The Holly and the Ivy

12 Drummers Drumming

It was slightly less than two weeks till Christmas, and Lee Adama was starting to panic. He hadn't found a gift for Kara yet. You'd think it would be easy, he thought, she's my closest friend. But somehow every idea he came up with seemed too trite, too impersonal. But if he dared think about what he'd like to give her - well, that was just out of the question. They were friends, nothing more.

Okay, so they were much more than friends, but not romantically (and never will be - could never possibly be, given the past). But still, that left Lee with the dilemma of how to show Kara that she was special - and special to him. It wasn't like there was a store he could go to and ask the clerk's help in picking something for her. Hell, there were no luxuries anymore.

So what could he do? Get her a new sweatshirt from the uniform supply department? Get her name stitched on the back? How stupid. Soap? Shampoo? No, that would give her the wrong idea completely. He'd already teased her once about her hygiene, and look where that had gone! No, he didn't want to upset the fragile balance that their friendship had been restored to.

Lee closed his eyes, head throbbing. He knew there was a reason he'd always despised Christmas. Always ended up with a giant migraine. He got up and headed towards Lifestation. Maybe the doc would be nice and give him an early Christmas present. Painkillers - and lots of them!

11 Pipers Piping

" 'Leven pipers piping, ten lord-a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids-a-milking ..."

"Shut up Starbuck!" Lee growled at Kara, who was bouncing around the bunkroom singing at the top of her lungs. "Some of us aren't in the mood."

"How can you not be in the mood for Christmas?" she asked, shrugging. "Seven swans-a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five gold rings." She trilled the last note merrily, grinning as it cracked.

"Oh please, spare us will you?"

"What? Don't you like my singing?" She batted her eyelashes at him.

He gave her a knowing look. "No."

"Aw, Apollo, I'm hurt," she cried out, clutching her chest as though she was having a heart attack. That earned her several snickers from the other pilots currently spending their downtime in the bunkroom. It also got an outright laugh from Lee.

"You are incorrigible, you know that?"

"Ha! I knew there was a heart beneath that humbug exterior Mr. Grinch." She grinned at him.

"It's hard to be grinchy with Miss Enthusiasm around."

"That's the whole point," she grinned merrily. "I'm here to spread good cheer to everyone!"

"Whether they want it or not," Lee added, half under his breath, but still smiling.

"Hey, hey now, is that more grinchiness I'm hearing?" she asked sternly.

"From me? Never." Lee shook his head firmly.

"Santa's not going to bring you anything for Christmas if you don't smarten up," Kara winked at him.

"I hate to burst your little bubble here but ... " his voice dropped to a whisper. "Santa's not real."

"Say it ain't so!" A voice called out.

"No, you're messing with us Apollo," said another one of the pilots.

"I refuse to believe it," Kara said smugly. "I know there's a Santa Claus and he's right here on this ship, so you'd better be good."

Lee laughed. "Come on Starbuck, I bet you're right at the top of his 'naughty' list aren't you?"

She quickly crossed the room and leant down to whisper in his ear. "Naught is nice. I top both lists." She pulled back to look at him, a huge grim on her face.

Lee grinned right back at her. "Can't argue that one."

10 Lords-a-Leaping

"Aw, do we have to?"

"You're not making us go are you?"

Adama just looked at the two people in front of him and shook his head, sighing heavily. "You two are incorrigible, you know that?"

Lee and Kara looked at each other and burst out laughing. They laughed and laughed, until they felt as though their sides would split.

"Was that funny?" New waves of laughter broke out of them and Adama began to wonder if perhaps they'd been working too hard. Maybe it was time for a little time off.

"Yes, you will attend the Christmas party, and if I have to I'll make it an order," he said sternly, giving his best ' Commander ' stare. It didn't stop them from giggling though. What was so funny? "In the meanwhile, take two days off. Both of you. Report back for duty on Wednesday at 08:00."

That stopped the giggles. Two pairs of eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious sir?" Kara asked tentatively.

"Do I look serious?" he barked, desperately trying not to smile. The shocked look on their faces was priceless.

"Yes sir," they chorused. "Thank you sir."

"Dismissed!" he barked again. This was becoming fun. Must be how Saul feels whenever he yells at Starbuck. As they left his office, the smile he'd been holding back split his face and he began to laugh, deep and hearty. Those two were such a joy to have around. They didn't know it, but having both Lee and Kara onboard, and getting along with each other was the best Christmas present he could ever have gotten. Despite the circumstances, William Adama counted himself a very lucky man.

9 Ladies Dancing

"Ouch! Watch what you're doing Kat!" Kara yelled.

"Me? You're the one who's leading incorrectly!"

"Well, how the hell am I supposed to know how to lead? I've never been a man!"

Kara was giving Kat dancing lessons in preparation for the Christmas party in a few days time. Needless to say, things hadn't been going well, and tempers had flared.

"You sure about that?" A voice asked mockingly. Both women swung around to find Lee standing in the doorway watching them, a broad smile on his face.

"Shut up Apollo," Kara said. "This doesn't concern you."

"You know, I could you a few pointers on how to lead," he offered. Both women glared at him.

"We're doing fine!" Kara said hotly.

"We don't need help," Kat added.

"Really?" Lee said dryly. "Looks like a case of the blind leading the blind to me. You'd probably do better having a real man show you how it's done."

Kara looked around the room. "Do you see one anywhere? I don't."

"Ouch!" Lee grabbed his chest in imitation of the way Kara had several days earlier. "That was unkind. Santa's definitely leaving you a lump of coal this Christmas."

"You know him personally?"

"I'm a god, I have connections." He smiled.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Whoever gave you the callsign Apollo deserves to be shot." Kat laughed aloud, though she would never have dared tease the CAG like Starbuck did. Pissing off one's superios was a skill Starbuck had in spades, and though she always seemed to get away with it, it tended to be a career-buster for everyone else. So she kept her mouth shut and let Starbuck talk her way into trouble.

"You offering to pull the trigger?" Lee challenged.

"Point me in the right direction."

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" They both smiled.

"I do believe I've heard it somewhere recently. Let's see ... oh yes, it keeps coming out of the mouth of Adamas."

"I wonder why that would be?" Lee said in a exaggeratedly sarcastic voice.

"I guess I just have a way of getting under your skin," she beamed.

If only! Lee thought. "Ladies, let me teach you how to dance properly so you don't injure anyone at the party."

Both Kat and Kara stood staring, mouths wide open in disbelief. One really shouldn't pass up an opportunity to get that close to Lee, Kara thought, so she stepped forward. "Okay smartass, show us how it's done."

8 Maids-a-Milking

Lee lay in his bunk half an hour later, still trying to calm down. It had been a Herculean task for him not to show Kara (or Kat) how much dancing with her was affecting him. But he was a god - he was up to the challenge. Nonetheless, it had been painfully difficult, and as soon as they were done, he'd hurried off to go somewhere alone.

Having Kara in his arms again was bringing out all the feelings he'd been trying to tell himself he didn't have for her. Didn't want to have for her, since she obviously didn't feel the same way. To her, he was still 'Zack's older brother' - the one she teased mercilessly, because that was Kara's way, but never had any deeper feelings for.

Lee himself wasn't even entirely sure how he felt about Kara. He loved her, of course, but there were so many different kinds of love. He had let it slip out by accident, but it wasn't until she grabbed hold of it and ran with it, that he was forced to think about exactly how much he loved her. As a friend? As a family member? As a member of his squadron - his wingmate and trusted soldier? All of the above. As a woman he cared deeply for and wished to have a relationship with? Sometimes. But he'd seen where that had led, when he'd allowed himself to show her that there was more to it than just friendship.

It had driven her into another man's arms. Then subsequently away from him, and he thought she was gone forever. Only to find she'd ended up in another man's bed. He wasn't about to make that mistake again. Yes, he cared for Kara - being with her, dancing with her excited him, made him want more, but he would hide those feelings at all cost.

"Hey Lee, there's a triad game getting started. Come on." Kara's head poked through the hatch teasingly.

"Yeah ... well, I've got nothing to bet with. You go ahead."

"Come on Lee, I'll spring for the ante for you. I'm sure you can win enough to keep playing," she coaxed.

"You sure?" Lee studied her face carefully. This really wasn't like her - usually she wouldn't part with a cubit if her life depended on it. But there was a look on her face that he couldn't quite understand. It was needy.

"Okay, thanks," he said, pushing open the hatch and joining her in the hallway. If there was something Kara needed, whether she could admit it or not, he wanted to make sure he was there to give it to her.

7 Swans-a-Swimming

Kara fingered the gift delicately as she prepared to wrap it. It was priceless. Not because there wasn't anywhere to get something like this anymore, although that was definitely true, but because it had sentimental value. To her, but more especially, to Lee. Which was why she was giving it to him. It was rightfully his. She'd never even worn it. Never would now.

She put it back in the box and carefully wrapped the silk cloth over it before sealing it in and wrapping the box in plain brown paper. Luxuries like Christmas wrap and bows were something no one thought they'd need to store on a Battlestar. That was before the end of life as they knew it, when shore leave could allow you to obtain whatever you needed. Now they had to make do with what they had and use imagination for the rest.

She tucked it away in the bottom corner of her locker, under her spare sweatshirts (who was she kidding - spare!) where it had been before she wrapped it. Only a few more days till Christmas, and she had butterflies in her stomach already. She had no idea how Lee would react to this, and though she usually loved surprises, and surprising people, she knew this gift was loaded with meaning, and he could get very upset with her. She bit her lip - that was the last thing she wanted now. Their friendship which had survived an almost insurmountable breach, had settled back into something that was more-or-less comfortable, and Kara didn't want to sway the balance and cause them to drift apart again. Lee was the one person she cared most about on this ship - hell in the whole human race, what was left of it - and she'd never, ever, in her life, felt as alone as she did when Lee had seemed to fade away from her. She'd felt as though she were drowning, and had clutched at anyone and anything to pull herself out, realizing only afterwards the damage she'd done. But she'd made it out and they were together again, and she wasn't about to allow that experience to be repeated.

TBC

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Hey everyone - I just had an idea that writing a happy, romantic Christmas fluff would be a good idea. Everyone needs a little more joy in their lives! Here is part one - part two should be up in the next couple of days. Before Christmas for sure. :)