I don't own…as always

I realize that it's only a few days from Christmas and I decided to due a fic for the occasion kudos to those who can spot the reference

yes Viper is a woman in this...i can't help but think Viper would be funnier as a woman

In Uni's mansion hidden deep within the forested mountains of northern Italy the deep snow had already forced the occupants to stay in each other's presence. It was December 24th and all the Arcobaleno were sipping warm drinks in front of a roaring fireplace. Uni had decided that the tree and presents needed to be moved into the living room where they were all seated. Skull slowly picked up the five foot tree and with great care he gently walked it into the room, to his surprise nobody tripped him…in fact they were kind to him, he couldn't help but wonder why. When all the presents had been moved under the tree Uni commenced with the opening. She wanted to pass out all the gifts and let everyone go at once.

Reborn look at his leader and chided "if we do that nobody would see what the others got" Uni nodded with a slight tinge of blush.

As they tried to decide who would go first it was Lal Mirch who spoke up "Since Uni's the leader how about her first?" the others agreed.

Colonnello brought his gift to Uni, a boxed he had gotten professionally wrapped with a blue paper with snowmen on it topped with a white bow. Uni, in typical kid fashion, ripped into the box. Inside was a silver necklace with the Gigilo Nero crest made out of amber. As she looked at it she gasped, inside the amber trapped outside of time was a butterfly with brilliant orange wings. She squealed and crushed with a hug and thousands of "thank you!"s he waved it off with a laugh and "Kora!" and sat down.

Fon stepped forward and from inside his sleeve passed a small red box. The shreds paper joined the blue. Uni smiled at the martial artist's gift- a small squirrel with a cry of "cosmo" the creature crawled on top of her hat and nibbled contently at a tiny marshmallow that was in Uni's hot chocolate. With great care not to displace her grandmother's companion she hugged Fon with tears in her eyes.

Lal handed the little girl a white gift bag that had sparkling white tissue paper stuffed inside. As Uni tossed the paper aside she stuttered out a "thank you" and pulled out a small cosmetics kit while Lal smirked "every girl needs to have the right equipment!"

To which Colonnello replied "a knife in the bra doesn't count" and she racked him as the others laughed at the sight and the quietly croaked "Kora!"

Reborn passed Uni a wooden box roughly the size of a piece of paper. When she opened it those not looking in thought the inside must have held a spotlight. As she slowly opened the lid further they saw what had made her gasp. Inside was a perfectly polished CZ75 1ST with her family crest engraved into the dark wood handle of the gun nestled within red velvet.

Verde passed a box lined with a "happy holidays" paper wrapped in perfect precision (his mind would accept no less), within lie, as Verde called it, the essential Mafioso chemist kit. Amidst cries of uncertainly Uni assured them it would be fine and pulled out the concoction list. Where they expected potions for mutations were instructions for color shows and glow in the dark cherry syrup. When the group sighed in relief Verde snickered "c'mon she's just a kid I can't give her a bomb kit…wait another few years" and just like that the nervous eyes turned back to the (mad) scientist.

Viper floated over to the young leader and a bright purple box levitated in the girl's little hands. A small oak jewelry box with a soft leather interior was uncovered…and when Uni opened the box the sliding draws held $50 bills. With a smirk the illusionist floated back.

All that was left was a bashful Skull who hid his hands behind his back. Colonnello with the tack of a three year old shouted "Don't tell me you didn't get her a present!"

Skull didn't shoot back a remark but shook his head and moved to the little girl's side and handed her the present. She slapped her hand over her mouth and tears moved down her face. Reborn was on the verge of killing Skull for making Uni cry until she threw her arms around the stunned little stuntman. She set the gift down on the coffee table in front of her to pull the embarrassed man into a full fledged hug. The other peered curiously at the gift. It was a picture frame with three pictures one was Luce holding Aria in her little blanket, the next was Aria holding a new born Uni as she sat on the steps of her home. The third brought back the most memories for the others it was all the Arcobaleno standing in front of the Fon's home. It was the only picture that had all of them, across the bottom in a small section of white space was a written note "While the future never sleeps, the past always lives in our memories. We will always be there for our sky"

The rest of the order was decided with drawing paper slips out of Reborn's hat.

Colonnello grinned as the first gift was set in front of him by Fon. The martial artist smirked, he had found a gift the soldier could truly enjoy. In another perfectly wrapped red box sat a knife, however not just any knife. It was the prop from the Rambo series signed by Stallone himself. Colonnello gaped like a fish as he stuttered out a thanks to the man.

The soldier smirked cheekily at his former instructor who looked at Uni and sighed "you may want to look away…"

The girl grinned "I'm a mafia Don, I've seen worse" Lal sighed and forked over a white box. The confused Colonnello held up some very…interesting lingerie. Every body was confused until a small slip of paper floated down from the box. Reborn snatched it up and chuckled before reading it aloud much to Lal's dismay

"Colonnello part two will be in your room" the others burst out laughing while Lal's face turned a dozen shades of red. Skull handed the instructor a small mallet and backed away. She put it to good use.

Reborn handed a orange box to Colonnello before grinning and sitting back down in his seat. Inside sat a miniscule revolver, the entire gun was less than two inches and Colonnello scoffed "does this thing even work? I feel like I'm gonna break this damn thing" Reborn's smile grew and Colonnello aimed the tiny thing at a window and pulled the trigger. All hell broke loose, the tiny gun threw out a bullet that fit only one at a time due to it being the same size as the barrel at supersonic velocity. Reborn was rolling on the floor laughing at Colonnello's shocked expression.

Verde looked at Skull who wiped his hands across his pants and motioned the scientist to go. Verde smirked and tossed a small ball at Colonnello. It looked like a cat toy, the ones with the tiny bell inside. It was directly from Verde's imagination AKA Hell-ninth circle. Falco dived right onto his owner and lunged for the ball. As bird and man tumbled over each other trying to get off the other the room echoed with laughter. After Falco had gotten off the soldier with a kick the scientist explained "it's a ball that has the mating pheromones of that particular species of bird…consider it the ultimate blackmail"

Viper levitated a large dark purple box across the room to the recovering man. He opened it cautiously. Inside was a very ornate box with a slot at the top out was sticking a one dollar bill. The illusionist grinned "it has a thousand dollars in it" the grin grew as Colonnello groaned at the cruel prank.

Uni handed the solder her gift and watched as he unwrapped it. A small buckler with the words. "the far-off eye" his (self) nickname from when he was stationed at Mafia land. He hugged the little sky.

Skull slowly walked over to his sempai and handed over a small box, it was a poor wrapping job done with brown paper. He slowly unwrapped the paper and stared at the gift within. Inside sat a pewter statue. Colonnello showed the gift to Lal and both stared at Skull with mouth's agape. Skull worried the rug with his boot as they remained "s-sempai? D-do you like it?" a tear spilt from Colonnello's eye as he smiled and nodded. The statue was all of his class, all forty-two members of Lal's hellish training. Only three others were alive. A piece of tape fluttered down from the bottom. As Colonnello was about to rip it off a single name stopped him. It was the contact info of the survivors. He looked at Skull and nodded his thanks.

Fon sat still as a statue as Colonnello dropped his box next to the man with a maniac grin. Inside was a glass dog and dragon. Fon cocked his head to the side until the others stepped forward. Soon he was surrounded by a glass figure of each of the animals of the zodiac. He looked at Skull how hovered in the back, the only one who didn't give a gift of glass animal. Skull trembled forward and handed the man a box with trembling fingers. Once again it was poorly wrapped. Fon peeled off the paper and grinned at Skull who sighed in relief. As Fon opened the box an overwhelming peace radiated into the room. Fon looked down and pulled out a flat rock the size of an orange. Across the top was a yin yang and a single phrase written in Chinese. Fon recognized the craftsmanship and again nodded at Skull. Lal quietly asked "what is it and what does it say?"

Fon moved the stone from one hand to another "this my friends is a holy stone carved from the depths of a mountain where the monks are charged with making tools of divine protection. I've never heard of one of these outside the temple before" he looked at Skull

The stuntman sat on the brick of the fireplace and spoke with a serious face "it wasn't easy but they are nice people…even if they don't speak"

Fon looked back at Lal "most of the time what's written on these are very specific jobs like a baker may have one that says 'protect the wheat' this one simply says 'peace' and for that it must be powerful indeed"

Lal shuddered as Colonnello walked to the tree to grab her present. As she unwrapped it she punched Colonnello on the shoulder "ouch! What was that f-"she cut him off with a kiss as she pulled an antique flintlock pistol out of the box. And everybody but Skull groaned. If there existed one thing Lal Mirch loved it was antique weapons. After everybody but Skull, Lal was a happy girl, she sat surrounded by some of the oldest weapons in history including a tenth century mace courtesy of Reborn and the oldest guillotine in existence courtesy of Viper.

Skull stepped forward sheepishly and put a small box in Lal's calloused hands. The immortal scratched the back of his head "I thought this would be the perfect gift…but in the end I don't know if you'd like it.." and Lal ripped the top off eager to see what this item was. It bathed to room in a light blue. She pulled the silk neck band to reveal a glass pacifier, a replica of hers had it not been corrupted by Colonnello. Her eyes were glued to Skull and he grew nervous. Just as he thought she was going to hurt him she placed it around her neck and with a softness on her features he hadn't seen before she kissed the pacifier and nodded.

She said the words that the little hit man wanted to hear from anyone for more years than he could remember "you did good Skull"

Reborn's turn. Right off the bat things were crazy. Colonnello handed the hit man a long thin box with a psychotic grin. Reborn opened it and couldn't help but laugh. Colonnello choked out "I told you I would get you one!" and he had to explain "when Reborn and I first met I told him he looked like a sadist. He said he was so I told him I'd get him what I did!" and Reborn pulled out a whip, attached was a post-it note with the words "for your mystery lover" on it.

Fon passed the small red box over. Inside was a card with a time, date and place. With eyebrow up raised he turned the card over. And nearly dropped it. It was a card to Primo suits. Hand crafted by the finest tailor in the world. Reborn had always wanted one but not even he could get an appointment with the reclusive master tailor. He smirked at Fon and winked.

Lal tossed her gift to Reborn who quickly undid the wrapping and grinned. It was a picture of the day when Reborn had fallen asleep in the duck boat that floated into the middle of the lake. Colonnello had been made to swim out to the boat and haul it in. Reborn applauded while Colonnello balanced.

Uni looked at her two conspirators and nodded. The three went over to the tree and handed the hit man a heavy gift. He pulled the box into his lap before opening. The machine inside had the hitman smiling like the cat that ate the canary, he pulled out the Coffee-star. It was the best espresso machine ever invented. He grinned at the three and thanked them.

Skull cursed quietly "dammit why do I always go last I can't keep up with the others" he didn't know it but the other heard him. He tried to smile but it kept falling from his face. He handed the man the box before almost running back to his seat. Reborn opened it to find a small hand written book. The handwriting was very familiar.

Running a reverent hand across the cover he muttered "It can't be" he looked up "Skull, how did you get this?" his voice was tinged with disbelief.

Skull shrugged "he was happy to help" and Reborn showed the book for all the others to see.

"Psalms of Dreams

By: Jack Walton"

Reborn opened up to the dedication page to find the author's address and a small note to visit some time. Flipping a few pages he spoke the words of his favorite unknown author

"when I gaze at the stars I see a wonder

That reminds me of all that left before me

Do they dance amongst the holy lights I see

Or does their dance take them much higher

When I see those lights wonder fills me,

Those immortal lights bless these mortal eyes"

Reborn walked over to pat Skull on the head.

Up next was Verde's number

Since nobody really knew anything about the scientist's hobbies they almost everybody got him some obscure device to which he would receive with surprisingly good grace with a phrase like "Ha ha, an electro hydro calvin abrameter!"

Uni passed the small madman one of the most coveted secrets in the Mafia. In a glass frame hung the Recipe for Luce's peanut butter chocolate cookies that he was addicted to. He hugged Uni before looking at a man who had deceived Verde's expectations for the evening. So far Skull's gifts had been amazing.

Skull felt uncomfortable being the center of attention without his bike, which had been annihilated by someone while he was at a graveyard praying. He grabbed the Verde's hand before pressing something into it and walking back to her unofficial seat. Verde slowly opened his hand and smiled at Skull. He slipped the locket over his head and looked at the picture inside. It had a young Verde back to back with a girl that could have been his twin. To those who knew she was. She had died due to a disease that had no cure, not even in all the parallel universes Byakuran had been in. The scientist dabbed at his eyes before smiling.

Viper grinned. Around her sat no less than a million dollars in fourteen different currencies three of which belonged to dead civilizations. Viper tossed back her hood to reveal amethyst eye and a grin that could have stopped a man's heart…if it was ever directed towards him. All that was left was Uni and Skull.

Uni stepped forward and handed the illusionist a small light blue box. The greedy illusionist laughed. It was a tazer with the word "for use against Varia only" painted on the side she giggled "I can imagine one princely asshole I would love to use this on"

Skull gulped, all eyes were on him again. He stuttered "m-merry C-Chris-Christmas" before sprinting back to his spot and pulling on his helmet. The others chuckled at the odd action. Viper looked at the small box and carefully opened the box. As she reached a hand in Skull gulped and fought down his urge to run. She pulled out a large apple made out of the purest Tanzanite. As she held the crystal to the light a small illusion appeared. The words "the sweetest temptations" danced in the light and she giggled at the stuntman.

Skulls turn, everybody looked ill at ease. Skull tried to escape with "anybody need something from the kitchen?"

Reborn ordered "your stuffs out in the car go get it" and Skull trudged out past the three feet of snow to open the driver's seat and pull out a small card

"check in the guard house

-Verde"

And there he found a note from Lal to check in the armory. There another note from Fon stating

"my friend come back to the house"

And two minutes later a freezing Skull sat in front of the fire place with teeth chattering and shivering like he had just stared down death. Lal elbowed Colonnello in the ribs and her cleared his throat. Skull looked at him and he started "Skull, close your eyes" and the frostbitten stuntman unwrapped his arms from his chest and held them out with closed eyes. He felt a unbalanced weight fall onto his hands.

He opened his eyes to find a muffler to a bike. Body seemed to understand. Colonnello continued "um, see we" he gestured to everybody but Viper "got you a really kick ass bike-"

Lal grabbed her student's ear before hissing through clenched teeth "and what happed to said kick ass bike?"

He finished his explanation quickly "and I drove it back to the house but it got hit by a semi and all that's left is that" and he pointed to the part in Skull's hands.

Everybody looked at Skull who surprised them again by just pulling off his helm and chuckling "I-it-it's the t-t-thought -t-that c-c-c-counts." the truth be told the little stuntman never had gotten a Christmas present before.

Reborn promised that a bike would be in his garage by the end of the year…as would a punching bag named Colonnello, who everybody knew had wrecked it on a joy ride. His lie couldn't fool anybody.

Viper looked at the shivering immortal before glancing at the others, what did she get Skull…or did she not get him anything? Skull's eyes met Viper's glare and he flinched. One thought was running through his mind: why was Viper mad at him? He couldn't think of anything he had done to piss her off…then again his very existence annoyed quite a bit of people. Viper growled "you ready for you gift?" it was a voice that promised pain and the immortal shakily nodded. She violently shoved a box in his hands before moving back a half step. His fingers gently pried apart the dark purple paper and he opened the box like one would hold a ticking bomb. Inside was a small music box in the shape of a piano. He propped open the hood and a gentle melody danced forth. After the verse Skull's voice became the accompaniment.

After the song was over and he dabbed his eyes he chuckled "my mom used to play that song for me all the time…" his eyes caught a small phrase dancing in the air around him

"kiss me fool" and he pulled the illusionist down and obliged.

This was a good Christmas.