Presents and Princesses

AN: Whoa...it took me forever to update this one...sorry!! And this chappie is a bit heavier on the Allen-side, major apologies about that to any Allen haters (although you might like the end ). Just another example that stories take on a life of their own and authors don't always control what happens!

Okay, so a very big and special THANK YOU to ARIENHOD for the help with German spelling and grammar! I love you and you are awesome!! Thanks so much!! I will try very hard to fix up chappie 9 soon...just probably not tonight.

And as always, THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH to every single one of my reviewers. You are all so wonderful, you deserve great big fortune cookies with wonderful fortunes like: You will magically become the owner of Van Fanel and Escaflowne!

But I'm not. The owner of Van Fanel or Escaflowne, that is. sigh Okley-dokley, enjoy!!

Allen decided that Annie had inherited her sadistic love of teasing from her Groszmama as he watched the old lady deliberately drag out supper to the last possible minute. The kids were crazy with impatience to open their presents, and even the adults were looking longingly towards the tree by the time she finally set down her coffee cup. Allen saw the diabolical twinkle, so like Annie's, in the Groszmama's eyes as the family stampeded towards the presents. Somehow, he found himself giving the old woman his arm as a walking support as she made her slow way to her chair by the tree.

"It is good to make them wait, you see," she explained as if she could read Allen's thoughts. "It makes them so much more excited, ja?"

Allen nodded, surveying the chaotic scene he needed to navigate in order to reach the old lady's chair. Paper was flying through the air, people were tossing boxes at each other, and there was constant movement as people jumped over, crawled under, or dodged around things to thank someone for a gift. It was slow going to get to the Groszmama's chair through the mess.

"Allen, come over here and open your presents!" Annie called above the hubbub when she spied him and Groszmama across the room. Allen stared at her in surprise. Presents? He wasn't expecting any presents. But sure enough, there was a small pile next to Annie's much larger one. Van was already opening his as Allen helped Groszmama into her chair. She patted his arm with her old, wrinkled hand.

"Ach, you are a good boy," she said with a smile. "It is so good you and Van are here for this. It is our first Christmas without my Ida- Annie's groszmama. It is a hard time for her."

Allen scrutinized Annie from across the room. Her face looked the same as always: full of laughter and mischief as she said something that made Hitomi and Van simultaneously turn a brilliant pink. If she was hurting, she was hiding it well.

"It's an honor to be here," he stated, still watching Annie, Hitomi, and Van. "Though I believe Annie would be fine whether or not Van and I were here."

"Ja. Our Annie is strong, but she is hurting. I can tell," Groszmama said slowly. She patted Allen's arm again. "You hurt, too, I think. Maybe this visit will help you."

Allen swallowed convulsively, watching Hitomi lean her shoulder into Van's to show him one of her gifts. This trip was causing the hurt, not helping it.

"Hey, stop gawking and get your butt over here!" Annie demanded, hands on her hips. Mentally shaking himself and forcing a friendly, pleasant mask onto his face, Allen picked his way through the chaos over to her. She was bouncing up and down like she had from the expresso, and Allen resisted the urge to clamp his hands down on top of her head to hold her still.

"Here, open this one. It's from me!" she exclaimed, thrusting a brightly wrapped package into his hands. Curious, but definitely cautious about what Annie might have thought was an appropriate gift for him, he slowly peeled back the wrapper to reveal an innocent looking box. Perhaps it wasn't a joke? He pulled open the lid.

"GAAA!" he shouted as a long tube shot out of the box and hit him squarely on the nose. He closed his watering eyes and scolwed fiercely as Annie doubled over laughing. Even Van and Hitomi joined in after a moment of stunned silence.

"I'm glad you found that so amusing. Are you finished yet?" Allen asked, irritation coloring the edge of his voice.

"Allen, lighten up!" Annie demanded, managing to look annoyed and yet keep giggling. "It's called a gag gift. It's supposed to be funny!"

"Funny for who?" Allen demanded. Annie rolled her eyes and shoved another present at him before diving back into her own pile. Allen almost found her childlike excitement cute. Almost. If his nose hadn't still been smarting.

"Here, Van, this one's from me," Hitomi said, handing Van a small, wrapped present. She looked as awkward as he felt as he accepted it from her. "It's nothing special," she continued, watching as he removed the paper. God, she hoped he liked it. She'd been so stumped about what to get him. Honestly, what do you get a king from another world?

Van peeled off the last bit of wrapping and stared. Inside a simple, silver frame was the picture of the two of them, the one Hitomi had taken in her room on the day he had arrived. The two of them, together... Hitomi stirred uncomfortably at his side.

"If you don't like it--" she began. Van shook his head quickly to cut her off, still looking at the picture.

"No. No, I like it. Really," he said quietly. He looked into her crystal green eyes. "Thank you, Hitomi."

Relief and something else, something he couldn't quite define, flooded her face. She grinned and dipped her head, a pink blush spread across her cheeks. She opened her mouth to reply, but let out a tiny squeak instead as Annie glomped her.

"TOMI! Thanks! You're the best!" the brown-haired girl cried. She looked at the frame in Van's hands as Hitomi started to turn purple from the head-lock "hug".

"Oh, is that what you gave Van? That's a cute picture."

"Get...off...me..." Hitomi wheezed.

Annie grinned, not relinquishing her hold as she leaned over to Van. "Did you open my present yet, Van?"

He eyed her, wondering if he should pry her off Hitomi or stay out of it. "Not yet," he answered warily. "Should I point it away from me when I do?"

"Ah, I should've known that joke wouldn't work more than once," she pouted, letting go of Hitomi. She leaned over and whispered: "Point it at Allen!"

"I heard that," Allen said, looking as if he was barely resisting the temptation to rub his temples with exasperation. Annie gave Van an exaggerated wink.

"Do it when he's not looking," she said in a loud whisper, then turned around to face Allen with an unconvincingly innocent face. Van laughed, Hitomi giggled, and Allen did something decidely un-Allen-like. He scooped up a balled-up wad of wrapping paper and chucked it at Annie. It hit her square on the forehead and dropped to the ground before she had a chance to react. Now she just stood there gaping at him as Hitomi and Van sat open-mouthed. Allen was too shocked to even apologize. He'd thrown something at a girl. Okay, so he hadn't thrown it hard enough to actually hurt her, but still-- what was this place doing to him?A slow smile pulled at the corners of Annie's mouth until she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Allen! You just threw something at a girl!" she exclaimed. "And I thought you were a Jello Knight!"

"Caeli Knight," Allen ground out, any thoughts of apologizing rapidly dissolving.

"Who's ready for cookies and Egg Nog?" Aunt Vera called out as she and several others came into the room carrying heavily laden trays.

"Egg Nog!" the family cheered as the mugs started being passed through the crowd. Hitomi followed Annie through the chaos to one of the trays as Van carefully tucked his framed photo in a safe spot under his chair. He could see that Allen, as if to prove that his chivalrous manners were still intact, had already taken one of the heavy trays from an elderly aunt. Van moved to do the same when a small woman holding the fussing newborn Willem stopped him.

"Oh, Van, could you just hold him for a few minutes? Thanks," she said as she handed Van the squalling infant. Before he could protest, the woman had already moved off through the crowd, and he stifled the urge to panic. He'd never held a baby before, especially not one as small as this. Catiously, afraid he might break him, Van shifted the fussing Willem into a more comfortable position. Willem waved angry fists in the air, his tiny face red and contorted with infant fury. Nervously, Van jiggled him a little.

"Hey...uhm...don't cry," he said uncertainly. What did mothers do to calm babies down? They sang, he knew that much. But he wasn't about to start singing any half-forgotten lullabies in a crowded room. He jiggled him again, but that didn't seem to do anything. Wait! Didn't they pat them on the back or something? Van very carefully hoisted the squalling newborn onto his shoulder and tentatively patted his small back. A few moments later, he was rewarded by a loud burp, and Willem nuzzled down into his shoulder. Van gave a relieved sigh, then felt something warm and wet soaking through his shirt. He pulled the baby away slightly to see a white, gooey mess dripping down his shoulder.

"Thanks, kid," he muttered, switching the newborn to his other shoulder. Willem just snuggled in tighter and went to sleep.

Across the room, Hitomi stared dreamily at something she never really believed she'd see: Van cuddling a baby. She sighed softly, a smile tugging at her mouth, her eggnog forgotten in her hands. It was so unbelievably adorable.

"There's nothing sweeter than seeing the guy you love holding a baby, is there?" a voice said at her shoulder. Hitomi wheeled around to see Willem's mother smiling at her. "Just wait until it's your baby. It's even cuter."

"I'm not- I mean, we're-" Hitomi spluttered, turning five shades of red for the seventy-fifth time that day. Then she looked at Van again and lost her train of thought. "...He is really cute holding a baby, isn't he?"

"Oh, damn. Willem spit up on him!" the other woman cried, making Hitomi jump. Hitomi watched, amused, as she grabbed a napkin and headed over to start scrubbing at Van's shirt. An arm draped around her shoulders, and she tore her eyes away to look into Annie's smiling face.

"He's super cute like that," she said. "And it's a good thing he got puked on. Practice for his own kids, you know?"

For a split second, Hitomi envisioned several mini-Vans running around and nearly melted at the sheer adorableness of it. Then she gave herself a stern metal shake and refocused on the present.

"I don't think he's having kids of his own any time soon, Annie."

Annie tilted her head, contemplating. "Well, I bet he's been catching some pressure to get busy with that. Produce an heir for the throne and all."

Hitomi froze, staring at Van as he attempted to soothe the once again fussy infant. Dear lord, why hadn't she ever thought about that? Why hadn't he ever mentioned it to her? His council had probably been badgering him about that very thing for a year or two now. Did that mean-- was this trip some sort of last fling with her? Was it just to say goodbye for real? Oh, God, he was probably already engaged to some princess or other that his council picked out for him! Oohhh, she hated that council!

Van turned to look at her and Hitomi forgot all about worrying about some fantasy princess. Van would have told her if something like that was happening. And his father got married when he was much older than Van was now, right? Hitomi smiled at him. Council be damned. Van wouldn't let them push him around.

"Omigod! Camera! Camera camera, where is it?" Annie suddenly squealed loudly. She thrust her glass of eggnog into Hitomi's hands and bolted out of the room. Confused, Hitomi looked around to see what had caused the commotion as Van came up beside her, still holding baby Willem. He was laughing under his breath as he pointed across the room.

Allen sat crosslegged on the floor with a pink plastic tea set spread out in front of him. Two small girls were putting ribbons and bows from the presents in his long, blond hair as another served him tea. He seemed to be playing along with their little game, even wrapping a bright purple feathery boa around his neck at their request. Hitomi giggled and snorted, doubling over from the effort of not laughing too loudly. She could see that Van's shoulders were shaking from silent laughter as he watched the gallant knight, one of Gaea's renowned swordsmen, playing dress-up with a few small girls.

Annie appeared beside Hitomi and started snapping pictures as best she could through the tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, I'm so glad he came with you, Van," she gasped out, still laughing as she wiped the tears off her face. Van just shook his head, apparently unable to speak even when Annie snapped a picture of his laughing face. She handed her camera to Hitomi and took a few deep breaths.

"Here, hold this. I've got to go over there for a minute or two."

Hitomi doubled over again with laughter as Annie made her way across the room to squat down at eye-level with Allen. He glared menacingly at her, daring her to laugh as he pretended to take a sip from his plastic teacup.

"Hey, Annie, wanna join our tea party? You could be a princess, too!" chirped one of the girls playing with Allen's hair.

"No, thanks, Gracie. I just came to see how Allen was enjoying his tea," Annie replied, making an obvious effort not to giggle.

Gracie frowned as she pulled a silver ribbon around Allen's forehead like a crown. "He's Princess Alice now. Aren't you, Alice?"

"Princess Alice?!" Annie squeaked. She looked close to exploding from pent-up laughter.

"Don't say a word," Allen hissed dangerously, leaning across the tea set at her.

"You know, I've got some makeup you could use in the side pocket of my bag," Annie informed the girls cheerfully, a giant shark grin spread across her face. Allen's eyes got wider and he started stand, protesting, as Gracie took off running to find Annie's bag.

"Where're you going, Allen? Aren't you going to play with us anymore? Please?" the little girls begged him, pulling at his sleeves. Sighing, looking decidedly unhappy but apparently unable to refuse their pleading, Allen plopped resignedly back down. He gave Annie a defiant glare of death.

"Alright, girls. But just a tiny little bit of makeup, okay?" he said, earning cheers from his mini-fans. "And you-- stop giving them ideas!"

"I was just trying to be helpful, Princess Alice," Annie replied sweetly. She stood up and patted him on the head. "It's so fun watching you get all prettied up. Right, girls?"

The little girls chorused a loud yes, covering up Allen's angry snarl, as Annie headed back over to Hitomi and Van. Allen gritted his teeth, forcing a fake-happy smile as Gracie bounded up to him with the twice-accursed makeup bag. He would get Annie back. Somehow, someway, he would make her pay.

"What the heck did you say to make Allen blush like that?" Hitomi demanded as Annie reached them, laughing so hard she was wheezing. It took her several minutes to regain her composure enough to reply.

"I didn't say anything to Princess Alice."

"Princess Alice?!" Van and Hitomi snorted together, unable to stop the laughter from bubbling past their lips. Allen shot their group several very dirty looks as Gracie liberally applied purple eye shadow. Annie waved cheerfully at him and took a few more pictures. Luckily for Allen, the parents were all starting to glance at the clocks and round their kids up for bed.

"Hey, who's makeup is this? Gracie, you know better!" one of the moms scolded as she rescued Allen from a lipstick wielding Gracie.

"It's mine, Kel," Annie called across the room. "I told them they could use it, so it's okay!"

Kel sighed and swatted Gracie lightly on the backside as she pointed her towards the stairs. "To bed with you. Sorry about this, Allen."

"It's not a problem, really," Allen assured her as he started to untangle his ribbon and bow bedecked hair.

"You wonderful boy," one of the great-aunts said, pinching his cheeks and handing him a wet napkin to wipe his face with. Allen gratefully scrubbed his face, grimacing at the purple and red smears.

"What's so great about playing with the kids? I do it all the time!" Annie protested as she came up to Allen's side.

"Ach, you are always getting them in trouble, not playing!" the great aunt said as she trundled off. Annie frowned at her retreating back.

"I believe it," Allen said with a wise nod. Annie smacked him in the arm.

"Oh, shut up, Alice."

AN: Hey guys...let's not forget that mistletoe is still floating around...so who's going to be the next victim? Find out next chapter!! Ja ne