My third Feast of the Winter Star started just as festive as it had been in years past. Well, for me, anyway.

When I got there, many people were still eating, but a good amount had already finished and were out and about, catching up with each other and whatnot. Penny even seemed to be giving Elliott a gift.

Oh, gifts. Right. I heaved a sigh as I remembered the one unpleasant thing that had to happen today.

My "secret friend" this year was Shane. Finding something I thought he would like... which just ended up being something anyone would like, a crate of cupcakes... was more exhausting than shopping for Pierre or Sam had been, twofold. And after all that, I just ended up with some cupcakes.

I spotted Shane leaning against the wall of the saloon, alone... and it seemed like he wanted it to stay that way, based on the grimace on his face. If I had my way, I would've just snuck up behind him, placed his gift by his feet, and slipped away before he could see me... but that wasn't very festive, wasn't it?

Besides... maybe he needed some cheer.

It was still a little nerve-wracking, though. I was going to take this breath, then walk up to him and start speaking. No turning back, no hesitating. I was just giving him his Winter Star gift that I'd tried my best on. I'd be damned if he wanted to snap at me for that.

So I did. I took that breath, started walking over to him, and when I was just a few steps away, started speaking.

"Hey," I said. "Sorry to bother you, but, uh... I've got your gift this year."

"You do?" he asked, looking up at me with a weirdly... indifferent expression. But indifferent was better than sulky.

"Here," I said, holding it out to him.

He took it, said "Thanks," and opened it to reveal a box that looked more likely to hold chocolates than cupcakes. I'd figured that if I was just getting him cupcakes, I may as well spend a little extra and give a small bakery some business. Thus, these cupcakes were a little fancier, and in a fancier box.

"Marnie loves this bakery," said Shane. "Their stuff's pretty good." He looked up at me. "Thanks. I'll enjoy these."

"No prob!" I said. "Have a good day, alright?"

"...You too," Shane nodded.

I'd... had a positive interaction with Shane? Maybe this Winter Star would be more festive than I thought.

I walked back over to the tables of food, trying to decide whether I wanted to pick anything up for myself or not.

Before I could decide, though, I heard Abigail say "Merry Winter Star!" from beside me. I looked to see that she and Sebastian had come over to greet me.

"Merry Winter Star to you guys, too!" I smiled.

"So you got Shane, huh?" Sebastian asked. "Was he rude, as always?"

"No, actually," I answered. "That... was the most pleasant interaction I've ever had with him."

"What did you get him?" asked Abigail.

"Some cupcakes from a bakery in ZuZu," I answered.

"Ah, you can never go wrong with cupcakes," Abigail nodded. "I got Penny. She's easy to shop for because she's such a bookworm, pretty much any book will make her happy. She really seemed to like the one I picked out, though."

"I... actually ended up getting Abby," Sebastian said.

"Oh, yeah!" Abigail said, holding Sebastian's hand. "He got me this beautiful amethyst pin!"

She motioned to her shirt, where she was wearing said pin. It was a simple dome of amethyst with a silver ring around it, sort of simplistic, but it was really shiny and beautiful.

"Wow," I marveled. "That's really pretty."

"Isn't it?" Abigail smiled.

Aww, Sebastian was blushing. I had to suppress a giggle, one more of happiness for them than anything.

"Did you get your present yet?" Abigail then asked.

"No, I haven't," I said. "I guess I'll stick around until I do."

A beat of silence, before Sebastian said "Sam's been freaking out all day because he misplaced the gift he shopped for. He's been running around trying to find it."

"Oh, no!" I reacted, sort of amused. "I hope he finds it soon."

"I guess his mom actually had to stop him for a second so George could give him his gift," Sebastian said. "Which was some socks."

"Hey, you can't go wrong with socks," I shrugged. "It's way too easy to lose those things."

...I was old. That was it, I had to be.

Then, the voice of Abigail's mother said "Abby, sweetie, can you come here for a minute?"

"Ugh..." Abigail reacted. "I should probably go see what she wants."

"Good plan," I nodded. "See you later!"

"Later!" Abigail waved before heading for her mother, Sebastian following behind.

I looked to see that even more of the food was gone. Maybe I'd just take some slices of pie home and make myself some dinner. The pie looked so good, though, that without really thinking, I started eating it as soon as it hit my plate. It tasted even better than it looked.

I decided there was no way this was making it back home, so I elected to eat it while looking at the tree. Were there any new ornaments this year? Right there was the one Vincent painted when he was 4. It made me smile to think that it was still going on the tree every year.

I noticed this time that right next to it was another handpainted one. It was green with blue polka dots. With my free hand, I twirled it around in my fingers to find that the polka dots were actually little finger prints, so this was hand AND finger painted.

Then, on the bottom, I saw, probably painted by an adult, "Jas, 4".

Had this one been painted at the same time as Vincent's? Were those two the same age? If they had been painted at the same time, why had it taken until now for me to find Jas's? Maybe I just hadn't been observing closely enough.

"Do you like my ornament?" a tiny voice asked.

I turned to see that Jas herself was standing there, holding a thin box about the length of her hand.

"I do," I smiled. "It's very pretty!"

"I painted it when I was 4," she said. "It's just a bunch of fingerprints."

"Well, fingerprints add a personal touch," I said. "You really can't tell they're fingerprints unless you look up close, which I think is really cool."

"If you say so," she said. She then held the box out to me. "This has your name on it. Is it yours?"

Confused, I slowly reached out and took the present from her. It was wrapped in a shiny red wrapping paper... and it did indeed have my name on it, written in marker.

"I always put my name on things so that if I lose them, I'll get them back," said Jas.

...This handwriting...

Jas lowered her voice and continued "Don't tell anyone, but Vincent and I snuck into Sam's room. That's where we found it."

Oh my Yoba.

"Well, u-uh... thank you!" I said.

"You're welcome!" Jas said, before running off cheerfully.

My face was definitely as hot as a furnace. I just stood there and looked down at the present for a few seconds. What were the odds? What the fuck were the odds?

I then looked over at Sam's house, then around the entire downtown area, then back at Sam's house. He was probably still in there, searching for what I was now holding.

I had to let him know.

But my face was redder than a cherry. It contrasted greatly with the winter air.

But I had to let him know. I took a breath to calm my nerves down, which would hopefully calm my face back down as well, and walked over to his house.

I could only think to knock on the door, so I did.

I figured it was the only logical effect to follow that cause... but my heart still wasn't prepared for Sam to be the one to answer the door.

He almost didn't seen prepared, either. He, understandably, opened the door with a bit of force, as if he just wanted to answer the knocker's demands and return to his search... but then seemed taken aback to see me there, holding the very thing he was hunting for. He actually seemed to be lost for words.

"I, uh..." I said sheepishly. "Jas... brought me this."

He just stared, dumbfounded, at the gift for a few seconds, before facepalming out of what seemed mostly like relief.

"They snuck into my room again," he said, mostly to himself.

Welp, he said it, not me. Jas couldn't knock me for that.

"Her thought process was very sweet," I said. "She thought that since my name was on it, I'd lost it in there, and she was returning it to me."

"That's... But it's very clearly a gift," said Sam, still reeling from the absurdity of the whole situation.

"So..." I said. "Correct me if I've got the wrong impression, but... I take it I'm your secret friend this year?"

"Yeah," said Sam, composing himself. "That's for you."

"O-Oh..." I said, even though I knew it to be true.

Without thinking, I started running my fingers along the short end to find where to open the gift.

"Oh, uh..." Sam interrupted. "You can come in, if you'd like."

"Oh... thanks!" I smiled.

He held the door open for me, and I walked in and sat on the couch. He quickly closed the door and sat beside me.

I looked at him, to sort of ascertain that he was ready for me to open the present.

He looked back and gave me a nod... smiling for the first time I'd seen all day.

We were all alone, away from the hustle and bustle of the town. I wanted to enjoy this.

So I opened the present a little more slowly than I would have any other present, to reveal a small cardboard box that looked like it would have held a necklace.

And hold a necklace, it did. I opened the box to reveal a silver necklace with a charm, which was a fish that was in a hopping-out-of-the-water-for-a-second pose.

"I found that when Vincent, Mom, and I went into the city, and I couldn't help but think of you," said Sam. "That... it would suit you!"

"Oh, geez..." I reacted, feeling emotion well up in both my chest and my eyes. "...Thank you so much, Sam. This is beautiful."

"Of course," Sam replied. "Merry Winter Star."

"Merry Winter Star to you, too," I replied.

To be honest, I wanted so badly to hug him... I mean, when didn't I?... but I wasn't sure if he was up for it.

"I want to be mad that those kids snuck into my room, but..." he said. "I'm just relieved it didn't get lost."

My emotion converted into laughter.

"I just can't believe how it all went down," I laughed. "You were running around looking for it, but Jas had it the whole time, and gave it to me, thinking it belonged to me. Well, I mean, it did, but... not until now, in a way."

"Yeah, that's crazy," he chuckled.

I then looked down at the necklace and decided to try it on. I took it out of the box, laced it around my neck, and managed without too much trouble to close the clasp.

"It... looks real good on you," Sam said, in the gentlest voice I'd heard from him in a while. It was as if he was trying to make my face get all red again... well, even redder than it already was when I'd opened it.

"Well, that just means you did a good job," I smiled.

He laughed, then said "I guess so," while rubbing the back of his neck.

Well, I was definitely wearing this thing every day for the rest of my life. At least... I wanted to.