It was December in Japan, and a certain house in Kamakura that had once been a Japanese restaurant was packed tighter then a sardine can. The family that resided here was throwing a huge Christmas party, and had seen fit to invite has many guest and friends as could fit inside the house. The steady stream of people trafficing from one room to another made the house very difficult to traverse. But none of the guest really cared about how cramped it was. They were all far too busy having a great time; making merry conversation with friends, eating and drinking, laughing, and just having an all around good time. The house was nearly full with every person the family of the house had invited. Only one guest had yet to show up.

Naomi ran as fast as the icy side streets of Kamakura would permit her; which wasn't very fast at all. Her progress was slowed even greater by her famous homemade pound cake, sprinkled with confectionery sugar that she was carrying with both her hands. The snow had fallen on the city with suddenness, and to many it was a welcome surprise during this season. The snow provided many students with the day off, which they spent frolicking in the small mountains of white fluff, creating snowmen, snow angels, having snowball fights, and going sledding. But for Naomi, it was now proving nothing more then a giant white pain in the ass. She was late, and for her punctuality was something not to be taken lightly. She'd already woken up late and had to rush to get ready. And now the snow wasn't helping much. Normally she would have driven, but the snow had trapped her vehicle inside her driveway. So she power walked down the sidewalk, trying hard not to fall and to balance the cake inside its container so it would arrive at its destination as pretty as it looked when Naomi removed it from the oven. More then once she skidded on the snow and almost fell flat on her butt; but she was quick to regain some balance and keep her cake safe from harm.

She breathed a grievous sigh as she came to the long upward staircase she would have to climb. And just her luck, it too was covered in ice. With every step she moved as cautiously as if trying not to wake some sleeping beast. Holding one hand on the railing and using the other to hold the cake, the long climb was nothing short of mentally exhausting. Finally she reached the top, and after giving herself a mental pat on the back, she resumed her jog for the house. After another few minutes, she finally arrived at the gates of Kaede House. To her it looked much larger then necessary, but that was understandable considering the house used to be a restaurant. The place, with its roofs covered in snow, its whiteness reflecting the bright sun, looked homey. Like something you'd find on a holiday greeting card. Even from outside the gate, she could clearly hear the sounds of a large party coming from the inside. She opened the gate, and was immediately greeted by the house "gate keeper". The large Labrador looked up for a moment and then ran toward its guest, barking and leaping its front paws onto Naomi. She raised the cake high above her head in fear that the dog was after it. She moved from side to side trying to shake the dog, but the dog continued to cling to her. Fortunately, someone had been kind enough to clear the path of snow and ice. Soon, a brown haired girl who looked about 17 arrived at the door. She instantly came to Naomi's aid, pulling the dog off her by the collar.

"Bad boy Wanta," Mayu scolded, "You know you're not supposed to jump on people." She tied him to his dog house, which he calmly went inside and almost instantly fell asleep again.

"Thanks Mayu," Naomi said, giving a good hearted laugh. She never was much of a dog person, but something about Wanta's infectious nature was growing on her. Mayu gestured Naomi in and politely took her heavy coat, placing on the coat tree, which looked overweight with coats. She then took the cake from her and placed it inside the kitchen where the food was being served. The inside of the house was decorated with the usual Christmas colors of white, green, red, and gold. Reefs were placed on every wall, and the household had taken to decorate the garden cherry tree instead of using the traditional pine. The house was already filled with guest, all in cheerful conversation.

"Naomi!" Coming down the stairs was another girl who looked to be in her twenties. She had short pink hair, red pupils, and two small horns sticking out the side of her head. This might have seemed weird to some people, but if it did no one brought it up. The girl was just so polite and sweet, it would seem rude to do so. Besides, Naomi actually thought them kinda cute.

"Hey Nana," Naomi returned the greeting. Nana gave her a big holiday hug which lifted Naomi off the ground. After going back and forth with friendly conversation for a moment, Naomi asked Nana where she could find her sister and her husband.

Naomi had met Kohta by chance in their geology class at the university. They had been partnered up together to do a hazard assessment project and since Naomi lived in such a small apartment, both had agreed it'd be better for them to meet at his house to do the work. It was during one of these times that she met Lucy, Nana, and Mayu. They were all so friendly that Naomi found herself eagerly anticipating scheduled times for her and Kohta to do work at Kaede House; which was surprising since Naomi never liked doing school work before. And before Naomi knew it, she was coming over quite frequently; even when her and Kohta's project had been completed, which they got an A for.

"They should be here somewhere," Nana said, which Naomi knew was just a nice way of saying she didn't know. Naomi dismissed herself and began searching the household for Lucy and Kohta. Almost right away, she found them talking with some of their guests. In both their arms where two infant girls; each the spitting image of their parents. Lucy and Kohta noticed her, said their pardons to the guest and walked over to say hi to Naomi.

"Happy Christmas," said Lucy with her usual grin.

"Happy Christmas," Kohta added.

"Ditto," Naomi responded. She leaned in close to see the faces of the two baby girls. "And how are Yuka and Nyu today?" she said in an overly sweet voice. The two girls were about the cutest pair of twins you ever did see. Nyu was the exact image of Kohta, with the exception of her pink hair and two little horns. She was a very affectionate baby girl; and curious too. She loved to be held by others and getting her tiny little hands around anything she could reach.

Her sister Yuka was her complete opposite. Yuka looked exactly like her mother. The only difference was her brown hair, and unlike her sister, she didn't have any horns. Very well behaved, Yuka never went into fits of crying nearly as much as Nyu did. She never got into anything she wasn't supposed to, which meant her parents did have to worry about her nearly as much as Nyu. And even as a baby she seemed very respectful of others. She didn't, however, like to be held by strangers, and seemed to have preference for her father rather than her mother. In fact, Nyu was like that as well. Whenever this was brought up, both Lucy and Kohta would laugh it off, saying something along the lines as "she never changes" or "same old Nyu". No one really understood what they meant, so they just shrugged it off as an inside joke.

"I'm glad your here Naomi," Lucy said, "Could do us a favor and take a family picture for us?"

"Sure," Naomi agreed. They spent the next few minutes trying to round up Mayu and Nana among the waves of people that crowded the house. Watching them from behind, Naomi always felt happy whenever she was around Kohta and his family. She loved watching them and how fondly they all acted around one another and it seemed to radiate off them and infect anyone close by. It was clear that they had strong bonds of friendship, family, and love between them and she wished she had as good a relationship with her family as they did. Naomi always wondered what could have happened to make them all so close, and whenever she'd ask them they would just smile and say, "It's a long story." The only clue she had was that it had something to do with a guy named Tomo...or Toru, or something like that.

After finally finding them, they all headed upstairs to where no guests were. They came to a door on the far side of the landing that held a single door sign above it that read "Yuka". When Kohta opened the door, inside was a small shrine decorated with flowers; and in the middle of it all was a single photograph of a college age girl with short brown hair. Next to the photograph was small music box, its lid open to reveal a small pink sea shell inside. The music no longer played, as Kohta said it had broken sometime ago. Lucy handed Naomi the camera as the others gathered around the shrine. Kohta and Lucy stood on both ends of the shrine, each holding one of their children while Mayu and Nana kneeled below them.

"One...two...three...cheese!"

"CHEESE," they all said together. There was a white flash, and the gears turned inside as the instant camera spat out the picture. After thanking Naomi and looking at the picture, they all headed back down to the party. However Naomi stayed behind for a moment. She picked up the recent photograph that Kohta had placed by the girls' picture. Holding it gently in her fingers so as not to leave a finger print, she examined everyone's faces inside. Looking at their wide happy grins, Naomi felt kind of jealous. Living alone, she could help but fell envious of these people. Because when looking at the picture, she couldn't help but think that in all of Japan, or even the entire world for that matter, you couldn't find a more happier and perfect looking family.

The darkness has lifted.

The sun, now shines bright.

Even the most bleakest of nights must one day give rise to a new dawn.

For to find true happiness, we must let go of the shadows of our sorrows.

And find that star the burns through.

And love, is brighter than any sun.

The End