Author's Notes: Merry Christmas!

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Ryuuji smiled.

Christmas was in full swing.

Satoshi and Minori pulled a cracker apart, Minori declaring victory when she discovered she'd won a crown. She handed to Taiga, who had her in her lap, and placed the crown upon her head. Satoshi dived into Minori's half of the cracker when she dropped it, reading out the bad joke... didn't anybody send letters of complaint to whoever made these? They were as bad as he remembered. Yasuko was doting on Junji, raving about how much he looked like "his daddy". Ryuuji let his smile waver slightly, as he recalled how long it had been since she'd mentioned his own father.

His mind turned to Yasuko's better half, who was doing god-knows-what to his kitchen. He was trying to whip up some western dessert his own mother used to make at this time, but if the delay were any indication he didn't fully know what he was doing. Luckily for him, Ryuuji's blessing had not dependant on mastery of skill in the culinary arts, or cleaning for that matter. Tomorrow would be an uphill battle against countless used dishes. He sighed, oh well, that was christmas for you. At least Inko-chan kept his mess manageable. He turned to the TV, with some Christmas speci-oh it was that one with ghosts! Inko-chan hated ghosts! He-wait... He looked at the cage.

The cage was empty, and the door was wide open. He looked around for feathers. "Has anyone seen Inko-chan?" Taiga looked around, putting Minori down and walking around too. Neither noticed Yasuko give a sly grin, and silently telling Junji to keep quiet. He nodded, as Satoshi and Minori grabbed another cracker.

The floor mats were feather and footprint-free, the pair met at the fireplace, where was that bird? They felt a pair of eyes on them, and a pair of giggles. Minori was pointing in their direction at something.

Something squawked. "Merry Christmas!"

They looked up, finding Inko-chan standing on the mirror on the wall. Something was in his talon.

That took them back.

Yasuko lit up the room with a smile. "You two have to kiss now!"

So that's where he'd gotten it.

Taiga smiled. "Don't sneeze this time."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

He put his hands on her shoulders. No santa hat this time, but she was as cute as ever. He slowly leaned down, the world gradually being lost to them as they grew closer and closer.

The world was lost. For a moment, for an eternity, before they parted again, smiling.

"EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!"

Taiga looked at her children, glaring. Junji gulped, and he and Minori pointed at Satoshi. His eyes darted between the two of them. "...traitors."

Ryuuji chuckled. "You'll fall in love one day, Satoshi."

Satoshi evaded his father's gaze as he approached. "If it's gonna make me act like you and mom I don't wanna." Ryuuji chuckled, ruffling Satoshi's hair.

There was a flap of wings, Inko-chan landed on Ryuuji's shoulder and dropped the Mistletoe into his hand. "Success! Success!" Ryuuji looked at the little decoration with a smile.

He was keeping this.

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End

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Author's notes: For those who don't know, "Clever Bird" was released Christmas last year. Seemed fitting to revisit it. Merry Christmas, everyone.

(Now what to do for new years...)