"Rose, do you have any idea what to get Guardian Belikov for Christmas?"

For once I didn't chastise her use of formalities; my mind was on more important things at the moment. My lips pursed as I shook my head. "You'd think that with how much time I've spent with that man since last fall, I'd know exactly what to get him as a gift." I sighed. I usually knew Dimitri better than I knew myself, but it was nearly impossible to find him a gift. "I have nearly torn his room apart to look at every last thing that he owns. I refuse to get him one of those cowboy books he likes so much. Not only do I have little knowledge of them, but a book seems so meaningless."

And that was true. Dimitri may love reading, especially when it comes to western novels, but a book is hardly a decent gift in my opinion. Nor is a John Wayne movie; he's seen them all anyway. Why should I put myself through the torture if he wanted to watch one just for the hell of it one night when I'm staying in his room? I felt like I needed to get him something big and wouldn't be set off to the side after a few days.

Lissa giggled. "You know, that's how I felt with Christian's gift this year."

"Did you decide on what to get him?"

"I did." She smiled.

"Well?" I had practically stopped using the bond so that I'd actually be surprised when I opened whatever gift she got me. I was also digging for ideas as to what to get Dimitri.

"After thinking about it for a few days, I finally thought of the perfect gift." Her smile grew wider. "Tasha's staying here at Court from Christmas Eve to a few days after New Year's!"

I grimaced at the mentioning of Tasha Ozera and knowing when she would be leaving didn't lighten my mood. "That's great…"

"I know! We'll be like one big, happy family!" She wasn't oblivious to my bitterness toward Tasha, but she chose to act like it.

Family.

That gave me an idea. "Liss, you're a genius!"

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but—Hey!"

I jumped to my feet, cutting off whatever she was going to say, and ran out of the room. I could hear Lissa shouting after me, wondering what I was doing, but I just couldn't stop. If I did, my genius play may be forgotten. Every penny to my name may be used to get the gift, but it would be worth it in the end.

A/N: So, I've had this written since the day before Christmas last year, but I never got around to uploading it. I've now tweaked it and I'm going to make this a multiple chapter fanfic, possibly five chapters, despite originally wanting it to be a simple, fluffy one-shot. Sure, there will be fluff, but there will still be enough drama too. And I know…Christmas is far from now, but when ideas come to me, I can't ignore them. Soon I'll be posting up several one-/two-shots once I proofread them.
Anywho…Review and tell me what you think so far? :]

…And I know. I haven't updated my other stories like I've promised, but I haven't had the time to actually sit down and work on them. Hopefully I'll get to them over my fall break next week, but I have homework then too. Not to mention college and scholarship applications. If my updates are inconsistent and absolutely dreadful, that's because my life is thanks to my AP classes and all this crap for senior year. I'm so sorry.