Happy Holidays

Avan paused as he stared at the pine tree that stood in the corner of his living room. He titled his head, watching it for a few seconds. He paused to glance at the door behind him, half afraid of Tuli walking in. He had waited for her to leave before he had started; he wanted this whole thing to be a surprise. He had known little of Hearth Warming Eve, it had been all but a simple festive when he had last in been Equestria, but how it had grown in those thousand years, it warmed his heart to see such a festive of being with friends and family, while showing each other that you care for one another though gift giving. His wings fluttered at his sides, his gaze dropped down to the crudely wrapped present that sat at his hooves.

His ears flickered down as he lifted up the present with his magic, turning it a few times to get a good look. He had worked hard to find a gift that Tuli would perhaps like, mostly that he wanted everything to be a surprise to her. The present was rather big, but being with it was, it wasn't surprising. He glanced to his own robe that was spread out on the couch next to him. He had chosen not to wear them, as he rarely had time to stretch his wings given what Tuli had been living with him. Of course, Tuli had expressed interest in his robe, which pulsed in time with his heart beat thanks to magic. So, he had worked hard and, as he had spent hundred of years learning how to sew thanks to his own robe, had hoof-crafted a robe that looked much like his and had the same magic within it, only this robe being pure white with purple lines instead. He sighed as he lowered the gift, shoving it gently under the tree.

It seemed funny, he could make a beautiful robe given enough time yet he could not wrap it! Even with it being in a box he had trouble with it. "Oh well..." he huffed to himself, strolling over to the couch. He paused to glance at the tree, smiling softly at the golden tinsel and the ornaments that covered it, with a beautiful star at the top of it. He then glanced at the fire place that sat off to the side of the room; between the doors to the entrance and the kitchen and with a simple spell he set the wood alight, causing a small fire to start and cast a warm glow in the room. He pulled on his robe, before he stretched across the couch, hoping that Tuli would be coming back sooner or late;r of course he wasn't unaware of what she had left to do. He just hoped that she would like his present to her.

Floating by her side were some paper bags, mostly being some groceries. But in one of them was a medium-sized box, wrapped neatly. Inside was only one of Avan's presents for Hearth Warming Eve, which she had worked on and hid at the Library. What was it? A soft, green velvet pillow with Avan's cutie mark hoof-stitched into the center. But what where the other gifts? One was a snow globe with a time-frozen Noctem Flentes inside. It had drained her energy, hours of reading the books in the Library to figure out how to do such a spell, especially how to get the flower, water, and 'flakes' into the glass orb. That present was hiding in the room she had adapted to as hers, hiding in one of the drawers of the desk she had.

Approaching the doorstep to the house she and Avan shared, Tuli used her magic to open the door. Hi Avan, I'm back.

Somehow, Avan had manged to fall asleep. Of course, with the lack of sleep he normally had, he shouldn't have been so surprised. He shifted slightly in his nightmare, muttering something but only found himself to be awaken by the sound of the door opening. His head quickly shot up, his wings flaring at his sides as he scanned the room as he tried to calm his heart from the nightmare he had just been in. Recognizing his surroundings, he cursed under his breath as he shook the sleepiness from his head, holding back the yawn that dared to rise in his throat. Then, he realized what had awoken him. He quickly scrambled up from his spot on the couch and moved toward the tree; so he could get a good look at the entrance way as Tuli walked in. "Happy Hearth Warming Eve, Tuli!" he said happily as soon as he saw her, hoping she would like the tree he had worked hard on putting up, even if it only had a single present under it.

Setting her bags down for a moment, Tuli took a moment to remove the scarf and boots she wore. Once satisfied, the mare brought the bags with her as she moved over to where Avan was, his words about the current time of giving putting a smile upon her face. Happy Hearth Warming Eve to to- Avan! The tree... It looks so nice! Setting the bags down yet again, the unicorns' eyes had filled with awe as they scanned the noticed surprise. Looking at how it had been nicely decorated, she couldn't help but bring out the gift she had on her to place under the tree. It was quickly gotten, but her mind had quickly changed. She wanted to see him open the smaller gift of the two, a smile on her face as it floated between them. You can go ahead and open this one... I hope you like it. Having only seen a glimpse of his cutie mark once, the memory of it to make the design took some time. But seeing as that it was the time of giving, it was most certainly the thought that counted. There was still the globe that hid in her room, but for the time being she wanted to see how he liked the first. With the kitchen not too far away, the familiar purple aura lifted the bags and set them on the table.

A smile burst onto Avan's face when he saw the happiness that danced in Tuli's eyes when she saw the tree. "I'm happy you like it," he said as he glanced at it, titling his head slightly. "I wanted it to look nice. This is the first Heart Warming Eve I've celebrated in a long time, I must admit." He sighed softly, before looking back at her as she spoke, taking notice of the present that she had floating in front of her. His horn lit up as he took the present in his own magical grasp, turning it over as he looked at the wrapped present. He glanced at the badly wrapped present that sat under the tree, feeling a bit uneasy about it now. This present from Tuli was beautifully wrapped, but his? He had never wrapped a present before that so the wrapping was horribly done. Hopefully she wouldn't mind.

He shook the thought from his head, looking at the present that he had in front of him. He carefully used his magic to start to undo the wrapping, wondering what it could be as he stared at it with an odd look. Of course, he had never had a real present before. He had never bothered to tell Tuli his birthday; no way did he want her to try to guess how old he was nor he did see birthdays being all that exciting; he had over 2000 of them already. But seeing this present as he unwrapped it filled him with joy, happiness to know that Tuli had gotten him one as well. So, when he pulled the green pillow from the wrapping, his eyes flickered as his mouth opened slightly. It was the sight of his cutie mark; what looked to be hoof-stitched into the pillow what was surprised him the most. Tuli had really never seen his cutie mark before; he never was without his cloak as he had to hide his wings most of the time so to see it so beautifully stitched into the pillow, he soon smiled.

He lowered the pillow slightly as he raised a hoof, running it across the soft pillow before he glanced up at Tuli with a large grin. "Thank you, Tuli...I-I love it." His eyes soon flickered back over to his present, as he put the pillow off to the side as he pulled his present out from under the tree. Seeing the mess of wrapping he had done with the white paper, with little green trees covering it, he flinched. Before he floated it over with Tuli with a faint blush on his cheeks. "An-And this is for you...I'm sorry about the bad wrapping job...I never wrapped a present before so..."

Her eyes were still lit up with glee, Hearth Warmings Eve was always her favorite. Not because of receiving, but giving. Tuli's always give every year, whether it be to somepony she didn't know, or the school fillies. It was always just so amazing to see how the fillies and colts warned up to her for her giving spirit. Having never truly celebrated with her family, it was always so foreign to her to get a gift.

As Avan unwrapped his first gift, Tuli's magic had grabbed the other present from upstairs. It had blue wrapping paper on it, the now shimmering. Her eyes had drifted away as she had set the other one actually underneath the tree, but it had remained floating until she was sure Avan was no longer looking at the tree. Which, wasn't until after his own present for her was visible. It was sat down, and her smile reappeared.

"Don't worry about it, Avan. The wrapping is just a mask- it covers the amazing gift that lies beneath. I was always told it was used to keep little fillies from knowing what they got." A chuckle escaped the silver mare as she took the present. Even if it wasn't the best wrapping, what mattered was that it was given because they cared. But it felt so strange... She didn't get a gift from any pony very often, the usual being small crafts from the classes she gave to. Taking apart the wrapping, Tuli had set the box down as she opened it. As she lifted it out, a look of surprise overtook her face. It wasn't long until her silver blanket had put on the robe, the soft fabric embracing her. It came to life once she put it on, and it only made her feel more cheerful. "A-Avan... This is amazing... I-I've never gotten anything so lovely..." One of her hooves had picked up an edge of it, her violet eyes scanning over the robe. She still had one more gift for him.

Which, she smiled again as she looked back at him. "Look under the tree again. There's one more." The snow globe. Tuli was still feeling amazed about the robe she had reviewed from Avan, and it made her feel glad she had gotten him two... She couldn't really ever repay him. That's why she always had a sense of guilt receiving, they were always such amazing gifts. Anything in her opinion told her they cared.

As Tuli opened her present, Avan held his breath. He knew she would love it; but still the sight of surprise and happiness made his heart sore; more than he would happily admit to. Watching as she put it on and the markings starting to pause, he let out a happy laugh as he watched her. "I'm so happy you love it, Tuli. It took me a few months to finish it but I think it was well worth the work. It looks beautiful on you." However, a look of surprise flooded on his face as he turned to look under the tree. When did that present get there?

His horn glowed as he carefully took the blue-wrapped present in his magic and floated it up to him. Once again removing the wrapping carefully, he frowned as he stared at the globe in front of him. He had only seen a few of them before, but as he raised it to get a better look he noticed the dark blue flower that sat in the middle of it, surrounded by the little flakes of fake snow that fell around it, having been shaken as he lifted it.

"A Noctem Flentes..." he whispered softly, easy naming the flower as he had been the one to create it. Left speechless as he gently shook the snow globe once more to stir up the 'snow', he glanced up at Tuli with a large, happy grin. "Thank you, Tuli...For both of my presents. They are both wonderful."

Tuli was glad he liked them. Seeing as it was his first Hearth Warmings Eve, something she had found out not too long ago, she was especially glad it had made him happy. After all, it was basically a time of warming hearts, was it not? Which, they had both succeeded in without question.

"Seeing as those beautiful flowers only truly bloom in the night, I thought it would be nice to be able to admire them in the day, too." There was still a grin on her face, it always made her happy to see that she made others happy. It was part of her nature... Even if when she was surrounded by ponies it was hard for her to speak without feeling extremely shy. Giving came naturally to her, such as gardening did.

"You're very welcome, Avan. You've given me a place to stay and so much more... I had to do something to give back. Even if they're small." Which was true in many ways. The stallion before her did provide her with a roof over her head, and a garden to care for that made her happy. She was always overjoyed around him, his presence giving her a feeling of fresh life.

Avan smiled as he glanced from the pillow to the snow globe, then up to Tuli in her new cloak with a smile. "They may be small, but I think they are perfect." He floated the snow globe to the table in the kitchen, before he moved over to the couch and sat down. His cloak covered him like a blanket as he sat there, sighing happily to himself. It felt nice, giving to others. He had happily offered Tuli a place to stay when she had first arrived in Ponyville as he knew it was a kind thing to do. Besides, the company was welcomed after hundreds of years with only Breezies as company; not that he didn't mind them. But having somepony his size to talk to was nice.

Of course, a small though worked its way into his head of wondering how his family was doing. Blaze, Aero, Masoon, Gaia...They had always spent this time of the year playing with each other, of couse they hadn't this holiday but the cold weather had always meant a time of bonding in the castle... Weighed by these thoughts of home, his smile fainted as he realized how much he missed them all, his siblings. His parents as well of course, but he and his father had never gotten along well. He hadn't seen his family in almost 1,500 years give or take. He also hadn't even bothered to say farewell to them. He tired to shake those thoughts from his head, knowing there was no reason to dwell on them here, it was the past. Besides, there was no reason to act so down near Tuli. She would get worried about him and he had no reason to burden her with his past; mostly a past so old for a unicorn like her.

Tuli looked down with a small smile at his comment, before she looked back up. She wasn't going to dare take off her cloak for a while, it was comfortable. Seeing that Avan had settled down on the couch for a moment, and the weather was still bitter cold, Tuli had a small craving for some hot chocolate. Which, she had trotted off to make. She'd make two, one for her and Avan. After all, who could resist the delicious warm drink?

It wasn't long until she had the two cups balanced with her magic, either one having steam rise. Reentering the living area, she sat one of the cups by Avan. "I figured some hot chocolate would be nice. After all, it's freezing our there." The white mare gave a soft chuckle, bringing her own cup closer to herself to take a sip. It was still really hot, but it didn't seem to bother her much.

"I love Hearth Warmings Eve..."

Avan glanced up at Tuli as she set down the cup of hot chocolate. For a quick second he thought about mentioning that he was fine, not having been outside for a second but turned that thought away. It was a sweet offering, and he wasn't going to turn it down. Picking up the cup with his magic, he lifted it up to his mouth and took a small sip.

The hot liquid caused him to draw back a little as it ran over his tongue, but he didn't mind all that much and took another sip. Even with how hot it was, he enjoyed the favor of the drink, something he wished he had known about much sooner than when he had first arrived in Ponyville at the end of winter; just in time for Winter Wrap Up.

He blinked as Tuli spoke again, barely managed to focus on them to catch them. He sighed softly as he glanced at the soft green pillow that sat next to him. "I must admit, the last time I celebrated this holiday, it was nothing like this..." Avan drifted off as he realized what words he had just uttered, causing him to cough as he lowered his hot drink slightly. "I mean, my family were never one to celebrate holidays all that often and when we did it was a rare, but happy time."