Hime gave the expansive hall one last appreciative glance, Satisfied with the turn-out, she left Kiki and Mocha to their decorating and hurried into the entry room where she was to meet Chero. Jenny and Danni would be arriving with her any moment, under the guise of it being a plain, informal get-together so they could all celebrate some of the holidays together before they’d be busy with their families. With obvious flourish, Danni pushed through the front door with Jenny and Chero following close behind.
“Hime…!” Chero was immediately excited to see her, her expression relieved.
“Chero!” Hime greeted her with a hug this time, while Danni and Jenny ran out of sight. “Glad you could make it,” the taller woman joked, watching Chero sigh heavily and chuckle under her own breath.
“I wouldn’t have been able not to, with those two pulling me around.” Suddenly, she held up her shopping bags, her voice jumping in volume. “Look what they went and bought me!” Hime knew well what was supposed to be in the bag, and she raised her eyebrows – both for effect and at the fact that her job just got immensely easier.
“I can’t see through the bag, Chero.” The shorter girl blushed, pulling the top of the dress over the edge of the stiff paper. Hime clapped her hands together and beamed. “It’s beautiful- Chero you have to show me how it looks on you! Pleeeeeeeease,” she begged, “the get-together isn’t gonna disappear if we take a few minutes to try this on.” Chero looked like she wanted to disagree, but she couldn’t refuse Hime when she looked so excited, so the Titanian lead her out of the entry and down the opposite way from the hall, where there were smaller, private rooms. Hime stood outside the door while Chero got changed, listening closely to see if the other girls were done.
“Okay, I’m done,” Chero called. Hime slowly pushed open the door to the room, and she just about slipped and fell face-first on the floor she was so stunned by Chero’s appearance. There really wasn’t a better dress for her.
“Oh my-! Chero…! Chero this is so beautiful! Oh my… Wow!” She gushed, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet. Again, Chero averted her eyes and blushed, but Hime was dragging her into the nearest chair, “Can I just do your hair quickly?” Chero nodded her consent, still too embarrassed to speak. Humming, Hime measured out the strands of hair framing her face and falling down in front of her ears, pulling them up and giving them a slight twist before she braided them into the waves flowing down the back of her neck. “There we go. You would make any princess jealous, Chero.” The poor woman in question couldn’t even form words and only squirmed with all the compliments. It was like this that Hime took both her hands and began pulling her towards the hall, and then she found her voice again.
“Hime! What are you doing, I need to get changed back into my normal clothes!”
“Nah, you really don’t. Don’t you think Mocha and Kiki would want to see your new dress too?”
“It’s embarrassing!” She shouted.
“It’s pretty,” Hime clarified, pushing open the door into the hall and stepping out of the way so Chero could see it. Her eyes went wide and he mouth dropped open before she could cover it in shock. It was a huge oval hall with balconies lining either side only to stop halfway into the room, supported by decorative marble pillars and covered in blue banners that draped over the spaces between them. Long-limbed chandeliers were affixed to the walls and a huge golden chandelier hung over the centre of the floor, contrasted with the huge floor-to-wall windows that filled the entirety of the far wall. Outside, it was pitch black, but any snowflakes falling caught the light from inside the window and looked like gold leaves floating down from the sky. Piano music played softly in the background, just catching in her ears but not so much that it was distracting. She had seen it many, many times before, but she couldn’t believe it.
“Hime, this is a dream, isn’t it?” Chero whipped around to try and find her friend. She noticed a few tables covered in decorative food, delicious items that made her mouth water just looking at them, and somehow there were tiny sparks shining near the ceiling; she could also see Kiki and Mocha leaning over the edge of the balcony, smiling down at her.
“It’s not a dream, amore.” With a startled gasp, Chero turned to face this voice, her own smile becoming impossible to contain at the sight of Dino standing in the dance floor, dressed in a crisp, deep blue suit, and holding one hand out towards her.
“Dino… What is all this?” She asked, setting her hand in his own while he pulled her close into a delicate embrace.
“It’s your party,” Mocha commented from beside one of the pillars, leaning against it with her arms crossed. Everyone stepped out of hiding as well; Hime, Danni, Jenny and Kiki. “Hime noticed that you were lacking a little bit of Christmas cheer, so we all decided that you needed something to help get it back. This party is for you; the hall, the food, the prince,” Mocha grinning, indicating to Dino, who bowed in response, “everything. But we can’t take credit for it. Dino planned it all.”
“Mocha can take credit for the hall though; it’s a lot of her hat magic. Jenny can boast about the food because she made that,” from between the pillars, a blonde man in a apron took his place beside Jenny, “with Francis of course, Danni was in charge of all the decoration” it went without saying that Dante was there as well, leaning against a pillar beside Danni, “and Hime did a lot of work to make this place look perfect,” Kiki explained. “Everyone did a lot to make this work, just for you.” As she finished, her voice ended in a squeak when someone slipped their arms around her waist and pulled her into their owner’s chest.
“And what about the one who has selectively picked the softest, most beautiful snowfall, and is using their power to play it on a loop, starlight?” Kiki blushed and squirmed to get away while Takuma laughed – and Dino chuckled because he’d been the one to invite his ‘amico’.
“We just wanted to lift your spirits. It is Christmas after all,” Jenny continued, picking up where Kiki couldn’t.
“You’re supposed to be happy, and spending time with people you care about, that’s why we did this,” Danni concluded. Chero looked to Hime for any kind of response, but she only smiled encouragingly. (Of course, she'd have to leave soon because she was very worried about 'the boys' destroying the house and her own Christmas)
“So, amore, would you care to dance?” Chero nodded and Dino lead her farther out into the floor, away from the group of girls. They swayed together before stepping into a waltz, gliding gracefully across the floor and passing by the group once, twice, three times… Again and again until all Chero could see was a blur of gold and pale marble around her, Dino being the only thing she could see clearly.
“Did you really plan all this just because I was down today?” She could scarcely believe it. This was amazing; there was no way they managed to get this together in one day, just for her.
“Si. I wanted to do something special for you. I know you love Christmas, Chero.”
“But this is…” Dino cut her off by spinning her and pulling her back into his chest.
“Really nothing if it makes you happy.” He noticed out of the corner of his eye that a certain captain had stolen a particular magician up into the balcony, and he smirked – also his doing. “Don’t underestimate a boss,” he added smugly. They stood like that for a long moment, swaying against one another, until there was a chime, like a clock marking the hour. It was, in fact, a clock marking the hour; it was now 12:01 am on Christmas day. “Buon Natale.”
“Thank you.” One phrase wouldn’t have accounted for all her actual thankfulness; the light was back in her eyes and she was so deeply thankful to God for her friends and her family and all this that she could have simply because she was alive and healthy, but it was all she needed right now.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured before tilting her chin up and leaning down to give her a short, but gentle kiss on the lips.
“Ti amo.”
