Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass...

Gino pulled Annette closer to him. The tall, blonde Knight of Three smiled down at the timid brunette girl. Rain poured down on the couple in the courtyard of Ashford Academy. Shirley walked by and grinned knowing her friend and the Knight well. It was all she could do to keep from singing. This was what she, and the rest of the Ashford community, had been waiting for.

His reputation tied to hers made them an example of opposites attracting. Lelouch had been right when he said Gino was there to mess around, but that had been before Annette entered the picture. They brought out each other's best traits; no one could deny this fact. Maybe they really did complete each other like Anya thought. Her thoughts and everyone else's -with the exception of a few jealous girls and guys- were fairly accurate.

"Don't get yourself killed," whispered Annette. A single tear rand down her cheek, but it could have been mistaken for a drop of rain. Gino looked towards the sky when he heard her soft voice. No time was wasted when he didn't worry about his safety and what would happen to her. He would always worry about her safety no matter how far from her he was.

"Worry about yourself. Annette Brashivere, you need to not worry about me so much," grinned Gino. He loved her concern even if he thought it unnecessary. He cared not about himself when she voiced her concerns, but rather he worried about the stresses he caused her. Annette buried her face in his chest and smiled sadly. "Anne, do you remember when we met?"

-FLASHBACK-

Gino wandered into the Ashford library to get away from the girls who chased him everywhere. Annette L Brashivere was in a corner curled up reading some old, beat up book. His eyes widened, and a smirk spread itself across the lower half of his face. No girl at Ashford ever seemed uninterested in him. They swooned and stalked, waited and watched, chased and cornered. She was seeming to be very different.

"Haha, hey. Whatcha readin'?" was his informal greeting to the brunette girl he recognized from his ancient history class. She looked up with eyes wide and throat dry. He was more ecstatic than anything that she was startled. This could prove to be entertaining for Gino. Only a shy bookworm would be fun for his games. Annette coughed and took off the glasses she wore for reading in the library.

"It's Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen," she managed to get out. Her voice raised with courage with each word that passed her lips. Something in her mannerisms and voice made him realize that she wasn't like the girls of the student council or that chased him around. The Knight of Three sat down in the red, floral print, overstuffed chair across from her. His blonde hair shone brighter in the light from the window. The three braids from his hair made her gasp once she noticed them.

Only he could understand it then. Gino coughed once clearing his throat and blushed realizing why she was embarrassed. Annette rolled her eyes thinking of how she would explain it to everyone or anyone later. This was the reason that she didn't talk to very many people. He thought it over and leaned closer to her. Never before had he felt like that. A light flickered in her eyes when there was none that passed.

"I'm Gino Weinber. You are some girl from my ancient history class," he introduced himself. Annette nodded. She went back to reading something on the back cover of her book. That was getting under his skin oddly enough. Gino liked when girls played hard to get, but she was being ridiculously hard to him.

"The name is Annette Brashivere. You forgot to mention you're the Knight of Three." She called him a player in her head. Not that she truly believed that; it was just that his reputation made it hard to believe anything else. He acted like he was a player around the school. To her, Gino was the epitome of player at Ashford Academy. No one really ever told her any different. Yes, they seemed to be a problem to one another.

-END FLASHBACK-

Gino pulled Annette up on her toes to kiss her. His pale lips met her full, rosy ones as the rain slowed and lightened to a sprinkle. Her eyes closed when the met for that kiss. She hoped that it wouldn't be their last. Her hopes were matched by his fears almost perfectly. This worried him as he thought of what was to come. As a Knight of The Round, he was obligated to protect all of the Britannians, but his focus was elsewhere in battle.

Gino loosened his grip around her slender waist. She stood flat on the wet cobblestone. Annette moved one of her arms from around his neck and tugged on one of his braids. Gino laughed slightly after that when he felt a slight pressure on his shoulder. Arthur was also there to say his goodbyes. Suzaku's cat always liked the seventeen year old Knight. No one understood why that cat was attracted to knightmare pilots. It just sort of happened that way.

"Annette, you do realize that I could never come back, right?" he finally mustered up the courage to say the words that he knew that she was dreading. Her green eyes shown brighter with a watery cover to them. Gino knew the answer to that question since her first statement to him in the courtyard. He wished that she could realize that he had to do it. Nothing could pull him away from the duty that he was honored with.

"Gino Weinberg, do you realize that if you never came back, I may not be here? If the Knights of the Round all go, what would happen to Britannia?" she answered. Her voice was a little harsh realizing the prospects of the disasters that were ahead of them. As she had spoken those morbid words, the rain had changed to snow in the courtyard. Annette and Gino looked up at the same exact time this go around.

They smiled at the clouds while the white flakes came down all around them. It had happened just as Milly had predicted on the news that morning. Snow at midnight. Annette closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out as Arthur the cat ran off in any random which way. Gino couldn't begin to manage what brought on the sudden change in mood from the one girl that he could see as others began to pile out into the courtyard.

Snow was sticking all around them on that Christmas morn. It was only a few minutes past midnight that day. No one would begin to question anything that would come to happen the next few days. Annette L Brashivere and Gino Weinberg pulled each other as close as possible as snowball fights and snow angels were being started and made all around them.

"Merry Christmas, Annette" was the simple statement that he whispered in her ear then. Gino pulled a small box from his coat pocket. He removed the contents and put the sparkly necklace around her neck as she kept her eyes closed. Annette didn't want to think about what could happen if she opened them. Tears were sure to pour down once more like they had earlier that evening.

"Happy Christmas, Gino." Annette opened her eyes a slight bit to look down at the necklace that had belonged to Gino's grandmother. She choked back the sobs and tears that sprang to her eyes. This was the only time she vowed to ever cry on Christmas. That was also the first time that she ever truly felt the love for another.

Gino made Annette feel perfect. He returned to her after the death of Lelouch. She stayed faithfully by him no matter what happened in battle, at school, or between them. This was the one time that she would be true to anyone. Annette loved Gino. He loved her right back. They couldn't be touched in the life they made after the rebellions. Love that happened thanks to a former student council's president. Thanks to the Christmas miracle.

A/N: The last part was influenced by Ho Ho Hopefully by The Maine. It just felt like a good way to end the story. Review and all that jazz. Please and thankies.