Getting a Tree

It was a chilly but beautiful day. Rapunzel was with (most of) her friends. Only Eugene had stubbornly refused to join them. The girls and Varian had built a snow tunnel that they could crawl in and out of, using it to ambush people with snowballs. Lance had tried to fit, but he was a little too big, so he settled for scooping up Kiera and Catalina in a big bear hug, their desire to hit him with snow melting away with his loving embrace. The girls turned their sights to Varian then, and pelted him a few time before Rapunzel asked them to stop.

"I know you're all having fun out here, but I just had the most wonderful idea! Since it's December, and getting close to Christmas, I though maybe we could hitch Max up to the sleigh and go get a tree." Rapunzel suggested.

"Oh, I love trees! In Old Corona, we always have a big one in the center of town! One year, I used some of my glowing green vials to light up the tree. It worked great… right up until the fire. I'm uh, not allowed to do that anymore." Varian concluded sheepishly.

"We'll keep alchemy away from this tree." Rapunzel decided.

"I'd like a tree." Lance said.

"Me too!" chorused Kiera and Catalina. Until Lance adopted them, the girls had never had a proper family to celebrate Christmas with, and they planned on making the most of it. Lance was also excited, as they'd never had a tree in the orphanage growing up, and very few presents to boot. He was planning on spoiling the girls rotten this year.

Varian was excited too, mainly because he wanted to prove he could decorate a tree without screwing up. And Rapunzel who had spent many Christmases alone except for Pascal, was still enthralled by the big celebrations in the castle. She wanted to do her part to help out this year.

"So we're all agreed. Today we hunt for a Christmas tree!" Rapunzel declared. Everyone cheered and Pascal turned a darker green, similar in color to a pine tree. They wasted no time in getting to the stables and hitching up Max. Rapunzel remembered to wave at the stable hands as they left.

"We're gonna find the tallest tree, ever!" Catalina exclaimed.

"No, the widest tree. It can fit more presents." Kiera argued.

"If it's tall, Dad can put a star up top and everyone will look at it in awe." Catalina detailed.

"If it's wide, we can put candy canes and apples lower down so we can reach it and snack on them if we want." Kiera put forth. Ruddiger rubbed his paws together in anticipation. Apparently, the promise of food was all it took to get him to take Kiera's side.

"I just want a tree whose needles aren't too dry. Just in case some of the decorations are a bit more… flammable than they appear." Varian said.

"Well, whatever kind of tree we get, it's gonna be great!" Lance spoke with certainty, and this was something they could all agree on.

"Here we are!" Rapunzel announced as they reached a section of the forest with multiple trees. "Which one do we want?" she asked.

"That one." Kiera and Catalina said simultaneously, pointing in opposite directions. Pascal nudged Rapunzel until she looked to the left and saw a squirrel racing up the tree.

"Kiera's tree has a squirrel in it, so we're going with Catalina's." she decided.

"See? I knew mine was best." Catalina said smugly.

"Oh yeah?" Kiera tackled her sister, knocking her into the snow. Catalina's hands shifted to wolf paws as pushed Kiera down. Soon they were both rolling around, each trying to get the upper hand.

"Girls! No rolling in the snow! ...Maybe a little rolling. It does look like fun." Lance admitted.

"Come play with us, Dad!" the girls laughed. "We're making snow angels now."

"Not a word I'd associate with either of them." Varian whispered.

"Oh, hush. They're having a good time." Rapunzel smiled warmly. "But we do need Lance to chop down the tree, so make one quick angel with your family, and then help us chop it down." said Rapunzel.

Lance nodded, and dived into he snow. The girls laughed as he waved his arms up and down to make the angel wings. Varian had to admit, they made a great family. It made him wish Quirin was there, but of course his Dad was busy in Old Corona, making sure each family had enough wood for the winter and Varian knew how important his father's work was.

"Are you okay, Varian?" Rapunzel asked gently, noticing the wistful look on his face.

"Yeah, just thinking of home. Ruddiger and I don't spend as much time in Old Corona as we used to. I mean, I can set up a lab most anywhere, and I don't mind working on projects in the castle but..." Varian trailed off.

"But you miss your Dad this time of year." Rapunzel finished. Varian nodded. "Invite him to the castle for Christmas, then. We'll have a big party with all our friends. And you can have a more intimate celebration at home on Christmas Eve." Rapunzel suggested.

"Yeah, that's a really good idea!" Varian brightened considerably. "Dad loves going to church on Christmas Eve, but we can definitely come visit the next day."

"Great! We'll look forward to seeing both of you." said Rapunzel. She turned towards Lance and his daughters. "Ready to chop down the tree, Lance?" she asked.

"You know it." Lance wielded the felling hatchet with ease, chopping down the tree with fast, deep cuts to the delight of his companions.

"Timberrr!" he shouted as the tree fell.

"Let's tie it down now." Rapunzel instructed. Working together, they quickly had the tree tied and placed in the sleigh. There was barely enough room for the gang to fit back there, but they squeezed in next to the tree anyway as Rapunzel told Max to head home.

"Eugene will be sorry he missed out on all the fun." Lance predicted.

"Yeah, he's probably bored out of his mind in the castle." Kiera added.

(Eugene was at the moment dancing around in his underwear, strumming on Rapunzel's guitar while the heater Varian designed was cranked to full blast.)

"I didn't like leaving him out, but he can always help us decorate the tree when we return." Rapunzel said. "Just imagine Eugene's poor, lonely face, waiting for us to get back."

(Eugene stopped dancing long enough to shove a cupcake in his mouth, then he continued to jump around happily.)

"Poor ol' G-bug." Catalina pretended to wipe away a tear.

"We all miss Eugene, and we'll be so glad to see him again." Rapunzel spoke for everybody. It was true, they loved Eugene, but because he hated snow, their winter adventures often felt a little incomplete. At least they had the tree decorating to look forward to.

The End

I know it's early for Christmas, but we were ordering seasonal books for the library today, and the idea for a story just popped into my head. :)