Author's Note: Hello! It's the first day of Winter!

So I went back to do the edits for this chapter before I released it and I completely forgot...this one is actually pretty funny. Hope you enjoy!

Also, I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter Ten - On the Tenth Day

It was now December the 22nd, and in Fiore this officially meant the first day of winter. Not only was the air really getting cold, but snow flurries blew in on a constant day after day basis, and the blankets of white ice were covering the entire kingdom landscape in a field of frost.

Here in Magnolia, however, they seemed to be getting the better end of the weather, and although it was still just as cold and snowy, it appeared that everything remained picturesque and beautiful.

As the day passed, we find that most of the mages of Fairy Tail are not inside enjoying the atmosphere of the bar and hall. Instead the entire guild was either still out buying their gifts, or they decided to take a day or two off for rest.

In fact, in the entire guild hall there seemed to be only five souls still inside. Here we find the lone bar tender, Kinana helping several members of Fairy Tail begin the early stages of decorating for their Christmas party in two days.

"Oh wow, this really is amazing, guys! I'm so glad you all could stop by and help!" Kinana said with a soft smile as she gingerly held up a tuft of holly and tried to pin it above her place at the bar.

"Oh it's really no big deal!" Levy McGarden said with a bright smile as she helped Kinana. "Jet was supposed to take Droy and I down to Hargeon to get his gift, but since you needed an extra hand here they said it'd be cool if I stayed behind."

"Yea, and Carla and I got our gifts way early in the week, so we really have nothing better to do!" Wendy Marvell shouted with joy as her white cat, Carla flew her into the rafters to hang tinsel and hanging decorations.

"Yes…" Her white exceed continued. "…and we needed to get out of the girls' dormitory by any means necessary. If I see Juvia and Erza before that party I will surely lose my mind."

Kinana softly smirked at Carla's anger. "Wow, they do sound like a handful. Speaking of which…where's Gajeel at today, Lily?"

Pantherlily, the final guild member in attendance, had decided on leaving Gajeel to nap at home and sleep the day away, while he went in to help finish the decorating.

The little black exceed smiled and confessed. "Actually, Gajeel said the idea of him sleeping sounded much than this, so he decided to stay at home."

Lily grinned even further as he remembered the practical joke he and Gajeel made a few days back. "And he also had to stay at home to make sure his gift arrived, you know because it was way too heavy to carry in from Crocus."

Instantly, Levy blushed as Wendy made a comment.

"Wow that sounds like a big present. I bet he bought it for someone special." Wendy looked like she was deep in thought as she tried to guess the mystery giftee.

Levy then let out a small comment. "Haha, y-yea sounds like s-something…"

Carla rolled her eyes as she let Wendy down from their flight. "Honestly that man confuses me. It was because of that reason why I had a hard time shop…" She then held her tongue as all the heads in the room snapped over to hear her finish that thought.

Finally, the little white cat conceded as she face-palmed in defeat. "Alright, I had Gajeel for the gift exchange. Oh, why did I have to say anything…?"

Lily smiled as he put down his decorations. "Hah, well that's amusing. I hope you got him something special."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Yes, well it really isn't appropriate for 'guild hall-usage'...All's I can say is that if I see him using it even once in my presence I will take it back faster that he can cry."

Wendy scratched her head and sighed. "Guy's…it's a guitar. So, don't think she was going anywhere with that..."

Everyone laughed out loud, except for Levy, who sort of looked away and tried carrying on with the conversation. "Haha, yea his singing isn't the best…so does anyone else have any secrets they wanna share about Secret Santa?"

Wendy smiled and shrugged. "Ah, I don't know. The First Master really wanted us to keep quiet about our gifts."

Levy nodded. "Oh I mean, no one has to go into complete details. What about you, Kinana? I saw you out shopping earlier this week."

Kinana smiled back. "Oh, yea that's right!" She then pulled out a small box that was wrapped in green and white wrapping paper with a white bow.

"I had Master Makarov. I wanted to get him something special since he helped me out after I joined the guild. So I had this made for him in Crocus, but I can't show anyone until the gift exchange." She laughed as she then put the gift back under the counter.

Levy softly smiled. "Awe, that's so sweet! Man, I wish I was clever enough to have something hand-made. I mean I'm pretty comfortable with my gift, but it woulda been cool to do something creative like that."

Wendy smiled and nodded her head. "Yea, I feel good about my gift, too. I just hope my giftee straightens up before the gift exchange…she's been acting kind of crazy."

From there, the rest of the group started questioning everyone about each of their choices in presents, and as some people remained quiet, everyone seemed to have a god time in pre-celebration for the Secret Santa Party.

As the entire guild was now rounding down their week, we find two last members of Fairy Tail stranded in Crocus as they make their last-second attempts to find the perfect gift.

Now, they're easily seen shopping inside the luxurious Fleuriste Garment Store…

"Woah, man should I be seeing this right now?" Gildarts Clive tried holding in a laugh as his travel companion, Jellal Fernandes, shopped around for a very sensual outfit for his special giftee.

Jellal blushed as he tried keeping up his search in peace. "Hold on, you were the one who suggested I take this route!?"

Gildarts let out a small laugh. "Yea, but I dunno...It's weird now that you're actually doing it. Eh, maybe we can just get her a sweater or something."

Jellal grew slightly angrier and threw the luxurious piece of lingerie back on the clothing rack. "I can't change the plan now, we only have two days left…"

"IS EVERYTHING GOING ALRIGHT, BOOOYS?!"

"Agh, damn it…" Gildarts sighed as the very eccentric clothing salesman, Geoff, re-joined them from behind.

Geoff continued. "Oo, those pieces are absolutely lovely, aren't they!?" He smiled as he pointed to the rack of clothing right beside Jellal. "They just came in from the new line, and they're even covered with your Fairy Tail discount!"

Gildarts grunted. "Yes…you've already told us who modeled them…one of them was my daughter."

Geoff paused. "Oh…well, a man tends to forget, am I right, here?" He laughed as he nudged Jellal in the side. "So, do you have anything picked out for your special little lady, sir?"

Jellal didn't want to carry the conversation. "Agh, well…I'm getting there."

Gildarts collected his anger to enjoy more of the awkward sight of Jellal. "Yea, actually I got a question for ya..." He smiled as he held up one red and one black bra form the same clothing rack, and turned towards Geoff. "Which of these do you think goes better with red heads?"

Jellal looked like his head was going to explode as Geoff pondered the question. "Hmm, well I think I'm more partial to the black one…wait, are we talking like a 'red head' or a red head? Ya know, orange vs scarlet?"

Gildarts was very quick to answer as he winked right at Jellal. "Oh Scarlet, definitely Scarlett!"

Geoff smiled and snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, the black will look way better! We may even be able to find you a matching bottom piece!" The clerk smiled with a businessman's charisma as he then turned to continue his search. "So what size cup are we thinking, here?"

Jellal was about to ram his head into the metal rack as Gildarts tried answering for him. "Agh, I dunno...hey Wizard Saint this may be a better question for you to answer."

Jellal turned back to the conversation, only one eye was heavily twitching with rage.

"Well…you don't say?"

As the awkward afternoon came to an end, Gildarts and Jellal left the Fleuriste Garment Store, while Geoff yelled loudly from the door.

"Oh thanks again for stopping by! And tell Mr. Thomas and all the Fairies Merry Christmas!"

Gildarts smiled awkwardly and waved back. "Yea Thanks! Merry Christmas to you, too!"

Geoff continued. "And be sure to take extra care of your sweet heart, lover boy!" The loud-mouth salesmen directed that comment at Jellal, and quickly shut the door before he could see the poor man's angry reaction.

The Heavenly Body Mage's hands started glowing with a bright shade of light yellow light as he felt his unrestrained rage flow through his veins, but quickly stopped as Gildrats put his palm on his back and silenced the movement of his internal magic.

"Whoa, not right here big guy. Let's blow off the steam and grab a bite to eat…"

~After finding a restaurant...

As Gildarts and Jellal sat inside a nice tavern in the central plaza, Jellal collected the drinks from the bar and brought them back to their table. meanwhile, Gildarts looked into his small communication lacrima and started cracking a smile.

"Hey, you oughta check out the picture of this goofy clay thing Cana just sent me! She never explained it, but I guess that Nigel guy just bought this at a local craftsman shop for Secret Santa…man I would not wanna meet the guy who made that." He continued laughing as he grabbed his ale from Jellal's hands.

Jellal took his seat and sighed. "Yes, well sometimes those small crafted gifts are more special than the average present."

Gildarts smiled and nodded his head. "Ah okay, good point. I can drink to that!" He held up his hand, and tapped glasses with Jellal as they both took a toast and drank.

As they finished their sips, Jellal looked up at Gildarts. "So, what are you getting for your person, if you don't mind me asking?"

Gildarts waved his hand. "Nah, it's no biggy. I go on so many adventures and quests I end up bringin' home a lot of cool junk. Problem is it all just builds up in my shack outside of Magnolia. I figured I could get my guy a small souvenir I bought back from a big quest or something."

Jellal thought that sounded very nice. "That actually sounds like a pretty special gift."

Gildarts agreed. "Yea, plus I really enjoy everyone in the guild, so I knew I wouldn't have to single my person out with some overly expensive gift..." He smiled and picked up his glass. "…You on the other hand landed a pretty special name for the gift exchange. That's gotta feel pretty cool."

Jellal awkwardly commented, while trying to make a smile at the same time. "Yes, I will agree. I must be honest when I say I don't know everyone in the guild. I have gotten to know you and the members of Natsu's team very well, and I met Nigel after our group mission together, but for the most part I still feel like a stranger in the guild hall."

He took off his full mask as he continued. "I guess it's a good thing I'm not actually a member of Fairy Tail, in that case anyway."

Gildarts thought about that and shook his head. "Nah, I wouldn't put it like that. I mean sure, you're not an official member, and you don't have a crest or anything. But you did fight for our team in the Games. And you were pretty quick to lend a hand with those dragons here in Crocus. All that actually sounds pretty special to me."

Jellal thought about it, and slowly agreed. "Hm, well I guess if you put it that way, it all makes sense." He then raised his glass again and made another toast.

"Very well then. To Fairy Tail!"

Gildarts smiled and accepted as he tapped the glass.

"Aye, to Fairy Tail."

The two men proudly finished off their first drinks and quickly ordered more. Yet as they sat in wait, Gildarts decided to break the tension by adding in more comedy.

"Hehe, so…are you gonna have her break in your gift the night of the Christmas Party, or are you gonna wait until Christmas Day?"

Gildarts broke into laughter as Jellal never answered, and slammed his head down on the table in frustration and embarrassment.

Ah those guys are so funny!...I guess Jellal has a pretty special name for the gift exchange...?

Okay, Christmas Eve is in TWO DAYS! That means our friends in Fairy Tail have ONE MORE SHOPPING DAY to get all their last-minute ideas into gear. I will be honest and say there are no more "character-specific" chapters left. Tomorrow will sort of wrap up everyone before the gift exchange, and then the next day will be the gift exchange (and that may be released in two separate chapters...idk yet.)

Either way we're getting closer! I hope you're enjoying it, and chapter 11 is out tomorrow!