We do not own "Sailor Moon" nor any of the characters.
SAILOR MOON ETERNAL
"The 6th Season of the Sailor Moon Saga"
By Haruka Kou
Chapter 22: Holidays in the Mountains
The upcoming holidays are looked forward to this year especially with two newly married couples spending their first Christmas together as a family, and with those of our gang who have entered the grueling life of college studies.
Andrew was in Medical School for a few more years; Ken majoring in architecture at the local Community College, while Darien just finishes up his first four years, but studying on for his bachelor's degree in physics. Greg travels far from his home to come to the higher academic college in Tokyo, though accounting was as prevalent there as here - just so he could be with Amy. She surpasses even her own expectations by the merits of her way above average grades, as she was accepted early into the medical school Andrew was in, which she was preparing to attend next semester.
And as if his hectic idol work schedule wasn't filled enough, Terry attends some elective classes in a variety of fields. His professors vouch that his attendance to every day class was unnecessary — that the young man's overwhelming genius allowed him more home study time and fewer class hours, yet still he passed with more than flying colors. But everyone knew why he really attended classes. Susan accompanied her husband to the college, going for sewing classes and fashion designing. The entire campus admired the dazzling, voted "Most handsome" couple of the school. Terry's motivation was enhanced all the more by his beautiful wife's supportive attitude, whom everyone thought would be a hindrance for his studies at first (who has time to study with a gorgeous new wife to enjoy?). But little did they know Terry's high IQ was from within, studying not required exclusively, leaving him more than ample time for other things.
Susan, rain or shine, showed up for lunch each day with him, and they spent entire weekends to themselves.
Busy preparing for the Christmas season, the girls come often to share their romances with each other, while helping Susan decorate her home for the festive mood. They all noticed and liked the sweetness of how Susan, though married for three months already, when usually the newness of married life starts to calm into a more "normal" state, rushes to the door, dropping everything she was doing to greet Terry's arrival home.
The girls, with shy giggles, and with their own beaux in mind, constantly wondered which of them was to be next. Who was next to be as lucky as Serena and Susan? They knew that Michelle was out of the competition already. Their elder sister soldier's parental plight was well known on this subject, which left Amy, Rei, Mina and Lita to dream of their own prospective futures. Each of them hoped it wouldn't be too distant in coming.
Lita was wondering on that very subject as they walked home that evening together.
"So, how are you and Ken doing, Mina?" Lita prods, wanting to know how serious her two best friends had become.
"Wee-ll, you know that big Christmas party that Chad is throwing for us up in the mountains?" Mina responds excitedly. "I got Kenny to come! I think he really likes me! AHHHH!" Mina screams in anticipation.
"Oh, yes, it was very nice of Chad to offer his parent's mansion for our Christmas celebration." Amy says sweetly. Lita knew Amy just had to mention it and like a faithful dog, Greg would come running to join her there.
Sigh. Even though hard at work with multitudes of various studies, Amy was not neglecting her long time boyfriend this time.
And though they were still young, you never know. Just look at Terry! He's only nineteen! Lita sighs, she herself just turning the magic one-eight.
"Yeah, Rei, did you put Chad up to it? You know he'd do anything you-" Mina starts to tease but Rei was particularly touchy on this subject. She didn't believe herself, as her fiery temper would prove, that she held a hidden secret attraction for her trodden-upon companion.
"Quiet, Mina! I don't have anything to do with what Chad does! Why'd you think I'd care anyway!" Rei's sorry defenses of herself were proof enough. Mina, Amy and Lita exchange knowing glances. Lita's mind silently clicks, knowing that Rei was still in their friendly silent bridal competition.
Realizing how serious with Greg Amy was, how Ken's stability and Mina's craziness might jump them ahead of the line, and if Chad could just dig up the courage, Lita was certain Rei would not decline. And that left her and her still very very tentative relationship with Andrew.
"So that leaves me all alone again." Lita sighs, not noticing the conspiratorial glances. "Now only Michelle and I are out of the running." Lita recalls Michelle's difficulties. "No, I'm wrong." Lita can't help but smile, thinking of the prospective marriage possibilities of the close-knit Sailor group, all now just coming of age. "Alex is definitely out too. There's no way she'd ever marry, especially not to….." Lita giggles at the mere thought of such a wild, immature person as Sayer Starr with the tough no-nonsense woman.
"Impossible!" She laughs out loud, in disbelief of her own outlandish imaginings.
"What?" Rei asks, as she leads the girls to do some last minute Christmas shopping.
"Oh, nothing." Lita knows if she even mentioned this, they'd laugh her right off the street.
That'll never happen in a million years! She giggles and follows the girls down the road, tucking her own insecurities in the back of her mind.
With Christmas only a few days away, our happy group excitedly readies themselves for the eagerly anticipated Holiday vacation in the mountains at Chad's mansion getaway.
Last minute present hunting for their ever-expanding close group of friends, that hurried filling out of holiday greeting cards and Christmas gift wrapping; spending quality family time with those who still had precious ones around, they all celebrate ahead of time, each in separate homes with parents and families. For these girls were going to spend the next few days leading up and including Christmas Day away from home this year. Their respective guardians were so glad to see them filled with the merriment of the season as they prepared for the impending trip with their lively friendly "gang."
Soon, it's tomorrow morning and the big day arrives. Presents wrapped, bags ready to go, Terry and Susan leave their house. He loads the many bags and suitcases that Susan had expertly stuffed full of goodies.
"Don't look, Darling." Susan coos, handing her husband a specially wrapped gift package, tied and tied over again with colorful bows. "There may be a surprise or two in here for you." Susan giggles, making Terry's curiosity rise on what kind of gift to him could make her so…gleeful. He now anticipated the gifts from his mischievous smiling wife greatly, knowing his own surprise presents to her were tucked safely away from prying eyes in his suit jacket pocket. (Though even there might not be safe to Susan's prying paws).
Susan appears from their room in a snow white fur coat, looking very wintry and lovely too. A kiss later and then Terry leads his beloved lady out to the Three Lights' minivan he had recently acquired for he and his brothers.
They took this larger vehicle instead of the customary sedan, so they could fit as many passengers and luggage as possible, for the group traveling to the mountains this morning was large. It was all decided (in other words, Rei decided) that as many people as could fit in a car should go together. Terry and Susan were to pick up Amy and Greg, who took the early bus and met them at Amy's house; and Mina and Ken, though Mina's "broken" alarm clock (It was Artemis' fault!) set this transport behind a little.
Alex and Michelle, in the Ferrari, go to pick up a pair of still very (of course) sleepy-headed young men, who had forgotten totally of the outing today. Alex actually goes into Sayer's bedroom and drags his lazy rear end out of the bed, while Robin quickly rises so he wouldn't be subjected to the same treatment he hears Sayer going through. But somehow, Sayer didn't mind being man-ahndled by his none too tender 'Ally'.
I think he looks like he's enjoying it! Stupid Sayer! Robin didn't look forward to Alex seeing him in his underwear - or Michelle for that matter either. That kind of thing always stirred her up…
This noisy crew finally arrives to a waiting on the sidewalk Lita, who unceremoniously is squeezed between Robin and Michelle in the sports car's back seat. She was placed there expertly by Alex who did her best to keep those two lovebirds apart as much as possible.
Lita notices that Alex doesn't say all that much when Sayer leans over and across her in a very close way as she drives, feigning to check the gas gauge, and then again to make sure the oil was all right. In Lita's nosy eyes, even from the back seat, she could see that wasn't all Sayer was checking out. Alex surprisingly says not a word to this, in fact, a small wry smile comes to her lips, making Lita herself sigh at her own lonely state. She watches their interesting relationship before her and, sitting in between the psychic conversation of Robin and Michelle's goo-goo eyes at each other, she didn't have the guts to invite her own love interest as the red Ferrari streaks down the highway.
Despite it's delay, it catches up quickly to the Three Lights' van. Terry was driving at a more safe and respectable speed.
Sayer leans over Alex again (this time for real) as he honks the horn repeatedly and loudly, catching the attention of his brother and the inhabitants of the van in front of him. Well, along with everyone else on the busy Christmas traffic highway. Alex slaps him away, murmuring something about him not touching her car, causing some ruckus along the way.
Lita sits back, watching with shocked amusement the fight going on the front seat that Robin and Michelle seem to totally tune out of, they so used to it. And Lita does not even notice Darien's black car directly behind them.
With his meatball-headed wife at his side, Luna plugs her ears, sitting on Serena's lap while Serena and Rei bicker back and forth over which Christmas carol to sing. They fill the car with angry words, as Darien follows the quiet mini van leading the way, until the Ferarri, in a fit of anger it seems, zooms off way ahead of the conservative male drivers at the helm of the other two vehicles.
Darien exchanges a few words on the subject with one more civilized passenger in his car, one whom Lita might just have been interested to know was coming…
"Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening?
In the lane, snow is glistening!
A beautiful sight
We're happy tonight!
Walking in a winter wonderland!"
As if stepping into the fantasy world of the classic holiday tune, the mystified group of city dwellers, just pulling up in their cars, enters the snow capped mountains that sparkle with crisp white "fluff", called snow all around them.
The ice and cool breeze nip at them as they exit the confines of their vehicles, invigorated by the ambiance of the wintry scene around them. As much like Christmas it was when they left Tokyo, it was like walking into a picture postcard here.
The children and adults alike were happily sleigh riding down hills; snowmen of all shapes and sizes were springing up everywhere like some kind of rare 'ice flowers'. Snowballs were pelted to and fro as cheery laughter and voices could be heard all over, making the Holiday spirit glisten in all their hearts, just like the snowflakes that were slowly filling the festive air.
"SNOW!" Mina is the first one to tumble out of Terry's mini van, greeting the glorious countryside aglow with a shining radiance all her own. Orangey mittens dig in the snow at her feet, letting the cold touch sift through her fingers like a small child would, then rushes back into the car to pull a chuckling Ken out with her.
"It is lovely." Susan, wide eyed, smiles as she takes in the holiday festivity scene being played just outside her window.
"Yes, it is." Terry shuts the car down from the two-hour drive and pats his wife's hand, still clinging to his arm (as it has been for nearly the entire ride). Terry too, joins in her smiling gaze out the frosty window, as they watch the other two cars arrive moments later behind them, and seemingly implode from within.
Rei and Serena both jump from the car as fast they could, both wondering how they could have ever gotten stuck in a closed two-hour, no escape trip together. Still arguing, (to which Darien rolls his eyes) Rei, angry, scoops up a handful of snow, and sends a straight arrow snow ball zinging in Serena's direction. She knocks off Serena's brand new, little pink snowcap. (Serena just HAD to buy an entire new winter wardrobe - to Darien's poor wallet's delight)
"Rei! You're gonna pay for that!" As sweet as Serena was, she still could get very wicked when she wanted to be, especially at Rei, who always seemed to bring out that side of her. A great big snowball shoots at Rei, who needlessly ducks with a snicker, as the snowball misses by a mile and goes flying past Rei's shoulder and…
SMACK!
Right into the back of Sayer's head, just as he was helping Alex unload the trunk of the Ferrari of it's numerous loads of luggage. (Courtesy of Michelle).
"That's it! Who threw that!" Sayer drops suitcases to the snowy ground with a splat. He grabs two handfuls of snow, and forms a monstrous ball to punish he or she, who had attacked him, unawares.
"It was her!" Serena and Rei both point at each other accusingly.
"Fine!" Sayer forms another snowball, as he kneels on the ground. "I'll get you both!" He sings out, chuckling.
"Yeah!" Sammy was right at his side, wanting to hit both of the annoying girls as well. Sayer, with precision aim at the two girls, fires both snowballs at once, and…misses them both! Instead, he hits Mina.
SMACK!
An enflamed Mina joins in with Serena and Rei, and promptly shower the poor boy with pelts of snow. Back and forth they go, Sayer dashing right into the fray of an all-out snowball war with the three girls, and Ken too, as Mina had recruited him early on.
This was all too much for Michelle and Robin and they plainly show their annoyance at such childish play.
Luna and Artemis run for dear life just trying to stay out of the crossfire and also to not be stepped on as well.
The rest of the group tries to stay out of the pitched battle of ice, and Michelle indignantly brushes "misfire" from her fur-trimmed winter pantsuit and fashionable insulated jacket.
"Ohh. Does Sayer always have to act like such a child!" Michelle says in a high-pitched voice, just as his snowball (to which she was sure he aimed at her with laughing wicked eyes) smacks her rear end with it's cold, wet touch.
"I wouldn't have him any other way." Alex dodges nonchalantly a snowball aimed at her bottom, having eyes in the back of her head, especially when it came to knowing Sayer's playful antics. Robin and Michelle haughtily go inside, to "avoid the children at play." Alex pretends to unpack her car, but her eyes dance upon Sayer and his exuberant merry-making. Lita laughs alongside her as she helps with the major part of unpacking Michelle's ample luggage - until one ill-timed frozen missile whacks the oversized mittens right off her hands, and consequently a particularly hefty double sized suitcase goes tumbling to the snowy ground with a thud.
"Lita! Are you injured? Here, let me see your hand! Snowball projectiles can be dangerous if they hit you unexpectedly!"
From the trunk side area of Darien's dark sedan dashes a familiar helpful figure, concern explicit on his features as he grasps hold to touch Lita's surprised hand.
In all the excitement, Lita hadn't seen the golden-haired man assisting Greg, Darien and Terry (the only ones now lefy truly unloading their cars).
"Andrew! I-I'm fine...I didn't know you were coming!" Lita suddenly stops in her tracks, blushing violently as the young medical student tenderly examines her snowball creamed bright red palm. Only her rosy red cheeks go a shade redder as she looks up shyly to greet her unexpected romantic target.
"Yes, it was kind of last minute, but I thought it'd be great to get together with you...you guys for Christmas!" Andrew says, embarrassed himself for unknown reasons looking into his friend Lita's lovely green eyes, as he hurriedly picks up the fallen case and scoops up her fallen mitten to give it back to her.
"Oh, that won't do! It's cold and soaking wet! Here, have mine." Andrew Collins's generous soul and caring future physician's heart quickly removes his own leather gloves and gives them to the poor pony-tailed girl who was, by now, shivering from more than the simple cold.
"Go on, Lita. Don't want to catch anything out here in the cold before Christmas day, do you?" Andrew good-naturedly smiles, melting every bit of ice on the driveway as far as she was concerned, as Lita obediently tugs on both his donated gloves.
"Whoa, Darien! Let me get the other end of that trunk full of presents! You get inside where it's warm, Serena. Take Lita with you." Helpful, Big Brother Andrew runs back to aid a struggling Darien (with clutzy Serena not being of much use) carry a poorly packed sachel of presents that rivaled Santa Claus' sack in girth and size.
"Thanks, Andrew. Don't ask me where Serena digs these things up." The frazzled husband complains of his dotty little wife's eccentricities as the pair of men enter Chad's humble mansion abode.
"Probably from the elves at Santa's workshop. I wouldn't doubt a sweet gal like Serena could bend Jolly 'Ole St. Nick's ear, could you?" Andrew affords a now beaming Serena with his genuine good humor, Darien picking up on the pleasnat mood.
"Now I know why you wanted to bring Andrew along, Mrs. Claus." Darien chuckles as he plants a kiss on his Santa hatted giggling blushing bride's Rudolph the Reindeer red nose as she nearly spills her mug of hot cocoa on him. Andrew smiles at the jolly atmosphere as they settle the red velvet Santa satchel down by the roaring fireplace, glad now that he had come at Serena and Darien's insistence. He glances around to see the tall brown-haired beauty near the front hall, where Lita Mitchell stood, still enjoying the warmth of her heroic gentleman's gloves...
"Hey! Come on in, everyone! Lunch is on!" Chad looks quite at home in a stylish sweater to match his stylish mansion.
"FOOD!" Serena, Mina and Sayer joyously proclaim, as they drop their weapons of snow. The ice wars were over now (at least until lunch was finished) as they rush up the steps of Chad's parents' mansion and pass him without so much as a greeting.
Amy and Susan, who had stayed conversing in the safety of the mini van, come in with polite "hellos". The others congregate in, though Rei was the last one, as she secretly scrambled to the car's mirror to check her reflection and fix her snow flaked hair. She simply nods to an enthusiastic Chad, as she walks past him noncommittally. Chad's happy grin never fades, despite her coolness, as he closes the mansion's two monstrous doors behind them.
"Wow, Chad! You're folks have really outdone themselves! Look at this place!" Serena squeals in delight, spinning like a child's top in the mansion's front hall, as she and her companions gaze at the house full of Christmas cheer.
Multicolored strings of lights, silver and gold sparkling garlands hang everywhere-entwining down the staircase banister, even rows of red and green ribbons were wrapped around chandeliers, vases, everything!
But the center of attraction was in the inviting living room. The hugest of huge fir tree stood, but as yet, still undecorated in the middle of the room.
"What a tree!" Lita was particularly impressed. Her love of nature and greenery was an integral part of her being.
"Yeah, well. I thought you guys might like to trim it yourselves, you know. Here's all the decorations in these boxes here, man." Chad motions down to the stacks and stacks of cartons overflowing with Christmas balls and ribbons and garlands of every cheery kind. They just called out to be placed on the tree.
"You're so thoughtful, Chad." Amy smiled sweetly, causing Chad to humbly blush at the compliment. "This is all so wonderful." She waves her hand out towards the tree and the entire home filled with Christmas Spirit.
"Yes, it's very lovely." Michelle says cordially, with an upper-class air, handing her jacket to a butler who was collecting everyone's winter wraps.
"Yes, it's lovely." Sammy mimics unpleasantly after his long ride with those two stupid girls. Serena jabs him in the side for his rudeness.
"And thank you so much again for inviting us, Mr. Levington. It's very kind of you." Susan says with a beautiful serene smile, causing Chad to blush even deeper at the lovely woman complimenting him. Terry helps his wife wiggle out of her pristine fur coat in a very loving way.
"Oh, uh, um, you're uh, welcome, um.." Chad stumbles under both Michelle and Susan's breathtaking eyes and stylish dress.
"Don't give him a big head, okay, guys? It's big enough already." Rei, (not jealous of Chad's attention to the lovely ladies of course,) sticks her nose in, her voice dripping with annoyance.
"Just remember, I was the one who dreamed this all up anyway." Rei was always first to claim credit, especially if it meant swiping it from that brainless Chad.
"That's right, Rei! You're right of course, Rei." Chad must've enjoyed groveling at Rei's feet with the enthusiasm he always did it with. She was the only woman he could ever even look at.
"All right, all right already! That's enough." Rei says, slightly embarrassed, but really reveling in it. "Let's go eat that lunch before it gets cold. Come on, gang." Rei waves the group into the large, laid out dining room as if she owned the place. (Something to wish Chad could only dream of, someday…sigh…)
Rei was a natural leader, especially when it came to bossing him and everyone else around.
"Yeah, let's eat!" Sammy was sick of all this girl talk already. "Serena burnt all our pancakes this morning, so we haven't eaten anythingdecent all day!"
"What! My pancakes were NOT burnt!" Serena argues with her little brother.
"Yes, they were!"
"No, they weren't!"
"Yes, THEY WERE!"
They argue all the way into the dining room.
"Where do we put these, Chad?" Darien asks, sighing in frustration at his wife and her little brother, motioning his responsible head to the mountains of luggage and bags that he and some of the others, were still bringing in from their cars.
Chad squints even further his squinty eyes, taking puzzled notice of one of those "guys".
Oh, that's right. I remember you. Chad chides himself, the skinny one with the blondish hair was not a man. She's a woman, I gotta remember that….
Alex smirks knowingly, feeling his gaze upon her. Chad replies finally to Darien's query. "Oh, yeah, just dump them anywhere, man." Then he responds immediately to Rei's signals ordering him to come and help her.
"I'll show you all your rooms later, okay?"
"Great idea, Chad, old buddy!" Sayer does exactly as instructed, and drops without any care at all, the suitcases Alex had shoved into his empty lazy hands as they were coming in.
She was willing to carry Michelle's bags, and her own of course. But not his, and especially not…well, you know.
The luggage falls to the floor with a thud as Sayer says
"Come on, Ally, I'm starving!" He all but knocks the bags from her full arms as well, and drags them both towards the scrumptious smells of the dining room. (Where Serena was already stuffing her face, while everyone gathered watched her intently, eating, manners politely disgusted.)
"Don't pull my arm." Alex warns in a low voice as Sayer pulls her sweater sleeve.
"Why not?" Sayer boldly continues to pull, feeling particularly giddy this afternoon, and especially brave too.
"Don't you have any Christmas spirit, Ally?" He taunts her. Suddenly, he spots a familiar object in the corner of his eye, back near the entrance of the living room. Covertly, he maneuvers her towards it.
Alex spies where he was heading, and pulls his arm in the other direction, back towards the dining room. Everyone else was now gathering, and wondered what exactly this back and forth business was all about.
"Oh, no you don't, Starr. You're not going to catch me under one of those things." Alex's eyes raise at the green-leafed mistletoe hanging in the living room doorway.
"Why not, Ally?" Sayer asks with a crooked smile, wondering why sometimes she could be so willing to kiss him and other times….
"I thought you were hungry." Alex sighs at him and plunks him bodily in the nearest empty seat at the dining table.
"I am." Sayer's amorous eyes look up at her wickedly. Everyone watches them with amused interest now, as Alex sits next to him. She shoves a thick slice of honey ham into his mouth. Here she smirks.
"Very tasty." Sayer says, his mouth full of the sweet flavor, though seriously, after all these fun flirtings he did wish for a taste even sweeter than this, with a sigh and a glance at the independent woman seated next to him.
"O Christmas Tree
O Christmas Tree
How lovely are your branches?"
The girls sing the sweet old chorus as they all flutter about the tall fir evergreen, hanging holiday decorations of all sorts upon it stately bows. Some of the others trim the rest of the room with festive Christmas cheer, as hot cocoa and pleasant conversations were being passed around.
"No! Not like that, Serena! You're just making a mess!" Rei yells at her friend as Serena scatters silver tinsel all over the tree, getting a lot of it on the carpeted floor as well.
"O Christmas tree, O - why are you always so mean to me, Rei!" Serena was looking about to break out in her infamous fount of tears, when suddenly her eyes pop open wide, with a giggle, much to Rei's confusion.
"What are you-?" Rei starts to ask, following Serena's eyes. She looks up, just in time to see a whole box load of tinsel raining down on her head.
"Sayer!" Rei screeches nastily, trying to extricate the long, silvery strands tangling in her flowing black hair. She watches in steaming anger as Sayer simply laughs at her and he meets Serena giggling, grateful eyes before he takes off for more mischief elsewhere.
"That boy!" Rei complains, actual steam rising from her tangled web of hair, as she employs Amy to remove the gleaming silver pieces from it.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen Sayer so happy." In a strangely retrospective moment, Serena stops to drink her cocoa, which had been brought to her, wordlessly, by Darien as he joins them by the tree.
They all watch Sayer bounce up to where Mina had recruited Ken and Greg to string popcorn lines for the tree. Sayer grabs Mina's string and, when she wasn't looking, snakes off half the popcorn to Ken and Greg's speechless wide eyes, as he then pops the stolen popcorn into his mouth.
"SAYER!" It was Mina's turn to shriek as she finally notices her missing, half-eaten garland absconded by this bad boy.
SMACK!
Lita whacks him on the head as punishment with her dishtowel, as he steals a handful of cookies from her decorative plates. Sayer then skips off jauntily to go haunt, with elfish mischief, Michelle and Robin, who were sitting together by the fire on the couch. They were quietly chatting over cocoa with Susan as Terry just comes in from helping in the other room, sits on the edge of the couch and pats his lap and wrap a happy Susan up in his arms.
"Sayer's so vibrant now! So full of life!" Serena's eyes sparkle as she watches Sayer flit across the room, her eyes dancing with her friend's mischievous delight as he bothers one set of friends to the next.
"Mrs. Shields, are you changing your mind?" Darien, slightly jealous still of Serena's attentions to that certain man, teases his little wife, knowing her answer, as he puts his arms around her.
"Why, never, Mr. Shields." Serena leans her head to Darien's chest, burying her smiling face in it.
"Hey, guys!" Sayer generously offers some of his stolen booty of cookies and popcorn to Michelle and Susan, who refuse politely. Sayer then shoves a cookie in Artemis' yawning mouth, the sight enough to make a cat laugh (which Luna does). Artemis then glares at him nastily (as he grumpily chews the force-fed cookie up). He plops down next to Robin, who too gives Sayer a nasty glare because his strange brother made him almost spill his steaming cocoa.
"Where's Ally?" The troublemaker asks, wanting to know where his golden-haired beauty got off to.
"Probably trying to avoid you. What a torment you are to these girls!" Michelle says, still miffed over the snowball incident earlier.
"Nah, they love me." He says, smiling, as he ignores the angry glares Rei and Mina were still shooting in his direction.
"So where is Ally?" He asks again, looking around to see her nowhere in sight.
"She's still outside hanging some Christmas lights on the roof with Chad and Andrew. They're just finishing up I believe." Terry says as he strokes Susan's hair. He and Darien had just come in from helping, both husbands eager to warm up with their respective wives.
"So why didn't you tell me?" Sayer leaps excitedly over the couch's back, startling Amy whom he almost crushes into as she comes with yet another ribbon for Susan to help her tie in that artistic way.
Serena begs for help in her attempts at the lopsided tree. Susan, dutifully, though unwillingly, leaves her husband's now very warmed arms, and goes to the tree to help the girls' plight.
"Hey, Ally!" Sayer calls out, rushing outside into the snow without neither hat nor coat on this freezing winter evening. The sun was slowly descending upon the world of ice and snow.
"She's up there, man." Chad says in an awed kind of voice, pointing up! Up! UP! To the mansion's tall roof to where Alex's thin form was balanced perfectly, hanging a set of light strings from the tip-top part of the roof's eaves.
"We told her that we didn't have to hang lights all the way up there, but she did insist-" Andrew turns from his explanation why he and Chad didn't stop the crazy woman from the insane feat. He finds his mouth dropping open at the sight of yet another crazy, already more than halfway up, the long, long ladder, climbing up to join her.
"Starr, what are you doing?" Alex spots him as he nears her on the top of the ladder.
"Coming to help you, of course!" Sayer jumps onto the steep roof, not a care in the world about the tremendous height he just traversed and was now standing upon. Walking across the roof as though it were nothing, he takes the other end of the light string from Alex's gloved fingers.
"You don't even have a coat on. Go back in before you die of pneumonia." Alex tugs at her end of the lights, yanking them back from his grip.
"Do you really want me to go, Ally?" Sayer gives her those puppy dog eyes. "Look. Isn't the sunset dazzling up here? You can just reach out and touch it." Sayer stretches his hand up towards the burning bright horizon, his face looking so sweet and serene as he closes his eyes.
"You're going to fall off with all your silliness." Alex shakes her head at him. Then, stopping to see the beauty of the sunset herself, she smiles, pulling off her own leather jacket and handing it to him.
"Here. You can stay if you put this on." Alex concedes, secretly glad to have his company.
"What about you?" Sayer tugs on the jacket obediently and it fit like hand in glove, over his trembling body. Then he looks at Alex, now only in her tight sweater and pants.
"The sun's going down and stars will be out soon. I think those can keep me warm enough." Alex flirts a bit, giving this particular "Starr" she had in mind a pair of inviting eyes. This made Sayer's eyes light up as he moves closer to her.
Here she chuckles, shoving the lights back in his hand. "Let's finish this job first." She begins to string her end on the roof's edge, directing Sayer to the back. "And don't fall." She warns, knowing his penchant for clumsiness at times.
"Will you be there to catch me if I do?" Sayer calls back to her, pulling the lights taut.
"Maybe." Alex says to herself, more than to him, thoughtfully. She mulls over the question that had more meaning to her than simply hanging Christmas lights.
"There!" Sayer finishes, attaching his end and bounces across the roof to find Alex already finished with hers.
"Let's go." Alex says, standing, rubbing her cold hands together.
"You want me to carry you down the ladder? Like in a book or something?" Sayer smiles amorously at her.
"You know, I was about to ask you the same thing." Alex smirks, brushing past him, going first down the ladder. She stops to look up at Sayer, his handsome face and gorgeous eyes, alighted by the stars behind him.
I think I might…always want to be there to catch you… She thinks, answering her own question, smiling up at him. The romance of this sunset not wasted upon her.
"What?" Sayer kneels down on the roof's edge, seeing her thoughtful look at him, as she pauses on the ladder.
The way she's looking at me…Maybe I'm not crazy to think she might…Sayer thinks as their faces come close together.
"I want my coat and gloves back as soon as we get down." Breaking the mood, Alex pulls away, and descends down the ladder quickly.
Guess I am crazy. Sayer shrugs to himself. Hurriedly, without thinking, he begins to go down the ladder and misses a rung, skidding several feet down. Alex indeed, stops his descent, using her strong arms to hold them both to the ladder rails.
"See. I knew you were going to fall." She breathes in his ear, his body pressed against hers as she pulls in close for a moment. (So as not to fall, only, of course)
"I don't mind falling, if you're the one who's gonna catch me." He whispers back, white puffs of cold smoke coming from his mouth as he leans in towards hers….
"Are you two all right up there?" Suddenly, Andrew's concerned voice calls up in the darkness.
"Yeah, we're fine!" Alex calls back, chuckling, as she shakes her head. She made sure Sayer was holding on firmly to the ladder and not only to her and she snakes from his grasp, going down the rest of the steps quickly.
Sighing at the chance just lost, but seeing in his Ally's eyes that there were still chances to come, fantasized chances awaiting him…
Then maybe…
"O Holy Night
The stars were brightly shining..."