And the Word was made flesh, and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.

-John 1:14

Stepping into the home, he did his best to shake off the cold as he crossed the threshold into the entryway. Though loaded down with the bags he carried, along with the weight of the schoolbag upon his shoulders, his heart was light.

"Well, well, well!" Came this cheery greeting from down the hallway as his amethyst gaze met that of his older cousin and now current guardian. "Look who's finally home!" Shigure chuckle out, taking in the teen's bundled appearance.

"Hello, Shigure." Yuki gave this demure, light greeting with the nod of his head.

"I was just about to call in the cavalry to go find you!" Shigure said, and Yuki rolled his eyes, though bared a faint smile to his cousin's greeting.

"Very funny, Shigure." He murmured quietly as he began to use one foot to remove the shoe of the other, not wanting to set down his bags.

"So where have you been?" Shigure asked, eyeing the young man with an impish grin. "On a date at the mall with a pretty high school girl, perhaps?" And the faint smile Yuki had held for his cousin fell into a taught line.

"No." He answered crisply, and a little too quickly to quell his cousin's suspicion.

"Oh, ho-ho!" Shigure teases, a light glint held within his warm brown eyes as he casually leaned himself against the wall and crossed his arms along his chest, tucking his hands within the sleeves of his gray kimono. "I knew it!" He grinned. "Our little Yuki had a date! The blush of your cheeks tells the truth!" Shigure chuckled and clucked as he continued to playfully tease Yuki.

"I just came from outside." Yuki snapped in a terse tone with a scowl to follow. "It's cold." He said. "Of course my cheeks are red."

"Fine, fine." Shigure chuckled out. "So you weren't on a date. Dash my dreams." His features ebbed from his normal mischievousness to a kinder expression as his eyes went from Yuki's bags back to his face. "So what were you doing, then?" This came a sincere question, and amethyst eyes drifted to the floor in contemplation before Yuki spoke.

"I thought I would get something for Akito." Yuki spoke softly. "To give to him at the New Years banquet." And as he looked downwards to the floor, he missed the dubious look Shigure had spared him.

"Well that's very thoughtful of you, Yuki." He heard the slight doubt in Shigure's calm tone. "But...the banquet isn't until next week."

"I know that." Yuki mumbled lightly, not lifting his gaze. "But I thought I would get it done and out of the way after school this afternoon." As he said this, he lifted his eyes from the floor to look at his cousin. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I had planned to do that today. I didn't mean to make you worry about me." And Shigure gave him a light smile filled with the warmth he was only now growing accustomed to.

"You don't have to apologize to me." Shigure replied kindly. "You're a good kid, Yuki, and I trust you."

Yuki felt his cousin's casual statement stir something deep within him. Having the cursed spirit of the rat dwelling within him, he himself was often viewed with distrust and associated with the zodiac spirit's treachery and betrayal. With the way the rat had used the ox spirit to arrive first to the banquet, and had tricked the cat spirit into missing the banquet entirely, Yuki himself was rarely looked upon by the others as trustworthy. At a loss for words to his cousin's seemingly inconsequential act of kindness, Yuki merely gave the small bob of his head in acknowledgment and wordless gratitude.

"I'm going upstairs to change out of my uniform." He murmured softly, and Shigure gave the nod of his head to this.

"Dinner will be in half an hour, so don't be too long." Shigure replied, sounding like the mature, responsible guardian he rarely was. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Do we have anything other than leftover takeout?" Yuki muttered a little bitterly as he agilely slipped off his other shoe to make his way further into the house.

"Nope!" Shigure responded cheerfully with a childish grin, and Yuki rolled his eyes.

"Then I'll have leftover takeout." Yuki grumbled as he made his way up the stairs to his room.

"Excellent!" He heard his cousin exclaim as the man disappeared into his study.

As Yuki quickly scaled the stairs and made his way down the hall in silence, his heart filled with nervous anticipation. Crossing the threshold of his room, he quietly placed the bags along his unkempt bed and took off his winder jacket before crossing the room once more to close his door. The soft click of the door's lock followed, and Yuki let out the featherlight breath of a sigh as he placed his forehead to the door of his room.

He hadn't meant to lie to his cousin. And, in honesty, it wasn't so much a lie as it had been a benign omission of the full truth. Because he had in fact gotten Akito a very nice gift. One he was sure his cousin and the head of the family would be pleased with. But...that hadn't been the only thing he had purchased today. Though he knew his cousin was very close to Akito, Yuki trusted Shigure enough that-if he were merely to ask-his cousin would keep this small secret from the head of the family.

But.

His trust in his cousin didn't stop the memories of abuse and all of the feelings attached to them. He remembered that black room. Even now, almost three years later. And even though he felt completely safe in his cousin's home, Yuki was smart enough to know that he could be called back to live at the main estate with Akito at any time the head of the family so wished it. And there would be little his cousin could do to prevent that if it were to happen. So, what he had done today, he intended to keep to himself.

For now.

Because, he feared the darkness. He had lost everything. Once. And he wondered if anyone could really fault him for guarding what he had with such secrecy now.

Steadying himself, he lightly pressed his palms to the hard surface in order to push himself from the door. He had work to do, and, he needed to do it quickly if he didn't want to get caught. Despite his nervousness, he found himself filled with the same amount of excitement and exhilaration. His heart thrummed in his chest like a humming bird as he walked back towards his bed. Back, towards the bags he had placed there. Digging through the first, long slender, delicate fingers dipped themselves in to grasp Akito's gift. Placing it with care on his modest work desk, he turned towards the other bag.

And he smiled.

Gingerly reaching his fingers into the bag, he removed the item. A package of Christmas lights. And the smile along his face grew in childlike joy. Fingertips quickly opened the package and he made swift work of removing them and stretching them out. Quickly, he grabbed the chair from his work desk and placed it against the furthest wall from his bed, by the door. And he went to work stringing them along the single wall.

Just one string.

But.

It was enough.

As he stepped off the chair and plugged them in, he quickly went to turn off the light of his bedroom. When he did so, instead of the space being plunged into darkness, it came aglow with the soft multi colors of each little light on the single string. Like fireflies. And it was so beautiful. But he only lingered in their beauty for but a moment before placing his chair back in its proper place.

Yuki finally went through his book-bag to retrieve the devotional card he had held onto for so many years. Delicately digging through the bag, he removed the bible that went everywhere with him now, along with the card. Both gifts of such immeasurable value that he deeply cherished. Taking the bible, he opened it to where it had been marked and he gave his precious family a loving smile before placing the card upright along his desk where he could see them. And they could see him.

Quietly sitting himself down on the floor against his unmade bed, he placed the bible he held in his lap, and wordlessly read where he had placed the mark earlier in the week. As he read by the Christmas light's glow, another little smile filled with wonder played along his lips.

For God so loved the world...

that He gave His only Son.

So that everyone who believes in Him might not perish...

but might have eternal life.

-John 3:16

That kind of love.

Yuki wanted that kind of love. Desperately. And in this moment, he thought, that maybe he could have just a little taste of that kind of love. Siting in his darkened room. In the silence. Under the warm glow of the Christmas lights. With his bible in his lap. For the very first time in his life...

Yuki celebrated Christmas.

A/N: I honestly hadn't really intended this to be a segment of this story. But now I am so very happy that I had the chance to do it. I apologize for the length, as I had intended to keep it under 1,000 words like the rest of the chapters. But then, this chapter wasn't suppose to happen at all, right?

Merry Christmas, my friends. For unto us, a child is born.