Chapter 80 - Christmas Past
(MPOV)
"Hey Kae, what were your Christmases like?" Epps asked curiously, settling down onto the sofa with his coffee. "I mean, you guys were in hiding, you didn't have videos and things did you?"
I looked around with a small smile.
"Our Christmas was about family, Tinny and I would cook supper, the menfolk would all take care of deep frying the turkey." I laughed softly. "And we did take videos," I added. "I still have them, or rather, I got them back."
"That's what was in the temple?" Will laughed.
"Among other things," I smiled, "but that stack of DVD's are all memories."
"Do we get to watch one?" Optimus' holo asked gently, sitting down beside me and wrapping an arm across my shoulders.
"If you want, it would be nice to see them again," I shrugged. "I can't promise the language is properly clean though."
"Anabelle's in bed," Will grinned as his wife sat down close to him, "go on."
I rose and dug around in my duffle, emerging with one of the DVD's. I sat on the floor and looked down at it.
"This is the last Christmas we had, all of us together. Tinny edited it, cut everything together and burned one for all of us. The set in the temple were Uncle Sho's, I had to destroy mine when the mess started."
I rose and inserted it into the drive.
...
"Tinny!" Mikaela's voice called out, laughing, "C'mon Tin, we gotta get the turkey in the oven before Rig finds out!"
"Oi! No oven turkey! I did not build that bastard fryer for you to kill a perfectly good turkey in an oven!" Rig's voice shouted out. "Mon! Cakes are on the griddle!"
There was bright laughter as the camera ran after Mikaela.
"Breakfast and presents!" Cal shouted, there was thundering as booted feet came into view, running down the stairs.
"Who had my name!?" Brick shouted. "You lot keep secrets better than dead men, who had my god's damned name!?"
"It's His son's damn birthday and you're still using His name in vain!" Paddy shouted back from behind an enormous barrel griddle. He began throwing pancakes through the air while Uncle Sho caught them on plates.
...
"Your uncle's a ninja!" Epps laughed.
"Yeah he was," I smiled. "Tinny cut out everyone eating though, it was a personal rule of her's: never eat while holding a camera. The sound of chewing grossed her out like nothing else."
Everyone sat around in an enormous room, there were beaten up, but still clean couches, Tinny sat on a giant beanbag as I held the camera.
...
"Okay, Mikaela I know you got my name," Rig was saying, holding up a large box, "So I'm hoping that you didn't get me something expensive. You need to save for college."
"Oh just open it Rig!" Mikaela laughed.
"Tin! It was YOU!" Brick howled, holding up his own box from Tinny. There was the rustling of paper being torn and shouts of laughter. "NOW we're gonna get to the bottom of all this! What'd you get me baby girl? You little SHIT!" he held up an enormous, sleek leather jacket. "YOU stole my hides! Damn girl, this is incredible! You made this for me perfectly!" he slid into his new jacket and posed, crossing his arms and looking forbidding.
"You look like you just killed someone, broke out of prison and are staring down your next victim." Cal commented with a grin.
"Excellent!" Brick grinned, the very smile on his face immediately transposing the forbidding man into a giant teddy bear as his tiny wife beamed at him.
...
"That, that is who I want to be when I get to be his age," Jacobs stated in a soft, stunned tone. "I wish I could have met him now."
"He was the most Marine of the lot," I smiled sadly, Optimus scooped me up and pulled me tight to his side. "You know, you're already so much like him Lon." the video continued to play.
...
"You got me boots and a necklace?" Rig asked curiously, looking in his box. "No, see, if you were a truly dutiful niece you'd come out to the house and shoot that bastard Jake."
Tinny flexed to her feet. A tiny female ninja.
"Hey Paddy, throw that dvd in will you?" Tinny grinned as she took the camera. "I'll splice it in later, but I want everyone to see your reaction."
A curious irishman slid a DVD into it's player as the men gathered around the aged set.
"Wait, wait wait that's the house!" Rig shouted, "you didn't blow up my house did you?"
"Wait for it," Mikaela laughed.
"Okay... waait, that's the sniper! Tinny, did you tape this!? Cal! Cal! Get back in here Cal! Mikaela found the sniper! And you... NO! You're shittin' me!" Rig was leaning toward the screen with a broad grin as Cal Banes squeezed himself in amidst his men.
"Oh shit look at that! Cal you need to be proud of that girl, look at that time-stamp!" Paddy laughed. "You're up there good!" Paddy grinned over at a gently smiling Mikaela.
"Oh OH here it comes!" Rig shouted, the men all leaned closer.
"Wait for it..." Cal murmured, they sat frozen for a few seconds, then as one, everyone was standing. Rig and the men around him were howling with laughter, cheering and pointing at the screen, looking for all the world as though they were watching the touchdown of the century at the superbowl. To top it off, Rig started to do a touchdown dance.
"Wait wait!" Tinny shouted, "Rig put the boots on!"
As one, the men looked into the box and began howling with laughter again as Rig scrambled into the boots and promptly began stomping about, dancing with abandon with the necklace making him look like a savage.
...
"Okay what were they watching?" Lennox laughed.
"I wish I could have shown this to you lot before, so you wouldn't be surprised by me." I laughed, pointing to the screen with a grin before pausing it. "Tinny cut it in afterward, if you don't want to watch I understand, but here's the back story. Old Jake is the alligator that took a chunk out of Rig's leg the year before, he's a smart old bastard gator that developed the trick of stealing Rig's kills when he hung it out." I pressed play amid several grinning soldiers.
...
"Okay Uncle, I got your name for christmas this year," Mikaela stated in a quiet voice. "You've been bitching about Jake for years. I thought you were joking or I would have done this sooner, you know, before he bit you. Coming Tin?"
"Oh I am not going to miss this one," Tinny chuckled, training the camera on Mikaela as she carefully loaded the sniper rifle and crouched down in the mangroves. The tape skipped forward. It was an hour later, according the the timestamp. Mikaela hadn't moved. Her hand slowly came up and used hand signals to tell the camera to 'look over there' before it caressed the rifle again.
...
"What is it?" Will whispered, everyone sat silent.
"My record best shot," I grinned.
...
The camera panned slowly to show a leg of meat slowly dripping blood into the water. A log floated close by before sinking, silence. Two minutes skipped by.
It was a shock then, when an enormous gator fairly flew out of the water to catch onto the leg of meat, in milliseconds there was a puff of red near it's head, it fell back to the water and floated, belly up.
(OPOV)
The reaction from the soldiers around he and Kae was as good as it had been eight years ago, albeit muted, nobody wanted to wake Anabelle.
"That was an awesome shot!" Will grinned broadly. "So what did you do afterwards?"
"I made him into boots for Rig," Kae laughed softly.
"Justice!" Jacobs rumbled, punching his hands in the air.
"Oh hey what did you get?" Epps asked with a grin, looking at the screen.
"I..." Mikaela said softly, looking at the screen in fondness as her younger self delicately opened the paper on her box.
...
"Uncle Sho, you painted this didn't you?" she asked with a fond smile, looking at the small asian man.
"Rip it," the man grinned.
"Absolutely not," she shook her head, delicately folding it and tucking it away.
...
Mikaela rose and knelt beside her trunk, pulling out the identical, beautifully carved chest in the video. Optimus watched his spark mate as she smiled gently, opening the chest at the same time and withdrawing a packet wrapped in silk.
...
"Uncle! You didn't!" Mikaela exclaimed on the set, "Oh it's... Uncle it's so beautiful!"
...
"My kimono, master's tunic and katana." Mikaela said in a tight voice from the floor. She gently untied the wrap and laid out the exquisite silk. "Uncle decided when he got my name that it was time for me to ascend, as he had." she sat straight and proud, looking at the screen as a silk clad Mikaela knelt before the man.
...
"Remember Cricket, from this day forth you never draw your blade without drawing blood!" the Master commanded. "Draw your blade!"
Mikaela drew the razor sharp blade with a steely hiss, drew it across her forearms, wiped the blood away and offered it to Chen Sho. He took it and began speaking in Mandarine, an ancient ceremony.
...
"You are Master of all I know," Mikaela translated softly, "head of our sacred caste, bound to protect, bound to lead, bound to serve. Live in peace, die with honour. Create all that you can, destroy only what you must. Swear upon your blood, swear upon the eternal soul, swear to your blade that the blood it drinks will be only that of those who live for destruction. Teach others to protect, teach them to live and defend with honour."
...
Mikaela sank into a graceful bow on the screen, her hands extended beneath her face. Chen Sho held the blade horizontal over her bared neck.
"Thus does your blade choose your life or your service!" Chen Sho barked.
And dropped it.
A hand flew up and snatched the handle out of the air. The blade whistled as the camera blurred slightly, trying to keep up with the movement as steel flashed.
Mikaela was standing on her feet, the sword in it's sheath across her back. She stood to attention, blood running down her arms and offering a bow to her now former Master. He bowed to her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Who's next!?" Sho bellowed, a grin on his face as the mood broke.
"You are Daddy!" Tinny shouted, handing Rig the camera so that she could throw herself on her twin. "You did it!" she shrieked, "Kaelie I'm so proud of you!"
The tape continued, presents opened, and a final shot of five men laughing and ribbing each other as Chen Sho placed a turkey in a smoking fryer, throwing himself back from the hissing, spitting fat in lightning fast handsprings.
"You're a fuckin' showoff!" Paddy slurred, appearing well into his cups.
"And you're a drunk!" Sho shot back at him with a grin.
"I am not a drunk! I am an irishman!" Paddy declared, holding up a mug of dark ale in a steady hand, his voice became smooth, sober. "If I were a drunk I'd be singing songs off-key and you would be on your third bottle of saki!"
"If I were on my third bottle, who would tend the turkey?" Sho laughed, playing up his chinese accent.
"It's my god damn fryer!" Rig shouted.
"And after what you did to the last turkey you will never use it again!" Brick rumbled good naturedly. "You can't even cook a cricket to save your life."
"Don't cook my sister!" a voice shouted.
Tinny flew into the group the next second, single handedly toppling three of the men as they roared with laughter. Cal and Brick grinned at each other. Brick leaned down and casually picked up a shrieking, squirming Tinny, holding her upside down at arm's length as Cal tickled her.
Mikaela's voice chuckled quietly in the background, obviously being the one holding the camera before the screen flickered again.
"Mikaela," Tinny's voice said calmly. "Little sister, I know you're watching this video, and that means that someone who loves you is close by, so if that someone could please hold her from turning me off." Tinny's face appeared on the screen, looking directly at Kae.
...
Mikaela scrambled for the remote.
"I can't, not yet, I'm sorry Tin I can't do it." she babbled. Optimus very calmly picked her up and pinned her in front of the screen. "Optimus, no, please," she whispered, turning her head away from the screen in desperation.
"It is time to listen little Cricket," Chen Sho stated firmly, standing beside his daughter. "We're both dead if you can see this, and if you are watching this it means that we have all gone on to our next lives."
"Get the VFG, little sister," Tinny commanded. "If you love me at all, you will power it up and listen to what we needed to tell you."
"That's the worst thing Tinny," Mikaela whispered.
"Yes I know I'm doing the ultimate worst thing for a dead sister to do." Tinny said in a resigned tone, seeming to answer the young woman in his holoform's arms. "You need to hear us again, baby sister. Because you can't let the past define you anymore."
The screen went black.
"That, that was a bloody message from the afterlife," Jacobs whispered.
"I can't," Mikaela whispered, her voice tight.
"What can you not do?" Optimus rumbled in a quiet voice.
"I can't get the VFG, I can't do it," Mikaela babbled softly.
"What's the VFG?" Will asked in a soft voice. Mikaela coughed and sagged against Optimus.
"Rig invented it," she said softly. "V-F-G, Voice From the Grave, it's a one shot recording of everyone, each of us had a specific disc made for us. It's voice activated, if I used it it would mean I would have to have a final conversation with m – with my sister," Mikaela choked.
"How does it work?" Sarah asked quietly.
"It only really worked for us, because we knew each other's responses," Mikaela whispered, "the automatic response we had to each other."
"You had an incredible family," Sarah said in a soft voice, gathering Mikaela in her arms as the girl wiped away an errant tear.
"Some of the absolute best," she said softly, she gave a bit of a sniff then straightened her back, her head held proudly. "What do you say we get Anabelle's Christmas presents under the tree?" she smiled, the warm, loving smile Optimus adored as Will's Sarah practically beamed and scurried toward the stairs with the girl hot on her heels.
"She's a master," Ironhide whispered from his seat, still staring at the screen in shock. Optimus looked after the diminutive girl and nodded, the pride that she had chosen him causing his holoform's eyes to glow the richest cerulean.
"Dude, check out the big man's eyes!" Jacobs grinned.
"Do it!" Ironhide rumbled with a broad grin. "You know you want to, you've been bloody seesawing since you first saw her. Do it you glitch!"
Optimus looked at his weapons specialist's holoform, Chromia's tucked tightly into his side. He took a deep breath and nodded, wordlessly rising and heading to his truck form.
He could hear murmured conversations behind him as his holoform climbed into his cab and pulled out a tiny box.
"Where's he going?" Jacobs asked curiously.
"Gonna go get somethin', he'll be back," Ironhide rumbled with a grin.
"Where's Optimus?" Mikaela's voice asked a moment later, "out on the driveway beside you, yes I know that Ironhide, I mean did he offline his holoform." she added before Ironhide could even get his usual response in.
"Nope," Ironhide rumbled. Grinning.
"So Kae," Sarah asked with a smiling voice, "this Optimus and you seem to be quite fond of each other." Will burst out laughing.
"Can you imagine just how pissed off Galloway would be if she married the bot?" Will grinned, Jacobs laughed.
"Kae you should propose," Epps stated in a serious voice. "Good luck to the liaison to get these guys off planet if you married their leader! They'd have to let them stay until a manner of getting you to survive on Cybertron was figured out! Ultimate marriage visa!"
"But the trick is, which marriage ceremony would we use?" Ironhide asked mildly.
Blasted Bot would spill if he didn't get in there quickly, Optimus thought ruefully. He jogged to the door through the rain and walked in, leaving all moisture on the front stoop.
"Oh now look what you've done, Epps!" Sarah protested, "now you've put doubts in her mind. What if he actually proposed now and the only thing she could worry about is a bloody marriage visa?"
Optimus froze for a moment, worrying now.
"Optimus wouldn't do that," Kae smiled gently. The femme who knew him so absolutely.
His Kae.
(WPOV)
Will glanced at the door as Optimus' holoform walked in, courteously leaving all of the water outside.
"Optimus wouldn't do that," Mikaela said with a small smile. "He's not the sort to use people. If he decided to leave..."
"I would bring you with me," Optimus murmured, "but only if you wished to come." Mikaela glanced at Optimus and proceeded to blush furiously. "Marriage is a frail word," he continued softly, catching her eyes and stalking toward her slowly, "it's very binding words broken by death.
"Mikaela you are what keeps my spark burning. Everyday you remind me how to be a better Prime, a better person, by each action, every smile. Everything that you are improves us all." he knelt before her, paying no attention to the people around them as he reached up and touched his mark over her heart.
Will wound his arms around Sarah as Jacobs and Epps watched wide eyed. Ironhide of course, was grinning like a madman.
"You accepted me as your guardian, honoured me with your love, your trust. You have been a beacon of light and hope in my darkest hours. Now I kneel before you to beg for one last honour." he opened the tiny box and presented her with a simple, elegant ring.
"Mikaela Archangel Leanne Banes, will you choose me as your spark-bonded mate."
Mikaela stared down at him in shock, tears streaming down her face. Slowly, she leaned down and kissed his holoform lightly before turning and fleeing out the front door.