Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Yui's Christmas Wish ❯ Chapter 5

Christmas morning brought a bright sunrise and peaceful winter breezes. Still not quite awake, Yui tightened her grip on the bedsheet. Then she remembered. Yuiren was not there. She had returned late last night, just as Taishukan said she would. And as grateful as Yui was for the time spent with her, she couldn't help but have a sad and sinking feeling in her heart. Here it was, Christmas Day, and she was alone.

Yui at last relented and opened her eyes to greet the day. Only the day was not the first thing she saw. A pair of brown eyes and a friendly smile greeted her as she woke up. Yui almost jumped out of bed in shock.

"Tetsuya!" she exclaimed.

"Merry Christmas, Yui!" he said, throwing his arms around her and squeezing tightly. "Sorry I took so long. I came in late last night, but Miaka said you were asleep, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"Uh-huh," Yui nodded, blushing a bit and pulling the covers up to her chest. "Tetsuya... how long were you in my room?"

"Just a minute," he said. "I thought I should let you sleep, but Miaka insisted that wanted to open the Christmas presents now, so she said I should wake you up..." He glanced back at her. "How long did you think I was in here?"

"Nothing, I just..."

But before Yui could answer, the door suddenly flew open, hitting Tetsuya hard on the head as it did. "Yui!" Miaka called as she peered into the room. "Oh, good, you're awake! Come on! Come on! It's Christmas! Time to open presents!" Miaka looked down at the floor. "Tetsuya, this is no time to take a nap," she informed him and hurried out of the room.

While Tetsuya sat up rubbing his head, Yui slipped into her robe and slippers. "Let's go," she said, taking Tetsuya's arm. "We definitely don't want Miaka to be waiting."

Tetsuya and Yui walked out to see the Christmas tree stocked with presents of all shapes and sizes beneath it. While her mother and Keisuke were sitting calmly, Miaka was bouncing up and down like a little kid waiting to open her gifts. The second Yui and Tetsuya were seated, Miaka reached underneath the tree, pulling out a armful of gifts.

"Let's see..." she said, making her way around the room. "Keisuke, this one is yours, and this is Mom's..." She handed two of the gifts off to their respective owners. "This one is mine," she said gleefully, glancing at the next label. "And these two are for Yui and Tetsuya."

Yui took her gift and looked it over. The package was a little heavy, and the wrapping job... well, it was a rather rough around the edges to say the least.

"Uh, that one's from me," Tetsuya said, sweatdropping.

Yui smiled and gently unwrapped the present. The paper revealed a blue box adorned with pictures of white snowflakes, still impossible to tell what the actual gift was. Using her fingernail, Yui broke the tape keeping the box shut and finally opened it up. Inside was a snowglobe.

"Oh, Tetsuya!" she exclaimed, holding it up. The glass globe housed a figurine of an angel, holding up a star towards the sky. Yui shook the snowglobe gently and watching the white flakes circle around. "Tetsuya, it's beautiful!" she said, hugging him. "Thank you."

"I thought it was you," Tetsuya answered, kicking sheepishly at the floor.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" Keisuke cheered. Tetsuya turned bright red, but Yui only leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Keisuke started hooting like some kind of hyperactive owl.

"Yeah, now THAT's some Christmas cheer!"

"Will you stop it!" Miaka said, bashing her brother in the arm. "Geez, guys are so immature!" She then went back to unwrapping her gifts. "Oh... this is that dress I picked out at the mall... awesome! Thanks!"

While everyone made their way through the truckload of gifts, Yui came to one that for some reason had no label on it.

"Who's this from?" she asked.

"Oh, that," said Miaka. "That was from Yuiren. I wrapped it for her last night."

"Oh," Yui answered sadly as she undid the wrapping. The gift was flat, and the unveiling of the paper showed it to be a crayon drawing, mounted on a piece of white cardboard. The drawing was of a young woman with short light brown hair and a smaller girl with the same hair, only done up in pigtails. On the paper, written somewhat childishly, were the words, "For Mama." It was Yuiren's gift to her mother.

"It's lovely," Yui whispered, running her fingers over the paper. Then she felt something. There was some other object underneath the picture. Yui lifted it up to find the storybook she had read to Yuiren the night before: The First Christmas.

"Miaka, isn't this yours?" she asked, holding the book up.

"You keep it," said Miaka with a smile. "So this way you can read it every Christmas and remember. Maybe even someday you'll get to read it to Yuiren again." Yui was dumbfounded.

"I don't know what to say..." she admitted, placing the book and drawing on the floor at her feet. "Thank you, Miaka. But I feel badly. I didn't get to give Yuiren a Christmas gift before she left." Miaka walked over to her friend.

"You spent the time with her, that was all that she wanted," Miaka said. Yui thought over that for a moment. That's right, she remembered. Yuiren's Christmas wish was for her to be happy. It was not a time to sulk and worry about things that could have been. It was Christmas morning, a time to share with loved ones and friends. That's what mattered. With Tetsuya, and Miaka, and her family all with her, Yui found it hard to convince herself she was alone. Even harder when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Miaka exclaimed, jumping up. "I'll bet it's Taka! He said he'd drop by this morning..." As Miaka hurdled over the piles of gifts and torn wrapping paper, she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open as hard and quickly as she could. Only it wasn't Taka waiting on the other side.

"Uh, Yui..." Miaka said, trying to hide her disappointment under a little pout. "It's for you."

"Me?" Yui questioned as she stood up to see who on earth could be visiting her now. She carefully made her way around the obstacle course on the floor, and when she finally reached the doorway, she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Mom! Dad! You're back!" Yui exclaimed. Her two parents nodded and stepped into the house. Her mother greeted her with a warm embrace as her father patted her on the shoulders. "But I thought you two were gone for the holidays!" Yui said, almost in tears of joy as she held her mother tightly.

"We talked it over with the staff," her mother said. "And the meeting's postponed until next week. None of us really wants to leave our families alone on Christmas."

"Yeah," Yui agreed. "Thank you, Mom. Dad. You don't know how much it means for you guys to be here."

"Speak for yourself..." Miaka muttered in disappointment. "Where on earth is Taka?" As if on cue, the doorbell rang again. Miaka glanced out the window.

"Taka!" she yelled, this time not only throwing the door open but also taking a running leap out of it and right into Taka's arms. Unfortunately, Taka wasn't quite prepared for his girlfriend to coming flying out the door at him, so he somewhat lost his balance and fell backward into the snow. Miaka only laughed and smothered him with kisses and the two of them lay giggling in the cold white powder.

"Taka, you're here! You're here! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Miaka," Taka said as he sat up. "Now come on, let's get inside, shall we?"

The gifts opened, everyone in the family sat down to hot cocoa in front of the warmth of the fireplace. Yui smiled as she sat snuggly between her boyfriend and her loving parents. Miaka and her love were cuddling closely, while Keisuke and his mother looked on. Yes, there were all family to Yui. She held each person so deeply treasured in heart. In her hands, Yui clutched the drawing and ornament, the one that "made the house smell nice," those gifts which Yuiren had made for her. And of course, the storybook. Even though it saddened Yui to be apart from her daughter, the girl felt a new calm inside of her. It wasn't like the first time Yuiren left. Somehow now, Yui felt the small girl's presence in her and in everyone she called family. This was Christmas the way it was meant to be spent, she told herself. And it was a most joyous day she would never forget.

The End!