A/N: Short, sweet, and to the point. Enjoy. (:

Special thanks to my one reveiwer, ElodieKumari94, and to Lilitraum for the wonderful PM, and the other person who added this to their faves, whitneysixx. (And, hey, I'm a sucker for feed-back. Let me know what you think, huh?)

That Time of Year Again

"What are all those envelopes by the request board?" Juvia asked as she entered the guild hall with Gajeel, Natsu, and Erza.

"Eh? Oh!" Natsu's eyes widened slightly. "Jii-chan must have finally put out the Secret Santa names!"

"Secret Santa?" Gajeel asked.

Erza nodded. "Every year each member gets the name of another member to buy a gift for. The name each person gets is a secret though, known only to Master Makarov as he is the one to randomly select the names! Then, on Christmas, they get handed out by Santa himself!"

"Who is really Elfman," Natsu muttered. Then a little louder, "C'mon! Let's go see whose names we got!"

Juvia smiled brightly as Natsu sped off in the direction of the board. "Everything is so festive at Fairy Tail! It reminds Juvia of Christmas at Phantom Guild!"

Erza gave the younger mage a lopsided smile. "Christmas at Phantom?"

She nodded. "Hai. It may have been a rather dreary place the rest of the year, but that doesn't mean we didn't celebrate, too!"

Gajeel nodded as he followed the girls towards the board. "It's true. That was the only time, really, when the guild had any color in it, but I guess even Jose liked the holiday." He laughed. "You should have seen the lights around the inside of the place! No one ever would have thought we would end up disbanded for attacking another guild, let me tell you!"

"The place glowed with red and green and silver!" Juvia exclaimed. "The lights, the tinsel and garland, the tree!" She stopped and looked around the guild hall, her excitement falling slightly. "Does Fairy Tail not decorate for Christmas, Erza-san?"

"Ah," Erza nodded. "We put up lights and decorations at our Caroling Party, but the tree doesn't go up until the Christmas Eve Party!"

Gajeel smiled widely. "Caroling you say?"

"Hai. Everyone in Magnolia is welcome! We often have townspeople join in with us, as a matter of fact. The caroling party is really a time of coming together as a town. We help people deck out their homes and, in return, they help us here at the guild as well. Then we go around the town singing for everyone to enjoy!"

"That sounds so wonderful!" Juvia beamed. "Juvia can't wait!"

Natsu came running back up to them. "Erza! Juvia! Gajeel! I got your envelopes!" He handed them over to their respective owners.

Erza smiled as she opened hers. Lucy would be easy to buy for!

Natsu, too, was satisfied with his name. Since it was her first Christmas back with them, he would certainly try to make Lisanna's present special!

Gajeel frowned. What in the world was he supposed to get a girl like Levy? He hardly knew her!

Juvia almost passed out from sheer glee. Gray-sama! …But what would she get him?

"Juvia," Erza spoke, breaking into the water mage's thoughts. "Maybe we should shop together for our Secret Santa presents. It's always more fun to go with someone, after all!"

Juvia looked relieved. Erza was a close friend of Gray-sama's after all! "Maybe you can help Juvia find something. Juvia is not really sure what to get as Juvia really doesn't know Gray-sama very well…"

Erza's smile fell slightly. "Juvia… He may not even get it, to be honest."

Juvia frowned. "What does Erza-san mean?"

"I'm not sure I've ever seen him come to one of the Christmas Eve parties." She shook her head. "No one really knows why, but he tends to be distant this time of year. Most of the time he's on a job over Christmas."

Juvia's smile returned. "Then Juvia will just have to deliver it to Gray-sama herself! If Gray-sama is gone, Juvia will wait until he gets back!"

"That's very bold of you, Juvia," Erza smiled back. "I think that would be a fantastic idea!"

"We should decorate his door," Natsu added. "Macao says he never does even though everyone else in the dorm does."

Gajeel smiled. "Just leave that to me!"

Juvia clapped her hands excitedly. "Juvia does so love this time of year!"