The Eighth Sin Of Chaos and Mystery

Christmas Special: A Special Christmas For You, Tsubaki!!!

3rd person's pov

With Christmas coming up, Tsubaki had grown more and more sullen than she ever was. Christmas was one of her favorite holidays, but with the death of her parents, Christmas had lost all of its charm and magic to it. Kira and Tsunoi had always made Christmas so magical for the three siblings and this year, everything was so different. It wasn't the first Christmas to go by since their death, but it didn't make anything any easier. The three siblings had all been reunited, only to fight one another and then all three banded together with the rest of the sins and others to fend of their Uncle Hendrickson, the only living relative left. Both Toshio and Tsuyu had been living together in the Capitol, both working to make sure everything was alright after the fight with Hendrickson and Dreyfus. It was King who had first noticed the change in Tsubaki's attitude, as she had started to argue and pick more fights with him. The next to notice was Ban, Tsubaki had always loved Ban's cooking but as of late, she would not eat as much or not eat at all. The third to finally notice all of this was Meliodas, especially because she had become so closed off. Everyone was currently outside enjoying the fire as it had grown a bit colder, so they all were trying to warm up. Merlin had shrunk Diane to a smaller size so that she could enjoy the fire with the others, she was sitting beside Elizabeth in front of the fire. "Has anyone else noticed how a lot more sullen and quiet Tsubaki has become or is it just me?" King asked, looking away from the fire, his eyes shifting to the upstairs bedroom window. After eating small portions of food, Tsubaki had excused herself and headed back into the room. "I've noticed it too, you're not the only one." Meliodas shook his head, as his eyes stayed on the fire. "I don't get it... She wasn't like this before during December before." Diane said, her eyes looking to King and Ban for comfort. Gilthunder, Howzer, and Griamor all could feel the tension that came from Tsubaki. 

"I think I know why she's so sad," Howzer spoke up, making eyes turn to him.

"What is it, Howzer?" Merlin asked.

"Her parents.." He said, lifting his eyes to look at everyone sitting in the circle. Both Ban and Meliodas let out a sigh, while Griamor and Gilthunder let their gaze fall to the floor as they had felt sad for her. All three of them had grown up around Kira and Tsunoi, those two acted like parents for the entire group even though they all had their own. "Kira and Tsunoi always made Christmas very special and magical for Tsubaki, Toshio, and Tsuyu which is why Christmas is her favorite time of the year. Kira would go all out in decorations and Tsunoi always made sure to get the tree and decorate it with the three of them. They made Christmas magical for Tsubaki... She was their youngest child.. Even for a while, she believed in Santa Claus." Meliodas smiled, remembering the time when Tsubaki had asked him about the man in the red suit.

"Tsubaki believed in Santa Claus?!!" Ban shouted, spitting out his drink as he looked to Meliodas.

"Yeah, she did." Howzer chuckled lightly at a fond memory, while Gilthunder and Griamor smiled. "She would get so excited and drag Gil, Howzer and I around the entire town." Griamor explained, a smile still on his face. 

"This isn't the first Christmas she was like this.." Meliodas sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"What do you mean Captain?" Merlin asked, looking over to him. 

"This has happened a couple of times before. It's just been a while since I've seen her like this. The first time this happened was actually just after we all had separated. Tsubaki was extremely terrified of what was going on, since she had no clue what really happened. At the time, I couldn't bring myself to tell her about what had happened to Zaratras. She loved him, he was a second father figure to her. She would have been even worse if I had boldly told her." He started, sighing heavily. "Wait... You mean to tell me, little Tsu had no idea why the group split up in the first place?" Ban looked over at Meliodas, who shook his head. "No, she didn't. She hated the fact that we all had suddenly split up and wouldn't stop asking me about the reason... I held out on telling her until I knew that she could handle it. That first Christmas.. She wouldn't come out of the room, she didn't eat, she barely slept and she didn't cry. Then one night, she came to me in tears. She cried the whole night, talking about she missed them. At first, I didn't catch onto what she meant until I remembered that she lost Tsunoi and Kira. The last time was about three years ago... She didn't even come out of the room.. She didn't talk either. This time...This time might be worse." He explained, looking up at the bedroom window.