I DON'T OWN CHARACTERS! IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEARRRRRRRRRR! This is the longest chapter I have ever written.

It's Christmas.

Or Hanukkah.

Or whatever it is you celebrate.

Well, it isn't Christmas yet, it's the 21st and I'm on my way home. That's right, contrary to popular belief I do have a home. I'm adopted. Sorta. It's a little bit complicated, and you know it's the holidays, complicated doesn't exist, so I'll save the full story for another day.

Jinx cracked her eyes open as a familiar yellow light splashed against her heavily closed eyelids. Sunflowers. She was home. The window itself was outlined in frost. The sky was covered in clouds, but you could still tell the sun was there. The only things that were left untouched by the frigid air of her home, were sunflowers. Jinx spotted the familiar stain glass sign.

Welcome to Sun City!

She had about 20 minutes until they reached the train station. She took off her neck pillow and stood up. She coiled her arms out and listened to the satisfying pops that sounded soon after. Sun City was the last train stop, so there were only a few stragglers left on board. Jinx sighed and unplugged her earbuds and zipped them up in her bag. Jinx had left her hair free to do whatever it liked seeing as how she had only washed it just before her cab ride to the train station. She had gotten the pleasant surprise of sharing a cab with Bumblebee, Kade, Kodiak, and Beast Boy, but then they all had to take 3 different trains.

"15 minutes 'till arrival" Jinx sighed and tugged on her black ankle boots. She didn't know if she was excited to see her family. Knowing them, they probably had something weird planned. Yeah, at first she refused to recognize them as her family members, but they grew on her. She tucked her denim skinny jeans into her boots and yawned.

She un-reclined her seat, not that there was anybody behind her anyways.

"10 minutes 'till arrival"

Jinx tugged at her white collar. Jinx wore a white button up top that had pointed ends which hung over her pant pockets. The buttons stopped a little ways past the beginning of her neck. Over the button up she wore a purple sweater. The sweater had a loose v neck and the baggy sleeves ended around the middle of her forearms. The bottom of the sweater ended at her waist. revealing the button up underneath.

"5 minutes 'till arrival" Jinx yawned once more and stood up, straightening out her clothes. She tugged on her bag and walked over to the back of her cart and pulled out her big black suitcase. She fastened her neck pillow around the strap of her bag as she waited along with two or three other people who seemed to desperately want to get off the train. Jinx dragged her stuff down the staircase and got off the train. She immediately made a b-line for the exit.

She took in a deep breath of the clean fresh air of Sun City. It was so crisp it felt like it was about to burn her lungs, but it never did. She loved it. Of course, when she first wound up here she hated every single thing about it, now she loved the welcoming crisp air and low temperatures. She let out a content sigh, she was home. Jinx dragged her suitcase behind her, listening to the rocks scrape at the wheels as she walked her usual route home. It had been 18 weeks since she hugged her family goodbye. It was 2:30pm. Great, she was making perfect time!

Jinx watched as an old man sat on the bus stop bench, feeding pigeons. She snickered as the birds climbed all over him. She was in an awfully good mood this holiday season. She softly hummed holiday tunes as she walked along.

"Hey! Get it!" She heard a boy's voice.

"I can't catch it! It's too fast!"

"Why don't we try to swat it with this trash can lid?" Asked another one. The boys all snickered. Jinx normally took a walk through the bad part of Sun City. It was like a reminder to her. Jinx peeked into an alley way. There were three boys, probably in middle school. One of them had a stick and was swinging it around. The one in the middle yelled "Catch it! Catch it!" The boy on the far right lunged forward, that's when Jinx saw it.

A cat

A black kitten, to be more specific. The boy that lunged for it landed head first in a trash bin, the kitten hopped on top of him.

"I've got it!" The boy with the wooden stick slammed the wood onto the other boy, the kitten jumped up and held onto the cheap metal gate for its life.

"Let's hit it!" The middle one yelled, grabbing a metal bar. He swung it forward to find nothing more than a melted stub of the bar he had originally picked up.

"What do you think you're doing to my cat?" The three boys flipped around to look at Jinx and shrieked in horror before running away. Yeah, before she was accustomed to her part of the neighborhood she came here and made a reputation for herself. The kitten lost its grip and Jinx caught it. The little thing was bony and fit in her cupped hands. "You're pretty tiny, aren't you?" Jinx held the little black ball of fur up to her face.

"Tiny... huh, that's what I'll call you. Wanna come home with me, Tiny? We have lots of cat food." At the word cat food the little kitten sat up and looked at her like she was a god. Jinx laughed. "Hey, us bad luck charms've gotta stick together." She lifted he little thing up to her shoulder, where it burrowed itself into her hair and held onto her sweater. Jinx chuckled and grabbed her suitcase, hurrying her way to her next location. The closer she got to her house the nicer the streets got until she stopped at a shiny gate. It was to the elementary school. Jinx looked down at her phone.

"Damn, couple minutes too early." She grumbled. She sat down her bag and pulled out her earbuds, plugging them into her phone. She put them both in, only for Tiny to yank one out and start trying to chew on it, even though it was too big for his little mouth.

Comin' over in my direction
So thankful for that, it's such a blessin', yeah
Turn every situation into heaven, yeah
Oh-oh, you are
My sunrise on the darkest day
Got me feelin' some kind of way

Jinx sat down on her suitcase and took another deep breath

Make me wanna savor every moment slowly, slowly
You fit me tailor-made, love how you put it on
Got the only key, know how to turn it on
The way you nibble on my ear, the only words I wanna hear
Baby, take it slow so we can last long

She started tapping her fingers on her back and lightly moving her hips.

¡Oh!
Tú, tú eres el imán y yo soy el metal
Me voy acercando y voy armando el plan
Sólo con pensarlo se acelera el pulso (oh yeah)
Ya, ya me está gustando más de lo normal
Todos mis sentidos van pidiendo más
Esto hay que tomarlo sin ningún apuro

Tiny's little baby claws dug into her sweater as she started to slightly move her shoulders

Despacito
Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito
Deja que te diga cosas al oído
Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo
Despacito
Quiero desnudarte a besos despacito
Firmo en las paredes de tu laberinto
Y hacer de tu cuerpo todo un manuscrito
(Sube, sube, sube
Sube, sube)

She starting lip syncing the words, this was the only part of the foreign language that she knew.

Quiero ver bailar tu pelo, quiero ser tu ritmo (woah, woah)
Que le enseñes a mi boca (woah, woah)
Tus lugares favoritos (favorito, favorito, baby)
Déjame sobrepasar tus zonas de peligro (woah, woah)
Hasta provocar tus gritos (woah, woah)
Y que olvides tu apellido

RING RING

Jinx yanked out her other earbud at the sound of the elementary school bell. Other parents had gathered at the gates to greet their children. Her family normally didn't pick up their 2nd and 5th graders, seeing as the house was only two houses away from the elementary school. However, when she lived here she always came to pick them up.

The doors swung open and a hoard of elementary kids came bustling out and crashing into the parents excitedly. Today was their last day before winter break. Jinx narrowed her eyes, watching for that familiar mat of blue hair she had come to know. Her eyes traced over the crowd of kids and then she saw it. Bobbing along. Messier than ever. Joey. He was walking right towards her. She caught a slight sight of the caramel pigtails of Julie, who he was pulling along by her hand. They didn't even notice her.

Joey was about to walk past her when Jinx grabbed a handfull of his messy pile of blue hair. He yelped. "Hey! What's the big ide-" He stared up at her with his crystal blue eyes wide in awe.

"Is that anyway to greet your favorite witch?" Jinx pouted and crouched down.

"Jinx!" Julie wrapped her arms around her. Joey immediately joined her. "Ouch!" Julie jumped back. "Kitty!" She pointed at Tiny.

"Guys, this is my friend Tiny, he'd like to join the family."

"He's so pretty!" Julie started petting him and Jinx chuckled.

"You guys ready to head home?"

"Yeah!" They cheered simultaneously. So the four of them set off home. It was like a minute and a half walk. They stopped in front of the house.

A dark cobblestone path lead up to the dark wood deck. The house was surrounded by frost covered grass. The house itself was made of dark wood and towered 4 stories over them. Windows dotted every side of the structure with maroon shutters, which were all left open. Julie grabbed Jinx's hands and followed Joey as they walked up to the house.

Jinx yanked her suitcase up onto the front porch and Julie was about to grab the door knob when Jinx stopped her. "Alright, level with me you two, what has she got planned for me in there?" Jinx crouched down and the two kids exchanged a look. Jinx gave them puppy eyes.

"Lots'a people are in there!" Julie finally came clean.

"Yeah yeah! Mama brought lots'a guys again!" Joey joined in.

"More guys. I'm 15 years old, I don't need to be in a relationship yet." Jinx groaned. However, she couldn't blame her mother for trying. After all, she was a witch and her adopted family were all Elves, and at age 16 most Elves have already found their soulmates and are engaged. Her mother seemed to forget that she didn't have the soulmate luck that Elves got. Or any luck at all in general.

"That's what I said!" Joey crossed his arms and pouted. Jinx chuckled and rubbed the top of his head.

"Thanks for looking out for me little man." She walked up to the door and swung it open.

"WELCOME HOME!" Jinx leaned back as the loud cheers exploded inside the house. People started popping streamers all around and clapping. She didn't even know half of these people! They always did this. Jinx internally groaned and let Julie and Joey run past her before grabbing her suitcase and pulling it into the house. She shut the door behind her and barely turned before she was engulfed in a suffocating hug that might have even rivaled Starfire's.

"Ma'" Jinx groaned, trying to get the air that was knocked out of her back in. Her mother leaned back and smiled brightly.

"We missed you so much sweetheart, you'll have to tell us all about Trys!" Jinx's mother was only a few inches shorter than her. She was thick, well of course she was, the woman had given birth to 6 kids! In fact, she was in good shape for someone who had done that six times. Her hair was blue and fluffy and curly, ending around the place her nose ended. She also had crystal blue eyes. Her fluffy hair hid her pointed elf ears.

"Sure, I'll tell you all about it ma'" Jinx smiled at her mother, who had yet to actually release her arms, "I missed you all a lot too."

"I don't believe my eyes." Her mother stepped back as her father appeared. He towered over the both of them. Jinx internally giggled as she watched his caramel colored comb over blow in the breeze. He also had a thin mustache under his nose. Her dad's eyes were this beautiful emerald green.

"Pa'!" Jinx finally laughed as he engulfed her in a hug, "What are you wearing?" She asked as they released each other. Her dad looked down at his yellow Hawaiian shirt with palm trees on it.

"We're on break, that means vacation duuude!" He made a love sign with his right hand and leaned back. Jinx started laughing again.

"Is that Jinx?" Jinx turned her head to look at her Grandma. She had long straight gray hair that ended around the end of her rib cage and those beautiful emerald green eyes. She walked over to her and gently hugged her.

"Gram!" She smiled brightly as she pulled away.

"No hug for me?" Jinx flipped around to look at her bald grandfather. He was shorter than her grandmother and had clear gray eyes.

"Gramps!" She hugged him.

"Watch out," he said as they leaned back, "you're mother has a room somewhere full of eligible young boys."

"Of course she does." Jinx sighed. "Is there anyone in town who isn't here?" She asked sarcastically, getting a throaty laugh out of her grandpa.

"Darling, are you aware you've got vermin on your shoulder?" He asked, pointing at the fuzzy black tail that was popping out from her hair.

"Tiny!" She had completely forgotten! Jinx reached her hand into her hair and pulled the kitten out. He grabbed onto her sweater and meowed at her like he didn't want to leave, which only made her roll her eyes. "He's not vermin Gramps. He's a little black kitten that I'm gonna keep. His name's Tiny."

"Right, because there aren't enough creatures runnin' around the house already." He rolled his eyes. As if on cue Julie came sprinting back into the room laughing. The red ribbons in her hair were barely staying in as she ran. Chasing her were two of their dogs, Bean and Quirky. Julie his behind Jinx as the dogs approached and laughed at them. As soon as they saw Jinx they started jumping up on her in excitement. Tiny squeaked and jumped back into her hair.

"Okay okay! I missed you too!" Jinx giggled.

"They sat outside your bedroom door crying for a whooole week!" Julie spread her arms out in front of her to put emphasis on the "whooole" part. Jinx just stared at the emerald eyed 8 year old. "What?" She asked and Jinx grinned before swooping down and picking Julie up, swinging her around.

"I missed you, ya little goober." Jinx laughed and Julie stuck out her tongue.

"Has anybody seen Joyce?" Her mother walked over to them.

"She shut up in her room mama, like always!" Julie called over Jinx's shoulder. Jinx put her down and turned to look at her mom.

"Since when did Joyce coop herself up in her room?"

"Once school started she's just been, she just locks herself away." Her mother crossed her arms.

"Why don't I go get her?" Jinx smiled.

"Good luck." Her grandpa rolled his eyes once more before sitting down next to her grandma.

"None of us have been able to get her to come out for anything other than food." Her dad said.

"Oh, speaking of food, I need some cat food." Jinx said. Her parents gave her a look and she reached into her hair and pulled Tiny out again. "This is Tiny. He's starving and he's mine."

"So cute!" Her dad rushed over and cradled the kitten. "I'll get you some food!" He walked away to the kitchen. Her mother sighed and rolled her eyes.

"That man, I swear, we take in anymore strays and our house will explode."

"Okay ma'," Jinx walked past her, "I'm gonna go talk to Joyce, make sure Pa' doesn't cuddle Tiny to death."

"Will do, doll." Her mother waved to her as Jinx made her way to the staircase. Joyce's room was on the 3rd floor. Jinx groaned and started the hike up the two flights of stairs.

When Jinx finally made it to the third floor she leaned forward with her hands on her knees and tried to get her heartbeat back to normal. She shouldn't have tried to run up the second flight. Bad decision. Stupidest thing she'd done this entire school year. Then two arms wrapped around her stomach and Jinx was lifted up in the air.

"Who is it! Put me down!" She squawked, kicking her legs and flinging her arms around, still lowkey out of breath. There was a familiar chuckle in her hair as the red sweater covered arms put her one the ground. Jinx flipped around and engulfed the tall guy in a hug.

"Justin!" She wasn't sure if he could make it, since his college's winter break time might be different from her school's. Justin was a sophomore in college, and her oldest brother. She leaned back and looked at his face. Her hands immediately moved to his curly blue hair. "You cut your hair." She laughed.

"Yeah, Winry finally persuaded me to get my afro trimmed." His emerald green eyes twinkled as he said his soulmate's name.

"How'd she get you to do it?" Jinx laughed.

"It involved a lot of candy." Jinx turned her head to look at Winry, who was leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Winry!" Jinx walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"You know, the house isn't the same without you." Winry had indigo blue eyes and short eyelashes. Her face was always dotted in freckles. Her hair was dirty blond and held back by a hairband, which also revealed her pointed elf ears. Her hair was straight, but as it came to an end it started curling just shy of her chest.

"Aww, I bet it's a lot calmer." Jinx laughed.

"You're funny." Winry said sarcastically.

"Hate to interrupt ladies," Justin slid over to them, "Win, we've got 3 minutes to get to the party before my mother kills us," He pointed at his watch. Winry pulled a face.

"Alright, we'll see you downstairs?" She looked at Jinx, who nodded. Winry gave her one last hug before grabbing Justin's hands and heading down the stairs. Winry was a junior in college, and even though she wouldn't admit it, Jinx did admire her. She turned the other way and continued down the hallway towards Joyce's door, which was at the end of the hall. She was almost there when she stopped at a blue door that was cracked open. Jax's room.

Jax was her second oldest brother, a senior in high school. He was sat in his room, facing away from the door, towards the giant window. In front of him was a partially colored canvas. He held a paintbrush in his other hand. His shoulder length curly blue hair was up in a bun and Jinx didn't need to see his face to imagine that focused look in his emerald green eyes. Behind him was his soulmate. His boyfriend Damian. They were both seniors. Damian had his arms looped around Jax's waist and was lightly kissing his neck. Damian had really dark brown hair that was swept up into a quiff. He was a hot guy. Symmetrical face and all that. His eyes were bright red, like a poppy flower petal.

"Damiaaan." Jax whined and put down his brush. He was about to give him a kiss when Jinx threw the door open.

"Eww! What are you thinking?! There are kids here!" Jinx squealed and covered her eyes. She split open her finger to watch the two boys start laughing hysterically. Then Jax got up and wrapped her in a lazy hug. Jax was a generally quiet guy. Jinx used to get annoyed by him because he never spoke up for himself. Then he started teaching her how to paint and her entire opinion of him had changed.

"Welcome home Jinx!" Damian got up and joined their hug. They pulled away and Jinx looked down at Jax's gray sweatpants.

"Isn't Ma' expecting you at the party? What are you wearing?" He also had on a big long sleeved light blue shirt. Under the shirt you could see the beaded necklace Damian had made him peeking out.

"I've been trying to get him away from that canvas for the past 15 minutes!" Damian groaned.

"Really, have you tried tickling him?" Jax's eyes went wide and Damian smirked at him.

"Why no, no I haven't" He started creeping towards Jax, who was looking for an escape.

"Well, I'll see you two downstairs." She waved to them and Damain waved goodbye. She closed the door and laughed once she heard Jax howling with laughter as Damian started tickling him. Jinx turned to the black door of Joyce's room. Weird. It used to be red. Jinx turned the knob and opened the door.

"Now you're not even gonna knock!" She heard Joyce's voice, "I told you I'm not coming down, leave me alone!"

"Whoa dude." Jinx closed the door with a kick and put her hands in her pockets. Joyce whirled around at the sound of her voice. Her crystal blue eyes lit up when they saw her. Jinx was in seventh grade. She was 14 years old. Jinx and Joyce had gotten along from the very beginning. It was because unlike her super optimistic family, Joyce was more of a realist. She was blunt and she didn't embellish things. That aspect of her gave Jinx comfort when she was moved here. She only spoke to Joyce.

Joyce wouldn't say things like "You'll get the hang of it." or "it's just a phase." or any of those other phrases. She'd ether tell you how stupid it is to worry about something or she'd help you solve your problems. So Joyce had become Jinx's first friend in Sun City. Not only was Joyce's thought process different from the rest of her family's, her appearance made her stand out too. Unlike their blue or caramel colored hair, Joyce had pitch black hair. Like her grandmother. Joyce's hair reached her hips and she had bangs.

"Jinx!" Joyce jumped off her bed and hugged Jinx tightly. Jinx was about half a head taller than Joyce. Joyce wrapped her arms around her and then just stayed there. Jinx could feel Joyce's heart pounding. She took note of how the room had been painted black. The pile of journals that Joyce used to write in looked like they hadn't been touched since she left. In fact, even the desk they were sat on had collected dust. The walls that used to be cluttered with posters and sketches was blank. Joyce still didn't let go, she just pushed her head onto Jinx's shoulder. Jinx sighed and started moving them over to Joyce's bed.

Joyce finally pulled away and sat silently next to her. Jinx then took note of Joyce's clothes. She wore a long sleeved dark green shirt under a red crop top. The shirt and ripped and clipped sleeves and it fell off one of her shoulders. In the middle of the shirt was a white skull. She also wore white jeans with chains. Around her neck was a choker with 3 circular beads in the middle.

"Whoa!" Jinx grabbed the end of her hair, which had been died red. "When did this happen?" She pointed at it and Joyce shrugged.

"A few months ago..."

"Huh..." Jinx put her led up on the bed and rested her back against the headboard. "So, what's been going on?"

"Well, seventh grade sucks." Joyce lay back on her bed and look at the ceiling. She didn't move to say anything more.

"Care to elaborate?" Jinx rose an eyebrow and Joyce let out an irritated sigh.

"You know what pisses me off?" She sat up and looked at Jinx, who smiled ever so slightly.

"Nope, what pisses you off?"

"Dumb backstabbing girls who only want to be your friends because you're smarter than them."

"Oooooh, you make some enemies while I was gone?"

"Well I thought I made friends, but it turns out that if you don't let them cheat off you then they have no reason to be your friends." She spoke with venom. "Everybody is fake and stupid and not worth my time." Well, now she's a pessimist. Then her phone started buzzing on the floor. Joyce made no move to get it, so Jinx got up and grabbed it. Joyce rolled over on the bed so that her back was to Jinx.

I mean she's such a freak

Joyce should just go away, she's only good for being smart

Joyce's lock screen was covered in these messages. Jinx turned back around when Joyce's body started shaking. She was crying. Joyce curled up in a ball and quietly cried. They made Joyce cry. They made her little sister cry. Jinx shoved the phone in her pocket and went over to Joyce, whose body had stopped shaking. She touched her shoulder and found the poor girl asleep. It was so on now. Jinx turned off the lights and closed the door to Joyce's room.

Jinx looked down the empty hall. Over her dead body would it get any worse than this. She had seen what happened to Star, it would not happen to her little sister. Jinx walked down the hall and started her way down the stairs.

Jinx walked into the party and immediately started looking for her mother. She slid past random strangers and did a full 360 in the middle of the room. Where was she? This is kinda urgent! Jinx squinted, looking for her blue hair. She jumped as two hands pinched her sides and flipped around to look at her older sister, Jaide. She was Jax's fraternal twin.

"Welcome home squirt!" Jaide hugged her and then picked her up and swung her around.

"J-Jaide!" Jinx laughed as Jaide set her down. Jaide was the same height as Jax, but that's about the only thing that was similar about them. Jaide had straight caramel colored hair that flipped at the ends and ended around her chin. She also had crystal blue eyes.

"You've gotta tell us all about Trys, seriously, are there any cute guys there?" Jaide elbowed her.

"Eh-hmmm" Jaide turned around and looked at her soulmate, Ramone, who had an eyebrow raised.

"Not for me you idiot." She blushed and turned back to Jinx. Jaide had only met Ramone a year ago, so the whole romantic thing still kinda threw her off. Ramone was a junior in high school. He had light blue wavy hair that ended around his nose and covered most of his ears. His eyes were a light forest green sorta color.

"Hey, have you seen Ma'?" Jinx asked quickly.

"Uhhhh" Jaide put her hand on her chin and looked up at the ceiling. Ramone rolled his eyes and walked up beside her.

"She was in the kitchen last time I saw her."

"Thanks!" And with that Jinx darted by them and into the kitchen. There were a bunch of adults casually drinking some wine and talking in little groups. There she saw both her parents.

"Ma'!" She rushed over to them.

"Oh, Jinx sweetheart, you're just in time to meet William." She motioned to the young guy in front of her. "He's quite a catch." She wiggled her eyebrows at Jinx.

"Oh, stop it Mrs. Taube, you're embarrassing me." The guy chuckled.

"yeah." Jinx answered dismissively, "Uh, we need to talk." She looked at her parents.

"Can't it wait, we have to be good hosts at our party darling." Her mother frowned ever so slightly.

"No, it's about Joyce. She needs help."

"Thanks man" Kid Flash handed the cab driver his money and grabbed his bags. Then he shut the cab door and the driver sped off. Wally took in a deep breath and turned around to look at his house. Well, the path to his house. He was back home in Tracer Town. He was also really far away from Jinx. A man bumped into him. He had on a backpack with the target symbol, meaning he was with EF Tours.

"Sajnálom!" The man said, raising his hands up in a defensive manner. Wally forgot the most important thing about Tracer Town. It was crawling with tourists. Some kind of myth about a magical god taking root here or something.

"Uh, it's cool man!" Flash smiled and then quickly walked past the guy before he could say anything else to him. He ventured down the stone path. Luckily, even though there were tourists everywhere, none of them ever wandered down the path. It probably had something to do with the fact that there was a "trespassers will be shot" sign right beside it, but Flash liked to believe that it was some sorta magic. He started speeding down the path, his suitcase flying behind him.

KF skidded to a halt as he reached his house. It was big. It was built with gothic architecture and completely white. It was also surrounded by woods. Big trees mostly. There was a pond and a flower valley somewhere around it too. Wally ran a hand through his hair and walked up the marble steps and into the house. He closed the door behind himself and set his suitcase beside the door.

He placed his hands in his pockets and whistled as he began wandering from room to room. Where were his parents? Normally they'd pop up by now. "Mom? Dad?" KF walked into the dining room and looked around with his eyebrows knit. "Hello?" Wally rose an eyebrow. It was way too quiet. Then he felt something slimy touch his neck. Wally screamed and tried to speed away, only to hit the dining room table and flip over, skidding across it and crashing into the wall. KF shot up to look at his cousin, Edmund.

"Ed?" Wally turned around, trying to hide the horrified look on his face. When Wally says cousin, he means like, his 5th cousin, twice removed, that sorta thing. Edmund was a plump guy. He was in college. He had black hair in a bowl cut and hollow brown eyes. In his hand was a dead fish. He just looked at Flash and waved the poor fish corpse back and forth.

"Surprise!" His parents walked in smiling. He frowned deeply and gave them a blank look. His mother, Mary, walked over to Edmund and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Wallace, look whose going to join us this holiday!" Wally just stared at her. Why did they do this to him? "Cousin Ed!" She shook Edmund back and forth. Wally stood there, trying to keep his jaw from dropping to the floor.

"That's...y'know that's just..." His mother gave him "the look" and he straightened up. "That's just fantastic!" He smiled, feeling like his face was about to break in half.

"Ed hun, why don't you go grab your luggage and we'll head over to the airport." Edmund nodded and left the dining room. The second he walked out Kid Flash's dad broke down laughing.

"Seriously? Ed?" Wally asked, completely flabbergasted.

"Edmund is just as much a West as you are." His mother crossed her arms. KF's mom was a human. She was elegant and beautiful and nice and motherly and made sure to drive him crazy every once and a while, just for kicks. She had bright orange hair that cascaded down her back and a clear pastel sort of green colored eyes.

"Mom, I don't how he's related to us! His last name isn't even West!" Wally cowered back as his mother opened her mouth to start lecturing him. Then an arm swung around his shoulders.

"Look son, if you complain and whine every time you're stuck with somebody you don't like, you're gonna be complaining and whining you're whole life." Wally rolled his eyes at his dad, Barry. Barry had dark orange hair too. His eyes were the same bright blue as Wally's, and even sparkled with the same mischief. Wally groaned and looked at his mother, who had a satisfied look on her face.

"Time to go boys, our flight leaves soon." This Christmas they were flying to the Grayson's house. As in Robin. His parents insisted that he take a cab home and then the plane with them when they had to go to Richard's every other Christmas. His father insisted on spending Christmas with his brother, or, half brother. On the other Christmases Richard's parent(s) would fly over and Robin would take the cab with him. The door opened and Edmund stood with an expectant look on his face.

"C'mon Wests," His dad wrapped his arms around both of them and started guiding them out the door, "You know how whiny Bruce gets when we aren't on time."

"Raven," Raven let out a little groan and shifted in her seat, facing away from her mother, who was sitting in the driver's seat. "Darling, we're here." Her mother giggled and Raven finally opened her eyes. It took a minute for her tired blurry vision to steady itself and look at the familiar setting through the car window.

It was their house. A humble wood house made for a family of three. It had flowers surrounding it and behind it was the beautiful few of the mountains. The closest mountain range to the school. That's where they lived.

Cherrydale.

Raven popped open the door and slid her bare feet onto the soft grass. She hummed comfortably and made her way to the trunk to grab her bags. Her mother hopped out and met her at the back.

"So, they're having a sale on Christmas trees tomorrow, I was thinking we could head over and grab one." Raven shrugged as she pulled out her bag.

"Sure mom."

"Dudes!" Beast Boy whined at the twins as they walked out of the train station. "Could you be any slower! Your mom is gonna kill all three of us!" He turned to look at Kade and Kodiak, who had their arms full of snacks they got inside the station.

"Whatever, she'll probably be so happy we all made it home she won't care." Kodiak said as the three of them turned off the sidewalk and started heading down a dirt path.

"Yeah, I've prepping myself for her next hug since the last one." Kade laughed. The three boys walked farther and farther down the path, farther and farther away from the chaos of the mildly urban center of Graypatch. Slowly, trees began to appear on either side of the path until they were everywhere. Only when the woods became this thick did the sunlight appear green in our three wolves' eyes.

Then they stopped at a wooden gate. Beast Boy took in the familiar scent of his pack. He grinned at the twins before swinging the gate open. "I'm Baaaaaaack!" He called out and threw his arms up in the air. He watched the other peoples' faces light up as they saw the three. Then they were surrounded by the pack. They asked questions and they gave answers.

"MOVE OUTTA THE WAY!" The three boys' heads perked up at the familiar sound of the Twins' mother. "MAMA WOLF COMMIN THROUGH!" The pack quickly made a pathway for the woman. She marched up to them. She stood for a moment and looked them over. Beast Boy felt sweat start to collect around his collar, she always did this to them when she first saw them. Then, later, she'd tell them everything that changed since she'd seen them. Recently, for BB, none of those changes had been particularly good ones.

"My Boys!" She cheered happily and opened up her arms for them. The three engulfed her in big bear hugs.

Star landed on top of the waterfall with a loud thud. She looked down at the dent in the Tamaranian soil she had made with her landing. The only way to get to Tamaran was to fly. So she flew with her hyperspeed, landings were always rough. She looked out on her island from her perch a top the silver waterfall. She smiled, running a hand through the silver water. Now, every time she saw the silver water, she would not only remember the pleasant family memories, bu the time her friendship with Robin began. She picked up her phone and sent him a text.

Landed Home!

She slipped her phone back in her pocket and shot off the waterfall and down to her house. It was big and round. She giggled and slammed the door open. Before she could walk in she was slammed to the ground with a giant hug from her whole family.

Me too. In the cab otw home

Robin chuckled to himself and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He liked this. Being friends with Star just felt so right. Yet, a part of his was a fidgeting nervous mess. He now had to go home to his dad. This Christmas, all his wives and kids were coming, along with Wally and his parents. The man had two ex-wives and neither of them were Robin's mother. Although they all had his half brothers and sisters. Now his dad had another fiance, who also wasn't his mother.

Truth was, Robin had no idea who, what, or where his mother was. His dad never talked about her. Robin did know that they were never married, but that's it. That's all he would ever get to know. His dad was like that. He had tried talking to Wally's dad about it, but he said that he had very vague memories of her. He didn't even remember her name. His dad kept her close to him, and didn't introduce her to the family until just before they broke up.

His father did not approve of witches. It was more like, since the majority still didn't like them he didn't, and he expected Robin not to either. The truth was, Robin didn't feel the need to impress people and go with the flow like his father did. Not like he could ever say that to him.

"We're here sir." The cab driver said to him.

"Thanks." Robin handed him the cash for the time it had taken him to drive from the airport to the mansion.

"No, thank you" He said, greedily counting the cash. Robin got out and grabbed his stuff. The cab drove off and he stared at the stone palace before him. It, like the rest of the gray and silver buildings here, suited the name of his city, Silverbridge. He took in a deep breath. In the cab from the school to the airport, he had gotten to ride with HotSpot and his sister. Where he and HS made bets about who would last longer before losing it. Robin had bet against himself for a reason.

Bee smiled to herself as she left the train station. She had been pleasantly surprised to find Cyborg riding the second train she had to take to get home. They talked about random stuff and played cards and told jokes. She was on a happiness high. She happily marched her way through the ruby-covered streets. Yes, rubies. They were on everything.

How else did this city earn the name Rubyside? It sounds really expensive, but it's quite the opposite. It's actually extremely cheap to live here, why else Bumblebee be here? She turned into an apartment complex and greeted the silver haired man at the front desk. He handed her, her apartment key and said "welcome back."

Bee slowly lugged her suitcase up the stairs until she made it to the 5th floor. Her arms ached and she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. She unlocked her door and closed it behind her.

"I'm back." She said to her apartment. As per usual, there was no answer. Bumblebee lived alone. Her parents both sent her money to support her and that was it. Bumblebee had no idea who her dad was, and personally she'd like to keep it that way. After all, once she found out who her mother was she wished she hadn't. He wouldn't be any different. She was better off on her own than living with either of those two trainwrecks.

Bee sniffled and let go of her bags. She stumbled towards her bed and lay down, coughing as the dust flew off the sheets. She rolled over so her face was on the red comforter. Another Christmas alone. This was only her second one, but the hole in her heart didn't seem to have shrunk from the last Christmas. She was alone. This was something she would have to get used to.

No matter how many positive thoughts she put in her head, the emptiness never left. In fact, sometimes she could swear it got worse. They say that grief is a funny thing. Well, didn't she know it. Christmas alone. She made it through last year, she could do it again.

The boarding school made it so she wasn't alone for a majority of the year, but she was always afraid when they had a break. When they had a break she was alone. And when one is alone, their mind tends to wander to it's darkest places. The shadows get darker. The wounds get deeper. The scars reappear. The nightmares begin to resurface.

And just like that, her happiness faded to nothing.

Cyborg walked through town with a skip in his step. He got see Bee. He got to give her a real goodbye. Cyborg found himself being more and more attracted towards her. Heck, when he was with Bumblebee, nothing else seemed to exist. He had no image. Society couldn't even reach them. It scared him, but he liked it. It was fresh and new and real and he felt so, so free.

On his first bus he found himself riding with Kole. Then he took another one to the trains station where he met Bee, taking the same train! Now he was going home to his freaky scientist family. He walked down the street. A clock tower chimed above him. This city was known for being filled with scientists and inventors. He lived with the Simms. Mrs. Simms was working on converting the world to a cleaner form of energy while Mr. Simms was inventing a new type of robot to clean their house. They had a daughter. She was 2 years younger than him. Sarah.

She was pretty chill. She and Cyborg talked about tech a lot. The Simms taught him everything he knew. He could even repair himself, except that one time he fell in water, but he had Wally so he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. Sarah had long blond hair and blue eyes. She was pretty tom-boyish, but that made it easy for them to get along with each other.

Cy sighed contently. He was so happy to be back in Klocksdame. All the technology flying around. You couldn't come to Klocksdame and not leave feeling inspired.

Argent hit her mattress, which groaned back at her with its old springs as if it were in pain. She just lay there for a minute and attempted to compose herself.

First, she flew from school to the bus station closest to Deardeapth. Now, that bus station is farther from school than Tracer Town, which the fastest teenager alive took a cab to instead of running. She flew the damn distance. Of course, it was nothing compared to Starfire, but their type of flying was also very different. Argent didn't have a "hyperspeed." She then rode the bus with some crazy old lady talking about the end of the world and a kid slamming his flipping feet into the back of her seat.

She then got off the bus and onto a train. Crammed full of hot, sweaty people. Yay. She got off the train and took a cab the rest of the way to Deardeapth. She told the driver that she was trying to sleep three times, but the man would not shut up. So here she was. Passed out in her apartment.

Argent was less fortunate than Bee. She had no child support. She worked two jobs and could barely afford to live in her rundown apartment in the bad part of Piqualliville. There's the good part and the bad part of town and nothing in between. In fact, the good and bad parts even have different names. The bad part is called Deardeapth. Full of crime. Disease. crumbling buildings. You get the gist.

Hot Spot slammed his face into his lavish mattress. Well, he was home. Salma was downstairs with Mr. Horsfall, their adopted dad. He was rich. Rich. Rich. Rich. Hot Spot could only handle the guy for so long. The man himself was in his late 60's. His wife was dead and his two sons were out in the world on their own. He took in Salma and him after he lost his wife. He said something about "this big house isn't fun when you're alone."

Sure, deep deep deep deeeeep down, there was a certain genuineness in him, which was rare to find in most people. Yet, Hot Spot would bet money that he had grown up a spoiled little rich boy. It was all in the way he flaunted around his cash and bought everything he wanted. And in that everything, people are included. He bought his friends, he bought his business associates, he probably bought his wife, probably his kids too, heck, if the guy had an Instagram he would be that guy who buys all his followers. And he bought Salma. But not Hot Spot. That sorta stuff just didn't fly with him.

Mr. Horsfall bought them a flight back to Cenrivilla, when they could've just taken a few buses or something. To Hot Spot, he was just wasting money. He'd bring Salma beautiful golden necklaces embellished with rubies and diamonds, but that didn't earn the sort of love from either of them that he wanted. He was just turning Salma into a spoiled brat. Now, Mr. Horsfall hadn't adopted them buy coincidence, heck, if they went into social services he and Salma probably wouldn't be together anymore.

He knew their parents. He did business with them. He'd come down to Morocco and talk with them about business for a while, then he'd just sit down with his dad and they'd talk about stuff. A football game. College. The future. Little did either of them know that the future was about to darker than they could imagine.

Hot Spot got up off his bed and tugged on a thin black track jacket. He grabbed his shoes and put slid them onto his feet. Hot Spot turned the intricate golden doorknob of the door to his room and opened it.

"Do you need anything, young master?" Hot Spot launched backwards with his arms up. One more thing he hated. The help. He didn't like being served, he had legs and arms, he was more than capable of doing stuff alone. He looked at the woman, who had probably followed him from the second he got in the house. Waiting outside his door like she had nothing better to do.

"I'm going out." Hot Spot sighed before walking past her and putting his hands in his pockets.

"I see, where will you be going? Would you like me to get you a car? Perhaps you'd like to change first, so that you look more appropriate?" Hot Spot felt his eye twitch. He wore some jeans and a tee shirt. He looked like a normal person.

"I don't know. No and no." He walked faster and opened the door before the woman could make her way in front of him to open it for him. Hot Spot sat on the railing of the staircase and started sliding down, above the spiraling golden steps.

"Please, young master you might hurt yourself!" The lady fan as fast down the steps as she could, but Hot Spot was already at the bottom. He walked straight to the door and right on out.

"E-excuse me!" Kole squeaked at she was wedged between two people trying to get away from the bus stop. That's right, it was just a damn bus stop and it was so crowded she couldn't even move. She pushed with all her might and broke free from the two random people, crashing to the ground. Well if that didn't scream "Welcome to Darlingstone!" she didn't what would. She stood up and rubbed her newly scraped hands on her skirt before grabbing her suitcase and beginning to walk home. Nobody came to pick her up anymore. Gnarrk, her older brother, used to wait at the bus stop for and and give her one of his big warm hugs and then lead her through the giant crowd. Gnarrk was a human, but he was tall and well built, her opposite.

Gnarrk put himself through college and got her to Trys Boarding School. It was just them now. Well, it was just them. Gnarrk was her best friend. Then last year, she came home for winter break and he had himself a girlfriend. Amber. An auburn-haired, freckle-faced, black-eyed, time-consuming, over-dramatic bitch. She graduated college last year and this summer she started living with them.

Then, the time that Kole and Gnarrk had together got smaller and smaller until she had completely monopolized him. Kole was nothing more than the annoying little sister who lived with them. Everything that was hers suddenly belonged to Amber. Her brother. Her mirror. Her dresser. Her snacks. Not her clothes, but that was only because Amber couldn't fit in them.

And Gnarrk. He just gave them to her. He didn't fight for Kole. He used to fight for her and protect. Now it was "Amber this..." and "Amber that..." They didn't have loads of money, in fact, the three of them were crammed in their apartment for 2. Amber, she used all the extra money on herself. Gnarrk, he spent everything he had on her as though she were a queen.

People can say it's love, but to Kole, it just looked like he was stuck under a spell. He didn't care about her anymore. Kole had to take care of herself. It was often as though she didn't even exist to them. So, Christmas was no longer joyful and happy for her. There was no happiness from either of them. No cheerfulness sent in her direction. Kole knew that she wouldn't even get a present this year. Gnarrk always got her little things.

A snow globe. A little ring. A book. Kole never asked for much, but Amber did. She would have him buy the whole world if he could afford it. Kole walked into their apartment complex with a heavy heart. Would they even notice that she was home?

"Kole darling, you're back!"

"I'm back Mrs. Giles." Kole smiled politely at the pregnant woman. She sat in the lobby with her five kids squirming all over her.

"You bring anything back?" said Mr. Truman, who was crouched down behind the front counter finding the apartment keys.

"Like what? Did you want a souvenir from Trys?" Kole giggled at Mr. Truman, who hit his head on the counter as he stood back up.

"More like a boyfriend, maybe?" Kole snapped her head to look at Mrs. Giles.

"N-no! O-of course n-not!" She put her hands up in a defensive manner. She had meant it to sound jokingly, but her face and voice betrayed her. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and her voice cracked and stuttered. A boyfriend? Well, yeah, she had someone that she wanted to be that.

Jericho

The moment she thought about him her face exploded in red. She swore she could hear her heart beating really fast too! It was overwhelming. Kole had never really liked anybody before. It was uncharted territory, she hadn't even told the girls. It sounded kinda silly to her. She fell for Jericho after knowing him for two weeks. But now she had known him for 18 and only liked him more.

Jericho rose his head out of the clear blue lake water as soon as his feet could touch the ground. He slowly walked his way up to the land. Jericho wore nothing but his swimsuit and carried nothing with him. He had taken a cab from school to the end of Lake Staklene Suze. From there he dove into the lake and swam home. The sun was setting, when he started swimming it was around lunch time. He had gotten since the end of school last year.

He was at the edge of Marbellenian, home. Thick trees lined the land before him. Then, one of the trees began to move. It bent down forwards like it was touching its toes and then side to side. Then Lily came out of it.

"Damn it! You beat me!" Her hands were balled up in fists and Jericho just sent her a lopsided grin and shrugged his shoulders.

'You brought my stuff?' he signed and she rolled her eyes. Lily snapped her fingers and their bags dropped out of one of the trees.

"C'mon, the sooner we go the sooner I can see Aqualad!"

"Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!" Julie was jumping up and down on her bed. Jinx groaned in response and turned away from her little sister. "JIIIINNNXXXX!" Julie then jumped on her, effectively knocking the air out of her. Jinx sat up coughing like a mad.

"She's uuuuppp!" Joey yelled from her door.

"What the he-ck!" Jinx whined through her coughs.

"Jinx It's Christmas!" Julie threw her arms up in the air. On Christmas, none of the kids could go downstairs until all of them were up so they could see their presents at the same time. Joey and Julie woke up at 2 in the morning and then went to everybody else's rooms and woke them up.

Wally ran down the stairs with Robin's youngest half-sister, Violet, on his back.

"Faster!" The six year old giggled, "faster!" KF chuckled to himself, knowing that if he went his true speed the little girl wouldn't be able to hold onto him. He picked up his speed ever so slightly, making her giggle louder as they ran down the long hallways of Robin's mansion. Everybody had slowly made their way down to the living room to open their presents.

Wally burst into the living room, Violet laughing up a storm on his back.

"Took you long enough." Robin muttered towards his cousin. He sat rigid in an arm chair. His guarded hazel were deeply fixated on the window in hopes of not making eye contact with any of his "family members.

His father, Bruce, sat on the loveseat with his new fiance, Dahlia. Dahlia was a tan-skinned vampire with precognition. For those of you who don't know, precognition is the ability to see the future. She had long straight light brown hair that reached about the middle of her upper arms. She also had oval lilac eyes. Bruce kept her close. An arm wrapped around her waist. His hand would casually run through his thick black hair from time to time. The thing that Robin had never liked about his dad was his eyes. Those dark brown pools of emptiness and barred walls.

Wally rolled his eyes and slumped down next to Robin on the floor, letting Violet climb into his lap. Wally stretched his neck up so that Violet's silky black pigtails wouldn't poke his nose. They fell to her little shoulders and complimented her smooth baby blue eyes wonderfully. Violet was from Bruce's second marriage with a woman names Elizabeth, who sat across from Bruce.

Elizabeth was also a vampire, all of Bruce's wives and kids are. She had thick wavy sandy brown hair that ended just below her chin and baby blue eyes. Sat next to her was Bruce's first ex-wife, Hanna. Hanna had stern gray eyes and red-pink hair that she had bound atop her head in a tight bun. Leaning against the couch on the floor beside her was her only son, Austin.

His own red-pink hair was cut short and his brown eyes were fixated on the DS in front of him. Austin was 12 years old. And lastly, sitting on either side of Wally's mom, were the twins. Identical. From Bruce's second marriage were Juliet and Alexandria. They both had dark brown eyes and sandy brown hair. Their faces were just the same. Juliet had bangs across her forehead and put her hair in a ponytail. Alexandria had right bangs and put her hair in two low buns. They had both taken a liking to Wally's mom.

Starfire span around happily with Blackfire, who she had dragged onto the dance floor. They did not celebrate Christmas on Tamaran, but since kids began going off to school in other places, they made a different Holiday, one to celebrate the rejoining of families. It fell on December 25th as well. Blackfire returned from prison before the 25 and had finally returned home. It was freezing. The entire island was covered in snow.

On the 25th, all families would come together at the center of Tamaran and dance the whole day. There was food and games. They danced in a giant garden, covered by a wooden roof supported by poles. Different bands would play, normally it would be musicians within a family. Blackfire rolled her dark blue eyes as Star twirled, holding her arm above her head.

Blackfire, or Koma, was Star's role model in a few ways. Of course, going to prison wasn't one of them, but she did have certain characteristics that Starfire longed for. Blackfire could speak English very well. Star's dad said that she would one day be as good as her sister, but Star still wished she could do it now. Another thing, Blackfire was a wonderful social butterfly. Starfire was awkward and never really got sarcasm. The band finished and Star giggled, Blackfire chuckling along with her. Black fire also had long hair down to her waist, but instead of being red, it was black.

Star looked over at Wildfire, her little brother, who was still swaying back and forth with his girlfriend even though the music had stopped. Whindr' was a beautiful girl with glowing silver eyes just like the waterfall water. Her brother was head over heels for her. Star and Blackfire flew back over to their parents.

Myan and Luanda, but they were just dad and mom to the kids. Myan had crimson red hair and a strong build. His beard grew down to his waist and his mustache had golden rings on the end of it. He had little comforting dark blue eyes, too. Beside him was their mother, Luanda. She had curly black hair that put multiple extra inches of height on her and vibrant green eyes.

Merry Christmas!

Bumblebee looked down at her phone. She had been texted happy holidays from all the girls and then taken a nap. She awoke when she got a text from Cyborg. She hadn't told any of the girls that she was alone for the holidays, didn't even get presents. It wasn't really worth it to her.

MC

She texted him back and tossed her phone back on her pillow. She had been laying here all day. Taking naps or watching Netflix. She watched the sad movies like the Notebook and stuff.

Get anything good?

Her phone went off again and Bee looked at the message. Now she had a choice. Lie or tell the truth.

Yep. Gotta a sweet bracelet.

She tected back and continued to watch the movie before her.

Awesome! I got a new video gaming system!

Cyborg texted her back joyfully before setting his phone down and turning back to the TV.

"OooOOOooo, that your girlfriend of somethin'?" Cyborg flipped around to look at Sarah and rolled his eyes, trying to beat down the blush that was trying to creep its way onto his face.

"None of your business Sar," Cy crossed his arms and turned away, pouting.

Argent flew down the street. She was gonna be late! Things had run a bit overtime at her job at the grocery store and she had changed as quickly as she could in hopes of still making it to the orphanage on time. She was payed to tell the orphans stories. Probably one of the best jobs she could have.

Argent burst through the door to the orphanage exactly as the time switched to 6:00. She was exactly on time! Thank God!

Hot Spot was outside shooting hoops again. He was on the border to the bad part of town, but he always came here. It was his getaway and nobody noticed that he wasn't from the bad side. He didn't act like it and he certainly didn't dress like it. Right now his room was full of lavish and expensive gifts he'd probably never need to use. Joy. More clutter for his room. He wanted to donate it all to charity, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sneak it all out of the house without someone catching on. Everyday he donated something new to an orphanage. Something small so he could take it out of the house. It wasn't much, in fact, he was still working on getting rid of his gifts from last Christmas, but it was the best Hot Spot could do.

"Can you get out for a while?" Amber asked, arms looped around Gnarrk's neck. Kole looked out at the drizzling rain from the window then back to her brother, who was just staring at Amber. Amber rose her eyebrows and made a shooing motion with her hand. Kole stared at her for a moment with the most disbelieving look before sighing and walking towards the door.

She had left her raincoat in the dorm on accident. She slammed the apartment door closed. She went downstairs to the empty lobby. It was Christmas, nobody was working. Everybody was home celebrating with their families. Everybody but her. She was alone again. Amber kicked her out. She hadn't gotten a present for Christmas. Heck, Gnarrk hadn't even spoken to her the entire time she'd been home. Kole's shoulders shook. Find a happy place.

Kole shook her head and ran out of the apartment complex and into the drizzling rain. As she continued to run tears began leaking out of her eyes. The rain had already made a misty shell over her body by the time the reached the thin forest. Kole rubbed her nose with her sleeve and walked into the forest. The trees shielded her from the light rain mostly. She walked towards the familiar glistening water, rubbing her tears away every now and then.

She came out of the forest and looked at the clear blue water of Lake Staklene Suze. She sat down and looked at the water, shamelessly letting her tears fall.

"We wish you a merry christmas," She sang out softly, almost a broken whisper to the lake.

"We wish you a merry christmas," She lake rippled ever so slightly as she continued, letting the rain fall on her as it pleased, ignoring the cold.

"We wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year"

They had had a minor Christmas party and then it all turned into nothing but business. Jericho had left early, telling his father that he was going to practice, because practicing was the only reason why he'd ever let Jericho leave anything that he organized. Jericho swam deep down into the lake and then pushed forward, making the underwater world blur by. Then he came back up for air and looked up at the light drizzling rain. He was about halfway through Lake Staklene Suze. He could see the sunny shore of Marbellenian far in the distance.

Lake Staklene Suze was one of the biggest bodies of water in the country and the biggest in the state. Jericho dove back under and swam further away from home. When he came up again the rain was harder, so he opted to head back when he heard music.

"Good tidings we bring to you and your kin"

Jericho turned his head to look at a person. They were still pretty far away, so they looked blurry, but he could make out pink hair. It couldn't be. The voice was barely even a sound, but he was lucky enough to be able to catch it across the water. Jericho swam as fast as he could until he could make out her face.

Kole.

He could also make out that she was crying. She was crying. Why? Who made her cry? Jericho felt angry bubble in his stomach. He swam under the water and towards her. Then he popped up, right in front of her. This cause Kole to scream and conceal herself in a bubble of crystal. Jericho pulled himself on the shore and knocked on the crystal. A piece of it peeled away and she peeked out at him.

"Jericho?" He voice was muffled and he waved at her.

Beast Boy was running through the woods. He had been sprinting for so long that he was beginning to reach the mountains. After they had their big Christmas celebration he had transformed and decided to go for a needed run. Beast Boy never ran too deep into the mountains. He had been running for about 20 minutes, and he had never felt so alive. He could run for 3 more. Only three. Beast Boy laughed to himself as he dashed into the woods.

As three minutes passed he began to slow down and trotted along for a few seconds. He figured he should probably head back before he got lost when a smell reached his nose. An awfully intoxicating and familiar smell.

Raven sat in a rocking chair on the back porch. She was reading a book in silence. Raven wore a pair of striped cream socked and black yoga shorts. Over the shorts was a giant red sweater with a snowman on it. Her mother had gone out to a Christmas party. She had wanted Raven to come, but Raven had never been too fond of social gatherings. Too much emotion. Too many people. It was all so overwhelming.

Raven closed her book as she finished it and got up out of her rocking chair. She slowly floated down the stairs and hovered over the grass. She slowly stretched her arms up in the air and crossed her legs, floating over a foot about the grass. She was about to start meditating when she felt two hands slide around her waist.

Raven's eyes shot open. "Azarath me-" A hand clamped over her mouth.

"No Rae! It's me dude!" Beast Boy spun her around so she was facing him. "It's just me!" He took his hand off her mouth and put it back on her waist. Raven glanced down at his hands then looked back up at him. How the hell did he get here? "Turns out I live like a 30 minute run from here." He laughed.

"Stop reading my mind." Raven glared at him. Beast Boy leaned forward so that their noses touched.

"Nope!" He smiled then cartwheeled away as Raven sent a little spell his way.

Bee opened her eyes as her phone went off again. She looked over at her clock, 2 pm, December 26th.

Their birthday.

Or, her birthday. She planned to sleep through the whole day. Her phone went off again. She looked down to see her phone blowing up with messages from Cyborg. She groaned and looked down at them. Most of them were just her name, then he asked the same question a couple times, then he repeated it.

What apartment number are you again?

23, why?

He didn't answer, she shrugged and looked at her disheveled face in the mirror. Then there was a knock on her door. Bee scrunched her eyebrows and walked over to it. She didn't normally get visitors. She opened the door to look at Cyborg.

"Happy Birthday!" He gave her a big grin. Bumblebee's face lit up bright red as she let him in.

"How...why, what?" She looked at him standing in her living room.

"Argent told me it was your birthday today, and I decided to take the train over to celebrate!" He laughed, "Where're your parents, we should all go out." Bumblebee's face darkened.

"They aren't here." She mumbled.

"When will they be back?"

"Never." Bumblebee looked up at him and he had realization spread across his face in layers.

"Oh." He looked around and took note of how there were no Christmas decorations up. It was deathly quiet in the apartment. Cyborg slowly walked up to her, Bee was staring down at the floor. Her birthday was the hardest day of her life. It was easiest to just pretend it didn't exist. It made it less painful. Cyborg put his hands on her arms and she looked up at him.

"Well then, why don't I celebrate it with you?" Cyborg smiled brightly and the next thing Bee knew, they were watching movies and eating a little mini cake they got from a convenience store.

Tomorrow was New Year's Eve. Or well, it would be today in about 5 minutes. 11:55 pm. Argent was out, roaming the streets. She couldn't sleep, plus, winter break would be over in 3 or 4 days. She needed to practice so she wouldn't be rusty when she got back to school.

Argent had her hair up in a low ponytail. She wore a red hoodie, with her hood up. She also had on some black sweatpants and sneakers. The night sky towered above her in complete darkness. If one strained their eyes, they might be able to see the thick storm clouds that covered the stars. Argent shoved her hands in her pockets as she watched her breath spill from her lips and fog up in the frigid night air.

Argent had been asked to burn the midnight oil tonight by Miss Wage, the lady in charge of the orphanage. She had planned to start practicing much earlier, but work comes first. Work had to be her priority, how else would she live?

Argent opened the gate to the basketball court and stopped at the sound of a ball being dribbled. Nobody should be out at this time, especially not the day before New Year's Eve. She peeked out at a guy with a gray hoodie on with his hood up and sweatpants. She was careful to keep her face concealed. It wouldn't be good for her to get in any trouble out here. She picked up a basketball and walked to another hoop.

She slowly dribbled, keeping an eye on the guy behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him run up and slam dunk the ball into the hoop. Then he laughed. He laughed and all the puzzle pieces clicked together in Argent's head. It sounded just like Hot Spot. He played just like Hot Spot. Could it be? Argent felt a strange sense of excitement and hope fill her bones.

"Hot Spot?" She asked. It came out of her mouth before she had the chance to overthink the possibility that this could easily be someone who was just similar to the guy. But then he turned around and she saw his face. Argent felt herself smile brightly and wave at him. "Ye live 'round here too, eh?" She walked over to him. He looked just as surprised as she was.

"Yeah, something like that." Hot Spot rubbed the back of his neck. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two before Hot Spot decided to speak up. "What are you doing out here?" He asked. "It's really late, and tomorrow is New Year's Eve."

"I could ask ye the same." Argent put her hands on her hips and took a step forward playfully. Hot Spot chuckled a little bit.

"I'm not a hug party person, pretty sure I'll just escape here." Hot Spot shrugged his shoulders.

"Really? Nevar pegged ye as the introverted type." Hot Spot rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I guess you're partying then?" At this Argent blushed and looked down at her feet.

"Ah, nah, I 'magine I'll be workin'." Argent shrugged.

"Working on New Years?"

"I work on Christmas too." Argent shrugged. Hot Spot frowned, feeling a little bit sad for his friend. He spaced out for a moment, which was just enough time for Argent to launch a basketball at him. He caught it and looked up at her in surprise. "C'mon m'ster lonely, think ya can take me?" Argent flashed him a competitive grin and Hot Spot felt his face heat ever so slightly.

"You're on!"

Flashing lights

Loud Music

Dancing

Liquor

This is New Years Eve on Tamaran. Everyone comes together once more and parties the night away as the year changes. Star had already wished all of her friends a happy new year. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, tied with an emerald green ribbon. Star had a sleeveless dress on with a yoke neckline that ended about quarter thigh on her. The dress was emerald at the top, but faded to mulberry at the bottom. She also wore some emerald wedges and of course, under her dress were some shorts just in case.

"There you are!" One of the big Tamaranians bellowed, grabbing Starfire. He dragged her over to her brother and pushed them towards each other. "Finally, time for the dancing siblings!" He bellowed, causing the other partially drunk Tamaranians to cluster around her and Wildfire. Starfire and Wildfire had, of course, been expecting this. Wildfire looked at her with his dark blue eyes and she shrugged. He ran a hand through his thick crimson hair before flying over to the DJ, and told him the song to play. Then he flew back over to Star. His girlfriend back up confusedly with the crowd. They both grabbed a blank piece of paper and got on their knees, putting the paper in front of them. Wildfire nodded to the DJ.

Youtube Video: Bills - LunchMoney Lewis / Keone & Mariel Madrid Choreography / URBAN DANCE CAMP

I got Bills I gotta pay

So I'ma gonn' work work work every day
I got mouths I gotta feed
So I'ma gonn' make sure everybody eats
I got Bills!

They both fell down, hovering above the pieces of paper before pushing them forward and and tapping their fingers on them. Then they pulled the papers up towards them in the beat before balancing on their toes and swiveling their legs around. Then they rolled onto their backs with their legs in the air and turned out their hands before pushing them on their stomachs. Then they put the papers on their faces and sat up. Then they used their legs to push them to face the audience and took the papers off their faces. They looked from side to side before moving their legs to sit Indian style.

All these bills pile up my desk
They looking like a mount
All the little kids run around
I can hear their stomach growl
Touching for a moon out
And my girl just don't know how
Said she gonna leave me if I don't home with 50 thousand
$50? God damn, god damn, god damn, god damn
Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man
God damn, oh man, god damn, oh man

They pointed at the papers and turned them in different directions. Then they raised their hands up one at a time before bending their elbows and moving their heads forwards. They moved their heads before pushing up into crab walk position with one arm and shaking their legs. They got up and jumped. They looked from side to side before going up on their toes and poking out one of their arms while they fell over. They looked at the papers and moved them in circle motions before resting them on their upturned faces. They held them their before letting their arms down and then reaching up and grabbing them off. Then they turned and hit their heads into the papers to the beat. They danced around still pushing the papers on their faces before ending facing the other direction and sliding the papers down their bodies and folding them.

I got Bills I gotta pay
So I'm gonn' work, work, work every day
I got mouths I gotta feed
So I'm gonn' make sure everybody eats
I got Bills

Then they put the folded paper behind their back and jumped. Then they started kicking their feet out, making the Tamaranians cheer. They shifted from side to side before quickly tossing the now balled up paper under their legs and catching it. They stepped out and around and then turned back to the front. They pushed the paper at their stomachs and then put their hands at their sides. They jumped forward on one leg and then returned to just standing and dabbed their mouths with the balled paper before throwing them behind them. They popped to the right and put their hands to their heads before siding to the left. They lifted one leg and then pushed it down after they moved their shoulders. They stepped out and pointed up before stepping back in and pushing their faces. They moved their legs around in circles and went into wide stances before standing straight with their hands up.

And my shoes, my shoes
I said my shoes!
Ain't got no soul

They shook their legs, making everybody laugh. They put their hands on their legs then picked one up and shook it again. The foot crept forward before spinning them around as they moved their hands towards it before swinging them back up. They put their arms up and put them down one at a time as they swayed back and forth. They popped their hands down and then back up their bodies before running back around and grabbing the paper they had thrown earlier.

I got Bills I gotta pay
So I'm gonn' work, work, work every day
I got mouths I gotta feed
So I'm gonn' make sure everybody eats
I got Bills I gotta pay
So I'm gonn' work, work, work every day
I got mouths I gotta feed
So I'm gonn' make sure everybody eats
I got Bills

They held up the paper balls before walking to face each other. They did a quick handshake before throwing their arms up and walking away from each other. They opened the papers and then looked over their backs at each other before walking back to the middle to stand beside each other. Then they threw the now shredded pieces of paper into the air and started dancing. They moved backwards before lifting up one leg and turning around. They reached their hands up and then turned around and pumped their fists to and fro their stomachs. They span around and then crouched down making eating motions with their hands. They stomped out and pointed at people before rubbing their fingers together. They ran to the opposite side and pointed at people, rubbing their fingers again. Then they backed up until they were back to back and sunk to the ground, exhausted.

It was the last day of winter break. Kole would be leaving in the morning. Amber couldn't wait to get her out of here. She would have to head back to the apartment soon. She and Jericho had hung out every single day since they found out that they just lived on opposite shores of Lake Staklene Suze.

"A-are you sure Jericho?" Kole put her hands up, she was blushing like mad. He nodded and motioned for her to turn around. "It looks expensive, you really didn't have to." Kole fidgeted with her hands as Jericho fastened the necklace around her neck. It was a simple silver chain with a small pearl in the center. He finished and turned her back around.

'You never got a Christmas gift, so, it's a little late, but I want this to count for you.' he signed and blushed ever so slightly. Kole's face got redder, she didn't even think that was possible.

"T-Thank you" She squeaked, turning her head down so that he couldn't see just how bad she was blushing. Then her phone went off. She grabbed it to look at the alarm she had set for when she needed to head home so that she'd have a good amount of sleep to wake up tomorrow. Kole wore an indigo off the shoulder sweater of a white dress with silver stripes. She also had on some indigo knee boots. "Well, I've gotta go." She looked at Jericho who nodded a little hesitantly. She waved and started running off into the woods.

Jericho turned and sighed, looking at the clear blue water before him. He was about to dive in when he heard footsteps rushing back towards him. He turned to look at Kole. She was blushing with a determined look on her face. He rose an eyebrow and she ran up to him. She got on her tip toes and leaned to his side. She kissed his cheek.

It was like the world froze for a moment. Kole leaned forward and Jericho lightly wrapped his arms around her. "Really, thank you so much." She whispered in his ear and then pushed away and darted into the forest. Jericho's face turned bright red and he tentatively reached his hand up to touch the place that her lips had touched. He stood there and stared off in the direction she had run.