Allura laughed as she took another cup of eggnog. They were now gathered in a small circle on the floor, streamers and decorations all around them. Hunk laughed, after taking off the dumb beard to take his share of dessert and eggnog.

"So anyway, by the time the party was over, everyone was so drunk that they had to call in the Academy Dean to figure how to get 300 students back to their dorms without making a scene," Lance said.

"So what did they do?" Allura asked.

"They opened the gym and pretty much had everyone sleep it off there," he offered. "You'd swear by how much bodies in there, it were a morgue or something."

"So who...spiked the punch?" Allura asked.

"It was Jeff," Keith said as he reached over to the nearby table and pulled down the sheet of left over cheesecake. "3 bottles of Jack Daniels. It was amazing that no one was jumping off roofs or something."

"Jeff? The Captain of the other Voltron Force Jeff?" Allura asked.

Lance nodded as he took a slice. "Its a wonder he even graduated with all the pranks he pulled."

"I'm surprised that you guys even got away with them at all."

"Let's just say that one of Hunk's many talents includes negotiation," Lance said as he elbowed his friend in the ribs. "Besides eating."

"Hunk?" Allura asked.

"It just so happens that the Dean's wife was also the Academy's chef,"

Keith pointed out as he looked down at the sheet and noticed that there was only one slice left.. "And Hunk was her favorite...customer."

"Figures that food had to do something with it," Allura said. "Hunk, what is it about you and food."

"I love it and it loves me," he said with a smile. "But yeah, I saved these guys butts more than often. By promising Ms. Fredericks that they would do the dishes for her twice per week."

"And those were a lot of dishes," Lance commented as he finished off his cheesecake. He then noticed that Keith was eyeing the last piece. "So are you going to eat the last one?"

Keith met his gaze then smiled as he offered it to Allura. "One last piece..you never know when you're going to get Jack Daniels Chocolate Cheesecake again."

Allura smiled then stared down at the delectable dessert. "I can't," she said. "Im already feeling a bit woozy from the eggnog."

"Aww, come on Princess," Pidge said. "Don't make my hard work go to waste. Do you realize how hard it was to get the whiskey into the recipe in the first place?"

Allura smiled as she stared at Pidge. "Oh, and who said that you had to put liquor in it anyway?"

Pidge blushed a little. "I didn't even eat a piece yet."

"What?" Allura asked. "You go through all that trouble and you didn't eat one?"

"The effort was my reward," he said. "Go on, take the last piece."

Allura smiled as she looked down at the dessert, and without much more pressure, she grabbed a nearby fork and began to eat the last piece. "if this is a dream, don't wake me," she said in between mouthfuls.

The others laughed as they watched her finish off the last piece and then cheered her for her effort. She smiled as she then took a drink of eggnog to wash down the dessert.

"I'm going to have to get that recipe from you Pidge," she said with a smile. "Maybe I can use it to persuade some diplomats when Im negotiating with them."

Pidge smiled. "I'll be sure to give you the right recipe," he said. "With the right liquor amounts."

Allura smiled as she finished off her eggnog. She then noticed that Hunk had yet to reveal what was in the bag he had carried in earlier. "What's in that?" she asked.

Hunk turned to the small bag at his side and smiled.

"Well what is Christmas without some presents to give away?" he asked.

"Well actually... one present to give away."

Hunk slowly opened the drawstrings on the red bag and slowly pulled out a medium sized box, wrapped some decorative paper and a green and red lace bow. She looked at Hunk with question in her eyes as he handed her the gift.

"Merry Christmas, Allura," he offered. "A gift for you, from all of us."

"For me?" she asked. "Why?"

"We figured that since you've given us so much in the last year, that we wanted to express our thanks," Lance said. "So to complete your very first Christmas here on Arus, we pitched in a got you something."

"You didn't.."

"Ah ah ah ah," Hunk said shaking his head. "Its not wise to refuse a gift from Santa."

Allura smiled as she looked over the box. "What is it?" she asked.

"We are not going to tell you," Pidge said. "Half the fun is actually opening the gift."

Allura could not help but smile as she eyed the color paper. "Well..."

She slowly turned the box over and without much restriction, tore through the wrapping and ribbon, but was careful not to destroy the bow in the process. Her expression faltered a bit, when she realize that there was a smaller wrapped box inside.

"What is this?"

"Your present," lance offered.

"Another wrapped box?" she asked.

"No, no no," Lance said shaking his head. "Keep on going..you have more to unwrap."

She smiled as she pulled out the box and put the bigger one on the side. She then ripped open the wrapping .. only to find another wrapped box inside.

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"Keep on going," Pidge said.

Allura pulled out the next box and thinking that she was going to find another wrapped box, instead found a leather bounded box under the decorative paper. She ripped through the paper and slowly turned the box upside right.

"What is this?"

"Open it."

She slowly looked over the small box and as she opened it, she was greeted with a soft melody, one that she recognized from when she was only a child.

A jewelry box.

The outside was bounded in leather, but the inside was lined with maroon silk. As she opened the box all the way, her eyes nearly teared over as she stared at the small picture that laid within. She then realized that the jewelry box she held in her hands had once belonged to her mother.

"Where......where'd did you find this?" her voice was quivering. "Its..its almost brand new..."

"We did some rummaging and Lance found it in one of the storage rooms below," Hunk said. "it was so tattered and out of shape."

"And the music drum and needle were bent out of shape," Pidge said.

"When we realized what it was, Coran helped us to find a way of restoring it," Lance said. "And that was no easy chore."

"I had to go back to Earth to find someone who knew how to make music boxes to see if they could replicate the melody," Keith said. "Arussian ballads are hard to come by since most of them were never published."

"And I had to locate the material that the box was made with," Lance offered. "do you know how many leather tanners there are on Arus?"

"Hunk and I bargained some silk for doing some odds and ends," Pidge said.

"But the hardest item to locate was the picture of your mother," Keith finished. "Then I came across one."

Allura smiled as she looked down at her present. She slowly turned the box over and wound the key. As she released it, the same melody that was sung to her as child began to play. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she met the gazes of her four friends.

"How can I ever thank you all?" she asked. "This means so much to me."

"You being happy is all the thanks we need, princess," Lance said with a wink. "And I think we've achieved that tonight."

Allura nodded in agreement, and before they could react, she put the jewelry box down and took them into a big hug. She couldn't help but feel the urge to cry.