Disclaimers: See prologue.
Can be posted anywhere, just ask first.
_______________________________________________________________________
Christmas Wishes Part One
By Puu
_______________________________________________________________________
A.C. 197...Christmas Eve
When Duo got the invitation from Quatre and Trowa inviting him to a
small party for Christmas, he entirely forgot that "small" for both
Quatre and Trowa had a different meaning for them than for him.
For one thing, the "family room" was bigger than his house on the C3054
colony of the L2 cluster. For another, all of Quatre's Maganacs and
Trowa's circus troupe was there. When he got a good look at the full
room, he grabbed a glass of wine and looked for an empty place to
settle in.
Duo found himself a small corner close to the balcony doors and looked
out, staring at the snow falling softly to the ground. For most of his
life, he lived in the colonies and the weather was always tightly
controlled. There was never a "rainy" day to keep people inside,
unless, of course, the colonies needed it. So the snow fascinated him.
It was the first time he had actually seen snow in his life.
Of course, Duo mused as he turned his attention back to the center of
the room, what was going on inside the house was equally interesting.
This Christmas was the first Christmas in almost thirty years without
a war looming heavily over their heads.
It brought out the most amazing changes in people.
For example...Heero Yuy was smiling.
It wasn't an arrogant little smirk and it was definitely not that
insane grin.
Duo turned away, hiding the smile forming on his lips. Mr. Heero "The
Insanely Perfect Soldier" Yuy, for the first time since he met him,
smiled genuinely as he talked with Relena. He seemed happy and at
ease. Duo shook his head. Totally unbelieveable. He returned to
watching them and he wondered just how long Heero intended to keep
disappearing without notice.
As Heero presented Relena with another teddy bear, Duo figured that it
probably wasn't going to be much longer. Duo looked around the rest of
the room.
Unlike Duo, who sat far away from the center so that he wouldn't
attract any attention, Quatre and Trowa sat together next to the
fireplace looking at music, discussing what to play and how to play it.
It seemed to Duo that those two were surrounded by some halo, they
looked so relaxed, so...happy. *They should be*, he thought,
*considering everything they've gone through.* From the looks of it,
they had made their commitment permanent, the rings on their fingers
denoting their connection to each other.
Quatre and Trowa seemed to reach some sort of agreement on the sheet
music. Duo watched as they moved toward the grand piano next to the
Christmas tree. Quatre arranged the music on top of the piano and
Trowa brought out his flute. After warming up, they began to play a
song. The crowd hushed and Duo heard the soft music they played. He
smiled to himself.
It had been years since he heard "Silent Night."
Duo sighed and saw Mariemaia climb on the sofa and prop her elbows on
the back. She rested her chin on her hands and watched Quatre and
Trowa play their duet. Une sat down next to Mariemaia and everything
seemed to stand still. When Quatre and Trowa finished, the whole room
exploded into applause.
As the clock ticked closer to midnight, Duo went by the table and was
looking over what kind of food was laid out. He brightened up when he
spied the plate of Santa and Christmas tree cookies, with red and green
sprinkles and he grabbed a couple. He bit off the head off of a Santa
and munched with a very satisfied expression on his face. Someone
giggled and he turned around. Mariemaia was covering her mouth, trying
to smother her laughter, but she wasn't succeeding. Duo grinned,
winked, and took another bite. They compared cookies, tasting them all
and tried to figure out which kind was the best to leave out for Santa.
"You're more of a kid than Mariemaia."
Duo rolled his eyes to Mariemaia, who snorted, and gave Heero an
innocent look. "It's Christmas," he declared. He shoved the rest of
the cookie in his mouth. Heero just stared at him. Duo sighed
dramatically and whispered to Mariemaia. "See? He's a non-believer."
He stuck up his nose and sniffed in Heero's direction. "But we all
know who's not gonna get anything from Santa *this* year."
Heero shook his head as Duo and Mariemaia finished their discussion on
cookies. "After you've chosen the best cookies, all you have to do is
leave it next to the fireplace with a glass of milk." Mariemaia
nodded and started scrutinizing each cookie. After she went down the
table a little away from them, Heero spoke up again.
"Aren't you a little old for Santa?"
Duo groaned. "Heero..." He glared at Heero until saw the hint of a
smile on his face. Duo's jaw dropped and he started laughing. "I
don't believe it. Heero, were you just joking?"
Heero calmly took a sip of wine. "No." But he had a glint in his eye.
Duo snorted. "Right. Whatever." It looked like Heero changed more
than he thought.
Sally came in then and she had Wufei in tow. Wufei looked a little
exasperated, but Sally had a big smile on her face. Quatre came up and
took Sally's coat. "Where did you find him?"
Sally chuckled. "Can you believe he was working in the office? I
looked everywhere and it came to me. He was particularly obssessed--"
"I was not," Wufei cut in.
"--with a case that came to Preventer attention a couple of weeks ago.
He refuses to work on anything else," Sally finished.
Duo started laughing and smothered the sound into his cup when Wufei
glared at him. Heero kept his face neutral, but a slight twitch on his
cheek told Duo he was trying not to grin.
Wufei started to sputter protests about "The case was important" and
how "It needs to be cracked open NOW."
Sally murmured, "That's nice." Then she left to talk to Lady Une,
before Wufei could object further. Heero cleared his throat to get
Wufei's attention and gave him some wine. Wufei stared hard at Sally's
back and gave up with a grumble.
Duo couldn't keep from laughing any longer so he forced out some
excuses and left before he could burst out in front of Wufei and they
started fighting. He felt a little claustrophobic and he walked out
onto the balcony. Then he started laughing.
Now, that was a sight. On par with Heero smiling. With all his talk
of justice and a really annoying habit of saying, "Woman!", Duo thought
that the last person who would have dragged Wufei to the party was
Sally, never mind the fact she was his partner. Not that they didn't
work together well. It just looked like Wufei had just found a woman
who could match his strength and teach him a few lessons, too.
Now that Duo thought about it, where was Hirde? He squinted through
the frost-tinged windows and he saw her Hirde talking animatedly to
Dorothy and Relena. Duo thought she really was beautiful, when she
smiled. She was always there for him, someone who recognized his need
for someone to talk to when times had gotten bad. He never told her
how much she had meant to him, and, even now, he still could not tell
her. He wondered if he could ever tell her.
He watched as the girls began to strike up a conversation with Heero
and Wufei. Catherine walked up and began to talk and the guys decided
to excuse themselves. They made their way to Quatre and Trowa and
waited as they played through another duet. Duo turned away from the
windows into the room and looked out over the perfect quiet of the
snow-covered forest.
In the distance, Duo could see the lights of the city glowing brightly.
He just stared at the glittering lights, the snow glistening around him
as he became lost in his thoughts for the moment. He broke out of his
revery and returned to watching the party going on inside. He smiled
wistfully as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.
Catherine had pulled Trowa aside, whispered in his ear, and handed him
a present. She stood back as he frowned and slowly unwrapped the gift
and opened the box. Duo couldn't see what he had gotten, but it must
have been something judging from the expression on Trowa's normally
expressionless face. Quatre came up to Trowa and peered into the box.
Oh yeah, it was probably really good, since Quatre blushed and looked
at Catherine with wide eyes. Catherine just laughed, kissed Trowa on
the cheek and hugged the two little lovebirds. Duo's smile grew sadder
as he witnessed this little scene.
It reminded him of another Christmas, so long ago...
***
A.C. 187...A week before Christmas
"Sister Helen..." a girl's voice piped up.
"Father Maxwell..." a boy's voice echoed after the girl's.
Father Maxwell and Sister Helen looked up at the pair of twins perched
on the ledge outside of the church. Their appearance was nearly
identical, down to the long braid going down their backs. The only
differences were the girl's softer features and soft smile that graced
her lips. The boy next to her grinned broadly. Both were sporting
terrific black eyes.
"Duo! Ducina! What in the world happened to you two?!" Helen
exclaimed as she saw that they not only had black eyes, they also had
other bruises that they obviously just obtained. "Were both of you
fighting again?! Get down from there now, both of you!" Helen sighed
as Duo and Ducina slowly climbed down the ledge and stood in front of
her, eyes downcast. She bent down, put her hands under their chins and
tilted their heads up to look into their eyes. After a while, she
straightened. "What was it this time?" she asked.
They both looked back to the ground. After a long silence, they looked
up. Ducina spoke up first.
"Some of the kids tried to beat up us, because we wouldn't do what they
said. They made fun of us, too, saying that we're dirty and poor and
we deserve everything that happened to us." Ducina fell silent and Duo
continued. Sister Helen pushed them toward the church and Father
Maxwell fell in step behind them.
"They said we were stupid and all we're good for is serving them. And
they tried to make us steal stuff, and we wouldn't, not for them, so
they tried to make us lick their shoes and we wouldn't do that either,
so we beat them up."
The group stopped in front of the door. Duo and Ducina both stood
there silently, waiting for either of them to say anything. Finally,
Father Maxwell said, "Well, I suppose I'll be called in very soon to
apologize." He looked at the twins in front of him and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter how many times I have to say
sorry to the school board."
"Father Maxwell!"
Maxwell held up his hand to stop Sister Helen's protest. "I don't
expect you to follow their orders. I just expect you two to do your
best." The phone rang inside. Maxwell stood up and gave the pair a
wry smile. "I wonder who that could be..." He went inside the church,
leaving the nun and the twins out on the steps.
Duo and Ducina sighed in relief.
"You're not off the hook yet."
They turned back and looked up fearfully into Helen's stern face.
Sister Helen folded her arms and scrutinized the two in front of her.
After a while, they began to fidget and squirm under her steady gaze.
"Did you two put them in the hospital?" They began to fidget even
more. Sister Helen sighed. "Duo... Ducina..."
Duo burst out. "It was their fault!"
"They're in the hospital, Duo. How can you say it's their fault?"
"But..."
Ducina looked up at Sister Helen. "Would it have been better that we
did what they wanted us to? I don't think so. 'Sides... it's either
us or them, and you know what?"
Sister Helen raised her eyebrows. "What?" she queried suspiciously.
"We've decided it's us!" Duo and Ducina put their arms around each
other and winked.
Sister Helen sweatdropped. *Why me?*
***
Later that day...
"Whatcha doing, Sister Helen?" Ducina sat down and watched as Helen
pull out the few Christmas ornaments they had. Duo and Father Maxwell
went to pull out the old fake tree that was stashed away in the attic.
"Why, getting ready for Christmas." When met with a questioning stare,
Helen blinked and asked, "Do you know what Christmas is?"
"Sure. It's when those soldiers go around getting drunk and smashing
things up. Then they go home and their kids open presents that they're
just gonna break. Then they have dinner, half of which they don't even
finish, so when they dump it, we go get the leftovers." Ducina went
quiet and looked at the floor, missing the nun's horrified expression
completely. "You know...that was the best time ever 'cuz we were
actually full once a year." She looked up at Helen and beamed. "Am
I right?" Ducina's eyes widened as she saw the expression on the poor
Sister Helen's face. "Are you okay? Sister Helen?"
Helen's mouth moved wordlessly, unable to form words. Was that all
she knows of Christmas, Helen thought, just the example shown to her by
a bunch of idiotic soldiers? Ducina came up to her and waved her hand
in front of her eyes. Sister Helen blinked and asked, "Is that what
you know?" She grew sad as she thought of Ducina's words, 'best time
ever...'
"Well, yeah. Is it something different?" Ducina frowned as she
thought long and hard. "I didn't miss anything, did I?" She began to
count off on her fingers, mumbling, "...partying, presents, food..."
Father Maxwell walked in with Duo, also counting his fingers.
As Father Maxwell put down the tree, he whispered to Sister Helen. "I
take it you also had the same conversation?" When Helen nodded
dumbly, Maxwell sighed. He had no idea their perception was so
warped.
"Oh, yeah!" Father Maxwell and Sister Helen looked up at the joyful
exclamation, hoping that maybe they did know something after all. Duo
and Ducina gave them V-signs. "We forgot that they put up the most
ugly decorations of a fat guy and red-nosed reindeer! Those
decorations were the worst...huh?" They heard a groan and rushed over
to Maxwell and Helen. They had the most stupified/horrified
expressions on their faces and they could barely breath. Two voices
alled them back from their horror. "Father Maxwell? Sister Helen?"
They looked down to the twins' eyes. "Were we wrong?"
Helen knelt to meet their eyes, tears forming in her's. "No, of course
not. Those are a part of Christmas, too." She hugged them both
tightly. They were amazed at her reaction and looked up at Father
Maxwell.
"There's more?" Ducina asked.
"Much more," the father replied, tears also forming.
"What else can there be?" Duo asked, the confusion on his face mirrored
by his sister's.
"C'mon. We'll tell you both a story..." Father Maxwell and Sister
Helen pulled them up on their laps and began to teach them what
Christmas really was...
...to be continued
Can be posted anywhere, just ask first.
_______________________________________________________________________
Christmas Wishes Part One
By Puu
_______________________________________________________________________
A.C. 197...Christmas Eve
When Duo got the invitation from Quatre and Trowa inviting him to a
small party for Christmas, he entirely forgot that "small" for both
Quatre and Trowa had a different meaning for them than for him.
For one thing, the "family room" was bigger than his house on the C3054
colony of the L2 cluster. For another, all of Quatre's Maganacs and
Trowa's circus troupe was there. When he got a good look at the full
room, he grabbed a glass of wine and looked for an empty place to
settle in.
Duo found himself a small corner close to the balcony doors and looked
out, staring at the snow falling softly to the ground. For most of his
life, he lived in the colonies and the weather was always tightly
controlled. There was never a "rainy" day to keep people inside,
unless, of course, the colonies needed it. So the snow fascinated him.
It was the first time he had actually seen snow in his life.
Of course, Duo mused as he turned his attention back to the center of
the room, what was going on inside the house was equally interesting.
This Christmas was the first Christmas in almost thirty years without
a war looming heavily over their heads.
It brought out the most amazing changes in people.
For example...Heero Yuy was smiling.
It wasn't an arrogant little smirk and it was definitely not that
insane grin.
Duo turned away, hiding the smile forming on his lips. Mr. Heero "The
Insanely Perfect Soldier" Yuy, for the first time since he met him,
smiled genuinely as he talked with Relena. He seemed happy and at
ease. Duo shook his head. Totally unbelieveable. He returned to
watching them and he wondered just how long Heero intended to keep
disappearing without notice.
As Heero presented Relena with another teddy bear, Duo figured that it
probably wasn't going to be much longer. Duo looked around the rest of
the room.
Unlike Duo, who sat far away from the center so that he wouldn't
attract any attention, Quatre and Trowa sat together next to the
fireplace looking at music, discussing what to play and how to play it.
It seemed to Duo that those two were surrounded by some halo, they
looked so relaxed, so...happy. *They should be*, he thought,
*considering everything they've gone through.* From the looks of it,
they had made their commitment permanent, the rings on their fingers
denoting their connection to each other.
Quatre and Trowa seemed to reach some sort of agreement on the sheet
music. Duo watched as they moved toward the grand piano next to the
Christmas tree. Quatre arranged the music on top of the piano and
Trowa brought out his flute. After warming up, they began to play a
song. The crowd hushed and Duo heard the soft music they played. He
smiled to himself.
It had been years since he heard "Silent Night."
Duo sighed and saw Mariemaia climb on the sofa and prop her elbows on
the back. She rested her chin on her hands and watched Quatre and
Trowa play their duet. Une sat down next to Mariemaia and everything
seemed to stand still. When Quatre and Trowa finished, the whole room
exploded into applause.
As the clock ticked closer to midnight, Duo went by the table and was
looking over what kind of food was laid out. He brightened up when he
spied the plate of Santa and Christmas tree cookies, with red and green
sprinkles and he grabbed a couple. He bit off the head off of a Santa
and munched with a very satisfied expression on his face. Someone
giggled and he turned around. Mariemaia was covering her mouth, trying
to smother her laughter, but she wasn't succeeding. Duo grinned,
winked, and took another bite. They compared cookies, tasting them all
and tried to figure out which kind was the best to leave out for Santa.
"You're more of a kid than Mariemaia."
Duo rolled his eyes to Mariemaia, who snorted, and gave Heero an
innocent look. "It's Christmas," he declared. He shoved the rest of
the cookie in his mouth. Heero just stared at him. Duo sighed
dramatically and whispered to Mariemaia. "See? He's a non-believer."
He stuck up his nose and sniffed in Heero's direction. "But we all
know who's not gonna get anything from Santa *this* year."
Heero shook his head as Duo and Mariemaia finished their discussion on
cookies. "After you've chosen the best cookies, all you have to do is
leave it next to the fireplace with a glass of milk." Mariemaia
nodded and started scrutinizing each cookie. After she went down the
table a little away from them, Heero spoke up again.
"Aren't you a little old for Santa?"
Duo groaned. "Heero..." He glared at Heero until saw the hint of a
smile on his face. Duo's jaw dropped and he started laughing. "I
don't believe it. Heero, were you just joking?"
Heero calmly took a sip of wine. "No." But he had a glint in his eye.
Duo snorted. "Right. Whatever." It looked like Heero changed more
than he thought.
Sally came in then and she had Wufei in tow. Wufei looked a little
exasperated, but Sally had a big smile on her face. Quatre came up and
took Sally's coat. "Where did you find him?"
Sally chuckled. "Can you believe he was working in the office? I
looked everywhere and it came to me. He was particularly obssessed--"
"I was not," Wufei cut in.
"--with a case that came to Preventer attention a couple of weeks ago.
He refuses to work on anything else," Sally finished.
Duo started laughing and smothered the sound into his cup when Wufei
glared at him. Heero kept his face neutral, but a slight twitch on his
cheek told Duo he was trying not to grin.
Wufei started to sputter protests about "The case was important" and
how "It needs to be cracked open NOW."
Sally murmured, "That's nice." Then she left to talk to Lady Une,
before Wufei could object further. Heero cleared his throat to get
Wufei's attention and gave him some wine. Wufei stared hard at Sally's
back and gave up with a grumble.
Duo couldn't keep from laughing any longer so he forced out some
excuses and left before he could burst out in front of Wufei and they
started fighting. He felt a little claustrophobic and he walked out
onto the balcony. Then he started laughing.
Now, that was a sight. On par with Heero smiling. With all his talk
of justice and a really annoying habit of saying, "Woman!", Duo thought
that the last person who would have dragged Wufei to the party was
Sally, never mind the fact she was his partner. Not that they didn't
work together well. It just looked like Wufei had just found a woman
who could match his strength and teach him a few lessons, too.
Now that Duo thought about it, where was Hirde? He squinted through
the frost-tinged windows and he saw her Hirde talking animatedly to
Dorothy and Relena. Duo thought she really was beautiful, when she
smiled. She was always there for him, someone who recognized his need
for someone to talk to when times had gotten bad. He never told her
how much she had meant to him, and, even now, he still could not tell
her. He wondered if he could ever tell her.
He watched as the girls began to strike up a conversation with Heero
and Wufei. Catherine walked up and began to talk and the guys decided
to excuse themselves. They made their way to Quatre and Trowa and
waited as they played through another duet. Duo turned away from the
windows into the room and looked out over the perfect quiet of the
snow-covered forest.
In the distance, Duo could see the lights of the city glowing brightly.
He just stared at the glittering lights, the snow glistening around him
as he became lost in his thoughts for the moment. He broke out of his
revery and returned to watching the party going on inside. He smiled
wistfully as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.
Catherine had pulled Trowa aside, whispered in his ear, and handed him
a present. She stood back as he frowned and slowly unwrapped the gift
and opened the box. Duo couldn't see what he had gotten, but it must
have been something judging from the expression on Trowa's normally
expressionless face. Quatre came up to Trowa and peered into the box.
Oh yeah, it was probably really good, since Quatre blushed and looked
at Catherine with wide eyes. Catherine just laughed, kissed Trowa on
the cheek and hugged the two little lovebirds. Duo's smile grew sadder
as he witnessed this little scene.
It reminded him of another Christmas, so long ago...
***
A.C. 187...A week before Christmas
"Sister Helen..." a girl's voice piped up.
"Father Maxwell..." a boy's voice echoed after the girl's.
Father Maxwell and Sister Helen looked up at the pair of twins perched
on the ledge outside of the church. Their appearance was nearly
identical, down to the long braid going down their backs. The only
differences were the girl's softer features and soft smile that graced
her lips. The boy next to her grinned broadly. Both were sporting
terrific black eyes.
"Duo! Ducina! What in the world happened to you two?!" Helen
exclaimed as she saw that they not only had black eyes, they also had
other bruises that they obviously just obtained. "Were both of you
fighting again?! Get down from there now, both of you!" Helen sighed
as Duo and Ducina slowly climbed down the ledge and stood in front of
her, eyes downcast. She bent down, put her hands under their chins and
tilted their heads up to look into their eyes. After a while, she
straightened. "What was it this time?" she asked.
They both looked back to the ground. After a long silence, they looked
up. Ducina spoke up first.
"Some of the kids tried to beat up us, because we wouldn't do what they
said. They made fun of us, too, saying that we're dirty and poor and
we deserve everything that happened to us." Ducina fell silent and Duo
continued. Sister Helen pushed them toward the church and Father
Maxwell fell in step behind them.
"They said we were stupid and all we're good for is serving them. And
they tried to make us steal stuff, and we wouldn't, not for them, so
they tried to make us lick their shoes and we wouldn't do that either,
so we beat them up."
The group stopped in front of the door. Duo and Ducina both stood
there silently, waiting for either of them to say anything. Finally,
Father Maxwell said, "Well, I suppose I'll be called in very soon to
apologize." He looked at the twins in front of him and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter how many times I have to say
sorry to the school board."
"Father Maxwell!"
Maxwell held up his hand to stop Sister Helen's protest. "I don't
expect you to follow their orders. I just expect you two to do your
best." The phone rang inside. Maxwell stood up and gave the pair a
wry smile. "I wonder who that could be..." He went inside the church,
leaving the nun and the twins out on the steps.
Duo and Ducina sighed in relief.
"You're not off the hook yet."
They turned back and looked up fearfully into Helen's stern face.
Sister Helen folded her arms and scrutinized the two in front of her.
After a while, they began to fidget and squirm under her steady gaze.
"Did you two put them in the hospital?" They began to fidget even
more. Sister Helen sighed. "Duo... Ducina..."
Duo burst out. "It was their fault!"
"They're in the hospital, Duo. How can you say it's their fault?"
"But..."
Ducina looked up at Sister Helen. "Would it have been better that we
did what they wanted us to? I don't think so. 'Sides... it's either
us or them, and you know what?"
Sister Helen raised her eyebrows. "What?" she queried suspiciously.
"We've decided it's us!" Duo and Ducina put their arms around each
other and winked.
Sister Helen sweatdropped. *Why me?*
***
Later that day...
"Whatcha doing, Sister Helen?" Ducina sat down and watched as Helen
pull out the few Christmas ornaments they had. Duo and Father Maxwell
went to pull out the old fake tree that was stashed away in the attic.
"Why, getting ready for Christmas." When met with a questioning stare,
Helen blinked and asked, "Do you know what Christmas is?"
"Sure. It's when those soldiers go around getting drunk and smashing
things up. Then they go home and their kids open presents that they're
just gonna break. Then they have dinner, half of which they don't even
finish, so when they dump it, we go get the leftovers." Ducina went
quiet and looked at the floor, missing the nun's horrified expression
completely. "You know...that was the best time ever 'cuz we were
actually full once a year." She looked up at Helen and beamed. "Am
I right?" Ducina's eyes widened as she saw the expression on the poor
Sister Helen's face. "Are you okay? Sister Helen?"
Helen's mouth moved wordlessly, unable to form words. Was that all
she knows of Christmas, Helen thought, just the example shown to her by
a bunch of idiotic soldiers? Ducina came up to her and waved her hand
in front of her eyes. Sister Helen blinked and asked, "Is that what
you know?" She grew sad as she thought of Ducina's words, 'best time
ever...'
"Well, yeah. Is it something different?" Ducina frowned as she
thought long and hard. "I didn't miss anything, did I?" She began to
count off on her fingers, mumbling, "...partying, presents, food..."
Father Maxwell walked in with Duo, also counting his fingers.
As Father Maxwell put down the tree, he whispered to Sister Helen. "I
take it you also had the same conversation?" When Helen nodded
dumbly, Maxwell sighed. He had no idea their perception was so
warped.
"Oh, yeah!" Father Maxwell and Sister Helen looked up at the joyful
exclamation, hoping that maybe they did know something after all. Duo
and Ducina gave them V-signs. "We forgot that they put up the most
ugly decorations of a fat guy and red-nosed reindeer! Those
decorations were the worst...huh?" They heard a groan and rushed over
to Maxwell and Helen. They had the most stupified/horrified
expressions on their faces and they could barely breath. Two voices
alled them back from their horror. "Father Maxwell? Sister Helen?"
They looked down to the twins' eyes. "Were we wrong?"
Helen knelt to meet their eyes, tears forming in her's. "No, of course
not. Those are a part of Christmas, too." She hugged them both
tightly. They were amazed at her reaction and looked up at Father
Maxwell.
"There's more?" Ducina asked.
"Much more," the father replied, tears also forming.
"What else can there be?" Duo asked, the confusion on his face mirrored
by his sister's.
"C'mon. We'll tell you both a story..." Father Maxwell and Sister
Helen pulled them up on their laps and began to teach them what
Christmas really was...
...to be continued
