Scrunching up her nose slightly in her half sleep state and stretching her arms out around her, Ayeka blinked open her pale pink eyes and looked around her, only to let her eyes fall on the window near her bed, which revealed the snow white blanket that covered the ground and trees outside, one of what Ayeka considered to be nature's most beautiful gifts.

Sighing contently, Ayeka smiled to herself, and crawled out of her bed quietly, glancing at the clock that was angled nearly perfectly in her direction that was placed on her bedside table. It read 6:30 AM, and Ayeka stretched again and glanced over at Sasami's bed, only to find it empty and the princess again smiled to herself, imaging her younger sister bustling around down stairs, trying to fix breakfast for them all, and singing Jurian holiday carols.

Shuffling over to her closet, Ayeka let her nightgown slip off of her body and fall to the floor beneath her and shivered slightly as she picked through her robes that hung in neat rows before choosing a pale pink one lined with white and placing it on her bed.

Sitting at her vanity, Ayeka brushed through her long locks of violet hair till it gleamed and then took a bottle of sweet smelling purfume and dabbed it behind her ears, her wrists, and with a light blush dabbed it between her breasts. Placing the purfume back in it's spot, Ayeka stood again and shivered in her slip before slipping into her robes and shoes.

Looking at herself in the full length mirror that was perched against the far wall, Ayeka inspected herself, she wanted everything to be perfect, to look perfect, on this Christmas morning. After adjusting her robes several times and brushing the invisible hairs from out of her face, she smiled into the mirror and then walked down to the kitchen, feeling ready to face the world, or Tenchi at least.

Clutching a small bag in her right hand, Ayeka peeked down into it to make sure that all of the presents were neatly wrapped, before stepping into the warm kitchen which was already loud and becoming, with hearty laughs and carols ringing through the air.

Stepping into the kitchen, Ayeka's eyes found Tenchi almost immedantly and she smiled at what she saw. He was perched contently in his chair, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head, chuckling happily and cracking jokes with Kiyone and Mihowshi, as Sasami stood nearby at the stove giggling and grinning.

Walking over quietly, Ayeka forced herself to keep her smile up and she sat down in the empty chair next to Tenchi.

Feeling someone else's presence next to him, Tenchi turned around and saw that Ayeka was perched on the edge of the chair with a bag in her lap, smiling shyly. He grinned at her and greeted her warmly with "Well good morning Lady Ayeka. Are you happy Christmas has finally arrived?"

Nodding and smiling, Ayeka said, "Good morning to you too Lord Tenchi. And yes, I am very happy that Christmas is here." She paused then and gestured to the bag that was still in her lap. "Have you figured out a good time to exchange presents, Lord Tenchi?"

He grinned at her further and said, "Well Sasami here insisted that we wait until after breakfast to trade our presents." He faked a dissapointed face then, and Sasami looked over and stuck out her tongue playfully, bopping him lightly on the head with an oven mitt.

"Tenchi you were the one who wanted to eat breakfast!" she cried giggling and the rest of them laughed and smiled as if they were the happiest people in the world, and in some ways maybe they were.

Ayeka nibbled at her breakfast that Sasami had put out before her, but only to speed things up. She sat there anxiously, waiting for the moment Mihowshi would gobble down her last slice of whatever in the world she was eating and when Washu would consume her last sip of tea. When everyone finally decleared that it was time to go into the living room and trade presents, Ayeka joined them quickly, her heart beating rather uneasily in her chest.

She watched as they all placed their presents in a large pile in the center of the circle they had formed, and Ayeka too put her's forward, although she hated parting with her gift to Tenchi. As foolish as she knew it sounded, it was so dear to her, she had spent so many hours going from store to store searching for the perfect thing for him. She could only pray that he would like it.

One by one, they eached went around and opened one present from each other. Ayeka smiled as Kiyone opened the present she had gotten for her, and beamed lightly as Kiyone shrieked with happiness as she tried on the Emerald braclett that Ayeka had given her. With a slight guilty feeling, Ayeka remembered how she had run into a jewerly store, and thinking of all of the women in the house, had picked out a braclett or earings or a necklace for each of them, matching the stone to their favorite of best color. She knew that they would like the jewelry, it was all handsomly made and elegant, but she also felt somewhat bad for not spending as much time picking each present out, as she had done for Tenchi.

Brushing that feeling away, Ayeka shook her head a bit as if to rid her head of those sour thoughts and watched as the rest of the women opened their presents. Pajamas, purses, gift cards, blanket sets. All of these presents were nice and warmly excepted, but Ayeka couldn't seem to control the heavy beating of her heart as she saw Tenchi reach for her present to him.

He picked up the package and after reading the name tag placed in the upper right hand corner of it, he smiled and looked over at his left, into Ayeka's nervous eyes. "And this is from Lady Ayeka." he said as he then procedded to gently tear away at the paper.

Holding her breath in, Ayeka tried to remain calm looking but she couldn't help but ring her fingers a bit and lightly tap her small foot against the carpeted floor. What if he doesn't like it? She thought, What if he laughs? What if they laugh? At these thoughts she could already feel the flush rising up her neck and onto her cheeks and could just feel the tears beginning to build up behind her eyes.

Because she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize that the wrapping paper now lay open the floor and that everyone was crowding around Tenchi, gushing over the gift. It wasn't until she felt someone lightly place their hand on her shoulder that she jumped a bit and looked back over at him, to see him looking back at her, his eyes shinning and a grin plastered bodly across his face.

"Thank you Lady Ayeka." He said quietly to her, and then tenderly leaned over and let his lips brush against the smooth skin of her cheek before standing up and helping to clear away the torn wrapping paper and empty boxes.

Later, after everyone else was through trying on their new things or figuring out which way to put in the battery and laying on the sofa watching TV, Tenchi spotted Ayeka standing out on the porch and he quietly went out onto the porch, shutting the door silently behind him.

Walking up a few feet behind her, he said, "Is everything all right Lady Ayeka?"

Ayeka jumped a bit then, not realizing that anyone, much less Tenchi, had joined her out on the porch. She turned and smiled at him a bit, a light flush slipping into her cheeks. "Oh yes, I'm fine Lord Tenchi, thank you for asking." she said softly before stepping over to the porch swing, and sitting down lightly on that.

Smiling, Tenchi followed her over to the porch swing and still grinning down at her said, "Mind if I join you miss?"

Smiling rather sheepishly up at him she shook her head no and said, "No not at all."

The two sat there, side by side, in silence for a few minutes before Tenchi said, "Ayeka, I wanted to give you something."

Turning her eyes away from the crisp clouds that hung lightly in the sky above them, Ayeka looked at him and said, "But Lord Tenchi, you gave me your present to me earlier, remember?"

Nodding, Tenchi reached into his pocket and said, "Yes I know. But there was something else that I had wanted to give you."

Gently grabbing her right hand and speading out he slender fingers and running his finger tips lightly across her palm, Tenchi tenderly placed a small, sterling silver Angel lined with Garnet and pink Jems in her hand.

Taking in a deep breath, Ayeka looked from the Angel in her hand up to Tenchi's eyes, to the Angel, and then finally back up at Tenchi before opening her mouth. "T- Thank you Lo-"

But Tenchi didn't let her finish speaking instead he said quietly, "Look up Lady Ayeka."

She allowed her eyes to wander upwards and with a sudden jolt in her heart she saw mistletoe dangling from the top of the porch and as she looked back at Tenchi, he tenderly placed a kiss upon her soft kitten lips.

As they broke apart, Ayeka whispered, "What was that for?"

Not knowing wether or not she meant the Angel gift or the kiss, and not really caring, Tenchi whispered back, "For being my Christmas Angel."

*~My first Tenchi fanfic in a while and my first ever on this site. I know this isn't a large story and that this Christmas plot has probably been done before, but if you could please review I would be unlogically grateful. So please please take the two minutes and review!*~