The song sort of describes us, Rima.

You're going through so much
But I know that I could be
the one to hold you.
Every single day,
I find it hard to say
I could be yours alone.

~ Yours to Hold - Skillet

Rima awoke the next morning, lying on the bed, with a strange sense of safeness. She attempted to sit up, but failed, as she saw something gripping her waist. 'Why does this happen every time I sleep in his bed?' she thought. It had happened last time too, she remembered.

She gently removed Nagihiko's arms from her waist, this time making sure that he didn't tighten them. Rima went through her usual morning: checking the time and then thinking of what she could do that day, even if it wouldn't happen.

The time was 8:12, earlier than the other nights away from her house. Today was December 24th, she recalled. She wondered if she should get Nagihiko and Kukai presents, since they were being so kind to her. Rima made a mental note to ask Nagihiko if she could sneak into her house so she could get money, and some other things she didn't want her father to destroy.

Just then, Nagihiko stirred, causing Rima-who was sitting on the at the time-to jump a bit and look over at him.

"G'morning, Riri..." He mumbled, barely awake.

"Morning Fujisaki. Still asleep?" She asked, unconsciously smiling, perhaps since he called her Riri.

"Urgh... nah." Nagihiko sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked over at her. "Why are you on the floor?"

"Because before I was captured in your arms for the second time. I prefer the floor. And did you know that when you're half asleep, you call me Riri?" Rima said, smirking, and caused Nagihiko to blush.

"I-I do? And sorry. I think it's just a reflex to hold onto pretty girls."

"You sound like such a pervert right now." Nagihiko thought back to what he had said.

"Damn, I didn't mean it like that, Rima! I swear!" Nagihiko stated, waving his hands around like a maniac, making Rima giggle a bit.

"Sure." Rima agreed sarcastically. "Anyway, I have a question. Can we sneak into my house so I can get some stuff?"

"No. We aren't, we'd definitely get caught."

"Oh, did I say we? I meant me. And trust me, I wouldn't get caught. I know my father, and his hearing is pretty terrible."

"Even more of a no if it's just you going."

"You realize that I'll end up going anyway, since I know that you won't kick me out of your house, right?" Rima smirked.

"What do you even want to get?" He asked.

"Money, photos, and a few other things."

"You realize that I can give you money, right?"

"Yeah, but then you'd be paying for your own Christmas present!" Rima blurted out, and once she realized what she said she snapped her hand over her mouth.

"Wait, you want to buy me a present?" Nagihiko looked genuinely confused as Rima blushed a light shade of pink before composing herself.

"Well, yeah, you are letting me stay here. I want to buy one for Kukai too." Nagihiko thought for a few moments as Rima fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"I'll let you go back to your house on one condition." Rima nodded, he had her attention. "I go with you into the house." Rima sighed, knowing that this was going to be the only way she could go back.

"Fine.

Three hours later, Rima and Nagihiko found themselves bundled up and walking over to Rima's house.

"Remind me again why we're going?" Nagihiko asked, rubbing his hands together.

"So I can get money to buy you a present. And get some other stuff." Rima said. They soon came to the side of the house, and Rima pointed up to her bedroom window. "There's a tree right outside it. It's usually simple to climb, but since it snowed... Well, let's just say I hadn't sneaked out of the house in awhile."

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to climb, as long as you wipe off the snow before you step." Nagihiko said, as he walked over to inspect the tree. He started to climb. "You coming Rima?"

"Of course I'm coming! And let me go up first, you don't know how to undo the lock."

"Nope. Because I need to protect you, and I can't do that if I'm behind you." Nagihiko smiled, and Rima's face had colour to it, whether from the cold or what Nagi said, she wasn't sure.

"Fine. The lock is simple enough anyway." Rima muttered, climbing the tree after Nagihiko, but using many other branches to climb up.

About five minutes later, Rima finally reached the branch where they could sneak into her room, of which Nagihiko was already in, leaning out to help Rima in.

"No grabbing where you shouldn't, okay?" Rima stated.

"I wasn't going to!"

"Sure you weren't."

"I wasn't!"

"Okay then, I definitely believe you. Now shut up, or else my father could get suspicious." The two became quiet, and Nagihiko stood by the door as Rima grabbed a small bag and placed some money, a stuffed bear, and some photos inside.

"Come on, let's go." Rima said, perhaps a bit too loudly, as they heard a few curses from downstairs; from hearing the noise, they weren't sure of that.

The two quickly exited through the window, most likely with more noise than they wanted. Rima and Nagihiko climbed down the tree, which was trickier than on the way up, as their hair kept getting snagged on branches.

"That was another close one." Nagihiko said once they were a good few minutes away from Rima's house.

"That it was, let's hope we don't have another." Rima said, clinging onto her bag for dear life. Why, she and Nagihiko didn't know.

"Well, I'm just hoping it doesn't get too much colder, or else my mother will be wondering why I'm taking so many extra blankets." Nagihiko said, switching topics.

"You won't be needing any extra blankets."

"Oh, really? And why is that? Because I was under the impression that you wanted to sleep on the floor."

"If something gets your mother suspicious, we don't really want to do that."

"But the only way we aren't going to need extra blankets is if you sleep in the bed with me." Nagihiko was extremely confused, as Rima had told him that she didn't want to sleep on the bed at all.

"As I said, if it makes your mother less suspicious. But I would appreciate it if you stopped holding onto me."

"I told you, I can't help it!"

"Well, try to help it."

And two hours later, Nagihiko found himself at the mall with Rima, who wanted to go Christmas shopping.

"I'm buying gifts for you, Kukai, and Amu. I don't know if I should buy anything for Yaya, since I'll be glomped."

"You'll have to deal with her whining if you don't get her something." Nagihiko pointed out.

"Point taken. Candy for her, then. Who're you buying gifts for?"

"My mother, you, Kukai, Tadase, Amu and Yaya."

"I totally forgot that Tadase existed!" Rima said as she stopped walking. "Oh well, I'm not about to buy him a gift." She continued walking.

"You sure are kind."

"I know." Rima smiled, finding this quite funny.

"You know, this is one of the first times I've seen you smile." Nagihiko pointed out.

"Kukai said the same thing." Rima said softly. "Shall we go in here?" Rima asked, pointing to a small candy shop.

"May as well get Yaya's gift out of the way."

"That's what I was thinking." Rima said as they walked into the shop. She went straight to the back, where the rock candy was. Grabbing several sticks, Rima went to buy them as Nagihiko looked at small baskets filled with Christmas candies.

Rima walked over to Nagihiko after she bought the rock candy, eating one. "Looking at baskets? Seems like a good choice."

"I thought it would be easier than picking out one thing." Nagihiko grabbed one and faced Rima. Sort of, because of the height. "Why are you eating candy?"

"Because I like rock candy!" Rima exclaimed. "Is that hard to believe?"

"No, rock candy is pretty good. I might buy some myself."

"Good, because you're not getting any of mine."

"If the rock candy is yours, what did you buy Yaya?"

"... Nothing." Nagihiko sighed, thinking how silly Rima was being right now.

"Go find something for Yaya, Rima."

"Fine." Nagihiko went to the rock candy as Rima grabbed a box of chocolate and paid for it.

After finishing up in that store, they went into an accessory shop for Amu's gift. Nagihiko purchased her something pink, and sort of girly, while Rima opted for a gift card, so Amu could choose out something on her own. Oh, and a card.

Nagihiko and Rima then went separate ways to buy gifts for everyone else, including each other.

With Nagihiko

Nagihiko walked into a shop for dancing, planning to buy a new kimono for his mother. He chose out a light purple one, with a flower pattern. Deciding to get something for Tadase afterwards, he walked into a stationary shop and bought a pencil. Not a pack of pencils, just one. Nagihiko walked over to the sports store after paying for the one pencil, and bought Kukai a new basketball, since he had been complaining last month to him.

'Now, what should I get for Rima?' A book, perhaps? Nagihiko shook his head. 'Rima's not much of a reader.' He thought. And then it hit him, literally. An earring shot out of the sky and hit him near his eye, as a girl came running towards him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't even know how it managed to get all the way over here!" The girl said, picking up her earring, and placing it in her pocket.

"It's fine. Actually, you just gave me a great idea for a Christmas gift." Nagihiko smiled at the girl.

"Okay! Well, once again, I'm sorry!" The girl then ran off, and Nagihiko looked around for a jewelry store. 'I think there's one over on the other side of the mall' Nagihiko turned around, and walked for a good few minutes, thinking of what colour Rima would like, and then he remembered that she mentioned that her favourite colour was red.

Nagihiko spotted the jewelry store, and walked in. "Hello, may I help you?" A young brunette lady asked him.

"Yes, I'm looking for a red necklace."

"Okay, right this way. We should have a few red necklaces." The woman came out from behind the counter, directing Nagi to the left side of the store. "These are our only red necklaces, but I do hope that you'll find one you like." She smiled and walked back over to the counter, leaving Nagihiko to pick out a necklace for Rima.

Though there were only a few, they were definitely all beautiful. He examined one with a dark red stone, and had silver wire wrapped around it. 'Something more simple.' He thought, looking over at the rest, and then he spotted one. It was a small, red stone, and only that. Simple, small, and sophisticated. 'Just like Rima.' He thought, and walked over to the lady at the counter.

"I've decided which one I want." He said, and brought her to the necklace, which turned out to be 87 dollars. Paying for the necklace, Nagihiko thanked the lady and walked out of the store to meet up with Rima.

With Rima

Rima went straight to the sports store, to buy a gift card for Kukai since she wasn't sure what he would want. After she went to sit on a bench and think of what to buy Nagihiko. Clothes? No, she didn't know his size. Dances shoes? 'What type of shoes do you even need for dancing anyway?' Rima thought. Thinking harder, she finally thought of something. CD's, or headphones, something to do with music. Nagihiko would like that, wouldn't he?

Getting off the bench, Rima walked towards where the music store. Once there, she walked around for a bit, and finally stopped when she reached the sheet music aisle for the third time. She knew that Nagihiko played piano, he had mentioned it when she found a keyboard under his bed yesterday.

Rima noticed a Nobuo Uematsu sheet music book. Picking it up, she flipped through it, and decided it looked good. But she also didn't know much about music, so her opinion was as useless as a cats.

She walked up to the counter, paid for the book, and walked to where she was supposed to meet Nagihiko after finishing buying the rest of their gifts. She was surprised to see that Nagihiko was already there.

"Hey."

"Hey. Finished shopping?"

"Yeah, and I'm assuming you are too?" Nagihiko nodded, and discreetly hid the jewelry bag.

"Shall we leave then?" Rima suggested. Nagihiko took his cell phone out of his pocket, Nagihiko called a taxi to come, as they didn't want to walk home in the cold weather.

The taxi took awhile to come, leaving Rima and Nagi in an awkward silence.

"Fujisaki, stop taking all the blankets!" Rima whisper-yelled.

"Well, if you want some of the blankets, just come closer!" Nagihiko suggested. The two were lying in bed, but pretty well on totally opposite edges. Rima huffed, and inched a bit closer to the middle of the bed.

"I'm still cold." Rima complained, grabbing the bits of blanket she could reach. Nagihiko sighed, and went closer to Rima, and wrapping his arms around her, causing them both to blush (although they couldn't see that the other was).

"Are you still cold?"

"N-no." Rima stuttered out, hoping he couldn't tell. However, Nagihiko is not one to miss that, and chuckled.

"Nervous?"

"Why the hell shouldn't I?! I have a cross-dresser hugging me instead of just sharing the blankets!"

"But Riri, it's more fun to hug you than share."Nagihiko complained.

"Ugh. Fine." Rima sighed, and leaned her head onto his chest cautiously, and let out a shaky breath. "Good night, Fujisaki."

"Sweet dreams." Nagihiko said after Rima had fallen asleep, and kissed her head before falling asleep himself.

The next morning, Nagihiko woke up first, opposed to Rima waking up first. And of course, his arms were still around her. Nagihiko felt something gripping his back though, and he tilted his head as best as he could to look. Of what he could see, Rima's hand were gripping his shirt tightly. Nagihiko smiled and looked at Rima, who was still sleeping peacefully.

"Hey. Hey Riri. Wake up."

"Nya... no..."

"Hey. Hey Rima. It's Christmas." Rima's eyes opened widely and she grinned widely. "Well that certainly got you up fast.

"Well, yeah. Christmas is awesome." Rima made a face, you know the one. The one that just screams 'duh!'.

"Fair enough. Merry Christmas, Rima." Nagihiko smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Fujisaki."

"Would you like your present now?" Nagihiko asked, which Rima asked with feverishly nodding. He got out of bed, walked to where he had hidden Rima's gift and went back to the bed with her gift. "Here you go."

Rima took the small box hesitantly in her hands and opened it to see the small, red necklace that Nagi had picked out. Her eyes widened, and she placed the box down before hugging Nagihiko tightly. Nagi, in the shock, just sat there for a few seconds before realizing that Rima was hugging him, and he hugged her back as she repeated 'thank you' over and over again.

"You're welcome, Rima! Now can you please let go of me?" Nagihiko managed to get out. Rima let go of him, blushing a light pink.

"I'm sorry. Did I hug you too tightly?"

"A bit, but it's fine." Nagihiko assured her. "Now, what did you get me?" Rima got up, found the present, and returned to the bed.

"Here you go." She handed him the gift, which she had wrapped in a newspaper she had bought. Nagihiko fiddled with it for a moment, before tearing the paper off. His eyes widened as he saw the book, and he looked at Rima, who was looking everywhere but at Nagihiko.

"Thanks, Rima!" Nagihiko placed the book down and hugged Rima, who just sat there; maybe from being too uncomfortable, or maybe because, as she would say, a cross-dresser is hugging her. Nagihiko let go of her after a moment, leaving Rima sitting in a sort of shock.

"You're welcome. I remembered that you play piano, so..." Rima trailed off, gesturing at the book. "Do you think you could play one later on?"

"I should be able to play one on the piano later. My mother isn't going to be home, so we'd be able to go into the music room."

"Okay, but if you're not good, I get to judge you forever." Rima warned, smiling slightly.

"Warning noted."

"Nagihiko, I'm going out for the night, be careful, I'll be back at 11:30 or so." Nagihiko's mother called out before opening the front door to leave for a Christmas party. Nagihiko walked calmly back to his room.

"Rima, Baaya and my mother aren't home,so you can come out of the room now." He said to her. Rima stood up, wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with dark skinny jeans, making Nagihiko smile.

"Alright." She said quietly, following him to the music room, carrying the music book. "What song are you going to play?"

"You'll see."

"Where'd Baaya go, anyway?"

"We always give her Christmas and New Years off." Nagihiko stated as they reached the music room.

"Oh, okay. Can you tell me something about the song?"

"The song sort of describes us, Rima. Now pass me the book." She handed him the book and he placed it on the thing you place sheet music on and sat on the bench. "You can sit over there." He pointed to a large chair.

"How does the song describe us?" Rima asked, sitting down on the chair.

"It's called Bittersweet Romance." Nagi stated before starting to play.

[Okay readers, now open a youtube tab and search up 'Bittersweet Romance FFIX' it's what Nagi is playing on piano.]

"Fujisaki, that's amazing." Rima said after he finished playing.

"Thanks." Nagihiko smiled at her. "So, will you start calling me Nagihiko now?"

"I might, but don't get your hopes up, Fujisaki." Nagihiko got up and sat next to her on the large chair.

"Well, that's better than nothing. Merry Christmas, Rima." He said, and looked down at Rima, who was crying a bit. "What's wrong?"

"I-it's just Christmas... reminds me of when my parents were still together and didn't fight." Rima said, more tears falling. Nagihiko hesitated, but held Rima, making her stiffen, but then she relaxed. "I miss that."

"I know you do." Nagihiko said, running his fingers through her hair as she cried more.

"And I almost wish that I could've just lived with my mother instead."

"Why almost?"

"Because then I wouldn't be able to be here." Rima said, crying even more as she thought of her mother.

"Rima, it's all right." Nagihiko said softly, rubbing her back.

"C-can we go back into your room?" She asked.

"Of course." Nagihiko grabbed her hand and walked towards his -rather, their- room, Rima still crying but trying not to. Once there, they sat on the bed and Nagihiko held Rima.

"Shhh, it's all right." Nagihiko said, rubbing her back once again as she cried into his chest, mumbling everything that she missed.

"T-thanks... Nagihiko." She said about two hours later. Nagihiko smiled gently and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It was no problem, Rima." He looked over at the clock, which read 11:00. "My mom is going to be home soon, do you want to wait until she comes back to sleep? Because she's probably going to check in here."

"Okay, I can wait awhile."

An hour afterwards, at midnight, Nagihiko was once again holding Rima, who didn't want to fall asleep alone.

"Nagihiko?" She said,

"Mm?"

"Thanks for this."

"It's fine."

And so the two fell asleep, Rima leaning into Nagi's chest and him holding her close.

Okay guys, I know I haven't updated in awhile. But it took awhile for me to want to write this chapter, because I knew it was going to be sad. The song is really beautiful, and I would love it if you guys actually did listen to it. Hope you liked the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the two songs used in this chapter, or Shugo Chara.