Fate/Christmas

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I've updated, and I know it's late, but this is my way of saying, "Merry Christmas!" I'm working out the last of the kinks in TEIWWB so I can finish the story. For now, this is just a quick Christmas OneShot to hopefully satisfy all you Fate fans since the last Singularity has finally hit the NA Server. For all of you who've stuck with me ever since I first joined two years ago, thank you so much. And merry Christmas.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Master?" Shiki questions skeptically, watching Gudako hunch over her desk. She leans against the wall nearby, as Gudako ruffles her hair for probably the eighth time. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Maybe," Gudako says after a pause, "but sleep is for the weak. I'll sleep when I'm dead."

It's meant as a joke, but with everything that's happened, both Shiki and Gudako know that it isn't funny.

Shiki lets out a sigh. "Well, have fun dying, then. What exactly are you doing?" She starts spinning her knife around in her hand, entranced by the sound of it cutting through the air.

"I'm making Christmas gifts."

That response makes Shiki stop. "Hah?" she looks at Gudako in a total deadpan. "You're sacrificing food and sleep for Christmas gifts."

"Yep."

Shiki can't really respond to that - she doesn't know how to. She knows that today is Christmas, but barely anyone can spare a moment after learning about the final Order. Most of the Servants are taking a break - Attila and Jeanne Alter, in particular, since they worked themselves ragged - and all the Chaldea staff are running about frantically. "Why?" Shiki questions after a while.

Gudako rubs her eyes. "This might be the last time all of us will fight together. You, Anne and Mary, Jeanne Alter, Billy, both Emiyas, Tamamo, Chloe, Tesla, Mash, and everyone else too - this may be the last time we'll all be together. If everything goes as it should and human history is corrected, my work as a Master will be done. I'll be fired from Chaldea and all of you will head back to the Throne." Her voice grows quiet. "It may be the last time we'll see each other, ever."

The thought hits home, and it hits harder than Shiki thought it would. She will never admit it, but she has grown quite fond of Chaldea in the short year she has been here. Well, perhaps fond isn't the right word - "comfortable" seems more like it. She has grown accustomed to hearing Jeanne Alter's indignant shouts for everything to burn and the scent of Archer-Class Emiya's cooking. If that all dissipates after Solomon, she doesn't know how she'll deal with the silence and the nothingness.

"That's why I'm making Christmas gifts for all fifty-eight Servants and the Chaldea staff here," Gudako tells Shiki. "It definitely won't be much, and I'm very, very sure the Servants won't be able to take them back to the Throne, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

Shiki audibly "tsk"s. "Have it your way."

Mash is resting in her room, staring up at the blurred ceiling - she isn't wearing her glasses - when there's a knock on her door. She sits up stiffly, looking over at the door. "Who is it?" she asks politely, clambering off the bed to put on her glasses and slip her jacket back on.

"It's me," comes Gudako's ever familiar voice. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, Senpai!" Mash stammers in surprise. "H-hold on just a moment!" She hastily slips her jacket on and shoves the frames of her glasses onto her face. She looks around frantically for her shoes, grabbing them quickly and shoving them on.

When Mash presses the keypad and opens the door, Gudako is smiling with a paper bag in her hands. She bows hurriedly. "I'm so sorry for the wait!" Mash apologizes.

Gudako waves her hand dismissively. "Eh. Don't worry about it. I'm not in a particular rush, anyways," she assures Mash. She starts digging through her bag. "Were you resting? I didn't mean to interrupt you, or anything. I can understand your exhaustion, considering Babylonia and all."

It's true. Gudako and Mash took off with a few other Servants several months ago into Babylonia to take care of the Seventh Singularity and hopefully fix human history for good. Many friends were both gained and lost along the way, and much both Master and Servant gained much experience. Losing Merlin, Ana, Quetzalcoatl, and Ereshkigal in particular hurt Gudako. Fighting the Lahmu and Tiamat were incredibly exhausting, but they somehow pulled through.

And then Romani goes and reminds them that they only have a few hours of rest before they go straight back to battle to finish the Grand Order once and for all with Solomon, the King of Mages. Mash can only imagine what kind of stress that must have put Gudako through.

"I should be asking you that!" Mash says worriedly. She can see that Gudako's eyes have horribly deep shadows beneath them and the toll that constant mana depletion has taken on her - her fingers are changing to the color of bruises and she is almost swaying on her feet. Summoning so many Servants with no proper rest must be the cause; it is incredible to maintain one Servant, much less the fifty eight Gudako has summoned since coming to Chaldea. "What are you doing?! Senpai, you of all people should be resting!"

Gudako grins, but Mash sees the strain in it. "Do you know what Christmas is?" she questions out of the blue.

Mash blinks, taking a moment to process what Gudako said. "Eh? Well, um, of course I do. Religiously, it is a celebration of the night Jesus was born, but it is more famous for being a holiday of giving gifts and being given gifts. We celebrated it late last year, since we were busy in Rome at the time. Why do you ask?"

"Today's December 25th, 2018," Gudako tells her. "It's Christmas."

Mash is honestly surprised. Her mind has been so plagued with how the final Singularity of the Grand Order would be carried out, that she forgot even what the date was. She feels slightly disappointed in herself for being so consumed by a future that hasn't yet come.

Gudako ruffles her fluffy orange hair. "I can't believe that this is it. After this, everything is over. The Incineration of Humanity is prevented, human history returns to normal, and...my work as a Master here will be over. I'll no longer be bonded to any Servants after this. I'll go back home to Japan, with my family, and my life will return to the way it was before - totally, completely ordinary. Frankly," - she clutches her arms around herself and her voice starts trembling - "I don't want that. Sure, I want my family and friends back, but I don't want to let go of this."

Gudako looks back at Mash, the smile on her face turning from something bright but exhausted into something twisted and heartbreaking. "But there's nothing I can do about it. After this, it's all over. So, if it's going to be like this..."

She fishes around in her paper bag and pulls out a small box wrapped in cobalt wrapping paper and a silver ribbon. It has "TO: MASH" written in sloppy letters on the tag tied with the ribbon. Gudako laughs. "...The least I can do is go out with a bang, y'know?"

Mash's eyes burn behind her glasses as she shakily takes the present from Gudako's bruised hands. She looks up at Gudako, who in turn stares at her expectantly. "Well?" Gudako asks. "Open it."

Mash obeys, taking the silver ribbon and carefully pulling on the ends of it. The ribbon becomes undone easily, falling to the floor in a nice pile. She delicately starts tearing the tape off the sides, almost afraid of ripping it apart like most kids on Christmas such as this one. Inside is a wooden box with the Chaldea symbol inscribed onto it. She lifts the lid, and that's when the tears start falling. "Oh, Senpai..."

Inside the box is a charm bracelet with blue and grey beads. Each of the charms hanging from it bears the symbols of each of the Singularities engraved into it, and the Chaldea symbol of two diamonds with one broken holds it all together. It's clear from how makeshift it is that Gudako herself made it.

Gudako holds up her wrist, and as her sleeve slides down, it reveals a bracelet of the same kind with red and yellow beads. Her smile is bright as a faint blush makes its way onto her cheeks. "Now we can match!"

Mash's lip trembles as she drops the present and wraps her arms around Gudako. She buries her face into Gudako's shoulder, sobbing. "Thank you, thank you so much, Senpai..." she feels a hand rub her back kindly.

"Merry Christmas, Mash," Gudako tells her warmly.

"...M, Merry Christmas, Senpai."

Short. I know. But hey, I wasn't intending for it to be super long at all. This is just my Christmas present to everyone. Thank you for all the love and the criticism. This is my way of giving back. Merry Christmas, everybody!

~HaloKeres-Chan