It was a few days before Christmas now and Joseph was currently at Heisenberg's factory, putting the finishing touches on Cassandra's gift. He had worked long and hard on it and he wanted to make sure it was perfect for her. He would have nothing less for his girlfriend. Luckily, he had the lord there to give him a helping hand, although he couldn't help but feel that the lord was being a little too thorough with double checking things. Almost like he was stalling for time.

Probably has to do with Cassie's 'special gift'. Joseph though.

Finally, Heisenberg said it looked good, so Joseph took a step back to admire his work.

"I say you did a damn good job, kid. Cassie is going to absolutely love it." Heisenberg said as he patted him on the back.

"I have to agree. I guess this is what it's like when an artist finally gets to look at their completed work."

"Oh, you bet. You should have seen me when I finished my battle hammer. I felt like a new papa."

Joseph laughed before turning to face the lord.

"Thanks for helping me out with this Karl. I don't think I could have done it otherwise."

The lord smiled.

"Hey, no problem. You've worked your ass off bringing these people together, so it's only natural we return the favor. Now, I'll keep Cassie's gift here until Christmas. That way you can really surprise her with it."

"Sounds good. I guess in that case I should return to the castle. See you on Christmas Eve?"

"You bet! Take care, Joseph!" Heisenberg said as they shook hands.

….

Joseph was in good spirits when he returned to the castle. His gift for Cassandra had come out better than he had hoped. Not that he put any less effort into the other gifts of course, but with Cassandra, he wanted to make it extra special. She was his girlfriend after all.

He couldn't help but smile as he thought this. This was the happiest he had been in a long time. He was spending Christmas with the girl he loved as well as other people that he truly considered family. He really had found his place in the world after all this time.

Little did he know however, his day was about to get even better.

As he approached the front doors, they opened to reveal Cassandra standing there with what looked to be an excited smile on her face.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Joseph laughed as he kissed her.

"Remember how I said I got you an extra Christmas gift? Well, it got here while you were gone."

"So you were having your uncle stall me."

His girlfriend giggled.

"Guilty as charged. And now that it's here, I want to give it to you."

Joseph gave a confused look.

"Why don't you want to wait until Christmas to give it to me? I think that would be more appropriate."

The brunette just smiled wider.

"You'll see. Just follow me."

Still confused, Joseph proceeded to follow his girlfriend, who seemed to have an extra bounce in her step. Joseph's curiosity was really eating away at him now. She must have planned something really special for him, but what?

He got his answer when they entered the main hall. And when he saw what was in front of him, he, his heart, and his mind, stopped dead in their tracks.

Alcina and the other daughters were standing there, and with them was a girl a few years older than him, with shiny black hair, just like his. In fact, she looked almost identical to him. She was sitting in a wheelchair and was twiddling her thumbs nervously.

Joseph stood still frozen for a moment before remembering to breathe.

Though he hadn't seen her in years, Joseph immediately knew who she was. He would never forget her face. The person in front of him was his sister, Mandy. The sister who he had accidentally paralyzed years ago, and had resented him for it. And now, he was face to face with her again.

It took Joseph several attempts for him to reboot his brain before he finally spoke in an almost whisper.

"...Mandy?"

She slowly nodded before also replying in an almost whisper.

"...Hi Joseph."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"Well…your girlfriend invited me to come over for Christmas."

Joseph turned to Cassandra with a shocked expression. The brunette nodded.

"It wasn't easy, but Mother Miranda was able to help me find her. It took me a long time to convince her to come."

Joseph turned back to his sister who nodded.

"I didn't want to at first. I was still angry at you for what happened, but then Cassandra started telling me about everything that you had done for the people here and how you helped them overcome their problems. She even said that you fought Mother Miranda when she lashed out at you. But even though she tried to kill you, you still showed kindness and helped her. I was floored when I heard this. The person your girlfriend was describing was almost nothing like the little brother I had growing up. But deep down, I knew it was you. Even though you had a temper, you always had a good heart."

She wheeled a little closer before continuing.

"Then she told me how you taught her and her family how to make peace with the past and how to move forward. That love and forgiveness is the only way that things will heal. That was when I realized that…I knew that. I knew it all along, but I chose to hate you instead. I thought by hating you, I could bury my pain and forget about it. But instead, it only made it worse. I pushed you away for my own selfish reasons."

She was starting to choke up at this point. Joseph finally found the courage to walk up to her and kneel down to her eye level. He also had tears in his eyes.

"You had every right to be angry, Mandy. I was selfish too. Because of that, I did a terrible thing to you, and I…I've spent every night since wishing I could take it back, and it hurts more than anything knowing I can't."

Mandy nodded.

"You did do a terrible thing, but I can't hate you forever for it. I don't want to, and your girlfriend helped me realize that. Once I did, I told mom and dad about it, but they refused to help me pay for a flight. They were pissed at me that I even brought you up. So Cassandra paid for it instead and I had to fly here behind mom and dad's backs. I didn't care if they disowned me too, because I knew now just how stupid this grudge I'd been holding onto was. I just wanted to see my little brother again."

Mandy put her hands on Joseph's shoulders and smiled.

"Joseph, what I'm trying to say is, I forgive you."

Those words were something that Joseph never thought he would hear, but he had always hoped he would. His parents didn't forgive him, but his sister did, and that was the most important thing. She wanted to put all this pain behind them and start over. To become a family again, and Cassandra was the one who made this happen.

His girlfriend wasn't exaggerating. She promised him this would be the best present ever, and she absolutely delivered and then some. She gave him his sister back.

At that moment, the two siblings embraced each other in a tight hug and they started sobbing uncontrollably. All those years of pain and emotions were finally all coming out all at once, and nothing could stop the tidal wave of tears that both of them were crying right now.

"I missed you Mandy! I missed you so much!" Joseph cried.

"I missed you too! But I'm here now, and I will never leave you again!" Mandy cried just as hard.

The scene had everyone else in tears as well. Cassandra in particular was crying almost as hard as Joseph and Mandy were. She knew how painful the memory of his sister's accident was for Joseph, and it made her so happy for him to be reunited with her again, and to know that she forgave him.

Alcina turned and hugged her daughter, still crying.

"I am so proud of you, Cassandra." She choked.

"Thank you, mother." The brunette said through her own tears.

After what felt like forever, the two siblings finally parted and made their way to Cassandra, where Joseph pulled her into the most loving and passionate kiss he had given her yet, before hugging her tightly as well.

"I love you so much, Cassie. What you've done for me beats anything that I ever did. You are the greatest girlfriend that I could ever ask for."

The brunette's tears fell ever harder upon hearing his words.

"I love you too, Joseph. I'm so happy you and Mandy have reunited, and don't you dare sell yourself short. You have been the most amazing boyfriend to me, and I couldn't be any happier."

Mandy smiled as she dried her eyes.

"I see that part of him hasn't changed."

The brunette gave a small laugh, still crying.

"Yeah, we're working on it, but hey, it just shows how much of a sweetheart he is."

Mandy couldn't argue with that. At that moment, Alcina walked up to her.

"The maids should be finished putting your luggage in your room. We'll find a way to help you upstairs in time. Regardless, it brings my heart such joy to see you join us. Welcome to House Dimitrescu, Mandy."

The raven haired girl smiled and nodded.

"Thank you Countess. It's an honor to join your estate."

"Oh, don't give me any of that 'Countess' nonsense. Just call me Alcina."

Joseph spun around and looked at his sister in shock.

"Wait, you're staying here permanently?!

Mandy nodded.

"Sure am! Since mom and dad refused to forgive you, I didn't see much reason to stay in the U.S. anymore. So I decided to move here instead. Like I said, I wanted to be with my little brother again."

She quickly put her hand up.

"Don't worry. It's not a big deal. I made a deal with mom and dad and promised that I would call them frequently. Plus, the desk job I had before was boring as shit anyway so I'm glad to be rid of that."

Joseph turned back lovingly to Cassandra.

"I don't know how I could ever thank you for this."

His girlfriend gave him a seductive smile.

"You can thank me later tonight." She purred.

Mandy groaned.

"Guys, please let me get settled in first before you go all hanky panky."

The couple laughed and turned to her.

"Deal." They said.

Joseph then gave his sister another hug. This truly was the best Christmas gift he could ever ask for. And while he was sure he would love the others he would get, none of them would come even remotely close to this.