Alice

The taxi took a few lefts and a couple of rights when we stopped at the entrance to the South Estates neighborhood. We climbed out of the taxi, and Shun paid the driver. When we turned back to the neighborhood, I saw Shun's eyes widen. He said, "This place is packed." Crowds of people waited for the gate to open so they could take in the Christmas lights that were put up by the hard work of the homeowners. A banner was draped above the gate and said Bay City's 4th annual South Estates Parade of Lights.

Shun said, "Hard to believe this has gotten so popular in four years." I nodded and we walked up to join the mass of people ahead of us. "Alice! Shun!" We both whirled around to see who was calling out our names. Running towards us and waving their hands to grab our attention, was Joe and Chan.

I squinted my eyes to make sure that was who I was really seeing. Chan went and hugged me and I hugged back and said, "Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in ages!" Joe and Shun were next to us shaking hands and asking how the other had been doing. None of the Brawlers had seen Joe and Chan since the fight with Naga, so this was a surprise. Joe looked around us and asked, "Are the others here?"

I shook my head and said, "Nope. Just me and Shun. What brings you two down here?" Chan smiled and said to us, "We're in town to visit family for the holidays, and Murucho's party of course." Joe chimed in and asked, "So, are you two dating or something?" Shun and I both said to him quickly, "What? No!" Joe had an eyebrow raised and said, "Uh-huh. Awkward." I felt my face blush, and kept my gaze adverted from Shun's.

Even though I predicted he was blushing as well. Chan hit him in the arm and glared at him. She asked, "I take it you are going to the party in a few weeks as well." Shun answered her, "Alice is, and she's been trying to convince me to go." Joe fixed the scarf on his neck and said, "Well, let's hope she succeeds. Cause somebody needs to keep Dan in line if he hasn't changed much since we last saw each other."

We all laughed, and stopped when a voice came over a speaker system. A portable stage was set up with speakers set up behind it, and a man stepped onto the stage with a microphone. "Thank you everyone who came out tonight in this cold weather for the 4th annual Parade of Lights. The gates will be opened as soon as the last judge arrives in a few minutes. So please be patient."

He stepped off the stage and people resumed talking. The four of us stood in the chilly air and caught up. Joe and Chan had been doing very well since we last saw them. Their relationship was still going strong, and they even told us they were planning to get engaged the following summer. When I heard them telling me how their lives had been, I couldn't help but feel like I hadn't done anything in all of those years. That I was still the same as I was five years ago. And five years before that.

Shun was telling them about some of his training stories, when a light snow flurry started to fall. Joe held out his hand and said, "They said it's supposed to blizzard some time this week. I hope not tonight. They'd have to cancel if it does." Little white, frozen specks fell from the black, night sky. It seemed never-ending.

The man climbed back on the stage and said, "Our final judge has just arrived, and we will now open the gates. Please enjoy seeing the lights! And have a Merry Christmas!" The crowd started to pour through the gates, and when we finally made it through, none of us knew what to think. Large houses lined both sides of the street. Houses that looked like they would belong to Murucho and his family.

The streetlights weren't lit. They weren't needed with the light being given off by the houses. At first, reindeer and Santa's were in every yard, and as you went further down you saw more elaborate decorations. One house had a miniature Christmas tree forest in its lawn, and inflatable presents were stuck around and under the trees. But my favorite was the house that had dressed their little dog up as a reindeer and let him run and jump around the yard with his little antlers on his head.

It kind of reminded me of the dog from the Grinch movie. The snow flurry had picked up some, and it was starting to get difficult to see further up ahead. Joe and Chan had broken off from us, and we had lost them in the mass of people. Shun and I walked by another home that had the owner dressed in a Santa suit, and his wife was dressed as Mrs. Claus. They were handing out candy canes to little kids that came up to them. I smiled and turned to say something to Shun, but he wasn't next to me.

I turned around several more times to try and find him, and was just about to call out his name when he came walking back towards me. "Where'd you run off too?" He held out one of the candy canes to me and said, "Tis the season for giving, right?" I smiled and felt my face get warm, then took the candy cane. "Thanks. Do you want some? I really doubt I'll finish it all." He shrugged his shoulders and I broke off a piece and handed it to him. When it touched my tongue, I tasted the cool peppermint flavor.

After a few minutes, the red stripes one the end were starting to vanish. Shun's was the same way. The neighborhood, had their own lake/park area for people to go to and walk their dogs or whatever they wanted to. Even it was decorated with all kinds of Christmas related items. We turned off the road and walked the sidewalk of the park. Not many people were going through there though.

The sidewalk, had lights arched over it, and it felt like I was walking under a tunnel. Different sidewalks branched off the one we were walking on, but we just kept straight. Up ahead, was a gazebo with wreaths hung on it and lights tacked up around it to show the outline. I saw benches under it, and said, "How about we rest for a minute?"

Shun nodded his head. The roof of the gazebo shielded us from the falling snow flurry. I looked at myself and saw little snowflakes that were melting, stuck in my hair. I quickly brushed them out with my hands before my hair got soaked. I wish I had a hat. Shun's hair was the same way because he didn't bring his skull cap this time. He didn't seem to mind it though. I finished off the last of my candy cane, and stuffed the plastic wrapper in my pocket.

I didn't want to litter in such a nice place. Shun had finished sometime ago the piece of candy cane I gave him. I looked out over the neighborhood and knew that there was no way that we would see all of the decorations. Not in one night at least. I rolled up my jacket sleeve and saw that it was closing in on nine at night. Shun let out a sleepy yawn. He was tired from spending half of the day in a mall with Dan, and then walking around outside in the cold. I knew this because I was the same way.

I asked, "You ready to go?" He stretched his arms above his head and said, "If you are." I nodded my head and we started to walk back towards the gate. On our way back, we saw Chan and Joe standing by the stage just up ahead. They turned around, and Chan said, "Hey! They're you guys are. Y'all leaving too?" We nodded our heads. Joe asked us, "How are you planning to get back to Murucho's?" Shun shivered for a moment before saying, "I guess we'll flag down another taxi or something."

Joe shook his head and told us, "Not at this time at night. You'd be lucky to find one within the hour. Here. How about Chan and I give you two a ride back to Murucho's since our hotel is just down the street?" Shun and I looked at each other and I told them, "That would be great. Thanks guys." We walked down the street and found their car parked on the sidewalk with several others further down. Shun and I climbed into the backseat, and Joe cranked the car and drove down the road.

They had cranked the heater on as well, and I was starting to be able to feel my nose again. I looked over at Shun, who had his head leaned against the window and eyes closed as he started to drift off to sleep. The car hit a bump, and jolted Shun awake. That was short lived though, because he started to nod back off again. Joe slowed to a stop in front of Murucho's, and said, "We're here. Hey, is it just me, or has the place gotten bigger?"

I shook Shun back awake and said, "There's no telling with Murucho." Shun and I got out of the car, and thanked them once more for driving us back. The snow had picked up even more from when we were back at the neighborhood. I quickly looked at my watch again. Almost ten. We hurried inside, and walked upstairs to the floor everyone was staying on. Kato wasn't hanging ornaments of the tree now, but by the looks of it he was almost done. In the sitting area upstairs, Dan and the others were gathered around.

Dan stood up and said, "Bout time you two got back. We thought you'd stay gone all night." Shun and I both took off our jackets and hung them up on a coat hanger in the corner of the room since Murucho had it set to Sahara Desert in his house. Shun said calmly, "I'm pretty tired from today. I think I'll go ahead and go on to bed." We all nodded our heads and he walked off to his room. I said, "I think I'm going to do the same." I was almost out of the room when something grabbed my wrist and stopped me. Julie. She said to me, "You've got to tell me what you two did tonight. Please?"

I took my wrist from her grip and said, "I'll tell you tomorrow, Julie. But right now I'm tired from walking all day. I promise I'll tell you in the morning." She seemed disappointed, but accepted it and walked back over to the others. I walked into my bathroom that was connected to my room to wash my face, and saw I was out of washcloths. I sighed. Maybe the hall bathroom has some.

I walked from my room and down the hall. The bathroom was right past Shun's room near the end. When I walked past his room, I saw the door was completely open. I couldn't help but look inside, and saw that he had just laid down on his bed and gone to sleep. I wished I could have done the same, but I wanted to get to day's events off of me. When I got to the hall bathroom, I searched through the cabinets and took a few washcloths so I wouldn't have to return to get more later.

As I walked past Shun's room again, I reached for the knob and gently shut the door. Now I was back in my bathroom, and turned the sink's water onto warm. Last thing I wanted was cold water on my face right after I had warmed up. My face felt better once I was washed off, and I changed into my pajamas that I had left hanging over the shower curtain railing. I finished up by brushing out my hair and tying it up in a ponytail.

Now that I was clean and comfortable, I went back into my room and crawled under my blankets. My head laid down on something thin that crackled under me. I sat up and saw a flyer for the city's Christmas parade on Friday. On the back, was Julie's handwriting. Don't forget about the parade!

I had three days to worry about the parade, and at the time I was much too tired to worry about it then. I folded the paper up and placed it on my nightstand, where Julie should have set it instead of on my pillow. I shifted in my blankets, and felt something hit my foot and fall out from under the bed. I growled, and wondered what else Julie had planted. On the floor, was something that looked to be wrapped up.

I reached for it and took the thin paper off of it. Unable to see what it was, I flipped my lamp on and a light filled my room. It was a purple beanie with a note. Thought this might help keep you warmer, cause I see the way you look at my hat. And I keep thinking you're going to attack me one day for it.

I recognized the writing as Shun's. A blush swept my face and I couldn't help but giggle. I said under my breath, "Just for that I'm going to steal your hat." I put the note and beanie on the nightstand with the parade flyer, and turned out my lamp. Before I laid back down, I patted my blankets for anything else that might have been hidden, then went to sleep.

thanks for all the reviews so far everyone! XP lol. if you haven't checked out my profile please do so for polls, covers, and video links to my story's songs! read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~