A/N: Post R2. A set of little drabbles about what happened the immediate Christmas after the events in R2... centering my favorite pairs and/or ships.

Be warned of: Lelouch/C.C., Suzaku/Nunnally, Cornelia/Guilford, Kanon/Schneizel, Anya/Gino, Cecile/Lloyd/Milly, Orange/Sayoko.

Well, everything's divided into chapters, so I guess we're all warned beforehand and you can... I dunno, skip some things you don't like? ;D

And, if it's not much to ask for this: If you will review, will you do it by chapter??? Pleaseee....??? As a Christmas gift for me! :D

And for the heck of it, let's start with my forte-pairing.

Seven Christmas Firsts

Lelouch + C.C.

This was their first Christmas together - just the two of them.

Their celebration was mellow. A simple game of chess over tea, pizza, cookies and other sweets by the fireplace. It was a simple night - two bodies sprawled by the firelight, talking uneventfully, laughing at some memories, playing with long green locks, twirling fingers into fingers, huddling together to give the warmth that the fire's heat cannot provide.

This Christmas... was unusually colder for Lelouch. He ate and talked and laughed and drank, but it couldn't erase the feeling of loss. Nunnally was not with him. Suzaku wasn't celebrating as himself. Shirley and Rollo and Euphie are all gone. Although there was peace, he couldn't erase the longing for the old days.

He had a grip on the world back then - because he was still mortal. Still... human. He had an existence that, albeit fake and full of lies, had a certain hold on what he believed in - and who he lived for.

Now, he's immortal. He was stuck - permanently, maybe - in this world. It hasn't been his choice to make. It brought him loneliness because of the knowledge of living on and seeing everything he loved die. Now, he is no one. It pained him and he had to admit - if given a chance, he would gladly just die right now.

But whenever he looks at his (eternal?) companion, he couldn't bring to regret what had happened. He couldn't bring to wish himself to die. He stared at her as she boredly studied what remained of her chess pieces, nibbling on a pizza slice and thinking hard of any possible counterattack. She was lying down in the lush carpet as if she owned the world. Her hand in his kept in him his hold on reality - much like they always did.

She moved a piece and looked up at him. She caught him staring.

"Lelouch-"

"Uh, what? Is it my turn already?"

He looked awkwardly at the chess board, almost as if he didn't know what said object is, and then looked apologetically at her.

"What was your last move again?"

C.C. frowned and looked away, reaching for her teacup and taking a sip. For a moment, Lelouch tried to grasp the condition of the game in front of him. Silence prevailed between them. Only the crackle of fire was heard for thirty long seconds that seemed like forever. Still, he couldn't analyze the chess pieces.

She finally broke his trance.

"You regret it, don't you?" Her voice was clear and mystical as always, but he heard the sorrow beneath it. "You never deserved this, anyway. By now, you could have been simply celebrating with Nunnally and Suzaku and your friends."

"Stop talking about 'what-if's, C.C. It's not you." he tried to laugh it off.

Her composure was unthreatened. "You're not happy."

He looked back and stared at ageless gold irises. He saw the pain in them. If only she knew how it breaks him to see her lonely - but come to think of it, perhaps she did.

Maybe she didn't mean to break him at all. She was too preoccupied with what? Internally blaming herself for his sadness? He learned to read her well enough to know that it was a possibility.

He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly against hers, then smiled back down at her confused expression.

"I have no regrets. I love you. Don't say these things." he started, carressing her cheek with his hand and giving her a pleading look. "It's Christmas. We're happy."

She smiled back that smile that was reserved for only him."Then don't wear that kind of expression." she squeezed his hand. "It's Christmas - we're supposed to be happy."

"Is it wrong to feel nostalgic? You're the one assuming."

He moved one of his chess pieces, now in perfect grip of the game again.

Only to flinch when she moved her own piece and say the 'victory word' that he used to say so often.

"Checkmate. Merry Christmas, Lelouch."

A/N: Um, yeah - Merry Christmas. Moving on? Next chap will be Suzaku+Nunnally.