Author's Note: For those of you who wondered what the words in French meant, "Pour votre jolie femme" means for your pretty girl; "Le homme bleu" means the blue guy; and "Les autres" means those others. The German name, Katzchen, from what I gather means Katherine. This chapter might be slightly shorter than the last one, but I was pleasantly surprised with that one. Hope you enjoy! ^_^

Christmas had finally arrived in a flurry of blizzard chains that covered the world in a blanket of irridescent pearl. Lights blinked on through the windows of the mansion as the students woke up to the traditional yells of, "Gutte morning!" echoing about the corridors. When Kurt bamfed into Kitty and Rogue's room, though, he softly kissed his sleeping beauty awake. She smiled up at him, showing shining teeth, then pulled him in for another. Knowing it would take an earthquake to wake his half-sister, the German boy 'ported in the middle of the intense kiss, waiting outside their door for the screaming outbursts of Kitty. When they came, he grinned and went to finish his job. Luckily, he had chosen Kitty and Rogue's room as one of the last or it would have been that much harder to leave in the middle of such a kiss. Especially after the dream he had had that night.

After a few minutes of dressing and washing and sleepy grumbling, the assorted students stumbled uncertainly down the grand staircase. Just like the past years, heated discussions about the sleepwear all chose to go to sleep in filled the lobby, though Kurt was the only one among them who still wore the same type of garment, a pair or comfortable boxers. Rogue had slowly started wearing long-sleeved, pants pajamas made of Chinese silk, while Jean's style had become more modern, though the dressness was still there. Kitty had merely changed from shorts and a shirt to pants and a tank top which matched her power! They had pictures of little mermaids who looked rather transparent, half in and half out of a seaweedy cave. Of course, after the discussions were over, every one began ripping through the brightly colored packages, yelling thanks across the room and handing over packages that had gotten mixed up. As they had in the past years, neither Kurt or Kitty gave each other their gifts, preferring the more personal ceremony they had begun that first year.

Breakfast was a hurried affair by most, seeing as how Nightcrawler and Shadowcat weren't the only couple that had formed inside the Institute. And so, under the willows, just as before, the two sat and exchanged presents. Kurt gave his first, a smallish velvety box that contained a tiny silver ring in the Celtic style of intertwining vines and thorns. After she had seen it, the blue mutant had taken her hand in his, kneeling to bring his head level below hers. Glowing golden eyes gazed up into shining honey ones as his voice whispered softly, "Mein Katzchen, I have loved you vor so long, und I have found zhat I can't stand to be avay vrom you. Mein time in Germany vas so lonely und made me realize zhat I vant you to be mein girl for forever. Vill you marry me, Keetty?" His German accent captivating her for the first time in almost two years, Shadowcat had to pause before pulling her hand from his and then holding it out to allow her fuzzy love to slip the ring onto a slim finger.

The Amerivan girl gazed lovingly into Kurt's eyes as she quietly whispered plans into his exquisitely pointed ear, "We should wait until I get into college. I don't mind having to live in married housing, though; living with you in a sewer would be worthwhile… Once I, like, got used to the stench, that is." She giggled into his ear and hesitantly placed her small box into his large hand. "I've been wanting to, like, give this to you since Thanksgiving, Fuzz-boy. Now you have to open it and tell me what you think. In some small way it, like, even fits in with your gift."

Silver paper flashed as it was thrown across the clearing in Kurt's eagerness to find what lay in the tiny package. A velvet box not unlike the one that had contained the engagement ring was revealed. A grin split his face as he too noted the similarities before clicking open the box. Inside lay a brand new key in the old-fashioned style of loops at the end you hold. Immediately, Kurt knew just what this was, but for some reason he couldn't quite grasp why Kitty had given him a key instead of just opening the mahogany box for him. She must want him to be able to understand just what she was giving him and not be there. This must be something that was truly important to the brunette. Tenderly he turned away from the key and looked at the girl leaning lovingly on his arm. A split-second decision came upon him as he discovered something that had been alluding him. "You lied to me, didn't you Katzchen? You didn't foget what happened zhe day before I left, did you? Vhy vould you tell me you had? I vouldn't have gone!"

Tears gathered in the corneres of Kitty's eyes as she answered him almost inaudibly, "I know, Fuzz-boy, that's why I couldn't tell you! You needed this trip, like, soooo much, and I couldn't let you stay. Remy and Evan did a wonderful job watching over me. And now, we're, like, getting married! I couldn't let you miss out on a visit to your parents. Now, that key goes to, like, that box, but you need to open it by yourself. I, like, think it would be a bad idea for any of the others to be there… And I want you to be able to react however you need to without me there. Can you, like, port me to my room? I wanna admire my ring by myself for a little while before I show the others. Plus, then you can look into the box. Don't worry. I'll be perfectly all right. You've helped so much." Gently kissing him on the cheek, she waited for the shock of his teleports. When she looked into her room, she cupped his cheek with her hand, then watched as he bamfed to his room. As she had hoped the room was completely empty and so she went to stand before the mirror, continuously posing and answering an invisible minister with the words, "I do."

When Kurt had 'ported into his room with a puff of sulfurish smoke, he had immediately gone to his dresser where the box had rested for three years. For a while, all the demon-like man could do was stare at the tiny sachet and wonder just what it might contain. The thought intrigued him, for everything he thought Kitty might give him would never fit in such a small box. Eventually, though, the need to find out what she was so concerned about consumed him and he placed the key inside the hole, turning slowly. The lock clicked open and there he found a small note over another thing. Knowing there would be a reason the note could be seen first, he quickly read it.

Kurt,

It's been three years now, and I have had ample time

To figure out just how things should be. And so I have decided that

What I originally placed in this box was completely

Appropriate. Especially after what happened right before

Thanksgiving… For, you see, watching you go from my gentle Kurt to

One able and willing to protect me has finally shown me

Just what I've been trying to figure out. So now, I give you the greatest

Gift I have to give, and the one way to erase those bastards from my memory

For forever. I hope you don't think me rude for borrowing the box, but I

Did throw away the old key… And I needed to put this note in here.

Love for always and beyond,

Your Katzchen.

Wonderingly, Kurt looked into the shallow depths of the box to find a little circle of rubber, carefully placed in the exact center. In truth, Kitty was giving herself to Kurt, and he would finally be able to possess completely she who he loved so dearly. At this point in time, the dinner gong rang throughout the Institute, calling all who lived there to the fancy dinner prepared by Ororo and, surprisingly, Rogue, who had discovered an unusual ability to cook decent food. Quickly, the blue mutant dressed in his suit, bamfing into Kitty's room, catching her almost completely dressed, all that remained to be done was to zip up an errant last inch or so in the back of the beautiful bronze gown the girls had chosen for her for this occasion. The dress he had taken to giving her every year would be worn for the New Year's party, but that was yet a little less than a week away. Just before exitting the room to enter the world of the mansion, Kurt looked into Kitty's honey eyes and whispered, "Yes, I'll help you forget." And then he walked with her to the dining room.

What'd ya'll think? This turned out longer than I thought it would {YAY!} but I am hoping that ya'll actually liked this chapter… If some of you are disappointed with what was in the box, there WERE a few hints… Besides, it kinda fits how this chapter works out. Any thanks may be given to the oddity that is my imagination; any flames can be put up so I can laugh hysterically at them. I do plan on having another chapter, though I'm not sure how it will go, or when it will be in the time scale… Hope all had a Merry Christmas, except those who don't celebrate Christmas… Then, Happy Holidays!!

~The Alciontae Shadow~