Melody of the Heart

"I don't think Santa Claus is coming this year," Maki said suddenly, over lunch one day in late December, after the preliminary finals.

Nico's mouth opened and Eli swiftly shoved half an orange into it. "What makes you say that?" she asked, her voice beginning to climb with a trace of nervousness.

Maki looked down at her lunch. "We're not going away this year… there were the final preliminaries for the Love Live… and my parents have to work."

"But why would that keep Santa Claus away?" Rin asked. She sounded genuinely curious, as though Maki's fervent belief had something to it.

Maki shrugged, as if what was simply was and could not be helped. "He only knows about our house in the mountains."

"But why?" Hanayo asked.

"Why indeed?" Nico had swallowed the orange.

"I don't know," Maki said simply. She went back to eating, clearly not thinking this statement meant anything more than pure idle conversation.

The conversation drifted away from the subject, once Nico was subdued, but Nozomi could not stop thinking about it. Christmas may not have meant anything to her, but it meant something to Maki and she couldn't stand the idea of her new friend being alone on a holiday that had given her such joy.

This thought troubled her all through afternoon classes.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked. She was hovering over Nozomi's desk, blue eyes full of concern. "Is it about what Maki said?"

Nozomi smiled fondly. "Oh, Eli, what would we do without you?"

Eli beamed, satisfied. "Can I take that as a yes?"

Nozomi stood and began gathering her things. "I would like to do something for her, wouldn't you? That sort of innocence deserves to be protected."

Eli's smile was somewhat skeptical. "Isn't she getting a little old to be believing in Santa Claus, though?"

Nozomi zipped her bag shut. "And do you want to be the one to tell her? The least we can do is make Christmas fun for her. Besides, we've all worked hard at the final preliminaries. We all deserve a break."

It occurred to Nozomi that it was somewhat rude to invite themselves all over to Maki's house, but Honoka took care of that indelicacy.

"Maki!" she cried, as soon as the group was all assembled to walk home from school together. "You can't spend Christmas alone! Not when you love it so much. We'll all come over and spend the night, and wait up for Santa Claus!"

Maki flushed. "You don't have to…"

"Of course we do!" Honoka threw an arm around her. "We're μ's! We should stick together!" She twirled away from Maki, punching a fist skyward. "And we're into the finals! It calls for a celebration."

Rin clapped her hands together. "A Christmas party!"

Hanayo smiled. "That sounds lovely."

"Honoka," Umi began, annoyed, "you can't just invite yourself over to someone's house."

"I don't mind," Maki said breezily. "There's plenty of room. And I'll be alone anyway." She gave a little half smile. "I wouldn't mind the company."

Eli flashed Nozomi a knowing smile. She hadn't even had to bring it up herself.

They all planned to gather at Maki's house on Christmas Eve. Eli had insisted that since they were imposing, etiquette dictated that the rest of them bring all the food.

"We should cook dinner!" Honoka exclaimed, as the eight of them walked down the snow-covered street.

Eli opened her mouth to object. "We—"

Nozomi cut her off with a squeeze of her hand. "I think it would be fun to all cook together." She smirked. "Or are you afraid to show us you can't even boil water?"

Eli's mouth dropped open. "Nozomi, you know that's not true!"

"We'll have to find out, then!" Nozomi ran ahead, laughing. Maybe it was the dissipated tension of making it through to the finals, maybe it was the way she'd opened up to Maki, allowing the song for all of μ's to come together… But somehow, she felt freer than she had in, well, in as long as she could remember.

Shopping for groceries was exactly as chaotic as one would expect. Nozomi let them have fun, while quietly making sure they would have ingredients for something that was reasonably edible. The walk to Maki's house was cold, as darkness fell, but even as they could see their breath, Nozomi could feel the warmth of the group all around her.

This was what she'd been missing all those years. Perhaps there wasn't very much time to have it, until graduation, and then μ's' time together would be at an end.

But for now, at least, they were together.

After the cold of the night, Maki's house was bright and warm.

"Sorry for imposing," Umi said as they crowded into the entryway, removing shoes, coats, and scarves.

"It's all right." Maki was smiling as she laid out guest slippers. "I really don't mind.

"Please let us know if there's anything we can do," Eli said. "We don't want to be any trouble." She looked sheepishly at the large pile of grocery bags by the entrance.

"No trouble." Maki waved them toward the kitchen. "Even with all the traveling my parents do, I've never been alone on Christmas before."

"Maki," Hanayo murmured.

"Well, then, that's why we're here!" Rin declared, kicking off her sneakers. "We'll make this the best Christmas ever! μ's Christmas!"

Maki went red and looked away, but Nozomi could see she was still smiling.

They all moved as a group to the kitchen. It was almost as big as Nozomi's entire apartment, with gleaming fixtures.

"We need to figure out who will be doing what," Umi said. "If we don't decide what we're making, we'll be here all night."

"I can make fried chicken," Kotori offered.

"I'll do the salad," Nico said, grabbing for the bag of greens. "You'll all be blown away by my patented Nico-Nico dressing."

"Eli can do the cake," Nozomi volunteered slyly.

"Nozomi!" Eli was flushing. She made it so easy!

"Eli's good at decorating Western desserts," she explained to the others. "It's something she never lets anyone else see, but it's not Christmas without cake."

"Will you, Eli?" Honoka asked hopefully. "Cake is so wonderful! I never get to have Western-style desserts..."

Eli sighed with mock reluctance. "I suppose. But I'll definitely need some help."

Nozomi hid her smile as the rest of the jobs were assigned. This was going better than she could have hoped. She glanced over at Maki, who was sourly shaking oil and vinegar under Nico's supervision. She had not been the only one that μ's had allowed to come out of her shell. More than any of them, perhaps, μ's had been good to Maki. Nozomi just hoped that she would not lose what she'd gained when the third-years graduated and the group disbanded.

Even if that happens, Nozomi told herself, we'll still be friends.

She hoped it would be true.

It wasn't the sort of meal that any of them had been expecting. The chicken was good and the salad surprisingly edible, but the omelet was strangely spiced and the frankfurters Rin had tried to cut into holiday shapes were generally lopsided.

"It doesn't matter," Nozomi said. "Not when we're all together at Christmas."

"We should do a toast," Kotori suggested. "To μ's."

"To μ's!" everyone chorused, glasses held aloft.

"And may we win the Love Live," Nico added.

Maki scowled. "You don't wish on a toast. That's for blowing out birthday candles."

Nico took a swig of her soda. "I can wish when I want."

Nozomi chuckled. Each moment here was precious, she knew. All too soon, she, Eli, and Nico would graduate and go out into the world. She still didn't know what she would do—Eli had colleges narrowed down, and Nozomi imagined she would join her there. She knew Nico had her sights set on stardom, something that might not be so unlikely now.

And the other girls… well, perhaps they could keep μ's going.

She tried to push those thoughts aside. It was only December and they had the Love Live to get through first. This would be a time for them to unwind and enjoy each other's company. She tried to join the conversation, but she couldn't help but cast wistful glances around the table. Surely this wouldn't be the last time they all sat around like this, without a care in the world. She debated saying something, but didn't want to spoil the moment. The others didn't need to hear her musings.

She clapped her hands together. "Time for Eli to bring out the cake!"

Everyone turned eagerly. It was a strawberry cake, but the simple white frosting showed care in the piping.

"Eli, it's beautiful!" Hanayo exclaimed.

Eli looked embarrassed, but she was smiling. "It's not my best, I didn't have much…"

"Nonsense." Umi passed out plates. "It's the perfect Christmas cake."

It was delicious and between the nine of them, it was soon gone.

"Now it's really Christmas," Honoka declared, sitting back in her chair.

"Now," Maki said, standing, "it's time for the tree."

"Tree?" Rin's eyes lit up. "You have a real Christmas tree?"

She nodded. "We get one every year, but my parents didn't have time to decorate it before they left, and I had the final preliminaries to practice for..." She sighed, her practical side clearly disdaining work left undone until now.

They crowded into the living room, where the fir tree was already set up by the empty fireplace. It looked like something out of a magazine. Rin and Hanayo were already getting out garlands, while Nico attempted to untangle lights, succeeding only in getting them wrapped around herself.

"Stupid things," she muttered.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nozomi caught Maki cover her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

"It's fun, isn't it?" she said.

The others were fully engrossed in decorating and did not notice Nozomi and Maki hanging back. Maki crossed her arms over her chest and gave her hair a toss. "It is." She paused. "I'd be by myself otherwise."

Nozomi smiled knowingly. She could have been talking about Christmas, or she could have been talking about μ's in general. She remembered seeing Maki alone in the music room, not knowing how to reach out to her.

Suddenly, Maki turned to her. "Did you like the song? The song we all wrote together?"

Nozomi thought back to that cold, sunny afternoon in her kitchen, when she'd been prodded into saying what she truly wanted for once. "I did. It was a good song."

"I'm glad we could all come together. It's only right. Because… because we're μ's." She tugged at a loose thread of her sweater. "That's why I wanted us all together for Christmas."

"Not because Santa won't come here?"

Maki laughed. "You know, I don't really still believe in Santa."

That was one thing Nozomi hadn't figured out. "You do a good job pretending otherwise."

Maki grinned. It was the sort of mischievous expression Nozomi had never seen on her face. "Good. When I figured it out, I didn't even tell my parents because when I was little, I was afraid that meant Christmas would stop. He was always so busy, but my dad went all out at Christmas. Partially, it was just presents as an apology for all the piano recitals he missed…" She smiled. "But sometimes I think it's just that it gives him a chance to be a kid again. So Santa keeps coming to our house."

Nozomi felt a pang, a small one. She had never had anything like that. Her parents had just been… busy.

"And now there's μ's," Maki said. For a moment, Nozomi was afraid her mind had been read. "Even if my parents are too busy this year… we don't need Santa. We have μ's."

Nozomi watched the others silently for a moment. "And we always will, won't we?" Even past the Love Live, even past graduation, even past μ's itself… She could see that now, even if she had been unable to before. μ's might be temporary, a way to save the school and win the Love Live, but the nine of them…

That was something more permanent, surely.

"Maki!" Nico barked in frustration. "Come and fix your own lights."

Maki rolled her eyes. "They weren't like that when I put them in the box last year." She strode across the room, looking irritated, but Nozomi could see that her scowl did not quite reach her eyes.

She smiled and went to join the others. Yes, they would last. They had to. They were μ's.