A/N: I still feel like I'm taking forever with these updates... most likely because I am ^^; I'm planning on updating more quickly, since Melon will get onto me if I don't. That being said, I hope to have this fic done by late September/early October. But for that, I need to update...

So, anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. The last part is pretty much pointless fluff - enjoy it while you can *ominous music*

Elizaveta felt almost like Feli on Christmas morning, due to the fact that she simply could not stay asleep after she woke up at some ungodly hour. After laying in bed staring at the ceiling and thinking of Roderich for at least an hour, she got up and worked on cleaning up the kitchen, since Feli hadn't even bothered and the cooks would need to use it in a few hours.

With the work to take her mind off far too girlish daydreams, Elizaveta didn't notice the passage of time besides noting the fact that it was easier to see. Roderich's kitchen was huge and she had moved on to organizing a few storerooms as well.

Done with that task, she moved out into the hallway and made her way toward the music room in order to make sure it was decorated as a surprise for Roderich. However, the man himself was already seated at the piano, oblivious to her presence in the doorway.

She had always liked to watch him, but now that he clearly thought of her in that way, the temptation to look at him was even stronger.

His piano playing was choppy and he was overly concentrated on whatever it was, so concentrated that Elizaveta decided that he had to be working on that song once again.

"Morning," she said cheerfully, striding into the room. Roderich looked up from the piano in surprise, then blushed and smiled slightly. "Are you working on my song again?"

"I told you, Elizaveta, it is not your song. It is merely about you." He went back to looking at the keys as Elizaveta leaned against the other end of the piano, propping her elbows on the smooth surface and cupping her chin in her hands.

"Of course it is, Roddy. But that begs the question, why aren't you writing me a song?"

He instantly looked flustered and she grinned at her ability to mess with him. He was so adorably awkward. "Well… I… um…"

"It's alright," she laughed, skipping around to where Roderich was sitting. She threw her arms around his shoulders, still smiling. "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"Merry Christmas to you as well," he said, slightly less disconcerted. "I have a gift for you."

"Really?"

"But of course," he said with a satisfied smile. "I did mention that I… could not stop thinking of you. So, that inevitably led to me purchasing something for you."

"So you bought something for that girl that you had just had a fight with?"

"You're also the girl I can't get off my mind… or off of my shoulders."

Elizaveta laughed awkwardly and sat down beside him on the piano bench. He dug around in his coat pockets for a moment before producing a small box and handing it to her.

"So… what is it?" she asked, running a finger over the lid.

"Open it to find out."

She laughed and gently pried the lid off. Suddenly, Elizaveta was faced with the sparkliest thing since she'd been on a battlefield amid thousands of gleaming swords…

Admittedly, that probably wasn't the best analogy for the clearly expensive necklace that Roderich had bought for her.

"Roderich… it's beautiful," she breathed, gingerly reaching out to touch her gift. It was an elegant silver piece – most likely genuine – with some form of green stone dangling from a pendant in the middle. She was no expert in things like jewelry, but she could tell that this was highly unusual.

He picked it up before she did, taking one end in each hand. "May I?" he asked softly. Elizaveta grinned and gathered her hair into her hand as he fasted the necklace and let it fall against her chest, clashing terribly with her maid uniform. She had a feeling that the dress looked washed-out next to the stone's vibrant green.

She fingered the pendant, still in shock. "You do know that you didn't have to," she ventured. I don't even like jewelry, and I'm just a servant that you were mad at when you bought this.

"Exactly," he said. "But I wanted to."

"Then thank you. Thank you so, so much." She hugged him fiercely, catching him off guard, but she still felt like her thanks were inadequate. How could anything measure up to this gift?

"Well, I would be giving you a gift, but it was burned last night," Elizaveta said after she released her grip.

"You mean the dinner? I, for one, thought that the… uh, events of last night were an excellent gift." Roderich was blushing slightly, which, coupled with his words, made her blush as well, but hopefully not enough to be detectable.

"Ve~ Merry Christmas!" Feli stood in the doorway, beaming at them.

"Merry Christmas, Feli!" Elizaveta said, waving at the boy.

"Look, Lizzy," the boy pointed at the chandelier above the piano. "Mistletoe!"

It took her a moment to remember what the significance of that particular parasite was. Then it hit her. She glanced at Roderich, who was apparently undergoing the same revelation. Italy's clapping was on the very edge of her consciousness. Most of her attention was focused on not letting the awkwardness of the situation utterly overwhelm her.

Roderich reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. She couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes, so she shut hers as they drew closer. Unsure of herself in the dark, she grabbed onto his shoulder right as she felt the firm wetness of his lips against hers.

It wasn't like she hadn't kissed before. Willingly, unwillingly, Elizaveta was no stranger to these things. After all, she was a warrior. Warriors conquered and were conquered, and maybe there was a little affection buried somewhere in there, but flesh against flesh was an alliance and vital regions was more than an innuendo.

She was a warrior still, and always would be, no matter how many jewels Roderich strung around her neck.

And that brought her to her insecurity. She had kissed and been kissed, but never by Roderich, and definitely never for love or anything resembling it. It took her by surprise and for once she realized why humans loved love so much.

The kiss was nothing more than a brief meeting of lips, since there were young, innocent eyes in the room (and Roderich was the one she was kissing), but Elizaveta discovered something right then.

She was a warrior in a maid's dress wearing a necklace that was out of place with either role, but she was most certainly going to be kissing Roderich much more often.

And, damn, they weren't even a day into this.

However, Elizaveta didn't do much in the "kissing Roderich much more often" category as they progressed into the new year. Her life didn't change all that much, actually. She still had her fair share of chores that she still disliked with a passion. The main difference was Roderich's warmth toward her and the fact that she spent most of her free hours beside him at the piano, listening to him play and sometimes even write her song.

That, though, was just about as affectionate as Roderich got, aside from the occasional compliment or a rare hug when no one was around. And, frankly, Elizaveta was tired of this. It had been nearly a month since they had realized their mutual affection, and she felt that it was high time he stopped acting so emotionally repressed.

In other news, she had finally remembered another reason why she hated dresses. Compared to the men's clothes she'd worn during her childhood and into battle, dresses provided almost no protection from the cold. And, in this huge, drafty house, the cold was a definite problem.

Almost as if she thought she could do something about both of her current issues, she had decided to stay in her room one morning, even though she knew that it was definitely warmer in other parts of the house. If Roderich wanted to come find her, then he could. She definitely wouldn't object to that.

Soon enough, Elizaveta heard a knock on her door. "Um… Elizaveta?" It was Roderich – who else?

"Come in, Roddy~" she said, wrapping another blanket around her shoulders.

The door sung open, revealing Roderich looking inexplicably worried. "Are you alright?" he asked, stepping inside.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you hadn't come out of your room, and Feli told me you were in here… I don't know, I thought you were sick or injured or…"

"I'm fine, Roderich," she laughed. "I'm just cold."

"Oh," he said, rubbing his neck as if the action could alleviate the awkwardness of the situation.

It took only a second for a plan to form in Elizaveta's mind – one that would solve both of her problems at once. "I'm cold," she repeated.

"I am aware, you already said this."
"I am COLD."

Roderich was not taking the hint and merely staring at her like she was crazy. That was at times debatable, but she was nearly the craziest country out there.

"I'm cold… and bored," she tried again. At this point, Roderich just looked exasperated.

"Then perhaps I could bring you some hot tea and a book."

"Um, no thank you, I-"

"Oh. Well, then, is there anything else I can do for you?"

Elizaveta's brain was halfway occupied by laughing internally at the unwittingly suggestive question, while the other half attempted to formulate a response that would get her what she wanted.

Apparently she had taken too long, since Roderich began to speak again. "No? I suppose if I cannot do anything for you, then I should go check on Italy…"

"No. I'm sure Feli is fine," she said, firmly enough that she hoped it was obvious that he was not allowed to leave.

"Oh… well, then…"

She grinned, feeling victorious, and decided spontaneously to give him a hug. It took him by surprise, obvious by the way he tensed up at first, but he soon relaxed and snaked his arms around her waist.

"I'm still cold," she murmured into his chest.

"Perhaps you should get back in bed, then."

"Mmmhmm." She broke the hug and grabbed his hand before he could react, dragging him over to the bed (which wasn't very far).

"Elizaveta, uh… this is not very proper…" Roderich looked flustered and altogether too worried. It was priceless. He really needed to stop doing that, or it would only encourage her more.

At least he finally understood, she thought. But this was Elizaveta we were talking about, and she wasn't one to take no for an answer. So she looked up at Roderich with her best kicked-puppy look. She wasn't sure how well she pulled it off, but his stern expression melted into one of resignation.

"Fine. But we… you… I… we're not losing anything during this brief respite, are we clear?"

Well, that was disappointing. Elizaveta covered it up with a forced laugh, reminding herself that there would be many, many more opportunities. After all, they were immortal.

"I wasn't even thinking of that," she lied. It probably wouldn't do for him to know how much of a pervert she was. It wasn't even her fault – it was spending her childhood with Gilbert that was to blame.

"Oh… um… well, that's good," Roderich said, attempting to regain his dignity. The lie hadn't been a total waste, since he had that adorable blush again.

"Roddy~ you're so cute!" She couldn't resist teasing him further and even giving him a quick hug.

To her surprise, he actually smiled, instead of looking displeased at this affront to his "manliness". He reached out to slowly brush a stray curl out of her face. "And you are quite… beautiful."

This time, Elizaveta was the one taken by surprise. "Thanks…" she mumbled, not really knowing what to say in response.

He was full-on grinning now, seeing that he finally had the upper hand. "Now, there is no reason for you to stay cold any longer," he said, pulling back the covers.

Seeing that he was actually going to follow through, Elizaveta beamed once more. "Nope!" She crawled over her bed to the side against the wall, attempting to make room for Roderich. He joined her in a much more self-conscious fashion, pulling the covers over both of them and gingerly putting an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled closer, finally somewhere near warm and infinitely glad that she didn't live in Russia.

Roderich leaned over quickly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Perhaps you should rest. You were up late with that… ah… gambling, I suppose."

She laughed. Typical Roderich, disapproving of the games she played with the other servants. "I always win, since I'm the only one who actually stays sober."

"I am aware. I still think you need rest."

"Fine. But you're still not allowed to leave."

"I promise I won't."

Suddenly, Elizaveta had an idea. "I should write that down on our list!"

"What list?"
"The list of promises. Remember?"
He looked a little less confused, but only a little. "The one from the party?"

"Yes."

"And what would be the promise?"
"That you won't leave me."

"Isn't it a little early in our relationship for that?"

This silenced her. Did he want to leave? She rolled over so she faced the wall.

"Elizaveta, don't be like that! I just think it's a little early for such a large commitment…"

"Even best friends can promise never to leave each other."

He sighed. "If it makes you happy, I will promise that."

"Only if you mean it."

"I mean it."

"Then, yes, it would make me very happy." She rolled back over, now smiling, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled back and put his arms around her. "I love you," she whispered, resting her head against his chest.

"And I love you," he replied, lips brushing her forehead. "Now rest."

Roderich Edelstein promises never to leave Elizaveta Hédeváry.

Elizaveta Hédeváry promises never to leave Roderich Edelstein.