[It took me awhile-- all month, honestly-- due to different Secret Santa events I'm participating in, as well as work and finishing up school, but here it is! My piece in the Cassarian Advent Calendar put together by Froggy1988 and A_deity, Day 23!]
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It didn't hit Varian until after she had arrived: he had gotten absolutely nothing for Cassandra. He had gotten Christmas gifts for every other person: Rapunzel and Eugene, his father, even something for Ruddiger. But he had failed to take into consideration the fact that maybe he should get something for Cass.
He tried to wave it off; he'd been unaware that she was planning to visit, after all, let alone for the holidays.
But now, she was there. And he didn't have anything to give her, not even a clue as to what he could give or make for her... And he only had two days to figure something out.
Rapunzel looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Rapunzel."
"Varian!" she exclaimed, "come on in!"
The door opened, and was promptly slammed shut once the boy was inside.
"What's the matter?" she asked, noticing his frantic expression, "is something going on?"
He nodded. "Yeah. You realize there's only a few days until Christmas, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"And we didn't know that Cassie was coming back..."
"You didn't get something for her, did you?" she asked, "you know, I don't think she'd mind if you didn't get anything for her. She kind of dropped it all on us suddenly."
"I know, but... I want to get her something either way. I don't want her to think I've forgotten her. Do you have any ideas on what I can get her?"
"Not really, no."
He frowned. Great.
Cassandra was a hard person to even think about shopping for; she already had everything that she needed, and there wasn't much that she ever really wanted.
"But, if you want, I can finish up what I'm doing here in a few minutes, and then we can go and see what we can find for her. Sound good?"
He nodded. "Alright. Sounds good."
It took awhile, but Varian finally found something that he thought was absolutely perfect for Cass. Now to give it to her and see if she liked it as much as he hoped she would...
Christmas morning finally came, and Varian felt excited for the holiday for the first time in years. He got up and headed to the throne room.
The room was beautiful, decorated in greens and reds, banners hanging from the ceiling and a tree standing in the center of the room. There were gifts underneath the tree, and groups of people circled around the room. Immediately, Varian spotted Cassandra near the back, with her father.
He smiled a little, clutching tight to the small box that held her gift. He took a deep breath before beginning to head across the room.
Cass looked up, smiling a little when she saw him. "Good morning, Varian. Merry Christmas."
He smiled, too, shyly. "Merry Christmas, Cassie. I... I got you something."
He offered the box to her, and she took it. Gently, she unwrapped it and opened it, smiling a little as she pulled out the small brass compass.
"I know it's kind of simple, and you know your way around pretty well..."
She turned it around in her hand, noticing where he had painted the silhouette of Corona and the word "Home" on it. "I love it."
He had to smile a little. "Yeah?"
"Uh-huh," she responded, chuckling lightly at the way his face kind of lit up, "of course I do. Thank you."
And then she leaned over, hugging him tightly before quickly kissing his cheek. "Merry Christmas, Var."
"Merry Christmas, Cassie."
