The Tenth Day of Christmas

Ashe had only one goal for this party; get Vent under the mistletoe with her. It was a mission she would not allow her self to renege on.

Ever since she had met the dark-haired Mega Man, she had felt affection towards him. And, as time progressed, they became friends and Ashe's feelings grew to what she thought might be love. She wasn't quite sure yet, but… well, she was pretty sure it was more than just a crush. And today just might be the perfect day to prove that.

Ashe picked the perfect doorway to hang the mistletoe under, then hurried off to help decorate some more. The Hunters were hosting the Christmas party this year, and Ashe and her "little brother" Grey offered to help get things ready. Things were almost done, but the guests should start coming any…

Ashe's head shot up at the sound of a doorbell. They were here!

"Hello!" Ashe cheered brightly as she threw open the door and greeted the two figures standing at the doorstep. Aile and her boyfriend Shin greeted her with a "Merry Christmas" then went inside. (Okay, so the two weren't "officially" dating yet. Ashe knew they liked each other; it was only a matter of time.)

"Nice to see you Ashe," Aile greeted as she entered the metal building. "Praire and Vent should be along shortly."

"I guess that's them now," Shinigami commented as he glanced over his shoulder to where the Guardian commander and Vent came walking up from.

"Hi everyone! Merry Christmas!" Vent shouted happily, waving as he and Prairie walked up to the three.

"Hi, Vent." Ashe responded, making an effort not to sound too giddy.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Ashe continued,

"Well! Let's go inside, right?"

The five agreed and walked fully into the house, situating themselves. They started talking with one another, so when the doorbell rang a few moments later, Grey called out that he would get it.

"HI!" He called cheerfully, before seeing who it was. The Reploid boy gazed up at the two figures in astonishment. They were his older siblings!

"Hiya twerp! We're not too late, are we?" Prometheus asked casually, smirking at his little brother.

"You… you guys came." Grey stated quietly, looking down. He had sent the two invitations, but didn't seriously hope they'd actually…

Grey felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Pandora smiling softly at him.

"Of course we did. We're your family."

A wide grin grew over Grey's face, and he hugged the two tightly.

"I'm so glad to see you guys again!"

"Ack! Let go; you're crushing me!" Prometheus griped, but Grey noticed he didn't try to pull away.

"Well, come on!" Grey chimed cheerfully, grabbing his siblings' hands and pulling them inside with him.

"Everyone, look!"

Ashe, Vent and Aile looked startled at the new arrivals, but soon calmed down.

"You guys are good guys now, right?" Vent asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, I guess— I mean, of course." Prometheus corrected himself after getting jabbed in the stomach with his sister's elbow.

The group of 8 turned sharply at the sound of the door swinging open. The sound of feet echoed down the hall towards them, until in stepped…

"G-giro…" Aile gasped, eyes widening at the sight of her and Vent's old boss.

The blond man smiled.

"Hello Aile. It's great to see you again. You too, Vent," he added as an after thought.

"What… how… it's so good to see you!" Aile cried, rushing forwards to hug the man.

"How… how can you be here?"

"It's a little hard to explain," Giro admitted, "In fact, there's someone else here who—"

"Hey."

The two turned to see Shinigami standing nearby, looking at Giro through narrow eyes.

"Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same question," Giro responded, stepping a little closer to Aile.

"I'm… I'm Aile's boyfriend!" Shin declared boldly.

"What? Shin, we're not—!"

"That's funny, because I'm the man Aile loves, not you."

"Yeah, well, things change you know."

"Not this!"

"Guys, what's going on?" Aile demanded, flustered.

Ashe chuckled and leaned back in her chair, watching the two young men bicker over the poor confused girl.

"Ah, poor Aile. That's why I'm glad I don't have any boys chasing after me."

"Oh, so you don't have anyone you have your eyes set on?"

Ashe whirled around to see Vent standing behind her chair, glancing down at her. She flashed him a grin.

"Nope. Well, no boys are interested in me, at least."

"Hmm," Vent said thoughtfully, then turned his gaze away.

"I wonder what Boss was trying to say before Shin interrupted him…"

"Um, may I come in?"

Vent and Ashe turned, to see a large man with purple hair wearing a Santa outfit enter the room.

"Serpent!" Vent yelled angrily, leaping into a fighting position. Prairie, Aile, Prometheus and Pandora too seemed alarmed, but Giro waved his hands.

"Wait, guys, wait. This isn't the Serpent you knew."

"I was purged of Model W's influence while in Cyberspace." Serpent agreed.

"It's thanks to him I was able to come back here."

The group exchanged glances, then Prometheus shrugged.

"Welcome back, I guess."

That relaxed the situation greatly, and the group settled down. It was time to get the party underway.

Ashe frowned. As the night had gone on, it seemed like everyone got to kiss under the mistletoe except her and Vent. Well, okay, that wasn't exactly true… but still, that was the whole reason she hung the sprig up there in the first place. But it seemed to Ashe that Vent was onto her and was actively avoiding the mistletoe… wait! He was there right now!

"Vent—!" Ashe called, dashing forward, before pulling herself short.

Praire had been walking the other way at the same time.

"Oh…"

"W-well, I guess we have to…" Vent blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head as her looked at his commander.

"Yes, I suppose…" Prairie added, looking to the side shyly. She took a few quick steps forwards, then pressed her lips very slightly against Vent's. Vent hesitated for a second before returning the favor.

Ashe stood there is disbelief for a few seconds. Then she turned around and ran out of the room, biting her lip to impede her tears of anger, frustration and hopelessness.

Vent broke awake from the kiss at the sound of feet clanking against the metal floor, and looked over his shoulder just in time to see a silver ponytail disappearing into the snow outside.

"Wait, Ashe…!" Vent called, and ran after her.

Ashe sat on the cement doorstep, sniffling as she rested her head against her knees. She started ranting in her mind as the snow started to rest around her.

It wasn't fair! It just wasn't… why did it seem like everything in the world was rebelling against the idea of her being with the man she loved.

"Hey."

Ashe's head snapped up at the familiar kind tone, and turned her head slowly to see Vent standing there with his head cocked to one side. The teenager turned back in embarrassment and buried her head even deeper.

"Whatcha doing? It's pretty cold out here." To Ashe's chagrin, Vent sat down next to her, stretching his legs out in front of him and tilting his head up to the clouds.

"N-nothing much…" Ashe said quietly, trying to disguise the hurt in her voice. She failed miserably.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you so sad?" Vent asked concernedly, moving closer to the girl and wrapping and arm around her shoulder.

"I-it's just… I-I really wanted to k-kiss you earlier, because," here Ashe cut her tear-choked rambling off with a gulp of air, "Because I-I really love you, and…"

Ashe got cut off once more by a pair of lips pressing softly against her own.

…What…?

Ashe's eyes shot open and saw Vent squatting in front of her, a diffident smile on his face. He gave out a short chuckle at the confused expression on Ashe's face, then lifted up a hand to cup her cheek.

"You try too hard," he explained, then leaned forward to kiss her once more.

Ashe smiled into the kiss and leaned forwards, closing her eyes as she did so.

Maybe it's time I retire from being a Hunter. I mean, now I've got the most important thing in the world. What more could I ask for?

Author's Notes: I had to cut out this whole scene I had planned due to time restraints… oh well. Once I have more time I'll release an extended edition. XD Oh, and I was sort-of faded towards the end, which was the middle, so sorry if it's shoddy. T.T Hope you liked it anyway!