Christmas Joy
by: Mylinda Antoinette

Summary: It has been three years since the members of the Lyoko group graduated from high school and entered college. Mylinda and her parents have agreed to invite the members of the Lyoko gang to their home for Christmas. What will happen? Pairings: MxJ, OxCC, NxA, YxU

Author's Note: This is the second of a series of one-shots I'm planning as a gift for Snakealien, a dear friend of mine. He has always been like the brother I've never had, just like his character Nathan is to my character Mylinda. All of the one-shots will be centered around the pairing Nathan/Aelita, the first of these stories being "Matchmaker, Matchmaker", as this is one of his favorite pairings. However, one story of this series will be a fraternal bonding story with our two characters, getting in some quality brother-sister time. I hope you all enjoy them, especially Snakealien. Love you, bro!

Snow blanketed the quiet countryside, softening the quiet even more by serving as padding or insulation for the few sounds that did make it through. Throughout the many streets and hills, children laughed and played, engaging in snowball fights, sledding games, and making snowmen and snow angels.

But while all of this went on, the adults were packed in the stores, for today was December 21, just four days away from Christmas, and in this biting cold, two friends, bundled up and loaded with packages of all kinds, walked out of the mall from finishing their Christmas shopping.

"Man, I can never believe how crowded this place gets the last few days before Christmas," Mylinda Antoinette commented as she pulled her muffler away from her mouth so she could speak and be easily heard by her companion. "I mean, I do my Christmas shopping here every year, but the crowds just seem to get bigger and bigger every winter!"

Nathan Hernandez, Mylinda's friend and honorary brother, laughed heartily. He had come quite a long way from the shy, quiet boy he had been when they first met. He opened up more easily than he used to, though he was still prone to being uncomfortable around strangers. "Well, I'm glad we've finished our shopping. I do hope she'll like the gift I got her..." he said, sounding nervous.

Mylinda rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, Nathan, you haven't stopped saying that since you got her gift. She'll love it, I promise you!" she assured the Latino man before giving him a light peck on the cheek. "Now come on and put your bags in the car so we can get out of this blistering cold!"

Nathan smiled and nodded in agreement, shivering a little as he finished loading his packages into Mylinda's car before getting in to go back to her home.

Mylinda and her parents had invited Nathan and all of their friends from Kadic to spend Christmas with them in their country home. There were five guest bedrooms in the house. Mylinda knew she would have to share, and she knew that Odd and Ulrich wouldn't mind sharing, so there would be plenty of space for everyone. It would be just like their days at Kadic.

Mylinda pulled into the driveway at her house and turned off the car. She and Nathan had ended up with winter breaks slightly longer than those of their friends, and they had made arrangements to meet up early so they could do their Christmas shopping together, just to spend some quality brother/sister time together. Mylinda's parents had very much liked Nathan, and they felt pleased that Mylinda had such good friends; since she was an only child, they had encouraged her to develop close friendships with people.

The two honorary siblings grabbed their packages from the car and went inside to place them under the tree. Sixteen gifts joined the group of eight gifts that already lay in wait under the tree, the ones that Mylinda's parents had placed there as gifts for their daughter and her friends, and the two that Mylinda's parents had bought for each other. Nine of those sixteen were from Mylinda, seven of which were for her friends, and there was one for each of her parents. Nathan had done something similar, though he placed only eight gifts under the tree, six for his friends, including Mylinda, and one for each of Mylinda's parents, who were, by extension, his honorary parents.

The next day, Mylinda and Nathan got in a large van that Mylinda had rented for the occasion, knowing they would need the space for their many friends and their luggage, and they drove off to the airport to collect their friends. They arrived just as the plane touched down, and they didn't have to wait long before catching sight of Jeremy, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and his girlfriend Aelan, whom he had met during his senior year at Kadic. Nathan and Aelita shared a hug, and Mylinda ran forward and threw her arms around Jeremy, giving her boyfriend a kiss. Each member of the group smiled, for they were together again at last.

After collecting their luggage, they all piled into the van. It took them thirty minutes to reach Mylinda's house, and they talked the whole way, catching up with each other. It was at this moment that the members of the group learned that Ulrich had at last proposed to Yumi, and that part of their Christmas gifts to their friends were hand-delivered invitations to their wedding the following summer, as well as invitations to serve as members of the wedding party. They invited Odd and Aelan to be their best man and maid of honor, while the other four were invited to be bridesmaids and groomsmen. Each of the six members accepted and happily offered their congratulations to the happy couple.

Upon arriving at Mylinda's house, they all clambered out of the van and Mylinda led them to their rooms to unpack, bringing Aelita to her room and telling Odd and Ulrich they'd have to share, which they were totally happy to do. Once everyone had unpacked their bags, they brought down their armfuls of gifts for everyone and deposited them under the tree, crowding out the base of the tree with dozens and dozens of presents.

Yumi and Ulrich then gave each person present an invitation to their wedding. They said the rest of the invitations had been sent out weeks ago, but they had wanted to hand-deliver the invitations to the closest of their friends.

For the remaining three days until Christmas, the group talked incessantly about the old days, reminiscing about the times they used to spend together, as well as finishing catching up. They even went out on a group date to a bowling alley, renting a lane for each couple. Because of the proximity to Christmas, the alley was nearly empty, so they were able to get four lanes right next to each other.

On the morning of December 25th, all of the friends woke up at nearly the same time and hurried to get dressed before running downstairs and finding a lovely breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon that James and Aaralyn Antoinette had made for their guests. Delighted, each member of the group graciously thanked their hosts and settled down for a delicious breakfast filled with conversation.

Around 11 am, Aaralyn and James shooed the youths out of the dining room so they could clean up and finish preparations for an early dinner. Because it was Christmas, they were going to eat dinner early, so they'd have time for lots of conversation.
The eight youths spoke briefly about what they were going to do before running upstairs to bundle up into plenty of warm clothes. Then the group dashed outside to pick sides for a snowball fight.

By the time dinner was ready, the eight friends were absolutely covered in snow, but their cheeks glowed pink and they felt perfectly warm, and happier than they'd been in a long time. They hurried back in the house and took off their outside clothes before settling down at the table to partake of the delicious meal prepared by the Antoinettes.

That dinner was one of the merriest Christmas feasts that any of those present had ever enjoyed. They all remained at the table for three hours, eating and laughing and just enjoying themselves all around. The Antoinettes themselves had never had so many lively youths in the house for Christmas before, and they enjoyed themselves immensely. Having all those smiling young ones in the house made them feel young again, too, for they had both been in their late thirties when Mylinda was born, having tried for many years to have a child.

Once they were all satisfied, they gathered in the living room around the tree, grouping themselves into couples, each of them sitting next to their significant other, though Mylinda went over to the tree, leaving Jeremy to sit by himself for a while. Mylinda slowly and methodically went through all of the gifts, until all had been handed out and opened except for her own. Everyone had a wonderful time, looking at the present their friends had bought and making mental notes for their birthday wishlists, except for one member of the group.

As Aelita watched her friends laughing and joking together, thanking each other for their gifts, she silently went through her presents again. There was one from the Antoinettes, plus one each from Mylinda, Jeremy, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelan, but not the one she had most expected to see. There was no present in her pile that had her name written on it in her boyfriend's familiar handwriting. As the laughing and joking continued, Aelita sat silent, wondering why in the world Nathan hadn't bought her a present. Then she realized the subject of her thoughts was staring quietly at her.

"Oh, sorry, Nathan, I was just thinking..." she said softly. Nathan knew this was only a half-truth, for he knew very well that there had been no gift under the tree from him to her. As he looked through the set of CDs she had given him, all the latest CDs from each of his favorite artists, he felt it was now the appropriate time for his surprise.

"Aelita... I'm sure you probably noticed that you have not yet received a gift from me," he said in a voice that was just loud enough to command everyone's attention. Aelita looked down.

"Nathan, I understand... everyone's finances have been tight because of college. I didn't expect..."

"Yes, you did. And you don't have to worry about it, because I do have a gift for you. But the truth of the matter is that my gift was too small to put under the tree, because I was afraid that under the mass of presents that I knew would pile up under the tree, my gift to you would end up getting lost. Besides, I kind of wanted to give it to you myself," he explained quietly. Aelita looked at him, confused.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked. Nathan drew in a nervous breath, hoping once again that she would like the present he had for her. He shot a quick glance at Mylinda, who smiled and nodded at him encouragingly, knowing exactly what he had planned. After all, she had been there when he bought Aelita's gift.

Nathan gulped a bit and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small jewelry box covered with a soft, carnation-pink velvet. He opened the box and showed its contents to her, causing her to gasp in amazement, for what the box contained took her breath away. Sitting in among a backdrop of ivory-colored silk was a ring. It had a simple silver band, with a heart-shaped pink diamond on it and a smaller, round, white diamond on either side of the heart-shaped stone.

"Oh... Oh, Nathan... it's so beautiful..." she breathed, taking in the sight of the ring. Then something clicked in the back of her mind and her eyes widened in surprise. "You... you don't mean..."

Nathan smiled softly, feeling much more confident now that he knew she approved of the ring. He slid from his chair onto his knees in front of her. "Oh, but I do, Aelita," he said softly. "Aelita Anne Schaeffer... Will you marry me?"
Everyone in the room but Mylinda gasped in surprise, for they had not expected it. Mylinda simply sat, knowing deep in her heart that Aelita would accept the Latino boy's proposal.

"Oh Nathan... I don't know what to say..." she murmured, wiping a few tears from her eyes. Nathan smiled up at her.

"Say yes," he urged her, hoping against hope that she would accept.

"Nathan... I... I would be honored to marry you!" she exclaimed, laughing happily.

Nathan's gentle smile broke into a wide grin as he stood up, grabbing Aelita on his way up and pulling her into a hug before withdrawing a bit so he could slide the ring onto her finger. They hugged again, blissfully unaware that anything else existed around them... at least, until they realized that the others around them were laughing, making catcalls, and chanting "Kiss her, kiss her!" Surprised by this, Nathan and Aelita looked around, only to see that Mylinda was standing on the chair that Aelita had just been in, a giant grin on her face as she dangled a sprig of mistletoe over the newly engaged couple. The Latino boy and the pink-haired girl laughed again as they kissed.

The rest of the evening passed with congratulations being passed around, and more joking about the presents that had been given. All around the world, billions of other people were doing exactly what this happy group was doing. But it should be quite obvious that out of all those billions of people, no two people were happier than Nathan Hernandez and Aelita Schaeffer.