Christmas special, Part two

After having breakfast with the four fallen, Meilin found herself being dragged by a very anxious Abeke to the small patch of woodland located by Mustela's Stall of Goods. Frowning in both puzzlement and annoyance, Meilin squinted at her friend in the light cast by the swathes of sunlight between the trees.

"What was that about?!" she questioned, folding her hands over her chest.

"Look, well, the truth is…" Abeke fiddled nervously with the sash tied on her waist. "We're exchanging gifts tonight, right? But I got Conor, and I have absolutely no idea what to get him!"

Meilin mentally facepalmed. "Seriously, just get him something he likes."

"The problem is, I DON'T know what he really likes," Abeke fretted.

Meilin raised her eyebrows. "Abeke, you know perfectly what he likes, you've met each other for years." Sometimes, she just doesn't get how Abeke is so indecisive.

"I don't know if he'll like the present I'll give him or not!"

"Listen, Abeke…"

"Arghh! That damn boy is driving me nuts!"

"Well, if you would just…"

"What should I give him, that's the point!"

"Shut your mouth and listen!" Meilin screamed in such a big volume that the birds went flying into the sky.

Abeke promptly shut her mouth and quietened. Meilin took a deep breath and prepared everything she'd need to say to Abeke in her brain. Funny that Conor is pretty much the only thing that can really rile her best friend up.

"Listen, Abeke. You just need to listen to your heart and get whatever seems most fitting for him."

Abeke rubbed her temples wearily. "I don't know Conor as well as I thought, do I?"

"Well, good luck to you, I suppo-" Meilin started.

"LUCK!" Abeke screamed suddenly. "I know just what to get him! THANK YOU! YOU'RE A GENIUS!" she called before running up the stairs toward her room, leaving a confused Meilin behind.

*~*~*~*Timeskip until 6 p.m.*~*~*~*~*

It was night when Abeke finally walked out of her room with a satisfied expression on her face. She put her present under the Christmas Tree with everyone else's, then followed the whiff of a delicious dinner to the dining room, where she found her friends sitting together and laughing at some joke Rollan had said earlier. Conor gave her a warm smile as she took a seat beside him and helped herself to heaps of roasted potatoes and braised pork, then added a tinge of Niloan spice her sister had made for her the last time she visited Okaihee, she kept the small bottle with her ever since.

One by one, the Greencloaks finished their meals and filed out of the hall slowly, preparing to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones. Abeke and her friends were one of the last ones to leave, as they had to wait until Rollan finished his beloved fourth helping of stew and he was about to reach for another bowl when Meilin swiped the pot away from him as she was fed up with waiting. It was until then when Rollan unwillingly picked up his bowl and licked the last drops clean, all the while gazing at Meilin with his famous puppy eyes. Meilin had rolled her eyes and briskly dragged Rollan away from the dining table with an awkward Abeke and Conor in tow.

Five minutes later, the group finally reached the common room and Rollan squealed in excitement upon seeing his favorite Essix plushie lying on the couch. Abeke and Meilin found themselves being pulled by Conor, who had a big smirk on his face, away from the doorway, leaving an overexcited Rollan springing toward the couch when suddenly…

WHAM!

Rollan tripped on a piece of string tied across the doorway and brought several buckets of water crashing down with him and rolled over the carpet, leaving colorful trails of paint in its wake.

Standing a few feet behind him, Abeke's dumbstruck gaze followed the rope tied across the doorway up the walls toward the ceiling, where she found it rigged to the three buckets of water that fell down earlier. Meilin was still in shock as her gaze darted between the two boys, one grinning in immense joy, the other face blank, still pondering the deep truth of how this Christmas night had suddenly gone wrong. Then, as if a light had been lit above their heads, the two girls burst into laughter at the sight of Rollan.

"Yoohoo~~ Are you there?" Meilin waved a hand wildly over Rollan's face. "Snap out of it!"

Suddenly Rollan snapped out of his daze and shook himself violently, trying to get the water off his clothing, before whipping around to stare, mouth open, at an amused Conor.

"Since when does kind, caring Conor prank people?!" he said out of astonishment.

"Since the day you shot a blast of water at me on my birthday," Conor said in between his laughs.

"…"

"Ha! Thanks for helping me get back at this airhead for the time he dumped a bunch of water at me," Meilin said with a big smirk as she clapped Conor in the shoulder.

"Yep, you're awesome, Conor. But let's talk about that later. Rollan, go change into some clean clothes, will ya? And let's clean this carpet quickly before Olvan comes in and lands his terrible punishment on all of us," Abeke instructed.

Rollan tiptoed out of the room as to not leave any wet footprints on the floor, muttering something along the lines of "ruin" and "ugly green sweater".

30 minutes later, the four, having cleaned the carpet, were all snuggled into their favorite couch before the fireplace, contentedly sipping mugs of hot cocoa. Rollan was chatting loudly with them, smelling "fresh" and wearing fresh clean clothes. His cheery mood back once again.

(a/n: if you remember the "fresh" joke Rollan made in book 2 Hunted, you'll get the joke in the quotation marks)

Meilin laughed and jumped off the couch suddenly, taking Abeke by surprise as she yelled in their faces, "Present exchanging time!"

The group formed a circle around the Christmas Tree and inspected the name tags on the dozens of presents lying at the base of the tree. Abeke spotted her name written on a pale blue tag, connected to a medium sized present with green floral markings around it. She reached for the package and watched with intensity as Conor picked up her gift to him. Then they settled once again around the Tree.

Rollan was the first to open his gift. He tore off his wrapping paperto shreds and, perhaps finally satisfied with the mess he made, took out a book under the paper, letting out an astonished "Wow" in the process. Abeke, who was sitting next to Rollan, scooted closer to take a better look at the book. Made of leather, with intricate gold patterns on the spine. Very beautiful, she concluded, but the problem is…

"Rollan, I know that book looks nice, but… since when do you read?!" Meilin said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Rollan rolled his eyes at her, "Watch, will you?"

He opened to book carefully and set it on the table, letting out another "Oh, wow!"

Abeke sucked in another breath of awe and surprise. It wasn't a book, but an album full of picturesof them together and Rollan's mother. Whoever gave this present to Rollan must have put a lot of thought into it.

"Look!" Rollan said, his voice shaking with emotion. "This picture is Mother and I."

"And look!" Meilin pointed at another picture. "This is the pic we took after taking down that gang of robbers!"

Conor snorted. "More like, you took down that gang of robbers," he pointed out.

Meilin grinned cheekily, "Of course! I took karate."

"Thanks to whoever made this!" Rollan said in a hoarse voice.

The other three grinned back.

"You're next, Abeke!" Meilin told her.

Abeke breathed in and out in excitement. For the first time in several years, she was going to receive a Christmas gift! The only Christmas presents she had ever received are from her mother, before she passed away. She opened the wrapping paper with a big grin on her face as a wine red box was revealed. Flipping it over, she read the tag as she half guessed what her present was going to be.

"A rope crafting kit!" she yelped in delight as she found out that her present provided equipment for her favorite hobby. "Thanks! I'll definitely use it one day. Conor, you're up next!" she said, excited to watch his reaction.

Her eyes were trained on his face as he lifted his gift and removed the wrapping.

It was a luck bracelet she had braided this afternoon for him. The intricate design of the Euran Symbol was woven in the middle, while knots representing the four elements of Nilo "fire", "water", "wind", and "earth" were tied around the symbol.

Abeke thought she saw a spark of recognition flash in Conor's eyes, as if he was remembering the time she told him about the four elements. He whipped his head toward her and mouthed a quick "thanks", then turning back before the others could notice. Abeke grinned in return.

"Okay, okay, guys," Meilin said, raising her hands. "Moment of truth: what did I get?"

Abeke unconsciously leaned forward to get a closer look at her best friend's present, which was the largest one out of the four. Twice as larger as her own. Abeke found herself widening her eyes in anticipation as Meilin undid the folds of the wrapping paper. The atmosphere felt as if everyone in the room was holding its breath as she opened her box and received…

Ooh… cliffhanger…