Okay, I took a couple of days of from this since I needed to recover from my final exams, but I think I'm still making decent time. I think there's still a good chance I'll have this story done by Christmas. ^_^ Thanks everyone for your wonderful reviews and I hope you enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Monster Rancher or the characters. I'm just a huge fan. Tecmo owns everything. I just own the plot.
Note: This takes place in season 3 between when Mocchi wins the last tournament to be able to enter the Legend Cup and from when he battles Poritoka.
Holiday Dress
Chapter 4: Final Arrangements
Holly yawned quietly as she rubbed her tired eyes before taking a small sip of warm tea. The day before had been extremely tiring, but even night was interrupted by Colt's attention, so the wielder of the Magic Stone was running on next to no sleep at all. Although Colt was slightly aggravating, Holly still couldn't help but enjoy her company, but not for nine hours and until four in the morning. With a low sigh, the brunette placed her tea cup down before getting up from the kitchen table and stirring the stew she was making for the other rebels. Even though she had been forced to stay up late with Colt, it didn't mean she would slack off and blow off making breakfast for the others. Although a little dazed from her lack of sleep, Holly quickly turned around at the creaking of someone coming down the stairs that led to the sleeping quarters.
"Oh! Merry Christmas, Hare." Holly greeted with an inviting smile as she ushered to the rabbit monster to take a bowl for soup. "How did you sleep? It was a nice change to sleep in a cozy bed instead of the ground, wasn't it?"
"Merry Christmas to you, as well!" Hare grinned from ear to ear while he didn't need to be told twice to grab a bowl for the scrumptious meal. "I can't agree with you more, Holly. My back was starting to get sore from all the sleeping we've done on the ground. I think I got too used to sleeping at Tama's place so I'm more use to a warm bed now."
Holly smiled sympathetically at her comrade as she watched his smile waver for a brief moment at the mention of the girl who had taken him in at the apple orchard. Between Tama and Fairy Hare, the wielder of the Magic Stone knew Hare had been through quite a few painful departures recently. With care, Holly scooped a large ladle full of soup into the bowl Hare held firmly into his hands before the rabbit monster thanked the girl and sat down at the dining room table to eat the soup while it was still hot. One by one, the other sleepy rebels slowly got up from bed as the smell of the stew lingered throughout the inn as if beckoning the rebels to quickly get up and enjoy the day.
"Good morning and merry Christmas, Holly." Tiger stated with a small smile while Holly placed a bowl of steaming soup down in front of him. With a quiet 'thank you' to the girl, the wolf monster slowly began to lap up the soup while savoring every bite.
"Yeah! Merry Christmas, chi!" Mocchi exclaimed with a giggle before he took a small spoonful of the soup. The young monster couldn't have been more excited for the holiday and his small eyes shone with absolute joy.
"Holly, you're too good to us." Suezo said with a smile as he took a long sip of the stew. As always, Holly's cooking was the best he ever had and spending Christmas with her for the first time in years made it all that much more wonderful.
"Christmas seems like… such a warm… holiday…" Golem stated with a smile as he helped Holly to dish out the remaining few dishes of soup to the group before turning to the wielder of the Magic Stone with a worried glance. "Holly… you should not… have made us… breakfast… since you already… volunteered to… make us dinner… It does not… sound fair… for you."
"It's alright, Golem. I enjoy making meals for you guys and it's the first Christmas that I've celebrated in years. I want it to be special." Holly replied with a warm smile as she handed Genki a bowl of the stew.
"Yeah. Thanks for the meal, Holly." Genki thanked with a grin before he began to shovel the soup into his mouth from hunger and as if he hadn't eaten in a week. Holly could only blush lightly and begin to reply back to the boy before she let out a surprised yelp as she was brought into a tackle hug by Colt, who was wide awake and ready to take on the day.
"Good morning, Miss Holly! Merry Christmas! Isn't this exciting?" Colt squealed happily as she released her hold on the taller girl before grabbing a dish of the soup and beginning to eat it rapidly.
"Colt, you should slow down or you'll choke!" Holly scolded with a frown.
"There's no time! We have to go out early to see if any shops are open!"
"Why? We did all of the shopping yesterday."
"Not quite, Miss Holly! Now hurry up and eat so we can get back here quick!"
Holly sighed softly as she began to eat her soup slowly while the other rebels looked at one another with confusion and concern. Ever since Colt had made her way into the group, Holly seemed to be more distracted and tired. The wielder of the Magic Stone was always in the company of the younger girl, whether she wanted it or not, and others couldn't figure out why Colt had a sudden interest in her. They knew something was out of place, but nothing else seemed to stick out. Before anyone could speak up, though, Colt quickly grabbed Holly's hand before pulling the reluctant girl toward the door and waving to the others.
"Bye, guys! We'll back in time to get that dinner all ready! Just man the fort for us and could you take Joy outside for a bit? She gets kinda crabby and cranky when she's cooped up inside for awhile." Colt said with a shrug while Holly gave the rebels a pleading look, as if mentally asking them to not let the younger girl take her away. Her wish wasn't fulfilled, though, as the door shut quietly behind the two girls; leaving a room full of rebels and a grumpy bird sitting in the Christmas tree. Genki scratched his head lightly as he glanced from the closed door to Joy before clearing his throat and speaking to everyone.
"…so, who's taking Joy out? NOT IT!"
"NOT IT, CHI!"
"HECK NO!"
"NO WAY!"
"NO…"
"…dang it! Not fair!" Suezo scowled as he pouted at being left with the job of attending to Colt's pet. Although it was Christmas, it didn't mean everything was going to be perfect. Even with the lame job of taking care of Joy, though, he knew he'd rather do that than spend the day with Colt. Something about her annoyed him even when she wasn't saying anything.
Holly sighed as she walked down the nearly empty streets with Colt just about dragging her to where she wanted to be. With it being Christmas, most people were enjoying themselves with their families while sitting close to a warm and inviting fire place while opening presents. Holly, on the other hand, was forced against her will to walk in the damp snow while lugging around whatever items Colt decided to buy for herself. Either way, the first Christmas the wielder of the Magic Stone was celebrating in years wasn't going exactly as she had planned from the beginning. Part of her couldn't help but feel sympathy for Colt, however, and it explained her constant need to be around people and to be the center of attention. From the looks of things, Colt traveled by herself with only the company of a bird who could only repeat what she heard.
'It's not like when I was beginning my journey and it was just Suezo and I. It did get a little lonely at times, but at least Suezo can interact with me and hold full length conversations. I did travel by myself for a year after Moo's defeat in order to find my friends again, but I had made a lot of other friends on our first journey so when I ran into them they would always take me in and we'd have a good time. Colt's always just by herself with the exception of Joy, but she can't really talk much… I guess that's why Colt's so excited about all of this. Even if she is a little overbearing, I just can't find it in myself to get angry at her since she means well…' Holly thought to herself with a sympathetic glance at Colt, who was currently looking at a display of small decorative figurines. The younger girl had to inspect every last figurine even though she didn't intend to buy any of them.
"The best part about shopping on Christmas day is that a lot of stuff is on sale now!" Colt grinned happily as she ran back to Holly's side with a childish giggle. "This is gonna be the best holiday ever!"
"Colt… Why are we out here on Christmas, anyways? We did all of the shopping yesterday." The wielder of the Magic Stone asked with a look of puzzlement on her face. "We don't have any extra money to spend, anyways."
"Tee hee! That's where you're wrong, Miss Holly! We not only haven't finished our shopping, but we also have a little extra cash!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, I put aside a little extra cash from the decoration shopping to buy one more important thing and we can't go back to the inn until we get it." The pilot stated with a nod of her head before she began to march down the street with a tired Holly in tow.
"What else do we need? We've got the decorations, a tree, vegetables, and a roast. That's all we need for dinner." Holly said with a confused glance at Colt, who had a look of determination on her face.
"Not quite! Don't forget about your new dress."
"Um, about that…"
"Don't tell me you're gonna skip out on wearing it!"
"It's too strange for me, Colt. I don't wear dresses and besides, by the time I'm done cooking dinner Christmas will be nearly over anyways. There's no point in wearing a brand new outfit for just a couple of hours."
"Says you! Now come on! We have one more thing to buy!"
Holly didn't even have a chance to retort back as Colt hooked arms with the taller girl before pulling her into the closest open clothing shop. The wielder of the Magic Stone sighed quietly to herself as she still held onto Colt's hoard of new items while the younger girl bolted down the aisles of the store with excitement and thrill. There was something about helping another girl with their outfit that made Colt even more dedicated to shopping. While the pilot made her way through the shop, Holly sat near the window and looked out onto the streets with a small smile on her face. She could remember vaguely, as a little girl, running through the snowy roads of her hometown with her father in tow laughing merrily at watching his daughter's excitement. Now, though, the memory was far in the past and was set as only a reminder of how things use to be. Holly sighed softly as she subconsciously placed her hand over her hip to where the Mystery Disk her father was trapped in rest ominously at her side.
'Father… I wish you could be here to celebrate Christmas with me just like we use to when life was peaceful…' Holly thought to herself with a disheartened frown, but the sudden sound of nearing footsteps caused the wielder of the Magic Stone to snap out of her trance.
"Heya! We're in luck! Check these out!" Colt squealed as she placed a pair of new shoes into Holly's hands. While the older girl examined the new accessory with yearning, Colt's grin only grew wider and as she let out a happy giggle. "Aren't they so pretty? They'll match your dress perfectly! Let's go pay for them!"
"They are really nice, but I bet they're expensive…"
"Nah, the price is just fine. Don't worry about it! Now let's go! The more we argue about it the later we'll be to cook dinner."
Holly felt herself begin to argue back, but Colt's words rung with truth and she found herself glance at the pair of shoes in her hand. The thought of dressing up wasn't very appealing to the young girl, but the thought of getting Genki's attention was. With a nod of defeat, Holly handed the shoes back to Colt who, in turn, squealed happily before running to the cashier to pay for the product. There was something about Colt that seemed to make the taller girl cave in just like Genki normally made her. Either way, she couldn't not dress up now. With a wave from Colt who now had a bag containing the shoes in her hand, the two girls left the shop in higher spirits than they had entered with. Holly smiled with bottled up excitement while Colt continued to poke around at every shop they passed. Suddenly, a glimpse of orange caught Holly's eyes and she quickly turned to see a large table selling different vegetables. The wielder of the Magic Stone didn't pay attention to just any vegetable, though, as she instinctively strode over to the section containing a vast amount of carrots.
"Carrots… I know how much Genki loves them, but I didn't see any in the collection of vegetables him, Hare, and Mocchi bought. Maybe they didn't see these. I bet Genki will be really excited if I specially cook him up some of these." Holly thought out loud with a smile on her face as she picked out a few of the best looking of the roots before handing the owner a few gold coins in return. With the carrots in one bag and about seven of Colt's things in the other, Holly quickly ran down the street to catch up to her friend who had only made it a couple shops down the street. It was a rare moment where Holly was relieved the girl was an extremely slow shopper so she was easy to catch up to.
"…I can't believe that bird crapped in the tree."
"Well, she was left alone all night and no one let her out until morning."
"Still, that was nasty."
"Why are you guys complaining? I'm the one who had to clean it up!"
The rest of the rebels sat near the fire place while looking up at the nice Christmas tree Golem had gotten them. After cleaning up after breakfast for a change, the rebels had nothing else to do except to wait for the feast that was to come that night. There would be no meal without Holly, though, so the group was beginning to get a little nervous since she still wasn't back with Colt. Having Joy around to keep an eye on helped to pass the time a little, but the mere thought of Holly's cooking was making it hard to stay low key. Mocchi giggled quietly as he stared at his reflection from one of the shiny green ornaments hanging from one of the tree branches while Genki smiled to himself at the sight. He was relieved to see Mocchi in high spirits since the Legend Cup had placed a lot of added stress on the young monster. The sound of creaky hinges caused the rebels to look up from their thoughts as Holly and Colt walked through the front door of the inn with several bags from their morning of shopping.
"I never knew you were into shopping that much, Holly, since you never really buy anything except food." Hare stated with a look of puzzlement while the other rebels nodded in agreement. From what they knew, the wielder of the Magic Stone was the one member of the group who wouldn't blow their money on useless items and trinkets. They learned that fast when they ran into that Niton who tried to con them all those years ago.
"Most of this stuff belongs to Colt. I'll be back down soon to start making dinner." Holly cleared up as her and Colt walked past the rebels and went straight upstairs into Holly's room before shutting the door behind them. The other rebels could only look at one another before shrugging it off and continuing to talk about things that had no relevance to anything.
After a little while, Holly came down as promised before starting to cook up the Christmas feast. With expertise and skill, the brunette peeled and mashed potatoes, threw together a simple salad, made some stuffing from scratch, baked a loaf of bread, boiled a bowl of rice, and finally seasoned and cooked the roast. The whole process took several hours and, although it was now getting dark out, it didn't make Holly feel like she had wasted the day away. Instead, she felt as if she had she had accomplished something huge like taking down one of the Big Bad Four or beating Suezo at a sarcasm contest. The young girl's regular clothing was covered in everything from flour to pepper, but the smell of everything coming together made her not worry about it. Holly smiled to herself as she checked up on the roast before removing it from over the fire and placing it on a large dinner saucer. With a sigh of relief that everything had gone as planned, the young girl quickly set the table before looking back into the living room where the other rebels sat waiting. Each of them wore looks of hunger as the smell tortured their noses and caused their stomachs to rumble annoyingly. Holly couldn't help but giggle at their pleading looks before she clapped her flour covered hands together to get their attention.
"Okay, everyone! Dinner is ready!" Holly announced with an amused smile as she watched her friends leap from their spots and scrambled to get a place at the dinner table. She wouldn't be surprised if there were no leftovers at all by the time the group was done eating. Before Holly could join them, however, a small hand grabbed her own before pulling her into the other room.
"…Colt? What's going on?"
"Miss Holly! What are you doing? You're covered in flour and stuff! You need to clean up and get changed!" Colt exclaimed quietly as she did her best to contain her excitement.
"I guess… but now I'm tired and I just was to relax and eat…"
"It'll take you three extra minutes to get cleaned up and to change your outfit. Come on, Holly! What do ya got to lose?"
Holly sighed quietly as she nodded her head before heading back upstairs while Colt grinned with success. The younger girl couldn't help but love to play match maker, and she only hoped that it would work out this time. Part of her was unsure because of the two rebels' slight age difference and small clash of personalities, but she had seen the signs coming from each of them and she found herself unable to just let it go.
'I really hope this works… Everything is all set. All we need is for Genki to be receptive…' Colt thought to herself with a grin, but the thought made her smile waver and a frown to replace it. 'Oh, gees. I really hope Genki isn't as dense as I remember him being! Maybe this is a mistake… Well, there's no turning back now…'
Another chapter done! I just love how Holly believes Genki loves carrots even though he hates them and only ate them to make her happy. I find it to be so adorable. What makes it really cute, though, is that I feel like had that happened in season 1 or season 2 that he wouldn't have eaten it. I think he matured more in season 3 and he was more receptive to other people's feelings around him. Gah, so cute! ^.^ I hope to have the next chapter done as soon as possible! I think they'll be 2 more chapters left (again, I fail since I thought this would be a 3 chapter mini story). I hope you enjoyed this and reviews are loved! Thanks again for reading! Only 4 more days until Christmas… I gotta get moving on this if I plan to have it done by then! XD
RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3