"Oh! This is sooooo sweet," Jess cooed as she pulled out the cream-colored cashmere sweater with fur-lined collar from its silver and gold wrappings.
"I'm glad you like it," Quatre returned amicably, looking a bit bashful. "It was pretty hard to decide since the 18k diamond pendent was equally tempting to buy. I mean . . . if you really like . . ."
"No!" Jess quickly answered, trying her best not to swoon over the mere thought that someone wanted to give her such an exquisite present. "This is just fine. Why its . . ."
"A Umina . . ." Duo whispered in awe over her shoulder.
"Duo! You shouldn't look a 'gift horse in the mouth'!" Jess chided, frowning gently to show her displeasure. "And it's an idiom," she quickly added on seeing his mouth open.
The American boy shrugged his shoulders lightly before straightening up. No doubt the girl hadn't a clue she was holding a $10 000 sweater in her hands. Plus judging from the silly grin on Quatre's face, it was obvious he was just content to let her think the sweater was an ordinary piece of thick cloth.
Then Heero stepped forward and placed his gift on the table. When the wrappings came undone, everyone was struck speechless.
Except for the one who bought it.
"Useful. For your case," he added in hopefully, for the look registering on the girl's face was beginning to look like something akin to horror.
"Umm . . . Thanks . . ." the girl muttered faintly and hurriedly buried the "Typing lessons for Dummies" CD under the sweater.
Next came Trowa and he placed his present on the table.
Unwrapped.
Jess tried hard not to weep. The redhead apparently thought giving her a full set of throwing knives made a good gift. And adding to her shock, he happily demonstrated how razor-sharp each knife was by dropping a strand of hair on each, well-polished blade.
Jess right eyebrow twitched as she gravely accepted this extraordinary gift with as much sincerely as she could master. No doubt a sure sign of trouble waiting to start with this set of equipment.
Then it was Duo's turn and he gleefully allowed his present to land in front of her with a loud "Thump!"
Jess swallowed hard and tried hard to quell the unerring suspicion that started with Heero's gift. With trepidation, she pulled back the cheerful green and red wrappings to unveil . . . a lovely heating blanket with cross-work patches as its main body.
Whether it was her imagination or not, everyone else let out a sigh of relief on seeing how ordinary it was. Until the brown haired boy opened his mouth to boost: " That thing serves a dual function now."
Silence and a tense atmosphere immediately replaced the festive mood. Then, being ever practical, Heero plied the blanket loose from the frozen girl's hands and laid it cautiously on the table. As far away from them as possible.
"Explain," Trowa commanded once Heero had accomplished his task.
"I had the thing rewired and reconstructed to not only give heat to the user underneath, but also to give protection too.
"With what?" Quatre asked, half afraid, half guessing what his answer would be.
"Electricity."
"Wonderful, I'm gonna be the first human light bulb this Christmas . . ." Jess muttered under her breath.
"What's that?" Duo's sharp ears caught a few words.
"Nothing," Jess quickly and innocently covered up her hurtful conclusion. "I just said I'm gonna be the most warm and safe human this Christmas."
'Like passing into eternity and beyond . . .' a voice in the corner of her mind whispered, while she watched Duo break into a huge, pleased smile.
Finally it was Wufei's turn and he hurried forward to the table, dumping his share of gifts in front of her before exiting the room. All this without a single word exchanged between the two of them.
And leaving behind a group of startled boys.
Leaning forward, Quatre lightly touched the American's boy's back to get his attention. Once he had it, the blond boy whispered: "Didn't you say he wasn't giving her anything?"
"Don't look at me," came the equally puzzled reply, "those were his exact words to me."
"Hmm . . . A change of heart?"
"Yeah. Probably."
Only Trowa noticed the strange smile on the girl's face that day as she unwrapped the Chinese boy's presents.
'hm . . .' he mused for a while as he watched the girl ripped open each of the three presents one by one. But being Trowa, he let the matter drop.
For unknown to the ignorant boys, Wufei happened to receive his gifts from the girl a day earlier.
If only they had bothered to check the small waste paper basket, hidden in a darken corner by his desk. They would have easily discovered a note with these words written:
Coupon:
100 Hugs and Kisses for Wufei
UNLESS I receive:
$100 cash
A couple of cute towels
Three hair bands
All presents must be delivered on Christmas morning or face the consequences!
Ho Ho Ho!
Merry Christmas!
The End
An: Hope you all enjoyed that. A special thanks to my reviewers Raizard333, Bunny and Remiera.
Merry Christmas to all who read this short sidefic.