The difference between boys and girls was best shown in how they shopped for the holidays.

Boys, like Cloud and Denzel and the others she knew, weren't worried about time and getting good prices or anything. Girls, like herself – they were the ones that went out ahead of time and didn't have to feel rushed when the actual holiday came.

So the streets were fairly empty when she was walking around.

Her father – though she knew better than that now, and more often than not used his first name – kept saying how hard it was to believe that it had really been five years since the catastrophe. She assumed that everyone was saying this, really – at least all the adults. She could believe it.

She was thirteen now – and though most children forgot what happened to them when they were younger, Marlene couldn't. It didn't matter that she'd only been eight or so when it happened. She remembered all of it, or at least all of it that she'd been allowed to see.

One of the most memorable, and the one she was remembering most this holiday season, was the one that she could never really share with anyone else, and the one memory that a lot of the adults in her life seemed to forget, because they hadn't been with her.

It was the memory of when Aerith had been taken away by the Turks.

What most people didn't know – because she'd never said anything about it – was that she'd been on that helicopter briefly. Aerith had been taken by the dark-haired one (Tseng, she'd later learned), and trying to protect the sweet flower girl, she'd taken off with her. They'd been in the air at least ten minutes before the tall one (Rude, which she always thought was an unfortunate name for the man) asked if they'd wanted both of the girls. Tseng had shouted, the redhead flying (Reno, who had amused her even before he'd spoken to her) had taken a quick dive and almost crashed into the building, and it was only Rude holding onto her jacket that she'd stayed in the chopper. Aerith made all the noises of being mortified that Marlene was there and pleaded with Tseng to take her back to Elmyra, but Marlene knew. Aerith was proud of her – proud of her ambition and her drive. But they'd taken her back anyway, and Reno had actually apologized for flying off with her.

But what she'd really noticed what that during the entire "adventure", they'd never once been cruel. They'd never been mean, never hit either of them, never really had to use much force. Aerith argued, Tseng bantered back, and then with Aerith tried to run Tseng caught her and put her in the helicopter. Frightening, yes – but not to the extent she'd expected from Turks.

Barret had never understood why she wasn't really afraid of the Turks when they saw them again after Meteor. She was just happy that they'd survived along with everyone else – and was even happier when she saw that they were taking the second chance they got.

So this year, she was buying a very special set of Christmas presents. All the usual people were getting them – Barret and Cloud and Tifa and Denzel and the rest of the crew from AVALANCHE – but she needed four special ones.

She'd never met Elena for very long, but she'd heard about her from the team. And Tseng, Reno, and Rude she knew. She assumed they were still alive and around; there was no real reason for them not to be. And so she had to find a perfect present for each of them.

Rude was the easiest to pick out; she'd seen the perfect gift as soon as she stepped onto the high street in Edge. It was a pair of sunglasses – of course – but the lenses were a deep blue reflective surface that you couldn't see through. It reminded her of the color of their suits.

Elena had been difficult, but not as hard as Marlene had been afraid. From what she knew of Elena, she was a younger Turk, blonde, energetic, and a bit of a loudmouth. A little further investigation showed that her family was from Costa del Sol. Thus, the perfect gift was found: a sundress in bright summery colors with a matching parasol. Marlene wouldn't have minded getting it herself; she figured Elena might not quite have the taste of a thirteen-year-old girl, but it was mature enough so that it didn't look like a child had dressed her.

Reno was the difficult one, much to her surprise. Though she liked him, and thought he was funny, she didn't know what to get for him. She didn't know him that well. After wandering around each store time and time again, she finally settled on something small she'd seen back when she first got in: a shirt with a winking Chocobo on the front, that read "Wark my $$" on the back. It had taken a few unsuccessful interrogations of the men in her life and a bout of research before she'd figured out why Cid had snickered over the shirt so much – and since most of the jokes she heard Reno tell were...of that nature, she figured it fit.

Tseng was the easiest, and she actually hadn't needed to buy it. She hoped the small package didn't throw him off, but it was the only present she could think of. While his old teammates would be opening boxes, Tseng would get an envelope with a piece of paper and a length of pink ribbon, and on the paper would be a short note.

Dear Tseng,

I think you deserve to have one of these too. She always seemed to like you.

~ Marlene

Sorry so late again! Got caught up doing other things and lost track of time~

Thank you for reading and reviewing - just a few more days!

~R