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“Merry Christmas, Albedo!”
A voice overflowing with joy filled the room as a young girl burst through the door. Her blonde pigtails bounced around as she ran inside, practically colliding with the person she had so excitedly come to see.
Albedo turned slightly, managing to gently grab the girl’s shoulders before she crashed into him.
“Ah, Klee,” he crouched down as he spoke, meeting her eye level. “Merry Christmas to you too, little one.” He offered a smile, which she happily returned with one of her own. Albedo lightly patted her head before standing up once more and moving to the side, Klee instantly rushing deeper into the workshop.
The normal decor of the alchemist’s space was currently covered with makeshift decorations, paper snowflakes littered across the shelves and bundles of red and white flowers stuffed into beakers and test tubes. Klee’s clothes were currently covered with paper stars and snowflakes loosely pinned over the usual clover designs. Anyone would be able to tell that she had been the one to decorate Albedo’s workshop.
The alchemist hadn’t minded too much, since decorating made Klee feel happy and nothing really got in the way of his work.
He followed her to the back of the workshop, where a small pine tree sat. It was by far the most decorated part of the room, not just with paper shapes and flowers all over it, but also small drawings of cute animals and even little ornaments that resembled the bombs Klee used.
He had let her decorate however she wanted, but made sure that the bombs weren’t real bombs.
To his students, the fact that Albedo had allowed someone to decorate his workshop, a place he often didn’t let others into, was surprising. But the fact that it had been Klee who spread the Christmas spirit around his private space made sense. Albedo was not close to many people, preferring to keep others at arm’s length, but Klee was a special case. They were close, almost like siblings. Albedo often looked after Klee, and Klee respected and really enjoyed being around Albedo. His relationship with the girl was probably the strongest one he currently had.
“There’s presents under the tree!” Klee jumped around excitedly, eyeing all the different boxes and bags and the big bows on top of them. “Santa really came!”
Albedo couldn’t help but chuckle softly to himself, because the Santa she was talking about had been Albedo himself and his assistant Sucrose. The gifts themselves had mainly been his responsibility, but Sucrose had added some of her own and also decorated the packages, chiding Albedo over how simple his decorations looked.
Look how nicely she decorated this place! The presents need to look just as festive!
Plopping herself down in front of the tree, Klee started digging through the presents, picking up a couple and shaking them with a grin on her face.
“I hope there’s lots of treasures!”
“I’m sure there are,” Albedo hummed, slowly sitting himself down next to her. He watched quietly as she started to tear into them, obviously overjoyed by every present she opened. He’d gifted her some more practical items, such as new gloves and materials for her adventures, and with the help of Sucrose there were also some charms for her backpack and a very large, very squishy plush toy that looked just like one of her bombs. Klee’s eyes had gone wide when she saw it, endless giggling filling the workshop as she hugged it tightly.
“There’s one more present for you,” the alchemist said, reaching to grab a small package on a nearby shelf. “This one isn’t from Santa though.”
“Who’s it from then?” Klee tilted her head slightly, looking at Albedo with wide eyes.
“This one is from me, to you.”
She gasped as he handed her the package. And the glee was evident in her eyes.
“You got me a present!” She was up on her feet now, bouncing around the room while holding the present tightly in her arms. Albedo simply laughed softly and nodded.
“Why don’t you open it?”
“Okay!” She tore through the packaging and when she finally got to the present inside, an excited squeal spilled from her lips. “It’s so pretty!”
In her hand was a golden hairpin, a golden jewel shaped like a diamond dangling from the end.
Choosing the final present had been a difficult feat for Albedo. He had wanted it to be something special, but it was hard to beat the first present he had ever given her. The sketchbook from so long ago had easily deepened their bond, and though it felt rather small in comparison, Albedo had put a good amount of work into crafting this piece of jewelry for her. The diamond was reflective of himself—it was his way of assuring Klee that he’d be there for her (even if the meaning went over her head for now).
Klee hopped over to Albedo and held the hairpin up to him. He took it from her and scooted a bit closer, reaching up to slide the piece of jewelry into her hair just below where her hat rested, the diamond practically glowing as it caught the light.
“I hope that you like it.”
“I love it!” She squealed once more, shifting back and forth on her heels before suddenly running over to her backpack and rummaging through it. “And I hope that you love this!”
“Hm?” He blinked, confused by her words and then simply speechless as the small girl held out a messily wrapped present to him. “For me…?”
“Uh-huh! Because you always do things for me! I wanted to make something special for you!”
He didn’t know what to say. Albedo, not having expected to receive anything, quietly took the present from her and carefully pulled apart the wrapping paper. What he saw made him pause.
“I drew it myself, remembering all the things you taught me!”
Albedo gazed over at Klee’s bright grin and couldn’t help but smile also. In his hands was a framed drawing of himself and Klee adventuring together. It was messy and colorful and the situation it portrayed was actually a bit chaotic, and it was so very special. The more Albedo looked at it, the more he knew it’d be something he’d cherish for the rest of his life.
“Do you like it?”
He looked at her again, into her wide amber eyes, and nodded his head.
“I do. I love it. Thank you.”
Klee simply giggled, the brightest smile on her face.
“Merry Christmas, Albedo!”
He smiled back at Klee, thankful not just for the drawing, but also for the gifts of warmth and love that she always gave to him. She was truly like family to him, which was a feeling he hadn’t known until they’d met.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Klee.”