Ly's Christmas
'C' represents how the 'closeness' shines as evident as our two suns. Perhaps things could have been different; perhaps I could have never met you, but when I am drawn to stare at the burning embers of the fireplace I sit before…
The flames remind me of the close passion we share.
"Ly, a bit close to the fire don't ya think?" I hear you call, the smirk practically heard. I could already imagine you poised against the doorframe with those handsome features focused on me—solely on me.
"No, Guardian, I could never be too close."
For being close to such heat is to be close to you. Like the two suns of our world we were meant to burn together.
And I smile at not wanting it any other way.
XXXX
'H' is for the harmony. Harmony is that beautiful twinkle of the stars against the moon; working together to paint the spectacular canvas that is this Christmas night. Harmony is the excited ice that willingly coats the world in a blanket of glitter when winter orders her ballroom service. Harmony is the very essence of the world beneath my feet, beneath my soul, connecting with my own magic as I step forth into the Glade of Dreams.
Snow has previously fallen to leave the skies now clear and the ground covered as I release a shaky sigh. It is so, so cold, I shiver against my will…but something rather marvellous is distracting me from this harsh, chilling air.
I can not withhold the warm smile from catching my lips. It is the sound of your voice.
Up on that stage laid with ornaments of red and gold you have nothing if not a heart as you smile to me, tender. "I~ don't want a lot for Christmas…"
I feel my eyes soften with a dear affection I cannot contain.
He winks to me with that cocky smirk of his, and the Teensies in red and white coats that are his back singers nudge each other's sides with grins. "There is just one thing I need…"
A shaky breath escapes me as I have to glance away. A hand hovers before my face in a shyness uncommon to me, feeling my cheeks turn fiery hot at the sparkle in your eyes. No star could compare to that mischievous twinkle in your eye.
Oh, how I wish you would sing more often than on Christmas or my Birthday! Your voice could soothe the most tortured of minds, could guard the most innocent of allies, could awaken the hearts of many a doll that would have otherwise been heartless.
"I don't care about the presents~"
My eyes unintentionally close in bliss…for I know. I know with reluctant acceptance that I am, indeed, one of those dolls. As a winter, china doll, fragile and easily broken, a brutal past that has left my icy wings that keep me afloat prone to shatter…should I surrender to you?
"Underneath the Christmas tree…"
Why did you choose me, Guardian? A fairy with neither a past nor a penny to my name? My bare hands gently clutch the ruby-coloured scarf around my neck that you gave as a gift this morning, the memory of your sheepish grin as you gave it to me fresh in my eyes. To give in to your heart, is that the right thing to do?
"I just want you for my own," His voice flawlessly sings, suddenly leaping off stage with grace. The stage light the purple lums shed on him follow without fault—unhitched by the unexpected change. Only then did I notice with my heart threatening to burst from my ribs what his aim was as he continued. "More than you could ever know~"
His sapphire sights were locked on me.
Oh Polokus he isn't! The thought hits me as if an icy tidal wave. I flee in nervous fear into the surrounding Teensies, Glutes and other fairies. Sneakily, I try to slink away among this howling crowd of the Christmas Concert, however Murphy all of sudden catcalls at spotting me, and with a wicked grin he twists me back—
My eyes widen. I feel my breath hitch. The annoying frog had spun me around—directly into the waiting Rayman's arms.
"Make my wish come true~"
I glare over my shoulder at Murphy, who merely shrugged in cunning mischief.
Yet, when I turned back to the Guardian gently holding my hands in his, the anxiousness melted away within me. It…it is something I can not explain.
"All I want for Christmas is you~" He sings, voice rich with genuine honesty. The Teensies suddenly start clicking on stage. The crowds wail in cheer around me. He suddenly gave that signature smirk of his as he flurries me around, flourishing my winter coat of pearly fur.
"I don't want a lot for Christmas!" We sing in unison. The crowd claps around us in pure awe and clears a circle for the two of us. "There is just one thing I need!"
His voice is divinely perfect: as comfortable as it is prepared for each note. Sapphires gleaming in pride gleam at none other than me. And, deep within me, I am certain my eyes exhibit the same for him.
"I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree! I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know! Make my wish come true~"
What is this feeling? Is it not obvious…?
Love has many forms, one being the harmony of your heart's voice with mine.
"All I want for Christmas is you!"
XXXX
'R' is for revelation: my revelation of you. It happened that very day, beneath the Christmas tree.
"Ly, why are ya lying there under the tree like that? You've been there for about five minutes."
I snort and roll my eyes, voice holding a hint of good humour, "Why does it matter, Guardian?"
I could just picture him rubbing the back of his head, golden hair drooped, pupils full of concern, at his next words, "It doesn't, I guess. You're just worrying me that's all." I make a little gasp of shock as he gently taps my thigh with his shoe. "And stop calling me that."
His steps fade away from me and I frown. Do not call him Guardian? Why ever not, that is what he is…correct? He is our saviour, he is our Guardian, he is my…
My teeth softly nibble my lower lip in remorse. Rayman. He is my Rayman, my lover, my guardian of my heart and not of the world.
Now, as I find myself drifting off to sleep, hot chocolate warming my hands in its black mug, I feel a sort of door opening within my very mind—my very core. Not only that, but I also distinctly feel much larger fingers gently pry the hot chocolate from my slender ones, obviously fearing me spilling it in my current state. But that is not the only thing I feel…
There is a heart beating beneath my ear and a chin in my hair. Who is this…?
Why, it is my Rayman, not our Guardian, and I would do well to remember it after I awake.
XXXX
'I' is for imagination. I pout sadly, I wish I had more than what I possess.
Sighing, I merely stare out of my bedroom window beyond those shadowed mountains, beyond the nightly heavens that reflect in the mirror of my eyes. If only I held as much imagination as you did, Rayman. Great ideas were always popping into that lively head of yours.
Wrapping my arms around my knees I continue to stare at one particular star just beside the Twin Moon's of our world. My very aura seems to lift and focus on that bright, flashing, magnificent beauty.
My eyes water and I brush saddened tears away with a hurried wrist. No, it would never happen. It would not, could not. I, Ly the Fairy, am much too serious and self indulgent for such creative things.
Yet, as that star appears to blink in sympathy for me, I can not help but smile fondly…
For all I can imagine is that star being the heart-warming twinkle in Rayman's eye.
XXXX
'S' is for our bond's sincerity that I hold close to my heart. A treasure to be kept in any friendship: be it big or small, great or weak, is the sincerity you bestow on each other. Rayman has always been nothing but sincere, genuine and honest.
I secretly snicker to myself, if only I could be just as sincere.
His eyebrow slowly rises at my expression, amused. Caution pulls as his every movement as he braves the short metre journey across the room towards me. He then stands before me with a questioning gaze. Against my better judgement, my grin grows wider and I burst into fits of laughter into my palms.
"Alright Ly, what gives? Is there something on my face or something?"
Yes!
"No, of course not," I force myself to reply, trying to not fall into further laughter. "You look fine."
Rayman crossed his arms at me, unconvinced. Regardless, he shrugged and walked away from me back to the Christmas tree, which is where he had previously fallen asleep in his task of putting chocolates under it.
A smile broke out onto my lips along with a giggle. Indeed, there was something on his handsome face: the evidence of those chocolates being munched on.
Oh, you all think I am not sincere for not telling the truth? Well, there is one miniscule, tiny detail you are missing…
He promised he wouldn't eat them in the first place.
'S' is for sincerity that a couple must learn to bend.
XXXX
'T' is for together of course! Together is family and friends on Christmas day. When all is thrown into happiness and feuds are put aside, when time and lives join for one day if not any other, when Rayman and I are brought ever nearer. I glimpse you gingerly, you and me: together.
My gaze glances around at all that are my friends through many hardships on this oak-wood table. Me, Rayman, Glowbox, Murphy, the Nymphs, and the Teensie kings, have gathered in my home for Christmas dinner. The smell of the turkey in the middle of us is deliciously consuming my senses, and by the looks of the others in our circle it has equal effects.
Just as I was about to stand and carve the Christmas feast, raising my left hand to grasp that crystal blue, knife…something unexpected occurred.
All of sudden, Murphy beside me grabs my raised hand and examines it thoroughly. My nervous irritation evidently showed on my face because I allowed it to slip through, hoping the frog would take heed to my warnings. In the corner of my eye, I detected a wave of hostility from Rayman opposite me. He was glaring over the rim of his wine glass at Murphy as he drank.
"Oi, Ray, when are you planning on putting a ring on this pretty lady's finger?! A babe like this can not be free forever when I'm around," Murphy teased, wiggling his eyebrows at Rayman.
That did it. Rayman spluttered his drink with a tinge of pink tainting pale cheeks, sapphires frozen in a state of shock. I feel as if a Tri-Belle had lodged into my stomach where it now flutters and rings persistently. His eyes meet my eyes, my blush akin to his, as everyone at the Christmas dinner bellows with laughter at his mishap.
Indeed, would together not be grand?
XXXX
'M' can only represent one thing to me…and that is memories. Through thick and thin me and Rayman have conquered and collided with furious foes unimaginable to many. Bloodshed, hate, agony and sorrow, all are things both me and him have experienced. In fact, I grimace where I sit upon the sofa, such atrocities and horrors were hard to ignore—
"Hey, Ly…are you okay?"
I flinch. Despite knowing who that soothing voice belonged to, I still flinched. Why, when I looked up to meet concerned sapphires brimming with question, did I respond that way? I glance away in a manner that only could be called regretful.
My lack of answer must have struck a chord in him, for he sat beside me and ruffled my hair. An expression of annoyance crossed my face to which Rayman laughed full-heartedly. Childish, could he be anymore childish at times?
My hand gripping a chocolate clenched around it, like caressing hands over a heart. Childish, that was just it, was it not? Like my memories of him, of my past, of our childhood? Those memories of innocent, naïve, children, who played alongside each other in the snow this Christmas time many years ago.
He suddenly touched my arm, but this time I did not flinch. To be utterly honest I looked down at the pretty little chocolate wrapped in silver foil in my palm and smiled instead. 'M' is memories, good memories of us.
Only then did I realize something that made me mentally take a step back: when had this chocolate gotten into my hand in the first place?
Turning to Rayman only got me a falsely innocent grin.
XXXX
'A' is nothing if not anything if my intuition is concerned. Anything is possible, or at least that was what Rayman had taught me over the years we have known each other. Anything represents possibilities, and possibilities remind me of you.
Is it pathetic that my everything, my anything, is you…?
XXXX
Finally, the finishing 'S' is for summary, a summary of the heart, the emotion, and the joy. Christmas may not be much to some people, but to me it means more than I could foretell. Perhaps you would look at me strangely to admit that Rayman's sincerities were my own, that at the dinner table there is a harmony of our hearts, a closeness we can not unravel to save ourselves? Maybe you would scoff if I said it was purely my imagination, a false revelation of thoughts gone astray on merry, seasonal winds? Would you mock me if I stated that anything can happen when we are together?
But I know better than to heed judgement by others.
And, as Rayman smiles that heart melting, tender smile, gloved fingers lightly brushing my own as he reaches for the wine in its glass, I feel an electrifying shiver wrack my spine.
For I acknowledge that he knows it, too.
Closeness, harmony, revelation, imagination, sincerity, together, memories, anything, and the summary of it all, Christmas means a lot to me when it revolves around him.
He looks me dead in the eye, revealing his very emotions to me in a single glance, and I feel my pulse race like the thundering falls of the Sanctuary of Stone and Water.
But, you know what? I smile in a sincerity I know to keep.
I would never ask for anything more