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((I heard a song that touched my heart and kinda reminded me of what Christmas was all about....sooo I wrote something about it!))


It had been the Eve of Christmas on Gaia. Like every year it had been drastically low in temperature, the ground and buildings had been toppled with a thick blanket of snow. The towns were decorated festively; bells ribbons and wreathes hung on every street and door. There were santas in the streets raising money for charity and busy shoppers dressed snuggly and warmly in their coats and scarves.

Among the busy shoppers, Emily had been in Barton Town picking up a few last minute gifts as well as some minor groceries for the dinner she was forced to host the following day.

She tightened her coat over her and wrapped her scarf around her mouth and nose to keep from inhaling too much of the dry, cold air. The kitty had been warmly tucked into her bag slung over her shoulder beneath her coat, sleeping the day away.

Gifts beneath her arm and a few bags in her other hand, she was passing one of the local shops run by Nicholai, the cheapskate scrooge of the year.

"Listen kid, you don't have enough money for this. Scram!" he told the little girl.

Emily glanced over to see who Nicholai's newest victim was. To her surprise it was a tiny elven girl who could have been no more than eight years of age.

Her clothes were dirty and worn. She had rips in her dress, a missing sleeve, a torn sleeve and runs in her white stockings. She seemed to have been barefoot as well. Adorning her messy, oily, black hair had been a red beat up beret.

She was holding a hat in her hand with a price tag reading, eight thousand gold. Looking up at Nicholai with a saddened expression, she reached into the pockets of her dress and frantically tried to find some gold. Finding a single piece, she handed it over to him, smiling hopefully.

Nicholai flicked the toothpick out of his mouth and snatched it up, then sighed. "See here, runt! You've only given me 20 pieces of gold. That ain't near enough. Sorry but I'm tryin' to run a business here! No hat for your grandma."


The little girl's blue eyes filled with disappointment and tears, looking at the pretty hat he'd taken away. Before she could turn away, a mythrill coin had been placed on the counter. Looking up again, she tilted her head at the woman standing before her and Nicholai.

"Ah, Emily! I see your money's doin' well today," he told her, taking the coin and grinning.

Emily shot him a glare. "You greedy little punk..." she muttered, taking the hat from him and kneeling down to the tiny girl; handing it to her.

"Here you go, little girl," she told her, smiling warmly. The little girl took it and smiled widely up at Emily, throwing her small arms around the woman and hugging her.

"My grama's gonna be so happy!" she finally spoke. Emily knitted her eyebrows together and patted the girl on the back before glaring up at Nicholai again.

"I paid for the hat, give the kid back her money," she ordered. Nicholai groaned and pushed the 20 coins over the counter. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Emily took the coins and slipped them into the girl's pocket, adding a couple of mythrill coins in there without her knowing.

"Merry Christmas," she told the child, smiling again. The little girl nodded and returned the smile. "Thank you so much, Ma'am," she said timidly.

Emily laughed softly before standing back up and started for the door. Before she left, she turned back around to see the child again. "On second thought..." she muttered.

Thinking for a moment, she smiled again. "Why don't you and your grandmother come to my home for Christmas? I'm serving a giant meal to my family and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to have a cute little guest and her grandmother joining us," she told the girl.

The little girl's face lit up. "Oh yes! Thank you so much! So very much!"

Emily couldn't help but smile. "Well, I live in Halloween Town. You could always stop by and ask someone for me. My name's Emily. Emily Cohen," she informed her.

The girl smiled, hugging the hat close to her. "My grama calls me Carrie."

"Well alright then, Carrie. Let's go get you some hot cocoa, a nice warm set of clothes and a meal, then we can take your gift over to one of the shops to be wrapped, okay?"

The little girl nodded eagerly, following after Emily.