6:30 PM, Christmas Day, London, 2078

A plucky Brit bounced along the streets during the lull of the coming night, her countenance as bubbly as her movement, whilst I watch in mirth from beside her, arms laden with a large cylindrical present (uh-ah! No guesses for what's inside!). How I fell in love with my charming hero, I'll never know, but considering that we're currently trying our best to make it on time to the Watchpoint and she can literally jump through time and I'm almost laughing at how late we are, I'd say I'm past the deep end at this point—not that I want to get out, no sir-e! I like where I am right now, thank you very much.

As Lena is distracted, once again, by window shopping, I feel the slight tug of my mind as that feeling of déjà vu begins to creep in; window shopping in another street in another continent entirely.

"Emily! Look at this! Do you think it would fit Zenny?"

I laugh. Frankly, the massive turban looks more than a little ridiculous on Lena. Why something like that is here in the streets of Kathmandu, I have no clue, but it only makes her seem tiny with it on. To be honest, that cocky grin is fairly distracting though, as if Lena knows how good she looks even with such a comically oversized hat on.

A little bit of me now wants to confirm whether it's a hat or not. There's technically no brim, but I suppose that one could be made depending on how it's wound, so it could be-

My brain short-circuits from a pincer attack, on one side Lena kissing my cheek (leaving me blushing, no doubt) and the other from a sudden gust of chilly air down my neck, making me regret not having anything with a tight collar.

I shiver, and to be fair it could be from either one.

"Earth to Emily, whatcha think?"

I look up to see Tracer, aviators donned, ridiculous (but so beautiful) smirk, hair swept just the right way, that low background hum of her "off-duty" chronal accelerator, a tiny figurine held in her hands.

No way!

I shriek a little bit, a tiny porcelain DVa figurine dangling before me. It's adorable. Especially since I've actually met the real DVa and can totally imagine her being shrunk to this height.

"I know, right?"

"How many are there?!"

Lena giggles and points towards the stall beside us, a little bit further down from where we were earlier. Huh, I really got distracted-

"Oh, my god. There's a tiny Winston. Gimme!"

I am totally absorbed by the Overwatch souvenir stand (technically unofficial, but clearly the work of devout fans) as I pour over the array of porcelain and plastic miniatures, embossed icons, plush dolls, pachimaris and the endless variety of stickers, badges and keychains. I like to think that I select a variety of pieces, however Lena comments on something.

"Emmy, that's a lot of DVa and not very much of me. You have more Winstons and Jamies than me!"

I look down for a moment and count it all up. Huh, I even have twice as much Reinhardt merchandise. Glad I got some bags for all this.

"Hush," I kiss Lena on the forehead for a moment (it's nice being taller), "I've got the real thing, so why would I want little toys that are only 50% fluffier?"

Lena coughs at this, eyes wide as she stares up at me slightly (definitely nice being taller) with a growing blush.

"Really? 50%? I'd say more like 20."

"Hmm, let's leave it at 35 and call it even?" I mime pondering, hand resting near my chin before I dip in for another kiss.

"Mm-… Deal." Lena's looking at me with nearly sparkling eyes. Not actually sparkling, that can't happen—though I've seen Winston's sparking... I guess that's close?

Another breath of chilling wind gives me bumps along my neck. This time I definitely shiver from the cold.

"Shall we head back?"

Lena saw my shiver then.

"Yeah, just hang on," I turn around to pay the omnic attending to the stall before catching up to her, "It's just colder than I thought it'd be."

"Let me warm you up?" Lena says this with a contrasting innocent voice and seductive smirk. Damn, if only we weren't staying with the Shambali tonight...

"Sure, I could do with a snuggle. Though you'll have to wait until we get back to the Orca."

Then again, if Athena is flying…

I hold back a giggle, pulling my new scarf up to keep out the cold and keep in the sound.

The scarf is wonderfully soft against my cold – but thankfully not yet numb – face. That Lena would remember such a small moment… I know I said that she tries to do too much, but I kinda love that about her. And to be fair, it's a lot more practical than the beanie from my parents. I mean, come on. Really? A beanie that I can't even pull down to my ears?

At least the beanie was red. I like red. Although I guess that I also like the blue from her Lena's accelerator. It's a surprisingly soothing colour, now that I've come to associate it with an imminent kiss. Or perhaps some of the oranges that she so adores. It's almost red, I suppose. Actually, that's probably why she likes my hair so much. Huh, never thought about it that way.

My stomach flips for a moment and suddenly, there I am, staring up into Lena's luxurious milk chocolate brown eyes.

"Fall for me, love?"

I blink for a moment. What happened? I was caught up in my thoughts, I think.

Oh.

I slipped. And Tracer caught me.

And now she's giggling at the surprise on my face. At least I didn't drop the present.

"Why do I feel like we're some comedy duo."

"Better a romcom than some sappy romance!"

"Hey! I happen to like some of those!"

Lena pokes me on the nose as I fake pouting.

"Yeah, but yours are all fanfics."

Okay, now I'm really pouting. I swear. I think Lena notices the shift in my eyes, that natural defensive withdrawal. Proof?

She's kissing me fairly hard right now.

As in can't-and-don't-want-to-breath kinda hard.

So, it's not my fault when I collapse into her faintly.

We arrive at the Watchpoint about fifteen minutes later. To be fair, we saved time as we actually managed to catch the tube with nary a delay once Lena finally found her presents for our hosts.

Of course, one does not simply walk into Overwatch. It is technically an illegal vigilante group, so you have to at least persuade the doorman to let you in first. Or in this case, doorwoman/AI? I've never actually asked Athena whether she had a gender identity, or even thought that gender mattered at all. Though I suppose that her voice makes me predisposed towards thinking of the AI as female, but I suppose that it doesn't really matter for now.

The front door (I suppose it's the front door? Does a Watchpoint even have front doors?) slides open, revealing a massive lumbering fluffball. I can't help but smile at the sight of Winston. Truth be told, for a hyper-intelligent ape, he feels very human at times.

Especially when a giant grin beams from his obviously joyful face.

Lena apologises for being late, citing our brief shopping trip as the cause for delay instead of our make-out sessions before and during the journey here. Then again, Winston still doesn't quite understand human interactions yet, and our private time is our private time.

Even so, it's warmingly human when he wraps us into a mammoth hug. Oh- and is that a new Christmas jumper? No, I think that's Lena's gift from last year actually. Ironic, how time flies.

I can't help but hug the big guy back, our group embrace lasting longer than most but never feeling uncomfortable. Then again, it's like hugging a massive plushie, and I can do that for hours.

Eventually, Winston releases us so that we can greet Athena, the almost ever-present mothering AI.

"Merry/Happy Christmas, Athena." Lena and I start, waving to Athena's portable monitor, which is currently over by the main desk.

[Season's greetings, Lena, Emily. As you can see, I'm currently in party mode.]

I giggle to this, while Lena just smiles at the comforting synthetic voice and turns around to help Winston with whatever he needs.

I lean against the desk, watching as Lena helps Winston with the finishing touches to the dinner.

There's a sudden wrenching feeling in my chest as the two start laughing brilliantly.

[Are you quite alright, Emily?] Athena seems to have noticed something.

I start and notice that a tear pooling in my eye. Wiping it away, I assure the AI.

"I'm fine. It's just… I feel like, sometimes, I just couldn't live without those two… I mean… After…"

My throat tightens up and I can't talk anymore.

[After the accident?]

Athena seems to understand. I just nod.

"I just- I owe so much to Winston, and it hurt so much when Lena just… she was there but she wasn't there and nothing I could do seemed to help at the time… everything I knew failed me and…"

[But look at them now.]

I flinch slightly.

There, across from us, currently toying around with a turkey that barely fit in Winston's oversized palms, were two friends, laughing and playing around. Lena had latched onto Winston's arm, laughing as she was lifted into the air.

Lena's laugh. It was so beautiful.

Lena's smile. Wide and toothy and perfect.

Lena's eyes. Bright with immeasurable happiness.

It was Lena. Not the Lena from before the accident, nor the Lena during or after it.

It was just Lena.

And that was all that really mattered.

Oh, and Winston too, I suppose.

I hiccup slightly, however that turns into a short laugh. It probably sounded quite depreciating.

"Look at me. The psychiatrist getting counsel from the patient."

[One of my many functions, and the one that you have taught me, is to help support the mental and emotional well being of Overwatch's members.]

"Heh. Yeah. I suppose that's it? Even if I'm not someone on the frontlines, I'm still a member of Overwatch. We're all one big, messy family, aren't we?"

[I believe that's the idea. Merry Christmas, Emily.]

"Merry Christmas, Athena," I push myself from the table and grab her portable monitor, "Time to join the family."

That night was one of the nicest Christmas' we've had in years. Winston was delighted to find a new safari cap from Lena and an extra-large tub of peanut butter from me. Apparently, Athena had given him her present earlier. Lena was surprised at Winston's gift of expensive Swiss chocolates, clearly restraining herself to have just the one, while my present made her cry in joy: a photo of from Nepal, the two of us wrapped up in winter clothing as we posed alongside the statue of Mondatta in the Shambali monastery.

I think I screamed a little bit when I got an eighth-scale Bastion plushie from Winston. I couldn't help but go "beep-boop" with and squish and hug constantly going "dwee-dwee-dwoo" to Christmas tunes.

Athena truly surprised us with a joint gift, a beautifully framed picture of us when we were younger, before Lena joined Overwatch—technically before we were even going out. It was a picture of the track team at our university, Lena the rising ace and I the new coach cum manager, looking infinitely more nervous than the charismatic star. What would that be, nearly ten years ago? Was that really that long ago? I didn't even know this photo existed apart from a similar one back at the university sports hall.

"Thanks, Athena." Lena and I chorus, Lena hardly able to pull her eyes from the slightly younger version of me in a tracksuit jumper. Looks like I'll have to see if I've got that in the wardrobe somewhere...

[It's my pleasure.]

Afterwards, Lena got a little drunk, which is always a mixture of hilarious and terrifying, Winston failed at party games (and was outright banned from piñata indefinitely), I failed to harmonise with Athena while carolling because Lena had decided that my lap was a perfectly good place to rest, and we all had a wonderful time.

Eventually, however, Lena reached her limit, curling up against me and promptly falling asleep. I apologised that we'd probably have to stay over then, since there was no way I was carrying Lena back to our apartment. Obviously, Winston and Athena said that it was nothing, so I hoisted my sleeping girlfriend over to one of the spare bedrooms.

Pulling the duvet over us, Lena began to wrap herself around me, octopus-like as I turned my back into her. I'm happy right now. Happy, content, blissful and hopeful, but most of all I am happy. Lena is here, happier than ever, some of my friends and family are here, some are elsewhere in the world, celebrating with us in spirit.

Here's to next year.