FSE

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Sundew walked down the main hall of the academy. She immediately noticed a large pot sitting in the middle of the hall, under a newly constructed hole in the ceiling. Sundew glanced up and down, before raising an eyebrow.

“There you are!” Cricket rushed over. “I’ve been looking for you!”

“And… why?” Sundew replied.

“Because, we need to borrow you to do some leafspeak for us.”

“And us is…”

“Sunny chose me to run the winter solstice planning, and I need to get the decorations up. I need you to grow a big huge tree right in that pot.” Cricket explained.

“What!” Sundew replied.

“I need a big tree…”

“Not that.” Sundew cut her off. “You are in charge of the winter solstice stuff? You can’t be doing that, not in… your condition.”

Cricket blushed. “You sound like Blue, but as a matter of fact, I wanted to be in charge. I have been studying the traditions of most of the tribes, and decided to take over. Now I need a tree, most tend to cut the tree down and hang it up, but I want you to grow it so Michael can plant it later.”

“You better have people helping you.” Sundew replied.

“I’m not that far just yet, I can do things myself. Thanks for caring though.” Cricket smiled.

“I’ll do the tree for you, but I want you to not over exert yourself. I know you will overthink things and stress, but you can’t be doing that.”

“Blah blah blah, okay Blue, I get it.” Cricket replied. “I don’t want to be pampered, thanks.”

The hivewing walked away, clearly peeved. Sundew frowned, but turned to the pot. She noticed that a seed had been planting, and could hear the little whispers of the young plant.

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

Moon looked down at the box of decorations, having no idea what to do.

“What do you mean, I don’t know!” Qibli walked up beside her.

“I never celebrated the winter solstice, I don’t know.” Moon shrugged. “You do it.”

“Cricket said to make it after the traditions of your tribe, and by the looks of those decorations she knows what they are.” Qibli told her.

“Well I don’t know.” Moon replied, clearly stressing. “I don’t really like holidays that much, I’d rather just curl up with you and a good book.”

“You do that anyway, doesn’t matter what time of the year it is.” Qibli laughed. “But when your done here, I am free all day.”

Moon jumped up and dumped the box out on her desk. “Fine, but you are helping me.”

Qibli picked up one end of a string of snowflake decorations, and hung it up on the side of her classroom. It only took them a half hour to finish, and Moon immediately rushed them to their room. She pulled out her favorite inkwell, and laid down on their bed. Qibli chuckled and curled around her, placing their egg against her belly.

“Too much social interaction?” He asked.

“A little…” Moon answered.

“Alright.”

“I know you love this holiday stuff, so we will do whatever you want.” Moon replied. “But maybe… limit it to closer to the day itself.”

“Deal, I wanna go ice skating.” Qibli replied.

“Please no.”

“Please yes.” Qibli nuzzled her. “Winter won’t shut up about it.”

“Alright, but I can’t skate.” Moon replied.

“I’m a sandwing, you think I can?” Qibli laughed.

“I’m surprised you aren’t all, we should decorate the egg, make it look all festive.”

“I don’t want people ogling it.” Qibli replied. “So that’s why.”

Moon smiled. “Your already a good dad.”

Qibli nuzzled her, and she started to write.

“What’s this book about?” He asked her.

“I was thinking making it about a sandwing and a seawing, and maybe their view on fighting together during the sandwing war.” Moon replied.

Qibli nodded, and nuzzled against Moon.

“Sounds good honey.” He mumbled as he fell asleep.

Cricket paced back and forth, and Blue kept trying to stop her.

“You should relax.” Blue told her.

“Relax? I have to put a magical tree in every winglet dorm. I have to set up gift exchanges, and help distribute decorations.”

“I’ll do all of it.” Blue told her.

“Wait… what?” Cricket turned.

“If it gets you to stop stressing out, I’ll do it.” Blue replied.

“No, I was the one who agreed to do all the stuff. I won’t have you do all the hard work that I chose to take on.”

“Cricket, you are pregnant.” Blue walked over and wrapped a wing around her. “I know this is important to you, I will do it for you.”

Cricket smiled and looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I still can’t believe you are my husband.”

Blue looked her up and down. “You being pregnant didn’t do the job?”

Cricket snorted, then laid her head against him. “The solstice is in three days.”

“I’ll get the trees and decorations out. Clay handles the food as normal, otherwise the students can pitch in.”

Cricket nodded. “And there is still the staff room.”

“What about it?”

“A tree, a large table, we need to buy gifts.’

“Got it, got it, you can probably handle the gifts, that isn’t stressful.” Blue nuzzled her. “Maybe grab some nesting stuff, mrrr?”

Cricket blushed. “Maybe.”

“Should be fun, take Moon with you, she’ll be helpful.”

Cricket nodded. “Okay.”

Blue stretched. “Alright, I’ll get started, what do I need to do.”

“Take the magic trees from Michael’s room, and place them in each winglet. Then put the big one in the staff room. Place boxes of decorations in each winglet room, and get somebody to do the staff room. The big thing is the main hall. The tree sundew grew needs ornaments, and the whole hall needs to be revamped.”

“I’ll give my students extra credit if they help me.” Blue smiled. “It will get done.”

Cricket nodded, and Blue walked out of the room. Right after he left Luna snuck in and smiled at her.

“Hey.”

Cricket raised an eyebrow. “And why are you sneaking past your brother?”

“Because I wanted to get him something for the solstice.”

“Ooh, what are you planning?”

“I wanted to get him this crystal sculpture of the three of us.”

“You mean… me too?”

“duh, him, his sister, and his wife.” Luna laughed. “The two closest dragons he has.”

“Right.”

“And I wasn’t going to get it from Michael either, I heard of a glass sculptor in the sand kingdom.”

“And you need me for…?”

“Well, I figured we both should give it to him. I already have another gift, and he no doubt has some for me. But this one is special.” Luna replied.

Cricket smiled. “Thanks.”

“Alright, well, I’ll show it to you when I get back.” Luna told her.

“See you later.” Cricket smiled.

Sunny smiled as she watched Eclipse play with one of the tree ornaments. Starflight was next to them, struggling to place their tree in the right spot.

“Close enough.” Starflight sighed and sat back, then turned as Eclipse bumped into him. “Look who’s all energetic on the eve of the solstice.

Eclipse smiled up at his father, which made Sunny’s heart melt.

“What did we want to get him for the solstice?”

“I don’t know, maybe some toys and a few bits of clothing.” Starflight replied.

“Our hatchling’s first Christmas.” Sunny smiled, reaching over to nuzzle Starflight.

Starflight chuckled. “Alright little man, time for bed.”

Eclipse turned and tried to run, but his mother was faster and grabbed him. “Oh no you don’t, bedtime is bedtime for you.”

Starflight laughed as Sunny curled up on the bed, and placed Eclipse against her belly. Starflight curled around her as she started to sing. He laid his head down on the pillow and watched as his wife sang to his son. Her voice was soft and sweet, and Starflight could feel his eyelids start to droop shut. Once Sunny had finished her song, she looked over to see both her boys fast asleep. She smiled to herself and marveled at her ability to not only sing her son to sleep but her husband as well. She looked over at the fire crackling in the fireplace, and knew that this night, her, here, with her family, this was the most perfect night ever.

Riptide sat curled around Tsunami, they were on a rainwing platform in the middle of the night. Deathbringer was curled around Glory, fast asleep as the two queens worked. He watched his wife as she read through tons of papers and talked on with Glory.

“Your majesties.” Riptide finally cut them off. “You have an early, lets call it meeting with your families in the morning, it is late and we should all go to bed.”

“I second that.” Deathbringer replied, yawning.

“Alright.” Tsunami replied.

They separated to their rooms, and the two seawings cuddled up on the bed together.

“I can’t wait to spend some time with my nephew.” Tsunami smiled.

Riptide chuckled. “I bet, now sleep or I will have to carry you to the academy.”

Tsunami nodded and buried her face in his neck. “See you on the solstice.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

The first thing Turtle woke to was his rainwing nuzzling him excitedly.

“C’mon Turtle, It’s Solstice day!”

Turtle smiled and opened his eyes, only to be met with a deep kiss. After Kinkajou pulled back she smiled brightly and nuzzled him again.

“Happy Solstice.” He told her.

“I wanna open our presents, lets go!” Kinkajou jumped.

“Our presents are in the staff room with the others.” Turtle told her. “We should wait for everyone.”

“Aw… alright… but in the meantime.” Kinkajou pounced on him.

Peril’s face lit up as she watched Sky fly up and land next to her. Icicle was right behind him, and quickly walked into the academy.

“Peril! Happy Solstice!” Sky rushed up and hugged his sister.

“And to you too!” Peril replied. “Now come on in for breakfast.”

Sky nodded and they entered. They entered the staff lounge and found most of the teachers laughing and talking together. Eclipse sat on Starflight’s back, watching the whole event with wide eyes. After a few minutes Tsunami and Glory arrived, and they all sat together at the large table and started to eat.

“Wow Clay, you make better and better dishes every day!” Cricket told him.

“Yeah, Michael slipped me some recipes.” Clay admitted. “But it was necessary since I had no idea what I was doing for breakfast.”

“I like this fruit salad thingy.” Kinkajou replied.

“Thanks Kinkajou.” Clay replied.

Eclipse chirped, and everyone laughed.

“Aw.” Tsunami smiled. “And how’s his talking going?”

“Good, he only says a word at a time, but soon he is going to be a talkbox.” Sunny replied.

“Enjoy it, Bumblebee started talking immediately, and would not stop.” Sundew replied, holding the little hivewing in her lap.

“Snoodoo!” Blue snickered.

Sundew shot him a look. “No.”

Bumblebee looked up at Sundew, then over to Blue, smiling. They continued to eat and chat, then finished and everyone moved over to the tree.

“We need a bigger tree.” Cricket laughed.

Blue shook his head. “No, that would make for more presents.”

Clay sat down and started to hand out the wrapped gifts. “Sky, Glory, Starflight, Peril, Kinkajou.”

They each grabbed and opened their gifts, and the cycle repeated. Starflight opened a gift and found a portrait of him with Eclipse. Kinkajou received a multicolored pearl necklace from Turtle, and amber earrings from Glory. Sky got a scarf, and a book containing all animals in Pyrrhia. Many more gifts were handed to the adults, before they could all start helping the dragonets with theirs. Sunny laughed and leaned her head against Starflight as Eclipse played with his new toys. Bumblebee was also playing with hers as well, a loud bell around her neck, much to the annoyance of Sundew. The peace was momentarily interrupted by a shivering pair of nightwings.

“Wow, it’s cold out there, snow is a blowing.” Mastermind smiled.

“Dad? Mom?” Starflight asked. “I thought you guys were ‘floating about in Pantala’”

“Well, we had to come see our grandson.” Farsight replied. “And my niece too of course.”

Moon blushed and smiled. “Hi.”

“Did you think I would miss out on the fun.” Secret keeper rushed in. “Boo!”

Farsight jumped a little. “Oh! Hello.”

“And me.” Coral poked her head in.

“What… who else is here?” Tsunami asked.

“Admiral, Burnet, Silverspot, Malachite, Katydid, Thorn, Smolder…” Coral listed off the names.

The dragons all piled into the room, and it got a little cramped.

“Cricket!” Katydid rushed over. “I got your letter, you’re pregnant!”

Burnet, Admiral, and Silverspot all rushed over and hugged Luna and Blue.

“Congrats.” Admiral whispered to Blue

Blue blushed and smiled. “Thanks dad.”

“Anyway.” Thorn sat next to her grandson and picked him into her arms. “Moorhen, Hazel, Coral, and I all decided to get you guys a gift.”

Everyone turned to the sandwing queen.

“Even though this is technically already the case, we have given you two things. The first, is a cemented position as official academy of the dragonets of Pyrrhia and Pantala. Which means permanent funding and students. The second gift, a more personal one, is a custom set of armor for each and every one of you, symbolizing not only your position here, but also your tribe and spouse.”

Everybody smiled and cheered, and settled into little family pockets. Katydid and Malachite doted on their daughter, Thorn and Tsunami played with Eclipse and his uncles while Starflight talked with his parents.

“So.” Coral stood next to her son. “How have you been?”

“Good.” Turtle smiled. “Kinkajou and I have been training to become teachers, and planning our wedding.”

“Oh?” Coral turned to look at Kinkajou as she talked with Glory.

“Yeah.” Turtle sighed happily.

“Well, not to be dismissive but I did promise Anemone I would spend the night with her. Talk tomorrow?” Coral asked.

Turtle blinked. “Uhm… yeah.”

Coral smiled. “See you then.”

Turtle watched his mother leave, then turned back to the party. After several hours the party settled down and everyone relaxed around a large fire in the middle of the room.

“This was a good day, thank you Cricket for helping so much.” Sunny turned to the hivewing. “Had I known you would be pregnant by the this time I would have been more considerate with the role.”

Everyone laughed, and Cricket nodded back to her. “Your welcome, thank you for letting me do it, or at least letting me lead while Blue takes all the hard work.”

“That’s my boy.” Admiral smiled.

Eclipse yawned, and closed his eyes, cuddling with his uncles in Thorn’s arms. Thorn looked extremely proud of this, smiling brightly. Everybody else soon started to fall asleep in the warm glow of the fire. The last to fall asleep were Moon and Qibli, who sat nuzzling under the firelight.

“My mom wants to see the egg tomorrow.” Moon whispered.

“Let her, Cobra comes to stare at it all the time.” Qibli replied.

Moon smiled. “I love you Qibli.”

“I love you too Moon.” Qibli replied.

Soon, the entire group was asleep in front of the fire. The room was so full of love that every dragon inside of it was able to sleep very peacefully. Michael watched the room as they all slept, his daughter next to them.

“I love these holidays.” She spoke, in a way only he can hear.

“I always liked mortal’s ability to find ways to celebrate their life, and their progression through it.” Michael replied. “This room, these situations, are one of the reasons why I fight to protect it. All the evils outside this room, but none of them are able to reach in here. This is a night of peace for these dragons, nothing will trouble them.”

Trice nodded, then looked over at her father. “You know… I’m realizing more and more about why most of my forms are with you.”

“It’s because you are a mini me.” Michael smiled. “Same code, same goals. The future Ultimate Guardian, probably a very long time from now, since it is the title I want to release the least.”

Trice nodded. “I don’t want it for a while anyway, I want to enjoy moments like this.”

Nods. “These are the best moments.”

They continued to protect the sleeping family throughout the night, and everyone woke happily and well rested.

[And to all the humans out there reading this transmission…]

[Merry Christmas]