Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker

Chapter 9: Uncle and Nephew

"Godfather!" "Gakupo!"

He'd barely set foot in the house before he heard two sets of small footsteps charging towards him. The little girl with her pigtails leapt eagerly into his arms and he laughed as he held her up and twirled her around. "Well hello there, Miku! Merry Christmas!"

As he set her down, he wondered if she'd be too tall for that in another year. Her brother already was.

She was bouncing up and down with wild excitement. "Godfather, can I open a present early, please please please?!"

He scoldingly shook his index finger. "If your parents are okay with it."

The older gentleman with the black, bushy mustache smiled as he looked to his wife. "Just one," she said, "So choose wisely."

Once he set his presents out in front of the tree, Miku tore open a small package with a gold bow. "AH! Gakupo, it's a ballerina! A pretty ballerina! And she even has wings!"

She wound the ballerina and watched mesmerized as it began its graceful dance across the floor, its legs and arms taking each of the basic positions with perfect precision. The ballerina wore a glittering white gown, her pink hair pinned into a tight bun with a little silver tiara in her hair.

"Gakupo, thanks for the soldiers!" Mikuo said as he laid out a small string of them, "These are Hussars, right?"

As he watched the children playing, memories of the last time he raised a child played through his mind. Over the years, they'd ceased to be painful memories – they served as strong reminders of why he was still wandering. But only because he had absolute faith in the person who'd set him upon this path in the first place.

"So Gakupo, the last time you were here, you said you had a business venture in the Orient?"

Gakupo turned to the children's mother. "Indeed, I'd heard of some most unusual toys constructed out there. They called them 'karakuri puppets.' Their methods of concealing the mechanical instruments were impressive. Why some people even had them serving tea! I might like to try something like that!"

"My, the next time you make a venture like that, you should bring some of them back for the children," their father said, "They'd do well to have some exposure to the wider world."

He grinned. "Even if it's through more toys!"

The toymaker turned his attention to the children again. His relationship to them had been entirely out of accident – he met their parents when he was trying to start up business ventures in his old world again. A common military background between the three of them led to some much needed investment capital... and soon the toys began to flow. He couldn't make the same kinds of marvels in this world that he could when he had magic... but they still tended to be impressive enough.

And they paid for him to continue his endless search.

Miku practically leapt into the toymaker's lap. "Gakupo, Gakupo, tell me about the ballerina! Tell me ALL about her!"

He hugged Miku close. "Once upon a time, there was a faerie who lived in the stars. In spite of having the entirety of the heavens surrounding her, she always felt alone. She became enchanted by watching the ballerinas in the theaters on earth and studied them close. She began to dance, for the stars alone, practicing every day until she could perform as well as the most perfectly trained dancer. And she fell from the sky again, returning to the earth and joining the dance troupe as one of them. Every night when she took the stage and she heard the sounds of applause as she glided across the stage, she finally felt herself at peace."