Ok, it's a little late for Christmas so I'm considering this and the other four that I'm posting to be holiday fics. I will also be posting a Esca drunken New Years fic as well.

Warning: Hits of citrus & the Suilsie Fluff Seal of Approval.

Diamond Studded
A Christmas Fic

As the snow falls on Asturia, when there is a lull in the battle against Zaibach, she remembers what day it is.

Hitomi wraps the blanket tightly around her shoulders as she steps out onto the balcony and surveys the glittering whiteness that has frozen all work. If she was one who cared to write and think up fancy words to describe the image before her then she would say that it looks like diamonds, millions of tiny shards of the precious stone that were just dropped onto the roofs of the building. However, because she is not the type of person to think of such extravagant details, Hitomi can only wonder at just how pretty everything looks. Even the surface of her balcony glitters with a faint layering of frost and her breath freezes in the air.

With all the insanity and utter chaos that she encountered ever since she had been dropped into Gaea she had never bothered to try and keep track of all of the days that she had spent here. Even if she wanted to there was nothing that she could use to help her count them, and even if she did have something that she could use it would have already been lost.

Briefly she wonders where Allen-san is and then decides that it is far better if she doesn't think too much about it. She doesn't dwell on the fact that this sudden truce between the Alliance and the Zaibach Empire doesn't quite make sense. The soldiers are all battle weary and filled with a fatigue that has very little to do with the body. It is one of the few reasons why the leaders of the Alliance had even consented to the momentary cease fire in the first place. She will probably never stop being ashamed of her actions as far as they concerned the Knight Caeli, and she avoids him wherever possible.

Millerna is visiting Dryden's estate and trying to pull the merchant out of the rather heavy condition that he was currently in. Hitomi made a mental note to see to it that she visit the couple, possibly with Merle, and try to lift her spirits but at the moment he was far from being the most important person on her mind. Heading back inside, Hitomi wished that she had the foresight to at least bring some sensible clothes. Even if she had been wrong and unable to find a way back to Gaea, at the very least she would have been able to walk around the palace in something other than her school uniform.

She slips on her uniform jacket and pauses before grabbing two wrapped items from the bureau. She blushes when she thinks back to how she could have dared to forget what day it is, and is thankful that she had thought to give Millerna and Merle their gifts last night.

Speaking of the cat girl, Hitomi realizes, there was very little time she had to find her before Van tries to leave.

The item that is square, of medium size, and in gold wrapping paper is for Folken and as she finally locates the girl with the candy apple hair, she hands it over. She looks Merle square in the eyes and makes her promise that she will deliver the gift straight away. In the typical fashion that the blue-eyed girl adopts whenever she thinks Hitomi is being more then just a tad overdramatic, Merle rolls her eyes. Under her breath she mutters how she doesn't see what it is that is damn important, but accepts the wrapped present regardless.

Hitomi chooses not to voice the unease that she feels whenever she looks at Folken or thinks of the former Strategist. She tries not to think much on the feeling that forms in her gut, like a jagged lump of ice. Merle is giving her a strange look, and she has to forcibly push that strange sense of foreboding out of her mind. Really, how is she to help Van when thoughts of terrifying visions of dark premonitions fill her head.

Hitomi flashes Merle a fake smile before starting down the spiraling stairs of the rather drafty palace to the hall that would lead her to the rooms that Van was now occupying. Once, he had used a guest room that was not far from hers, but he had been almost insistent when he had forced Dryden to allow him to change his rooms a couple of days previous.

His actions hurt more than she cares to admit, and something in her crumples a little, almost in defeat.

It is when she hears the sharp sound of approaching footsteps that she realizes she has been staring at his door for some time. Biting her lip she raises her hand to knock, but thinks better of it. Looking to each side to make that there is no one else around she turns the handle and steps into the room unannounced.

She is hardly surprised to see the room in a state of absolute chaos because, after all, she has a little brother. She has to bite her lip to stop her instinctive shriek when she realizes that Van is (oh my) quite naked. She turns around and stares at the door, her face crimson as she tries to mutter out an apology. Her voice cracks a little when she speaks.

"I'm so sorry, Van! I should have knocked! I didn't think—" She trails off, an uncertain sort of unease seeming to fill her when she does not hear the sound of him rushing to put on his own clothes.

Hitomi doesn't think it is too much to ask, and shouldn't one expect it in this sort of situation?

There is no sound, and she can just barely hear the faint whisper of his breathing. Hesitantly, she turns her head, uncertain at what exactly she will see, and is surprised to see that he is still staring out past his window and onto the palace grounds. Despite the lingering curiosity that fills her, Hitomi is quite proud that she is able to keep her eyes from straying below his waist, even if he has not turned to her once.

He says nothing, and something lances through the young woman's heart. She says nothing and refuses to acknowledge the pain in any form as she approaches him hesitantly. She studies his back and can not help but frown at the faint scars that linger their. As she gets closer she notes how he seems to be so much more muscular then when she had first met him, and this does nothing to help her blush. Something about the tension in the room forces her to remain silent even when she reaches his side.

Hitomi doesn't see what it is that has Van so transfixed and she wonders if maybe it is a result of that phrase that Allen-san used when the ceasefire was first announced. Is Van actually war weary?

She looks at his face out of the corner of her eyes, frowning. There certainly are some lines at the corners of his eyes that she didn't notice before. She feels a little foolish of the small gift wrapped in a small red and green mesh fabric, and still feels more then a little foolish. She raises her green eyes and stares at both of their reflections.

It is only then that she realizes that he has been watching her the entire time.

She tries to think of something, anything, to keep her face from turning redder and failing miserably. Idly she wondered if boys were wired just a bit differently because his face was practically…expressionless.

Never has she seen him look at her in such a way. She has seen his face sullen, angry, jealous. She has seen him with his features twisted into despair. She has seen his eyes softened with an emotion that she dares not to name. One thing she had quickly learned about the Fanelian king is that he is a violently passionate man.

She turns her head to him and searches his face, almost desperate to find some of the passion that she is so familiar with, that she almost yearns to see. When she finds none she is very thankful that she was able to remember what day it was on Earth and she tightens her grip around the small gift. She forces her lips up into a smile and prays that it doesn't seem too fake.

Hitomi barely has time to open her mouth to speak his name, to find a way force the words that are suddenly lodge in her throat, when he turns from her with a heavy sigh. That familiar pain lances through her heart and something pricks at the corner of her eyes. When she speaks, her voice is softer than she would like it to be and if she was more like her Aunt Sai, she would curse herself for her weakness.

"Where are you going?"

Van is almost to his washing room when he stops and turns his head to look back at her. For some reason he seems less stoic. The wry smile that his mouth twists up into certainly helps.

"I need to get dressed, Hitomi. If that's all right with you?"

She doesn't think that it is possible, but her face heats up even more. She mutters for him to dress and put on some damn clothes and has to resist the urge to watch him. Desperate for some distraction she looks around at the chaos that is his room. She wrinkles her nose at the couple of empty bottles of vino that lie on the carpet. She still remembers her first experience with the drink, and it is one that she has no desire to repeat.

Despite her sudden aversion to alcohol she goes around the room, picking up the empty bottles. In one corner of the room, one of the glasses has been reduced to millions of tiny shards, and she sees crimson drops among them. Her green eyes narrow in anger, she just can simply not believe that he would hurt himself in such a manner. Biting her lip, she decides to leave the shards alone for now and moves towards a small table that has been knocked over on it's side, and she cannot help but wonder as to what has happened to the man that she had left only weeks ago.

She worries and wonders if perhaps her gift is too foolish, if perhaps it isn't enough. Then she hears the sound of the door opening and turns to him and tries to smile.

The stranger that she witnessed only moments before is gone, and she sees the man that she loves. He is wearing a shirt of black silk that is half way open and she only just stops herself from wishing that perhaps it is a shame that he doesn't have any of the tight, leather pants from her world. Hitomi is hardly able to pull herself from her almost fantasy and her eyes glaze over slightly at the half formed image of Van in such tight pants. She appreciates the way his shirt reveals his chest, yet curses him for his audacity especially since she was just able to get her blush under control.

Something lingers in his eyes, but she ignores it.

"Where did you get those clothes? I don't think I've—"

Van frowns, and plucks at his long sleeve, an obvious expression of displeasure on his face. "Dryden forced me to wear this. My other clothes need to be cleaned and mended."

Hitomi's gut twists unpleasantly at these words and her heart aches for him.

"Why are you here, Hitomi?"

The knife in her heart twists once more, and she has to swallow against her painfully dry throat before she speaks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be an inconvenience." Her eyes drop to the shards of glass on the floor so that she misses the pained expression that crosses his face at her words. "I just, well…today, rather yesterday was a religious holiday for me a-at home on Earth." Oh gods, she's babbling. "Well it's a religious holiday, but we really aren't very religious, actually we are just not that religion but it's—the holiday, I mean—we exchange gifts." Her voice steadily gets stronger and starts to ramble less and she gathers the courage to look up at him. "We exchange them as a meaning of thanks and appreciation…and wanting to see the next year through with people and how much you—," The look in his cinnamon eyes as he watches her silently is so intense that the words can't get out fast enough, "—you want to be with that person…always." She thrusts the gift in front of him and is hardly able to stop herself from looking away, her face is so red.

The feeling of foolishness and absolute embarrassment returns and she is sorely tempted to grab the package back and run somewhere far away, maybe to Fortuna Temple, and burn it.

She does none of these things, despite the embarrassment that burns her skin to a crimson flush. She chews on the inside of her check as she watches him look at the small gift (really it is very small, no larger than a ryou) in puzzlement. Then he turns it over to look at where the ends meet. Then slowly, it is almost painful in the absolute slowness as he reaches towards one of the ends and pulls it away. Hitomi wonders at the slow, careful gestures of his action, but she doesn't question it. Her heart is thudding so loudly that she almost wonders if he can hear it. The box that the mesh cloth reveals as it flutters gently to the floor is a simple wood box that she used to keep her offering for the shrine visits on New Years. It is the perfect size for what she found in her duffle bag. Her heart beats even louder, and she can almost feel blood pumping along her face as it's so hot, as he slides back the panel of wood to reveal the item that she had so painstakingly chose.

It cost her more then a pretty coin, and it was only through Millerna's help that Hitomi was able to obtain, and even now she isn't sure if it was the correct thing to get. A simple ring that is made of obsidian and silver, with tiny chips of diamond embedded into the black stone. A chain of a black grayish metal that went with the masculine ring surprisingly well completed the gift. It is a rather feminine thing to get someone like Van, but she had not been able to stop thinking how much it reminded her of Van. Dark and bleak, with the potential to shine.

She knows that once Zaibach is defeated that he will be a fine king once he reunites with his people.

When he becomes that fine king she hopes that at least this will give him something to remember her by when she must return home.

The look on his face is not quite one that she has seen before.

"This is…"

"I wasn't too sure what to get you since I know things are not quite settled, but it's something that…" She can't even find the courage to give voice to the reason why she had chosen something like the ring. It was especially hard when he takes a step closer to her. "…I wanted to give you something that you can take with you when you…go back. The chain is supposed to be very sturdy so you shouldn't have to worry about it. I thought—"

Hitomi doesn't get a chance to say what it is she thinks because suddenly she is pressed up against him because his arm is wrapping around her waist with his hand splaying at the small of her back, and his lips are pressing hard against hers possessively in an almost bruising force. The hand that she suddenly presses against his chest in surprise is the only thing that is preventing her breasts from pressing against his broad chest. She is unable to form a coherent thought and her green eyes are wide, not closed as she always thought they would be during her first kiss. (Even though he had been her first serious crush, Hitomi really couldn't bring herself to say that the kisses with Allen-san counted. After all Van was the first person that she loved truly and with all of her heart.)

She is only able to stare at him, with her mouth slightly open, when he pulls away looking strangely satisfied. Then Van leans forward and his dark hair tickles her nose and she thinks he is going to kiss her again. He doesn't and just rests his forehead against his and there is something about such a simple act that seems so much more intimate than the passionate kiss. Her lips curl up into a small smile as he hoarsely whispers, "Thank you". There is so much emotion in those simple words, and as she steps back to look at him she wonders at the lingering darkness at the back of his eyes. Reaching, still a little shy, Hitomi brushes a stray of lock his unruly hair out of his eyes, and her finger strays on the sturdy angle of his jaw.

"Merry Christmas." She murmurs softly, her breath ghosting across his cheek as she leans in and claims his lips.

Hope you enjoyed it and that the difference from my usual form of tense didn't throw you off too much.

In case there is any confusion I'm calling this fic canon. It basically takes place after Hitomi talks to Allen after returning to Gaea and before he leaves for battle. Also before Dryden has his little meltdown.

Please, review.