Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: It's Christmas in the Cair! Ice fishing tournament, a ball, and...mistletoe mayhem! Will Cair Paravel ever be the same after this Christmas?

A/N: Pure Christmas fluff piece. Hope you enjoy it! This is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe but can be read as a standalone.

Christmas Eve: Ice Fishing Tournament

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24 Yule 1006

I yawned a little as I tossed aside my covers then stood and stretched. It was a Christmas miracle just that I was here in the Cair and able to do anything at all. We cut it close on the Winter Solstice and I knew I wasn't going to forget any of the lessons I had learned from it. There was one big lesson Edmund and I had learned that we needed to talk to Susan and Lucy about, but it would hold until after Christmas. I smiled, ignoring the twinge from my bruised and somewhat swollen cheek as I did so. I turned and, grabbing my pillow, I threw it at the sleeping bundle of covers that was my little brother. "Oy! Wake up, Ed! You're going to make us late!"

Edmund jerked awake with growling hiss of a snarl. He looked at me, his black hair sticking up in wild tufts, and hissed, "Why are you up? The sun isn't even up yet. Go back to bed, Peter, you great lummox brain. And don't get up until it's an hour when sane people get up." He grumpily yanked the covers over his head and flopped back down.

I snickered, "Because, good my brother, we have an ice fishing tournament to attend, remember? Now get up and dress warmly. It's a mite chilly outside."

Edmund growled something unintelligible. Then I yanked the covers off him. He sat up and hissed, "Peter! We just got off a mountain in a blizzard and spent two days and nights coming home after we fought off Hags and Werewolves with too few soldiers. Why do you want to go sit on a river in the freezing cold when you know you're not going to catch anything anyway?"

I ignored Edmund's jab about my fishing triumphs...or lack thereof...and unceremoniously pulled him out of the bed and began rummaging through his wardrobe, searching for his warmest tunic and leggings and for his heaviest cloak and boots. "We're going because we have to put in an appearance anyway and this will reassure the people that all four of us are here in the Cair."

"Peter, you know we have banners that do that, right?" Our valets bustled into the room just as I waved Edmund's question off. I happily surrendered to the well-meaning, if slightly neurotic, fussing as our valets made sure both Edmund and I were dressed in our warmest and finest for Edmund, I was dressed in my third-finest according to Silvo since he knew I would be participating in the ice fishing tournament. Once our valets finally ceased fussing and adjusted our crowns for the last time, I dragged Edmund behind me as I ran through the halls. We were already a little late.

We still managed to be slightly late, prompting Susan to roll her eyes at us when we finally reached the open pavilion that had been raised along with several others to provide the observers of the ice fishing tournament with some shelter from the elements. Edmund grumbled under his breath until Lucy shoved a steaming cup of coffee and a plate of hot toast into his hands and forced him to take a seat. I cheerfully accepted the fishing pole from an eager Tarrin who was standing next to his younger siblings, Raisa having a tight grip on both Thane and Shane's cloaks to keep them from running out onto the ice. I nodded and waved in response to the cheerful calls of 'Good morn' and 'Merry Christmas' as I walked out to one of the unoccupied fishing holes. The rules of the tournament were simple enough: Everyone received his or her own hole, we fished for six hours, and then the judges, one of whom was Edmund, took the tally and whoever caught the most fish would be the winner of this year's Christmas Eve ice fishing tournament.

Of course, as unpleasant as Edmund can be in the morn, he was correct that I never caught any fish during the tournament. But, that was going to change this year. For one thing, I didn't have Edmund squirming around because he's unable to sit still long enough to keep from scaring off the fish. And, for another, well, I just felt like I would catch some fish today. It was about time, after all.

An hour passed then two, and nary a bite. I had a feeling the fish was just stealing the bait right off my hook before swimming to be caught by one of the other fishermen. At least, I wasn't having to deal with Leopard cubs yanking my fishing pole out of my hands, Kittens tangling themselves in the fishing line, Raccoon kits pulling on my hair and the fishing line, or my bored little brother throwing whatever was handy at my head and back. I cast my line back into the pool ignoring the way my rear felt like it was in danger of freezing to the river ice and pretending I was fishing at my favorite fishing hole in the middle of summer...alone. A sudden shout of glee sounded not far behind me. I twisted around to see Thane and Shane slipping and sliding their way across the ice. I gasped when one of them, still can't tell them apart when they're dressed alike, slipped and skidded perilously close to the edge of one of the fishing holes. Fortunately, the boy righted himself and chased after his brother without dipping so much as a toe into the freezing water. They spotted me and tried to make a beeline for me, but then thank Aslan the one person they apparently loved to listen to slid in front of them. I couldn't hear what Kat said to them, but the next moment both twins had their hands wrapped around her wrists as she walked back to the shore and their frantic older siblings.

I watched Thane and Shane giggling as Kat pulled them along so they were sliding as she walked, and then I felt a tug on my fishing line. I whipped back around and gave a quick jerk to set the hook in the fish's mouth before I started pulling it in. I stood and grabbed the line and yanked. And there, wriggling and flopping in the air was a good six-pounder trout. I grinned proudly as I carefully unhooked the trout and placed him in the catch bucket so he wouldn't flop back into the hole. Over the remaining hours, I was quite pleased to catch three more trout, all between six to eight pounds, and two pavender, each one was twelve pounds. Of course, with only six fish, I didn't even place fifth in the tournament. An Otter named Sid won first place with his forty-seven fish. Combining everyone's catch, the ice fishing tournament yielded a total of two hundred and thirty-nine fish, which would be collected, packed in ice, and then taken to those families who didn't quite have enough food to make it through the winter without things being lean.

I grinned at Edmund and Tarrin as they tromped through the snow to join me, "And, you thought I wouldn't catch anything at all."

Edmund made a face, "When you come in dead last for only the sixth year in a row, Peter, you might as well as caught nothing."

Tarrin chuckled and nodded, "You do need to work on your results, King Peter."

I gave them both a mock glare, "My results are perfectly respectable, brother mine."

Edmund and Tarrin exchanged a skeptical glance before Edmund patted me on the shoulder, "Of course, Peter, just keep telling yourself that and maybe, someday in the distant future, it will come true."

He ducked immediately as I pretended to swipe at him. Tarrin and Edmund continued heckling me about my fishing abilities as we trooped back toward the Cair. I rolled my eyes as I listened, but looking over to my left, I noticed Kat had distracted the twins by taking them to build snowmen from the edge of the pavilions at the river all the way to just outside the gates of Cair Paravel. Thane and Shane were probably inside by now, but I could see Kat off in the distance running around throwing snowballs at someone...it was Oreius, who wasn't hesitating in the least to return the favor. It would have been more remarkable if I hadn't heard Kat wring a promise of one round of snowballs out of Oreius the night before we actually made it back to the Cair. I grinned at the sight, briefly wondering if Kat was actually going to come to the ball being held tomorrow night, before Edmund mentioned a so-called fact about my fishing that needed to be corrected. "I did not yelp like a little girl after a pavender slapped me in the face with its tail! That never happened!"

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, this is set for the Christmas immediately after Concealed, but it doesn't really give anything away other than I didn't kill my main characters. Next chapter: Christmas Day: A Ball and Mistletoe Madness shall be up either tonight or tomorrow. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one and please include which couples, official and unofficial, you would like to see caught in the mistletoe madness.

A/N2: Happy Christmas Eve and have a very Merry Christmas!