//------------------------------// // When the magic slips away, we find ourselves again on Christmas Day... // Story: The Sirens Sing a Christmas Carol // by The Princess Rarity //------------------------------// The Sirens Sing a Christmas Carol by The Princess Rarity It was the middle of the night, around ten o’ clock in the evening, with dreadful weather and gloomy skies. The city of Canterlot was in terrible condition, so who in their right mind would be driving in this weather? Well, a beat up old bright red sedan streaked down the street and in that car, one of the passengers had a mood matching the awful weather. Aria let out an annoyed sigh and slumped in her seat, watching the town whiz by. Snow didn’t decorate the world; more or less, it was slushed on street corners, frozen on sidewalks and scattered on lights, windows and benches. So this was what winter was like in this strange new world… She swore under her breath as the car suddenly screeched to a halt, causing Aria to fall off her seat and onto the car floor. “How are you the one with a license?” she snapped. “Because I didn’t run over an old lady or slam into a street sign out of rage,” Adagio said, with a smirk. “Almost!” Sonata argued. “I wasn’t that close! She was okay!” “Close enough,” Adagio retorted. She slammed onto the gas with ridiculous force the second the light turned green, and continued to tap onto the steering wheel along with the hard rock music blaring out of the radio. Sonata frowned. “Can we please put on something else?” she asked. “My car, my rules,” Adagio declared. “Which explains why I got shoved back here,” Aria grumbled. As she got back up onto the seat, she had to move pillows, food wrappers and other items in order to find a place to properly sit. “At least turn it down, I can’t hear myself think.” “That would be implying you have brains,” Adagio chuckled. She growled when Aria kicked the back of her seat, and she glared into the rearview mirror. “What was that for?!” Aria smirked. “You insulted the wrong person,” she said. Adagio scoffed. “If I wasn’t driving, I would slap you,” she mumbled. She skidded around the corner on purpose, to knock Aria off of her seat again, and Adagio didn’t even bother holding back her wicked grin. “If I get pulled over, it will be so worth it.” “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Aria grumbled. “Guys, come on!” Sonata spoke up. “Stop arguing! Don’t you know what tonight is?” “Wednesday?” Aria muttered. “No!” Sonata replied. Her expression fell and she stammered. “Well, technically, yes. But also no, because it’s not just a Wednesday, it’s also Christmas Eve!” Her friends stared at her for a minute, and she rolled her eyes. “Remember back home in Equestria -- it was called Hearth’s Warming?” Adagio huffed. “What’s so great about a holiday I have to work on?” she muttered. Sonata shrugged. “Do you really need the job?” she asked. Adagio groaned. “To keep a roof over our heads, yes,” she snapped. “Unless you two want to go back to living on the streets, then be my guest. But I’ll work at a crappy department store so I can go home to an apartment that has heating and food and a nice, comfortable bed.” “Okay, okay, fine,” Sonata said defeatedly. “But can you two please not argue? Just for a few hours?” Both girls in the front and the back mumbled a reluctant agreement, and Adagio continued to recklessly drive through the ice and slush on the streets. The three of them all sat in silence as the loud punk music made the speakers of the car crackle, and they whizzed by the lights of the holiday Sonata had mentioned. It seemed as if she was the only one who was willing to actually recognize this very special night… “Can I change the music?” she spoke up. “To what?” Adagio scoffed. “All you listen to is bubblegum pop that sounds like a bunch of idiots whining.” “We could listen to holiday music!” Sonata beamed. “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful~” Despite losing her magic months ago, she was still a half-decent singer. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.” Adagio frowned, and rolled her eyes. “No,” she deadpanned. “I’ll bet even Aria agrees with me on this one.” “I really don’t give a shit what we’re listening to,” Aria snapped. “Anything but this.” “Well, you can just--” Adagio gripped the steering wheel even tighter and she grit her teeth, deciding not to argue back. “Next car ride, you two can pick the music. So long as I approve of it ahead of time.” Aria rolled her eyes at the supposed decision, while Sonata seemed completely unfazed. With a few more slides through stop signs, along with harsh turns around corners, they finally reached their destination: the most lit up place in the entire city of Canterlot. The Uptown Village Mall, all decked out for the holiday and practically every parking spot taken, due to shoppers getting their last minute gifts. With enough luck, and a few barely noticeable bumps against other cars, Adagio found a decent spot to park her jalopy of a sedan. The doors creaked as they all got out, and none of them even bothered locking the doors. As Adagio had stated multiple times before, there was nothing of any value in the car. The three of them dashed through the ice, slush and few snowflakes on the ground, trying to avoid the cold and get into the nice warmth of the mall. Despite Sonata falling on the ice a few times, and Aria having to go back for her, the three girls seemed to get in with no trouble. “I’m going to go to work,” Adagio muttered, with an annoyed sigh. “I’ll see you girls around midnight. Don’t get into any trouble.” “I’ll try not to,” Aria said, as she bestowed a smirk that made her friend growl. As Adagio stomped off towards the second floor shop she worked at, Sonata gazed around at all of the shops and lights in the mall. Obviously, Aria knew her friend well enough to know that anything shiny got Sonata’s full attention. She rolled her eyes, and nudged the other girl. “Come on, let’s go do … stuff,” she mumbled. “Can I get some ice cream?” Sonata asked. “We just walked in weather that was probably twenty frickin’ below and you want ice cream?” Aria replied. “I fell down on the ice a lot,” Sonata pouted. Aria realized that there was most likely no use whatsoever in arguing, so she let out a noise of disgruntlement and pulled out a five dollar bill from her pocket. “Go on,” she said. “Buy me a candy bar while you’re at it.” Sonata smiled, took the money and dashed over to the food court, mainly where the candy kiosks were. Meanwhile, Aria began window shopping. Personally, she wouldn’t buy most or any of the things she saw; the clothes looked too tight, too loose or as if someone tied together a pile of rags. She couldn’t understand why anyone in their right mind would shop from a majority of the clothing stores in the mall. Finally, she came across the music store: where guitars glimmered, pianos looked elegant as ever, drums were sitting there, waiting to be played and all sorts of tunes were playing inside. Even though she and her friends mostly used music for only power, Aria still liked the whole idea of creating it on one’s own. Despite the fact she had never touched an instrument. “Aria!” Sonata called, as she dashed up to her friend. “What?” Aria groaned, turning around slowly. She almost felt a small twinge of bittersweetness as she looked away from the music shop. Sonata giggled, and held out a candy bar. “Here you go,” she said. Aria rolled her eyes, taking the treat without even a mumble of a thanks. Instead, she just tore open the wrapper and took a bite of the chocolatey treat. “Where’s your ice cream?” she asked, noticing that Sonata’s hands were empty. “I gave it to a little girl who was a dollar short on hers,” Sonata explained. “Her friends didn’t have any extra money, and I didn’t want her to feel left out since her friends had ice cream but she didn’t so--” She shrugged and smiled, wider than usual. “Yeah. That’s what happened.” Aria huffed, indifferent to the situation and feeling as if the story was a waste of time. Only Sonata would be stupid enough to give away her ice cream to a little brat… “Whatever,” Aria said, with a roll of her eyes. The two girls began their trek through the malls, eyeing the brightly lit shops and all of the merchandise they had to offer. From toys, clothing, sports’ equipment, calendars, cooking supplies, beauty products and so much more, the mall had a seemingly endless supply of anything anyone could ever dream of. And of course, in spirit of the very merry holiday, almost everything in the entire mall was decked out in silver, green, red and gold, with a heavy amount of sparkles for good measure. Aria didn’t keep up on Earth happenings very often, although she did like reading Adagio’s celebrity magazines. But all of this Christmas nonsense was nothing but a nuisance to Aria. She saw no point in it, and figured it was just another way for people to make money. Sonata, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to get enough of it; seeing how she hummed along to the songs being played over the loudspeakers, while taking candy samples from vendors outside stores and practically dragging her friend into stores when something caught her eye. Often, when they went to the mall, all Sonata wanted to do was ride on the carousel until they ran out of money. “You break it, you buy it,” Aria muttered, as Sonata dragged her into yet another store. This shop was full of intriguing trinkets from top to bottom; vases, pottery, jewelry, ornaments for all year long and all sorts of odds and ends. Sonata was a little more excited than usual in this store, as she marveled over every little thing. Although, Aria was a bit annoyed that she had to be right behind her friend, due to the fact that Sonata didn’t bother to put things back where they belonged. Every five seconds, she found something new to obsess over for a very brief time until she moved onto the next item… ...and one of those things seemed to have caught Aria’s eye as well. “Ooh, look at this!” Sonata gushed, as she held out a wonderfully decorated box. “What is it?” Aria said, with a raised eyebrow. “I dunno,” Sonata replied. She tilted the box side to side, looking for a sign to figure out what this thing was. “Isn’t it pretty, though?” The box was painted all shades of blue, from soft periwinkle to bold navy, and little white circles signified to be bubbles all around. And on the magnificent sea of blue, there were creatures of every kind; goldfish, octopuses, dolphins and more. “Doesn’t it remind you of home?” Sonata beamed, with her smile a bit more dazzling than usual. “Well, this is home now,” Aria mumbled. She took the box from her friend, and placed it back on the shelf. “Besides, we better scram; I don’t think those guys like having us here.” True to the statement, the seemingly identical workers behind the desk were staring at the two girls sternly. “Fine,” Sonata said, with a pout. She crossed her arms and shuffled out of the store after her friend, who had decided to sit down on a bench by the magnificent fountain in the center of the mall. “Soooo what do you wanna do?” “Don’t know,” Aria muttered, as she kicked the tiled floor, causing her sneaker to squeak. “Kinda bored now.” “How much longer ‘til Adagio gets out of work?” Sonata asked. Aria looked up to the grand golden clock hanging up above the fountain. She didn’t know Roman numerals well, but she knew how to read time properly, so she guessed, “About an hour and a half. At least she’s getting out early this time.” She let out a sigh, and chuckled softly. “You wanna go bother her at her job and see if we can annoy her more than usual?” Sonata shook her head. “Aria,” she said. “You promised not to argue with her.” Aria rolled her eyes. “That wouldn’t be arguing. Just pissing her off,” she declared, with a smirk. Sonata let out a huff. “Well, it’s still being mean,” she retorted. “And just for that, I’m not talking to you anymore.” She turned away from her friend, but then she let out a loud gasp of joy, and yanked on Aria’s hand. “Omigosh, look!” “What happened to not talking to me?” Aria grumbled. However her words fell on deaf ears as she was practically yanked out of her seat and dragged across the floor to the other side of the mall, where it was decorated more than the rest of the building. Ridiculous amounts of tinsel, gigantic ornaments, velvet red carpets and the biggest tree in probably the whole city was the display. Aria never understood the whole tree in a building prospect of this holiday, either. But she was too focused on Sonata jumping up and down like an idiot, and an entire line of little kids staring at her. “Is something wrong with you?” Aria muttered. “Of course not!” Sonata said. “It’s the exact opposite of wrong, it’s Christmas Eve and we’re at the mall and Santa Claus is here! Nothing could be wrong!” She stopped bouncing and tilted her head to the side as she looked at her friend. “Is something wrong with you?” “No,” Aria retorted. “I get this whole Christmas crap you’re into but who the hell is Santa Claus?” Sonata’s jaw fell, and her pretty pink eyes went wide. “If you know Christmas, how do you not know Santa Claus?” she gasped. “He’s the guy who gives out the presents to everyone because if you were good all year, he’ll bring you something you want. And aside from the whole trying to enslave the world with our Siren magic thing-a-ma-bob, I’ve been nothing but nice!” She smiled, and kept rocking back and forth on her heels excitedly. “I wonder if it’s not too late to ask him for something…” “Come on, Sonata,” Aria muttered. “If you want a Christmas present so badly, just tell me what you want. I’ll buy it for you, okay? There’s, like, twenty-something stores in this mall and we’ve been in about half of them. Knowing you, you’ll want something from all of them. I’ve got fifty bucks on me, so that’s enough for something decent.” Sonata shook her head, and let out a giggle. “Nope!” she replied. “My gift is super extra special, which means you can’t buy it for me.” Aria raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Uh-huh,” she said slowly. “Right. What you’re saying is that you would rather ask an old perv for a gift instead of one of your friends?” She decided to bite her tongue on the fact that Santa Claus wasn’t real; Sonata was so cute, believing in such a thing, but Aria wasn’t going to deny that the man in the suit did look like a child molester. Sonata ignored the comment -- or didn’t bother to listen to it, and she started rocking back and forth on her heels in giddy impatience. Aria just didn’t understand it, the whole glitter and candy and presents of this holiday. Granted, it had been a while since she had spent Hearth’s Warming in Equestria, so maybe that had gotten commercialized as well, but she doubted it. Humans were so … strange. It almost disgusted her to be one sometimes. “Who’s next?!” the hyper man in the elf costume spoke up. “Me!” Sonata said, with a smile. She even stood up on her tiptoes and waved her hand, like someone of the proper age group in this line. Aria felt embarrassed as the little kids looked confused… She was just about to drag Sonata out of the line, but unfortunately, her friend had already approached the false Santa Claus; who, like many others, was perplexed to see a teenage girl. Nonetheless, though, the supposed Santa gave his famous laugh, asking the ‘little girl’ for her name and what she wanted for Christmas. Aria almost smiled -- almost -- as she watched Sonata sit on the floor, kneeling on her knees and her eyes were practically sparkling. Then again, Aria remembered how stupid that this was. “My name’s Sonata, and I was just wondering, Mr. Claus, if you could give my friends gifts instead,” Sonata said. This got Aria to suddenly pay attention… “You see, Adagio and Aria -- those are my friends -- they’re still not in the Christmas spirit yet, so I sort of want to make them happier because they’re always grumpy about everything,” Sonata explained. “Adagio’s at work, but Aria’s here with me!” She pointed to Aria, who facepalmed. “She’s grumpier than Adagio, but they’re both meanies sometimes. I know they're not serious, but they’re my friends and I just want my friends to be all happy and smiley like I am.” Aria was taken aback by the statement, and she just stared at her friend for a moment. Sonata was always the sweetest girl anyone could ever meet, but this… this was something else. “So… what exactly is you want?” ‘Santa’ asked. “Just happiness and a smile for my friends,” Sonata said. “And I’ve kinda been trying to get them to let us buy a puppy for our apartment, so maybe that too?” Aria rolled her eyes at the puppy comment, but dare she admit that she was smiling now? She couldn’t deny it: the whole idea of this Christmas was at least intriguing. Even if it was overly advertised, had stupid decorations and traditions, Aria liked seeing Sonata more lit up than usual. She let out the softest chuckle when Sonata sprung up to her feet and dashed back to the line. “Do you want to ask Santa for a present too?” she asked. “I’m good,” Aria replied. “Are you sure?” Sonata said, with a cute tilt of her head and bat of her eyes. “You can just buy me a present,” Aria assured. “Like, a gift card to the music store or whatever. Buy me a guitar or electric piano or something. I don’t care, I don’t really need anything.” Her statement was contradicting as to what Sonata wished for, though; that was for sure. She hated to admit it, but her friend was right. Sonata shoved her hands into her pockets, and pulled them out, showing nothing but a few pieces of lint, a gum wrapper and a ticket from the arcade. “It’s fine,” Aria said. “Come on, it’s Christmas; we might as well buy Adagio something. She needs it, seeing how she’s working tonight. We missed her birthday this year, anyway. Do you know something she might want?” To be honest, even though the three of them had been close for as long as any of them could remember, Aria was still confused by her friends from time to time. “We could buy her some cute shoes! Or one of those leather jackets she’s always saying she wants,” Sonata spoke up. She smiled wide, and grabbed Aria’s hand, dragging her out of the line and across the floor to the aisle of stores. “Are you kidding?” Aria retorted. “She has enough clothes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear the same outfit twice.” “Except that week we tried to take over the school,” Sonata added. “Aside from then,” Aria said. “She likes fancy stuff, though. We could buy her jewelry, or whatever.” Sonata gazed at the few stores that they were standing in front of, and she was puzzling for a moment. Aria watched her friend for a moment, watching the other girl sway back and forth on her heels, looking all around, mumbling softly to herself. It took a few moments, but then Sonata’s expression lit up and she giggled. “I’ve got it!” she beamed. “The box!” “The what?” Aria muttered. “That pretty blue box we saw in the store with the ocean stuff,” Sonata said, waving her hands in excitement. Aria frowned. “Sonata, it’s a good idea, but I think Adagio is trying to forget about that kind of stuff. It’s been years since we lived there anyway, Earth is our home now; as weird as it is,” she explained. “That box would make a crappy gift, because it would probably make her bummed out. According to you, that’s not Christmas.” Sonata fell silent, and looked down to the floor. “So what if Earth is different?” she mumbled. “I just don’t get why you can’t understand what today is.” “It’s just another dumb human holiday,” Aria retorted. “But you’re my friend, so I’m trying to humor you.” “We’re dumb humans now,” Sonata argued. “We never recognize any of the days like this, and like I told Santa, you and Adagio are always arguing with each other, sometimes I wonder if you two are even friends. Christmas is about a lot of things, but one of those things is being happy with people you care about. The three of us have been stuck together since before we came here and now, well--” She frowned. “--Maybe if we do remind her about the past, she might be a little upset, but she’ll probably remember the good times we had too.” Aria fell silent, and dug her hand into her pocket, crumpling up the fifty dollar bill she had. Did Sonata have a point? Aria wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but she did have a hunch that her friend was actually making sense for once… ...none of the girls had spent enough time in their homeland to actually enjoy the native holiday of Hearth’s Warming, and with Sonata’s explanation, this Christmas seemed quite similar. Adagio had done a lot for Aria and Sonata, even if she did have her moments. In fact, if Adagio wasn’t spending this holiday at her job, the three of them wouldn’t have an apartment to go home to. She had done everything from the very start to keep them safe, even when they did have to live on the street for a little while in the first few months of their banishment in this strange world. The least she deserved was a stupid box that reminded them of their old home. “Fine,” Aria said, with her usual disgruntled tone of voice, but undeniably, there was a ghost of a smile on her expression. Sonata’s grin in return was shining brighter than any ornament in the mall as the two of them headed back to the eccentric looking trinket shop, where the lights inside were just starting to dim. “Sorry, ladies,” one of the workers drawled. “We’re closing for the evening!” “Mmm, yes, that’s right,” the other chimed. “The Emporium is done for the holiday season. Won’t be open again ‘til the shiny New Year.” The two girls stopped in their tracks, peering past the men and looking to the back shelf, where the elegantly decorated box was still there, untouched. Aria looked to Sonata, who was starting to frown and pout. Aria even hated to think that there was a tear she saw… She took the money out of her pocket and held it out to the workers. “We just want that box,” Aria said, pointing to the back of the store. “The one that looks like an ocean.” “That old thing?” one of the men crooner, with a laugh. “No one’s ever had attention to that. We’ve had since we opened the store. I say, dear brother-” He looked to the other man. “-when did we open this fine shop of ours?” “We really don’t care,” Aria interjected. “Will you sell us the box?” The two men looked at the teenage girls, who radiated completely different emotions: one of worry and disappointment, and the other of determination. They turned around, talking to one another softly and quickly, until they whipped around to face Aria and Sonata. “One antique music box, coming right up,” one of the men said, stroking his mustache, as his brother walked back and grabbed the trinket. “I’ll take that.” The man snatched the fifty dollar bill out of Aria’s hands, and his fellow worker and sibling gave Sonata the music box. “Merry Christmas, young ladies. Feel free to stop by the Emporium anytime you like. So long as you have money.” Aria took Sonata by the arm, and led her out of the store, as the shop closed up. The two of them stayed quiet as they walked upstairs to the third floor of the mall, where Adagio’s place of employment was. They both occasionally looked at the music box, and Sonata kept winding the key in wondrous impatience. Aria couldn’t deny it, she was a little happier than usual as well. Maybe it was the spirit of this whole silly Christmas thing, or the fact that she was doing something nice for once, or some other power beyond that, but it still felt strange in a somewhat relieving way. “We’re here,” Sonata whispered loudly as they entered the department store. “I know,” Aria murmured. Since when did she return the radiant smiles Sonata shot her way? Aria and Sonata waltzed up and down the aisles of clothing, looking around for their friend. Finally, after only a few minutes, Adagio came out of the back room, looking annoyed and exhausted, as usual. “Excuse me, ma’am,” Aria spoke up, as she stepped forward. “Can we take a minute of your time?” Adagio’s violet eyes went wide in shock as she saw her friends standing there, and she pursed her lips into a thin line. “I’m sorry, ladies,” she replied. “But I work the register and stock, I’m not a customer service rep. You could try with someone else.” Sonata giggled, and Aria gave her friend a look. “Are you sure?” she asked. Adagio gritted her teeth. “Positive,” she shot back. “Besides, my shift just ended.” Obviously, that statement was the wrong thing to say, because she instantly regretted it. Her friends smiled, actually grinned, in a brilliant way. For a second, she contemplated the fact that they were up to something, but then again, when Sonata shoved something into her hands, Adagio raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She looked at both of the girls in front of her, and she turned over the box. “What is it?” she asked. “Merry Christmas!” Sonata beamed. “We got you a present!” Adagio’s slightly aggravated expression melted into a halfhearted, bittersweet smile as she stared at the gift. “You idiots seriously went out and bought this for me?” she said softly, with a laugh of disbelief. She gently traced the ornate decorations and carefully detailed paint on the music box. “It’s… it’s really nice.” Sonata giggled, and clapped excitedly. “I thought it would remind you of a long time ago, when we lived together in the ocean!” she beamed. Despite strange looks from passersby, Adagio couldn’t seem to wipe a stupid smile off of her face. “It does,” she admitted, with a light huff. “Great, now I feel bad for not buying either of you anything.” “Don’t,” Aria assured. “It’s cool.” She gave a sideways glance to Sonata, and they shared a small smile. “That’s not what Christmas, Hearth’s Warming, whatever is about. We just thought you could use some cheering up.” She cleared her throat and pointed to Sonata. “It was all her idea. I only paid for it, Sonata picked it out and dragged me to the store and all of that crap.” Adagio rolled her eyes; playfully, this time -- rather than being fed up with her friends. “Listen,” she muttered, twirling the ribbon handles of the music box around her fingers. “I just got paid. It’s Christmas. Dinner’s on me. And-” She laughed genuinely, for the first time in a long time. “Yes, Sonata, before you ask, we can go get tacos.” “I was gonna ask for any kind of fast food, but tacos work too!” Sonata beamed, with a cute little jump for joy. She literally started skipping ahead of her friends as they headed out of the mall. The snow started to fall again, but more lightly this time: white and slowly, not dark grey and slushy like earlier. The sweetness of Christmas’s season was finally settling in for this trio of friends. “So,” Adagio spoke up, as she glanced to Aria. “Did she really convince you to buy this?” “More or less,” Aria said softly. “Sonata’s not as stupid we thought, you know. She’s just… different, I guess. She made me realize some stuff.” Adagio brushed her curls out of her face, and gently chuckled. “I kind of always hated this holiday, this whole being merry,” she admitted. “But since we got here, in this new world, whatever it’s called, they sort of made me look at the holiday in a different way. Now you two went and … geez, that was sweet of you. You didn’t have to.” Adagio kept her eyes on the brilliant designs and intricate details of the music box, and she smiled. “But I would be lying if I said I don’t love it.” “Well,” Aria shrugged. “You deserve it.” Adagio softly chuckled. “She turned you into a softie in only a matter of two hours,” she teased. Aria narrowed her eyes at her friend as they approached their car, but she smiled nonetheless. It was laughable, how right Adagio really was. Aria considered crediting Sonata later for spreading the kindness. And she didn’t just do it once in a while, she did it all of the time. Perhaps, Aria realized, all it took was one night, one minute to stop and listen. After all, this past year had been hectic… “Hey, Sonata, guess what?” Aria said, as she sat in the backseat of the car. She actually didn’t mind the mess this time… “Ooh, are we going to Chipotle for dinner? Did Adagio get a boyfriend? Are you going to join a sports’ team?” Sonata rambled. “Maybe, and two definite nos,” Aria replied. “I think your wish came true.” Sonata tilted her head to the side, wondering what her friend meant, but in a manner of seconds, her face lit up and she practically squealed with joy. “Merry Christmas, girls,” she said. Adagio and Aria looked at each other. For the first time, they didn’t glare at one another through that rearview mirror. Instead, to one another’s disbelief, they were smiling, together, for a very good reason that was almost serendipitous. “Merry Christmas,” Adagio added. “Yeah, happy whatever the heck today is,” Aria declared, with a low chuckle. And all three girls, despite their tensions in their friendship, meant it. The way they acted with each other was a bit peculiar but this night proved for good that despite everything, a simple action or two can prove the truth -- and the truth can be surprising. Or maybe, just maybe, magic was everywhere, even in a strange Earth world. Sometimes, it all took to show happiness was a different point of view. ~ la fin ~