The Ghost of Fiore

Ember's First Christmas

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ember's voice cut through the air like a knife, causing the three young teens to flinch as they paused their decorating.

Laxus, who was lounging casually on the couch refusing to take part in any of this, looked up from his book briefly to answer Ember "These idiots decided to decorate your mansion for the holidays." 

Evergreen, Freed, and Bixslow had long since lost the color in their faces as they stared at Ember, unsure whether they should be expecting a quick or a slow death. Despite this, none of them put the ornaments they were holding down, perhaps this angel of death would be kind enough to allow them to finish decorating the tree first, at least then their deaths would be festive.

Anyone with half a brain would recognize the humor that filled Laxus' face, it seemed that he was a little excited about watching Ember, who had proved herself to be a bit of a powder keg when she was irritated, get mad at the three instead of him.

It had only been six months since Ember joined the Thunder God Tribe, which was not enough time for Ember to fully open up. Sure, no one doubted her loyalty, as she had already proven that she was more than willing to stick her neck out for their sakes, but she was still a rather sadistic bitch as far as everyone was concerned.

For the most part, no one assumed that they really 'knew' Ember, she was closed off and sarcastic as a way to protect herself, which also meant that Laxus was the only one who was comfortable being alone with her. He had seen one or two more emotions than everyone else, so he felt confident that she would hate the fact that the home that was passed on to her by her mentors (who no one could decide whether she loved or hated), was being desecrated by the holiday spirit.

He was wrong.

Ember's face deadpanned slightly before she tilted her head in confusion, "I think we must have very different versions of the holidays..." She trailed off uncertainly and looked around the room at the sparse amounts of pine branches that were strewn about in a manner that was probably meant to be festive.

The team gaped at her, this was the first time any of them had seen Ember look even remotely out of place, let alone uncertain! Evergreen especially felt that there was no way the badass assassin was even capable of emotions like that (Yeah, she looked up to Ember slightly, so what?!)

Freed is the one who finally stepped forward, a curious look on his face, "What do you mean?" He asked cautiously, not really  wanting to poke the bear, but he knew no one else was brave enough, "How did you celebrate the holidays?"

It was then that the whole Thunder God Tribe nearly fainted as yet another expression crossed Ember's face, pain and something that may have been a kin to sadness. It truly was a Christmas Miracle, the hard to read Ember was finally opening up!

It was slight, but they still caught the wince that tore across Ember's face as Freed asked her that, "Oh, well... I'm not sure celebrating is a good term for what my mentors did." As Ember looked around, she noticed that everyone's eyes were riveted to her... Perhaps they had earned just a slice of her story.

She exhaled harshly looking away from the group before forcing out a chuckle, "Geez, it's like you guys just saw a ghost. How about a deal, I tell you about how I... Celebrated this season every year up till now, then you have to tell me what in the world you are doing dragging a twelve foot tall tree into my... our home for."

Everyone nodded (Including Laxus, but he was pretending to pay attention to his book) and Ember began her story.

Flashback

Snow covered the mountainside as a short line of people walked along a obscured path, the snow was deep enough that every step made the adults of the group sink in snow that went to their knees; which was so much worse for the only child of the group. Each new step the young girl took forced her to fight through snow that neatly covered her hips and most of her stomach.