My first fluff, so be gentle with reviewing. :3 Now, read, my valiant steeds! Read!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia Axis Powers, no matter how much I want to.

~O~

Germany had never liked airports. Much too noisy. That's why he was sending Japan off alone. Italy didn't want to go anywhere without Germany, so he was staying, too.

"Well, I'm all set." Japan set his suitcases on the floor softly. "At this rate, I should have no trouble catching the plane."

"N-N-Nihon!" Italy had been weeping for so long, Germany had tied a bucket to his chest to keep the tears of the floor. ("It's a pain to get them out of the carpet," Japan had complained a while back.) "W-Why are you leaving us? It's C-Christmas time!"

Japan looked up weakly at Italy. "I told you, I'm going to stay with some relatives I haven't visited in a long while. If I wait any longer, they'll forget I'm part of the family." He sighed, shaking his head in exhaustion. "It's as if I'm already on trial."

"But! But!" Italy's buckets were beginning to overflow. Germany put a massive hand on his tiny shoulder. For most, it's a calming gesture. With Germany, it was just scary.

"It's only for a few weeks, Italy. You shouldn't give Nihon a hard time about it." He looked over to Japan. There was no way to be sure by just looking at Germany's face whether or not he would miss Japan, or if he was happy he was leaving. "Have a safe trip."

"Everything should go smoothly," Japan fiddled with his earmuffs until they covered both of his ears snugly. "It'll be up to you two to cook and clean around here. Are you sure you can handle it? I could always hire help..."

"No need." Germany held up his hand to cease Japan's suggestions. "We'll be fine. You may be the best at your job, but I'm sure one of us can come in second best. Isn't that right, Italy?"

Italy had the same clueless expression that was always glued to his face, but then gave Japan a confident thumbs up. "N-No worries, Nihon! When you get back, this place will be cleaner than it's ever been! Doitsu and me can do this!"

Japan smiled feebly. "Doitsu and I."

"Doitsu and I what?"

"N...never mind." Japan sighed and picked up his suitcases. "I'll see you both again soon." The three exchanged goodbyes and Japan proceeded to open the door, walk down the hall, and get in the elevator. Before they knew it, he was gone.

Italy stared at the empty hallway long enough for his eyes to start fuzzing up. Rubbing them vigorously, he faced Germany, who was still staring into the hallway as well.

"Doitsu! Doitsu! You realize that today's December twentieth, riiight?" Italy waved his hands in front of Germany's face like tentacles. Germany gave Italy an exasperated look.

"Of course."

"Then you know that Christmas is less than a week away~!"

"Of cou...wait, what?"

Italy tilted his head to the right and gave Germany a quizzical look. "Well, it's the twentieth today, and Christmas is on the twenty fifth, so you take that and subtract twenty-"

"I know how to do math!" Germany snapped. "I just didn't realize that it was that soon..."

I haven't bought presents for anyone...

"Silly Doitsu! I've finished all of my preparations," Italy boasted. "But you know? We still have a good five days until Christmas." He untied the bucket full of tears from his chest and dumped the contents into the sink, throwing the bucket into a corner. "We should get in the Christmas spirit before Christmas hits!" He frowned a bit and added, "Especially you, Doitsu. You hide your feelings from nearly everyone, and even me and Japan only get a peek at the real you. It's the holidays, and we're going to fix your stubbornness! You will be happy by Christmas! I swear it!"

"The Christmas spirit?" Germany squinted. "There's no time for that, you need to catch up on training. Ever since you've been taking those Advanced Cooking classes and skipping out on training, you've turned into a complete weakling."

Though I shouldn't admit that you were one from the start.

Italy huffed, determined to celebrate. "Doitsu, there's too much snow outside to train! Plus, I've got tons of ideas that are too good to pass up."

"War doesn't pause for snow." Germany said simply.

"Neither does Christmas." Italy countered.

Germany exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples before someone got hurt. Unwilling to prolong this waltz any longer, he uttered a single, silencing word.

"Fine."

"Ve~!" Italy exclaimed excitedly. He didn't think Germany would give up this soon, and this was certainly not Germany's usual behavior. But, everyone has to make time for the holidays somehow. "There's so much we can do, and so little time!" Italy turned around, muttering to himself and drawing in the air with his finger. "Wow..." He mumbled to himself. "Maybe if we condense some events and get rid of the lesser ones entirely..."

Germany's patience was hanging on a thread. "Well?" Germany tapped his foot a little too loudly, anxious. "What is it you want to do?"

Italy smiled. "Come with me and you'll find out!" He slipped on his boots and a coat and trotted out into the hallway.

Germany hated when he wasn't in control.

"We need to be ready when Christmas comes," Italy explained, unusually logical today. "Which means we need a Christmas tree!"

~O~

Italy had led them to a Christmas tree farm, one with the tallest, thickest, tiniest, most colorful trees you could think of. It's very hard to be colorful when it's trees you're talking about, since you can only really be green with evergreens. But those trees were amazing.

"Doitsu, Doitsu! We have to pick one out to take back with us now." Italy called over his shoulder, already running around through the gathering of trees just begging to be decorated, like a puppy waiting to get adopted from a shelter. He stopped running at the tallest tree in the entire farm. "I like this one!"

"If it's too big, we won't be able to stand it upright or put a star on the top without bending it." Germany shook his head. "Try again."

Italy picked the widest one this time. "Look! It sticks out all over the place!"

Germany shook his head once more. "If it's too wide, we won't we able to get it through the door without knocking something over. Pick again."

The spikiest one. "Too hard to decorate."

The strongest smelling one. "Too headache-inducing."

The ugliest one. "Simply nauseating."

The shedding one. "You know how Japan gets about spilling things on the carpet."

Miraculously, a perfect tree was found. It was the perfect size, didn't shed, looked fine, smelled fully of pine, but not horribly so, and was even uncommonly lightweight. Germany took a slow lap around it, inspecting every inch and aspect of the poor evergreen. The pressure was on. Italy held his breath and waited for Germany to say something.

"We're taking this one." Germany nodded, after five full minutes. Italy beamed.

Italy hummed loudly while Germany declined help from the farm owner and cut down the tree by himself, throwing it gallantly over his shoulder with ease. Heaving it on top of the car and tying it down, all Italy could do to help was stay out of the way. He lagged behind Germany, imagining the flashing lights and sparkling ornaments, the fresh cookies and tall glass of milk, the fireplace shining brightly, casting dancing shadows across the floor.

"That should do it," Germany announced, tying the tree so it would never escape. "Is that it? That's all we have to do, right? Now we can just sit back and wait for Christmas?"

"Ve~? Doitsu!" Italy scolded. "Even I know that we still have decorating to do! There's so much I have planned, we'll be lucky if we do it all! This is no time to relax."

"Alright, alright." Germany exhaled. This would be a long week.

~O~

They drove to base with no problems, and Germany once again carried the tree all by himself while Italy stood in the background. They dragged it up the flights of stairs since the tree refused to fit in the elevator, and soon the entire hallway was filled with the scent of pine. Thankfully, they got to their room without any casualties.

Eventually, they pulled the tree through the door and stuck it on a stand to the edge of the meeting room. While Germany straightened it out and got some hedge clippers, claiming the tree was bent, Italy searched the place for ornaments and the like.

He scoured the building, sifting through closets and drawers and containers, but he didn't bring back any results. Wanting firmly to do a good job for once, he absolutely wouldn't report back to Germany until he had something. Violating the building's precious rules, Italy entered Japan's room without permission. He dug through all of Japan's drawers and under his bed, unsure of what he would find or if he would find anything at all. Why would someone keep ornaments lying around, anyway?

Italy continued his quest in the deep recesses of Japan's closet, which was far bigger on the inside than you could comprehend just by looking at the outside. There has to be something in here I can use for our tree, right? Oh, I need to help Doitsu somehow, I have to!

In a deep, dark, and musky corner lay a box. Italy's curiosity prodded at him to reach for it, but the goodness inside him told him that he was already violating Japan's privacy enough, and that looking at that box would be pushing it.

But, as the two sides conflicting like cats and dogs, curiosity overcame, as it most often does, and Italy grabbed the box. He sat cross legged on the floor and lifted the lid off carefully. The contents of the box were now visible, and Italy stared at them in confusion. He couldn't believe his dumb luck.

And of course, I mean he found ornaments.

Who knew Japan was the kind of guy to have these lying around, Italy rejoiced, ready to proudly present his findings to Germany. Skipping, he began to make up his own tune while he made sure not to let go of the box and let its contents break.

Nearing his destination, he peered into the meeting room where Germany was still angrily grunting and cutting branches off their tree. Italy trotted over and squeaked a tiny, "Ne~" to get his attention. Germany noticed him over his own loud noises and put the hedge clippers down, wiping his brow.

"Oh good, I was wondering were you went," Germany then saw the ornaments. "And I see you made yourself useful. Good job." He patted Italy's head. Italy opened his mouth in a goofy grin. Germany's praise was always sincere and genuine, and you had to work extra hard for it.

Germany continued. "Well, there is one specific spot on the tree that needs work, but I was planning to turn it around so that spot would be behind everything. And now, I can distract everyone further with flashing lights and whatnot!" He gestured to Italy for the box, and Italy happily gave it up. He watched as Germany emptied the box and laid out its insides, examining each ornament. "These will do just fine."

Italy hadn't felt this accomplished since he had made Germany admit that pasta was superior to wurst, even if they had fought for a month about it, and Germany and he had only said that to shut him up. It still counts.

Luckily for Italy, he was finally able to be of assistance when Germany asked him to help set up the lights and ornaments. He took his duty very seriously, and was extra cautious with each item. The ornaments, though lengthy time wise, were a breeze, and miraculously none were broken. But when it came time to strangle the tree with lights, the only one being strangled was Italy and the lights he had somehow gotten lethally tangled in.

A short lecture from Germany later, the tree looked surprisingly nice, and both countries stepped back to admire their handiwork. Then Germany commented that something was missing, and he went back to his room, bringing silvery tinsel trailing behind him. For anyone else, all these garments on one poor tree would be too much, but somehow it worked when Germany did it.

"It looks great, doesn't it?" Italy trilled. Germany nodded, a rare smile evident on his normally serious face.

"It certainly is something." Germany's eyes seemed to linger on the tree a bit longer than Italy's before he broke the connection. Turning to Italy, Germany asked, "Are we done now?"

Italy giggled. "Of course not!"

~O~

Well? Not enough fluff? I thought so too, but it'll get steamier! Really! Review or I'll get Russia to kol you!