A/N: Forewarning- read to the end and the author's note found there before you freak out about plot stuff.
Curling up, Rige stared at the empty side of the bed. Sebastian must have been downstairs cooking already. The smell of pine and orange and cinnamon flicked her nose, making it twitch. With a sigh, her stomach growled. She was going to have to get up… Eventually. For now she'd just sit and relax, at least as long as she could. Then she would get up… Hopefully. Sebastian would come up if she didn't. Rige had promised to help cook for Christmas. She had promised to. "Rige, you are planning on getting up, right?" Sebastian called up. Rige looked at the clock. It was already noon. Growling and groaning, Rige tossed aside the covers.
"Coming," Rige yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"What the hell, Sebastian? Some of us are trying to sleep!" Ciel's voice growled from the room across the hall.
"It is already noon, my lord," Sebastian reminded him as Rige stepped out of bed to get dressed.
"Well, I couldn't exactly sleep well last night!" Ciel snapped. Rige couldn't help but chuckle.
"We both apologize," Rige called as she slipped on her dress. The store would be closed for the day, and the entire gang was meeting at Buffy's that evening. Thus Rige had talked Joyce into letting her do some (most) of the cooking. Rige was going to regret that now. Walking down the stairs, she was greeted to a kiss from Sebastian.
"Merry Christmas," he sighed in her ear as she entered the kitchen. The woman just shrugged it off. She was still not quite awake enough. Ciel wasn't the only one who didn't sleep.
"You should have woken me up sooner. Do you know how much I have to cook?" Rige growled.
"I thought you might like to sleep in," Sebastian argued. Rige just rolled her eyes.
Willow sat at the end of Buffy's bed. The sun was high in the sky, making Willow long to be anywhere else. "I just wish we could get lucky and have snow just once for Christmas," Willow sighed.
"Hm? I don't know. I like the warmth," Buffy replied. "So Rige, Sebastian, and Ciel should be here soon."
"I'm glad we get to all have a nice dinner together. It shows how much of a family we are," Willow enthused.
"I wouldn't let Ciel hear that. He might throw something at you," Buffy joked.
"He's not that bad!" Willow laughed. The door opened and Xander entered the room.
"Merry Christmas, my friends!" he greeted.
"Hey Xander," Buffy and Willow replied in unison. Xander sat down on the bed near Buffy.
"Who's excited for food?" Xander asked with a wide smile.
"I hear Sebastian and Rige are fantastic cooks," Willow remarked.
"Can it just be evening now?" Xander whined.
"You can wait," Buffy sighed, rolling her eyes. She couldn't help but smile. Maybe it would be a great Christmas after all.
That evening came with a rush of food. Joyce and Rige were busy setting the table and preparing things as the teens talked and Sebastian and Giles went over some book or another. The air was filled with a certain kind of warmth that came with being around so many good friends. "I'm actually a bit glad you offered to help, Rige. It was really kind of you," Joyce remarked. Rige smiled, a light blush over her cheeks.
"Thank you. I rather enjoy cooking actually," Rige chuckled.
"Ciel says you're good," Joyce pointed out. Rige just shrugged.
"I guess you could say that," Rige sighed. She finished setting out the plates and looked up with a sigh.
"How's the shop?" Joyce asked.
"It's doing well. It's nice to have a day off though. I rather enjoy the break. How about you?" Rige replied.
"The gallery is pretty busy this time of year. That's partly why I'm glad you offered to help. I was working until probably midnight," Joyce explained.
"Well hopefully you can have a better night tonight," Rige smiled. She considered Joyce a good friend. Being new in town, it made Rige feel welcome for once in her life. It was a strange feeling but a nice one. Looking into the other room, Rige saw Sebastian. She had helped him get his first contract on Christmas, though one much colder than this. That had to be the worst part of living where they did. There was no snow. Sighing, Rige finished her job and let Joyce call everyone in for the meal.
Dinner was full of laughter and good food. Willow and Rige chatted about the pagan roots of Christmas while Ciel talked with Joyce about art. Sebastian went back and forth from conversations as Xander tried to tell jokes and everyone burst out laughing. By the time Rige, Sebastian, and Ciel got out, they were exhausted and full. It was the good kind though. As they walked home, the stars burned overhead. Rige slipped her hand into Sebastian's, leaning against him.
"I'm almost glad we came here," Ciel mused. Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
"Are you?" Sebastian asked. Ciel stiffly nodded.
"Yes, I rather like Sunnydale. It's not home, but it works," Ciel replied.
"It's funny how a few good friends can make all the difference," Rige remarked. She looked back once more. They really did have good friends. Perhaps she would even learn to love Sunnydale more as home. Still, the future had a lot of tricks yet to play.
A/N: Okay, so no this is not part of our actual plotline! This is our Christmas Chapter! That means that I get to do whatever I want and I decided we would have a nice short chapter where the gang celebrates Christmas. That means that this is NOT technically on our plotline. I guess you could say it was last "season" really. So, I hope you liked that. I will be going back to our normal chapters as soon as I can. I'm actually watching two shows right now that are sucking my attention. I even forced myself not to watch the one until I wrote this. My life just does not have enough hours in the day to get everything done. I will be taking my winter break to catch up on writing though. This is one of the fan fictions I am planning on spending a lot of time on. This and Something Broken are my two "concerns" as I don't update them as often as I'd like to since I need to watch the shows in order to get my bearings. I will be writing this break though. In fact, I'm probably only going to be posting Christmas Specials (I have one left) and my December four part thing called It's Complicated (see profile for information) for the remainder of the month in order to catch up on writing for the new year. That all being said, I hope that you have a happy/merry whatever winter holiday you celebrate. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please leave a review!