Twelve days before Christmas, Lucy gave Juvia an ornament for the tree in the shape of a ripe, red pear. At Juvia's confused look she explained that the tradition for her family was that there would always be a pear hiding among the branches and it moved from night to night until Christmas. Juvia smiled and suggested that they should continue the tradition. Soon after, when Lucy left the room, Juvia placed it on the very bare tree. As there were only lights on it, the blonde girl had no problem spotting it when she returned with hot cocoa and sugar cookies.
Christmas together was off to a good start. They had planned a new tradition for their first winter. Beginning twelve days before Christmas, they would add a different kind of ornament to the tree, and they got to take turns choosing what the decoration would be. The person choosing the decoration also got to choose a special holiday treat for them to enjoy.
On the second day, Juvia gave Lucy a pair of tiny bears dressed to match their outfits in this year's Christmas card. Lucy was delighted with them and added them to the tree. The pear had moved again, but there was still no difficulty spotting it while eating torrone and wedding cookies. Juvia had chosen treats the color of snow to match the background of their card.
The next day Juvia unwrapped three oranges with cloves arranged around them in geometric patterns. They added a lovely spicy citrus scent to the fresh pine when they were placed on the tree. Lucy had warm cinnamon and clove cookies with a citrus punch for them that night. Though the tree now had lights, bears, and oranges the red pear was still too easily spotted.
For the fourth day, Juvia placed four blue jay ornaments on the green boughs. "It's for the blue you bring to my gray skies," she told Lucy. Lucy couldn't help but blush, especially after opening the dark blue box labeled Baci Perugina and reading love note after note.
The fifth day of Christmas found Juvia unboxing five large, golden crystal globes. They were heavy, and Juvia was worried about them falling off or breaking.
"Put them back toward the center," Lucy advised.
"But they can't be seen very well if they're in the middle," Juvia squeaked.
"But they'll reflect the lights and we'll still be able to see them," Lucy assured her.
When they sat on the couch drinking hot cider and munching on gingerbread cookies Juvia had to admit that they brought another dimension of shine and sparkle to the tree.
The next evening, Lucy opened a small treasure chest to find six sunbleached sand dollars and other sea shells that she and Juvia had found on their last trip to the beach. Juvia had drilled holes in them and threaded silky, sea blue chords through them. The half dozen white and blue bracelets added a tropical touch to the tree as they put them on the branches. Every time Lucy looked at them she smiled remembering the trip to Levanzo.
Lucy surprised Juvia with a shiny black box with red velvet lining on the seventh evening. Inside were seven glass birds with long, graceful necks.
"Lucy, they're beautiful, but aren't swans usually white?" Juvia asked.
"Black swans are from Australia and when the Europeans first saw them they couldn't believe they were real," Lucy said with a gentle smile. "It's similar to our relationship, it's beautiful and powerful, but maybe not exactly what people are expecting when they see us together."
Juvia smiled back at her and carefully placed the swans so that they swam gracefully through the branches. That evening as they ate mostaccioli cookies and sat on the couch Lucy had a little more difficulty finding the pear among the branches, but finally she found it.
Juvia seemed to be less certain of her ornament choice for the eighth night, but she needn't have worried. When Lucy unwrapped the goldfish bowl and found eight dazzling mermaids swimming through blue cellophane she laughed in delight. Their first date had been to see a production of The Little Mermaid, and the glittery scales on these ornaments were so reminiscent of the dancers' costumes that Lucy was instantly transported back to that time.
Lucy's ornaments on her next turn referenced the performance they had last attended, one that was much more recent. Nine miniature pairs of dance shoes were placed on the tree as they ate marzipan soldiers and bon bons listening to the music of the Nutcracker Suite.
Ten cinnamon scented pinecones with purple bows were Juvia's next choice. When asked why Juvia had chosen these particular ornaments, she admitted that she just wanted something to go with the pignoli cookies she had selected for the evening. Seeing Lucy's confusion, Juvia explained that pignoli cookies were also called pine nut cookies, and they were her favorite especially at this time of year. Lucy hadn't had pine nuts before, but the soft, little buttery bites won her over.
Lucy's last ornament choice was heard before it was seen. Juvia gently shook the green box before her and could hear a faint tinkling sound. When she opened it she found clusters of tiny silver bells ready to be hung on the tree with red bows. Lucy left to get tonight's treat, which was actually quite rich, fruitcake and eggnog, and Juvia took the opportunity to move the pear once more.
Christmas Eve found Lucy sitting with a dozen small, flat, white boxes in her lap. As she opened the first she found a cluster of brass stars nestled in tissue paper. She gingerly picked up the ornament.
"Taurus?" Lucy asked reverently.
"Yes, open up another one, Lucy," Juvia was eagerly watching the blonde girl's face
Tears welled up in Lucy's eyes as she held up Scorpio, then Gemini, then another constellation and another. It ended with her holding aloft Aquarius. Memories of stargazing with her mother joined with the evenings spent under the stars teaching Juvia the stories that accompanied each shining assemblage. Such precious moments had been perfectly captured with these golden stars.
Once the star charts had been placed on the tree, the North Star was added to the very top. They sat back to observe their work with slices of panettone and cups of strong coffee.
The tree was absolutely them! Here was a mermaid swimming with a swan, and over there golden light reflected onto the shells from the beach. The scent of pine, citrus, cinnamon, and clove mingled with the aroma of Arabian coffee and sweet bread. Anywhere Lucy looked she saw reminders of the woman next to her. Juvia couldn't help but smile as her eyes flitted from ornament to ornament. It wasn't a traditional tree by any stretch if the imagination. It was covered with more than mere red, green, and gold. It was full of color, vibrancy and life!
Eventually Juvia took their plates into the kitchen and rejoined Lucy on the couch, quilt in hand. They snuggled together under the blanket, looking at the tree as carols played in the background.
"Do you think we'll be able to stay up long enough to see Santa?" Juvia asked with a yawn.
"Surely your last double espresso should be keeping you wide awake," Lucy jested.
Juvia yawned again.
"Normally it would be," she agreed, "but it's been a very long week and Juvia is simply exhausted."
She nuzzled her face into Lucy's shoulder trying to get more comfortable.
Lucy moved her arm around Juvia's shoulders and began stroking her silky blue hair.
"What did you ask Santa to bring you?" Lucy asked quietly in Juvia's ear.
"Nothing," was the hushed reply.
"Nothing?" Lucy asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"Juvia has everything she needs right here," Juvia murmured as she hugged Lucy closer.
Lucy smiled as she placed a kiss on the crown of Juvia's head.
"Me, too," she breathed into the satiny strands.
Their soft snores soon filled the room as peace descended on the world.