Secret Santa, 2/2 by Sailor GlitterGirl and Rose Aquarius, Christmas, 2001 @~@~_SECRET~SANTA_~@~@ Part Two "Gack! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!" Laxa shrieked her agony as she laid -tired- eyes on her alarm clock on her bedside table. The ominous red numbers glared at her: 10:23 AM. "VERSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Laxa screeched at the top of her lungs, drowning out the christmas music that sang sweetly from her radio. "WHAT WHAT WHAT????" Versia came barging in, apron covered in flour, cookie-dough plastered spatula in hand, brandished like a club as she bashed open the door and stumbled in. Laxa leaped out of bed, stumbling as her feet got caught on the edge of the bedsheet. "ITS TEN THIRTY IN THE MORNING, THATS WHAT!!!!!" Versia lowered her spatula and frowned, hands on hips. "Is that all? I thought there was a youma, or something!" "I'd rather face a youma than Raye!" Laxa snarled as she flung herself into the bathroom and yanked on the shower. "Or did you forget that we agreed to meet them at the cherry hill temple at TEN FOURTY-FIVE???" Versia, to Laxa's rage, simply smirked, and Laxa noticed for the first time that under the apron, Versia was clad in black tights, gold mini-skirt, and the the navy blue, gold edged sweater Eclipse had given her the night before at the Christnas party. On her wrist the gold bracelet with the spiral star charm glittered; she was ready to go. Grumbling incorably, Laxa slammed the bathroom door in Versia's laughing face. She whirled, and jumped into the shower. Laxa yelped and cursed colorfully as she leaped back out; she had forgotten to take her clothes off. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* "I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you-" "Who do you hate?" Raven interrupted as Laxa, arms crossed and her face positively glowering walked into the mainroom of the Cherry Hill Temple, a choking -on laughter, it was apparent- Versia behind her. Without speaking, her silver eyes flashing and bulging, her hand shot out and a rigid straight finger was jammed into Versia's face. "HER!" The silver haired Guardian shrieked. "That...that... just HER!!!" "I didn't do anything, I swear!" Versia laughed as Eclipse took her coat, hat, gloves, and scarf and handed them to Raye, who stuffed them in a closet with a mound of other jackets and stuff. "Exactly!" Laxa grumped, stuffing her own coat and wraps into the same closet. "Okay, what *didn't* she do?" Darien raised an eyebrow. "I was only a nice big sister and let her sleep in!" "Nice? Ha!" Laxa plopped down into a beanbage chair, arms crossed. "She didn't wake me up! She's the reason we're late!" Everyone blinked. "You're...not...late..." Raye said slowly, staring at Laxa. Versia promptly burst out laughing, clutching her sides in mirth. Laxa saw red. Versia looked up and saw her death unless she ran. "Gack!" The raven haired girl shrieked and sped off out the door. "Eclipse!" She screeched. "Save me!!!!!" "IF YOU EVER TOUCH MY CLOCK AGAIN-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Laxa let the sentence hang in the air as her wings sprouted ubruptly in a shower of silver sparkles and she zoomed out the open door, chasing after her still laughing sibling. Raye's eyebrow twitched. Mina blinked. Lita chuckled evilly. Everyone looked at someone else.... And the room promptly filled with laughter, stomping feet, mirthful eyes, and clapping hands. "I never knew Versia had it in her..." Serena giggled, leaning on Darien and wiping away her tears of mirth. "Oh, you're just now starting to see the real her," Eclipse smiled. "In Queen Serenity Tranquility's time, highness, when your mother herself was your age, Versia was always pulling pranks on Laxa. Its only in dark times that she becomes the other Versia." "A split personality?" Amy asked, intrigued. Raven shook his head. "No, a defence mechanism. She freezes when she sees emotional hardship coming, so that it just washes over her, while Laxa puts up a wall of humor to block it." "Sort of like I used to put up a shield of pride to keep anyone from getting close enough to have the ability to hurt me," Raye said quietly. Serena nodded. "I get it..." Furthur discussion was halted as Versia and Laxa, shivering and both wingless, burst inside and slammed the door behind them, both covered in frost and snow. Under the snow and blue lips, however, Versia was definately pouting, and Laxa looked positively smug. "I don't want to know," Raven held up his hands. Laxa grinned. "Good, cause I'm not telling," She said, smirking. Everyone laughed again. "Okay, here's the plan," Raye spoke up, taking charge. "There are three decent malls in decent radiuses of the temple." She rolled out a detailed map, the temple at the center, the three malls ranged out around it. "We'll split into groups of three, one group going to each mall. Once that group is at their mall they split up again in pairs of two, making sure that the other person isn't your elf." She then held out a basket with pieces of paper on it. "Everyone draw a paper; it will determine which mall you'll be stationed at." "She should have been a military sargent," Orion murmured to Mina, who grinned and shook her head as she took a slip of paper. After everyone had gotten a paper and consulted Raye, the priestess called out the results. "Group one," Raye said loudly, "Going to the downtown mall will be: Laxa, Amy, myself, and Darien." She handed yet another map to the group, who -with amused grins- took it and left to go to a corner of a room to plan out who would go where, minimizing the chances of running in to each other. "Group two is: Raven, Lita, Serena, and Orion." Group two took another map of the second mall. "And group three is: Rose, Eclipse, Mina, and Versia." Raye frowned. Something wasn't right... She looked in the basket, and saw that there was one paper left. "We're missing someone." "Lily!" Laxa exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "I wonder where she went?" All thoughts, words, or mussing were interrupted by the insistent ringing of a cell phone. Amy flushed and murmured an apology as she fished out the blue metallic covered cellular phone from her purse and took it into the other room. "She said she was going to be here, didn't she?" Mina asked when Amy had gone. "Not exactly...I guess we sort of assumed..." Eclipse said quietly. "Thats okay, I can just go on my own. That will make things easier," Mina offered, her voice cheery. "No way," Rose said firmly. "Even I know you loathe shopping on your own." "Besides its not nesseccary; we still have even numbers without Lily." Raye told the girl. "Besides, you'd empty your father's bank if one of us isn't there to stop you." Serena said, laughing. "You're one to talk, meatball brains!" Raye retorted hotly in Mina's place. Serena saw red and the two were instantly engaged in a shouting/ razzberry contest. "M-min-minna-chans..." Said a shaky, tearfilled voice, barely audible above Serena and Raye. The two sparring pairs stopped, and all looked over to a shaky Amy in the doorway, clutching her phone so tight her hands where shaking and her knuckles stark white. "Ami!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up and going to her friend's side. "Ami, whats wrong?" Everyone had concerned and/or alarmed expressions. Ami sniffed, blinked, and tears began rolling down her face as she looked down. "N-nothings wrong..." She said quietly, her voice choked. She looked up aburptly, a shinning smile through tears of joy lighting up her face. "My Father's coming home for Christmas!" (AN: For those of you who don't know why this is so important, in the magna, Ami's father walked out on Ami and her mom and never came back. He writes postcards now and then, especially on Ami's birthday, but other than that has had no contact, and it really hurts Ami.) "My daddy's coming home for Christmas..." Ami repeated, tears of happiness in her eyes. "He's on the plane right now, and will be here by tonight! He's already called mom...she's welcoming him back, too! I don't mean to hope, but...but maybe..." She trailed off, her eyes dancing happily. "Oh, this is great!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing Ami in a bear hug. "But how?" "He...he said he'd had a dream...a dream last night about mom and me and what we went through because of him after he left..." Ami sniffed. "He said there was this woman with these gorgeous violet eyes that guided him through the dream." Ami's eyes suddenly widened as Laxa and Versia both drew in a sharp breath. Suddenly, a small tuffet of ice purple fog appeared in the middle of it all, and from the swirling smoke a letter dropped. "Catch 'em both!" Rose cried. (AN: Anyone else have Pokemon hitched siblings? Ugh....) Darien dived and snatched the letters as the smoke disappeared. "Got 'em!" He cried, pulling himself to his feet and flipping the letters open. "One's addressed to you, Ami, and the other to the Guardians." Darien said, his voice slightly puzzled. Amy took her letter, and Raven took the other. "You first, Aims," Serena urged. Ami nodded and opened it. Her eyes immediately widened to the size of saucer plates. Slowly, she began to read aloud. "'Dear Ami, I hope this is sufficient for a christmas gift; I know how much you miss your father, though you hide it well. No, don't look so surprised; I am an empath, after all. No, don't kill Laxa and Versia; I asked them not to tell you. Have a Merry Christmas, Princess Mercury. Your Secret Santa....'" In ornate script at the bottom was the signature 'Lily.' "I should have known..." Serena said softly, looking at the letter. She then looked up to Raven, whom held the second letter. "What about yours?" She asked. Raven handed the letter to a waiting Versia, who opened it and skimmed it, reading it silently to herself. Laxa, Eclipse, Raven, and Rose read over her shoulder. "'Dear Guardians, I am aware that you plan on going back to the Light Kingdom after a period of time on Earth. However, I am loathe to remind you of our deal. Were I not in need, and require your fullfilling our agreement, I wouldn't bother you with the remains of the bargain. But nevertheless, I do need your help. I am not so in need, however, that you must come now. Enjoy your holidays, and once things settle down, I ask as a friend that we begin the second half of our deal. You know where to find me. Best of wishes to you lovebirds, and a Merry Christmas. -Lily'" "What does it say?" Lita asked. Eclipse glanced up, giving her a hesitant look. "It's...personal." Laxa said finally, taking the letter, refolding it and putting it in her pocket. "Its something between us Guardians." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry." "Thats alright!" Serena said brightly. Ami wiped her tears, still smiling. "But we have some serious mall trolling to do if we're to get the gifts and meet back here, wrap em, and exchange em before its time to go home for the rest of christmas with our families!" "Yes, ma'am!" Rose saluted. Everyone laughed. Raye looked at her watch as Mina and Lita handed out the jackets and wraps. "Okay, all, set your watches to go off in three hours, and we'll meet back here at two thirty pm. Agreed?" "Agreed," Laxa ackowledged with a smile. "Now lets boogy!" "Yeah!" Came the collective cheer of agreement, and everyone set out. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* "Why don't you three all go together?" Darien spoke up as the foursome walked up the steps to the mall. "I'd rather my gift be a complete surprise, if you don't mind." Raye began stutturing about her plan for twos, and that he might want help picking it out, but was cleanly cut off by Laxa's chipper agreement. "We'll meet back here in two hours? That gives us half an hour to be back at the temple by two thirty," Amy looked at her watch. "Sounds good to me," The dark haired man grinned as he took off into the busy, bustling mall. "See you girls then!" He waved over his shoulder as the crowed engulfed him, and he began his search. Darien didn't have to look very hard to find his elf's gift. He'd been looking for a way to give that person that specific gift, and now was the perfect opportunity. Entering the store appropropriate for what he wished to buy, he immediately spotted it. "Perfect," He breathed, and signaled the saleswoman. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* "So the boys go that way and us girls go this way, right?" Lita asked. The 'boys' -being Raven and Orion- nodded, as did Serena, rather enthusiastically. "Let's go!" Serena cried, grabbing Lita's arm and pulling her towards the West Wing of the massive mall. "Guess we go that way," Orion laughed. Raven shook his head and turned, heading into the West Wing with his girlfriend's half brother at his side. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* "I'm going with Versia!" Rose claimed her foster mother's hand rather childishly. Eclipse and Versia smiled, Versia breathing a mental sigh of relief. "Guess its you and me, then!" Mina said cheerily, grabbing Eclipse's arm and dragging him into the crowd. "See you later, Rose, Versia!" She called over her shoulder with a wave. "Have fun!" "Okay, you too! Keep her out of trouble Eclipse!" Rose called. Mina was seen in a mock pout, and Eclipse laughing before the christmas bustle engulfed them. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* THREE AND A HALF HOURS LATER.... "We're here!" Lita and Serena called simultaniously as they burst into the temple the second time that day and exactly three o'clock. Raye was glaring daggers, and got up from her seat on the couch. Everyone was sitting around the tree that was in the center of the main room (AN: Not the Fire Room!). "You are soooo in trouble, moon girl!" Raye snarled. "You, too, Lita! What kept you?" Lita and Serena both waved identically, expertly wrapped gifts in gold paper and red ribbons, both apologetic faced. "We won some free gift wrapping tickets, and we thought we should use them, so we got in line-" "And the line was a mile long!" Serena wailed, finishing Lita's sentence. She sniffed and looked at Raye with big blue puppy dog eyes. Laxa and Versia both laughed, remembering how it had been those same blue eyes that had first tipped them off that the clumsy blonde was the Moon Princess. Raye gave in with a sigh and shook her head, smiling. "Fine, lets get started." "YAHOO!" Serena cheered, and dashed to the tree in a blur of golden-turning silver ponytails, and plopped down, gift in her lap. "Okay, everyone," Eclipse announced, standing. "When I say 'go' Raye will give her gift to her elf, then Raye's secret santa will please come forward to give her her gift? And then whoever has Raye's secret Santa as their elf, they come forward, and so on, got it?" "Got it!" "Ready?" "Ready!" Everyone fidgeted with their gift. "Set?" "Set!" "Go!" Raye cleared her throat, and shoved her gift into Darien's hands, ignoring Serena glaring at her as she did so. "Hey, perfect!" Darien cried, tearing off the wrapping paper to see the first volume of a very expensive, very extensive series about time travel, along with a gift certificate for the rest. "Thanks!" Raye was too busy hugging Orion, however, and dodging Mina's dagger glares to respond. In her lap was an open box of a fine silk cermonial robe, exquisitely done, in violet and fire red. "Thanks!" Raye told Orion, whom was her secret santa, smiling. "H-here..." Mina said shyly, handing Orion her gift. Orion grinned excitedly, and opened it quickly, revealing a rectangle made out of silver metal poles mounted on a black dias. Hanging from the top rod of the silver rectangle were three thick wires. On the end of each wire was a swirling jade and silver metal sphere. Orion lifted one of the spheres and then dropped it. The sphere on the opposite side, instead of the middle one, bounced up and then came back down to bang into the middle one. The first sphere popped out to the side, then came back down. "Wow!" Orion exclaimed. "These are neat! Always wanted one!" Mina flushed, then grinned as she turned when Lita tapped her on the shoulder. "Merry Christmas!" The brunette grinned. Mina shrieked and grabbed the gift that was held out to her, unwrapping it hastily, then shrieking again in delight. "Cool!" The blonde cried, pulling out a stuffed plush Sailor Venus doll. In the box along with it was another box from which a heavenly aroma drifted. "Yeah! Snowball cookies! My favorite!" Mina cried, hugging Lita. "My turn," Rose grinned, tossing her gift to Lita, who caught it expertly. Puzzled, the Jupiter princess opened it cautiously, then her face lit up in delight as a black ball zoomed out of the box, and hovered over her head. But when she reached up to grab it... "Gack!" Serena cried as it came zipping towards her. "Pinapple!" Rose yelled at it. Suddenly the ball stopped its mad dash and fell to the ground and bounced once, then stayed. "Pinapple?" Lita asked, picking up the ball and putting it back in the box. She also put back the bat and odd looking glove as well as a sort of remote she had pulled out. Rose shrugged with a grin. "I bought all that stuff seperately, then magicked the ball and Orion helped me program the remote. Its a game/training set. You release the ball and turn it on by saying 'apple-'" The box suddenly began jostling again, and everyone laughed. "Pineapple!" Lita said sternly, and it stopped. Lita smiled. "I think I get it. And I have to catch it either freehand, with the mit, or try to hit it with the bat, right?" "Right," Rose nodded. "And the remote is if you want someone to guide it, otherwise the spell does it." "Neat! Can I play, sometime?" Serena asked enthusiastically. Everyone began vying for turns before Laxa laughed and stood up, a small package in hand. "We can all get dibs later, but now its my turn," Was all the silver haired girl said as she handed Rose her gift. Rose grinned, and took it, opening it happily. "Oh, whoa..." The girl breathed as she pulled out an intricate necklace. Dangling from a golden chain was a pale peach rose, her favorite color, and her signature color. But what was really amazing was that the rose was on an intricate jade lace background that made Rose smile as she recognized the specific symbol. "Thanks..." Rose whispered to her foster aunt, tears in her eyes. Laxa and Versia both grinned, each laying a hand on Rose's shoulder. "You're welcome, Rose," Laxa said, smiling. "Next!" Rose called, laughing, bringing back the happy atmosphere. Everyone grinned, and Raven stepped forward. Laxa blinked in surprise as Raven handed her the oddly shaped package. Unwrapping it, Laxa found a book of Japanese and English. "So you can learn the language instead of relying on these," Raven grinned, flicking the silver and pearl earring in her ear that hadn't left her earlobes since she first put them on, hers and Verisa's first day on Earth. On her throat was the choker, still, as well. Flushing, Laxa turned back to the third wrapped package within the original. Curious, she opened it and laughed in delight as she saw an intricate white jade hair comb/hair set, complete with a white jade backed mirror with silver inlays. "Perfect!" She cried, and hugged him tight. "MY TURN!" Serena grinned, trying desperately not to bounce. She leaped up, and thrust her own brightly wrapped gift into Raven's arm with a big grin. "Merry Christmas, Raven!" Raven blinked in surprise as he took hold of the gift and sat on the couch, untying the ribbon on the long, angular package as he did so. "Hey, cool!" He exclaimed, lifting a shimmering sword of earth alloys; steel, and a hilt made of a silver raven. The flared wings formed the hilt guards, and gold topazes glittered in its eyes. "I noticed your sword was only made of sun steel, so I thought this could be a little momento of your stay on Earth if you ever leave." Serena smiled brightly, and Raven thanked her warmly. "Merry Christmas, Sere," Darien slinked his arms around Serena from behind and placed a small box in her hands. She blushed slightly, grinned, and opened the box. A gasp that echoed rang out from her lips as the ribbon and paper fell away and the lid of the box was removed. Her face alight with awe, she gently lifted out the golden, five point star with the rounded edges. It was large, the size of a three year old's fist, and in the center of the star was a lid covering engraved with a crescent moon in a crystal. Lifting the lid, a sweet melody played, and Serena sniffed as she whirled around and hugged Darien tight. Laxa and Versia exchanged looks even they knew the signifigence of that locket, even if it was a new one. "Okay, I'll go next," Versia stood and sat in Eclipse's lap, impish grin on her face. "Merry Christmas!" She chirped, and handed him a bulky package. Unwrapping it, something silky, almost liquid flowed out of the torn wrapping paper and pooled onto his lap. As Eclipse lifted it up, mild surprise written on his face, he grinned. "An invisibility cloak!" Rose cried, grinning. "For those times when you can't use your powers," Versia explained. "When you don't want to risk detection. Plus it just looks really cool. And you can turn it into a coat, too, instead of a cloak." "Perfect!" Eclipse grinned, and kissed her lightly. "Merry Christmas, Versia," Amy said, smiling gently as she handed the girl her gift. Versia laughed as she opened it. Amy, too, had given her Japanese and English translation books. But along with it was a certificate for five free swimming lessons. "I remembered a while back you mentioned in passing that you'd never really learned to swim, but you'd like to learn," Amy explained. "So here you are." "Aims, this is great!" Versia exclaimed. She grinned wider as she suddenly looked at Laxa. "What?" Laxa asked, seeing the look. Suddenly, through their telepathic link, Laxa understood without words what her sister was thinking of. "What is it?" Serena asked. "Highness, on the day that the Negaverse attacked the Moon Kingdom, the reason we weren't there to stop them like we were supposed to was because we had decided to take a 'vacation' just once in our thousand years of banishment." She shook her head. "On all the days to do so..." "God works in mysterious ways," Raven murmured. "Amen to that!" Laxa laughed. "I'm just glad everything worked out okay in the end." "Here here!" Lita laughed. Music suddenly filled the room as Raye flicked on the stereo, and upbeat, lifting music sang from the speakers. Raye left, and returned momentarily with a stack of glasses, a bottle of eggnog under her arm, and a plate of cookies and sweetbreads. Grinning, Laxa and Versia both waved their arms. In the corner of the room, a small baby grand piano appeared, and Laxa now held an elegent silver flute. Their music began mingling with the stereo's music, as laughter and chit chat insued, no worries over youmas or dark forces, or the coming of global freezings. It was Christmas. It was the Holidays. All was right. During a break in the song, Versia looked out the window, up at the moon, and smiled. All may have been right, but it was all far from over. But for now, she decided, it was simply Christmas, a time to enjoy one's friends company, and give thanks for the greatest gift man had ever recieved. Christmas truely was a time for love. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* The majestic figure swathed in floating, transparent amethyst silk floated just above a pillar on the illuminated full moon among the remains of the hidden Silver Millennium. One are was folded across her bellow, the other cupping her cheek, the eblow restin on a knee that was cross over the other. Long, silken wavy aubrun hair floated freely about her like a mist. Twinkling violet eyes watched the images in a hovering metallic orb just before her. "Merry Christmas, Senshi of Earth," Lily whispered. "And you, too, Guardians of the Cosmos. I await your visit in my domain so we may finish our bargain." The orb dissappeared, and the woman stood, still floating the air. She began shimmering the same sparkling color as her eyes, becoming transparent as she began transporting herself home. She smiled down at the lovely blue planet. "But for now, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas." The End. Rose-chan and Sailor GlitterGirl: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Rose-chan: *waves* and a Happy New Year! GlitterGirl: Ja ne, minna-chans!