Happy Holidays! A little late, and a little sad. Probably not that good either. But I still hope you enjoy this, how little a gift it maybe.

It's that heavy feeling in your chest, yet it makes you giddy and light. That strange moment that straddles joy and sadness, when you grow deaf from the silence right as the noise passes.

It's that feeling when you graduate in the morning and head to bed in the evening; it's surreal, as if the celebration seemed distant now even when it was only hours ago. Like being the last one to leave the party, or watching people have fun from afar. It was lonely, but so damn happy too.

Right now, that was all team ALBT could feel.

Adam Taurus had never actually celebrated the winter holidays before.

Granted, winter was when food was scarce and, him being homeless in his youth, would have frozen and starved to death during the season had he not focused most of his efforts into surviving. Hell, he still remembered most of it with clarity, but he'd rather not dwell on it.

Like how his scar would ache over the winter, or how he had to fight off starving children just like him for whatever scraps he could find at the back of whatever dinky diner he'd stumble across.

Mining operations shut down as well during the holidays, which left him penniless for weeks on end, and how he would sneak off whatever small dust crystals he could mine and sell them off for whatever price would get him through those torturous weeks.

Or what about the-right, dwelling again.

Adam shook himself from his thoughts, sipping the warm chocolate on his bedside table.

"So, Adam. The White Fang ever celebrate this oh so jolly season?"

Adam sighed, turning to face the source of the voice. Mercury Black - his teammate, partner, burden, headache, and dare he say it, his friend.

"My men tended to celebrate, yes." Adam replied. "I'd send them off to their families, while I went over our plans for after the season."

"Ha!" Mercury laughed, "Adam Taurus, all work and no play. Sounds just about right; all it's lacking now is him contemplating his sorrows in the cold winter night, thinking about Bla-" before he could finish, a slice of fruit cake had been stuffed in his mouth.

Adam smirked at that. "Thank you, Ren."

Lie Ren, wearing a hideous sweater made from Nora, simply nodded. He turned to Mercury as he swallowed the cake, glaring at him as he did so.

"That didn't seem very kind of you Mercury. Have you ever considered actually getting into the holiday spirit?" Ren asked, a small smirk on his face.

Mercury rolled his eyes at this. "Stuffing down a man's throat like that doesn't seem very spirited either, Ren," he sneered, "or is that how you and Nora celebrate the holidays together, hm?" Ren merely smiled, "At least one of us is getting something this season, Merc. Can't say the same for you though."

Mercury's eyes widened, before howling with laughter. "Nice," he said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Jokes aside, I didn't get to celebrate much during my childhood, either." Ren continued. "My mother and father were simple, so our celebration of the season would always be modest. When our village fell, well..." he trailed off, a sad smile adorning his features.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, startling Ren from his thoughts. Jaune came up behind him, a smile and a small plate of sweets on his other hand. "That's all in the past Ren. You're with friends now."

For a moment, Ren was taken back, before he let out a small laugh. "You're right. It is okay. Besides," he said as he grabbed a small cookie from the platter, "Nora would never let me live it down if I stayed this way. It is her favorite time of the year." Jaune smiled at that, "Way to get into the spirit of the holiday, man."

Ren shrugged, "We did celebrate on the road every now and then, Nora and I. Though, having the decorations for the holiday also double as our shelter was quite the experience."

The three others looked on with sympathy, even the almost always sarcastic Mercury was silent. Then Jaune smiled.

"That's going to change from here on out bud," he said as he clapped Ren on the shoulder, "you're spending this holiday with us from now on. Hell, if I have to bring my entire family along, I will."

Mercury, finally finding an opening for his sarcasm, smirked and said, "Speaking of your family, how did you spend your holidays with such a big gods-be-damned family, eh? There's gotta be good stories there, Jauney-boy."

All eyes to turned to their blonde leader as the conversation went straight to him. Jaune went red at the attention; normally, he'd be fine. He was their leader after all, it would make sense he'd have their attention in most cases, but not with something so personal.

So mundane.

"W-well, it was always a riot, I guess?" Jaune stammered out. "I mean, my sisters and I would always be scrambling around the house, doing our chores and preparations." Jaune chuckled to himself, "I remember how my mom was always pissed at us. We tried our best to cook and clean, but with so many people in one spot all rushing about, we'd tend to break things or make mistakes. She'd always say, 'doing your jobs like idiots just doubles the pain, so do it properly'." Jaune smiled down at his cookies, reminding him how constantly him and his siblings would burn the pastries and have to do them all again.

Some would say it was stupid and wasteful - surely after all those years, they'd learn to bake. Maybe they were right.

But to Jaune, it felt like the world's biggest excuse to spend more time with them. Those 'accidents' almost always lead to a food fight, teasing, their mom yelling at them for ruining the food again, cleaning it all up, and ordering from the nice cake shop down the street, who always seemed to be open on the holidays. Always gave it to them for free too.

"That... that sounds really amazing, Jaune."

Jaune was surprised. They were simple words, but it came from the least likeliest to say them.

All eyes in the room had been drawn to Mercury, who now seemed so interested in his prosthetics.

"Did he just... say something genuinely nice?" Adam asked, bewildered.

"I can't believe it either, Adam. But I'm pretty sure I hadn't misheard anything." Ren said, shock evident in his voice as he placed his plate down.

"It really is a holiday miracle!" Jaune laughed, surprise draining from him, leaving only amusement.

Mercury had always been good at hiding his emotions, but all of his teammates could clearly see the red in his ears, even as he did a good job of frowning at them.

"All right you little shits, that's enough. I say one good thing, and you all start fucking praising the sky." He sneered, though it lacked any real heat, with the red now spreading down to his neck.

The three burst out laughing, and all Mercury wanted to do was die. Die right then and there, because gods-fucking-damn it all this sucked.

"Holy brothers," Adam chuckled, "the man actually said something nice to us. Actual niceties from Mercury Black."

Ren wiped a tear from his eye, clearly enjoying himself. "They do say the seasons change you."

Jaune grinned as he punched Mercury in the arm, though it had no real strength to it. "Well damn, Happy Holidays to you too Merc! Best gift I've gotten yet!"

They all continued laughing, not realizing Mercury had gone quiet. As the laughter died down, Mercury scratched the back of his head, an annoyed expression on his face.

"You all mean that?"

The question took them all by surprise. The other three looked at one another, clearly perplexed. "What do you mean, Merc?" Jaune asked.

Mercury sighed, bringing a knee up and resting his arm there, completely avoiding eye contact. "You meant it, when I said that that was a great gift?" The last words dying down to a whisper.

That's when it hit them all. Gods, how could they have forgotten?

The celebrations had lasted all throughout the week, with teams celebrating a week before the actual holiday. Many had went home to their families, but a few had stayed. No surprise, many were either missing a family, or had left their families behind.

Jaune had called in, saying that he wanted to spend this one with his new team, with which his family had understood. He'd be home after, celebrating the coming of a new year, and so had been extracted promises from his siblings. Jaune, without any hesitation, had spent most of his holiday money on gifts for his sisters and parents, and had them delivered on the day of the celebration.

ALBT had celebrated with RWBY and PNNK in the week before, exchanging small gifts and just enjoying in each other's company.

Ruby and Yang left after, wanting to celebrate with their dad and uncle. Weiss, seeing as she was estranged from her father, had decided to greet her siblings and mother over the scroll before leaving with the others. Blake, seeing no reason not to, went with them.

Pyrrha had left to celebrate with her family, while Neon, Kole and Nora stayed at Beacon. All three had drank themselves into a coma earlier that night, but not before Nora stole a kiss from Ren and exchanged each other's gifts.

Now, it was only the four of them left. None of them actually drank, what with Jaune being allergic, Ren admitting that he was jack at holding his alchohol, and Adam having grown used without it.

But Mercury never drank because of how it reminded him of his father.

Gods, we're all idiots.

Of course he'd ask that. For all his snark, sarcasm and nonchalance, Mercury was unused to actual human connection. It'd make sense that his father would never get him anything during the holidays.

Adam clenched his fist, wishing Marcus Black was alive right now. He'd make that bastard pay.

Ren and Jaune shared the same sentiment.

Jaune sat next to Mercury, a sigh escaping his lips. "Hey Merc?"

"Yeah?"

"Did... did your dad-".

"Marcus." Ren quickly cut off, a hint of venom in his voice.

"Did Marcus ever give you any gifts? Did... you give him anything either?"

Mercury shrugged, all embarrassment gone from him. All he looked now was tired.

"The best gift my old man gave me was that he wouldn't kick my teeth in." Mercury took a cookie in hand, studying it intently. "He'd go out, drink himself into the ground and I'd be alone on the holidays. Most of the time I just slept in, fucking happy that I wouldn't be bleeding on the floor that night. When I got older though, I'd sneak off to the nearest town. I'd watch the fireworks go off, take whatever free food they were offering, and get home before my dad did."

The room was quiet after he told his tale. Mercury ignored it all, chewing on the cookie as he watched snow fall outside.

To be honest, he had no idea why he'd said all those things. It just felt... right, somehow.

Great, Mercury sighed to himself. Went and fucking ruined it, didn't I.

Mercury suddenly laughed. "Ah, fuck. Whatever man. It's nothing now. He's dead, I'm here, and I for one thin-"

He was cut off as he was dragged into an immediate embrace. Jaune had pulled him in, hugging him tightly.

Mercury was an assassin. He was a killer, and a damn good one at that. He had killed huntsmen and huntresses with twice his experience before. He was skilled, prepared, and desensitized to the world he lived in.

He was trained to not be surprised.

So why the hell was he so quiet now?

"W-wha- Jaune, I-?"

"Can it, Black."

Mercury had no idea what to do. All he knew was that right now, he was in a hug. He had no idea what to do with his hands, no clue as to what he's supposed to be feeling right now. The hell were you supposed to say in a situation like this?

As if reading his thoughts, Ren sat next to him and embraced him from behind, all the while glaring at Adam to do the same.

Adam sighed in surrender. After an entire semester, he had grown soft, embarrassingly so. He mumbled a gruff 'make room', before situating himself in the impromptu group hug.

Mercury was speechless. He had no idea what to do. But there was one thing that came to him.

With all the grace of a Goliath in a Mistralian shop, he said, "No homo."

It was as if a car had come to a screeching halt, flipped, and crashed into Beacon itself.

It was slow, but as the words left his mouth, all Jaune started laughing. Then Adam, Ren, and finally Mercury.

As it hit all of them how ridiculous and utterly stupid what had just happened, they all began howling in laughter.

It wasn't even in any way good or funny, but the four of them kept laughing anyway. They howled with laughter, barely noticing the tears streaming down their faces.

They all laughed like idiots, unable to stop themselves as the four boys crumpled to either the floor or bed sounding like a chorus of crazy as they did so.

It was nothing. It wasn't funny at all - it was more pathetic than humorous, but none of them cared. To them, it meant everything.

After their fits of laughter, they had snuck out, carrying with them a bag full of red fire dust, looking like a certain holiday saint's wayward sons.

They ran out into the snow, their weapons loaded with rounds of ammunition. They aimed at the night sky and began to let loose their own fireworks, even when it wasn't the right damn holiday for it.

Soon, the staff of Beacon was on them but team ALBT being the idiots they were scrambled around like the dumbest thieves you've seen, running around campus in the dead of night as they were pursued by a none too happy Glynda Goodwitch.

Were they caught? Of course they were. As if they even stood a chance against the deputy headmistress.

Were they punished? A bit, yes. Seeing as it was the holidays, and Ozpin was too tired for this, he had let them off with detention as soon as the semester started and a slap to the wrist, much to his colleague's frustration. Call it his own present, he said.

And as the four of them were escorted to their room, marched down by a bemused Oobleck for all of the remaining students to see, they only had one thought go through their minds.

Was it everything they needed?

Undoubtedly so.

It's that heavy feeling. When the lights go off, the sounds die out, and the last of the guests trickle away. It was melancholic, to say the least.

But for them, it was the greatest feeling in the world.