Disclaimer (For the rest of the story and the previous chapter as well) I do not own J/C/HnKnA.

The Second Day of Christmas:

Gifts

On the second day of Christmas,

my true love gave to me,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

~C~

Some things don't add up around here, do they? Allora having this very peculiar thought this fine morning.

Doves circled in the air, landing around the roses, and-

"ACHOO!"

cooing softly.

Allora's allergies were kicking in, and she sorely wished that she hadn't picked the Hearts Castle as the meeting place for the Gift Game.

Vivaldi was busy in the Castle, trying to find a suitable present for her, and Peter was rushing around, trying to find Alice, not even bothering to participate in the game.

Allora tugged on her purple sweater, finding it too warm for the ensemble of the day to fit.

Flinging off the sweater to reveal a military tank underneath; she fanned herself resolutely and waited for the first role holder to arrive.

Seconds ticked off into minutes, into hours, into a time change.

Allora was tired of waiting and decided to call it off before the noon time change turned into the night one.

Getting up and dusting herself off, she proceeded to leave the rose garden when-

"Wait!"

A familiar voice that usually came with a slice of carrot cake shouted out, and Allora stopped walking.

Turning around, she saw Elliot come out of the bushes with a nicely wrapped present in his hands.

"Ah, Elliot! Are you participating?"

The March Hare blushed, throughly embarrassed.

"Y-Yes. " When she made no mood towards the box, he thrust it into her hands and turned away, muttering, "Open it already."

Carefully unraveling the golden ribbon, she opened the black box. Inside was a pen kit; with gel pens of all different colors and thickness. What Allora beamed at, however, was not that.

A beautiful notebook, bound by leather, engraved with the words, 'Story Notebook'.

The inside were inlined golden pages, with life like flowers detailed on each page.

Allora literally glowed with happiness.

"Thank you so much, Elliot! This is perfect!" The ecstatic foreigner hugged Elliot tightly.

If Elliot could get any shade redder than he already was, than that was it.

In the bushes, Blood bit back a string of curses. He was going for the flashy late entrance, but that didn't seem to work out.

Rising out of the bushes, he smirked slightly and tipped his head in Allora's direction.

"Sorry I'm late you-"

"Hey Elliot, where did you get this? This is absolutely wonderful!"

"Young lady. " The calm suave voice that said it did not like being interrupted broke into the happy moment.

Allora looked up, as if seeing him for the first time.

"Oh, hi Blood! Isn't this journal wonderful? I've always had the problem of people thinking my story notebooks were diaries, and I got dreadfully teased about it. And this pen kit is absolutely amazing! "

Before Allora could continue praising Elliot and inflict even more damage to Blood's pride, he stopped her by presenting her with a white box with a red ribbon artfully wrapped around it.

"Ooh," Allora exclaimed while opening the box slowly.

Inside lay a book. But not just any book. Inside, as she skimmed the pages, were detailed illustrations, descriptions, and abilities of something that everyone knew Allora loved-

Swords.

Her eyes glittering and a warm smile spreading across her face, Allora flashed Blood a brilliant smile that made him step back and rub his eyes.

"Blood, you shouldn't have! Well, actually, I'm really grateful you did, so I take back that last statement."

She didn't hug him though, like with Elliot, which slightly irked him. But as long as she gave him that smile that made him weak at the knees, (He, the Hatter of all people!) he was happy.

"Thank you two very much!" Allora was very happy. Two things that she didn't even know she wanted had been granted to her. Now this was going to be the best Christmas of all.

"My sweet! ALICE!" Peter White barged in on the nice atmosphere through a rose bush, probably looking for Alice.

"Is Alice invited to the party?" Elliot, who had seen Peter and promptly ignored him, asked.

"Actually, no. She said she wanted to stay in for the holidays. Christmas gives her bad memories or something."

He nodded understandingly. Though Alice was sweet, and kind, she broke much too easily.

Blood coughed, trying to bring the conversation back to him.

"Well, if there is only 2 participants, then Allora, you can just-"

"WAAAAAAIT JUST A FLIPPING SECOND!"

A loud voice and a feminine squeal startled the trio. (Peter doesn't currently count.)

Vivaldi and Boris came bursting out of the bushes, Vivaldi pulling on Boris's tail and Boris screeching like a monkey.

Holding his tail closer to himself, he coughed once before talking.

"I-I got a present for you! I'm really sorry I'm late too! Can I still participate?!"

Boris was frantic, his words tumbling and twisting.

Allora giggled softly. He was the first role holder to actually apologize for being late.

"Of course you can participate, Boris! Apology accepted."

Beaming with happiness and oblivious to a glaring Hatter, he presented her with a purple present wrapped in silver ribbon.

Unwrapping it, Allora saw one of the things she had wanted for a very long time-

"A bracelet?" Blood snorted. It was a nice bracelet, with purple and blue beads, but it was rather plain.

"Not just any bracelet, Blood! A tracking bracelet!" Allora's eyes sparkled as she continued to explain the peculiar item.

"Tracking bracelets can tell you where people you know are just by tapping on their bead! See, here's Elliot, and Vivladi, and of course Boris-"

As Allora continued to list names, Blood started to run low on the miracle substance called patience.

"Miss, can you please hurry this up, we don't have all day-"

"You're right, Blood!"

The Hatter's ego inflated just a bit.

"I forgot to open Vivaldi's present!"

And then deflated. The Queen of Hearts beamed, and then presented Allora with a cleverly wrapped present in silver deer wrapping.

Ripping it open, Allora found a beautiful chocolate box, filled with assortments of white, dark, and milk chocolate and much more.

Eyes sparkling and mouth drooling, Allora popped one into her mouth.

"Ahh, the sharp taste of mint with the sweet taste of milk chocolate, and then touches of that crunchy peppermint... What a beautiful work of art.."

Allora continued to painstakingly describe each chocolate with descriptions that made everyone jealous of the delicious gift.

Even Blood was starting to salivate, and he was the Hatter, a person with almost too many luxuries for heavens sake!

Once she finally stopped, everyone was very eager to hear the winner, partly because they wanted to get out of there and find the nearest chocolate shop and stuff themselves silly.

"I love all of your gifts, you were so thoughtful in choosing them." Allora was literally glowing while giving praise to each role holder, making them blush in turn.

"Though we still have to wait for the other role holders..."

Everyone groaned. Peter, who we now remember was there, stared aghast at the sight of such beautiful gifts given to this foreigner while none were given to Alice.

Running away to find the perfect present for his dearest love, Peter disappeared, unnoticed by any at the scene.

This got way too long. There will be a part 2 of this chapter. Sorry this update was late.

Notified: All.

Gifts Given: Vivaldi, Blood, Elliot, and Boris.

Yet to be Given: Ace, Gowland, Pierce, and Jokers.(?)

Not participating: Grey, Julius, Nightmare, and Peter.

Well then, Merry Christmas and have a lovely break off!

Au revior,

Allora

And before I forget, please check out other stories in the J/C/HnKnA category; they'll be sure to brighten up your day!