Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 3

December 13th

"Lets see decorations... decorations… ah here we go. Aisle 3 back of the store."

Lucy said pointing in the distance. The trio strolled through the store, festive music piped through the speakers and Rogue found himself humming along absently, a feeling of contentment rose within his chest successfully startling himself for a moment. He'd never really felt such a feeling before and it surprised him how easily it seemed to wash over him, and he'd never really noticed. But he wasn't satisfied not knowing what had caused it, so like with everything else in his life he poked and prodded at it systematically, trying to figure out just what brought this warm feeling within him.

Every thought, every angle that crossed his mind pointed to one person, Lucy. Rogue could count on one hand how many times he'd ever felt this comfortable in his life, and most were involving his exceed Frosch or his fellow dragon slayer Sting and his exceed Lector, and even those were few and far between. But it seemed that whenever he was around the blonde, even just being in her presence put him at ease and he couldn't help but be drawn to her bubbliness and exuberance in everything she does.

There was once a time when he'd look down on someone like her, seeing their happiness as nothing more than weakness and continue on with his life. But having had his eyes and heart opened made him see what life on the other side of the fence was like. No more standing at the divide and peeking over, wondering how different things were over there, he would jump that fence and find out for himself. He was ready to jump in feet first and experience the other side.

His thoughts came to an end as they approached the decorations aisle and the first excited squeal bubbled out of Fro, dashing here and there talking rapidly.

Rogue for the first time was rather speechless. Only one word rang true and he found himself saying it in his mind as it slipped from his lips, his eyes wide trying to take all the different colors in.

"Wow."

Lucy laughed as she browsed and looked at him over her shoulder, picking up a box of glass balls.

"Never seen so many breakables in one place?" She teased.

"Amongst other things." He murmured drawn over to a sparkly display.

"So pretty! Ooh ooh, look at these. Can we get these? Oh wow these lights blink!" Frosch was in a world by herself.

Rogue couldn't help but chuckle at the cat's joy as he stepped up beside the blonde comparing different strands of lights.

"Hmm so they have blinking lights, lights that blink along with music, big lights, small lights and oooh they have the old fashioned bubble lights! I haven't seen these in years!"

"What's a bubble light?" Fro asked perching on Rogues head, leaning over to get a good look.

Lucy handed over the box. "See here in this colored ball? That's where the light is and as the light warms the liquid in this tube, bubbles start to form and they run up the length of the tube. Thus we have bubble lights."

"Oooh, can we get some of those?" Fro asked.

"Of course we can."

"That is rather creative and surprisingly simple."

"My mother had some bubble lights as well, they belonged to her mother so they were the really old fashioned kind that heated up fast. These ones are not supposed to do that so we won't have to worry about leaving them lit on the tree for long periods of time." Lucy grabbed four boxes of the bubble lights and set them into the cart and turned towards some regular lights, tapping her chin. "Now I think we should have a few strands of regular lights to string under the bubble ones, makes the tree look even better in my opinion." She turned to Rogue who was examining a box of multicolored lights. "Rogue, would you like to get a few of those?"

"Hmm?" He looked up.

A smile pulled at her lips. He'd been so engrossed reading the box that he'd completely missed the question.

"Do you want to get a few strands of those?"

"Won't there be too many lights on the tree if we use the bubble lights and these as well?"

She laughed softly. "First off, there's no such thing as too many lights and secondly we would put these on first and then wind the bubble ones on after. The contrast between the two look beautiful in the dark." He handed the box over to her to look at. "Ah, and these have the option of blinking to either music or silently, good choice."

A flush spread across his cheeks at her praise and he quickly looked away trying to focus on something else, just noticing a lump of sparkly substance flying towards them. Squinting his eyes he figured it had to be Fro, but what on earth did she have around her. The little lump plopped down in Lucy's arms, surprising the blond before noticing just what she held and burst out laughing.

"Fro what on Earthland?"

The little cat spread her arms and the long strands wrapped around her started to unravel and fall off. "Fro thinks these are pretty! Can Fro get these? Please?"

Rogue came closer, his hand raised the wrappings to his face, running it through his fingers, trying to figure out what it was.

"What is this?" He inquired, tilting his head.

Lucy caught her breath from laughing so hard and started unraveling the cat slowly, little bits of tinsel still lingering in Fro's fur.

"This is the stuff I mentioned before, it's called tinsel garland. You wind it around the tree and the lights reflect off the tinsel and it makes the tree look even more gorgeous." She unwound the cat and left one small strand around her shoulders, tweaking the exceeds nose as Fro smiled up at her and flew off to find more treasure.

"I think we'll get two different colors and see which look better with the lights."

After browsing through various glass balls and grabbing a few boxes Lucy set her sights on the top shelf.

"Now for the most important decoration."

Both looked at her curiously and followed her stare seeing the boxes with various things, like stars and what looked like dolls with wings. Rogues brows furrowed as Fro hovered to grab a few and hand them to Lucy to examine.

Rogue peered over her shoulder curiously. 'What was so important about these?'

"What are those Lucy?"

Turning the boxes over she studied the picture of what it would look like lit up before meeting their curious eyes with a smile.

"These," she said showing them. "Are tree toppers."

"Tree toppers?"

"So, am I to assume from the name that they go on top of the tree then?" Rogue asked.

Lucy nodded. "Correct! Now we just need to figure out what we want, either a star or an angel." She said letting them look at the boxes.

Rogue contemplated which would look better and turned to Fro, who seemed enamored with the angel. Her little paws caressed the box as she stared wide eyed at it.

"Would you like to get the angel Frosch?" Rogue asked quietly.

Wide eyes darted up to his and she nodded.

"Then we'll get it." Lucy replied as Fro clutched the angel gently and placed it on top of the huge pile in the cart, watching as it threatened to topple over.

"Think we've got enough?" Rogue asked warily, watching as the pile teetered back and forth.

Lucy reached out to prevent a cascade of objects not wanting to have broken decorations for their tree, and laughed. "I think we've got enough for ten trees, but we'll definitely have the best looking tree around with all the stuff you guys picked out."

Rogue helped bag the mountain of purchases and kept his eyes on the total, watching as Lucy brought out her wallet to pay.

It hadn't really dawned on him until that moment that she'd been paying for everything, but now that it had been brought to his attention, it was bugging him.

"Lucy?" She turned to him with a questioning gaze as she rifled through her wallet.

"Yeah?"

"Would it be possible for me to pay for this?"

A frown creased her features. "How come?"

He shifted his weight subtly, uncomfortable with the situation and not knowing how to explain it without offending her. "Well, I've noticed you're paying for everything and..." He faltered at her expression, wondering if she was getting annoyed.

She smiled softly and he relaxed somewhat. "You want to help me, is that it?"

He nodded, glad she got his point.

She sighed with a quirk to her lips, looking at her wallet then back at him. "Alright, how about this? We're going to pick out a tree next, so you can pay for that."

He considered that and tilted his head. "That would be acceptable. But perhaps I could pay for the next thing as well, seeing as how you bought groceries and decorations."

"Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. So you want to keep it even then? I pay a couple of times and then you do?"

"Correct."

"Hmm well, I've always been taught not to let guests pay for anything," She paused at his slight frown. "But, since you're probably not going to let this go without a fight..." He nodded, his face determined. "Then we'll do it your way."

She finished handing over the jewels.

A trio loaded with bags practically fell through her door almost forgetting to gently set the bags down, as most of the contents were rather fragile. Even Fro had managed a few bags of her own, mostly containing the non breakables, seeing as how excited she was and could barely fly straight as she rambled continuously about pretty things.

Lucy laughed as they slumped to the floor, the sea of bags stretched before her.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about not having enough, eh?"

Rogue grunted from somewhere near the door. "That's for sure."

Blowing out a sigh, Lucy glanced at the clock seeing it was a little after four, so they had time to spare.

"So, you guys wanna go get the tree today as well? Or are you too tired?" She laughed as Fro immediately popped up from rummaging in one of the bags, sparkles mixed throughout her fur.

"Fros ready!"

Another grunt met her ears as Rogue stood up with a smile. "I'm game."

The blond got to her feet and pumped her fist in the air. "Then what are we waiting for? Trees ahoy!"

All bundled up they made their way to the outskirts of Magnolia, as the sun started to set in the distance. The warm orange glow bathed everything in sight, the snow reflecting tiny sparkles in the light of the sun.

City lights were sparse in the outskirts where the land was dominated by more farms than anything else, so as the sun went down the hanging lanterns flared to life, lighting their way.

"The tree farm is just over this hill," Lucy stated.

True to form, their eyes zeroed in on quite a few acres of dense forest, trees of all shapes and sizes.

Walking through an arch they were greeted by other people doing the same, picking out their trees. Lucy smiled and waved at quite a few people seeing as how she was sort of a celebrity in town, belonging to Fairy Tail.

"Hey! There's my girl!" A masculine voice boomed out, drawing Rogues attention to a young man enveloping Lucy in a bear hug.

"Mel!"

The sight had him growling low in his throat, the piercing feeling of anger and something else assaulted his senses and he stood there confused as to what that feeling was. He couldn't help but feel even more confused when Lucy hugged the man back with a squeal and wondered just how close these two were and why he'd never met him before. His stomach flooded with disappointment as he observed the two greeting each other fondly. Fro settled on his shoulder and pressed a paw to his cheek, bringing his attention back to what was being said.

"I wasn't sure you were coming this year."

Lucy laughed and stepped back to where Rogue was standing, who was feeling like a fish out of water. "Oh right. You know I only get my tree from you."

The young man shrugged smirking. "So, who are your friends?" His blue eyes danced with warmth as they landed on the dragon slayer and his exceed.

"Oh geez where are my manners?" Lucy groused extending a hand to grab onto Rogue's and pulled him forward. "This is my good friend Rogue and the little one is Frosch."

The action surprised him, but he shook it off as the man extended his hand and grabbed onto his with a grin.

"Hey there. I'm Mel, nice to meetcha." His eyes turned to Fro. "My, what a cute frog suit you've got there. But what's this behind your ear?" He asked reaching behind her head and produced a candy cane for her eyes.

"Oh will you look at that. Looks like you've got candy back there!" He chuckled.

Fro's eye went wide as the cane was handed to her, her eyes sparkled in wonder. Rogue couldn't help but smile, even as he was still uneasy as to the situation.

"What do you say Fro?"

"Fro thanks you." She whispered.

Mel rubbed the cats head fondly. "You're welcome little one." He turned back to Lucy crossing his arms. "So, I've got some choice trees all ready for your critiquing."

"Oh, I'm not that bad Mel."

Rogue felt the nagging sensation in his chest, and knew he had to ask or he would go insane.

"So how do you two know each other?" He inquired, gazing out into the trees trying to look nonchalant, but also keeping an eye on the pair.

"Oh duh, forgot to mention that." Lucy said. "Mel's family is old friends with my mom's family, and every year we ordered our trees from this farm."

"And she's gotten her mom's keen eye for detail, that's for sure." Mel teased.

Lucy puffed her cheeks out. "Hey, I just have particular specifics for my tree, that's all."

Mel rolled his eyes. "Sure." He turned to Rogue and winked, whispering conspiratorially. "That's just a fancy way of saying she's picky."

Rogue couldn't help letting out a small breath of relief hearing they were just friends and interacted much like a brother and sister would.

"Indeed." He agreed, his dark eyes dancing in amusement when Lucy huffed and Mel laughed.

"Fine, fine I'm picky. Now that that's out of the way can we see the darn trees already?" She tried to keep the frown on her face but it dissolved with a yelp as Mel poked her side as he led the way.

"Yes, Your Highness."

He led the group a couple of rows away, back into a corner. "Here's the best ones we've got. Take your time and tell me when you've chosen and I'll be back with my chainsaw." He said moving back to the entrance to greet other customers.

"Will do," She murmured, brushing her fingers through various boughs as she circled some trees, looking for heaven knows what Rogue didn't know.

"So what do you look for in a tree Lucy?" He asked pacing behind her as she moved through the trees.

"Hmm well," She bent over examining the trunk, pushed boughs out of the way absently, frowning. "Its gotta be a good height, have a good number of branches that are fairly strong." She tapped her chin as she contemplated a rather full looking tree. "Its got to have a good color, not too dark and not too light, and it can't be losing too many needles right off the bat if it's going to last 'til Christmas."

He scratched his head laughing softly. "So, not too many things then?" He teased.

Lucy blushed. "W-well it's just, that's the things mom always insisted on and it sort of stuck all these years you know?"

He held up a hand. "Say no more. We'll find your perfect tree Lucy."

Fro jumped up, shooting up into the air. "Fro will help!"

And so it went. The group steadily made its way through the rows, the silence being broken by many questions.

"How about this one? Its got a nice height to it."

"No, see it's a good height but it's not full on this one side. See, there's a hole here?"

"Fro found a good one."

"Eh, that's way too tall Fro. The top of the tree would be through the roof and I doubt my landlady would appreciate the hole even for Christmas." She laughed.

"This ones full with no bare spots."

"Yeah but look at the ground beneath it. There's too many needles on the ground."

It was about a good 45 minutes later when Mel ventured out and found them.

"So, how goes the treasure hunt? Find a good one yet, or should I come back next year?" He joked.

"Oh shush Mel." Lucy grumbled.

Rogue shook his head amused with the blonds antics and leaned towards the farmer. "You weren't kidding earlier."

Mel nodded sagely. "I think it gets worse every year."

"I can hear you ya know."

Both males wisely stayed silent as she glared in their direction before an excited voice piped up, drawing her attention elsewhere.

"Lucy… Lucy!"

She looked up seeing Fro's excited face. "What's up Fro?"

"Fro found the perfect tree, follow me!" She zipped off leaving the group to run and catch up.

They all came to a stop as the exceed hovered around one tree in particular, pointing excitedly.

"See?"

Lucy walked in a full circle around it, a concentrated look on her face as she moved boughs and shook the tree muttering to herself, tested the branches strength before stepping back and nodding.

"Awesome find Fro! We'll take this one."

Both males exhaled in relief as Mel started up his chainsaw and brought it down in no time. He was surprised as Rogue picked the tree up with little to no effort and shook the excess needles off without a problem.

"Man," He said shaking his head in amusement as Rogue wrapped the tree up with ropes and hefted it to his shoulder like it weighed nothing more than a pillow. "You ever need a job man, let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rogue laughed softly.

"See ya Mel." Lucy said giving him a farewell hug and joined Frosch and Rogue as they walked back to town, turning back for a second. "I'll see you at the Christmas festival this year, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" He shouted back.

Lucy sighed as she stretched her arms over her head and brought them back down tiredly. "Geez, this has been a full day, huh?" She said turning to look at Rogue.

"I believe we accomplished quite a lot today, yes."

"And tomorrow we decorate the tree."

"Yay!" Fro shouted as she bounced while sitting on the tree balanced on Rogue's shoulder.

"So, how was your first experience at picking out a tree?" She asked softly, staring up at the millions of stars.

Rogue's gaze stayed on her face as she smiled softly, thinking there were more beautiful things than the stars. "It was truly educational."

"Fro had fun!"

Lucy laughed softly. "Well I'm glad you guys, I hope I can make this holiday the best one ever." She shivered and walked closer to the dragon slayer, avoiding the tree as she absently threaded her fingers with his one free hand.

"If it's anything like we've seen so far then I'm sure it will be." He replied, squeezing her hand tenderly through her mittens.

(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)