A Simple Christmas…sort of

The tall Christmas tree stood proudly in the corner of the semi-dark living room. Tinsels of red, gold and silver shimmered reflectively and the lights covering it from head to toe flashed brightly for all to see.

A young couple sat cuddled closely together on a nearby couch in blissful silence. The brunette girl was snuggled comfortable between her boyfriend's legs and leaning back against his chest while he had his arms wrapped around her waist. The girl smiled at the serenity of the surroundings feeling completely relaxed…which was saying something. After a lifetime of war and tragedy, for the first time in her life she felt complete. She closed her eyes and sighed contently but opened them again immediately when she felt a gentle squeeze from the man sitting behind her.

"You ok, Nikki?"

Nikki turned around to stare into gentle green eyes. She smiled at him. "I'm fine, Kai. Just thinking…do you know when the others are getting here?"

Kai shrugged. "Who knows…I'm happy enjoying the quiet until they do. It's always chaos with that lot."

Nikki chuckled. "But we can't help but love them anyway."

Kai smirked. "Speaking of which, I have a little something." He reached behind him and picked something of the side table. He then brought his arm up and hung the object above their heads.

Nikki laughed when she spotted the festive plant. "You know you don't need a reason to kiss me, right?"

Kai grinned. "I know but we can't ignore a fun tradition can we?"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "I guess when you put it that way…"

Kai let go of her waist to allow her to shuffle around so that she faced him directly. She shifted herself so that she was straddling him then she gently pulled his face towards hers and pressed her lips against his. Just as she was about to push him down onto his back, they were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Seconds later, a tall blonde man burst through the door, forcing the pair to rapidly break apart. Nikki looked over the door and glared at the newcomer.

"Jason! What is-….WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"

Her wildly smiling friend grinned and gestured to his head. "Oh you mean this?" He pointed to what was a small piece of mistletoe tied to short stick which was tied to a band that was wrapped around his head. Seeing him waltz around with the permanent plant strapped to his head sent shivers down Nikki's spine; she didn't want to think about what he had planned.

"It's mistletoe! So I can give a kiss to all my friends wherever I go!"

Well that explained the shivers.

Nikki sighed and untangled herself from her boyfriend knowing full well their quiet time was over. She went to stand up but immediately fell backwards onto the couch when Jason appeared in front of her with open arms and a freakishly wide grin.

"Come on Nikki! Give us a kiss! It's Christmas!"

He leaned down with puckered lips but was pushed back when Nikki smacked her hand on his face and kept him at bay.

"What the hell is wrong with you moron? You're like my brother, stop being so weird!"

Jason pushed forward with his arms flailing in desperate circles. "It doesn't have to be on the lips! Just a peck on the cheek will do!"

Nikki growled and shoved him away, making him stumble backwards slightly. "Why the hell don't you kiss Jenny?...JENNY!"

"I'm right here."

Nikki whirled around to come face to face with the smiling redhead who had accompanied the hyper man. She glowered at the much shorter girl. "Please control your boyfriend! Kiss him or something!"

Jenny shrugged. "I've already kissed him many times…it won't stop him."

Nikki opened her mouth to retort but was cut short by the front door being literally blown of its' hinges. Everyone coughed and waved away the smoke that had suddenly filled the room. Nikki groaned, knowing full well who was responsible.

"Seriously Echo, would it kill you to KNOCK for once?"

A much shorter girl with blonde hair and twinkling amethyst eyes staggered into view and grinned sheepishly at the glowering brunette.

"What fun would that…-hic-..be?"

Nikki blinked at her best friend. "Echo, are you drunk?"

Echo grinned and slurred. "Whatsh you talkin bout? I am perfectly sobbeerr!"

Nikki then noticed the glass in her hand which was filled with a thick, white liquid. 'Great…she's gone and gotten herself sloshed on eggnog.'

"WOOHOO! Letsh get thish –hic- party shtarted! Buahahhahaha Get a –hic- room guysh!"

Nikki whipped around to see Jason now trying to advance his mistletoe affection onto Kai, who was desperately trying to push the laughing blonde away.

"Jason! Knock it off! Bro's don't smooch!"

"But it's Christmas!"

"I don't bloody care! Get the hell away from me!"

Nikki fought the urge to laugh and moved over to help out her boyfriend. She walked around and firmly pelted Jason in the shoulder causing him to yelp and fall backwards.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to sexually harass my man, Jas."

Jason stared at her, flabbergasted. "What kind of sicko do you take me for?"

Nikki glared at him. "You're the one going around kissing everybody!"

"Whatsh you guysh –hic- talking aboouutt?"

Nikki looked to her left to see Echo stumbling around the couch, her eggnog glass now mostly empty. She sighed and walked over to her best friend with an outstretched arm.

"Come on Echo…hand it over. I think you've had enough."

The blonde frowned and held her glass out of reach. "Pish off! You're not the bosh of meh!"

Nikki gave her a hard stare. "Echo…don't make me resort to violence."

The smaller blonde shivered. "But…but…but…"

"But nothing! Give me the damn glass already."

Even in a drunken state, Echo knew where to draw the line with pissing off her best friend, so grumbling loudly she begrudgingly placed her drink in Nikki's hand. Feeling put out she looked around the room for something to do until her gaze landed on the large Christmas tree standing in the corner of the room.

"Ooooh..pretty."

Nikki watched exasperatingly as Echo, seemingly in a trance, sauntered over to the festive tree. Sighing loudly she made her way into the kitchen to prepare for their dinner. 'At least one thing about tonight will come out normally.'

"NIKKI! HELP!"

The sound of her boyfriends' panicky voice had her sprinting out of the kitchen in an instant. When she was back in the lounge room, she gasped in horror at the sight. The Christmas tree was on fire. Kai, Jason and Jenny were using any means necessary to put out the flames while Echo had passed out on a nearby couch with satisfied smile on her face.

Nikki growled. "HEY! What the hell happened? I was only gone for a minute!"

Kai turned to look at her. "We don't know! One minute it was normal, the next the tree was on fire and Echo was doing some weird happy dance in front of it! She kept saying something like it wasn't bright enough or something!"

Nikki joined in trying to settle the flames. "SO SHE LIT THE TREE ON FIRE?"

Jenny cut in. "Do remember she was really drunk!"

Nikki shook her head. "Never mind about that, let's just focus on putting this out!"

Several minutes later and they had successfully diminished the flames, but the tree was unfortunately beyond saving. The once green branches were now black and crispy and the tinsel and lights had been completely melted or evaporated.

An exhausted Nikki collapsed onto an armchair, since Echo was currently vacating the couch. Jason had long since abandoned his mistletoe, his festive mood having now been destroyed by the tree's demise. Nikki felt her heart sink at his crestfallen expression. She sighed loudly

"Now what are we supposed to do? My sister is coming later with the others…she'll be horrified with this mess."

Kai kneeled down beside her and took her hand. "Remember Nikki, we do have a spare tree in the back."

She smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. "I know…but it wasn't as nice or as big as this one."

Kai didn't say anything but tightened his hold on her hand and she affectionately squeezed back. The four friends now gazed silently at the dead tree, watching the crisp branches crumbling then falling onto the floor.

It took a while to clean up the mess, but eventually the room looked how it originally was before the fire, with the exception of the Christmas tree that once stood proudly in the corner. Nikki stepped back to observe their work and nodded in satisfaction.

'Only thing left to do now is to get another blasted tree'

"Urrgghh…huh?"

Nikki turned to the sound and saw Echo had now woken up and was staring in confusion at her surroundings while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Where the hell am I?

Nikki smiled at her best friend; she didn't blame the blonde for what happened. She had been completely drunk and most likely didn't remember anything.

"Hey sleepy head."

Echo's bleary gaze turned and landed on the tall brunette. "Nikki…what happened…oooooh my heeaddd." She complained, grabbing her head in between her hands.

Nikki grinned. "You were completely hammered, do you remember anything?"

Echo shook her head. "Not a damn thing…ah crap I didn't do anything stupid did I?

Nikki rubbed the back of her head. "Uh…well actually…"

Echo stared at her. "What did I do?"

Nikki sighed, deciding she may as well be honest. "You kinda…burnt down the Christmas tree."

Echo's face turned to one of complete horror. "OH NO!" She jumped to her feet and flailed her arms about. "I'm so sorry! I'll replace it straight away, I even have a high tech tree at home we can use!"

Nikki planted her hands on the panicky girls' shoulders. "Whoa! Echo calm down! It's okay! Everything is under control! The guys have gone to get another tree so don't worry about it."

Echo sighed with deflated shoulders but winced when more pain shot through her skull. Nikki saw her flinch and kindly patted her shoulder.

"Wait here, I'll grab something for that hangover of yours."

Echo watched her best friend walk out of the room and toward the kitchen. She honestly had the most awesome friend in the world; most people wouldn't be so forgiving towards someone who had just ruined Christmas. But Nikki was different, although she suspected it may have been a different case if the culprit had been Jason.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nikki came over with a glass of water and some pills. She handed them over to the blonde.

"Here you go, this should help."

Echo swiftly swallowed the pills and some water before turning a suspicious eye onto Nikki. "Why do you have hangover pills? I didn't take you for a drinker."

Nikki shrugged. "I've been drunk before, but very rarely."

"Oy Nikki! Some help please?

The girls turned to see Kai and Jason attempting to lift a large, already decorated, Christmas tree through the door. Nikki sighed and wondered over to help pull the large tree through. A few heaves later and they all stumbled into the room. With some extra assistance by Echo, the four friends successfully stood the tree in place of its previous likeness. They then stood make to admire their handy-work. Nikki grinned happily, the boys high fived and Echo let out a huge whoop.

"Hey what's all the noise?"

Jenny had wandered into the lounge room and seen all her friends cheering. Nikki smiled at her.

"Hey Jen, where were you?"

Jenny shrugged. "Bathroom. Oh I see you managed to find a new tree!"

Nikki smirked. "Yup, now all that's left now is for the food to cook and to wait for my sister to get here."

No sooner had she said that, a loud knock sounded on their front door and Nikki's face lit up.

"Great! That's her now!"

She shuffled past Jenny and swung open the front door. There stood her sister, wearing a Christmassy white dress with a Santa's hat sitting on her head. Behind her was her boyfriend Kira, his twin sister Cagalli and her boyfriend Athrun who had a casual arm around her shoulders.

"Merry Christmas!" They all chanted.

Nikki grinned. "And a Merry Christmas to you too, please come in!" She stepped aside to allow her guests to go inside. After they had filed in she swiftly closed the door behind them. When she walked back over, she found her sister gazing in wonder at the Christmas tree.

'Oh if only she knew…' She thought bemusedly to herself.

The group of friends gathered around the large table for their Christmas dinner. Echo hogged the end of the table on the right side of Nikki who occupied the far right of the table. To Nikki's left sat Kai, who sat in between her and Jason, with Jenny sitting on his other side. At the end of the table was Lacus who sat next to Kira, with Athrun sitting in between him and his twin sister who sat in around the middle with one vacant seat next to her. In the middle of the table was a rather large turkey surrounding by varieties of assorted salads and vegetables to add to their meal.

Nikki gracefully stood up and tapped her knife lightly against her glass which ceased the chatter and all heads turned to her.

"Thank you all for coming on this pleasant Christmas night. First of all I'd like to thank my friends who have supported me through everything and of course to my best friend Echo, who I've known the longest. Cheers to all the years of friendship we've shared, despite the hell you sometimes put me through." With a grin she jerked her head in the direction of the tree to which a few chuckled at and Echo grinned sheepishly. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." She then turned her attention to her boyfriend. "And Kai…my friend, my love and my soul mate. I can barely remember a time when you haven't been there for me. We've been to hell and back together and I can't think of anyone else I'd spend the rest of my life with." On her left hand, which was holding her glass up, sat her engagement ring which shimmered in the light of the room. There was a collective 'Aaaaww around the table. Jason, being the mischievous friend that he was, quickly strapped something to his head and rose from his seat to stand behind the two lovebirds. He bent over slightly so that the small piece of mistletoe was hanging just over their heads.

When Nikki glared at him he just grinned. "What? Everyone was waiting for it anyway."

She turned to look at Kai who shrugged. "We may as well. Can't ignore tradition."

Nikki sighed, grabbed her fiancé's face and pressed her lips against his. Their friends howled and cheered to their kiss. When they pulled away Nikki turned to Jason with a glint in her eyes. Before he could escape, her hand whipped forward to grasp the mistletoe. She stretched it back and rapidly let go causing the small plant to fly forward and smack the unsuspecting blonde in the nose. Nikki now wore a triumphant smirk; her little stunt had caused a select few to chuckle while Echo howled with laughter. Jason removed his headwear and rubbed his nose, sitting back into his seat. However everyone quietened down again when it appeared Nikki had yet to finish her toast.

"And lastly, I would like to offer a special toast to my one and only sister, Lacus. My last remaining family who I love more than anything and one of the bravest people I know. My greatest wish for you little sister is for you to have the happiness you deserve, and I promise that as your older sister, I will always be there for you." She raised her glass in Lacus' direction and winked at her. "Merry Christmas sis"

Lacus smiled brightly at her sister with tears in her eyes. She stood up and rushed over to hug Nikki tightly. Nikki smiled and hugged her back while the younger girl cried happy tears into her shirt. After calming the pink haired girl down and helping her back to her seat, Nikki finished her speech by raising her glass above her head and loudly exclaiming.

'Merry Christmas everyone!"

All those at the table repeated after her and took turns clinking glasses together. Nikki lowered herself back into her chair and was instantly rewarded with a kiss on the cheek by the man next to her. She smiled tenderly at him before turning her attention to her friends. Kai had averted his attention and started conversing with Jason. Jenny and Lacus were merrily chatting away at their end of the table while Kira was alternating between serving himself food and staring tenderly at the pinkette next to him. Athrun and Cagalli were in their own little world. Athrun was playfully keeping a bowl of treats out of Cagalli's reach while she was desperately trying to grab for them and spouting out insults to her boyfriend at the same time. But he paid them no mind and just kept laughing. Nikki smiled amusedly at their typical antics before looking at the last person. Echo had pulled out her laptop (where the heck from? 'Nikki wondered.) and was staring intently at the screen and typing furiously while simultaneously picking bits of food off her plate. Nikki reached over and playfully nudged her friends shoulder with her fist. The blonde whipped her head in her direction, and when Nikki grinned, she grinned back and turned her attention back to her computer.

Nikki sighed contently. This was how life would be from now on. War was now over and she could live the remainder of her days with her friends and loved ones. Glancing around the table one more time at everyone, she couldn't help the soft smile that spread across her face.

Yeah…life was good.