Haku's P.O.V.
The holidays seem to arrive earlier and earlier every year.
I saw Christmas decorations in the stores back when it was barely August, and by the time Halloween was out of the way, the hype was so abundant you would think that Christmas would literally be the day after tomorrow.
This season had always been a very emotional time to me.
It often brought me bliss, as the united and harmonious atmosphere urged me to think in a carefree way, but at the same time, feelings of anxiety, loneliness and hopelessness plagued my mind as well.
I remembered the bare Christmas tree in our house at that time. The old one, where the plastic pine needles fell off everywhere and even ended up on our clothes or in the food sometimes.
Since mother and father refused to decorate the Christmas tree together, my brother and I didn't want to either, until they could get along again.
And they didn't ever.
So the tree was left, sad and bare, even after my father and brother left.
And it was the same tree I was under during that moment... that moment that still repeats in my head. And no matter how I feel, when view all it clearly enough, it always manages to still make me cry.
It was... an entire decade ago. I was only a little girl.
Only a few feet in front of the tree, I was crying so hard that I almost choked.
I couldn't understand anything that was going on, only that my father and brother were "going away". Going away? For how long? Where?
And would I ever see them again?
And from the looks of it, our house stripped down of all dad's stuff, it looked like they were moving away from us. I was scared if it was my fault why dad was always yelling. I felt like everything back then was because of me.
Why else would everyone want to get away from me, as if they didn't need me in their lives?
It was just too terrifying to believe, until...
The very moment dad walked out the door. My cries were so painful then, my tiny body couldn't hold them in and I collapsed to the floor feeling like I wasn't one piece anymore.
I cried with such intensity that brother turned around. His face shocked me. He looked like a grown-up. It was my brother's face, but with a grown-up's expression.
He wrapped me in his arms one last time, and I felt his warmth though his face was cold-from disbelief probably.
I could tell though, that he felt the same way.
After that, I never saw his face again...
My brother was not only my brother, but my best friend.
From then on, I couldn't stand to look at a Christmas tree with no lights or decorations.
...
ENDNOTE: Next chapter will have less/none of the angsty flashbacks (hopefully) we might actually be getting some actual story progress done. It'll be about present-day. (or planned to...) This is... a filler chapter? (filler, oh no D:) only because I was... eager again . I'm sorry. Plus, I feel uncomfortable with the latest thing I wrote being a attempt at lemon and uhh I felt the need to cover it up eheheh ;; (since I feel like Writer's Block is back I had to use SOMETHING to)
