All characters belong to ASW

Same universe as "Bonding".

December 22nd 2207, 2nd Hierarchical City Of Iwatsuchi, United States Of America

Whilst the disappearance of Seithr from the world lead to the reclamation of huge tracts of land from lower altitudes, it also rendered the Ars Magus that were relied on everyday useless. That included the weather control systems, so while it did snow come Christmas time, it had been decades since a genuine blizzard. And that was what Iwatsuchi was experiencing right now. Visibility was woeful, and the sound of screeching brakes and needlessly revved engines filled the night sky. It was like the world had forgotten how to drive. Actually, for the most part, it had. The aerodromes were bedlam too, as Ragna had found out much to his chagrin. Landing was...brown trousery, disembarkation had gone with all the grace of a pig on an ice rink, and the bags had taken forever to get through reclamation. This is why I hate flying cattle class...hell why I hate flying period.

BGM: Comedy

One taxi ride later

The apartment doorbell rang several times without result. After it had dawned that there was no one home, the person at the door just took out the keys and went inside.

"Ragna, do you really think we should be doing this? I feel like we're breaking in."

Ragna turned to Celica, "Look, he said " If we're not home, let yourselves in." Why else do you think he gave us the keys to the place?" He stopped to take off his dull brown trenchcoat, revealing the black sweater and jeans beneath

'The place' he was referring to was Jin and Tsubaki's home. Both Kisaragi and Yayoi snr were still going strong, so they hadn't inherited the mansions yet, but both made decent money, him as a Colonel with rumours beginning of Brigadiership, and her just recently promoted to Major in the NOL, to afford some upmarket digs in Iwatsuchi. Few apartments Ragna had ever come across could boast six bedrooms over two floors. Actually, calling it a penthouse would probably be more apropos. And that was fortunate, considering the numbers staying over the next few days. What was left of Yukianesa hung in a stand over the fireplace. Izayoi had been returned to the Yayoi manor, though why baffled Ragna considering it was useless now. The NOL had to retrain with old style weapons, so assault rifles and the like were coming back into fashion. Tsubaki wasn't very happy about that, as she felt it took a lot of the old chivalry out of combat. Jin on the other hand was quite apathetic to the change.

By contrast, Ragna made a slightly more modest wage as head chef at a fancy restaurant; Jubei had put in several good words in a few people's ears to hire him, and he'd worked his way up from there. Some would say his cooking was better than Jubei's own; Ragna would reluctantly concede the point for his best dishes. The hours were a bitch, but that couldn't be helped. Celica used to work at an orphanage, as a lot of kids had lost their parents during the fighting and all that crap about the Embryo. She had scaled back her commitments, now working as a full time mom. Their home was again smaller and less elaborate, but it was comfy. Ragna preferred it that way.

"I know, it just seems so weird" she replied. Celica herself wore a red sweater with black leggings.

"Mama? Papa? Whatcha talkin' about?"

Celica knealt down to look their daughter up close, "It's nothing, sweetie. Uncle Jin and Aunt Tsubaki aren't home, that's all. Nothing to worry about." Hitomi pursed her lips, as if trying to figure out a complex riddle, "Then where are Unca Jin and Ant Tsu? I wanna play with Sakura and Shinji." Celica laughed at Hitomi's bad pronunciation, "You'll have to wait then, just like for your Christmas presents. You really think they'd leave them here on their own?" She walked out to get the suitcases.

"Probably at the hospital," Ragna chipped in, "You know how unreliable due dates are." The last remark was aimed at Celica; it'd many years before 'Due date' would mean anything to Hitomi if Ragna had anything to say about it. This didn't seem to sit that well with Hitomi, who pouted before stomping off to watch TV in her day-glo pink wellies. She was 4 years old, with pale brown hair and pea green eyes. Ragna was already busying himself with work in the kitchen. Jin and Tsubaki might object at him cooking in their kitchen with their food, but the fact remained that Ragna was the best cook in their little group, and he planned on making enough for everyone when they eventually got here. Another factor was that it kept Noel out of the kitchen; Library guys in NBC suits had to be called in last time she tried something new. Yes, she had improved under Ragna's watch, but that was only for a given value of 'edible'.

With Hitomi occupied with yet another TV talent show, Celica followed Ragna into the kitchen, wrapped her arms around his midsection, and kissed him on the neck. As much as Ragna hated Kokonoe's guts nowadays, he had to admit that she'd pulled off a minor miracle in keeping Celica alive; she had to yet to tell them that she 'plagarised' a little of Relius' research in order to pull it off, specifically how he made Kazuma Kuvaru, and after that it was a similar method to how Terumi occupied it, creating Hazama. It didn't take a genius to work out why she neglected to tell them the specifics. Either way, they were happily married now with a lovely daughter. Having gotten rid of the Azure Grimoire (he had Jin to thank for that little favour) and with some much needed peace and stability back in his life, Ragna's hair and eyes had over the years changed back to what they were before. He had resorted to hair dye and contacts previously to try and rebuild his life, and saw it as a way of leaving the old 'him' behind. Ragna was kind of relieved; now no one recognised him as the world's most wanted man, he longer had to keep his ears pricked for shouts of "You dine and dash last time you here!" or even worse "Eek! A pervert!" And no one thought he was a city destroying abomination anymore; that one had always confused him as to how people had got it in their heads that he was capable of that. Last time he looked in the mirror, he hadn't turned into the Black Beast.

"Whatya cooking?"

"Meh, just some bacon and eggs. Should be plenty for everyone. I mean, what do you expect when the woman of the house is Canadian? And what about you, huh?" He turned from the stove to bend down and kiss Celica's belly. Once everyone had got here, they planned to announce that Celica was pregnant again. Celica didn't want to upstage Tsubaki's new arrival, but Ragna didn't see it as an issue. Besides, it was going to be the debut of Makoto's little boy too. Celica stroked Ragna's hair as he gave his child to be a little TLC.

This private little show of affection was interrupted by a ring at the door. Ragna opened the door. "Oh, hi Ragna. They're not home?"

"Evidently, Noel. Hence I'm the one answering the door."

"Hey! What was that for? I was just asking." She wore a white suit with a green blouse.

Ragna sighed, "I though it'd be kind of obvious, considering last time I checked I wasn't the family butler. I could ask Rachel if Valkenhayn's available for hire, if you like."

"You could've been doing it out of the goodness of your heart. Should've known better."

"Ahahahaha, got him that time Noellers." Makoto moved into the doorway, carrying a tiny little bundle in her arms. It looked human for the most part, sans the fluffy little squirrel ears and tail, both a shade lighter than Makoto's own. She wore a leather jacket, tight orange T-shirt, short blue skirt and brown knee length boots. She clearly still had some of her baby bump

"Awwwww!" Celica began fawning over the boy, "he's soooo cute." The baby babbled some jibberish in response.

Makoto laughed, "Well, you seem to know your baby talk, unlike some people..." She looked at Noel

Noel smiled innocently, reached behind Makoto and touched something round her back. Makoto gasped, and went ever so slightly cross-eyed. "Dammit Noel! I though we agreed not to do that in public!" she hissed. The gang all knew she had an erogenous zone at the base of her tail. What they didn't know for certain, but had guessed ages ago, was Noel loved messing with it for kicks.

"He he, just shows I know how to embarrass you too."

Noel now worked as a counselor for people traumatised by the events surrounding the Calamity Trigger and the immediate aftermath. Makoto had reluctantly rejoined the NOL, and had been pretty much gifted the rank of captain and given Hazama's old job in charge of Intelligence; given Hazama's...idiosyncratic way of doing things, she was just about the only one who knew how anything worked around there. That unfortunately meant regular meetings with C-in-C Kagura. While Homura was still the Imperator, Kagura was left with all the military dealings, leaving Homura to deal with the politics. Thankfully he was slightly less of a sex offender these days. Makoto was high enough up the chain of command that people might actually bother to listen if she filed a complaint, beastkin prejudice be damned. And two heroes of the revolution arguing was bad PR. Particularly with a baby on the way.

Celica was still playing with the baby, who giggled in delight.

"Hehehe he likes you already" Noel said. She turned to Makoto with a smile. Makoto returned her smile, before leaning in to kiss Noel. Noel quickly took it a step further and made it a full French kiss. Makoto had come out not long after the mess with Izanami had died down. No one was surprised in the slightest by this, considering her tendency to grope her female friends on a whim. What was a bit if a surprise was when, some time later, Noel announced the two were dating. Since Tsu and Jin had finally hooked up, it was more often just Noel and Makoto, so it made sense that their feelings for each other would change in time. One anonymous sperm donor later, and they had the beginnings of their own little family. Noel wasn't entirely sure if she could get pregnant, being a Murakumo, but she had made it clear to Makoto that she was willing to try. Makoto just told her to stop getting ahead of herself.

Ragna cleared his throat, clearly sensing the huge amounts of awkward at that moment and trying to break the silence, "Your room's over there, by the way."

"Oh, don't be like that, Big Brother." Ragna's face lit up at the voice, "Does the sight of Sis and Makoto make you uncomfortable? Or just jealous?"

"And I see your usual company has rubbed off on you a little more than I'd like", he said with a smirk. "Ah, com'ere Saya."

Saya had grown quite a bit since freeing her from Izanami. She looked in her mid teens as opposed to the little girl they had rescued. Her hair had gone back to blonde, though she kept a few purple streaks purely because she liked the look. Thankfully, she didn't seem to remember a lot of her life as a thrall. It'd probably be too much for her if she did. Ragna was just thankful that she was happy and, thanks to access to proper healthcare, relatively healthy now. Sadly, her taste in music left a lot to be desired, meaning Ragna had to tolerate her squeeing over whoever was the lastest craze, hence the boy band T-shirt and 'fashionably ripped' jeans. His attempts to get her to embrace Metal had flopped, much to Celica's eternal relief; the earache was bad enough as it was. At least she'd settled at school and was getting okay grades. Ragna was never going to push her too hard to be a great intellectual. As long as she didn't change inside, he was happy.

Ragna had finished greeting Saya when he noticed the other one skulking behind the door. Sheesh, you'd think she'd be used to us all by now. He sighed, "Come on in, Lambchop. You know I don't bite."

It always confused Ragna how Lambda was so different personality wise from her younger sisters. Noel's overly emotional, Saya's exuberant, and Nu was just batshit crazy. Lambda on the other hand wouldn't say "Boo!" to a goose. If she didn't say anything, which was often, you wouldn't even know she was in the room. In fact it was kind of funny; if you'd have asked Ragna even a few years ago if these Murakumos could even have a personality, he'd have laughed and punched you in the face. Now, he'd punch you for daring to suggest otherwise. To officialdom, she was know as Lisa Vermillion. These days, she wore green contacts to hide her red eyes. It just avoided uncomfortable questions, considering her lack of people skills. Jin and Tsubaki had already stonewalled several attempts to delve deeper into her files, mainly because she didn't have any files to delve into, and a few of the more persistent ones had received a 'gift' from the guys in Intelligence to kindly get then to drop it.

"H-h-hey Ragna" she stuttered, before shuffling into the room. She wore a grey blouse with a black skirt and tights.

Ragna's hug was gentle; it just didn't seem right to give her a bear hug like he would with Saya, which was odd considering Lambda was much more durable. "How've you been Lambda?"

She smiled, "Oh, okay I guess. We're just beginning the calibrations on the particle accelerator I told you about."

Ragna chuckled, "You know a lot of that stuff goes completely over my head", he performed an 'In one ear, out the other' motion, and Lambda laughed. She'd been signed up for theoretical physics work that the NOL had subcontracted out; as Ars Magus no longer worked, humanity had to make up for lost time with pure science. Sector Seven had helped, but it had put tech back a couple of hundred years. It was a year after Izanami that a routine sweep of former cauldrons had rediscovered the unfortunate Murakumo...

January 24th 2201, NOL Branch Basement, 4th Hierarchical City Of Naobi, Canada

Rubble clinked as the two soldiers tentatively made their way down the incline to the heart of the facility, where its cauldron used to be. The demo charges of the previous year had definitely done a number on this one.

"Are you absolutely certain?"

The tech fiddled with his instruments, "Yeah, there was definitely a disruption in this area. Residual readings consistent with The Boundary make it pretty likely." The small device in his hand began to beep.

"But what? We've not seen anything since around C day now?" C day was the term they used for New Years Day, 2200. The cauldrons had been inactive since Kushinada's Lynchpin was activated.

The tech was getting tetchy. "That's what we're here to find out. These things shouldn't be spontaneously reactivating, even in short bursts. Something's got Dr K spooked and we need to know what."

The guard sweeped the expanse with his rifle. "Any spikes?"

The tech was quiet for a moment, "...yes, just over there, it's a little stronger around there." He gestured to the substantial pile of rubble not far from the edge, close to the cauldron. The tech ran a scan over the pile, "Definitely something here. Gimme a hand and dig."

"Dig through that ourselves!? We'll be here all day!"

"And do you think trying to use heavy machinery is a good idea? I don't. So stop moaning and start digging. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can get the hell out of here." Conceding the point, they both began digging.

It was after a couple of hours that the tech caught a glimpse of black fabric. He dug a little more. A leg. More digging revealed more torn, bloodsoaked fabric, and eventually the palid, tortured face of a girl. Couldn't be out of her teens. He put his ear to her mouth. She was breathing. Barely

"Call for medivac stat! We've got a live one here!" He managed to remove more of the debris so he could do a proper evaluation, and even with his limited understanding of medicine, it wasn't good, "Get the medic in here, we're losing her!"

It had taken months of repairs and some now cutting edge surgery before she could lead her own life again. Even so, most of her combat gear had to be removed to save her life, and even then Titanium bones presented their own problems. After she was finally released from hospital, Lambda had been fast-tracked into a physics degree; her number crunching made it a obvious choice, and she had passed with flying colours. Ragna couldn't help but smile at the picture of her in her graduation garb on his wall. It had finally convinced him that he could have a positive impact on people's lives, and forgive himself for the past. It was probably the biggest smile she'd ever given. They were all there for the big day, with the picture of all of them having pride of place on Lambda's bedside cabinet; she was sentimental like that. Noel, Makoto, Saya and Lambda all lived under the same roof, though that was likely to change with the baby.

How people change, huh? Who'd have think any of us would be were we are now back then?

"Ragna, what's wrong?" Lambda has caught onto him spacing out.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking back."

Back then, Ragna had hated the way his life had turned out. As far as he was concerned, he had no future worth having, so he didn't care if it ended the instant Terumi bit the dust. Hell, on some level that outcome really appealed to him. Of course, he found out there was a lot more to it than that, which made him reevaluate his priorities. Now, he could say he was happy with the way things were. He had a family again, a decent job...things to look forward too..

Like a Family Christmas.