A/N – To clarify ages (not that I need to): I've put Ferb's birthday in November, and we know Vanessa's is in June, so I've got them technically about 5 ½ years apart; at this point, he's about a month past 14, and she is still 19.

Part 2

Vanessa had stuffed herself with food and put away more than her share of wassail. As if the normal Christmas fixings weren't enough, Isabella's mother had sent over tamales and latkes, and Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher had made enough potato salad to feed most of the Tri-State Area, as well as several pies, pumpkin, apple, and Ferb's favorite, cherry. Vanessa's favorite of the sweets had proven to be the gingerbread men, dense and chewy and decorated with white sugar icing and red-hot candies. She had thought Ferb was pulling her leg when he told her that Buford had made them, but he was quite in earnest. For a self-proclaimed Bully, he noted, Buford was always full of surprises.

Buford was also apparently somewhat predictable, as he and Baljeet began setting up the performance area for the musical portion of the evening. Phineas, carrying out a pair of guitars, said something about running a sound check, and the husky boy stepped up to the microphone and got everyone's attention. "Okay, listen up!" The mic squealed, and he adjusted it before going on. "Buford's gonna sing you a song." With that, he began to belt out, in his gravelly voice:

"Here comes Santa Claus,
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Buford's chimneeeeee.
He's got a sack stuffed full of gifts
And all of them for meeeeeee.
How I love to give nerds wedgies,
It makes my heart feel light.
But I'll do one nice thing by Christmas Eve
So Santa will come tonight…"

"BUFORD!" Baljeet snapped at him. "That is not what we rehearsed!"

Beside Vanessa, Ferb muttered, "It never is," and she snickered.

"Okay – OKAY, Buford," Phineas cut him off before he could start another verse, "I think we're good to go. Ready, Ferbmeister?" he summoned his brother. Ferb got up and looked for a place to ditch his empty dessert plate; Vanessa reached out and took it from him and stacked it with hers. He gave her a quick smile as he walked over to join the band and picked up the red electric guitar. Phineas had the yellow one, Buford got behind the drums, and Baljeet stepped up to the mic. In his clear tenor, the Indian boy sang sweetly, to the gentle accompaniment of Phineas's guitar:

"I just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way.
I stopped off at the North Pole to spend a holiday.
I called on dear old Santa Claus, to see what I could see.
He took me to his workshop, and told his plans to me…"

"ONE – TWO – THREE – FOUR!" Buford shouted, beating his drumsticks in the air, and all four boys at once ripped into a rocking chorus of:

"You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry,
Better not pout, I'm tellin' you why:
Santa Claus is comin' to town!"

Ferb was wailing away at the power chords, but Vanessa noticed he wasn't singing. He had insisted, some time ago, that he didn't sing, because, frankly, he wasn't much of a vocalist. "I can, however, lip synch convincingly," he had noted, with a modest smile. She suspected that this aversion to singing was why he had educated himself in so many instruments. And, frankly, anyone who could play as well as he did didn't need to be a singer.

One after another, the two brothers and various combinations of their friends got up to make music. Early on, Vanessa moved to dispose of the dirty dishes she and Ferb had left, and chose a new seat somewhere nearer the stage. Ferb didn't play on every song, and whenever he wasn't needed, he came and sat beside her. Most of the songs were familiar to her; Isabella warbled, "Let it Snow," which was apparently something of a tradition among them. and Phineas took out an acoustic guitar to accompany Candace, who soloed on a touching, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Phineas led a couple of fun singalongs, with Ferb at the keyboard, and Vanessa happily chimed in with the crowd on the stories of Red-Nosed Reindeer and Ambulatory Snow Men. A couple of songs they performed, she didn't think she knew. At one point, Ferb picked up a ukelele, and Phineas brought out a Hawaiian steel guitar, as Isabella, Gretchen, and Ginger, decked out in leis, stepped up and sang in swinging three-part harmony:

"Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day.
That's the island greeting that we send to you, from the land where palm trees sway.
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright.
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night.
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you."

Then, farther along in the set, Phineas and Ferb and their acoustic guitars were joined by Isabella's friend, Katie, with a hand-held Irish drum, and Django Brown, with his violin. As they struck up a lively Celtic melody, Phineas clapped his hands above his head until he had the whole room clapping with him, and Phineas, Django and Katie launched into:

"The holly green, the ivy green, the prettiest picture you've ever seen,
Is Christmas in Killarney, with all of the folks from home.
It's nice, you know, to kiss your beau, while cuddlin' under the mistletoe,
And Santa Claus, you know of course, is one of the boys from home.

The door is always open. The neighbors pay a call.
And Father John before he's gone will bless the house and all.

How grand it feels to click your heels and join in the fun of the jigs and reels.
I'm handing you no Blarney, the likes you'll never know.
It's Christmas in Killarney, with all of the folks from home."

Django and his fiddle took over after the first chorus, with music so infectious, the assembled guests had no choice but to dance, boys and girls mixed indiscriminately together, linking hands to form chains that skipped and looped and wove throughout the room, then breaking apart to link arms and swing partners until they reformed into new chains that snaked in and out of each other. Stacy was the first to seize Vanessa's hand as she flew past, and Vanessa in turn laid hold of the person nearest to her, who happened to be Baljeet. Their chain broke apart as it tangled with another, and the next thing she knew, Buford was swinging her in a circle and skipping with her down the center of the room. The burly boy was surprisingly light on his feet for his size, she noted, and could skip with the best of them. They parted when they reached the stage, and Vanessa's eyes met Ferb's as he strummed merrily at his guitar. She didn't think she'd ever seen a grin that big on him before, and she returned it to him with interest before she was swept into another chain of dancers. Three times they sang the song, with Django ringing more elaborate changes on it after each round, until the whole room was shouting along on the last line. When the music came to an end, they all whooped out their approval and staggered to find seats and drinks and breath. Ferb rejoined the crowd and met her coming back from the wassail bowl, and they sat down together again.

"I can't possibly top that," Vanessa warned, still giddy with delight.

"Oh, yes, you will," Ferb assured her, breathless and grinning, himself. There was a short break as everyone regrouped, then Phineas and Buford took the stage again, behind keyboard and drums. Vanessa caught Candace laying a kiss on Ambrose's cheek and patting his shoulder, as he stepped forward to join the boys. Ambrose and Phineas exchanged a nod, and the boy led off with a few wistful chords as the young man stepped up to the mic and crooned, "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas…"

Whatever Ferb thought of his sister's boyfriend, Vanessa had to admit, he had an appealing voice, in that mellow, old-fashioned sort of way. Candace was obviously smitten with it, judging by her dreamy smile. When Ambrose finished the chorus, he addressed the crowd: "Come on, you all know this one, help me out here," and gradually, they all began to sing with him. Around the point of, "…and children listen," Vanessa became aware of a soft baritone chiming in beside her, and took a careful peek from the corner of her eye to see Ferb's lips moving. She smiled a little to note that he had a perfectly pleasant singing voice. Not as rich or strong as he might have wished it to be, and he shied from attempting any of the notes too far out of his natural range, but he sang exactly as he spoke, and that was good enough for her.

Ambrose finished and retreated to Candace's embrace, and Phineas stepped up to the mic one last time. Ferb looked at Vanessa and whispered, "Ready?" and she nodded. She hardly heard Phineas thanking their guests, or introducing her, but when Ferb moved toward the stage, she followed him. He took up his electric guitar and sat on a stool to one side, while she adjusted the mic to her height, and looked at him. He gave her a little nod, and a small, encouraging smile, and lightly picked out a few notes. Vanessa faced the mic, and let her voice flow.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose.
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like eskimos…"

She had barely noticed Buford slipping behind the drums before they started, but now he joined in with a soft, jazz rhythm. The clear notes of Ferb's guitar followed her lead and twined with her voice as she gained confidence. As she neared the end of the chorus, she turned to look at Ferb, and stepped back from the mic. He picked up her cue, and she watched him take his solo. Vanessa had heard him play before, but never like this. Eyes nearly closed, he bent over the guitar, cradling it tenderly, face intent as he focused all his attention on the instrument, coaxing from it a pure, soulful sound that made her heart swell with astonishment. Too soon, he raised his eyes to hand the melody back to her. Unable to look away from him, she took the mic in her hand.

"They know that Santa's on his way
And he's got lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh…"

The spiraling notes of Ferb's guitar curled under her voice and lifted it to a new intensity. Vanessa had always loved to sing, but it had never felt like this. The lyrics poured from somewhere deep inside her, filled with feeling, and Ferb matched her, emotion for emotion.

"And I'm offering this simple phrase, for kids from one to ninety-two.
Although it's been said, many times, many ways…"

They paused together for an instant, and he waited for her to begin the last lines alone.

"Merry Christmas…"

He chimed in with softer chords behind her as she finished, never taking his eyes from hers.

"Merry Christmas… Merry Christmas… to… you…" She let the trailing notes soar gently into the air, and the guitar joined her there, until the sound dissolved into silence.

The entire room was still. Vanessa would have sworn that there was no one left in the world but her and the green-haired boy with the guitar. Ferb was first to break the gaze between them as he slipped off the stool and set aside his instrument. Somewhere, a pair of hands began clapping, then another, and another, and she turned to face an ocean of acclamation. Pressing a hand to her pounding heart, she blushed and smiled, and motioned for Ferb to step up and take his share of the applause. As it faded, the guests began to move to break up the party. Without a word to her, Ferb began to clear away the instruments and mic stands.

She stood aside and watched him and some of the others start to clean up, unsure as to whether she should stay or go. When she went to pick up her jacket, Ferb met her at the door and helped her into it. They walked outside together, and he accompanied her halfway to the gate. He still hadn't spoken, and she still wasn't quite sure what to say to him, so she went with the words she always seemed to say at this point.

"Thanks, Ferb." Tonight, they seemed so inadequate, as she regarded him with a soft smile.

Vanessa had less than an instant to realize what he was about to do. In retrospect, she should have seen it coming for a long time.

Arms extended, Ferb lunged toward her. His hands shot around her waist and he pulled her into a hug, more forcefully than he probably had intended. Vanessa had no time to brace herself, and she stumbled forward, landing against his chest with a soft grunt of surprise. She had instinctively raised her hands as she fell toward him and now found her fingers clutching his shoulders to keep herself upright. A flurry of unexpected sensations flashed through her mind. Ferb was warm, and surprisingly strong, his knit sweater was comfortingly soft to her touch, and he smelled of wassail. Then, before she could even begin to process what she was feeling, his pursed lips had run aground at the corner of her mouth, and his nose was in her eye, and the whole thing was shocking and ridiculous and… as her lips twitched slightly against his… not exactly unpleasant. This last thought made her push him away in alarm, and they staggered apart.

His face was flushed, either from excitement, or embarrasment, or the cold, or some combination of all three. He blinked a couple of times, and one end of his mouth inclined ever so slightly upward. She held up a hand toward him and said, as sternly as she was able, "Ferb, stop right there. Look, I like you, okay?" She wished he wouldn't gaze at her in that adoring way; it only made this more difficult. "You're a sweet kid. But… you're a kid! You're too young for this."

"No," he began to protest; "no, I'm n-"

"YES, YOU ARE!" she raised her voice over his. "You're barely fourteen, for crying out loud!" Vanessa was disturbed to realize that she needed to hear these words almost more than he did. Fourteen – he's not even legal! If she'd had any sense of decency at all, she would have ended the whole thing right there and walked away – but she couldn't bear the thought. "Ferb," she sighed, her voice softening, "you've been a really good friend to me, and I don't want to give that up. But, you have to understand, that's all this is." He looked at her quietly for a long moment, and she tried to decipher his expression. Curse you, Ferb Fletcher, why do you always have to be so calm about everything?

At last, he said, "May I call you in the morning?"

And why do you have to have that damned sexy voice! Had she actually just applied the "s" word to him? This was worse than she thought. "No," she retorted brusquely. "I'll text you tomorrow, okay? I really think – we shouldn't see each other for a while."

"Till next week, then?" he suggested.

"No, not next week." Vanessa fumed. Didn't he understand, this couldn't go where he wanted it to go. Not yet, at least. Not for a long time. "Ferb… we'll keep in touch, okay? The phone, or the computer. But, for now…" She was out of words. Softly, she said, "Good night, Ferb," and walked away.

She had not gone five steps when he called after her, "When may I see you again?"

Vanessa glanced over her shoulder, and hoped the darkness concealed from him her last, rueful look. "Come back when you're sixteen."

THE END

A/N – Listening to the Olivia Olson/Vanessa rendition of "The Christmas Song" on the P&F Christmas album, I just keep thinking this would have been such a wonderful Ferbnessa treat if they'd included this in the "Family Christmas Special" with Ferb playing guitar for her. And I always did want to do the backstory to "The Kiss," where we find out what happened to make her stay away from him for two years.

"Mele Kalikimaka" and "Christmas in Killarney" are two of my favorite lesser-known Christmas songs, so I had to include them here. If you don't know them, do a You Tube search for "Mele Kalikimaka" by Bing Crosby (and the Andrews Sisters), and "Christmas in Killarney" by the Barra MacNeils.