"Would you really take a sabbatical?" Alex asked softly. She was stunned that Derek was considering such a thing.

"But London thinks that you've dropped the idea, right?" Nick straightened in the chair. "Because they said it was okay for us to be off in the South Pacific?"

"More than likely," the precept said, nodding in agreement. "I think this trip would give me some time to seriously think about it."

"But a sabbatical?" Alex stared at him. "What would you do?" He smiled at her. "I was thinking of doing some teaching, going back to grad school."

"And London would be okay with that?" Nick sounded as surprised as she was.

"Obviously they would not be very happy," Derek said before giving him a small grin. "It's not as though I'm leaving. I would never do that. I just need some time to do something else. Who knows, I might be able to find a few good candidates to bring into the Legacy." The precept held up his right hand to the ex-SEAL. "However, it seems that I'll be giving this ring back to you, temporarily."

"I'd rather take it this way than the other," the young man said quietly.

"What made you decide to do this?" Rachel leaned forward, looking at him intently. "Because of what happened at the portal? Or other things as well?"

"I think my experience... downstairs... opened my eyes." He chuckled faintly before he walked over to a tray of drinks. Picking up a glass, he turned back to them.

"I've been concentrating too much on death instead of life. With the deaths of Kristin, Megan, the others..." Alex saw a haunted look appear on his face before it was suddenly gone. "I've lost my life outside this house, this organization..." He glanced at the three of them before gazing out the window. "I go through the motions at dinners and meetings..." His voice faded, then he took a sip of champagne. "I need to experience life, see people, see that there is life and hope beyond these walls."

"That sounds like an excellent prescription," Rachel said softly.

"You did climb K-2," Nick said.

Derek nodded. "I did, but I basically just dealt with my friend. I had shut myself off with Megan's death, but now I need to interact more with the world, the real people in it."

"Well, you and I could do a lot of interacting with some native girls," Nick said, then grinned and raised his eyebrows. The precept laughed, a good, deep one that made Alex laugh. "This is a great Christmas present, boss. One of your best."

"I understand that you were the hit of the party with playing the piano and singing carols," Rachel teased Derek. "Just what did I miss?"

He bowed, then walked over to the piano and sat down. "Allow me demonstrate." Flexing his hands several times, he began to play "O Come All Ye Faithful" quietly. "My mother used to play this and sing when I was younger. After my father died, we spent that Christmas with William and his family, and she played carols then. It was very comforting for me, and my best memory of Christmas that year." He gazed at the young woman. "My mother also spent several Christmases here with me. Do you remember, Alex?"

She nodded as she rose and walked over to him. "She was here for my first one with the Legacy." Her voice was soft in reminiscing. "She made me feel right at home... as if this *was* my home."

"And I hope you'll always feel that way." A warmth filled her as she felt the heat on her face.

"How long a sabbatical would you take?" Rachel asked. "And you decided all this because of what happened at the portal?"

He nodded again as he continued playing. "Surviving the portal... It's made me reexamine my life. How can I continue to live my life and pretend things were the same after that?"

"So something told you that taking us all to Bora Bora was called for," Nick said. "Using a regular airline instead of a Legacy jet."

"Yes. I thought taking Air Tahiti would get us right into the spirit of things the moment we left," Derek said. "They fly out of LAX, so we'd take a Legacy jet or the chopper, then board our flight to Papeete there."

"Pappeetie?" Nick grinned. "Cute name. Is that the capital of Bora Bora?"

"Papeete is the capital of Tahiti. When we land, we'd be taking another flight to the island." The older man turned to the younger one and smiled. "Why don't you look up information on Tahiti and Bora Bora? I'm sure you'll enjoy that much more than the usual type of research you do."

"Sounds good to me." Nick yawned. "I think that will wait until the morning though." The young man rose. "That's it for me. I'm going to bed."

"Why don't the rest of you go to bed," the precept told them. "I'm going to play a while longer." With good-nights and thank-yous said, the others headed upstairs.

Hours late, still unable to sleep, Alex quietly crept down to the kitchen. Maybe a nice cup of hot chocolate would settle her nerves. Even now she found it hard to fathom that in two days they would be flying off to Bora Bora. What in the world would she bring to wear? She didn't have a lot of clothes that were suitable to wear to a South Pacific island. And a bathing suit... Did she dare wear a bikini? She had the shape for it, she was proud to say.

Soon holding a mug of hot chocolate, she walked into the drawing room and gazed at the tree. It was such a beautiful large tree and the pine scent of it...

"Waiting up for Santa?" She jumped.

"God, Derek," she said as she mock-glared at him. "What are you trying to do? Scare a woman to death?"

He laughed gently. "I'm sorry. Oh, by the way, I received a note from Fr. James. They'll now be able to expand the mission to hold more beds."

"Thanks to you," she said. "It was a wonder you didn't scare him to death when you gave him that check at Thanksgiving. I don't think he was expecting quite so large a donation."

"I've learned that I have many more things to be thankful for than I realized," he told her. "I feel as though I've regained some of my humanity being at that mission." He gazed at her. "I'm grateful that I'm able to have a normal Christmas party at my home." She saw him trying to control his smile. "I think Mavis was jealous of you. She kept trying to maneuver me under that mistletoe."

Alex laughed as she moved forward to fix an ornament on the tree that needed no fixing. "Maybe you should have kissed her."

"No," he said softly as he stood beside her. "There was only one woman I wanted to kiss under the mistletoe." She gazed up at him, her eyes wide. God, he was just full of surprises tonight. But she wasn't ready for this one. She back away from him.

"I think we... we should... go up to bed," she said, then blushed at the implication. "I mean, we should go upstairs and go to sleep." She turned and started to walk away. "I'll... I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

"Good night, Alex," she heard him say. "Sleep well." Somehow she doubted that very much...

End part 5