Awww…a Leviathan Christmas is over already. Oh well, there's always next year. This part is a bit AU, as I have no idea where the two will be on Christmas day as Goliath isn't out yet, and the previous chapter had them on board the Leviathan for Christmas. Also, Alek still doesn't know Deryn is a girl. Though this better not be the case in Goliath when it comes out.

Anyways, here's the fourth and final part. I hope you enjoy!

A Leviathan Christmas: Part Four

The Christmas Truce

The moment Deryn heard the boom, she covered her face with her arms to shield against the flying shrapnel she knew would follow the impact.

It came and went. There was an occasional firing back and forth, but overall, the lull upon the field of battle had settled.

Deryn held her gun tightly, fingers cold in their thin gloves. She tapped the metal barrel nervously, a habit she'd picked up since arriving at the battlefield.

She rested her head against the dirt wall of the trench behind her, the only thing protecting her from a fiery death. Protecting them all.

Glancing up at the moon, a small sliver in the sky, she guessed it was past midnight.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered softly to herself.

Turning her gaze upon the white tents in the distance, she spotted a familiar head leaving through a flap. She wanted to call him over, but decided not to. He was safer in the medical tents, and quite frankly, more useful. His bloody saber was of no help in a situation like this.

Deryn held her breath, waiting for more. Always more, of bullets, of firing, of noise, of screams, of deaths. War brought more of all of those things.

She hated it.

Time passed slowly. Almost too slowly. And without a shot. What happened? Were the Clankers falling back? Had they won?

Very carefully, she poked her head up above the trench, just barely enough to see that the Germans were still there.

She settled in again, and loosened her grip on her gun. Well, if they weren't firing, she hardly would back.

Call it a Christmas present, if you will, she thought to herself.

Minutes ticked by, and still no attack. Deryn felt herself begin to relax for the first time in a couple of weeks. She had no idea why the Clankers weren't attacking, or why the Darwinists weren't retaliating, but she could care less.

Her eyes focused on Alek as he began to creep over to her from the medical tents. He reached her side and sat next to her, his back to the trench as well.

Turning to face her, she saw her own haunted feeling reflected in his eyes. They'd hardly been in this war, had only touched the surface, but it had been enough for them to see the brute horror and cruel terror of the battlefield. Bombs blasting men apart, bullets shredding men to pieces. It was too much.

But at last, there seemed like there'd be peace, for just this small moment. Deryn guessed the Germans didn't want to attack on Christmas, and her side was just as reluctant.

"How's it going?" Alek asked wearily, his clothes streaked with the blood of the dying and wounded.

Deryn snorted. "I'm alive. So I guess pretty well."

Alek smiled sadly, and said nothing more.

Suddenly, he stiffened. "Do you hear that?" he asked quietly.

Deryn strained her ears. Her hearing had been bombarded with too many booms of explosions, but at last she heard what Alek did. "Are they…singing?"

Alek paused, and nodded. "Yes. It's an old German Christmas song." His mouth turned upwards a little. "I heard this when I was a kid. My mother used to sing it to me."

Taking a deep breath, Deryn yelled out, "Dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh, o'er the fields we go, laughing all the way!"

Alek took the cue and joined in as Deryn sang. "Bells on bob tails ring, making spirits bright, what fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight!"

A chorus of men's voices rose up from the Darwinists to join the two teens. "Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun, it is to ride in a one horse open slei-gh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun, it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!"

Deryn laughed as she saw the soldiers of her side nudging each other and grinning as they belted out the next verse. "A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride, and soon Miss Fanny Bright, was seated by my side! The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot, we got into a drifted bank, and then we got upsot, oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun, it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun, it is to ride in a one! Horse! Op-en sleeiiigh!"

Merriment was all around the camp now, and in the distance a German shouted something. Turning to Alek, she asked, "What'd he say?"

The prince shrugged. "I couldn't hear him."

Looking up, Deryn spotted a message lizard scurrying around the camp. She called for it, then realized she didn't know the phrase she wanted. "How do you say 'Merry Christmas' in Clankertalk?" she asked Alek.

"Fröhliche Weihnachten," Alek replied.

Turning to the message lizard, Deryn said, "Fröhliche Weihnachten! Merry Christmas to you all! Aye, and a happy new year! Forgot that. Er, message ended. So, think you can take this over the Clankers across the way?" The message lizard blinked, then scurried away across the battlefield.

Alek raised an eyebrow. "There's no way that's allowed."

Deryn shrugged. "Aye, but it's Christmas. Rules can go stuff themselves."

The archduke grinned. He was proud of his friend for trying to cheer everyone up.

While they'd heard reports of troops along the line, on both sides, receiving presents of food and such from George V and the Kaiser, Deryn and her group were fighting so far off the main lines, she guessed the king had forgotten them.

Deryn poked her head up to view the field again and saw the message lizard come back. It opened its mouth and answered in a deep, heavily accented voice, "Fröhliche Weihnachten, and merry Christmas! Ve are villing to call a ceasefire if you are. Our men vould be happy to meet yours in a truce. Vave to us if you agree. End message."

The middy's mouth twitched upwards on one side in a lopsided smile. Getting up, she climbed up the trench and waved. "What are you doing?" Alek hissed, among shouts from Darwinist officers.

"Waving," she replied.

An officer came running over. "You are not authorized to do that!" he shouted.

"Stuff your barking rules. It's Christmas." Deryn's eyes alit when she saw a figure walking out from the Clanker's trenches.

"What are they doing?" the officer asked in amazement. "Is that fellow daft?"

Deryn laughed. "Nah, he's just barking mad with Christmas fever. They offered a ceasefire, so I took it."

"You can't do that!" the officer said, stunned.

Alek rolled his eyes. "He already did," he muttered.

Deryn walked towards the center of the battlefield, in no-man's land. At last, she and a mustached German officer met. She stuck out her hand, and he shook it. "A bit young to be making the decisions, aren't you?" he asked, his voice the same as the one from the message lizard.

The Darwinist shrugged. "Aye, but they can't punish me 'til tomorrow."

"Fair enough, little soldier. Vell met." He waved an arm and his men began to trudge slowly towards them, wary and weary, but also curious to meet their foe, and infused with Christmas spirit.

Deryn turned to the Darwinists and called out, "Come on, they aren't gonna bite!"

Slowly, the men on her side did the same as the Clankers.

Within a few minutes, they were all out in no-man's land, and slowly the ice between them began to melt. They began to joke around, to laugh, to sing and exchange stories.

Deryn wove among the Clankers, talking to them in her limited Clanker, and shaking hands.

She broke from the crowd and joined Alek, who stood a little to the side. He'd mingled a little, but found it a bit awkward. He wasn't a soldier, and felt like he didn't belong.

"What you did was reckless, and fairly idiotic," he said quietly.

Deryn huffed. "So?"

Alek gave her a quick one-armed hug. "It was also brilliant." He spread his arm to indicate the troops. "Look. For one day, you gave these men happiness. And elsewhere, the same thing has been happening along the fronts, with Darwinists and Clankers meeting in the middle."

Deryn sighed. "We'll have to go back to fighting again tomorrow, won't we?"

The archduke nodded. "But forget all that. Today's Christmas. 'Stuff the rules'."

Laughing, Deryn stuck out her tongue in response to his jibe. "Merry Christmas, Alek," she said, watching the men greet each other.

Alek replied, "Merry Christmas."

Deryn and Alek stood together, two friends side by side, watching what would come to be known in legends as the Christmas Truce.

…

On a quick side note, I did do my research, and Jingle Bells was around at this time. Also, my story isn't completely accurate to the truth of the Christmas Truce, but it does follow quite a few facts, as well as following the myth.

Holly Marie Fowl: Thanks! And yeah, picturing a two-year-old Alek is adorable.

The Chosen One of Randomness: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you liked it, and don't worry, I'll keep writing. ;D

Rue-the-Marauder: In all honesty, it took between three and five hours. Not too bad of a time considering its length. ;P

Music Antoinette: Thanks! Haha, yes, poor Klopp, and adorable Alek. ;)

ItalianRose5: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my stuff. And because you said students, it made me curious, and I saw on your profile you're a librarian. I feel so honored! A librarian likes my writing! ;D

Stella-Muse: Haha, thanks! I'm glad you found it funny, and really liked it! Thanks so much!

To HallelujahtheCreator: I hope I did justice to your helpful idea!

Anyways, that's the end of a Leviathan Christmas! Happy holidays, seasons greetings, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, happy winter, Merry Christmas, happy new year, merry belated Christmas if you're reading this tomorrow, merry early Christmas if you're reading this next year on the twenty-fourth, happy belated Hanukkah if you're reading this on the 25th of December, happy early Hanukkah if it's nearing the 25th of Kislev, and just have a happy day if you're reading this in the middle of June and thinking 'What the bark? It's nowhere near those holidays!'

See you in the next chapter!