Chapter 33: A Merry Tale for Two
It was a very quiet yuletide for the state of Washington.
Very little snow was falling on the ground, and the cold was nipping at the heels.
So many children were happy to not have to deal with the strain of school for a little while longer as they snuggled with their families back home.
But winter wasn't good enough to slow down Serra, who continued to run through her neighborhood even as evening came early, enjoying the flourishing lights and the dark, cold skies.
But she didn't stay out too long today. It was Christmas Eve! Which means the rest of the family was coming over to visit!
Her cherry rose cheeks glistened with warmth as she ended her last lap almost sliding off the sidewalk.
She then ran into the house and pulled her jacket off to let the cozy heater air put a few trembles in her bones.
"I'm back!" She shouted triumphantly, thriving her hands in the air.
She was immediately hit with a shirt dunk from her mom, stuffing her into a comfy blue Christmas sweater.
"Please honey, it's the holidays. Be decent tonight." Her mom hissed through her teeth.
Serra blinked a few times and then rolled the bottom of the sweater up to her sports bra, which her mom just accepted with a hung head.
She then retreated to the couch where Aunt Shina was sitting with a cup of hot chocolate in her lap.
Shina gave her a sip to raise her spirits, then patted her forehead.
Serra trotted in the direction of the kitchen where Leo and her dad were working on the prime rib and frosted gingerbread cookies.
His dad looked back and tossed her a CD in its glass case, "Good timing! Could you plug that in?"
Serra caught it like a baseball player in the outfield and then smiled her way over to the old CD player packed away in the living room corner behind the Christmas tree.
After itching up against the pine needles for a while, she slotted the CD inside and wondered, "Dunno why pop keeps this…"
It played music with a grainy quality, but it always fit the Christmas spirit.
As the tunes filled the household, Shina swayed her head and hummed along. Kairi then sat up and hummed along as well.
Shina giggled, "Remember when we used to sing 'Saint Aurora's White Night' near the fireplace?"
Kairi blushed and stroked her hair, leaning back as the fondness of the past came rushing back, "God, that had to be 25 years ago, Shina. I don't even remember a lot of our city's jingles."
Shina raised her fingers like she was a conductor and quietly remarked, "I thiiiiink it went like this…"
"Mark your trees and plant your gifts, the Saint comes to town…" Her pitch had a little crackle to it.
Kairi shook her head and pointed at her, "Ok I don't think it was 'Mark your trees'."
Shina's eyes popped and with a humbling laugh she slapped her knee, "Whoops. Yer right!"
"Also, your pitch is AWFUL, sis." Kairi said playfully.
"You should try then!" Shina urged her on, getting met with embarrassment on her face.
"Nooooo, my singing is awful."
Leo leaned over the counter and asked, "I'd like to hear you try, mom."
Kairi but her lower lip and with a deflating hiss, pointed at him and said, "Ok, but just because you asked."
She coughed to loosen up her lungs and then closed her eyes, "Raise your trees and plant your gifts, the Saint will visit you soon."
Her tone was pretty plain, not really pushing any soul.
"Uhhhh, sis, I'm pretty sure I said the second part correctly."
Kairi's eyes popped open, "W-Well wait, that can't be right!"
"Preeeeety sure it is." With the sisters at a crossroads they turned to the one person who could help.
"Mom!"
Auris was just coming out of the hallway after washing her hair clean of cobwebs from the attic, a box of glass bulbs under her right arm.
She was dressed in her usual attire. Not like the cold ever bothers her anyways.
"What's the matter?" She wondered.
"What're the first lines of Saint Aurora's White Night?" They said in sync.
Auris smiled and then closed her eyes, raising her hand slowly towards a non-existent spotlight.
"Raise your trees and plant your gifts~"
"Let the holy Saints sleigh bells ring, la la la~"
"Glory be to Winter slumber~"
"May children be blessed with joy~"
Her voice was holy and as soothing as a slow melody of chimes in the night breeze.
Leo gave her a short round of applause, to which she bowed and remarked, "Thank you, Leo."
The sisters blushed and, realizing they were both wrong, decided to be glad they had the memories to begin with.
Serra then walked up to her grandma and said, "Ooh! Can I help set 'em up?"
"Absolutely." Auris replied.
As the two headed over, Mew broke away from putting the cookies into the oven to say, "Geez Auris, where did those vocal chops come from?"
"Ooooh, I flirted with being a singer a few centuries back." She said humbly.
Mew smiled, "You should've stuck to it. You'd be less provocative than Alura an-"
Everyone but Serra collectively groaned.
"Whaaaat?!" He tossed his hands out.
Kairi leaned back and grumbled, "Good grief, Mew, it's Christmas, toss the grudge for ONE second, PLEASE."
"Uuuuugh, fine." Mew admitted defeat with humility.
With that settled, Kairi slacked against the couch and sighed, "Ouuugh, that prime rib smells delicious~ How much looooonger?"
"Twenty minutes." Mew remarked.
Leo added, "First batch of cookies will be done then too."
"Vanilla frosting on mine!" The sisters shouted.
"Chocolate for us." Auris remarked.
Mew chuckled and then patted his son on the shoulder, "Alright, thanks for the aid. Go relax for a bit."
Leo nodded and then immediately pulled out his phone to check his text messages.
He'd been left unanswered on his "Merry Christmas" to Lyra all afternoon.
And inside him grew a burgeoning impatience to make sure she got his message. But he held back, and tucked the phone away in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Mew was checking his texts and got some season greetings from his pit crew, with a message from Maria mixed somewhere in the middle.
It had been sent an hour ago, and came with a picture attached of her standing in front of a Christmas Tree in a red-white sweater hanging up ornaments with the help of her gas hands.
"Heh…!" He then typed for her, "Sure you don't want to come over? It's still twenty minutes for the prime rib, you got time."
It took a minute for her to respond, "Thnx, but I'm going on a date tonight."
Mew raised his brows and smiled as he typed back, "Ha ha, ok. If the guy tries anything funny, go easy on him."
She replied, "I hot this :thumbsup:"
"got this*"
":blush:"
Her gift to them had already arrived in the mail yesterday and was wrapped up under the tree.
So with her affairs in order, Mew turned to his other kids, specifically Leo. He was staring at his phone, probably concerning that girl he's been hanging out with lately.
It was endearing to watch him fidget a little bit over something for once.
He used his mastery over stealth to get behind and peek over his shoulder.
However, Leo looked back and remarked, "Dad, what are you doing?"
Mew pulled back with a smooth whistle and said, "Ooooh, nothing. Whatta 'bout you?"
Leo came forth and admitted, "Well, I'm worried I did something to upset Lyra, which is why she's not replying."
"Anything come to mind?" Mew wondered.
"Not…particularly, no. But I can't always predict how she'll respond." Leo said, laying the phone against his face and letting out a sigh.
Mew gestured over his shoulder and smiled, "Hey, that sums up me and your mom's relationship in a nutshell. But I'm glad we can still surprise each other every now and then."
Kairi pulled up on top of the counter and remarked, "Mew, what are you saying about me?"
"Only positive things, honey!" Mew replied.
"I can confirm." Leo added.
Kairi nodded and then returned to sharing Christmas tales with her sister.
And at that moment, Leo's phone jingled, and he promptly opened the messenger to see that Lyra had replied: "Sorry 4 late response! Got caught in traffic, left phone at home."
"Do you have time to talk?"
Leo leaned back and Mew gave a soft thumbs-up with a whisper of, "Fifteen minutes."
He left for his room the time being, and Mew laid his hands behind his head and grinned.
"Aaah, young love." Mew then turned and saw Auris sneaking away from the festivities to head outside.
"Hmm?" He decided to follow her out. No point going stealth mode on an Aurian.
She walked with her arms crossed gently under her chest to the center of the path leading up to the house and then looked up at the sky.
The snow was falling a tiny bit more, and she let a flake fall upon her hand.
Once Mew was down the steps, she turned her head and graced him with a smile that pushed her tender, rosy cheeks, "DJ, may I make a small request?"
Mew played up a radio host's voice in response, a bit curious to know where she was going, "Why certainly, what do you want?"
She turned to the sky and raised her hand as high as it could stretch, "Make this a White Christmas."
"...I'm sorry, Auris," Mew put his hands into his pocket, "I think a good memory like that should come naturally."
She tucked her closed fist against her chest and closed her eyes, that smile continuing to hold on with a glimmer of pride. She then tossed him a side eye and remarked, "...Then, may you let me have a moment of your time?"
Mew smiled, "Sure. In fact, I have 14 to spare."
"Ha ha…" She turned to face him, not as that child she met so long ago, capturing the shadow of her husband, but as the grown-up he deserved to be seen as.
She laid her hand over her chest and let a soft tear fall from her eyes.
"Thank you…" She let free a gasp from the bottom of her heart, "Every year I ask for nothing, and every year you still give me the greatest gift of all. A chance to enjoy a family…a chance to enjoy a time of peace…a chance…to cry, and be happy."
Mew was shaken by her opening up like this, and felt a little humbled by it, "I-I haven't done that much, Auris. I mean come on, we all know Kairi's the one who keeps the house from-"
"I'm not talking about that," She said, a little stern, "Gravitus, Justek, even the 'higher-ups', you fought every impossible odds that came your way, and defied every grim outcome I let myself be swallowed up by."
"For twenty years, I've been able to proudly say that not a drop of liquor has stained my lips. Not a puff of smoke has been exhaled from my mouth."
"I have the honor of hugging my grandchildren, and spoiling them rotting, without ever feeling the guilt of being a monster."
"And…" She closed her eyes and laid her hands before her waist, "Because of all that you've gifted me, I want to reward your patience."
She slipped her fingers into her dress and pulled out an envelope no thicker than her fingernail.
"I discussed this over with my daughters, and Kairi believed that it was perfectly ok to let you have this for this special occasion."
Mew took the envelope and his imagination didn't have to get very far to understand the implications of what was inside. His heartbeat raced a bit and caused him to grin, before he gripped a hold of his senses and shook his head.
He then handed the envelope back and remarked, "Thanks, but…"
He gestured his thumb towards his family hanging out in the living room and smiled, "I got what I need in there."
Auris snatched the envelope back and looked a little disgruntled, "My my, has my appeal really begun to spoil?"
Mew chuckled, "For my money, you're even prettier now."
Auris opened one eye and glanced at him with a fond smile, "You do have a way with words…sometimes."
She then faced him fully and wondered, "Mew, do you believe this peace can last an eternity?"
Mew chose to be realistic, "Honestly, I expect something is bound to happen eventually. But we'll be ready. ALL of us."
"And should that moment come, I'll shake off the rust and fight alongside you. My days of being a bystander are long behind me."
Mew nodded, "Well then, for now, how about we go enjoy a nice dinner? I got The Santa Clause 2 ready to play on the TV."
Auris sighed, before throwing a barbed comment his way, "Honestly Mew, your body's aged, but your sense of taste is stuck in the past."
"Heh heh! Guilty as charged!"
With that last bit of banter, the two headed back inside, with her letting him guide her by the hand.
Meanwhile, just up the hill, the other family of Whiters is having a bit more…frantic affair.
"Hold still, honey!" Samantha shouted, currently joined with her husband and Lunis in forming a tower to get Lunis to plant the star on top of the tree.
Except their balance is shaken by poor weight distribution.
"I'm TRYING, Sam!" Solaris shouted, "Why're we even doin' it this way? We can fly!"
Lunis sighed as she failed to make another go at the top of the tree, "I think Samantha just wanted an excuse to hold onto my legs."
Samantha grinned, "Got it in one, moons!"
Solaris scoffed, "What, my legs are much girthier than hers!"
"Yeah, but they ain't as soft!" Samantha argued.
Solaris bobbed his head and grumbled, "True…"
Meanwhile, Sol and Ana just sat by and ate caramel popcorn as this hilarious scene unfolded.
Xander then jumped them from behind and wrapped his arm around both their shoulders, "Hey guys! Shouldn't you save the popcorn for after dinner?"
"No," The twins said crassly before chomping down on another kernel, with Ana handing one off to him with an inviting smile even the devil would be envious of, "Here, have one."
Except Xander grinned and declared, "No thanks! I wanna save room for the cake!"
Sol then wagged a kernel in his face and said, "Are you-"
"-sure?" Ana added, wiggling hers harder.
Xander began to salivate slightly at the thought but sucked it back in and stated, "I won't do it!"
The twins rubbed the kernels around his lips with their palms and hummed, "Doooooo iiiiiit."
Right as Xander was about to open his mouth, Lunalei came rushing into the scene and grabbed the popcorn from the twins' sides and remarked, "So THAT'S where they went! Unbelievable, you two."
"Heh heh heh…" The twins chuckled, "We didn't-"
"-do anything wrong."
Lunalei squinted at them and murmured, "Legally, no, but that's fine, your stomachs will punish you for this later."
She then helped Xander up and told him, "Dad needs you in the kitchen."
He gave a salute and then dashed off with youthful energy. As Lunalei turned around, she felt the twins sliding the sides of their hands into her head.
"Haaa…" She sighed, enduring what was bound to be their childish ridicule.
"Look at that sis, a few more inches and we'll be taller than her." Sol commented.
Ana pressed her fingertips against her grinned face and walked in front of their cousin, "I bet we can do it before we're teenagers, Sol."
Lunalei rolled her eyes back and had an expression so flat she looked like a stone idol.
The twins laughed at her and then followed Xander into the kitchen.
Lunalei pulled out her phone and typed away in her log, "Note to self, invent a shrink ray…"
After which, she was spooked by a message from her senpai.
"A-Ah…!" She let out a shrill gasp and then after confirming nobody heard that, she tucked herself away in the corner of the living room and decided to answer.
"Merry Christmas, my star student! Hope the holidays are treating you well! A gift should've arrived at your doorstep by now! It should do wonders on your new machine!"
Lunalei could hear all of this in her super energetic voice, and immediately typed in a response, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou, senpai! S.A.N.C.T.U.M. loved the new parts too!"
"Ha ha ha! Slow your roll, my student! Enjoy your time off, fill that belly until it bursts like a supernova! And keep on fighting the good fight for justice!"
"I will! You get some time off too, senpai!"
"HA HA HA! I wish…! But the iron grip of office work is being quite the britchy fella!"
"Haaaa…" Lunalei let out a merry sigh at her enthusiasm even when she was being inconvenienced.
It was tempting to ask her for advice on the Valkyrie situation, but she needed to handle this herself. Plus, that would be a longer conversation than she'd be allowed to have.
"Sis?" Zelene snuck up from behind and even that soft approach was enough to make Lunalei spring up and scream.
"AH!" She fumbled the phone back into her pockets and faced her sister, who was wearing a frizzy and very loose sweater to celebrate the season.
"Who was that?" She wondered with a dull tilt of her head.
"O-Oh, just senpai saying hello," Lunalei said while fidgeting her glasses back into place, "What's up?"
Zelene laid her hands together and remarked, "Well…I-I just noticed that you seem to be in a good mood tonight."
"Haaa, twins aside, it's nice to be celebrating Christmas…well…not alone this year. Though…" The two of them faced the fireplace and all the stockings hung up in a row, "I wish it was a full house."
While they were focusing on Stella's stocking, all the way over at the warehouse, both her and Cu'u were conked out in front of a TV and a fireplace they had managed to put together after setting fire to various parts of the warehouse throughout the day.
Cu'u was a bit of an obnoxious snorer, but Stella was a heavy sleeper so it wasn't a big deal or nothing.
Stella ended up slipping and resting her cheek on Cu'u's shoulder, where one of the homunculus' wings instinctively laid over her to keep her warm.
Back at her old home, her sisters sighed, with Zelene wondering, "I hope she's staying warm."
"...Hrrrmmm…" Lunalei felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so focused on 'Dregs' and school that she hasn't had a free moment to try and find Stella.
"...I dunno about you, but I'm using my Christmas wish to hope she comes back safely." Lunalei stated.
"O-Oh…" Zelene muttered, curling her knuckles against her squirming mouth, "I…probably should've done that too."
Lunalei looked shocked, "W-Wait, so what DID you use it on?"
For a brief moment, she threw a suspecting, envious gaze at Zelene's chest, causing her to frown and remark, "That's NOT funny, s-sis…"
"I-I used it…thinking maybe…to try and make you a couple inches taller…?"
It was at that moment Lunalei remembered the reality that she was born into, and instead of feeling hopeful about Christmas she let a little bitterness settle in, "Yeah, if it worked like that, I'd be seven friggin' feet tall by now."
"Haaa…Ah well, forget about it. Let's just try to keep our little sister in our thoughts." The two then turned to the christmas tree, where the trio STILL hadn't stuck the landing.
"Seriously, guys?" Lunalei grumbled, her analytical mind refusing to let this affront of balance go unchallenged, "Zelene, get behind Uncle and hold him by the glutes."
She did that, even used proper posturing, and finally Lunis was able to plant the star on top of the tree.
"Oh thank goodness…" Lunis breathed out as the three dismantled their little tower and joined the sisters in examining the Christmas tree in all its completed majesty.
It was mostly covered in silver tassels and yellow and red lights, and with the star in place it was barely touching the ceiling.
"Ha! Can I pick a good tree, or what?" Solaris boasted.
Samantha nudged him in the arm and chuckled, "Yeah yeah, you did good honey. Isn't that right, kids?"
She looked back and blurted, "Kids?"
Lunalei remarked, "Oh yeah, they went into the kitchen after trying to sneak in some caramel popcorn before dinner."
Samantha put on her bear-like eyes and grumbled, "The hell? Ooooh, if those cheeky brats think I'm gonna go easy on them because it's Christmas…!"
As she started to roll up her sleeves, Lunalei pointed out, "Leave them be, they'll get a stomachache later."
"Oh yeah, probably, but I still oughta give them a firm talking to." And there was no stopping her from marching straight towards the kitchen after that.
Solaris stayed behind and turned to his sister with something resembling a plea for help, "I don't get it. How did you manage four kids when we can't even handle two?"
Lunis closed her eyes and flashed a bit of pride in her smile, "I always tell you, brother, books are the key to success!"
Solaris fell into a slump and groaned, "Damn it, stop trying to make me read! That bit ran its course twenty years ago!"
Lunis then admitted, "It's not like we started off as winners, I remember when Lunalei had a bit of a bratty streak after Zelene was born."
Lunalei's whole face blushed, as she had tried to repress that memory for all these years, "N-No I didn't!"
Zelene looked at her and remarked, "Were you…jealous that I was taking attention away from you, sis?"
Lunalei let out a loud scoff, "I-It was some dumb childish response to seeing a new member of the family, don't linger on it!"
Zelene then mumbled coarsely under her breath, "I don't think anything's changed…"
While this was all going down, Riku was hard at work in the kitchen managing all the different tastes he had to accommodate for. Which means the oven and stove were working overtime.
It was the one time of the year where he honestly wished he was back at work, because working with the human body was less delicate than this.
Xander was sitting by on a stool, "Can I help out, dad? Pleeeeease?"
Which has been his only means of communication every minute that passes. Riku kindly turned to him with a grateful smile and told him with the same patience every time, "No, Xander, there's a lot going on here, and neither of us have taught you how to use some of these utensils."
Xander pouted a little and then figured he could try asking again in another minute.
Sol and Ana wandered into the kitchen and pulled up separate stools next to his, joining him in trying to get involved in their Uncle's business.
"Hey Uncle-"
"Can we help?"
Riku turned to them and shook his head, "No, you can't either."
"It's not like-"
"-we can get burned." The twins said with a hint of cockiness.
Riku faced them again and was a little more firm in his tone, "But you can be cut. I appreciate the offer, but I can handle this."
The twins held their hands and lifted the others up, summoning a bit of fire into their palms, "We could-"
"-warm up the food quicker."
Riku then raised a brow and remarked, "Why do I get the feeling that you're trying to get in my good graces? What did you do?"
The twins shook their heads, "We haven't done-"
"-anything."
Riku raised that brow further and returned to stirring the potatoes, "No powers. This is going to be a normal Christmas."
The two put out their flames with a huffy pout.
Xander kicked his feet around and said, "I'm really, really looking forward to the cake! I wonder how it'll compare to Vivi's!"
The twins hummed, "Too bad she couldn't make it-"
"-we could've had a baking contest."
As of right now, Vivi and her brother were back at the house sitting together huddled up in a blanket, enjoying hot chocolate and Christmas movies.
Raphael had been frozen solid in a block of ice by Vivi just to shut him up for a day or two.
The twins thoughts strayed towards asking Xander a question, "Hey Xander-"
"-who do you think is the best cook in the family?"
"Oooooh, that's a toughie! I wanna say it's…mom? No Uncle Sol! Ummmm, no, definitely mom!" Xander was looking dizzy trying to decide.
Riku intervened with a remark of, "It would have to be my brother."
"Uncle Mew?"
"Really?" The twins cast their doubts.
Riku chuckled, "Your palettes haven't developed enough to really enjoy his cooking. But his prime rib is DIVINE."
"Then why aren't we eating with him-"
"-instead of having to suffer through crappy green beans?"
"BECAUSE-" Samantha made her sudden presence pronounced, putting a chill in her twin's spines, "SOME kids need lotsa greens to counteract all the sugar in their systems, hmmmm?"
The twins looked at each other and collectively pointed their thumbs at Xander, "Xander made us do it."
Samantha crossed her arms and tapped her foot, "Uh huh."
She then glanced at Riku, "Hey! I'm gonna have these kids help set the table, you ok with that?"
"You don't have to ask me." Riku chuckled.
She then flicked her thumb over her shoulder and with a mood dampened sigh, the kids got off the stools and followed her out of the kitchen groaning.
Samantha thus added, "And afterwards, you're helping to wrap the gifts!"
And then entered Lunis and Lunalei, with Lunis leaning in to kiss her husband on the cheek and hold onto his shoulders, observing the hard work he was putting into the meal.
"I think you've been working long enough, dear. Let's switch things up!"
Riku gave her the spatula and then kissed her back on the nose, making her cheeks extra rosy, "Alright."
Lunalei furrowed her brows and groaned internally, a bit of envy in her eyes perhaps?
"Psst…!" Xander whispered, luring her over.
"Hey big sis, who do YOU think's the best cook in our family?"
A gleam shot off from her glasses and with a smile she pushed them up and remarked, "Well, if we're power scaling all the adults based on cooking ability, first we need to consider the people who shouldn't qualify for this category. Aunt Kairi's out, I don't think I've EVER seen her cook. Alura's hard to quantify because I KNOW she can cook, but I've never gotten to experience it in action. Uncle Sol is a very, very damn good BBQ'er but that's basically all he's good at-"
"HEY!" Solaris shouted from around the corner.
"-but that's enough to put him in a tier above most of the others. I remember Uncle Joe covered a broad range of cuisine thanks to Julius' help, but he never really went above average on any of his meals. Now in that same vein, dad has a smaller range of cuisine but cooks them a lot better. And Uncle Mew, being stronger, should be able to do everything dad does but better."
Riku humorously chuckled while looking at his wife, "She's not wrong."
"Oh Riku…" Lunis chuckled back.
"HOWEVER, dad can actually make desserts, which is a blindspot Uncle Mew's never been able to overcome without Leo's aid. However, we're quantifying them based on solo feats, not what he can do with others. And when you take that into consideration…"
Lunalei turned to her mom with her finger thrust out, "Mom…Is absolutely the best cook in the family!"
Lunis got flustered and softly laid a hand on her cheek, "Y-You flatter me, Lunalei, but I just copied a bunch of recipes from books and websites!"
"Yeah, but you take those recipes and put an extra 10% effort into them, and that makes them better every time!" Lunalei decreed.
Upon which, Riku nodded along and remarked, "I see her point. She's saying that you would be able to do anything the rest of us could do, but better."
Lunis shook her head, "Oh there's no way I could improve on what Mew does. He adds a little something special into every dish."
Lunalei then crossed her arm and said with a firm nod, "Clearly there's only one way to answer this!"
"COOK OFF!" Xander cheered.
"I-I'll think about it." Lunis said, doing a poor job of hiding a bit of competitive spirit forming in her eyes.
She then turned around and focused on cooking, while Riku rolled some fatigue off his shoulders and began to exit the kitchen.
He crossed paths with Lunalei, also making her way out, and after the two bumped into each other there was a shared moment of awkwardly apologizing to each other for the inconvenience.
Lunalei then looked at her dad's eyes and saw that he was feeling happy and relieved today.
But honestly? She was too. Except around him, where her feelings remained guarded.
"Dad…" She whispered politely.
Riku closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and instead of resorting to their usual exchange of single worded responses, he gestured towards the living room, "Come with me."
Lunalei was puzzled, which drew her along towards the Christmas Tree. Everyone else had vacated the room, leaving him to pick up a present from underneath and extend it towards her.
"I want you to open this now."
"N-Now…? Ok…" She took it and pressed her thumbs against the wrapping to try and piece together the answer early, but her way was blocked by a cardboard box inside. The dimensions of the box were slightly bigger than her head too…
Curling her lower lip, she dug into the wrapping little by little until the cardboard revealed it had some color on it.
She then shredded the remainder of the wrapping with her fingernails, thinking it would be an imported figure of some sort.
But instead she was just as happy to find out it was a box of coffee beans. But not just ANY coffee beans.
"Pure Peruvian blend?! AH! This'll get me through SO many school days, thank you SO much dad!" She put the box on the ground and started to go towards him, but froze up at the knees and instead put her fist to her mouth to let out a cough.
Riku smiled and rubbed his beard, "It was hard to find the right beans in Peru, but…Anything for my genius daughter."
"I…want you to know that I am very proud of you for holding such a difficult job for this long. Your mother always had faith that you'd succeed, but I'll admit…I was worried about your tendency to be a little immature when faced with a struggle."
"Hmm…" Lunalei furrowed her brows.
"Hmm…" Riku paused, swallowed deep, and didn't know how to follow up on that.
A series of weak and awkward sighs followed as the two turned away from each other, but neither wanted to budge from their spot.
"...Are you as tired of this as I am?" Riku asked.
Lunalei nodded slowly.
"...If I can ever find free time, I would like to talk with you more." Riku tried to bridge the long broken gap between them.
But Lunalei bit her lower lip and muttered, "Yeah well…I'm pretty busy too. I guess I can try and find some free time myself."
"Ah right, I guess…you are busy too." Riku's words were weighed by years of regret catching up to him all at once.
"Hmmm…" The two looked over their shoulders at each other, where Lunalei had to make a confession about this whole ordeal.
"I'm just glad…that you're home, dad." There was no shying away from her appreciation of his loyalty, even if she couldn't make it come out as strongly as she would've liked.
Riku smiled and nodded, "...Thank you. As am I."
For what was Christmas without the presence of family?
Next Time: Unexpected Substitute