The Mission

Chapter 19

I hesitantly grabbed the fragile decoration by the string and walked to the tree. I stranded it onto a branch the stepped away. This felt like my last Christmas. The lights were skipping around as it shone through the stained glass ball. "It's exactly like my last Christmas." I murmured to myself.

We continued to decorate the tree with the ornaments until there wasn't any left in the box. The tree was adorned in the stained glass and the light reflections scattered the floor.

"I'm tired." Rheanna and Sierra yawned before going to bed.

Mitch was cuddling with Jerome and Ty was snuggled into Sky. I turned towards Mitch. "What was Christmas like growing up?"

He sighed. "We didn't celebrate it." Mitch mumbled. "We treated it like any other day. Wake up, eat breakfast, hunt, practice fighting, and have a special dinner. No tree, no presents, nothing. This is the first Christmas ill remember."

Jerome sat him up. "Really?"

"Yeah. One time though, Rheanna and I planted a tree and decorated it. We considered it a Christmas tree." Mitch smiled.

Jerome thought for a second. "Was the tree a small jungle tree with balls of wool hung on it?" Mitch nodded. "I saw that tree." Jerome grinned.

Sky and Ty yawned. "We're going to bed. See you in the morning." They waved and went to bed.

I yawned too. "I'm going to bed too." I informed. "G'night." I walked to my room and crawled into bed. I fell asleep in what felt like a few seconds.

*Mitch's POV

I snuggled myself into Jerome. "Have you really never had a Christmas?" He asked. I nodded, not wanting to talk much. I was tired.

I yawned. "Yeah." Silence. Might as well tell him what Rheana told me. "Rheanna said that she, Sierra, and Maddie are going to the Sorcerer village for Christmas and that we should stay home."

Jerome nodded. "Ok. Maybe they'll learn magic and then they can teach us."

"I'm tired." I whispered, snuggling deeper into Jerome. The warmth of his body was relaxing in the cold.

Jerome leaned to my ear. "Want to go to bed then?" He whispered.

I nodded and he lifted me up bridal style. I got surprised my the sudden action and clutched Jerome's jacket. I felt his quietly laugh and hug me closer. "I love you." He murmured.

"I love you too."

*Next day

Waking up, the sudden cold made me shiver. I smelt bread being baked and meat being cooked. Jerome wasn't next to me so I was guessing he was the one cooking.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen where I found the girls cooking. "G'morning." Maddie, who was waiting for some bread to cook, greeted.

I waved. "Do you guys know where Jerome is?"

"Hunting." Sierra replied. "We were running low on fish."

I nodded and walked back to my room. I slipped on a warmer jacket and a pair of snow boots before heading out in the cold. The snow was at least a foot deep and it was still flaking down. I followed a faint set of footprints and looked across the trees, noticing that there was less snow in certain ones. I followed the one's with less snow until I came across the clearing where my home village used to stand. I saw Jerome, coated in black ashes, rummaging through the ashy snow where my house used to be.

"Jerome?" I spoke,startling him.

Jerome looked towards me. "Mitch? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to help you hunt. What are you doing?" I truthfully answered.

Jerome sighed and looked down at the black snow. "Trying to find you a Christmas present." He whispered.

I walked over to him and lifted his head. Looking into his eyes, I said, "As long as I have you, I don't need anything." I pecked his lips and when I pulled away, Jerome pouted. I giggled. "Don't pout."

Jerome blushed from the cold. "I didn't want the kiss to end though."

I pulled away and grabbed Jerome's hand. "Let's go home. The girls are cooking food."

We started walking towards the house. Instead of jumping through trees, Jerome walked next to me, holding my hand. "How did you know where I was?" He asked.

I pointed at our footprints behind us. "I followed your tracks."

"But I was in the trees." He countered.

"When you jump in a tree, the snow flies off. It's noticeable when certain branches don't have as much snow as the ones surrounding it." I explained. The closer we got home, the more we could smell food.

"How much food are they making?" Jerome asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. We'll see." I opened the door and stepped in, immediately amazed at the amount of food on the table. Cookies, meats, fruits, bread: everything was cluttering the small dining table. "Why so much food?" I asked the girls in shock.

They all looked at each other. "Christmas." They replied.

"I thought you were going to the Sorcerer village for Christmas." Jerome spoke.

Rheanna snuck a piece of bread from the table and started eating it before talking. "We still are. We made the dinner for you guys. By the way, Sky and Ty went to the lake. I don't know why. They didn't bring fishing poles with them so I'm guessing they're just relaxing."

At the same time she said that, Sky walked through the door, carrying a sleeping Ty. "Hey." He greeted before turning down the hall and entering his room.

In a span of 5 minutes, everyone yawned and went to bed. Outside, the sky was already dark from the shortened days. The short days has already taken a toll on everyone's sleep schedule.

Mitch and I were laying in bed, cuddling together. I leaned into his ear and whispered, "Merry Christmas Eve" before softly pecking his lips and falling asleep.

*Maddie's POV

*6 hours later

I knew I had to work quietly and quickly. I stuffed the chains in the pockets of my jacket and snuck out of my bedroom. I grabbed two chairs from the dining room and set up the two chosen rooms. When I heard someone wake up, I quickly ducked into the shadows. Ty walked out of his bedroom and tiredly stumbled towards the kitchen. I snuck behind him and splashed a sleeping potion. He started falling as he fell asleep, but I caught him. After I dragged him to my room and sat him on the chair, I chained him to it. I heard another person wake up and I looked into the hallway. Mitch was looking out his bedroom door towards the kitchen. Acting quickly, I threw a potion at him and he instantly fell to the floor. I pulled him across the ball into his old room and chained him in the chair like I did to Ty.

Seeing as there was a couple of hours until the everyone else would wake up, I rested on the couch in the living room. I remembered the boxed keys on my dresser in my bedroom and the notes next to it. "Might as well put them under the tree." I mumbled to myself. I tiptoed to my bedroom and silently grabbed the boxes and notes before quietly running back to the living room. I put the notes on the boxes, placed the boxes under the tree, and went back to sleep.