Christmas Eve arrived, and the Elsa was blazing with Christmas lights. There were the standard non-blinking variety, the blinking to Christmas music variety, the bubbling lights variety, and the icicle variety. Where the Professor and Scott had managed to find them all after the crisis was a mystery to everyone, but not enough of one for them to request an answer. There was also mistletoe hanging throughout the ship, much to Tony's delight. He'd managed to steal a kiss from both Mary and Shelley before they'd realized and had been on the verge of sneaking one from Shion when Jr. had entered the lounge. One look at the Little Master's face had convinced Tony it wasn't a wise move. Instead, he maneuvered so the kiss landed upon Shion's cheek and he quickly made himself scarce.
Shion gave Jr. a smile when he stopped in front of her. "I'm guessing it's time to go then? Why are you being so secretive about the reason behind this dive? The only thing you'd say was that it would make me happy, and I could hardly say no to that, especially when you were aiming those puppy-dog eyes at me."
Jr. huffed, "I don't use puppy-dog eyes for your information. It's only because I'm so damn irresistible. My natural charm, one might say." His sapphire eyes sparkling with merriment, he made a gesture toward the door. "If you want to find out badly enough, you'll come with me to KOS-MOS' old room. Allen's waiting for us both."
Shion shook her head with a good-natured sigh. "Even Allen knows what's going on? This must be good for you to have asked him for help. The two of you aren't exactly very close. All right, lead the way." She followed in Jr.'s wake.
In the old maintenance room, Allen helped Shion get set up with the Simple Dive Unit. She put the glasses on and settled herself upon the small plush sofa she'd had put in there back when they'd first began their journey. "Now that I'm here, do you think you could tell me just why I'm diving? I'm not backing out," she was quick to say when Jr. opened his mouth to say something. "I'm just curious."
Jr. knew it was time to tell her of his plan. He questioned, "You remember back when we were talking about the holidays and you missing your family?" Shion nodded. "Well, I knew that deep within your subconscious, you must have the memory of when your mom wasn't sick. So I went to Allen and asked him if it was possible to set up a dive so that you could go back to that time and spend Christmas Eve with them. This time, you'd be able to hold on to the memory consciously, and you could look back on it whenever you started to miss them. Was I wrong to do it?" He was getting anxious now that his plan was being put into effect. What if Shion hated the idea, or worse, hated him for even thinking of it?
Shion's face lit up with joy, dispelling those thoughts away. "Jr., that's a wonderful idea! It must have taken a lot of courage for you to ask Allen for help, though." Her eyes softened as she looked at him. She then turned a little impatiently to Allen. "Is everything set up, Allen? Now that I know what's going on, I don't want to wait."
Allen made a few last minute adjustments and then gave Shion a nod. "I've got everything set for you to go back to 4746. I'll be here to back you up if anything goes wrong, but I don't think it will. Jr. and I have been pretty busy checking all possibilities, so it should be perfectly safe. Just enjoy the trip." He smiled a little sadly at Shion and then busied himself with the preparation for starting the dive.
Jr. was leaning back against the computer terminal, content to see that his idea had made Shion happy. He grinned at her and said, "We'll see you when you get back. Enjoy the time with your family." As relaxed as he was, he was caught off-guard when Shion jumped off the sofa, grabbed his hand, and said with a teasing smile, "Oh no, you don't! You're coming with me, whether you like it or not!" Everything went all hazy for the both of them. Allen, who had foreseen this coming with how close Jr. and Shion had become over the last week, whispered, "Just remember what you promised me, Jr. Make sure you take good care of her, while she's there and when she comes back."
Jr. shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. Diving was always a bit of a shock to the system, but it was doubly so when unprepared for it. He glanced around for Shion and found her a few feet away from him, intently looking at the houses. She must have felt his gaze on her because she turned around and said to him, "We're not far from my old house. About five to ten minutes of walking should get us there. So come on." She quickly set off, and Jr. hurried after her, still slightly light-headed.
Standing at the corner of the street where her house was, Shion finally seemed to be getting nervous. She ran a hand through her brunette locks self-consciously. "What on earth am I supposed to say to them, Jr.? I can't just barge in and say I'm your daughter all grown-up. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."
Jr. stayed her hand by reaching up and taking it. He gave her one of his trademark grins and replied, "I've got this all worked out. We're going to knock on the door and say we've gotten lost. We're here to visit relatives, but since this is our first time to Miltia, we couldn't find their house. I have the feeling that they'll be kind enough to let us in. Now come on." Tugging slightly on Shion's hand, he managed to get her moving and they headed toward the house.
The door opened almost immediately after Jr.'s knock, and from Shion's small gasp, he knew this was her mother. She looked very different from the woman who had been in the bed of the room in Labyrinthos. In fact, he could see just how much Shion resembled her mother, and he hoped Aoi Uzuki didn't notice it as well. He spoke up. "I'm really sorry to bother you, ma'am, but my friend and I seem to have gotten lost. We're visiting relatives on this planet for the first time, and we can't seem to locate their house."
Aoi smiled, and it lit up her face in the same way smiles lit up Shion's. "Oh please do come in. It's freezing outside, and you two look like you're going to become ice statues." Jr. nodded to her gratefully and stepped aside to allow Shion to pass.
Shion moved inside and then just stood, drinking in the sight of her mother. Aoi looked so alive to Shion right then, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't keep from hugging her. Aoi laughed in surprise, and Shion tried to apologize. "I'm sorry. It's just that it was so cold out there, and I'm really grateful to be inside where it's warm."
Aoi waved Shion's apology away. "You don't have to apologize. It's very strange, but you remind me of someone. It's almost like I already know you. In fact, I'd be pleased if you could stay a while. It's Christmas Eve after all. I'm sure your relatives won't mind you being a little late." She led the both of them into the kitchen, where Shion came face-to-face with her father and her brother. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she lowered her head for a few seconds until she could subdue them.
Two hours later, Allen contacted Jr. to let him know it was nearly time for them to return. Jr. conveyed this to Shion, who nodded her understanding. She went to Aoi and smiled at her. "Well, it seems my friend was able to get in touch with our relatives and get directions to their house. So we'll need to get going."
Aoi reached out to hug her and Shion was warmed by her mother's touch, even if Aoi didn't know it. "It was wonderful to have the two of you here. We're all sad to hear you have to go, but I'm sure your relatives would like to spend some time with you as well. Take care then."
As she left, Shion waved to her father and the teenaged Jin, and they gave her warm smiles in return. Upon reaching the checkpoint where Allen planned on retrieving them, Jr. suddenly stopped and said hesitantly, "So did I do the right thing, Shion? Were you happy spending time with your family?"
Shion was quiet for a minute, but Jr. could sense that it wasn't an angry silence. She was simply basking in the glow of having been able to spend time with her intact family. "Jr., you did a wonderful thing," she told him finally. "No matter what happens, I will always have this memory tucked safely within my heart, and that is thanks to you. I can't find the words to tell you just how much this meant to me." She took his hands in hers and leaned down to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, very near his mouth.
Jr. turned bright red with embarrassment and removed one of his hands from Shion's to put to the back of his head. "Well, you mean a lot to me, Shion, and I just wanted to give you a special gift." His eyes were focused on the ground, because he knew his heart was in them and he didn't think Shion was quite ready to hear him profess his love for her. That would come in time.
As Allen broke in to say everything was ready and he'd be bringing them back, Shion said quietly, "Speaking of gifts, I've got one for you when we get back." Jr. lifted shocked eyes to her face, and then everything proceeded to go all hazy again.
Their return was uneventful, other than Jr. feeling a little awkward when he discovered he'd passed out on Shion's lap for the length of the dive. Both of them thanked Allen for his help, and Allen gave a small smile. "It made you happy, Shion. That's all that mattered." Without another word, he left the room.
Shion seemed slightly sad as she looked after him, but then her face cleared and she gave Jr. a pointed look. "I'm sure you're wondering about your gift, so how about we go up to the women's cabin?"
Once there, she handed Jr. a beautifully wrapped box. Jr. was a little confused, but he'd ask about it after he saw what the gift was. After carefully unwrapping it, he opened the box and pulled a brand new duster jacket out of it. It was black and had a Chinese red dragon emblazoned on the back, a high collar like his old black jacket, and long sleeves that tendrils of fire were creeping up. "Shion?" he said, his voice questioning.
Shion laughed. "I'll be honest with you, Jr. I don't like the whole short coat look on you. I preferred your old duster jackets, and I actually wondered why you abandoned them. So when you told us that MOMO and Doctus had managed to get a lot of the new network running, I searched high and low for a store that could do what I wanted done. Do you like it?"
Jr. immediately shrugged off the jacket he had on and slipped into the new one. He stood for a minute, examining it from every angle he could. Then he turned to Shion and questioned, "But why did you get this for me?" Before she could answer, he added with a laugh, "And as for why I abandoned the look, it was because the one droid on the Durandal said he'd look better in a duster coat than me and kept stealing them on me. He didn't like the short coat, thankfully, so I didn't have to keep chasing him down to get it back."
Shion found this hilarious and was doubled over with laughter for a minute or so. When she was able to catch her breath and become serious, she replied to his question, "I got it for two reasons. The first is because you've conquered your fear of your Red Dragon mode and I meant it to be symbolic of that. The second is because it's a birthday present." Jr. started to speak, but she talked over him. "Back when I talked to Shelley about what had happened with me and Allen, she mentioned something about Christmas being your birthday and you not caring about that. At the time, I wondered why she brought it up, but I'm pretty sure I know why now. And if I'm right, I just want to take things slowly, okay? I don't want things to end badly because we rushed."
Jr., who had never expected to hear words of this sort from Shion, could only nod. His heart was too full of emotion right now to say anything. Shion got to her feet. "I have another surprise for you too, you know. While we were gone, I had everyone prepare a hybrid party. It's to celebrate both Christmas and your birthday. New traditions, remember?" As they smiled at one another, Albedo took that time to make his presence known again. No one's going to want to celebrate my birthday, he sulked. Jr. could only laugh and then he and Shion headed for the lounge, toward new beginnings.