"Katara wake up! Katara look! LOOK!" Sokka was squeaking from above her, and she could feel the bed swaying with the weight of him jumping on her mattress. Katara closed her eyes again, intent on getting back to sleep, and then suddenly it dawned on her. "It's Christmas! It's-,"
Katara got up with a grin and a loud shrieking noise that sounded like the word, but may not have been. She threw herself out of bed and raced to the windows Sokka was pointing to. White fell around her city; her wonderful city. Her older brother - sixteen he may have been, but his inner child was very external right now - was jumping on her king-sized bed, and grinning and screaming and singing, and excitement exploded in Katara's stomach as everything rushed into her head at once like a tidal wave.
"It's snowing!" Katara suddenly yelped out, her forehead pressed to the glass of the window. "Holy shit, it's snowing!" she yelled, and turned to look at Sokka, who was racing toward her. Sokka grabbed her hands and the two jumped up and down in excitement. "It's sno-wing! It's sno-wing! It's sno-wing!" the two sang out happily.
"What's all the-," Hakoda had set foot in the room, only to be glomped by his children and sucked into a their little snow-dance.
"It's sno-wing!" Sokka sang out and then added, "Sing it with us, Dad! It's sno-wing!"
"It's sno-wing!" Katara chimed in ecstatically, "Snowing, snowing, sno-wing!"
Hakoda shook his head and reluctantly sang out, "It's sno-wing," in a calmer tone than those of his kids.
As if having read one another's mind, both Katara and Sokka gasped out and release Hakoda from their grip. "It's fucking snowing!" Sokka screamed squeakily at his sister.
"Oh my god, it is!" Katara agreed, racing to her walk-in closet and grabbing up all her ski-wear from their vacation two years ago in Colorado. "Come on, let's go!"
Hakoda grabbed both of them as they moved to leave the room. "Ah-ah-ah, you two."
They two turned to stare at him in confusion.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
When the two caught his drift and they all began to move down the hall to wake Kana and Pakku for the ritual present-opening, Hakoda thought about Kya, and how she would've been just as eager as these two to run outside and jump into the seven inches of snow that had fallen overnight. The risk of a snowstorm was somewhere in the back of his mind, but right now, his family was paramount. This would be the best Christmas ever.
"Zuko! Zuko look!" Azula grabbed her brother's messy locks of black hair as he slept.
"Agh!" Zuko screamed as she tugged on his hair to wake him up. "Azula!" he clutched his head and pried her hand from his scalp.
Azula was knelt over him in her pajamas. "Look out the window, dum-dum!" she jabbed him in the chest.
Zuko winced and sat up to look out the window. His breath hitched in his chest. "I don't fucking believe it!" he got up and approached the balcony door. "Snow!" he chuckled, once, at the image of wintery white perfection glaring back at him through the windowed balcony door.
Azula got up and put a hand on her hip. "Don't get a cold again, Zuzu," she told him dryly, as if something like that could be helped.
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Are we going to Uncle's or what?" he started for his bathroom.
"Of course we are!" Azula agreed in a slightly annoyed manner, "Hurry up or we'll be late," she moved toward the bedroom door to get dressed.
Zuko knew Uncle wouldn't care if they were late, but he refrained from saying it aloud. He showered, shaved, went about his business, got dressed (in four layers of warmth), and was gliding down the stairs after Azula when a thought occurred to him. Ozai would sit alone in the house through Christmas. It was supposed to be a family celebration, and yet … dammit. Zuko shook this off. If he started thinking about crap like that, he'd end up thinking about ...
"Come on, Zuzu!" Azula snapped from the bottom of the stairs.
Zuko smiled at his sister. "Right," he agreed, and continued toward her, keys in hand, thinking about that funny-shaped present Lu Ten had wrapped under the tree at Uncle Iroh's house, labeled for Zuko. He wondered if it could be … no way. It probably wasn't. It didn't matter anyway - the important thing today was being with people who loved him, and the same went for Azula too.
This would be the best Christmas ever.
"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, you're just a bit of forest-ry," Toph sang, stomping down the stairs in Aang's foster-family-home, "You'll be a fence-post on a farm, and in a fire, you'd keep us warm, but Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, you're just a lump of wood to me," she bobbed her head, and continued to hum the tune as she marched into the family room, where Tricia and Lisa were spoiling Aang rotten, all of them sat on the floor. "HO-HO-HO!" she exclaimed, jolting them to her presence, "Merry freakin' Christmas!" she grinned.
"Merry Christmas, Toph," Lisa smiled at her briskly, patting Aang on the head, "Sleep well?"
Toph smirked, "Very well indeed," she bowed formally, in a teasing manner, "You?"
"Neither of us could get to sleep last night!" Tricia complained, abashed, and she laughed at herself and glancing to Lisa.
Aang looked up and smiled at Toph warmly. "Hi, Toph," he felt himself blushing.
Toph smiled back and flopped down on the floor next to him. "Hey, Twinkletoesies," she smirked, grabbing a gift from under the tree and turning it to see her name labeled on it. Tricia and Lisa had even bought presents for her! And probably ones she'd even like! Momentarily, Toph thought about her family, then she shrugged it off. These here were people who cared about her; that was what was important.
"So now it's Twinkletoesies?" Aang stared in horror at his new nickname.
"Nah, it probably won't stick anyway," Toph began to rip open the present in her lap. She heard a little tinkling noise above her and she frowned.
Aang looked up and saw that Tricia was holding a little green piece of mistletoe above them. "Hey, Toph, look; it's mistletoesies," he smiled at her, just in time to feel her mouth smooshed on his, and melt into the kiss. Lisa let out a loud wolf-whistle from behind them, and Aang felt happiness tingling all over every bit of his body. He smiled into the kiss.
Toph pulled back and grinned at him. "Merry Christmas, Baldy."
Gray eyes gleamed their happiness at her. "Merry Christmas, Toph," he pulled up both sides of his mouth in the biggest, goofiest grin anyone had ever seen, anywhere.
This was the best Christmas ever.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, MAI!" Ty Lee grabbed Mai around the shoulders and danced around her, exclaiming this little phrase (Merry Christmas) for the umpteenth time that morning. "Isn't this just the best? I mean it snowed! Look at it! Seven inches of snow on the night before Christmas, in California! Can you believe it! It's a Christmas miracle!" she sang out her every word, each foot crunching in the snow as she danced happily.
Mai's expression was as bland and bored as ever. She sighed gloomily and tucked her hands in her pockets. "I'm cold," she stated plainly.
"I know, but it's always so hot," Ty Lee pointed out, "It's a nice change!" she chided.
Mai supposed Ty Lee had a point, as they walked through the park on Christmas morning. She looked to Ty Lee, who was grinning and throwing snowballs in random directions, and dropping to make snow-angels every now and then. How could Ty Lee always be so happy? Maybe it was because she didn't know the weight on Mai's shoulders. Mai felt a twinge of pain in her chest.
Zuko would never forgive her for what she'd done.
But then, it was a lovely day, she tried to cheer herself up. The snow was beautiful, she had to admit. And it was Christmas day. A tiny smile made its way onto Mai's face.
"Merry Christmas, Ty Lee," she looked out to the snow, as Ty Lee went off on another merry tirade of happiness-and-joy-spreading.
And it was. It was a very merry Christmas indeed, especially with Ty Lee around. Mai could have even endeavored to say it was the best Christmas ever.
Aidan chipped a short horizontal line in his cell wall, across four vertical ones, before replacing the poster over it. A little over one hundred days left. He laid back on his cot and tucked his hands under his head, a slow grin spreading on his face. In the surrounding area, he could hear a little boy crying on the toilet at the pains of having a crap after sodomy, and he could hear another one, a few cells away, having a little play with his joystick.
This place was disgusting. He loved it.
"Merry Christmas, Elmer," he thought aloud, that grin so wide his cheeks hurt somewhat, as he thought back to his father's unfortunate death. Then he thought about the reason he was here and he chuckled, "Merry Christmas, Noah," he laughed loudly, as the gray light of a snowy day stormed through the window, casting light on the floor.
From the next cell, his gift to himself hung from a belt, by its neck, still swinging. The guards hadn't gone on their morning patrol yet, so they had no clue. The stench of death had not yet begun to bloom, but Aidan could smell it on the horizon. Sooner or later, the other person in the next cell would wake to the smell of their cellmate's body, and there would be melodious screaming, and wretched vomiting.
And it would be the best Christmas ever.
Suki marched through the Marina house and straight into Sokka's room, where he was playing the new 'Elder Scrolls' game; 'Skyrim'. There was much ado, and Sokka was very enthusiastically recommending the game, even though Suki hadn't played a videogame since the original Zelda games. Sokka continued on about how Toph had gotten him the best gift ever in getting 'Skyrim', but the second Suki's shirt was unbuttoned, that proved to be untrue.
Sokka and Suki eventually ended up on the floor, with the Xbox 360 still running in the background, the television screen darkened after a long while of inactivity, if you could call it that. Sokka was the first to speak, a humorous grin on his face. "I used to be able to last longer," he struggled not to laugh at his own joke, "But then I took an arrow to the knee …" he snorted a long laugh.
Suki arched a brow. "What the fuck would an arrow to the knee have to do with your fucking skills?" she queried, getting the game reference, but not seeing the logic.
Sokka groaned and shook his head. "Never you mind, deary," he put on an old granny voice and poked her in the (bare) chest, "Did you happen to bring any … physical … presents?" he asked hopefully.
Suki smirked, "That was the most physical present I've ever given anyone."
"Yeah, but you know what I mean."
"I do. And I did," Suki rolled over to reach for her bag, on the floor. She drew out a wrapped present and tossed it to him, rolling back onto the bed. "Go on. Open it."
Sokka ripped the paper from the box and then he yelped in excitement. "Holy shit! How did you-,"
"Oh, never underestimate me, Sokka," Suki grabbed the (still very expensive) 'Assassin's Creed; Revelations' from him and tossed it to the couch, "Now kiss me, you animal," she teased enthusiastically, leaning in closer to him and speaking breathily.
"This …" Sokka paused when she pressed her lips to his, "Is the best Christmas … ever."
Katara fell back on her bed and cradled the phone to her ear, "… So yeah," she continued, "I'm mad at him," she yawned, referring of course to her boyfriend, Jet.
"Want me to talk to him?" Zuko suggested on the other end of the phone.
Katara snorted a laugh at her best friend, "By that do you mean 'can I smack him'?" she queried, a smug look on her face as she held Jet's gift above herself, and carefully scrutinized each aspect of it the lacy underwear. Seriously; could he put anymore pressure on her to let him in her panties? Er, no - Katara didn't think so. Buying her underwear was taking it a step too far.
Zuko laughed. "Maybe it is. Maybe I just want to smack him because I'm projecting my problems on your love life."
"Is that what Dr. Phil told you?" Katara teased, flinging the underwear across the room, onto the floor, and plucking one of the lovely chocolates Suki had gotten her from their tray. She popped it into her mouth, lying on her back with her hair fanned out around her head. "You know, that you should just open up, and be open to letting people into your heart-,"
Zuko was chuckling away, and Katara heard him smack his hand against the panel flooring of whatever room he was in at home; she guessed he was in the parlor. "Stop it," he spoke between laughs, "You're killing me here …"
"I try. But seriously; what's going on with you and Mai?"
Zuko suddenly sobered up and dusted himself off - Katara could imagine his face stiffening just by his tone. "A lot of things. I don't think we'll be together for much longer. I mean, I had a great Christmas, but things aren't going too well with us." He sighed heavily. "Anyway, we're not talking about me, we're talking about you and Jet, right?"
Katara cleared her throat, "Evasive maneuver number thirteen; changing the subject. When a Zuko-saurus-rex attempts to use this tactic, you must be firm and move back to the topic they want to avoid. Seriously, Zuko, you know I know all your tricks - and you know I'm your best friend and you can tell me anything," Katara insisted calmly, popping another chocolate into her mouth.
"Almost anything," Zuko corrected sadly, and then he sighed, "Look, I uh … I really have to go. I promise I'll tell you another time; once I've got it figured out."
Katara sighed too and took a long blink, "Okay," she answered with her mouth full of chocolate. "See you sometime in the week, okay?"
"Will do. Not Tuesday, though-,"
"I know, I know; Kendo Grading, I know. Sokka told me. Thursday good for you?"
"Thursday's fine. Night, Katara."
Katara opened her mouth to say more, but the click of the phone rang in her ear and she just shut her eyes and took a long breath. What was going on with him? They were supposed to be best friends. He was supposed to tell her everything; she knew she told him everything. She ate another chocolate. Other than Zuko being all dark and twisty, this had been the best Christmas ever. That was what she had to remember, she told herself.
HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
So, what this is, is the Christmas before The New Years' that LILABOC started, and my gift to you.
I guess you don't really have to know LILABOC/LILAM/LILAL to enjoy this, but it helps.
In it, is what could be the Cookie's conception (bowchickawowwow), some lovely Taangy goodness, a little Aidan backstory, Some Xbox-awesomeness (because Xbox 360 beats PS3 hands-down), some Hakoda love, some Azula love, Mai and Ty Lee being buddies, a Lot of sibling-love (because I really love the dynamics of Zuzu and Azula, and those of Sokka and Katara), and of course, in the last scene is the back-story for a new plot twist that'll come into Season 3. I should've done Lydia, but her life in England will come into play in LILAL anyway, so no point.
I hope you all have a very merry festive season!