Hello, and welcome to...well, wait...this isn't any usual story…

Oh yeah, what day is it? *Checks calendar* Hmm...it seems to be Christmas Eve over here…

Anyways, since I had done a Halloween chapter last year for Project GS (the FNaF one, in case you didn't remember), I figured that I'd do another holiday-themed one. Since I have two series that both are affiliated with the world of Witches and Neuroi, I figured that it was a good time to try making a story to actually bridge the gap a bit.

And so...this was made.

Now, I do want to give a fair warning: this isn't exactly the best quality I could have made it in. I had originally wanted to make a parody of my own concerning "The Night Before Christmas", but...I dunno, I figured that I needed to find a way to do it without getting complaints, so until I knew how I wasn't going to chance it. And so...this was made. As such, this is somewhat rushed with about a week of work plus some time before publishing. I still did take the time to go over it myself once more before I put this up, but apart from that, there isn't much else I can do. Especially since I chose to do the look-see on my own to make sure even my beta readers/friends can enjoy this one-shot themselves without being spoiled by having read it over. So...remember those classic Christmas movies with stop-motion (you know, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and others like it?)? Well, I think they were stop-motion; they do look like it.

Anyways, the point is that think of it like those only a bit more...cheesy? Cheap? I dunno…

Anyways (again), I present to you guys...the one-shot for Christmas! Take it away, Lio!

...What? Are we supposed to do something?

Just start the chapter.

Um...don't we need to do the disclaimer?

…*BEEP*...okay, what's with the censoring?

Just a precaution.

Anyways, here's the disclaimer, performed by Lio.

*clears throat* Disclaimer: The author does not own anything related to Strike Witches. The only thing he owns are the characters created for both his Strike Heroes and Witches of Gamindustri series. Everything else is owned by their respective owners.

XXXXXXXXXX

Christmas Celebration

Christmas morning for Roland used to simply consist of a quiet morning, nothing to wake him up apart from things like Neuroi sightings in the vicinity or a special someone waking him up for some time.

"Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!"

...Oh, how much people miss the old days sometimes…

"I'm up, Rocky…" Roland groaned as he opened his eyes slowly and was soon looking into the face of one of his more energetic children. "I'm up…" He then propped himself up on his left elbow and looked at his eldest son. Roquefort, or as his nickname suggested "Rocky", seemed to have adopted his father's hair as well as his eye color. Well, his natural eye color of brown (since Operation Mars, Roland's left eye had been a dark red as a result of what had happened). "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, daddy," Roquefort said cheerfully. "But it's Christmas morning! It's time to open presents!"

Roland stared at the clock he and Minna had gotten for the room, simply hanging on the wall, and saw that it was about five in the morning. "Rocky, it's...five in the morning…"

"I know, but I couldn't go back to sleep! I'm just...so excited, you know?"

Roland groaned as he laid back down, on his back, and contemplated his options. On the one hand, he could get up so that he could keep his son company until everyone else got up, but...apparently, it took until about midnight to even get the energetic boy into his bed (a feat Roland could only attribute to "the Christmas cheer" as being the reason he stayed up so long. That, or it was for the traditional "trying to catch a sight of Santa" event kids seem to do whenever they could). And even then, Roland had to read a bedtime story for him while Minna and another of their children helped get presents under the tree.

So...go back to sleep and try catching about two more hours of sleep or stay up until some time after opening the presents and then taking a nap?

...Actually, wasn't there something important that was going to happen today?

Roland groaned once more before he sat up.

"Alright, Rocky," he said. "I'm up."

"Yay!" Roquefort shouted with glee. "I can open presents now!"

Roland patted his son's head gently. "Not yet, my boy...not yet. You know we have to wait for your mother and sisters to wake up before we do that." He then slid out of bed and set his feet on the cold wood flooring. Roland had gone to bed in a pair of dark green sweats as well as a black T-shirt along with black socks covering his feet. "Go wait in the living room. And don't start opening presents, alright?"

"Okay, daddy." Rocky went off to go do just that.

"Man, kinda miss that sort of energy…"

You still have us, Lionelis, Roland's core, said.

Not what I meant, Lio… Roland replied mentally. I mean, I wished I still had that sort of youthful energy.

Oh. You still have some, but...to be fair, someone of your age isn't exactly supposed to be as spry as a six-year-old.

Rub it in some, why don't ya…

It's what we do.

"Roland, honey?" Minna's voice sounded off as the former Neuroi Witch turned to look at his wife. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Roland replied with a small smile. "Everything's fine."

"...Rocky again?"

Roland sighed. "Yeah, Rocky."

"I think it's a bit...cute that he's so energetic this time of year. His sisters were about the same way when they were his age."

"True...still, he is going to grow up at some point. I'm already worried about my girls getting boyfriends...and Rosalina's barely finishing up her...changes…I think."

Minna turned herself around to face Roland, her red eyes looked into his brown/dark red ones. "You know, you can say it around me. No need to change it to be sensitive. After all, you used to say the strangest things."

Still do, Lionelis quipped.

"Shut up, Lio…" Roland said as he gave off a groan.

"Like that," Minna said, pointing it out.

Roland sighed. "Rosalina's barely here for some time with family this season, like she tries doing every year. I'd imagine that most of her team's with theirs."

"...What does that have to do with watching your little girls grow up?"

"...Actually, I dunno…"

Example of going off on a sort of tangent. Lionelis said before a small bell went off in Roland's head.

"Don't do that again...please…" Roland then stood up. "Alright, I've got to keep Rocky occupied. You get some more sleep, alright, dear?"

"Alright…" Minna said as she turned back around. "You don't want any help?"

"I think I can handle Rocky by myself...I hope…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Minna opened her eyes once again about a few hours later and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"I wonder how Roland's handling our son…" she mused to herself as she got onto her feet. Dressed in a red nightgown, Minna stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "Krawatte, are you alright?" She felt something in her gut move a bit. "I see. I kinda figured you'd be."

She then looked back at the time she had leading up to now.

She would have thought it had been impossible to have the life she had after losing Kurt, if not very difficult, but being with Roland seemed to have been an adventure for the both of them.

In fact, she never really believed that she'd be here quite so soon, but...about two years after liberating Karlsland, things started happening. Gertrud had her daughter, Elisabeth, and about a year later Charlotte and Draco had their son Leo. Roland had proposed to her sometime after Gertrud gave birth, and about two years later she had the first of their children, Rosalina.

Now, about twelve years after Rosalina, they now had a second daughter, Roxanne, now aged ten, and then a son, Roquefort, currently six.

Minna sniffed the air and could pick up the faint smell of pancakes.

"Huh...Roland must have made some pancakes…" the redhead said to herself as she relaxed. Finding a pair of slippers she left by her bedside, she put them on and made her way downstairs, where she found a strange sight…

"Hey, mom!" Roxanne called out, sitting on her father, who had somehow been hogtied. She seemed to be dressed in a pair of blue jeans as well as a red T-shirt, and her red eyes looked at her mother from behind red hair. "We caught a wild dad!"

"...Roland?" Minna tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Why are you…?"

"I...have no idea anymore…" Roland said as he stared at his wife. Well, as best as his current position would let him. "One minute, I was keeping Rocky busy, and the next he and Roxanne got me like this."

"...When did we teach them how to hogtie someone?"

"You have me there. Lio says that they're probably doing it because the author willed it or something."

"Really now?"

It doesn't help that only two people can hear us… Lionelis pointed out. Well, them, and anyone who's reading this.

"Roxxy?" Rosalina's voice called out as she poked her head out of the kitchen. "It's nice and all that you have dad hogtied at the moment, but can you please untie him? Pancakes are done, and I don't think he wants to try eating like a dog. Literally."

You'd be surprised how your father would handle that sort of thing, Rosalina.

"Yeah, Lio. I'm well aware of that. Hey, mom, you up?"

"Yes, Rosalina," Minna told her. "Pancakes, right?"

"Yep."

"Alright. Let me help get your father untied, and then we'll come eat."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Huh?" Roland asked as the Sage family were busy eating breakfast, which was, of course, pancakes. "The others are coming?"

"Yes," Minna told him as she took a small bite of her food. "I was pretty sure I told you about two weeks ago."

"I know that. I mean, Gertrud brings Lili over here, and Erica has her family come over sometimes, but...the others?"

"From my understanding, Perrine is bringing her family over here. Same thing for the Dracons. They had been planning on it for quite some time. Let's see...Miyafuji was bringing Lynne and Hikari over. Then there's Eila and Sanya...and I think Lucchini said something about it. Then again, her birthday was yesterday, so it might not help. Mio also expressed interest, so I believe she'll make it."

"Oh. What about Heidemarie and Shizuka?"

"I think they will be joining us."

"Oh. So...when are they supposed to be coming over again?"

"Around...five?"

"Oh. So it's about nine now...so we have less than eight hours. At least it's not that bad. Hopefully the others had time to open their gifts." Roland the blinked. "Hold on!" He then counted on his fingers. "So...Yoshika...Lynne...Hikari...Perrine's and Shirley's families, that's three...Eila and Sanya...have to add their children...carry the Lucchini, Mio, and the others…" He then balked. "W-What?! That's about the size of my family celebrations during the holidays back in my world!"

The other family members stared at Roland.

"...Mommy, what's daddy talking about?" Roquefort asked.

"It's...complicated," Rosalina said uncertainly. From her memories, she recalled that her father had told her when she was a bit younger about how he ended up being in their world. Like, when she was first recruited for the Karlsland army. At first, she was unsure about it seeing as she had spent the last ten years of her life at the time looking up to her father. Then when he and her mother told her about it...she had taken it poorly at the time. In fact, she nearly missed her pick-up time. It took Gertrud, who had been called over by Minna, to talk to her "niece" about it, and just before Rosalina left to go, she hugged her father.

"Oh."

"Anyways, I know Alex had said something about it some time before I left to come here. Leo as well."

"I see…" Roland said slowly. "Well, still not too bad...I hope someone at least brings something to help with dinner…"

"We'll handle that when we get there," Minna told him.

"Well, better get dinner started."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Alright…" Roland said as he, Minna, and Rosalina stared at the table, which had gotten a lot of food placed on it. "Let's make sure we got everything...we have the ham?"

"Done," Minna told him, pointing to said ham. "I dealt with that myself."

"Alright. Um...vegetables?"

"We have green beans," Rosalina added. "We also have mashed potatoes and chicken-flavored gravy."

"Can't forget the chicken we made to help with feeding the others. Biscuits?"

"Yep."

"Hmm...anything else?"

"Not that I can think of, no…"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"What time is it?" Minna asked her husband and daughter.

"It's about…" Roland reflexively looked at his left wrist before realizing that he didn't have his watch on. "Aw, crap…"

"Language, Roland. We don't need Rocky learning that word just yet."

"True. Sorry about that."

"It should be about four in the afternoon right now," Rosalina said as she stepped out of the kitchen a bit and found a clock hanging in the living room.

"Rocky, Roxanne, could you be a dear and get the door please?" Minna asked the other two.

"Yes, mom/mommy!" Roxanne and Roquefort both replied with their titles for Minna before they went to the door. Opening it, they found…

"Hello!"

"Huh?" Roland asked as he and the girls stepped out of the kitchen and looked at the front door. Standing there were Gertrud and her daughter Elisabeth. Both seemed to be carrying something in their arms. "Gertrud? Lili? Why are you here so early?"

"We wanted to try giving a hand with finishing up for the feast," Gertrud said as she and Elisabeth entered the house, coming into the kitchen to put down their food. "Anyways, Lili and I brought some dessert. Some apple pie and some tarts."

"Ah. Let me guess: you meticulously measured the ingredients?"

Gertrud puffed out her chest a bit. "Of course! What, you think just because I haven't been a part of the Karlsland armed forces for around fourteen years means that I slacked off on discipline?"

"...Maybe? I mean, it's just some tarts and an apple pie, right?"

"No, these are tarts and an apple pie that have exactly the right amount of ingredients."

"Must have been a headache for you then, Trude," Minna said before chuckling.

Gertrud blushed a bit before she replied with, "I-It was, Minna…"

"And there's the Gertrud who softened up quite a bit once she left the military," Roland said, earning a smack against his right shoulder. "Ow."

"Speak for yourself, Roland. You're about the same as ever."

"Actually...I'm a bit more insane nowadays. What with Lio and raising three children around here."

"Hey, Cousin Lili?" Roxanne asked Elisabeth. "Wanna play something?"

"Hmm?" Elisabeth asked as she looked to her left and found Roxanne pulling against her military jacket. "Oh, hey, Roxxy." She knelt down to meet the girl's level. "I wanted to talk with your parents and older sister a bit, but I'll be over soon, alright?"

"Okay." Roxanne left to go find Roquefort as Elisabeth stood up, a huge blush on her face.

"You alright, Lili?" Rosalina asked.

"Y-Yeah, Rosalina," the flustered girl said quickly. "How have you been?"

"Well, it's been awhile since I left the base."

"I s-see…"

"Why do I have a distinct feeling that this seems really familiar?" Roland asked as he, Minna, and Gertrud watched the two interact.

"Are you implying that I used to act like that?" Gertrud asked the former Neuroi Witch.

"Not really, but...you don't exactly help your case with Chris, Sanya, and Yoshika."

Gertrud blushed slightly. "I was not that bad with Miyafuji or Sanya!"

"You always were a big siscon, Trude~!" a new, very familiar voice called out.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Roland felt someone jump on his back, and when he looked behind him, he found Erica latched there.

"Erica?!" he blurted out.

"Where have you been?" Minna asked, curious.

"I was just waiting at the front door when your son let me in," Erica told them. "And then I heard you three discussing Trude's sisterly side, so I came over to say hi!"

"...Really?!" Roland asked, stunned.

"Well...that, and Trude and Lili needed someone to get them over here."

"Hey!" Gertrud and Elisabeth both said at the same time. "I am not that bad at driving!"

"Alright, alright…" Erica waved her hands dismissively. "Besides, Lili doesn't really drive right now, so that was weird…"

"Like mother, like daughter?" Roland tried.

"Speaking of...hey, Rosalina?"

"What is it, Aunt Erica?" Rosalina asked the woman.

"When Lili starts driving, let me know how she fares, alright? Also, be careful when riding with her."

"...Alright…"

"I seriously doubt that Lili's going to have as much trouble as I do with driving," Gertrud stated. "I'm no longer having problems with it..."

"Who are you kidding? You still do!" Roland retorted.

"Oh yeah? Name one time I did that badly!"

"You somehow managed to drive up a vertical wall! And that's something normally done only in cartoons!"

"You dummkoph! That's just exaggerating!"

"It certainly felt like it going up the hill!"

"Okay, you two," Minna said, being the voice of reason. "Calm down. It's Christmas Day, so no arguing. Even if Trude does have a tendency to do things like that."

"That's not helping, Minna~" Gertrud whined.

"Ah, right," Roland said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Forgot that I don't want to make myself look like a donkey in front of the kids."

"Speaking of, where are the kids and your husband, Hartmann?"

"Oh, they're going to come by," Erica told them. "They're over at Ursula's right now. We were over there to spend some of Christmas Day with her, but I had to leave early to come here with you two in tow."

"You make it sound like we're dead weight…" Gertrude groaned.

"Not necessarily."

"Anyways, don't you need to go get them?" Roland asked.

Erica snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! It'll be a while to get back." She then darted out the door. "I'll be back, kiddos!"

"...How does she have that energy still?"

"You'd be surprised…" Gertrud told him.

"Alright then...anyways, let's get to opening presents then."

"Hey, I thought you would have opened them earlier."

"We...kinda got caught up with making food, so I asked the younger ones to wait until we got done so that our attention was there."

"Oh…" Gertrud then realized something. "Lili! The presents are in the trunk of Hartmann's car, right?"

"Yeah," Elisabeth told her. "But didn't Aunt Erica…?"

"...Verdammt…"

"It's not she's coming back later, Trude," Minna said. "Why don't we relax and watch the kids open theirs?"

"Alright. Better than nothing, I suppose."

XXXXXXXXXX

7 p.m.

"Alright," Rosalina said as she sat on her bed, looking at a small box she had sitting on her lap. "So...this is from dad…" She then shook it around a bit. "I should have opened it when I was out in the living room, but...I dunno what it is. Is it a badge or something?" She heard nothing, so she shook her head.

"Hey, Ro?" a voice asked from her doorway.

"Hmm?" Rosalina looked and saw one of her teammates, Alexandre-Henri Renaudat, standing there. "Oh. Alex. What are you doing here?"

"Your father asked me to come and check up on you," Alexandre said. "That, and I was a bit worried as well. Roxanne and Rocky seemed to be as well."

"Oh. It's nothing, really."

"Oh? And why are you holding a gift still?"

"This?" Rosalina raised up the box. "It's my dad's present to me."

"I see. Mother did note that he wasn't wearing his watch like he usually did, but...he kinda just shook it off as having kept it in his and Missus Sage's room."

"Ah. That does seem strange. When I've seen him, he usually wore it on his left wrist."

"Precisely." He then glanced at the bed. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure." Alexandre came in and took a seat next to her. "Anyways...what are the others doing?"

"Well, Hikari and Lili are busy playing with your siblings. Leo, I believe, is with them, and our parents and their friends are busy discussing the past or something. Honestly, I've heard quite a bit of tales from Mother."

"Yeah, same here, to be honest." Rosalina sighed. "I dunno...I want to be like my dad and mom, but...at the same time I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to be able to use the Neuroi core inside me, but Dad told me that I might never be able to use it even though I have one as well. But I also know that I want to keep his and Mom's legacy going and not depend on the core."

"I see…" Alexandre sighed this time. "I sometimes wish for the same thing, you know. Mother was so amazing when she flew, and when she wasn't fighting she was able to help her country heal. But I also know that I can't just do what Mother did. I want to...to make my own path. Be my own person but still keep my old habits."

"Oh." Rosalina looked at the present. "I'm still not sure...I don't mind making that path, but...what kind of person would I find myself being by the time I finish going down it? Would I even know who I am by then?"

"I can't tell you. And I'm pretty sure our parents would say the same thing. Maybe we should just travel down it and see what happens."

Rosalina nodded her head. "Alright, I don't want to make this any more sappy, otherwise Lio might tease me about it. Anyways…" She opened the present and reached in, pulling out a smaller box, this time not wrapped. "...huh?" Opening that one, she found herself looking at a rather odd-looking watch that looked like it had seen better days. On closer inspection, she found it to be more like… "It's...dad's watch…" Sure enough, staring at her with its "face" was the watch her father had used. She was reminded of the tales he used to tell the children about it, but...why did he give it to her?

"Looks like something's in the box as well," Alexandre said as he pulled out a small piece of paper. "Hmm…" He read it over and then handed it to Rosalina. "I think you should read it, Rosalina…"

"Let me see…" Rosalina took it from him, holding the watch in her left hand as her right hand held the paper. "'Dear Rosalina, you might have been wondering by now why, of all the things I could give to you for Christmas, I chose to hand you this old watch of mine. Well, I really have no need of it anymore. Back then, I used to be able to activate my Striker Unit while I wore it when I needed to, but now that I'm getting older the idea of flying just doesn't seem to appeal to me anymore. Raising a family of fine children with a loving spouse does that to you after some time. Of course, I once thought of giving my watch to my child, even if he or sh couldn't use it. So I chose this: I, your father, am giving this watch, along with the Striker Unit attached to it, to you, Rosalina. I don't know if you can use the Unit or not, but I do know that I am passing the torch, so to speak. Make good use of this when you end up using the Unit, and regardless please don't forget that you're never alone when fighting. Age quod agis. Signed, your father...Roland Sage, Neuroi Witch'." Rosalina then lowered the paper and stared at Alexandre in shock. "I'm not really sure if I can have this…"

"I think your father is entrusting it to good hands, Ro," the Gallian boy told her. "Try it on."

"Right…" Rosalina dropped the piece of paper and fastened the watch around her wrist, buckling it to make sure it fit nicely. She found it to be a bit loose but figured that she would be able to grow into it more. If not by much. "How does it look?"

"It looks fine on you, Ro." Alexandre then got off the bed. "Now come on. I'm pretty sure the others are wondering what happened to us. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Ah, right!" Rosalina stood up quickly and fixed her uniform. "Sorry...for making you worried…"

"Hey." Alexandre placed a hand on her left shoulder. "That's what teammates are for, right? Keeping an eye on each other and all that. I am used to the idea of noblesse oblige, you know."

"I see...alright. I won't make you worry about me anymore. Hopefully…"

"I'm pretty sure that won't happen, but we'll all try our best to not make others worry too much. At least, I will." Alexandre chckled a bit, Rosalina joining in before the two left her room.

Unknown to them, there was someone listening to the conversation from nearby.

"Well, she sounded a bit happy," Roland said as he, Minna, and Gertrud stood about ten feet from her room, watching his eldest daughter and Perrine's son heading off to join the other children. "I'm glad."

"Still, you sure you wanted to give Rosalina your watch?" Minna asked him. "You used to wear that all the time except to take a shower or something."

"Yeah, but...I haven't had a reason to use the old Striker Unit since we retired. I figured that, if Rosalina can use it, she can continue the legacy. We already know she has a fragment of Lionelis inside her along with an offspring of Krawatte's...speaking of, you never really told me how that was possible given he's still attached to you."

Gonna giggled a bit. "That's a girl's secret, dear."

Roland gave off a small whine. "Aw…"

"Still, twelve years total Chris and I have been part of your family," Gertrud added. "I'm actually glad I got to see her and all our kids grow up together like this."

"Yeah. We all seemed to make a promise to have these sorts of celebrations, even though we're no longer Strike Witches, or even in the military. It's the least we can do."

"True." Gertrud then looked up and noticed something. "Hey, um...Minna? Roland?"

"What is it?" Roland and his wife looked up and noticed that there was a mistletoe hanging above their heads. "Oh...well, I think we know what's coming…"

Yeah, Lionelis said sarcastically. The author's not doing a very good job at subtilty.

"...Not that, Lio…"

"So...Minna, how do you want to do this?" Gertrud asked her longtime friend. "You just want to since you two are married or…?"

"Hmm…" Minna said as she gave off a devious grin. "I have an idea."

Roland looked between the women and was a bit confused, asking, "Huh? What are you two talking about?"

"Divide and conquer, Trude."

"...What are you-" Roland was silenced almost immediately as he felt a pair of lips touch either side of his face. Blinking while blushing, he added, "You two…"

"It's tradition, isn't it?" Minna asked him as she and Gertrud both hugged him.

"Yeah," Gertrud added as the women held on to him. "Merry Christmas, Roland and Minna."

"Merry Christmas to you as well, Trude."

"Same here," Roland added as he then tugged on his collar a bit. "Um...do you mind letting go now?"

"No," Minna and Gertrud told him simultaneously. "You're so nice and warm."

Merry Christmas to all, Lionelis concluded. And to all a good night. Also, oh crap, Santa ran over your bike.

XXXXXXXXXX

...Was that last bit necessary, Lio?

What? You put it in the script.

...Fair point.

Alright, let's see here...hmm...anything I should mention? Ah, yes!

If you're reading this, keep an eye out for two new stories I will be putting out there. No, that won't mean that they will be taking over my focus, but I actually want to gauge what you guys think of them. If you guys think it'd be a good concept to work with, I will keep working on them and get them updated when I can. For now, though, my main goals are still getting the next arc of Witches of Gamindustri: Rise of Neuroidone as well as getting both parts of the next arc of Strike Heroes 3: Global Revengeanceready while getting ready to close the first "arc" of The Wizard of Unova.

So until then, please read and respond. Let me know what you thought of this, and remember: no matter what holiday you observe, I want to wish all of you a good time on those days. Or in the case of said holiday you celebrate having passed by, then I hope yours was great and that you're still enjoying yourselves during our last week of the year. Same goes for your families.

Anyways, thanks so much, and I will see you guys later on.

Merry Christmas/Happy holidays!