A/N: *sigh* I decided tot ake a little break from A Clef and Umi Story, Which is turning out to be a little worse off than before. -_-" Though I'm getting a lot of reviews, and I'm not complaining! I'm really a big Clemi fan.

Umi: You're just saying that 'cause you-

Vanilla Fox: What?! No! Th-that's not it!!

Umi: Hm... I wasn't even able to finish!!

Vanilla Fox: Erhm... never mind. *gags Umi* Please have a good read, and Merry Christmas to one and all!! This isn't really a story story, it's kinda a thing that I'm just having fun with, so sorry if it's a little messed up. -_-"

A Christmas Rayearth Fic

[Christmas Traditions]

Cefiro was all normal. Everything was mainly quiet and peaceful, and happy too. The Prince was having an audience with some merchants, the Master Mage was in his study, studying. LaFarga and Lantis were teaching and recruiting new soldiers, and Cauldina and Presea, were as usual, picking on Ascot. Umi and Fuu were laughing at one of their jokes while they were tending to a small garden that they had requested.

The afore mentioned two were wondering, amidst the flowers, where the third Magic Knight was currently, when lo and behold, she ran in, with a bright smile on her usually bright face. "Hey guys!!" Umi raised an eyebrow as she pulled on gardening gloves and knelt beside them. "Why the genkiness?" She asked bluntly, while Fuu looked up from the carnations, wiping her already sweating face. "Yes, Miss Hikaru, you do seem a bit... happier than usual."

THe Magic Knight of Fire's smile grew wider, and she opened her eyes wide, gushing. "Guys! Don't you mark the days?! It's December!!" Umi looked at her, and sat up, pulling a leaf out of her unusually pulled-up hair. "Yes... so?" The red-head gave a sigh of exasperation, her smile not fading even a bit. "Guys, it's December 23!!" Fuu gave a small squeal and covered her mouth. "Only a two days till Christmas, you mean!"

"Christmas?"

"What's that?"

The three girls looked at the two women who made their way to their small discussion. Hikaru stood up, her smile bright as ever, dancing around a bit. "Nothing... It's just the BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!" Cauldina raised her eyebrows, and looked at Presea, a plan forming in their heads, which had the same, shared, thought. Excuse-To-Party!! Both the women looked at the girls, who backed away slightly, smiling. "Tell us more about this... this... Christmas."

The three girls sweat dropped and began to explain various things. "Well..." Fuu began. "It's actually a religious celebration- for Christians, but it's been a worldly celebration since we could remember." Umi nodded. "In my church, they say that Christmas is our God's birthday, when the three kings gave tribute to him, while he was lying in a manger." Hikaru frowned. "Yep. But that's the more serious side of Christmas. There's the light-hearted part too. Like, giving, sharing, loving..."

"It's a very sentimental time of the year, then."

Umi turned around to see Clef there, looking at all of them. She felt herself start to turn red, but calmed herself down. The other females though, did not fail to notice this little colouring, and winked at each other discreetly. Presea and Cauldina looked at him, faces bright. "Master Clef, do you think we can..." Presea began. But Clef didn't even wait for her to finish. "I suppose it is kind of time for us to relax a little." The two gave a squeal of delight and began jabering off together, while Clef sat near the girls. "I'm... curious about Christmas. Do you think you could tell me more?" Umi fidgeted. "Ah... Every time, there's a Christmas Tree, which is actually a pine tree decorated with bright stuff and candles." Fuu nodded. "Yep, and there's the gift-giving. People leave the presents under the tree, with the sender and reciever's names on them, then on Christmas Day itself, they're all opened." Hikaru squealed as she started to dance around. "Then there's music, and eggnog, and ham, and cake... Last year, we went to Umi's house to celebrate! She cooks the best!!"

Upon praise, the Water Knight began to protest, but the two women were upon her like hawks. "Then you can cook the Earth food!"

"Hey! B-but..." She sighed as the two women danced off, and began asking Hikaru to help them with the invitation list. Fuu then, was bombarded with questions about the decor. Clef, who was sitting beside Umi, chuckled quietly as the two party-crazy women began to blabber away about dresses and invitations and so on. Then, he noticed the unusually quiet azure-haired girl beside him. "Umi?" Her head snapped up, and she blinked. "Huh?" Clef almost smiled at this. It wasn't often that the Water Knight was this... vulnerable. "Penny for your thoughts?" She sighed. "It's nothing..." Just thinking about you, but I couldn't very well say that out loud, can I?

She stood up and smiled at him. "I'd better go shopping for the feast, then. Want to come with me? If I'm going to cook for a party by Presea and Cauldina, I don't think I'll be able to carry everything by myself." He smiled. "You're right. Shall we go, then?" He asked her, extending his arm, which she took. "We shall."

That evening, Umi fell off the bed, laughing loudly, as Fuu somberly told them about Ferio's dancing lessons. Hiukaru was already on the ground, tears in her eyes. "He- he what?" Fuu pouted. "He tripped. Over my feet. Before we even started dancing. I was just gettign the position right, when he fell!" Umi gave a shriek of laughter, and wiped her pink face, gasping for breath. "I can't believe a king could be that badly co-ordinated when it comes to dancing..." Hikaru nodded, and started to tell them about Presea's attempts to control tinsel, when there was a knock on the door, and Clef stood there, looking very confused. "Is everything alright?" At the girl's nods, he cleared his throat, still looking disbelieving. "Yes, well. Presea and Cauldina have decided that the party is to be held in the evening. Do you have any problems with it?" They all shook their heads, Umi back to looking serious again.

Fuu and Hikaru still had smiles on their faces as they left Umi's room, and she sighed, going into deep contemplation before she fell asleep. To tell, or not to tell, that is the question. What if he thinks that I'm just a child? And what about Ascot? She smiled at the thought. A few days before, she had told him the whole truth, and she was glad that he took it so well, only that he made her promise to tell Clef how she felt. Ascot had been threatening her since then, that he would plot with Presea and Cauldina if she didn't. Umi sighed. Presea and Cauldina, the party... what to cook? She would definitely make a batch of chocolate fudge... and eggnog! And maybe some mint candies... At long last, she fell asleep, dreamng of Clef telling her how delicious her food was while she spoon-fed him.

The next day, it was hectic, as people started to come, and Umi made eggnog by the gallon, several hams baking, three cakes, a lot of small tarts, and so much gingerbread. Hikaru didn't make it easier by trying to pinch some chocolate fudge, and Geo kept on trying to get sweets. But soon, it was all finished, and Presea and Culdina dragged her off, her protesting and asking them what it was all about. "What else?" Presea asked, grinning, as she pshed Umi into Cauldina's room. "Time for dress-up!" As Umi tried to find excuses, the two rummaged in the large walk-through closet. "Why can't Hikaru and Fuu go first?"

"They're already changing."

"Why can't I just wear this?"

"Look at yourself! You're covered with flour!!"

"I can clean up!!"

"No excuses, missy- here you are!"

Umi was already sneaking towards the door, and she turned around to see them holding a beautiful dress, blue in colour, with a purple gauze wrap. "It's too pretty for me to wear. I gotta go!" She turned to run, but the two held her and forced her into the dress. It ended just below her kneees, and was very loose, but tight at the waist, which had a dark blue sash tied around it. It was sleeveless, but it had a high neck. She smiled thankfully at the two women. Somehow, she felt that it was an occassion to dress for.

A few minutes later, she found herself in the ballroom, mingling with the guests, who, to her embarassment, knew that she was the one who cooked everything. Aska was following her, trying to find out her recipie for the eggnog, which had a little bit of chocolate and vanilla mixed in. Tatra and Tarta were very nice, but Fuu and Hikaru were with their sweethearts, mingling with the other guests, mainly Fuu with the Fahrenians, and Hikaru with Autozamians. Presea and Cauldina were dressed very nicely, welcoming guests and having their fair share of gifts under the christmas tree. But soon, Umi found herself quite tired, after a day of intensive cooking and a few ours of standing and talking.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up, surprised, as she saw Clef standing beside her chair, dressed in dark green robes. "Clef..." He looked at her, and to her amusement, he was nibbling on a small gingerbread tree. "Enjoying yourself?" She asked, smirking. Much more, to her surprise, he was tinged pink as he popped the rest of the tree into his mouth. "It's nothing like I've ever tasted before, and I find it very much to my liking." She smiled, and took one from a nearby plate, and was about to eat it, when she smiled. "The christmas tree looks marvellous. You helped, didn't you?'

Clef was smirking. "How did you know?" She raised an eyebrow at him, looking disbelieving. "You think Presea and Cauldina could've summoned real live fairies to fly around it?" He chuckled, and Umi decided that it was a very pleasant sound. "What does the Christmas tree symbolise, anyway?" Umi smiled. "It's like a thing to show that you're celebrating Christmas. you know the star on top?" Clef nodded, remembering the trouble he had to go thorugh to get it to stay upright. "It represents the star that was the beacon for the Kings and Sheperds to follow, to pay tribute to Jesus. Sometimes, it's an angel, but most of the time, ti's a star." Clef nodded, truly curious this time.

They wre actually chatting about the nativity scene, when there was a sudden shriek. Clef's staff was out, and he was ready to attack, and Umi's hand flew to her ovum gem, when they noticed that everyone was looking at them, and Cauldina was pointing, laughing and very red, just like the other females in the room. The males were all hiding smiles under their hands, or in Ferio's case, openly grinning. Umi looked at everyone, confused, as Clef was doing. "What-?" he looked at Cauldina pointing, and he looked up, Umi following his gaze. "Uh-oh." He looked at her curiously, her face was redder than Hikaru's hair.

But he saw nothing but a sprig of leaves with a few berries on it. "What's wrong? He asked, bending over to see her better. She just flushed redder, looking down and avoiding his gaze. "It's a stupid tradition." She mumbled, glaring at the decorator-in-charge, Fuu, who was smiling, and giggling very much. "Care to explain?" Clef asked, raising an eyebrow at everyone. Hikaruw as the one who spoke up. "It's a Christmas tradition on Earth, to hang mistletoe somewhere in the room." Fuu, between giggles, managed to take over for Hikaru as the girl fell laughing, and started choking. "And people don't know where it is, so... whenever two people are under it, they would have to kiss." Clef was pink and the cheekbones now.

"What for?" Presea giggled. "For.. for.." She couldn't stop laughing, and Geo patted her on the back. However, Cauldina wasn't that polite. "It's for fertility, Guru." She told him, with a straight face. Umi and Clef jumped apart, very red and not looking at each other. "Do we have to?" Umi begged, loking at the women and girls, who were all nodding, and pushing her, while Clef was the victim of pushing and teasing. Finally, they were standing in front of each other, and facing. Umi looked down. "It's just a kiss on the cheek anyway." Tatra said, trying to comfort the two. Uneasily, Umi grinned at Clef, who smiled sheepishly back, and she tilted her head and tiptoed... he bent down...

"Lips."

She jerked his head, or he could've jerked his, but, hell, someone jerked their head, because instead of lips meeting cheek, lips met lips, and both Umi and Clef's eyes were wide open in shock. After a few seconds, they jumped apart,a dn were both coloured very heavily. Cheers erupted from the crowd, as well as catcalls and the like. Both of them looked at the direction of the voice who spoke. A young girl stood beside Aska, who Umi recognized as Jasmin, a young girl from Cefiro, someone who helped her with her flowers every week. "Peace and goodwill to everyone, Christmas is a time of sharing, giving, and loving." She said, smiling, and with the innocence only a child could possibly pull of, she smiled and continued eating the coloured popcorn.

Umi sighed, and turned around to see a smilng Clef. And then, she smiled too.

A/N: I know, I know, corny, short ending, but I couldn't think of anything else!! I'm so busy, with typing, making of cards (eep!) buying of gifts, etc, etc... Please, r&r!!

Finished: 1:18pm, December 24th, Christmas Eve 2003.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!! I hope you have a Happy New Year too.