The clock on the fireplace beeped twice, 12:30. That meant 'Father Christmas' would have been and gone. The whole crew knew better than to believe in him, but they also knew that no harm came from believing for the day. Snow rapped violently against the windows; a snow storm was drawing closer. The sky was black and seemed to be endless like a deep pool of ink.
Kluke turned restlessly, she'd woken up several minutes ago and was having trouble getting back to sleep. The events of yesterday tormented her, shattering her hopes of her wish coming true. Soon Shu would warm up to Bouquet and all hope would be lost. Kluke sighed heavily and dragged herself out of bed, intent on making superb Christmas dinner. This was her only chance to beat Bouquet to the punch.
Quickly, Kluke tyed her hair in her ribbon and brushed her fringe from her face. Then, she quietly snuck out of her room and down the silent wooden stairs. To Kluke's surprise, the fire was blazing and the floor was covered in boxes, wrapping paper and cellotape. The kitchen door was ajar and light rushed through it. Kluke clutched her fist angrily, suspecting Bouquet to be cooking.
Trying to supress her anger, Kluke stormed into the kitchen. Shu was sat on the kitchen side, drinking some sort of energy drink. As soon as her saw Kluke, he began spluttering, coughing energy drink over all the surfaces. "Whoops," Shu coughed, still surprised to see Kluke.
"Hello to you too," Kluke said sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Shu?" She said seriously, trying to stop herself from bursting into a fit of giggles.
"I could ask you the same thing," Shu said, proud of his retaliation.
"Trying to beat, Bouquet." Kluke sighed, her eyes travelling to meet the floor.
"What?" Shu gawped; he didn't quite think that Kluke was the type of person for rivalry. Bouquet certainly wasn't.
"I'm so sick of her," Kluke muttered angrily. "She always tops what I do, she always gets people to do what she wants. I'm sick of it all!"
"You're better than this." Shu said reassuringly. "I'm sure Bouquet hasn't beat you at everything, Kluke."
"What are you doing down here?" The latter asked, changing the subject.
"Wrapping presents," Shu muttered, turning red in embarassment. Kluke shrugged her shoulders and, turning on her heels, headed back into the other room. "Hey," Shu called after her.
"What?" Kluke snapped, regretting it immediately; she couldn't risk waking Bouquet.
"Can you help me?" Shu asked, then added. "Or at least, stay with me. I'm lonely."
"A chance to be alone with Shu, my christmas is looking up already." Kluke sang to herself in her mind, then said, "Erm.. Sure." Shu beamed, then sat down, getting back to his task. Kluke watched as he wrapped each present, each one more beautiful than the last. It was easy to guess which one would pressumably be for Bouquet, because like usual, Bouquet had beaten her to confessing her feelings for Shu. Not like he'd ever return Kluke's feelings anyway.
The snow outside calmed down, and the snow storm seized to a halt. "Thank god for that," Shu said. Kluke wasn't sure whether he'd said it because the weather had calmed down or because he'd finally finished wrapping presents. Possibly both. Kluke sighed; maybe it would be best not to compete anst Bouquet. The odds of Kluke winning seemed impossibly. She stared into the fire and thought about it.
"What do you think about, Bouquet?" Kluke asked, taking Shu by surprise.
"Bouquet... Well, erm, she's alright I guess. A bit clingy and, well, she's not really my type. I like someone else," Shu said, his voice shaking slightly.
"Oh," Kluke said bluntly; she hadn't really listened to what he'd said, just to what she'd supposed he'd say. She continued to watch the flames dance and intwine with one another. It filled Kluke with jealousy, hatred but she couldn't help it. The flames multiplied her supressed feelings until she couldn't stand it anymore. Shu's Christmas was one that Kluke didn't want to ruin so she silently rose to her feet.
"I'm going outside," Kluke whispered, her voice shaking and her eyes tearing.
"Are you okay?" Shu asked, suddenly concerned. She ignored him and walked outside, each step shakier than the last until she was finally out the door. Kluke broke into a run, and kept running until she collasped into the snow. There, she completely broke down. Tears poured down her cheeks and she screamed, as loud as she possibly could. Her emotions were swimming through her, tearing her in half. Kluke didn't know whether to scream, punch Bouquet or cry, so she did all of them.
First, she screamed, making it echo throughout area she was in. Shu rushed to the door and came hurtling towards her, scared to death. "Kluke, are you okay?" He shouted, tears sparkling in his eyes. When he reached her, she was drenched in tears, they were spilling down her face like waterfalls. Kluke shook her head, refusing to speak to him. Shu silently wrapped his arms around Kluke and waited until she stopped crying. This gesture turned Kluke's face an even deeper red and she continued to cry in his shoulder until she'd finally calmed down. By this time, the sun was beginning to rise through the grey smudgy sky and Kluke instantly felt bad.
"I'm sorry," She whispered but Shu said nothing. He wiped the last of her tears and got to his feet.
"You don't have to tell me what was wrong, just don't be sorry." Shu said softly, helping Kluke stand staight. She nodded, then followed him back to the lodge, not daring to say a word. Kluke was afraid she'd ruin Christmas more than she already had and that scared her. Once back at the lodge, Bouquet came out of the kitchen, beaming. Hatred flowed through Kluke once more and she punched Bouquet. Shu, who hadn't been paying attention, turned around and gasped to see Bouquet on the floor, tears in her eyes.
"What was that for Kluke?" She said, her voice high pitched with worry.
"Everything," Kluke muttered and walked back outside. Shu sighed and rolled his eyes, deciding it would be best to let Kluke return in her own time.
"She was just a bit upset this morning, i'm sure it's not your fault." Shu said, unsure whether it was the truth or not. Bouquet nodded and wiped her eyes. She smiled at Shu, her lavender eyes filled with happiness.
"You're so kind, and that's why I love you." Bouquet squealed and wrapped her arms around Shu, constricting his breathing like a Boa Constrictor. Shu gasped and wormed his way out of Bouquet's arms. "I need to clean the kitchen," Shu said, at first lying and then remembering he actually had to.
"I've already done it," Bouquet said cheerily, flipping her hair.
"I'll go wake the others then," Shu said quickly.
"No, I'll do it," Bouquet said, rushing upstairs before he had chance. Marumaro zoomed down the stairs in a flash, waiting obidently at the bottom like a puppy. Shu rolled his eyes, slightly disgusted at Marumaro's enuthiasm. The door behind Shu squeaked and Kluke trudged in, staring at the floor, her cheeks flushed red.
"You don't need to explain yourself," Shu whispered and she nodded, her eye contact still only with the floor.
"Presents time!" Bouquet said joyfully, kicking her leg in the air and skipping down the stairs. Jiro followed, his arms folded, annoyed at having been woken up. "This piles yours, Marumaro," Bouquet said, pointing to a neat stack of presents. "And this one's yours, Jiro... And that one's yours, Kluke... And this one's mine... And that's one's yours, honey."
Shu rolled his eyes and walked over to the last pile of presents that Bouquet had pointed to. "Enjoy," She squealed.
Unenuthastically, Kluke unwrapped her presents. She'd recieved: a pair of pink underwear from Marumaro, a blue scrunchie from Bouquet, a pair of pearl earrings from Andropov, a small dagger from General Logi, a Jibral brooch from Legolas, several coloured scrunchies from Jiro, a pink hoodie from the people of Talta village, a silver snowflake brooch from Delphinium, and an unwrapped present from Shu. Kluke could guess, out of the presents she'd seen, what it would be and decided she didn't want to open it. She put her pink hoodie on, and stuffed the present in her pocket.
On her right side, Kluke saw Bouquet squeal with delight. In her hands were a gorgeous silver chain, with the letter B hanging from it. "Thank you, Marumaro." Bouquet beamed. So far, Bouquet had recieved: the chain from Marumaro, a dress from Marumaro, a ring from Marumaro, several coloured scrunchies from Jiro, a warning from Legolas- which she took fairly well considering what it was- a circular brooch from Delphinium, a hairbrush from Andropov and her present from Shu. Kluke didn't get to see what it was but she saw Bouquet kiss Shu on the cheek and beam widely.
Kluke was fuming. "I hate you," She spat, pure venom in her voice, directing it at Bouquet. Not waiting to see anyone's reactions, she walked out. She heard someone raise to their feet but Shu said, "Leave her, she'll want to be alone." Kluke broke into a run, and ran as far down the peak as she dared. She threw her face into her arms and let the tears flow down her face. Shu was right, she did want to be alone, but she wanted him to be with her.
After an hour or two, Kluke had lost track of time, she trudged back towards the lodge. Once there, she saw Shu waiting for her. "Did you open your present?" Shu asked as she drew closer. Kluke shook her head and drew it from her pocket. She didn't want to open it, to let Shu see her reaction. Kluke shook her head once more and put it back in her pocket. "Open it when you're ready," Shu whispered and then said, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Kluke whispered hoarsely; it came out better than she'd expected. She didn't even think she have the ability to speak. Shu silently pulled her into a hug and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder. Several tears ran down her face as she realised what she was doing; she'd always dreamed of Shu comforting her like this. She lifted her face out of his shoulders and looked up, not daring to look him in the face. Only then did Kluke noticed the white berries above their heads. Shu touched her chin and she jumped, looking at him in the eyes now. "I love you, Kluke." He whispered and kissed her. Kluke's head was swimming, she didn't what to think, to feel. All she knew was that she loved Shu, and that some wishes, come true.