Christmas day

Will woke in a haze. There was some reason today was special. He couldn't remember in the foggy middle ground between sleep and consciousness.

He swung his legs out of bed, though he was barely awake. There was a reason he wanted to get out of bed early- what was it?

Shrugging to himself, he let his body robotically perform it's morning duties. Get dressed, comb his tangles from his hair, leave the room to make coffee.

Will frowned. Was that snoring he heard? He cautiously pressed an ear to the other bedroom. Yes, there was definitely someone there. He pushed open the door and silently moved over the bed, where a tall knight was sleeping soundly.

Horace? On his couch? In Redmont?

In a rush, it all came back to him. It was Christmas day and Horace had come to stay. Will grinned to himself. It rymed.

"I'm a poet, whatever Halt says," he said to himself. Horace gave a particularly loud snore. Will shrugged and went to make himself coffee. His friend was actually a surprisingly light sleeper when they were camping. It was just in safe territory that Horace conked out completely.

He brewed a large pot of coffee, acutely aware that not only was Horace here, but the others had all left their gifts under his tree as a mark they were coming back.

He remembered the times when he would leap out of bed for Santa Claus. Will was fully grown now and much too old for Santa, but he did still have the same feeling of glee when he got out of bed.

Horace was up sometime later. He helped himself to coffee and the bacon and eggs Will was making for breakfast.

"This is good," he said, spraying crumbs everywhere. He took a deep draught of coffee.

Will raised an eyebrow at him. Horace raised one back.

"I can do it too now," he said.

"That's childish," Will said, then ruined it by adding, "I do it better."

Horace scoffed. "Yes, you'd like to believe that," he said.

"Well, I do," Will frowned. "Your other eyebrow moves with it."

"Oh, sure," Horace was convinced he'd mastered the expression. The ranger was jealous, he decided.

This argument could have gone on all day, had the others not arrived. Will heard them coming, of course. Tug gave a greeting and the steps were deliberately creaky anyway.

"Let the party begin!" Gilan said, stepping into the cabin that was beginning to look crowded with Will, Horace, Halt, Crowley, Pauline, Gilan and Alyss all present.

"For the last time, it's not a party," Halt insisted. "It's a group of uninvited people that all showed up of their own accord."

"That Halt," Crowley said, slapping his old friend on the back, "is called a party. Now have we got drinks in here, or what?"

"I made coffee," Will said. The rangers seized on this idea eagerly and cups were passed around.

"Not exactly party drinks," Alyss smiled. Pauline winked at her.

"Get used to it," she told her former studant. "These are rangers we are with, after all."

"Too true," Alyss agreed wryly.

The day wore on. When the sun was high in the sky, alcoholic drinks were pulled out. Usually, rangers drank sparsely, but this was a speciel occasion.

Will, who didn't have much of a taste for alcohol, didn't drink too much. The same went for Horace and the girls. Gilan and Crowley both handled their alcohol fairly well and drank more than the others.

On the other hand, Halt didn't process alcohol well. He knew that, but he didn't want to lose to Crowley, who was making a show of drinking a lot. And the more Halt drank, the harder it was for him to accept defeat.

"Lookin' a little tipsy there, Halt," Crowley said, completely aware of what was going through his old friends mind. Deliberately, he took another swig.

"Don't be ridiculous," Halt said, his words slurring together. He was pleased that he had managed to say a long word like 'ridiculous' and a part of him was a bit concerned about this. That wasn't a normal thought that occurred to him. Or was it? It was getting hard to remember.

"Nope, definitely looking tipsy," Crowley said, pretending to study his friend.

"Stop it," Pauline hit his arm lightly.

Halt blinked at his wife. "Pauline, you look prettier than usual," he said. And she did seem to have a glowing aura around her, almost like an angel.

Crowley sniggered. "That was a complement gone wrong," he said.

Pauline glared at the commandant. "Thank you Halt... I think," she said, a little uncertainly. "I think you've had enough to drink."

"Definately," Crowley agreed. He put on his most patronising expression as he swallowed more alchohol.

"No, I'm fine," Halt said, ignoring the fact that he was starting to feel light headed. If Crowley could drink, so could he!

Will and the others were watching this with some amusement. Halt hadn't noticed- he was too busy staring at his wife. Crowley was all too obviously hiding hysterics. Pauline looked worried.

"I hope you can hold your alchohol better," Alyss said to her boyfriend, a half concerned, half amused smile twitching her lips.

"Of course," Will assured her. He made a mental note not to drink any more.

"There's only one way to find out if he can or not," Crowley said, holding up his glass. "A drinking contest!"

"No," Pauline said. "No drinking contests."

"Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea," Gilan agreed, peering at his mentor in wonder. Halt was swaying as he walked.

"Why don't we put the alchohol away for now?" Pauline suggested.

"Oh, come on-"

"Sorry, I'll refrase that," the elegant courier had steel in her eyes. "We're putting the alchohol away now."

"Fine," Crowley grumbled. "You're no fun."

She turned back to her husband. "You, sober up!" she commanded. Predictably, it didn't work, but Will had an idea forming.

"Why don't we go down to the river?" he suggested. "The water's very cold this time of year."

"That sounds lovely," Alyss said.

"I'd like a walk to the river," Gilan had an evil grin.

"What do you say, Halt?" Pauline gave her husband a charming smile.

"Sure," Halt said, his mind fogged with alchohol.

They threw on coats and wandered down to the river. Ebony bounded beside them.

They all walked right to the waters edge. Then Gilan planted both his hands on his former mentors back and pushed him into the water.

Halt surfaced, spluttering. "What the hell?" he gasped.

"We're helping you sober up, darling," Pauline said sweetly. Halt was not deceived by her tone of voice- especially because she was splashing him with freezing water.

"There, doesn't that clear your head?" Crowley said.

"You know it's all your fault," Pauline told the sandy haired ranger. "Now, everyone back inside before we all catch colds."

The day continued with no more alchohol. They went up to the castle for a feast in the evening where they met up with Jenny. The castle staff served coffee which the rangers all relished.

The Baron gave a long speech that most people tuned out of. Will tried to listen, he just got distracted. Then Arald proposed a toast.

Will raised his glass. He felt Alyss do the same and Halt on his other side. Gilan and Jenny grinned from across the table.

"Merry Christmas!" everyone cried and Will clinked galsses with all his friends: Alyss, Halt, Pauline, Horace, Gilan, Crowley and Jenny. It was warm and comfortable. Here, he knew all the officials, the craftmasters, the nobles and the peasants. It was home.

And there was nowhere he would rather spend Christmas.