Now Continuing…

The teenagers tromped through the forest, aimlessly looking for a perfect Christmas tree. Tenshi, Sakura, and Max critiqued each tree they passed, deciding whether or not the tree was big enough, fat enough, and etc. As they trudged wearily through the woods, Kaze used her flashlight to scan over the trees, pausing whenever the "judges" decided to analyze the tree. Suddenly, the calm teen stopped dead in her tracks and flashed her light to her right. " Hey "judges", what about this one over here?" she asked as the trio of critiques trotted over to the tree that had Kaze's light. It was fairly tall, fat at the bottom and not too fat either. The top pointed straight up instead of tilting to the side like many of the others. The three teens appeared to be thinking before they huddled close. After a moment of consideration, the small huddle broke and faced the rest of the pack with expressions full of smiles.

" The verdict for the tree is… CHOP IT DOWN!" Sakura exclaimed. Rei walked over, axe in hand, and began to hack away at the base of the tree. A few minutes later, the tree began to wobble before it started to fall to its side.

" TIMBER!" Tenshi and Max yelled as they cleared away from the tree. The green pine fell with a loud kaploom. Tyson and Max ran over to pick up the fallen lumber, put had no luck as the duo struggled to lift it off the ground. Tenshi and Kaze exchanged amused looks as they went over to the tree. The weak duo stepped back as Kaze went to the tip of the tree and Tenshi went to the back. The two females picked up the timber and began to walk back with the others in tow. Hilary snickered as Tyson fell in step next to her with a pout clear on his face and Max hopped next to Rei and Sakura. Kai ambled behind the group of merry teens, hoping this festive event would soon be over. When they arrived back at the house, they tried with great difficulty to get the pine in through the back door. But after much trial and error, the tree finally stood tall in the living room. The group looked up at their work happily, and although Kai wasn't smiling, he also had been put to work into trying to fit into the door. He began to pace out of the room when a voice called out and stopped him.

" HEY! Where do you think you're going!" Sakura shouted loudly. He turned and faced her carelessly with a glare.

" Yeah, we still have to decorate. And everyone decorates together. I know you don't know the meaning of the word sometimes, but please, just humor us," Tenshi commented almost pleadingly. The whole bunch teens shifted their gazes to look at their captain in anticipation. Kai released a breath of air as he started towards the group.

Why I even humor them I will never know. He thought as the beyblading teens and girls alike began to pull out strings out pure whitish/yellowish lights. As Max and Rei began to string them around the tree, Sakura switched on the T.V. as Kaze placed a DVD in the DVD player. Only moments later did a green, fuzzy dude with a nasty attitude pop up onto the screen. The real-people version of "The Grinch" began to play as the many youths began to dress up the tree in ornaments and strings of popcorn.

" Hey look! It's KAI!" Tyson remarked while pointing at the big screen where the Grinch himself was having a regular grumpy moment. Hilary and Max burst out in laughs as Sakura and Tenshi smirked at his statement. The decorating continued throughout the feature. Hilary had to stop Tyson from eating all the popcorn strings, Max, Rei, and Kaze having tinsel wars, Kai sitting carelessly on the couch by the tree, and when it came time in the movie, Sakura and Tenshi singing along to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". After a while of festive merriment, Tenshi walked over to Kai with ornament in hand.

" Come on Kai, you gotta at least put up one ornament! Here, I'll let you put up the Grinch one!" she laughed joyfully. Her hand reached and grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the tree. He reluctantly went along with it as she placed an ornament in his hand, looking up to see her face. Her eyes danced like bouncing M&M's when he took the ornament of the Grinch. Kai turned and hung it on a high branch before turning back to the joyful young girl, just in time to see approval and contentment on her already blissful expression. He looked away as he sat back down, still wondering why he was going along with the whole event. Finally, as the movie neared its end, the adolescents stepped back to admire their work. The pine glistened from head to toe in ornaments, lights and tinsel. It shined brighter as the angel on the top sparkled and in the room. They gazed upon their tree in smiles, everyone but two. Obviously Kai wasn't very fond of the tree, but Tenshi just stared at it sorrowfully and let a gloomy sigh. Max looked at the new teammate next to him in concern.

" Hey, what's wrong Tenshi? You don't like the tree?" he asked her as she snapped out of her mournful trance. The icy-blue banged female forced a smile as she faced her usually hyper friend.

" Y-yeah, I'm fine. It does look great…but I'm heading up now," she said in a forced tone. Tenshi turned and began to stride out of the room. " 'Night, see you all in the morning!" She cried out to everyone as she left the room. The group just stared at the doorway as she left. Hilary put her hands on her hips in irritation.

" What's her problem? First she all happy-go-lucky-, then she's as depressed as a doorknob. Honestly, she has some issues!" Hilary ranted in an annoyed voice. Sakura whipped around in a glare and Kaze's face hardened slightly. Sakura marched up to the preppy girl in anger.

" Better watch what you say, little Miss perfect. You have no idea what she's going through and I doubt you would do any better in her place!" Sakura countered as she angrily crossed her arms. Hilary looked back at her with confusion on her face. The rest of the group shot confused glances at each other before Kaze spoke.

" You see, Tenshi's family is gone. She lost her dad this past summer and that same day, her mom and only brother, Tai, went missing and are supposed dead. This will be her first Christmas without them since we always used to stay with them during the holidays," Kaze's eyes lowered and Sakura closed her eyes in anguish, " We tried to keep the tradition the same, but I guess it couldn't make everything alright."

Sakura nodded in agreement. " Yeah, so try to be a little patient with her. This might happen a bit over the break. But not too much, she's a tough girl."

" Yeah trust me on this," Kaze added on while rubbing her arm, " She can be very hurtful, you've never been stuck in the sparring ring with her," she concluded. The group exchanged glances and Kai just stared at the doorway where Tenshi once stood.

So that's what happened. That explains all the sad looks. Kai thought as flashbacks from the day floated across his mind. When they first got to the "house" and just a moment ago. Meanwhile upstairs, Tenshi was lying in her bed and clutching the photograph to her. Crystal tears cascaded down her pale skin and onto the picture frame as she cried herself to sleep…

And so the days passed as the eight young people decorated for the holidays. Rei spent most of his time in the kitchen cooking and trying to teach Sakura how to cook; Tyson, Hilary and Max started to put up the wreaths and decorated the yard while Tenshi helped Kaze put the lights on the roof, and Kai was just Kai, disappearing whenever he was needed. About a week later, Tenshi and Kaze were still working on the roof. Sakura came outside after being in the kitchen for most of the afternoon. Tenshi waved her hands from the rooftop.

" YO SAKURA! Can you come up here for a moment? We need a third pair of hands up here!" the merry girl called out from the roof. The crimson banged female climbed up the ladder to her two friends. Tenshi clapped her hand together. "Okay, now here's what we gotta do. It's time to put up…" She shot mischievous looks at the other two, " The SANTA CLAUS!" Sakura and Kaze gasped in amusement and horror. Sakura gulped audibly.

" THE Santa Claus? Are you sure that's safe?" she questioned the impish teenager. Tenshi pulled out a rope and glanced back to them.

" Nope, but we're gonna do it anyway!" She took hold of the rope that already was tied to a very fat, plastic Santa that sat on the ground below. Kaze took some of the rope that trailed behind her and Sakura grabbed the rope behind Kaze. Together, they began to pull the humongous Santa onto the roof and soon it was just on the very edge of the rooftop. Suddenly, Sakura stepped back onto the roof part where it sloped downward. Losing her footing, she dropped the rope in her hands as she tumbled off the rooftop. Kaze also let go to reach for her as Sakura fell, but ended up falling as well. As the two tumbled off the rooftop screaming, Tenshi let go of the Santa entirely and allowed it to fall back to the hard earth. She ran towards the edge of the roof. " SAKURA! KAZE!" Unable to stop the fall, Tenshi closed her eyes in horror. Suddenly the screaming stopped, but there was no loud thud or boom that sounded like a collision. The female looked over the edge to see Rei holding Sakura bridal style in his arms and Sakura blushing like a maniac. Tenshi looked a little farther over to see Kaze caught by a baffled Kai. Although Kaze jumped out of his arms immediately, Tenshi felt a small ping of jealousy in her heart. She shook it off and jumped from parts of the rooftop, to windowsills, finally landing on the ground. " You guys okay!" she interrogated as the frantic teen ran to her house-mates. Kaze nodded with a small smile and Sakura just gave a shy nod as Rei seemingly reluctantly let her down. Rei looked at the trio.

" What were you trying to do anyway?" he asked them, Sakura in particular. She gave him a sheepish smile.

" You mean besides trying to fly? We were trying to put up Santa Claus, but he pushed them over the edge," Tenshi answered on everyone's behalf. The rest of the evening was spent with everyone working together to get Santa on the roof. Even Kai helped and at one point, stopped Tenshi from falling off the roof like Sakura and Kaze. By the end of the week, the house was heavily decorated, inside and out. They gazed at their handiwork and beamed. Kai shot a glance at Tenshi who was still smiling a mournful grin, but her face had a little more contentment than before. She noticed his gaze and shot him a smile in the midst of Christmas lights. He looked away abruptly but blushed a rose pink in the darkness as he walked away, disappearing again...

It was later that night that Kai finally came back to the home. He opened the back door silently and stealthily began his ascent upstairs when stopped by a shadow in the corner of his eye. All alone by the light of the Christmas tree, sat Tenshi just staring at the Christmas tree. Sapphire teardrops dripped slowly down the side of her face. He crouched nearby and out of plain sight, watching the teenage girl as she began to sing.

" Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away?" Tenshi began to sing through her tears, pausing for a breath. " Where is the laughter, you used to bring me? Why can't I hear music play? My world is changing, I'm rearranging. Does that mean Christmas changes too?" More sapphire droplets fell from her now murky eyes. "Where are you Christmas? Do you remember the one you used to know? I'm not the same one; see what the time's done. Is that why you have let me go?" After that, Tenshi bowed her head into her kneecaps. A moment later, she lifted her face back up with an expression that glistened from tears. " Mum…Dad…Tai…where are you? Why did you leave me…and why did you take away my happiness with you? Why?" Her face scrunched slightly in mixed emotions as more tears fell from her pupils.

A soft hand rested on her shoulder as a tall figure sat next to her. Her tear-stricken face whipped around to see her team captain, Kai. His eyes were still narrowed, but not angrily. But his pupils were filled with a bit of compassion instead of their usual void. " It's not your fault they left. They probably didn't want to go, but couldn't fight it. You should be considered lucky to have even known what kind of people your family was," he said as he settled next to her. Part of him had no idea what he was doing, but the other part is what urged him to continue, believing that they both needed this. " My dad left me when I was little, I don't know what became of my mom, I don't have any siblings and my only living relative is a psycho intent on taking over the world. I've been on my own for most of my life. At least you were able to have time with them. Try to remember the good things they left with you, but don't ignore the fact they're gone. Acknowledge it, but don't become so engrossed that you turn cold like me," Kai finished, still wondering why he was doing this at all. He could've ignored her like everyone else, but something was different about her. She tried so hard to be happy and normal when she was being torn apart inside, almost the exact opposite. But they were both hurting, and they both need to walk on. Tenshi stared at Kai for a moment, new understanding dawning upon her. Who knew he hid so much, his past and who he really could be? She thought as Kai glanced back at her. " But you've already learned a lesson that I still haven't grasped."

Tenshi's watery eyes widened at the statement. " W-what is t-that?" she asked him in a whisper. He let out a sigh before he spoke in a surprisingly gentle tone.

" That it's okay to cry sometimes." Tenshi let out a sob and did the unexpected. She latched on tightly to his shirt, buried her face in the cloth, and let out silent tears. And even more surprisingly, he didn't move away from her grip. Instead, he put his arm around her shoulders and let her cry until no more tears came out. Tenshi lifted her red and puffy face from his shirt. He helped her stand up and they walked up the staircase. As the corridor went its separate ways, Tenshi headed to the left as Kai headed to the right to their own rooms. Tenshi hesitated before entering her room and looked back at the usually cold Russian. Kai gazed back and shot her a small smile, not a smirk, a smile. Tenshi's face lit up and she flashed a tiny grin back to him. Then she retreated into her bedroom, falling fast asleep without a trace of regret.

The next day was Christmas Eve and the ground outside was covered in half a foot of fluffy white snow. Tyson and co. rushed outside right after breakfast was finished. The snow was feathery, but thick enough to pack and form. As soon as everyone was out in the winter wonderland, they huddled close to each other. " A day like today should be treasured and used wisely, so…all in favor of an all out snow war say "aye"!" Sakura announced excitedly. The whole group shouted "aye" in unison, excluding Kai but was participating all the same. The teams were decided, though Tyson complained that there were no sides in war. The teams would split up and the war would begin five minutes after that. Kai, Kaze, Tenshi, and Max were on one team while Sakura and Rei were stuck with the quarreling "couple". Each team went off in separate directions. And thus the Battle of Christmas began. Kaze and Max his behind a pair of bushes as Tyson walked by with Hilary clinging to his hand. The duo ambushed the baka and frightened girl and then sprinted off before snowballs pummeled them. In another part of the property, Tenshi stood hidden behind a tree. She whirled around and threw a well-packed snowball at Sakura's unexpecting head. Tenshi flipped back behind the tree to keep hidden and not blow her cover. She peeked back around the bend of the tree only to have a snowball hit her square in the face. The girl shook off the snow and chased after Sakura, but as luck would have it, Rei jumped out from the bushes and pelted snowballs at her. Running off, she had been forced to retreat. Hiding back in the edge of the forest, she aimed another two snowballs at her friends. Just as they ran past her spot, she jumped out and chucked them as hard as she could towards her two targets. But unfortunately for her, it did not meet its intentional target. All Kai did was step out of the tree line and instantly he was bombarded by two hard snowballs. He whipped around to see an awestruck Tenshi. His lips curved into a smirk as he sprinted towards her.

" You're not going to get away with that," he remarked as she began to run away from him. Try as she might though, Tenshi wasn't fast enough to get away and was tackled by Kai into the soft, cold substance on the ground. Her blue camouflage snow hat flew off her head as she fell, her long brown hair flowing through the air until it was covered in snow. She laughed as she fell back first into the snow. Kai fell next to her in the snow while rubbing his head. " You know, you throw hard for a girl," he said, grumbling an "Ow" under his breath. Tenshi laughed again at his misery. Then Tyson appeared from seemingly nowhere.

" SEE! There are no sides in war!" He cried out randomly. Kai stood up and shoved a pile of the white fluffy stuff right into his face and smirked with pleasure.

" Yes there is Tyson. There's everyone in the world, and then there's you. There are two sides for you. Now I'll give you ten seconds to run away. Ten, nine, eight…" By the number seven he was already out of sight entirely. Kai turned back to Tenshi and helped her off the ground with a free hand. She got off the ground, brushed herself off, and put her snow hat back on top of her head. She turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to Kai with a maniacal grin on her face.

" Hey Kai, could you do me a favor?" she asked in a singsong voice. One of Kai's eyebrows was quirked quizzically as she spoke. He nodded slowly.

" Sure, what?"

A few moments later…

" AHHHHHH! ATTACK OF THE SNOW BALLS!" Sakura yelled as Rei and herself were bombarded by a barrage of flying snow grenades. Tenshi gave Kai a high-five after their assault. And so that was the way the day was spent. Later that evening, after everyone had cleaned up from the "war", the group sat down for yet another dinner. The table was filled with an assortment of foods, ranging from ribs to beef stew. After prayer the group flung their teeth into the delicacies of sweet and sour. Tyson's eyes bulged wider than usual.

" Hey! Thwis is pwetty good. What do to wit Wei?" Tyson asked with his mouth full of food. Rei shook his head and showed him a toothed grin.

" I didn't make dinner tonight. So it seems that my apprentice, Sakura, has surpassed me in the culinary arts," he said while flashing his fanged grin to Sakura. The usually ranting teen blushed a deep crimson and looked away in embarrassment.

" Culinary arts! Why can't people just call it cooking and stop confusing people!" Tenshi suddenly shouted in a ranting tone close to that of Sakura's. Kaze suddenly looked up and looked around.

" Culinary Art is cooking? Who knew?" she asked in a confused voice. Tenshi leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

" See? Exactly my point!" she concluded. Little by little as she spoke, her chair had gotten farther away from the table and as soon as she finished her sentence he chair just began to fall straight backwards Just as she was about to hit the ground, a hand shot by and held the chair up. Kai pulled the chair next to him back up to its original upright position. Tenshi shot him a thankful look and then refocused on her food and the conversation at hand. Tyson noticed the events between them and began to formulate a plan until he was yelled at by Hilary to stop eating so fast. After dinner the group sat around the Christmas tree and began to exchange gifts. Gifts were received and given by friends new and old. Rei pulled out a gift box and handed it to Sakura in a kind of shy, modest way. She took the gift from his hands and flashed him an excited grin. As she tore away the wrapper and ripped open the box, her eyes glittered with surprise. Her gift was a silver choker with a green and red holly berry in the center. It shined and twinkled like nothing she had ever seen. She released her gasp and turned to Rei, speechless. He put a finger to his lips to keep her silent. He gave her a peck on the cheek as she turned even redder.

" Merry Christmas," he gently said as she wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Her gift to him, a new pair of nunchukus, felt small compared to his gift to her, but Rei loved them all the same. Some time after the exchange, Tenshi stood up above the ruckus and whistled for everyone's attention. After all was silent, she spoke to the crowd.

" All right everyone, now one more surprise for the evening. I have prepared this song just for tonight. Hit it Saku!" Tenshi pointed to Sakura, who pushed play on a boom box at her friend's command. The music to "Jingle Bells" played, but it wasn't Jingle Bells that Tenshi started singing…

" Dashing through Japan, in a Dragoon driven sleigh, o'er the dojo we fly, laughing all the way. Ha ha HA! Dranzer flies above, its feathers oh so red, and Tyson's lying on his back, pretending to be dead. OH! Jingle Bells, Tyson smells, Dranzer laid an egg. Max got on a sugar high, and then stole Rei's nunchukus. HEY! Jingle Bells, Tyson smells, Dranzer laid an egg. Max got on a sugar high, and then stole Rei's nunchukus," she sang joyously. Rei grabbed his nunchukus, seeing that Max had gotten a whole bag of sweets. Tenshi stole a look at Hilary and Tyson before continuing. " A day or two ago, Hilary and Tyson were seen, under the mistletoe, holding each other close. Only Kai saw, but surely not for long, because he got it all on tape, just to make him so. OH! Jingle Bells, Tyson smells, Dranzer laid an egg. Max got on a sugar high, and then stole Rei's nunchukus. HEY! Jingle Bells, Tyson smells, Dranzer laid an egg. Max got on a sugar high, and then stole Rei's nunchukus!" she finished happily and took a seat next to Kai. Tyson and Hilary blushed a deep red, but as Tyson stood up to protest, Kai whipped a video and shook it back and forth tauntingly.

"You wanna watch yourself kiss Hilary, Tyson? Because I taped it just for you," he taunted. Tyson became flustered as the rest of the teens laughed jokingly. Kai smirked in triumph over his annoying teammate. Tyson's mouth gaped open, but suddenly closed in "brilliance".

" Oh yeah! Well look who's under the mistletoe now!" Tyson laughed, pointing above Kai's head. The team captain looked up to see a piece of mistletoe hanging wearily between Tenshi and himself. Tenshi flushed a dark shade of pink as the group shifted their gaze towards them.

" You know the rules, Tensh. Anyone under the mistletoe must kiss, no if's, no but's-"

" No COCONUTS!" Sakura interrupted Kaze. Tenshi blushed darker and looked back towards Kai. Tyson laughed again and pointed at him as he got out a digital camera to photograph Kai's defeat. Kai turned towards Tenshi with a smirk on his face. They both leaned in closer to each other and before Tenshi knew it, their lips connected in a kiss. Tingles went up and down her spine as Kai deepened the kiss. There was a flash of a camera and a chime of a midnight on a clock. They broke the kiss and took a breath.

" Merry Christmas Tenshi," he said before giving her another kiss, just a peck on the cheek. The girls awed at the sight and the boys just gawked at the sight of their captain in such a state. Kai then stood up and walked right up to Tyson's face with a death glare fixed on his face. " Show anyone that picture and you'll be doing push-ups for the rest of your life, without food." Tyson gulped and nodded his head vigorously as Kai stepped back and sat down, wrapping his arm around Tenshi's shoulders. She continued to blush furiously as the group began to sing Christmas carols. Although she was without her parents and only brother, Tenshi knew now that she had a new family that would care for her. And a shoulder to cry on when it seemed like all was lost. But far, far away in the dark, Christmas morning sky, a blonde woman and child, and an almost bald man looked down upon the merry scene, happy that their love one was finally able to move on…

Fin

Hey everybody! Hikari-san here to wish you a Merry Christmas and may god bless you over this break. Try to remember through all the gifts and feasts that we are celebrating the birth of Christ. Thank him for what you have and not what you didn't get. Love your family and hold them dear during this time of year especially. You never know when they might go, like Tenshi's family, so love them while you got them and when you don't. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you all stay safe and loved. Someone is always watching out for you. BEWII!

Tenshi Hikari