Title: HSU - Deck the Halls
Author: Emmy
Rating: FLLLLLLLL (Fa La La La La. La La La La.)
Timeline: After Julia's 'One Bright Star'

"So Emmy, let's start with your issues."

"I don't have any issues."

Dande gave Emmy the Counselor Eye.

"Is this really necessary? I mean, we had a nice dinner, we're working toward--"

"Emmy," Dande said in Counselor Voice.

"What?" Emmy grunted back.

"Tell me one thing Obi-Wan could do that would make you a happy Diva. One *real* thing. Something that doesn't involve diamonds," Dande said.

"What kind of counselor are you anyway?" Emmy challenged.

"Emmy," Dande said. "Something *real*. Something to make your Ho heart happy. Diamonds are forever, yes, but tell me what he could do, as opposed to buy, that would make you happy. One small, but important, thing."

"Well," Emmy said, glancing over at the General, who looked more than just a bit uncomfortable in his chair.

"Wait," Dande said. "Hold hands."

"Huh?" Emmy and the General said.

"You heard me," Dande said.

The General extended his arm from his chair, Emmy from hers, their fingers interlacing.

"Good," Dande said. "Now look at him and tell him what he could do."

Emmy glanced over at the General, who still looked entirely uncomfortable. "He could--"

"Tell him, not me," Dande said.

Emmy squirmed. "You could...take the initiative more often. Plan something instead of me planning it and trying to convince you to do it. Surprise me. I think...." She paused and looked away.

"What?" he said.

"I think that maybe because we're all Ho's that you think you don't need to take charge, that we'll handle things. And that's true. I mean, we don't want you alpha all the time. But just because we're strong and independent doesn't mean that you can't plan something special or, you know, check the oil in our cars or something," Emmy said.

"I know that," the General said.

"I know you do," Emmy said, squeezing his hand. "Just maybe....I dunno.....pick the restaurant and make the reservations once in a while. Plan a field trip, an outing. Little things like that." Emmy gave him a slight shrug. "Just....once in a while."

The General leaned over and kissed her hand, giving her a smile.

"So are you having sex or what?" Dande suddenly interjected.

The General and Emmy turned their heads, staring wide-eyed at Dande.

"Well?" Dande said impatiently. "You brood over this, you stammer over that. Are you gettin' some or not?"

"Well....we.....um....." the General said.

"We're exploring the pleasures making out by the front door….or on the sofa, that's always good, too," Emmy said. "It's a lost art, I think, kissing, cuddling, and copping feels. Makes you really just focus on the moment instead of rushing to the next you know. And the tension is really exhilarating."

The General cleared his throat with a hint of irritation.

"What?" Emmy said.

"So you're being a tease then," Dande said, looking dead straight at Emmy.

The General laughed.

Emmy shot the General a look.

The General looked at the ceiling, forcing the corners of his mouth downward.

"What was that?" Emmy asked, her attention suddenly diverted at the sound of a barking dog.

"Ah well, whatever," Dande said, flapping her hand.

"It doesn't sound like Lasher," Emmy said got up out of her chair and opened the door. "It sounds like Space-- Jael!" she called, running out into the hallway.

"We're home!" Jael exclaimed.

The General smiled as he entered the hall and saw Jael and the Other General.

"We missed you," Emmy said, giving Jael a hug.

"And we missed you," Jael said.

"Max," Emmy said, giving him a hug as well. "I am *so* happy to see you. The miners are really becoming unruly."

"I offer my services to you as always, my Diva," Max said, placing his hand on his chest and bowing his head. "General," he said, stepping forward to shake the General's hand.

"General," the General said, giving the Other General a firm handshake and a guy-bonding smile. "Well, let's get you settled, shall we?" the General said, reaching down for a suitcase.

"Isn't this great?" Emmy said, wrapping her arm around Jael's shoulder as they brought up the rear behind the General and the Other General, not only for the view, but for quality out-of-earshot grrl talk. "The General will have someone to hang out with in the pub now. A guy, I mean. Besides that hippie guy."

"Well, Max sure needs it," Jael said. "He's been trapped on a spaceship with Space Dog for four months"

~*~

The General stood in his bedroom, lights off, looking out the window at the clear night sky. Things seemed to be getting back to normal again. Emmy was being sweet. Well, sweeter. The miners had stopped carrying Kendra's strike signs around the pitch - although how they found them, nobody was quite sure - and seemed placated by their new, heated tents.

And upon seeing Maximus, they all fell quickly in line for their General. While once his rival, the General had quickly come to respect the Other General for his manner, humor, and tactical skill. Max had taken care of everything out at the mine in a short amount of time and certainly saved the university more unnecessary strife.

The General gazed across the grounds toward Qui-Gon and Dande's cottage. He smiled as he saw the white, twinkling lights outlining the cozy home. Qui-Gon had taken care of everything in providing Dande the perfect holiday décor, right down to the lights wrapped around the fir garland on the gazebo.

The General folded his arms and gazed a moment longer. He sighed a little. Max and Qui-Gon had taken care of everything.

~*~

Shana groaned at the sound of a motor running outside, pulling the pillow over her face. "What time is it," she mumbled, barely coherently and with as much irritation as she could muster. She rolled closer to the center of the bed as she felt Scott move.

"Sevclock," Scott sighed drowsily.

"Mmm," Shana replied, snuggling under the covers.

And then she heard voices outside. Male voices. Multiple male voices. And the motor again.

Shana tried to force her attention back to falling asleep. But her brain kept trying to figure out what was going on.

Then she heard a scratching against the outside wall.

Shana tossed off the covers with a grumble, rolling slowly out of the bed. She put her robe on and cinched the waist tight. Then she wrapped her fingers around the heavy curtain and pulled it back.

"AAAHH!" she yelped, jumping back as she came face to face with a miner.

~*~

"General," the General said to the Other General, pointing to a large map. "Have your men cover the dormitory, the museum, and the music building. Quintus, your men can take the gymnasium, the art building, and the library. Haken, your--"

"YA!"

The General smiled a bit. "Haken, your men can take the coliseum and the garages."

"Ya! Haken do dis for Obeekenobee."

"Good man," Max chuckled, giving Haken a friendly slap on the arm.

"Maximoose!"

"Now," the General said, "my men will cover the Administration Building and the front grounds. I know this is unfamiliar territory for all of us, so if you run into any problems, check with me first."

"Of course, General," Quintus said.

"By your command, General," Max said, with a respectful bow of his head.

"Ya! Haken do dis."

"Very well," the General said, "let's get to work."

~*~

"What the hell is going on?" Kymira asked as the student Ho's met the staff Ho's in the middle of the courtyard, most of them rubbing their eyes and wrapped in robes, coats, and blankets.

Laure yawned. "Well, I think--"

"No, no," the General said, rushing across the front lawn, waving a Martha Stewart Living holiday edition at the hapless miner. "The blue lights go on *that* tree. The purple lights go on *this* tree. The white lights are for the grapevine spheres that go on *that* tree ovah there."

"The General has discovered holiday insanity," Dor said with a huge grin. "That's so sweet."

The Ho's looked on some more as the General ran from his visual testing spot to the giant illuminated plastic Santa and reindeer. Adjusting two of the deer, he ran back to his visual testing spot again. Shaking his head, he ran back and adjusted the sleigh and Santa's arm. He ran back to his visual testing spot. And then he examined the Better Homes and Gardens holiday edition. Tossing the magazine down to the ground, he ran forward and adjusted Rudolph.

"Oh my God, he's so cute," Judy giggled.

"When in the world did he buy all this?" Kendra asked.

"And where?" Julia asked, glancing around at the animated ice skaters twirling round and round on the synthetic ice rink.

"Somebody call Home Depot and see if they have anything left," Ellie laughed.

"This is about the most adorable thing he's ever done," Emmy said, unable to lose the grin on her face.

"No, no," the General said, dashing back over to the hapless miner by the trees. "The menorah goes by the *blue* tree!"

"Oh my God, he even bought a six-foot menorah!" Laure laughed. "Where the hell is that ungrateful Nurse."

"I'm right here," Darry said, peeking out from a large blanket. "And I *almost* feel guilty," she said, barely unable to resist the General hurrying the miner along to get the menorah balanced just so. "Almost."

"Wow, what are you doing out here?" Ellie asked.

"Cic works for Max, you know," Darry shrugged.

"Mastah!" the General shouted excitedly as Qui-Gon unknowingly stepped out of the cottage garden. The General ran back toward the Adminstration Building where miners stood on the ground stringing lights along the first floor windows and doors and in cherry pickers elevating to the second and third floors to reach the windows and roofline.

"THAT'S the guy who was peeping in my window!" Shana yelled, pointing up as one of the miners cowered in his cage.

"Yeah well, I'm sure he needed a little thrill after being hauled out of bed at six a.m. to do this," Kymira said.

"The hedges, Mastah," the General said, marching swiftly toward Qui-Gon. "The hedges need lights!"

"Yes, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said with a chuckle. "You are rather enthusiastic about this."

"We haven't much time," the General said, dashing toward the hedges.

"Obi-Wan, it's only eight--"

"But they'll be awake by ten, Mastah!"

The Ho's suddenly froze in place.

"He hasn't seen us yet," Jen whispered.

"He's too busy being an elf," Judy whispered with a giggle.

"He wants to surprise us," Tara whispered.

"Oh my God, that's so sweet," Dorotea whispered.

"Quick. Everybody," Emmy said. "Inside."

~*~

"Wait, it's not ten, yet," Kendra said, as the Ho's crowded up against the front door of the Adminstration Building, having been dressed and impatient for quite some time.

"Close enough," Ellie said. "C'mon."

"Maybe we should wait until ten o'five," Laure said.

"No!" came the collective response.

"Okay, one two three, go," Emmy said, opening the door as Ho's piled out after her.

"Look surprised," Shana said.

"Wow!" Dorotea exclaimed.

"But subtle," Darry said, through her teeth.

The General's head quickly whipped around. Then he *ran* toward the front door, pushing all the Ho's back inside.

Julia held back a laugh. "General, what's--"

"Good morning, loves," he said, nonchalantly. "Don't want to walk out that door, we're doing some powah washing of the building today. Very messy and wet," he said. "But not wet in a good way."

"Oh," Darry said. "Well, we'll just use the back--"

"No, no," the General said. "I've planned something very special for you."

"Really?" Emmy said with a smile.

"Yes, you're all going shopping!" he exclaimed.

The Ho's looked at each other. "Huh?" they responded.

"Hurry along now," he said, herding them along the long hallway toward the garage. "I arranged for a bus to take you *downtown*," he said with a proud grin.

"That's just the sweetest!" Laure said.

"But I need to get my purse," Shana said, darting up the stairs.

"Me too," Emmy said, following behind Shana.

"And me."

"Me too."

"Be right back."

"I really don't feel like shop-- OW!" Dorotea rubbed her arm where Darry pinched her.

"Back in a flash," Darry said.

~*~

Twenty minutes later, the Ho's reappeared, with purses in hand and new outfits.

"Wait for meeeee," came a Wenchy chirp as Qui-Gon ushered Dande down the hall while she tried to waddle faster.

"Enjoy yourselves!" the General said, waving as they all filed into the largest garage and boarded the custom coach.

"Gosh it's dark in here."

"Oops, sorry!"

"Hey, that's my foot."

"Don't yell at me, I can't see anything."

"I'm not yelling!"

The General smiled as the bus door closed and the garage door opened. Then he turned and *ran* back down the hall and began to move furniture in the lounge.

~*~

"Um, why are the windows black?" Laure asked for the fifth time.

"This is so cool," Dorotea enthused as faint shards of light tried to creep in through the black shades over each window.

"Anybody have a flashlight?" Darry asked. "I can't find my phone."

"Okay, for the last time, WHY are the windows black?" Laure said.

"General's orders!" squeaked Cal.

"CAL??" Judy said.

"What the hell are you doing driving the bus?" Emmy said.

"General said I'd be less obtrusive here," he said. "Whatever that means."

"Oh well, with it this dark, at least we can nap our way to our deaths," Shana said, leaning back in her seat.

~*~

"I'm exhausted," Jael said.

"Do you have to say that every ten minutes?" Emmy said.

Jael grinned. It was good to be home.

"Oooohhhh myyyyy….." Kymira said, the view of campus coming clearly into her window first.

The other Ho's and Wench immediately sat upright at full attention, having nearly forgotten why they had been sent out for the entire day after several hours of power shopping and lunching. They gasped at the first site of the wrought iron gates, sparkling with tiny white lights. As they drove slowly up the driveway, each tree glowed a different color - red, green, gold, silver, purple, blue - their luminescence giving way to the small shimmering ice rink with cherubic figures ice dancing in figure 8's and twirls.

The grrls all laughed at the sweet tacky nostalgia of the illuminated Santa Claus as two animated elves churned out toys.

The menorah glittered next to the blue-lit tree, the trellis just beyond bedecked with purple lights fashioned into bunches of grapes, green lit vines connecting them together and leading toward the hedges of the maze that was perfectly outlined in lights against the night sky.

Cal pulled the bus to a halt several feet from the main buildings, the grrls unable to get a clear view aside from the glow of white lights as they approached head on. They walked quietly but excitedly off the bus, impatient to see it in full view.

Their faces beamed as they stood side-by-side, taking in the vision of the buildings before them. The thousands of white lights accentuating each line and curve of the buildings transformed the entire campus into a palace.

"It's so beautiful," one of them gasped.

"I hope you like it," the General's voice sounded out of nowhere.

The Ho's looked over at his hesitant, hopeful expression.

Their grins widened as they walked over to him.

"It's amazing," Julia said.

The General responded with a heart-stopping smile.

No need for any of them to *act* enraptured.

"But there's more!" he said, excitedly. "Come inside."

They followed where he led, into the Administration Building and to the Lounge, the most perfect noble fir standing in the corner.

"Wow," Ellie said. "That's some tree."

"Are you ready?" the General said.

"Yeah," they all responded.

The General turned his head. "Haken?"

"YA!"

"Now."

The lounge tree suddenly lit up as well, tiny lights hidden in the branches, ornaments seeming to come to life as the lights sparkled against them.

"Yay!" Emmy said as everyone applauded, whistled, and cheered. "Grab the presents!"

"Halt! Haken put da stern on dat treebaum dere!" The beefalow lumbered over to the tree, holding the sparkling dainty star in his large hand. He reached up and placed it securely on the top of the tree, giving everyone a gigantic grin as they applauded him. "Danke, danke!" Haken laughed, pleased as always with the achtung.

"Now," the General said, "let's go light the tree in the dorm!" hurrying outside like a boy with magic to share.

"Right on!" Tara said.

"This is so beyond cool," Kendra said.

"Hurry, hurry," Ellie said, hustling everyone out the door.

"Yeah, let's light that tree and then everyone to the pub for hot toddies!" Judy said.

"Show me the way home, my sistah," Emmy said.

The General chuckled, delighting in the looks on his grrls' faces as they ooh'd and awed at the outdoor decorations once more on their merry way to the dorms.

Everything was all taken care of.