The packed snow under Maki Nishikino's boots crunched as she trudged her way through the trenches towards Eli Ayase's room. Well, "room" might be giving it too much credit. The barracks were just holes dug into the dirt walls with a crude wooden frame installed to prevent cave-ins. Each hole was big enough for four people to live in with just enough comfort so that sleeping there was still preferable over a foxhole in the middle of no man's land. Rooms were dug into both sides of the trench walls, with each squad assigned two rooms facing each other.

When Maki pulled aside the privacy curtain, she found Eli still fast asleep in her rack. With a sigh of disappointment, she leaned her rifle against the wall and shook Eli by the shoulders.

"Hey, Eli, wake up. It's your turn for watch."

"Wait, what?" Eli managed to yawn out while rubbing her eyes. "What, uh, what time is it?"

"It's almost four in the morning and you have watch. Which you would know if you had read the watch bill for once."

"Aw, come on, Maki, you're supposed to do that for me," Eli said with a sheepish grin.

"You. Are just an asshole."

"Guilty as charged." As Eli stood up, she clenched her stomach. "Holy shit, I can still feel Nico's 'mystery meat' stew eviscerating me. I should have listened to you."

"Something you should do more often. I'm pretty sure some unlucky rat managed to fall in the pot when she wasn't looking. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit."

As Maki left, Eli fumbled with her boots and helmet, somehow getting them on in a decent span of time. Then, she made sure her ammo pouches were full, grabbed her rifle and headed out towards the front line trench.

"I relieve you of your post," Eli said while saluting.

Maki returned the salute. "I stand relieved." With relief present and gear in hand, she started walking back to the barracks.

Before Maki left her sight, Eli called out, "Don't have too much fun with Nico while I'm gone!"

Snapping her head back instantly, Maki hissed, "You shut your mouth."

"Relax, I'm just teasing."

Eli turned around and faced the private who was her watch partner. "You ever get the feeling that she secretly hates my guts?"

"Whatever you say, lance corporal."

The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful.

"Fall in!"

In a clearing near the barracks, Eli's company gathered for morning formation, managing to squeeze everyone into the tight space dug out between trenches. As a squad leader, she stood all the way on the left, while Maki stood somewhere in Eli's row. In front of the whole formation, the master sergeant stood by, waiting to give out the daily announcements.

"In order to get into the holiday spirit, command has decided to relax work today so that we can get a little Christmas Eve party. Have fun, relax, but keep it under control. The brass is planning an operation for the day after Christmas. Yes, I know it's stupid and unfair, but I can't argue. Additionally, we are giving you all a small present. We've brought in enough chocolate so that everyone can get ten grams."

"Only ten grams? What the fuck, master sergeant? Last year we got more than that and beer as well!" As always, Nico was the first to mention beer.

"You try finding semi-decent chocolate when every factory on the continent is making either bombs or bandages. And the brass said no beer across the entire front this year. They don't want you all wasted if we get attacked. Remember what happened on New Year's?"

Murmurs of agreement spread through the formation. "I bet whoever was in charge of that decision got court-martialed to hell," someone whispered.

"Our position here is too important to lose to you assholes being hungover during an assault. That is all for this morning. Sergeant, carry out the plan of the day."

"Aye-aye, master sergeant." As the master sergeant left, the Charlie sergeant turned around to face the formation. "Alright, Charlie, today we have watch from 1200 to 1600. That leaves us free for Christmas activities later in the night should you wish to participate. Until then, we have free time. Fall out."

At that moment, Eli, who had been zoning out until the mention of chocolate, laid out the perfect plan for racing to the front of the supply line. She visualized every possible path and shortcut and was almost at the part where she channels her inner Moses to part the huge crowd and finally get to the front when she was knocked out of her reverie by a firm slap across the face.

Horrified by the fact that she had not moved from her spot during morning formation and was instead staring at Maki's cheeky smirk, Eli screamed, "What the hell was that for?"

"Stopping you from probably starting a fight because someone was between you and your chocolate. Again."

"Oh. How did you know?" Eli chuckled sheepishly.

"You had that stupid grin of yours that only shows up around chocolate."

Eli raised her hand to object, but quickly deflated after realizing she had nothing to counter with.

"And besides," Maki continued, "I think it's better to wait until the party to get our chocolate. Fits the mood better or something."

Eli slowly blinked twice. "Who knew someone like you could say something so smart?"

As soon as the words left Eli's mouth, Maki threw a swift punch to her gut. As she folded up and clenched her stomach, Eli laughed the whole way down to the ground.

"Hey, Eli, ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

After leaving their barracks and heading off to the common area, Eli and Maki ran into two people who were walking in the opposite direction, toward the front line trenches.

"Hey, you two. Where are you going?" Eli asked.

"Into no man's land, lance corporal. A few of our companies got together to hold a party with the blueshirts halfway between the trenches. They've got a fire going and some food," one of the privates explained.

"Isn't that dangerous, hanging out in the middle of no man's land?" Eli replied.

"I don't think anyone's heartless enough to start a battle on Christmas."

"I guess," Eli shrugged as the two privates continued walking away. "Maki, what do you think? Should we go?"

Maki pondered for a moment. "It sounds fun. And we can always leave if we feel uncomfortable."

Seeing no harm in at least checking out the party first, Eli and Maki climbed over rows of barbed wire as they walked out towards no man's land. When they finally reached their destination, they were taken aback at the scene before them.

A stack of crates was haphazardly set up in a pyramid shape with a burning torch on the top in a crude, improvised "Christmas tree." A circle of campfires, where soldiers from both sides were huddled around for warmth and conversation, surrounded the tree. Off to the side, more crates were pushed together to form a long table of sorts, holding water drums and tins of appetizing, actually decent food.

"Wow, this is way better than I expected," Maki mumbled.

Eli's stomach growled as if it was trying to jump out of her body onto the table. "I'm gonna go grab some food. Want to come with?"

"I want to go see what they're doing over there. I'll catch you later I guess."

As they went their separate ways, Eli made a beeline for the food table. There wasn't much, but it was obvious that the officers on both sides made arrangements for their soldiers to have as festive a Christmas as possible. Eli only took a few pieces, not wanting to hog all the food to herself, and found a seat next to an empty fire. She was about to dig in when Maki came back.

"Hey, Eli, they're setting up a soccer game. Us against the blueshirts. Want to join?"

"Nah, I'll stay here and talk to people."

Maki shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Eli only took her first bite into a piece of canned peach when she caught a glimpse of another person sitting by herself at another campfire. The soldier's dark blue uniform combined with her dark blue hair made her difficult to see, even with the glow of the fires. She appeared to be writing a letter in a tiny notebook.

Intrigued, Eli picked up her gear and plopped herself down next to the stranger. "Hey there, what are you writing?"

Shocked by the sudden appearance of another person right in front of her, the other soldier nearly dropped her writing utensils as her helmet almost slipped off her head. "H-hi, just writing a letter," she managed to blurb out.

"Ohhh, to who?"

"My girlfriend back home."

"Oh wow, that's really sweet. I should write back home too, but either I don't have time or I just don't feel like it. Please don't tell my girlfriend that."

Feeling comfortable in front of the stranger, the other soldier laughed in amusement.

Eli stretched out a hand. "By the way, my name's Eli Ayase."

The soldier accepted the invitation and shook her hand. "Umi Sonoda. Nice to meet you."

"So, anyway, before I shipped out, my girlfriend made me promise that I would write to her. In the time that I've been here, I've written one letter to her. Technically that still counts!" Eli sighed and ate a peach slice before quietly chuckling. "Oh god, if I don't die here first she'll definitely kill me when I get back."

"Don't say that, I'm sure she absolutely loves you if she's willing to put up with your antics like that."

"Yeah, I know." Eli wolfed down another slice of peach. "So what do you write to your girlfriend?"

"Usually I tell her about what happened since the last letter and some poetry as well. She's a fashion designer and says that my poems inspire her." Umi shrugged. "Don't know how it works, but it does, I guess."

Gradually becoming comfortable with the stranger, Umi relaxed and put away her stationery. Eli, on the other hand, kept talking and eating her peaches until the tin was empty. Umi didn't mind, listening intently to every word Eli said.

"And then when she took a huge bite of cake and got a mouthful of caramel, the look on her face was so adorable I just wanted to squish it forever! But I did have to sleep on the couch for a week after that so, would not recommend doing that again."

Bursting into laughter, Umi exclaimed, "That's so terrible! You deserved every second of that!"

"It's not my fault she's so cute when I tease her like that!"

The laughter died down and the two soldiers sat in comfortable silence. Eli sprawled her legs out and put her arms behind her for support while Umi pulled out her stationary and began writing again. Remembering the chocolate in her pocket, Eli rummaged around her coat before pulling out the small square, still unmelted.

Eli broke off half and held it out. "Umi, you want some chocolate?"

Umi stared for a bit, unsure how to respond.

"Sure, yeah. I haven't had some in a while."

Cherishing every bite, Eli and Umi nibbled away at their chocolate.

Eli was the first to finish. "Hey, after the war is over, do you want to get a beer with me or something?"

"I'd like that. I can bring my girlfriend along so you can meet her too."

"I'm looking forward to it. I'll treat you guys to the best beer in the world." Eli stood up and stretched her arms out. "I should go to sleep now. Probably got a lot of work tomorrow."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Eli. I hope we'll see each other again."

"It was nice meeting you, too. See you around, Umi."

Soon after Eli started walking back towards her barracks, she found Maki staring at her with another one of her cheeky grins and her arms crossed across her chest.

Eli rubbed around her cheeks. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"I saw that."

Sticking her hands into her coat pockets, Eli walked past Maki without a glance. "Saw what?"

Maki turned around and caught up to Eli, walking side by side with her. "I didn't think it was possible for you to make more than three friends."

"Go fuck yourself with a cactus."

"I'm about 99% sure those don't grow around here."