Ami stood outside Makoto's door, a brightly wrapped present in the colour green with pink accents, was held tightly in her arms. She knew she was early; Makoto wasn't expecting her for another thirty minutes, but she had been so nervous sitting at home, fearing she would be late, she had left early. Gathering her courage, she knocked on the door and waited.
"Ami-chan!" Makoto greeted, surprise colouring her voice. "Come in, I wasn't expecting you so soon; not all the food is done yet." The taller girl sounded so apologetic that Ami couldn't help but smile.
"That's fine Mako-chan, I'm sorry I'm early." Nerves getting the best of her, she trust the gift towards her friend. "Merry Christmas," she said softly.
"You didn't need to get me anything!" Taking the present from her friend, Makoto lead them to the couch to sit down.
"I know, but I wanted to. Open it." Ami waited as Makoto painstakingly opened the wrapping paper, not wanting to ruin it. Makoto found herself lost for words as she started at the gift in her lap. There, sitting on her lap was the same rice cooker she had been eyeing for the past few months. It had some pretty cool features from being able to cook meat to making rice porridge but it had been well above her budget and besides, her current rice cooker still worked, why buy something so frivolous.
"Do you not like it?" the blue haired girl asked worriedly after several moments of silence.
"Ami-chan….this is too much," Makoto said, her throat tightening. And here all she had done was baked Ami her favourite cake as a gift where her friend had gone and gotten her this super expensive rice cooker.
"Makoto, I wanted to do something nice for you. If you're worried about the price, please don't be. It's about the thought and intent of the gift," Ami said gently, placing her hand on top of Makoto's reassuringly. She hated seeing her friend upset like this, but didn't know what else to do.
It's about the thought and intent of the gift. The words swirled around Makoto's mind. It didn't matter if she hadn't gotten Ami a super expensive gift did it. The fact that she had lovingly worked on a cake for her friend and the thought and effort she had put into it was what mattered.
"You're right." Smiling, she placed the rice cooker on the floor beside the couch before standing up. Taking Ami's hand in hers, she pulled the shorter girl to her feet. "Common, your gift is in the kitchen."