.: Dec 25th - Early Evening :.

She had stayed indoors most of the day and found to some point that she regretted it. Why? Too much time to think and her mind went to subjects she was not ready nor wanting to dwell on.

She did her best not to by going over a list of things..changes to the Bon Bon she planned on making very soon. Extending the building some. Maybe do something for..no not for the new year. Maybe something for...

The idea of Valentine's Day made her shudder.

Maybe...

Anyways! There was plenty of ideas!

She took the time to bother Diana to send a very warm Merry Christmas to Edward via message. She would of went to go see him but him being all busy, busy. She'd probably just get in the way or shooed off. Wasn't like he had time with everything he had been doing. Heck he didn't even attempt to see her which lead her to believe that he was just that busy. She didn't want to linger on the thought that possibly he was..avoiding her. She did wonder if he got her gift. If someone tried to steal off with it she would chop off their fingers. Or worse...Rawr!

By the time nightfall came around she was in a state of near cabin fever that had her pacing the floors and eventually out of the door. She was feeling lonely but even that didn't change her plans of avoiding the inn, and a possible run in with Renna and Brian. Oh no..she had been avoiding the inn much like she had in the past years. Like it was the plague! She wasn't going to let anything..or anyone..ruin her attempt to have a decent Christmas for once. The world was just going to have to accept that she was trying ,with force, to move forward.

The streets were roamed and the decorations enjoyed. She loved the lights. It was sad they would be gone in another day or two. She had considered decorating the Bon Bon. She had decorated her apartment so why not the Bon Bon? In the end it seemed kind of pointless. It was still closed after all. And she only had the very scrawny little tree she stole from the Gov's ball really that decorated the apartment.

The two story building that was the Bon Bon was approached and she caught sign of something hanging off the door. Blinking she moved over to the hanging bag and once close enough she plucked it from the door handle. The card was fished out and tucked between lips while she dug carefully in the bag to make sure there wasn't anything bad in it. She blinked and pulled out a shirt. It was really pretty. Simple but pretty! Stuffing it back into the bag she pulled the card from her lips and gave it a look over.

It was from Vera.

That caused a smile to turn up. She hadn't really gotten that many gifts. Not even from Santa! It had been very thoughtful of Vera and she would have to thank the woman.

Speaking of gifts..

Her eyes turned to the door as the card was tucked away. She already had a feeling..and she was disappointed. Reaching out for the door she started to key it. If he wasn't there she needed to bring out the puppy to piddle otherwise Sergei's room was going to end up being a puppy potty mess.

"'scuse me, Miss?"

The voice startled her and she turned sharply, scaring the man who was approaching her. He laughed and scratched at the back of his head. "Sorry! Are you Miss Rhysata?"

She gave him one hell of a cautious look. "Who is asking?"

The look seemed to make the man nervous and he scratched harder at his head. "I am here to deliver a message to her but I've gotten lost a few times."

She relaxed a bit. "I'm her. Who is the message from?"

His hand quickly lowered as he expressed a sigh of relief. Shrugging he pulled out a letter and handed it over to her. "Here you go, Miss Rhysata! And have a Merry Christmas!"

Before she could even respond the man was already down the path. Thinning her lips she glanced down at the letter. It could of been a number of things. Both good and bad.

Tucking the bag to the crook of her arm she peeled open the envelope and pulled out the letter to give it a read over.

Dear Katt,

Merry Christmas. I ought to be wishing it to your face, and I ought to be happier doing it, but something terrible's come up and I'm awfully sorry not to be there.

En route to Alarcien I got a message from a pilot friend who runs deliveries closer to the Empire, about raids near my home. I diverted paths to the closest port to Imperial territory and managed to find a pilot who'd fled my home town. He says he went looking for my mother and grandfather at the farm... They weren't there.

I don't know who has them, or if they're okay, and no one seems to. I've been trying to find any way to do a thing, but there's nothing, and I won't do any good staying here and drawing the Empire back home again after me. After searching the surrounding ports and contacting the refugee camps, I'm headed home.

It's because of me they did this, Katt. Please don't think less of me for it when I return. I miss you. If you want, come meet me at the barn -- I should be there around nine o'clock on the twenty-sixth.

Yours,
Sergei

Her lips twitched as she read, dipping lower and lower until a complete frown was formed. Think of him any less? Such nonsense. But he had to be completely worried about his family now. It did explain his absence and now? Now she was worried for both Sergei and his family.

Tucking the letter into her bag she turned and slipped into the Bon Bon. Puppy duties to do and..well..she wasn't sure what she was going to do with the remainder of her night. Probably sleep. She wanted to be up early to be there when Sergei arrived. Hopefully with news about his family.

..Ten minutes later...

It wasn't contemplated for very long: around 9:10 p.m. the Sweet Maria buzzed across the sky, doing a slow, wide turn over the farm before coming in for a landing. The pilot was tired, had been flying all day and into the night, but the landing was smooth: he switched fully over to the levitation drive, hovered the rest of the way into the barn, and set her down.

He was quick to kill the engine but slow to remove himself, taking the ladder one rung at a time. Katt got a smile from him when he reached the floor, but an exhausted one. The sorrow of the last several days had taken the fight out of him.

Well that answered her question and darn if she wasn't glad not to be flattened by the plane!

Her brows furrowed as she watched the plane fall silent and the one inside..slowly exiting. She wasted no time striking a path over to him, arms thrown around his neck in a warm hug. A hug that wanted to last longer but was ended short. "You are late." Mhm don't think she was going to let him forget it either! He had her worried!

He had been in no hurry to leave his plane, but was in even less of a hurry to let her go. The way he hugged her told her he needed it. "Sorry," he managed quietly. "You, um..." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "...got my letter?"

"Last night..yeah." And the letter in hand was offered out to him. Actually she held it out so close that all he had to do was tilt his head a smudge in order to be nose to paper. This was to make sure that no matter the direct his eyes were going he was going to see paper! "Look!"

Once he did take it she would release and step back. Hopefully the news would make him feel a bit better.

It made him feel a lot better. At first there was a disbelieving frown; then he re-read it and took a few steps back, rubbing the top of his head and laughing aloud. He got halfway through the third time, then crumpled it halfway into his fist and shot back over to her, scooping her up and swinging her around in a hug. "She's all-right!"

Okay frown..Frown wasn't a good sign! She watched as he looked like he was about to start pacing. So surprise to her when he came shooting her way. She snorted out a laugh, both hands on his shoulders as he flung her around. "Down boy!"

After a bit of giggling she hugged him softly, a little whisper a bit too close to his ear. "You should go see her.." Sure..she missed him but this was more important. This was his mother they were talking about!

The close whisper made him twitch a bit, but he kissed her and held her hands and whispered back, "Come with me. I want you to come meet her."

She blinked when it earned her a kiss but she smiled all the same. Well..that is until she heard his request. She felt her stomach topple over down to her toes. "I'm.." To admit she was scared wasn't a easy thing. Specially about something so simple. "O-Okay.." She finally managed to murmur out.

He nodded, and checked his pocketwatch. 9:15. "Mrm... by the time we get there? It'll be awfully late, and I don't wanna wake her up, or keep you up... unless..." He trailed off, eyes going back to the Sweet Maria. Ponder, ponder...

Unless..?" She asked all too cautiously. Slowly her eyes went to his pocket watch that..oh..darn..he had one. But not one that she made! Course now she was considering how to get it from his room before he found it. he already had one.

She was off in those thoughts while waiting for an answer. Well..more in her thoughts while he did his pondering thing.

To be fair, the pocketwatch looked like hell: he'd found it in a pawn shop for cheap and worked on it until it ticked again. "Well, um... you always wanted to go up in the Maria, right? How about... right now?"

Ka-blink. "Ri-right now? I uh.." Okay now she wasn't thinking about the pocketwatch. Her eyes shot to the plane then to him. "Like..right now now?"

Shuffling in place she knew that the plane would get them to his mother quicker. And he was wanting to see her really bad. Numbly she nodded her head to agree with his plan even if she was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

"Right!" He clapped his hands together, and proceeded on a battery of instructions that lasted the next fifteen minutes (much of which was spent prepping for another flight anyway), including the parachute under her seat.

Hopefully it would not come to that, but if it did, he felt she should have a basic idea. As he finished an explanation about oxygen levels at different altitudes (and how on this trip it wouldn't have much to do with them), he wheeled a latter over to her seat for her to climb. "Excited?" he grinned at her. Somehow, in his own 'flyboy' excitedness, he'd missed her poor nerves.

Well lets see..Her flight with Matt hardly left her excited about planes in general. Course Sweet Maria was totally different but still! Just thinking about Matt made her stomach do loops. And he got some royal kick at calling her 'pilot' every time he saw her.

She listened to his explanations like a good girl but when he asked she had to stop herself from giving him a flatlined look. Instead she simply smiled and warned, "You do loopy things and I'll never kiss you again." There was your line flyboy! Don't cross it!

"Roger that." Once she was up he yanked the ladder away, scrambled up his own shorter ladder like a monkey, removed it from the side of the plane and tucked it into one side of the cockpit. "Gets a little cold up here -- there oughta be a scarf and gloves over your seat!" he shouted over the growing roar of the engine. "You need to talk to me from now on, use the radio by your right knee! Strapped in and ready?!"

One loop and she was out. Seriously! She'd probably jump out while he was still flying! Her stomach was nowhere now..scared off by him! But how could she say no to that excitement? The gloves were fished out just before he was given a thumbs up in indication that all was a go.

"Don't worry about me! Lets get you to your mother!" She chuckled and tugged on the gloves.

Maybe he was taking it easy because of his passenger, but using the drive to get off the ground and hover, and easing into the main engine for propulsion, made for a pretty smooth takeoff. The noise about doubled once the charged ethanol engine was completely engaged, and while the deep cockpit and small windshield protected them somewhat, cold wind still whipped at their heads and whistled down their sides.

Soon they were underway, and one of the dials in front of Katt climbed its way up to 200, dipping down for a moment as he banked gently into a wide turn to correct course towards Cadentia, giving her a view of the lights of RhyDin and Star's End beyond. Soon the twin cities retreated behind them, and as they gained altitude over the desert an odd thing happened:

Further and further removed from the cities' light pollution, the stars above them seemed to multiply.

She wasn't clinging that much to whatever she could. Not much at all. Eventually she would relax, enjoying the sights of the city from above. The christmas lights were all shiny..it was sorta sad that they would be gone soon. Specially in the glen. She would have to eventually drag Sergei to go see the castle thingy ...

Once she got use to the noise she was able to relax all the more, her eyes flicking around to watch the world just fly by and stars..lots of them. Her lips twitched in and out of a smile as she looked down to the radio. She knew it was sorta silly but she reached out for it and offered three little words over to the other end. "I missed you."

After a brief moment he responded. "I missed you too, Katt. I hoped I'd be home a lot sooner."

She wasn't expecting a response so it got a blink and a soft little smile. "You missed a lot..but you are safe. That is what is important." And his mother was safe too. Leaning to the side she peered a little off the side of the plane then up to the skies.

Settling, as it was, to watch the stars.

The arrival at the home was filled with talk among the three but Katt listened. Never adding in her own words but most definitely an ear among them. The chatting remained long after they arrived and even through the quaint little dinner that she helped Sergei's mom prepare.

She had, at some point, seemed to relax in the motherly presence that was Sergei's mother. She didn't know when it happened but it did. She noticed it when she and Natsumi had been talking, mostly about the Bon Bon and little things for the two to get together, and Sergei having gone oddly quiet. When they both looked over they found him cheek to the table, flat out asleep.

Dodging any questions the mother might have about the relationship she was having with the son, Katt assisted in bringing Sergei to a room to sleep. Politely she left Natsumi to tuck Sergei in. Instead she slipped out of the room and eventually the home itself.

Moving herself she leaned to the side of the building and watched the sky, fingers clenching and relaxing. Repeating the process.

She didn't belong here. How would Sergei's mother react if she knew what she was? What was worse? How she would react when she found out what Katt had been doing to her son.

That caused a twitching frown to find its place on her face.

Monster. That is what she was. Renna had tried to bring out the dormant darkness that had been so hard to put down. Darkness that was already within. Consuming..threatening...

Clenching her fist tightly she thumped it back into the building. Not hard enough to break stone but enough to make a soft thud.

If she stayed with him he would just get hurt. It was bad enough that he almost got hurt because of her at the HIA Jager. She should of just clawed into Maximilian and took the bullets. Then Sergei wouldn't of been in shoved into the dangerous situation. She had been nothing more then bait..

Sighing her eyes closed and she shook her head.

No. No..Things turned out the way they did and in the end Sergei saved her from a rather nasty watery grave. And in turn he learned what he wanted to do. He wanted to help people...

Ugh..!

She was doing the thinking thing again!

Both hands shot up, scratching wildly under the strains of chocolate and lavender. Making a lovely mess in the process. "Nhhhhgggg."

When she turned around she nearly took a leap out of her shoes when she saw Natsumi standing there with a look of concern. "M-Mrs. Rodovic. I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb anyone inside I was just-"

The kind woman shook her head and smiled to Katt. Reaching out she warmly took hold of Katt's elbow and lead her inside. "You should get some rest. There aren't many more hours before the sun rises."

Once inside she watched as Natsumi took leave to her own sleeping quarters. With little thought behind it she moved to the room that Sergei was sleeping in. The far wall was taken to and she slumped down with her back to the wall. One leg tucked under the other she took a familiar position she hadn't settled into for a long while. It gave her the ability to watch the sleeping figure while also keeping an eye out the nearby window.

A hour or two went by before sleep finally claimed her in the position, her chin dipped against her collarbone and an arm draped over the bend of her knee. A strange position to fall asleep in but she seemed to take it just fine. Sitting and all!