Christmas Star
By Relm
Chibi Sylphiel hummed a Christmas tune to herself as she went through their Christmas ornaments they were going to use for their tree this year. The previous year had started out as a disaster but had turned into a fun occasion by the end of things. Since they had so much fun with all their impromptu ornaments Chibi Sylphiel and the gang had decided on homemade ornaments for their next tree.
Rather than waste food that would go bad for the next year the chibis all made ornaments that wouldn't spoil. Chibi Amelia and Chibi Lina made paper ring garland out of brightly coloured construction paper and glue. Chibi Zelgadis carved out little canes out of wood that Chibi Xellos was supposed to paint (Chibi Zelgadis ended up doing that too). Chibi Sylphiel made little ornaments out of clay that Chibi Gourry helped her paint. In the box of things were also all those pinecones that Chibi Gourry had brought home with him the previous year. Chibi Sylphiel had cleaned and painted them all white and sprinkled them with glitter. All in all they were all pleased with what they had made and it was sure to make their tree just as pretty as the one from before.
The only problem was what to put on the top of the tree? The previous year they had used Chibi Amelia's angel doll. And all though it had been a perfect final touch to the tree they were in a bit of a disagreement as to what to use this time. Chibi Amelia had said it would be okay if her doll was used again but clearly she didn't like the idea of parting with her doll again. Chibi Amelia did have a hard time sleeping without her doll and although it had been nice to see it on the tree it made her sleep suffer.
At the bottom of the box of ornaments was the broken half of the star that was once their beloved Christmas tree topper. It had been yellow and white stained glass set into a pewter frame. Besides being beautiful what made this star special was that it was one that they had all picked out together. They could have easily gotten a new star but the group couldn't decide on a new one. Each star tree topper they saw just wasn't good enough. They were all pretty and would look great on any tree but they just couldn't replace their star.
Chibi Sylphiel let out a deep sigh as she looked outside at the winter scene outside their window. It was night outside with just a few clouds in the diamond studded sky and the crescent moon casted a pale glow making the blanket of powdered snow on the ground shimmer. It looked cold outside but beautiful.
"Hey Chibi Sylphiel are these all the decorations for the tree?" Chibi Gourry asked breaking Chibi Sylphiel from her thoughts.
Chibi Sylphiel turned around with the half of their old star in her hand and nodded. "Everything but the topper for the tree." She held up the broken star in her hand so that he could see it.
Chibi Gourry frowned. "Do you think Chibi Amelia will let us use her angel doll again?"
"She will but I don't think it's fair to put her through that again. She had so much trouble sleeping last year." Chibi Sylphiel out a huge sigh. She looked outside at the wintery scene and caught sight of a shooting star. "Look Chibi Gourry a shooting star!" Chibi Sylphiel pointed out the window.
"Wow! Make a wish Chibi Sylphiel!" Chibi Gourry urged her.
"I wish for a new star for the top of the tree!" Chibi Sylphiel wished. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could have that star as our star?"
"What star?"
"The shooting star!" Chibi Sylphiel exclaimed. "But that will never happen. You can't catch a shooting star and take it home. I just don't know what we're going to do Chibi Gourry." A rogue tear fell down Chibi Sylphiel's cheek.
Chibi Gourry looked back out the window at the diamond studded sky. "I'm sure your wish will come true Chibi Sylphiel. We'll get a star for the top of the tree and it will be the most prettiest star in all the land!" He declared.
Chibi Sylphiel wiped the tears from her face and smiled at Chibi Gourry. "That would be nice." Though she did have a smile on her face it wasn't the most sincere of grins. It was clear that Chibi Sylphiel didn't think her wish would be granted. She went back to her decoration sorting. They did have a tree that needed decorating after all so she couldn't waste her time doing nothing.
Chibi Gourry frowned. He knew what he needed to do though he didn't know how he was going to do it.
...
"I don't understand why we are out here." Chibi Zelgadis whined as he and Chibi Gourry walked through the woods. "It's cold and it's night time. We're not supposed to be outside at night time."
"I told you we're looking for a shooting star that fell earlier." Chibi Gourry explained.
"But why would you want to get a shooting star for?"
"'Cause Chibi Sylphiel wished for a star for our tree and she really wanted it to be the shooting star!"
Chibi Zelgadis frowned and shook his head. "Why do you want to get this star so badly for? Wouldn't any star do?"
"No it has to be the best and prettiest star in the whole world!" Chibi Gourry declared.
"Why?"
"I promised Chibi Sylphiel she'd have her wish come true!"
"Why did you make that promise for?"
"Chibi Sylphiel was crying! No one should be crying around Christmas! Especially not an angel like her!"
"Aren't you just saying that because you want her to be your Christmas angel?"
Chibi Gourry blushed but ignored his friend as he continued on searching.
"Ooooh it's true! You want her to make you cookies, play with you and sing you songs! Like this one, Chibi Gourry and Chibi Sylphiel sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Chibi Zelgadis teased Chibi Gourry.
"Just help me find the star please?"
"You know stars in the sky aren't things you can hold Chibi Gourry."
Chibi Gourry turned around and faced his friend with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"Real stars in the sky aren't tangible things. They are just balls of gas. That thing you saw flying through the sky was a piece of rock burning up in the atmosphere. If there's anything left it would just be a hunk of ugly burned up rock."
"Well that wouldn't look pretty on the tree!" Chibi Gourry exclaimed. He wasn't sure if what Chibi Zelgadis was right but Chibi Zelgadis was a lot smarter than he was so he just assumed Chibi Zelgadis was right. "What am I going to do? I promised Chibi Sylphiel a pretty star!"
Chibi Zelgadis just shrugged. "I dunno. But I'm cold. Let's go inside and drink some coffee."
"Big people drink coffee. We're little people we drink hot chocolate."
"Fine. You can drink hot chocolate. Let's just go inside!"
...
Chibi Gourry let out a sigh as he drank his chocolate. He was sitting in front of the recently decorated Christmas tree that was in their living room. It was beautiful and sparkling but it was lacking that last final touch; a tree topper. It was depressing to look at the top of the tree and see it so bare. But what was Chibi Gourry to do?
The broken half of their old tree star was laying on the dining room table for any to see as if it was there to mock Chibi Gourry.
Another sigh escaped Chibi Gourry's lips. He just couldn't take it anymore. With one last gulp he swallowed the rest of hot chocolate and put the mug in the kitchen sink.
Needing a refuge from his Christmas failure Chibi Gourry escaped to the only area of the house that had Christmas had skipped over; the basement. It was cold, dark and musky and not a happy place for Christmas time. The basement was often forgotten at this time of the year. It was raided for winter things like sweaters, canned goods and decorations and then it was left quiet and dark until the new year. If a basement could have feelings it would feel sad and lonely to be ignored so long. But basements do not have feelings so it felt nothing when Chibi Gourry walked down its steps.
With only a candle in hand to stave off the darkness Chibi Gourry sat down in an old dusty chair and to think. He just didn't know what to do. Chibi Sylphiel was his favourite person in all the world and she meant a lot to him. He wanted to make her happy though he didn't know what to do about it.
'If only our star wasn't broken! Then there wouldn't be a problem!' Chibi Gourry thought to himself. But the star was broken and half of it was sitting on a table upstairs.
And with that another more productive thought burst into Chibi Gourry's head. 'One half might be upstairs but the other half should be down here in the basement! Maybe I can find the other half and fix the star!'
With his mental declaration and candle in hand Chibi Gourry started to tear the basement apart looking for the other half of star. He lit a couple lanterns to see better as he began his search.
Aside from summer months the basement was really only used as a storage area. All kinds of things were packed away in boxes that lined the shelves. Some of the boxes were labeled but many were bare on the outside making their contents a mystery. No box was safe from Chibi Gourry. Even if they were label Chibi Gourry tore through them all looking for the other half of the star.
Time went by and all Chibi Gourry found was a big mess. All kinds of things littered the floor that were not the other half of the star. There were clothing, other holiday decorations, old kitchen stuff, knickknacks, toys, art supplies and broken things but no star. Chibi Gourry should have been real upset by this point, he had gone through all the boxes and hadn't found the other half of the star. The reason why he wasn't so upset was because he was playing with Chibi Sylphiel's old easy bake oven making a mini brownie to eat. It wasn't a proper toy as Chibi Zelgadis had fixed it up for Chibi Sylphiel to make it bigger and more powerful like a real oven. Chibi Sylphiel had made all kinds of yummy things with it before moving on to a real proper oven in the kitchen.
"Yummy... brownie!" Chibi Gourry said to himself. But he frowned once he pulled the brownie out of the toy oven. It was brown but not in a proper brownie sense. It was burnt! "Bleh! I over cooked it!" Sad and defeated Chibi Gourry looked around at the mess he had made. "The other half of the star isn't here!"
Making his way over to his thinking chair Chibi Gourry kicked a few things over in the process. A box with bags of little coloured plastic tube things toppled over spilling its contents on the floor. Chibi Gourry picked up one of the bags and looked at it curiously. What were they? Perhaps the box had the answer.
The box had a child on it holding what looked like a stain glass heart. It was one of Chibi Sylphiel and Chibi Amelia's make your own craft kits. From the pink and red colour on the box Chibi Gourry assumed this was from Valentine's Day. Chibi Gourry thought back and vaguely remembered receiving a glass heart from Chibi Sylphiel. Even more curious about this craft Chibi Gourry turned the box over to read the instructions.
From what Chibi Gourry could see was that you took one of the metal frames, put it on a foil lined pan and then place the little tube beads in the frame to fill it completely. Then you baked the tray and the beads melted making something that looks like stained glass. Wait for it to cool and then peel it off and you've got an ornament!
It seemed simple enough but how would that help with the star problem? Well if Chibi Gourry couldn't find a star or fix the old one why couldn't he just make one?
Of course there were problems with this plan. Chibi Gourry wasn't crafty and this was a craft kit to make Valentine's Day hearts not stars. But as Chibi Gourry could plainly see all the beads that were left from the box weren't red, pink and purple. What he had was yellow, orange and white. He could see why Chibi Sylphiel and Chibi Amelia hadn't used these colours as they didn't really make for good Valentine's Day hearts but they did do well for a star.
The next problem Chibi Gourry had to address was the frame. The craft kit came with several heart shaped frames all which were already used up. If Chibi Gourry was going to make a star he'd need to find a frame to use.
And back through the pile of mess Chibi Gourry went looking for anything he could use as a frame for his star. Most of the things he could find were either made of plastic or wood and wouldn't do well under heat. Was there nothing metal that was star shaped?
Besides the stuff from the kitchen supplies box there didn't seem to be anything metal around. And a spatula wasn't going to make a good star. Chibi Gourry was ready to give up when he looked over at some of the clothing on the floor. Though they had been packed away in a box they had been done so with their hangers still in the garments. Metal hangers...
Chibi Gourry snatched a few hangers and went to work. He tried to fashion a pretty star by bending and twisting the metal wire hangers. His results? Poorly shaped lopsided stars. Some of them couldn't even count as star as they looked so bad. When it finally came down to the last hanger Chibi Gourry was getting desperate. This last hanger was his last chance, he had to get it right. Being ever so careful Chibi Gourry went very slowly with this last star. And when he finally finished it he...
...frowned.
Yes the star did look like a star but not a proud perfect one that should go on the top of a Christmas tree but a sad one that was still a little lopsided. But it was still the best of the batch so Chibi Gourry had no choice but to go with it.
Amongst the things from the kitchen supplies box Chibi Gourry found an old baking sheet was discoloured from many uses. It didn't appear to be non-stick anymore nor did look like something you'd want to bake cookies on but for Chibi Gourry it suited him just fine. Covered with a roll of foil he also found the baking sheet was perfect for what he needed.
Chibi Gourry placed his frame down on the foil lined sheet and started to place the little tubes inside it. He meant to be careful and artistic about how he placed the beads but that didn't go as he planned. Chibi Gourry wasn't artistic as it was no did he had the patience to do tedious tasks. So the colours got mixed making all kinds of mess. Still Chibi Gourry was optimistic that it would melt together and look good. Now all he had to do was bake the star so the beads would melt.
With a look up the stairs Chibi Gourry frowned. If he went up to the kitchen Chibi Sylphiel see what he was doing and it would ruin the surprise. But how was he to bake the star without going upstairs.
The easy bake oven sat there ever so patiently waiting for Chibi Gourry to notice it. He had just used the thing for crying out loud to make a brownie! How could he forget so easily that it was there? Luckily enough Chibi Gourry had previously set the timer too long and it beeped at that moment demanding Chibi Gourry's attention.
"Oh right! The toy oven! I can use that to bake it!" And with that Chibi Gourry went to work.
...
Upstairs Chibi Sylphiel sat staring at the Chibi's Christmas tree. She should have been sleeping as it was well past her bedtime but she just couldn't help it. She had to sneak out of her room to look at their tree. It did look pretty but what were they going to do about the top? The tree looked so bare up there.
Chibi Sylphiel knew that they were going to have to eventually go and buy a new star. Though they hadn't been able to agree on what one to buy Chibi Sylphiel was sure it wasn't because their choices weren't good enough. The ones they saw were far prettier than Chibi Sylphiel could have ever imagined but it just wasn't going to work out. All their ornaments were handmade making their tree special. Why put a star on the top of the tree that was store bought? It just wouldn't fit. A homemade star would be perfect but how were they going to do that? Christmas was only a few days away and they didn't have the time.
'I guess Chibi Amelia will have to go without her angel again. Maybe I can lend her one of my dolls to help her sleep.' Chibi Sylphiel thought glumly to herself.
"Chibi Sylphiel...?" Chibi Gourry called out timidly as he approached his favourite friend.
"Chibi Gourry! Where have you been?! You've been gone for hours!"
"Well... I made a promise to you and I always like to keep my promises..." He mumbled clearly very upset about something.
"What do you mean? A star? Chibi Gourry did you find a star for our tree?!" Chibi Sylphiel jumped up and down in excitement.
"I tried to. I tried to catch that shooting star but Chibi Zel told me that those stars aren't things you can touch and the shooting ones are just a hunk of rock. And then I tried to find the other half of our old star so I could fix it up but I ended up making a big mess in the basement instead. Then I thought I'd make a star... and..."
"And...?" She prompted him.
"Here..." Chibi Gourry said sadly as he handed something to Chibi Sylphiel wrapped in white tissue.
Chibi Sylphiel was so slow and careful as she opened the tissue. It was something from Chibi Gourry as that meant it was extremely precious. Once the white tissue was moved aside Chibi Sylphiel had to gasp at the sight she uncovered.
"It didn't turn out right. There's little holes all through the star because I didn't use enough beads in those areas." Chibi Gourry said glumly.
Chibi Sylphiel couldn't say anything all she could do was cry.
"Chibi Sylphiel please don't cry! I'm sorry I know it's not good but please don't be sad!" He pleaded with her.
"No, no, no!" Chibi Sylphiel shook her head. "It's beautiful, it's perfect!" She cried out with happy tears streaming down her cheeks. True the star wasn't a perfect shape but that gave it character. And although the colours were in a proper pattern they melted together in a such a way that made it look like it was fiery swirl of orange, yellow and white. Even the little holes worked as it made it look like was intended pattern. The living room light shined through the holes making it look like the glass was sparkling. It really was perfect and not just because it was pretty but because Chibi Gourry had made it himself. A perfect star for a perfect tree. "Thank you Chibi Gourry! You granted my Christmas wish! You got us the most prettiest Christmas star in all the land!" She hugged him and placed a kiss on his cheek.
Chibi Gourry blushed and hugged Chibi Sylphiel back. It didn't matter what he'd get for Christmas in the days to come this moment was better than anything he could ever get.
This was a feeling felt by all of the Chibis the next morning when they woke and saw that their perfect Christmas tree was topped with a perfect Christmas star.