Christmas Cheer 2.0

By

Crawlspace

Part 1 – O' Christmas Tree

A choked, hacking cough echoed through the hallway, followed shortly by the crashing thud of a box hitting the hardwood floor. Haruka stuck her head down through the opening to the attic. She shook the dust from her hair and tried to wipe her eyes with the one remaining clean patch of sleeve she had left. Then she surveyed all she had wrought.

Boxes littered the hallway, spilling haphazardly into any open doorway they could find. The best part was, she was reasonably certain she'd found everything and hadn't broken any of it while chucking it from the attic. She smiled widely with just a touch of evil glee.

"Oh, yeah, the neighbors are gonna love me this year."

Michiru's frown was instantaneous and an amusing contrast to Hotaru's Christmas induced excitement. Amusing to Setsuna, anyway, and she grinned as the car pulled up to the house.

They had barely stopped before Hotaru was out and jogging over to the ladder Haruka had perched against one of the larger trees. The girl smiled widely as her papa finished tying off a thick wire to a branch before attaching the plug to a heavy green extension cord.

"You found the elves!" called up Hotaru happily.

Haruka grinned down at her and nodded, the fuzzy ball on the tip of her Santa hat bobbing merrily as she did. "But it took some work. We really packed them away good last year."

"Mmm," murmured Michiru to herself. "But apparently not good enough."

Setsuna chuckled, then took herself inside out of the cold and snow. The show would be better once the decorations were completed, and she really had no wish to be conscripted to climb questionable ladders and string blinking lights

The crowd had gathered, herded to the perfect spot in the middle of the front yard. Bundled up and huddled together in the cold night air, they waited with anticipation.

Haruka, wearing her Santa hat and grinning like a fool, held the master plug and the primary extension cord in her hands. "Okay, everybody!" she called, then looked down at Hotaru. "Ready?"

Hotaru lifted her video camera. "Ready."

Michiru sighed and covered her eyes.

Minako poked Rei in the arm. "I bet it's brighter than last year."

Rei smirked. "I don't take bets I'm sure I'll lose."

Makoto hefted a snowsuited Miki up higher on her hip and adjusted his hood, ready to shield his eyes. "I wonder if she put out the elves again?"

Ami grinned. "Only if she was able to find them. And I will deny any part in this if asked."

Usagi overheard that and giggled as Makoto raised a questioning eyebrow.

Chibi-usa gave her an odd look, not understanding why that was funny. Then they both chose an arm and held onto Mamoru. He smiled and pulled them both a little closer.

Setsuna had just enough time to quietly mention how glad she was she didn't have to pay the electric bill before Haruka brought plug to power. In an instant, the entire yard lit up like the summer carnival times ten.

In the background, Christmas music began to play. Every tree in the yard blinked in sync with the music, colored lights bursting out the tunes. Elves giggled electronically as they flitted from tree to tree on invisible wires, while large white snowflakes rose and fell with abandon at random spots in the display. Near the end of the driveway, fully furred, backlit reindeer began an unending cycle of raising and lowering their heads 'in lifelike motion.' Plastic carolers were illuminated by a black plastic lamp post, and a family of inflatable snowmen prepared for a snowball fight. A giant, inflatable snowglobe was propped near the hedges, plastic snow creating a blizzard around a Christmas train as it circled a gaily decorated tree. White lights traced every window and door on the house, accentuating a forest of red-bowed wreaths. A Santa Claus taller than Makoto now came to life by the front door to greet anyone crazy enough to visit this house with a jolly "Ho, Ho, Ho!" And to cap it all off, a giant, five-point star sat atop the house, dwarfing everyone and everything in its brilliance.

Haruka dropped the plug on the ground and stepped closer to her friends. She observed her creation with satisfaction and pride, knowing full well it was tacky as hell. She laughed to herself and smiled even wider.

"Okay, guys!" she said finally, clapping her hands together. "Hot chocolate and cookies inside to celebrate!"