Merry Christmas, everyone, here's a new chapter for all of you to enjoy. This will be my Christmas present from me to you:
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Resistance Trailer
"Well, there hasn't been any activity from Weil since the defeat of the Einherjar." Ciel and Rouge start checking the areas as Zero stands by and waits.
"Wait, there seems to be a sudden drop in temperature." Rouge types in a few keys as it shows the outside.
White flakes are falling from the sky on the monitor as the three of them watched. Ciel speaks as she realizes the day. "It's… snowing. Wait, isn't today suppose to be Christmas?"
"Well, yes. However, we didn't think that the Einherjar would be beaten by now, and haven't planned for it."
Ciel seems enthusiastic as she talks to Rouge. "Tell the Resistance Base that we're coming back for Christmas, and to prepare a party to celebrate the holidays."
Zero looks at the screen. "Are you sure that's a wise idea? Weil hasn't been beaten yet."
"Weil will need time to retaliate. Besides, everyone has been working very hard lately. It will be a good idea to let them have a break. I'm sure you need it more than anyone else, Zero." Alouette walks into the room as the three of them are planning.
"Sis, there's something wrong with the weather. Did Weil do something to it?" Alouette has never seen snow before in her young life, nor has she celebrated Christmas.
"Don't worry about it, Alouette. This just happens when the weather is very cold. We'll be returning back to the Resistance Base and have a Christmas party." Alouette thinks over Ciel's words for a moment.
"What's Chris-mas?" Ciel stops and considers the question for a moment.
"I'll explain as we go back to the base." Ciel turns to Rouge. "Bring the caravan back to the base and alert everyone here."
"Got it," Rouge opens up the intercom in the Resistance Trailer and announces their plans. "Thank you that will be all."
A cheer is heard from one of the trailers as Rouge finishes her announcement. Ciel turns to Alouette and explains the important traditions and history behind the holiday known as Christmas.
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Resistance Base
"What are you going to do with that piece of metal?" Fefnir screams as the repair reploid tries to repair him. "Hey, that's not fair! How come Harpuia and Leviathan get to be deactivated and I have to feel pain?"
"We tried to deactivate you, but you wouldn't let us, remember?" The repair reploid gets another instrument from his box. "Now hold still and don't move."
Fefnir's continues to scream every time the repair reploid does that until the repairs are complete. Leviathan and Harpuia wake up as well after Fefnir's final scream of pain.
"It looks like you two are up." Leviathan and Harpuia move their limbs to check for injuries. "With the way you two were down, I thought I might not see you for a long time."
"With your screams of pain, it was hard to stay down." Harpuia moves up as the repair reploids leave to attend to other patients. "Wait, who's that?"
The three Guardians press their ear against the wall as they listen to two reploids conversing in the hall.
"Did you hear? Ciel decided to authorize a Christmas party and are coming back."
"What about Weil?"
"He hasn't done anything in a while, so it should be pretty safe to go. Well, I better go and get some presents."
"Oh, I forgot about that." The two reploids walk away as the three Guardians get their ears off the wall.
"Hey look, it's snowing!" Leviathan grabs onto Harpuia and drags him to the exit. "Come on, Harpy, let's go outside."
"But…" Leviathan continues dragging Harpuia, ignoring his cries of protest. Fefnir watches as the two of them leave the room.
"Hey wait! What am I suppose to do?"
"Go prepare your gifts or something. You'll need more time to think about it." The door closes as Fefnir throws the nearest object at it, trying to hit Leviathan.
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Somewhere Outside
"It's that time again." Forte watches as the Resistance Trailer goes back to the base. "Rockman and his family always loved to celebrate this holiday."
Forte watches as the snow starts to fall at a faster pace. "What is it about this holiday that makes everyone go crazy over it? It's been a hundred years, but people are still celebrating it."
Forte grabs a large piece of snow from the ground and crushes it with his hand, creating a much smaller perfectly round sphere. "Well, I guess I'll never find out if I don't try it for myself. Now what was it that they always did on this day? Oh right, giving presents."
Forte moves his hand expertly on the piece of snow, cutting off chunks of it and compressing it to make it more solid. This won't work very well, I need something else to work with.
Forte looks around as he searches for something suitable.
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Resistance Base
Alouette listens intently as Ciel explains about Christmas. She talks about how everyone would give each other presents and about the Christmas lights and trees.
"Hey look, we're finally here." Ciel, Alouette, and Zero look at the base, adorned in all different kinds of lights. "They did a great job considering the time! The base looks incredible!"
All of the reploids exit the caravan and move into the base. "Well, let's go." Zero, Ciel, and Alouette go inside the base as well.
As the four of them enter, they find all the reploids enjoying themselves. The music in the background helps lighten the mood as everyone chats with each other and enjoys the food.
Alouette's eyes turn to the center of the room, where she sees a large green tree with a golden start at the top and ornaments at the bottom. She looks under the tree and sees Resistance soldiers putting presents under it.
"Zero, you need to relax a bit. Stop looking at the exit. No one is going to attack us today." Ciel notices Zero looking fidgety and looking at the exit every few seconds. Zero sighs and goes to the Christmas tree and puts a few gifts under it.
Ciel giggles as Zero turns and glares at her. "What's so funny?"
"It's just that you look a lot like a Santa like that, with your red armor and everything." Zero blushes at the compliment as Ciel goes to the tree and puts some presents down as well. "Well, take your time and relax a bit. You really need it, Zero."
Ciel goes up to Rouge and they start talking about the Resistance Base. Let's see… What to do… Zero looks around the room as the door swings open. Leviathan walks in smiling as Harpuia follows, covered in snow and shivering.
Harpuia gets a few looks and he glares at everyone. "Don't ask." Everyone shrugs as Harpuia leaves the room to dry off.
Man, I'm so bored. Just then, Zero gets tackled from the back by Fefnir. Fefnir grins maniacally as he points at Zero.
"You and me, Zero. Snowball fight, right now!" Ciel hears Fefnir and immediately claps her hands as she gets out a microphone.
"Alright, everyone, Fefnir has just given me an idea." Everyone looks up at Ciel as she clears her throat. "Anyone interested can go outside and have a snowball fight. Rouge will set up the teams."
Everyone leaves the room and goes outside as Rouge numbers them into teams. Rouge gets out the microphone and announces the rules. "Alright, everyone, if you're hit, you're out. Win by getting everyone in the other team out. No weapons of any kind other than snowballs are allowed. Begin!"
Ciel, Alouette, and Zero were on one team while the Guardians were on the other team. Near the end, only the six of them are left as the Resistance soldiers cheer on their teammates.
It was a long and hard match, Ciel manages to nail Fefnir while he tries to get Zero with rapid shots, but she gets hit by Leviathan's snowball. Alouette manages to avoid most of the incoming attacks because of her size as she throws snowballs at Harpuia.
Harpuia goes up and avoids them and goes down to fire at Zero. Both Harpuia and Leviathan team up on Zero as Alouette gives him cover fire.
Leviathan uses her powers to build an ice barrier as they continue to attack. One of the stray snowballs hit Alouette, leaving only Zero.
Zero tries to attack, but fails as the barrier stands in his way. Wait, I only see Harpuia, where's Leviathan? Leviathan sneaks behind Zero and nails him in the back.
"Team 2 has won, alright everyone, get back to the base and we'll open up the presents." Ciel shivers slightly and Zero notices, putting his hand on her shoulder to warm her up.
"Zero, what's wrong?" Ciel sees Zero looking behind them with an intense concentration. Zero hears Ciel's voice and turns.
"Nothing, just thought that I saw somebody back then." Ciel shrugs as the two of them return to the base.
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Resistance Base
Rouge picks out presents under the tree and calls the names. Ciel seems to have the most gifts, followed by Alouette.
"Ciel, here's another one." Ciel goes up and looks at the box. She notices the name of the sender and opens it. There is a pink bracelet on the inside with the name Ciel engraved in it. Ciel looks at Zero and smiles.
"Alright, here's one for Zero." Zero goes up and gets his present. He opens it to find a beautifully crafted sword hilt. He looks at Ciel and mouths the words thanks.
"Well, here's one for Fefnir." Fefnir looks at the present and finds doesn't recognize the name. He opens it up and finds a filter for his twin buster. Hmm… Let's see, it says if I equip and activate this, I'll be able to use a flamethrower attack. This is great!
"Here's one for Harpuia.' Harpuia gets up and sees that the present is from Leviathan. He opens it to find a snow globe with a miniature version of Leviathan inside it. He looks at Leviathan and she just waves and smiles. Harpuia shakes it and watches the snow go down.
"This one is for Leviathan./i Leviathan goes up and opens the present from Harpuia to find an addition to her staff. It creates a better grip and makes it easier to use.
Rouge calls out a few more names as everyone gets their presents. "Well, I think that's everyone. Oh wait! Here's another one for Alouette. Strange, it doesn't have the sender's name."
Alouette goes up and gets the small present from Rouge. She stares at it for a few moments, wondering what it could be. She opens it up and finds a miniature crystallized version of her doll.
She looks at Zero, Ciel, and the Guardians, but most of them didn't know a thing about it. Alouette just sighs as she tries to figure out who the sender is.
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It's so peaceful here. Ciel looks at the stars as she stands on the roof. Things have died down a bit now. Ciel sneezes and jumps as she feels something on her back.
"You'll catch a cold if you stay here." Ciel turns to find Zero with her jacket. "You left this, so I came looking for you."
Ciel lets Zero put the jacket on her as the two of them stare at the stares. "The stars are shining brightly tonight. Isn't it just beautiful, Zero?"
"Yeah I guess so, but I bet I think I've seen something even better." Ciel turns at Zero Zero with an incredulous look.
"Oh really, and what's that suppose to be?"
"You," Ciel blushes at the comment and Zero laughs. Ciel looks around the room and finds something she could use against him.
Ciel plants he lips onto Zero, silencing his laughter. After a few moments, Zero looks at Ciel.
"What was that for?" Zero's face starts to turn red from surprise and embarrassment.
"Mistletoe," Ciel points up at the mistletoe on the wall. "Besides, I needed to get you to be quiet." Ciel laughs at Zero's expression.
"Zero…"
"Yeah?"
"Merry Christmas."
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Harpuia exits the base and finds Leviathan looking up at the stars. Leviathan turns and throws a snowball at Harpuia.
"What was that for?" Harpuia gets up and shakes the snow off. "Why do you keep on doing that?"
"I just love the look on your face when that happens." Leviathan laughs and turns toward the sky again. "It's such a beautiful night today. I wish I could get a better view."
Leviathan sits down and contently sighs at the stars. "What are you doing!?" Leviathan feels Harpuia's arms wrapped around her waist.
"You said you wanted a better view, right?" Harpuia activates his jets and brings Leviathan and himself into the air. At first, Leviathan tries to struggle, but then she just enjoys the ride.
After flying above the clouds and looking at the stars, Harpuia descends and lets go of Leviathan. Leviathan pulls Harpuia down into the snow and plants a kiss on his lips They remain like that for a few minutes before Leviathan breaks the kiss.
Harpuia stays in the snow before slowly standing up with a confused look on his face. "You did something unexpected so I thought I'd return the favor."
Leviathan goes towards the base and turns back to Harpuia. She winks at him. "Love ya, Harpy. Merry Christmas."
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Forte looks from the branch of a tree as Leviathan, Harpuia, Ciel, and Zero goes back to the Resistance Base.
"Well, I guess that they kept this holiday for so long is because it really is a special time." Forte takes a bite out of the cookie he stole earlier as he watches the lights go off.
"You aren't out of trouble yet, Zero. There's still work to be done before this is all over." Forte stands up and warps away.
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Well, that's the longest chapter I've ever written. Anyways, tell me what you thought about this. The next chapter will be back to normal and there'll be a fight scene.