"And when we give a mere turn of the head, ten years have past."
A Present To Give, A Christmas To Remember
Part One: Make A Wish…
By raitei
Dedicated to Princess Viv
----I----
"The past makes you the person you are now."
8th February, 1 P.M.
Dear Diary,
I just felt like writing now, but of course, I'll make another entry tonight. Today's been a real tiring day! I felt like flopping down on my bed... it felt so tempting… but it's too hot to lie down on my bed in the afternoon. I've been taking care of my flowers the whole day. Why, you ask? Blame it on Garet! You know, he was practicing his 'Move' Psynergy with some tall log and it practically CRUSHED my flowers! I was so mad, even little Aaron could notice it! I even heard him saying to Garet, "You're in trouble now, Garet… your sister's really mad!" Right he was… luckily Garet didn't just say "Oops, sorry Kay!" and run off; if he did, oh, I'm gonna give him the worst spanking he ever had!
Really, that brother of mine is so busy with his Psynergy training nowadays… no, ever since that incident three years ago… you know, ever since the boulder fell, he had suddenly developed an instant wanting to hone his Psynergy skills. As much as people think that Garet's just a clumsy oaf, I think otherwise, really. He's as caring as you and me, but he just keeps it down, and if it ever rises to the surface, he shows it clumsily, you know what I mean? I think he was pretty much saddened and affected by Uncle Kyle, Felix and Jenna's parents' deaths; he must have saw how much it hurt Isaac… and especially Jenna… maybe he thought that it was so unfair for her… we were so lucky to have everyone in our family alive, and yet Jenna's whole family was gone in an instant… I think I can understand. I feel so sad for Jenna and Isaac… and for Aunt Dora as well… losing a loved one must be heartbreaking.
I better go and do my afternoon chores. Mum's calling me.
Feeling tired, ----II----
Kay
"The beginning of a new day is always the best, or so they say."
It was another peaceful day like any other in the small, rural village of Vale. Sol arose in its mighty glow and took its place as daylight approached slowly, bathing the world of Angara with its welcoming light and warmth. The birds chirped cheerfully as they soared merrily in the sky, conversing among their playmates freely. The sky was a lovely shade of clear blue, promising a delightful day to come. What else could any other person alive wish for? Everything was so calm, peaceful, serene and pleasant… especially in Vale, where the villagers were united in harmony, creating a tight bond that nothing could ever shatter. It was almost too good to be true.
Half a year had gone by ever since young Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Felix, Jenna, Sheba, Mia and Piers had returned from their long, tiring journey of saving the entire world of Weyard through the lighting of the four elemental lighthouses in the various continents. Tired but determined to resolve their quest, they had succeeded. And although their homes were of different places, friendship bounded the eight of them together strongly. Many a time the four Valeans had received a welcoming visit from their friends, either to catch up on each other or to lend a helping hand towards the reconstruction of Vale once more. With eight strong willing Adepts at disposal, the work went well, and the reconstructions were almost at an end.
Life was, indeed, good.
Puump.
"GAAREEEETTTT!"
A loud feminine scream resonated throughout the whole silent village. Luckily, as it was past 10 o'clock, most villagers were already up and awake, so no one was shaken up from the dead, as we can safely say.
"Oops… calm down, sis! Um…"
"That's the FIFTH time in two consecutive days you've made a hole in our roof! How do you expect me to calm down, Garet! Come down here!"
Grumbling under his breath, the spiky redhead named Garet hopped off from the roof of his house and landed lightly beside his fuming sister who stood by the doorstep. Grinning apologetically back at her quite unsuccessfully, he tried to defend himself and make the best case out of it if he could. "Well, I… I didn't mean to do that, really… I couldn't help it!"
Kay pursed up her lips in annoyance. "You mean you COULD help it, but you just had to land your butt on those specific unlucky places, knowing that you're so heavy and clumsy," she grumbled.
"Oh, come on, Kay!" Garet groaned. "I don't feel like arguing right now, you know… I'm sorry, okay? I'll get some hay and patch it up now, alright?"
Allowing her lips to quirk up slightly, her previous cheerful mood restored, Kay shook her head. "Nice of you to offer, but I guess you can do that later, Garet. I know you want to hang around with those friends of yours, so you can go. I'll make up some excuse for Mum. Just be glad that it's Christmas Eve and I don't feel like bashing you over a mere hole," she smirked.
His eyebrows raised, Garet chuckled. "Wow, I didn't know Christmas was so infectious."
"Well, you'd better go before I change my mind, Garet," she hinted back with a grin. "You never know."
"Mood swings, eh? I'll take the cue then. Thanks a bunch!" Grinning widely back at her, the redhead sprinted off towards the plaza located in the center of the town, where he and the rest had planned to meet the previous night.
One more day to Christmas… Kay mused happily. Guess I should go back inside; it's a bit chilly today. I wonder if Aaron's already awake…
As she turned around to reenter her house, her eyes caught sight of her bedding patch of flowers around the corner. Immediately she gasped in horror. What was once lovely flowers blooming under Kay's tremendous affection and tender care was now in a trampled condition; squished leaves splattered on the ground, and big heavy footprints embedded on the flowers.
Kay's eyebrow twitched heavily as she surveyed the damages towards her flowers.
"GAARREEEEETTT!"
----III----
"Curiosity kills the cat, but it is inevitable."
8th February, 9:45 P.M.
Dear Diary,
Today was so hectic; so many things happened helter-skelter at once, I felt quite dazed at first. There was an eruption on Mount Aleph! The villagers didn't think for one moment that it would erupt at all… I think THAT even added to the shock, even though we weren't in the danger zone. It was so frightening, you know… the earth shook quite terribly, but when I was standing on the ground, somehow, I realized that it wasn't because of the eruption that I was so scared… I was scared for Garet. Funny, isn't it? I was scared that he would get caught in the middle of the eruption, because we couldn't find him anywhere else… and someone even saw him at the Sol Sanctum. But thank the Wise One, whoever he is; he saved Garet and Isaac. I was so relieved when he came out safe and sound… it was as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. God, I'm so sisterly. :)
Anyway, I found out that Isaac, Jenna and him had climbed Mount Aleph together with Kraden; I'm not too sure why, but I heard that they were curious about something, and it had to do with those two strangers that called on Kraden. But the bad news is that those unknown foreigners kidnapped Kraden and Jenna in the sanctum! Can you believe that? Vale has always been so peaceful until now… and the bad news doesn't stop there; Felix was with them as well! According to Garet's tale, it seemed that those foreigners rescued him, and he survived… I almost couldn't believe it myself. All of us thought that he was… dead… I can imagine Jenna's pure amazement by just even seeing his face in front of her.
Just when you think you've reached the bad ending, you realise that you've just reached the climax… I heard from dad that Isaac and Garet are leaving on a long, dangerous journey to rescue Jenna and Kraden… and that's the main thing bugging me now. …I don't know how exactly I feel right now. I can't put it into words. I'm… sad… and scared… I don't really want Garet to go. It's so dangerous outside there, he… he could easily get killed! There's no telling of what could be out there.
Frankly, I don't want to lose a brother… I don't want to lose someone precious to me; I've already seen how much it hurts. I'm afraid of that… I want to avoid that if I can. Sometimes, I wish that Garet wouldn't need to leave Vale; but deep down, there isn't a question about that. Even if he didn't need to, I know… I know that he will volunteer to go with Isaac, to accompany him and rescue his friends… that's the Garet I know. I can't be selfish… he needs to go. He wouldn't want Isaac to travel alone, to push all of the responsibility and job to one person… he'd feel downright bad. He'd regret that his whole life. I think I understand. I have to.
I just have to pull myself together, and wait… wait with everyone. If we can't do anything, then all we can do is just wait patiently, Aaron said. Aaron's growing up a lot too… but the person suffering the most right now is Aunt Dora. She's only got Isaac, and he's leaving her… but she still let him go; she even told him not to visit her back in Vale until he completed his journey. Aunt Dora is a wonderful woman… if she can still be strong and wait cheerfully everyday, then there shouldn't be a reason why I can't too. I just hope… and pray with all my heart, that my brother will come back safely… and return to us.
Mars help him and Isaac.
Silently praying,
Kay
P.S. When I read back, I do sound so mushy and pathetic… so unlike myself. I need more tissue… just kidding. I'm trying to cheer myself up.
----IV----
"Blue or blaze? Bah, who cares? It's just a pillowcase."
"Hmm… this blue one looks nice, but pink is nice as well… yeah, I think I'll get that for Jam—"
"…Um… Kay?"
Kay spun around with a frown on her face. Her long flaming red hair tied in a neat ponytail swung back, contrasting with her light purple blouse she wore. "What now? Don't you know that it's bad manners to interrupt someone when she's busy thinking?"
Garet flinched, grinning sheepishly. "Uh… how long again do you plan to shop?"
Taken aback by the question, Kay cocked her head quizzically. "Well, I don't know… but I plan to buy all the things that I want this afternoon, because I've got to help the villagers with the town decorations tonight."
Her brother groaned heavily. "Oh man… and how many more presents do you need?"
"Let's see… there's still the presents for Kraden, Maria, Elyssa, Jon and Jimmy, Louise and Katherine. That's seven more to go. Not that many," she answered, counting with her fingers. "Why?" she asked, flashing an amused look at her brother's dismayed face.
"Not that many…" the redhead grumbled under his breath. He looked down, and Kay followed his gaze. She smirked. Throughout her afternoon Christmas shopping so far, Garet had grudgingly been her servant for the day, carrying all of the many bags. And it was always the saying that women's shopping was no place for men, but since Kay's mother was on her good moods today, she had insisted that Garet be quite the gentleman and accompany 'your dear, helpful sister' (as she put it) on her shopping spree. No job nobler than helping your sibling, or so she said.
"Too bad," Kay said laconically, patting him on the shoulder. "At least I'm not like some people out there who fuss just over a matter of choosing colour for a pillowcase, you know. But colours are just as important when it comes to clothes. You've received a lot of training during your journey, haven't you, Garet? This should be nothing to you in all probability."
"Yeah, but I didn't carry rocks for two long, BORING hours, you know…" he muttered. Not to mention getting disturbed by those 'little twits' who kept teasing him being 'helpful, little Garet' as he trudged along the streets of Vale lined with all varieties of shops, he thought. He merely received a glare in return for referring to the presents as 'rocks'.
"Well, it's your fault for stepping on my flowers this morning. And if you're sooo bored, YOU tell me what present I should give to Kraden. I've been thinking now and then but I still can't think of what he'd like for a Christmas present," she snapped back. A sudden thought occurred to her and she leaned forward curiously. "What did you get for Kraden anyway?"
Grinning broadly, he replied, "Oh, that. Isaac, Felix, Jenna, Ivan, Mia, Piers, Sheba and I are giving him a shared present. We're giving him a taste of our own Psynergy."
Kay gaped. "You mean you're going to toast him, Garet! But you can't—"
"No, no, you got it the wrong way. I meant that we're giving him those types of healing and supportive Psynergies, you know? Like Jenna's Aura, for example. Just to spice him up, even though it's not needed at all. He had always wanted to 'experience the feeling', he said. We didn't want to do it last time, because it'd just drain our energy unnecessarily. Sounds stupid, but he'd like it. And maybe we'll give him a demonstration of our Psynergy too. He's been totally dying to see all of them," he grinned.
"Oh… sounds like a weird present to me." As Garet opened his mouth to reply, she cut him off. "I know, you're going to say that Kraden is weird too, so it makes sense. Right?" Kay asked.
Taken aback by her words, Garet stared wide-eyed at her. "How did you know?"
"The simplest question, Garet. And the simplest answer." She smiled, winking at him. "I'm your sister, remember?"
"Oh," he blankly replied. Then he brightened up. "So whose name did you get when you took the draw?" he asked.
Kay grinned. "Kraden. That's why I'm thinking of what to buy. You?"
"Jenna," he replied, grinning widely. "So I'll be giving her a double present to make it special."
"Ah, I see. When are you guys getting engaged anyway? Mum has been lecturing you about it, I hear," Kay teased, throwing a knowing look at Garet.
Christmas was one of the most important and celebrated events among the Valeans. Every year, the whole village would hold a special meeting draw among the villagers, where everyone's names would be written down in slips of paper and placed inside a box. One by one, the villagers would take one slip of paper, and that person would have to get a present for the other's name that was written in his/her paper. And that would be another person down on their list to buy Christmas presents for. When Christmas came, everyone would group in the town plaza and open his/her presents. The recipient could take a shot at guessing who got the present. But if it was wrong, the giver of the present could either choose to reveal his identity or remain anonymous to the recipient.
But that was only a part of the Christmas tradition in Vale. After that, a feast would be held in the mayor's house, then Christmas afternoon spent in the town, playing all kinds of games (especially snowballing, marking a favourite among the young); and the night was spent with their own families at home, enjoying the night of Christmas. There was no doubt at all that Christmas had a special place in everyone's heart, young and old.
Garet chose to ignore her question. He merely stared up at the clear blue sky, flipping his hair back as the chilly winds swept them. "You know, I wonder why it isn't snowing… all this while, it was always snowing when Christmas came. And it's not like it's spring, either. Like between both. Winter's real late."
She followed his gaze, and slowly nodded. "I was thinking the same thing too… somehow, Christmas doesn't seem quite the same without snow, don't you think?"
"Yeah. And that means we won't be able to build a snowman and play the snowballing game tomorrow if it doesn't snow," he said ruefully.
Kay smacked her forehead, rolling her eyes. "Aw, too bad," she mocked sarcastically. "Snowballing is one of your top favorites, I know."
"But not Kraden's. Remember that time when we were still small, and Kraden was so fed up with us all because we kept launching snowballs at him?" he reminded, laughing heartily as he did so.
Kay joined in his laughter. "Yeah, especially you. Good old times." She shook her head slowly, smiling pleasantly.
A thought struck him. "…Hey Kay, if I'm shopping with you, then it means that my present is somewhere here, right?" he smirked.
Kay started walking away, a light smile on her lips. "I don't know. You shouldn't ask, you know. Have I asked you what you've gotten me for my Christmas present? No. It's a little improper."
He dashed after her, eager to extract the answer out from her. "Aha! That means yes, right?"
"How'd you know?" she pounced.
"I'm your brother, remember?" he proudly countered, imitating her words a moment ago.
She rolled her eyes. "That doesn't really make sense, you know… and you're a copycat."
"Wrong," Garet corrected her, "copyboar. I'm born in the year of the boar, remember?" (1)
Kay laughed, hitting him on the back as he walked beside her, the bags swinging along. "Silly."
----V----
"Blood is forever a million times thicker than water."
9th May, 8:56 P.M.
Dear Diary,
Remember me saying that I like the month of May? Yeah, it's my birthday today! I got lots of presents; let's see… Mum got me a pair of lovely earrings, Dad gave me a brand new knitting set (which I was glad for; mine was spoiled), Aaron got me a nice cute ribbon, and even grandpa and grandma gave me presents too! It was really fun opening all those presents. And did you know that today's Mother's Day too? Coincidence, isn't it? We all gave Mum presents, and gave her a 'day-off' from her usual chores; she was very happy about it.
But you know, truthfully, well, it doesn't seem as much fun compared to my last year's birthday. Not like I'm complaining, oh no; it just doesn't seem just as fun without Garet, Isaac and Jenna, you know? Last year, Garet actually invited the whole village to a surprise birthday party with Isaac and Jenna's help. It was such a grand time… but the village does seem kinda quiet now. It's really peaceful.
Time passes by quite slowly now, I feel… I still have my own friends, but it's not the same without Garet, ya know? I guess I kinda miss him… and I know Aaron and the whole family do too. I don't need to march into his room every morning and shout him awake to come down for breakfast anymore, but it's so automatic, sometimes I forget that he's not here anymore in Vale. Haha… but at least I still have everyone else. You know, sometimes I wish I could comfort Aunt Dora. She's trying to act cheerfully like she always is, but sometimes, I see her staring at the sky absently, and a silent tear would roll down her cheek… it's so sad to see her putting up a brave show every time.
I pray for her that Isaac and Garet's doing well. But I know that both of them will come back someday… together with Kraden and Jenna. They will.
Truly yours,
Kay
----VI----
"Secrets are meant to be kept silent, but the mind itches to reveal."
"Ahhh, finally! Home!"
Opening a chestnut-coloured door, the spiky red-haired young teen known as Garet stepped inside tiredly. Without looking, he immediately flopped down on the single bed and gave a heart-yearning yawn. "I kept yawning until tears almost came when I went shopping with her…" he muttered under his breath.
Placing his arms under his head as he prepared to doze off, he undid a button on the collar of his black shirt and closed his eyes slowly. "I'm never going shopping with Kay ever again…" he absently muttered.
"Garet? What in the world do you think you're doing by sleeping on Kay's bed?"
Suddenly, a sharp feminine voice roused him from his train of thoughts. Raising his eyelids in a flash, Garet sat up on the bed and found none other than Jenna, his childhood friend, standing outside the door. "Jenna? What are you doing here?"
"I was just saying hello to your mother when she asked me to run upstairs and see what were you doing. You're lucky she didn't come up herself, otherwise you'd have a good scolding from her," Jenna explained, her arms crossed. "Like I said, why are you sleeping on Kay's bed? She actually ALLOWED you to even go into her room?"
Garet gave a start. "Kay's bed?" His eyes darted around the white-coloured wall of the room, and true enough, he was in his sister's room. "What—oh crap, I must have gone into the wrong room by accident! I thought this was my room! I really did!" he objected.
His counterpart only shook her head helplessly. "Garet, Garet… Kay will double, triple spank you if she sees you here, you know. In fact, I'm going to the plaza to meet up with her now to do the decorations. We're in charge of those small kids while they're decorating the Christmas tree at the plaza."
"Oh… you won't tell her that I'd been in her room, right Jenna?" Garet asked almost pleadingly, giving Jenna huge puppy-like eyes. "Please! I don't want another of her shrill screaming! It's just those kind of noise that pierces my ears!"
Smirking at the thought, Jenna leaned herself on the doorway. "Fine, I won't. I'll try to remember," she winked.
"I'd better go out from this room before Mum herself comes up or something," he muttered as he quickly stood up, trying to smooth down the slightly crumpled sheets as much as he could.
"Here, I'll help. Guys are too clumsy with these kind of stuff anyway," Jenna offered.
"Oh, thanks," her counterpart said gratefully, stepping aside to let Jenna do the job. His red-colored eyes wandered around the tidy room curiously, as he had never really stepped into it before. Kay's room consisted of the bed, a few drawers beside the bed, a small cupboard at the left corner of the room, a dressing table and a chair beside it, and a small bookshelf lined with books at the opposite corner. It was as tidy as it could be, an adjective that was never visualized with Garet's own room.
Suddenly his eyes caught sight of four or five big, thick books laid on top of the drawers. The books were ordinary enough, but what caught his interest was a snapshot of his parents, Kay and himself taken a few years ago in the front cover of a purple-coloured book laid on the top of the others. Piqued with curiosity, his hand stretched out and took the book to examine it further. Flipping the page, he was surprised to see that almost all of the pages were full of Kay's neat, small handwriting.
Minutes later, Jenna patted the pillow on the bed lightly as her finishing touch. "There, it's done. Don't you think it's nice and neat—hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the thick purple book that Garet was so absorbed in.
"I think it's… here, have a look yourself, Jenna," he offered the book to her. He then took another book and opened it with just as much interest.
Jenna took the book interestedly, and started reading the first page. She uttered an exclamation and read bits and bits here and there, sometimes skipping the pages. Sometimes she giggled and laughed, but when she finally closed the book and handed it over to Garet, there was a smirk plastered on her face.
"She'll kill you if she knew."
----VII----
"Such is human's nature that only their presence are missed when they are gone."
25th December, 11:48 P.M.
Dear Diary,
Notice the date? Yes, it's Christmas! Like every year, we opened the presents in the plaza (I couldn't guess who was 'responsible' for my nice Christmas present, so it remained unknown), and then we had a feast in my house. I helped out with the cooking and dishes; it was hard work these past few days preparing them, but it was worth it! Not like I'm saying that I'm such a good cook, but a few dishes that I cooked tasted quite good. Mum even commented that I'd make a good cook and housewife when I'm all grown up; can you believe that?
Of course, we had a good snowball fight with each other in the afternoon; I teamed up with Mum and fought against Dad and Aaron. It was too bad that Garet wasn't with us, since he and I made quite a good team in the previous games. I loaded the ammunition, and Mum threw the snowballs. It was pretty hectic, but we won! I think a factor contributed to the fact that Aaron's snowballs weren't packed enough and loaded fast, but we had a good fight. Both Dad and Mum were pretty good throwers, I'll say. They'd probably played dozen of times when they were young.
I still wish Garet and the others would be able to celebrate Christmas with us this year, but it really can't be helped. He would have really enjoyed the feast today. Never mind; we've celebrated Christmas together lots of times. Besides, we can easily celebrate next year's Christmas as one family whole, right? And I bet Mum will cook lots of nice stuff for him to eat. She's probably thinking that he's lacking nutritious food during his tiring journey; she told me so. But I don't think that's the case; he can find food easily. I hope he'll be back by next year's Christmas… he should be. He wouldn't forget us; I'll knock him in the head if he did.
I'm all tired out. I've exhausted my muscles from the snowballing game. Off to bed!
As usual,
Kay
P.S. I should get a new diary soon. That will be my fourth one! Wow.
----VIII----
"Watch out for a shooting star on Christmas Eve, and make a wish."
"Kway? Kwan yu welp me wang this wittle fueiry dol at da tip of da twee? I cwant wicch it." (2)
Kay held back a giggle as she smiled kindly at five-year-old Sarah capering around her. "Oh, of course, Sarah. I'll help you."
"Yay! Twank yu!" (3)
"You're welcome, Sarah."
"Yay! It's now complete!" Little seven-year-old Karen shouted excitedly.
"Shh, Karen, you're going to make your papa and mama angry if you keep shouting, ya know?" Nine-year-old Elyssa proudly declared.
"Now, now, children, you've all done a good job tonight; you can all go home now."
"Really?" A chorus of nine children asked.
Kay smiled and nodded. They all squealed happily and scampered away back to their homes, their feet pattering quickly on the hard solid ground as they chatted excitedly.
"Yay! Wom!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Home, not 'wom', Sawah!" Maria corrected.
"And that's Sarah for you!" Jimmy laughed.
The inhabitants of Vale were busy hurrying along here and there, excitedly preparing the Christmas decorations around town. Grown-ups and male adults lent a hand in any heavy-duty work, housewives busy preparing food (especially turkey as the Valean Christmas delicacy), while others were tied up decorating their own homes, or cleaning and decorating the town. Even the children were excited at the prospect of hanging little bells, mini-Santa Claus dolls and other decorations at the plaza, and especially at the huge, lovely Christmas tree directly in front of the plaza.
"Hey Kay!" A male voice shouted from the distance.
Turning around, Kay saw that it was none other than Isaac, the spiky-haired blond teen, who had called her from afar. Beside him was the healer Mia who hailed from the town of Imil. From what Kay knew by sight, they were together for some months now, and most of the villagers had already known that Isaac had feelings for the beautiful aqua-haired girl by the frequent visits they had in Vale.
When I first heard of them being together, I was actually quite surprised… I thought that Isaac liked Jenna in the first place… but then, I thought that Garet liked Jenna, too. I was a little worried that something bad would happen… but everything was okay in the end. Turns out I'm 50-50 right in the end, I guess. She shrugged her shoulders absently.
"Kay? Kay?"
Snapping to reality, Kay shook her head abruptly as she came face-to-face with Isaac and Mia standing before her. "Oh, Isaac! I'm sorry, I spaced out for a moment there. I was thinking." She smiled and nodded at Mia as a greeting. Truth to tell, she was not really close with many of Garet's non-Valean friends; she had almost hardly chatted with them for a long time. She knew them by face, of course; but saying that she knew them perfectly, eyes, nose and all, was perhaps an understatement. There was once when she could have almost sworn that from afar, that—what was his name? Ivan, wasn't it? And that blonde girl… Sheba, looked so alike, like two peas in a pod!
Isaac smiled. "I could tell."
"Isn't Jenna supposed to be here with you, Kay?" Mia inquired politely.
Kay frowned. That girl really was very late… too late to be considered normal. "Yes, she is, but she hasn't shown up yet. The kids have already done their job, and she hasn't appeared yet. I wonder why."
"You know, the last time I saw her was when she was with—"
"Hey guys!" This time, a feminine shout rang from the opposite street. As all three of them turned in unison, they saw a panting Jenna sprinting towards them, waving her right hand to and fro.
"Well, speak of the devil!" Mia exclaimed.
"Jenna, where were you? Don't tell me you forgot that you were in charge of decorating the Christmas tree with me tonight?" Kay asked, her hands on her hips, pretending to make herself seem angrier than she really felt.
"I'm really sorry, Kay!" she apologized ruefully. "I was with Garet, you see… and well… er… we…" she suddenly paused hesitantly, seemingly having difficulties in choosing her words.
Kay frowned at Jenna's hesitance, her curiosity even more roused than ever. Then light dawned upon her as she guessed what Jenna was probably going to say. "Uh… that's enough, Jenna. I don't think I want to hear more, if you know what I mean," she interposed.
"Oh, I get it," Both Isaac and Mia simultaneously chorused.
Jenna looked confused at her friends' responses, but in a split second the bell rang in her head. "Oh, you—NO, of course it wasn't that! We didn't do anything, I swear! It's just that… er, well… I can't explain it, but it ISN'T what you guys think! Alright?"
Mia giggled at the Mars Adept's restrain. "All the more even more suspicious, you know, Jenna."
"Fine, fine. I'll take that for now." Kay waved the small matter away. "But we're already done with the decorations, Jenna. I think the kids did quite a good job themselves. I told them that they could go home already, that's why they aren't here anymore. What do you think?"
Jenna turned sideways to examine the decorations as asked. The Christmas tree that was as tall as the female Mars Adept was beautifully decorated with lovely red, silver and gold-colored jingling bells, tiny Christmas presents hung onto the huge tree, a few Santa Claus dolls with its reindeers and sleighs, and a few others. Placed under the decorated tree were a few fake colorful presents. And to top it all off, on the very highest tip of the large tree was a pretty fairy doll with a small wand in her hands.
She chuckled when her eyes caught sight of the fairy. "Yeah, they did quite a good job."
"It looks really nice too," Mia commented.
"Hey, Isaac, you're helping us to collect all of the presents tomorrow morning, right?" Jenna suddenly asked.
"Yeah, I am. I've got a cart to help us with the job too," the spiky-headed teen replied with a nod.
"Sounds great, but it wouldn't really be a good idea if it's snowing, y'know?" Kay intervened.
"Yeah, I guess… but since it doesn't seem to be snowing this year, then I guess it's usable," he laughed.
"I suppose…" Mia said laconically, her eyes on the cloud-filled sky. "I wish it'd snow, though… in Imil, the winters lasted longer. So snowing was always a definite yes every year."
"Are you going back there again after Christmas?" Kay inquired.
The aqua-haired Mercury Adept only smiled, and Isaac's hold on her hand only tightened ever so slightly, or so Kay noticed with a sharp amused eye. "Well… I'm not too sure… but Megan and Justin (they're my apprentices) are doing well over there. They're holding up fine."
Jenna clapped her hands together delightedly. "Well, let's not stand here all night! Now that everything's done and all ready, let's go back home and celebrate our own feast! Did you guys bring your food?"
"Yeah." Both Isaac and Mia nodded.
The eight of them had planned their own special Christmas celebration, held on the night of Christmas Eve. It was something that had much in common with a potluck; each of them had to contribute their own unique dish, and all of them would share the food together. In this way, there was a variety of food to share between them. While it was perhaps nothing much, it provided much fun and delight in finding their own dishes along the way. Of course, the males had extra difficulties with that.
"And after that, we go home and sleep! Then when we wake up, it'll be Christmas!" Jenna beamed.
"Yeah; you mean, time to open presents, Jenna?" An amused male voice interrupted. Kay smirked inwardly at the remark.
She spun around and faced a snickering Ivan and Sheba behind her. "Hey! I'm not that bad! Aren't you guys excited too? I know Sheba is! We spent a Christmas together once with Felix and Piers, remember?"
The Jupiter Adept in return only chuckled, her deep green eyes smiling. "Yeah, that was fun, too. But I imagine this year's will be even greater. Where's Felix and Piers, anyway?"
"Oh, Felix went to run some kind of errand for dad, and Piers decided to help him," Felix's sister answered readily. "They'll be back soon, I should think."
"I can't wait for tomorrow; it'll be the first time all the eight of us will be celebrating Christmas together!" Mia smiled.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kay asked smilingly.
----IX----
"Even tragic fairytales always end happily ever after."
24th March, 11:20 P.M.
Dear Diary,
I just don't know how to begin… this is a tremendously big day. Garet and the others are back! He finally came back… with Isaac, Jenna, Felix, and four other new friends. I was glad to see Felix on good terms with everyone; I thought that he'd have a few difficulties, seeing that he seemed to be on the opposite side as Isaac and Garet at first. They'd probably settled everything and come on good terms before coming back. But let's start from the beginning, or I'll mess myself up.
Let's see… ah yes, you see, the Elder suddenly received a warning from the Wise One, saying that we should all flee and seek safety from some danger. So we did. We trusted the Wise One. But of course, before fleeing I took this book together with me. I couldn't let this book get destroyed too… it holds too many memories for me to let go so easily. So we fled to the hills on the outskirts on Vale. We barely had time to escape.
It was just as the Wise One said; suddenly there was a tremble, and Mount Aleph seemed to be erupting again. I wasn't sure what happened, but when I raised my eyes to look at Vale, there wasn't anything more to look at… every single thing that reminded me of my village was gone. While we were sad, we were so grateful to the Wise One for saving us… he, no wait; maybe I should just call 'it' (I don't know how it really looks like anyway, so I don't know if it's a he or she) saved us all. Thank Mars. I wouldn't want to be buried all under that rubble… ugh.
Anyway, Aaron suddenly kept on rambling that Garet and the others would come back soon; he called it a 'feeling'. Mum said it was more of an 'intuition'. Funny. I thought that only women had intuitions. But whatever it was, they really did come back. But Aaron was so naughty; he proposed to make them think that we were dead, and well, just for the fun of it, we agreed. Even grandpa and grandma wanted to create a stir… and well, I wanted to see Garet's reaction. And it was sure kinda funny to see him all so sad and remorseful, on the verge of breaking down with Isaac standing in the hills overlooking Vale, when all of us were safe and sound! Aunt Dora almost wanted to rush out and meet up with Isaac… and Uncle Kyle. Amazingly, Uncle Kyle and Jenna's parents were alive! We were so speechless when we saw them from afar with our own eyes… Aunt Dora was crying. But at least it wasn't for a sad reason anymore. I'm glad for her.
But then we heard Garet saying, "Your family's safe, Felix. You don't have to worry anymore… But what am I supposed to do? … I'm all alone now." I remember those exact words until now. And… he actually cried. I think mum almost broke down when she saw Garet crying… I think that was the second time I ever saw him crying in his whole life. I felt so sad for him… it made me thought: what if it really was true? Somehow, I felt like crying myself… everyone was silent as well.
So we decided to end the game. We started towards them, but Garet didn't see us… but a blonde girl and a blue-haired girl saw us from afar. I saw them smile delightedly… and they began to tease Garet unmercifully. Jenna was so indignant with them at first… then we came up to them. I still remember that Aaron was somehow so gleeful that he got to see Garet crying… Garet was so happy to see us. I'm happy for Aunt Dora as well. She's got her family back; she really deserves it. Everything's just coming right all of a sudden… it feels so right.
I can see that Garet's really much more grown-up now… after a year, he's much more taller, and he's certainly put his brute strength to use, I guess. He seems a lot more matured, stronger and all that… but I'm still glad that he's still the same old Garet as he always was. We celebrated the reunion as much as we could, and after everyone had settled down, we decided to rebuild Vale, no matter how long it would take us. So that we would have a proper place to call 'home'. Of course, Garet's new friends volunteered to help out too; I can't really remember their names though. Garet did introduce them to me, but I kinda forgot. I know that the blue-haired girl is named Mia, and the blonde girl is called Sheba. They're all really nice people.
I'm so happy… and glad… that my family's whole again. And everyone's families as well. Everyone's together again… and everything is in place. After so much trouble and happenings, it's finally ended. Or has it really ended? I've learnt by now that nothing stays peaceful forever… but I hope the peace will last for as long as it can.
I'm glad it's a happy 'ending' at last. I thank you, Wise One.
Cheerfully,
Kay
P.S. Oh wow, this has got to be the longest entry I've ever made so far in this thick book. I'm a really good rambler, I see.
----X----
"Play, play, play in the snow, leave your marks so others would know."
As if by magic, the words 'Christmas' and 'breakfast' made the sleepyhead immediately wide awake. Bolting out of his blanket-strewn bed, he rubbed his eyes and looked at Kay. "Whoa! What's that for?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? Oh, you mean my clothes?"
The girl had adorned a set of snug-fitting but comfortable Santa Claus clothes; top, bottom, even shoes and everything. All that she needed to complete her costume was the red-pointy hat with the white fluff at the tip that Santa always had. And somehow, the spiky red-haired teen found it humorous.
"Yeah, what's with that Santa costume?" Garet asked teasingly, still in his red-striped pajamas.
"What, you got a problem with that?" Kay retaliated rather huffily as she started for the door handle of Garet's bedroom.
"Hey, no offence. I just didn't expect to see you wearing these kind of stuff, that's all."
"Hmph. Man, do I always need to barge into your room (and without your permission at that) just to wake you up every morning? You're so hopeless, Garet." She shook her head.
Outwardly, I say that, but when he wasn't here in Vale last year, to think that I actually kinda missed shaking him up every morning! How ironic… She shook her head again, but unable to refrain a smile forming on her lips.
Just when Garet thought that his sister was mad at him, she turned back with a half-grin stuck on her fair face. "Well, you'd better bathe and get dressed; no use in dilly-dallying and sleeping off such a day like Christmas, you know."
Just the mention of Christmas brought him leaping out from his bed in hurry. "Oh yeah, I forgot! It's CHRISTMAS!" He stretched his hands and peeked outside from a nearby window. What he saw made his mouth gape.
Kay chuckled. "Cat got your tongue, Garet?" she teased smilingly. She followed him towards the same window.
"Wh… it's snowing!"
She grinned. "Yup, it is. I don't know when it started snowing, but it must have started late last night, or rather, early this morning. Everyone's glad that it's now snowing in Vale."
True enough, snow had begun to fall heavily in Vale, and the sepia-colored ground could hardly be seen as those pure white flakes poured down from the cheery skies. Outside, children of all ages were running around joyously, enjoying the fresh smell and breath of winter snow's falling. Wearing warm and thick woollens to prevent colds, they skipped around and played with the snow, all the time laughing merrily.
"Oh yeah, that's great! Now Christmas will be all proper and right-down ready!"
Kay stifled a laugh. "Yes, and now you can play snowballing all you like in the afternoon."
"Of course!" he beamed. "Snowballing is always my favourite game! And if the ground is covered completely by ice this afternoon, maybe I can ski too with the others. Oh man, I can't wait to load snowballs and throw it at people!"
She watched him with humoured eyes as the redhead pulled out a few clothes hurriedly from his wardrobe, and rushed to the bathroom as fast as a hare while humming a Christmas melody with gusto. Just like an excited little child, really… but again, that's what that makes Garet who he is.
Notes:
(1) 'Born in the year of the boar': Garet's year of the animal was never told, but I associated him with the year of the boar:
'Boars of both sexes are hardworking and have almost too much energy at times, for they are born with inner strength that few others can match. Offsetting the Boar's bravery is their short temper. Luckily, Boars generally dislike having arguments and seldom harbor any long-term grudges against anyone that has the unfortunate luck of crossing them. Boars are extremely loyal and prefer to have a smaller, more close knit group of friends that are with them a lifetime.' (Extracted from Fruits Basket manga, Volume 5)
(But Isaac and Jenna are presumably the same age as Garet, so wouldn't they be born in the same year? And Isaac isn't short-tempered… ah well.)
(2) "Kway? Kwan yu welp me wang this wittle fueiry dol at da tip of da twee? I cwant wicch it": 'Kay? Can you help me hang this little fairy doll at the tip of the tree? I can't reach it."
(3) "Twank yu": thank you