A/N: Merry Belated Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year, Chocolate rules333!

I know this story is very, very late and very short, but it was the best I had out of 6 drafts QnQ My mom made me study and stay away from the computer and laptop after Christmas, so I couldn't really finish my story, but luckily, one day I woke up at 1:30 am and I finished this story for good. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy it, still! :D

P.S.: Sorry if it isn't romance :(

The Fisher, The Farmer, and the Festival

"Come on, come on, let's make a snowman!" exclaimed the children as they ran around.

Around the islands, everyone was buzzing with excitement. Nightfall came by quickly as the day passed. It was already the night of the 24th of Winter, the day which the Starry Night Festival was held. Some villagers were hoping from house to house, asking if they could spend the festival in their friend's house. Numerous decorations such as lights were put up; Snowflakes were falling gently from the sky, and a blanket of snow spread across the islands. The stars were twinkling brighter than usual. Tonight was special.

A young fisherman, Denny, walked out of the café. It seems he wasn't planning anything special that night, seeing that he couldn't ask any of his friends since, he thought, they were all already intending to go to someone else's house to spend the night. But it was okay; he had Popper with him, which gave him enough company that he needed.

While he was heading back to his house, he looked around at the people who were still roaming around the island. There was Pierre and Natalie, who were arguing about whether chickens could burp or not; Sabrina and Vaughn, with the girl already enthusiastic about showing Vaughn her new Breaking Dawn book which she was now displaying in front of his face (and in return Vaughn seemed annoyed by this action); and Lanna and Chelsea, who seemed to be giggling about something. Denny thought, maybe it wasn't going to be really okay being alone. Everyone else seemed to be having fun.

Quite at the moment when he was about to sigh, a pat on the shoulder caught his attention. The fisherman spun around and saw Mark.

"Happy Starry Night Festival, Denny!" said the farmer with enthusiasm.

The fisherman sneered before saying, "Not so happy to me."

"Why?"

"I'm spending the festival at home with Popper and no one else. You guys seem to be having fun eating and talking with your friends in their houses."

The farmer's face lit up with happiness. "You can stay in my house for the night! Actually, I asked everyone else this morning if they already had some other house to go to. I forgot to ask you because I didn't see you this morning, and I'd be glad if you could be my company! Besides, we're best friends, right?"

Denny, with his cheerful spirit back immediately, also grinned at Mark's idea. "Yeah! At least I'm spending the festival with you. Come on!" and the fisherman led the way to Mark's farm.

"Your house, it's warm." Denny said as he sat in front of the fireplace with his hands near the fire.

"Glad you're making yourself at home, Denny." Mark said in the kitchen, bringing out two large fishes from the refrigerator.

"Say, Mark," The fisherman said, "Do you know what Chelsea and Lanna were talking about earlier? I know you're kinda close to the both of them."

The farmer began chopping the fishes as he said, "When earlier? You mean only today?"

Denny nodded.

Mark then brought out rice and cooked it in a pot. "Why do you ask?"

The fisherman let out a small chuckle. "Well, I'm always concerned when Lanna talks to girls, especially Chelsea, given that that pop star can just suddenly say whatever's on her mind whenever she gets excited."

"Let's see. This morning, I ate with Chelsea," Mark said, turning off the stove and draining water from the rice. "And Lanna came to us and also ate. Of course, Lanna was talking to Chelsea, and when the topic switched to you, the pop star said, 'Ohh, that Denny is quite tolerable, but he's not tempting me, alright!' and 'I don't really think he suits me as a dance partner!' and she pouted. It was my first time to see her act like that, though Chelsea claims that Lanna always acts like that when she tries to deny."

"H-How rude of Lanna to say that!" Denny huffed. "And why were they talking about me in the first place?"

"Lanna likes you, that's all. It's fun to tease her." the farmer brought out two bowls and place equal amounts of rice in each one. "She's always perky, so when she denies something, sometimes she exaggerates. But… don't get mad at her, okay?"

The fisherman laughed. "She should know some people can get offended with what she says. But anyway, I wouldn't dream of getting mad at her. I know she's sometimes over-confident and forgets to keep some thoughts to herself, but she's one of my closest friends and I don't blame her for having a good taste in picking handsome guys. Haha!" Although maybe he didn't like Lanna the same way she liked him, it was perfectly fine for the fisherman.

Mark went to the dining table and brought two plates of fish and two bowls of rice. "Diner's ready! I know you want to eat it, Denny."

Aroused by the aroma of the food, Denny stood up and ran to the table. There it was, one full serving of Sashimi and a bowl of rice. He looked at Mark, saying, "Is this really for me…?"

The farmer nodded as he also sat down to eat.

As the two chowed down, Mark looked outside his window. It was relaxing to see snow gently falling, and the stars tinkling brighter than any time of the year. Tomorrow would be Christmas, a time for giving. How excited he was, if ever Santa would slide down the chimney to give him a present! He knew well that he too old enough to talk about or even believe in Santa, but he didn't care. He knew for a fact that when he was young, he saw Santa and the big guy gave him a wind-up musical box.

A tiny bright light suddenly passed by the window, as if it was flying up, then down. It caught Mark's attention as he was thinking about Santa. "What's that?" he asked to his fellow friend.

Denny, who was, surprisingly, already done with his food in a matter of a few minutes, fully satisfied with what he ate, looked outside as well. "You wanna go see it?"

The other one nodded.

"Maybe it was just a tiny snowflake being blown by the wind." said the fisherman, shrugging.

Mark, though, wasn't listening anymore; rather, something else caught his attention. Looking out to the ocean and way beyond, he could see more of those tiny bright lights flickering and flying as they came closer. It was if the ocean was adorned with numerous colored lights that reflected on the water's surface. The farmer was too indulged in the beautiful sight that he couldn't say anything at all. This was the first time he saw this.

"Fireflies." said Denny as he stood beside Mark. "There's a specific kind of firefly that comes here during the winter. What an odd bunch, but they sure are pretty to see from afar!"

The farmer turned to his friend. "How do you know this?"

"Fortunately, I always see them at the start of the Winter season. I always fish early in the morning, and some come out and play with Popper! They fly around, and it's really entertaining if they glow brightly in different colors!" Denny replied, quite happy to see those little flying light bulbs again.

Mark laughed. "Watching fireflies are pretty! Look, just like the night sky with stars, the sea also has stars, but they're fireflies!" Remembering something, he then stood up and ran back to his house.

Denny also chuckled before seeing the farmer walk up and run. He wondered why that guy went back inside the house.

Minutes later, the farmer came back outside and shouted, "Merry Christmas, Denny!"

The fisherman, quite surprised, snickered and said, "Mark, you look silly!" and started laughing uncontrollably.

"I know! But still, I wanted to make you laugh!" Atop Mark's head was a large blue ribbon adorned with silver sequins which shined like the fireflies. "See, I look like a Christmas present!"

It was at that moment when some fireflies flew on top of the ribbon, as if the tiny creatures were sequins as well!

"It seems that they like you, Mark!" said Denny, who already stop laughing but was still finding it hard to catch his breath.

Mark smiled. "They do, they do! See, dressing as a Christmas present was the best! But, really Denny," he started to speak in a soft tone. "Thanks for the company. I couldn't have enjoyed tonight's Starry Night Festival and watching fireflies if you weren't beside me!"

"No problem!" Denny gave his friend a thumbs-up. "Same here, I would be alone with Popper right now if you hadn't asked me! And yeah, tonight was fun! But the night's not over yet, so I'll bet we'll have more heaps of fun!"

Of course, Denny thought, he was thankful to have a friend like Mark, and he loved him a lot, whether as a friend or maybe something a little bit more. But that didn't matter now; what mattered was that they were enjoying the Starry Night Festival, the sight of the fireflies and the stars twinkling, and their happy conversation.

Tonight was beautiful.

A/N: So, since this was short, I think I'm adding a bonus chapter! :DD Well it's just a bonus, it's not connected to this story line I guess. But it'll be published next week (since I have classes tomorrow already D:)