[A/N] Okay, back again, would've been out yesterday had my netbook not turned fail on me again, so sorry about that. I hope the holidays are treating you all well. And so, let's dive right in...

Broken Bow: The 12 Years of Christmas

Chapter 5: 2004

December 24th 2004, 11:20pm. The New York Plaza Hotel, Penthouse Suite.

Lanaya was pacing back and forth across the room impatiently, and if Armani was irritated with her constantly crossing his view of the wall mounted TV, then he didn't show it. In fact, his attention was more focused on her than anything else. It was rare to see her so restless about something.

She paused eventually, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.

"Don't like this..." she muttered.

Armani observed her impassively. He could understand why she was upset: Apollo had, after all set them both up in this room for the night, and it wasn't exactly a comfortable place for her. The hotel may have been near to Central Park, but being in the top floor suite left her seriously disjointed from any of her sources of power.

Armani had other concerns though. His gaze flicked to the clock.

Almost time...

He wasn't particularly upset by their location himself; the room was large and spacious, with two floors and plenty of room for manoeuvring, and it wasn't like he would be fitting the bill for any damages; that's what Apollo was for.

"There's no need for you to stay up," said Armani, breaking his silence, "You can go rest if you'd prefer."

Her eyes flicked to him, "I'm keeping an eye on you, sapling. I may not have any power here, but it's still my job to keep you out of trouble. And don't think I don't know what you're waiting for."

Armani sighed, she only called him by that name when she knew he was up to something she would consider puerile.

Apollo had been keeping her with him more and more lately, even when the god himself was around (much to her irritation). Armani didn't mind though, as when she were around, that odd feeling of being upset with himself seemed to abate slightly, the same way it did when he was out running through the forest; not hunting, just running, he enjoyed doing that; going faster and faster until his legs burned and he fought for breath and the world were an intangible blur, like he were coursing through the veins of the forest itself. This often led to problems, as he would more often than not end up miles beyond where he had intended to be once exhaustion had fully kicked in. Luckily, Lanaya would often simply pop up and drag him back, scold him for a while, and then put him to bed, otherwise...well...that's what buses were for.

His eyes drifted back to the nymph again. There was something else about her too, something he had only just begun to notice due to their extended periods of time together.

She was often sad about something.

She hid it well, but just occasionally, when she thought he weren't looking, he would catch her out the corner of his eye wearing an oddly forlorn expression.

"Perhaps..." she began, stopping at the foot of the wide staircase, "Perhaps you really should just go to bed." she finished in a tired voice.

Armani looked at her, trying to read her emotions, but it seemed whenever she was torn about something she would intentionally not make eye contact, as if she knew he had a knack for identifying what people were feeling that way.

And for the first time, as he heard the sad undertone in her voice, Armani was tempted for and instant to actually turn in, and just give his annual appointment a miss if only just this once.

That was when he sighted him.

"Sorry, Miss... too late."

She looked back at him and followed his gaze past her, and then she saw also.

Standing atop the staircase, looking down at the demigod, was the man in red.

"Merry Christmas, little boy," said the man in his usual jolly tone.

Armani's eyes narrowed, "Santa..." he said, inclining his head curtly.

"So, have you been naughty or nice this year?" he asked, slowly starting to walk back and forth on the top step.

Armani smiled slightly, "I did my best."

'Santa' took a single step down the stairs. Armani slid smoothly to his feet, a silver glow starting to emanate from his right hand.

"Stop!" Lanaya suddenly said, extending a hand at the demigod as she looked between them, "Just... wait a moment, don't use it."

Armani froze, the glow around his palm seeming to hesitate, like a swirling silver mist around his fingers.

'Santa' frowned at the nymph as she turned to glare at him.

She spared a glance at the demigod and turned to walk up the stairs, approaching the old man until she was on the stair below him.

"You can't do this!" she hissed at the man in a tone so inaudible, a regular human wouldn't have heard even at that distance. She had to of course; anything louder and the still demigod would've easily picked it up.

"You're presuming to tell me what to do?" murmured back the old man, his voice changed.

She looked desperately back at the boy and then back again, "You know what happens every time he uses his powers! Every fight takes what days he has away. Not doing this could save him weeks if not months!"

'Santa' turned his gaze back at the boy, "It's his decision. He's a demigod, though he most likely won't have the time to quest and adventure like he should, he doesn't deserve to be slowly smouldering into ash when he can blaze. There is a big difference between survival and living. Despite what you think however...I do know moderation."

"But-" she whispered desperately, glancing back as the boy scowled impatiently, "...you don't understand... I can feel it... I can feel him dying, every single day, a bit more at a time."

'Santa's eyes softened for a second as he regarded the child, he let out a warm breath, "It's his choice..."

She looked at him and back again. Then slowly, she turned about and headed silently back down the stairs, the look in her eyes going from desperate and sinking into almost lifeless resignation, "...Do what you will."

Armani's eyes widened. He had never seen that look on her face before as she walked to the side of the room and sank down into a chair, watching the floor.

Armani looked at his hand, and then back up at the old man. He then turned and looked at his teacher for a long moment, remembering each and every reprimand she had given him when he used his power, especially his bow.

The boy let out a tired sigh and smiled, closing his fist as the silver light vanished.

He turned to face 'Santa' who was stood still, waiting...

He looked up at the old man, "Santa Claus?"

The old man blinked in surprise, "Y-yes, little boy?"

The boy let out another sigh before speaking, "For Christmas this year, I would like... a sword."

The old man's eyebrows rose and he caught sight of his teacher looking up.

"Oh?" rumbled the old man curiously.

He nodded, "Yes, and a good one. One I can use for tonight. I can't use my bow, there's... not enough room."

'Santa' regarded him for a long moment, as if thinking on it, and then let out a slow, hearty chuckle, "Gutsy as ever, little Armani. You're not as good with the blade as you are with the bow."

"Accepted."

'Santa' nodded and, reaching into his sack, retrieved a small wrapped parcel which vanished, reappearing under the tree nearby, "That's your regular present for this year," explained the old man.

Armani nodded, "Thank you, Santa." he said curtly, remembering last year.

'Santa' smiled and reached into his bag again, retrieving a large candy cane. He twirled it once and it morphed into a simple small bronze sword. With a flick of his wrist he tossed it toward the boy, embedding the blade in the carpet in front of him.

Armani picked up the weapon. It was light and small enough for him to wield effectively.

'Santa' reached into his sack and produced, instead of a cane like last year, a long golden blade which, Armani observed, seemed to have been sprayed with snow and decorated like the man's bow had been the previous year.

Armani readied himself, twirling the sword once over in his hand; an unconscious imitation of the flourish Apollo did. In Armani's case however, this action was more of a nervous tick on his part.

'Santa' strode slowly down the steps and both circled one another, stopping a few metres apart, "I suppose it's that time again... Let's see the results of how good you've become this year."

Armani nodded and granted the request. He lunged forwards, swinging his sword overhead at the man. In a flash his blade was up to block.

The boy turned about swinging at his opponent's midsection. Again the blades clashed as Armani began slashing and swinging at the older man, who didn't respond, but let the boy attempt to break his guard.

Armani twirled about into a backhanded strike.

'Santa', who hadn't been expecting the boy to improvise the move, barely had time to block.

Despite the shock, 'Santa' couldn't help but smile; the boy had imagination, he'd hand him that.

Armani continued, attacking and reversing his strikes at random. His movements were clumsy and unpolished due to his age and inexperience, but he was nimble and fast.

This carried on for quite some time as the boy repeatedly tried to land a strike on his opponent, who parried and blocked with inhuman grace, Lanaya watching every move without comment.

'Santa' would on occasion counter attack, pushing the boy back several feet each time, and had nicked him a couple of times with his sword.

As they continued fighting in a circle for some time, 'Santa' made an error:

He wasn't keeping his eye on everyone in the room.

So when he passed close to the nymph and found himself staggering back over her conveniently extended foot, the cry that came from his mouth at that second was both of surprise at what happened, frustration that he should've seen it coming, and pain from the lucky slash the demigod got in across his arm when he flailed backwards.

'Santa' looked at the nymph who was calmly reading one of her books and, as if only just realising he was looking at her, glanced up and with a mask of innocence said, "What?"

'Santa' shook his head, then gritted his teeth as the boy's blade clashed with his own.

"I call foul, "said the old man as his opponent continued to attack.

Armani smiled, "Why? You were the one who wasn't watching where he was going."

'Santa' glared at the boy, and then decided it was time to see what the boy could really do.

And that was when the old man decided to start fighting seriously.

Armani yelped as the old man went on the offensive, his large blade being barely blocked by the young half-blood.

There was a crash as 'Santa's' weapon sliced through a very expensive looking coffee table, the boy dodging the blow just in time.

He leaped to the side again, just as 'Santa' bisected the plasma TV off the wall.

This went on for a while and, about fifteen minutes and a quarter of a million dollars' worth of damage later, a loud chime resonated through the room from the grandfather's clock leaning askew against the wall.

December 25th, 12:00am.

'Santa' paused at the sound, and looked around him.

The room was pretty much devastated, the demigod hadn't been so much using his sword to block as he had used his speed to keep out of the rampaging man's way, and by now the boy was leaning against the banister rail for support and seemed to be fighting just to stay on his feet whilst trying to catch his breath.

'Santa' lowered his sword and, as if just realising how much damage had been done, seemed to swallow, "Ah... Sorry, it would seem Santa got a little excited. Either way, times up."

Armani spoke between breathes, "You're not going anywhere… I can still...fight."

'Santa' smirked, "I'm afraid I have to go. Santa can't be out on Christmas day, surely you know that." He lowered his head slightly to regard the boy, "You did quite well this year, I never thought you'd evade me this long, so I'll tell you what; we'll call it a draw, just this once."

He vanished just as a loud hammering sound started coming from the doors to the suite.

Lanaya stood up from her chair, which was about the only undamaged item in the whole room. She calmly dusted herself down and slid her book into her jacket pocket along with the present, "It would appear the staff has come to investigate the noise. I believe it best we make tracks."

Armani didn't have the energy to argue as he staggered after her, the sword in his hand shifting back to its former appearance then cracking into a pile of red and white sugar.

Lanaya crouched down and lifted the boy up onto her back, "Come on, you," she said as they slipped out the side door and moments later were in the elevator.

She strode calmly across the empty lobby, "Think we'd best get you..." she paused as she heard a low rumbling coming from behind her and glanced over to find the demigod had fallen asleep right there on her back.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she sighed, "Merry Christmas, sapling..."

And so she left with the boy in tow, allowing him to sleep and dream of Christmases to come...

To be continued...

[A/N] yup and things develop, slowly, as they draw towards their inevitable conclusion. That's all for this chapter, so I'll see you all again.

Catch you in Chapter 6: 2005