Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, BekotaTheMonsterHuntress, and Faith-Huskers for all your wonderful reviews! Also thanks to everyone who added this to their favorites and follows lists - I appreciate you all so very much!

Author's Note: Sorry for this semi-late update, but I had a busy Christmas morning, and by the time I got online to post the chapter - the site's login page was down! I kept getting an error message. But (late although it is), here is the final, Christmas day chapter of Christmas Countdown! I'm so sad the story's over, but I'm so grateful to all of you who took the time to read this, leave comments, and add this story to their favorites and follows lists! I hope you all have had a great Christmas, and I hope you have an equally wonderful New Year! Thanks again!

*~Chapter XII~*

~Countdown: Day 1: Sasuke~

In the normal course of things, on Christmas morning Hanabi - after keeping Hinata up half the night talking - would wake her older sister just as the first faint greyness of dawn began to lighten the darkness of the bedroom. This year, however, even once Hanabi fell asleep, Hinata only dozed in fitful snatches filled with snatches of dreams; in some of which Sasuke waited for her by the village Christmas tree, and in some he never came at all. So it was almost a relief when she heard her sister's excited voice saying, "Hinata! Hinata, wake up!" as a hand gripped and shook her shoulder.

I'm awake already, she wanted to say, but that wasn't the way the tradition went. Groaning, she made a great show of prying open her eyes while grousing, "Hanabi, what time is it? When will you actually want to sleep till a decent time on Christmas?" She faked a wide yawn, which quickly turned into the real thing.

Hanabi giggled and replied cheekily, "The twelfth of never," her usual response. "C'mon, big sister! You should be excited: It's Christmas morning! And on top of that, Sasuke should be back in Konoha today!"

Should be. But what if he isn't? Hinata battled down the urge to mash her fingertips together, the remnant of the old timid, negative part of herself she'd struggled so long to change. To cover it, she said with patently mock asperity, "I'd be more excited if it were a more reasonable time of morning." Climbing out from beneath the warm blankets on her futon, she shivered and reached for her robe. "Is it just me, or is it colder than usual?"

Without answering, Hanabi padded across the room on slippered feet and threw open one of the doors leading out onto a porch overlooking the back gardens. "Ta-da!" she sang.

The dim glow of the lights scattered throughout the garden seemed brighter than usual, as if reflecting off something. Hinata let out a gasp of delight. "It snowed!"

A blanket of white fluff covered everything, its pristine paleness unsullied by footprints. (Though that, Hinata thought with a trace of excitement, would later change.) Icicles dangled from the roof of the porch, glistening with orangey hues from the lights in the garden.

Hanabi closed the door again when she saw her older sister shiver. "I can hardly wait to go out and play in it," she said with a grin. "Think we can talk Neji and Tenten into coming out with us?"

Going over to her dressing table, Hinata picked up a brush and attacked the tangles in her long hair. "We'll have to wait and see," she said. Setting down the brush a moment later, she hesitated for only a moment before spritzing on a little of the perfume Sasuke had given her. "Speaking of, I wonder if they're here yet?" She doubted it - her cousin and his wife were probably still happily ensconced in their warm bed, under their warm covers, lost in the warm happy dreamland of sleep, where she wished still to be herself...

Grasping Hinata's hand, Hanabi dragged her toward the door. "I don't know - but let's go see!"

Laughing outwardly, Hinata let herself to be towed along in her sister's wake. But inwardly her nerves twisted tighter and tighter as she thought about what might - or might not - happen later in the evening, no matter how useless she knew her anxiety to be.

All she could do was deal with whatever happened - when it happened.

About half an hour before sunset, Hinata closed the door against the sounds of Neji's, Tenten's, and Hanabi's voices and laughter. Bundled up in all her winter gear, she trudged through the snow, breathing in the sharp, clear coldness of the air as she enjoyed the beauty of the whiteness against the Christmas decorations all around the estate.

Leaving via the front gates, Hinata made her way through the mostly-quiet village. She drifted past houses with their windows lit cheerfully from within; glanced into shop windows where decorations glowed, though the stores beyond were dark; shared a nod with a fellow traveler going the opposite way, his warm hat decorated with reindeer antlers.

At last Hinata reached the towering Christmas tree in the exact center of the village. The rest of the year, a fountain held pride of place in being the central meeting point of Konoha: A place where friends met to shop and hang out for the day; where teams assembled prior to beginning their next missions; where lovers met to enjoy an evening out together.

But for Christmas, the fountain was shut down so a massive tree could stand in its place. Topped by a huge, brilliant star shining like a beacon, the tree glittered with thousands of lights, its garlands and bows and ornaments shining in the multi-colored glow. Hinata stopped next to it and tilted her head up, feeling tiny next to gigantic nobility of it.

She huddled a little deeper in her coat as she watched the last of the daylight start to slip into the twilight of Christmas night. Despite the tension building steadily within her it had been a good day - Neji and Tenten showed up only half an hour after Hanabi woke Hinata, and they all met up with Hiashi in the dining room for breakfast. Then they retired to the sitting room, where Hanabi playfully pulled on a Santa hat before passing out presents.

As Hinata had expected, Hanabi got hilariously frustrated at her nested present, though she loved the lavender-tinged grey labradorite necklace and earrings she eventually unwrapped. Tenten surprised them all by pulling the same trick on Hinata. Her chocolate eyes sparkled as she watched her cousin-in-law unwrap box after box until she finally reached the set of custom-made kunai at the end.

Christmas dinner passed as Hinata hoped, with comfortable conversation flowing around the table. Even though Hiashi left the "young people" after the meal, claiming duties he couldn't abandon even on Christmas, she'd enjoyed spending time with Hanabi, Neji, and Tenten, the three people closest to her in the world.

Well, except for...

A sound behind her made her spin, her heart leaping excitedly into her throat. But disappointment swiftly set in when she realized it had been caused by the wind rustling the garland on the tree.

Tucking her scarf more closely around her neck and pulling her hat down a little more snugly over her head, Hinata made a circuit of the tree. It would be funny, she thought, if Sasuke actually waited for her on the other side, which was impossible to see from where she'd paused. But when she completed the circuit and realized she was still alone, with full darkness descending upon the village, the sting of truth struck her heart.

Sasuke hadn't made it back home for Christmas after all. The eleven preceeding days, while exciting and wonderfully romantic, had raised false hopes for something she'd secretly feared all along was impossible.

Five more minutes. Rubbing her gloved hands together, Hinata stamped her booted feet and nodded resolutely. I'll wait here for him five more minutes. And then, if he's not here...

...I guess I'll go back home. She swallowed against a sudden tightness in her throat. Of course her family would know by the look on her face when she returned that Sasuke hadn't come, but she hoped they wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

To help stay warm, she circled the tree once, twice, and then a third time, and a fourth. The five promised minutes came and went; then five more: and another five (or ten) besides. Even though on a purely logical level she knew it wasn't his fault he hadn't come, his absence still hurt. In the midst of her growing worries about what might have delayed him, Hinata still felt a shameful little bit of betrayal; and terribly, terribly lonely. Sighing, she finally turned her steps toward home. Tears prickled her eyes, while her cheeks and nose felt numb from the cold.

"...nata!"

She stopped, wondering if the wind had just whispered her name. Turning her upper body, she reluctantly looked back toward the tree, the last little whisper of hope inside her rekindling...

...But no, she was still alone. The tree stood as a silent sentry in the center of Konoha, a shining beacon to friends, families, and a sweetheart who wasn't coming.

Hating the abandoned feeling festering in her chest, Hinata clenched her teeth and hurried toward home. She would take a minute when she got there to compose herself, then join her family and enjoy the rest of Christmas to the best of her acting abilities.

In a hurry and half-blinded by tears, Hinata missed the patch of black ice in her path. Her booted foot struck it and slipped, unable to gain traction on the slippery surface. Thrown off-balance, she windmilled her arms, trying not to panic even as she knew she was going to fall...

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact of her body against the ground, not even her ninja reflexes able to help her keep her balance in this situation.

But instead of the ground, she fell against something hard with regularly spaced lumps; something utterly if unexpectedly familiar. Arms curled around her, catching her, then gentling into an embrace as Uchiha Sasuke pulled her back against his chest.

"Tch, I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I, Hinata?" His voice, soft and warm with amusement, tickled her ear - and her emotions.

"Sasuke..." She half-breathed his name, feeling tears of an entirely different kind burn her eyes. Twisting around in his arms, she threw her own around his neck, clinging to him as she drew in his familiar scent - weapons oil, and a clean, crisp smell like the air right after a rainstorm. To her own surprise, as well as his, she jammed her mouth onto his in a fierce kiss.

A chuckle rumbled through Sasuke's chest as he tightened his arms around her waist. "You didn't think I was coming, did you?" he murmured against her lips after the kiss ended.

Pulling back slightly, Hinata took in his apparel: his chuunin vest, the weapons pouch still strapped to his leg, the handle of his katana peeking above his shoulder. Obviously, he'd just gotten back from his mission. "No, I didn't. Oh, Sasuke," her voice wobbled as her tears spilled over, "I didn't know what could have delayed you: If it was just the weather, or if something had gone disastrously wrong with your mission-"

Tenderly, Sasuke brushed the tears from her cheeks and eyes with gentle touches of his lips. "Things ran a little longer than I thought they would. I expected to be back three or four days ago, but I hit a few - snags. I've been traveling pretty much all day and night the past couple of days to make sure I got here on time." He traced his finger, ungloved but still warm, down her cheek. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world, Hinata. I am sorry I'm late, and that I worried you."

Hinata smiled up at him and shook her head. Striving to gloss over how shaky she still felt, she said with forced lightness, "I forgive you, I suppose." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, feeling his chin come down on the crown of her head as his own arms slipped around her shoulders. "I missed you, Sasuke. Thank you for the treasure hunt - I can't begin to tell you how much it helped. But all I ever really wanted for Christmas was you, right here safe with me."

Kissing the top of her head, Sasuke gave her another gentle squeeze before stepping back. She bit her lip as she looked up into his pale face, finally noticing the dark circles around his tired black eyes. She felt another wave of fervent gladness that he was here at last - alive, safe, and with her.

"Come back to the tree with me," he said, grasping her hand. "Your final present's actually there. Or it should be if Itachi remembered to put it where he was supposed to."

"Okay." At that point, Hinata would have willingly followed him to Kumogakure if he asked her to, just so long as they were together.

When they reached the tree, Sasuke pulled her to a stop next to it. Turning to face her, he took both her hands in his and said, "I've been thinking about this every free moment I had this past mission." The corner of his mouth kinked upwards ruefully, and then he admitted, "Okay, and I thought about it for a long time before that, even. But I've had this in mind for a while, and thinking about it is what helped me make it through the mission."

Hinata felt her breath catch in her chest as Sasuke, still holding her hands, sank down onto one knee. He looked up into her face, the most breathtaking smile on his handsome face. "Hyuuga Hinata, you have been a quiet but steady presence in my life for several years now. At first, I never thought I had a chance with you - not while you were pining away for that idiot Naruto." The fond smile on his face took the sting out of his words. Hinata couldn't help but smile back. "But I want you to know that I still want you in my life - now and always - but in a far more permanent way." Letting go of her right hand, he reached into the nest of branches next to him and withdrew a little box, unwrapped, which he held up to her. "So I'm asking you this now: Will you give me the best Christmas present I could ever ask for and agree to marry me?"

A deluge of images from the past few days showered through Hinata's mind - a mixture of truth and dreams, memories and hopes that all found their beginning and end in one person:

"Sasuke." She might have breathed his name, or just thought she did. But either way, his gaze sharpened. Those dark eyes, so different from her pale ones, stared up into hers, filled with hope and the mirror image of the dreams she knew were in her own.

Feeling a brimming happiness wash away all the doubts and fears that had so recently plagued her, she said softly, "It is you who have given me the greatest Christmas gift, Sasuke - more than the beautiful things you left with our friends over these past few days." Allowing the smile teasing at her lips to burst into life, Hinata sank to her knees in front of Sasuke and threw her arms around him. "Yes, Sasuke. A hundred, a thousand times, yes."

Perhaps it was just her imagination. But Hinata could have sworn she saw twinkling dark eyes and a silver beard just above the gloved hand holding mistletoe over her and Sasuke's heads right before her fiancé kissed her: a deep, lingering kiss full of passion and promise. Then her imagined Santa, as well as everything else in the world - save for Sasuke - disappeared.

And Hinata's Christmas became, in the end, a very, very merry one, indeed.

*~The End~*

Author's Ending Notes: Sorry for this semi-late update, but I had a busy Christmas morning, and by the time I got online to post the chapter - the site's login page was down! I kept getting an error message. I'm so sad the story's over - I had such a great time writing it, I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to let go yet! But even though it's over now, I am so very grateful to all of you who took the time to read this, leave comments, and add this story to their favorites and follows lists! I hope you all have had a great Christmas, and I hope you have an equally wonderful New Year! Thanks again!