CureWhite3616: Sorry guys, been busy again-

Mepple: STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

CureWhite3616: You're right =3= Frankly, I've been too busy being lazy this summer. I know exactly what's going to happen in this story, I've just haven't felt those creative juices…

Mipple: And the only way to cure that is more writing!

CureWhite3616: Right!

Pollun: Yeah! Write! Write!

CureWhite3616: Not that kind of "right". Er, right? Well, I guess "write" could apply. So I'll use write, right?

Lulun: WRITE!

Chapter 3

Rie Misumi was the first to open their hotel room's door. "Oh, how lovely!" She turned to Takeshi with a big smile. "Isn't this lovely, dear?"

Takeshi had his arms crossed. "It's designed for two people. It's going to get crowded." The man mumbled, scowling. He was still in a bad mood about the whole situation.

Rie sighed. She figured nothing would get him out of his sour mood, not even the atmosphere of the holidays. "Well kids, get your luggage settled in, and we'll decide what we'll do from there."

"I call this bed!" Ryota exclaimed, throwing himself on the ultra king sized bed. His small body sunk into the memory foam so much that you could barely see him.

"No way!" Nagisa threw herself on him, pulling him up and giving him one of her best Cobra Twists. "I'm the bigger one, so I need more space than you!"

"Of course you're bigger…" Ryota mumbled, with a smug grin on his face. "You're the size of an elephant…"

"Waah!" Nagisa turned to her father. "Dad, tell Ryota that I need to have the ultra king sized bed!"

"Neither of you are having it." Takeshi looked frustrated, and the big blue bags under his eyes made it clear of his exhaustion.

"What?" Ryota and Nagisa said at the same time, still in the Cobra Twist position.

"Takeshi…" Rie said. "We can at least order some cots for the children."

"No, that costs more money and the last thing I need to do is spend more money right now!" The man nearly snapped, but pulled himself together. He sighed deeply, as if sighing was actually going to make the situation better. "Akane-san and Sanae can sleep in that bed and Rie and I will sleep in this one. The children were lucky enough to come with us, they can make do with the floor."

Ryota was caught off guard by his father's random slash. Nagisa was familiar with it because of their trip to the statues without his knowledge, but Ryota had never seen it before. It was almost like another person had entered his father's body.

For the next ten minutes, things were awkwardly silent. Everyone unpacked their things, or did their business in the bathroom, or made themselves look better, but it was all done silently. Even the Field of Light creatures, despite their excitement and anxiousness to look at the place, remained silent because the tension was recognizable in their little pouches. Everybody fell asleep in exhaustion, crashing from a high, and silence.

XXXXX

Hikari's eyes suddenly opened from the sunrise hitting her face through the window. As she sat up from the very small blanket she had to work with, she realized how stiff the floor made her back feel. She felt her hair, that was normally very crinkly from sleeping with it down, but was actually fairly straight from having no pillow to roll around on. Her whole world had changed in this strange, new place, right down to the behavior of her hair.

Looking around, she hoped tremendously that at least someone was awake to talk to. Despite her strong desire for it, though, all she found was very still bodies that were breathing deeply. She glanced at the alarm clock beside Mr. Misumi's head, which read 8:00 am. How can everyone stand sleeping in so much?

This was when Hikari realized that Pollun and Lulun have never gotten to see this new place yet, plus she knew they would be awake at this time. Mipple and Mepple always seemed to sleep in like the others, but luckily for Hikari Pollun and Lulun have adapted to the young girl's sleeping patterns. She pulled out her small luggage that she used as a "carry on", which was what the adults called it, and pulled out Pollun and Lulun's communes.

As soon as Lulun realized that she was being moved out of the musty old bag, she got overly excited and opened her commune on her own. "We're here – lulu! We're here-lulu!" She yelled.

"Sh!" Pollun hushed her, opening up as well. "You don't wanna wake the others – popo."

Hikari smiled. "That's right. If you two can be good and quiet, I can show you outside of this very faraway place we're in."

The two nodded very quickly, anxious to see this new place that was so mysterious to them.

The thirteen year old girl let the creatures turn into their Field of Light forms, and turned them outside the window.

"This is nothing like I've ever seen before – popo!" Pollun exclaimed with a hushed tone, his eyes sparkling with Lulun's at the sight of the tall buildings, crowded people and traffic as heavy as the pollution. The thin sheet of snow blanketing the sidewalks and streets were a crisp white, but the snow banks collected had turned mushy and brown. The three were gazing out the window until they heard a voice.

"Hikari, you're awake."

The blonde girl jumped nearly a foot in her pajamas, as the creatures returned to their communes and hid in their pouches. She turned around to Honoka, sitting cross legged. "Oh, Honoka." She smiled. "It was only you."

"Yes, I finally gave up on trying to sleep on these floors that are hard as rock." She grinned. "I'm still having a good time though."

"So am I." Hikari lightly smiled through her exhaustion. "So, today is Nagisa's parents' wedding anniversary?"

Honoka shook her head. "No, their wedding anniversary is months from now. However, Takeshi proposed to Rie on Christmas Eve." The raven-haired girl let her fingers tie together as her eyes sparkled. "Isn't that just magical?"

"Um, I guess." Hikari didn't understand why the 24th of December was a more magical date than any other day of the year, but she decided not to look foolish and ask why. "I sort of feel bad for Rie though. Takeshi hasn't really been treating it like a vacation so far."

Not very much later, everybody else woke up and had to drag Nagisa off the floor against her will. Hikari didn't understand why everybody made a big fuss over their appearance to go to New York's famous mall. All she did was braid her hair and get dressed, while everybody else was straightening or curling or shaving or gelling. She watched the T.V.'s weather channel absently as everybody else ran around like the world was on fire.

"Temperatures will be dropping heavily in the next couple of days followed by heavy snowfalls in New York city."

"That's right Tom, so the smart thing to do is wear heavy clothing and keep indoors!"

With Hikari's basic English classes, she caught on that something cold was going to fall from the sky.

"Hikari!" Nagisa said to the girl, peeling her eyes off the T.V. "It's time to get your winter gear on, we're heading to the mall now!"

"Okay!" Hikari grabbed her case with her little creatures in it and began to apply her winter wear on. Everybody was about to leave when they realized that Sanae hadn't gotten out of bed or gotten dressed yet.

"Grandma?" Honoka looked confused. "Don't you want to come with us?"

"No thank you, dear." She said. "I think the noise and crowd would all be too much for me today, as I'm feeling a little under the weather. You go on without me."

"Um, okay." Honoka said, blinking. "Bye, Grandma! Feel better!"

"Yukishiro-san?" Takeshi gave the girl a look. "Shouldn't you be staying here with your grandmother?"

Rie glared at her husband as Sanae waved a hand in the air. "Don't worry about it! Honoka, you have fun with your friends. I just need to rest, I happens a lot when you get old."

"O-okay Grandma." Honoka looked to her feet in shame. "Sorry for not offering it in the first place…"

As they shut the door behind them, a little purple star hopped out of Nagisa's bag and trailed behind their feet. "Gommena, Gommena, Gommena!"

R&R please?