Chapter 1
Joy to the World!
The Lord is come!
Let Earth receive her King!
The song blared out from a neighboring trailer, shattering the stillness of the 'silent night'. I could hear the music despite having my windows and door shut tight.
I grimaced at the unwanted intrusion, mentally changing the words in my head.
Joy to the World!
Galactor comes!
Mechas crush everything!
Sure it was cynical, but I wasn't in the mood for good cheer. It was Christmas Eve and I definitely did not have any holiday spirit.
Normally I was all gung ho about Christmas. Every year, Jun and I were the ones who cut down a tree and decorated it. When we were younger we would set everything up at Dr. Nambu's house, but in the last few years we had decorated the Snack J instead. Once we had prepared everything, we got the entire team together. Ken always had to be dragged in. Jinpei came for the presents, and Ryu came for the food.
But Jun and I loved everything about Christmas: the decorations, the traditions, the presents, the Christmas dinner, Christmas cookies, egg nog, caroling, the fat guy in the red suit (and I'm not talking about Ryu in a new uniform), stockings, fireplaces… you name it, we loved it. Jun and I ate it all up. I guess somehow, this holiday filled a need in us we didn't really comprehend.
But not this year.
This year, instead of making merry, everything about the holiday season was making me miserable. There were just too many reminders…
Only a week ago, I had been suffering from severe headaches. I had been barely able to function at times, because of the pain and dizziness that had flared up at the most inconvenient moments.
Of course, one of those moments happened to be when I was stuck on a mini-submarine with Ken on a mission, and I ended up telling him what was happening to me. We both figured that repressed memories of my parents' death were causing them.
And then… Ken forced me to remember what my mind had tried to hide. Not that he had had much choice. I had been barely able to move, and would have died in that underwater base if he hadn't gotten me through it. But the 'tough love' approach he had taken had destroyed my world forever.
I had always known that my parents had been killed by Galactor. And quite some time before, I had realized that their killer had been a Devilstar.
What I hadn't known, was that my parents had been Galactor defectors. They had been executed by Galactor because they had chosen to leave the organization.
My parents had worked for the enemy. They had belonged to Galactor.
At first, I had felt betrayed by this knowledge, but after awhile I had come to realize that they would likely be proud of me now, if they knew what I was doing as a part of the Science Ninja Team. They had wanted to leave Galactor to strike out at the organization, dying in an attempt to pass valuable information on to Dr. Nambu.
Now, I was working for Dr. Nambu: working to defeat Galactor as they had wanted to do.
Even though I had come to terms with this new knowledge, the flood of returning memories hadn't stopped there, with the day of my parents' deaths. I was remembering all kinds of things about them, and about my life before they had died.
I had only been four at the time, so I guess most of the memories were of the last couple of months they had been alive, because all of them seemed to relate to Christmas in some way. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw my parents decorating a Christmas tree, giving me a present, taking me to see Santa Claus, making hot apple cider…
All of my memories of my parents had suddenly become wrapped up in Christmas… so to speak.
Whenever I looked at a Christmas tree, or saw stores with holiday shoppers… or heard one of those damned Christmas carols… all I could see was my parents. My grief for them, and my sense of loss, had intensified to a point where I found it almost impossible to deal with.
I just couldn't face Christmas this year, with their memories haunting me at every turn.
Of course, I couldn't really explain this to anyone. Conversation about my personal affairs had never been my strong point. It had taken nearly collapsing on a mission to get myself to open up to Ken. For the most part, everyone just let me be.
Except Jun.
She and I were always the ones who spread the Christmas spirit together. Every time I saw her I was reminded of that, and then of my parents, and she just didn't understand why I was pulling away. So I had taken to avoiding her altogether. I figured there would be plenty of opportunities to explain after the holidays were over, and I could deal with the situation a little better.
So here it was Christmas Eve, and instead of being at the Snack with my teammates I was alone in my trailer, trying to forget that the holiday existed.
Only, it was darn near impossible.
Sounds drifted into my trailer from the others around me, and I could hear snatches of music, laughter and other festive activities. It was excruciating listening to it all, and I was unable to block it out.
But then, a new sound emerged.
Rain.
It didn't snow in Utoland, but we did get some nights where it was nearly cold enough, and this was just such a night. Add that to the gathering storm and pretty quickly the holiday sounds had died away, moving inside the various trailers around mine.
Soon all I could hear was the driving rain pelting on my roof. Despite the inevitable damp chill that came with it, it was a relief.
But there was something else.
Another noise penetrated my consciousness, intruding upon my solitude. This sound didn't have the 'white noise' quality of the rain. It was a loud, irregular thumping.
Someone was knocking on my door.
I refused to answer, hoping that whomever it was would go away. Likely it was one of my neighbors wanting to invite me to join their festivities. That was the last thing I wanted right now. If I stayed where I was, they would probably think I wasn't home.
At least, that was my plan until I heard a new sound: that of a key turning in my lock.
My door opened to reveal a very wet Swan.
I should have known. Only Jun and Ken knew where my spare key was hidden. The muddy streaks on her striped pants told me that Jun had wriggled underneath my trailer to find the well-hidden spot I had shown her long ago.
Now, I was cursing myself for that. Who knew that she would choose this night to use that information against me?
I groaned inwardly, realizing that Jun was here to drag me to her holiday celebration at the Snack. That was the last thing I needed right now. I shrank back into the darkness, attempting to sink into my bed, hoping that she would only give a cursory glance around my unlighted trailer, and then go.
I should have known better. Jun is the Swan, after all. It's her job to be observant. She immediately saw me as her gaze swept around the room, pausing for a second to contemplate my weak attempt at subterfuge.
Quietly, I braced myself for the onslaught that was sure to come. Jun is fiery, and when she feels like she's been wronged… well let's just say that everyone knows about it. A long time ago I encouraged her to talk about her problems, and it was at times like this that I regretted it.
But to my surprise, Jun didn't say a word. Instead, she pulled out one of my kitchen chairs, dropping into it as if she were exhausted merely from the effort of finding me. I guessed it hadn't been that easy to crawl around in the mud underneath my trailer in the cold and the rain. I began to wonder how many places she had been to before that, looking for me.
Something fell from her fingers, to the floor. I saw that it was a small bag. Jun made no move to open it, or retrieve it, but merely left it there at her feet. She had obviously been gripping it tightly, because her finger marks were visible on the outside for a few moments afterward. Jun simply sat in the chair, her hair and clothes dripping wet.
I took a deep breath, waiting for the inevitable.
But it never came.
Jun didn't say a word. She only sat there, staring at me with her luminous emerald eyes. The only sounds were from the rain pounding on my roof, and the occasional water droplet falling from her body and splashing onto the floor.
So… Jun wanted to play a waiting game, did she? Well, I wasn't about to go by her rules. The moment she spoke, it would be to ask why I was 'missing' Christmas Eve. Since I didn't want to hear it, I wasn't going to bring it up. Besides, the others were probably waiting for her at that very moment. She would have to go, soon. I didn't mind waiting her out.
I closed my eyes, trying to think about anything but Christmas…
