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[demonicbeauty]

[She's not Padmé Amidala. Nor is she Jane Foster. It's just Ariadne, sitting on the wooden floor of her home, in front of an enormous, four-poster bed with a canopy of sheer, white fabric. Splashes of color occasionally hit her face and the background, as her homemade mobiles, flitting with broken pieces of colorful glass, catch whatever sunlight there is. Her long, long, long brown hair is hanging loose over her left shoulder, crinkled to show that it's just come undone from its braid.]

I...I've noticed that a lot of important holidays seem to be in the middle of the winter. And I guess it makes sense. The days are short, the nights are long, and everyone is cold and missing fresh fruits and vegetables. It raises the spirit to have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

[There's a small smile. A memory or two from her days in Valeria.]

Back home, the New Year was the most important holiday. There would be parties and feasts and masked balls. Presents. Lots of music...

[And she misses that music. But Ariadne won't let herself stay sentimental for long.]

Last year, I learned about an Earth holiday. The one where the fat man breaks into people homes and leaves them gifts, instead of stealing stuff. Christmas!

[Makes no sense, but it's a lovely sentiment.]

I was hoping to maybe learn about some other holidays from this time of year. What do your cultures celebrate? Maybe we can find a way to all celebrate together. I'm still convinced that togetherness is the only way we're going to survive this place. And I...I know I'm not alone, feeling that way.

[A small shrug.]

So let's talk to each other more. When there isn't an emergency. Talk about some of the happy things, maybe. Tell me about the good stuff.

[Ariadne doesn't really know where to go from here, so she shrugs again.]

Anyway, that's all. Sorry to interrupt anything.

Comments

[zib]

It's not all bad--I mean, he hasn't banned Christmas completely from the house, so he is okay with me and my sister putting up decorations and the like if we feel like it. It's just the stuff involving Santa he puts his foot down on.

[demonicbeauty]

Well, fathers can be strict like that, sometimes.

[zib]

I guess so? It's just of all the things for him to actually be strict about, this is the weirdest one I've heard of in comparison to what I know about other kids and their dads.

[demonicbeauty]

If it makes you feel better, my parents never even knew Santa Claus existed.

[zib]

Really? Does that mean you didn't celebrate Christmas at all, or was it just different where you're from?

[demonicbeauty]

Never even heard of Christmas until about a year ago.

[zib]

Oh.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given other worlds and all, but... huh.

Did you have any holidays where you are from that were anything similar to Christmas? Or any other holidays in general?

[demonicbeauty]

Well, I would say the biggest holiday is probably New Years Eve. It's a bit like Christmas, only there's not much of a religious component.

And no fat man either.

[zib]

Oh, we have New Years where I'm from! But it's not as popular as Christmas, and... well, some kids have parents who don't let them stay up late to watch the date switch over to the new year, so it seems more like a holiday that adults care more about.

[demonicbeauty]

I could understand that.

For us, it's about fresh starts. Fixing the mistakes you made. Adults usually make bigger mistakes than kids.

[zib]

I guess that makes sense.

[Then again, Dib has made some huge mistakes despite being a kid, so he's not sure how correct that statement really is.]

Do you think the next year will be a good fresh start though? Given what this place is like... I admit I'm a little wary.

[demonicbeauty]

I like to think there's always the chance for a fresh start.

[You can practically see the optimism dripping off of her.]

And it doesn't have to be at the new year, either.