Disclaimer: Voyager's at the top of my Christmas list this year.
What did I tell you about giving me minor characters? I love them. This is following the families of Voyager through the years — though I should probably watch a few episodes of DS9 so I can get a feel for what was actually going on in the Alpha Quadrant. There, I admit it. I've only seen three episodes of DS9.
But back to business — 'Tis the season, you know. My concept was to choose a few Christmas songs and a few Voyager families, throw some plot bunnies at them, and see what sticks. I have a tentative schedule to follow:
Year One
I didn't want to angst it up, especially since Phoebe and T'Pel are just joys to write (seriously, I love them), but I'm not going to count it out, either, especially in the early years.
---
Year 1: Mr. & Mrs. John Kim, Blue Christmas
---
I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
It was December 20, the house smelled of cinnamon and mint, the fire crackled in its home, and the gold light softened edges of sight. Everything was in place, and John Kim was praying for a Christmas miracle.
He had never been religious, but he was a traditionalist, and he had always given the old ways their due. Now, the old ways were all that was left of Christmas.
In the old days, his wife would bustle about, cooking and cleaning and wrapping gifts and sending cards with this glow about her, and he never knew how she managed it all. And Harry would visit and play his clarinet and would try to hide how much he really did enjoy being with his taciturn father and busy-body mother.
Mary was bustling this year, of course, but Harry wasn't here. Without their son, all the joy was hollow.
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Wont be the same dear, if you're not here with me
The glow that Mary always had about her had faded for a few days, when they had learned what happened, or more precisely, what hadn't happened. Voyager never reported in, and Starfleet hadn't recovered so much as a bulkhead. It was as if the ship had never existed, but they knew too well that it had, if the missing piece of John's soul meant anything.
Mary tackled the problem in the only way she knew how to — 'They're just late, is all,' she said, so often that she must have been making progress on believing it herself. So she cooked. She cleaned. She decked the halls and trimmed the tree and wrapped the presents, dutifully labeling each one. John watched from his arm chair, and nothing was different about this week before Christmas. Harry would be coming home from the academy in a couple of days . . .
Mary was always pensive as she decorated the tree. Her hair was flecked with grey, now, but she moved with an elegance that she had not lost to age as she placed each ornament, her thoughts on some distant, peaceful world. For all the miles away she seemed to be, she was not so lost as he was.
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
He wanted to believe Harry was alive somewhere, anywhere, remembering his family and observing the traditions. After all, Christmas ought to be a time of cheer, and if Harry and any of his crew were alive, well, then it certainly was a time of celebration. But out here, in the cold death of the year, all the elder Kim could see was grey and devoid of hope.
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas
Please Review.