summary: It's the Holidays years after the Golden Army and everyone is enjoying themselves. Everyone but Abraham. He is still mourning over the death of Nuala. But this year might be different. Nuala comes back but she also brings along a...friend. How will the BPRD handle this situation? Who is this person Nuala brought with her?

The Best Gift for Christmas

Within the still room of the library a sigh was heard. In a tank, a half man half fish swam in silence. It was Christmas Eve and he was alone again. Nuala was dead. She had been for eleven years but he still missed her. The sad creature sighed again, remembering back to the moment she died in his arms as he stared at her for the last time, unable to do more.

"Nuala," he sighed for the hundredth time that morning speaking to no one in particular.

Every year around this time he would float in his tank and mope. The others in the Bureau would leave him alone, knowing he would be okay afterwards.

The Icthyo Sapienlooked over to the four books, one on each of the golden stands, but he wasn't in the mood to read. Besides, there was no one to turn the pages for him. Everyone was busy spending time with loved ones, everyone but him. He got out just as the doors opened. Red stepped in to see his friend putting the books back on the shelves.

"Hey Abe, why don't 'cha some down 'n' say hi to the kids. They really wanna see ya."

"I do not feel like visiting at the moment," he mumbled. He sat down on the nearby step.

Hellboy joined him before saying, "Ya know the twins are startin' to notice you not being there for Christmas. C'mon at least for a little while, for the kids."

They sat in silence as Abe pondered over the idea. After some time he finally said yes and they made their way to Liz and Hellboy's room where the kids were doing things every kid around this time.

"Hey Liz, look who I brought," Red bellowed out.

The two children looked up to see their Uncle Abe standing in the doorway.

"Uncle Abe," they shouted in unison as they rushed over to give him a hug.

"Hello," he said with sincere happiness, hugging them back. "What are you two up to?"

"We're making our Christmas list," Jake proudly proclaimed.

He had red skin and a tail like his father but his mother's eyes. His sister, Sara, looked much like her mother's eyes but her father's stubbornness.

'So what did you-"Abe started to say. Unfortunately, the alarm cut him off.

"Damn it! I knew I should've turned that thing off," Hellboy huffed.

"Red language," Liz scolded. He rolled his eyes before walking away, the others right behind him.

The three Bureau agents walked swiftly out to meet at the briefing room, slightly annoyed their holiday morning was cut short. They arrived to see Manning as usual but someone else the team never expected to see. Abe saw her and was too shocked to do anything but stand there like an idiot. He finally ran the short distance and embraced the woman he longed to hold.

"Nuala I have missed you so much. It's been lonely without you," he said.

"I have missed you too," she said, hugging him back.

"How are you alive?"

"The Angel of Death let us return to take the throne and watch over the people. It gave them joy to decide our fate. It reminded them of the old days," she laughed.

Oh how Abe missed her laugh, her smile, her…everything. Then reality hit him in the face like a baseball bat to the head and wondered about something.

Hellboy must have thought the same thing because he asked, "When you say 'we'…?"

Before Nuala could reply, a bang was heard with the smell of something burning. Everyone rushed to the source of the scent. They followed it to Liz and Hellboy's room which now had no door and smoke filled the room.

"Jeez Liz, Sara gets more and more like you every day," Red exclaimed.

"I could say the same thing about Jake," Liz replied back.

Nobody said anything else as the smoke cleared to reveal Nuada roughly holding Jake by the hair from behind and Sara on fire, glaring at the man who had her brother.

"Let him go," she threatened.

"Stay out of this. It is his fault for not showing respect to his elder," Nuada spat at her.

At this point, Red was furious. He charged at Nuada and punched him with his stone hand causing him to drop Jake and slam into the wall.

"Dad," they shouted with relief.

Hellboy grabbed him by the shirt ready to throw another punch when Nuala shouted.

"Stop! Nuada," she looked at him ,"why would you harm him. He has done nothing to you."

"He did not show proper respect to me."

"That is because he did not know you. They show respect for those deserve it in their society, not by stature," Nuala explained.

Nuada didn't say anything so Red released him since he no longer was a threat to Jake. He walked over to his daughter and patted her head.

"Good job defendin' your brother, I'm proud. You can stop with the flames now though," he said as he watched the fire dissipate. As Sara returned to her normal state Abe watched as Nuada's eyes turned from annoyance to something he thought he would never see in the elf as he looked at Sara…love. He stared at the young child with love in his eyes.

"Brother, I am delighted," Nuala said with excitement. Abe concluded she must have noticed too.

"For what reason," he asked, never leaving his gaze from the girl.

"You have found the other who bears your mark," she told him.

"What are you speaking of? I have not Marked," he stated as he reluctantly looked away from her to his sister.

"Father always said you will not even know you have Marked until afterwards," she said in a childish, teasing voice.

"What is Marking," Abe asked his lover.

She smiled up at him. "Marking is when one finds their match. You know when you have that person when you would do anything for them. They would constantly be on your mind. And you find yourself unable to lie to them even if you know the truth would hurt. Also, they would share a mark, each the same as the other."

Abe was slightly worried that he did not have a mark that looked like the one Nuala had, though he had yet to see it.

"What does yours look like," he couldn't help but ask.

"What, oh no. I do not have one," she laughed. "Only the males can mark as well as their lover."

He was glad to hear this. Though, someone was not so joyous to hear his little girl was, in not so many words, betrothed.

"I'm sick of hearing this crap. There's no way she has this Mark," he hollered.

"Well we shall see if she does or not. My brother has his on his back," Nuala said. "Brother would you please show us?"

He looked at Sara and slowly approached her until he stood a foot away. He had uncertainty in his eyes.

"Do you wish to see my mark," he asked with steady breathes.

The usually outspoken girl only nodded for him to continue. He turned around and stood in the center of the semi-circle. He hesitated for a moment before taking off the sash. He folded and gently placed it on the floor in front of him, every movement with purpose. He then took off the upper half of his attire revealing his flat chest and wall sculpted muscles. He also folded and put it on the ground on top of the sash. Sara blushed at his bare chest but didn't understand why. Nuala saw this and slightly chuckled knowing full well why she reacted that way. Abe saw this too and mentally laughed.

'Do you think she understands,' Nuala asked through there connection.

'No, but I know she has feelings toward him now. She may not know what they are of why they are there, but she knows it is because of your brother,' he answered.

She laughed within her mind. 'My brother does not like everyone staring at him, it makes him insecure.'

'I am surprised someone such as he is uncomfortable,' he laughed.

Slowly, Sara walked up to him, facing him head on. She examined him, looking at his chest, arms, face, eyes, and hair. She reached out to lightly tough it picking it up and letting it gently fall back onto his shoulder. She circled him, taking in every inch of his being. She arrives at his back to see his Mark on his right shoulder blade. Tentatively, she traced it barely touching his skin. He tried to not shudder in delight but failed horribly. He was grateful he had enough control not to just melt into her simple touch. As she touched his Mark, her shoulder tingled where her birthmark was. She lifted her sleeve to look at her mark. It looked so familiar to her. She looked up at Nuada's then back at her own. There was no mistaking it, they looked exactly alike.

Red saw and started cursing under his breath as he walked…no, stomped away to cool down a bit. Liz followed to try and console him. This, leaving the two couples time to talk without parent interruptions. Jake didn't know what to do so he left going down the opposite hall his parents took. Now the four of them were truly alone. Sara spoke for the first time since earlier that morning.

"Your name is Nuada," she asked as she walked to face him again.

He only nodded. "May I redress?"

"Oh yes, I'm sorry. I must've been staring. My mother tells me not to stare. I'm sorry if you found it rude…" she babbled on until he held up his hand to stop her from continuing.

He re-clothed himself before speaking. "It is fine. I do not find your stare rude," he said calmly but his voice portrayed something more.

She blushed at his statement as if his opinion was the most important thing in the world.

"Nuala is your sister?"

"Yes she is. The greatest sister one could have," he stated proudly.

Sara laughs at this and earns a questioning look from Nuada. "It's funny, Jake says the same thing," she explains.

"What is your age," he asks.

"Fourteen."

"Do you have feelings towards someone?"

"Um brother, why don't we let Abraham escort us to our quarters," Nuala says before the young girl answers the seemingly innocent question.

"Very well," he says. He straightens his posture before leaving, letting everyone know his position in power. Although, it mattered little to the girl who shared more than a mark as she watched him leave. She couldn't wait until she could see him again, though she didn't understand the reason.

He walked into his room that seemed empty without the girl. It wasn't like his chambers in Bethmora but it was better that the sewers. He was just about to walk over to the bathroom when someone knocked on his door. He opened it to see his beloved sister.

"Abraham and I are going to the library to see Sara and Jake, do you wish to accompany us," she asked.

At the sound of her name, Nuada's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes I shall accompany you," he said in his usual distant self but Nuala knew better.

The three walked to down to the library and opened the doors to see Sara yelling at Jake.

"…and have no right to boss me around. Go get this…go do that," she said in a mocking way.

"Jeez Sara, did you break something in that head of yours. I don't boss you around."

"Yes you do," she shouted back.

"No I don't."

"Do to."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Arhg, you're dead," Sara yelled before chasing her brother around the library. He jumped over the furniture in hopes she would go around it but instead, she jumped over it too. He even tried running upstairs, circle a table, and slide down the banister. She just ran up the stairs, circles the table, and waited for him to slide back down while she jumped off the railing.

Nuada had to admit, as he watched all this, she looked cute even if she was angry. When she caught her brother, Abe stepped in between them to prevent further damage.

"All right, that's enough of that. Sara did you know Nuada is here?" He knew at the mention of Nuada, all her attention would be on him. "Jake, I found this new game for you," he said, showing the young boy a new game for his Nintendo DS.

"Wow! Thanks Uncle Abe," he said and went off to find his DS. He came back with a red and black rectangular object.

Everyone settled in the library as they did their own thing. Abe and Nuala got caught up in memories. Sara and Nuada asked questions about each other, Sara did more asking then answering.

"So you lived in Bethmora?"

"Yes, it was where all royalty lived within my family."

This kept going on while Jake sat nearby on one of the chairs playing his game. The five spent the whole day together, Jake coming and going every now and again. Hellboy and Liz decided to take the plane to a remote island for some 'alone time'.

Evening came and everyone went their separate ways for some much needed rest. Hellboy and Liz came to get the twins ready for bed after coming back from their 'alone time'. Abe followed Nuala to her room and says good night to her.

"Good night Abraham," she says before giving him a soft peck on the lips. She was about to pull away when Abe wraps his arms around her and kisses her back, trapping her in his embrace. As they kiss, their innocent feelings become more passionate.

"Abraham," she whispered through each kiss he gives her as he moves from her mouth to her jaw, down her neck and up again. She tried to find the doorknob but it instead opened from Abraham's doing. It opened to let the couple in and Abe closed it quickly.

Across the hall, Nuada tried to block out the feelings from across the hall to give them privacy. Though secretly, he wished to do that with Sara but immediately shook those thoughts from his mind. He would wait for her, for her sake. He would be the friend that would always be there for her or the father she needed. He closed his eyes and drifted into a sleep of peace, dreaming of her.

He woke up to someone poking his arm. His eyes fill with anger but then soften as his gaze lands on Sara. When she saw he was awake she held up a present wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.

"Look, my parents brought me a gift," she said, practically jumping up and down in joy.

"Why have you not opened it?"

"I wanted to wait 'til you were up," she blushed.

"I am up now."

"Right."

She tore it open to reveal a camera with a scrapbook in gold that had different intricate designs.

"Wow! This is great," she exclaimed.

She turned it on, surprised to see it already had batteries, and took a picture of Nuada.

"Hehe! You look good in this one," she says jokingly as she showed him scowling.

He scowls again.

"I was only-" just then she heard a scream, or more like a yell, from Jake just outside the door.

They ran outside to see Jake staring at Abe with Nuala in bed. They seemed a bit shocked from being woken up that way.

"Jake…what's wrong," she asked through gasps.

"Uh…uh, he and her and they're and…I have no idea what's goin' on," he finally said.

"Children, why don't you go get something to eat. I am sure you are in need of nourishment," he ushered them away but not without giving his sister a questioning look. She blushed at his knowing face. Abe hugs her when he leaves to follow the kids.

'This is the best Christmas I have ever had' he thought. 'I also got the greatest gift of all'.

'Oh, and what might that be' she flirted.

'You' he then placed a kiss on her delicate lips.

'I think this is the best, uh…Christmas my brother has had also' she laughed. He laughed with her. They shared another kiss before dressing for the day.

~Darkness reins for its Night Princess

Okay I hoped you liked it and a big shout out to my friends xxShiomi-chanxx, shadowstripe3252, Renaly, Kit-Pocket, and i yuki love zero.

For those of you who enjoy Death Note, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Invader Zim, Keroro Gunso, or Naruto go to Kit-Pocket's profile and read their stories.

For those of you who enjoy Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd, or Phantom go to xxShiomi-chanxx's profile or this amazing author, Erik'sangel527. She is really good at Phantom stories. And trust me, I've read those and loved them. So what are you still doing here? Move it! But don't forget to review.