Hi, Everyone! (gets glared at) Heh-heh. Um, sorry about not updating in, like, forever but I've kinda been missing the one thing that every author needs: motivation. And without a responding audience, there's no motivation left in me. Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna finish this story, and I'm grateful for my 69 hits.
Special thanks to FlameUser64 for the advice and idea!
This is the Christmas chapter, and it's in the middle of Summer! lol Hope you enjoy!
The windows were comepletely covered with frost on the outside, and each one had a string of white lights around the frame. Regal and Genis were in the kitchen, making French Toast for breakfast. There was a small wreath on both sides of the kitchen door, one wreath had a X in the middle it, made with a fork and a spoon.
In the middle of the main room was a gigantic Christmas tree covered in colored lights that flashed on and off every other minute. Raine and Sheena were placing multi-colored and odly-shaped ornaments on the tree. Presea and Zelos were carring in the presents and placing them under the tree. Colette was using her angel wings to place a beautiful glittering star on top of the tree. She carefully placed it on top an backed away to admire it. Afterwards, she flew down to help Presea and Zelos.
Sheena looked over at the clock. It was 8:15. "Where on earth is that lazy lump? He should have been up an hour ago!"
"Lloyd dosn't usually sleep in this long. I wonder what's keeping him," Zelos thought out loud.
"Mabye he was up too late," said Raine.
"In that case, we shouldn't wake him. I'm positive that he'll come down when he's ready," Colette said and everyone nodded and went back to work.
At 8:25, Genis yelled out "BREAKFAST!" and everyone put down what was in their hands and headed tward the table.
"Wow! this is the best French Toast I've ever tasted!" Colette exclaimed.
"Yeah! How come you guys never made it for us before?" Sheena asked.
"Well...I don't know actually." Genis admitted.
"Genis, I sincerly hope you get a new apron for Christmas," Raine sighed. "At least that explains where all of your stains come from." Genis blushed a bit but then nodded. His current apron had a big hole in the torso and tiny holes nearly everywhere else.
"Yeah, a new apron would be nice..." he
"Lloyd still hasn't come down yet. I hope he's O.K." Colette worried.
"Yeah. I'll go check on him," Zelos said. He climbed up the stairs started to walk toward the room that he and Lloyd shared.
Zelos was wondering around the second floor of the inn.
Lloyd's been in the room for a long time now. He's even missing breakfast! Colette must be worried. Yes, Zelos knew Lloyd and Colette had a thing for each other. It was pretty obvious. Too bad they won't admit it. He always thought that they'd make a cute couple.
Although, admitting feelings is really hard. I don't even have the guts to do it! Zelos thought. He knew that he loved Sheena. But he couldn't figure out why. She always yelled at him, she thought he was an idiot, constantly insulted him and she's never mad at anyone but him. He could have any other girl in the world, yet his heart chose Sheena?
That's why Zelos thought. I could have any other girl in the world who would easily fall for me. But Sheena, she's different.
Zelos finally walked into his shared room and walked over to Lloyd's bed.
"Lloyd, come on, man! Get up! You're missing breakfast!" Zelos yelled. Lloyd rolled over on one shoulder.
"LLOYD IRVING! YOU'RE MISSING BREAKFAST! WAKE UP!" Lloyd sprang upright and opened his eyes.
"Oh, morning, Zelos," Lloyd said, in a casual tone."Do you know how much longer until breakfast? I'm starving!" Zelos sweatdropped.
"Well, that's what I came up here for. Breakfast is ready and you still wern't awake! Colette was starting to get worried that her boyfriend would forget to wake up." Lloyd blushed and glared at Zelos.
"If you made fun of Colette, I swear..." Lloyd started.
"Relax, Lloyd. I was just just kidding. Now come down before it's all gone." Lloyd nodded and he and Zelos walked down the stairs.
The rest of the day was filled with Christmas carols and decorating. The holiday cheer was going around and everyone was cautiously avoiding the fireplace, where the Mistletoe was hung.
Christmas Morning
Genis was the first one to wake up. He inhaled and opened his eyes. Finally he thought It's Christmas morning, at last! He smiled and looked at the clock. 6:45. He sighed. No one would be awake this early.
He roled over in his bed and was about to go back to sleep when an idea poped into his mind. He smiled to himself and lept out of bed. He ran over to Regal's side of the room and shook him hard.
"Regal!" he said "Wake up! It's Christmas!"
"Genis, if you plan on waking everybody up, I'll go down and start breakfast. What did we agree on?" Regal asked.
"Pancakes. I'll be down once everybody's awake, kay?"
"I'll be waiting." Regal said as he started walking out of the room.
"Wait! How come you're not getting dressed?" Genis called out. Regal turned around.
"Zelos has requested that we not get dressed until we've opened the presents he got for us. Do you not remember?"
"Oh, right. See ya in a minute!" Genis said as he skipped down the hallway to Lloyd and Zelos' room. He threw open the door and yelled.
"WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS! GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!"
"What the devil is going on?" Zelos yelled as he sat upright.
"Wake up! Get up! COME ON!" Genis insisted.
"Genis, can't you be a bit more considerate on what time it is?" Lloyd complained.
"Sorry, but Raine said we can't open presents until everyone's awake." Genis explained.
"So you're going around waking everyone up?" Zelos asked.
"Yup!" Genis chimed.
"You're an evil genius, Genis" Lloyd said as he shook his head. "I guess we could go down and set the table. Come on, Zelos." Zelos nodded as he and Lloyd walked downstairs. Genis walked down the hall to Colette and Presea's room. He was about to open the door, when he realised that this was Presea's room. He didn't want to interupt Presea's dream.
Presea was probably sleeping peacfully. If he woke her up, she'd probably just be mad at him. He knew what Presea thought about him. She thought he was an immature, childish kid. He couldn't go around waking everybody up so he could open his presents, that would make him look like a kid.
He sighed. Even if Presea thought he was childish, he was also smart. He'd use waking her up as an oppertunity to get colser...
He knocked on the door. He heard a groan and opened the door.
"I hope I'm not interuppting, but it's Christmas, and half of us are already awake, so...um..." Neither Presea or Colette reacted. He walked over th Presea and nuged her gently.
"Presea," he said "wake up. come on, It's Christmas, you don't want to sleep through a holiday!" He leaned his face over her's and nuged her again. She opened her eyes and saw Genis smiling. She smiled back.
"Good morning, Genis. I presume, based on you waking up so early, that it must be Christmas."Presea said. Genis stood upright and nodded. To his suprise, Presea was not infact mad, she seemed, on the contrary, happy. He walked over to Colette's bed and yelled for her to get up.
"Oh, hi, Genis! Is it really Christmas?" she asked.
"Yup! Sure is!" he replied cheerfully.
"Colette, let us go downstairs." Presea said, stretching. Colette nodded and she and Presea headed downstairs.
Genis woke up Sheena and Raine and, after getting smaked in the head once by Sheena and twice by Raine, everyone was downstairs and at the table, eating breakfast.
"It's been a while since we had pancakes," Sheena noticed, as she took a sip of her orange juice.
"Normally whenever you say pancakes, Genis, I'm used to you saying 'Stalagmite', afterwards," Lloyd observed. Genis shook his head.
"Lloyd, I don't say 'pancakes' I say 'It's pancake time! Stalagmite!"
After everyone had placed their dishes in the sink, Zelos stood up.
"Since everyone's done eating, I'll go get your presents from me!" Zelos said, as he left the room. A minute later, he returned and passed out everyone's presents.
"Oh!" Colette exclaimed "Thak you, Zelos! I'll go put it on right away!"
"I shall also take this opertunity to change into my new outfit," Presea said.
"You got an outfit too, Presea?" Genis asked. Zelos laughed.
"I got an outfit for everyone! After I followed Leenal, I found out she worked in a clothing store. She gave me a free tuxedo, so I decided to get matching outfits for you guys!"
Regal was the first one down the stairs. He had a white monkey suite with red lace around the trim. He looked sophisticated and had combed his hair, the way he used to, before Alicia's death.
Zelos was the next to come down the stairs. He was wearing a green tuxedo with a white rose on his chest.
Raine hurried down the stairs wearing a loose, airy white dress with red X's lining the trim. Although she felt slightly ridiculous and a bit embarresed, the dress color looked beautiful with her blue eyes and silver hair.
Genis then walked down the stairs, looking slighly uncomfortable, but the outfit looked simply fantastic. He was wearing a neat, red shirt that contrasted with the emerald green pants and tie that he was wearing. when he saw Raine, he laughed. When Raine glared at him, he immidiatly stopped and walked over next to her, careful to avoid eye contact.
Presea came down the stairs wearing a short dresswith a black belt down the middle. It didn't have any sleeves, but it wasn't straps. The part of the dress above the belt was a deep moss green and the skirt below the belt was a stunning shade of red. The skirt of the dress waved as she decended the stairs.
Lloyd casually lumbered down, wearing a shining green tuxedo that looked simply dashing. The color really brought out his eyes, then again, any color other then red propably would.
Colette came skipping down the stairs wearing 3/4 length sleeves with sparkeling fringe on the ends. She had a small green bow on the side of her collar. The skirt was black and it came down just below her knees. Her hair had many tiny barrettes and was french braided.
Sheena, last but not at all least, slowly decended the stairs with one hand on the railing. Her cheeks were a bit pink, but she had a radient smile on her face. She had beautiful earings that dangeled from her ears. Her dress had no sleeves whatsoever and instead was supported by a thick color around her neck that was atacthed in the frount.
"Now we can open presents!"Genis exclaimed. He ran over to the tree and dug through the gifts. Once he had gathered his seven, he becan ripping them apart. He was about halfway through with tearing up the paper, when he realized that everyone was staring athim with smiles on their faces.
"Genis, that's exactly what...Um, I, I mean...M-makes y-you...a k-kid" Presea stuttered. Sheena and Colette stared at her and Presea blushed. Genis blushed.
"Oh, um, I'm s-sorry about rushing in" He directed to Presea "But, um, come on! You guys are gonna open you're presents too, right?" Genis asked the reast of the group. Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Zelos laughed as they, to began digging around for presents. Raine and Regal looked at each other and shrugged. They,too, joined in searcing until, finally, everyone had their presents.
The room was filled with so many voices and laughter and happiness, there was no real order. Just shouts and crys of joy.
"Oh, wow! A Kendama making kit! Now I can make The Ultimate Weapon!"
"I love this new Hairpin!"
"These recipies will make excellent dishes."
"Oh my! THIS IS SIMPLY MARVELOUS!"
"Woah! A sheild! This is the greatest gift I ever got!" (Sheena: What? How's that possible? My plans are ruined)
"This is a truly delightful photo. I shall treasure this always, just as Alicia would have."
"Hey! This is pretty sweet!"
"OH MY GOODNESS!" a voice shrieked higher than all the other voices. Everyone turned to Colette, who had her eyes glued to a black box. Inside was a beautiful bracelet made with wooden beads. every other bead was shaped like a heart and the biggest heart had a picture of herself and Lloyd. the beads were all neon colors and they were carefully crafted.
"...Lloyd..." she gasped "this is so beautiful."
"I-I'm glad you like it."
"Thank you sooooo much!" she chrushed Lloyd in a hug.
"I am glad everyone enjoys their gifts." Presea said.
"I still can't believe that I have all of the volumes! Thank you, everyone!"
"I really like the matching apron and Chef hats that you got Regal and I! Thanks, Colette!"
"Yes, Thank you. I also do find the message amusing"
"What's the apron say?" Zelos asked. Genis held up his new Apron. It read: Pipe down! The Chef is in command!
"Thanks, everyone for the best Christmas ever," Colette smiled.
"Why don't we all go outside and have some fun?" Lloyd asked. Everyone agreed as they headed out the door.
I cannot believe I finished this Chapter! It look me FOR-EV-ER, but I got it done!
For those of you who are sick of waiting, I'm going to put little spoilers at my end A/N's . For those of you who DON"T want the story to be spoiled, please don't read the following Paragraph.
Because most people disagree with GenisxPresea shipping, I'm going to put up one of my later chapters as a one-shot romance for these two. It's an actual chapter that I had planned since the beginning, so I'm technically not straying from my story. It's called The almost brokenhearted young couple