Joseph slowly opened his eyes as he was gently shaken awake. As he did, he turned to see Cassandra smiling at him. He smiled back, but then smiled even wider when he remembered what day it was.

"Merry Christmas, Joseph." The brunette said as she leaned in and kissed him.

He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, much to his girlfriend's delight.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Cassie." He said as they parted. "Is everyone awake?"

"They should be at this point. We should head down before Daniela comes to find us."

Joseph chuckled. The redhead always got excited during big events, and he had no doubt it would be ten times that on Christmas Morning.

"Yeah. She might even kick the door down. So let's not keep everything waiting."

They got out of bed and started getting dressed. As they did, Joseph couldn't help but look at Cassandra's body. Since she had started her martial arts training with him, her body had become much more toned, and it definitely showed.

She noticed him staring and smirked.

"Like what you see?" She flirted as she posed.

He smiled like a dork.

"Very much so. What about you?" He said as he took his shirt, revealing his toned body as well.

The brunette pursed her lips and blushed. She nodded furiously.

"Oh yeah. Alright, let's not stall anymore." She said

"Jeez, way to kill the mood." Joseph joked.

She giggled.

The couple had to be careful as they headed downstairs as construction for Mandy's chair lift was underway, and they didn't want to accidentally damage anything. Losing progress in building was just soul crushing for Heisenberg.

When they reached the bottom floor, they saw that everyone was already awake, and as they noticed the couple, they all greeted them with a Merry Christmas and a warm smile.

Joseph and Cassandra went around giving everyone a hug before taking a seat next to Mandy.

"Jeez. I remember when you would get up at five in the morning to open your presents. What happened?" Mandy joked to her brother.

"I got older. Plus, having a girlfriend probably has something to do with it too." Joseph replied.

"Hmmm. Yes, she probably would leave you pretty tired."

Joseph and Cassandra laughed. In reality, they had been respecting Mandy's wishes and were letting her settle in before they took their relationship to the next level, and their faces told her that too.

Alcina however sighed.

"Please save your jokes for later you three. This is a family gathering here."

"You're right. We're sorry Alcina." Joseph said.

Everyone sat there for a while as they chatted amongst themselves. They wanted to wait for the other lords to arrive before they started opening presents as they wanted everyone to be together for it. It was Christmas after all, and they didn't want anyone to feel left out.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long before there was a knock at the door. Julia excused herself to go answer it and a few minutes later she returned with the other lords in tow, and they all had bags of presents with them.

"What's up everyone? Merry Christmas!" Heisenberg said.

Joseph got up and shook the lord's hand and the Dimitrescu daughters got up as well to hug their uncle. Joseph turned and shook Moreau's hand as well and gave Donna and Miranda a hug.

"Merry Christmas, guys! I'm so glad you made it!" He said.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world, Joseph. Merry Christmas." Donna said. "Oh, and who might this be?"

Joseph then noticed that Mandy had wheeled up next to him. She was giving a warm smile.

"You must be Donna and Moreau. I'm Mandy, Joseph's sister. It's so nice to meet you!"

Donna's and Moreau's eyes widened. Mandy's arrival was only known by the Dimitrescu family, Miranda, and the Duke to keep it a surprise for Joseph. So none of the other lords knew about it.

"Oh my goodness! Yes, Joseph has told me about you! It's so nice to meet you too!" Donna said with a smile as she shook Mandy's hand. Moreau quickly followed suit.

"I didn't know your sister was coming, Joseph. Why didn't you tell us?" Moreau asked.

"It was a surprise for him." Cassandra said as she walked up to them. "I wanted them to reunite for Christmas so I invited her to visit, but she went further than that, and now she's staying with us!"

"And Joseph and I are practically connected at the hip again just like we used to be." Mandy said as she smiled at her brother.

"Awww! That's just so heartwarming!"

Mandy's smile faded as she looked down and saw Angie standing there. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot my manners. I'm Angie! It's nice to meet you!"

Mandy screamed and grabbed onto her brother. If it wasn't for the fact she was paralyzed, she would have jumped straight into his arms.

Shit. I knew I forgot to tell her something. Joseph cursed to himself. He then turned to his sister.

"Donna implanted part of her Cadou into Angie, which gave her her own consciousness and personality. Don't worry. She's actually very friendly."

Mandy calmed down a little and slowed her breathing.

"You should have told me that! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry, I forgot."

Miranda chuckled.

"It happens, Joseph. I'm very happy to finally meet you Mandy. I'm Mother Miranda. We spoke on the phone before."

"Oh, yes! You helped Cassie get in contact with me. It's very nice to meet you too!" Mandy said as she shook The Priestess' hand.

She then noticed that Heisenberg had broken free from his nieces and had walked over.

"And you must be Heisenberg." She said as she shook his hand as well.

"In the flesh." He said with a smile. "It's quite a surprise to meet you Mandy, but a welcome one. Joseph told me about you. Said you were way tougher than he ever could be."

The raven haired girl blushed.

"Maybe when we were kids, but now? I'm not so sure."

"I mean that Mandy." Joseph said. "You've always been ten times the person I could ever be."

His sister just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Bear Slayer."

That got a good laugh out of everyone.

"Oh yeah. You're definitely his sister." Heisenberg said.

"She's kind of got you there, babe." Cassandra giggled.

Joseph sighed.

"You know what? Screw it. I'm the Bear Slayer."

"That's the spirit! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" Cassandra said as she put her arm around him.

She then turned towards the rest of the group

"I hate to ask this, but can we start opening presents? Daniela looks to be getting impatient."

"Definitely." They all said.

….

"Oh my god! Joseph, this is amazing!" Daniela shouted.

The redhead had told Joseph about her love of books and how she wanted to get more modern novels, so he got her a three book collection by Steven King that included Carrie, Salem's Lot, and the Shining. It was even signed by the author himself. Bela got an eighteen inch statue of Godzilla from Minus One. The blonde had become a fan of the famous Kaiju, so Joseph thought it would be perfect for her to display in her room.

Alcina and Donna both got beautiful silk dresses that were made in Japan. Alcina's was red in color while Donna's was green (to fit the holiday season) and both had art of flowers on them. Moreau got a portable DVD player and the TV series River Monsters, due to his love for aquatic life. Heisenberg got a 3DS and a few games to go with it. Miranda got a framed picture that displayed her and Eva and on the bottom was written 'Nobody's ever truly gone'. This made The Priestess cry and hug Joseph.

Finally, it was time for Cassandra's gift, the one Joseph had been working so hard on, and he was excited to give it to her. As he handed it to her, she looked at it curiously as she unwrapped it. It was a long, black case that had a velvet touch to it.

"You spoil me." The brunette said smiling to her boyfriend.

"Just wait till you see what's inside." He replied.

She found the latches for the container, and when she opened it, she let out an audible gasp.

Inside the case was a katana, but it wasn't Joseph's. This one was brand new. It had a thirty inch blade that was covered by a sheath that displayed art of Godzilla on it (she was also a big fan), and the handle was wrapped in a black leather with a pattern that was yellow, her favorite color. Hanging off of the end was also a pendant that displayed her family's crest on it.

Thinking of something she saw on Joseph's sword, she picked it up and slightly unsheathed the blade. Sure enough, there were the Japanese words 'Aratana Hajimari', which meant 'New Beginning', engraved on the base.

As she put the weapon back in its sheath, Joseph spoke up.

"You remember when I said Master Hisashi gave me my sword as a symbol of my accomplishments and new life? Well, I say you've more than earned that symbol as well. I'm proud of you for how far you've come, Cassie."

The brunette looked at him in wonder.

"Joseph, how much did this cost?"

"Heh. Well, I made that myself actually."

"You did?!"

"Your uncle helped."

"Yeah, but I just supervised you." Heisenberg said with a smile. "The forging and the crafting, that was all you."

Cassandra was speechless, and before long, her eyes welled up with tears and she got up and kissed Joseph passionately before embracing him in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Joseph. I love it. You didn't have to do all of that."

"I would have nothing less for you. Merry Christmas, babe."

Everyone was smiling at the scene in front of them and Miranda quickly took a picture with her Polaroid camera. After the couple parted, Cassandra spoke again.

"Now it's my turn. Mother, can you pass the gift we all got for Joseph?"

"Of course." Alcina said with a smile.

She reached down and grabbed a huge box which made Joseph wonder what was inside.

"Go ahead! Unwrap it!" Cassandra said.

So he did. Joseph took the wrapping off and sure enough, it was a big white box, and when he opened it, inside was a huge blank photo album complete with several types of cameras. Alcina then spoke up.

"I know that you have a lot of bad memories regarding your past and that this whole thing has been about you starting your life over. So those will help you make brand new memories you can remember fondly."

"And you already have a good one to start with." Miranda said as she walked over and handed Joseph the photo she just took of him and his girlfriend.

Joseph looked up with tears in his eyes, but before he could say anything, the Cassandra put her hand up.

"Uh uh. You and Mandy still have to open your gifts from Mother Miranda."

The priestess then gave the two siblings thin, twelve by eight inch shapes. With the exception of them being in different wrapping paper, they were both identical.

Joseph turned to his sister and they both nodded before unwrapping their gifts together, and when they saw what was in the wrapping paper, they gasped. They were both holding a framed picture of them when they were kids at the beach, hugging each other and smiling at the camera. At the bottom there was writing that said 'Love Triumphs over All'.

"Not everything from the past has to be horrible." Miranda said. "I wanted you to remember all the happy moments you spent together, as a reminder of the bond you share with each other."

Now the two siblings were full on crying at this point, and as they did, Miranda leaned down and hugged both of them, to which they immediately threw their arms around The Priestess and tightly hugged back. Joseph was too emotional to say anything, but Mandy was able to choke out some words.

"Thank you Miranda. Thank you so much."