I'll Be Home for Christmas

"What are sheep?"

Ippin gave Priire a strange look. "They're kind of like nerfs. Only... really woolly, and they say 'Baa'."

"Baa?" Solai laughed as he jumped on Priire's shoulder.

"You're a sheep!" Priire exclaimed, pulling him off her shoulder. "Does he look like a sheep to you?" she asked, swinging him in Tashita's face.

The calm girl didn't look the slightest bit fazed by the flying gray fur and claws. She only looked up from the book she was reading and answered. "No."

Priire frowned. "Oh well. No one else knows what a sheep is."

"Yeah. 'No one' like all the Earthborns!" Ippin laughed.

"Hah!" Priire shouted, pointing her book at Ippin's head. "Then you're the innkeeper!"

The way Priire had said "innkeeper" carried the idea of being sentenced to a remote island with only Holotubbies to talk to. Ippin blanched. Priire stuck her tongue out at her twin. "So there."

"I think maybe I should clear something up," Mara grinned, dropping a stack of papers on the table. "The innkeeper isn't a bad role. It's just one with very few lines. And..." Mara laughed as everyone pushed around her. "We'll need to get people together to play the other roles..." Mara's voice trailed off as Annika walked into the room dragging a brown bag.

"Look!" Annika shouted proudly. "I found a Christmas Tree!"

Yuki helped Annika pull the bag off and stand the tree up. "It's... small."

Annika glared at everyone in the room, who seemed about to laugh at her admittedly puny Christmas tree. "This is Coruscant... they don't have big trees here..." Annika sniffled.

A little hand reached out and petted the tree. "It's soft. I like it!" Niji's pronouncement brought a glowing grin to Annika's face. The Bakuran Princess gave Niji a hug as the little girl kept talking. "And I have some ornaments for it, too."

As Niji ran off, Annika turned back to the group. "What are you doing?"

"Priire wants to have a Christmas play." Ippin leaned closer to Annika's ear to whisper. "She has no idea what she's doing."

"Ooo! Angels!" Priire said, her eyes lighting up. "Xarae for sure. And... Magena - she dances, right?"

Annika coughed.

"Niji! She would be so cute!"

Annika coughed louder.

"Chakra would be great too. She's pretty."

Annika coughed even louder. Priire looked at her in completely-feigned innocence. "Gee Annika, are you getting a cold?"

"I hate you, Priire!" Annika glared, throwing a gumdrop at her. Kairiku caught it and popped it in her mouth.

There was a quiet pause as Priire glanced over her clipboard. "Umm... wise men. Who's the smartest people here?"

Mara laughed and pulled the clipboard from Priire's hands. "Just... let me do this."

"It is a Christmas tree!" Annika shouted at Obi-Wan. "And it'll be beautiful!"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Annika, you should be the Senshi of Lost Causes, because that tree is never going to stand up and look nice."

Annika had an evil thought. Everyone was being so mean to her! She had half a mind to scoop the tree up and walk out with it, but that was when Niji walked in carrying a box.

"I found them," the little girl said, holding up a little ornament.

With a squeal, Annika took it and held it up to the light. "It's me!" Eagerly, Annika dug through the box, exclaiming over each Sailor Senshi ornament as she pulled it out. Unfortunately, she was rather excited over them and wasn't careful what she did with them after she finished exclaiming. That job was laid on Obi-Wan. Thankfully, he was a resourceful Jedi and able to not only use his hands to catch the fly ornaments, but also the Force.

A few hours later, Mara and Priire came out of the back room they'd sequestered themselves in. "We've got the list!"

Everyone crowded around, even Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Priire glanced at Obi-Wan, a little confused. "Um, Obi-Wan? You've got Sailor Dathomir in a Santa hat stuck in your hair."

The Jedi's whole face blossomed in a bright red blush as Annika leaned over, plucked the ornament out of his hair, and kissed his cheek.

"Obi-Wan's a wise man? And I have to be a stagehand?" Anakin pouted. "Darn it."

Ippin giggled. "Kami and Yukiko get to be Mary and Joseph!"

After all the actors had been found and told of their questionably good fortune, Priire and Mara got down to the serious business of directing.

"Wise men! Kousotsu! Souru! Put the sheep down!" Mara shouted waving a clipboard at the pair, who were engaged in seeing how many "sheep" - or cats - could fit into the manger all at once.

"Kaze... cease and desist! Don't eat the hay! It's for show, not for food!" Priire begged the black mare.

"Niji, hold the star up high. No! No! You're going to hit Kaze!" The aforementioned horse reared and knocked down the stable.

"Why must I hold this stick?"

Priire shrugged at her shepherd understudy. "It's a crook, Nom."

"If it is a crook, then should it not be in jail?"

"Chakra, help Niji... she keeps dropping the star. No! Walk it that way! Wise men... you're not paying attention."

An unhappy moan came from the pair of Director's Chairs. "Priire... all of the shepherds and wise men are acting like the livestock!"

Priire grinned helplessly at Mara.

Priire looked at the shepherds. "Kagerou and Fumetsu, you're going to lead. Boshi, Rene... follow them... careful! You'll trip on the angels' robes!" She sighed as the train of shepherds collapsed. "This is never going to work."

Somehow, despite the unruly livestock and actors, the show went on. Christmas Eve found the various senshi in their assigned posts and excited.

The theater was dark as the senshi uninvolved in the play and the entire Jedi Temple fled in and found their places. Black velvet curtains parted enough for Priire to slip through. Contrary to her normal, almost careless appearance, Priire had gone to drastic lengths to look especially nice. She wore a deep red velvet dress with long sleeves and a high slit. A green bow adorned her hair holding the braids and sprigs of holly - imported from Earth via Ippin. After a moment, Mara followed her out. She was gifted with a natural grace and beauty that made her beautiful under any circumstances, but tonight was special. Her dress was similar to Priire's dress, except it was deep green, matching her jade eyes. A green ribbon held her hair in its customary ponytail, bedecked with gilded leaves and berries.

"We welcome you to this Christmas celebration," Mara said as the spotlight shone on the pair.

"And hope that you have a good time as we present... " Both girls stepped back, and Priire waved a red-gloved hand at the stage. "Christmas in a Stable."

The curtains had opened to present a small wooden stable with Kaze nibbling on the manger's hay. The curtains closed again as Priire and Mara walked through them.

A moment of silence passed before the curtains opened again. There, on the stage, were three actors. Yukiko, Ben... and Kaze. Priire and Kiri had somehow convinced the horse to play the part of the donkey in the Christmas play. It was either that, or ship in a tauntaun. Kiri herself was hiding behind a fake planet in case Kaze decided to act up.

Mara was narrating from behind the scenes. "A long time ago, in another galaxy, a young virgin named Mary and her betrothed Joseph had to participate in a census of the land. Because Joseph was of the lineage of David, they had to go to David's City, also known as Bethlehem."

As Mara narrated, Kaze slowly walked across the stage, carefully not stepping on the cords and cables. Yuki had her feet tucked under her and one hand on her artificially pregnant belly. Ben put a hand on Yuki's back to steady her.

The curtain half-closed as the three reached the inn. Ippin opened the door and looked very stressed. Everyone assumed she was just into the part without realizing that she had actually been helping get the cats into their costumes.

"I'm sorry," she said, waving to the inn. "We're all full. There just isn't any room."

Yuki looked sad as Ben stepped a little closer. "Please, you've got to have somewhere! All of the other inns are full... and she's about to have her baby."

That seemed to make Ippin falter. "Well... there is the stable in the back. You could stay there. It wouldn't really be that cold, and I'll put some fresh hay out."

The smile Ben gave her would have melted anyone's heart. Yuki glanced helplessly at Ippin as the other got hearts in her eyes. Ben missed the exchange because he had already turned to walk the horse behind the curtain.

The half of the curtain that had been covering the manger scene opened, while the other half covered where the inn had been.

Ben helped Yukiko off of Kaze's back and on to the fluffy pile of hay. There was a little yelp as a kitten dashed out from under the pile. Yuki tried not to laugh when she caught sight of the little cat. Apparently, Priire had mimicked the appearance of Earth sheep by attaching cotton balls to various parts of their bodies. UsaNeko had a mane of them.

With a snort, Kaze moved over to her place by the manger. Kiri's cocker spaniel whimpered at the antlers Priire had put on the puppy's head. Kirana's dragon and Souru's cat made out the best. They had hidden when Priire was liberally attaching cotton balls to various animals.

"Because there wasn't any room in the inn," Mara narrated, "Mary and Joseph had to stay in the stable. While Mary was having her baby-" The curtain closed over the manager scene and opened over the other half of the stage. "-there were more people receiving good news."

The curtain opened on a peaceful scene filled with more cotton-ball-covered cats and various senshi lying around on a green hill. Golden stars hung from the dark blue "sky" that Priire had painted. She'd also "made" the faintly glowing stars.

Fumetsu and Nagareboshi had their shepherds' crooks resting beside them while they sat on the "grass". Rene had one arm around Kagerou, trying to keep him still.

"Suddenly," Mara said, breaking into the scene easily. "There was a great light in the sky. An angel appeared to the shepherds."

The four shepherds looked up and gasped as Xarae seemed to materialize out of thin air. The beautiful brunette fluttered her slivery wings as she looked over the shepherd. She moved her white-clothed arm to take in the whole hillside. "Be not afraid! I have come to thee, O shepherds, to impart to thee the Good News of glad tidings! For unto you this day is born in David's City the Christ Child! The sign will be that you will find the Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Go, thou and find Him!"

Before the shepherds could say anything - they didn't have any lines anyway - Xarae was joined by three other angels. Niji's halo was a little crooked, but Chakra straightened it for her and managed to keep Annika from tripping over the shepherd's crook at the same time.

Xarae began to sing as Annika and Chakra took their places to either side of her and Niji took her place in the middle. "Glo-ooo-ooo-ria!" Xarae sang high and beautiful. As she finished the first "Gloria," Magena spun out of the shadows. Dressed in a white leotard with a flowing silver skirt and a halo streaming with sliver and white ribbons, Magena posed with her head upturned to the spotlight as Xarae came to a break in her song.

Reaching to the bags they carried, Annika and Chakra grabbed handfuls of sparkling dust and tossed them out where Magena had begun dancing.

The dust gave a shimmer to Magena as she held a graceful arabesque, then let her upheld leg lead her into a catch step that gave her to power for a leap and a mid-air turn. The entire crowd "ooh"ed and "aah"ed over Magena's beautiful movements. The spotlights that had been on the two groups of angels widened to take in the rest of the stage as Magena posed and Xarae held the last note. As the shepherds filed behind the curtain, Annika pointed upward.

"That one."

Xarae and Chakra lifted Niji up so the littlest angel could pick the bright star Annika had pointed at. As the little girl held the star up, it cast a glow over the stage and made Niji look like a true heavenly messenger. At that point, both curtains closed.

A moment later, the curtain that had held the shepherd's hill now bore the visage of a land much like Tatooine. Lots and lots of sand.

Niji proudly paraded her star across the sand dune, leaving a shining trail of stardust behind her. Three men dressed in the clothes of nomads followed the trail. Kousotsu and Obi-Wan flanked Souru, who was carrying a golden crown. Obi-Wan had a chest full of myrrh in his hands and had to duck every few minutes as Kousotsu swung his staff topped with frankincense. The Jedi tried not to glare at the Knight.

"This is the Star of Bethlehem showing the way to the King," Niji proclaimed. Chakra was behind her, helping to steady the star-topped pole in the five-year-old's hands.

"The wise men followed the star to where the King was," Mara continued, reading her part over the intercom. "Instead of finding a full-grown man already at his throne... "

That pause was the cue for the climactic manger scene. As the curtains opened, Nom relieved Mika at the controls to the lights. Everyone hoped to prevent an accident. Nom smoothly worked the control board to swing the spotlight into position over the manger that the cast was surrounding.

From behind Yukiko and Ben, the angels began to sing. It was a song that Priire had found tacked to the end of a Steve Earle album.

Yukiko picked up the doll they were using for the Baby Jesus and rocked him as the angels sang. It was a good thing too... because no one had mentioned to the repairmen that the spotlight was loose. Just as the song ended it fell. Right onto the manger.

A surprised yelp escaped from Yuki, but whether that was because the light had almost fallen in her lap or because Ben had grabbed her to protect her from the shrapnel only she knew.

"Nothing but a little baby... " Xarae kept singing as if the falling light had been a planned part of the whole endeavor.

"Nofin' but a chi'd!" ended a tiny voice.

Everyone stared in the direction of the voice. There, perched on top of the fallen spotlight, was a lilac-colored kitten. "I'm 'tarr!" the little kitten proclaimed, blinking her green eyes.

"Starr!" UsaNeko squealed. "Get down! We've making a play." The little white-pink kitten spoke in a self-important whisper.

"Oooo! Can I p'ay?" Starr asked.

UsaNeko understood the little kitty despite her speech impediment. "I'm a sheep. You can be a sheep too!" UsaNeko stuck some cotton balls on Starr's head. "Pretty!"

Starr jumped around for a few minutes and finally landed in Souru's lap. "I'm purdy!" she declared to him.

By this time, whatever script there had been left to act out wasn't worth salvaging. Xarae led the entire cast in the last half of the chours as the curtains closed.