A Halo Christmas [Halo Universe]

4

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me four calling birds.

Annabelle sat staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep and yet unable to do anything else to help her do so. She hadn't even dressed into her pjs and was paying no attention to the movie that was playing on her TV. Her mind was slowly replaying other things, things that had scarred her ever since she had joined the military.

Being an ODST was rough and there was some days, if she could, when all she did was sit still and think about all of her friends that she would never see again. These were the times the reminisces brought forth the explosions, the blood, the death that she tried her hardest to forget. It was impossible. There had been several things that she had tried to do so; being a drunk, talking it out, and even through art. None of it worked. Everything eventually came back around to haunt her and she would still be there in the end, legs pulled up into her chest as her arms wrapped about them and pulled them closer. So many memories she wished she could forget.

A bright light flashed across her screen and she jerked, blinking at the TV as she was pulled away from her memories. Unraveling herself from the red blanket about her, Annabelle reached up and she tangled her hands through her untamed black hair. There was a commercial on, showing short clips of war so people would hopefully donate. Squeezing shut her eyes, she tapped her feet and instantly began singing.

"Some legends are told... Some turn from dust to... gold. But you will... remember me... Remember me for centuries." Her voice trailed off for a moment before returning, this time with more force and a small hint of confusion. "On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three French hens... On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me... four calling birds... Four calling birds..."

Her head lifted slowly as her eyes locked upon the sketchbook that was propped up against a desk. An image was forming in her mind, color vividly becoming shapes as she focused entirely upon those three words. The memories that had been haunting her slowly slipped away as she stood and wandered over to the book, her lips pursed in thought. She gathered up the few materials that she had -she wasn't allowed to have everything that she normally had when it came to art- and laid them out in front of her. She opened the book to an empty page and twirled the pencil before beginning to sketch out the design.

Whenever she went on these 'sprees' she could go at it for hours. As long as she had a pencil and empty paper, she could sketch, pen, paint, and color anything for days if she had food and water. Before she had joined the military, she had been an author. She could write almost as long as she could draw, which was probably the second before her eyeballs fall out of her head after staring at a computer screen or paper for whoever knows how long. Even now if a bomb had gone off, Annabelle would have just kept drawing. She was too much in a trance.

About three hours later and making it about two in the morning, she found herself stepping back for the first time since she had started coloring. Her hands were smudged with several colors and she burst into smile at the picture she had drawn in her sketch book. Four birds, each different, were spreading their wings in flight. The first one was a small robin, following after it was a swan, an owl, and then a hawk. Once more she turned the pencil in her hands, smiling as she wrote down the names.

"Annabelle, Elyse, T'ane, and Jun." She paused before smiling again and wiping away another tear. "The birds in my life."

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