I'll Be Home For Christmas

Written by Seijoutai Priire/Sailor Asteroid

Part Two:
If Only In My Dreams

Proudly, Zyta produced her creation. It was deep brown with little bits of fruit showing under the dusting of powdered sugar. "Yup! And I think it turned out pretty good!"

Priire waved her arms for everyone's attention. She got it rather quickly considering that one of her hands held a large knife. "I'm gonna try and cut this thing..." Priire would have looked comical if she'd put the knife down for a moment. Starr was peeking out from under the Santa hat perched haphazardly on the blonde's head.

With an overly dramatic motion, Priire applied the knife to the fruitcake. It didn't make a dent. Priire shrugged and set the big knife down. Bending, she pulled a dagger out of her boot. "If this doesn't cut it..." the girl grinned, twisting the knife and watching the kitchen lights play over its finely-polished surface. "Now." The blonde studiously sliced at the cake with her dagger. It, likewise, very studiously didn't dent the cake.

Annoyed, Priire grabbed the cake and knocked it on the table a few times. "Zyta... I hate to tell you this..."

Zyta sighed. "I guess for my contribution to Christmas dinner, I'll just set the table. My fruitcake isn't good for anything!" She propped her chin on her hand. "Hey, there's Riku!"

An evil smile split Priire's face. She very casually picked up the rock-hard fruitcake... and chucked it over her shoulder.

"Oh my gosh, I think she killed him!" Annika's eyes were as wide as the saucer that had some of Chouko's cookies permanently fixed to it. "Riku?"

The boy shook his head. "Did... anyone get the license of that land speeder?" he slurred.

The look on Priire's face was pure feigned innocence. Someone threw Zyta's fruitcake at her.

UsaNeko put her little paws on top of Starr's lilac head and sniffed at the gray-green plant with its berries. "I like it. Can we eat it?"

"No!" Priire shouted, scooping them up, one kitten under each arm. "I think it's poisonous."

"Then what good is it?" UsaNeko demanded, turning her little face up to Priire. "If we can't eat it, then what's it for?"

Priire shrugged letting both kittens climb on to her shoulders. "It's just Christmas-y, I guess."

Kousotsu put his hand on Priire's shoulder. "Oh, there's a reason for mistletoe," he grinned.

With an impish grin, Kousotsu wrapped an arm around Priire and kissed her - dislodging the two kittens.

UsaNeko and Starr fell in a pink and purple heap. "Wow! Dat's coo'," Starr exclaimed. "Who e'se is under the mis'le'oe?"

The kittens looked around, doing their best not to get trampled by Nom and her helpers, who were ever so busy with the food. "I won'er where Momma and 'a'ee are," Starr purred, scratching her head on the leg of a table.

In other parts of the complex of Rooms Behind the Waterfall, plethoras of senshi were going about various Christmas-y endeavors. Ciel and Tashita were doing their best to wrap presents with less-than-useful help from Pinku. The kitten was "helping" by shredding ribbons, paper, tape, and eating the bows.

"Stop it!" Ciel finally yelled. "You're going to get wrapped up if you aren't careful!"

Pinku's disbelief in Ciel's powers was the main reason that when Chouko walked in a few minutes later, not only were all the presents wrapped... but Pinku was tied up with a green ribbon.

While the kitten was getting everything (and herself) all wrapped up, Nom and crew were cooking. No one had ever seen such a feast as the Senshi had planned. There were all manner of foods from every planet imaginable! Nom had even made up a few recipes just to make sure they covered all their bases. Colorful platters housed equally colorful foods and made everyone drool.

Tempting smells called to every senshi, which was why Nom had sentries armed with spoons and pot lids to fend off the unwelcome. The sentries weren't worth their weight in Ryshcate, seeing as they took more nibbles off of unsuspecting platters than anyone else did.

Yukiko was helping Aisu decorate the tree. Something had given the tiny senshi the idea that not only should they have Sailor ornaments, but that they should also have little ice crystals. The three Ice senshi had made a slew of ice crystals to decorate with. Koumi helped with her Force-talent to make crystal ornaments from Ippin's gems.

Just as proudly as she'd carried it in the play, Niji lifted the Star of Bethlehem to the top of the tree. She wasn't quite tall enough - despite the diminutive dimensions of the tree - so Seiyun lifted her to the top and let the tiny girl top the tiny tree with the big star. Obi-Wan propped the tree up with a stack of presents. It was a little top heavy, but as Annika would say... "Full of love!"

Schylar licked her foot and tried to ignore him. When he kept pestering her, she sighed in absolute frustration. "Solai, the tradition is to open presents on Christmas Day! Not to tell all about them!"

Nudging UsaNeko with her little nose, Starr pointed at the pair. "Look! Momma and 'a'ee are si'ing under the mi'le'oe!"

A resounding thwap filled the sudden silence. "Stupid! Momma and Daddee told us not to tell themselves!"

"Now Momma and Daddee know they have to get marrrrried," UsaNeko frowned. "They didn't want to know."

Laughter came from the two adult cats. "You have got to be kidding," Schyalr laughed. "I'd never marry him! Or name my kitten 'Rabbit'."

"What?" Schylar looked at the two kittens. "You've got to be... kidding. This can't... I... wouldn't..."

The two kittens looked up. "Bu' you are 'a'ee and she is Momma," Starr declared. "An' I wuv you!"

The four cats all looked at each other, and Solai tried to grin. All of his usual jokes seemed to have fled in the seriousness of the moment. Lucky for him, another being broke the mood.

Solai glared at the figure leaning on the doorway. "Hey, chick, we were having a moment here."

Priire raised and eyebrow as she walked into the room. "If I remember correctly, Schylar was about to faint."

Agreeing with her sister, Starr leapt up onto Priire's shoulder. "I'm 'tarr!" she proclaimed again. "An' I'm coot!"

Priire shook her head. "She's definitely yours, Solai," the blonde laughed. "I'm gonna go tell Coru!"

By the time everyone had been informed about UsaNeko and Starr being the future daughters of Solai and Schylar, it was time for the Christmas feast.

Nom and her crew had outdone themselves. There was more food on the table than anyone had ever imagined. From some china shop, Priire had procured beautiful Christmas plates. The white plates were elegant containers for foods that had been worked on all day-weeks in cases.

All of the senshi gathered together around the table, staring in awe at the things laid out before them. Nom had enlisted the most creative senshi in designing the table. Holly sprigs and ivy tendrils snaked their way all over the table, lending it a refined look. Melesse picked up her fork and held it up to the light. "Shiny!"

In fact, every piece of silverware was gleaming in the light of the candles that had been taken from Priire's room. She'd let them use all of the candles except one, babbling something about an eternal flame.

Nom raised an eyebrow as if to ask if they would ever sit down. She smiled as much as she ever did as everyone sat down. At one end of the table almost every single pet had a place. Myou's lizard was an exception as he had a tendency to be... less than friendly with the kittens.

Kaze lowered her elegant Arabian head and snorted oats all over Schylar. The cat glared at her and shook the oats off. "Equine..." Schylar threatened.

Despite her resolve not to feed the animals, Xarae surreptitiously pinched off a piece of ham and slipped it to Starr. The kitten responded by purring and almost knocking over Xarae's wineglass. The brunette hurried her hand to save the wine, considering that is was a rare and marvelous vintage. Not for the first time, she wondered where Priire had procured it.

Making sure the no one, especially her mother, was watching, Chouko flicked a piece of some icky green vegetable onto Kairiku's nose. The Gungan-odangoed girl frowned and glared at Chouko as she flicked something orange at the brunette.

Chouko squealed and bounced a roll off of Kairiku's forehead. Unfortunately it landed in Kyoko's soup. The older senshi turned to her future daughter and her friend. "Don't..."

Before the royal-blue-haired woman could say anything else, Kairiku held up her hand. "You can't yell at me! I haven't been born yet!"

After dinner, everyone gathered in the same room as the Christmas tree. They would have gathered around it, but there wasn't enough room. To fit the presents - everyone had drawn names - under the tree, they'd put it on the coffee table.

Priire and Ippin walked in, carrying trays of cider and singing. "Grandma got run over by a snowdeer, coming home from our place Christmas Eve. You can say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and grandpa... we believe!"

As they passed out the cider, Priire had to warn everyone. Zyta had been helping and accidentally dropped a dime into one of the cups. They were all identical, so no one knew where the dime was.

By the time all the cider was handed out, Priire had found herself a spot on the arm of the couch. She had to - there wasn't anywhere else to sit. Annika pulled out the piano bench and ran her fingers up and down it in a scale. Standing next to her, Xarae and Renako opened the booklets of carols that Priire and Ippin had fabricated. As they lead everyone in the songs, Renako sang melody, with Xarae doing lovely harmony.

Aisu was asleep in Yukiko's arms by the time all the carols had been sung. So, Yuki and a few of the other senshi helped carry the younger ones up to their beds, reminding them to dream of sugarplums and candy and the wonderful things that would happen tomorrow - Christmas Day.

There were a lot of dishes. Not just a lot as in a few, but a lot as in a million. A couple hundred million.

At least that's how it seemed to Kumoko and Priire, who had been given the job of cleaning up all the dishes. Priire washed them, then tossed them to Kumo-chan, who dried and stacked them. There was so much extra food that they had to haul in coolers from other parts of the Temple to hold it all. Priire flipped a sudsy braid behind her ear and splashed back into the water for another plate. As she got read to Frisbee-throw it at Kumoko, she noticed the other girl looked a little sad. "What's wrong?" Priire asked, concern wrinkling her brow.

"Christmas," the auburn haired girl sighed. "Christmas is supposed to be when all the family gets together and has fun."

"Yeah." Kumo took the plate from Priire and ran the towel over it. "As paranoid as my Mom was - is, I guess - I miss her."

Another plate got the treatment of Priire's rag. "I don't have any family to miss. Just Ippin and Kousotsu."

"Don't remind me," Priire laughed. "And," - she started to sound more serious - "the rest of the Sailor Jedi."

Kumo-chan nodded. "I guess so... but I still miss Earth sometimes. This galaxy seems more like home, but I did live on earth for most of my life."

Priire shrugged and pulled out the last of the holly-decorated plates. "Maybe Ippin'll take you back someday."

That night many of the senshi's minds were visited with pleasant dreams. Annika dreamed of a land filled with all kinds of candies and sweets that she could eat as much of as she wanted and never ever get sick! Yuki's dreams were filled with a man in a mask who swept her around the dance floor like magic. The dreams that crossed Starr's kitty mind were of her Momma and Daddee and little sister all playing together. Kumoko's dreams led her back to her old room on Earth, letting her lay on her back and gaze up at Ewan McGregor. What graced Priire's sleeping mind were images vaguely troublesome... yet still a pleasant balm to her soul. Her dreams lead her to the future - whether near or far, no one knew - where she was celebrating. What, she didn't quite know, but it was wonderful. Not knowing should have troubled her, but it was so beautiful that she didn't care.

The scene wasn't that pleasant, however, when Miyuki, Yuki and Ippin woke Priire up the next morning...

"He isn't real?" Priire looked stunned. "After all this, you only think now to tell me that Santa Claus isn't real?" she yelled.

"Shh!" Ippin said, looking frantic. "What are we going to do? All the chibi senshi are going to be so disappointed."

Miyuki slapped a hand to her forehead. "This is unbelievable. Crazy! Why on earth would you think a fat man in a red suit with flying reindeer was real!"

Miyuki banged her head against the nearest wall. With a smile, Yuki grabbed her arm. "We've got to think of something," the calmer of the "twin" cousins said. "Everyone will be so disappointed."

"Great going," Ippin sighed, glaring at her twin sister. "Aster! What are we going to do?" The redhead frowned. "Aster...?" she questioned, pulling the covers back. "Stop hiding!"

The blonde sighed and slid out of bed. After finding her Santa hat - Starr had been sleeping in it, and being dislodged by Priire cause the kitten to exclaim that Ippin was her favorite Aunt and hiss at the blonde for about five minutes - and putting it on, Priire felt ready to meet whatever chaos was coming.

Miyuki pushed Priire into the room in front of the other three. To their surprise, no one tried to kill Priire or even threaten her with any form of bodily harm. Despite their unbelief in old Saint Nick, there must have been at least one believer left. The stockings, hung by a fake chimney, were full to the top with all kinds of good things. Kairiku was sitting in a corner bouncing blue balls off of various surfaces. One ball misfired, making Starr exclaim that Kairi-chan "wa'n't her f'iend any mo'e!" The kitten had a tendency to bounce from senshi to senshi carelessly. She was very much a butterfly.

Half a dozen senshi swamped Priire, hugging her. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Ciel was an exception. She was busy going through the other stockings with a determined look on her face. "This is so creepy," she said, shivering. "Making action figures... of me!" She looked around, tossing her black hair around her face. "Did anyone else get one?"

"I hate these things!" Ciel wined, holding the Burger Monarch figure up. "I'm trying to get all of them so I can..."

The dark-haired girl nodded. "Something like that. And whoever put this in my stocking attached a note." She offered it to Annika to read.

Meanwhile, Priire had calmed everyone. None of the older senshi knew who "Santa" was... so they let it be. Enlisting Fumestu and Souru to help her, Priire passed out everyone's gifts.

Xarae unwrapped purple and gold wrapping paper to find a matched set of silver-on-gold candles and a locket with her picture in it. There was space for another picture and a note from Priire apologizing for not being able to find a picture of Maul.

"Thank you very much, Ippin," Nom said holding her present up to the light. It was a hard-carved figurine of Sailor Dathomir. The carver was a expert at using the natural gleam of the Corusca gems to express the figurine's inner fire.

The paper that surrounded Ippin was one of her favorite colors - purple. Encased in the purple wrappings was her gift from Chikako. Since the Senshi didn't have many other people to give or get gifts for, Chikako had gone all out with N'aboo's Special Edition Christmas CD, a red fleece sweater, some beaded bracelets, and an exquisite silver picture frame. Ippin hugged her and began plotting to annoy her twin with the CD.

"I found this in Kae's room," Priire said, handing Kairiku a package. "It's for you."

Since Kaedama Chrone wasn't with the senshi this Christmas, Priire had stuck the Catharian girl's present from Xarae in her room. Xarae had shown it to everyone earlier. Being a master at creativity, Xarae had woven a forested landscape with various animals peeking out from the dark green shadows.

While Priire was putting it in the room, she had run across a gift addressed to Kairiku. The odango-head squealed as she pulled out a crystal globe that looked just like Naboo. Created from mists in the center of the globe was Otoh Gunga. Kairiku loved it.

A little after the huge holiday party was over, Annika dashed out. She had her angel costume on - she was going to Angels of Love Hospital and thought it appropriate - and a bag of goodies in her hand. Normally, the Bakuran Princess wore her hair up in two odango. To be an angel, she had decided, she needed her hair down around her shoulders in wispy curls. Xarae and Koumi had helped her with it.

Unfortunately for the trio, neither feline nor human noticed the person behind them. That person's mission was - if his face was any indication - less than charitable.

"All right... let me put it this way," Priire smiled innocently. "Open it or I'll shoot you."

Riku knew from experience that Priire would indeed shoot him. He took the present from her hands and carefully undid the bow.

"It's sort of a I'm-sorry-I-hit-you-with-the-fruitcake and a Christmas present all in one," Priire explained as the boy worked the wrapping paper off.

He let it fall to the ground in surprise. "Priire... it's beautiful!" he exclaimed, running a finger over the edging on the frame. Priire had coerced some silversmith into creating a frame with roses worked between Ippin and Riku's names. The picture in the silver frame was of Ippin hugging Riku. He paused for a minute, squinting at the picture's background. "Uh..."

"Who are you waving to?" Riku questioned, completely lost as to why Priire would be in the background of the picture.

The blonde shrugged. "I learned it from some guy on Earth. You stand behind people getting their pictures taken and make yourself obnoxiously visible." Priire turned on her heel and strode out of the room.

Annika screamed. Some man had grabbed her shoved her up against the wall. "All right, angelface, gimme all your dough!"

"Then gimme that bag!" he snarled jerking it from her hands. The bag tore, and Nom's chocolate chip cookies spilled all over the pavement, mixed with small jewels donated from various other senshi.

Her beautiful blue eyes filled up with tears as Annika saw all the pretty things scattered carelessly on the ground. Suddenly, two light colored tufts of fur launched themselves off her shoulders.

For a moment, Annika wasn't sure if the kitten's claws or the fact that they were talking surprised the man more. Their attack did give Annika time to duck into an alley and come out as Eternal Sailor Bakura.

Posing with a kitten on each shoulder, Eternal Bakura glared at the man. "You've disturbed the peace and love of this season! And stolen the treats this girl had for those less fortunate! You will be punished!"

The man stared at her in disheartened surprise. "A Sailor Jedi?" he gasped, trying to back away.

"That's right! And you've stopped this girl in her loving mission!" Bakura pointed her Love Crystal at him. "I won't stand for it!"

He fled from her quicker than Sand People from Krayt dragons. Bakura nodded and giggled. "Showed him!"

"Coru..." Priire said, motioning her twin sister over and trying not to dislodge Starr. The kitten had taken up residence on Priire's shoulder.

"Merry Christmas!" Priire grinned as she handed her twin a purple present tied with a red and orange ribbon. "Open it."

The time guardian glared at her. "I am! I just don't want to break the ribbon!" Ippin carefully untied it then tore into the gift. "Wow! A stuffed kitty... aw, she has Corusca gem eyes. That is so cute!" Ippin picked the kitty up then squealed. "Eee! The limited edition N*aboo McHonald Happy Meal toy!" She hugged her sister. "Now... open yours."

Starr reached her paw down and clawed at the paper. "Ca' I ea' i'?" she questioned. When Priire told her no, the kitten pouted. "I don' wike you anymo'e!" she cried, jumping to Ippin's shoulder.

Priire promptly dislodged the kitten as she flung her arms around Ippin. "Tickets to Matchbook 20! I've never seen them live! Thank you!"

About the Senshi in this story:

Zyta/Sailor Tatooine Annika/Sailor Bakura Kumoko/Sailor Bespin Priire/Aster/Sailor Asteroid Riku Chouko/Sailor Chibi Dantooine Kousotsu/Tuxedo Jedi Nom/Sailor Dathomir Ciel/Sailor Centrali Tashita/Sailor Eclipse Aisu/Sailor Chibi Hoth Koumi/Sailor Kessel	Ippin/Coru/Sailor Yavin Nijihoshi/Sailor Chibi Corellia Seiun/Sailor Coruscant Melesse/Sailor Chibi Mimban Myou/Sailor Zonama Sekot Xarae/Sailor Iridonia Kairiku/Sailor Chibi Naboo Kyoko/Sailor Naboo Renako/Sailor Chibi Kessel Miyuki/Sailor Aquaris Fumetsu/Quermian Knight Souru/Corellian Knight
Chrone/Sailor Cathar

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Written by Seijoutai Priire/Sailor Asteroid

Part Two: If Only In My Dreams

Part Two:
If Only In My Dreams