'Twas the Year Before on Christmas
Act 2-If Wishes Were Horses
Chapter 4
Elizabeth
Somewhere, Somewhen
"I may have given you up, but I've never given up on you…" Elizabeth muttered in her sleep.
She was troubled. Tossing and turning. She didn't know why she was feeling this way.
"Mom? MOM!" She heard a voice say.
She woke up with a start and saw a young man with brown hair in front of her. He looked to be 16.
"Mom…are you okay? You were screaming in your sleep."
She was disoriented. She didn't know what was going on. When her head cleared… "Shi-Shinobu…" she asked
"Yeah…?" He asked. For a moment she thought his London accent was odd. But then when another bit of dizziness quickly passed by…it seemed right with her.
"Sorry, lad…I'm just…well, a sodding nightmare takes a lot out of me…"
"What was your nightmare?"
"I dreamt that you died protecting people who were your friends."
"Oh…one of those dreams where despite my being a bloody hero, Mum's reluctant to lose her firstborn…" He said with a smirk.
"Don't be cheeky…" She said wagging her finger and smirking herself, though hers was more rueful.
"I'm sorry…" He kissed his Mom on the forehead. "I'd better get back into bed before…"
"Before your girlfriend realizes you're missing and you're dressed?"
"Cassidy's an insatiable girl…" He shrugged. "I thought you would object to us finally…er…"
"Shagging?" She asked, grinning.
"Aye…" He said.
"As long as you are more careful than I was when I got pregnant with you…then I don't object."
Elizabeth couldn't believe her son Thomas Shinobu Yamata had grown up into a fine young man. Even though she had thought he was maturing a little too soon in terms of his relationship with his girlfriend, but he was more responsible than she had been, so she trusted him.
"Tom!" A girl's voice came from the hallway.
"Shite!" Shinobu said and then hid under Elizabeth's bed.
Elizabeth chuckled, and then a raven-haired beauty only a few months older than Shinobu came in, wearing a blue terry-cloth robe. "Ma'am…? Where's Tom hiding…?"
"I can't tell you, Cass…He…probably… swore me to secrecy…" However she looked amused and her eyes briefly pointed down to under the bed.
Cassidy smiled knowingly, then sounding convincing in her disappointment. "Oh…I'm sorry…I guess I didn't mean much after last night to him…I guess I'll date James now…"
"Sod James…he's already got a girlfriend or two…Try Will…"
"Oh yes!" Cassidy laughed. "William would probably be bloody magnificent!"
"The hell he would!" Shinobu said, crawling out from under the bed.
"16 and hiding under your mum's bed…I can't believe you…I don't sleep with little kids…besides being against the law…it's also tacky…" Cassidy said.
"Sorry… I just heard Mom and wanted to make sure she was okay."
"Well, since she is…Give her the gift, you daft mule…"
"What gift…?" Cassidy took a wrapped box out of her robe's pocket. "There it is…" He said sheepishly.
"What is this?" Elizabeth asked.
"Merry Christmas," Shinobu said.
"What is it, though?" she asked.
"You'll like it…Cassidy helped me pick it out…" Shinobu said.
"That's not something William would have confessed to his mum…" Cassidy teased.
Shinobu shot her a look of mock displeasure. Then he kissed Cassidy on the lips.
Elizabeth opened it. "Shinobu!" She said, amazed and touched.
He had gotten her a gold bracelet.
"Mom…I know it was a hard choice keeping me, even though you couldn't afford it. I don't think I would have blamed you in giving me up…But you were stubborn…and decided to keep going with just you and I …and then your practice boomed and we're living in this nice cottage in the countryside…"
"It's a 3 bedroom flat in London…" Cassidy corrected.
"Whatever…Anyway…That gift was to thank you…for not giving up on me…"
Elizabeth looked touched. "Shinobu…I don't know what to say…Wait…yes I do…He was going to get me tickets to the football match between Manchester United and Liverpool again, wasn't he…?"
"I didn't have enough for this last year…" Shinobu protested.
"No…He was going to get you a bronze one…I told him it had to be gold…" Cassidy said.
"Well…Thank you both…"
The two teenagers smiled at her, as she smiled back.
"Oh bloody hell…letting you two shag is my gift to Shinobu…so will you sod off and sod each other…?" She said.
The teens laughed. "I think that can be arranged…" Cassidy said, kissing Shinobu and then leading him by the hand back to his room.
"Kids today…" She said. She put on the bracelet and admired it.
For a moment she looked outside the window and saw a young man with blond hair dressed in blue.
"Bloody hell!" She said.
She looked outside. She saw no one there.
For a moment she felt like Shinobu shouldn't be with her in London…
…
But then she shrugged. "Probably just a remnant of that daft dream…Last thing I need is a spanner in the works…"
Teddie
Teddie was enjoying himself with a bunch of people that called themselves "family" and "fur-ends" at some party. He didn't know how he got there. He just knew he was happy.
But soon it would be "9PM"…
And he couldn't wait to have the "six"
Naoto?
Shirogane Estate
"Rumiko-chan…" a man's voice said.
"Umm…?" The girl stirred in her bed.
"Rumiko-chan…It's time to wake up…" The voice said again.
"Leave me 'lone, Yakushiji-san…haven't I suffered enough?" Rumiko said.
"Please, Rumiko-chan, your Grandfather would be most distressed if I didn't wake you…"
"Very well…" Rumiko said. She opened her eyes and looked out the Window. "Snow…"
"Indeed…it is Christmas, and your Grandfather wanted me to wake you so that the celebration would start."
"Indeed…" Rumiko said. Her long blue hair was down and she put a hand to her face as she yawned. "Excuse me… It is quite rude of me to yawn like that."
"No harm done…I shall leave you to put on your yukata…"
"Very good…I thank you…"
Rumiko climbed out of bed once Yakushiji had left. The 15-year-old girl sighed. She wasn't going to enjoy Christmas this year either. In the years since London…she knew that she would be without her parents on Christmas…
She got out of bed and was about to put on her Yukata when she noticed her bare body in the mirror. She was pleased with her physique. Her long hair and plump yet pert breasts gave her a femininity that she wouldn't trade for the world. She smiled.
…
And then for a moment she had noticed in her reflection behind her…
She turned around.
There was no one there…but she had gasped all the same.
This was annoying. She loved a mystery…almost as much as playing the piano…but she was not amused.
Why did I see me dressed in boy's clothes? I mean, I can understand the beanie cap…I have one myself…but the boys clothes and the short haircut…that won't do for one of the youngest professional Piano players in Japan…
Rumiko finished putting her Yukata on and left the room, shaking her head. Though for some reason…she felt cold.
Once the door was shut, Naoto had breathed a sigh of relief. While she did not appear to be seen or heard by conventional means…She could still cast a reflection.
"Curious…" She said. She pulled out her pocket tape recorder that she took with her on trips. She had her notebook…but she decided to pull out the recorder just the same…then for some reason realized it should be odd that she did so.
"Most curious…" She then pressed "record." "December 25… I am back at the Shirogane Estate…but I do not know how I got here or why I'm seeing what I'm seeing. I've just seen a girl who looks like me, but apparently has retained her femininity…at least in terms of outward appearance. I also see that there are lesser quantities of my detective novels…and a greater quantity of awards, Music CDs, and songbooks. Fortunately she still has the same taste in Manga and Western comics and fiction…she just appears to have zigged, where I have zagged on a couple of places."
"But I do not know why I am here…I could presume I have been drugged and put in some byzantine scheme by one of Grampa's many or my 3 enemies…although in my case, they only declared themselves as such because their ego could not handle the fact a mere teenager…to them…could defeat them so easily."
"Instead, I must postulate…whether drugged or not…I may have been shunted to an alternate reality. Though for what purpose I do not know…Nor can I fathom how it is possible…However…I am no Dana Scully or Temperance Brennan …I do believe there are unnatural phenomena that a person may be subject to…As long as the dead don't rise from the grave…" She shivered in terror over that. "Zombies would be the death of me…"
"With that said…as long as I avoid any mirrors or other reflective surfaces…I should be fine to explore the rest of the Estate… Though I must take care… Lest I make a mistake and I end up creating a temporal paradox…"
Naoto stopped the recorder and exited Rumiko's room.
Then she turned on the recorder again. "Addendum…My counterpart seems to have a shapely ass…Must research to see if mine is shapely enough to give me away…"
She turned it off again.
She waked down the hall. She wasn't sure if anyone heard her missives, so she decided to mentally note things.
It appeared the further she got away from her counterpart's room that things looked less and less geared to a professional piano player and more geared for detectives…
If this is an alternate reality…why did my counterpart eschew Detective work…? I have reflected on my choices since my parents' deaths…and concluded that all of them would have led me to where I am…in terms of career…today… I am not aware of any event in that intervening time frame that would make me decide otherwise…
Remembering the Christmases past at the estate, Naoto knew that the unwrapping of gifts were typically in the Drawing Room. Naoto decided to explore there.
She kept her head down as she passed several mirrors on her way down the stairs.
She reached the drawing room. She moved out of range of any mirrors.
She saw herself finish opening a gift from her Grandfather.
"Arigato, Grampa, for this songbook of Franz Liszt," she saw her counterpart say.
"I figured you were ready enough to practice these pieces…It appears that your repertoire has improved."
"Arigato…But…" Rumiko looked down.
"What is it?" Her Grandfather said. "Oh…I know…"
"Indeed…I have a concert in two days and they will not be able to attend…" She said sadly.
"This is true…" her grandfather said.
Ah…so it appears she has lost both parents as well, Naoto observed. It's a tragedy…
"…normally…" HE said.
?
"What…?" Rumiko said.
"Merry Christmas, Rumi-chan…" Another man's voice said.
…
A voice that made Naoto's blood turn cold…
"You're here!" Rumiko said excitedly.
"You think we would miss this…your biggest concert to date?" A woman said.
Naoto recognized them. The man was British…the woman was Japanese. But Naoto recognized them as if it had been yesterday since she had seen them.
…
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she saw them.
"Mommy? Daddy?" She said.