#drabblecember

He was so tired.

While promised that the event wouldn’t go on for long, and that he was sure to be an invaluable asset to the mission, Threepio served little purpose that night other than to be his former master’s coatrack. Granted, he was told to be on standby, should his services be needed, but at this point it appeared whatever Anakin and Obi Wan assumed was going to happen at the gala was nothing to warrant the lightsabers securely stashed away. The night had drone on for long enough, and while no verbal or physical labor had been required of him, he felt exhaustion coupled with utter loneliness. Standing still for hours, let alone with no one eager to use him for the one thing he was good for, was upsetting. That is, until his attention was brought to a flash of scarlet, in the form of a shiny red dress. The owner of said dress a familiar, not completely unwelcome sight.

“Well, don’t you clean up nicely.”

He turned to see Kaiyo grinning, gesturing to the bowtie Anakin had fastened to him earlier that evening. It had gone a tad crooked at this point.

“Thank you…you look quite radiant yourself.”

“I know,” she teased, darting her head around before facing him again. “Did you come by yourself, or is your date just in the restroom?”

He mimicked a scoff. “I do not have a “date”. Master Anakin asked me to accompany him and Obi Wan here for a mission, supposedly…although I’m unsure why my presence is even necessary at this point.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” She jerked her head towards his shoulder, suit jacket draped over.

“I believe that further proves my point.” He said.

“Well…if you’re not too occupied, maybe you could join me outside for a walk?” She sighed dramatically. “It’s so stuffy in here, not even the food is worth staying for. You’d think with how wealthy the owners are they’d at least have a decent menu.”

“A-As lovely as that sounds, I must remain here. What if I’m needed?”

“I’m sorry, how long have you been standing here doing absolutely nothing? Two hours?”

“…Three.“

“Oh, you poor thing.” She took hold of his arm, tugging him towards the exit. “Let’s get you some fresh air.”

“I must remind you, that as a droid I do not require ‘fresh air’.”

————————

He hadn’t protested much. Keyword much, though he knew realistically Kaiyo saw through his protests and was aware he was grateful for an excuse to take a break. While unaccustomed to the chilly night air, he slowly started to prefer it to the stuffiness of the ballroom.

“Soooo, what’s this mission about, exactly?”

“I can’t tell you that! It would go against my protocol to reveal such information.”

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“They didn’t tell you much of anything, did they?”

“Well—“ he began to protest, “I—um, of course they did…”

Kaiyo gave a small laugh, her suspicions all but confirmed.

Heat ran through his faceplate, and he glanced away.

“L-Let’s not talk about that. I’m rather curious to know what you’re doing here.”

She shrugged.

“You have your mission, I have mine. Let’s just say I wasn’t able to gather the intel I was looking for.” She pressed her lips together, hoping he wouldn’t question further. He wasn’t always adept at picking up cues, but he had someone grown to recognize her tells. One of which, he noticed, was what he understood was the natural human response to the cold: shivering. He could tell she was trying to power through it, slightly increasing her pace, and he wondered why she didn’t simply suggest going back inside.

“Kaiyo…” he began.

She paused, turning back to face him, eyes widening when she realized that she had outpaced him by quite a few feet in an attempt to generate heat.

“Oh, sorry! Am I walking too fast?”

“Well yes, but—“ she hurried back to his side as he spoke, “I was going to point out that you seem cold.”

Her cheeks flushed slightly. “It’s pretty chilly…”

Wordlessly, Threepio slowly slid Anakin’s suit jacket off his shoulder, gently placing it around Kaiyo’s shoulders.

“Oh!” Kaiyo glanced up at him, further burying herself in the jacket. “Are you sure Anakin won’t mind?”

“I’m sure if he needed it, he would have asked for it back by now,” Threepio explained. Kaiyo nodded, a small smile gracing her face. Threepio forced himself to look away.

She had no business looking so cute.

He thought if he just avoided looking at her, focused his gaze on the grass, the sky, anything else, that the rush of energy through his circuits would subside. That is, until she seemingly read his mind and decided to make it worse.

Granted, while she could technically read some minds (a perk of her mastery of the Force), he thanked the maker that such a trick didn’t work on droids.

But as she reached to adjust his bowtie, patting it down slightly with a satisfied smile that made him feel like his circuits were melting, he wasn’t so sure.

POV: This takes place during the Under Frozen Pond Episode, so here are some Zach screenshots from said episode 🥰!

The cold weather of the winter season enveloped me as I lay in the snow. I wore my husband’s scarf and trench coat, my own gray gloves, and a lilac hat that once belonged to my mother. I looked up to the bright blue sky, and breathed deeply, closing my eyes as I exhaled.

I’d run away from Zach after we’d had an argument about my recent health concerns. Zach was bound and determined to keep me confined to the plane until we returned to the city for me to see my doctor, but I was tired of being cooped up all day.

To be fair he’d gotten his way most days for nearly two weeks because I’d been too sick to even leave our bedroom, but today I’d felt well enough to join him while he surveyed the location for the Annual Villain’s Meeting.

As Zach was wrapping his former winter coat and scarf around me my hopes of breaking free from my confinement to enjoy the cold weather were crushed when I’d gotten sick to my stomach yet again. I narrowly avoided becoming sick all over his shiny winter boots, and Zach grimaced and gagged for a few minutes until my sick spell subsided. He composed himself after I’d come up for air from the trash can he’d ordered Tan to bring to me while Cro cleaned up the mess.

Zach pulled a box of mints out of his pocket and emptied a few in my palm, something he’d started doing nearly two weeks before when I’d first started getting sick, “We’re going to have to get you to the doctor, Vi, you should’ve been over the virus by now, I was over it after a day….this isn’t normal.”

“I know,” I whispered, itching to tell him my suspicions, but I just couldn’t face it, not yet, not after what had happened in July.

I opened my eyes, looking to the sky again, wondering if she was looking down on me with those green eyes so like her father’s, the red hair like her grandmother’s, and my face with the freckles Zach and I both had during childhood.

If she was here things would’ve been very different…but I knew it was best not to dwell on that, it would just depress me again. I tried to focus on the positive: she was now our guardian angel. And if what I suspected was happening, I knew we needed her protection now more than ever.

Zach’s shrill voice met my ears as he called out my name. I lifted my head up far enough to see him slipping and sliding his way toward me over the ice. I laughed and sat up, not wanting to miss the opportunity to see him fall flat on his ass. It reminded me so much of when we’d gone skating the first time a couple years before. I’d never skated in my life and Zach had very little experience himself so it was quite a comical sight.

While he wobbled his way toward me, his curses becoming louder by the second, I thought how much I’d like to go skating with him right then, but I knew with what was happening to me that it probably was not the safest option.

Zach finally reached me, and I flopped back down on the snow, exhausted from my uncontrollable laughter. Zach loomed over me, his legs spread so that my legs were between his, if I’d reached up and pulled him down it would have been a very compromising position.

Zach didn’t seem to notice because he was so absorbed in his own anger, he planted his hands on his hips and took the opportunity to yell at me, “what’s so funny?”

“You trying to walk on the ice, you’re as graceful as a hippopotamus,” I laughed, trying to catch my breath and wiping tears from my eyes.

“I am far more graceful than a hippo platter mouth or whatever,” he hissed, not amused by my comments. Zach turned away and walked in the direction of the plane motioning for me to follow him, “come on and get up, it’s freezing out here…”

I sat up with the full intention of following him, but a wave of nausea stopped me in my tracks. I slowly lowered my head back to the ground taking calming breaths, Zach had turned back to yell at me, “VIO…Vi?”

“I need a minute,” I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand.

Zach crunched his way back over to me through the snow and sat down beside me, his brows knitted in concern, “are you okay?”

I shook my head and he took my free hand in his, wrapping our gloved fingers tightly together, he laid down on his back beside me and we held hands, looking at each other silently until I was able to speak again.

“I’m fine,” I whispered, smiling weakly at him.

Zach lifted his head, and pulled his hand free of mine, “no you’re not, we have to get you to the doctor and find out what’s going on, Violet…I’ll call Donita and Gourmand and we’ll reschedule….”

“No, Zach…” I whined, I covered my face with my hands to hide the tears that threatened to escape, “I’m fine…I’m just sick is all, it’s because, well…Zach…I think we’re pre…”

I pulled my hands away and looked at his face, etched with confusion and curiosity, I couldn’t tell him here, not yet…I had to be sure…so I quickly changed the conversation, “do you remember when we first went ice skating a couple years ago?”

Zach’s face went slack for a minute, and his eyes widened, he lowered his head to the snow again, staring at the sky in confusion before he looked back at me, “uhhh, yeah?”

I quickly covered my near omission, “I think we’re perfectly happy like we were then…yes we’ve had sickness come our way, but we’re not going to let that stop us from being happy and doing what we need to do, right? We’ll just get up and try again after falling down, we can’t let this sickness stop us from enjoying our day…”

Zach’s face contorted with bewilderment again, “so…uhhh, you wanna go skating?”

I giggled, pulling his gloved hand into mine and kissing the top of his hand, “No, that’s not what I meant…even if I wanted to I can’t, but no, no, no…Zach, that’s not my point, my point is, we can’t let me being sick ruin our day, I’m just a little sick that’s all, after today I’ll get a doctors appointment, and we’ll take it from there…one step at a time.”

Zach, nodded his head slowly, still looking unsettled by our situation and conversation, “okay…then….”

I released his hand and grinned, waving my arms around me in the snow, “that’s settled!”

Zach snickered, “are you making a snow angel?”

I stopped moving my arms and glanced to either side of me, I hadn’t done it intentionally, but I indeed had a pair of snow angel wings started, “I guess so…wanna join me?”

“Join you?” Zach scoffed, moving to stand up, he rolled his eyes, “it’s childish, frivolous…”

I resumed waving my arms and moving my legs to complete the angel, “it’s fun…one of my favorite cold weather activities…”

Zach huffed and grabbed my hand, plopping into the snow beside me, he reluctantly started making his own snow angel, “this is humiliating…if Donita and Gourmand see us…”

“They’ll think it’s cute,” I giggled, and I sat up long enough to give him a peck on the cheek.

I peered out of the corner of my eyes and snickered as a blush crept across his pale features that were already tinted red from the cold, “oh no you don’t,” he hissed, moving from beside me to straddling me within seconds.

I could not stop giggling as Zach’s flustered face hovered inches from mine, his hands on either side of my head, “think you can just tease me and get away with it, do ya?”

“N-no!” I gasped between laughs, Zach smirked and closed the space between us, kissing me. My giggles subsided as he deepened the kiss, I reached my hands up and grasped either side of his face, pulling his face closer to me, earning a moan from him, “minx,” he mumbled against my lips. He then trailed his lips across mine and from my nose to my chin. He gave me one quick kiss on my nose and sighed. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” He whispered, a grin spreading across his face, he shook his head and stood up, “come on, let’s get you back to the plane, laying in this cold weather can’t be good for you.”

I relented and sat up, I held my hands to him and he helped me to my feet, I bounced slightly as I stood up, earning a laugh from Zach, “always enthusiastic…”

Zach released my hands and offered his arm to me, I giggled and wrapped my arms around his bicep, “such a gentleman,” I teased.

He smirked, “I try.”

We started walking back to the plane, and I abruptly stopped. I untangled myself from Zach’s arm and walked back to our snow angels, Zach called out, “what’s wrong?”

I stood in front of the snow angels and whispered a quiet prayer, “please protect this one,” I placed my hands into the middle of my snow angel, fanned out to look somewhat like a butterfly, I felt a tear trickling from my eye, and I brushed it away.

I quickly rejoined Zach who’d raised an eyebrow at me, “was that for Alexandria?”

The storm made its presence known long before it actually arrived. Dark clouds were gathering at the horizon, overshadowing the light of the day, and the air had an unsettling feeling about itself.

Selena stood at the railing, watching as the sunlight faded more and more. A slight nervousness was growing within her chest; it was the first storm she would witness while being aboard the Flying Dutchman. The first ever since that horrifying night, when the winds were furious and the waves were raging, and an unexpectedly strong surge of water just yanked her from the deck of the Diligence to pull her down into the dark, cold water. Selena was sure she would have drowned that night, hadn't the cursed ship found her and picked her up, soaking wet and freezing. The life aboard the Dutchman wasn't an easy one, but it was a life at least.

A rough push from behind snapped her back from her thoughts. She felt a clawed hand on her shoulder and turned around to find Maccus.

"C'mon. The captain wants ta keep an eye on ya when we're going down. Can't have ya get lost at sea another time, hah."

"Down?" Selena frowned as she followed him across the deck. She knew of the Dutchman's ability to dive underwater and resurface without any damage on neither ship nor crew, but in the weeks she had been here, she had never had to experience it herself. Until now.

"Would ye rather want to sail right through the storm?" Maccus turned his head to grin at her, showing multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth. "'Cause I doubt that, givin' yer seafaring skills. Trust me, it’ll be easier sailing below."

Selena scrunched her nose. She knew he was probably right, but that still didn't make her nervousness go away. "It might be better than a storm, but it doesn't sound like the most pleasant thing either. It's just something new to me, that's all."

"That's why the captain 'imself is gonna have a watch over ye", Maccus said in a smug voice. He gestured Selena to follow him, leading her to the captain's quarters. Other crew members were running across the deck, even though the Dutchman didn't need a lot of preparation before going below the surface, they wanted to be sure that nothing would go wrong.

Davy Jones opened the door to his quarters upon Maccus’ knocking, his gaze darting between the hammerhead shark and Selena.

"I brought ya the lassie. Figured she better not be on the open deck during her first dive."

The captain's gaze softened in a barely noticeable way, and he stepped aside to let Selena in, before turning his attention to Maccus again. "Order tah men ta start going down. They shall not veer off th' course, sail straight away undah tha storm."

"Aye, cap'n!" Maccus returned to the way he came from, and Selena could just hear him start to yell orders before Davy closed the cabin door.

"Is the first dive frightening?", she asked. Davy seemed to think for a moment before he responded. "Tha new sailors always dread it. It certainly be an … unsettling experience for those once mortals. Many of them say it feels unusual or unpleasant, but most of them adjust in a short time. I’ve been doin’ it fer so long, I … cannae remember what it was like in tha beginning."

His eyes became a little clouded as the memory seemed to pain him. Selena didn’t say a word, but reached out to gently take Davy’s right hand, squeezing it lightly. His tentacle-like index finger responded immediately to the action, wrapping around her hand as if it wanted to make sure she didn’t let go. Davy gave her a thankful look, before leading her to one of the windows. His beard tentacles were writhing calmly around his shoulders, and his whole demeanour had softened slightly, like every time they were alone.

"Yah might feel like ye're drowning when we’re going underwater, but it will pass, alright? Ye're bound ta the Dutchman now. She will not be leavin' ya behind."” His gaze became a little more tender, and he leaned a little closer. “I will not be leavin’ ya behind”, he muttered.

All of a sudden, Selena felt a slight jolt going through the hull of the ship, before the floor underneath her feet started to tilt. Instinctively she grabbed Davy’s sleeve with her free hand, while holding onto him a little tighter with the other one. He pulled her closer towards him, just enough so he could wrap his crab claw around her back, securing her where she was standing so she wouldn’t fall over on the uneven ground.

“Maccus must’ve given the signal.” Selena was a little annoyed about how nervous she sounded. But even though Davy assured her that she would be able to get through the dive like every other crew member, the thought of experiencing another time what it felt like to almost drown made her stomach turn, and she took a deep breath to calm the feeling. She felt how Davy started to rub her hand with his thumb in a soothing motion.

“We will stay inside here for this time. It be calmer and there are less things for ya ta worry about than on tha open deck. I think Maccus made a fine decision there.”

“Maccus?” Selena tilted her head. “So he didn’t bring me here on your command?”

Davy shook his head slightly, and a little snort, almost like a chuckle, escaped him. “Nay, he didn’t. But he seems ta keep an eye on ya. He be a proper first mate.”

In the meantime, water had started to seep in, coming through every opening in the ship’s hull and filling up the insides. It was already washing around their feet, and the level rose quickly. On top of everything, Selena also felt a biting cold creeping up her ankles now, and pressed herself closer to Davy.

“It will be alright, Selena.” His gaze caught hers, bright blue eyes captivating her. “Remember, ya will survive this. Even when we’re underwater, breathe. Ye’re bound ta the Dutchman now, and bound ta the sea.”

The water had already risen to Selena’s knees now, and it couldn’t be stopped in its way. She flinched as the cold waves reached her stomach, then her chest, her chin. A few moments later, she and Davy were both completely underwater, the entire room was filled. The Flying Dutchman had completely submerged beneath the stormy sea.

Selena had instinctively closed her eyes and pressed her face into Davy’s beard when it happened. She stayed in this position until she felt something soft gently caressing her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes again, finding that it was one of Davy’s beard tentacles. He looked at her with a tender gaze, his arms wrapped around her a little tighter now.

The first thing that Selena noticed about their surroundings was how clear she could see everything. She remembered how she tried to “dive” in her bathtub as a child, and how blurry it had always been, but this now felt only marginally worse compared to her eyesight above the surface. Apparently, this was one of the positive effects of being bound to a cursed ship. She could see the details on the wooden planks that the ship was made of, and the small barnacles on Davy’s clothes. The captain himself offered an unexpectedly amusing sight in this situation. Unlike usually, his tentacles were not pulled down by gravity now, and were floating more freely, although he seemed to control them enough that they weren’t going all over the place but kept their beard-like shape. He even had used two of them to keep his hat in place.

She had initially held in her breath, as this was an instinct that was hard to suppress, but now Selena felt her chest getting tighter. Davy seemed to notice that she began to struggle, he let go of her with his right hand and brought it to her cheek instead, brushing over her lips with his thumb as if to encourage her to take a breath. Hesitantly, Selena let go of the last bits of air in her lungs, before she had no other choice than to suck in the water that was the only thing surrounding her.

The first breath was unpleasant, even painful, like something heavy pressing on her chest from both in- and outside, along with a burning sensation as her body took in the water where air should belong. Selena contorted her face, but after a few moments, the feeling started to fade again. She tried to take a few more deep breaths, adjusting to this new feeling, and to her relief it seemed that Davy and Maccus told her the truth and it was merely a matter of getting used to it.

When she looked up to Davy again, Selena received the honour of witnessing one of his rare genuine smiles. She couldn’t help to note how natural he looked in this environment, as if he belonged here. She opened her mouth, attempting to saying something, but only a string of barely understandable sounds came out. Davy’s smile turned into more of a grin, and he shook his head, as if to tell her, ‘No talking’. Instead, he leaned forwards to wrap his arms around her and pull her into him, resting his cheek against her forehead. She could feel that he was proud of her, as well as relieved that she took the whole experience so well.

Selena felt how some of Davy’s tentacles started to play with her hair - it was something they seemed to attempt at every opportunity given, whether Davy wanted it or not -, and now she felt a smile forming on her own lips as well. She lifted a hand, caressing a few of them with her fingers, and shifted her body a little to make herself more comfortable in Davy’s embrace. She didn’t know how long the Dutchman intended to stay underwater, or how long it would take to leave the storm behind them, but for now, Selena felt calm and content, far more than she would have expected before all this. She looked out the window, into the vast sea that was far quieter than what she was used to from it, and something that Davy said came up in her mind again, putting a tender smile on her lips. ‘I will not be leavin’ ya behind.’

~~~

There were the members of the company, that was a given, she thought as she watched Masumi vying for Izumi’s attention, only for him to notice Lu staring, giving her a nasty scowl. She smirked, gesturing for him to get back to what would be a fruitless endeavor for him. Tsuzuru groaned, taking Masumi’s shoulder to attempt to lead him to grab more snacks, apologizing to their director as he did so.

Looking to the kitchen, she spotted Banri and Juza bickering as usual, this time over whether or not Juza really had enough gingerbread. Isa was at Banri’s side, tugging at his sleeve as she begged him to calm down, telling him it really was up to Juza when he had enough. Hahn only chuckled from where she sat next to Juza, taking his hand as he took another bite, making sure to give Banri a firm scowl before turning back to his partner as they planted a kiss to his cheek.

Lu had to laugh a little at the scene, grateful she wasn’t the one Banri was at the throat of tonight, though she did feel a little sorry for their poor partners.

A quick glance to one of the corners of the room led her to find Free, Taichi, and Azuma talking softly about something or another. Taichi was constantly rubbing her back, making sure she wasn’t overwhelmed by the noise or people at any point, and Azuma kept his voice low as well. It was a peaceful sight, Lu thought, and Free was lucky to be cared for so deeply, especially during this season.

It was a lovely party, and it was a nice feeling to be surrounded by family and friends so closely like this. That was, except for the fact that something was missing. There was one place she kept finding herself drifting to, and for good reason.

Sakuya sat by the window, staring out into the dark courtyard. He had briefly mentioned hoping for a white Christmas to her the day before, but she didn’t expect him to be that invested in attempting to get it to snow, even if his method was to simply sit and stare.

Lu stood to approach him, placing a hand on his back.

“You think staring out there’s gonna make it snow?” She asked, startling him.

“Oh! I mean, you never know, right?” He replied with a nervous giggle.

Lu could only sigh. She set her drink down, dragging her fingers down his arms to find his hands, taking them gently.

“Are you okay? You’ve been kinda quiet,” she noted. Sakuya simply shook his head.

“I’m okay. It’s just… it’s nice. It’s loud and chaotic, but it’s kinda calming,” he responded, a soft smile gracing his features. Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, I was worried you were drowning again,” she joked, letting go of his hands to give him a teasing shove. “Oh, by the way, is it fine if I give you my gift now? I doubt I’ll stick around after the party, and there’s only a few more hours left of Christmas.”

Sakuya’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Now?”

“I can stay after if you want, though, it’s fine-“

“No, it’s great! Just let me get yours, okay? Meet me in the courtyard,” he punctuated his request with a peck to her cheek. Lu grinned.

“Gotcha.”

Sakuya waved to Lu as he exited his room, a small, but exquisitely wrapped, present in his hands. She returned the gesture as he sat on the bench next to her.

“Do you wanna go first or should I?” Lu asked, looking to his gift, then back to hers.

“You should go first! Mine’s, uh, kinda special,” Sakuya replied hesitantly.

“Okay. Then, here!”

She held out her gift to him, a small box wrapped in paper lined with hearts, topped with an adhesive bow. He took the gift graciously, carefully tearing into the paper, being as gentle as possible.

What he revealed was a silver necklace, with a dog tag pendant. He brought the tag into his palm, taking a closer look as to what was engraved on it.

On one side, it was his name. On the other, Lu’s. Each was followed by a small heart beneath the name, and Sakuya felt his cheeks heat up at the amount of effort she must have gone through to do all of that for him.

“I tried to get it in a style you might like so you could use it often!” Lu blurted. “Is it okay? Was I close?”

Sakuya hesitated, looking back to the pendant, before tackling Lu into a hug.

“I guess I have my answer!” She said with a giggle.

“It’s perfect,” he murmured into her.

“It’s not much! Kinda pricey, but really, it’s the least I could do! I love you, Saku!”

“I love you too,” he repeated, releasing his hold. “My turn, I guess.”

Sakuya held out his gift to her, displaying the hard work he had put into just the wrapping. Lu took it gently, casually tearing into the paper. What awaited her was a sight to behold. She opened the box, only to gasp at what greeted her.

She was met with a silver ring, engraved with a pink gemstone. Lu stared at her boyfriend, jaw slack. He bashfully scooted slightly closer to her.

“It’s a promise ring,” he started, taking the ring from its box. “I figured that once everything settles down with Mankai, maybe we can too. If you’re up to it, I mean,” he added.

He took her hand, treating it as if it were the most delicate thing on the planet, and slowly slipped the ring on her finger. Lu watched him with careful attention, her breath catching in her lungs.

“I love you,” Sakuya repeated once more, placing a gentle kiss to her knuckle, just like that first day.

Lu couldn’t believe this was happening. She gasped, only to plunge into his arms, stealing his lips for her own. He jumped, but settled into the kiss, allowing it to last as long as they could let it. When they released, it was with a small murmur from Lu.

“I love you too. I’ll stay. I promise.”

“Good.”

Lu sat up properly, raising her head to stare at the sky. She smiled excitedly.

“Saku,” she whispered. “Look.”

He complied, and gasped a little.

“It’s snowing,” he breathed.

“Looks like you got that white Christmas you wanted. Wait, can I change my gift? Can we pretend like this was also my gift?”

“Sure. Maybe it was,” Sakuya replied with a chuckle, scooting closer to Lu to watch the falling snow.

Lu grinned, planting a kiss to the top of his head.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Merry Christmas, Saku.”

The image of the woman was enough to set Ramuda into a state of dread. He wanted to excuse himself for an hour yet Dice sat him back down, even if forcefully. “C'mon. It ain't that bad. She won't jump outta the screen and latch onto you.” Dice had told him, essentially forcing Ramuda to stay. And yet, his stomach turned with each passing scene… Ok, not at first. He thought that Gentaro had been exaggerating and that this was just a normal, fun movie… Until the scene where the protagonist spots this woman and she lifts her hat up.

The shot was right at her face, focused on her lifeless eyes in utter silence. They were sparkly golden yet unbearably cold. She started expressionless yet that expression formed into a smile… Ever saw someone who tried to smile cutely? Imagine that but it's the creepiest smile you have ever seen in your entire life. And that shot felt like it was dragging on for ages, not moving forward. Time was at a standstill and Ramuda was forced to look. He was so close to jumping but no, he couldn't just do— “Po.“ – “GYAA! NO! GET HER AWAY FROM ME!”

That thought had crossed his mind too soon. Because the next thing he knew he was clutching onto the next best person, though it had not registered at first. His hands were busy grasping whoever so tightly as his face seemed to have been pressed into the equivalent of soft cushions. He didn't see exactly what nor did he care, as long as he didn't have to see her face again! “Ah– Ramuda!? Wha–” The voice would try to speak yet he kept on interrupting them. “Get her away, get her away, get her away!” He even nuzzled against whoever!

“Calm down. She's gone. “ After a few seconds of silence this sentence dropped in a rather soft voice and a hand was stroking through his hair. It made him open his eyes finally, spotting what exactly those cushions were. It only took the fabric of the clothes for him to finally register. No, the soft voice and tender touch were already telling. It would always calm him down in times of stress. At first they had kind of forced Ramuda when spotting him being a mess, may it be because of work or some memories of the past creeping up.

“Could you pass me the butter please?” Pam asked, her eyes currently on a decades old cookbook. She was convinced newer recipes weren’t going to be as ‘authentic to the Christmas experience’. The book had been in Pam’s family for years, so Sara honestly thought it was cute.

She walked over to the kitchen island and passed Pam a glass measuring cup full of cubed butter. Pam smiled to say ‘thank you’.

Sara peered at the small flurry of snowflakes coming down outside. This was her first Christmas with a full family unit since she was about 16.

Most previous Christmases consisted of spending the day with her Uncle Mike, watching ‘A Christmas Story’ and ordering Chinese takeout. She loved her uncle Mike, and he her, but she as she got older she grew increasingly aware of the fact they spent their Christmases together as adults mostly because there was no one else to share it with at the time.

Before she could reminisce too much, she felt a hand against her shoulder. “Wanna help make the dough?” Pam squeezed and smiled sweetly.

Sara nodded and gingerly rubbed her thumb against Pam’s hand.

Sara walked over to the array of ingredients about on the counter. She thought of the many times she had tried to cook with her old family. It had usually ended in frustrated tears and/or hurt feelings. She was suddenly nervous.

She knew Pam was much more patient and forgiving than her parents. But she still feared making some kind of ‘grave’ error.

When she moved in with her uncle, she suddenly had to learn all the tips and tricks about cooking for two she could. She figured that’s why she had a somewhat ‘odd’ relationship with food.

“So...” she started, turning on the faucet to wash her hands “-how do we start?” Pam turned toward the recipe book, peering at the instructions.

“I’ve already mixed all the dry ingredients together, so you don’t have to worry about that step.” Pam scratched her cheek, leaving a mark of flour behind. Sara giggled.

Pam looked a tad puzzled but smiled back nonetheless. “After that is the somewhat tricky part. We have to beat the butter and add brown sugar and molasses next.”

Sara nodded, drying her hands on a red towel embroidered with a cardinal. She eyed the the large hand mixer.

Pam walked closer and looked at Sara. “Would you like to do it?” Sara thought for a moment and decided possibly ruining the whole batch/plan wasn’t worth the task. She passed the mixer to Pam.

She started the device, gently placing it in the bowl. The butter turned into a creamy mixture. “Could you measure out the molasses and brown sugar, hun?” Pam asked. Sara walked back to the island, a tad relieved her task was simple.

“How much do we need?” she asked, opening the bag of sugar. “We’re making a small batch, so...” Pam thought for a second “Three fourths cup, packed, for the sugar and two thirds of a cup for the molasses please!” Pam quipped cheerily. Sara smiled and started measuring.

Jim walked in grinning “It already smells so good!” He was carrying Phillip in one arm and holding Cece’s hand with the other. The little girl had wet eyes and a prominent frown.

“Oh, what’s the matter?” Pam looked with a concerned expression. “I think she’s a little tired.” Jim replied. Cece gently rubbed at her eyes.

Sara continued measuring out the molasses into a small cup. She honestly got a little nervous during ‘family moments’ like these, because even though in her heart she knew she belonged here, the small insecure part of her brain told he she was intruding or imposing or whatever.

“I need to wash up a bit, could you help Jim with putting the kids to sleep, please?” Pam asked. Sara turned and smiled, nodding. “Of course. I’ll let you finish this up and get clean.” Sara replied.

After the kids were sleeping, Jim and Sara headed back to the kitchen. The carols were off and the kitchen wasn’t quite as fragrant, but a small touch of whimsy still hung in the air.

Pam was cleaning up the mess the cooking had made. She smiled as they entered “There’s my two favorite loves.” She walked over to the both of them, stretching up on her toes to plant a kiss on Jim’s cheek, then leaned down to give one to Sara. Her hair smelled like cinnamon and clove.

“If one of you could, please be a dear and put the dough in the fridge to chill.” Sara nodded and shuffled away shyly from Pam and Jim, still giddy over her kiss.

“Doesn’t that need to chill for a few hours?” she heard Jim say as she placed the discs of dough into the refrigerator. Pam mumbled ‘mm hm’. Sara had never made these before and was suddenly concerned with the chunk of time they had in front of them.

She also felt awkward in moments like these, where it was just her, Pam and Jim together. She knew he was a nice guy, but still worried he held some kind of resentment towards her for the fiasco in ‘07 and the fact Pam had feelings for her. Another part of her occasionally insecure inner voice.

“We should finish the movie!” Pam said as Sara closed the fridge door. “Of course.” Jim replied. She looked over and Pam and Jim were peering at her, as if waiting for her input. Her heart fluttered. “Let’s go!” She smiled.

They got comfortable in the living room. Pam dimmed the overhead bulbs so the Christmas tree served as the main source of light. Jim brought out Grandma/Ms.Beesly’s various quilts. Sara made sure the television wasn’t too loud as not to wake the kids.

Pam sat next to her and placed a quilt on the both of them. Jim sat next to Pam, putting her in the middle. The movie resumed and Sara felt content in this very nice moment.