I just wrote this in about five minutes. It's Christmas Eve, and I can't sleep. Don't sue me if it's rubbish.
Molly smiled brightly as she practically skipped to the 'dining' room of the earth hangar, causing her male team mates to stare at her strangely.
"What's up with her?" Stan whispered to Jordan, who was sitting with the two mechanics and Rick while Don Wei had just finished eating his dinner, and was about to leave the room when Molly bounced in.
Jordan shrugged. "Maybe she had a late night rendezvous with the Prince." He said, bitterly.
"I heard that." Molly called, in a singsong tone. "And no, Aikka still isn't talking to me, and he's not the reason I'm happy."
Rick looked at the young pilot. "Go on Little Mouse, share the good news."
Molly rolled her eyes as she sat at the table, placing her bowl of cereal in front of her. "It's not news."
"Then what is it?" Koji asked, pushing his glasses up.
Molly rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas Eve!"
Jordan choked on his coffee, while the other three males present reacted in a similarly shocked manner.
"IT'S WHAT?" They yelled.
"CHRISTMAS EVE!" Molly yelled back. "And we don't have any races tomorrow. Plus, it's my first Christmas not spent in school in a decade."
Still grinning, she ate her breakfast at record speed. "And I managed to convince Don Wei to lend me some money for some Alwas food. Setis recommended some that's fit for human consumption."
And with that, Molly walked out of the room again, running up to her room.
Rick laughed at her enthusiasm. "Leave it to Little Mouse to keep track of the date!"
Jordan finally managed to speak. "Her first Christmas out of school?" He questioned. "And it will be spent in the hangar, with nothing to do."
Stan and Koji looked at the floor.
Rick slapped the table, making them all jump about three feet in the air.
"Well," Rick said, smirking. "We'll just have to make it a Christmas to remember."
"Yeah!" Jordan cheered.
"How?" Koji asked.
Rick smirked. "Leave that to me."
Rick walked out of the hangar, a small bag of money in his pocket. He headed straight into the city, which he had gotten to know quite well between the race with Groor and him becoming a coach.
He walked into many small doorways that his team mates wouldn't have spared a glance to, and stopped at about thirty different stalls, searching for gifts and decorations. His Little Mouse was going to have a good Christmas if he had to walk around the whole damn planet.
When he got back to the hangar, he enlisted Stan and Koji's help to decorate the hangar in a way befitting the holiday, while Jordan wrapped gifts. He was one of five children, so he'd learnt how to do it neatly and quickly.
The next morning, they were all up early, beating Molly…. For once.
When the young girl walked out of her room, she knew immediately that something was up. She couldn't hear Jordan snoring, which meant he was up. Which was just plain unnatural.
Racing to the main hangar, she gasped at the sight of the room. Boughs of Pirinas, an Alwas plant she'd likened to holly once, hung from the rafters, while brightly coloured tinsel covered most of the available surfaces. There was a fake tree, like a Christmas tree, next to the Whizzing Arrow 2, both of which heavily decorated. There were presents under the tree.
Looking at the grinning faces of her team, she smiled back. "Did you guys do all this?" She asked.
Jordan shrugged. "It was Rick's idea. We wanted our favourite girl to have a Christmas to remember for all the right reasons."
Molly ran down the stairs and hugged each of them in turn.
"Thank you so much." She whispered. Her smile faltered for a moment. "But I didn't get any of you presents."
"That's okay." Koji assured. "You got us some food that might actually have a taste."
Stan nodded in agreement.
Molly smiled again, lighting up the room.
A gust of wind caused all of them to instinctively shut their eyes. When they opened them, the first thing they noticed was that the door was shut. The second thing they noticed was that there were a lot more decorations and presents than there were before.
Molly looked around in awe. "What just…?"
"Beats me." Jordan said, stepping towards his partner in order to get a better look at the presents. "But I know that we didn't have anything to do with those."
"Or that." Stan chuckled, pointing above their heads.
The two teenagers looked up to see a large bunch of mistletoe.
Blushing bright red, Molly reached up and gave Jordan a chaste kiss on the lips, before jumping away and towards the Christmas tree.
"Stan, this one's for you!" She yelled, placing it carefully on the ground. She made a pile for everyone, and all together, they had ten presents each. Even Don Wei had one.
"Who should go first?" Molly asked, happily.
"You." The boys chorused.
Molly carefully opened her first present. It was one Rick had bought the day before. She fingered the necklace carefully, tracing the pink and red swirls on the pendant. The chain was made of something that was quite like gold, but wasn't. It was quite common on Alwas, but still beautiful, and not exactly cheap either.
"Thank you." Molly said, yet again. "Could you put it on for me?"
Rick helped her, and once the necklace was on, it was clear why Rick had bought it. Molly's maroon eyes seemed to shine, and her pale skin seemed to glow, highlighting her tattoos.
Molly also got a new pair of gloves, which were white leather as opposed to the tan material she currently wore. Among the remaining gifts were new clothes, a masquerade mask like one that Rick had heard her describe when she was telling Jordan about a dance at her boarding school, a drawing of the Scrubb market place, and a tiara, beautifully made from silver, and twisted into a delicate looking pattern. It was light, and Molly swore that she could hardly feel it when she tried it on. The final gift she opened was from the mysterious wind.
It was a picture of the team, excluding Don Wei. Molly was on Jordan's back, as if he was giving her a piggyback ride, Rick was smirking at the camera, and Stan and Koji were laughing at Jordan.
Molly knew that they had never posed for the photo, which made the mysterious wind even more so.
It was Jordan's turn next. He had new clothes as well, a new chain for his dog tags, and a book that he told them he'd wanted to buy when they were on earth. Molly looked at it and saw it was called 'The cost of knowledge: Explorers of the age. She could only guess why he wanted it.
Rick had gotten a new trench coat, and several other things that were native to Alwas, and would therefore take far too much time to explain.
Koji got new overalls, three books, and a complete toolset in black. He'd also gotten a handcrafted box, which was filled to the brim with chocolate buttons.
Stan got new overalls, a complete toolset in blue, and a large photograph of Mt Sycamore, which was where he had been born. He also received about thirty bottles of ginger beer, which was his favourite fizzy drink.
They had each received a Santa hat, and a box of Crackers.
Molly put hers on, and held a cracker out to her 'big brother' figure, Rick. "Merry Christmas."
Rick pulled it, and glitter came pouring from the cracker. "Merry Christmas to you too Little mouse."
