Lashana and Telca own only themselves, Tvashtar, Kadrith, Rryslan, Kalamadea, Akhor and Korin. Tempest owns himself, Rebecca and Eve. Everyone else belongs to someone who isn't us. ^_^

Eee! Lookit! I actually finished the Christmas ficcie! Aren't you proud of me!? -- Lashana

Ah, Christmas! It's quite literally, the most wonderful time of the year. Well... except for Halloween. Cuz that's when you get lots of chocolate and it's okay for you to scare the living daylights out of people.....

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve in the Harem! Plans have been made, presents bought, people invited.... but it's not even six am yet, so no one actually cares about all that yet. Especially a certain Bonded pair, even if they had planned to get up early to get the Palace ready for guests....

BBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!!!

Yawning, Lashana let the hardcover book fall to the floor with a loud 'thud' before snickering and rolling over, returning to the warm, comfortable haven of Blackwargreymon's arms, fully intending to go back to sleep. Just because it was the Christmas season didn't mean that she had to be sleep-deprived. Or so she thought.

"Deck the hall with boughs of holly! Fa la la lala, lala la la. Tis the season to be jolly! Fa lala lala la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

How wrong she was. As Duncan's loud off-key singing continued to drift up from the kitchen, she groaned and yanked a pillow out from under her Bonded's head, pulling it over her face in a bid for either sleep or suffocation. Which ever happened first.

His consciousness dragged into coherency by the horrid singing, Blackwargreymon blearily rose his head from the place where his pillow should have been and blinked in disorientation. "Wha? L's'ana? Wha's time's it?"

Sighing at the nearly incoherent mumble, she peeked out from under the pillow and looked up into Blackie's drowsy golden gaze. "It's just after five thirty."

"Nuuugh...." Moving slowly, he pulled her closer and yanked the blankets over them, trying to drown out the sound of Duncan's voice and growling in annoyance when all he managed to do was pull the blankets completely askew, letting the cooler air of the room wash over their legs. "I'm gonna kill Duncan."

"You can't," Lashana moaned as she kicked the blankets back into place and curled up against him, trying to keep warm as she burrowed into his arms, promptly ignoring the trio of telepathic grumbles from the three dragons that were sleeping in a nest of pillows on the floor near her nightstand. "He's cooking the turkey."

"Damn."

"Fa lala la laaaa! Lala la laaaaaa!!"

"SHUT UP!! FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS! JUST SHUT UP!!"

"FA LALA LA LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Blackwargreymon grunted and nuzzled his face into his Elf's hair as loud wails drowned out Duncan's singing, some hitting a pitch that made the windows of their balcony doors shake. "Telca's awake."

"Do tell," she chuckled wryly, smiling when he echoed her chuckle and playfully nipped at the point of her left ear, his breath warm against her neck as he purred and pulled her closer. "What are the chances that we don't have to get up until noon?"

There was another shriek from down the hallway, and Blackie sighed at the sound. "Very slim."

"Crap." As Telca's voice rose in another life-threatening tirade, the elf slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, stretching her arms high above her head with a yawn before she stood up and rose a hand to work out most of the tangles in her hair. Yawning again, she staggered into the bathroom and flicked on the light, peering at her reflection in mild annoyance as she grabbed the hair brush and yanked it through her white locks, muttering as she did so. "I look like an eyesore from the Liberance house of crap."

"What was that?"

She rolled her eyes at her Bonded's curious call. "Nothin'," she replied, raking the brush through her hair a final time before setting it down and glaring at her reflection. "Hair of death strikes again." Shaking her head in defeat, she snatched her black housecoat off a hook mounted on the back of the door then padded out of the bathroom, sighing when she saw that Blackwargreymon was still in bed and had actually curled all the blankets around himself. "Lazy bastard."

"I am not lazy," he protested, his voice muffled by the blankets. "I'm just not stupid enough to get up at five-thirty in the morning!"

She glared at him, seeing him shift uncomfortably when he sensed her annoyance through the mind-link they shared. "I'll get you for that later," she promised him as she glanced down at her three dragons that were still tangled up with each other and sleeping peacefully. Granted that probably wasn't going to last long, not with Duncan's singing and Telca's threats echoing through the Palace. I should get paid for this, she thought to herself as she slipped out of the room and portaled herself downstairs, fairly kicking the kitchen door open as she stomped into the room. "Duncan! Shut! Up!"

The Immortal immediately paled and rose a wooden spoon as if to defend himself, taking a step back when he saw the expression on her face. "W-what?"

"It's five-thirty in the morning! Why are you doing this now?!"

"It's Christmas Eve! I have to get an early start if you expect me to feed everyone that's coming!"

Her right eye twitched. "They won't be here for another twelve hours!"

Remy groaned tiredly as he joined them, his hair mussed and tousled as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand and tugged his jogging pants into place with the other. "Mon ami, Duncan. I t'ink that if you don't stop de singin' dat I be forced t' kill you." He opened his eyes fully and blinked down at Lashana. "Oh. H'llo, petite. Dis idiot wake you too?"

"Actually Telca's screaming did," she smirked, jerking a thumb at Duncan as she continued. "This baka just finalized the fact that I had to get up at five-thirty in the bloody morning."

"Ah. Well, I just here to keep de Immortal alive 'till ma chere gets up. Telca wanted t' behead 'im herself." Curious as to what Duncan was cooking, he stepped past her and walked over to the turkey that was sitting in a pan on the island counter, his eyes widening in horror when he saw the strips of bacon lining the birds back. "Mon Dieu! What de 'ell are you doin' to de turkey?!"

Insulted by the horror in the Cajun's voice, the Immortal folded his arms across his chest and sniffed. "It's an old recipe. This way you don't have to baste it."

"But dat's what give it flavour!"

"That's what the bacon's for!"

Fighting the urge to gag, Remy grabbed a fork and distastefully lifted a strip of bacon from the poor turkey. "You don't put bacon on de turkey! It be wrong!"

Sighing, Lashana rose a hand to her forehead in an exasperated smack as her presence was completely ignored by the now bickering pair. "Goddess give me strength...."

"She's busy." Tugging at her long braid, Telca walked out of a portal and came to a stop next to her best-friend, joining her in looking at the two males. Her gaze was particularly drawn to a nummy-looking Remy, the sight making a slow smile spread over her lips before a slight nudge from Lashana jerked her attention back to the present. "So, um, what's going on?"

"They're fighting over how to cook a turkey," the elf sighed tiredly, her shoulders slumping.

"Oh." Her part in the fight would have stayed at that had Duncan not whacked Remy's knuckles with the wooden spoon, making her barge deeper into the kitchen to snatch the weapon from him and smack him over the head with it. "No hitting of, Remy! If you want to fight over a stupid bird then, fine! Remy can take this turkey and you can cook another one!"

Duncan dodged another whack. "But we don't have another turkey!"

"We live next to a huge forest!" Lashana pointed out, a rather evil grin spreading over her lips. "You own a sword, go out and get yourself a bird."

"What?! No!"

"Then stop complaining," Telca said simply, folding her arms over her chest as she arched an eyebrow at Duncan pointedly. "Because you're not gonna win against my Remy."

Duncan sighed and sent a sideways look out the patio door. "I'll go get my coat."

"Well, that's one less thing to deal with," Lashana smiled as she walked over to the coffee machine and thumbed it on, glad that she had taken up the tradition of readying it the night before so that she didn't have to measure out the water and coffee grounds first thing in the morning. "Unfortunately I think I'm up for good."

Telca mumbled something under her breath and went to sit at the small table near the patio doors. "I think I am too. Well, I suppose it's for the best. We've got a lot to do in order to get ready for tonight."

"De guests, chere?" When she nodded, Remy turned his attention back to the turkey and continued to distastefully remove the strips of bacon from it. "How many be comin'?"

"Um, Lashana's folks, Tasuki, Rryslan, David, Tempest and his lot, and of course they're'll be all of us...."

"Dear Gods, it's not a Christmas get together, it's a fricken' army," Lashana mused with an amused smirk. "It'll be for the better if we have multiple turkeys though."

"Point."

"Good." Stretching, the Elf turned and headed back to the stairs. "Then I'm going back to bed."

"You can't!" Telca cried, grabbing Lashana's arm to stop her. "We have to decorate, put up lights, get a tree....."

"But it's five-thirty in the morning!"

"Actually, petite, it's more like six...." Remy trailed off at the look the elf gave him and turned his attention to the turkey as he started mixing the spices to add to it.

Sighing in defeat, Lashana yanked her arm free and grumbled. "Alright. Alright. I'll go get changed then start rounding up the guys to decorate. Okay?"

"Yup," Telca smiled, stopping Remy when he moved to follow the elf's example. "No, no. You're good like that."

Rolling her eyes, Lashana turned and headed back upstairs, hoping that the term 'naked chef' was not going to turn literal this Christmas. Though if Telca was in charge and Remy was cooking, it might just become reality. If so, she was ordering pizza.

She was back in the bedroom minutes later, and she paused at the closet for a moment, looking at a sleeping Blackie. Throwing maturity to the four winds, she tossed her housecoat into a corner on the floor and crawled back into bed, burrowing into her Bonded's arms as he sleepily rolled towards her and reached for her, a low purr leaving him as he buried his face into her hair.

"Mmn, what happ'n'ed?" he mumbled curiously, glad that she had rejoined him. She needed to sleep more, at least he thought so.

"S'nothin'," she told him, resting her cheek on his chest and listening to his heartbeat. "Telca's gonna be after me to get up again soon."

He growled protectively and pulled her closer, tucking his chin over her right shoulder. "M'not gettin' up. Neither 're you."

She chuckled softly and ducked her head to place a kiss on his throat, eliciting another purr as she snuggled close and let herself start to fall asleep again. Of course, that didn't last long, not with Telca up and coherent. Hence the fact that the portal that had just opened above them happened to contain a good amount of snow. Enough snow, in fact, to bury the bed, them, and half the room.

Now very awake and cursing, Blackwargreymon tucked the blanket more firmly around them and grumbled into Lashana's hair. "I am going to kill Telca."

Sighing in mild disgust, the elf kicked the blanket off of herself and melted the snow with a well aimed volley of fire arrows, rolling her eyes at the three forms that had attached themselves to the ceiling from the shock of the cold snow. "C'mon. We'd better get down there before Telca comes up here to get us herself."

"Gods forbid," he muttered sourly as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose a hand to massage the back of his neck, his other hand scratching a spot on his chest as he yawned. A snap of fingers made him glance over at her to discover that she had used a spell to change her pyjamas into a pair of black boots, blue jeans and a tee shirt that read 'Happy fuckin' everything! Now leave me alone until next year!'. "Fitting shirt."

"I know," she grinned, hopping to her feet and holding out her arms to the three dragons that dive-bombed her.

::Tell me again why we're up this early?:: Korin grumbled into her thoughts, his ruby eyes half-lidded with sleep.

"Because it's Christmas," the elf replied, giving each of her dragons a kiss on the top of their heads. "Trust me, it'll all be worth it in the long run."

Black snorted as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a grey tee shirt. "And how long is this run gonna be?"

"Don't be snippy," she retorted lightly, smiling over at him. "It's Christmas, hun."

He smiled and walked over to her, purring as he kissed her cheek. "I know, love. And I know how important it is to you." He paused and smirked. "Otherwise I'd still be in bed."

She laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. "Is that the best you could do?"

"It's early," he protested with a chuckle, ducking another playful hit as he ushered her out the door, letting Korin land on his shoulder when the little dragon lost the chance on being able to perch on Lashana's shoulders, his brothers having beaten him to it. Stifling a yawn, he followed the elf downstairs, his hand lightly resting on the railing on the way down, more to remind himself to stay upright than to support himself.

The kitchen, when they finally reached it, was already semi-chaotic, and he winced at a present Kang's angry yelling, wishing that the draconian hadn't been the commander of a huge army and thus able to raise his voice to such a loud level. He also wished that the draco didn't have the bad habit of walking around in his pair of black boxers early in the morning. But, as usual, Lashana immediately rushed to the angry draco's side, grabbing his arm when it seemed like he was about to strike a glaring Telca.

"It's six in the bloody morning and you expect Duncan and I to go gallivanting around the forest looking for a freakin' turkey?! Have you lost your mind?!?!" His final roar drew groans and curses from the still sleeping bunch upstairs, and he sent a savage snarl in their direction before turning to glare at Telca again.

Seeing Telca's eyes flash from amber to silver, Lashana dug her heels in and hauled on Kang's arm, dimly aware that Akhor and Kalamadea had taken to the air and were pulling on the draconians wings as she bodily dragged him out of the kitchen and into the Main Hall. "Kang! Kang!" When he didn't look at her, she reached up, placed her hands on either side of his face and forced him to turn his head. "Kang. Calm. Down. Look, I know it's early, I've been up since five-thirty. Believe me, I know how early it is."

He growled and reached up to remove her hands from his face, tail lashing as he glared back at the kitchen, fangs bared. "She has no right to--"

"Kang...."

Sighing at the pleading tone of her voice, he sucked in a breath and held it for a long moment, forcing himself to calm down before turning his gaze to her, giving her hands a gentle squeeze when he realised he was still holding them. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I can understand. It's just, this is going to be a very busy day. We're all going to be put to work doing jobs that we don't want to do." When he sighed miserably and nodded, she smiled and gave him a hug. "Look, I'll make you a deal. You help out today, and tomorrow I'll portal you back to Krynn for a few days. You can visit with Slith and the guys. How's that sound?"

His foul mood retreating, he returned the embrace and wrapped her up in his wings as well, keeping the hug brief since Blackwargreymon was in the other room. "It sounds like we have a deal."

"Good. Now go get changed," she said with a chuckle as she pulled away while playfully poking him in the stomach, sending a silent thought to Kalamadea and Akhor to go with the draconian to help him. "Unless you plan on trying to serenade a turkey to it's death."

"Ha ha," he rumbled, chucking her under her chin. "Very funny. Go have your coffee, I'll go find Duncan."

"Thanks!" Glad that one hurdle had been dealt with, she turned and went back into the kitchen, rolling her eyes at Black's questioning look as she headed for the coffee machine. Unfortunately for her, a blue blur of motion beat her to it, shoving her backwards as Zelgadis skidded to a stop from using his demon speed and grabbed the mug she had been reaching for, smiling at her as he took the first sip.

Smiling in the most restrained way possible, she turned to Remy and picked up a fork. "Can I borrow this? Thanks." With one fluid movement, she spun and tackled Zel, the two of them vanishing into a dust cloud where only glimpses of a fork, a two-by-four and a potato peeler could be seen.

A bleary eyed Nightcrawler walked into the kitchen then, yelping as he tripped over the dust fight and crashed to the floor.

Using that distraction to her advantage, Lashana drove the fork through the crotch of Zelgadis' pants, grinning ferally at his shriek as the metal barely missed certain important male qualities. Happy that she had gotten her revenge, she stood and calmly picked up the mug of coffee, sipping from it as she reached down and pulled Nightcrawler to his feet. "Hi Fuzzy."

"Uh... hi?"

"Anyway, here's a list of what we have to today," Telca announced as she thrust a sheet of paper to Blackwargreymon, who took it hesitantly, his eyes widening as he read over it.

"Shovel the entrance, find a tree, decorate the outside grounds of the Palace, clean the Palace, cut firewood...." he paused as he looked over the two dozen or so other tasks, then rose his gaze to Telca, completely ignoring Zelgadis as the chimera crawled out of the kitchen. "Are you insane?"

"Only enough to be interesting," she smiled.

"There is no way we can do all this by tonight! It's impossible!"

Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, Nightcrawler grabbed the sheet and read over it, blinking curiously. "There are a lot, but they're not major. I could hang the lights on the Palace and bushes outside. Beast could help me."

"Okay," Lashana nodded, catching onto his plan. "Then we can get Malcho and Kenshin to decorate inside the Palace."

"Why those two?" Telca asked curiously.

"Kenshin's got a good eye and Malcho can reach the ceiling."

"Ah. Point."

The elf smiled and turned back to the list. "Wolverine can get the tree no problem, and the firewood."

Suddenly remembering something, Telca reached out and tapped the elf on her shoulder. "We have to go to Walmart. We need new lights for the tree. I checked on the old ones we have in the attic and they're tangled together something fierce. It'll be easier if we just buy new ones."

"Fine with me," the other sorceress agreed. "I need to pick up more wrapping paper. And I think Tvashtar needed to do some last minute shopping too."

"Ja. So do I," Nightcrawler added, sending a winning smile at Telca. "So don't leave without the fuzzy-dude."

Laughing, she reached over and ruffled his tousled blue hair. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Kewl. I'll go tackle the driveway," Lashana grinned, handing the list back to Blackwargreymon before she headed out into the Main Hall, pausing to grab a knee-length duster out of the closet before heading out onto the front steps, looking out at the white expanse that lay before her. Two feet of snow covered everything in sight, the bright sunlight making it almost impossible to look at the whiteness without being partially blinded.

Rubbing her eyes to clear them of spots, she gathered her magicks to herself and rose her hands, a red aura beginning to swirl around her. "Source of all power. Crimson fire burning bright! Gather to my hand and become my power!" Closing her eyes as magick flooded into her, an almost drugging experience, she used her will to form the magick into what she wanted, only opening her eyes when she was ready to release the spell. "Fireball!"

Like a perfectly aimed arch of power, the flames spread to the width of the driveway and surged forward, evaporating all the snow that covered the road leading from the Gates to the front steps, leaving perfect, iceless concrete behind.

"Ain't that cheatin'?" Wolverine asked from behind her, smiling at her reassuringly when he saw her jump slightly. "Didn't mean ta scare ya, darlin'."

"It's okay. And no, that isn't cheating. Not when you live with sorceresses," she added with a wink, grinning at the chuckle that elicited. She was pleased to see that he was already warmly dressed in his boots, jeans and red flannel shirt over a white tee shirt. "How long have you been up? Have you seen the list yet?"

"Kurt jus' got me up," he muttered, reaching up to run his hand through his usually messy hair, feeling the ends of them curve upwards. "And yeah, I've heard o' the list. Somethin' about me gettin' a tree and firewood?"

"Do you mind? We're really trying to get everything done before people start showing up."

He looked from her pleading gaze out to the snow, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But I'm gonna need someone else ta come wit' me. I ain't draggin' a tree back on my own."

"Okay. Um...." She peeked inside the Palace and spotted Zelgadis walking down the stairs, this time dressed in his usual sorcerer's outfit. "Zel will go with you!"

"Huh?" Wary, the chimera looked from the elf to the feral with a certain amount of fear. "What?"

"Were gonna go get a tree," Wolverine told him as he pulled his leather jacket out of the closet and pulled it on. "C'mon. I know where ta look."

He paused, then folded his arms over his chest and looked at Lashana. "What if I don't want to go?"

His answer came in the form of the purple haired blur that shot passed him and tackled Lashana. "It's Christmas Eve!" Xellos cried happily. "Mistletoe and forced family get togethers and stress! Fun fun fun!"

"On second thought, I'll go with Wolverine," Zel said as he and Wolverine edged around the duo and headed for the forest that lay in the backyard, leaving Lashana to get rid of Xellos on her own.

Of course, for her, this was something that had been well rehearsed.

Propping a foot between them, she kicked him off of her and leapt to her feet, glaring at him where he lay sprawled on the front steps. "Don't do that! And you will not ruin Christmas! Is that clear?"

Amethyst eyes glittered in the sunlight as he looked at her. "I won't destroy the festivities, Lashana-chan! I promise!"

Feeling wary because that had been too easy but not really wanting to know more than she already did, she left the conversation at that and headed back inside, shucking out of her jacket as she headed upstairs, intent on waking the rest of the Harem. Deciding to wake Tvashtar before using the air horn she carried in a portal to wake the others, she paused by his door and knocked on it softly, then harder when he didn't answer.

Still getting no response, she let herself in and rose a hand to smother a giggle when she saw him sprawled out across his bed, tangled up in the sheets while his head lay buried under a pillow. Letting an evil grin spread over her lips, she took a running start then tackled him, yelling out his name as she landed on him, her fingers digging into his sides as she tickled him.

That woke him up alright. With a yelp, he jerked out of her reach and toppled off the bed, landing in a heap next to the night table with a low groan. When he finally sorted himself out, he rolled over and looked up at his bed, smirking when he saw a grinning Lashana staring down at him. "I'll get you for that," he promised, eliciting a chuckle from her as she sat up on his bed and rested her elbows on her knees. Kicking the tangle of blankets from himself, he gingerly got to his feet then sat on the edge of his bed, still smiling at her in amusement. "Why are you so happy?"

"It's Christmas," she beamed. "My favourite holiday! Trust me, you'll love this. It's even better than Halloween!" She bounced off his bed and landed on her feet, turning to grin at him. "I just thought I'd wake you up nicely before I got out the air horn and started patrolling the hallways."

"Gee, I'm honoured," he said wryly, ducking the pillow she chucked at his head. "Need help getting the others up?"

A slow grin spread over her lips. "Hell, yeah."

TBC