Mimi felt peace and a sense of accomplishment as she stared at the nearly finished puzzle. She found herself surprised at how excited she was to see the finished picture. Happily, she turned to where the last peice sat and stopped. Where was it? Searching frantically, she saw under the tree. With Gir. In his mouth. Just as she reached out to take it from it, he swallowed.

A sadness swept over her but she blinked the tears back and hissed, "Why did you eat that?"

Gir stared at her before crossing his arms in a haughty manner, "Well you weren't eating yours. That was the only peice left! And it was GOOOOD!"

Before Mimi could tackle Gir, Dib had come out and set a bowl of popcorn between them, "Here. And here's some string."

Mimi stared at the thread and needle as Gir began to eat the popcorn, "What are the purpose of these, Master Dib?"

"I told you not to call me master." Dib sighed.

"You are my mistress's mate. Therefore you share equeal rights to what she owns."

"Still...it's creepy. And what you do is string the popcorn together." He explained.

"A strange request. Why?" Mimi inquired.

"To make garland for the tree."

"But it is already decorated."

"I know, but it's fun. You and Gir can work together..." Dib stopped as Mimi gave him a look, "Or maybe not."

Mimi paused in thought and nodded, "If Master Dib wishes me to work with the defected SIR unit then I shall."

"Thank you." Dib smiled, relieved that the two robots will be occupied. He turned and walked to the couch, falling back into the cushions. He stared at the flowers on the mantle. They were hideous. But Gaz seemed to be proud of them. He surpressed a smile. Perhaps he was being selfish in being set against Gaz's relationship with Zim. Maybe she felt the same way about Zim as he felt about Tak. He wasn't sure if that was possible. He never seen Gaz love anything without protecting herself first. But these past few weeks she seemed to show more emotions than he thought her capable of. He sighed and realised his baby sister was growing up. He looked over at the couple in the corner, also stringing peices of popcorn together. Zim said something and Gaz smirked, trying to surpress laughter. Zim has aslo changed, Dib noted. Their fights have been less frequent as Zim has been in a better mood. He even laughed when Dib had insulted him one day, complimenting him on a clever insult before echanging one of his own. He was making a game out of their disputes. Dib also notice Zim has grown. He looked... healthier. Maybe Gaz was good for him.

Dib saw Tak bent over the radio turning it up. She hushed everyone saying, "Roosevelt's making a speech."

"We light our Christmas candles now from one coast to another on this christmas eve. We have joined with many other nations and peoples in a very great cause. Millions of them have been engaged in the past with defending good with their life blood for the past years. One of their great leaders stands beside me. He and his people, in many parts of the world are having their christmas tree with their little children around him, just as we do here..."

Zim listened to the leader's speech in silent. In the past month, he had been debating which country he admired most. At first he thought Germany was more favorable. They were strong and fearless just like Irk. But he didn't want them to win. He felt like a traiter for thinking that. He might as well have been supporting the planets they were invading in operation doom 1. So many conflicting thoughts raced through his head. What if Earth was invaded? He wouldn't want it changed. Earth was the one place he wasn't judged because of his height. He may not be popular but at least he was tolerated better than he was on Irk. And at least he had friends... If they could be considered that. Gaz was a strong ally. She was easy to talk to. She understood him. He never had that before.

"Wow, you were quiet for five whole seconds. What's on your mind?" Gaz asked, noticing Zim's thoughtful expression.

Zim shrugged, "Zim was just thinking that this popcorn needs a little more salt."

Gaz laughed and pulled the garland closer to her.

Mimi was frustrated. Everytime she threaded a peice, Gir pulled it of and ate it. After kicking him many times, he stopped. Minutes later, she threaded the last peice and went to look at the finished product only to find a bare, slobbery, string. Gir chewed, crunching the popcorn in his mouth.

Mimi balled her fists, "I have had it with you!"

In a swift motion, she lunged at him, grabbing his metal neck. Everyone stared as she strangeld him, not bothering to do anything to stop it. She needed to get it out of her system. For a while, Gir stared up at her with shocked and confused eyes before smiling.

"MISTLETOE!" He shreiked, grabbing Mimi's face and kissing her.

Mimi froze before shoving herself off him, electricity running through her. Everyone, even Tak, laughed as she tried to rub the germs off of her with her arm. When she was done she finally noticed the mistletoe that Dib had trouble hanging above them.

Dib laughed, "Alright, I think it's time for two little robots to go to bed... Or maybe Santa won't come."

Gir gasped, "No! Must get presents." Gir looked around frantically before his eyes went black and he collapsed on the floor. Mimi stared at him, unamused, "But the Santa is just a myth. Besides, I feel recharged."

Tak frowned, wanting some alone time with her human, "So do I have to put you into hibernation mode manuallY?"

Mimi sighed then inhaled the aroma of cookies Gaz had baked earlier and looked to her mistress and asked in a quiet voice so Zim and Gaz wouldn't overhear. She didn't care for Zim but she didn't want Gaz to view her as a smeet, "Can I have a cookie first? Surely the Santa won't need all of them."

Tak smiled, "Of course, luv."

After giving her a cookie and glass of milk, Tak smiled as she watched Mimi's red eyes also faded to black, falling beside Gir. Tak yawned and laid her head on Dib's shoulder, "What about Zim?"

"I guess he can sleep on the couch." Dib asnwered.

Zim narrowed his eyes before Gaz reassured him, "Don't worry, it's pretty comfortable once you get past the smell."

"Smell? What does it smell like?" Zim asked warily, and antennae perked.

"Old people." Gaz grimaced. She was sure her father bought it off some random old lady.

"Well, I'm tired. Tak?"

"As am I. I don't even think I'll bother with tea." Tak nodded as she and Dib got up and headed up the stairs.

Gaz looked at their retreating forms and yelled, "Keep it down this time, we have company!"

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Dib laughed, blushing. As they reached the door, Tak stopped his hand from turning the knob. Dib looked at her, his glasses magnifying his tired eyes, "What's wrong."

"Nothing, I was just thinking... We are compatible with eachother."

Dib chuckled, "Yeah, I've noticed."

"And since we're very compatible and we agree with eachother, I suppose it would be silly to ignore it." Tak nodded, struggling with her words.

"Tak, what are you saying?" Dib asked confused. They had already made love, what else could she be wanting?

"I think it would be a wise choice if we... how do you humans put it? With the formal attire and flowers." Tak thought as she bit her claw, the red lipstick rubbing off on it as she bit.

"Marry?" Dib choked.

"Yes, that's the word I was looking for. Will you marry me?" Tak asked, her inidigo eyes sparkling in nervous hope.

Dib was at a loss for words. This was so untriditional. The guy is supposed to ask the girl this! But then again, the girl usually is human and they wait till after they're married to have sex. Nothing about this relationship was normal. But it was right. He smiled, "I'd be honored to marry you."

Tak smiled and jumped in his arms, kissing him. They held eachother as they went to bed and fell asleep.

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Gaz rolled her eyes as they heard the door close. Looking at Zim's disgusted face she muttered, "At least they made it to the bedroom."

"Is this what you put up with?" Zim shuddered, forgetting the garland.

Gaz, who was listening to the christmas music, nodded, "On an everyday basis."

She looked at Gir and Mimi, curled around eachother and smirked, "I guess I should make your bed."

"Make it? I thought I was sleeping on the couch?" Zim asked, crimson eyes glazed in confusion.

"Zim... be quiet." Gaz sighed as she left to the hallway closet. She came back carrying several blankets and paused infront of the couch. Zim watched as she threw the blankets over the couch, meticulously making it into a makeshift bed. Her hair came loose from the pins holding it back, falling in her face. The christmas lights behind her casted a pinkish halo around her. Zim stared. She was stunning.

"You know..." Zim crept next to her, "There's no reason for Dib and Tak to be the only ones having fun. We are technically a couple."

Gaz stared at him through narrowed and suspicious eyes, "A pretend couple."

"So? Why not have some fun with our situation?" Zim looked at her hopefully.

Gaz smiled and stood close to him. Then she threw a pillow in his face, "Goodnight, Zim."

Zim frown, putting the pillow on the couch and stared at her as she left and went up the stairs. He huffed and laid down, settling under the covers in an irritated mood. She just had to ruin it. He sighed and stared at the ceiling, mistletoe hanging from where they had just been. He cursed silently as the christams music became a soft lullabye. Staring at the mistletoe, he hissed, "Curse you, you useless plant Working for Gir and not Zim!"

With that he turned on his side and fell asleep.

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I am soooooooo behind on this. I was planning on doing the 50's by now. Well this chapter has a little more fluff in it, I hope you won't be too mad at me for that ^^ don't worry, there'll be a lot of blood and death in the later chapters.