A/N: Eh, this is kind of late... D: I was stuck shopping for the part of the day I wasn't driving around in the snow for five hours. This oneshot is for AiOkami, who requested Cliff/Ann. I hope I didn't make Cliff out of character. I don't think I have his personality down yet. Actually, I almost wanted to make this a Jack/Ann because the personality seemed to fit him more than Cliff. Anyway, I hope you like this. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its plots or characters. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Last Christmas
December 23, 2008
Cliff x Ann

"Cliff!" Ann sang out and busted into his room on the second floor of the inn, slamming the door into the wall in the process. "Do you know what today is?"

Said person bolted awake and looked around the room, expecting there to be some sort of fire or other such emergency. Cliff's eyes landed on his red-haired girlfriend and the alarmed expression on his face turned into that of relief. Of course it was her. "Ann?"

"It's Christmas Eve!" Ann announced, throwing her arms up in a dramatic gesture. "And you know what that means? It means that tomorrow is Christmas!"

"Really? I had no idea," Cliff deadpanned and flopped back down onto the bed, pulling the covers back over his head.

Just as he had fell back on the bed, the covers were ripped off and Ann was staring down at him. "Hey, we have to- OH MY GODDESS!" Horrified, she ran out of the room with her eyes covered. Or she tried to, anyway. It took a couple times before she could leave without crashing into the wall. Little did she know that Cliff only slept in boxers.

"Crap," Cliff mumbled as he watched Ann's retreating figure and felt his face start to heat up. He rushed to throw on some decent clothing; namely, a pair of jeans and a brown shirt.

He ventured out of the bedroom in search of the energetic waitress and eventually found her downstairs. "Ann?" She was scrubbing the counter as if her life depended on it and her face was bright red.

"Hi, Cliff. I was just going to tell you that we bought some nude - I mean new! - ornaments to hang on the tree. I was wondering if you wanted to help me take them out of the boxers - Boxes! – and put them up," she explained rapidly while avoiding eye contact.

"Uh, sure," Cliff agreed and looked around for the box. The box was sitting next to the door, so he brought it over and set it on the bar. "Now what?"

"Unpack them," Ann replied, still hunched over the counter.

"Hey, you aren't going to not look at me all day, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ann insisted and ducked under the bar, pretending to look for things in the cupboard.

"Ann," Cliff groaned and walked around to the other side of the bar. He bent down to Ann's level and peeked into the cupboard using the other door. "Come on. Don't do this."

Startled, the waitress jumped and hit her head on the top of the cabinet. "Ouch!" She sat back on her knees and rubbed the back of her head. "That hurt."

Boldly, Cliff grabbed Ann's wrist, dragged her over to one of the tables, and sat her in a chair.

"What are you doing?"

"We are going to get past this awkward incident," Cliff stated and took the chair opposite her.

"How?"

"Uh… by talking, I guess." Cliff glanced over at Ann, who was staring down at the tabletop. "You first."

The couple spent most of the day rambling. Ann talked about her mom and how she had died a few years back. Cliff reached across the table and grabbed her hand when she started to choke up. He could relate, since both his mom and sister had disappeared one day when he was just a kid. His father had never even known about him or his sister. Eventually, they moved to lighter topics.

"So, what's the best Christmas you've ever had?" Ann asked. Finally, she was able to look Cliff in the eyes again, even though her mind couldn't control itself and she ended up blushing as red as a tomato. They were now putting up the new ornaments on the Christmas tree, though it looked as if it would collapse any second because of all the decorations piled onto the branches.

"I haven't really had any," Cliff shrugged, placing a gold sphere on one of the higher limbs.

"Not even last year?" Ann pressed. Last year had been the year that Cliff moved to town. They had only started dating a few months ago, but she liked to think that they had been friends since he arrived in Mineral Town.

"You know, last Christmas kind of sucked," Cliff admitted. "Especially since I didn't know anyone here. But this year will be a lot better since now I have you." He put an arm around Ann and pulled her in for a hug.

"Aww, you're so corny!" Ann cooed and glanced up at Cliff, who was now blushing and looking at the opposite end of the inn. "But I love it!"