"Santa Claus was a myth, a legend; but why did people still believe him?"
A Present to Give, A Christmas to Remember
Part Two: Merry Christmas!
By raitei
Dedicated to Princess Viv
----XI----
"If you do something, enjoy it. That's what enjoying life means."
1st August, 10:10 P.M.
Dear Diary,
It's the beginning of the month of August! Finally a new month… yeah, and a new month of work too. Today we had another village meeting about our progress. Dad was pretty pleased with all the work done. The reconstructions are going well; we managed to build most of the houses like how it was last time before everything got smashed. I think the next thing we're going to do after completing the houses is to rebuild the plaza somehow. I'm not too sure how it'll go yet… sometimes I lend a hand to help, but I was never good with carrying those heavy stuff here and there; I'm always cleaning up the mess and bringing out food for the villagers to eat. Aaron's not of much help (he admits it himself, albeit grudgingly), but he does run a few simple errands.
But we've really been progressing well, I guess. And though rebuilding is pretty much hard work, I can tell that the villagers are enjoying it in a way, too. And with Garet and his friends around here, the villagers' workload has been lessened a lot; I think they were used to doing even worse stuff during their journeys. Sometimes a few of his friends would leave the village and tend to their own matters, but they always came back to visit and help. Mum was always glad to see them. Everything's pretty normal around here, but I'm not complaining about anything, mind you.
Speaking of Garet, I think there's something going on between him and Jenna… but nothing direct. Even that guy has finally got someone, eh? Makes me feel as though I'm going to stay single until I'm old. Nah, just a lame joke. I'm going to take a hot bath first before I go to bed; I'm feeling a little sticky. I hate going to bed feeling hot. Yeah, even though Garet says I'm a Mars Adept and I shouldn't mind the heat so much.
Feeling well,
Kay
P.S. Yes, this is my fifth new diary. I like the colour; the purple is a nice shade. Not too bright, but not too dark, either. Luckily all those diaries that I buy can last for some months, otherwise I'm going to have hundreds of diaries by the time I'm fifty years old.
----XII----
"An hour with friends feels like a minute."
Low voices of murmurs and excited chatter filled the crowded morning atmosphere in the town plaza of Vale. All of the villagers, young and old, had gathered there by the call of the village bell to celebrate the Christmas festival in union. After much gusto, each rightful individual had opened all of their Christmas presents one-by-one, and many squeals of delight were heard upon receiving their gifts. It was a happy moment indeed, especially for the children.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a long and trying year for us; many things have occurred, but we are glad to have prevailed and lived with all the good and bad throughout the many days. The rebuilding of our village is now successfully completed, and in this I would like to take the opportunity to specially thank Isaac, Felix, Jenna, Garet, and their young friends Ivan, Piers, Mia and Sheba on behalf of the villagers for their extra tremendous help all this time. And as the mayor of Vale, I thank every single one of you present here this morning for all your willingness to start everything afresh again, to do everything together, and to endure all hardships that we've come to face all this while. We are all Everymen; we are ordinary people, we are not rich, we have all the problems and difficulties that any other person has, but we have overcome that all."
The mayor of Vale paused for a moment, a smile lighting his face as he looked upon the citizens of Vale proudly.
"And without further ado, let's just relax, have fun and enjoy ourselves as much as we want today! Don't forget to join in the feast, and a glorious Merry Christmas to you all! May this year's Christmas be more loving and fun than any other!"
A thunderous applause and cheer followed from the crowd as the mayor descended from the 'stage' that had been set up earlier on in the morning. The crowd slowly dispersed, most of them heading towards the mayor's house to join in the Christmas feast that they had yearly.
"So Isaac, how many presents did you get this time?" Garet asked inquisitively as they walked along the streets together with their usual 'gang' of friends, as everyone in town called it.
The spiky-headed teen merely laughed. "You never fail to ask that every year, Garet."
"Competing?" Blond-haired Ivan inquired further.
"Yeah, they do that every year. Childish, isn't it?" Jenna chuckled.
"Hey! You mean only Garet does that, not me," Isaac objected, raising a hand in front of his face in a pretence act of defense.
"So how many did you get?" The Mercury Adept known as Mia redirected him back to the original question.
"Um… let's see… one each from Mum and Dad, one from Mia, one from Feizhi (though I'm surprised it managed to reach us here in Vale), and counting our own feast, that makes five, I guess," he replied.
"Hmm… I got one from Mum and Dad, one from Aaron and Kay, one from Jenna, our own feast, and—Hey, that's not fair! I only have four! Give me one more, Jenna!" Garet protested mildly. Everyone else either laughed or chuckled at the absurdity of his remark.
Jenna elbowed him on the arm playfully. "Silly! Force me to give you a present again and I might give you a Dragon Fume or a Searing Beam as your second Christmas gift, Garet," she hinted, a dangerous but mischievous glint in her eyes.
As the eight of them strolled together towards Garet's house, several young girls passed by them as they walked in the opposite direction. Upon laying eyes on them, the shy-behaving girls immediately looked away with an obvious color on their cheeks, while those more-daring ones took the opportunity to wink at them.
Garet stopped in his steps, scratching his head in a stupefied manner. "What in Mars were those girls doing? Like they've never seen us before, doing those 'blushings' and 'winkings' at us!" he declared. "Which of us were they winking at anyway?" he wondered.
At this both Jenna and Mia laughed lightly. "Well, we girls can tell you that. I don't know who came up with the idea, but I heard that there's these 'associations', namely the OBHL and the FBL," Jenna explained.
"OBHL?" Felix asked, unfamiliar with the short-formed term.
"Oh, and the PGBHVA, too," Mia added.
All the males frowned. "What do this OBHL, FBL and this PG-whatever stand for? Never heard of that before." Isaac asked, searching valiantly in his mind for an answer.
The female blonde this time stepped in. "I'll tell you," Sheba said, smirking. "OBHL is the shortened term for 'Obsessions of a Blue Haired Lemurian', and FBL stands for 'Fans of a Blonde Midget'."
While choruses of 'oh' were expected, only dark-haired Felix remained as stoic as ever while the others looked blankly. "Blue-haired Lemurian, and blonde midget; meaning Piers and Ivan?" Felix inquired steadily.
"Of course! There isn't any other blue-haired Lemurian, or any blonde midget for that matter, right?" Jenna declared proudly.
Both Piers and Ivan tried to look as modest as they could unsuccessfully. "Oh… so, to put it bluntly, there is a… fanclub specially for Piers and I?"
"Exactly." Mia nodded.
"Well well, aren't we just popular, Ivan?" Piers chuckled. "I never heard of such things in Lemuria."
"Well, I never expected to have a fanclub of all things…" The blonde boy wondered for a minute before something struck him. "Wait a minute, they called me a MIDGET!"
"Hey! How come you guys have fanclubs when you've just been here for a few months on and off, when I've, like, been LIVING here for my whole life?" Garet protested indignantly.
Sheba shook her head. "That's the weird thing. Maybe they're just too fed up looking at your faces everyday," she said teasingly. "No offence, Isaac and Garet, but sometimes girls just like 'new' and unique stuff, you know?"
"Like what?" Isaac asked curiously.
"Hmm… like, having long, blue hair, and a blonde boy with purple eyes who's a shorty?" Jenna suggested helpfully, smiling devilishly.
"Hey! Don't call me a shorty! I'm just a few centimeters shorter than you, Jenna!" Ivan protested again.
"Well, aren't you honoured that people still like you even though you're a midget to them, Ivan?" Garet teased unmercifully.
"Gah, whatever. At least I still have a fanclub of my own… not like SOMEONE else, right?" he teased back with a half-grin.
Garet seemed at a loss for words to say, but luckily for him, Jenna came to his rescue. "Well, at least that lessens the competition to take him, don't you think? At least I won't have a hard time getting him, you know." She winked at Garet, an act that made Felix snort privately.
"Yeah, bite that back, Ivan," the redhead gleefully countered.
"Guys, guys…" Isaac shook his head. The aqua-haired girl beside him only smiled.
"Well, I don't think girls would take an interest in me anymore if I told them that I was not as young as they thought…" Piers chuckled.
"Oh, I don't think it would matter, Piers. I bet they would still swoon over you even if they knew that," Mia said.
"Give them a Kraden-looking person and they'll run a mile away," Felix joked, now in his rare humour moods as he joined in the conversation lightly.
"More than that, I think. He does ramble a lot," Jenna mused dryly, recounting the previous times where she was forced to listen to the old man to his 'stories and theories of Alchemy', as he called it.
"Don't worry, Ivan," Sheba reassured the blonde beside her with a devious grin, "if those fangirls ever try to kidnap you or something, you can rely on me to gift them with a brilliant Spark Plasma as their precious gift from their idol's partner."
"Ha… ha… ha… I see," was the only reply from him.
"Scary… some things are just beyond our ken." Isaac whispered.
"Yes, you should have seen how she used to blast all the monsters away a long time ago with just one Spark Plasma when she was mad," Piers remarked with a grin.
"Wait… why didn't anyone ask why didn't Sheba include Felix when she said 'no offense' earlier on?" Mia asked curiously with a knowing smile.
"Hmm… yes, that is true. We got rather carried off," Piers admitted. "Why?"
"And you guys didn't ask what did the PGBHVA stands for," Jenna added, also grinning.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Why is the term so long anyway?" Garet asked.
"Um… let's see… ah yes, PGBHVA stands for 'Psychotic Groupie of a Brown Haired Venus Adept'," Sheba explained. "Of course, meaning Felix. That's why I didn't include him when I said the girls were 'fed up' with your faces, Isaac and Garet."
Even Felix himself looked surprised.
"Damn! Why am I ALWAYS left out? We both live in the same village, and yet he's more popular than me? What's the Wise One thinking, man?" Garet said agitatedly. Even until now, he was only able to come on neutral terms with the Venus Adept. Both parties still found normal communication awkward and difficult, especially when Felix found out that his sister had taken a liking to the redhead.
"You're just jealous that you have no fans, Garet," Felix coldly replied, but unable to hide a small smirk on his face.
Pretending a fake act of hurt on his face, Isaac put a hand on his chest. "Hey, don't forget me too. I'm being ignored totally!"
"Oh, don't cry," Mia playfully comforted. "You've still got me, right?"
"But I was pretty surprised too when I heard all about these 'associations' thing; I didn't think the males in our party would be so popular with the Valean girls." Jenna grinned.
"Looks like we have an attractive party, indeed," Sheba agreed.
Stopping in his steps as they approached a large decorated building with its roof topped with falling snow, Garet abruptly changed the topic of the conversation. "Ah, here we are; home! Finally! I've been waiting for this for so long!"
Isaac laughed, his merry laugh echoing in the sky. "You mean, you're so hungry until you can take ten servings all straight?"
"Hmm… I wish I could. You know, I heard from Kay that the villagers are actually cooking really delicious food today? I bet I can smell the food from here!" And to prove his statement, he tried sniffing the empty air, but only to have a drop of snow plop down his nose.
"Whatever, Garet; keep sniffing the air for 'smells', and we'll leave you standing there, glutton. Eat the snow if you like." Ivan grinned, as they began entering the busy house already filled with many people through the front door.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
----XIII----
"Memories of young times are irreplaceable."
24th December, 10:28 A.M.
Dear Diary,
I'm really sorry for not writing in last night as I would always do, but I was too tired out knitting, and I ended up falling asleep by my chair last night. But anyway, I'll write in here now, okay? Hmm… let's see… yup, today's Christmas Eve! One more day to Christmas, I can't wait for Christmas to come! But there's one thing that bothers me a little; even though it's already the month of December, it's still not snowing over here in Vale, like it always did in the previous years. Winter hasn't come yet… I wonder why? Somehow, Christmas doesn't seem quite right without snowing… or maybe it's just me. It probably doesn't matter.
But today's a good day to start off with, I guess… but I'm feeling a little pissed off right now, thanks to Garet. You know, he trampled on my flowers AGAIN this morning! Ohh, I'm gonna load him with all my Christmas shopping when I go around the shops this afternoon! Geez… he was just SO excited when he heard that his friends were coming over to celebrate Christmas together a week ago. Still as clumsy as ever, that brother of mine… he is more grown-up, but hey, we're talking about Garet here (but no offence, really). His vocabulary seems to have improved too somehow… maybe he got indirect lessons from Isaac or someone else; I wouldn't be surprised. Why, I still remember the time when he was six and couldn't even pronounce 'evil' properly, you know? It always came up as 'ewil' instead. It was so cute!
Guess I'll stop here for now… see you again tonight!
Signing off,
Kay
P.S. I guess I have to buy a new book soon again. I'll just have enough pages to fit in tonight's and tomorrow night's entry, I think. When did I buy this book? Oh yeah, on 1st August. Hmm… I really do write a lot.
----XIV----
"Watching a battle can be just as exciting as being in one, as long as you feel it."
"Kay! Hurry up! I need more ammo to counterattack!"
"Don't rush me, I'm trying my best! Here! That's one for you each!"
Kay handed two little spherical snowballs hurriedly to an excited Garet and an equally fired-up Jenna who stood in front of her as her protective shield. Playing the snowballing game in an empty free space, she had been ushered to be the Mars Adepts' 'supporter member' (as the rules said), while he and Jenna threw them at their opponents. And their opponents turned out to be a combination of Isaac, Mia and Ivan, who had amazingly good teamwork. But if it took them the whole afternoon just to beat Isaac and make him admit defeat, Garet would make sure he would do it.
"Hya!" Garet threw the snowball on Isaac's face, and unfortunately for the leader in their group, it hit him directly as Garet aimed it to be before he had the time to duck.
"Ow!" Sputtering out and shaking his head from the snow, Isaac counterattacked with another two snowballs back at his friend, both aiming at the two opposing Adepts' face. "Ivan, make sure you don't get hit, or we'll lose precious time while waiting for you to recover! Don't forget you're supposed to supply snowballs for both of us!"
"Aye aye, captain!" the blonde Jupiter Adept complied, mimicking the style of a sea-pirate.
"We're counting on you, Ivan!" Mia said, while busy throwing snowballs at Jenna. Her snowballs sometimes missed the target, but once it did, it hit real good.
"Garet, if you dare to fart now, I swear I'll shove you twelve dozen snowballs, and purposely let you guys lose! If you're acting as a shield for me, then be like one, get it!" Kay shouted in warning as her deft hands made more snowballs, her body in a crouching position. Her snowballs were small but packed, whereas her opponents' ammunitions were bigger in size but not as packed. Snowballs flew from side to side fiercely.
As winter came very late, the ground had not frozen yet, so skiing was not an option. There were other snowballing matches among the rest of the villagers too, especially among the young children of age. And before the match began, it was decided that it was a 'gender match': Garet was against Isaac, and Jenna against Mia. Outside the 'battlefield', Piers, Aaron and Garet's mother cheered for Garet's team, while Sheba, Jenna's parents (even though she was on the other side) and Felix took sides with Isaac's team, the latter choosing to side with Isaac due to the fact that the 'simpleton oaf' was the enemy. Of course, not before a glare from his sister for doing so. The 'referee' for the match was the mayor of Vale himself.
"Go Ivan!" Sheba cheered.
"You can do it, Garet!" his mother cheered.
"Shoot properly, Garet!" Aaron reminded.
"You don't need to tell me that, kid!" Garet half-snapped back. "Geez… like I'm some kid… take that, Isaac!" Another snowball landed on Isaac's face.
"Jenna! Don't just throw wildly! Keep your aim steady!" Kay advised excitedly, shouting amidst the loud noise.
"I'm trying! It's been so long since I played this game!" she replied.
"Just pretend that you're aiming a Dragon Fume, Jenna!" said a snow-pelted Garet, launching his own flurry of attacks while barely dodging a wheezing snowball aimed for his stomach.
"But it isn't the same! If I try to do that, I think I'd more likely cast Dragon Fume itself!" she replied, aiming a snowball at the aqua-haired girl's face to strike her attention away. She couldn't hope to freeze her hand's movements with the freezing coldness of the snowballs, since the girl was accustomed to snow, and an experienced Mercury Adept at that. But Mia's reflexes were not as fast as Jenna. She knew where to hit her.
"Ivan! More!"
"Coming!" Despite it being just a snowballing game match, they all felt as though it was just as crucial as any of their normal battles with enemies.
"This isn't getting anywhere…" Kay muttered, passing snowballs at her teammates.
"We have to organise a strategy plan!" Jenna whispered excitedly, hardly audible amidst the loud noise.
"But I was never good with those kind of stuff—ow!" the redhead said, rubbing his sore left arm as Isaac's snowball hit him. "Damn… I'm a bit too slow in my movements…"
"Aim for Ivan! Stop the snowballs so that Isaac and Mia will be forced to make their own!" Garet's sister quickly whispered.
But on the other side, Isaac's team also came up with the same idea. "Hit Kay! Defend Ivan!" Isaac shouted.
As if computerised, snowballs immediately changed direction as they reached for a different target. Both attacking opponents defended their own supporter member as much as they could. Watching their movements, the mayor looked carefully and thought. Then he nodded his head. Without warning, the mayor blew the whistle. Everyone stopped and looked at him inquiringly. Was the match stopped?
"Attention! As referee of this match, I'll like to change the winning condition. Instead of waiting for claim of defeat from either team, both teams' objective is now to get one hit on the supporter of either team! As long as it hits anywhere of the supporter member, you win! That is all; resume the match!" He blew the whistle again, and both teams continued with spirit. Just one hit!
"Remember! Don't step off our line, or you'll get disqualified!" Kay reminded, barely managing to dodge a snowball aimed for her legs.
"Got that! Jenna, you aim for Ivan! I'll somehow try to keep Isaac and Mia off bay! Defend Kay at all costs!"
"Right! Yaa!" She threw a snowball at the midget's side but unfortunately Mia stepped in and took the hit. She launched another snowball back at Jenna.
"Continue aiming at Kay!" Isaac leaded.
"Kay, can you try to launch your own attack?" Garet asked, throwing a snowball at the same time.
"It's hard, you know! I have to make snowballs enough for two people!" she answered back, her hands deftly making more snowballs. "If we don't stop soon, even the gloves I have won't help to keep my hands from getting freezing cold!"
"Change! Can't we change supporter member?" Jenna offered a suggestion.
"Switching is not allowed in this match," the mayor replied calmly.
"Great, I was hoping we could switch from time to time…" Ivan muttered from the other side.
"Try to launch your own attack if you find the chance, Kay! We're also busy keeping our own opponents off bay! You have to try!"
"I'm trying!" she shouted, trying to make herself heard.
"Go, go, go!" Cheers went up for both sides as the spectators gave words of encouragement to keep them on.
Trying to spot for any uncovered defenses on her enemy's side, Jenna unluckily found none. While she blocked off attacks and sent her own launches, she raked her brain and thought hard, and finally a plan slowly formatted in her mind.
"I've got it!" she fiercely whispered. "This is quite a big risk, but this is the only way I can think of right now," she confided to the two siblings, "here's the plan: Garet and I will suddenly try to attack Ivan from the edges of the sides. Isaac and Mia will try to cover, and during that time Kay will throw a snowball at him. If we're lucky enough, we'll be able to hit Ivan. How's that?"
"Good plan, but I think Isaac and co. will be ready to receive decoys, Jenna," Kay replied slowly. "But you've given me a good start. I've got a better idea, I think." She lowered her voice only audible to the other two as she related her plan.
"But if we don't finish it, we lose. Right, we'll try it. Better than any plan I can form any time," Garet mused dryly. "Ready, Jenna?" His partner nodded.
"I'll have to make enough snowballs first; make your own and just hurl it at them for the mean time!" Kay shouted an order. Both Mars Adepts immediately complied, scooping down in a swift motion and gathered a clump of snow before quickly rounding it into a snowball.
"What are Garet and Jenna doing? Isn't Kay supposed to make snowballs?" Mia asked curiously.
"I think they have some kind of plan… we better be on extra alert," Isaac warned, his eyes continuously monitoring his opponents' actions. "In the mean time, try to hit Kay while they're bending down!"
Rounding the last snowball, Kay handed two snowballs each to Garet and Jenna. "Done! This is it; but don't blame me if we lose, okay? This is a oneshot!"
"Fine… try to dodge the snowballs that might come when we step aside, Kay. Right… and… NOW!"
In an instant, Garet and Jenna suddenly stepped aside with quick steps and with an expert eye, both aimed a snowball each at Ivan from both left and right sides. Every spectator fell silent and watched with awe, everyone thinking the same thing: What were they planning to do, leaving Kay in the open?
"Ivan! LOOK OUT!" Mia shouted.
"Mia! Cover the right side!" Isaac ordered as he made quick movements to the side and let himself get the hit from the snowball. Mia followed his steps.
"NOW!" Upon Kay's order, both Garet and Jenna launched another snowball from each side, but this time from above as they jumped and threw it high up into the air.
"Don't move outside; move inside our circle, Ivan!" Isaac ordered again.
Complying with the order, Ivan scrambled nearer to the two Adepts, and narrowly missed the two snowballs landing from above.
"Mia! This is our chance!" The spiky-headed teen began to direct Mia, but he didn't need to give out the order. Seeing the chance, Mia immediately launched a snowball at Kay, and another from Isaac. Luckily for the red-haired girl, she hurriedly shot to the right to escape the attacks. She stretched out both her hands, and her opponents saw that she had two snowballs left. Acting quickly, Kay threw a snowball at Ivan. His reflexes quick, he dodged and moved backwards.
Both Isaac and Mia prepared to launch their attacks, but before either of them could do it, their faces got a hit from snowballs, causing them to step backwards. "We're your opponents," both Garet and Jenna simultaneously chorused. They began throwing roughly-made snowballs at them to keep them busy.
"She has one more snowball! Watch out, Ivan!" Mia warned. At this sentence Kay smiled.
This is my only chance… Ducking low, Kay threw her second snowball at Ivan in a swift motion while his eyes were focused on the ground, hurriedly moving backwards. "Whew…" he began to heave a sigh of relief, but when the blond boy raised his purple eyes, he saw another snowball hurling with amazing speed aimed for him.
"Oh crap, she had another hidden snowball!" Realising that he could not rely on either Isaac or Mia to rush to his cover in time as they were occupied, he scrambled to the left trying to escape the hit, and Kay's snowball just missed touching his last toe by an inch. His breathing pace quickened.
But it wasn't over yet.
Anticipating his move, Kay hurled her very last snowball at him directly from the left. It hit Ivan squarely and smartly on the nose before he could react.
Almost immediately, the mayor blew the whistle. "Game over! Win goes to Garet's team! Good game, everyone!"
Everyone cheered. Garet and Jenna both hugged Kay happily. "We won! We did it!" Jenna beamed.
"You're a good shot and planner, sis! That was way cool!" Garet praised. "Having hidden snowballs!"
"Thanks, both of you. It was dangerous, but very exciting, I'll admit. I thought my shot wouldn't have landed!"
Meanwhile, the opposing team came up and shook hands with each other. "Hey, guys, great game! Good plan, too. Don't tell me you came up with that plan, Garet?" Isaac teased, a huge grin on his face. Even Felix himself seemed impressed by their plan.
"No, Kay did," Jenna answered.
"It was the best snowballing game I ever had!" Mia exclaimed. "Let's play that again next time!"
"Yeah, and next time don't make me the supporter; my hands are bitter cold," Ivan mused wryly, but also smiling. "I didn't think that you guys would purposely show us your hands so that we would think that you'd only two snowballs to use."
By this time, their friends had joined them. "That was amazing," Sheba said.
"Perhaps we should all go to Garet's house and warm up. It must be cold," Piers suggested.
"Yeah, and I'll give everyone a treat! Man, the ending was the best part!" The redhead boy exclaimed. "It was just as risky as when we really battled with monsters!"
Kay laughed with the rest, as she cleared off any snow stuck to her clothes. "You better not get a cold tomorrow, Garet."
… Was that how Garet and the others felt whenever they fought their enemies last time? I think I now understand what he meant when he kept saying how fun it was sometimes, battling with monsters.
I think snowballing really went up top my list.
----XV----
"Recording memories on paper is truly time-filling indeed."
24th December, 9:50 P.M.
Dear Diary,
Hey, it sure does feel kinda weird, writing in a diary twice in a day… but oh well, it doesn't really matter. I did it once anyway…
Just several more hours to Christmas! It's been a long day, you know… I had to go shopping around town today just to look for presents. Luckily I still had enough time to finish all of them, and of course, finish my knitting too. You know, it was so funny to see Garet tagging along with me while I was shopping the whole afternoon! He looked like he was going to sleep any second. Men. Always so impatient and all that. Who asked Garet to trample on my flowers anyway? But you know… seeing him look so bored made me feel a little guilty… oh well.
The decorations today went well. I wish you could have seen the Christmas tree; it looked so nice! I was supposed to watch the kids with Jenna, but Mars knows what she was doing with Garet… I hope nothing bad though. But why would she want to conceal it from me, Isaac and Mia when we asked her? Sounds pretty fishy… but I guess I'll know in good time. No good pressing people like Jenna anyway; she'll all the more shut up like a clam.
You know, I just realised that I never did make a wish for what I want for Christmas… I wonder what I'll get tomorrow? I can't wait! Anyway, guess I should have an early sleep… I want to be up early tomorrow morning; I've got to help with breakfast! And then we'll have a feast in the afternoon later on; I'm sure Garet and Aaron's mouths will water when they see the roasted turkey! Man, guys sure do eat a lot… they just have big stomachs, I guess. I just hope Aaron won't grow fat.
If I were ever to try eating their meal amounts everyday, I think I'll become a puffed-up balloon. Ew…
Good night!
Eagerly waiting,
Kay
P.S. The snapshot on the cover of this book is getting quite old. Maybe I should replace it with a new one… that's an idea.
----XVI----
"They say the truth will set you free. But then why is it that every time I tell the truth I get sent to my room?"
Sol withdrew from the skies, allowing the dim light of Luna to descend as night approached. Night came earlier than usual, as it always did when Winter settled on the horizon, his hair frozen. Stars began to sparkle softly faraway, emitting a light glow as they brightened up the dark sky. The round, spherical moon could be clearly seen as the clouds dispersed, its tender yellow shine making the skies even more beautiful than ever. Little snowflakes fell down continuously, the soft white pieces of frozen water settling on the ground.
As one would say it without a doubt, it was a lovely night, truly befitting the night of Christmas.
"Like what legends and fairytales always say; the night is so beautiful. The stars and the moon are shining, and there aren't any clouds that cover the sky, and to top it off, lovely snow falls down from the heavens," Mia half-mocked sarcastically, with a touch of humour in her voice as she mimicked the usual familiar lines in a book. "And then of all nights, a shooting star will somehow descend, and make the night even more beautiful than ever. So perfect. That's how those fairytale stories always go."
Isaac laughed as he sat beside her on the hill that overlooked Vale. The very same hill that he and his friends had stood on upon their return to Vale after completing their journey. It brought past memories back. "Where did that come from?"
She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I don't know," she answered laconically, "the words were just out of my head somehow." She chuckled as she continued, "And just when everything is so peaceful and quiet, a scream will suddenly shatter the night and break chaos. All will suddenly be in turmoil."
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Do you predict that to happen tonight as well? After all, it's really a beautiful and a peaceful night. Just like the 'legends and fairytales' say," he imitated her words.
"I wonder… but it probably won't happen. Those are fairytales, anyway," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder half-sleepily. "It's a good night…"
"Mia?"
"Mmm?" she raised her head and looked at him in the eye. It was amazing how his deep azure eyes could always entrance her…
Without replying further, he delved into his pocket and brought out a small velvet box. When he opened it slowly in front of her, Mia gasped when she saw the contents inside it. "Isaac…"
He nodded his head. "Go on; take it." He smiled. "It's for you, and I don't mean to give it to anyone else ever."
"Oh Isaac…" she gently took the ring from the box and examined it thoroughly. It was a pure platinum ring, and a lovely sapphire stone was set on it, shining with the light when reflected. He knew that she loved sapphires. And he didn't need to ask her anything. Both of them understood.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Vale…"What? You're… giving me a present now?" Garet asked half-disbelievingly.
"Oh, so you don't want it, is that it?" Kay answered back, half-pulling back the present that she held in her hands. It was a medium-sized box neatly wrapped up with red-colored present paper. What exactly was in it, Garet obviously did not know. It wasn't anything big, and by the looks of it, the present was probably clothes or some kind.
"No, no!" Garet hastily declined, shaking his head fervently. He was holding a black plastic bag in his left hand, which, of course, roused Kay's curiosity at once. She wondered briefly for a second as to the contents in the bag, but let the matter pass. "I was just surprised that you're giving me one now. I mean, I thought that if you were giving me a Christmas present, you would have, like, given it to me first thing in the morning or something, you know what I mean?"
He looked so abashed that Kay couldn't help chuckling. "Yeah, yeah, I think I know what you mean. Anyway, Merry Christmas." She smiled, handing the present over to her brother.
"Thanks a lot!" he beamed. He hadn't expected to receive a Christmas present by Kay herself; after all, she and Aaron had given a double-share present; a fine suit of clothes with a smart tie. Placing the black bag down on an empty bench as the Christmas present exchanged owners, his hand by instinct reached for any opening to tear open the wrapping present paper, but stopped in time to look inquiringly at Kay.
She understood his question. "Go ahead; open it. No ceremony needed," she said.
"Right-o!" He practically tore the wrapping present paper into half, or so Kay mused with some amusement.
Really just like a little kid… like when he was five years old, tearing the present paper like that. Some parts of him from when he adopted since young still haven't changed until now, I see. But that's what that makes Garet, I guess… and somehow, I don't think I would have it any other way.
"Aha! A sweater!" Garet exclaimed with much gusto. Placing the unwrapped box on the bench beside his bag, he unfolded a maroon-coloured sweater, made from sheep's wool. Glancing with much delight, he noticed the letters embroidered 'G-A-R-E-T' on the left side of the front part. It was simple, but that was what Garet liked about his clothes. As long as they were big enough, warm and comfortable, they were good enough for his simple tastes. He wasn't picky about his clothes.
"Hey, this is great! I've always wanted to buy a new sweater these past few days, since mine got too small to fit me. Where did you buy this sweater anyway?" he asked excitedly.
Kay beamed, proud of her work. It was good enough until he thought that it was not of her own handiwork! That really was something, she thought. "Actually, I made it."
He stared at her. "Oh."
"And besides, even if I bought it, you shouldn't ask where did I buy it, or how much did it cost me. Just some policy, you know?" she winked.
"You… sewed it yourself?" he asked again.
"Well, of course. If I asked help from Mum, it wouldn't be my work anymore, right?" she countered. She was glad he liked her work; truth to tell, she was actually a trifle worried that he wouldn't like it. After all, he could just as easily find another one from any shop, and perhaps nicer ones too.
"But… when did you start doing this?" he asked, holding the sweater as far as he could for further inspection from further distance.
"Now, that's another question people usually don't ask," she reprimanded, looking severely at him but with a humour glint in her eye.
Before she could say anything more, Garet suddenly pulled her into a tight brotherly hug. "Thanks, Kay. I really appreciate it. It's a 'masterpiece', like how Isaac taught me to say." He grinned as he released her from the hug.
Kay smiled. "Thanks. I thought it was a bit too simple, though."
"Oh no, I like it. Simple is my taste; that's what Ivan always said. I like it as it is, especially since it has my name sewn there," he beamed.
"Glad to hear that," she replied, smiling back. "I thought you might like 'specific identification' for your clothes for a change."
"Ah yes, speaking of presents, I've got something for you too," he said, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. What was he going to tell her?
Kay was very much surprised by his statement. "You have?" Like him, she didn't expect him to gift her with another Christmas present, since he had already given her a lovely curio; a ship in a bottle, something that she liked very much. "But why didn't you give me together with the curio you gave me earlier on this morning?"
Surprisingly, he seemed pretty much hesitant to reveal the answer. Why not? "Uh… er… well… anyway, here's your second Christmas present." And to Kay's astonishment, he reached out for the bag and delved out a medium-sized chrome-coloured thick book. "I just got it today, so I didn't have time to wrap it up. You know I suck at wrapping anyway… it took me one hour to wrap Jenna's present yesterday," he muttered half-ashamedly.
The long red-haired young woman smiled serenely. "Thank you, Garet. A storybook for me?" she asked as she received the book. Upon examining it in silence, she discovered that it was neither a storybook of any kind, nor a notepad-book, but—
"A diary?" Kay asked incredulously.
Here Garet seemed to stutter as he hesitantly answered. "Er… yeah, a diary. You… don't like it?"
She threw an 'are-you-crazy' look, before letting a light squeal escape from her lips. "No, silly! Of course I like it! It's the perfect gift I've ever gotten among all of the Christmas presents that I've received today!" she exclaimed happily. "I've been wanting to buy a new one, but I didn't have enough money, since I spent most of it on the Christmas presents."
Garet heaved a sigh of relief, and words began pouring from his once-stuck throat. "Oh, you have to believe me when I say that I'm so glad to hear that. I know that there isn't space to put snapshots or photographs under the cover, and the colour isn't as nice as the former one, but I couldn't find a purple-coloured book with the same covering and style anywhere else. I tried to get Jenna to help as well, and we searched around the shops in town, but in the end, I thought this was the best buy I could get," he explained ruefully.
… He actually searched around the shops, and even asked Jenna to help him out with just the small matter of getting a diary? Garet… Kay started to let her thoughts wander away when a shocking thought struck her mind like a thunderbolt. Wait a minute… "Just how did you and Jenna, of all people, know that I have a diary anyway? And how did you know that I have to buy a new one soon, and that it's purple in colour, and there's space to put a snapshot?" she asked aloud, voicing her own thoughts into the open.
Her words brought immediate response from the redhead as he flinched guiltily, half-smacking himself in his inner mind for his carelessness at letting the words practically slip from his mouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he began to chant in his head. "Er… well…"
"Yes?" she prompted him sharply, her mind in a running whirl. Her ruby eyes narrowed as she bore her eyes on Garet. "How exactly did you know all these things? And so detailed, too!"
"Uh… I…"
"You looked into my diary, didn't you?" Those abrupt words came out from her mouth like a lashing whip. Garet was cornered; he knew that fairly well. He couldn't try to deny it, and make her believe that. He obviously knew her more than enough to realise that. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could try to apologise…
"It… I didn't do it on purpose!" Blatant words came tumbling out of his mouth now. "You see, I just… er, stumbled into your room yesterday evening, and well, I er… came across your diary… and—"
"Stop," she commanded, raising a slim hand as a stop signal. "I've heard enough. I see it all now. No wonder Jenna was late in helping with the Christmas decorations, and no wonder she seemed so hesitant to tell me what was she doing with you yesterday evening. You STEPPED into MY room, and LOOKED into MY diary, and READ it with Jenna, didn't you? Say you did! I know you did!" she said each and every word loudly, gradually submitting to a temper. Her previous good mood was totally gone as anger overtook her.
Garet stepped back, half-afraid of his sister's glaring hot temper. It all seems to run in the family, he thought. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to land into your room, honest! I was too tired out after shopping with you, so I somehow went into your room, because I thought it was mine. And your diary was, like, put out so openly for people to read! I just wanted to know what it was; I swear that I didn't know it was a diary!"
She stepped a foot forward, her eyes glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, he would definitely be dead on the ground right now. "You mean YOUR curiosity was too great to restrain yourself from opening MY personal stuff, right? So now you're saying that it's MY fault that I brought you shopping? That I put MY diary 'so openly for people to read' when it's MY room in the first place!" She was seriously starting to get hysterical now, Garet felt. He had never saw her blowing so much steam before, but that was because he was careful enough not to ever tread a foot in her room. If there was a negative characteristic about Kay, it was that she was very touchy when her personal private stuff was concerned.
Stupid mouth, stupid mouth, why did I EVER let the words slip? Crap, crap, crap! At least I didn't tell her that I did lie down on her bed… she'd have seriously exploded. Now I'm going to get some black looks from Kay for the next few days… and Mum would scold me again. I wouldn't be surprised if she placed a lock and double chains on her door tomorrow…
"Look, Kay, I'm sorry! I'm really, really, really sorry! Please forgive me, okay?" Garet pleaded, really perplexed with himself. He tried to rake his brain for anything that could make her calmer, and finally found a little something. "Well, at least I still bought a new diary for you! I could have just done nothing, right? If I didn't know you had a diary, I wouldn't have got you one!" he desperately said. That was the only thing that he could think of right now. If it didn't work, his first and master plan was to run away as fast as he could before she gave him a night-echoing slapping and smacking. Oh, he knew Kay's brute strength when she was angry.
This is much, much worse than stepping on her flowers… I'd rather have a Doom Dragon than facing Kay right now. …No, wait, on second thoughts, I'd still prefer Kay. She can't kill me; I'm her brother!
"Yeah, thank you sooo much for the new, beautiful diary, Garet," Kay replied, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that. I mean, if you didn't peek into my diary, I wouldn't have gotten a new, free diary, right?" she smiled, almost to the extent of beaming.
Garet watched her warily. When Kay was mad she could go off to extreme ends, but as to what ends he couldn't tell. "Er… I um… I guess so…" His last tactic resort wouldn't work so well, he knew; there was something WAY wrong. He'd tried 'talking' to a ferocious-looking lizard once, and instead of running away like all lizards did, it lashed out at him instead.
Kay nodded her head in a slow rhythm. "Yeah… yeah…" she muttered under her breath slowly. And to Garet's amazement, her sweet, gentle smile suddenly twisted into a rather sneering, dangerous smile that Garet recognised so well over the past many years living in the same house. "Even if you did get me a new diary, I still can't forgive you! I WON'T! Even if you accidentally stepped into my room, you DIDN'T need to open MY diary, did you! DIDN'T you see MY name on the cover of the diary? NO, I bet YOU didn't!" she practically screamed.
"Right. Now's my cue to run off…" he muttered warily as he backed off slowly, but still facing an angry Kay. Her red eyes seemed to glint and burn with a dangerous look, and if this wasn't reality, he bet there would be smoke would rise from her ears, an extra pair of devil horns on her head, and a visible killing aura around her.
"And I thought I would have a nice, peaceful Christmas night… at least I have much more stamina than last time." Those were his last words before he spun around and quickly sprinted off, with a thundering Kay behind his trails.
"Just you wait there, young man!" she screamed into the night. "GARRREEETTT!"
The scream Kay emitted echoed throughout the whole village, and everyone in the village heard it. Of course, knowing what the girl was mad at, they just smiled and said, "Well, aren't they just energetic?"
Through the silent night the scream could even be heard at the hills, where young Isaac and Mia were. Unfortunately, Kay's scream could not have come at a more unlucky time.
Her scream pierced through the silent night, and both Isaac and Mia received a jolt. Jumping in momentary shock, Mia suddenly felt her fingers slipping off the hold over the precious ring. She watched in total horror as the ring slowly fell from her grasp and down the hill, everything played as though in slow motion, and she shrieked. She tried lashing out her hand wildly to reach it, but it was far beyond recovery.
"Oh no!" she screamed horror-stricken, but at the same moment angry with herself for being so careless with such a precious thing. I should have just worn it first! I could have just as easily inspected it when I wore it! How could I… I…
She seriously thought of diving after the ring after apologizing profusely to Isaac, but the leader of their team somehow saw her intentions and pulled her back. "NO, Mia. Don't jump like this and search among the thick, prickly bushes in the night; it's not worth it. Besides, how can you be so sure that it landed on the ground? It might have fallen into a nearby stream that flows far away, you know."
Tears threatened to stream down her face. How could she do this to Isaac? "Oh Isaac, I'm so sorry… I just lost the ring like that! One moment it was in my grasp, and the next moment it was already on its way down! I was so careless with it… I should have just worn it immediately, then it wouldn't have fallen down! Oh Mercury, I'm so sorry, Isaac… I really don't know what I'll do…"
Sensing her apparent sadness, Isaac pulled her into another comforting hug. "Don't cry, Mia. It's okay, really. Don't fret too much over it."
Mia looked up and glanced sadly at Isaac. "But how can I not feel sad? You must have spent so much time and money to get such a beautiful ring like that! And I just almost literally threw it away like that! I'm so sad, and mad at myself!" she shook her head fervently.
He patted her head comfortingly. "Hush. It's all right, Mia. Look!"
And to the Mercury Adept's utter astonishment, he delved into his pocket once more and brought out another velvet box, very much similar as the previous one, size, colour and all. Opening the case, Mia gasped loudly as she saw an exact duplicate of the ring. And she could tell that it was no fake ring.
Seeing Mia's plain amazement, he simply grinned. "I thought that things like this might happen, so I bought an extra one just in case emergency calls. Always convenient to have an extra, right?"
"…Oh."
----XVII----
"Touch my diary again, and I'll make your head turn 360 degrees without you turning them." – Kay
26th December, 12:10 A.M.
Dear Diary (I'm getting a little bored writing 'dear diary' every time)
Ahh, I'm so HOT, and TIRED! Stupid Garet… gah, I feel so pissed off with him now! You know, he actually went into my room, OPENED this diary and READ it! I should think he read the rest too… I can't believe it! And he had the cheek to tell me that if he hadn't opened this diary, I wouldn't have gotten a new diary as my second Christmas present from him! As much as I would have liked a new diary, I'd have rather bought one myself if it just HAD to include him READING my private entries all way long! I've got the right to blow steam! He shouldn't have read the diary; he knew that I was damn picky about my own personal stuff! And you don't go opening people's private stuff, right?
I could see that he was kinda sorry, but it's still unforgivable! Give me a hundred 'sorry' sayings and I still won't buy it! Bah, in the end I couldn't chase him down to earth after all… damn his stamina! He was slow, but he could run for so long; I actually chased him non-stop for two hours straight, you know? I just had to stop running, or I think I'd fall down dead if I continued. In fact, my legs are aching terribly… they feel so numb and wobbly. I ran too much. You know, I wonder… what would I have done to that boy if I managed to outrun him? I didn't really think for a moment what I would do, all I cared was to chase him and run him down to earth if that was the last thing I did. It's not like this is the first time he's done this sort of thing, anyway; he should have known!
I'm all tapped out now… come to think of it, I'm pretty surprised I manage to keep a two-hour chase. Where did all that strength come from anyway? Wonders. But anyway, sorry for rambling and lamenting so much here… I just had to let off some steam. Hopefully it'll subside soon; I hate putting up a black face. Wow… just my grumbles took up almost one-third of a page! Figures. It's been so long since I was this mad. What a way to spent the Christmas night, eh?
Well, let's get back to other happenings during the day. This entry will definitely be my longest entry ever… Ah yes, the feast that we had in the afternoon had been pretty great; yeah, I had a part in the cooking again like last year. Wow, you should have seen Aaron staring and gaping at those delicious dishes! It was pretty funny to see him, you know. He looked so amazed to see so many varieties of dishes! We wanted to make more and special dishes this year, since Garet's friends were here to celebrate Christmas with us, and well, I guess the extra good feast was a little of our gratitude.
And then, a few hours later, we built a snowman. And 'we' meaning Aaron, Garet, his seven friends, and I. It was pretty much fun; since there was so many of us working on it, it turned out to be a really BIG snowman. Why, it was almost as tall as me! It had Jenna's beanie on the head, a pair of glasses on, black stones lined as the mouth, stones going downwards on the body as buttons, two sticks pointing outwards as the hands, Isaac's scarf on the neck, a pair of gloves and boots. And the most hilarious part was when Aaron somehow managed to make the snowman appear rude by making it show the finger! I almost couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I tell you, if Mum or Dad saw it, they'd be shocked.
We settled for a snowballing match. Garet, Jenna and I formed a team while Isaac, Ivan and Mia formed another. I didn't really want to play so much, but Garet practically dragged me to become the supporter! So I couldn't back off when Dad came as the 'referee'. Oh, I tell you, that was one hell of a game! Terrific! The climax at the ending was absolutely the best part; it was so exciting! Jenna and I thought of this multiple-decoy plan, and it actually worked! Man, every time I think about the last ten seconds, there's just this feeling in me, you know? And not like I'm boasting, but I was kinda proud that I shot the finishing move.
And then, of course, there's no need to relate tonight's tales. I mean, you heard it already, right? This year's Christmas has been truly lovely. It's the best I ever had, I think.
But anyway, this will be my last entry in this book… I'll have to use the new book that Garet bought. Maybe I should write a personal line on the new book, saying 'Personal Book: Open and you die'. Heh, that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that before? I should have put that on the cover of each of my diaries! Let's see… yeah, I think this orange book Garet just bought will be the sixth one. A lot, isn't it? I've been faithfully writing in every night over quite some time.
You know, I didn't think for one moment last time that I would have my own diary. In fact, if it weren't for Mum, I wouldn't be writing at all! It's been quite some time since she first told me to have my own personal diary… she said that one day, when I'm old, I can look through this diary and read all of my entries slowly… and remember my own past; all those bad and good in together. That's the fun of writing in a diary. At least, that's what Mum taught me. And I've learned that it's true. It's been fun entering new entries in everyday, and to reflect on the day's happenings. It can be nothing special, but it doesn't need to be special.
They are my memories. And they 'make' me, so as to speak. And I don't really know why I suddenly feel like saying it… but thank you.
Yours truly,
Kay
And so it ends here…
But it's only the beginning of the end,
For it takes more than an eternity to reach an end,
And do you know why?
…Because there is no end at all.
The End
Author's Notes: Finally completed! This is my first oneshot (or 'twoshot' for that matter) that I've made, so I hope my first try is good enough. As I first planned to dedicate an oneshot to Princess Viv, I decided to explore more on the minor unpopular characters in Golden Sun. And for my own reasons, I chose Kay as my main character here.
Thank you to enigma4ever for beta-reading both parts!
Anyways, I hope it's not too boring or too long for that matter, and I hope readers enjoy reading it, and especially for Viv! Merry Christmas, everyone!