Okay, so, hi again! Good to see you! Well...I can't see you...glad you're reading! So, here's this chapter, obviously, and you know what I'll say now, but I'll do it anyways. REVIEW PLEASE? PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE?

My first Christmas without Sally...it's been very hard. No more of the weird little gifts I always got from her, like the big, round, sparkly blue sunglasses from last year. No more funny cards, or watching her fly around her house, singing carols as loudly as she can while hanging decorations. No more being forced to wear a Santa hat the second I step into her house. No more gingerbread cookies we steal from Allulah.

I lay back on my bed, lost in thought. I miss her, and as scared as I am of Yo-Yo, I know better than to call again. I keep replaying that message to hear her voice again. If only I had something else.

Oh, wait, I do! I jump up from my bed and dash to the closet. I shove to the back of it until I find the suitcase I brought with me when I first came to the Truffula Forest. It had been thrown into the closet months ago without a second thought, as I could get different, better versions of what was in there. Clothes go flying as I dig through it until finally, I find what I was looking for. It brings a smile to my face. A picture from her sixteenth birthday, she's on my back and smiling at the camera, and I'm smiling over my shoulder at her. I remember that day.

"Go faster!" Sally yelled in my ear.

"I'm going as fast as I can, weirdo," I replied. "You're heavier than you think!"

"I'm not that heavy!" she argued.

"Nope, but I'm not that strong," I reminded her. She laughed and I rolled my eyes. The things I'd do for my best friend...

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

"Yes, Sally, that's why we're sitting in the ice cream shop eating sundaes," I said.

"Snappish!" She laughed again and I smiled at a passerby. Weird looks no longer bugged me. After spending basically my whole life giving Sally piggy back rides, I was used to them.

"Okay, now we're here," I said, nodding to about twenty feet ahead of us where Ernie's Ice Cream was.

"Yay!" she said. "Now you can get me that new ice cream flavor you told me about!"

"Yep," I lied, walking to the store. As soon as the door opened, about fifteen voices yelled "Surprise!" I looked over my shoulder at Sally, who's jaw was dropped in shock.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. Then she looked at me. "You liar! You said there was a new ice cream!" I laughed.

"Smile!" Rina called, holding up a camera. Sally smiled at her mother, but I didn't in time. When the picture was taken, I was smiling at Sally.

I sigh and set the picture down on the bedside table by the phone. I might not have her, but I have this memory.

~!~Sally's POV~!~

I used to sing in the shower. I started doing it when I was about twelve, and stopped a little under a year ago. I stopped because in the shower, I would sing happy songs, and after the Once-ler and I lost contact, I couldn't find a lot of happiness any more. But recently, I've found myself humming and tapping my foot.

"I think I'm actually forgetting him," I say to Dent, my own words sounding insane. "Really, I do."

"Really?" she asks. I nod.

"Yeah...I think so..." I smile broadly and take a long drink of the cocoa in my hands. I hate January. They're so cold, and there's snow everywhere. It's just like December, but without Christmas.

Christmas was hard without the Once-ler. We always used to hang decorations all around our houses together, but this year I did it with Dent while Yo-Yo watched Elf on the couch. She said that 'cheer made her sick'. So Dent and I, being the great best friends we are, poured all the tinsel on her. She chased us around the apartment until the cookies Dent was cooking were finished, and then we all sat down and ate until we were stuffed. I had fun, but when I was away from them, I wanted to cry. So I stay with them as much as I can.

"That's awesome, Sally!" Dent says, hugging me tight. I smile.

"Thanks." I sip more cocoa as the door to the apartment bursts open and Allulah runs in.

"Lolly proposed!" she squeals, holding her left hand out and jumping. I gasp and jump to my feet, grabbing her hand and holding it up to my eyes.

"Holy shoot!" I exclaim. "That's a big rock!"

"I know!" she giggles. "I love it!" She held her hand to her cheek and sighed dreamily. "I love him." Smiling on the outside is easy. It's the feeling happy on the inside that's tough. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for Allulah. But I miss being that madly in love. I still am, and I know it, though I lie about it, but I miss being so in love it annoys other people.

"And you're gonna be my maid of honor!" Allulah says, grabbing my shoulders. I bring my gaze up to hers and smile.

"Aw, really?"

"Of course!" she exclaims. "You're my sister!"

"I sure am!" I say, grinning and hugging her. "And I can't wait. When's the wedding?"

"Um...June."

"Okay!" I say, smiling wider. "Great!" Allulah smiles at me once more before hugging Dent. I keep the smile plastered on my face, but no one has any idea how badly I want to cry.

~!~!~!~

Outside, a plane flies by with the words 'Will you marry me Jesse?' on a banner behind it. I sigh. There people go again, I think, being in love.Allulah and Lolly getting engaged made me realize that while I may be a happier person, I'll never get over the Once-ler, no matter what. Valentine's Day also made me realize the same thing. I was happy when St. Patrick's Day arrived. No lovey stuff on days like that.

Then St. Patrick's Day passed and it seemed like the world was against my broken heart. Especially as May began and Allulah was going crazy with wedding plans. She still is.

"What about this one?" she asks, stepping out of a dressing room. I tear my gaze away from the plane with the proposal banner and look at her. The dress she's wearing is long, white, and lacy. All wedding dresses are like that, in my eyes.

"You look stunning, Lu," I tell her, smiling. "I hate the sleeves, though." The sleeves on the lacy dress are big and puffy, like some fairytale princess gown or something. Allulah puts her hand on one of them and scrunches her nose up.

"I do, too...man, no gown is good enough!" she declares, throwing her hands into her hair and groaning.

"You'll find the perfect dress, Allulah. And even if you don't, Lolly won't care. He's marrying you, not your gown."

"Thanks, sis," she says, smiling and hugging me. "Oh, by the way, he wants you to sing."

"At the wedding?" I ask, surprised. She rolls her eyes.

"No, right now so everyone in the store can hear you. Of course at the wedding!"

"Oh, wow..." I smile. "I'd love to."

"Thank you, Sally!" She smiles at me widely. "Great!"

"What do you want me to sing?" I ask her.

"You choose."

I sigh. That's gonna go fabulously.

~!~Oncie's POV~!~

Moping does nothing to make me feel any better. I can just stay in my room, staring at the canopy of my bed that doesn't seem to be getting any more interesting. Or I could throw myself into work.

I sit up suddenly. I can throw myself into work. That way, I'll be forced to think of other things, and Sally won't come into my head once.

I smile and get out of bed quickly, running past my dresser and grabbing my hat and sunglasses. The sunglasses make me stop. These are the ones Sally gave me last Christmas. I shrug and put them on. They're just sunglasses, and with all the lights we have around here, I'll be needing them.

With a clap of my hands, the lights go out and I run out the door. My bedroom is on the third floor, and my office is on the second. I dash down the stairs and past my mother's desk. Then I stop and run back. "Mom! I need you to make me an appointment with all the sponsoring people you can get a hold of!"

"Why?" she asks, looking up from filing her nails.

"Because I want to expand our marketing. I want billboards, commercials, radio ads, newspaper ads, everything. Hell, I want one of those jets that flies through the air writing words with smoke!"

"Do you know how much that'll cost?" she asks, her eyes wide.

"Yes, but by doing so, we'll be making more money! So just do it!" I go into my office and flop down into my chair. I place my hands on the arms.

I need a bigger chair, I think. I call to my mom, "And get me one of those huge chairs!"

~!~Sally's POV~!~

I turn the radio off quickly as the Once-ler's voice breaks through the static. He's got radio ads now. He can broadcast to the whole world, but he can't even pick up the phone and call.

I'm driving to Allulah's apartment to help her take down her Christmas tree. She hasn't yet, and she's sick of it. I am too, so I offered to help, but that means I'll be taking it down myself while she rambles on and on about wedding plans.

"Damn!" I groan as I hear his voice again. I flip the radio off and drive in an eerie silence. I hate the silence. So I turn the radio back on and put it on Spanish radio. "There," I say, nodding. "Better." I sigh and run my fingers through my hair before placing my hand back on the steering wheel.

I get to Allulah's house and my guess becomes a reality. I sit on the ground, putting ornament after ornament away as she shoots off about wedding plans, and how great Lolly is, and how in love they are. My work speed increases as something hits me. We never said goodbye to each other. The plan forms in my mind before I like it.

"Well," I say, standing as soon as the last ornament is put away, "I gotta get home. I have a...a trip in the morning."

"Where to?" she asks, frowning.

"To..." I toss a few states around in my head before I come up with, "Alaska."

"Oh!" she says, blinking. "Why?"

"A movie audition," I reply with a shrug. "The head of the theater suggested me for the role."

"How long will you be gone?" she asks.

"Oh, a few days," I answer. "A week at the most. Probably just three or four days, though." I hate lying, especially to my sister, but I can't tell anyone my plan. No one can know. They'll try to stop me.

"Aw, alright." She hugs me. "Be safe, okay?"

"I always am," I say, smiling at her.

~!~Oncie's POV~!~

"No, you don't get it," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Truffula trees are the only thing we can use to make Thneeds."

"But sir," Tammy (or is it Tabitha?) says, "you'll run out."

"I will not!" I scoff. "I've been doing this for over a year! And I have thousands, millions of trees left!"

"But-"

"See, when you cut a tree down, it grows right back. That's the beauty of them."

Tammy/Tabitha rolls her eyes. "But sir-"

"Mr. Once-ler, sir," my secretary, Ben, steps into the room.

"Ben," I say, rolling my eyes again, "I'm in a meeting."

"Yes, sir, but you have a visitor."

"Do they have an appointment?"

"No, but-"

"Then send them away!" I exclaim. "As I said, I'm in a meeting!"

"Yes, sir." He turns to leave, but the door bursts open and a flash of brown hair dashes in, followed by my two bodyguards, Karl and Devin.

"You let me go!" a female voice shrieks. I'm frozen.

"Get out!" Devin yells over her screams. "Mr. Once-ler is busy at the moment."

"Oh, he better not be too busy to see me!" she shouts.

"And who do you think you are, exactly, miss?" Karl asks.

"I know who she is," I say faintly. Everyone looks at me and I force myself to meet her eyes. "Hey, Sal."

CLIFFHANGER...ISH! Review! Give me your thoughts! Assumptions! Hopes! Wishes! All that crap! Kidding:) Nothing about ya'll, my glorious fans, is crap. Besides actual crap. That's kinda craplike, but it's supposed to be...I'll shut up about crap. Review!