Haven Christmas
A young boy wrapped in a brown blanket wandered through the Industrial section of Haven City. He felt a sharp breeze blow snowflakes across his face, and instinctively knew that it wasn't natural. Right on cue, a three-seated zoomer hovered past on the low zone, almost ploughing into the many people that were situated there.
Three Krimzon Guard zoomers followed the rocketing purple one, and the young boy could only make out an orange blur from the occupants inside it. The Zoomer almost crashed into a pole, but the driver was skilled enough to veer away.
The young boy's gaping mouth finally closed as the zoomer and the orange blur disappeared around the corner into the street that led to the port. The three Krimzon Guard zoomers followed, but one steered too late and exploded when it collided with the wall.
"WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed the obnoxious orange ottsel from inside the zoomer. It was only a month after defeating Metal Kor, and Jak and Daxter were currently riding through the city, chased by Krimzon Guards.
"Shut up, Dax. It's only a few more roads until we reached the bar!" Daxter's fur stood on end.
"Ah, the Naughty Ottsel! I can't wait to see Tess again!" The zoomer rounded the corner and went up the tiny bridge that eventually led to the Naughty Ottsel. "JAK! HELLCAT STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Correct to Daxter's words, a Hellcat Cruiser was waiting for them just near the Gun Course, ready to fire.
Jak slammed on the accelerator and charged towards it. Daxter screamed as at the last second, the three-seated zoomer turned and headed out over the water.
"What the hell was that for?" hollered Daxter, and Jak forcibly ignored him.
Flames poured out of the exhaust pipes of the zoomer as Jak slowly arched it around so it was facing the bar and put the pedal to the metal. "Get ready to jump, Daxter!" Jak crouched by the side of the zoomer, poised. As soon as the zoomer went over the road towards the wall, he jumped and pulled the ottsel with him.
After Jak swiftly landed, he watched in dismay as the zoomer picked up a Krimzon Guard on its hood and bursted on impact with the barrier.
"That's not good…" Jak muttered. Daxter pulled his face off of the ground, and caught sight of the dead Krimzon Guard exploding into Dark Eco which disappeared soon after.
Jak stood up and walked to the entrance of Naughty Ottsel, with Daxter lagging behind. Before he reached it, old Samos Hagai stepped out with his wooden staff, and a bird following him around.
"Ahh, Jak, my boy. Come with me to Haven Forest to find a tree for Christmas." Samos blocked the entrance so neither Jak nor Daxter could enter.
"Why do I have to come?" asked Jak, trying to see Keira behind the log tied to Samos' head.
"Because you're good with an axe!" Samos pulled out a hatchet from behind his back and threw it with precision, landing just in front of Daxter. "And you can start mopping the floors! It's a sty inside that bar of yours!"
Before Daxter could speak, Jak cut in.
"Fine, I'll come, but I have to talk to Ashelin first about…a matter." Samos nodded and sat in his green two-seated Zoomer parked just out front. Daxter and Jak both walked into the bar, and noticed that Keira and Tess were setting up Christmas lights and ornaments.
While Daxter went to chat with Tess, Jak looked around for Ashelin. She was sitting at one of the tables on the sides with Torn's arm around her shoulder. "Hey, Ashelin. You're in control of the city now, aren't you?"
"Yes, Jak. Why do you ask?"
"I was just chased by a bunch of Krimzon Guards. Aren't they allies now?"
"Hmmm, strange. I'm having problems with Count Veger about converting them to the Freedom League, but they shouldn't be attacking you…unless you got into trouble with them." Ashelin looked at Jak unimpressed.
"Hey, I wasn't doing anything wrong…I was just hunting for Precursor Orbs," Jak replied sheepishly, backing up a bit as Ashelin stood up.
"If you're telling the truth, then the only answer can be that they're a rogue squadron, still loyal to my father." She looked away, remembering her father's death. Torn stood up and put his arm back around Ashelin's shoulders.
"If any more Krimzon Guards bother you, Jak…for the wrong reason, just contact me and as Commander I'll kick their asses for you," he said.
"Okay, thanks." Jak turned and began to walk toward the doorway, around the boxing ring and past the Metal Head Mash game. At that moment, Keira jumped down from the step-ladder she was on and hugged Jak tightly. Jak stared past her blankly until she let him go.
"What was all that about?" he asked the shy-looking Keira calmly.
"Oh, nothing except…" began the squeaky-voiced elf-like creature, pulling out Jak's JET-Board from behind her back. "I have your JET-Board!" She stuck her tongue out at him and ran away.
"Hey, come back with that!" Jak ran after her as she headed around the bar, holding the JET-Board away from him. He made a grab for her, but Keira leapt over the bar desk and ducked into the boxing ring. Ashelin and Torn watched this entertaining event while sharing a drink.
Jak sprinted as fast he could over the ropes and tackled Keira to the ground, yanking the JET-Board away from her angrily.
"Jak…why did you have to tackle me? That really hurt!" Jak got off of Keira's body and noticed that she had blood coming from a wound in her stomach. "All I wanted to do was check your JET-Board to see if it was running properly."
"Keira, I didn't mean to…" The green-haired woman ignored him and ran to the female bathroom in tears. Jak glanced over to Torn and Ashelin and saw them shaking their heads in disappointment. "But, how did I-" He looked down at his hands and his question was answered.
Both of Jak's hands had transformed into their Dark Eco form and his nails were as sharp as daggers. Jak looked back up at the two Krimzon Guards but Ashelin was missing. Torn made a gesture that said that she was helping Keira, however his face was still full of disappointment.
"Jak, hurry up in there!" yelled the old, gruff voice of Samos Hagai, distant but still very audible. Jak walked out without looking back and jumped into the driver's seat of Samos' zoomer.
"Why do I always have to drive?" Jak asked, annoyed. "Just look what I did to that other zoomer!"
"It's because I'm an old blind hag! Now drive!" Jak angrily mouthed "fine" and started up the Zoomer. Already most of the seat was wet due to the snowflakes that had been floating down since the morning. It was now sunset and Jak turned the zoomer until it faced west and switched to the high driving zone.
"Now be careful…" began Samos, but Jak didn't listen and blasted off at full speed. "Jak! What are you doing?" Samos' voice was lost in the roar of the hover engines as the two blasted off down the street.
Jak slammed on the brakes just before the ramp to the Mountain Temple, and Samos jumped out immediately. "Umm…I'll drive next time…if you don't mind." Jak breathed heavily.
"Where's the axe?" he asked.
"Oh, I have it. I think I'll keep it just for now," Samos replied. He began slowly walking up the slope, leaving Jak impatient as he waited for Samos to reach the top.
"Let's just cut this tree already," Jak grumbled. As Jak and Samos began to exit the city walls, two Krimzon Guard zoomers and one Hellcat pulled up near Samos' zoomer, watching the pair intently.
The two came up on the cliff where the only interesting thing was the Warp Gate.
"Oh no, teleportation again," Samos sighed. "I hate how this is such a big part of my life." Jak silently jumped through the Warp Gate and Samos reluctantly followed, knowing that Jak couldn't do anything alone. Jak watched bemused as Samos tumbled out and crashed on the grassy ground.
"Come on, you old log," Jak said, feeling a little better than earlier. "Time to ruin the environment."
"Please, the Metal Heads have already ruined it," Samos replied, standing upright and shifting his log back into position. "Let's go, then." The two lazily roamed to the platform at the edge of the cliff they were now on. As they walked around the corner to the platform, the beautiful Mountain Temple was revealed, shining brightly in the sunset.
"I'm starting to think that the Mountain Temple used to be the Forbidden Temple, and Haven Forest was the Forbidden Forest," said Jak, looking closely at the temple's glory.
"You may be right, Jak," Samos responded. "They are right next to each other and have vast similarities, apart from the fact they are no longer inhabited by Lurkers." Samos laughed briefly.
"Yes, the Lurkers are tame now, aren't they?" asked Jak rhetorically. "I almost feel sorry for all the ones I killed while defeating Gol and Maia."
Suddenly, Jak heard a scuttling sound and his ears pricked up. Samos turned around and became face to face with a Metal Head Stinger, poised to attack.
Jak whipped the Morph Gun from his back and immediately shot the Scorpion with the Blaster mod. "Those, however, I do not feel sorry for." He unequipped the Morph Gun and stepped onto the platform waiting for them. "Hurry up."
Samos stepped onto the platform as it began to move and he stumbled into Jak's arms. "Samos, I have something to confess." Samos stood up properly on the platform, watching as it approached the archway in the rock ahead.
"What? That your little rodent friend tried to touch Keira in the wrong place?"
"No, but it does involve Keira…"
"Oh god! You got her pregnant, didn't you? That's all I need, another child running around causing trouble!"
"No-" Jak began.
"Daxter got her pregnant? Great, more of that little rat would drive me up the wall!" Samos yelled.
"I WOUNDED KEIRA!" Everything fell silent as the platform rode into Haven Forest.
"You what?" Samos eventually boomed.
"I…I didn't mean to," whimpered Jak. "She stole my JET-Board and when I caught her, my hands uncontrollably transformed due to the Dark Eco and I stabbed her with my fingernails."
"Well, that's a somewhat better way to nail her!" joked Samos, but Jak wasn't impressed. "Okay, all jokes aside, I need to get her to a hospital! It might be serious!"
"Ashelin's already taken care of it," Jak said, slipping on some gloves. "I feel so bad for what I did." The Precursor platform reached the edge of Haven Forest, and Samos stepped off.
"You coming?" he asked. Jak nodded and stepped off as well, looking at the darkness that surrounded them, even during the brightest of days.
"I think you can handle this without chopping my head off." Samos pulled out the hatchet from behind his back and handed it to Jak.
"Thanks," he replied. "So which tree should we cut?" Samos looked around.
"Well there aren't any pines here. Let's move through to the other side of the river. There should be some over that way." The old man clomped away on his log stilts as Jak thought long and hard about Keira. He was surprised that Samos was joking so much about Keira getting attacked.
"You coming, Jak?' asked Samos, who was somehow already down by the river.
"Yeah! Hold on!" Jak rolled and jumped off the ledge, landing down at the bottom without any damage taken. He balanced out and stepped into the gushing blue river, darkened by the thick canopy overhead. "Samos, why were you so okay with me attacking Keira?"
Samos neared the other side of the stream and stopped to turn around. "I've trained myself to take things lightly and joke about them when they really hurt deep down. It provides better emotional control."
"When did you start doing that?" Jak asked, catching up to Samos.
"When I was sitting in that Fortress prison and realised that all the people we knew from Sandover: the Mayor, the bird lady, your uncle, the fisherman, they're all dead. They're all long gone…but the fisherman would have deserved it for killing all those poor fish with his breath! See what I mean?"
"Yeah." The two stepped onto the grassy land in front of them and dried off for a bit. "But wait a minute! If I'm from the future, how come I have an uncle in the past?"
"Oh, yes, that," Samos replied. "You see, I didn't want you to find out about the future world until we travelled through the rift gate. Old Harold witnessed us coming through to Sandover and so I was forced to tell him, and he offered to take up the role of an uncle."
"Well that's…nice," Jak muttered. He and Samos looked around for a pine tree, and found one on the right side towards the cave that led to the huge lake. "So will this one do?"
"If anything to make that stinking bar more inviting, yes!" said Samos. Jak shrugged and swung the axe with the most force he could give it. The hatchet embedded itself in the trunk, and Jak edged it out for another swing. "Do you ever miss Sandover Village…and the old world in general?"
"Of course!" Samos boomed. "I'm a sage of Green Eco, specifically studying plants and nature. There was plenty of that in the old world, but there's just shit here!"
"Woah, okay, calm down…" Jak reassured, feeling more inclined to chop faster. "I was just asking…" Samos went quiet as Jak continued chopping. "Samos, if Ashelin's taking Keira to a hospital, where would it be?"
"There's only one hospital in Haven, and it's in the Stadium area, right near that strange poster of some fuzzy creature with a gun and a nerdy robot. Also, Ashelin told me that the Council is planning to transform the Water Slums into a grand new suburb with a much bigger hospital."
"Well, that's great!" yelled Jak. "And I've never understood that poster." The axe swung one more time, followed by a creak. "Get out of the way, Samos!" Jak dropped the axe and dove to pull Samos out of the way of the falling pine tree.
The tree landed with a thud that shook ripples in the water. As the dust cleared, Jak and Samos lay next to it, befuddled that they made it out alive. "How are we going to pick that up?" the teen asked.
"Already taken care of," Samos said. "Ashelin's going to come by to pick it up later in her Hellcat. For now, let's leave."
Samos' green Zoomer stopped in front of the Haven City Hospital, its passengers confident that Keira had been taken there due to Ashelin's Hellcat Cruiser parked in front. Jak hopped out and ran through the door. He felt embarrassed when a bunch of eyes turned on him, but he was relieved that they only belonged to his friends.
Sitting in the waiting room were Torn, Ashelin, Daxter, Tess, Sig and – surprisingly – Jinx. "I'm just here for pretty boy!" he innocently said when Jak looked at him confused. Jak ignored him and sat down next to Torn.
"Can I see Keira yet?" Jak asked as Samos sat down next to him.
"Not yet," Torn answered. "They're treating her wounds right now. How could you do that to her?"
"I didn't mean it," Jak responded. "I didn't even know I did it. That's why Keira and I have been trying to control my powers. If it was to practice controlling myself, she probably would have let me."
Ashelin nodded. "I agree. It was a pure mistake, and I'll be surprised if she doesn't forgive you."
The hospital waiting room contained three rows of seats in front of a small booth with a receptionist inside. Next to the booth was a wide hallway, from which a doctor stepped out and into the waiting room.
"Are you the friends of Keira Hagai?" he asked in a smooth, young voice, fit for a medical student. The whole group nodded. "Okay, unfortunately there are too many of you to all go at once so I asked her who she wanted to see first. She asked for a man named Jak."
Sighing, Jak stood up and followed the young brown-haired doctor in his white coat down the hallway, and was then escorted into a door. The hospital room had a large window on the left and a table full of flowers and get well cards on the right. Keira lay in a white hospital bed with her eyes closed, but they opened when the door closed.
"Jak, I forgive you!" she said. "Before you say anything, I forgive you. This is exactly what we have been trying to stop, and I'm actually half-glad you…well, damaged me."
"Ahh, Keira, did your voice change?" Jak asked, noticing that the squeakiness had gone and was now smooth.
"You must have shook up my voice box, because I woke up in this bed and my voice was different," Keira said in her new, smooth voice.
"I like it!" Jak exclaimed, smiling. Keira laughed quietly. "So can I have my JET-Board back now, because it seems to be causing too much trouble between us?"
"Actually, I was thinking about making some upgrades to it. You said when you were using the JET-Board, you had trouble with running into Metal Heads literally and causing some damage to you. So I'm thinking about installing a stun radius to keep anything that comes near you at bay."
"That would be extremely helpful," Jak replied, trying to think of the right thing to say to a woman.
"It will take a while, however," responded Keira. "Another thing I'm thinking of is upgrading the launch jump by having it suck energy from the air to deliver a burst of lift." She panted and smiled at Jak. "It looks like I'm going to be in hospital for Christmas."
"Don't worry, I'll be with you all day," Jak said. Keira blushed and looked longingly into Jak's eyes.
"Thank you, I'd love that." Keira pulled out the JET-Board from under the bed and looked at it. "Might as well start on this now."
"Oh-ho, no, you need to rest." Jak took the JET-Board out of her hands and held it up high so Keira couldn't reach. "Payback time." He stepped back to the door and opened it. "I'd better send your father in or he'll start yelling at me and Daxter again." Keira laughed a little and grinned as Jak left the room.
He strode down the hallway and out into the waiting room. "Your turn, Samos." He didn't stop walking and headed towards the entrance.
"Hey, Jak, where are you going?" Ashelin asked, standing up.
"Oh, just to the Naughty Ottsel to have a celebration drink."
"To celebrate what?" she asked.
"The fact that I'm spending Christmas with Keira." Without another word, he opened the door and left the building. As he walked happily out into the street, a gun in his cheek stopped him.
"Well, if it isn't the dark boy," a Krimzon Guard Elite said, along with two other Krimzon Guards beside him. Their three zoomers were parked in amongst the group that Keira's friends had arrived in.
"Hehehehe, we got hehehe-him, boss!" one of the Krimzon Guards laughed in a squeaky voice, falling down on the ground in a ball.
"Shut up, Rov," the other guard said in a deep voice, poking him with his gun.
"You're coming with us, Dark Eco Freak," the Elite announced, pushing Jak towards the Hellcat Cruiser. Jak put his hands behind his head and marched towards the Zoomer, the other two Krimzon Guards lagging behind.
"Why do you want me?" Jak asked.
"No questions until we get to headquarters." Jak was forced into the passenger seat of the Cruiser, and the Elite hopped in beside him. "Hurry, Rov and Creld. Stop playing games." The Cruiser took off down through the stadium area, with the zoomers eventually following them.
"Jak, are you going to take my zoomer?" asked Samos, walking out of the hospital. "Oh." He noticed that his zoomer was still there but Jak was gone. "Must have caught a cab." He strode back into the hospital.
Jak sat tied to a wooden chair in a small room, hidden away in a small building in the Water Slums. The Krimzon Guard Elite paced back and forth by a desk that separated Jak and him. The other two guards were dozing off in two other seats against the wall behind him.
"So, what do you want me for?" Jak asked.
"Revenge. You killed our Baron!" the Elite boomed, slamming his hands down on the desk.
"I didn't kill the Baron! Kor did," Jak repelled.
"Without your interference in the Metal Head War, the Baron would have won without the need for his sacrifice."
"How do you know what would have happened?" asked Jak.
"It's common sense. You also killed our friend, Bygol while we were chasing you earlier. You're guilty of that, Eco freak," the Elite remarked.
"I didn't kill your friend. He killed himself with his bad driving."
"It's your fault, and now you will be punished." He pointed his gun in Jak's face. "We will never serve that spoiled daughter of our Baron, Ashelin Praxis. She has no reason to trust you, murderer." Jak's rage built up inside, and he suddenly burst into his dark form, breaking the rope tied around his hands, and forcing him to jump onto the desk.
"DARK ECO FREAK!" the Elite yelled, trying to hit Jak with his gun. Creld and Rov woke up, and scrambled to collect their guns. Jak jumped on the Elite's head and bounced off towards the door. The Elite opened fire, with one shot reaching Jak's back.
"Ahh!" the monster yelled, bursting through the door. People screamed and ran as they saw the purplish Jak, but they calmed down as the huge man shrunk back into the mild yet aggressive person Jak was. The Elite charged out of the door with Rove and Creld behind him, and fired at Jak as he hopped in the nearby Hellcat Cruiser, taking off immediately.
"Rov, Creld, on that one," the Elite commanded, pointing to one of the Krimzon Guard zoomers. "I'll take this one." The yellow-armoured guard jumped on the motorcycle-like zoomer and started the hover engines. Jak rode over the poorly-made bridges that spanned the Water Slums, and made his way to the dry land.
The three Krimzon Guards followed, catching up to the heavy zoomer quite quickly. "Give it up, Eco freak!" Rov and Creld's zoomer rammed into the Cruiser, which in turn rammed it into the Elite's. The Elite's zoomer did the same and the process repeated itself. The three zoomers floated up onto the land, into the Slums.
"Flank him!' the Elite yelled as the group drove around the corner, out into the three-way fork in the road. The Krimzon Guards didn't expect Jak to perform a U-Turn and go down the Stadium path, and so they fell behind quickly. "Turn, you stupid zoomer!"
Jak snickered as he flew around the corner that made the transition from the Slums to the Stadium area. "Time to head to the Mar Memorial Stadium."
As Jak turned past the Palace Support Tower entrance, the two zoomers caught up with Jak, chasing his tail.
The Krimzon Guard zoomers fired at the Cruiser, and the engines began to catch on fire. "We've got him now!" the Elite yelled as he followed the Hellcat towards the Stadium entrance. Just before Jak reached the entrance to the Stadium courtyard, he slammed on the brakes and dove out.
"Look out!" Creld yelled to Rov, but it was too late. The Zoomer slammed into the flaming Hellcat and the two were enveloped by the explosion. The Elite, however, swerved out of the way and stopped just before hitting the wall. He watched the ground impatiently, trying to find Jak amongst the crowd of people.
"Gotcha." The Elite spotted Jak sprinting onto the staircase at the end of the courtyard, and followed him with his zoomer, firing the guns madly. A few people screamed and ran for cover around Jak as the teenager jumped onto his JET-Board and turned to face his enemy. "It's over, Jak. This is for my Baron."
The Elite fired the zoomer's guns, and Jak timed his jump so that the JET-Board kicked off the ground and deflected the lasers. The gunfire went back to the Elite and hit the engines of the zoomer, smoking it a little. "Like that will work."
"It wasn't supposed to kill you," Jak said, pulling out his Blaster. "But this will. And I'm giving you a choice. I didn't cause the death of Praxis, but if you keep insisting I did, then I'll cause the death of you."
"In your mind you didn't kill the Baron, but in reality it's a whole lot different," the Elite spat.
"I suppose that in reality your death is different too."
"Exactly, since I will never die, unless in the name of the Baron."
"Well…" Jak began, "send him my regards." He aimed the Blaster and fired it into the core of the zoomer.
"Dark Eco Freak…" snarled the Elite as the Blaster's fire pushed the zoomer and blew it up, with him burning in the fires of it. "I'm so sorry, my Baron."
The zoomer fell to the ground and a crowd gathered, watching as the Elite's eyes closed for the last time. Away from the scene, a long-eared teenager walked out of the Stadium courtyard silently, thinking to himself. I really do need a drink.
Three days later, Christmas Day.
Jak sat on a stool in the Naughty Ottsel, watching delightedly as Daxter stood around the pine tree that he had cut down anxiously, waiting for Samos to let him open a presents.
"Daxter," the old green man said. "As an act of kindness, I will let you open your presents." Daxter screamed in joy. "But you have to open mine first."
"Aww," groaned Daxter, ungratefully accepting Samos' present. He shrugged and tore the wrapping paper apart, revealing the gift underneath. "A dustpan and brush?"
"Yes, to clean up my place!" Samos boomed. "You've been doing a horrible job lately, so this may boost your productivity." Daxter snarled and stalked off unhappily, with Torn and Ashelin laughing their butts off in the distance.
"Alright, sweetheart," Torn said to Ashelin. "You must be waiting for some surprise I'm going to pull out from under my sleeve." Torn pulled his left sleeve back and grabbed two tickets from underneath. "So we're going on a Christmas holiday to the Icelands!"
"Oh my god!" yelled Ashelin with wide eyes. "I'm falling in love with you!" Torn laughed, and Ashelin noticed Jak smiling at the two of them in the distance. Ashelin stood up and moved into the centre of the room. "Everyone, Torn and I are going to the Icelands for Christmas!"
Pecker and Onin, who were sitting in the corner, clapped, along with Tess, Samos and an injured Rov, who'd realised that Jak wasn't so bad after he killed the Elite and decided to get a job at the Ottsel. "Hehehehe, that's a great hehehehe-holiday."
"Hey, Jak, are you going to see Keira soon?" Torn asked, trying to ignore the hugs Ashelin was giving him.
"Yeah, I'm going to go in a few minutes," Jak replied. "I'm thinking about opening my presents in front of her."
"Well, take Ashelin's Hellcat and load her presents up. She's got loads!" Jak nodded.
"I hope you have fun on your holiday," he said, and Torn nodded back.
"How couldn't I?" Torn replied, pointing at Ashelin. Jak grinned, grabbed an armful of Keira's presents, and carried them out to the Hellcat. After a few minutes, both Jak's and Keira's presents were tied to the Hellcat.
"Merry Christmas," a man said as he walked past, and Jak nodded back. The teenager jumped into the Hellcat and started up the engines. At that moment, Torn came out and stood near the Hellcat.
"Take care," he said. "I probably won't see you again until the new year."
"When do I ever not take care?" asked Jak, and Torn nodded slowly, unable to answer. "You should be careful. Ashelin might bite." Torn laughed out loud, and waved as Jak drove off into the high driving zone.
Jak, along with two doctors, carried his and Keira's presents down the hallway towards her room. The three reached the door, and Jak managed to grab the knob and open it. He couldn't help but grin at the look on Keira's face as the mountain of presents were dropped into the room.
"Merry Christmas?" he asked and Keira laughed briefly. "Don't worry, some of them are mine." Keira calmed down, a little disappointed. "I suppose I need to give this back." Jak pulled the JET-Board from his back and handed it to her with a hug.
"So, shall we start opening these?" Keira asked.
"Whenever you're ready," Jak replied. Keira looked around at all the presents on the floor, and decided to take the small, card-shaped one that was on top of the pile. "Oh, yes that one. We made that yesterday."
"Ah, okay," she said. "Is anyone going to come to see me today?"
"Oh, well, Torn and Ashelin are definitely not coming."
"Why?" Keira began opening the present.
"They're spending Christmas together in the Icelands," Jak said, and Keira smiled.
"Well, good luck to them. The hospital says I can spend Christmas outside, so do you want to go somewhere today? Maybe watch a race at the Stadium?"
"I'd love that," Jak responded, and he smiled sweetly at Keira, his eyes meeting hers.
"Thank you, Jak." She fully unwrapped the present, and was surprised with a photo of Jak, Pecker, Onin, Tess, Daxter, Samos, Torn, Ashelin and Sig in the Naughty Ottsel. "Wow, thanks!" She looked to the bottom of the photo and read the message that was there.
We Wish You a Haven Christmas and a Happy New Year.