This request was for Dadlock and his SSX kiddos for the prompt tree.

It wasn't until we were too far away from the ship to turn back that I understood Tadashi's reservations for bringing Rebi along. She didn't mind the cold or the endless walk. No complaints came because of the snow tripping her. In fact, she did little more than hum carols until we found our perfect tree.

"Why do we have to cut it down?" she asked, fists clenched in front of her. Those wide, doe eyes looked close to tears. I glanced to Tadashi for help, though he looked to me the same way.

"We can't put the tree on the Arcadia if we don't cut it down," I said. "We wouldn't be able to have a Christmas tree."

Rebi stamped her foot in the snow with a crunch. Something about the gesture made Tadashi sigh. "But why do we have to kill it?" Rebi howled. "Can't we dig it up by the roots?"

"We can't plant a tree on the ship," Tadashi said. He threw his hand out toward the frosted rows of firs around us. "Look, there are tons of trees in this forest. One isn't going to be missed. You want a tree to hang ornaments on don't you?"

I would have offered to buy a fake one, but I didn't know where that would be possible. We needed a populated planet with a decent economy that wasn't riddled with guards. Cutting one down sounded like the nicer option. I didn't feel like hauling around a fake tree while being hunted by Illumidas soldiers.

Rebi sniffled, and her voice wavered with the threat of oncoming tears. "But I don't want to hurt the tree."

It was time to lie my way out of this. "Trees don't feel any pain, Rebi. In fact, trees are happy to be picked for decoration. That's why they compete to grow so nicely." It disturbed me how easily the lies came. I had no skill for them until Rebi settled in on the ship.

"Really?" she whispered, the tension easing from her shoulders.

Tadashi nodded to back me up. "Oh yeah. All this tree's friends will be jealous." He seemed far less conflicted about telling her this, smiling with ease. I couldn't be certain about the ethics of white lies for children, but Tadashi raised more than I had, so I decided he knew what he was doing.

"Alright," Rebi said with an uneven smile. "We'll make it extra pretty then."

Tadashi flashed a triumphant grin. "Great. I'll cut it!" He grabbed the ax at the base of the handle and stepped in front of the tree. My worry moved from Rebi to him. Everything about his form was wrong.

"Have you ever used an ax before?" I asked.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, sheepish eyes judging my reaction. "No… but I can do it."

To ensure all his limbs stayed attached, I ran him through a crash course on proper form and sent Rebi to stand far enough away that no flying ax would do her harm. With her blessing and my tentative okay, Tadashi attempted to embed a strong swing into the tree's trunk. Instead, the uneven angle of the hit sent the head of the ax ricocheting off the tree as if made of rubber. Tadashi held on well, a little too well. I shouldn't have brought the double-sided ax.

All the blood must have drained from my body, sinking out of my face and gut as the blade came back to hit Tadashi's shin. He didn't flinch.

"Are you okay, Brother?" Rebi yelled from the safety zone, too far out to see the dark red stain sinking into the edges of the tear in his pant leg.

"Fine," he called back. Before I could ask too for confirmation, he smiled. "Just a scratch, Captain."

Being around these two took years off my life. "Just make sure the doctor looks at it when we get back," I sighed. "And let me cut down the tree."

Three good whacks and it fell with a crash. Tadashi and I wrapped it in rope, while Rebi sat on it. "Forward, march!" she commanded as we set off, dragging it back to the ship. I never had a tree on a ship before, and we still needed some means to keep it from falling over during a fight. These kids conned me into the strangest things.

"You look tired, Captain," Rebi said. "You should nap when we get back."

"I think you two just tire me out," I said. "But I'll be fine without a nap." A few glasses of wine sounded preferable anyway.