- Christmas Serenity

I awoke with a slight groan and looked at the clock on my night stand. It was definitely early Christmas morning. Only by a few hours though. I twisted around to go back to sleep. In my mind, the bed felt... empty. Why did it feel empty though?

Then the events of the last twelve hours came back to me and I sat up in bed.

The lights in the living room lit my room enough to see that Xlilith was gone. Worried, I got out of bed and grabbed my housecoat, putting it on as I walked out of the room. A quick check relieved that she wasn't in the bathroom or any of my guest rooms. I was relived when I did find her standing in the living room, though the only thing she had was a blanket wrapped around her form. She was looking at the nativity scene, her ears spade apart as she stood there deep in thought. Her ears twitched as I stepped closer to her.

“Why?...” She didn't turn to face me but continued to look at the miniature manger. “Why are you so nice to me? Why even bother to help me? You don't know who I am, where I'm from, or who my family was. Why help me?”

I stopped just behind her. “Why not?”

“Because...” she said with sadness in her voice. “I'm Kruut'ir, I deserve nothing...”

“Wrong!” I snapped and turned her around so she was facing me as I held her by her shoulders. “You are a person. You deserve more than to just live on the street, scrounging for your next meal in trash in nothing but rags. You deserve a home to go to, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and cloths to wear and to keep you warm.”

“But...” I could see the tears shimmer in the lights as they welled up under her eyes. “How can you be so kind to me? I... I don't understand.” She tried to turn away from me but my grip kept her from moving her body. “Only one person was ever kind to me,” I could hear her voice start to falter. “A-and she disappeared a long time ago. No one cared that she went missing. My family didn't care, she was just a Lycan slave to them. Its my fault she's gone.”

She started to cry and I pulled her close to me and wrap her in a tight embrace as I stroked her hair. I could feel the dampness soaking my housecoat as she cried into my shoulder. “Shhhh... Its ok.”

“No its not. I'm the one that asked her to go. Gave her supplies to carry.” She sniffled as she punched her fist against my chest. “I had hope she'd return. Even asked the guards to go look for her, but they refused. No idea what happen to her. I tried to ask around after the winter subsided. But no one knew what happen to her. I-I could feel a part of me missing, lost... Waiting to be found again. But I never found her.” She hiccuped as she took another breath.

“Then you came, humans. I heard that there was a battle in orbit. Going poorly for us. Then a guard found me and told me I must escape. He took me to an escape tunnel and told me to go and not to look back. Keep going and hope that my family finds me later.”

“Later never came, did it?” I said solemnly.

I felt her shake her head. “No, I found out later that my family is all dead. My clan is all gone aside from me. I was branded a Kruut'ir and shunned by my own people because of my family. I hated my parents. Only cared about themselves and their status. I wanted to find a mate so I could take over the clan and change things. I didn't want them to die. I didn't want my clan to be destroyed, I only wanted to have it the way it was traditionally, the way it should of been and to serve the people... I-I'm just so lost any more... I don't know what to do.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as it trailed off. I let silence settle in the room as I held her, letting her 'cry the cry' out of her system.

“And that is why.” I simply stated.

She pulled her head back and looked up at me. “Whah?...”

I looked at her eyes as they twinkled in the Christmas lights around us. I cupped her cheek as I wiped some of her tears away from under her eyes. “That is why.” I gave her a kiss on the forehead before I continued. “You needed help, more than I realized when I first met you. I don't know what your past is, nor do I ever expect to fully know. You say you came from a selfish family and think you deserve the spite you've received. But that's not what I seen the first time you bumped into me, and what I see standing before me now.” I let go of our embrace and place both my hands on her cheeks.

“Back then, I seen someone who needed my help, that was lost in a cold, unforgiving world.” She started to open her mouth to speak, but I placed a finger to stop her. “Now, after two weeks of watching her, I see a caring person that tries to help others when she can. Someone that doesn't deserve a second chance but a chance period that she was never given. Someone...” It was my turn for my voice to falter. “Someone that I came to care a great deal for and she means a lot to me. Enough that I would go to the end of the world and risk my life for her.”

Tears started to form in her eyes “But... I thought... What Vin'corda said...”

“What did he say?”

“He said that you only seen me as a pet. Some lost animal called a kitten. That you only came to see me because you felt obligated to do so. When he first told me I called him a liar. But then he told me you left. That you were gone forever and that Maggie would kick me out when you didn't return. I tried to call you, but you didn't answer. I... I tried to find you but I couldn't. I-I needed to find you. I didn't know why. I though if I went to the snow barriers... M-maybe..” She started to sob again as I pulled her against me again.

“What Vin said to you was a lie. Or at least in part.” I started to stoke her hair again and she started to emit purr. “What he told you was only half truths. He confessed to finding the messages I sent to you and Maggie and deleting them. He twisted my words to his own use to drive you off.”

“Why would he do such a thing?...”

“Because when his sister gone missing he blamed you. He thought you exiled her to the cold when from the sounds of it, you were only trying to help the settlement. And instead of trying to find out the truth, he turned all of his rage towards you and your family.”

There was another long silence as we stood there. I kept my arms around her, comforting her. Her arms were dangling by her side as she weep into me again. “We deserved the blame. My family, Me.. We lived in the lap of luxury while our people went with out and nearly froze to death every year. I don't deserve anything because of that. I don't deserve anything that Maggie and her mate gave me and I don't deserve what you have done for me.”

“You might think that,” I said bringing her head up to look into my eyes as I brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “But, I know in my heart that you are wrong. I wasn't lying when I said that you deserved to be given a chance. Just like I said that I care for you. No..” I started to choke some as I tried to find the courage to continue. “I care for you more than that, you mean more to me than anything I have. It seems strange to me because I've only known you for less than a month, but I know it in my heart and my mind agrees. Xlilith, I... I've fallen in love with you.”

“R-re-really?”

I nodded yes. “I want to be part of your life, like I hope you want to be apart of mine. You say that you're lost, let me help you find your way again. When I was gone for my job, my thoughts kept coming back to you. Everyone around me seen it before I did, and I feel like a heel that I didn't catch it sooner. Xlilith... I... I love you.”

“Calvin... I...” She wrapped her arms around me as I leaned closer to her, “I loves you too...” She whispered as our lips pressing together in a long passionate kiss as the Christmas lights sparkled around us in our embrace.