After kind of forcing our beloved Professor to kiss Chelmey, I wanted to write this to... get the rather disturbing pictures out of my head.

Oh well, enjoy!

Christmas eve was here. The 24th of December. The eve, which would bring joy to children's hearts, but mostly, it would bring families together, leaving them to eat horrendous amounts of food and candy, and in some places, drink amounts of alcohol, which are very unsavory for the sake of the children. Christmas could be the worst time of the year, but it could also be the cause of wonderful memories, which would last forever; it only depended on how one spend it.

Emmy Altava was one to spend Christmas very well, according to herself, that is. She had, in her younger years, taught herself to appreciate every second of every minute of this wonderous eve, not rushing through it so that she could get her presents the next morning. She had rarely been wishing for much; a few years ago, she had wished for a scooter, which she actually got, but nothing else had been on her wishing list. These last three years were no different, but unlike any other Christmas, she had in the last three years been wishing for the same. The reason for this was due to her short wishing list; she either got what she wished, or she had changed her mind over the span of a year, but this was different...

She was currently in the living room of the Layton household, sitting in the couch with her knees up in an embrace and a hot mug of cocoa in her hands. Her usual attire had been replaced by long black trousers, a yellow top and a thich, red, long-sleeved cardigan with the front almost reaching down to her knees (if she was standing) and the back hugging around her waist.

Opposite her, the Professor sat in his leather chair with Luke and Flora on each leg and a book in-between. Luke and Flora were dressed differently as well; Luke in plain, light-brown trousers and blue shirt; Flora in a new red dress with frilly ends.

Clive had seated himself on the floor, facing towards the Professor with a light smile on his face. He was dressed in something similar to his normal attire, the only difference was, that it was red instead of blue. At the back of her mind, Emmy wondered why such a young adult had jumped at the opportunity to have read stories aloud like a kid back in the older days. Then again, he hadn't been able to hold a proper Christmas in the last few years, and he hadn't had a fatherly figure like Layton since he was 11.

Emmy shifted her gaze from the young man on the floor to the nearly twice as old man in the chair. The man was, as always, wearing his usual attire, but at the top of his hat was a Christmas hat, which looked rather ridiculous; he had declined from taking off his tophat, leaving that as the only possible way for him to wear the red beanie. Looking at said tophat, Emmy frowned slightly; she knew very well that the Professor had been given that by his one - and as far as she knew - only love, Claire. As far as she could tell, the dear Professor still had feelings for the long-gone scientist. That was a thought, which made her heart sink. He, Professor Hershel Layton, had been the sole wish on her wishing list in the last three years, and he would most likely be on the next one, and the one after that one, and the one after that one.

The book, in which the Professor was reading, held all sorts of Christmas stories, and by the time they were deeply engulfed in 'A Christmas Carol', Emmy found that her cocoa had gone cold. Standing up, she made her way towards the kitchen, accepting any kind of excuse to leave the room. None of the others seemed to even register her passing. Once there, she went to the sink to empty the mug, deliberately taking as much time as possible to wash it up. After a good twenty minutes, she saw no point in keep scrubbing, unless she wanted to scrub out the bottom of the thing, and therefore shifted her gaze to look out the window. Despite that the lights of London illuminated the sky as much as it did, one could still faintly make out the stars above. Captivated by the sheer beauty of it all, she wondered how it would be, to be one of the glowing lights up there, far away from any human feelings. Just then, one of the lights shot across the sky with such speed, that it was nearly unnoticeable. 'A shooting star' she thought, 'it couldn't possibly hurt; what have I got to lose anyway?'. A few moments passed. 'How ridiculous of me. There is no such thing as getting one's wish come true by a star. Right? No, absolutely not! How childish of me'. Still, she didn't move an inch, because... What if it had come true? She had always known, that she was slightly more superstitious than the Professor. Alright, she was way more superstitious than him, but still... Was this too much to her own beliefs? Loosha had turned out to be real, so it was not unlikely, right?

She didn't know just how long she had been standing there, her denial getting in the way of her wishful thinking and vice-versa, but she was suddely caught aware of footsteps behind her. Turning around, she found the Professor standing there, with a curious look to his features.

"Emmy, what are doing out here, my dear?"

Feeling the warmth of a blush on her cheeks, she looked downwards in an attempt to hide it. Only the Professor managed to make her this flustered, and all the time at that. "I-I-I was only washing up a little bit."

He chuckled. "I see you've reach to wash up a mug in the time of 50 minutes." So, he had noticed when she left.

"Oh, well...you see...I-I" she shut herself up, before she could say anything stupid.

The Professor didn't say anything; he simply reached out and took her hand. Looking up, she was met by those small, but warm chocolate eyes. To her, she could just stay like that forever, but she was quickly knocked out of her thoughts, when Layton finally opened his mouth. "The dishes can always wait till tomorrow. Come, I have something for you." He led her out of kitchen and back into the living room, which now only was illuminated by the Christmas tree. It was by this Christmas tree, that Layton told her to sit down and pulled out a little present from under the tree. She looked curiously up at hime, clearly waiting for him to say something.

"I-" he started, "I'm not really good with this kind of thing, so... so just open it and you'll see." She could have sworn that he was blushing, but it was hard to tell from the lights.

"But we're not supposed to open our presents till morning."

"Then don't consider it a present. Consider it..." he thought for a moment "...a surprise to show you my gratitude."

She smiled, not wanting to start an argument about that actually being a present in a sense. She looked back at her present, rustling it slightly in an attempt to guess what's inside. It most definitely sounded and felt like a box, but with no other clue, she would have to open it. She slowly began removing the wrapping paper, careful not to tear it, and revealed a little black - again, hard to tell from the light - box. Opening the box, she found a pair of sunflower earrings. In the lid of the box was a folded letter. Unfolding it, she quietly read aloud:

Dear Emmy,
in the few years that I have known you, I have found you to be a most amazing individual, and I am proud to call you my assistant. I must admit, though, that at first, I wasn't too open to the idea, but everything changes as they say.
Considering certain events not too long ago involving Clive, I have come to realise, that living in the past is not going to make me any happier. I think that while I can't change the past, I most definitely can shape my future.

I can't give much at the moment, but I hope that you will have patience with me for a bit longer.

Hershel

When she finished, she was feeling an emotion, which could best be described as a mix between disbelief and joy. Looking to the side a bit, she noticed something, that she hadn't noticed before. "Erm, where are Luke, Flora and Clive?"

Not expecting the question, he answered after a moment. "They've already gone for bed."

Thinking over it a little, Emmy couldn't help but feel a little joyous about it. "Oh, really~" she said, leaning over to kiss the Professor. To that, the Professor stood up, taking Emmy with him and dragged her off to the side, away from the Christmas tree.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

In answer, he gave out a light chuckle and pointed upwards. Looking up, she could just see what was supposed to be a mistletoe. To that, Emmy couldn't help but laugh a little, before both leaned towards eachother and shared a kiss.

It would seem that her wishing list needed to be changed.

So cheesy! Still, I regret nothing. First time ever writing anything remotely romantic, so I guess I should have put up a warning of suck-ishness.

I'm not one to write romance. Read it, yes. Write it, no.
...I still don't regret anything...

Do notify me, if you spot any errors.

I own nothing.