Minako's heart sank as she read the words marking the tiny slip of paper with her own personal brand of torture. Now Minako was not one to say "I quit" or "no can do," but what that, she glared at the offensive item before her, what that tiny slip of paper was asking her to do, well it was impossible. Simply put, it couldn't be done.

"Who'd you get?" Usagi turned and asked her, her own slip of paper still held between her fingers as the holiday excitement practically bubbled over her every feature.

Minako sighed, grateful that the point of a secret Santa gift exchange was the secret part of it.

"Usagi, we can't tell each other, remember?"

"Oh, right." She giggled before flittering away to eat some more spiced rum cake Makoto had baked. The others were spread around the room, chatting and making plans to go holiday shopping sometime this weekend. They didn't have a care in the world, probably already knowing what they would get for their individual; after all they hadn't gotten the impossible, the inconceivable, the daunting, Herculean task of shopping for one who was unshoppable for. They hadn't gotten him.

Minako groaned as she eyed the paper once more before shoving it angrily in her pocket, quickly making her excuses to the girls so she could rush home and focus on the task at hand: finding a Christmas gift for Mamoru.

All Minako really knew about him was he loved Usagi, he was going to be a doctor, he loved Usagi, he was an orphan and oh, yeah, he loved Usagi. A lot. Not that she could fault him for that; it certainly made her job easier, if only slightly. Guarding the princess was a full time job after all. Still that didn't help her current dilemma one bit. She knew they had talked before; there must have been something they discussed that could give her a clue as to what to get him…

Her brows scrunched as she tried to think back to the last conversation they had had but all she could picture was a fuzzy image of a talking Mamoru with words that didn't quite fit the movement of his lips. It certainly didn't sound like something he would say and Minako was sure she was just forcing the supposed memory that wasn't really there. She knew his voice, it was deep but not unpleasantly so, still light enough to hint at a hidden youthfulness that Minako had yet to see, and yet for the life of her, she could not recall ever really talking to the man.

"Huh," she muttered, rubbing her chin in an absent manner.

She could get him clothes. Somehow throughout the years she had learned his taste in clothing and she often made suggestions to Usagi on what to purchase, there by steadily improving his wardrobe in a long, drawn out process. It would be easy, standard really, and it was exactly why she dismissed the idea as soon as it popped in her head. Minako never did standard, especially when giving a gift. She wanted the recipient to feel loved and cherished, to feel so special that someone would take so much time to pick out the perfect gift that they'd smile for the rest of the week.

Books would never do, he read enough already, plus she didn't know what he already owned, which coincidentally also eliminated any music albums she might get him. The man was in med school, but she imagined there wasn't any one thing that could magically aid him in that department.

Really, the only thing she could imagine Mamoru wanting in his life, other than Usagi, were friends. Not that the girls didn't consider him a friend, though the fact that Minako couldn't recall a single conversation with the guy seemed to refute that sentiment completely. And it wasn't as if she could just pay people to be friends with him; that would just be so pathetic….Besides he had friends, but she didn't think he was truly close to anyone. The girls were like family to her, she couldn't imagine not having that in her life, let alone being an orphan with no memory of her past. Makoto was an orphan too but she didn't seem to have the same problem at opening up as he did…

Her eyes lit up as an idea sprung to life. It would be hard, maybe even impossible, but now that she had thought of it she knew there was nothing else she'd settle for.

She cracked open her laptop and got to work.

…

The days leading up to the Christmas party varied among the girls. While some wished the time would go faster, especially since Christmas itself, would be two days later, others were becoming concerned about the behavior of one girl in particular. She had become more reserved, and was constantly on her phone or her laptop. If Ami had thought she could be studying it would have done much to ease her mind and yet she could only wonder as the days wore on. The specific girl in question didn't think much of her recent change in habits, and she certainly didn't care for how quickly time was passing, it didn't seem there was enough time in the world to meet her deadline but damn it all, she'd perform a miracle if she had to.

Minako's head shot up from where it had been craning uncomfortable over her notes. Time, time is what she needed and she knew exactly where to get it.

…

"No."

Minako glared at the tall woman in her stupid, perfect business suit with her stupid, stylish hair. Would it kill her to be a little ruffled? Must she act so calm and collected all the time? Well two could play at that game and she loved to win.

She crossed her ankles and raised her brow pointedly. Let her be the first to break the silence. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as she would have guessed.

Setsuna sighed and turned away as Minako inwardly cheered.

"You know why I can't."

"You've made exceptions before," she quipped.

"Not without cause." Setsuna's brows pinched together, agitation was winning against remaining calm. Minako added a tally to her mental score list.

"This is a cause," she argued, "for your prince, I might add."

Setsuna looked doubtful but hesitated.

"I know the rules," Minako rushed to reassure her, wanting to take advantage of the other woman's moment of weakness. "I'll speak to no one. Not a soul will see me. I'm only going to observe."

"It's for the prince," she added in a whisper when Setsuna didn't respond.

Setsuna's fingers twitched and Minako knew she had won. She placed her own hand over Setsuna's restless one.

"Thank you."

…

"Uh, thanks," Mamoru said aloud though the girls were too busy sharing what they had gotten to hear him. They had tossed him the cheerful gift bag with the cute snowmen on the side unceremoniously, and had quickly dug into their own without a further glance in his direction.

The bag had his name on it, in a small typed script so as not to give the giver away, but otherwise gave no clues as to who he should direct his appreciation towards. Not that what was inside the bag was anything much. Usually the girls just bought him clothes or DVDs, something simple since he never really made his interests known. Though as he peered at the contents of this year's gift, he had to admit that it was the most unusual gift he had ever received.

It contained a small black address book and what appeared to be an already used external hard drive; though it was as shiny as a new one it was missing its container. He pulled out the address book and fanned through it; coming to a stop in the F's where a folded note card marked the page. An email address was already marked under one Furuya, Ryu but he didn't recognize the name. He briefly wondered if there were other emails listed in the book and if so, what he was to do with the information. He opened the note card, expecting further clarification, but frowned as the words, jet black in the same typed script as the gift tag, only confused him more.

Look at my contents at midnight, alone.

His cheeks flamed, automatically assuming the worst by such a suggestive sentence. It couldn't mean…no, no of course not. This was a Christmas gift, meant to bring the receiver joy not alarm. It must be something else, but as to what he couldn't guess.

The Christmas party went on till late in the evening, forcing him, not that he minded, to carry Usako home since she had passed out over an hour ago. The holidays always excited her and she had been running on fumes the last two days having not been able to sleep more than an hour or two a night.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was 11:45, just enough time to get inside, slip Usako under the covers and set up the hard drive connection to learn what lay inside the mysterious gift.

His fingers fumbled with the keys as he juggled Usako in his arms, but he managed to unlock his apartment door with relative ease. The room was dark but he refused to turn on the light, instead preferring to confidently stride across his home to his bedroom. He placed Usako gently on the mattress, making sure to wrap the comforter over her shoulders to fight away the chill, smiling as she curled herself into a tighter ball. Satisfied, he slipped out the room, quietly shutting the door, and made his way back to his living room where his laptop laid in waiting.

He popped open the screen, connecting the hard drive as it whirled to life, and looked at the clock, 11:59. Close enough. He clicked on the necessary folder, and seeing only a long list of video files, opened the one on top.

"Mom! Dad! Look!" cried a young boy with dark black hair that had appeared on his screen. He was running towards a young couple at the park, waving his arms excitedly.

The boy's father, a tall man with the same dark hair as the boy's, turned to greet him.

"Yes, Mamoru?"

Mamoru blinked. The man had called the boy Mamoru. What did that mean? This couldn't be…he gulped and refocused on the screen, taking in the parents' features as well as the young boy's, and he knew. He knew what he was seeing but he didn't know how.

He paused the video and randomly selected another file. The same family appeared, only this time they were riding bicycles down the street. He stopped the feed and selected another file. Again it was the same family only this time dressed in yukatas while attending a festival. He clicked the file close and scrolled down hoping to find any kind of note or document, anything to explain what he was seeing. Finally he came across a word document at the bottom of the list and immediately opened it.

Mamoru,
I thought you might enjoy seeing some videos of your past.
As for the email addresses, those are old friends of your family.
Perhaps they have stories that they could tell?

Merry Christmas,
Santa's Helper

…

Minako watched from the balcony as Mamoru snatched up the previously forgotten address book and skimmed through it once more, most likely spying several more names in the book. She had been there since midnight, hoping to see him smile and that he liked his gift, before leaving him to enjoy it in privacy. Perhaps she should have told him what it was at the party, but she had felt something of this caliber needed to be experienced on one's own time. Still, as the minutes ticked by she had to wonder, what was taking him?

"Come on…" she grumbled, bouncing on her toes to stay warm.

Did he not like the gift? Was he creeped out? He knew it had to be one of the girls, right? She watched as Mamoru held up the address book as he messed with his computer. She assumed he was putting the addresses in. He blinked and narrowed his eyes as if he was reading, and then she saw him rub his eyes. Oh god was he crying?

Minako panicked. What should she do? Should she go in and comfort him? Would that be weird? He knew it was from one of the girls though, right? Right? Perhaps she should wake Usagi? Yeah, Usagi would know what to do. She pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen ready to call but hesitanted to wake her. Her eyes flickered back at Mamoru's lone figure just as a slow smile spread across his face. His body rocked back and forth and she realized he was laughing though the way he kept rubbing his eyes indicated he was still crying, now identifiable as tears of joy.

He wiped his eyes one final time and jumped off the couch, running off down the hallway where Minako's eyes could not follow. He was probably going to wake Usagi, wanting her to share in his happiness. Minako's own face hurt, her smile was so wide, and she leapt to the rooftop eager to get warm now that she had seen him smile. She jumped to the next building and turned to look back where she knew the happy couple to be, feeling her eyes start to water as she recalled the look of pure joy on her prince's face. It was over and she had done the impossible, she only wished she had done so sooner.

Shaking her head, she shrugged the guilty feelings off and broke into a run, skipping across the rooftops to go home. Tomorrow or technically today was Christmas Eve and while the others would spend the holiday with their family, she would be resting. After all, there was a bed with her name on it, and this Santa's helper had put in some long hours this winter.

…

Two days later she woke up to a bright chilly day. There was snow on her window sill and she was eager to open her presents. Her parents were out of town on a cruise somewhere in the tropics, they had never liked the holidays though Minako could never understand why, but they had left several packages for her like they always did, and Minako briefly wondered how many she would exchange this year.

There were several large boxes and bags, and a dozen medium size ones, however when she bundled up on the floor, prepped to open the first package, it was a small golden box she hadn't noticed the night before that caught her attention.

To Santa's Helper it was addressed and she smiled quickly guessing who it was from. She lifted the lid, spotting a note and read it first.

Setsuna gave you up.
Thank you
and Merry Christmas.

Minako laughed and then looked deeper into the box spying a delicate gold bracelet with a single golden snowflake made up of a multitude of tiny golden hearts dangling from the chain.

She smiled, "Merry Christmas, Mamoru."

So I know I was supposed to be writing other stories, but I couldn't help myself. I really, really want to write Christmas stories right now and this was just the first of several that popped in my head. I hope you enjoyed it, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a joyful whatever you celebrate this time of year!