Rath and Pent tied up a spare tent on the tree to make it look like a room in a house… sort of. Louise and Vaida brought in some chairs, portable tables, and knick-knacks to help furnish the "room". The others that didn't have a role brought out picnics, blankets, and sat down to watch the play when it starts. All the "actors" were grouped together talking except for our little Krogstad.

"Where the (expletive) is Nils?" roared Hector.

"I believe he is still learning how to act like a normal bratty kid," mumbled Marth. She ran back to her tent and found the bard still reading whatever it was she made him read.

"Nils? We're all ready for you," Marth said sweetly.

"…" The child's amber eyes were glazed over and he clicked the mouse to scroll down. He moved the cursor to the left and right arrow buttons, but found only the left arrow. Nils drew in a sharp breath and screamed bloody murder! The whole continent (and then some!) turned their heads to the direction of the scream with awe and curiosity. Nils curled up in fetal position on the ground, sobbing hysterically and muttering nonsensical words in a shaky voice.

"…Are you all right there?" asked the dumbstruck tactician.

"W-when a-are y-you g-gonna c-continue? C-cliff h-hangers! I hate 'em! P-please! C-continue it…" It sounded like the poor boy was hyperventilating.

"Soon, because I get writer's block all the time, plus I have a habit of starting one story then start another one and don't update the first one-"

Nils reached up for her shirt and pulled her down to his level. "I NEED TO READ MORE! MORE!"

"Don't h-hurt me! Please!"

It took a few minutes to drag out a traumatized Nils. Everyone ran up to him, bombarding the boy with questions about her tent. Nils just whimpered while Marth threatened to send everyone into the enemy with no weapons in the next battle if they didn't leave Nils alone. Now they can put on the play.

"…And I still think that it's fascinating how the meaning of your symbol in chapter six is evident since the beginning of chapter fifteen! It's very subtle to someone if they just plow through the story. It looked like just an innocent game to pass the time, but I read between the lines and caught on their expressions, especially hers. I'm calling her a her because she probably would like that if she was real, you know, out of courtesy. Also, the Giant panda symbolizes yin and yang, didja know that? It's evident in her because she shows both yin and yang at different times. I read the beginning even though you wanted me to start at five and she had one side in two and a different side at the end of four. Hey, they're like yin and yang too! He's like yang and she's yin because yin is feminine and yang is masculine, or was it the other way around?"

"Nils? Please tell me that you don't think that it's a bad thing that I'm slowing making it a…"

"A field day for an English teacher with your use of hidden symbols? Yes! Also, it's interesting how the two protagonists take turns being the antagonist as well-"

"Why did I ever make you read it is beyond me!"

Sain ran up to the two with the book in his hand. Sain was about to grab her arm when he hastily retreated his arm back. He's suffered many consequences from hitting on her and just showing affection for her. Marth was definitely not the type of girl that likes "mushy romantic crap", as she bluntly puts it.

"Milady, I have a question for you, O wise one!" called Sain.

"What is it?" she asked in a bored tone.

"Can we use our names instead of the characters?"

"Go ahead then."

Sain began to walk away, but began to turn his head around slightly towards her chest.

"Take one look at them and I will kill you like the homicidal maniac I am."

Sain quickly snapped his neck around and broke off in a frantic run.


"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls, humans and Mamkutes of all ages! I bring you the play, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen!" announced Marth "onstage". Everyone applauded and the crazy tactician related to the devil walked off stage.

Marth took out her laptop and played a doorbell WAV file. It was actually a Halloween one because after the bell sound came little kid voices crying in unison "Trick-or-treat!" Lyn jumped and chuckled with everyone else at the blunder. Marth played another sound, a door opening one. Lyn pranced in, humming the first movement of "Folk Song Suite" by R. Vaughn Williams. She was carrying an armload of parcels, then she laid them down onto the table. Lyn left the "door" open after her and Farina was heaving a large potted plant with a Christmas star on top of it. She managed to hand it over to Priscilla, whose knees buckled from the plant's weight.

"This… backbreaking labor costs you 41,443 gold. Ow… I'm not doing this for my health, you know!" spat the money-obsessed pegasus knight as she stretched her back.

"I think I-I have some gold in m-my pocket-Oh no! Help! I'm gonna faaaaaall!" The troubadour fell over backwards and landed on Erk with the plant on top of her chest.

"You're… crushing my… lung…!" gasped Erk.

"Um…" Lyn looked at her book and found where they're at. "Hide the Christmas tree carefully, Helen."

"…If I c-can get up-p…" groaned Priscilla.

"My lungs are being crushed here-Oh, great. I have atelectasis now," muttered Erk.

"I'll help you up for 2,723 gold," said Farina. "Ain't I generous? It's usually more, but for you it's lower!"

"Lady Lyndis!" called Sain.

"Sain! You're not in here yet!" hissed Lyn.

"I spoke with Marth earlier and she said that we can use our names instead if we wanted to," said Sain.

"'Kay, got it." Lyn looked over her lines again and cleared her throat. "Hide the Christmas tree carefully, Priscilla. Be sure the children do not see it until this evening, when it is dressed."

"That's one pathetic Christmas tree," chortled Hector. "No child would look at that tree and not laugh until the cows come home!"

"It's the best we could do on a low budget," said Wallace.

"What 'low budget'? We're millionaires, for God's sake! We can afford a blasted tree!"

"In less than 10 minutes when the nearest store is a day away with bandits along the path, waiting to kill you?"

"…I hate you, old man."

Lyn went up to Farina and asked "How much?"

"57,522 gold," answered Farina.

"No, you're line is 'Sixpence'," said Lyn.

"What the heck is sixpence? I'm gonna charge 57,522 gold and nothing lower!"

"Ok, ok… Moving on-"

"Hey! Where's my money, ya freeloader?" Farina moved Lyn's book down and glared at her.

"You're not serious, are you?" Lyn asked with suspicion.

"You bet your sweet bippy I'm serious! Fork it over, tightwad!" Farina stretched out her hand and gestured for the money. Lyn narrowed her eyes and took out the king's ransom of gold for her.

"There is a shilling. No, keep the change," Lyn said unenthusiastically.

"Happy to be of service of you, m'lady!" Farina answered gleefully. She ran to Priscilla, who also paid her due. Farina ran into Marth's tent, then shouted "Where the (expletive) is it?" Farina ran out and shouted "Where's that box thing that allows you to find anything you want in the world?"

"You mean this?" Marth showed her the laptop.

"Yeah, that! Hand it over! I need to make a bid on eBay!"

"A bid on eBay, eh? Since when do you go on eBay?" Marth asked snidely.

"Ever since I joined your group. That one night when you got a little tipsy at that one inn, I sneaked into your tent and used that thing. I've been sneaking on it since then."

"Ah, no wonder why I keep finding sites in the history folder that I've never gone to the night before. Wait… Did I do anything stupid when I was drunk by accident?" Marth stammered with her face turning red.

Farina grinned like a Cheshire cat and answered in a sing-song tone "Besides declaring your love for Lucius, Nils, Erk, Priscilla, and Florina then marrying all of them at once?"

"Yes."

"Nothing, then." Farina took off on her pegasus and headed for a town to buy things.

"Meh, I hope that the others dismissed that as nonsense and don't think that it's real…" she sighed. "The marriage, that is."

Lyn shut the "door" and was laughing at the little incident with Farina and Marth while taking off a coat and hat. She reached into her pocket and pulled out nothing. She looked frantically around and didn't find the thing she was supposed to take out of her pocket.

"Where am I going to get a packet of macaroons from?" she cried in dismay.

"M'lady, I just made you some wonderful, wonderful macaroons!" called Lowen. He took out a box of freshly baked macaroons and ran up to her with them.

"Th-thanks, Lowen," she answered back. Lyn ate a couple of the cookies, then goes up cautiously to another "door". "Yes, he is in." Lyn continued to hum and headed for the table.

" Is that my little-Wah? 'Little lark'?" Kent said in disgust.

"Haha! How sweet, Kent. You're calling Lady Lyndis a 'little lark'! Wah-hahaha!" Sain continued to laugh (he was behind the "door" with Kent) until the sound of someone getting punched in the face emitted. "Ow… Heehee, 'little lark' Lyndis…"

"Shut up, Sain!" growled Kent. "Ahem! Is that my little lark twittering out there?" he called to Lyn.

"'Twittering'… hih-hih-hih…"

"I mean it! Quite acting so childish!" Kent roared.

"Lady Lyndis the little lark that twitters… Bah-hahahaha!"

"Cut it out! What seems to be so funny about this line? Quite laughing over some stupid little perverted meaning behind the lines, Sain!"

"It's not perverted! It just sounds so funny! Lyndis a little bird twittering around like a hummingbird… The mental image of this is making me laugh! Seems like you're the one who found a 'perverted meaning' behind this, Kent!"

A sound of someone being kicked emitted followed by Sain falling to his knees and moaning in utter pain. It was obvious where he got kicked at.

Lyn began to open the presents (which were bought by Marth) and answered "Yes, it is!"

"Is it my little-squirrel? Err… Is it my little squirrel bustling about?" Kent asked uneasily.

"'Squirrel'?" repeated Lyn while attempting to keep from laughing.

"I think it would have been better to have Lord Hector and Lady Florina as the Helmers instead of us…" sighed Kent.

"Yeah so that I'm not dead!" bellowed Hector, who was gripping tightly on his Wolf Beil.

"Yes!" called Lyn. "I meant yes to your question, Kent."

"Ugh… When did my squirrel come home?" asked Kent. Sain began to giggle again, so Kent struck his partner over the head with the blue textbook.

"Just… Haha… Just now. Hahaha!" Lyn could not keep her laughing fit under control and began to snort uncontrollably (think of the protagonist from Miss Congeniality). "C-come in (snort) here, Tor-Kent, and (snort) see what I have bought."

"Since when did Lady Lyndis snort like that?" Sain whispered softly to Kent.

"Don't disturb me," answered Kent to Lyn.

"Sor-ree! Sheesh…" grumbled Sain.

"I meant to Lyndis, you lout!"

"Oh, my bad."

Kent emerged from the makeshift "door" with a quill in his hand and with an injured Sain crawling along side him. "Bought, did you say? All these things? Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?" He looked into Lyn's face and quickly stammered "I-I d-didn't mean that p-personally! Y-you're not a spendthrift! Y-You never waste money!"

"You're a dead man, Kent," chuckled Sain, but then he flinched in pain from laughing.

"Yes but, Kent, this year we really can let ourselves go a little. This is the first Christmas that we have not needed to economize." Lyn walked up to Kent, then looked down at poor Sain. The green-haired ladies' man raised his hand to her and she turned her nose up to him. Sain heaved a sigh of defeat and crawled offstage.

"Still, you know, we can't spend money recklessly. I guess that's true out in the battlefield too," said Kent.

"True dat!" cheered Marth.

"I-is she d-drunk again?" squeaked Florina.

"No, then she would be babbling about being from the future again," chuckled Eliwood.

"Ahem! Yes, Kent, we may be a wee bit more reckless now, mayn't we? Just a tiny wee bit! You are going to have a big salary and earn lots and lots of money." Lyn grabbed onto Kent's shirt and gave him the ol' "puppy eyes" stare.

"…Help… me…" croaked the red-head cavalier.

"Is this some big Lyn/Kent story?" asked Legault.

"Hush, peon!" shouted Marth.

"Yes, after the New Year; but then it will be a whole quarter before the salary is due." Kent hugged Lyn and stuck his tongue out at Marth in a taunting manner. Marth returned the gesture with the international gesture for "Better save up for the salary!"

"Pooh! We can borrow until then," answered Lyn. She began to hum the theme song for Winnie the Pooh.

"…This play is purely chaotic. We're all gonna mess up. We'll all look like bloody fools in front of all the others," mumbled Kent to the Lyn's tune.