A/N: Let's see how these wishes have come out, Shall we?
'Twas the Year Before on Christmas
Act 2-If Wishes Were Horses
Chapter 1
Charles
"Wake up, sleepyhead," came a young woman's voice.
"What?" Charles said. The voice sounded Japanese…but even though he knew some…he was disoriented.
"Merry Christmas, Charles-chan…" The young woman said. She had black hair and a red hairband that she had finished putting on.
"Sor…Sorry?" He said. He was confused. He thought he was still in the jail cell. Maybe he was dreaming.
He pinched his arm. "OW!" He said and realized he didn't wake up.
The woman looked at him and said with a roll of her eyes in English, "I knew you drank too much again, Mr. Waldo-Amagi…Not that your performance was affected by it…"
"What?" He said.
"You're always disoriented when you have a hangover…here…let me get you some coffee…"
"Umm…Okay?" He said.
She left the room and despite his disorientation, he admired the way she walked in that evening Yukata.
He recognized himself in being in some Japanese Inn…Maybe a ryokan…but how did he get here?
But then he saw a cell phone next to him…and somehow…knew it was his…
He opened it…and as he looked at the pictures…a wave of disorientation came again…but then the memories flooded back.
There was a picture of him in High School with she who was in the room earlier. There was a picture of him and her at a Summer Festival with him wearing a Navy Blue yukata…With her and him…and a few other friends at Graduation…though it seemed that 3 of them were Kouhai…junior classmen.
There was a picture with her and him at their wedding…Him holding their twin Children…
…
He had tears in his eyes…
"Charles…are you okay?" The woman, his wife said.
"Yukiko…" He said…with all the love he had for her and everything with the world felt right… "I'm sorry…I did have a little too much last night…I dreamt it was before we met…In Utah… While Siobhan was in the hospital and I was in jail. I was low then…I must have dreamed that."
"You must have…" She said, stroking his hair.
He drank the coffee she offered him slowly at first…then finished the mug and put it to the side.
Then he grabbed her. "Charles-chan!" she said, laughing.
"How long until Ryotaro and Annie wake up?" He said, referring to the Children, Charles Ryotaro and Sakura Anne.
"I think another 40 minutes…but it's Christmas…They might wake up before…"
He undid the obi knot of her Yukata and said, "Tough…there was one gift I wanted to unwrap before they woke up…"
"Chuck! Our friends are coming over…we have to give time for the kids before the others show up…" She said as he opened her yukata.
"Just once?" He asked.
She shrugged with a giggle and shrugged out of the yukata. "Oh hell, I wanted one more time this morning with you anyway…" She kissed him and he removed her hairband.
They were kissing and caressing…but just when they were about to connect with each other…
…
"Merry Christmas, Amagi-Waldo Yukiko…" He said in formal Japanese.
"Merry Christmas, Charles Waldo-Amagi…" She said in flawless English.
They connected with each other and spent a while with one another.
Yukiko
Yukiko was in bed. Sick again. She didn't know why she was sick. She just knew she was sick enough that Chie couldn't come over and play or even stay overnight like she always did for Christmas.
Yukiko was upset. She had had this weird dream she was a teenager and had felt lonely because she didn't have a prince. She believed she would have had a prince at least visit her.
"I'll never have a prince…" She said out loud.
"And what would you do with a prince if you had one. Ask him to whisk you away to some imaginary fairytale land?" came a strong, elderly voice.
"Ah-choo!" Yukiko said. "Gramma… Why don't you believe in princes?" Her Grandmother Amagi Atsuko thought princes were tales of fantasies and didn't want Yukiko to hear about them.
"I want my grandchild's feet on the ground, not her head in the clouds, Mariko!" Her Grandmother had told Her Mother. But Her Mom refused to listen. She replied, "Don't take away her childhood, Esteemed Mother. She has the illnesses doing it well enough on their own…"
"Then what's a little more…?" The arguments would go in circles from there and her Father would always notice Yukiko and put her back into her room and reassured her that the two women loved each other…they were just two stubborn mules...
"But Daddy, they're people…" Yukiko said in response. "If they were mules then they'd carry people around…"
"You are my daughter…" Her father had said, chuckling, which always confused Yukiko…
"Because, Yuki-chan. Princes may sound nice…but they are actually selfish. They pretend to be nice boys or men…and then they hurt you…and the ones you love. Her Grandmother sat down.
"Gramma, why are you here...? Normally, you stay away from me when I'm sick…"
"I'm too old to worry about such things, Yuki-chan…"
"You're not too old…Too old would be that man who brings the milk here…"
Her grandmother chuckled. "He's 7 years younger than me…he just looks older…"
"?" Yukiko said. Then after a pause. "Gramma…isn't there any boy or man who would be a prince and actually mean it?"
"You mean the honest, heroic type? Probably…But those are very few, Yuki-chan…"
Yukiko looked disappointed. "Why does it mean so much for you to have a prince?" Her grandmother continued.
"Because…I don't think any boy here would like me for me…"
"Already the boys are making you sick and yet they are chasing you…What preschool are you going to Yuki-chan?"
"I'm in Kindergarten!" Yukiko protested.
"I know…I'm kidding…But you may be right about boys here…they see a pretty girl and want to like her…but sometimes they want it for things that would hurt the girl most."
"Gramma…I only want a boy to make me happy…I don't think any boy who doesn't care about me is a good boy…"
"Good for you…your mother was older than you when she learned that lesson…" Her grandmother had said sadly.
"So that means I'll never have a prince…?"
"Why a prince…why not a samurai?"
"Princes dress better…"
"Yuki-chan…You like too many Western things and the gods will strike you down for that…"
"Daddy said the gods are too busy to do that…otherwise they would do that to everybody…"
Atsuko chuckled and then she coughed harshly.
"Gramma! Please tell me my germs didn't hurt you that fast!"
"No, Yuki-chan…this is the cough of old age…not because of your cold…"
"Oh…Okay…" Yukiko looked fearful.
"Your father is a wise man…But one day he'll be old as me…" Atsuko said distantly.
"?" Yukiko said.
Atsuko noticed her granddaughter was still worried, so she smiled. "Would you like me to read you a story, Yuki-chan…?"
"Yes!" She said excitedly. And then her face fell. "Oh, but they're all about Princes…"
Atsuko chuckled and said, "I think I can live one day encouraging your fascination with princes…" She said. And then she started reading a book to Yukiko about a prince who had come from a faraway land, because he had been in trouble in his…and how he had defended her honor.
And a teenaged Yukiko watched. "Gramma? Why am I here? Why am I seeing this?"
If anyone heard her…they didn't care to answer.
Yosuke and Chie
"Wake up, Yosuke!" Chie said to him.
"Huh? Wha?" Yosuke said. He was disoriented and then he freaked out when he saw Chie. "AH! YOU'RE NAKED!"
"You didn't have a problem with me being naked last night…"
"You weren't naked…" He said, confused.
"Yes I was…duh! Yosuke…what's wrong with you…?"
Yosuke was disoriented. He hadn't expected Chie to be in bed with him…Not like this… "Uhh…I thought I fell asleep alone…"
"We both did LAST CHRISTMAS…You invited me here, remember?"
"I…I did?" He said.
"Yosuke…did you have too much nog…I mean Teddie was guzzling it down like no tomorrow…But that didn't mean you had to…"
"Teddie…?" He said. And then another wave of disorientation passed him before he said, "Oh, man…Kanji's gonna hate me…"
"Probably a little…" Chie said with a snicker.
"Sorry…I didn't know I was raiding my parent's alcoholic nog…I thought we were having the non-alcoholic one…Please tell me we didn't play the King's Game again…"
"Nope…made sure of that…" Chie got out of bed and put on Yosuke's baseball shirt. Then she got back in and gave him a kiss. "Merry Christmas…"
"Thanks…Merry Christmas to you too…" He said, returning the kiss. "It's been a hell of a year…"
She snuggled up to him. "I know…The murders have finally been solved… we got back together…we've discovered things about ourselves and have decided to change for the better…"
"We got each other into pageants…" He said ruefully.
She wagged a finger at him. "You deserved the cross dressing after you signed me up without permission…"
"You weren't the comic relief…honest…" He said seriously.
"I know…it took a bit for me to understand…that you did it because you loved me…but did you have to leave me last on the list of explanation as to why you picked me…"
He shrugged. "I'm sorry…It's because I thought I saved the best for last…" He said.
She chuckled. "You know…last year at this time…I was pining away for Daitaka…and he ended up cheating on me…before we even consummated. You were alone…trying to figure out a way to ask Saki-senpai out…"
"And we were both miserable…" He said.
"That's right…because we missed each other…" She said.
"Still…I wish we hadn't gone through such pain to get to here…me…losing Senpai…" Yosuke said.
"And me…with my miscarriage…" She interjected. "Yosuke-chan…Love sometimes hurts…but I think that we have the greatest gift of all this Christmas…
"And that is…?" He asked.
"Each other…" She said, kissing him.
They soon kissed and then started moving together…
They spent a long while together…
…
Oblivious that another Chie was watching…and crying… "Nobu-chan betrayed me…and I miscarried his child?!" She said with tears of horrified rage. How could he betray me?! How could I be a fool?!"
Chie did not receive an answer.