Episode 13: Snowed In
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, but the next episode is here! (happy dance) This here is the Christmas special, and as promised, it is nowhere near Christmas when it's posted. XD But hopefully that doesn't make it any less jolly.
This actually turned out to be a lot feelsier than intended, but I do hope that's a good thing. So, without further ado, here's episode 13. Enjoy!
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling
Ring ting tingling too…
Come on it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you…
MK reached over and turned down the radio, tuning out what was once a favorite holiday song. The joyful mood of the song and streets outside completely contrasted how she felt that the moment. Sighing, the young teen stared out her window at the Christmas decorations that graced the other houses. Her house had decorations as well, since she'd actually been able to convince her dad to put them up with her, but they were pretty messy by comparison.
MK looked down at the small book she was clutching in her hands and ran her fingers over its cover. She hadn't had a clue what to get her father for Christmas, but she'd finally settled on a book about trees and nature and such. She was sure her father already had a ton of books of the sort, but...it's the thought that counts, right? MK just wanted to connect to her dad for a change, and Christmas Eve seemed like the best time to do it. Turning her head away from the window, MK headed out of her room and down the stairs.
"Dad?" she called out quietly, holding the book to her chest. "Hey dad, where are you at?"
There was a bump that came from elsewhere in the house, followed by her dad's cheerful but perpetually distracted voice: "I'm in the kitchen, Mary Kath-er, MK! In here!"
MK couldn't help but grin. Passing the tiny Christmas tree they had in the living room, MK walked into the kitchen, where her dad had prepared cold cut sandwiches for breakfast and was hastily eating his own.
"Hi Dad," MK greeted with a smile. "Merry Christmas Eve."
Bomba swallowed the last of his sandwich and grinned back. "Merry Christmas Eve, sweetie! How are you doing today?"
MK shrugged. "Ok, I guess. Here," she walked over to the table and held out the book she had gotten him. "I got this for you. I know you probably have a million others, but, uh...I wasn't sure what to get, so…"
Her dad stood up in surprise and gently took the book from her hands. "Oh, wow! I-I'm...thanks so much, sweetie! This is real thoughtful of you!" The man embraced his daughter in a quick hug, which she gladly returned, before breaking free and turning to leave the kitchen. "Hey, you know what?" he rambled as they walked along. "I was actually just heading out to get your Christmas present! Just lemme put this book on my shelf."
MK almost felt that she was jogging as she followed her dad to his study. "What? Oh, no, don't worry about it, dad. I don't need a present…"
"Oh, come on! You got me a present, so I'm gonna get one for you too! It's only fair!"
MK thought this over. "Ok...but, I-I just wanted to, you know, hang out with you. Have some father-daughter time, you know what I'm saying?"
Bomba stopped moving around and stared at his daughter for a while. His face tensed up with thought, until he finally stood up straight and grinned at his daughter once more. "Yeah, ok. You're right, MK. What do you wanna do?"
MK blinked. Whoa, that was easy, she thought. She smiled at her dad and shrugged her shoulders. "Um, I don't know...maybe we could just...go for a walk, and talk about...stuff…"
Before she could finish her thoughts, something on her dad's desk began to beep. Bomba's eyes suddenly widened in surprise and he dove toward his computer screen, almost instinctively. "What?" he mumbled to himself. "I-it hasn't been beeping all winter, what's going on…?"
MK felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she cautiously stood next to him. "Uh, what's that?"
Bomba looked up at his daughter and back at the screen. "Uh, well...I guess one of my cameras picked up something odd outside in the forest, heh heh…"
MK frowned. "You mean...Leafmen?"
Her father stood up straight again. "Maybe...but, I'm sure it's nothing. We'll just...l-let this one go, I guess."
MK was about to be happy again, when suddenly, another alarm went off.
Bomba once again dove toward the desk. "Are you serious? This has never happened before…something big must be happening..."
"D-Dad...I'm sure it's nothing," MK pleaded. "I bet a rabbit just came out of its hole too early or something…"
But it was obvious that MK was losing this fight. Her father stood up from the desk, and looked her in the eye, hesitating for a moment. Then he finally spoke. "Look, I know you wanted to hang out and talk, but...I mean, this is pretty...important-I-I mean, not more important then you, of course, but if I don't head out now, then I might…"
MK stared at him forlornly before she finally sighed and nodded sadly. "I got it. You can go."
Her dad grabbed his weird gadget helmet and smiled at her once more. "It'll only take a few minutes, I promise!" he rambled. "Then we can go out and walk, or go shopping and do whatever you want! Oh, by the way, I left you a sandwich on the table! Go ahead and have some breakfast! See you later, sweetie, love ya!"
And with that, Bomba slammed the door behind him, leaving MK alone in this big, empty house once more.
The girl heaved a sad, heavy sigh as she stood there next to the computers. "Love you too, dad…"
MK stood there staring at the door for a moment, before she turned and began trudging up the stairs. It's ok, she thought to herself, he'll be back in just a few minutes. Then we can have that family Christmas stuff, right?
MK arrived in her room and layed on her bed, turning on the radio once more. She tried to get lost in the cheery holiday tunes, but she couldn't, and she didn't know why...
She sat there for a moment longer, when suddenly, a song came on the radio that she recognized instantly.
"Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee.
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies..."
MK simply sat there, listening to the tune that she had once found soothing and inspiring. This was the song that she and her mother used to listen to over and over every year. It had been a favorite of her mother's all about kindness and the spirit of Christmas...now she'd never get to hear it again.
MK felt herself choking up at the thought, and she quickly turned the radio off as she turned over onto her belly, trying to drown out the grief that was threatening to come out. The house was silent except for the ticking of the clock, and MK just lay there, waiting impatiently for her dad to get back. All she wanted was a family Christmas, and she could still have one without her mom, right?
Without mom...The sudden realization hit her like a train. This was her first Christmas without her mother. MK felt herself choking up again and tried to distract herself from this train of thought, but it was too late.
This was the first of many. How many more Christmases would there be? Eighty? Ninety? Hell, even just one felt like too many, knowing that her mother would no longer be there to share them with her.
It wasn't fair. Her mom hadn't deserved to die. She was one of the kindest people in the world, and she and MK had loved each other like nobody else. And then, poof. In the blink of an eye, she was gone forever.
MK finally gave in and let out a sob on her pillow. "I miss you..." The girl mumbled into her pillow. "I wish you were still here...y-you wouldn't...run off on Christmas Eve and...hic...leave me alone." She sobbed a little bit more, feeling the pain of her mother's passing come back fresh. She continued mumbling. "I-I wish I could spend another Christmas with you. I miss you so much..." MK continued sniffling, not even bothering to try and stop herself anymore. "C-can you even hear me...?" she whispered mournfully. "Or am I just talking to the air right now...? P-please say you can hear me..."
For a good twenty minutes or so, MK continued lying there, sobbing and crying until she could cry no more. Finally, she slowly turned over on her back and stared at the ceiling, still feeling depressed but having no more energy to dwell on said depression. Slowly, as if all her movements were being held down by sandbags, MK turned her head to look at her clock.
Few minutes, my butt, MK thought bitterly. Her dad had been gone for over half an hour, probably looking at bugs or some crap while she was crying her eyes out by herself on Christmas Eve. MK cursed a little under her breath and reached over to grab her phone, dialing her dad's number.
Her father, of course, sounded distracted. "H-hey, MK! Sorry to keep you waiting-!"
"Dad," the girl responded hoarsely "When are you getting home? I'm lonely here..."
"I'm so sorry, sweetie! I'll be there very soon, I promise! And I'll have your gift! I just need to finish looking at-!"
MK snorted. "Right. Whatever. See you later dad." And she hung up without even bothering to listen to his response.
She sighed, both in depression and in anger, and just continued staring idly at her phone. The contacts list had popped up after she had hung up with her dad, revealing the names of all her school friends, and for a moment her finger hovered hesitantly over Anna's name.
For a moment she just considered throwing the family Christmas thing in the toilet this year and just spending the day with her friends, but as she stared at her contacts list she could help but frown. Everyone's probably having their own family Christmas right now...she thought. Anna's probably hanging out with Elsa, Rapunzel's probably with her parents, Mavis is with her dad..
MK sighed again and continued scrolling. She'd have to be a total asshole to interrupt someone else's Christmas with her pleas for pity.
She glanced at the clock again. Forty minutes had passed, and she was getting impatient. She continued scrolling on her phone when she finally spotted Once-ler's name.
MK frowned. Once-ler hasn't talked about his family since the incident when they'd all gone over to his house, but it would be kind of rude to assume that he wasn't spending time with them on Christmas Eve, right...?
Nevertheless, she was upset and lonely, and he was the one who was most likely to be available, at least to just be someone to talk to...
Sighing for the billionth time, MK gave in and tapped on his name, leaning back as she listened to the phone ring. "God, I'm so pathetic..." she murmured.
"Ah...hello?" He answered, sounding a little unnerved.
"Uh...hi, Oncie," she responded, feeling suddenly awkward in this situation. "What's up?"
"Eh, not much. You?"
"Eh. Are you doing anything right now?"
"Just checking thneed sales, heh."
"Oh yeah. How's that going?"
He simply snorted on the other end, and MK nodded in understanding.
"Right, so uh...I know this sounds sort of weird, but you wanna just, I don't know, hang out?"
There was silence on the other line for a long time, before he finally sputtered, "H-huh...?"
Wait. Shit. MK thought as she mentally slapped herself. That almost sounds like I'm asking him out! Ugh! "N-no," she stammered. "It's not what it sounds like, I just...ugh..." She placed a hand on her face and muttered incoherently, all while Once-ler was probably just sitting there in total confusion.
"Look, my dad just ran out and left me by myself," she finally admitted. "I was gonna call someone else, but they're all with their families, and you're the only one who...uh, well...doesn't have..." she trailed off. Where was she trying to go with this again...?
"Doesn't have a family?" He finished for her, and she could practically hear him smirking over the phone.
"No, that's not what I...agh, forget it. Sorry I called, I'm probably just bothering you..."
"No, no, I get it," he responded. "I'm not really doing anything here anyway. Not really sure what you wanna do, though. Maybe, we could...I don't know, get some ice cream, and...talk or something?"
At the mention of ice cream, MK felt the tiniest glimmer of happiness spark in her chest. "Ice cream?" she asked. "In the middle of winter?"
"Hey, I work at that place near your house, remember? I can get some good discounts!"
MK snorted. "Oh yeah, nothing like eating frozen treats in snowy weather just to save a couple of bucks, right?"
"Hey, ouch," Once-ler replied. "Never mind then, sheesh."
"I'm just kidding. Ice creams sounds fine."
"Oh, ok. Meet you there?"
"Sure, see ya."
They hung up, but MK sat in her bed a moment longer. This is probably gonna be reeeeeaaaal awkward, the girl thought. She and Once-ler weren't particularly close, and hanging out with him without the rest of their gang would just be weird. But hey, anything was better than this crappy situation.
With that in mind, MK finally pushed herself off her bed and walked draggedly over to her closet. She put on that purple parka she'd become so fond of and put it on, heading down the stairs as she did so. As she passed by her dad's study, MK paused and wrote him a quick note, before stopping to look at her face in his monitors. She wouldn't want her friend to see that she'd been crying and then keep nagging her about why. She was trying to get away from her grief, thank you very much.
MK made sure to lock the house as she left, and then began heading down to where the ice cream shop was. She was tempted to walk slowly because of her mood, but it was too cold, and she eventually found herself hurrying, much to her own annoyance.
Eventually, MK got to the shop and breathed a sigh of relief, taking in both the warmth and the sweet smell of ice cream coming from the counter. Once-ler hadn't seemed to arrive yet, so she sat at a table to wait.
Just as she was about to start daydreaming, her phone began to buzz, and MK was surprised to see that she was getting a call from Anna. Curiously, she put the phone to her ear and answered. "Uh...hello?"
"Hi, MK!" Anna chirped, perky as always. "How are you?"
"I'm...okay," she replied. "What's going on with you?"
"I'm good! The gang and I were just heading to the park to like, hang out in the snow and stuff. You wanna come?"
MK felt her jaw drop, both out of surprise and annoyance. "Wait, what? But….aren't you hanging out with Elsa?"
"No, why?"
"I just...since it's Christmas Eve and and all, I thought that was a family thing."
"Oh no, that's Christmas Day," Anna responded matter-of-factly, "We do that, you know, so it's one day for the friends and one day for the family...but, uh, if you're busy spending time with your dad, that's cool too-"
"No, actually," MK babbled, feeling a tiny grin of relief cross her face. "I'm not really doing anything. I just thought everyone was busy with family and stuff, so I just called up Oncie and we were gonna just hang out and stuff-" she stopped abruptly. Dammit, why did she always babble like this to Anna?
As expected, there was a surprised silence on the other end before Anna sputtered, "Wait, with Oncie? A-are you guys, like, dating or something? Why didn't you tell me?"
MK gave a frustrated sigh. Of course Anna would jump right to that conclusion. Why had she mentioned this to her? "No, Anna, we're not dating. Or anything close to that. We were just bored, that's all."
"You sure? I don't wanna be interrupting anything…"
"You're not, trust me. Just get that out of your head. I'll meet you at the park in five."
"Okay then. I'll call Oncie. See you there!"
MK nodded as she hung up and got ready to go. A few minutes later, she finally headed back into the cold, and lo and behold, there was Once-ler coming up the block toward the store.
MK smiled politely at him. "Hey," she greeted. "Did Anna call you?"
Once-ler rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he replied with a smirk. "Can you believe her? She's like the master of last-minute stuff."
"Last minute? But she said you guys always hang out on Christmas Eve."
"What?" Once-ler questioned, as they started walking together.
"I don't know, she said something about how Christmas Eve is for the friends and Christmas Day is for the family…"
"She literally just made that up. Or else they've been having fun on Christmas Eve every year without me, I don't know."
"Aw, that's mean." MK smirked back, glad this little conversation wasn't as awkward as she had expected.
"Typical of them," he continued joking. "Kinda sucks, though, I mean I was looking forward to getting discounts on that ice cream."
"Seriously? You can get discounts whenever you want!"
"I'm kidding," he snickered. "Hey, you know Anna thought we were going on a date?"
"Ugh, don't even bring that up."
"Ow,ok." Once-ler replied with a laugh, "Rejecting me like that. What is with you today?"
MK gave another snort, and luckily they arrived at the park before they could speak more on the subject.
Once-ler suddenly perked up when he saw three familiar figures in the distance. "Look, there's Jack," he pointed out, before bending down and scooping up some snow in his hands.
MK rolled her eyes. "Really?"
"Don't tell him," her friend smirked again, hiding the freshly made snowball behind his back.
Anna, Rapunzel, and Jack appeared to be the only ones there at the moment, and Jack also gave a grin when he saw the two of them approaching.
"Oooooh," the white-haired boy cooed. "Look, they arrived together. How cute."
In response, Once-ler threw his hidden snowball right at Jack's chest, causing the other boy to gasp in pain and shock...and then proceed to attack him with his own batch of snowballs.
Meanwhile, Anna's eyes darted suspiciously between MK and Once-ler, although, MK noted, with much less enthusiasm than when she saw Once-ler with Audrey.
"Hey MK!" Rapunzel greeted at last, while the two boys continued chasing each other in the background.
"Hi," MK replied. "I didn't know you guys would be hanging out today, it would have saved me all that time I spent at home by myself…"
"Awwww," Anna cooed sadly. "But don't worry, you're with us now!"
Behind them, Jack had apparently won the snowball fight (while Once-ler pouted) and was currently patting himself on the back for it. "Jack wins again!" he declared. "Hey who wants to go sled racing?"
"I'll race you down the hill," Once-ler replied, and the two of them ran up the hill, dragging along two tiny sleds that the group had apparently brought along.
Jack jogged giddily up the hill like a little kid, and the cold winter air didn't stop him from shouting "Snow daaaay!" at the top of his lungs, loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood.
MK raised an eyebrow. "Wow, he's...excited."
"Jack...likes snow," Anna replied simply.
MK nodded. "Right. I kinda wanna try sled racing though. Never tried it before."
The other girls nodded and left to do something else, while MK hurriedly followed the boys up the hill. Maybe a bit of adrenaline would be enough to kick away that last bit of depression she was still feeling. "Hey!" she called. "You guys got another sled?"
The boys paused and allowed her to catch up to them, before they started setting up their sleds to go down. "No," Jack replied. "But hey, maybe you and I could tag-team against Long Legs here."
Once-ler sat down on his small sled and shot an arrogant smirk at the two of them. "Aw come on, Jack, don't make her sit on the losing sled. Just how mean are you?"
"You mean the all-time kickass winner sled," Jack shot back. "Don't listen to him, MK, just sit down behind me."
MK walked over to where he was indicating, then remembered something and paused with a snicker. "What, here? Isn't that Mavis' spot?"
Jack looked confused for a moment, before quickly understanding and turning red while Once-ler began barking with laughter.
"Oh yeah," the taller boy added. "I forgot you and Mavis had that romantic sled ride last year. Wouldn't want to ruin that, would we?"
"Haha," Jack spat at them. "Getting back at me for teasing you earlier, I get it. Well, if you think it's so romantic, then why don't the two of you sit together?"
Without missing a beat, Once-ler suddenly pushed his sled down the hill. "Going down," he announced. "See you, losers!"
"Hey!" Jack screamed. "You fricking cheater! Get on, MK!" He grabbed her arm and made her sit down on the sled, barely giving her a chance to get settled before he took off. MK started screaming in spite of herself. This hill was steeper than she'd thought!
"Sorry, you guys were too slow!" Once-ler called as he raced down.
"Yeah, well, guess what?" Jack shot back. "I've got more weight on my sled! Should've thought that through!"
With the speed and the bad position that MK was sitting in, she barely even noticed that they had caught up to Once-ler and had even passed him. Of course, she didn't really care at the moment, especially when the sled finally stopped and she found herself falling face-first into the snow.
"Ow," she mumbled into the cold white blanket, as she heard two pairs of anxious footsteps behind her.
"Are you okay?" Jack's voice called. "You just, like, flew off!"
"That was your fault, Jack," Once-ler replied.
MK let out a giggle or two as she sat up. "I'm fine guys," she told them. "But I think I'm done sled racing for now."
The two boys nodded in understanding as Once-ler gave another smirk. "Well that's fine, cause Jack's regular partner is here anyway," he pointed over to Mavis, who had just arrived and was heading toward them enthusiastically.
Jack rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
"Hey!" Mavis called as she hurried over. "You guys sled racing without me? How dare you!"
"Jack's fault," Once-ler said again.
"Why is fricking everything my fault?!"
"Because it is."
MK laughed and shook her head, leaving the three of them to their antics. Idly, she walked over to where Anna and Rapunzel were hanging out, wiping the last bits of snow off her face as she went.
"Hey MK!" said Anna as she saw her approaching. "You wanna build a snowmaaaan?"
MK grinned as she watched Anna struggle to mush some snow together, their snowman apparently not making much progress. "Sure, I'll help," she replied, gathering up some snow herself. She soon realized that building a snowman was not as easy as it looked on TV. It would take her a while before she got used to this snow stuff…
The three girls continued in a rather uncharacteristic silence, while the sledders continued whooping in the background. Finally, Rapunzel spoke up. "So...how's your life been going, MK?"
"My life?" MK looked up at them curiously, noting the slightly concerned smiles on their faces. She shrugged. "It...it's not bad, I guess. Doing good."
"Having a good Christmas Eve so far?"
MK hesitated, speaking slowly. "Um...yeah, actually. Now that I'm with you guys, it's going pretty well." She frowned for a moment, wondering if she should go into more detail about that morning. After another long pause, she spoke again, choosing her words carefully. "I-it's just...sigh...my dad suddenly decided that he had some work to do, and just...ran off."
Anna and Rapunzel shared a concerned glance, then turned back to MK. "Really?" Rapunzel asked her, and MK swore she almost detected a hint of disgust in her voice. "So...is your dad like a workaholic or something?" She stopped, mulling over her words."I-I mean, not meaning to pry, or anything…"
"Um, we were just thinking about what you said earlier," Anna finally explained. "You said something about spending the day by yourself, and...well, we just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."
MK couldn't help but smile. Sure, her life had been a little crappy as of late, but with amazing friends like these, it was hard to dwell on it.
"You don't have to share anything if you're not comfortable…" Anna continued babbling. "It's just, you know…"
"I get it," MK told her. "I'm not uncomfortable, I'm just not sure how to put it...he's...he's not really a workaholic, he's just...kinda ditzy and easily distracted. He's trying, though, I mean, he's really trying. He's not neglecting me or anything, he gives me enough to eat, he tries to...uh, talk, sometimes, he just doesn't know what I like to talk about so he just talks about birds and all that stuff he's interested in, and then…" she frowned. "Then something will happen with his...er, job, and suddenly he becomes way more absorbed in it than he is in talking to me...I don't know. I have no idea what his deal is."
MK paused in her rambling, while her two friends patiently listened. She took a deep breath and continued, more quietly. ""I-I was hoping that we could connect a little today, and...well, he seemed into it too, but then...he found some work to do, and then just disappeared. He said something about getting me a Christmas gift too, but well, then he was gone for an hour when he said it would just be a few minutes, so...I don't know, I just got bored." And cried for half the time, she added silently. She gave another sigh. "It's just...I don't know, it's hard for both of us, I guess…"
Rapunzel reached over their half-assed snowman and squeezed MK's hand affectionately. "Well, that's why we're here," she told her softly. "We'll help you in any way we can."
MK smiled widely at her friend, fighting back tears of joy. "Th-thanks, guys."
"No problem," Anna replied, with an equally affectionate smile. "Anytime, MK."
With that, the three girls ended their conversation and finally stepped back to look at their snowman. "There! Finished!" Anna declared. "Isn't he beautiful."
MK snicked as she took in their deformed snowman. ""What the heck happened to its head?"
"I think something happened to him in the process," Rapunzel giggled.
"Aw, come on!" Anna retorted with a pout. "He's beautiful, you guys! I'm gonna call him Olaf!"
"Why Olaf?"
"Cause it sounds cool, that's why!" Anna ran over to take a picture with her snowman, then suddenly perked up. "Oh, hey, look the rest of the gang is here!"
MK turned to see Merida, Hiccup, and Norma headed in their direction and waving.
"Hi guys!" Anna called out to them. "What do you think of our snowman? His name is Olaf!"
Hiccup looked the deformed snowman up and down, giving a half-assed grin. "Oh, yeah. Beautiful. He's...definitely a masterpiece."
"See? I told you guys he was beautiful!"
Merida wasted no time and quickly ran to where Jack, Once-ler and Mavis were playing. "Oi! Ye guys sled racin'? When can I have a turn?"
Norma and Hiccup followed her, while Norma caught a stray falling snowflake on her tongue. "Guys, it's snowing!" she cried.
"Sweet!" Jack cried. "Now we won't have to sled in this muddy old snow anymore!"
"You guys know it's supposed to snow really hard later?" Hiccup announced. "Like, really hard?"
"Well, is it later right now, Hiccup?" Jack shot at him. "No, it's not, so quit sucking up all the fun!"
"Seriously? Well, fine, then, sorry for not wanting us to all freeze in a blizzard or something."
Merida was completely ignoring all this. "Hey, who wants to have a snowball fight?"
Hiccup frowned at her in confusion. "What, are you gonna do sled racing or a snowball fight? Make up your mind!"
Merida just threw a snowball at him.
MK giggled as she watched them all go, catching a few cold snowflakes on her tongue.
"C'mon, let's go join them," Anna declared, as the three girls headed toward the craziness.
The snow continued falling harder, and the giant group of friends continued throwing snowballs, arguing, and laughing for who knows how long. MK more or less forgot about the time, as well as her previous sadness, as she continued having fun with her friends. She even got to go through the oh-so-tragically fun "snowball hit me in the wrong spot and now it's seeping down my shirt" experience (which many of her friends simply congratulated her for). All in all, this was shaping to be a pretty good Christmas Eve...that is, until Hiccup's prediction came true.
"Geez, it's getting hella windy out here," Mavis mused, shielding her face from the snow and looking up at the gathering clouds.
Everyone slowly stopped throwing snowballs and pulled their hoods on, especially MK. "Hey Hiccup," Norma said, "Is this the really hard snowing you were talking about?"
"Y-yeah, but...it seems a little bigger than I expected…"
MK's eyes grew wide with her typical paranoia. "Sh-should we get inside?" she asked. "What if it's a blizzard?"
She was expecting them to laugh and tell her not to worry, but instead, they all cast concerned looks at each other. "You're right," Rapunzel declared. "Let's get inside."
"There's a store right down the street!" Merida called out. "Let's go!"
The friends trudged through the snow as the storm grew stronger by the second. MK tugged at her jacket (it didn't help that she still had a melted snowball down her shirt) and huddled close to Anna for warmth.
Eventually, all nine of them made it down the street and piled into the large department store with a sigh of relief. The store was full of people, all of whom were probably in the same situation as them.
They closed the door, each of them removing their jackets and murmuring. Once-ler tore himself away from the group and pressed his nose to the window. "Oh, no…" he groaned. "Not a blizzard, my car is parked outside! What am I gonna do?"
"Sorry bro," said Jack. "Looks like it's gonna freeze."
"Thanks for your reassurance."
"Hiccup, didn't you watch the weather report?" Norma snapped. "Why didn't you tell us there'd be a blizzard?"
"Hey, they didn't say it would be a blizzard!" Hiccup defended. "They just said heavy snowfall! This just came right out of nowhere!"
"Man, I hope nobody's stuck out there…Rapunzel worried, looking out the window.
"Who knows how long we'll be stuck in here," Jack grumbled.
"I'd better call my dad…" said Mavis, pulling out her phone. Rapunzel did the same.
MK just stood there, not knowing what to do. Usually she was the only one who was anxious about snowy weather, but now her friends were anxious too...which just made her even more anxious. Sighing, she took off her jacket, allowing the warmth inside the store to relax her and finally relieve her of that snowball.
"H-hey, cheer up, you guys," Anna told them, ever the optimist. "At least we're all snowed in together, right? Maybe we could all go shopping!"
"Yay," Merida responded sarcastically.
Anna simply kept moving, unphased. "No, seriously, guys, if we're gonna wait this blizzard out, we should at least have-" she stopped, suddenly perking up with a smile and doing that familiar excited bounce of hers. "Oh my gosh! Guys, look! Look who's here!"
The others looked confused. "What? Who?"
Anna simply ignored them and cupped her mouth with her hands. "Tadashi! Hiro!" she cried.
The boys in question turned around at the sound of them names, and their reactions couldn't have been more different. Tadashi smiled widely and gave Anna a wave, while Hiro's eyes widened in dismay and he attempted to pull his brother's arm in the other direction. Unfortunately for him, Tadashi was stronger.
"Hey!" Tadashi greeted good-naturedly. "Good to see you! Anna, right?"
"Yep, that's me!" she replied with a grin. "Did you guys get caught out in the blizzard too?"
"Actually we were just going to go outside-guess that's not gonna be happening now, huh?"
"Yeah, we're probably gonna be-" she was interrupted by an urgent dinging on her phone, and she pulled it out to show the two. "Ha, see, look at that! Blizzard advisory on my phone. We're definitely gonna be stuck in here."
"Oh, hey!" another feminine voice called out. "Aren't you that girl from the tour?"
Anna turned her head in confusion to look past Hiro's annoyed face, seeing that the brothers apparently weren't alone-their whole gang of friends was with them. Anna brightened up when she recognized the tour guide from her college tour with Rapunzel.
"Yeah!" Anna responded. "You're...uh, Honey Lemon, right?"
Honey Lemon giggled and nodded, while virtually everyone else just stood there in befuddlement.
"Oi, Anna," Merida called out from behind her. "Do ye like, know everyone on the planet or somethin'?"
Anna turned to her friends distractedly. "Oh, sorry guys, Lemme introduce you-" she pointed to Hiro and the large group of college students with him. "This is Hiro, Tadashi, Honey Lemon, and uh, lemme see if I can remember...GoGo, Wasabi, and...Fred the school mascot!"
The last three seemed impressed that she had remembered them, and Fred pumped his fist in the air. "Yup!"
Anna smiled proudly and continued. "I, by the way, am Anna, that's my cousin Rapunzel on the phone, and this is MK, Jack, Mavis, Oncie, Hiccup, Merida, and Norma!" she pointed to each of her friends as she said their names, standing tall and proud when she was done.
"Wow, that's great," said Wasabi. "Do you mind repeating all that? Cause I didn't get any of it."
"Fricking heck, bro, you are tall," Fred suddenly piped up, looking Once-ler up and down. "Do you get that a lot?"
Once-ler smirked. "Yep, all the time."
"Hey Honey," said Fred, turning to his friend. "I think this guy may even be taller than you."
"Someone taller than Honey Lemon?" Tadashi repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Surely you jest."
Honey Lemon burst into giggles for no apparent reason, before standing up to her full height. "Well, let's just see who's taller then, shall we?" She walked over and started to stand next to him while Once-ler, used to these games by now, just grinned as she walked over.
"Hey wait!" Jack suddenly cut in. "She's wearing heels! Take them off!"
Honey rolled her eyes and obliged, with some snickers in the background, before standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Once-ler.
"Dammit, Once-ler!" Hiccup burst out, while everyone else just laughed. Honey Lemon was the tallest girl that MK had ever seen, but despite that, Once-ler was still several inches taller.
"No way!" Honey Lemon said with a laugh. "How could you be taller than me, you're in high school!"
"Oh, and look!" Fred burst out again, pointing to Norma. "Someone's shorter than GoGo, too!" Check it out, GoGo, someone's shorter than you!"
GoGo looked Norma up and down before shrugging and simply popping a bubblegum bubble, but MK swore she saw her eyes light up a little with glee. Norma, meanwhile, just pouted.
"It's ok, Norma," said Rapunzel, who had finally gotten off the phone with her parents. "Small is cute."
"And fun-sized," said Fred, patting Norma on the head. "That's what I always say to GoGo."
"And we don't like it," GoGo snapped, popping another bubble.
"You don't?"
MK giggled and stood by as the two friend groups slowly molded together and made small talk with one another. It was amazing how people could just click with each other so quickly. And of course, Anna had been the one to start it. Why couldn't she have a talent like that?
Meanwhile, Honey Lemon put her heels back on and was standing next to Tadashi, still giggling a little. "They're so cute," she told him. "Were we like that in high school?"
"Not me," Tadashi answered her with a chuckle. "I was the most un-cute thing in the world when I was in high school."
"Don't be silly, 'Dashi, you're super cute."
Tadashi blushed and looked at the ground. "Nahhh, you're cute."
"Ok, we get it, you're dating!" Hiro butt in. "You don't have to get all gross in front of everyone!"
Honey Lemon laughed and Tadashi was about to retort, but he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Curiously, he pulled it out and sighed. "Aunt Cass,"
Hiro grinned for the first time since they'd been there. "Oh, right. Probably calling to make sure we're not frozen to death."
Tadashi rolled his eyes and answered.
This prompted Honey Lemon to pull out her own phone. "That's right, I should call my parents too...let them know I'm in here…"
Rapunzel nodded. "Oh yeah, in case the phone lines go out."
"I'd better call Elsa…" Anna mumbled, following suit.
A murmur rose amongst their group as several of them pulled out their phones to call their families. MK simply stood there and frowned. Oh yeah, can't believe we forgot, she thought to herself. Guess we got so caught up in meeting those college kids...I wonder if there's even any use in calling dad, he probably won't answer. He's probably still outside looking for Leafmen on-holy shit! Her eyes widened at the realization. He's probably still outside!
Fumbling around in her pockets, MK whipped out her phone and shakily stepped aside to call her father. "Come on dad, pick up the phone…" she whispered as she listened to the ringing.
The answering machine picked up. "Hello, you have reached the mobile device of Professor Bomba! I'm not able to answer right now, so please leave your name and number after the beep. Thanks!"
MK cursed under her breath as the beep sounded. "Hey dad, it's me! Where are you, there's a blizzard outside! I'm inside a store with my friends, so please call me back before the phone lines go out! I'm gonna call the house phone, okay?"
She hung up and quickly scrolled to the number of her house phone, silently praying that her fear was for nothing. Unfortunately, nobody answered that phone either. "Hello, you have reached the home of Professor Bomba and Mary Katherine! Please leave your name and number after the beep, thanks!"
"Dad, are you home? Please pick up the phone!"
Nothing.
MK hung up again and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. It's ok, she thought to herself. The snow isn't deadly or anything right now, he still has time to make it back, right? Right?"
She sent a text to her dad. Dad, please call me when you get this text, okay?
MK stood there, staring at her phone for a second, hoping to find some sign that her dad was texting back. But there was nothing. Anxiously, she looked up from her phone and watched her friends as they were having their own conversations.
"No, Elsa," Anna said into her phone. "You're not going into the blizzard to come get me, it's way too cold and snowy out there…" A pause, then she spoke again. "I don't care if the cold doesn't bother you, just stay put! I told you, I'm fine…"
MK turned away from Anna and let her gaze fall on Jack and Once-ler.
"Look at this," Once-ler said to his friend, "My uncle knows that his only nephew may be freezing to death outside, and he he just texts me like, 'where r u.' And then I tell him I'm fine and he's like, 'ok.' End of conversation."
"Well, at least he's not nagging," Jack responded, as he stood listening to his mother (and probably siblings) ramble away on the other end.
MK scanned the crowd once more, trying to distract herself from her angst, and took in what her friends were doing. Hiccup was speaking to his father, Merida with her parents, Rapunzel and Mavis had already finished their calls and were chatting, and Tadashi was still talking to his Aunt Cass. MK's gaze shifted over to Hiro, who wasn't talking to anyone, but sitting next to GoGo.
The boy was fidgeting nervously, she noticed. "So, uh…" he was saying. "You're not gonna call anyone, GoGo?"
"Already did," GoGo replied simply.
"Whoa, uh...that was fast."
"I'm always fast."
Hiro simply looked down, as if trying to figure out what to say to her next, but MK wasn't paying attention anymore. She was once again looking at her phone, but her dad hadn't responded at all.
Panic rose in her chest. The snow and wind were getting stronger by the second. What if her dad hadn't made it home? What if he was hurt? Or worse…
MK shook her head, trying not to let herself think this way. No. This couldn't happen. She couldn't lose...tears formed in her eyes when the thought finally became clear in her mind. She couldn't lose another parent.
MK began furiously typing away at her keyboard, sending text after text after text, and also trying a few more calls, but her dad was unresponsive. She was so engulfed in this that she didn't even notice the power go out and the store switch to its emergency backup went on for about twenty minutes, and by that time the rest of them had already finished and were moving on.
"MK!" Anna called to her. "We're gonna play a game, are you coming?"
"H-hang on," she replied, sending yet another text.
After about a few more minutes, the texts stopped sending. Her calls wouldn't go through. The phone lines in her area had finally gone out. MK felt the tears sting her eyes. No, this couldn't be happening. He had to be okay, he had to.
The others were all sitting in a circle, making small talk about high school, college, the holidays,and life in general. But MK was simply standing by the window, dazed. She hadn't been able to reach her father. She had no idea if he was ok or not. This had to be a nightmare...it just had to be…
Dazed, MK wandered over to the windowsill, where there was a place to sit down. She sat staring out the window at the snow, then tore her gaze away when she realized that it was making her feel sick. She pulled out her phone once more and sent another text, even though she knew it wouldn't go through. Like a robot, she just kept texting away, not even noticing that her tears were falling onto the phone's screen.
"MK?"
MK snapped out of her trance and looked up to see Anna, who had left the circle and was walking slowly toward her. The others were still sitting on the ground, talking quietly amongst themselves and stealing quick, worried glances at MK.
MK looked downward in shame as Anna sat down next to her. "What's the matter?" her friend asked gently.
MK wiped the tears from her eyes (and her phone) and held back another choke. "U-um…" she began, barely audible over the chatter in the store. "M-my dad...didn't pick up his phone...or...answer my texts...I tried like fifty times…"
Anna's eyes went wide and she was quiet. Behind her, Rapunzel was standing up and also making her way over.
MK continued. "H-he, um...he likes to...be outside a lot, I-I'm not sure...he didn't answer, I don't know if…" A small sob escaped her lips, and Anna suddenly engulfed her in a big hug.
"D-don't worry," Anna whispered. "I'm sure he's okay. He probably got someone to help him, o-or...got into a building like us…"
"It's still possible for him to get somewhere if he hasn't…" Rapunzel added, trying to make her friend feel better. "I-I mean...if he's a nature guy like you said, then he would've recognized that it's a blizzard, and gone inside, right?"
MK didn't feel any better and just cried some more into Anna's jacket. "Then why didn't her answer?" she snapped.
"Maybe he didn't hear his phone?"
MK just let out an anguished groan, not caring what the others thought of her now.
"It's okay…." Anna repeated. "Everything will be okay, MK…"
"He'd better be okay," MK snapped again. "He's so irresponsible, he might die out there…"
"He won't die."
"He'd better not!" she almost yelled. "I-I can't...can't lose him now, I've already lost Mom…" MK stopped, realizing what she had just said, and suddenly all those sad thoughts from earlier this morning came flooding back. Anna hugged her tighter and Rapunzel joined in, and she just finally let loose and started crying, her two friends trying and failing the whole time to reassure her.
The circle of friends that had been left behind courteously turned away, their jolly mood from earlier suddenly gone. They exchanged nervous looks with one another, wondering if they should start talking about something else or just wait. Jack played nervously with his staff, Once-ler leaned against the wall and stared up, apparently in deep thought, Honey Lemon and Merida were playing around with their hair, Hiro stared at his feet, and everyone else just nervously looked around. The only one who wasn't actively trying to avoid the scene by the window was Tadashi, who kept alternating between looking over at the girls and just staring down at the floor, much like his brother.
Finally, MK's sniffles died down a little, and Tadashi leaned over to Honey Lemon, who was sitting next to him. "Do you have some tissues or something in your bag?" he whispered.
Honey looked over at him in confusion, but nodded.
"Ok," Tadashi said simply, then proceeded to stand up and head over to the window.
Honey Lemon and Hiro looked at each other in surprise, then they both got up to follow him. Honey seemed to figure out halfway through what she was supposed to do, and dug out some tissues from her bag.
As they left, everyone in the circle decided it was okay to talk and they quietly began chattering amongst each other again. Jack poked Once-ler with his stick. "What's with you?" he asked.
Once-ler didn't look at him and just stared at the ceiling. "Must be nice," he mumbled. "Having a family to be so close to and worry about."
Jack stared at him with a frown. "Didn't you say she called you earlier cause she didn't have a family to be with?"
Once-ler glared at the ceiling. "Hmph."
Meanwhile, at the window, MK finally pulled away from Anna and Rapunzel's embrace, only to hear a few pair of footsteps approaching them. She looked up to see Tadashi, Honey, and Hiro headed over, stopping slightly in the middle as if they were ashamed at having been caught.
Tadashi cleared his throat and gave MK an awkward, but kind, smile, as did Honey Lemon.
"Hey," Tadashi began, putting his hands in his pocket. "I, um...I know this is none of my business, but...I heard what you said, and…"
"Oh," MK replied, looking down. "D-don't worry about me, I just...you know…"
Honey Lemon quickly handed the tissues in her hand to MK, who accepted them gratefully, as Tadashi sighed and took a step toward her.
"Look," the older boy began. "I know this is weird, since we don't really know each other, but...if it means anything, I've been in your shoes before. Is...is it the first Christmas?"
MK looked down and nodded, and he took this as permission to go ahead and sit down next to her. "Yeah, first Christmas isn't easy," he continued solemnly, making Anna nod her head in agreement. "I remember mine, it didn't feel anything remotely close to Christmas. I kept telling myself to get into the spirit of it, cause that's what they would have wanted, but...well, I couldn't."
He paused for a moment, staring straight ahead and frowning, and MK stared right along with him.
"...My dad and I haven't really been getting along," MK finally responded. "I'd been hoping to connect with him a little, but he just put his work first again…" she sighed. "I hope he's ok, but...even if he is, what's the point? It'll never be the same again."
"No, it won't be the same," Tadashi agreed. "But it'll be okay. Your dad will be fine, and I'm telling you, things will get better," he looked to her with a reassuring smile. "Trust me."
MK pressed her lips together and stared back at him, this guy she barely even knew, and somehow felt herself feeling more hopeful. Tadashi had no power over the storm, or where her dad was at the moment, and had no idea what the outcome of the situation would be, but...something about his words just made her smile right back.
"Y-yeah…" she murmured. "I-I hope you're right." She paused. "Th-thanks, Tadashi. That, uh...was real nice of you."
He smiled. "I do what I can." He cracked a smile. "Oh, and for the record, my Aunt Cass and I didn't get along too well at first either…"
Hiro, who had been quiet this whole time, let out a tiny chuckle. "Tadashi was emo as hell when we first moved in," he blabbed. "I was only three, but I remember. He was a jerk."
Tadashi let out a snort. "Yeah, I was," he agreed. "It...it really sucked. But you know what? That got better too."
MK nodded at the floor. "Yeah, you're probably right," she said. "I just...hope I get the chance."
Tadashi placed a firm hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and Honey Lemon reached over to gently give her hand a squeeze. Anna never left her side, squeezing her othe rhand the whole time. Sure, these three couldn't do anything about this, but having them here by her side made MK feel comforted, as much as she could be in this situation.
There was a moment of silence before Rapunzel spoke. "Well...I guess all we can do now is wait out this storm."
"Yeah, we should...probably do something to pass the time…" MK agreed, taking another anxious glance out the window.
"Hey guys!" Anna called out, getting the attention of the friends still sitting on the floor. "Get over here, let's do something!"
The group picked themselves up and reformed their circle around the window, still looking a little melancholy. "Everything okay?" Jack asked curiously.
"For now," said MK. "At least until the storm is over…"
"Let's play a game," Honey Lemon suggested. "What do you guys think?"
GoGo spoke up. "Truth or Dare?"
"Yessssss!" Jack cried.
"No, absolutely not!" Wasabi countered, earning a groan from his friends.
"Why not, Wasabi?" Fred whined. "You're such a part pooper."
Wasabi shot him an annoyed glare. "No, I've played that game with you guys way too many times, and I'm sick of it. You're always making me do and say the stupidest things, and knowing you, Fred, you're gonna dare me to kiss the tall guy over there-" he pointed to Once-ler, "-and I'm not up for that."
Once-ler feigned a hurt expression. "Aw man, I'm getting rejected left and right today, what's going on?"
The others snickered. "Well hey, Oncie, if you like kissing people so much, we can play Spin the Bottle," said Mavis.
Wasabi threw his hands in the air. "That's even worse!"
"We don't even have a bottle!" Norma added in, as the others just burst into laughter.
MK managed a small grin, but continued squeezing Anna's hand.
"Ok, fine, no game," Tadashi said. "How about we, uh…"
"Sing Christmas charols?" Honey Lemon finished for him, clapping her hands excitedly.
Fred perked up at this suggestion. "Oh, yeah! GoGo can sing for us! Right GoGo?"
GoGo popped a bubble and shot him a glare. "No way," she said simply.
"Oh, but you have such a beautiful voice!" Honey begged. "Just one song, pleeeeease?"
GoGo shook her head.
"Pleeeease?" Honey begged again, as the others stared on curiously.
GoGo murmured something under her breath before finally giving in. "Fine. But just one song, okay?"
"Yes!" Honey cheered, taking her seat in the circle. Tadashi gave MK a pat on the back before moving to the floor to sit beside his girlfriend.
"Any suggestions?" asked Honey.
MK hesitated for a moment, before softly speaking up. "Um...do you know 'Grown-up Christmas List?'"
GoGo looked at her curiously, then nodded. "Yeah, I know that one…"
"I love that one!" said Rapunzel, sitting on the floor as well.
"Stand up, GoGo!" Jack called.
"No," GoGo responded without even glancing at him. She instead sat up straight and cleared her throat, signaling for everyone to be quiet. MK gulped.
"Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee,
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies…"
Honey was right. GoGo did have a beautiful voice. MK looked around and noticed her friends closing her eyes and swaying to the song. GoGo continued singing.
"Well I'm all grown up now,
Can you still help somehow?
I'm not a child, but my heart still can dream…"
MK felt the bittersweet memories of her mother coming back, reminding her of the times they had together, every Christmas. She closed her eyes, allowing a stray tear to move down her cheek, and listened to every note that GoGo sung.
"So, here's my lifelong wish,
My grown-up Christmas list.
Not for myself, but for a world in need…"
Here comes her favorite part. MK hated to cut in on GoGo's lovely singing, but she couldn't help herself. As she got to the chorus, MK began to hum along, even harmonizing a little, but so quietly that only Anna could hear.
"No more lives torn apart,
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts…
Every man would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end…"
MK felt a small smile cross her lips.
"This is my grown-up Christmas list.
This is my only lifelong wish.
This is my grown-up...Christmas List…."
The song ended with a lovely high note from GoGo, and immediately the whole group-along with some other people in the store-burst into applause. GoGo leaned back, looking downward in embarrassment. She wasn't used to so much attention in public, and it didn't help that Hiro was staring at her like she was some kind of Christmas angel.
MK clapped along, still smiling, and turned to look out the window, toward the sky. Did you hear that, Mom? she found herself thinking. Your favorite song… The girl sighed contentedly, holding onto the lovely memories of her mother for a few moments longer. It was true, things would never be the same without her again, but at the very least, her mom was still with her in some way.
Now all that was left to worry about...was her dad's safety…
The applause soon died down and Anna took the stage. "Ok, time for a group sing-along!" she announced, earning groans from some and whoops from others. "How about Jingle Bell Rock,' everyone?"
"Overplayed!" Once-ler called.
Anna stuck out a tongue at him. "Ok, fine, Mr. Hipster. I've got a whole list of songs for you to choose from, then! 'Santa Baby?' 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?' Is anyone here Jewish? I know a good Chanukah song!"
"You do?" asked Rapunzel.
In response, Anna began singing loudly...or rather, screaming out the words. "BOM BIDDI BOM BIDDI BIDDI BIDDI BOM, BIDDI BOM BIDDI BIDDI BIDDI BOM!"
The others put their hands over their ears and groaned. "What happened, Anna?" Norma yelled. "You used to be a good singer!"
"Can we go back to GoGo?" Mavis suggested.
They continued talking and laughing like this for the next twenty minutes or so, exchanging phone numbers with Hiro and the college kids as they went. MK got a few shallow chuckles here and there, all while continuing to take nervous glances out the window. To the others, this was a lot of fun, but to her, it seemed like forever…
Eventually, the snow did stop and the weather cleared up, but they still had to stay for about another hour while the snow was cleared away from the door. Needless to say, MK was getting more anxious by the second. As soon as the door was opened, people began filing nervously out of the store, and MK simply bolted out after them.
"I've gotta go!" she called behind her. "I'm heading back home!"
"Bye, MK!" they called behind her. "Hope your dad is okay! Let us know how it turns out!"
Her friends all sent their goodbyes and best wishes behind her, but she couldn't do much but nod in acknowledgement as she trudged through the snow that had piled up around the area. Huddling in her coat for warmth, MK wished she could have asked one of them to come along with her, but it was too late now, and they all probably had their own things to worry about at the moment anyway.
Please be okay, dad… she thought to herself. You've gotta be okay…
Her heart pounding from fear and exhaustion, MK finally made it to her house, noting with hope that the area around it seemed to be cleared of snow. She burst through the door, pulling down her hood and whipping her head from side to side.
"Dad!" she practically screamed. "Dad, are you in here?!"
MK jogged around different areas of her house, trying to catch a glimpse of her father. His study was still messy as usual, and she couldn't tell if it looked different from when she had last seen it this morning.
"Daaaaaad!" she yelled again. "I'm home! Where are you?!"
He wasn't upstairs. He wasn't in his study. He wasn't in the kitchen. MK's heart caught in her throat. Where was he?!
"DAD!" she cried out again. "PLEASE ANSWER ME!" Desperate, MK ran out front door again and dashed as fast as she could in the knee-high snow, out to where her dad often conducted his research. "DAD! ARE YOU OUT HERE?!"
She spent about ten minutes, running around and yelling until her voice got hoarse. She ran as far as she could out into the woods, even digging through the snow, struggling to keep her head cool and figure out where her dad might be.
Eventually, her fingers and legs started to feel wet and cold. Cursing under her breath, MK reluctantly headed back to her home. Maybe her dad was there now.
"Dad, please!" she cried pitifully as she went inside once more. But there was no answer.
MK stood frozen in place for a while, as the fact that her dad was not home began to sink in. Slowly, the girl let her body go limp and sit with a painful thump on one of the stairs. Staring down at her shaking hands, she felt herself start crying again. This couldn't be happening. Not on Christmas Eve. Not after she'd lost her mom…
"MK?"
MK whipped her head up at the sound of that voice. Nearly tripping over her own feet in the process, she ran over to where the sound had come from.
To her immediate joy, she saw her father standing there, taking off his hood as he closed the door behind him. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and MK wasted no time in running over to him and practically pouncing on him as she gave him a huge hug.
He was okay! Her friends had been right! Her dad was fine…
Bomba returned his daughter's tight embrace as she let a few stray tears of relief sink into his jacket. After a moment of hugging by the door, the girl suddenly pulled away and gave him an angry glare.
"Where were you?!" MK snapped. "Why didn't you answer my calls?! Or my texts?! I thought you'd frozen to death!"
Bomba looked at her guiltily and began to gesture with his hands. "I-I'm so sorry, sweetie, I didn't mean to make you worry about me! Honest! I-it's just...well, I was out in the forest when the blizzard hit, and it took me a really long time to get back-I mean, I wasn't in too much trouble or anything, I've had my share of blizzards before-but, um, then when I got home I saw your texts, but as I was about to call back, the phone lines went out and I couldn't answer you-"
MK simply stared incredulously at him as he babbled away.
Bomba continued. "-s-so then, I just stayed here with a little fire while the storm went on, and then it ended, so I cleared out the snow…" he gulped. "And then I looked at the address you sent me and went to the store where you were at, and, well, I didn't find you, so I asked around and some of your friends were still there and they told me you'd come home, so I...well, then I came back as fast as I could." He paused to catch his breath, the two of them staring at each other for a while, before the man gave a mournful sigh.
"I'm so sorry," Bomba said again. "I've just been the worst, haven't I? I completely ruined your Christmas Eve, and...and I made you cry…"
MK bit her lip.
"I...I'm a terrible dad," he finally admitted. "I keep screwing up. I keep making you upset. I just...I'm doing everything wrong."
MK took a deep breath and gave him another hug, this one a lot more tender. "No, you're not," she told him gently. "We can start over. It'll get better. I'm just glad you're okay."
The man smiled and hugged his daughter once more, before remembering something and pulling it out of his pocket. "Oh, by the way! I got your present from outside!" he held it up to her. "Look, I think it's some kind of Leafman armor! I mean, it's covered in snow right now, but I'll clean it off and we can look at it together!"
MK looked at her gift with her mouth hanging open. It looked like nothing more than a few frozen leaves stuck together, but nevertheless, she couldn't help but laugh at her dad's excitement and take the gift from him. "Wow. I love it dad. Thank you." She gave him one more quick hug and the two proceeded up the stairs to get cleaned off. MK stopped by her room to put her gift down, and took one last glance out her window, toward the sky.
Thank you.
"Phone lines are back up!" Her dad called to her from the kitchen, several hours later. "You can call your friends again, isn't that great?"
MK perked up from her spot on the couch. "Oh! Thanks dad!" There had actually been something she'd been meaning to do for a while. Pulling out her phone, the girl opened her text messages and clicked on Tadashi's name, which she had gotten from him at the store. MK hesitated, wondering what exactly to say to him. She had to thank him for taking the time to be there for her that day, even though they hardly even knew each other.
Hey, it MK, from earlier, she texted, then paused another moment. I just wanted to say thanks for today. You really helped me out. And my dad turned out to be okay!
She sent the text, hoping it wasn't too awkward, and sat there waiting as she sniffed the smells of dinner coming from the kitchen.
He replied after a moment: That's awesome! And no need to thank me, I'm just glad everything turned out well. Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
She smiled. You too! See you around sometime.
MK closed out the window and opened a new one, this time creating a group text with her normal school friends.
MK: Hey guys! Everything turned out okay and my dad's totally fine! Yay!
The responses came flooding in.
Rapunzel: Hooray!
Anna: Yaaaaaaaasss omg! I've literally been freaking out all afternoon!
Mavis: That's awesome, MK!
MK giggled at the responses, partly because they were so supportive, and partly because she was still elated over the outcome of today.
MK: Thanks guys. You were all a big help today for me. Sorry for being so emo.
Rapunzel: Awwww, no problem, it's why we're here!
Oncie: Don't be sorry, anyone would be emo in that position!
Jack: Dude, we should totally celebrate this! Christmas party tomorrow?
Hiccup: Omg Jack why are you always talking about parties
Jack: You don't have to come if you don't want to, Hiccup.
Norma: LOL
MK laughed. Sorry guys, but I think I'll pass. I'm gonna spend the day with my dad tomorrow.
Anna: Yeah, remember? Christmas Eve is for friends, Christmas Day is for family!
Merida: What? Since when?
Oncie: I told you she made it up.
Anna: I did not!
Jack: How about a family party, then? In the evening?
Norma: Jack just let it go.
Mavis: Ooh, I like that idea! Where will it be?
Merida: At Rapunzel's house! Cause it's big!
Jack: Yeah! Rapunzel, your cook better make some good food!
Rapunzel: Wait what? Hang on, I can't just suddenly spring this on my parents! How are we supposed to make food for all you people in a day?
Jack: Potluck!
Norma: Ugh, please no. I have nothing to bring.
MK: Same, unless you guys like cold-cut sandwiches.
Oncie: Can't you guys go shopping? Seriously.
"Dinner!" Bomba suddenly called from the kitchen. MK nodded distractedly and stood up.
MK: Ok, I gotta go. So, tomorrow at Rapunzel's house? Would 6:30 be good?
Rapunzel: (sigh) fine. But don't expect anything too fancy.
Jack: Yaaaaassss.
MK giggled as she put away her phone, heading into the kitchen. "Hey dad!" she called as she went in. "My friend is having a Christmas party at her house tomorrow. Wanna go?"
Her dad perked up. "Sure!" he replied, setting a plate of poorly cooked, but still edible enough, mac-n-cheese on the table. "I haven't gotten to meet your friends at all!"
She laughed and sat down. "Ok, but try not to freak out too much, okay?"
"I know, I know. I won't embarrass you, don't worry."
MK rolled her eyes and smiled, digging into her mac-n-cheese. "Sounds good to me."
"By the way, do you want me to tell them about the Leafmen? Or should that be our little secret?"
MK hesitated, then shrugged. "Whatever you want, dad…"
Her dad grinned with excitement, then started eating his own food. "Oh, good! I can tell them about everything I found-ah, gee, as long as it doesn't bore them I guess-maybe you could take your present along to show them-oh, gee, this mac-n-cheese is terrible…"
MK laughed as she continued eating. Yeah, her was probably going to embarrass her, but it was okay now. So maybe her dad was crazy and they hadn't been getting along too well, but she wasn't going to give up on him. As long as they were together, it was going to get better. She knew that now.
"...and then, just yesterday, I found something that looked like armor! It kinda looked like a bunch of leaves stuck together with some tree sap, but hey, that's pretty awesome to find! Especially in the winter!"
Thomas Corona raised an eyebrow with vague intrigue as Professor Bomba continued babbling about his research. "Really?" the older man said. "Well, that's...that's very interesting, Professor...uh…"
"Bomba," the man finished cheerfully. "Radcliffe Bomba."
Mavis' father, who looked a whole lot like Count Dracula with his slicked-back hair and dark clothes, looked Bomba up and down curiously. "So, Mr. Bomba, how long did you say you've been doing this research of yours…?"
Bomba thought for a moment. "Oh, I don't know. Several years, really. It's slowed down a bit since MK came to live with me, but I don't mind that too much." He looked around at the confused, slightly intrigued faces and shrugged. "Heh, I know it sounds pretty crazy, but who knows? Maybe one day I'll discover something. That's science for you, after all!"
"Right...science…"
"Well, I think it's fascinating," Thomas replied supportively. "Good luck with your research."
Bomba nodded excitedly and took a sip of his drink. It was about an hour after the party had started, and he was clearly having a great time meeting MK's friends and their families. Sure, he wasn't fitting in too well, and he wasn't getting along with anyone the way, say, Stoick and Fergus were laughing it up in the corner, but it didn't matter to him. As long as there was someone there to listen to him ramble, he was happy.
Nearby, the teenagers (along with Eugene, Elsa and Kristoff) had formed their own little circle as they sat and ate. MK was sitting next to Rapunzel and Eugene, who were all staring at MK's father as he, quite frankly, got everyone's attention.
"Wow," Rapunzel mused. "Your dad is...really…" she trailed off.
"Yeah," MK simply said.
"I mean, you mentioned that he was into his work but you didn't say it was so…"
"Yeah."
"But...he's cool, though!"
MK grinned at her. "Yep."
"I like him," Eugene added in with a smirk. "He kinda reminds me of Jack. Except, way less annoying."
"Heeeey!" Jack whined in his direction.
"See? Jack is super annoying."
They turned to face inward toward the rest of their friends, as Anna finished eating and quickly jumped up to get the festivities moving. "Ok, it's time for Christmas Karaoke! Who wants to go first?"
Elsa scrunched up her nose. "Christmas what?"
"Karaoke!" her sister insisted. "When we all perform songs for each other! who wants to go first?"
"I'll go!" Jack replied, standing up next to her. "I'm going to perform my own rendition of the classic 'Silent Night'...uh, does anyone here have an electric guitar?"
"'Silent Night' with an electric guitar?" Norma yelled.
"It's the artsy version," Jack replied.
"Oncie has a guitar!" Mavis said, pointing in Once-ler's direction.
Before they could say anything, Once-ler shook his head vigorously. "No thank you. I'm not bringing my guitar out now."
"Why do you always have to ruin everything for me?" Jack snapped. "Fine then, I'll just have to sing it a capella." He cleared his throat and began singing, really badly, into his staff. "Siiiiiilent niiiiiiiiiight! Hooooooooly niiiiiiiiiiight!"
"Oh my God, Jack." Eugene groaned.
"Hey guys!" Rapunzel's mother called over to them. "There's more food in the kitchen now if you want some!"
"Screw singing, I'm going to go get seconds," Once-ler announced, and he stood up to go to the kitchen. Half of the group followed him.
"Hey come on!" Jack whined as they left. "Don't you guys wanna hear the rest of my song?"
"No," the all replied simultaneously.
MK laughed as she got up to get some food herself. On her way to the kitchen, she passed by her dad, who wasn't talking to anyone at the moment. He grinned and gave her a wave, and she smiled and waved right back. He was probably embarrassing her right now in front of her friends and their parents (like he promised he wouldn't do), but she didn't care right now. She was just too happy.
Well Mom, look at that, she thought to herself. Looks like Dad and I are getting along better now. Hope you can see us. She sighed as she joined her friends in the kitchen, where they were fighting over who gets what portion of the food. MK swooped in and grabbed the portion she wanted when they weren't looking and snickered to herself when they never saw her. Things are gonna get better from here, you'll see, she continued thinking. I still miss you, but I've got all these great friends and this ridiculous-but still cool-dad with me. I won't be sad anymore. You'll see. I promise.
Merry Christmas, I guess...wherever you are.
MK returned to her previous spot and sat down. Nobody had really returned from the kitchen yet, so she simply ate her food and waited. Eugene and Rapunzel were talking sweetly to each other in low voices. Elsa seemed to striking up a conversation of sorts with Kristoff, though an awkward one to say the least.
Eventually, they all returned, and Anna wasted no time getting right back into things. "Ok, who wants to go next? Elsa, how about you?"
"No."
"Oh come on!"
"Man, we should have invited all those guys from yesterday," said Mavis. "They would have been fun."
Her friends gave several nods of agreement, but then continued arguing over who should sing for them next. Eventually, Anna herself volunteered, and she actually sang a pretty good version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
MK smiled, taking in the moment with all its happiness and fun. How many more Christmases would she have? Eighty? Nintey? Hell, just this one felt good enough. True, they'd never be the same, but that didn't stop them from being as happy as she could possibly be.
Aaaaaaand scene! Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review! Also, be sure to keep an eye on my deviantART (my username is the same) for more news about my upcoming fanfics. See you in the next episode!