Alone on Christmas

The wind blew coolly alongside the falling snow causing the people below to shiver as they walked through the train station. The 6 o clock train had just arrived and in seconds the platform was alive with crowds of civilians coming out and in of the train hurrying to reach their destinations. One civilian, a thin boy with light chocolate skin and pointy hair, emerged from the train, holding tightly to his winter coat as the outside breeze struck him with chill. He soon forgot his chilling pains when looked out into the distance. He could only gasp and smile upon seeing the millions of lights that twinkled in the city skyline.

"Beautiful, isn't it Mike?" a familiar voice called out. The boy turned around to see the question had come from his companion, a small girl with pale blond hair and skin white as the moonlight. She too was wrapped in winter attire but was unbothered by chilly air surrounding her. She smiled softly as she waited for his response. "Yeah. It's truly breathtaking." Mike replied, "I'm so glad you invited me to come Dawn. I really appreciate!" She giggled and responded, "No problem. I couldn't help but notice your aura was a peculiar shade of dark blue during the holiday season so I figured a trip to the Cavalcade of Lights would be just the thing to brighten your aura!" "Yeah, thanks," he replied, giving a nervous chuckle regarding her last comment, feeling as though she may know his true feelings. Not wanting to appear awkward he said, "Sooo uh I'm actually surprised that it'll be just the two of us. I mean, I figured your parents would be coming with us or something." "Yes I was hoping that they would be able to come with us," Dawn replied in a somber tone," sadly mother and father had business matters to attend to so they couldn't make it. Fortunately they gave us enough money and blessings to enjoy the festivities." Her answer finished with a more cheerful tone of voice. This was enough to bring a smile to Mike's face. "Sweet. So I guess you'll be leading me around since this is my first time here huh?" Dawn nodded to his question. "Great! Then let's get going and make this the best Christmas ev-"

His speech cut short as he was shoved accidently by a passing civilian, causing him to fall flat on his face on the concrete floor. Dawn rushed to help him up as he yelped from the sharp pain. "Ow! Dang it! I hurt my face and-" He paused when he realized what has happened. "Huh, that's weird." "What do you mean?" Dawn replied, helping Mike off the cold ground. "Well normally when I get hurt or something Chester usually takes over and begins to rant about the pain and everything and-" He stopped once he remembered who he was talking about. "Oh right," he spoke in a soft voice, "he's gone…They're all gone." He stood in silence with this thought and wore a sad frown on his face during the moment. Dawn could only reply with a small apology for his loss while offering her hand to his. He held her hand with his, thanking her for her words and sought to change the subject. "So um let's get going then? I hear that the Cavalcade has a lot to see and I don't want to miss out!" "Hehe, of course! Let's start go to the center of the festival. They have the best light displays, food stands with the most delicious of treats, and a skating rink that's as big as a football field!" She responded to him with such bliss that the moment became light once more. They hurried past the station joining the masses as they approached the winter festivities, with high hopes of making their holiday time as happy as possible.

The two friends arrived at the main square and their anticipation for the wonder that awaited them had not diminished on sight. In fact they were awestruck at the sight of the luminous scenery that surrounded them. From bright colored trees ornamented by silver wired lights covered the ground to twinkling snowflake and star lights that hung from the nearby buildings and blinked on and off in their own patterns. Amongst them were stands of culinary treats from roasting hot chocolate to warm pastries that ranged from hazelnut chocolate to strawberry and cream pies; each stand gave off an exotic and pleasant smell that left those nearby with a whiff of warm mouthwatering goodness.. And covering these lights and stands was a blanket of snow that covered nearly everything in a pure white color. This was, in essence, the beauty of the Cavalcade of Lights.

As they admired the luscious scenery Dawn then took Mike's arm and began to drag him all towards one of the pastry booths. When they arrived Dawn asked for a dozen cinnamon sugar biscuits with two cups of hot chocolate. As the stand cashier took her order Mike began to look around the area and saw that the majority of visitors had children, with many of them running around enjoying the winter wonderland. Several of them were chasing each other; a few others were building snowmen and attacking one another with snowballs. As he watched them, he paid no attention to Dawn who had just received her order and was looking at the children as well. But unlike Mike, who smiled warmly as he watched, Dawn could only frown with heavy thoughts as she looked on. Her gaze was towards a young blond girl with her two parents; they were building a snowman with the happiest of faces. The happiness surrounding the family began to arouse a sense of sadness and nostalgia for Dawn that she tried to block it out. Not even noticing a passerby who unknowingly walked into her.

The small collision and the sting of hot chocolate splashing into her coat was enough to bring Dawn back to reality, and was now holding in the pain from the burning liquid. "Hey! Watch it you creepy chick!" the burly man said, walking away without even looking at the damage he had done. Mike turned to see the commotion and was shocked to see what had happened to his friend. He got angry and instantly went to the brute. "Hey! Instead of just walking away, why don't you come back here and apologize to her like a real man!" he shouted. The man stopped in his tracks and turned with a grim look on his face as he stared down at Mike who was only an inch shorter than him. "Oh yeah?" he replied, "Well what are you gonna do about it if I don't apologize to your little girlfriend, skinny!?" "You think you're man enough to take me on?!" He yelled back, pointing threateningly at Mike's chest with his response. Now beginning to feel fear but not wanting to back down Mike replied with, "Y-Yeah, yeah I am!" "Ha! Please." The brutish jerk retorted. "Consider this a warning string bean." With that he delivered a fist full of hurt towards Mike's eye, causing him to fall back on the snow; the brute left with a chuckle, seeming pleased with having taken down a teenage boy. Dawn, who was caught up with everything that had happened, ran to Mike's aide. "Oh my goodness, Mike! Are you alright?!" she asked, clearly worried for his sake. "Yeah", he weakly replied. "I'm alright; just wish that he hadn't taken me down so easily." He chuckled awkwardly as they got up. "Man that guy was a jerk. He seriously needs to be taught a lesson. If Vito or Manitoba then he would…" he remembered what he was about to say and gave a small sigh. "Never mind." A moment of silence passed between them.

"You miss them, don't you?" Dawn replied, finally breaking the silence. "Ever since the end of the All Stars seasons you've been missing your personalities correct?" Finding no mistake in her remark, Mike could only confess his thoughts. "Yeah you're right. Ever since I hit that reset button things just haven't been the same with them gone. Chester, Svetlana, Vito, Manitoba Smith. They were a part of me, and were always there with me, in both the good times and bad. Even if they drove me crazy every now and then I still actually liked them. And now they're gone." He paused while looking at Dawn, who only looked on with attentiveness. He gave a sigh. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be talking about this; especially now of all places." "No, don't be." Dawn said, still attentive after his speech. "Please feel free to continue. It actually helps to let it all out." He smiled softly at her response; they made their way to a nearby bench to sit and he continued. "Well, I don't know if you already know this, cuz of your aura seeing thing and all, but growing up, I was usually alone. I can remember that most of it was because of my parents. They were young when they had me, and they weren't ready for the family life. If they weren't out trying to live out their lives, they were fighting over what to do about me. They often fought in front of me." He began to choke on his words as Dawn only looked on sympathetically. "I know they didn't want anything to do with me. They just wanted their old lives back really. So I decided to do everything I could to stay out of their way. I didn't give them any trouble or talked with them or anything. And I've lived in loneliness ever since. "He continued to choke, even drawing a tear into his eye. "And then, I don't know exactly when or how, they came into my life. They helped me through my sadness and were always there to spice up my life; no matter how crazy it was." He began to cry more tears but found the strength to blurt out his final sentence. "Despite everything they've done, they were always there. And I was never alone." He let out his tears and cries as Dawn held him with support.

This lasted for a long amount of time until finally Mike was able to stop crying. He let go of Dawn and wiped some tears from his face. "I'm sorry you had to go see all of that." "It's quite alright." She answered. "This only does good for you." "Yeah," he replied, "you know you're really great with this stuff. You seem so calm and confident with helping people out. You know just what to do. You're really a strong person Dawn." "I'm not as strong as you think I am."

Mike was confounded by her reply and looked at her with confusion. "You may think I'm strong only because I can support others and not care what ill will they may say of me, but deep inside, I'm just as vulnerable as you." She replied; now ready to reveal her thoughts. "While I have come to terms with my powers and have fully embraced my identity, there are times where I ask myself if it's truly worth it." The boy was curious to know more, but could sense a great sadness would come with it. "Countless people whom I've come across in my life have looked onto me with confusion and disgust and ostracizing me in the process. Calling me names such as 'witch', 'creepy girl', 'weirdo', and 'freak'. I know their words mean nothing to me, though they linger onto my thoughts every now and then, causing me to question myself. I can even feel it from my own parents. Though caring and loving as they may be, I can sense it in their auras that they have no idea what to think of me. Their own daughter." Her voice grew bitter. "They see it best to ignore me and continue on in their own matters; whether it be business related or personal. Leaving me to do what I will on my own. And it's only understandable. After all, what parents would want to be burdened with having to care for a witch like me?" A single tear fell across her face as she bit her lip; anger and sadness began to boil in her yet she showed complete control.

"Wow". The dark skinned boy replied. "I..I didn't know." Not being able to find the words to say, the moonchild bore a neutral expression; having been able to calm the storm of emotions that brew in her. "It's alright. You didn't know. No one knows really." She let out a sigh and continued. "Again, even if I don't show it, there are times where I am not as strong as I appear to be. I am just as vulnerable as anyone. Just as hurt. Just as alone." They sat in deep silence together for what appeared to be eternity, still collecting their thoughts over everything that has happened. Finally, Mike broke the silence.

"You know, I really don't know what to make of this. About being alone or miserable or anything, but just because we're like that every now and then doesn't mean we'll be like that forever." Having finished his sentence of mismatched words, Dawn took notice and listened on. "I mean, yeah there will always be times where we feel alone or if someone hurts us but that doesn't mean it'll always be like that. We'll find our happy moments in life and we'll always find people with whom we can share our pain with." Dawn began to smile as did Mike with each word he spoke. "Like right now. We've had our bad moments with our lives and we've felt alone every now and then. But like now we're together, expressing our pain and trying to help each other through this." He and Dawn bore big warm smiles with this new revelation. "And even if we're alone, like tonight, at least we can be alone," he placed his hand on hers, "together." Dawn blushed with his gesture and returned it with a big hug. "Yes Mike. I'd very much love to do that, with you." Mike's color changed to a cherry red with that surprise hug and hugged her tightly. This new action brought much warmth to the two loners; after spending so much time alone in the most happiest of seasons they themselves had found happiness in each other's presence and were more than blessed because of it.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed before his eyes. And then another, though a different color. Before they knew it the sky was shining with rainbow colored fireworks, lighting the dark sky with luminous wonder. Dawn repositioned herself to her usual seat but was holding onto Mike as they watched the ongoing beauty. They turned to each other with faces of warmth and peace. "Merry Christmas Dawn." "Merry Christmas Mike." They hugged tightly once again and looked on to the flashing light show, finally enjoying what they believed to be the best Christmas ever.

The End