childhood; the au where Hope and Light are childhood friends, and there's certainly no other feelings involved…especially during Christmas…

For all the stress and weirdness it tended to bring, Hope really did love the holidays. There was something magical about driving home in the evening and seeing peoples' homes lit up, or watching the light snowfall at night. The feeling of anticipation always felt more and more abundant the closer it got to Christmas, which, really, was almost as good as the holiday itself.

The anticipation was mostly for seeing his family. Not that he had much of that – just his parents and his paternal grandmother, but it was still always nice to see them. Every Christmas Eve, his grandma, a robust woman named Alice, would come all the way down from her retirement home in Bodhum to spend a few days at the Estheim residence. Even though Hope lived close by his parent's house, he'd still spend the night there and they'd all wake up Christmas morning to open gifts, like nothing had ever changed.

And even though obviously he'd grown up and had his own life, there were times – especially like now, when he was hanging out with his best friend since childhood – where it felt like he was a kid again.

Except when he was a kid, neither he nor Lightning had smartphones.

"Seriously, Serah?" Lightning frowned, an expression that Hope wanted to smooth away with his fingertips. "This is probably our last Christmas together before you get married, and - " A pause, then a sigh. "No, I don't want to come. You know how I feel about Snow." Another pause. "You know what? We'll talk about this later. I'm having lunch with Hope. And no, I'm not changing my mind." She rolled her eyes. "I'll talk to you later."

When she hung up, Hope raised an eyebrow, picking at his plate of food. He hadn't wanted to start eating until Lightning was finished talking. "What's wrong?"

"Serah's being a lovesick idiot," she muttered, tearing into her steak like it was still alive. "I get that she and Snow want to be together, but this time next year, she'll be married and living who knows where. I just wanted…" She trailed off, her annoyed expression turning a little sad.

"I understand," Hope said gently, finally eating his food, though without as much enthusiasm.

"You do?"

He shrugged. "It's a time for family. I get that your sister wants to be with her fiance and all, but…"

"…She's the only family I have left," Lightning finished with a quiet sigh. "Maybe I'll just suck it up and go see them. I'll have to get used to Snow eventually."

"Maybe." Hope had met Serah's fiance a bunch of times and hadn't been all that impressed with the guy. "But y'know…Serah's not your only family." When Lightning glanced up in confusion, Hope continued with a nervous smile, "You know that Mom and Dad have always considered you part of the family, right?"

"…Right." At that, Lightning finally smiled which cheered Hope up considerably. What could he say? He'd had nearly a lifetime of practice trying to put them on her face.

Well, technically it was nearly a lifetime, but it sure felt like he'd known Lightning all their lives. They'd met when he was in kindergarten and she was in second grade. Some bullies were making fun of him for some idiotic reason he couldn't recall – but he did perfectly remember the tough, pink-haired girl dressed in a rather frilly outfit who'd shoved the bullies away and told them to back off before they got in serious trouble. Hope had watched the whole thing through wide, frightened eyes, which only grew wider when the girl had turned to him and held out her hand.

"My name's Claire," she'd said. "Are you okay?"

Hope had simply nodded and shyly taken her hand. "I'm Hope."

She'd taken him to play on the monkey bars, and from that day forward, they were basically inseparable. Sure, they'd had their fair share of arguments over the years, but for the most part – despite the slight age difference during their school years – one was never seen without the other.

Hope knew he was extremely fortunate to have someone like Lightning in his life. He'd been there for so much – when her father died and her mother passed away years later. He'd been her shoulder to cry on when she had to give up pursuing a professional career in gymnastics in order to support her younger sister, Serah (she'd been incredibly fast on the uneven bars – 'like lightning', he once heard her coach say, hence the nickname that'd stuck even a decade later). He'd seen her grow and change and become the incredible person she was today.

And as much as he tried to ignore the feeling, Hope was fairly sure that his lifelong admiration for Lightning wasn't just that.

Not that he need to go down that trail of thought right now. God, she probably thought of him as a brother. After all, they were practically family…

"That's right," he said out loud.

"What is it?"

"Light, do - " Now he was second guessing himself, despite only having the idea for less than ten seconds. "I mean, um, I just thought that maybe…"

She raised an eyebrow at him, though it was with an amused little smile. "Yes?"

Hope ducked his head a bit, hoping that was enough to hide the blush that always appeared on his face whenever she smiled at him. It was really embarrassing and honestly, pretty inconvenient. "How about…since Serah's going to be with Snow this year…" He finally looked up. "Do you want to have dinner with my family on Christmas Eve instead?"

Lightning blinked in surprise and stared down at her steak. Another smiled crossed her lips a moment later. "Wow, it's been…how long, since I've had a Christmas Eve dinner with your family?"

"I think we were in high school." Hope didn't want to mention that it'd been the holiday after Lightning and Serah's mother had passed away. Hope's mother, Nora, had insisted on giving the girls as happy a holiday as they could manage. Even Grandma Alice had taken it upon herself to knit them both some scarves in record time as gifts.

"Right." She drummed her fingers on the table. "It's your parents and your grandmother?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." She smiled again. "Well, in that case, I'd be glad to come."

"I – really?!" For some reason, he hadn't expected that at all and figured she'd fight harder to get Serah to herself.

"Sure." She reached over and patted his hand, a gesture she'd done a thousand times before, but one that always seemed to send a rush of heat through him as of late. "It's better than being alone. Plus, I haven't seen your parents in awhile."

"O-Okay." Hope managed to smile back. "I'll let them know I'm bringing you. How about I pick you up? You could stay the night, too, if you wanted."

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"Mom and Dad would probably insist."

"That's true." Lightning smiled again and shook her head. "Okay, deal. I'll see you on Christmas Eve, then."

"Deal."

Christmas Eve was two days away…which meant two days to figure out if this was a brilliant idea or the worst one of all time.

–

It was definitely the worst idea of all time.

Sure, it didn't appear that way, at least at first. On Christmas Eve, Hope picked Lightning up from her tiny apartment and they drove across town to his parents' sprawling house. Lightning looked relaxed and happy, especially at seeing all the decorations.

"It's decorated just like I remember it."

"Perks of a childhood home, I guess." Hope had to wonder if he'd inherited his love of the holidays from his parents, especially his mother. Most of the light display outside was her doing, after all.

When Hope used his key to unlock the door, Bartholomew had been sitting in his usual recliner, reading something on his tablet, but immediately put it down and got up to greet his son.

"Welcome home," he said into a tight hug.

"I was just here last week," Hope said a bit teasingly, though he was certainly hugging his dad back just as tightly.

"It's always different this time of year." When Bartholomew pulled away, he saw Lightning and smiled in greeting. "Good to see you again, Claire. It's been far too long."

"I agree." Lightning was looking around the house with a nervous, yet somehow content expression on her face. Hope wondered if it was from the familiarity – after all, they'd spent most of their childhood in this very house. There was still a stain on the rug from his science fair project she'd tried to help him with. Many of the photos hung on the walls also had her and Serah in them. Heck, he wouldn't be surprised if the books he'd borrowed from her but never gave back were still in his bookcase upstairs.

A moment later, Hope heard a familiar voice. "Would that be my grandson?"

"Grandma!" Hope grinned and crossed the room to embrace his grandmother – not quite as tightly, since she seemed so frail, but still with enthusiasm. "Were you helping Mom with dinner? It smells fantastic." For the first time, Hope became extremely aware of the awesome aroma floating through the house.

"Doing most of the work, as usual."

"I heard that, Alice," Nora teased from the kitchen.

Alice winked, pulling away a bit. "Oh, look at you! You're so darn handsome. Must be batting girls off left and right, aren't you?"

"Uhhh…"

"Oh, you've brought one!" Alice seemed to notice Lightning just then and crossed the room towards her. "You look a bit familiar, dear, have we - ?"

"My name's…Claire," Lightning said carefully. "I don't supposed you'd remember, but we met once about ten years ago. My sister was with me then."

"Oh!" Realization dawned and Alice clapped her hands gleefully. "Yes, of course! How wonderful to see you, sweetheart. Always knew you and my darling grandson would end up together!"

Hope's face immediately erupted into a blush, especially when Bartholomew raised his eyebrows. Lightning grew flustered as well in an attempt to correct Alice. "N-No, Hope and I – we're not - "

As true as it was, Hope couldn't help but feel defeated. There was nothing but a lifetime of friendship between him and Lightning. Childhood friends only ended up together in movies or something equally unrealistic.

It was so hard to remember that.

Grandmother Alice, however, was completely talking over Lightning and didn't appear to hear the protest at all. "Of course you sweet young things would want to be together for the holiday! My husband, rest his soul, always made it so romantic. I'm sure Hope hasn't disappointed yet." She winked. "Come on now Claire, dear, help Nora and I in the kitchen, would you?"

"Uh…" Lightning barely had a moment to answer before she was following Alice – the old woman had a knack for getting people to agree with her – and disappeared into the kitchen, though not before she sent Hope a wide-eyed look that clearly pleaded for help.

When the women had gone into the kitchen, there was a beat of silence before Bartholomew chuckled. "Well, well. Hard to believe it took this long."

"Dad!" Hope hissed, praying that Lightning hadn't heard that. "It's…it's not like that. Grandma's just reading into things."

"You didn't look so eager to jump in and correct her, I noticed."

"I…" Hope blushed again.

"It's all right." Bartholomew patted his son's shoulder. "It's always been pretty obvious to your mother and I how you feel about Claire."

"Dad - !"

"But I'm assuming Claire doesn't know. Right?"

Hope sighed heavily and fell onto the couch with a groan, still speaking quietly. "…No. She doesn't. I doubt she sees me that way. I'm probably more like a little brother to her."

His dad hummed like he was about to say something, but just then, Nora came out of the kitchen, her eyebrows practically to her hairline. "Well, Hope. What's this I hear about you and Claire?"

"There's nothing between Light and I, Mom." He got up and gave his mother a greeting hug, basking in the normalcy for a moment. Of course, Nora wouldn't let things be normal for long.

"That's not what I'm hearing from Alice."

"Grandma misinterpreted everything." He sighed heavily and plopped back down on the couch. "Has Lightning corrected her?"

"No," Nora replied, looking terribly amused by the whole darn situation. "She seems pretty flustered. I have to admit, it's a little funny, seeing someone like her get like that."

Well, that was interesting. Hope was sure that once Lightning had composed herself, she'd set Alice straight on the situation. Why hadn't she?

He got back up to his feet with a sigh. "I'll go tell Grandma the truth. Lightning's here as our guest. We should make sure she's comfortable." He walked into the kitchen, not seeing the knowing smiles his parents exchanged behind his back.

Naturally, with Grandmother Alice in charge of the cooking, the kitchen was a flurry of activity, even though there were only two people in there. Lightning was stirring something on the stove and Alice was chopping up some vegetables while layering them in a pan.

"This recipe's been in my family for generations – I'll certainly have to make note of it to pass it down to you and Hope! It's gotten a bit lost, I'm afraid – you know, everything's just a pinch and a stir away from disaster - "

"Grandma?"

"Hope, sweetheart!" Alice turned with a flourish, remembering just in time to set the knife down. "Come to help us out, dear?"

"Uh, well, I needed to tell you something."

"Unless it's about the meal, it simply must wait – after all, we're running behind schedule! It's not a Christmas Eve dinner if it's not ready until tomorrow!" She went over to him and stuck the knife in his hand. "Finish chopping for me, would you? I need to run upstairs for moment!"

"…Sure."

Grandma kissed his cheek and waltzed out of the kitchen…leaving him and Lightning there. Alone.

Get a grip, he told himself, steadying the knife and making a meticulous cut in a carrot. This is Lightning. Your best friend. You've been alone with her more times than you can count.

Despite these thoughts, the silence was way too awkward for his tastes. Surprisingly, it was Lightning that broke it first.

"I tried to tell her that we…we're not…"

"I know." Hope relaxed a bit at the sound of her voice. "That's why I came in here – to explain." He huffed a laugh. "Christmas will probably be over by the time she quiets down enough to listen."

Lightning managed a tiny smile, still slowly stirring whatever was in the pot. "I mean…I don't mind."

He looked up quickly, nearly chopping off his finger in the process. "You don't?"

"No." She wasn't looking at him, so he couldn't quite tell, but…was she blushing? "It's just for one night. It'd be easier to go with the flow than trying to explain."

Oh. She just wanted to avoid a possible confrontation…which he supposed made sense, given her argument with Serah a few days ago about how to celebrate the holiday. "I guess so," he finally replied. "I mean, I'm okay with pretending if you are."

She went quiet for another moment before nodding. "Right. So am I."

They exchanged a glance and nervous smiles just as Hope's parents came into the kitchen. He sighed in relief. "I know what you guys are thinking, but it's fine. We're just going to let Grandma think whatever she wants. Just go with it."

Nora smiled, looking amused for whatever reason. "Are you sure? I'm sure we could talk some sense into Alice, if need be."

"It's fine." Lightning took the pot off the stove. "It's just for one night."

"…Yeah," Hope added, ignoring the way his parents were smiling. "Just one night."

–

The dinner was nearly perfect – a couple of the breadsticks were a bit burnt, but nobody seemed to care. Though his family was usually more on the quiet side, the combination of the holiday, the big meal, and having both Lightning and Grandmother Alice there made them all far more festive and talkative than usual.

And yet, for some reason, Hope was still surprised when his grandmother dared to ask him and Lightning, "So how on earth did you two dears finally get together?"

Hope couldn't help but blush at the implication of the word finally. They were – unfortunately for him – just friends! Nothing more! Or rather, clearly Lightning didn't want to be anything more, so he had to leave things as they were.

But still – for tonight, they'd decided to go with the flow…which meant thinking of a believable story.

Lightning exchanged a glance with Hope, her eyes wide. For once in her life, she clearly had no idea what to say. His parents noticed the pause and attempted some damage control.

"They're pretty private, Mother," Bartholomew said. "They don't really like sharing details - "

"Nonsense!" Alice cried, piling more green beans onto her son's plate. Once a mother, always a mother, it seemed. "I'm not asking for details – just something that'll make an old woman like me swoon."

Well, if that was the case. Hope felt like he could do that. Maybe. Hopefully.

He smiled a little and after a pause, rested a hand on top of Lightning's. They'd held hands practically all the time as kids – after getting cootie shots, of course – but it was something that happened few and far between now that they were adults. Maybe that explained the flush on Lightning's face.

"It was about a year or so ago," Hope said carefully. "We were taking a walk outside one afternoon like any other day, but it was crowded, so she got a little bit ahead of me. She turned to call me over and…" He cleared his throat a little, trying to find the right words…because they were true. "…The sun hit her hair just right and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. It was like I was seeing her for the first time. I wondered how I could know someone for my whole life and yet still want to take a lifetime to figure them out."

The entire table had gone silent by this point. Nora and Bartholomew had raised their eyebrows in surprise, but looked fairly pleased. Alice looked like she was truly two seconds away from clutching her heart and swooning. And Lightning…

Lightning was staring at him like it was the first time she was seeing him.

After a pause, Hope managed to tear his eyes away from her with a sheepish smile, taking his hand back as well, much to his reluctance. "After that epiphany, I asked her out to dinner and the rest is history."

"How romantic." Alice's eyes were shining. "Always knew you two would be quite a pair once you found your romantic side, Hope, darling. It must run in the family! Why, I remember when Bartholomew first brought Nora home – like something out of a movie, I'm telling you!"

She then proceeded to actually tell the story, which Hope was grateful for. One, it made his parents hilariously embarrassed, and two, it took the focus off of him and Lightning. He wanted to apologize to her – just in case – but there was really no way to do it properly until they were alone.

He figured they'd get their chance after dinner. Lightning offered to help clear the dishes, so she and Bartholomew carried the worst of the dishes into the kitchen. Hope followed with some of the serving plates, then left to head back to the dining room, Lightning on his heels to finish helping with the cleanup.

"Stop right there," Alice commanded when Hope and Lightning were standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He frowned in confusion.

"What, Grandma?"

Alice simply pointed upwards with a gleeful smirk. Hope knew what was hanging on the doorframe before his gaze even registered it.

Mistletoe.

Nora realized what was happening and rushed over. "Mistletoe, Alice? Did you put that up there?"

"So what if I did?" she replied, sounding rather proud of herself. "You young people need to take advantage of every moment! When you're my age, you'll wish you had!"

She was probably right, and had this whole thing not been a total sham, Hope would have kissed Lightning without hesitation. As it was, that was probably taking things way too far.

…No matter how much he actually wanted to do it.

"Um, well…"

"I guess we shouldn't mess with tradition," Lightning said, probably surprising everyone in the room, including herself. Her face grew a bit red and she ducked her head in an uncharacteristically shy manner. It was kind of adorable and made Hope's heart flutter like it did every time she so much as smiled at him.

"Atta girl!" Alice grinned. "You hear that, Hope? Claire's on board with the mistletoe. Don't disappoint her, now!"

Like he would ever do that in any circumstance.

Hope was vaguely aware of his pounding heart, but it seemed secondary to how wide Lightning's eyes were when he stepped a bit closer and she looked up at him. They both swallowed nervously. It seriously figured that his first – and probably only - kiss with Lightning had to be in front of his parents and grandmother.

But even so…

He saw her eyes flutter shut when he leaned in, and he quickly followed suit. There was just a slight pause as their rapid breathing mingled, but then…but then…

It was just a chaste touch of lips, something that could easily be considered friendly, but it felt completely different. This simple, sweet kiss sent a shiver down his spine and he felt an impossible amount of butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

All he wanted to do was pull her close and never, ever let go.

Too soon, they pulled away, and it felt like ages before Hope had the courage to actually open his eyes. When he did, Lightning was giving him that wide-eyed look she'd given him during dinner, when he'd fabricated the story of their 'first date'.

Like it was the first time she was truly seeing him.

"See now, was that so hard?" Alice winked, making her way past the two of them back to the kitchen. "You've got to enjoy every moment you can! And I say that now, all of these moments require dessert! Who's with me?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Claire, darling, would you find some plates, please?"

"Sure," Lightning said after a moment. She managed to tear her eyes away from Hope long enough to disappear into the kitchen as well. He simply stared after her, not even moving when his mother walked past him and gave his shoulder a knowing squeeze.

–

With an extra guest, the sleeping arrangements were a bit different. Usually Hope would, of course, stay in his childhood room and his grandmother would take the guest room, but with Lightning here as well, Alice took Hope's old room and they all insisted that Lightning take the guest room. That left Hope on the couch in the living room – not a terrible thing, since the couch was actually pretty comfortable. When Alice had wondered out loud why Hope and Lightning weren't in the same room, they'd simply said that they didn't want to be disrespectful and that was that.

Not that Hope thought his parents would actually mind if he and Lightning shared a room – or hell, even a bed. They'd done it often enough as kids.

But then again, it wasn't as though they were kids anymore.

Later that night, after everyone had settled in all of their respective beds, Hope stretched out on the couch with a blanket covering him, staring at the cackling fireplace and the twinkling tree he'd left on. He couldn't sleep, and not from the usual Christmas Eve excitement – all he could think about was that mistletoe kiss. He hadn't really gotten to speak to Lightning privately at all once dessert had been brought out. Everything had been a hubbub of conversation and cleaning. He had no idea what she was feeling – he was fairly sure she wasn't mad (after all, she was the one who had suggested the kiss in the first place), but she'd been acting weird all night, even for her. Ugh. Maybe there'd be time to talk to her tomorrow.

If he could actually get to sleep, that was.

"Hope?"

He gasped and nearly fell off the couch. When he scrambled to sit up, to his surprise, it was Lightning standing in the living room.

"Light…? What are you doing up?"

She shrugged, rubbing her arms as though she was cold, even though it was a very pleasant temperature in the house. "I couldn't sleep."

"Oh." He had a sinking feeling that this had to do with the mistletoe incident. "I, um…"

"Do you want any hot chocolate?" she interrupted. "Nora told me she still has the good mix in the cupboards. I can make us some, if you'd like."

"Oh, uh…" His vocabulary was truly stunning tonight. "Sure, if you're having some. Need any help?"

"No thanks."

She went into the kitchen and Hope just stared with a sinking feeling in his gut, even though he tried to remind himself that Lightning had always been the kind of person to insist on doing things for herself – even something as simple as making hot chocolate. Heck, he knew she tended to clean when she was stressed out. Maybe this was the same kind of thing – just something therapeutic she needed to do alone.

He didn't want to think about what that meant.

Apparently he'd been sitting there lost in thought for longer than he realized, because soon enough, Lightning came back into the living room with two mugs in her hand.

"Thanks," he said quietly when she handed one to him.

She simply nodded. "Do you mind if I sit down…?"

"Of course not."

With a little smile, she took a seat – maybe a bit closer than normal, or maybe that was just in his head – and took a sip from her mug. Hope smiled to himself at the half-dozen mini marshmallows floating in her cocoa before taking a sip of his own and making a surprised noise.

"Did you put…?"

"Two tablespoons of chocolate syrup and a drop of peppermint extract." Lightning set her mug down. "I remember. Kind of hard to forget, after you got so upset that I ate all the marshmallows. Weren't we still in elementary school?"

"…Yeah." He stared down into mug. Of course she remembered how he liked his cocoa. They were childhood friends. Best friends, really. There was nothing unusual or heart-pounding about this. "Light - "

"I'm sorry," she interrupted again, not quite looking at him.

"Excuse me?"

She swallowed visibly. "I'm sorry. About earlier, I mean. The…mistletoe."

Oh, god. His heart felt like it had fallen completely through his gut. Of course she would regret it. Why the hell had he kissed her?!

"Light - "

"I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to," Lightning continued. "I understand that you probably didn't want to. I just didn't want you to have to take the heat from Alice."

Wait. What?

"Light, I…" He trailed off, wondering if she was going to say anything more, but she was drinking from her mug, so Hope took the chance to voice his surprise. "Who said I didn't want to?"

When Lightning looked up at him with a blush on her face, it all suddenly clicked. He had no idea how or why, but he suddenly just knew why she'd been acting so weird about this crazy situation all night.

"Hope…?"

He set his mug on the coffee table and took hers to do the same. "Lightning, I'm pretty sure I've wanted to kiss you from the day you scared off those bullies when I was in kindergarten. I didn't realize that for a long time, but I just…"

"…You were telling the truth, weren't you?" She smiled a bit. "At dinner. When you said all those things…"

"Yes." Impulsively, he reached for her hand, twining their fingers together. It was a gesture they'd done many times as kids, but now felt a hundred times more significant. "It amazes me how I've known you for my entire life, and yet I still feel like I need a lifetime to get to know you."

"You know me better than anyone else does," she replied quietly, staring at their joined hands. "What more could you possibly want to know?"

"Everything," he breathed out.

Her fingers squeezed his at that, but she still didn't quite look at him. "Something might scare you away," she said. "I don't want this to ruin our friendship, especially with Serah getting married soon." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, either," he admitted. "But I think that if we – we did this, it wouldn't ruin anything. Things would just change."

"For better or worse?"

"Better." Despite his nervousness, Hope managed a smile and tugged her a bit closer. "I feel like I know you better than I know myself, sometimes. Maybe we've been friends for so long to prepare us for this."

"You're saying that like I wouldn't give you a second glance otherwise."

"…Would you?"

She let go of one of his hands and playfully shoved his shoulder. "Shut up. Of course I would."

"You say that now," he teased, but was secretly relieved. "But seriously, you've…thought about this – about us…?"

"Probably more than I want to admit." Her gaze drifted towards the fire, which was slowly dying. "I guess I just never wanted to potentially ruin anything. I'm not very good at this whole…romance thing."

"I think you would be with the right person." Him, of course. "You were the one who suggested we kiss under the mistletoe."

"Because your whole family was watching."

Nerves flared within him again, and despite that, still tried to keep his tone light. "So you wouldn't have if they hadn't been watching?"

"Not like that."

"Then how would you have done it?"

Hope had not intended the words to be any sort of challenge. In fact, he had fully expected a verbal response to that question.

But clearly Lightning didn't see it that way.

She looked away from the fire, finally meeting his gaze. The glow from the flames seemed to warm her skin, casting her in an ethereal glow. Hope knew he wouldn't have been able to look away for any reason.

She was so beautiful, inside and out.

Things almost felt as though they were moving in slow motion. Lightning leaned in closer and closer, and he barely realized that he was holding his breath before their lips finally touched for the second time that night.

This was nothing like the chaste kiss in front of his family. This one was slow and sensual, like they were using it to test the waters. If this was a pond, then he wanted to find the ocean and drown in it. In her.

Though the kiss didn't grow aggressive, it certainly grew deeper and more needy. At some point, he let go of her hands to pull her closer by her waist, and he felt her arms wind around his neck. It was…almost a relief, like this was something they'd been waiting so long for, and now it was finally here.

It was a Christmas miracle.

After what felt like a very long time, they slowly pulled away for air. Hope felt like his very lungs were trembling, especially when his eyes fluttered open and he saw Lightning's still closed, like she was savoring the moment.

Just then, the clock above the fireplace chimed and he instinctively glanced up at it.

Midnight.

Hope smiled and leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. "Merry Christmas, Light."

She made a surprised noise, but then relaxed and murmured back happily, "Merry Christmas, Hope."

Gradually, they made themselves more comfortable. It felt like if they moved from this room, whatever spell they'd put themselves under would be broken, so Hope carefully leaned back to lay back down on the couch, pulling Lightning along with him. She fit against his body like a perfect piece to a puzzle, her face nuzzled in the crook of his neck and his arm securely around her.

Like they were meant to be exactly like this all along.

"Any presents you're hoping to get later?" she murmured, sounding half-asleep.

"It doesn't matter," he replied. At her questioning noise, his arm tightened around her. "I already got the perfect gift."

"Hmm?"

"You."

She lightly swatted his chest for the cheese factor, but he could feel her smile and knew she appreciated his words, and – to his amazement – likely felt the same.

This was one gift he would treasure for the rest of his life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, guys c: Reviews are the perfect gift~