Christmas Eve came all too early. The sunrise was the first thing that woke her, even though she was barely able to get used to being up so early. Back home, she would've been in bed for a measly few HOURS. Deep brown snuck a peek at the alarm on the nightstand and groaned as those eyes rolled toward the wall. EIGHT AM?! What kind of internal wake-up call was THAT?? But she'd better get up now to squeeze as much as she could into the day. An even louder, whiny groan crashed through the air. Even for early, her mind made an excellent POINT. She would only be here for another solid week and a half...best to get cracking and get ready for the day. Even IF she ended up throwing the warm comforter over her head for another five minutes.

Buried in warmth, she tried to fall back asleep...but her brain was screaming that she was wasting precious hot shower minutes. A wishful groan escaped this time at the image of being under hot spray. The thought became so intense that the covers were thrown off with a heady sigh. Not wearing any socks quickly became a problem as small feet touched wood flooring. She gave a small shriek and quickly shuffled into the bathroom as fast as her morning stumbling would allow.

The floor was also tile as well, and she jumped for bath mats littering the ground. She breathed a quick sigh of relief and shuffled from her pajamas, looking at herself in the large mirror. Last time she was here, she was five-five, chubby, with shoulder-length hair. Now she was a proud five-eight, a noticeably developed woman, and her hair was nearly to her waist...with bangs to boot. Ever since she wrote to Sage, she worked on her appearance and got back into dance as her first love, but changed her wish from being a flamenco dancer to a Japanese teacher. She used the exercise to help gain some of the figure that was hiding behind her chubbiness. She chuckled and turned to the shower, turning it full blast on hot. She stepped in and quickly turned the temperature down, letting it help wake her up.

Her mind was oddly occupied this morning, and not sleep-riddled and unable to be used like it normally was the past few days. The reason she changed to this physical appearance was for him. She didn't care about her looks when she was with her immediate family, since she didn't have friends to worry about impressing and whatnot. At least, when they met again, he NOTICED. In fact, they ALL seemed to...which was odd for men. But the last image they had of her was drastically different than before. She was almost an entirely separate person, in both looks and personality. She was no longer openly timid or as easily embarrassed as she used to be. She was quickly taught that the world didn't really care how she acted, and she learned to laugh at her behavior and make light of it instead of turning shy. That was the best lesson she ever learned.

She finally stepped out when the water started turning cold and grabbed towels from off the wrack. After wrapping one around her body, the other went around her head Hindu-like style after most of the water was squeezed out. She felt loads better...finally awake and ready to start the day. Inhaling the steam, she towel-dried before stepping out of the warm steam and into cool, fresh air.

The sun was officially on the horizon and she left the lights off to enjoy it. She snatched a quick moment to watch some of the sun rise before heading to the dresser and picking something out. After yesterday's excursion through the surrounding woods with White Blaze, she was fortunate enough to discover a large pond in the area. It was totally frozen over and she checked it for sturdiness. It even held the heavy tiger and she knew it was perfect for many people to skate on.

Which was what they had planned today. In fact, the whole DAY was full. The five were going to show up around noon or so, or whenever the other four could get Rowen up. She made plans with Mia and the others as soon as she was able to get to a telephone last night. She now had their numbers along with their addresses. The thought made her smile.

The quiet quickly got to her and she went to the small cd player she borrowed from Mia for the time being. She brought some of her computer recorded music along and intended on buying some ORIGINAL Japanese while she was here to listen to when she got home. She pressed play and turned the volume up as soon as the keyboard sounded.

sotto mezameru (Quietly awakening...)
hakanai omoi zutto (I always, always wish)
donna toki demo negau yo (that these fleeting thoughts)
anata ni todoku you ni to... (would reach you...)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!