December 25th, 1913 (Taisho 2)

The little girl woke early on Christmas morning, getting dressed eagerly. Today was a special day; one of the maids had told her that if she made a wish in a church on Christmas Eve at midnight, her wish would come true today.

Sumire could barely wait to spend the day with her parents – it was well worth evading all her caretakers to sneak into the church to make her wish the night before. Following that, she had lain awake in bed, finally nodding off close to dawn.

Digging in her closet, the little girl carefully took out a beautiful violet dress she had saved for this occasion. IN the shop, everyone had admired her, saying how pretty she looked in it; Sumire wanted her parents to see for themselves. Kneeling on the chair in front of the mirror, she brushed her hair again and again.

Everything had to be perfect for this special day.

Finally, she jammed a headband onto her hair and flung open the door. The sound of her feet was mostly lost in the wide corridors of her palatial family mansion.

"Otou-sama! Okaa-sama!" she shouted, throwing open the double doors of the sitting room. "Happy Christmas!"

Silence greeted her. Underneath the towering Christmas tree specially imported from overseas sat the usual glittering mound of presents; a fire crackled in the hearth. The table nearby held sweets and edibles, a mixture of traditional Western food imported for the occasion and Japanese treats like rice crackers.

A creamy envelope rested next to the bowl, positioned where she would be able to see it.

Wordlessly, Sumire picked it up and slit it open. The letter inside was brief, written as simply as possible for her six-year-old reading skills.

Dearest Sumire,

Happy Christmas. Otou-sama and Okaa-sama regret we cannot be here to celebrate today with you because Otou-sama has unfinished work at the Tokyo head office and Okaa-sama has to finish her filming work before the new year. Enjoy your presents.

From Otou-sama and Okaa-sama

Tears filled her eyes; Sumire sniffed and rubbed furiously with the sleeve of her brand-new dress. Every year as long as she could remember, it had been the same; they were never around.

The maid had lied; Christmas wishes did not come true.

Ignoring the pile of presents, Sumire walked slowly back to her room and opened the lower drawer of her desk; inside, tucked away underneath a pile of paper, was a bundle of letters; each one filled with apologies. Memories of lonely birthdays and holidays preserved in her parents' neat handwriting – reminders they existed, hovering on the edge of Sumire's life.

She burrowed in under the covers, not bothering to take off her headband, and cried herself to sleep.

"Why are you here, Shigeki?" The grizzled old man blinked in surprise at the sight of his son pottering in the factory, bent over some blueprints. "It's Christmas Day. Go home – spend some time with my granddaughter."

The younger man pushed his spectacles further up his nose. "Otou-sama, we need to finish the designs for the new steam tractor before the new year. We cannot afford to lose this client."

The Kanzaki patriarch harrumphed. "And Hina? Is she busy too?"

Shigeki slowly rolled up the blueprint. "She is back in Yokohama, wrapping up work on her latest movie and will be back in time for the New Year's celebration if the trains are not crowded."

"How long has it been since you last saw Sumire? Since you actually spent time with her?"

"Please, Otou-sama. It's not that I want to be working – but..." He fell silent for a moment. "... We've asked the maids to buy her the latest toys and children's books. It's not as though she'll be lonely."

The old man nodded ponderously. "If you say so." As he turned and began to walk away, he called over his shoulder, "Don't regret this decision you're making one day when your daughter can no longer look you in the eye, Shigeki."

Sumire's father unrolled the blueprint and picked up a pencil, but no more was written that afternoon.

December 24th, 1927 (Taishou 16)

"Maa, I'm too full t'do anythin' now," sighed Kohran happily.

"Me too," chimed in the young French girl.

"Come on, you only had a piece of cake each!" Kanna forked the last piece off her plate into her mouth. "Whoa, there's still this much left? Reni, do you mind?"

The German smiled. "Since none of us can finish it, it would be a waste if you did not eat it, Kanna."

Orihime sniffed. "Honestly, that's your third piece of cake, Kanna-san. I wonder where you put it all."

"Once everyone's done eating, please sleep early. The special Christmas performance is tomorrow night and I want you all to get a good night's sleep," called Maria over the chatter.

"Iris doesn't want to sleep early!"

Kanna pulled a face. "Aw, come on Maria – it's Christmas Eve! We've just celebrated Reni's birthday, we should do something fun, right, Taichou?"

Ogami laughed. "I'm afraid Maria's right – we've got a big day tomorrow, what with the Christmas show, and the presents in the morning."

Iris clapped her hands together excitedly. "Presents, presents!"

"What noisy children," sighed Sumire loudly. Secretly, she watched their excited faces with a pang of jealousy; it would be the first Christmas show she would be performing in, having retired from the theatre a few months earlier. The only reason why she was even in the theater at all was because she had been expressly invited to Reni's 18th birthday celebrations and to stay over for Christmas. The young woman pulled out her fan, languidly flicking her wrist in idle motions.

Sakura noticed and drew closer. "Sumire-san..."

"Sakura-san, as the lead, you must put on the most dazzling performance of all!" She snapped the fan shut and pointed it at the startled girl. "If you dare trip and fall, I'll never forgive you!"

"Y – yes!"

Maria's instructions were right, as always; slowly, the Hanagumi began to disperse. As Sumire glanced at all the disappointed faces, a memory from long ago, of a maid telling a rapt little girl about Christmas wishes surfaced...

"Wait, Maria-san, I have a suggestion."

When Sumire had finished talking, excited clamouring from all the other girls was enough to make the Vice-Captain give in and tell them to wrap up warmly and meet outside the theater doors. The Hanagumi made their way to the church, laughing and joking excitedly.

A hush fell over them as they entered the empty building; they stood in front of the altar and waited.

The deep tones of the bells chiming the twelfth hour began and each girl bent their head and closed her eyes.

As soon as the twelfth chime died away, the spell was broken and the air rang with cries of, "Happy Christmas!", soon followed by some of the foreign-born girls teaching each other how to say it in their native languages.

"Wait, what?" Kanna exclaimed. "Say it again!"

"Fröhliche Weihnachten," repeated Reni patiently.

"Joyeux Noël," smiled Iris.

"Buon Natale!" declared Orihime.

"S Roždestvom Khristovym," said Maria.

"圣诞快乐," grinned Kohran.

"That gorilla woman's going to bite her tongue," noted Sumire snidely.

"Frow-lee-sher – ow!"

"Sure enough..."

Amidst the happy commotion that ensued, followed by many valiant attempts at mangling the languages, Ogami touched Sumire's arm.

"What did you wish for, Sumire-kun?"

She took her time to answer before smiling at him. "I didn't need to make a wish, Chuu'i."

He – as she knew he would – smiled in understanding, squeezing her shoulders.