Petra walks in the room where all her comrades are gathered. She's holding a small hat with five slips of paper. "Okay," she starts, "it's almost Christmas."

The small chat that was going on between Erd, Gunther, and Auruo halted. Levi put down the book he was currently reading.

"Yes it is, Petra baby," Auruo said, being the first of the men to speak. "You gonna get us a mistletoe?"

The strawberry blonde gave him a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny. But no, actually, I was thinking it would be a good idea to do Secret Santa!" And with that said, she laid the hat she was holding on the table.

Petra was the first to take a name. "Now, everyone go draw a name! But don't show anyone!" she advised. The three men that were previously talking each took a name from the hat. The only one who did not grab a slip was their captain.

Instead of ushering Levi to walk over, she picked up the hat and walked over to him, putting it in front of his face. She gave him a small smile. Levi wasn't one to play these gift giving games, so he wanted to say no—but the way she was smiling at him made him change his mind. So, he grabbed the last piece of paper, looked at it, and put it in his pocket. Her smile became brighter and she went to the front of the room to announce that they were doing Secret Santa on Christmas Eve, since everyone had the day off on Christmas.

After that, they heard footsteps. "Levi! I have a message for you!" Hange's voice rang by the door. Levi got up from his seat and nodded to his team and left the room.

It was silent for a few seconds until Petra cleared her throat. "I have a favor to ask. I want to switch names."

"Why? Did you want to get the Captain?" Erd teased. Petra's face tinted pink, but she tried her hardest not to look embarrassed.

"As a matter of fact, yes," she stated. "So, if you have Captain Levi's name, I would like to make an exchange!"

Erd waved his slip of paper in the air, "I have it. You can take it, but you'll have to clean the bathroom the next time we get assigned chores."

"Deal!"

They shook hands and exchanged papers. "Thanks, Erd!" Petra said, and walked away to go back to her room.

"She has a big crush on our Captain," Gunther said after he made sure that Petra was out of hearing range.

"It's so obvious," Erd replied.

"Does she really?" Auruo asked. He had a bit of a worried tone in his voice. Who was he going to kiss under his mistletoe?

—–

Petra was in great spirits. Looking at her fellow team mates and Captain walking in with presents in their hand the morning of Christmas Eve made her want to jump for joy. They were even wrapped in old newspaper, which was great because then it would be harder to guess who got who. If she were to be honest to herself, she thought the boys would flake out on her.

They all gathered around a small coffee table and laid the presents in the middle, mixing them up a bit so it wasn't obvious as to who brought what. They stood up in silence for a moment until someone cleared their throat.

"I guess I'll go first then?" Gunther suggested, reaching for the box with his name on it.

—-

Gunther received a "How to" book about building a bird house from Levi. It was unexpected, but thoughtful.

"Thank you, Captain."

Levi nodded, "I noticed you like to look up at the birds when we're on a break during missions."

The soldier nodded back, and the group went on to the next gift.

Erd's gift was a moss-colored knitted sweater from Gunther.

They smiled sheepishly at each other while Gunther explained that his mom made it, but it was his idea.

Auruo's Secret Santa ended up being Erd, who gave him a mouth guard. He had to admit the gift was thoughtful, but he insisted he didn't need it. He ended up biting his tongue after Erd slapped him on the back as a 'you're welcome'. He promptly put the mouth guard in.

"My turn!" Petra beamed. She grabbed her present and looked at the handwriting. "Thanks… Auruo?" she guessed. He nodded back at her and winked. He couldn't talk since the guard was in his mouth. She smiled and unwrapped her gift. It was a hairbrush. Shiny, metallic, had a rose as the design. She turned to Auruo and gave him a quick hug.

"And last but not least…" Petra said as she grabbed the last gift on the table, "Captain!"

Levi took the present from Petra's hands. He didn't really need to guess since there was only one more person left to be his Secret Santa. "Thank you, Ral."

He ripped the wrapping paper and opened the box up to reveal a white cravat. The rest of his team watched him as he took it out of the box and looked it over. It didn't look much different from the other ones he had in his room.

His Secret Santa was still smiling, though. "Look around the bottom. I had your name sewn into it."

Sure enough, his name was there. He let the smallest of smiles escape his lips then let it drop and he looked at Petra again. "This is very nice of you."

Her smile grew bigger, if that were even possible. "I'm glad you liked it!"

—

Knock knock knock.

Levi stopped his hand from writing and looked up at his door. "Who is it?"

Knock knock.

He looked up at the clock. 12 o'clock. Christmas. "You can come in."

KNOCK.

He sighed and got up from his chair to open his door. What he found behind it wasn't a face, but someone's stomach. Petra's stomach. It looked like she was hammering something into his door frame.

"Why are you standing on a chair?" he asked her while looking up.

"I found out your birthday is Christmas day, so I have another present for you," she said between hammering.

When she was finally done, she hopped off her chair and put it aside so there was nothing between her and Levi. Her smile was bright, determined almost.

He looked at her with raised eyebrows until she motioned for him to look up. It was a mistletoe. He looked down again to stare at her and waited for an explanation.

"I found it," she started. "I guess…" she trailed off and gave him a nervous laugh. "I guess I didn't think this through." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from her Captain. That strong smile she was wearing moments ago turned shy.

"I know this might be inappropriate. I just thought that—" she stopped talking when Levi grabbed her hand and tugged at it to pull her closer. He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

To say that Petra's face was a light shade of pink was underestimating. Her face started burning up and she had to step back from Levi to get her thoughts together. She looked down at their feet and tried to find the words to make this situation less awkward. It was going differently according to her plan.

"Merry Christmas," Levi told her.

She looked back up at him and smiled. Him breaking the silence made her feel a little less embarrassed so she stepped closer to him once more. "Merry Christmas," she told him, and kissed his cheek right back, "and Happy Birthday, Levi."