A/N all characters are spending christmas at the Vega household. I say this so noone gets confused. I did this because it simplifies a few things and so everyone sees certain events Beck and Robbie are not present. Please review and tell me if any of you have suggestions for Beck and Robbie later on. I thank you.
Trina Pov
It's finally christmas. Andre was lying in bed asleep with me still. We had toned it down last night so we wouldn't be so tired today. I looked up to seem him smiling happily asleep with one arm still around me. I had one lying on his chest as I had always had.
I began to wondered what he would have gotten me. I know I am very materialistic, but anything he gives me, as long as it's from him, I didn't care how much it cost. I had never felt this much for a guy. I wasn't with him for money because he wasn't rich. I wasn't with him because he was great in bed, although that did help. I wasn't with him for his fame because he was still just a high school student. If I wanted that I would have chased Syn. I was with him at first to just appease the others. Then we shared that magical night together. I Now I know I'm with him for love because I love him. I know he feels the same.
This whole love thing is knew to me because sure I had chased hot guys before, but only cause they were hot. That wasn't love. If anything that was just lust. This was different. I felt safe around him. i felt he would protect me from anything. I knew he would stand by me. Even when I would act selfish and be the asshole and bitch that I am, I just knew he would be there for me. I know this has to be love because it doesn't make any sense to feel that way about a guy I've only been with for a week and a half. It was completely irrational and I didn't care at all.
I decided I needed to get up when I saw the clock. It was only five, but I wanted to be downstairs. I wondered something there. I had gotten jewelry before, but noone had ever gotten me my favorite stone. I know it sounds weird, but it's not a precious stone.
I knew he couldn't have gotten it because he would have no reason to. I figured he would've gotten me a small ring or some earrings. I would have been happy with anything really. I just hoped he liked my gift.
I slipped out from his grasp, put some sweats on and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. I had grown less concerned about my wardrobe since him and I were toogether. Considering we've been together for less than two weeks and I'm already wearing sweats it was a big change.
"Andre wake up." I said in a gentle, calming voice.
"Hmm. Well good morning beautiful." he answered halfconsciously.
"Merry Christmas my knight in non-shining armor." He seemed to laugh at that. I thought it was a nice comment. He rubbed his eyes a bit before getting up and putting on some sweat pants and a t-shirt. We headed downstairs noticing everyone else was still in bed. We sat down next to the tree on the couch and just snuggled under neath a blanket because I had said I was cold. We were going to wait for everyone first. Not being selfish was kind of nice. I could learned to like this.
Jade Pov
I was fast asleep when I felt Tori leave my grasp. Man I hated having to wake up because it meant I had to let go of her. I opened my eyes to see hers.
"Well good morning my sweet darkness."
"Hello my little shining spark. Come here!" I said as I grabbed her, taking her into a deep kiss. When we finally separated we got up and headed downstairs to see Trina and Andre already down there. I looked at the clock, and it was six. Triina was never up before seven, but it looked like they had been up for at least an hour. We were both shocked. Not only that, but Trina hadn't opened anything yet. Maybe her being with Andre was changiing her for the better.
We sat right next to them on the couch. We snuggled up. I looked over and saw Trina smiling happily and Andre just looked with smile. She seemed content to just sit there in his arms for the rest of the day. If it wasn't for the presents to be opened later she probably would have.
I knew Trina was an adult so they couldn't lay down the same no sex rule with her and Andre. Still it kind of pissed me off, even if it was just a little, that they had the freedom to screw around their first night, and Tori and I were bound to chastity until we graduated.
My mind began to wonder a bit. I looked at all the gifts order in piled by couple. Mom and Dad must have thought that would be simpler. They were stacked together with each person's gifts on one side of their pile, and the other's on the other side. I saw that we all had similar amounts of presents. I wondered how many of mine were from Tori and how many were from Mom and Dad. I still can't believe I've grown so accustomed to calling them that that I think of them with those names.
I noticed one thing different about each pile that seemed to warrant attention. Tori and mine's was mostly boxes. Cat and Syn's were mostly odd shapes. Andre and Trina's were all very small objects. Each of them shared similar presents which I guessed were from Mom and Dad. Jade's parents probably forgot about christmas, and Cat told her parents not to worry this year. So all the gift here had been given to each of us by someone in this house.
Our pile had floral and skull designed wrapping paper. Andre and Trina's had hearts and angel paper. Cat and Syn's had camo wrapping. Mom was the wrapper so she did a really good job. This going to be awesome. Then I heard a loud scream.
Cat Pov.
I was just waking up from a nightmare. Syn had just left for service duty as a SEAL, and he had sent home letters to me. Then they stopped. I was suddenly in a dark room. I saw Syn lying on the floor in the middle of a pentagram. His whole body was now covered in the same marks that scrred his arm. He was being tortured and beaten. He refused to speak. The people aroundd him kept asking to tell them secrets. Secrets about the U.S. He kept refusing to speak. They said that they had no further use for him. One of them walked up, and held a gun to his head. He asked if he had any last words. He said," Godbye Cat my love." The man pulled the trigger. I woke up in a cold sweat screaming. It startled Syn so bad he fell right out oof bed. We haven't done anything, but we still slept with each other in he same bed.
He instantly got up and took me in his arms. He looked at my eyes, and I think he realized I had a nightmare.
"Everything's okay Cat," he told me as he held me brushing my hair."It was just dream. They can't hurt you. It was all just a dream." I was pouring tears onto his chest as I pressed my face into it.
"Not me. You." My words seemed to take him by surprise because for a moment he stopped brushing my hair, but quickly continued.
"Noone's going to hurt either of us. I promise you that." He just kept holding me as I cried. It wasn't just how real the dream had beenthat scared me. It was the fact that it could happen. He had been wearing a SEAL insignia in the dream. It could happen when he left. Thatwas what had truly scared me. It might not just be a dream.
"Cat tell me what happened." He said to me in the most calming and gentle voice he was capable of. It instantly calmed me down a bit. He was so strong with some people and yet so gentle with me. I told hiim about the dream. Just whenI finished the others ripped open the door, probably wondering why I screamed. They saw me in his genlte arms crying horribly.
"What happened?" Jade asked in a very serious voice.
"She had a nightmare. One she thinks can come true."
We told everyone about the dream, and Syn went downstairs to prepare breakfast for everyone. Tori and Jade went on to say that noone could ever bind Syn. They said he would strangle them with the rope before they finished tying it no matter how many drugs they pumped him full of. He would still kick their ass.
Andre and Trina comforted me by saying he would never put himself in enough danger to where he might not see me again. He loved me too much. Even if he did, he would never give up until he made it back home to me. He wouldn't let a few terrorist bastards stop him from seeing his Catarina. I knew they were all right, and it help calm me down all the way eventually. I still feared in the back of my mind, what if. I heard Tori's mom and dad wake up and head downstairs too.
We all headed downstairs to find Syn finishing breakfast. He had made omelets, bacon and toast for all the guys, and pancakes with butter and syrup for all the girls. He got himself an MRE. I knew he loved the beef stew one in the morning, but I still couldn't see how he liked them. He got me to try it once just to see what I thought. I had no problem because it would mean an easy way to make food. It tasted horrible. He didn't make me eat it after I tasted it. He said he kind of expected that. They were made for function not flavor. He was one of the few people who actually enjoyed them. He actually chose to eat them even with other things available.
We finished eating breakfast and all but Syn headed to the tree and couches. Syn stayed back to put away the plates before joining us. We all sat around the treee for a minutee in silence. Of course Trina was the one to break that silence.
"Well should we take turns? I mean it seems like the right thing anyway. Makes leess of a mess that way right?" Noone arged with her. So Andre and her moved over to their pile and started openng gifts.
Trina Pov
We opened a few marked from Mom and Dad. Mine were a few pieces of jewelry and makeup. One was a new phone which I liked. Andre got a new microphone for his recording system, a few usb drives for storing stuff, and a small piece of ivory to put as a key on his piano. Ivory keys are like so rare nowadays so he really liked that. Then it was time to open his gifts to me. There were only two.
When I opened up the first, it said "play you it later." He wrote a song for me. The other was marked touch and die if not Trina. I opened it and my heart must have stopped for at least a second. It was a wide bracelet with a heart shaped stone in the center. It was about the width of an apple and pure black. I could tell exactly what stone it was. It was obsidian.
I lunged at him kissing him everyone as I hugged him. I don't know how he knew or where he managed to get this, but I didn't care. It was from him, and that meant something very deep. We got up and sat back down on the couch. I put the bracelet on. It was about five inches long making it reack a quarter the way up my forearm from my wrist. I kept him in my arms with tears in my eyes as we watched Tori and Jade start with their presents.
Jade Pov
After seeing Trina pounce Andre like that over a worthless black rock, I knew today was going to be very interesting. We opened our gifts from Mom and Dad. They were for the most part the same as the ones they got Trina just with our style in mind.
Tori opened my gifts wiith numerous eeps and squeaks. I knew she would like them. She especially liked the necklace. I looked down to see a few gifts from her. Most were small trinkets. One box, though seemed to stand out. It was a box you put clothes in when you give them to someone. I figured she got me a dress.
When I opened,though my heart skipped a beat. It was the white dress I had been eyeing for years. It was the exact dress. How could she have known about the store let alone the dress? I knew there was only one way. Cat told her. I really didn't care though. I rushed upstairs with it, changed in the bathroom, and came back down to the gasps of everyone but Cat and Tori.
I sat down next to her on the couch and whispered,"Love you," in her ear. She smiled and mouthed you too. I loved the feel of this dress. It didn't fit to tightly, and it flowed very easily. It was beautiful, and now I could wear it anytime I wanted, no longer feeling ashamed.
Cat Pov
Okay everyone has gotten awesome gifts. Now it's my time to shine. We opened our gifts finding no jewelry in our pile. It was mostly clothing and books. We were booth fine with that.
Then Syn handed me a small box. Inside was a necklace with a spherical diamond on it. The diamond looked exactly like a green cat's eye marble. I took it and wore it around my neck immediately.
I then pointed to the box under the tree that was marked from Cat to Syn and said happy hunting on it. He seemed confused by this. He opened it up to find the bow. Needless to say he was speechless. He simply walked over and kissed me. He said he would have one more gift, but he would give it to me later.
Tori Pov
Everything had gone great. After we all finished putting away the giifts and throwing away the wrapping paper, we all sat down to watch a holiday movie. Everyone, however knew the last gift had not been given yet. Syn had told us his plan before. Cat had one more gift coming her way, but that would be later on.
After the movie Andre said he would need my help. He gave me some lyrics, and told me this was Trina's song. Him and I had been practiced it fvor a while so the lyrics were just for quick reference just in case. We sang it to her, and she proceeded to tackle Andre hugging him. She thanked me. Then went back to crushing her boyfriend.
It was now about five and we were all pretty tired. We settled down with each other to relax with another movie. Syn, Jade and I however, had snuck off to my room for Cat's last gift.
He said would reguire that I learned about his arm for me to help him with. Since I had always been curious I agreed immediately. I nearly regretted that when he showed me explained. The reason he needed to tell me was because he needed three people to aid him, and he had to remove the cover. I was the only person he trusted enough to tell.
The gift; it was an old box his dad had left him that was mark, save for the right one. It could only be opened with the aid of two people. Two to hold down the locks, and him. The lock had a pettern scanner on it. It was calibrated to recognize his scars. This made sure only he could open it.
He told us to hold down the locks, which was no easy task. These had been made for soldiers to hod down with ease. We had to struggle to keep them down to which he apologized. He then removed his cover, looked at his scars for a minute, then placed his arm in front of the lock. It immediately shot out a small green laser. It began tracing Syn's scars perfectly. After ten minutes it chimed.
"Identity accepted. Welcome Syn." As it open we saw two things. A small box witha another lock likee the one on the container, and a small document. We opened the document up, and Syn nearly fainted in fear. The article was titled,"Group of Marine raid Middle east group to find Satanic group instead."
On December 7, 1997, twelve marines inffiltrated what had been suspected to be a terrorist group headquarters. What was found inside was far more disturbing. The area had been the headquarters of a Satanic religious group as well as a similar cult of unknown origins. They had appeared to be meeting for somee llarge sacrificial ceremony to join the two cults. The sacrifices were two small children of the one cults leaders.
They met with very large opposition, said to come to around two hundred cult members. Heavily outnumdered and outgunned, the soldiers continued to press forward to end up destroying most of the cult using their superior training and strategic abilties to out maneuver the enemy. The marines stormed the buildings, killing most of the members as they tried to stop the soldiers. The twelve marines eventuallly stumbled across the center room where they found the two children.
A boy and a girl who according to intel must have been the son and daughter of the cult leaders. The boy had horrible burns and scars carved into one of his arm. The boy was airlifted to a hospital and was later adopted by squad leader Sergeant John Moscow, who earned him and his team all silver stars for the daring rescue. The girl was taken to a hospital as well, but she disappeared suddenly two days after the operation when the helicopter taking her to the hospital went MIA along with the entire crew and the wherabouts are still unknown. The boy had bright blue eyes, blond hair. His name was Syn. The girl had brown hair, green eyes and was the same age as him. Her name was Jadelyn.
These soldier showed true courage and honor. They faced unbelievable odds and overcame them using their superior wits. They managed to save at least one life from this horrible tragedy. The are what America stands for. The land of the free and the home of the brave.
Below showed two pictures one of the boy and one of the girl. They looked just like Jade and Syn only younger.
Syn had a sister. She had been there with him through it all. He looked just as shocked as the two of us, so I don't think he knew. He said he doesn't remember much before he was rescued, just alot of pain and anger. He had a sister, and she was right next to him.
His sister was Jade. We knew immediately because Jade had told me before that she didn't remember anything about her life from her early years. She also never looked anything like either of her parents from the photos she had showed me. THis meant Jade had been adopted.
After ten minutes of silence and staring between the two, Jade broke down in tears.
"I can't believe it. I have a sister. Not only do I have one, I lost her and found her again. Jade I... I'm so sorry." She jumped up and hugged him deeply still crying. After a while they separated, nodded and we decided to find out what was int he little box. They would have a heart to heart later. Right know we needed to focus.
The box opened the same way that the other did but not as hard to hold the locks. Inside was a note. It was from his father apologizing about not telliing him about his sister, and that he had planned to tell him when he either joined the SEALs or found the right girl and opened this box. He said he didn't want him searching for her. He wanted him to be settled and to be old enough to realize it was a lost cause. He said he had been looking for another five years while in the field before giving up. It said one last apology. Then it said that this was to be a gift to the one his son would fall in love with.
Inside under the note wasn't a jewel. It was a simple gold ring. Nothing fancy or decorative about it. Just a small isignia on it I didn't recognize. That's what I thought until Syn said otherwise.
"That's our family's ring. It's been in the family for over a thirty generations. The symbol is the insignia of the militia group our family fought in during the revolution. The Dark Patriots. I think I know what my father wants me to do with this ring." He picked up the ring still in the box and put it in his pocket. We went downstairs fully aware of his new plan. We thought the box contained a gift for Syn's love like a simple item.
What we got instead was a soon to be engagement ring.
"Hey where ya guys been? The movies almost over." Andre asked as he saw us come down the stairs.
"Getting something. Hey Cat can I ask you a question in private?" Syn asked her.
"Sure thing Syn." They walked off into the kitchen.
"So what's Cat's big gift?" Trina asked.
"You'll find out in 3... 2... 1... now" I said which was followed by a high pitch yell and alot of screaming from Cat in the other room. Then it was quite for a while. Then they both walked in with a pair of big smiles on their faces. Cat was now wearing the ring.
"This has been one hell of a school year." said Andre.
"It's only going to get better." said Trina.