Sword of The Lanterns

Chapter Thirty-One- Holidays

The first being to greet Jaina after her return to the cave was Bee, who was only too anxious to get out from under Kaldur's all-to-watchful eye. Jaina bent down to hug her droid as best as she could, but quickly stood up to hug Kaldur too.

"How was your vacation?" Kaldur asked with a smile. He took her hand and began to walk with her through the mountain.

"It was nice, but the Guardians of the Universe are total stiffs," Jaina was pretty sure that she'd forgotten everything the Guardians had said during their meeting. Her memory was pretty much the main topic, but they weren't interested in listening to her.

In her pocket, Jaina's phone began to vibrate.

"One sec, Kal," She apologized. Kaldur nodded politely, stepping away to give Jaina privacy to take the call, and beckoning for Bee to follow him. The droid did so quite reluctantly.

"This is Jaina, what's up?"

"WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?" 

"Hello to you too, Lisa," Jaina winced, holding the phone a good foot away from her ear, probably broken now.

Lisa sighed, irritated. "Okay, I'm sorry for yelling, but you have not responded to any of my calls for the entire break! I saw Megan and Zatanna on Friday, but they said you were out of town!"

"Um, yeah..." Jaina tried to come up with a lie on the spot. "My guardian took me to visit his girlfriend."

"You mean your dad?" Lisa asked.

Jaina bit her tongue, thinking of Hal and Carol and John and Guy. "Yeah, my dad. I guess."

"Anyway, I'm at the diner with the others, and Megan said you'd be back today. Are you coming?"

Jaina smiled. "Yeah, I'm back, I'll be there." She hung up the phone and hurried down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Kaldur?" She stopped in the doorway. 

"Um, guys? What happened to the kitchen?" She spotted Zatanna, balanced on Robin's shoulders, hanging thick red ribbons from the ceiling, with huge, decorative bows at each corner.

"Oh hey! Welcome back, Jay!" Zatanna waved. 

"Zee, WOAH-!" Zee's wave threw both of them off-balance, and they began to fall, but Jaina grabbed them both with her ring.

"Thanks, Jay!" Robin hopped to his feet, dusting white plastic flakes off his jacket. The flakes had come from a huge pile, sprinkled on and around a pine tree, suddenly planted in the corner next to the TV.

"Guys, what happened? I don't think Megan will be too happy to see what you did to the kitch-" 

A screeching noise made Jaina leap into the air, aiming her ring at a mechanical dancing...thing, dressed in a garish red suit with an accompanying white beard that oddly matched the white flakes.

"You kidding? This was her idea!" Wally zoomed in, stirring up a storm of the flakes. and removing the offending object from Jaina's sight.

Jaina coughed, spitting out flakes. "What's all this for?"

"It's Christmas! Last year, we didn't get to celebrate 'cause Rob, Arty, and a few others kinda went AWOL for a week, but Megs and I are determined to celebrate together this year!" Wally declared. On his nose, he wore a bright red clown nose, around his neck was a green and red striped scarf, and on his head was a headband supporting brown branches.

"Ah," Jaina tapped the fake red rubber nose Wally was wearing. "Is this another Earth holiday?"

"You bet!" Wally said. "We decorate and eat cookies and go shopping and drink hot chocolate and sing weird songs and eat gingerbread and play in the snow and eat ham and-"

"Eat?" Jaina rolled her eyes.

"How did you know?" Wally gasped. 

"You'll have to tell me more later," Jaina glanced at her phone, and another frantic text from Lisa, "I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to meet Connor and Megan and our friends for a little something."

"Hello Zee!" Zatanna slapped her forehead. "I was gonna go too! Just let me grab my coat real quick!"

She stopped in the doorway, then turned and looked at the mess of decorations scattered everywhere.

"Would you two boys be a couple of dears and tidy this place up a bit before you get out more decorations?"

"Yes Zatanna." Robin and Wally chorused.

-------

"You're back!" Lisa cried. She shoved Marvin to the side to hug Jaina and Zatanna.

"Hey, Jay!" Marvin gave her a high-five. "How are your skills coming along?"

"I've been practicing as best I can with no skateboard, don't worry," Jaina promised, taking one of the steaming-hot mugs Lisa offered her and Zatanna. She used the force to ebb away somne of the heat and make it an acceptable temperature for drinking. She could feel a proud thumbs-up from Anakin, so to speak. He'd hardly talked to her since she ignored him back at the airstrip.

"Speaking of 'boards, that's what I wanted to talk to you all about," Mal said, sipping his root beer.

"This doesn't have anything to do with that ski lodge your dad owns that you've been dropping hints about for the past month, would it?" Connor drolled, his arm around Megan's shoulders.

Karen, Megan, and everyone but Mal and Connor burst into laughter at the deflated look on Mal's face.

"Not funny, Kent," He growled under his breath, "But yeah, my dad owns a ski lodge and he says I can bring a few friends up there for the weekend at the start of winter break. He says we have to come back by Christmas Eve."

"I'm in!" Marvin said.

"I've always wanted to have Christmas at a ski lodge!" Megan sighed dreamily.

"You know I'm in, Tiger," Karen kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"If Megan and Connor are going, then I am too!" Zatanna declared. "What about you, Jaina?" She cocked her head.

"Oh, Um..."

"I'll ask my mom, just in case, but I'm totally in!" Wendy slammed the palm of her hand on the tabletop.

Before Jaina or anyone else could say another word, Mal groaned suddenly.

"Crap, I almost forgot, my dad says we can't go unless one of your parents or another adult can chaperone, 'cuz he and my mom are working."

Everyone groaned.

"My dad hates the snow."

"My uncle is busy."

"So are my...brother, and my...parents..."

Zatanna was quiet, staring at her hot chocolate as the whipped cream disappeared.

Jaina's phone buzzed again, with a text from John. 

Just wanted to check up on you. How are you doing? You seemed off when we visited Oa.

The idea never would have occurred to her otherwise, but in a panic to change the subject, she typed back: You wouldn't happen to know anyone who likes skiing, do you?

His reply came almost immediately after she hit "send". Are you kidding? Snowboarding is my middle name!

Jaina smiled, sighing with relief.

"Don't worry guys, I got our chaperone!"

HA! IT'S AFTER THANKSGIVING I CAN WRITE ALL THE CHRISTMAS I WANT NOW!