A/M: Mele Kalikimaka! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or equivalent with your friends and family, I certainly did! And as a gift to you cherished friends I give 1700 words of Sukko Christmas with an added bonus.
DuwangChew: Thank you friend! I'm glad you enjoyed! Defender Kagari seems to be leaking into this timeline, such self sacrifice for the sake of Sucy. Its beautiful ;-;
Shigiya: I hope it was worth the wait friend! Thank you!
A Potato: Thank you friend, I hope you had a Merry Christmas! My girlfriend is always stressing over what to get me, overthinking and panicing when it doesn't automatically come to her. But in the end she always gets me the most wonderful things. Like last year for my birthday she gave me all the materials for a Gw2 Legendary I had been fawning over for years. Needless to say I screamed. And the necklace! I also do not know too much about jewelry but Akko dropped roughly 300-500ish dollars on it high quality silver and real ruby? Plus age? $$$ But what an act of love to give up her mint condition Chariot figure for it. Akko's love is so pure.
I hope you enjoy this little chapter of gift giving!
Edit: Aww sheet there was a bit of a formatting fuckup at the end there a whole section was cut off. MY BAD.
Winter Solstice festivals were typical in the magical world: acknowledging and venerating that darkest and deepest part of winter for the energies it brought to spellcraft and the limit it gave.
But this year was a tad different; the precedent set by the Halloween ball making a Christmas party an almost certainty. Akko and her friends were elated: Lotte crafting everyone cute outfits, Jasminka hovering around Diana with suggestions for the menu, Constanze secretly hanging mistletoe in places her favourite two lovebirds were likely to walk.
The brunette danced and twirled in her Christmasy dress, thick black tights making holding down the skirt a non issue. This was where she felt at home, in the spotlight, filling the rest of the room with energy.
The sudden shrill tinging of a glass brought all attention towards the front of the auditorium, to Professor Holbrooke who was donned in a resplendent take on the Catholic Saint Nicholas.
"Attention ladies!" She called, taking the time while the witches quieted down to adjust her Christmas themed witch's hat. "That concludes our Solstice celebration! Curfew has been push ahead by two hours, you are free to roam the grounds and exchange gifts."
Akko ripped towards the corner where Sucy stood in a red version of her usual practical school uniform topped with an adorable Santa hat. The brunette beamed brightly, burning away her darling's anxiety enough for her to smile back.
She grabbed Sucy's hands, stepping a bit closer and swinging them back and forth between them. "I'm so excited to give you your present!" Akko sang, tilting her head slightly.
"Yeah. I hope it's good enough." The alchemist attempted a tease, but was noticeably too nervous to put her whole heart into it. "I worked pretty hard on yours, so you better appreciate it."
The others caught up to Akko, their arms full of presents and smirking at the pair; Sucy immediately hardened her face into a neutral mask, not letting them see her nerves.
"Wow enough with the lewd handholding." Amanda snarked through a skull-pattered muffler. "There are minors here." Though not her usual style, Lotte's handiwork was unmistakable, the handcrafted garment making the taller ginger look even more like a delinquent.
Constanze offered out her wrapped box to Akko first, mirroring the brunette's own excited grin. As was expected, the witch ravenously tore through the paper and opened the box to different kind of surprise.
A mechanical arm shot out of the box, stretching up into the air to dangle a piece of mistletoe above Sucy's head. The alchemist stared at the offensive plant for a whole two seconds before looking back down at her supposed friends.
Each of them grinned devilishly, one by one beginning to chant until even those uninvolved joined in. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
"You are all traitors." She growled, struggling as hard as humanly possible to not blush.
Akko's beaming smile didn't falter in the face of public goading, and with little ceremony she gave in to their demands, leaning in to place a kiss on the left side of Sucy's lips.
She froze solid, her eyes bugging out of her head. Akko's lips were soft like rose petals, warm from the blood flowing through her energetic body; it made a spark run down the alchemist's spine to her toes.
Sucy's world became hazy, and suddenly it was difficult to stand, specks of black creeping into her vision. She could feel the flush filling her face with blood, collapsed forward, and the next thing she knew was blackness.
When consciousness finally returned, the first thing Sucy noticed was the contrasting temperature: everything from her toes to her face was comfortably warm, the back of her head especially with whatever warm softness she was relaxing on, but her cheeks and tip of her nose were rather chilly.
She could smell something fruity, it felt familiar, comforting as the hand that stroked through her hair. The fog began to dissipate and Sucy breathed in, snuggling further into the warmth around her when the icy air filled her lungs.
"Hey there you are..." Akko's voice sounded out from somewhere above her, a soft murmur that brought memories of that day she was sick back into her mind.
Her eyes fluttered open to see an angel hovering over her, brown hair framing a round happy face. "Are you feeling better?" Akko's voice asked through the angel's lips, sending a shot of adrenaline ripping through the alchemist's foggy brain.
Sucy jumped, taking an actual look around. She was laying on a bench, her head pillowed on Akko's thighs, a large blanket surrounding the both of them to fight off the claws of winter.
"I... I think so..." She responded once their eyes had met again, and though Akko's covered legs were incredibly comfortable, begrudgingly sat up, careful as to not pass out again.
The brunette was just as cute as earlier, her Christmas theme uniform making her look like an adorable elf. "The Mrs. Claus to your Santa!" She had said.
Sucy shuffled a little bit closer to wrap the blanket around their shoulders and protect her dearest from another cold. Akko turned away for a second
"This is for you~" The brunette sang with a bright beaming smile, turning back and offering a small box wrapped in deep purple paper. "And don't worry, I didn't open my gift while you were out. It's right next to you."
Of course Akko got her something, she was always so excited about holidays like this, though the alchemist wasn't going to deny how it made her heart skip. She was impressed at the girl's restraint, knowing the lack of patience she had, waiting for someone to wake up must have been torture.
"Thanks..." Sucy murmured.
She carefully undid the ribbon, and began peeling back the wrapping paper crease by crease, much to her love's visible pain.
Inside was a lovely silver necklace; the weight told her that it was the real deal, and probably expensive.
It wasn't too flashy or too gaudy, and only a single gemstone was found anywhere; a perfectly cut red ruby, the exact colour of Atsuko's eyes and with all the sparkle.
The alchemist couldn't say anything, utterly baffled that anyone would spend this much money on her out of all people. She didn't deserve this.
"Something to remind you of me if we're ever apart." Akko explained with a soft smile that made the mycophiliac's heart beat faster. "No matter how far I may wander off; no matter for how long, I'll always come home."
Sucy stared down at the gorgeous ruby fitted into the centre, her mouth stuck open in shocked awe. The corners of her eyes stung at Atsuko's disgustingly sweet words, and she clenched her jaw hard to fight back the tears. No one would ever see her cry, not even Akko. Never.
Hiding her face behind a veil of puce hair, she gently butted her head against the brunette's: a gesture that was well known to both of them as one of deep affection.
"I can't believe you could think about something so hard." Sucy tried to poke, though not enough effort could be put in to make it sound genuine. "I love it." She admitted, voice smaller than the brunette had ever heard. "And I love you."
They stayed there for a while, wrapped in the blanket, breathing together; watching how every exhalation formed light clouds of moisture in the air.
When her innermost layer of walls repaired itself enough, Sucy spoke again: a little more forceful, a little more playful. "Now I gotta show you up with my gift. I took forever so you better be grateful!"
Using one hand to keep the blanket wrapped around her, she took the wrapped rectangular box from beside herself and offered it out to the brunette with a tiny smile. "Merry Christmas."
A moment of hesitation was all Akko gave before excitedly tearing through the paper and tossing the box's cover high up into the air. Two vials of equal size sat in the box, a pink and orange fluid churning inside, almost like a dance.
She looked up at her love with confusion and curiosity, searching her eyes for any malicious or impish intent. There was none.
The alchemist just smiled, taking a vial for herself and offering the other to the gift's recipient. "Drink it together yeah? Give me your arm."
With a few quick and pourposeful movements, their arms were linked together at the elbow, each girl bringing their vial up to their lips. Akko still wasn't sure about any of it, but if Sucy was going to drink it too, it couldn't be dangerous. "To us." She offered in a toast.
"To us." Sucy responded, smiling genuinely before downing the entire thing in one go.
It was warm as it slid down her throat, filling her stomach with a feeling not unlike nervous butterflies. "Sucy what..." But before she could ask, the warmth spread, throughout her entire body it chased away any sign of the icy evening and turned her skin a light pink.
The butterflies faded away and she started to feel lighter, the air feeling thicker around her though no harder to breathe. The alchemist smirked at her, taking the vials and setting them aside before pulling her up to standing with both hands.
One hand disconnected from the brunette, raising up in the air to push down like one did while swimming up towards the surface of the pool. Seconds later they were both off the ground, floating in the air while leisurely kicking their feet against gravity.
"You always wanted to fly." Was all Sucy said, kicking a bit harder and pulling her love higher up into the sky.
Akko tried to help out the other witch in flying upwards, treating it like she was at the beach and kicking with her feet. She smiled, huffing a laugh. Once, twice, three times and it became full on giggling. "I d-did!"
When they were a sufficient height off the ground, Akko grabbed the alchemist, hugging her tightly in joy. "You're the best, and I love you." She laughed, taking care not to crush her love with her unnaturally strong hugs.
"I try." Sucy smiled back, biting the bullet and returning the hug, her built up happiness and affection releasing itself in one of the tightest hugs she had ever given. Her heart was bursting with love, overflowing with everything she had tried to hold back for months.
And then their lips were on eachother's.
Sucy couldn't stop herself, no matter how red it made her face, or how lightheaded the feeling of the brunette's sweet lips made her. She couldn't stop. And really didn't want to.
Flying high above anyone who could interrupt them or judge her for such things they shared their first real kiss, silhouetted against the pale Christmas moon.
A/N: On the 14th day of Christmas, Kaponos gave to me~ FINALLY A FUCKING SMOOOOOOOOOCH.
Merry Christmas you beautiful bastards. I love you all.