Secret Santa
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[I'm Dreaming of a Bland Christmas]
By: Dan
Note: Takes place two months before the war starts, so basically it's December (dur).
Each year in December, the PLANTs were gussied up for the holiday season. All on the main shopping districts, snow machines mounted on the roofs showered the pedestrians down below, putting a smile on most everyone's face. Everyone, except one adolescent by the name of Yzak Jule. On this particular day, it was none too different. He kicked the snow in front of him as if to teach all the other harmless flakes of snow to stay away from him. Walking next to him is his closest friend Dearka Elthman, who whistled as he walked along and didn't seem too concerned about his partner's attitude. He'd seen every degree of Yzak's wrath before, so it was just another day for him. Reguardless, he felt like he should break the ice a bit.
"So what are you getting your mom for Christmas?", he asked.
"The hell if I know", Yzak responded sharply as he kicked harder into the snow.
"Alright, I'll bite. Tell me what the deal is. Are you mad at Santa for not getting you that pony all those years ago?", Dearka teased.
"NO", Yzak snapped back, "...and it was a board game I wanted..but that's not what bothers me."
"Oh?"
"It's just annoying to see everyone with a pompous smile on their faces. It's like they're wearing a stupid mask for all day for an entire month! It just bothers me."
"That's it?" Dearka laughed. "And you just assume they're not just genuinely happy?"
"How could they be? If things don't go right we'll be going to war soon. And then what? Are they going to keep those stupid smiles on their faces too next year when the Naturals come marching in trying to take control?"
"...You can't be serious." he rubbed his forehead. "You can't be so grim all the time, it's not healthy. That's why everyone else is the way they are right now."
"Well someone needs to be concerned about these things or everything we've worked for will have all been for nothing and we'll lose our fight for autonomy."
"Yes, and those people are called *Council Members*."
Yzak turned around and Dearka instantly knew he pressed too far.
"It's THAT kind of talk that causes an ignorant society."
Dearka waved his hands a bit, "Alright, alright, sorry."
Soon they were at the Jule household. Yzak hung his coat up and Dearka made himself at home on their couch and flipped on the TV.
"As we approach the January 1st deadline, the Supreme Council has yet to hear any response from the Earth officia-.." Dearka cut off the news anchor and flipped the channel as he saw Yzak's face fill with anger and frustration.
"Hey uhh..I'm kinda thirsty so I'm going to get something from your fridge. Do you want anything?" he asked.
By the time he finished his sentence, Yzak was already half way to his room. Dearka shrugged and made his way into the kitchen. As he walked, he noticed that the inside of house had absolutely no decorations or any hint that it was a holiday season at all. He opened the fridge door and saw a calendar laying on the counter. The calendar was blank, sans for a few random circled days. He then realized these were the only days that Ezaria would be free from her busy council duties. Even so, the previous two free days were crossed out with a little sorry note, presumably because she couldn't take any break from her council duties. She also had to travel a bit for diplomatic reasons, and thus as of late she has yet to spend much time with Yzak. This thought stayed with Dearka as he gathered his belongings and headed for home.
Yzak awoke on Christmas morning, and rather than getting up he stayed lying in bed. His mother was at work and everyone else was busy spending time with their families. He then became startled as he heard some rustling coming from the family room. A bit shaken, he slowly got up and crept to the door, slowly opening it to see if he could find and intruder. Not seeing anything, he went down the hallway with his back to the wall slowly and he leaned out to look over the corner. In what seemed like an eternity, Yzak saw a man in completely black outfit waiting there with a handgun pointed directly at him. The last thing Yzak heard was a bang followed by cold darkness.
Yzak sat up in his bed in a cold sweat and screaming, and he was immediately surrounded by Dearka and Ezaria. He panted as he clenched on to his blanket, and it took him a minute to realize his mom and Dearka were in the same room with him.
"Shhhh", she shushed him and rubbed his back trying to calm him down.
"M-mom...what are you doing here?" he stared in awe at his mother, "Your calendar said you were supposed to be working today."
"I was" she said warmly, "but it pays to have friends during the holidays it seems."
Dearka stepped in to the conversation, "I talked to my dad and he arranged to take some of the work off your mom's back so she could get a free day off and spend some time with you."
Yzak had a look of awe on his face as Ezaria patted his head.
"Me and Dearka were just setting up the Christmas tree in the living room right now before you woke up from your nightmare."
Dearka tried to hold back his laughter, and Yzak shot a glare at him.
"And I believe Santa left a few special gifts for you under the tree! Let's get up and take a look."
She helped Yzak out of bed and the three made their way down the living room. This time when Yzak turned the corner, rather than a gun-toting intruder, he saw a beautifully decorated tree with pretty lights. For that moment in time, Yzak felt like a kid again.
"Let's see..." Ezaria knelt down next to some gifts, "Here we are. This one's from Dearka!"
Yzak took the present and sat down as he began to strip the paper off.
Ezaria halted him, "Shouldn't you say thank you first?"
Yzak paused for a moment, "Thank you, Dearka" he said with a somewhat forced smile.
"No problem buddy!" Dearka went over and put his hand on Yzak's shoulder as he tore the paper off, and Yzak was suprised to say the least.
"...It's a chess board."
