A/N: And now we jump ahead a year in time... Hope y'all don't mind that, but this was always the plan. Thanks to Gothicthundra for the idea help on this one.

I still have writer's block. I'm massively frustrated by this. Sorry for the continued delays.

20. 'You've uhm… really out-done yourself this year…'

December, 2006

Shego rounded the corner into the living room of the lair and then stopped. The room had been entirely transformed into something out of a holiday parade, with lights strung across the entire ceiling to meet in the center in a peak, and over-sized decorations from snowmen to nutcrackers adorning every bare space. It was...rather off-putting.

"Shego!" Drakken cried gleefully from where he stood precariously atop a ladder where he was attaching what was possibly the twentieth string of lights, or more.

"Wow, Dr. D. You've, uh...really out-done yourself this year..."

"Isn't it amaze-ful! I wanted—"

He had turned to address her, but the act caused him to slip on the ladder. Shego watched in a mixture of horror and amusement as he grabbed wildly for anything to keep him from falling, but along the cave-lair's ceiling there were only the lights. It was like a scene out of a Christmas comedy film as he became wrapped up in the lights, the strands spiraling around him as he fell while others caught around his flailing limbs as he yelped in fright. Shego did start forward when he started falling fast, but the endless strands of lights caught him just before his head hit the ground.

Shego stopped and held both hands to her lips to stifle her laughter as Drakken blinked in confusion. He was hanging upside down in a veritable cocoon of the lights, with one arm and one leg sticking out at strange angles as he continued to wriggle. His head was bobbing mere feet from the floor as he tried to get free.

"Probably shouldn't struggle if you don't want to fall the rest of the way," Shego said as she approached.

"Oh, you find this funny!" Drakken said as she continued to fight her laughter.

"Hmmm... A little?" she said with fake thoughtfulness.

"Rgh! Shego!"

"Besides," she said, squatting down in front of him so they were at eye level. "Isn't all this a little much?"

Drakken looked suddenly dismayed, which as he was upside down looked even more comical.

"You don't like it?"

"It's a bit..." Shego gestured with her hand as she tried to come up with a word. "Commercial?"

Drakken pouted, sticking out his lower lip for a moment before his eyes became worried.

"I wanted our first Christmas together as a couple to be special!"

Shego smiled. She leaned across the small distance and stilled his wriggling with a hand behind his head before she brought her lips to his in a warm, passionate kiss. When she pulled away he looked awestruck.

"It's special because we're together. Not because of any of this," she said, gesturing again as she rose back to her feet.

"Wait... Shego! Aren't you going to help me get out of this?" Drakken asked frantically, thrashing again as she departed.

"In a minute. I want to get the camera first."

"Nyeh! Shego!"