"You should go. You'll have fun!"

Mel, a loveable Saint Bernard dog, didn't turn around to glance at the talking mirror hanging on the wall of her cave. "You said that last year."

"And I was right." A collection of Christmas cards had been brought in from the barrel that served as a mailbox and near the top of the stack was an invitation to the Ditto Town Christmas party, printed on heavy paper and smelling ever so faintly of pine trees and spice cookies.

"Why don't you go this year?"

If a mirror could be aghast, this one was. "Do I look like one of those animated creations with arms and legs?"

"And fingers," added Mel, not meaning for her remark to be overheard. Neither of the odd pair had opposable thumbs, though they usually managed just fine. She sighed, and her entire body slumped even further. "What if there are helicopters?"

"That was the cruise," said the mirror, briskly. "Now, fetch that velvet ribbon and get dressed."

By the time Mel was brushed and the ribbon around her neck for a festive touch, she had perked up a bit. Maybe it was just she hadn't been fully awake when the mirror got excited about the party. Maybe it was just the weather--she liked to hibernate all winter and miss the gray, overcast days. But, after all, it was Christmas.

"Think of the Christmas cookies!" called the mirror as Mel left the cave and started the walk to Ditto Town. Mel did. She thought of gingerbread as she plowed through the snow. She thought of sugar cookies, and spritz, and pfeffernüsse, and orange balls. By the time she got to candy canes, she was on the steps on the Mansion.

Mel licked her chops and stepped inside, remembering to wipe her paws on the doormat.

"Take your coat?" inquired a staff member.

"No, thank you," barked Mel. Her voice echoed in the grand entryway. She moved cautiously, not wanting to slide all over the floor--not yet. Maybe if they got around to playing games later. She wrinkled her nose as she caught a new scent.

Was that another squirrel?

"My dear child, I'm always working," Delia said. "Unless I'm not. You really should try this cider, it's quite delish. Would you like a sip?"

She extended her drink toward Cody, waiting for him to take the bait. Sure, it might be a bad idea for a prank, and it might end up with a certain police officer firmly warning her not to do it again, but opportunity had knocked in the form of a teenager, and she was not going to miss out if she could help it.

On further reflection, this was a party to celebrate joy and peace. Maybe such shenanigans were not wise. But the realm of the calm, consistent, and boring (and accidentally unlocked gates) had been the reason she had left the underworld and come topside. She might as well play the part of the trickster as long as she could.

Ainsley-Marie Kellner shut off her SUV and hopped out, normally the two of them would have just walked the few blocks that it was from their appartment to the Mansion, but not tonight. Her choice in footwear and depth of the snow had dictated that decision to them.

"You ready, Jeff?"

"Yeah, hopefully it'll be a quiet night."

"That's unlikely, but thats a nice thought, bub. How do I look?"

Jeff examined his girlfriend and her outfit for a moment. The necklace he had gifted her sat on her dainty neck, glinting in the streetlight, shining like so many icicles. Her forest green dress was objectively beautiful, but it paled in comparison to the girl wearing it. To Jeffery Evans there wasn't a prettier sight to be had in the whole of the multiverse.

"Perfect."

"You don't look so bad yourself, Mr. Evans. That hoodie was a nice touch. If I do say so myself."

Jeff had ditched the sweater vest and tie for an extravagant Christmad sweater, the one she had given him. It was quite busy and covered in all sorts of Christmas cheer.

"I feel a bit underdressed."

"Shut up, you look like yourself. If I wanted to date some rich prep boy, I would. I love you, not some tie."

"How'd I get so lucky?"

"Beats me. Common now, take me inside and show me off. I didn't get all dolled up to stand around outside in the cold."

"Here I thought you did that for me."

"Nah, we both know that if this were for you, we wouldn't have ever left home."

"Fair point you've got there." Jeff replied, offering up his arm. With that, the two lovebirds made their enterance. Just in time to see the venerable Delia Death offer her cider to a teenager.

"I'mma pretend I didn't see that." Jeffery commented as the duo approached the small group.

While the invitation strongly implied formal dress was required, Dan settled for a turtleneck, dress coat, and slacks. Angie was beautiful in a dress similar to those their daughters wore. He was more than happy to let the fashion spotlight be on the rest of his family.

Judging by the cars in the area, the party was already in full swing, so they parked down the street, buttoned up their coats, and walked through the light snow. It was quiet and peaceful.

"Do you think Kaelin will be there?"

"I don't know," Dan answered his daughter. "She was last year. Eager to see her?"

"Yes! I miss her."

"Well, we'll know in a minute. Here we are!"

Dan opened the door and followed his family into the festively decorated Mansion. Sharply-attired staff offered to take their coats.

"I see her!" Grace squealed in joy. "Can I go see her?"

Angie followed her daughter's glance and spotted Kaelin at the snack table. "Sure, sweetie," she replied.

Dan and Angie were busy wrangling little Emma, who seemed thrilled with all the new sights and sounds, and they smiled at all the faces, old and new.

"Hi, Kaelin!" Grace said, meeting her friend while grabbing a few chocolate cookies.

Delia made a face at Jeff and retracted the drink.

"Evening Ainsley, evening Jeff. What brings you all to our humble abode?"

"Hi! Heeeeyy," Kaelin replied, turning to face Grace. Too many thoughts raced through her mind at once. Was Grace mad at her? She didn't look mad. Should she apologize? No, the window for socially acceptable apologies had closed. What would she be apologizing for, anyway? Should she ask about her mom's health? But she could see Angie over Grace's shoulder, so perhaps not.

"Nice dress," she finally managed.

"Thanks," Grace replied, blushing a little. Her parents were always complimenting her but it was different coming from friends. Without planning to she twirled a little bit. "Do you really like it? Emma's wearing one too, see?" She pointed to her little sister, who was next to her mother.

Grace was unaware of Kaelin's discomfort around her; in fact she considered her a sort of honorary sister since she was one of the few people about her age that had come through the Titan IC experience. But she remembered that Kaelin had been worried about her mother's health on the island, so maybe showing her that Mom and Emma were okay would be good.

"Oh my platypus, that is so cute!" Kaelin exclaimed, seizing on the matching dresses like a shipwrecked man on a flare gun. "Did you mom make them? It's so fun that you guys are matching!"

"Well, we were in.the area so I figured we'd pop in and see what all the ruckus was."

Ainsley rolled her eyes at the two of them and their banter. It's like they thought they were in a Marvel movie or something, what with all the sarcasm being thrown around. "Jeffery looks forward to this party all year, he hasn't stopped chittering about it for a weeks now."

"Here I thought you were on my side." Jeff replied, playfully jabbing Ainsley's side.

Ainsley searched the room quickly, looking for a change of topic. She found one in Ditto Town's favorite family. Wih a wave in their direction she skillfully switched up the conversation. "Oh hey look, it's the Baxters!"

Cody had been trying to figure out how to politely refuse Delia's - poisoned?! - drink, in that sense, he was relieved when Jeff and Ainsley arrived and the drink was retracted. Regardless, though, he couldn't help but feel an instinctual disgust when the happy couple made their way in. Cody may be growing up, but romance still turned him back into an eight-year-old boy.

Their playful banter didn't help, and neither did the fact that he was now in the middle of a conversation where everyone seemed to know each other except him. He felt too invisible to be involved, but not invisible enough to just disappear. When Ainsley offered a distraction, he took it. He mumbled to Miss Brixton, "I'm going to get myself some of my own cider."

Faye nodded, seemingly oblivious to his discomfort. Still, she pointed out the girls at the refreshments table. "See those two? The older one is Kaelin, and the younger is Grace. I'm glad to see they're here - they're a bit closer to your age. Why don't you introduce yourself to them?"

Cody nodded, but he made no effort to do so. Yes, Kaelin looked almost his age, but Grace was clearly quite a bit younger. She was younger even than Lindsey, and he didn't get Lindsey at all. And - ugh! - they were talking about matching dresses! He might as well be at home with his sisters! Still, they had to be better than the lovebirds or the crazy death lady, right?

Cody took his sweet time filling up his plate and glass and hovered around the refreshment table for as long as he could.

---

Faye, meanwhile, waved at the Baxters. She was tempted to go join them, but she had a feeling much of the party was going to be moving that way shortly, and she would probably have an opportunity to talk to them later.

Besides, she'd been meaning to talk to Twigs since arriving, but that had almost immediately been lost in the shuffle. She stepped away from the group members now turned towards the Baxters and turned towards Twigs, asking, "So, I haven't seen you in town sinc - I mean, recently. Is this your first time back?"

Angie smiled to see Grace and Kaelin together at the refreshments table. She definitely approved of their friendship and was glad to see that it had apparently weathered - she groaned inwardly at her own pun - being marooned on a tropical island.

She sought out Maeve and made her way in that direction. She had few memories of her own time on the island, but Dan and Grace had regaled her with stories of how helpful the two sisters had been in their time of need. So expressing gratitude to Maeve was something she really wanted to do.

Maeve smiled when she saw Angie coming. "Hi, Maeve," she began, suddenly wondering if that was too casual. She couldn't remember any last name - or even if Maeve had a last name. "My husband and daughter haven't stopped talking about all you did for us back on the island. I really don't remember anything, but I think I might not even be here if not for you. We can never repay you for that, but I wanted to say thanks."

---

Grace couldn't help smiling. "Yes, Mom made them. She's really good at sewing and stuff, and is starting to teach me about it."

She had noticed the new arrival at the refreshments, a teen-age boy that was taller and older than either girl. She wasn't sure if she should talk to him or not, but at that instant Emma helped make that decision for her when she broke loose from her father and scampered toward the table. She always seems to be eating, Grace thought. Mom said something about a growth spurt.

Emma arrived across the table from Cody but wasn't quite tall enough to reach the food - at least not without the risk of spilling something. "Excuse me," Grace said to Kaelin. "You can come along if you want; I just gotta help my sister."

Grace filled Emma's plate with some goodies and looked over at Cody. She was suddenly shy but still said, "Hi," in a small voice.

---

Dan suddenly found himself alone, but not for long as he waved back to Miss Faye and heard someone say his name. It was Ainsley and Jeff, whom he hadn't seen since the cruise, so he decided to talk to them.

"I'm very glad my skills were of use," Maeve replied. "Has your recovery been going well?"

~~

For a moment, Kaelin worried her friend was trying to get away from her, but suddenly understood and relaxed when she saw Emma. She followed Grace, snagging a peppermint brownie and shoving it in her mouth.

"Noice shave," she mumbled through the brownie.

Cody heard a quiet "Hi" somewhere nearby, and quickly turned to look at the source. He saw one of the two girls Miss Brixton had pointed out to him earlier - Grace, he thought - and a much younger girl, a toddler. Judging by the matching dresses and family resemblance, he had to imagine they were sisters. He could see that the older sister had a plate of goodies, and was still filling it up.

"Oh, sorry, are you trying to get food? I can...." Cody stepped back to make room, realizing as he did that all she'd said was "Hi". Even if she was just shy, she probably would've started with "Um" if she was asking him to move. He flushed a bit and added, "I, uh, I've never been here before, so I'm still getting used to... that is...."

Cody sighed and abandoned that line of thought entirely and decided to start over. "Hey. My name's Cody."

"Hi. I'm Grace and this is my sister Emma." She bent over and gave the small plate of goodies to the toddler. "Can you sit over there for now?" she asked, pointing toward a nearby table with small chairs, possibly set up just for the smaller guests to the festivities.

Grace watched her sister go in the direction indicated and turned back to Cody. "And this is my best friend, Kaelin," she said, gesturing toward the other girl. "We've been through ocean adventures together."

---

"I really can't complain," Angie replied, nervously brushing some hair aside to show a small scar remaining from her own ocean adventure. It was a nervous twitch she'd picked up lately and was trying to remind herself not to do it.

"I still can't remember some things, like the time on the island, and that's probably good. But Dan's parents were a little disappointed when I didn't remember them. They were great sports and tried to hide it, but I could tell. And every now and then it's like something is just barely out of reach, and I can't recall something I feel I should know.

"But we're seeing specialists and they've said I'm doing well. At least my arm healed just fine." She caught sight of her daughters out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help smiling. "I've got my family and my health, and I'm really glad for that."

Kaelin practically vibrated with happiness at being called Grace's best friend. So they were good, after all!

"Nice to meet you, Cody," she said.

~~

Maeve was quick to notice the scar and felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly reminded herself that she had provided the best care possible. Beside, that sort of thing had never bothered her before--why should it bother her now? Instead, she nodded at Angie's assessment.

"I'm glad you're healing so well. Honestly, it is probably for the best that you don't remember the island--you've had enough to deal with just healing from your injuries."

She hesitated for a moment, then decided to take the plunge.

"If you don't mind my asking...have you chosen to pursue trauma counseling for Grace?"