Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Chapter 41

Christmas day was lovely, starting with a call to Nadia and going on to everyone being delivered tea to their bedrooms by Skulduggery, letting them wake up slowly. That was ruined for Valkyrie when Snake came running into her room when she was halfway through her cup and jumped on her bed.

"It's Christmas!" He shouted, bouncing on the bed animatedly. "Come on, I want to do presents!"

Valkyrie laughed, finished her tea quickly and jumped onto him. They rolled around, fighting and trying to grab the other but Snake was simply far stronger than her and he rolled them up and she was over his shoulder, looking at his arse. He laughed like a maniac and ran down the hall banging on the walls, Valkyrie's laughing screams accompanying him.

Snake ran them downstairs, the others coming at a slower rate behind them.

They went to the big living room they always ended up at, where they had lovingly put up their tree. Just a few days earlier they had all gone out and have fun choosing one, cutting it down and trying to make it stand up straight. Then had been the fun of decorating it. They had normal baubles and a little angel, but the angel had been put upside down with her little pipe cleaner legs bent open to securely hang on two branches and an enthusiastic reindeer had been placed above her. She hadn't found out who did that yet, but she was almost certain it was Tanith.

There was toilet roll where someone had tepeed it at night, also unknown as to who, and they had put one of Skulduggery's hats at the top as a star, alongside cut out pictures of them all stabbed ominously onto the branches which were enhanced by the dagger, toothbrush, tinsel, way too many lights and a bunch of tea bags. It was a beautiful sight, and to make it better Valkyrie had already taken a picture, framed it and hung it on the tree for all to see.

Under it, though, was the best part.

The presents!

Valkyrie and Snake jumped at them and sat between their feet looking at it excitedly, waiting for the others to sit around. Fletcher popped in in a Santa hat and Valkyrie pushed him with her excitement, making him fall over to everyone's amusement. They had all placed the presents they had wrapped in a pile, leaving the separating for the day of – Valkyrie and Snake helped speed up the process by pushing the piles to the owners.

"Do we want to do person by person or all at once?" Crow asked, sitting on a sofa next to Bear. Panda would have sat like an adult too, but Tanith was on the floor and if Tanith were on the floor, Panda surely followed.

"All at once!" Tanith, Dexter, Erskine, Fletcher and Valkyrie demanded at once and started separating their presents, throwing or passing them to the person they were for depending on who they were for. It had taken some convincing to get Fletcher to participate after the Ball – he had left right near the start after a little argument with Crow, but it was settled now, mostly because Valkyrie forced them to talk.

When all the passing had been done, they sat with their piles of presents, each with nine. Under the tree were a few more from friends. Crow was the odd one out with just eight as Valkyrie planned a grand unveiling for his.

They did a little countdown and tore the paper apart. Valkyrie didn't look who each one was from, she could tell just by what it was. Wolf's happened to be first, and she got a set of shawls, headscarves and several outfits that certainly wouldn't look out of place or stupid if and when we went to India with Nadia as they wanted to, and would keep her skin protected from the sun, primarily her scalp that always tried to blister if it burnt, and she'd be able to visit some famous places she'd need headscarves for. She'd have to ask how to wear them though. All the colours he picked for her were just amazing!

Moving on to a smaller sized gift, she opened it to find a little charm, a hand-crafted heart made of wood. It was from Bear of course. She had six now, all for her bracelet and all hearts made of different materials. She hadn't noticed the pattern for a long time, and she placed this new one carefully on the clothes for later.

Weasel came next and had gotten her tickets for the final of the All-Irish football that coming summer which she was really excited for, as well as a new football shirt she could wear, and she slipped it on over the top of her pyjamas which was just an old top of one of her brothers.

Crow had gotten her a card, in which it stated he had gotten her a new set of weights already in the gym for her.

Tanith had gotten Valkyrie her own helmet for riding her bike with her, and inside it was a lipstick she had mentioned wanting and a matching nail varnish.

Panda got her a new pair of work shoes and tops for going into summer that were lighter but just as effective, as well as some gorgeous looking normal trousers she could wear on the everyday. She was beginning to struggle to find clothes that properly fit now she was gaining so much muscle on her legs, plus she was having a lot of growth spurs that were making her legs miles long. Not bad to look at, but if she wasn't careful, she'd have to wear shorts forever. Not that Nadia would complain. But clothes that fit was sort of nice.

Fletcher had just got her chocolates, not knowing what she liked most likely, and Snake, finally, had gotten her a pink phone case, book she wanted, stationary in camo colours, and a nice padlock that only opened to her magical signature and was a really good one because it would work even if anti-magic wards came up, so she could put it in the Sanctuary and her locker was finally secure! She had been a little worried.

She grinned around the room, looking at the other's piles, noting who got more or less. Surprisingly, Fletcher had gotten the same size as her, the Dead Men putting away their annoyance for the day by getting him thoughtful gifts. It was really sweet because Fletcher looked genuinely touched and happy that they had thought about him. He had thought, like Valkyrie, they wouldn't have bothered. She felt bad for thinking that of them. They really were some of the kindest people in the world.

"Crow," she said, stopping the thanking and talking that was going between their group. He looked over and took the offered gift.

"I wonder," he said, looking at the box warily, "what you possibly thought is so incredible you made an announcement for it."

She frowned. "I didn't announce it."

"As good as."

"Just open the damn thing. I worked hard on it and you'll bloody enjoy it."

He laughed and opened the box, seeing his head within. He stared at it for a moment and then said, "Oh."

There was a moment of silence and Crow picked up the Murder Skull. They all stared at it.

"It's the Murder Skull," Valkyrie explained. "The same one stolen from you twenty years ago. I got it for you. And it was the biggest hassle I've ever bothered with so don't you dare lose it again."

He smiled at her and, placing it in Panda's hands, reached for his current head and, twisting, pulled it off. Fletcher might have peed himself a little. They all watched him with wide eyes.

The new one was placed in Crow's hands and he carefully put it on his neck. After moving it left and right a few times, it clicked loudly.

"There we go," he said, tilting his head at Valkyrie. "How do I look?"

She shrugged. "The exact same."

He sagged. "No, these cheekbones are much higher."

"I don't see it."

"Me either," Fletcher chipped in.

Crow sighed.

They made a big cooked breakfast just like Valkyrie had always done for Christmas with her other family. When they had eaten and were stuffed, Bear and Panda began preparing the meat whilst Weasel, Fletcher and Wolf started peeling, chopping and otherwise preparing the vegetables.

Valkyrie and the others got to go get dressed.

When she was ready, she put on a little makeup and did her hair in a pretty plait – it took a few tries – and then finally she took a picture of herself and sent it to Nadia. She got a text back moments later saying how lovely she looked and congratulating her for finally mastering plaiting. She left her room and almost shrieked when Fletcher teleported right in front of her. Tanith came out of her room blushing about something at the same time.

"Who are you talking to?" Fletcher asked, trying to spy on Valkyrie's phone.

"Nadia," she frowned, looking at Tanith. "Who have you been talking to?"

She grinned through the blush. "No one you need to know about. Have you opened Nadia's present yet?"

"No, I'm going to open it now," she said, beginning to walk down the hall. The blondes followed her.

"Why did you do presents? Is it another girl thing?" Fletcher grimaced.

"She got me presents because she wanted to," Valkyrie said. "I got her presents because I have to or she'd be very, very upset with me."

"You sound like an old, grumpy man," he commented as she sat down in front of the tree. He sat next to her. "That would make Nadia your wife."

Valkyrie nodded and ignored the joke. She really needed to tell him but not on Christmas day, just in case he did flip out… perhaps the assault at the swim competition had affected her more than she thought. Just thinking that made her feel nauseous so yeah, probably.

Shaking the dark thoughts away, she pulled all the remaining presents out and found what was for her. She had several from Nadia, one from Kenspeckle, Civet and Stentor, and several from various relatives but mostly there was a giant stack of cards just for her. Last year had been the same and all of them had had money as a present in them for her so she wasn't allowed to open her cards this year until Christmas day. Now was that time.

She started on those, knowing they would take the longest. The highlights included a card from China, from Kenspeckle and his staff (it had been posted instead of giving it to her), and one from Meritorious and Elder Crow. Guild hasn't signed it but that just made her and Tanith laugh. Valkyrie had actually sent all those people cards as well and she was impressed with her predictions. She also had some from maybe a dozen people she had helped in the past year.

The rest were relatives with the money gifts. She hadn't sent them cards.

She opened relatives presents next, all of which being things somehow to do with her parents or Gordon, or a book or a movie. It was nice, and she didn't want to criticise something they bought for her, but it was very samey and not very personalised for her as a person. Then again, she hadn't wanted to go see anyone since the reunion and so hadn't. They couldn't be blamed for not knowing someone that didn't want to see them.

She opened the one from the doctor and assistants' next, finding they had put together a little home medical care for her many little bruises and scrapes and cuts. It was a thoughtful gift, and it looked as if Civet and Stentor had snuck in a chocolate bar without Kenspeckle noticing. Or maybe he did know. She couldn't be sure behind those bushy eyebrows. They made him look grumpy all the time!

She was left with the ones from Nadia after that, three in total. She had gotten her some lovely things, a locket with a picture on one side and the words 'I love you, always' on the other. The outside was plain, but Valkyrie did see a very tiny signal Nadia had drawn into, making the metal practically indestructible. She could wear it out without ruining it, a necessity for Valkyrie. Next was a gift card for a milkshake place Valkyrie loved, enough for three big shakes that she was very excited about.

Finally, Nadia had gotten her a book, a scrapbook she had begun compiling with little bits of their relationship over the last year. Forgetting Fletcher, she opened it and saw the little pictures they had together and had sent to each other every few mornings, of letters they had written each other for fun, of some texts they had sent each other.

It had sketches Nadia had done of them, of their faces, of them together, of their dresses, of some random things that were just beautiful. Several were of Valkyrie dancing, and one of her in her swimming cozzy, a little note beside it Nadia had written that Valkyrie read, saying how brave and beautiful she thought Valkyrie was, relating to the attack but not directly saying it. Valkyrie had almost cried reading it.

Tanith read it over her shoulder and kissed her cheek in support.

"Oh," Fletcher said from beside her.

Ooooh, Christmas drama! I'm sorry if this chapter read slow, it did to me but again, I write far ahead and don't want to mess up all the little things I set up for later. Just remember the drama and happiness and forget the slowness, it's not my fault! :P