beauty from them.
There were many songs sung that night, but as midnight struck, Ezra knew he wanted to play one song. In memory of friendship past and in celebration of friendship new.
He began to play the notes, slowly, almost hesitantly. He didn't sing at first, he wanted someone else to start.
To his surprise, he found that he knew the voice. He couldn't turn to see which one it was, it was too much of a shock, but he knew that whoever was singing now had been that Northern soldier. Ezra started to sing, he hoped the other would understand. As he began, the other man faltered, then continued. Ezra felt a presence move behind him, and they continued the song to the end.
Taking a breath, Ezra turned. Buck stood behind him, tears glittering in his blue eyes.
"You?" both said simultaneously, in awe of the powerful forces that had brought them together, so many years later.
The others, not understanding, but knowing that something was going on, waited in silence.
"Well, who'd have ever thought that we would meet again this way," Ezra said, when he finally had some control over his voice.
"I believe you owe me a drink," Buck replied, his voice shaky.
"A debt I will more than glad to honour," Ezra replied.
"What's going on?" JD asked.
Buck and Ezra exchanged amused smiles, knowing that they had much to explain.
They did, and Inez poured Buck the whiskey Ezra had promised him long ago.
As the others took their leave, Buck and Ezra stayed, talking, remembering, re-affirming their friendship old and new.
"I still can't believe this," Ezra murmured, as they talked, reminiscing about the war, and that night, so long ago.
"You could have knocked me over with a feather," Buck agreed.
"To think, we met so long ago, in such circumstances, and here we are now…"
"Destiny, perhaps?"
'Not of the kind I would wish it to be, but yes, I think so,' Ezra thought. Aloud, he said, "Perhaps Mr Wilmington, perhaps."
Buck looked once more at the man sitting across from him, the lush mouth, the green eyes that he longed to see darken with passion, the sheer beauty of the man, and he knew he had to take the chance now. He might never have the nerve again.
Then he saw it, and he grinned, for he knew, there was a way to do this without giving himself away in case Ezra wasn't interested in him, or men.
"Ezra, I just noticed somethin'. You're under the mistletoe."
'Oh, hell,' Ezra thought, then said, "I believe I am, Mr Wilmington. It is a pity Inez and Mary have left."
"We'll just have to…improvise," Buck murmured softly.
Ezra was trying to think of an excuse to get out of there now, but he couldn't think of one.
"How shall we do that?" Ezra asked.
"Well, you're supposed to forfeit a kiss to someone else in the room. There's only you and I in the room. So I can kiss you. If you don't have a problem with that."
"Problem? I guess not..." Ezra couldn't believe this was happening. He had to get out of this as soon as he could, and if he had to let Buck kiss him to do so, he would. At least he would have that memory.
Buck pulled Ezra into his arms, feeling the heat of the smaller man's body. He captured Ezra's gaze, and murmured, knowing he was opening himself up too far, but unable to help it, "I think I've wanted this since that Christmas night five years ago..." and he covered Ezra's lips with his. Ezra's lips opened under Buck's, and the kiss deepened. Ezra moved a hand down to cup one of Buck's buttocks as he ground himself into the other man.
They drew apart when the need for breath overwhelmed the need for contact. Passion-darkened blue eyes gazed into equally darkened green.
Buck spoke first. "This wasn't just a 'mistletoe kiss', was it, Ezra?"
"No," Ezra whispered.
"Come to my room?"
"Please..." Ezra murmured, slipping an arm around Buck's waist.
"Do you think," Buck sounded hesitant, "That maybe our meeting all those years ago was destiny?"
"I can't think of any other reason, Buck," Ezra replied as they walked up the stairs, united at last.
FINIS
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