Metanoia - A journey of changing one's heart, mind, or way of life.
Emalyn Gilbert never knew what her purpose was, all she knew was that someday she would find it. A journey full of doppelgangers, vampires, witches, and death was not what she had i...
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Lyn placed a red and gold ornament on the tree and smiled at her masterpiece. She looked happily at the way the lights shimmered off the metallic sheen of the ornaments. Moving back to the couch, Lyn pulled the shimmering ribbon from the spool and neatly tied it in a bow around the gift on the sofa. She repeated the process several times with a few other gifts before she had finished. As she was placing the gifts strategically around the base of the tree, a voice came from behind.
"You are not seriously wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve." Lyn turned around to face her brother. He was biting into one of the pre-frosted Christmas cookies Jenna had made. While Jenna had absolutely no cooking skills whatsoever, their grandmother had taught both Jenna and Miranda how to bake Christmas cookies that the three of them would make each year.
"Yes, I am. Because if I didn't, you would've found some way to get your greedy little hands on them."
"Rude," He scoffed, tossing a pillow in her direction.
"I think you mean accurate," Lyn corrected, dodging the pillow. Lyn placed the final present under the tree and stepped back to admire the scene. "Perfect." She turned to her little brother with a smile. "Now, where are the cookies?" Jeremy grinned up at her.
"Cooling on the stove." Lyn squealed a bit and rushed into the kitchen. Licking her lips, Lyn laid her eyes on the cookies on the tray. Jenna looked up from where she was piping the gel frosting onto the cookies and smiled happily at her niece.
"I don't think I've seen you this happy about food in a while." She commented.
"Well, that's because this time, I'm not the one doing the cooking," Lyn responded. Jenna giggled a bit and handed her the first of the cookies to be frosted. "For me?" Lyn's eyes widened with joy.
"You've earned it this year." Lyn was only too happy to accept it and took the cookie into her hands before biting into it. She moaned quietly in pleasure at the delicious taste of nostalgia and Christmas that overtook her taste buds.
Elena rushed into the kitchen, fully decked out in her holiday pajamas, and raced towards her sister and aunt. "Yes! Cookies!" She cheered as Jenna handed her one. Jenna placed all the cookies onto a serving plate and brought them out into the living room, where Jeremy had put on Home Alone. He reached his hand out for one of the now frosted cookies, but Jenna smacked it away.
"Those are not for you." She told him.
"Yeah," Lyn added. "They're for Santa." She said proudly.
"You know that there's no such thing as San-"
"LA LA LA LA LA," Lyn began chanting while covering her ears. Jeremy grinned mischievously and rose from his seat on the couch. He then began chasing his sister around the house, saying over and over again that Santa wasn't real as Lyn continued to chant in an attempt to drown him out.
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For the first time in what felt like forever, Lyn had a full, nightmare less, night of sleep. She maintained that it was a Christmas miracle. Lyn awoke, bundled in her blankets, and looked outside her window. Ivory-white snow fluttered down from the sky, turning the whole of Mystic Falls into a winter wonderland.
Humming with pleasure, Lyn rose from her bed and pushed off the duvet with a smile. She slipped her feet into the reindeer slippers she had set out the night before. Pushing herself up, Lyn rose from her bed and walked over to the mirror. She studied her outfit. Red and green plaid stripes over white pajama pants and a red shirt with a cute little reindeer printed on it. After deciding that her outfit was just right for Christmas morning, Lyn pushed open her door and made her way downstairs.
"My eyes deceive me," Elena said as Lyn descended the stairs. "Is Lyn actually the last one up?" Elena and Jeremy were both standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking up at their sister.
"What can I say? It's a Christmas miracle." Lyn supplied. "Also, why are you guys just standing in the hallway?"
"Jenna's locked us out of the kitchen," Jeremy explained. "She said she had some kind of surprise." Just then, Jenna peered her head out of the doorway and smiled at seeing the three siblings.
"Okay, I'm ready for you." The Giberts all exchanged glances before following their aunt into the kitchen. What they saw shocked them all.
The island counter was decked out in all of the breakfast foods they used to have on Christmas with their parents. Elena gasped, and Jeremy smiled nostalgically while Lyn's eyes watered with emotion. "Oh, Jenna," Lyn gasped out.
"I know it won't be as good as when your parents made it, but..." She trailed off.
"It's perfect," Elena told her. The four proceeded to take their seats on the island stools and take their helpings of food. Lyn went straight for the cinnamon toast, Jeremy went for the apple turnovers, and Elena headed for strawberries. As the tastes melted in their mouths, the Sommers-Gilbert family rejoiced in the moment of peace that they were spared.
After a fulfilling breakfast, the clan migrated to the living room to open presents. Jeremy was ripping into the gifts as Jenna laughed, and the twins simply rolled their eyes and opened their gifts.
All in all, Christmas was a success. For Lyn, at least. Because in another place, the familial joy that the Gilbert family was sharing was lost on another soul.
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Elijah struck the match along the side of the box, lighting the flame. Holding up the Yule candle in one hand and the match in the other, he placed the flame to the wick and allowed it's small light to shine in his otherwise dark penthouse.
In happier days, when he was little, Elijah's favorite part of Yule was the single light of the candle, contrasting the darkness of the light. He would lie awake at night, when everyone else was asleep, and watch the candle burn as its dull light soothed him to sleep.
His smile held no joy as he surveyed the bustling city below him as if an emperor looking over at his empire. He could afford any gift he desired but the only one he truly wanted was to once again be in the comfort of his family. But his family was at the bottom of his ocean, and he had no one to blame but himself.
