Disclaimer - I don't own any of these characters, because if I did, you'd never see any of the male variant URTVs again. XD

Author's note - This story was written for a challenge at Xenolegacy. It was to be about the "gift of giving" or some gift-giving occasion. Hopefully, this story manages to fall into one of those categories. And since everyone there knows the Jr.xShion freak I am, none who visit from there should be at all surprised by this fic. :P

A Special Gift for Shion

The holidays were fast approaching for the passengers on board the Elsa. Time was moving far faster than any one of them would have believed possible. Already more than six months had passed since they had set off on their journey to find Lost Jerusalem. Thankfully, the Elsa wasn't an overly small ship; otherwise, the passengers might not be getting along as well as they were.

One of those very passengers was busy contemplating the upcoming Christmas holiday in a way he never had before. Gaignun Kukai, Jr., usually addressed as Little Master or simply Jr., was staring off into the distance, his blue eyes unfocused. Although he had been born on Christmas, the day had never held any special allure for him. He only managed to get a year older, but ever since he was twelve years old, he'd never been able to add any height along with that year. There was no sense in going over this, however, because he no longer had this issue. Slowly but very surely, he had finally convinced himself that he wouldn't allow his fear of his Red Dragon mode to rule his every waking moment. The result was that, in these past six months, Jr. had managed to add a whopping two inches to his former height of 4'7ཁ. Jr. grinned. Hey, it's better than nothing, he thought ruefully.

Of course there was a reason for Jr.'s current pensive mood, but it was a reason he wasn't willing to analyze nor discuss with anyone at the moment. With the recent events of losing chaos, Jin, and KOS-MOS, and now the extremely recent event of Shion and Allen dissolving their relationship, Jr. felt this course of action was best. Heaving a sigh, he decided he'd better head into the bridge and see how the crew was doing. Besides, Jr. had never been a loner and liked to surround himself with people. It kept him from thinking too much about things, as he was doing now. He stood up and exited the lounge.

"Hey, Little Master, how's it going?" greeted Captain Matthews when the door slid open to reveal Jr. "Were you able to figure out what that droid's problem was? Not having my special concoction every day isn't healthy to everyone's well-being, ya know."

Jr. laughed, knowing this all too well. "Yeah, it was nothing all that difficult to fix. A tweak here and a nudge there, and he's good to go. So you'll have your 'special concoction' in the morning. Has anyone seen Shelley, though? I'd really like to talk to her about something."

Tony was the one to answer him. "Shelley went to lie down for a while, Little Master. She said she hasn't been sleeping well for the past couple of nights. I think she's having nightmares about Master Gaignun." He paused for a moment, and then gave Jr. an innocent look. "So, what is it you need to talk about with her? I heard she had an interesting talk with Shion the other day."

Jr. shrugged in what he hoped was an offhand manner. "Oh she did? I didn't hear anything about that. I wanted to ask her about how she's coping, honestly. I know Shelley was closest to Gaignun, and I also know she's missing him a lot. She needs to talk about it with someone."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Little Master," he said disbelievingly. "You know as well as I do that Shelley won't talk about it. Let's just cut to the heart of the matter. You want to ask her about what Shion told her and the reason why she broke things off with Allen. You want to know if you've got even the tiniest shot with Shion."

Jr. eyed him balefully. "You're talking about things you know nothing about, and you're being insubordinate. Did you forget that I'm the one in charge aboard this ship or what? I should seriously think about docking your pay."

Hammer spoke up quietly. "Uh, Little Master...not to be a killjoy or anything when I'm enjoying this exchange, but you don't pay us anymore. How can you dock his pay of nothing?" He made a big show of working at his terminal then, expecting Jr.'s explosive temper to rear its ugly head.

Jr. opened his mouth and then closed it. How could he say anything in return when Hammer was absolutely right? He had nothing to his name now, with the Foundation gone. He had just been lucky that Matthews and the others were willing to help out of the kindness of their hearts. "Good point, Hammer," he uttered reluctantly. "Don't take that to mean you know a damn thing about this, Tony." He turned on his heel and headed back out, hearing Matthews snap on the way, "Ya morons, why don't ya just shut up and let Little Master deal with it on his own?"

Thanking his lucky stars that Mary hadn't been there for that conversation, Jr. headed for the ladies' cabin. He knocked on the door and heard a voice say, "Come on in." Jr. shuddered, for it had been spoken in Mary's accented tone. Taking a deep breath, he headed in and found Mary lounging on her bed while Shelley slept peacefully in hers. "Hiya, Little Mastah," Mary greeted. "What brings you here? If you're lookin' for Shion, she's in KOS-MOS' old maintenance room." This was said with a wink.

Jr. put a hand to his head and prayed for patience. Obviously, his feelings for Shion were written all over everything he said and did, but did everyone have to feel the need to make him face them? They couldn't go anywhere, so what was the point? "Mary, this has nothing to do with Shion. I don't know why you all seem to think I'm pining away for her or some stupid thing like that, but she's just a friend. Got it? Now, I gotta speak to Shelley, so do you think you could go find something to do?" He gave her a pointed glance. Mary's laughter followed her out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later, Jr. was silently fuming, which was very rare for him. Usually when he was feeling like this, everyone knew it since he couldn't hide the red aura that surrounded him. Being in such close vicinity with other people for such a length of time had had a remarkable effect on him, though. It was the reason why he'd finally been able to shake his fear of his Red Dragon mode. He could control his feelings and he could keep the beast at bay. Still, the conversation with Shelley had been very unproductive, both in trying to get her to open up about her feelings about Gaignun's death and in what she had discussed with Shion. "I need a drink," Jr. muttered and headed for what had become his sanctuary, the lounge.

Now comfortably ensconced in one of the booths, Jr. started in on the shots of whiskey he'd gotten from the newly repaired droid. He wanted to get good and drunk, so he could stop thinking about Shion. This is why I don't want to talk about it, he thought to himself angrily. It's easier when I pretend it doesn't exist, and I can just act normally around her. It's not like she'll ever want me. Who knows if I'll even be able to grow up fully? What if these two inches are some kind of anomaly? What if being stuck in that form for all that time has had repercussions I don't even know about? Jr. swigged the whiskey down and shook his head. He told himself to stop thinking, to shut the switch off, but it wasn't working. Speaking to Tony and then dealing with Mary's not-so-subtle hints had forced his brain into working overtime, trying to make up for all of the other times he had just avoided dealing. God, what if she thinks I'm just some kind of freak? I couldn't handle that. So pretending is for the best. It has to be.

So you've finally decided to acknowledge your feelings for the Vector princess, eh, Rubedo? a sly voice purred inside his head. Jr. jumped, spilling his shot of whiskey all over. "Dammit! I was gonna drink that!" Drowning your sorrows won't help, you know. You're so much stronger than that, Rubedo. I'm disappointed. Suddenly Jr. realized just what it was he was hearing. "Albedo, you're awake! Jesus, I thought you had gone to sleep for good!" Albedo laughed quietly. How can I possibly sleep when your mind is busy thinking of ways to make the princess yours? One can't rest with all that racket. At that point, Jr. wished his brother had a physical form so he could hit him. "That's not what I was thinking at all, and you damn well know it! I don't want Shion to know-"

"Know what?" came a soft voice from the doorway. Jr.'s breath caught in his throat. He turned in his seat, even though he was well-aware of who was standing there. His blue eyes rested on Shion's face, a face that haunted his dreams because he was unable to guard against her while he was sleeping. He bit his lower lip and cursed Albedo to oblivion, who simply chuckled. Jr. could almost see him lounging back, taking in the situation and enjoying his twin's discomfort. Heart clenching painfully in his chest, Jr. prepared to lie to the woman he loved, even if he couldn't always admit it. "I don't want you to know what I'm giving you for Christmas," he said with an attempt at a laugh. "I want it to be a surprise."

Shion eyed him in confusion. "Christmas? Is it already that time? I've lost track of time ever since we lost them." Her beautiful green eyes filled with tears. "I don't really have much reason to celebrate, especially now that Allen and I have decided to go our own separate ways."

Jr. sensed the opportunity to discover just what had gone wrong with the relationship. Careful, Rubedo. Since you're making a poor attempt at masking your feelings for the jade-eyed princess, you don't want to come across too strongly in your pursuit of knowledge, Albedo chided. Jr.'s breath hissed between his teeth as he fought down the urge to do some kind of mental harm to Albedo. Since he had no idea if this was even possible, he climbed to his feet. Having managed to down quite a few shots before Albedo had made his presence known, he made a slightly weaving path over to Shion. "Can I ask you something, Shion? Just why did you and Allen not work out? You seemed to be getting along well." Albedo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. I was sleeping and thus not privy to their interactions, but I know you, Rubedo, and you're lying through your teeth. I hope your face isn't quite as expressive as it was when I could see it. Jr. ignored him for sanity's sake.

Shion sighed. "Could we possibly sit down and discuss this, Jr.? I've been so tired these past couple of weeks." She sat down in one of the booths and Jr. sat across from her, waiting for Shion to begin. "Things have been so difficult these last four weeks for me. Allen and I just weren't working out at all, and it wasn't because I didn't love him." She looked off, her eyes misty. "It's a little strange, because I didn't want to talk about it with anyone for so long. And then the other day, only Shelley and I were in the cabin. She just looked at me and I broke down and told her everything that had happened. She just sat there and listened. At the end, she told me it was really the only thing I could have done. To continue the relationship would have put too much stress on Allen and me, and we would have begun to hate one another."

Jr. was feeling the first strains of impatience. Shion was talking in a circle, not telling him what exactly had happened. Rubedo, give her time, Albedo said in a surprisingly gentle voice. She's grieving, and she's not quite sure how to express her emotions right now. She'll get there eventually. Jr., although more than a little shocked at Albedo's sudden display of humanity, knew that Albedo was right. He couldn't rush Shion, or he'd end up pushing her away completely. He said softly, "I'm here to listen too, Shion. Take as much time as you need."

Shion gave him a watery smile. "Thanks, Jr. Anyway, I've always cared for Allen and I know he's always loved me. I didn't always show it in the best way possible, though. I was cruel to him most of the time, but he never allowed that to change his feelings for me. I was too blinded by my infatuation with Kevin to notice that someone who truly loved me was standing right there in front of me. It took Kevin's nearly killing him to open my eyes. Finally, we were together in the way he'd always wanted, and the way that I now knew I wanted as well. As time went on, however, we ran across a stumbling block that we just couldn't get past. Maybe it was my fault."

Jr. wanted to disagree with her, but even without Albedo's constant coaching, he knew that wasn't what Shion needed from him. This had to be the hardest thing Jr. had ever had to do in his life. He wasn't the sort to sit without taking some kind of action, and he wasn't the best listener. That had always been Gaignun's strong point. Loving Shion as he did, though, instilled in Jr. the strength to sit quietly and allow Shion to continue on with no interruptions and no empty words that Shion didn't want to hear.

Shion turned in the booth and pulled her knees up to her chest, her position speaking her feelings in a way she hadn't been able to as of yet. She resembled a forlorn child more than anything. "You know me, Jr., because we're so much alike." Jr.'s breath caught in his throat, and he seemed to be having trouble getting it to unhitch. So she noticed, he thought with a quiet joy. "I'm stubborn and strong-willed, and I'll walk over people to get what I want. Nothing is more important to me than me." Jr.'s joy wilted instantaneously. This wasn't headed in the direction he'd hoped for. "And Allen is just so sweet and kind and good-hearted. I was slowly destroying him with my strong personality. He couldn't say no to me, and he wasn't able to stand up to me. So I did the best thing I possibly could for him - I set him free. He loved me enough to not challenge my decision. That doesn't make it any easier that I broke his heart." With that, Shion broke down.

Jr. immediately jumped to his feet and went around the table to enfold Shion in a comforting embrace. At least now he would be able to say something to her, to ease her anguish in some way. She unfolded from her position and hugged him back, her tears falling silently. He stroked her hair softly and said very quietly, "Shion, you did the most unselfish thing you could. You cared enough about him to let him go. Sometimes love, no matter how strong, just isn't meant to be. It doesn't make the pain any less, though." Shion nodded against his chest but didn't say a word in return. Jr. took the cue and simply told her, "I'm here, Shion. I know what you're feeling. Don't try to hold back with me." The sobbing began in earnest, and the two of them just held one another then.

Unbeknownst to them, the lounge door had slid open. Mary looked upon the scene with a sad shake of her head. She could read the Little Master's feelings in every line of his body. The soft expression on his face as he held Shion made Mary's heart ache for him. Backing up slowly so as not to disturb them and possibly cause either one a wealth of embarrassment, she left the lounge, all the while thinking to herself, Little Mastah, if ya don't tell Shion how ya feel about her soon, you're gonna go crazy. Ya can't hide it anymore.

Now that Shion had gone to lie down, Jr. was left alone with Albedo and his own chaotic thoughts. Things had changed for him from the moment he'd touched Shion. He'd so carefully avoided any kind of physical contact with her since he'd first discovered his feelings for her had gone beyond simple friendship. As long as he kept his distance, he'd thought, he could just ignore the way his heart was calling for her and convince himself he was happy with the way their relationship was at present. It had all shattered like glass the instant he'd gone to her and taken her in his arms. Rubedo, I don't think I've ever seen you think so much about something. You certainly didn't think this much before you let go of my hand all those years ago. Albedo's tone wasn't bitter when saying this. Jr. could feel that he was very curious about his twin and the woman he loved.

"I've grown up, Albedo," he told his brother wearily. "Back then, thinking wasn't a strong point of mine. Oh hell, it's still not! I'm just trying to slip back into that old comfort zone where Shion is just a friend. If I give into these feelings and admit to everyone I love her, I have no idea what will happen. Allen will never forgive me, that's for sure. I'm not saying that will cause me any amount of grief, but I know it will upset Shion because she cares for him so much. I won't cause her that kind of pain, not ever!" He forcibly shut down the mental link with Albedo and left the lounge.