The First Noel

237

Another Christmas story. I know that in my last one I said that the next one wouldn't be a Christmas story, but then my friend told me to go ahead and do it, so here it is. I've recently fallen for the PolandxLithuania pairing and that meant that I absolutely had to write a one-shot on them, naturally. I guess it didn't help that the new episode (47) had Poland in it for more than five seconds.

Also, please excuse the little tiny bits of angst in it. I just couldn't stop myself. And all of the dishes mentioned are either from Lithuania or Poland, obviously. Whether or not they are Christmas meals, I have no idea.

Disclaimer: Yes, my Christmas stories all have Christmas song titles; this one was harder to choose from.

The First Noel

Toris sighed as he pulled out the dish from the oven. He had yet again been dragged into another one of Feliks' crazy shenanigans. It had started out simple enough, though. "Like, we should totally have a Christmas feast since it's, like, our first Christmas together since, like, forever." Toris had argued that they had celebrated in the past, but that had only made the blonde man laugh. "Yeah, but like, now you're free from that wacko creep and you've finally realized that, like, his sister is totally just as deranged and psycho as he is. So we should totally celebrate that and, like, the fact that we're together again." And so Toris hadn't been able to find it in his heart to say no and had agreed to the plan.

It had started off relatively painless. They had first gone out to buy a Christmas tree. "Like, Liet, that one's way too big. Like, we would have to totally break down the wall or something." And they had spent many hours looking for the right one. "Ew, that's like such a puny tree." But finally, they had managed to find the one tree that had made Poland happy. "Oh, wow! Liet, this is like, the most perfectest, epicest tree, in like, ever!"

Decorating the tree had been rather, interesting. Poland had dug out some old decorations from their childhood past and it had brought back some fond memories. "Oh my God, Liet, like remember when we painted these?" It had been amusing to watch Poland stand on his tippy toes with his tongue sticking out as he tried to put the star on the tree. He had struggled and tried his best until Lithuania had simply picked him up and gave him a boost so that he could reach. "Liet, like, put me down, I was going to so totally get it up there."

Then it had been the problem of coming up with a menu. Toris had tried proposing dishes from his friend's land in the hopes that it would make his life easier, but it didn't. "Whatever you do Liet, no blood soup, like ever." Frankly, he wasn't a fan of those either. "But like, chlodnik would be good, but no flaki, ew. And oh, if you make pierogi with, like, wild berries that would be totally awesome or even with mushrooms and that could be, like, the main meal." Lithuania had written all the suggestions down and ultimately, he had made the menu when he was alone.

That was how he found himself in his kitchen on Christmas Eve taking out the zagerelai and pierogi dough. Toris sighed once more. At least Feliks hadn't come with him when he had gone shopping for his gift. But even if his friend hadn't been there, Lithuania could hear him criticizing everything that he considered would be appropriate for Feliks. "Liet, you know that grey is totally not my colour even if I do look fab in a v-neck." Finally, after much bickering in his head, he had found the perfect gift and the Feliks in his mind hadn't said a word.

Toris washed up the dishes and closed the lights off in the kitchen before walking up to his room. Feliks had gone up to bed before him since he had stayed up late the night before watching his favourite Christmas specials on TV.

As Lithuania settled in his bed, he had to admit that it did feel rather pleasing to know that he was spending Christmas with Poland and that he didn't have to worry about Ivan trying to pull anything like he had done in the past. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was looking forward to the following day, now that everything was mostly done. With that happy thought in mind, Toris went to sleep.

~-

Poland was having a wonderful dream that was filled with Christmas ponies and mini skirts when he was jolted awake by a blood curling scream from the room next to his. Feliks bolted out of bed and grabbed the closest thing to him that he could use as a weapon and headed to the other room as he feared for the worst. It so happened that he had grabbed the bedside lamp, but he could really care less at the moment. He wondered if Ivan had returned to "claim back his Lithuania".

Feliks ran to his friend's room and barged in, ready to defend Toris with his life if he had to. He was expecting to see Russia hovering over the smaller man with that blood thirsty look in his violet eyes, but instead, he simply found Toris tangled in his blankets and thrashing around. His breathing was uneven and it looked as though he was trying to push something, no someone away from him. Poland put down the lamp as he realized that Lithuania was having another nightmare.

"Liet, it's okay, I'm totally here for you, and it's just a bad dream. He can't hurt you anymore. He's far from you. It's okay Liet, I'm here for you." Feliks whispered in his ear. At first it seemed as though Lithuania was going to try and push Poland away, but then he seemed to calm down a bit. However, it didn't last long and the sleeping man started moaning and shouting again. Poland sat on the bed and pulled Lithuania on his lap. He continued telling him reassuring words, hoping that it would help.

Feliks brushed the hair out of Toris' face and made soothing gestures on his cheek. Out of habit, he started humming a lullaby from their past and eventually, it seemed that Lithuania was finally coming through. He opened his eyes and gasped for air as he woke up.

"Please, NO!" He yelled before realising that he wasn't in Ivan's house and that Ivan wasn't in the same room as him. Toris blinked away the tears in his eyes and noticed that he was lying on something soft and warm. He sat up and found Feliks looking down at him with worry filled eyes. The two of them looked at each other before Poland pulled him into a bone crushing embrace. Lithuania brought his arms around his friend and started sobbing, letting the nightmare leave his body as he purged himself of his emotions.

"There, there Toris, it's going to be okay, I'm here for you." Poland rubbed his back while Lithuania continued crying and mumbling incoherent things. Every now and then, Feliks would catch words such as "Ivan", "scarred", "stop", "hurt" and "the others" and that was enough for the blonde haired man to know what his friend had been reliving in his nightmares.

Finally, after a few more minutes had passed, Lithuania's sobs had died down and he had regained control over his emotions. When he realized that his friend was fine and about to fall back asleep, Poland was going to return to his own room, when Toris held on to him.

"Please, don't leave me." He whispered. Feliks couldn't say no to that pitiful, hurt look that Toris gave him so he crawled back into the bed and Lithuania laid his head on his friend's lap as a dreamless sleep took over him.

Poland watched him slumber for a while as he combed his friend's hair with his hand and made sure that Toris wouldn't be plagued by anymore nightmares. Once he was sure that he was safe, Feliks closed his eyes and joined his friend in his dreams so that he could protect him there should he need any help.

~-

The first thing that Toris noticed when he woke up was that his cheeks felt stained. When he passed a hand over them, he felt the remains of tears and salt. It was then that he remembered his nightmare of the night before and how Feliks had come to comfort him. He sat up in his bed and saw that Poland was still sleeping; his back against the headboard and his hand was lying to the side of where Toris' head had been moments ago.

Lithuania decided to let his friend sleep a bit more and went to prepare breakfast. After all, Feliks had been right; it was time to put everything that had happened in the past behind them and to start building a better future. As he left his room, he noticed a bedside lamp that hadn't been there the night before. He said nothing and went downstairs.

By the time Toris had put down the last of the breakfast dishes on the table, Poland had made his way to the kitchen. The smell of the food had successfully roused him from his sleep.

"Ah, good, you're up. I was just about to come and get you." Poland observed his friend for a moment. It seemed as though Lithuania did not remember what had happened the night before. Feliks said nothing and took his seat at the table.

"Thank you for staying with me last night. I know that you've had a rough ride as well and all, but I'm glad you stayed with me, it really means a lot."

"Like, don't worry about it, Liet. It was totally nothing. And I know that you would have done totally the same thing for me, so like, you're welcome." Feliks beamed at his friend and put some food on his plate. Breakfast wasn't that much of a fancy affair since Lithuania had spent more time on the Christmas meal.

Once they had cleared the dishes, Feliks went to sit in the living room by the tree. Toris followed him and took his own seat on the couch. He retrieved the small bag that contained the present he had bought for his friend and Poland did the same.

"Open yours first. I so want to see your face when you open it." Feliks said as he handed him the box. Toris feared for a moment that he would come to regret this, but took the box and slowly undid the elegant bow that was on top of it. When the wrapping paper was removed, Lithuania found a very pretty wrist watch. He hadn't been expecting this from his friend.

"I, like, noticed that you didn't have yours anymore so when I saw this I was, like, "Liet would look totally fab with it!" so I got it." Toris smiled and pulled his friend for a hug. He remembered well what had happened to his other watch. It had been broken when Russia had smashed his wrist against a wall one night… Toris shook his head as he willed himself not to think of that Christmas and focus on this much happier one. Lithuania let go of his friend so that he could give him his own present. He sat back as he watched Poland tear at the tissue paper until he pulled out the small box inside.

Toris smiled when Feliks took out the small key shaped necklace charm with an emerald on it. When he had first bought it, he had simply gotten it because Poland was his key to everything and the stone matched with the colour of his eyes, but now, it meant much more than that.

"Wow, Liet, I'm like speechless, I totally love it!" The blonde haired man pulled out his golden chain from under his sweater and tried to remove it so that he could add the new charm to it.

"Allow me." Lithuania moved closer and proceeded to do the task. He paused as he replaced the chain around Feliks' neck.

"You really do hold the key to my happiness." He whispered as his gaze locked with the shorter man's eyes. Toris put the chain down, but let his hands around it. Feliks put his own hands around Lithuania's wrists and smiled.

"And what if I held the key to your heart?" Toris looked at him with surprise, but Poland held his gaze.

"I… I…" Feliks pressed a soft kiss to his lips and caressed his cheek.

"I've liked you for a really long time, Liet and I think I've come to love you." Lithuania's eyes widened a bit more, but at the same time, his heart soared.

"In that case then, I would be honoured if you were to hold the key to my heart as well." Feliks beamed and Toris brought their lips together in another sweet kiss that was filled with promises of a better, brighter future and many more Noels spent together.

OWARI

Such sap and fluff. Anyways, I do hope you enjoyed it. I found it much fun to write this story. Feliks is such an awesome character. In case you want to know what the dishes are, just check them up on Wikipedia.

More Christmas stories to come, reviews are always welcomed and thanks for reading!

Started writing: December 16th 2009, 10:44pm

Finished writing: December 17th 2009, 5:21pm

Started typing: December 17th 2009, 5:22pm

Finished typing: December 18th 2009, 1:59pm