Enterprise Station. The Fridge.
Three months went by in a blur, as Lavinia slowly grew accustomed to the lifestyle that she was thrown into. Holidays came and went as she experienced her first Halloween and Thanksgiving, which were done so differently from her time. Instead of talk about politics and gossiping of those in her social circle, Lavinia was exposed to laughter and silly antics. Hikaru showed her how to cook various dishes for the feast, from stuffing to candy yams. Jim showed her how to peel potatoes and she watched as Leonard and Chris bickered over how to make the turkey that year. Overall, the experience was refreshing and it felt nice to be part of a conversation that wasn't so stifling.
"This smells funny."
It was Christmas Eve and the crew took a break from research to enjoy the holiday. Scotty was the one to break it to her that they hardly celebrated the blasted holiday, but Jim, Hikaru and Pavel, begged Chris to have a small party.
"They wanted to make this your best Christmas, Lass."
"This is my Aunt Mara's recipe for Egg Nog," Jim said, nodding to the tumbler he set before her. "It's a big hit at family parties."
She eyed the glass before her, glancing at Leonard and Hikaru. "If I die," she started, earning an eye roll from Len. "Can I come back as a ghost to haunt this place?"
Hikaru chuckled as she smiled at them sweetly, "I wouldn't mind a little haunting. Maybe Jim will join you after everyone kills him for killing you."
Leonard scowled at them, "That's not funny!" he snapped.
Jim nodded, "Yeah! That's not funny!" he agreed. "I would never give you anything to purposely harm you, Lavinia!"
She sighed and reached for the glass, "Fine," she grunted, eyeing him severely. "Remember, I will haunt you."
He nodded, "Understood," he waved his hand at her. "Now, drink up!"
With a look of despair, Lavinia tossed the drink back and nearly gagged. She tried to spit it all back into the glass, missing as it landed on her pants. Coughing violently, she pushed the chair back and stood up. Hikaru grabbed her by the arm and walked her to the sink, while Leonard grabbed a towel to clean up the mess.
"You idiot!" he snapped, as Jim laughed hysterically at the reaction he got. "How much Jack did you mix in there this time?"
Jim snorted, "A whole damn bottle," he crackled. "And, a bottle of vodka for an extra kick."
Hikaru turned to look at him, while Lavinia scooped handfuls of water into her mouth. "You're an moron, Jim."
He smiled, "Thank you, thank you. Tomorrow I will have another family recipe waiting for you all," he bowed.
The Blue Room. Enterprise Station.
After a nice dinner, the group retired to The Blue Room. A Christmas movie played on the giant television, while Christmas lights twinkled in the windows. A small tree sat in the corner of the room, decorated in a messy haste with mismatched ornaments and tons of streamers and lights. Lavinia felt her heart sink at the sight of all the presents that laid under the tree.
Sitting down on the sofa, she watched as boxes wrapped in shiny paper, were passed about. She was shocked when a few were handed to her, as the boys smiled at her.
"For me?" she asked, when Jim handed her a small box.
He took on the floor by her feet, "Of course!" he said with a frown. "How could we not give you presents?"
By then, everyone was looking at her and she withered slightly from their stares. "I-I didn't get any of you gifts," she said lamely, looking down at her lap.
Scotty shrugged "I don't care. Yer a gift, lass."
The others nodded in agreement, "Christmas just seems a bit brighter this year with you around," Chris said quietly.
Lavinia looked up at him quickly, blushing slightly at his comment. Since their kiss outside her room, Lavinia found herself wondering what her life would've been like with him. In both her time and this time. Hikaru wasn't making matters easier for her, as they traveled together and spent a lot of time together. Over the last few months, Lavinia found herself growing attracted to him. Chris was always busy now, researching the leads on Starfleet and on her case, to have a proper conversation with her. It was safe to say that Lavinia missed his company.
"Now, lets open these bad boys up!" Jim shouted, tearing into the first wrapped gift.
The sound of paper ripping and crunching filled the room, as everyone "oooh'd" and "ahh'd" over their gifts. Many were handmade with leftover scraps from Scotty's workshop. Others were from the various years they'd traveled to over the months. While the others were on their third or fourth gift, Lavinia was still on her first.
Once the wrappings were on the floor by her feet, she pulled the lid to the box up and set it under the box. Pushing the tissue paper away, she gasped. Nestled in the white tissue paper, laid a porcelain music box. She carefully lifted it up and turned it slowly in her hands, taking in the images on the glass.
"Do you like it?"
She turned and looked at Leonard, who watched her nervously. "It plays a song," he said. "You just turn the dial on the bottom."
Lavinia turned the box onto it's side and cranked the turner, until a melody started playing from inside. Her eyes went wide as she recognized the familiar tune, and she smiled.
"I know this song!"
Leonard smiled to himself as she murmured a few lines to herself, "Oh! You beautiful doll. You great big beautiful doll! If you ever leave me how my heart will ache, I want to hug you but I fear you'd break.."
Once the music stopped, Lavinia set the box down and turned to him. "It's wonderful," she said, smiling.
He nodded, "Good," he ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't know what else to get you. I don't know what to get for a girl, let alone my sister."
Lavinia surprised him by reaching over to hug him with one arm, "It's the best gift I've ever received, Len. I will treasure it forever."
He blushed and mumbled a few words before turning back to his own gifts, while she did the same. By the end of it, she had several books, her own PADD, a pretty blanket from Christine and other gadgets.
"Now," Scotty started, "I programed that silly game you keep playing on everyone's PADD's. Now ye can play it on yer own and stop stealin' everyone else's."
She blushed, "Are you mad that I beat your high score?" she asked, earning a few chuckles.
Scotty blushed and shook his head, "Not at all! I let ye beat me!"
Afterwards, the group broke apart to clean up the mess and to settle on watching holiday films. A few went back to the kitchen to get food and drinks, as the others argued playfully over a movie to watch. Lavinia set her gifts on a table near the wall, and peered out into the hallway. On the balcony, she spotted Chris standing outside looking out at the city.
Far to many times did she found him there, and it always led to an awkward conversation that brought sadness and set their minds with mixed feelings. Pulled the blanket out of the box, Lavinia shook it out before wrapping it around her and made her way across the hall and outside.
"Why aren't you inside? It's freezing out here," she asked, closing the door behind her.
"I just needed some air," he replied, as the wind picked up. "Holidays can get to be too much."
Lavinia nodded as she came up next to him, leaning against the rough stones of the railing. "Scotty told me that they begged you for a celebration."
"They did."
She looked out at the shimmering lights of the city, "But you didn't want to."
Chris sighed, "I did," he said. "I do want to celebrate holidays again. It's nice having everyone all together and celebrating another year of good health," he insisted.
Lavinia looked at him, "But?"
"I don't want to give them false hope that everything's alright," he said, turning to look at her. "Things are changing, Lavinia. We're getting closer and closer to blowing Starfleet out of the dark and when we do.." he trailed off.
Reaching out, Lavinia rested her hand on his. "But think about what it'll do for all of you," she said. "It'll set you free. You can finally move on and go back out into the world and rejoin. You can see your families and be able to go out without wearing a disguise!"
Chris shook his head and she continued, "You can live in a big house and have neighbors, instead of hiding in the woods. Maybe you could run Starfleet and make it the company it's supposed to be!"
"I don't want to run Starfleet!" he shouted, making her jump. "I don't want to be part of that goddamn company after what it did to me. To all of us."
She nodded, "So, start your own. Time travel for whatever reason you see fit. Or retire and move somewhere warm."
Chris looked at Lavinia as she stood before her, clutching the ivory blanket tightly around her shoulders and shivering slightly in the December air.
"There's another reason why you didn't want to celebrate anything this year, isn't there?" she asked.
When he didn't answer right away she pressed him for more, "Tell me, Chris."
"I couldn't bear the thought of celebrating," he started, looking down at the worn stones of the balcony. "With the thought of you leaving."
She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek, "Maybe I won't leave, Chris."
"Maybe you will. It's only a matter of time before we find out who you are and how it all plays out," he said.
"Stop it."
"Christ Lavinia! Did you really think you could stay here forever? It's only a matter of time when all of this happiness ends and we lose you forever!"
"STOP IT!" she screamed, shutting him up quickly. "Just.. STOP!"
Turning her back on the city, Lavinia stared at her reflection in the glass on the doors and shook her head. Chris rested his hip against the rail and sighed, running his hand down his face.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
She closed her eyes and turned her face away from him, "I wish everyone would stop talking about me going back," she hissed. Lavinia then turned back to face him, "I don't want to go back."
Chris shook his head, "You have to, Vinia."
"Leonard gets to stay! He's not even from this time!" she shouted. "Why does he get to stay when I have to go back? How is that fair?"
"Because!" he shouted back.
"That's a load of garbage and you know it! You just want me to go back to die!"
Chris grabbed her by the arms and shook her, "You have to go back because it's not safe here!" he snapped.
She shuddered, "Safe?" she asked, as he loosened his grip on her.
"So drowning is safer than living here?" she hissed. "You're an idiot Christopher Pike. A goddamn idiot!"
Lavinia then pulled out of his grasp and ran to the door, stepping back into the warmth and leaving Chris out in the cold.
Lavinia's room.
Lavinia set the music box on the table by her bed, and ran her fingers across the top. She then turned the blankets down and fluffed the pillows, before removing her dressing gown. Just as she was about to climb into bed, a soft knock on the door stopped her. Frowning, Lavinia dropped the blankets and made her way across the room and pulled the door open.
She was surprised and confused when she greeted thin air. Poking her head out, she looked up and down the hall and saw that it was deserted. Ready to turn back into the room, a small white box on the floor caught her eye. Bending down, Lavinia picked it up and glanced out into the hall one last time. Stepping back into her room, Lavinia shut the door quietly and made her way back to the bed.
"Hmm, how odd," she said to herself, as she climbed up onto the mattress.
Pulling the gold bow, Lavinia pulled the top of the box off and picked up the folded piece of paper. Pulling the heavy parchment open, she read the short note quickly.
I'm sorry. Merry Christmas.
-C
She regarded the note for another minute, before looking down at the object in the box. Lavinia picked up the necklace by the chain, resting the heart pendant in the palm of her hand. The necklace wasn't anything fancy, made only of silver and nothing else. The heart laid flat in her hand, cold and smooth. Her fingers traced the etchings of swirls and odd patterns. In it's own unique way, the necklace was strikingly beautiful.
Carefully, she set the necklace back into the box and placed the top back on. She then placed it onto the table next to the music box, along with the note, and turned the lamp off. Settling down into the warmth of her bed, Lavinia pulled the blankets up to her chin and sighed. Tomorrow she would thank Chris for the gift, hoping they could put their argument behind them.