Ah, it’s that time of the year again. Let’s see… when’s the last time we even did anything for Christmas? That really takes me down memory lane. It wasn’t too long after we first left formal military service that I took him to my hometown to experience a Japanese Christmas.

My parents, of course, held out no hope that I’d find a man in my lifetime, let alone a foreigner. Sure, his snow-white hair threw my traditional japanese parents for a loop when they first met him, and maybe they begged me on their hands and knees to find someone normal, but the damage had already been dealt. Leo was the man for me.

To be honest, I would expect them to be a little more self-aware of our family’s situation. I mean, they legally changed our last name to Kumo, which, in Japan, eternally earned me the school nickname of Cloudy.

Having made that life-altering decision, they had the gall to tell me I couldn’t have a boyfriend with colored hair? Needless to say, we didn’t speak for a while. However, that didn’t deter me from renting an apartment near Tennoji in Osaka. We spent the week before Christmas just walking around the massive city, and visiting all it had to offer. Several temples, one aquarium, one Abeno Harukas, and one umeda sky building later, we had retreated to our hotel after acquiring some Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“Do you know what they call KFC in Japan?” I fixed my loose ponytail in the mirror as I asked Leo, and he just shook his head. Most people would think that Leo either had no interest in other people, or that he was off putting, but I knew better.

Leo was just cautious and soft-spoken. In fact, the first time he opened up to me about his past, the sense of accomplishment I felt was amazing. In the military, he wasn’t a natural-born leader, and he often faced harassment from other soldiers due to his age, but he grew into the role well.

I smiled and hugged him from behind, making sure to squeeze him tightly. “Take a guess.” I cradled my head in between his head and shoulder, and he placed a hand on mine.

“Is it just KFC?”

“Nope.” He shivered a bit as I nibbled on his ear in punishment. “It’s called Kentucky. I have no idea why, but it’s been that way since before I was born. For some reason, we Japanese people really love to shorten words and phrases.”

“That’s… different.” Leo said, and then brought a drumstick to his mouth.

“Speaking of traditions, the reason we eat KFC for Christmas all stems back to a commercial in 1974.”

“Sounds unhealthy.” I smiled at his concise response. He was always so concerned that no one cared enough about him as a person to hear his opinions.

I hugged him tighter and told him, “Feed me.”

“What do you want?

“Hmm… give me some potatoes.” Leo took a few potato wedges in his hands and held them up to me. I savored the fluffiness with a smile on my face, and gave Leon a kiss on the cheek before releasing him to go sit across from him instead.

“Do you like it?” I tensed up, not used to Leo speaking without being spoken to.

I smiled at him with my cherry red lips. “Of course! Like I said, it’s a tradition in Japan, and even though I don’t like to eat too much, I’ll never turn down a good Japanese meal.”

“No one who served with you would ever believe that you don’t like to eat that much.” I pulled Leo’s cheek hard in retaliation for the blow to my character, but he took it in stride, not even flinching from the pain.

Sighing, I let his cheek go and leaned in, giving him a kiss which caused my heart rate to spike. “That’s to make the pain go away." Despite his best attempt at a poker face, Leo had a small blush on his cheeks, and I inwardly celebrated my small victory.

We ate while I spoke, and Leo listened, occasionally responding when he thought to, or when his opinions were strong enough.

Huh. Come to think of it, that night, Christmas Eve, was the night we had sex for the first time.

Boy, I really had the tables turned on me there. I was getting annoyed that he was making me do all the work, so I annoyingly told him to ‘pound me’, which became the undoing of my legs for the evening, and the following morning.

"So, what are we doing for this year, Leo?"

Only silence responded as my memories faded away. I tried to move, but found myself restricted by an unknown force.

No, it wasn’t unknown, but rather the familiar feeling of being contained to my sword form. I thought for a moment, but couldn’t remember the last time I saw Leo, Alison, Maria, or Robert.

Feeling more than a bit disturbed, I reached my senses out into the void, and immediately drew them back as a loud wailing invaded my head. Just now, that was…

I extended them once more, ignoring the waves of negative and painful emotions that were flowing into me. That’s me! Wait, how did my sword get split in two? That would explain the memory loss. I tried to start my own repairs, like how my father taught me, but I was rejected by the swordpoint of my own blade.

Well that didn’t sit well with me. I guess I’d have to rely on Leo to help me out of this, eventually. How did I know he would, you may ask? Because, I could feel his energy all around me. Had I have been human, I would have smiled, and made myself comfy inside Leo’s void space.