Supposedly this was the most wonderful time of the year.

The children certainly seemed to think so.

"Dad, look at the tree." Said Mob as she tugged on her dad's hand. She didn't tug as hard on dad as Sho tugged on hers. They were in a whole other country, again, and this one really liked Christmas.

"I see it, children, I see it." Said Suzuki as Daughter pulled his hand. She held his hand and Son held hers. They were out and about now, mainly because work had been stifling, and also because the children had been getting restless. Wintertime was not good to them. Too much cold and too much darkness. They'd spend the new year somewhere warm and tropical. He hated the heat but they loved it and when they were happy they bothered him less.

And what was better than that?

"Do you think they sent people to climb up it to get all of those ornaments on?" asked Sho. He had asked big sis, of course, and not dad. Dad didn't hate him, he was always saying that he didn't hate him, which was…nice? Not being hated. Dad said, before, that he was annoyed by Sho a lot of the time but did not hate him.

Even though it sort of felt like he did, sometimes, but not all of the times.

Like now it didn't feel like he hated him. Dad was kind of nice today. Maybe because it was Christmas. They weren't getting as many presents as usual, dad said that they had to try and travel light, but they were at least walking around and looking at trees, which was nice. Mom used to take them to the department stores to look at all the cool trees they had there. There were some very nice trees in this country and they seemed to like Christmas a lot, too, which was good.

So Sho didn't really mind how cold it was or how dark it was or how he could only sort of understand what the people around them were saying.

"Or maybe they had people like us who could move things without touching them." Said Mob as they got closer to the big tree. She wondered how long it took that tree to grow. She wondered if it was sad about being cut down. She wondered if Christmas tress ever felt bad about having to die so that people could have nice Christmases. That was why, back at the castle, they had always had a plastic tree. Mom said that it was less wasteful, less cruel, and left less of a mess.

They didn't have any kind of tree where they were staying.

But there was one at Claw HQ. Well the HQ that was here, there were a bunch of them, but this one had a Christmas tree with only red ornaments. Dad liked red. His aura was red so maybe that was why he liked it. Her aura was pink and blue and she liked pink and blue. Sho's was red, though, but red was not his favorite color. He wanted to get a tree and make all the ornaments themselves in all different colors but dad said that they would be moving along soon to somewhere warm for the New Year.

They still hadn't gone back to the castle.

"I've seen them putting this together a few times. They have machines to help people reach." Said Suzuki. A walk through the city was doing him some good. His mind had been all over the place since Masami left. A walk with the children, as annoying as they could be, well mostly Son, was doing him some good. Masami loved this time of year, Christmas time, even though they had zero connection to the religion this holiday was based off of. Or maybe it was based off of consumerism. That would make sense, too. That was a religion most of the world could get behind.

The children had such long Christmas lists.

Masami had always been the one to vet their choices. They wanted so much, things that he had never even though that they would have wanted, and things that he hadn't even known that people made. Like slime. The children had discovered slime and now they were obsessed with it. Making it, playing with it, leaving it everywhere. They wanted several different kinds in different colors…and that was his fault for forbidding them from making it after the incident….

Masami liked to make crafts like that.

And she never minded cleaning up after the children. She had always been so good at keeping the house nice and keeping the children occupied and cared for….and he could do it, too, just not as well. He had gotten back on educating the children and there was maybe some progress there…though getting Son to sit still was always a trial…and the children had adjusted to their new nomadic life for the most part…

They still asked him when they were going back to the house.

There was no reason to go back. Aside from the fact that it was the only place in the world that was truly theirs…for now. When he ruled the world it would all be theirs and everything and everywhere would feel like home. He told the children the truth, that he didn't know when they would return, because he harbored irrational feelings towards the place that…that he had built for Masami….

"Next year can we get a tree that big?" asked Mob. Maybe next year they would be done being nomads. She wanted to go home. Christmas was always fun at home. She and mom and Sho would put the tree together and then they would make the gingerbread houses and then they would make cocoa and watch Christmas movies and do all kinds of Christmas stuff….

But mom was gone.

But Dad liked Christmas at least a little…right? Didn't everyone like Christmas? Wasn't this supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year? She wondered if mom was having a wonderful time. She wondered if mom had gotten a tree and decorated it and then made all the gingerbread on her own and was sipping cocoa and watching Christmas movies and…and stuff like that. Maybe she was even back at the castle waiting for them. Maybe she missed them. Maybe she had missed them so much that she had decided to come back…

No she hadn't.

And Mob was dumb for thinking like that.

"Where would we even put it?" asked Suzuki. He made a mental note to get a tree that large for the children when the world was theirs. Well if they still wanted one. They most likely would not still be children when that time came…though them not as they were now…that was a difficult concept for him to imagine. He felt Daughter's hand in his. Her hand would always be smaller than his…..right? She would always be small and she would always seek out his company and she would always react with an odd amount of joy and wonder at the simplest things in life…right? She would stay the same…right?

Most likely.

Or maybe not. He didn't know. He had been thinking more about the children, lately, and the passage of time. Son's birthday had come and gone. Daughter had organized a birthday party for him. She had hand written invitations and everything. He had attended the event, of course, because it had been the anniversary of his only son's birth. There had been plane cake. It hadn't lasted too long. Son seemed happy.

A decent affair.

Son was seven years old now. The age of reason, as some people believed, though Suzuki still wondered. Seven years old. Seven. Seven years ago he had held his son in his arms. He had been small and red and loud. Terrifying. The fact that he had made a human being, that there was a new person in the world who existed, was terrifying. He had come to terms with it rather quickly, having made Son and also having almost lost Masami….and now that was not what troubled him. If troubled was even the word to use. Son was older and he would continue to get older….and Suzuki had no idea if Son would stay the same.

He wanted Daughter to stay the same, a fixed point in time, but he wanted Son to grow up.

And come into his own. He was still so weak. Still so close to nothing. Daughter eclipsed him, and every other esper besides Suzuki himself, but Son was still little better than one of the Awakened. This could not be. The only thing to do would be to give him time…but time was not an infinite resource. What would Son be like at eight? Nine? Eighteen? Nineteen? What if he never became anything more than what he currently was?

The thought is terrifying.

But he does not let it show.

"We could cut a hole in the roof and then just turn the heat up really high." Said Sho. They weren't allowed to get any closer to the tree, there was a fence, and he would have climbed over it if dad hadn't been there. Dad's aura was being kind of weird. Something was bothering him. Big sis said that if you wanted to know how dad felt you had to watch his aura really closely. He had no idea what it was that he was looking at but he knew that unless dad was all calm and stuff then something was wrong.

Dad didn't hate him.

He said so. He said so and then when Sho said that he was lying dad said that he never told lies. He said that what he said was the truth and telling something other than the truth was a waste of his valuable time. He told Sho not to lie, too, because when he grew up and inherited the world then his time would be super valuable too. Too valuable to spend lying to kids.

Dad didn't hate him.

He liked big sis best but he did not hate him. That was why he held hands with big sis. They had to hold hands, he said, because this was not the city to get lost in. Then he reminded them what happened in Shanghai and he said that this city was not like Shanghai and Sho couldn't just try and run away…which of course he had not been planning on doing. Especially in his bare feet. It was too cold out for all of that…and he didn't have that trapped feeling anymore, anyway. No, he wasn't trapped…not really. If anything he wished that they could just stay put for a minute…

But at least they were going to the beach, soon.

Dad had said so. He said that they would be going somewhere warm soon. He said that warm was better because that way he and big sis could spend longer being outside and playing and stuff. They liked playing in the snow but it got too cold and it got into their boots and also sometimes he just got stupid ideas like putting snow down the back of big sis's snow suit…that hadn't been a good thing to do and he was sorry he did it. He didn't even know why he did it, just that he got the idea and then the next thing he knew he was doing something very mean…

And then he ended up buried in the snow.

Big sis said that she was sorry. She said that she hadn't meant to do it, that it had just happened, and that she was sorry. He was sorry too. They were both sorry. She had the same problem he did, it seemed, that sometimes she just did things without thinking too. The only difference was that she had powers and he didn't. Well he sort of did. The other day he got so mad that their teacher wouldn't let him go and play, there was no recess anymore even though recess was the best part of the day, that he made a tea cup shatter with his powers…

He hadn't meant to.

But it was nice to know that he had powers. Even if his powers made him do jerk stuff. Maybe he was just a jerk. Maybe deep down on the inside he was a jerk. Like the movie he and big sis saw about the bat who got the potion from the witch with the house with chicken legs that was supposed to turn him into what he was on the inside but then the bad guy drank it and turned into a dragon…so maybe Sho was a dragon or something on the inside. Something mean and stuff. He didn't want to be like that one the inside but he had no control over it, it felt like…

Maybe he hadn't been trying hard enough.

"But what if birds and stuff got in?" asked Mob. That would be cool accept for the birds. This city had a lot of birds. Sho liked to chase them even though he kept on slipping in the ice. Also one time a bird took her big pretzel. They were mean like that. Geese were mean, too, like the time Sho had tried to chase him but then the goose came back with friends and then they chased her and Sho…that hadn't been very fun at all.

Mom usually kept birds from bothering them.

There had been a lot of ducks at the park she took them to. When they were really little, so little that Mob barely remembered what had happened and Sho had still ridden in a stroller, they had been feeding the ducks but then the ducks got all mean and took the whole bag of bread from Sho and then Mob tried to take it back but then the ducks had tried to bite her but mom made them go away.

There was no one to keep them safe from mean birds now.

"We'd chase them out with sticks or something." Said Sho. He wasn't afraid of the birds. Even if he had gotten all bitten up by geese that one time. Nothing scared him. Nothing in this whole wide world could ever scare him…besides dad….but dad was only scary when he was mad…and he didn't hate him. That was an important thing to remember, dad did not hate him. Dad had even said that it was an important thing to remember. Dad only punished him because he cared for him, he said, and he wanted to make him better than what he was.

But how could a person become better than what they already were?

Mom always said that he was great the way he was. Mom said that there were some things about him that were good and some things about him that were not so good but there was nothing that he could do that would ever make her stop loving him. Dad said that he would stop caring for him if he ever betrayed Dad…which he had no plans of doing. Maybe mom thought that he had betrayed her. Maybe mom left because….

He wasn't supposed to think about mom.

"It would make more sense to just find a place with a hundred and eighty meter ceiling." Said Suzuki. That would have been nice, actually. A hundred and eighty meter tree all covered in fairy lights…that would be nice. He made a mental note to have that made for them next year. Or something close to it. He didn't much mind this holiday, the trees were nice. He didn't know much about art or decorating or aesthetics but he did know what he liked and he liked that.

It really was a nice tree.

Daughter's hand was nice in his. She wore gloves, blue ones, with that queen she liked on them. The ice one. Daughter had been singing that song while she played in the show. She had even made herself a castle. A European style castle but a castle. Son had kicked it down and it had been a shame. It had been nice. It was a pity…but Daughter hadn't minded.

Daughter's presence continued to be enjoyable.

Even Son's was, in that moment, somewhat enjoyable. He had a hand on the guard rail but made no attempt to climb over. Good. Suzuki did not want to have to deal with whatever the repercussions would be if Son were to go with his worst impulses as he usually did. Maybe it was a consequence of his age or his gender, Suzuki did not know, all he did know was that when Son actually behaved himself he could be tolerable or even somewhat enjoyable to be around.

His ideas were fascinating.

He usually saw so little of himself reflected back to him from his Son. More than once he had wondered if this truly was his child and not some sort of changeling. That was his Son, the red hair gave it away, and he was so little like him…most of the time. Not now. Not when he had just talked about his own big, grand, dreams of creating something to his liking. He wondered if Son thought of other things beyond giant trees and homes with skylights big enough to accommodate them. He wondered if Son ever imagined domed cities, towers to space, and trains across the galaxy…though that last one he tried not to think about because of the sheer absurdity of it. He was far too old for such absurdities.

But Son was not.

And Suzuki was genuinely curious. He was curious about what went on in that head of his. What he could create if he had the power to create anything. His drawings gave some of it away. Buildings above the clouds, menageries as big as cities, and castles that went on for pages and pages….Son really was fascinating. He wished that Son showed him more of the fascinating version of himself and less of the hyperactive and annoying version of himself.

Daughter always showed him the best version of herself. Daughter never let him see her stormy…and he knew fully well that she could be. He knew that the children quarreled. He knew that she lost control. He knew these things about her but he still cared for her. There was nothing in this world short of outright betrayal that could ever let him ever stop caring for her.

"And one of those ceiling windows, too, to let the sunshine in. Not that we get a lot of it in the winter." Said Mob. It was snowing a little. The snow made the lights of the big tree in front of her look like they were twinkling. She held Sho's hand a little tighter. Sho had that look in his eyes, the one that he got when he was about to do something that he was not supposed to, but at least he wasn't doing it. That was good.

She was his big sister, she had to take care of him.

She liked taking care of him. She liked being his sister. She liked being his friend. Even if he could, sometimes, be mean to her she still liked being with him. Playing with him. Even just standing there with him, like now, was very nice. He was very nice and she would not have traded him for the whole world. His hand felt good in hers, like he was safe and she was safe and they were safe together. Safe and happy.

"There'll be more sunlight when we leave for the New Year. It's summer where we're going." said Suzuki

"We're skipping winter all the way?" asked Mob. She had just thought that they would be going to one of those places that had year round warm weather. How could you skip a whole season? She knew that you could skip hours, that happened when you went through a time zone, and maybe there were season zones and they were like time zones.

"But what about big sis' birthday? It's in the spring." Said Sho. If they skipped her birthday then would that make him the big brother, then, instead of the little brother? He didn't know if he wanted to be the bigger sibling or not. It seemed like a lot of work with no guarantee that dad would like him better. Maybe he just should have kept his mouth shut.

"No, we wouldn't skip it, the southern hemisphere just has summer when we have winter. Because the Earth is tilted." Said Suzuki

"Oh yeah, they said about that at school." Said Mob

"So it's going to be summer where we're going?" asked Sho

"Yes. For the time being, yes." said Suzuki

"It'll be fun, Sho, we can go to the beach and swim and play in the sand and make sand castles again just like we did before." Said Mob. They had stayed a place near a beach, before, and it had been so fun…even if she had stepped on a sharp shell and even if Sho did get mad and make their sunscreen explode. It had been an accident, though, so she was not upset with him. Even if it had been a mess and it had gotten in her hair and also her eyes. She was just happy that Sho had powers, that was all, and dad had been happy to hear that Sho had been able to do something, too. She hoped that when the New Year came Sho learned how to do even more things. He was seven, now, and maybe that would be old enough for him to catch up to her.

"….I don't want to wear any more sunscreen." Said Sho. He kicked the snow under his shoes. He hated sunscreen and he hated sunburns but he didn't know which he hated more. Maybe the sunscreen because it was all sticky and gross. At least Fukuda could fix a sunburn.

"Don't worry, you won't have to, not until we get to the southern hemisphere." Said Mob

"Then I'll just stay here then with the tree for the rest of my life." Said Sho

"You'd get cold and freeze, Sho." said Mob

"No, my coat is super warm. I'll just stay here with the tree and if I get hungry you can bring me food and if I get thirsty you can bring me water. Yeah, that's the life for me." Said Sho. He was mostly kidding, mostly, though living outside did seemed more and more preferable each minute to having to put on sunscreen again. He hated that stuff so much that one time he had made the bottle explode just by wishing it would.

"It's a very nice tree but I know that they're going to get rid of it once the Christmas season is over." Said Suzuki. He could sort of understand Son, there, because it really was a sight to behold. He looked forward to seeing what Son's inevitable drawings of this day ended up being. He had been experimenting with blending colors lately….

"When you take over the world can't you just make every single day Christmas?" asked Sho

"I could…though when every single day is a holiday then there are no more holidays because they've become so common place." Said Suzuki. The children so rarely talked about it, what it would be like when he took his inevitable place as ruler of this world. He may make a second Christmas for them though, since the Season did make them very happy. It was just better for everyone involved when they were happy.

"Can you at least get rid of sunscreen?" asked Sho

"But then if dad got rid of sunscreen you'd get all burnt." Said Mob

"The sunscreen is worse than the sunburns. Fukuda can at least fix the sunburns. The sunburns hurt but at least they aren't gross." Said Sho

"Wear sunscreen or you'll make yourself very sick when you get older." Said Suzuki. He knew Son's pain, he really did. There was something in the genes for red hair that also gave one a weakness to sunlight. He had always hated sunscreen as a child though for his own good he had allowed his mother to slather it onto him. It was sticky and unpleasant against his skin but it saved him from getting skin cancer later on. His mother said so.

She knew best.

Masami knew best, too, he was not ashamed to say that mothers always knew best. Well without her that meant that he knew best by default. It hadn't been easy caring for the children, well it had and it hadn't, but he thought that he had been doing a decent job of it. They were more enjoyable to be around in some ways and in other ways they were more annoying than he ever could have conceived.

Still, it wasn't that bad.

Sometimes it was even somewhat enjoyable. Like now. They were engaged in one of their very long debates, this time centering around if it was better to be happy now and miserable later or miserable now and happy later. He sided with Daughter. It was best to make some sacrifices in the short term to help fulfill long term goals. Though Son also did have a point about there being no point to life if one was not at least comfortable.

His children.

These were his children. The both of them. They may have driven him mad sometimes, and would most likely continue to drive him mad tomorrow, but these were most certainly his children. His and Masami's. He stopped thinking about her. She was gone and she had left him all alone…though he was not alone. It didn't matter if he was alone or not, he was complete all on his own, but he was literally never alone.

Not when he had the two of them at his side.

He was literally never alone anymore….but right now it was ok. Alright. Nice, even. The children were pleasant and the weather was pleasantly cold and the decorations were aesthetically pleasing. Yes, this was pleasant. Even the children were there at his side and being pleasant. They were not shouting or running or jumping or being quarrelsome. No, they were just talking, just debating their fascinating little worldviews.

Suzuki didn't know if this was truly the most wonderful time of the year but it was at least pretty pleasant, in his opinion.