Chapter Thirty-Five:

When Laxus woke, he was immediately disoriented. It had been years since he had woken up with someone else sharing his bed, let alone fully clothed. But as soon as Lucy's distinctive strawberry scent hit his nostrils everything fell into place. She had fallen asleep on the couch, still wrapped in his arms, and when he had begun to doze off, he had moved the two of them into his room because he had the larger bed. Lucy was still asleep, or her waking would have woken him up earlier. A small grin tugged at his lips as he thought about the situation they were in, and knew that if it happened more often, he wouldn't complain. There was something about waking up with Lucy in his arms that just felt…right.

He wondered what she would think when she woke. Natsu's return had sent her back to where she had been at the very beginning. She had fallen asleep, still clutching the worn paper to her chest. While they had sat together on the couch, she had mentioned that it was Natsu's letter to her, written just before he went away. Lucy hadn't shown him the contents, but he knew they were likely too painful for her at the time. From the wear on the paper, he could tell that she probably had the entire thing memorized.

She stirred, and he froze. Even though she had given him permission to choose whatever he wanted in terms of sleeping arrangements, Laxus wasn't sure if she would regret his choice. Eyes still closed, she yawned, stretched and snuggled a little closer to him. When Lucy finally opened her eyes, she moved her head so she could look at him and smiled sleepily up as he looked down at her.

"Yes," she murmured softly, her smile solidifying.

"Huh?" It wasn't Laxus's most intelligent response, but he was utterly confused at this particular turn of events.

Lucy grinned. "My answer to last night's question. Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes," she said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "Now, are you going to kiss me, or do I have to do everything myself?"

Now this was something Laxus could do. Shifting slightly, he positioned himself a brief distance from Lucy's lips before he hesitated. If this is a dream, will this be the moment when I wake up?

Impatient with him, Lucy surged forward and kissed him. They parted only when both of them were breathless. Holding her close, Laxus knew for certain that it wasn't a dream. Running his fingers through her hair, he thanked his lucky stars that she was willing to give him a chance.

"Are you ready to open presents?" he asked softly, thinking of the box that waited under the tree, and its companion, which was hidden in his sock drawer, for the eventuality that she had said yes. He had always planned to ask her when he showed her the tree, but Natsu's return interrupted the timing.

"I have presents?" Lucy asked, wide-eyed. Laxus chuckled and kissed her nose.

"Nope, but you can watch me open mine," he teased, pinning her arm down as she tried to swat him. "Just teasing you hun. You've got presents too. Freed and the others sent our gifts to the house when I told them we'd be spending the day here. I invited them over for dinner, but apparently because two thirds of them are dating members of the Strauss family Mira's invitation trumped mine. I guess Bix and Lisanna are planning on teasing the couples the entire night."

Lucy snickered. "Glad I turned down Mira's invitation then, although it might have been amusing. I'd much rather be here, although I would like more comfortable clothing. What do you say we take a few minutes break while I change into something comfy and we reconvene in the living room for presents?"

With a chuckle, Laxus let her slide out from under the covers. "Sounds like a plan. But if you take as long as Ever does, I'm going to start opening presents without you. So consider yourself warned."

Exiting the room, Lucy said: "I'm already halfway to being done. So I think it's me who'll be starting without you."

"You want to bet?" Laxus teased. "Remember, very little is faster than lightning."

"No magic!" she yelled, disappearing into the hallway. Laxus laughed, and then got up. He didn't want to miss a moment of his first Christmas with Lucy. There was also the matter of the box hidden in his sock drawer to attend to.

***Okay. This is ALL fluff. Nothing else, just fluff. Oh, and for any curious people, the gift Laxus had hidden was a necklace with a lightning bolt pendent. Just in case she did want to be his girlfriend.***