Disclaimer: I don't own the Pizza Cats.

This story is dedicated to the memory of Kelly Greene

11/29/79- 11/11/07

"In Heaven souring up, I dropped an ear,

On earth: and Oh! Sweet melody!

And listening: found it was the saints who were

Encroached for Heaven that sang for joy.

For in Christ's coach they sweetly sang,

As they to glory rise therein."

-Edward Taylor

Polly Esther sat in the brightly decorated main forum of the Pizza Cats Pizza Parlor. The brightly decorated Christmas Tree sat right in the middle of the room all laden with ornaments and lights. A more lovlier symbol of Christmas she had yet to set her eyes on, but for once the sight of that didn't fill her with excitement and joy. She couldn't take her eyes off the bottom of the tree. Here all of the colorful gifts lay in nice neat piles, each pile belonging to one of the Cats. But Polly was troubled by her pile, which was a little smaller than the others for one good reason, she still hadn't gotten a gift for Speedy! This was really bothering her, mostly cause this wasn't just ANY Christmas that was coming, it was the first Christmas she and Speedy would spend as an offical couple! They had been dating seriously ever since Speedy and Good Bird destroyed the comet that had headed right for Tokyo…and in the process had enabled Speedy and Polly to fully realise how deeply in love they were! They had been a serious couple ever since.

Polly had to smile as she recalled the wonderful dates she and Speedy had been on. His kind and gentile ways, his incredible kisses always ignited wonderful feelings inside of her! She so wanted to get him something special, something to show him just how much she truly loved him. even though she had always believed that is was the thought that counted, still she wanted to get him something uniQue and as special as he was. But no matter how many stores she had gone to, no matter how hard she looked, nothing she saw was good enough! Now here it was, just one more week until Christmas and she had no gift for one of the most important Cats in her life!

"Hey, what are you up to?" Guido asked, coming down the stairs with yet another present in his arms and setting it down underneath the tree, startling Polly out of her wits.

"Oh, nothing, Guido.." she sighed.

"So..you got all your shopping done?"
"No.." Polly sighed. "I STILL haven't found a gift for Speedy!"

"Not yet?" Guido said. "Man, it's only a week before Christmas ya know."

"I know, Guido." Polly sighed again. "I hate everything I see! It's either too boring, or too fancy, or something he has, or it's just not….special." she rested her chin in her hands.

"Hey, Polly, what happened to 'it's the thought that counts'?"

"Its IS the thought that counts, Guido, and I'm trying to find a gift that tells him just what I think of him!!"

Guido smiled. "He got YOUR gift a long time ago! Made me swear on 12 Bible books and my Mom's grave I wouldn't tell!"

"Good, don't!"

"You don't even want a hint?!"
"No, I wanna be surprised!"

"Oh, you're gonna be surprised!!"

"Good! Now maybe I can concentrate on the matter at hand, which is finding the best gift for the Cat I love so much…"

Guido couldn't resist a small remark. "Nothing wrong with a pair of stilts!"

The look Polly gave him would have melted glass. "That's the one I love you're talking about, Buster! If ya don't want the end of my new teflon against your thick skull you'd better shut up!" She got up and put on her coat. "I'd better go back to the mall and look around some more!"

"A week before Christmas?! Man, that store is gonna be a nightmare!!"

"I know, but I have to try just one more time!"

"Hey, watch here you're going, Buddy!" Polly yelled at one customer who bumped into her while on his way out of the store. The customer basically ignored her and continued on his way. Polly cursed in his direction and lugged her shopping bags. She'd been here for over 2 hours and all she'd gotten was some things for the restaurant, and nothing at all for Speedy! All she had ended up with was brusies and shoves in the side. Panting with frustration and anger Polly sat down on the nearest bench she could find to get her bearings. She took out her flute and proceeded to play a Christmas melody to calm herself down.

"That's a lovely melody," a pretty voice then came from next to Polly, causing Polly to jump a bit and turn to her left on the bench she thought was empty. A pretty young Cat was sitting upon the bench next to her. This cat had bright white fur, lovely long blond hair that reached halfway down her back and her eyes were a piercing blue. She was dressed in a bright white kimono. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I was resting here and I couldn't help but hear that lovely flute. You have a remarkable talent."

Polly blushed. "Thank you."

The Cat looked around her. "I hate shopping, don't you?"

Polly sighed "Tell me about it! Here I am trying to find the perfect gift for my boyfriend and all I'm getting is shoved and brused."

"I don't know why this time of year seems to bring out the worst in people, all running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"Isn't that the truth? And the stores are just filled with things that aren't right. I can't find the right gift for my boyfriend! Nothing I find is perfect enough! All I see are overpriced knick knacks I know aren't right at all!"

The Cat nodded and looked around her again. "The saddest part of all of this is so many people forget the real true meaning of this holiday! They're all trying to find gifts for everyone and neglecting the biggest, most important gift of all, the Gift of the Baby Jesus. After all, His birth is the whole reason for this holiday, and yet so many forget that entirely, they just want to find the right gift or the most expensive gift, and forget the Gift!"

"I don't care about what my boyfriend's gift should cost, I just want to find one that I know is right that I know he'll love. I'm not trying to outdo anyone, I just want to find the gift that can express my love."

"Like the Lord did, when He expressed His lov for everyone by sending His Son." The Cat stood up then. "we haven't really met, have we?" She stuck out her hand. "I'm Kelly."

Polly stood up and shook her hand. "I'm Polly."

Nice to meet you," Kelly said. "That's a cute name, Polly. I like it."

"Are you new to Tokyo? I don't think I've seen you here before."

"Oh..I've been around," Kelly said. "You must be really cold, why don't you come over to my shop, I can heat us up some tea and we can talk some more. Maybe I can help you."

Polly smiled. "OK."

A little while later Polly was kneeling on a soft pink rug at Kelly's small tea shop. It was far on the outskirts of Tokyo in a little cottage so small Polly wasn't sure she had ever seen it before. The alls ere cream colored, the furnature as light pink and yellow, and the was some of the best she had ever had. Kelly sat down next to her. "Now, tell me some more about your boyfriend?"

"His name is Speedy. Speedy Cerviche. He's really sweet, kind, brave, and thoughtful. He's the Leader of our team, and he never hesitates to do whatever he can to help Little Tokyo. He can be a bit of a goof sometimes, but he's always there whenever anyone needs him!"

Kelly smiled. "He sounds like a wonderful man. You must really love him."

"Yeah, more than anything in the world." She giggled a bit. "Ya know, it's funny. I've known him all my life, since third grade."

"That long?"

"Mm hm. But until that deadly comet almost crashed into Tokyo, I never realized ho much I cared about him, just how much he meant to me!"

Kelly nodded. "Sometimes it does take something like that to tell you not to take life for granted and to bring out true feeling you never knew you had."

"Isn't that the truth? I used to just think of him as my best friend, but now I can't live without him. This is our first Christmas as a couple, and I just want to give him something special and meaningful, but I can't find anything at all like that in any of the stores! Everything is either too expensive, too dull, or too fancy. I just want something special and uniQue, like him."

"well, have you thought of, something truly special?"

"Like what?"

"Something meaningful. Something that can only come from you."

Polly thought. "Like what?"

"well, that lovely flute that you have might do it! I know how beautifully you play!"

"My flute?"

"Yes! why not write him a song? A song you can play on your flute! You can put your whole heart and love for him into it! It would be truly special, cause only you can do it! No one else can give him a gift like that! You can't buy something like that in any store, this is a gift that comes from only you, and your heart!"

Polly's eyes grew ide. "You think he would like that?"

"He'd love that, cause it's your own personal sign of love for him! I bet he never got anything like it before, and he can't get it from anyone else! It's true and uniQue, like the ultimate Christmas gift, the Baby born in Bethlehem. He was the true Christmas gift cause He was truly uniQue and given out of God's love, like you writing a song is given out of your love!"

Polly stared at her flute. "I'll do it," she smiled. 'I'll give him my love as a gift! Thanks, Kelly!"

For the rest of the week Polly spent her breaks and any spare moment she could get that Speedy wasn't around working on her song. It had to be like Speedy- tender, sweet, yet energetic and perky. She worked harder on it than she had ever worked on anything, spending hour after hour polishing every note, every lyric. Finally it was ready. She practiced and practiced it whenever Speedy was gone.

That Christmas Day, after they had come back from Church, all four of them had gathered by the brightly decorated tree to open their gifts. Polly began to get nervous. "what if he doesn't like the song?" she thought. "what if I miss a note?" Speedy smiled at her and walked over to her with a small brightly rapped box in his hand, looking almost as nervous as she as.

"Merry Christmas, Kitten," he said softly.

"Merry Christmas, Speedy," she said. "Uh,,Speedy?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh…can we go upstairs for a minute? I wanna give you my gift in private."

"Uh..OK." They walked upstairs into Polly's room. Speedy sat down on a chair and Polly sat facing him. She put his gift on the dressor and nervously took out her flute. "what's up, Kitten?"

"well…my present..I wanted to give it to you…just the 2 of us..it's not exactly something you can wrap."

"Oh? what is it?"
"It's this.." Polly bright the flute to her lips. ' A song. I wrote this just for you, Speedy."

Speedy's eyes grew wide." You…you wrote me a song?"

"Yes! Listen, this is for you!" She then began to play the special gift she had wrote. As she played she put her whole heart, soul, and love into each note, ach melody. The beautiful music seemed to fill the entire room and dance upon the walls.The melody started slow and intimately but then grew and grew and turned spunky and filled with energy and adventure, with an occasional note poking out in surprise before becoming slow and loving again. Finally when she was done she opened her eyes to find Speedy looking at her moved beyond belief with tears pouring down his face.

"Kitten," he whispered, too overcome for a moment to speak," That…that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard!"

"Did you like it?"

"I loved it!"

"It's yours, Speedy! All for you! Merry Christmas!"

"Polly…no one ever did anything like that for me before!" He hugged her tightly. "That was the most wonderful gift I've ever had!" He kissed her deeply.
"Oh, Speedy.." she whispered.

"I love you so much, Polly." he answered.

"Hey, you did it already?" Guido's voice came from the doorway. Speedy whirled around.

"Ya promised ya wouldn't tell!"

"I didn't!"

"No, he didn't," Polly said. She took the small rapped package and tore off the rapping to reveal a black velvet box. She opened the box to reveal a lovely diamond ring set in a gold band. "Oh, Speedy," she whispered.

Speedy knelt don on one knee. "I love you more than anything in the world, Polly. You're the only one for me, and you'll be the only one forever. You are the bravest, sweetest, and most talented cat in all of Tokyo. will you marry me?"

Polly covered her face as tears fell down happily. "Yes, oh Speedy, yes!" Guido and Francine clapped from the doorway as Speedy and Polly shared a deep Christmas kiss.

Later that afternoon Polly stood near the outskirts of Little Tokyo, searching for Kelly's tea shop to tell her of her engagement. But to her surprise she was unable to find it. The place where she as certain the cottage was was old and broken down, nothing like her friend's bright white cheerful shop! was she in the right place? She looked around. Yep, the cottage should be right under the three large evergreen trees she was standing under. why wasn't it there now?

"Lovely place, isn't it?" Came a voice behind her. Polly turned to find it came from a cat with hair the same color as Kelly;s and the eyes were the same shade of blue. "My sister would have built her teahouse here."

"Sister?"

My sister, Kelly. She had a dream about opening and running her own teahouse. It would have been right here. But…she died two years ago, right when she saved enough to buy it." He sighed. "She as so sweet, tender and kind, always willing to help people. He smiled. "Our Mom always said that angels are always watching over us and they never hesitate to come to you if you need help. It wouldn't surprise me if Kelly was one now."

Polly stood there stunned, but as he walked away she wispered. "She is one!" She smiled and looked up to Heaven. "Merry Christmas, Kelly!"

"what can I give him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a Shepard,

I would give a lamb.

If I were a wise man,

I would do y part.

But what can I give him?

Give my heart"

- Christina Rossetti

This story is dedicated to the memory of Kelly Greene 11/29/79- 11/11/07

Our own Christmas Angel.