Here's part three of a Leviathan Christmas!
A Leviathan Christmas: Part Three
The Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas
Onboard Leviathan.
A blond-headed boy slept,
Cold and alone.
Well, slept is not right,
For in fact he was awake,
And staring wide-eyed
Wishing for a break.
Well, boy is not right either,
For instead, you see,
This young gentleman
Was a female middy.
With her hair cropped right short
And a dead knack for swearing
You'd never tell she was a girl
By the clothes she was wearing.
In uniform or out,
Most saw only a boy,
But this made perfect sense,
For that was her ploy.
Except for a sneaky old
Vulgar old count,
No one knew her secret,
She daren't let it out.
At the moment, she lay,
Eyes wide and staring,
Waiting for some sort of sound,
Even if 'twas 'larms blaring.
'This Christmas is boring,'
She thought to herself,
'This is Christmas! Where's Santa,
'Or at least a small elf?'
She sighed to herself,
Her eyes downcast,
'Why do I think he'd come?
'All that stuff's in the past.
'Christmas with Da and Mum,
'And of course Jaspert too,
'With a turkey, all-roasted,
'And stuffing and stew.'
And she sighed once again,
Poor Deryn Sharp,
For no Christmas was coming
Within the night's dark.
Across the ship,
In a separate boy's room,
Prince Alek lay awake
Contemplating his doom.
What a gloomy thought to be had
On a soft Christmas Eve,
But he thought this thought anyways,
Rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
He wondered how it'd end
This good-for-nothing war.
Would it end peacefully?
Or would they all go home sore?
Would he even get a chance
To go back home at all?
Or would he die fighting,
Standing proud and tall.
Sighing, he wondered about
Dylan, his friend.
Was he awake too,
Pondering his end?
Or just lying in bed
At this ungodly hour.
He quickly decided
On not to be dour.
Reaching under his bed,
He pulled out a small toy.
It was old and worn
Since his time as a boy.
Alek held the small bear
Close to his heart,
Got out of his bed,
Ventured into the dark.
Deryn had gotten up
Out of bed as well.
Had pulled out some drawings
She'd thought were quite swell.
For a time now, she'd thought
Of giving them to the prince
As sort of a present
On this day of Christmas.
Each drawing was different
And none were the same.
Some she even thought
Were just the littlest bit lame.
All were of Alek
In one way or another
Some had him all alone
Some had both of them together.
One showed him as an archduke
The leader he'd be.
Another was of him sitting
At the foot of a tree.
One had him smiling,
Two shadowy figures behind.
Since she didn't know his parents' faces
She'd leave the rest to his mind.
One had them both fencing
Though Deryn had lost.
One had them both laughing
At some silly toss.
One had him and Bovril
Another was like that too.
And on the last she'd written
'These here are for you.'
The words were underneath
Her hardest picture of all.
The two of them were sitting
Backs pressed to a wall.
And Deryn's hand, though hard to see,
Was resting slightly on his.
And they were smiling sad smiles
And the reason for this
Was because Deryn knew
That due to the war
Neither might live to see
A single day more.
So she expressed her sorrow
All into that one picture.
But it also expressed
Both's determined fixture.
They were still smiling because
They knew, side by side,
That they'd both die together
If at all they both died.
As a knock sounded quietly
On Deryn's room door,
She knew, for this moment,
There wasn't a war.
And she let Alek in,
And he gave her his gift.
He said, "I know it's 'daft'
"But I didn't know what to get.
"I had this small bear
"When I was just a small boy.
"It managed to comfort me,
"And was my favorite toy.
"And I thought, if we ever,
"You know, have to part,
"Then he can comfort you too
"Like he did with my heart.
"Because you'll still be off in this war,
"Probably out in the front fighting."
And he stood there nervously,
Hoped his gift wasn't spiting.
But to his surprise, Deryn smiled
And took it.
And she grabbed her sketch pad
And gave him her own gift.
And said, "I drew these
"Specifically for this one day.
"They're all of you
"At work or at play.
"I don't know if you'll like them.
"But like you said, if you leave.
"You'll still have a bit of you and us
"Tucked into your sleeve."
Deryn clutched her new bear
And gave Alek a smile.
"By the way, your gift,
"Makes this whole day worthwhile."
And she hugged the bear close,
And Alek did the same with her drawings.
And they both said 'Thank you'
As the sun began dawning.
"You're the best friend, Dylan,
"A person could want,"
Alek said meaningfully
And in no way a taunt.
Deryn nodded and laughed
And reached outward and fore
And she grabbed the prince in a hug
And held on a bit more.
Alek hugged her back,
And they both said, at first light,
"Merry Christmas to you,
"And to you a good night."
…
Okay, I admit, I'm not much of a poet. But I think it turned out all right. And Holly, if you think the twelve days of Christmas took a while, this one tops that one by a long shot.
Holly Marie Fowl: Thanks! And don't be too harsh on poor Alek, he's only two in the previous fic. ;D
Rue-the-Marauder: I know! He's a mean one, that count. xP
HallelujahtheCreator: I'm honored that you think I'm a good person to write about the Christmas Truce. Now I just have to live up to your expectations. Haha, love your little dialogue between Volger and Klopp! I couldn't figure out who to use as Max, so I decided to make it poor Klopp. I'm glad you liked that part! xP
Ailat:
1. Thanks! And, haha, 'zeppelins zepping' was mainly because I didn't want to use flying again, and because zepping just sounds like a fun word. You call it creative, I call it not being sane.
2. Uber is an uber word. And thank you! By the way, congrats on knowing kinder and making your friend proud.;D
