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Chapter 33: Xmas Galore (1)

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

Things were finally happening. Now she had to make sure events unfolded as planned.

Christmas Break had finally arrived, and it was time for Naerie to finish up the last preparations to make the manor ready to accommodate guests for those few days of the holidays. Servants were already aware, mother made a couple of promises to keep her hands off them and finally she made sure that Geecku knew that she could get the chance to be around her newest friend if she behaved while he was here.

Of course, she doubted the promise was going to work, but the redhead also knew the human would have acted with the best possible attitude from her. So, every step for the ideal holiday was falling down in the right positions, relieving her… but also worried about possible curve balls. Things were just going too smoothly, and Naerie, albeit far from being a pessimist, knew that there was a front she had no control of and that she had to rely on the extremely clumsy and unpredictable nature of Hope's decisions when it came to love.

Shin was the priority, but she knew that the best way to finally get a chance to court him would be to have the only rival she had surrendered the idea of getting in a relationship with him. The Bear Prime knew she had to prime Frankie to be the rebound for the girl as soon as they were done. If everything went really as predicted, she should be able to get both Vixy and Tiggs to end up in a relationship, technically freeing up the humans and… let the rest unfold.

Still, Naerie was also far from being an optimist. She was a realist through and through, one that knew that she was playing with forces well beyond her common ground, which made her ask for help from a source that was reliable but also complex to fully understand. Her mother meant well, but her lack of faith in such a plan made the girl question what would have gotten the High Prime to not be sold to the idea.

Did she forget some important details that would determine the success of the operation… but now was missing and thus dooming it from the beginning? Naerie thought about it, and as she went through the entire situation, she couldn't help but feel like there was actually something missing from the equation. And that was herself. She had set everyone at home to be ready to face the holidays with two individuals she considered as simple friends. Frankie perhaps a little more than that, but there was also Miles who was quite the average individual and young man with tastes that reminded her of her father. Which is why she knew dad was going to grow fond of the Cat Prime and, by extension, of the human too. But she didn't exactly think of how she was meant to behave with friends at home. This was my first time hanging out with friends since… Well, she was a little girl and she was just around Shin. And Shin was pretty 'fine' with everything thrown at him.

Was this the disaster in the making that her mother had pointed her to? Possibly so. But that didn't mean this couldn't be fixed. What would she need to do to make this situation bearable and devoid of mistakes on her part? Much to her surprise, she didn't know. Or, at least, she couldn't think how to solve it due to how difficult it was for her to understand herself.

Naerie was 'sheltered' in a way that only a few understood, with most of her emotions bubbled up and pushed away as only a few 'controlled' ones were allowed to remain. Her mother lamented more than once now that she should be working on getting the old system 'changed' to fit more with what she got. The Wisdom Crest wasn't exactly wrong about it, with her capacity to handle emotions much better than what Naerie could proudly show off. In fact, in a way, Naerie had gone out of her way to preserve this 'obsolete' system out of…

Fear.

She was frightened by what would ensue if she failed to stop herself in time. It worried her to the point where she was the most vigilant around Shin and others she cared for. This was the case excluding two individuals. And they were her father and Frankie. Her father was definitely going to help as much as he can, while also being quite overbearing at it.

That and flirting around together with her mother. Not an unexpected scenario, but the girl wasn't really looking forward to it. The Frankie's situation was more of a circumstantial matter since the young man was partly bound to her due to some Wisdom magic mishaps, which caused for a bond 'created' by what she could only describe as manifestations of their past selves. He had a little Naerie… She had a little but wise Frankie that appeared at times that were unusually pleasantly-timed.

"You're nervous," The manifestation spoke quietly as she attempted to fix her outfit, the time to go and greet her guests was close at hand. The Bear Prime glanced to the side, right at the child sitting by her bed. He looked curious, a bit worried, but overall calm. The boy looked a bit more serious than usual, which was odd considering how jovial he usually was.

"I am nervous."

"And it's because these are your first real friends gathering after so many years."

"...Yes."

Was there even a point to lie about it? Sure, it felt a bit embarrassing to bring out her weaknesses to others, but this one wasn't exactly able to call her out with others. He was stuck with her, and she was stuck with him. He didn't have any way to tell anyone about this secret conversation.

"Have you thought about why you feel nervous?"

Had she? Yes, she did. She was nervous of… making a poor display with her attitude and lack of empathy. It made for an abrasive personality that Naerie at times truly detested. She could tell at first glance that it was bad, but she generally managed to handle it well because she kept interactions with others to a minimum. Now? She was supposed to be partially 'exposed' due to her father being around… and others being there too to see how she behaved with him. It was going to be awkward, and it was going to take a while getting her brain set to not mess things up herself.

"I'm not a social person," The girl said, summarizing the lengthy thought she had about the manner, and the boy nodded.

"But you're also lonely."

...And how did that matter as a separate topic?

"I am-"

"No, I mean… you're really lonely. It's not just being unable to handle those that you don't consider 'family' for too long. It's also how you could react when they see your real you," He argued, interjecting her attempt to answer that comment. "If it had been that you weren't a social person, then you could have recovered in due time, but it's not that. You have lived in a self-imposed isolation. How do you expect things to change the same way?"

...What? Her situation wasn't that… terrible. Sure, her grasp on social relationships wasn't the best, and she barely spoke with others that weren't Shin and her mother. And she wasn't exactly capable of expressing feelings without worrying about destroying things or hurting people all around her. But that was technically 'fine' considering the overall reasons tied to this attitude. She wasn't exactly doing this because she didn't like to talk with people, but she knew that with powers came a personal duty to make sure those weren't used foolishly and for wrong reasons.

"Things will change. I don't plan to keep the same forever. I know it's flawed and… I will fix it," Naerie argued, but the human child looked hardly convinced. The redhead expected him to protest about this response, but instead she got a comment that caught her off-guard.

"You look pretty."

She was actually stunned. It was a compliment that came out of nowhere considering the conversation they were having until that moment. It was enough to leave Naerie shocked into silence, and as she prepared to answer that unexpected comment, she was interrupted by the noise of the door bell by the entrance ringing and alerting the arrival of her guests.

The young woman peeked from the window in her room and she saw it was actually them. Turning back to look at her back, she frowned when she realized the manifestation was gone from her room. Very convenient, she thought flatly. A sigh left her lips, she stood up from her desk and walked to finally get things started.

It was time for her to make the first steps into success for her sake… but also Shin. She couldn't allow herself to be subjected to any form of distraction, no matter how the child's words had impacted on her current thoughts.

At least she could still find some 'solace' in the idea that her mother had decided to leave her without paperwork for this crucial situation. The last thing she needed was bureaucracy to mess up her chances of victory.

"Welcome back!"

The tight hug her mother subjected her should have told her how excited her parents were for her arrival.

She had just taken the transportation program that Prism Uni allowed her to take to get back home, and there, she was instantly greeted by a crying Love Crest that wanted to hug her to death. Her father could only shake his head as if to say he couldn't help with that. He could actually, but he decided to let his wife have her much-needed 'hug Hope for being away for quite a while' moment.

It spared him the possible anger at preventing the moment from happening as he really didn't want to sleep on the couch for Christmas. As usual, Hope snorted when she heard Joy snickering at the sight, making the older sibling glance mirthfully at her younger sister.

"Happy to see you too. So, any new boys you chewed up at school?"

The blush was expected, the scoff too, the glare even more. Oh my, the girl surely missed being at New Boothbay. The place looked as pleasant as usual, and even as cold as she remembered. Layers of snow coated the forests surrounding the town, and she could only plan out the various activities that she could do there.

She really wanted to feed her sister a couple of kindly-served snowballs right on her grinning mug. But for now she would have to wait as she had to get her things set back to her room so she could see how to plan out the post-Christmas homework to be ready for the return at school.

The young woman had made some estimations, and she knew she had the means to make it through the labour with average effort. Nothing that really prevented her from rushing things to be free the few days before the return to classes, but Hope didn't want to be burdened by any surprises later on. She had to plan out how to handle the whole ordeal she was supposed to go through.

Naerie's words echoed within her skull as she knew she would have to play a rather difficult game of honesty and lies. Can she make it without messing things up for herself? Maybe, she really wanted that to be the case. But as far as Hope could see, there was another problem tied to it. She was… annoyed at the Bear Prime herself.

How could she put her in this position? Sure, she had made some sense to what was going on and what she should have been doing, but the redhead had no rights to intrude in her social life this way. And when Hope was angry, she tended to make mistakes. And when she made mistakes, she usually ended up regretting it all in the long-term.

Which is why the Gazelle Prime was putting an inhuman effort just for the sake of keeping her composure. She wasn't going to throw everything away without some heavy pondering. She had time, with Shin and his family going to come the next day as they wanted to share a day together before coming to visit. She had a lot to do and think.

So, she did so. She got her stuff back in her room, checked for anything that could have been missing as she lost herself in one of those 'nostalgic trips' she only heard about after getting back to a place she had been longing to get back at for a while now, and she paused as she found two particular items that she had forgotten about but that were technically important now after she learned about the whole assassins being sent after them.

Her old Tonfas had seen better days and they were still filled with a couple of stickers she added to give those some 'character' compared to how they looked before her 'fixing'. Of course, she was as rusty as she could be after ditching training before high school. Picking the dual weapon in her hands, Hope stared at the objects, her mind conflicting on what to do.

It's been so long since she trained and she knew she just didn't have time to spare to get herself back in shape. Should she actually try to put less effort into her hobbies? It felt like a necessity, and she knew this could do the difference in case she really needed to help.

Ultimately, the young woman conceded to just ask her father for advice once they could speak in private. The last thing she needed was to worry her mother on Christmas.

Once she was done with the nostalgia-drive trip down memory lane, Hope wandered around the house and spotted someone that she hadn't seen for a while. The blond Deer Prime had blond hair and green eyes. She wore a pair of glasses, a green half-sleeved shirt with a white one underneath; she also wore light-blue jeans.

"Violet?"

"Hope… it's been a while. I pray you didn't cause any trouble at Prism."

"O-Of course not. It's not home," The girl argued cheekily after a quick nervous defense blurted out on the spot. "So, any news about trouble?"

"As far as we know? Nothing. But I heard that Lady Ambar found another Wisdom user. Human?"

"Human. He is a good friend of mine."

The blonde adjusted her glasses. "Oh?"

"Not like that. I'm… nevermind."

A curious look appeared on the older woman. "...I suppose it's quite complicated."

A nod was all that Hope needed to put an end to that aspect of the conversation. Violet was Kayin's technical genius and the one behind the LoveNet's management. She was the 'eyes from above' in most missions and the one that pretty much handled the tech-related stuff. She was not as open as the Love Crest, but there are many reasons why she favored staying in the Love Clan rather than shift to another one as many other Wisdom users would.

Mostly the twins being rather close to her. Still, the conversation shifted to something less 'embarrassing', like how her grades were going and if she had managed to find a part-time job during her stay in Prism. Things were going pretty well until it was her father's turn to come in and start 'pestering' her about the situation at school. Specifically the bits about Frankie.

Much to her surprise, her father had hit it off well with the human's father, and thus, he had grown incredibly invested about the matter tied with her complicated mess of a friendship she had with the guy.

"He is not bad. Like, I understand it's a big step to switch interests-"

"It's not really that, dad. It's… it's way messier than you think."

The man huffed. "Dear, I think I've been stuck in messy situations. Especially when it comes to Uncle Minos visiting so we can have our usual 'nostalgia fever' with your mother."

And she didn't need to remember that. She already had an unsettled perspective on that very circumstance. It was known to her that Uncle Minos loved Mom, Mom loved him and her husband, while dad was… well, more than happy to indulge in an open relationship. Nothing wrong until Hope was somewhat in range to see any strange stuff happening.

She was all for open love, but it really felt weird for her to wrap her mind around that notion. She didn't hate it, but she found it extremely awkward from time to time as it could become… frustrating to watch even when it was all tame gestures that held nothing but romantic thought about them. Still, the conversation didn't stop there. Oh no, her father was far from done with this topic.

"It's just that I want to know what my princess wants to do about romance. I can tell you are stuck with a decision or two and..."

"You want to help me. Because daddy's princess generally asks for daddy's advice," She replied with some amusement, getting her old man to chuckle at that comment. "Still, it's not like I would say no to help but… it's a big mess. And I don't think mom would react well to it."

"Why so? Anything we should be worried about?"

…

"I'm… going to tell you. Promise me that you're not going to tell mom. It's not a concerning thing normally, but mom would blow it out of proportion because it's love, it's messy and it's putting me in a rather awkward corner."

His lips twitched, but Kayin nodded. "Go for it then."

And so Hope unleashed what she had been keeping bottled up for months now onto her father. The man nodded and listened, pausing the explanation just to ask her questions about elements he didn't get the first time around. Still, her father didn't seem to be concerned about anything during the whole time she was speaking and nodded a couple of times during the overall discussion as he could see what she meant with 'complicated'.

"That's perhaps the soap-opera situation you had expected to find when you started high school. There, now you got it at Uni," He jokingly pointed out, making Hope facepalm.

"Dad please, it was just a phase-"

"I also remember someone saying that it wasn't a phase," Kayin rebuked, further driving some embarrassment on Hope's brain. "Still, I would say that since this is a soap-opera situation, you should know the best solution is to squarely strike with a direct hit. If you want him, help him out of the relationship, and then tell him the truth."

"B-but wouldn't that be too spontaneous? I mean, I understand that I have to confess eventually but-"

Wait, didn't she have this speech already? Actually, she got it from the very issue that had struck her with that ultimatum that pended over her head. One moment and the mighty Damocles' sword was going to fall right down on her. It was ironic how it all came down to this. Her worry, her irrational fear of being wrong somehow and being rejected.

How would that feel like if he said he couldn't? It didn't even need to be because he didn't like her, but in his current situation… Yes, she was worried for nothing. Or maybe there was something she could see but not think on the spot. Something about the whole idea feeling too much… risky.

"If you allow nervousness and panic to stop you, you will never know if you have a chance at a beautiful future. Plus, you liked him before your dad did. What are the odds that I start calling him son before you confess your feelings?"

"Don't you dare, dad," She half-threatened with a wide-eyed expression, making the Coyote Prime smile mischievously. "I wouldn't forgive you if you did. I would never allow you to call me your princess again."

That actually seemed to gain a fake gasp and a distraught reaction from the still deeply amused man. "No please, my princess. You would hurt your dad like that?"

"Only because daddy hurt me first. As I have to work this through and… win."

"Win? Love is never about winning, sweetie."

"Winning, dad. I want to win him, I want to win his affections, I want to win him to be- I mean."

Her face burned red at that unplanned last detail, but her father heard it and was laughing about it due to how entertaining this whole conversation was getting.

"Now, there- there is nothing wrong with being competitive. But remember that love always has two sides to it. You and your partner, you and your lover, you and the one you consider your other half."

…

Hope sighed and smiled, feeling the advice doing a good thing to her improving mood.

"Thank dad."

"You're welcome, my princess. But remember to tell your dad when you're planning to surprise your boyfriend with a surprise date. We can get the lighthouse ready and-"

"Isn't that actually where you and mom tend to be quite… active with one another."

He didn't even deign the interruption with any merit, looking away and trying to not show how awkward that reminder really was.

Well, at least she wasn't the only one facing some embarrassment at the moment...

The rest of the chatting shifted to the question Hope wanted to ask her father about training. The man merely suggested she do some 'light-training' in the morning and be done with it. She didn't have to be a professional knight when it came to self-defense, and he pointed out how Shin definitely kept his training to a minimum due to his own busy schedule, so his skills were getting rusty due to his current focus on his education.

It didn't help much, but it gave her a good way to start putting an effort into it. Not enough to remove hours for her usual things but enough to make some improvements to her current fighting condition. She was going to take some time to get her schedule back to work, and see for her training to occupy the minimum necessary to give her the results she was hoping for.

With that discussion over, the rest of the day saw Hope staying by her mother's side and helping her in the kitchen. Much to her surprise, Grace was absolutely happy to see that her 'sweet little Hope' had improved a lot in cooking. Something that she didn't notice herself until now as she had been going for some cooking lessons together with Frankie and Tiggs, so she could get some steps done when it came to preparing food. In a way, she felt quite proud of the praise as she knew that cooking was no easy task but… She still found the overall situation quite troubling. She could tell from a distant glance how her mother had caught on the fact that she was nervous. Hope was aware of what this meant, and he couldn't do much even as Joy spotted the predicament she was in, smugly teasing her with a grin as she munched on the meat-based menu she was getting out of this lunch.

Oh, but Hope wasn't going to hold back when it came to revenge. She knew Joy was going to get stuck in that situation too and she knew it was going to be gloriously sweet to be on the watching side of the whole mess. Oh, she was going to enjoy it… and then tease her unaware baby sister to oblivion.

That mere thought was enough to liven her mood some more. Just until dinner when it was time for more scrutiny for her mother. Dear Gods, this was going to be a long holiday for sure…