Firstly, I would like to say that you should check out the Christmas stories of SnowPrincessMossy and DemonicDragon of Ra. They rock (and I think you OddxAelita people might like the note at the end of DDRa's fic) And now part two! The mystery of Jeremy's pick is revealed!

William sat under a large tree in the woods, his wrapped gift in hand. The little golden box with its big pink bow glimmered cheerily in the sunlight, not at all echoing William's own feelings about this gift giving thing. He had been feeling down ever since he had discovered who his Secret Santa was. Not Yumi, like he had hoped for, but-

"William, there you are!" an overly excited voice squealed, followed by the feeling of someone dropping into the open space next to William.

"Hey Sissi," William said, sighing. He was about to say more, when a present was shoved against his chest. It was a large rectangular box, wrapped in glittery red paper and topped with a ridiculously large gold bow.

"This is for you," Sissi said as William took the gift. "It's a sweater," she added, causing William to turn to her, an eyebrow lifted.

"Aren't you supposed to let the other person open the gift and be surprised?" he asked, setting the gift down next to himself. Sissi shrugged.

"I guess," she said, leaning back against the bench, crossing her arms and legs with a huff. "But I don't really think it matters anymore."

"What, didn't get who you wanted?" William asked curiously. Sissi nodded, pouting slightly.

"I wanted Ulrich," Sissi said, sighing. "I thought if I got him, then I could pick out a gift for him that was so amazing he would fall in love with me right then and there, and forget all about that silly Yumi."

"Yumi is not silly," William defended lightly. "I was actually hoping to get her, for the same reason you wanted Ulrich," William said, sighing some. "I guess that puts us in the same boat."

"I guess," Sissi agreed, slouching lower into her seat. "So I guess we're both left disappointed this Christmas." William nodded.

"Looks like it," he said, fiddling with the gift in his hands. He turned to Sissi, looking like he was about to say something when Sissi suddenly spoke up.

"You know, that may not be totally true!" she said with new found joy. "I may not have pulled Ulrich's name from that silly little bag, but that doesn't mean he didn't pull mine!"

"Don't get your hopes up," William said.

"Why?" Sissi asked, looking confused.

"Because Ulrich didn't pull your name out," William answered, picking up Sissi's gift and standing.

"Well, then who did?" William answered the question by holding his little gift out to Sissi.

"I did. It's a bracelet." Sissi looked at the gift, then to William, and said the first thing that came to mind.

"I thought you're supposed to let the other person open the gift and be surprised."

"Not when you don't get who you wanted," William said, beginning to walk away. But then he paused. "Of course, that doesn't have to be the reason, does it?" And with that said, he continued on his way. Sissi watched him until he disappeared, then turned to her gift. As she looked down at the little gold box with its big pink bow glimmering so cheerily in the sun, Sissi couldn't help but feel that, in a way, it echoed her own feelings about this gift giving thing perfectly.

Yumi wandered her way down the halls of the boys section of the dorms, a heavy blush on her cheeks. She had just caught sight of Sissi and William squirreled away under a flight of stairs, making out in a way that gave Yumi the impression that Sissi's crush on Ulrich wasn't something that would be coming up again anytime soon.

Meanwhile down the hall, it seemed that Ulrich had found the pair himself. He was now leaning against the wall, a look on his face that mixed joy of getting Sissi off his back with horror over how the pair was so expressively admitting their love. But Ulrich quickly shook these thoughts away when a familiar voice called him from down the hall.

"Ulrich!" Yumi shouted, jogging over to him. "I've been looking for you. I…uh, what's wrong?" Ulrich looked up at the question.

"Have you seen Sissi and William lately?" he asked, making a slightly disgusted face. Yumi nodded.

"Yes. But hey, now she'll leave you alone and focus on William instead," Yumi told him. "Which also means William will back off now too. So I guess that makes it easier to give you this." And with that said, Yumi held out blue bag, tied with a curly yellow ribbon.

"And if you're going to give me this," Ulrich said, taking the gift, "I should give you this." Ulrich then held out his own gift, a perfectly wrapped little rectangle, covered in white paper and tied with thick, shiny red ribbon.

"For me?" Yumi said, looking surprised. Ulrich nodded, so Yumi took the gift. The pair then stood for a moment, neither sure what to do next.

"So," Ulrich drawled, looking down at his gift. "Are you going to open it?"

"Not yet," Yumi answered. "In Japan you-"

"You don't open a gift until you're alone," Ulrich finished, causing Yumi to smile.

"Yeah. Although, I guess it wouldn't hurt to open it now." Ulrich smiled in return, placing an arm around Yumi's shoulders.

"Of course not," he said, beginning to lead her down the hall. "But you know, it wouldn't hurt to find somewhere a little more private first."

Aelita gave a content sigh, leaning further into Odd, who was seated behind her, hands around her waist.

"Thank you for the gifts Odd," she said, hugging a big red teddy bear, while a new necklace sparkled around her neck.

"Only the best for you," Odd replied, grinning. He too was wearing his gift, a new purple hat with a pair of knitted cat ears and a yellow and purple pompom on top. Aelita had seen it in a shop and thought it just screamed Odd. The blonde found he couldn't help but agree.

"Hey Odd," Aelita asked, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Who did Jeremy get as his Secret Santa?"

"I thought it was supposed to be a secret," Odd replied impishly, causing Aelita to huff.

"Really, Odd. I want to know," she said, crossing her arms. "You and I got each other, and from what I saw of Sissi and William, they got one another. And Yumi told me she got Ulrich."

"She did?" Odd asked. Aelita nodded.

"She told me last night, she wanted to make sure he would like his gift. And that leaves just Ulrich and Jeremy. So, did Ulrich get Jeremy and then Jeremy got Yumi?"

"Nope," Odd said. "Ulrich told me this morning that he got Yumi."

"But that can't be right," Aelita said. "That would mean Jeremy pulled his own name!"

"No, I added an eighth name to the bag," Odd said, grinning at his genius.

"Oh?" Aelita said, leaning her head back on Odd's shoulder and looking up at him. "So, who did you add?"

Jeremy lay in his bed, not all that excited about giving his gift. In fact, he was sort of hoping he would just be allowed to forget about the Secret Santa all together, and just take the gift, which he still couldn't believe he'd bought, back to the store. But then he heard his door swing open some, and Jeremy realized he was going to have to do this silly gift exchange after all.

Jeremy sighed when he felt a weight appear on his bed, signaling that the receiver of his gift had arrived. Jeremy tried to ignore them, but his giftie was persistent, giving the falsely sleeping boy a nudge.

"Fine, fine," Jeremy grumbled, reaching down to the floor and picking up his gift. It wasn't wrapped, but he didn't think receiver would mind. "Here," he grumbled, sitting up and thrusting the gift forward.

He was thanked with a lick on the face, Kiwi taking the new chew toy happily. The little dog then set the toy down, picking up his gift to Jeremy- a ham bone, tied with a big red bow.

"Er, thanks Kiwi," Jeremy said, taking the gift. Kiwi gave the boy another happy lick, then grabbed his new toy and climbed into the blonde's lap, chewing his gift happily.

"Yeah, Kiwi," Jeremy said, looking at the bone. "Merry Christmas to you too."

Merry Christmas!