A very specific part of this one involving a certain plant was requested by my friend Blusey. The rest of the story just appeared. It's really dorky and an attempt at fluff, and I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a nice New Year.

Harlock's Christmas morning started out with a sudden lack of shoes.

He guessed that sometime during the night all of his shoes had gained sentience and walked out, because every single pair had disappeared. Usually the men didn't play jokes, and usually no one could sneak into his room without him noticing, so it all came as quite the surprise. Mostly he was missing his different pairs of boots, but he also had a couple of dress shoes for nicer events that were gone. He wasn't particularly happy about it.

After getting dressed, he stalked out into the hall in his socks, intent on finding the cause of this and having everything put back where it needed to be. He was greeted by an irritable Kei in bare feet.

"The floors are cold," she hissed. "Captain, where are my shoes!?"

"I was going to ask you that," he frowned.

Christmases aboard the Arcadia were mostly uneventful. They usually threw a party in the name of getting drunk and eating until they felt sick, but no one usually bothered with gifts. It was considered too much work and more fun to buy presents for only Mayu instead. Harlock was fine with that. Buying presents for the entire crew was a hassle. Hell, buying for Mayu was hard enough on its own. Christmas just wasn't really a big event for them overall.

So the shoe thing left him a bit confused. Maybe someone had gotten too excited about the party and had started drinking early. Then they'd decided to steal all the shoes…? Alright, he had no clue.

"Well you're the first person I've seen other than me who's missing them," Kei explained, her arms folded across her chest. "It seems like some sort of joke, but it's a pretty stupid one. No one I've asked knows anything about it, or they're just lying. Mr. Bird wouldn't have had a reason to take them, right?"

"Doubtful," Harlock frowned. "Have you tried the bridge?"

"Not yet. Hadn't gotten that far."

"Then I'll try there." Considering that was where they both spent most of their time, it made sense that their belongings might end up there if the thief felt like returning them. Kei decided to follow him, continuing to sigh about how freezing the metal floor was against her bare feet.

On the way, they received a few comments and snickers due to their lack of footwear, and Harlock began to grow more irritated about the matter. Honestly, what sort of reasoning could be behind this? This was certainly not his ideal way to spend Christmas.

As soon as the door to the bridge slid open, a small form smacked into his chest. He had to grab Daiba to keep him from falling back, as the bleary-eyed teen blinked in confusion and swayed on his feet. He looked half-asleep, which wasn't surprising. It was the first time Harlock had seen him up before the crack of noon in weeks, and he smelled oddly like permanent marker…

"Morning," the captain greeted curiously.

"Mornin'," Daiba mumbled, rubbing at his eyes to keep himself awake. "Merry Christmas, Captain."

"Hm, Merry…Christmas…" His eye locked on the bushel of white flowers above him, tied to the doorframe with a red ribbon. Kei giggled behind him as Daiba followed his gaze upward and gave a startled squeak.

"I-I have t-to go," the teen decided, pushing past him.

"You're no fun," Kei laughed as he dashed away.

Harlock wasn't all that surprised to realize it was likely her doing and yanked the mistletoe down. "Kei, don't do that," he sighed.

"You're no fun either. It's cute when he blushes, and you know it." She slipped around him, curious about the numerous gifts sitting around her chair. They were all wrapped in the same paper in a horribly messy fashion. Glancing back, she saw Harlock's chair in the same state. "Oh, I wonder if it's just what I was asking for," she muttered sarcastically.

Tearing neatly through the paper, she did find a pair of her shoes, but she nearly didn't recognize them at first. They looked completely new. All the smudges and cracks had been gone over and beautifully polished. Each package was the same, her worn-out shoes with a fresh coat of paint. She looked over them in amazement. It had been so long since she'd last gotten a gift for Christmas, and she wasn't sure how to react. It must have taken hours to fix them all up so nicely.

She slowly turned to find Harlock in the same state. All the shoes he'd beaten nearly to death were now in pristine condition. He slowly slipped his favorite pair on and simply admired them for a moment.

"It wasn't…?" Kei began skeptically.

"Couldn't have been," Harlock agreed, though they both realized it must have been.

Without a word, they both headed back to the halls, stopping only to ask where Daiba had run off to. Not too surprisingly, they ended up in the kitchen, where they found the Arcadia's youngest crewman napping at one of the tables.

"You did tell him we don't give gifts, right?" the captain questioned.

Kei nodded. "Maybe he's actually…thoughtful."

The two carefully shook him awake, but he jolted up in terror, drool running from the corner of his mouth. "I don' wanna kiss you, Captain," he slurred, still blinking himself awake.

"That's fine," Harlock smiled.

"Well alright," Kei sighed. "Thank you for the present, Daiba."

"We certainly appreciate it," the captain added.

As Daiba came back to his senses, a bright blush warmed his cheeks. He stared down the tabletop, fidgeting under their thanks. "W-wasn't me," he mumbled.

"Was it the other person that smells like shoe polish?" Harlock questioned, smirking.

"Probably," Daiba huffed. "You're…not going to kiss me, right?"

"No."

"Guess I'll wait til everyone's drunk to put it back up then," Kei shrugged before throwing a quick hug around her junior. "Thanks again," she cooed.

Harlock watched her leave, suddenly worrying about how the party would play out. When the door closed behind her, he looked back to his youngest crewman. "I'm not going to hug you either."

Daiba nodded. "Yeah, okay, I can live with that."