As the morning sun lit up the landing, the residents of Santa's Village caught sight of the flyers. Rudolph was leading, with his bright nose clearly visible. Then, the sleigh landed in the layers of snow that had piled up over the night.
As everyone cheered, the sleigh came to a stop. As the flyers were released from the harness, Rudolph saw Zoey's parents, but not her.
This was unusual. Zoey never missed a single Christmas Day Landing. So he decided to go find her.
He walked down the quiet streets of the village. It was literally a ghost town; it was empty since everyone went to the landing.
Rudolph then saw a a figure walking ahead of him. As he sped up, he saw that it was Zoey. She was carefully carrying a plate of her mom's apple pie, with plastic wrapped over it.
He smiled as he sneaked up behind her.
"Hey, Zoey." he said.
Zoey turned and saw him. "Oh, hey, Rudolph." she said casually through clenched teeth since she was carrying the pie. Initially, she didn't realize that he was actually standing there.
Then she paused.
"Rudolph?" She dropped the pie, which landed safely in the snow.
She looked at him again, and realized that this was real.
"Rudolph!" she cried before bear hugging him.
The buck chuckled. "I've missed you, Zoey."
Zoey raised an eyebrow. "You did? You were away only for the night."
"I know, but I couldn't stop thinking about you." he said, rubbing his neck with his hoof sheepishly. "So, where are you going?"
"Oh, just taking my mom's pie to the party," she said, "then I'll head back home."
"What? Why?" Rudolph asked.
"Oh, well, since I've dumped Arrow, there really isn't anyone who can invite me. If someone is the offspring of a flier, they can ask whoever they want to go with them. But I told my parents that I'll stay home." she explained.
"I'll take you!" Rudolph said quickly.
Zoey stared at him. "You will?"
"Yeah, what do you think I've been hoping for all my life?"
Zoey blushed, then smiled. "I'd be happy to go with you!"
Rudolph grinned. "Great. I'll walk with you."
Zoey picked up the pie and they continued walking down the path in silence.
When they entered the dining hall, there were three people already there; Slyly, Stormella, and Leonard.
"Well, look who's here." Stormella smiled.
"Red! Zoey!" Slyly shouted. He then ran over towards the two. "It's great to see ya!"
Zoey put the pie on the table and returned to Rudolph.
"Hey, little buddy. I see you've asked Zoey." said Leonard.
"Wow. Both you and Slyly are psychic." Rudolph chuckled.
Leonard laughed before giving the two a real bear hug, almost crushing them both.
"Uh, Leonard..." Zoey managed to strain, "you're kinda killing the both of us."
"Oops, thanks for reminding me." He let both of them go.
"So...uh...Rudolph," she said with a shy look.
"Yeah?"
"I need to ask you something."
"We'll, uh, leave the two of you alone for a bit." Slyly said.
"Yeah, I gotta finish some stuff." said Stormella.
They went into the hallway, but at the same time peaked their heads around the corner. The two reindeer didn't notice.
"So, what I wanted to ask you is," Zoey continued, "when we were in Stormella's castle, and we shared our feelings for each other, did you mean what you said?"
Rudolph blushed as he remembered. "Yeah, I meant every single bit of it."
"You did?"
"Yeah, Zoey. The Sprites said that to control my nose, I think of those I love and those who love me, and to let this be the light of my heart. The thing I haven't told you is that you're the reason how I kept my nose lit throughout the night."
At that moment, Zoey flashed back on all the times she remembered seeing his nose glow. When he realized that she saw him practicing his acceptance speech, he was thinking of her. When she kissed him on the cheek at the reindeer games, he was thinking of her. When he blinded Stormella and saved her from being frozen, he was thinking of her.
"You...really care about me, do you?" she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
He nodded softly. "More than anything else."
Then he said, "What about you? Did you mean it?"
"Yes, every single bit of it." she recited him. "What I didn't tell you was that I came to your parents house to talk to you when they told me you ran away."
"Really?" Rudolph said. The flier was never so happy in his life. "What were you going to tell me?"
She put her hoof around his neck. "I think it would be better if I put it this way." Then she pulled him in and kissed him full on the mouth. Rudolph gave a little gasp, then started kissing back.
"Ah, young love." Leonard sighed.
Then it got a bit too crazy. Mustering up all his courage, Rudolph let his tongue touch her upper lip. Zoey was pleased by this, and allowed him to do so. That's when they started rolling around, moaning with pleasure.
Then Mitzi walked in.
She was a little surprised by this; she never expected to walk into something like this. When she realized who the two were, though, she smiled as she always expected the both of them to be together someday.
"Okay, show's over." she said sarcastically, pulling them apart. "Sometimes you're just like your father, Rudolph."
"Sorry, Mom."
"Oh, don't worry." Mitzi said. "You two are perfect. But do you really want to be doing this here? Wait until you're in the best spot."
She left.
"I don't really care where we are." Rudolph said.
"Why?" Zoey asked.
"Because I love you, Zoey."
She smiled.
He then also wrapped his hoof around her neck. "My turn."
They kissed longer than before.
Unbeknownst to them, a mistletoe hung overhead.
