Phoenix: Reignited Edition

Akane took her seat at the one table left on the floor, off in the side wing where the pool table and arcade machine used to be. A few of the other tables were stacked behind her, and the rest had been removed up to the rooftop for the evening in order to free more space in the main bar for the overflowing crowd to stand. She looked around the room at the hundreds of assembled revelers waiting for Ranko to take the stage, and smiled warmly. Look at what you've done, Ranko. You've completely reinvented yourself in such a short time, and now, all these people love y… Akane shuddered, cutting her thought off before it had a chance to fully form.

Mei walked out onto the stage, and the audience erupted in a raucous cheer. "Hey everybody!" She waved enthusiastically to the crowd. "Welcome to a very special night here at the Phoenix! Merry Christmas! Is everybody having a good time tonight?"

The beyond-capacity crowd roared in response.

"That's what we like to hear! But it's not what you're here to hear, is it?" Mei tapped her temple twice with the microphone, letting the thump thump from just below her left pigtail echo through the speakers. "What could it be, what could it be… Oh! You're here to see my little sister sing, aren'tcha?"

Akane thought her eardrums would burst as the crowd responded with a thundering chorus of whoops and cheers.

"Well, then I guess we better get her out here, huh?" Mei turned to her left, looking just past Akane's table to the side door leading into the kitchen. "Hey, Ran-chan! You ready?"

Ranko's excited voice rang through the speakers. "You know it! Let's do this thing!"

The three hundred and sixty-four revelers packing the Phoenix sounded like three thousand as Ranko exited the kitchen, waving and beaming at the assembled bargoers. She lightly dragged her lace-gloved fingers gently across the cheering Akane's back as she passed the newly-designated VIP table and ascended the three stairs to the stage, her rhinestone-studded dynamic microphone in hand.

"So…" Ranko leveled her hand over her eyes, surveying the crowd. "Have you all been good this year?" The young songstress in the kelly green velvet dress laughed over the deafening crowd. "Well, good news, everybody! You've still got a couple days before Christmas to screw it up! So let's put some names on that naughty list, huh?!"

Akane smiled up at her former partner, watching her soak in the call and response from the audience. She's gotten so good at working a crowd. She looks like she's having the time of her life. Whatever happened to her hand yesterday, she seems okay now, she thought with a sigh of relief. There was a joy and an energy in the beautiful redhead's eyes that Akane had only seen once before – the first time she saw Ranko on stage almost three weeks prior.

The songstress looked off to the side, where Mei was setting up the sound board, pointing at her and making the shape of a heart with her hands.

Akane felt a pang of jealousy, but it quickly faded. I don't know these girls that well, but I doubt Ranko's doing anything… like that… with them. She considers them her sisters, and they're all way older than her, too. Besides, it's not like me and Ranko are a couple anymore, right? Akane swallowed hard. Right? The raven-haired girl mopped her brow with the sleeve of her sweater. Is it getting hot in here? Must be the crowd. And the lights.

The speakers pounded to life with a high-energy remix of Jingle Bell Rock, and Ranko began to sing. The crowd joined in through the choruses, and Ranko stalked the stage back and forth, making eye contact with as many people as she could, rallying the crowd to the celebration. Her brow dripped with sweat as the hot red and green incandescent lights blazed on her overly sensitive skin, but she seemed not to care.

I can't believe that this is the same person who I had to threaten with a mallet in order to get a backup singer at our Christmas party last year, Akane mused as she bounced playfully in her chair and clapped along with the rhythm pounding through the twelve overhead speakers. But, then again, a lot about her has changed since last Christmas.

"What a bright time! It's the right time to rock! The! Night! A-way!" Ranko giggled as she thrashed her hips back and forth with each syllable, the fur trim at the hem of her Santa dress tickling her legs through the holes in the white lace stockings she wore.

"Jingle bell time is a swell time…" Ranko extended her microphone out to the crowd, swishing her skirt with her right hand as the crowd continued the chorus.

"To go gliding in a one-horse sleigh!"

"You got it!" Ranko bopped across the stage, dropping a wink and a smile in the direction of the one person seated in the whole bar.

"Giddy up, jingle horse! Pick up your feet! Jingle around the clock! Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet!"

Ranko shrugged her shoulders. So weird, rhyming 'feet' with itself. I could've sworn it said 'beat,' but Izzi looked up the lyrics. She held the microphone out to stage right, and the crowd packing the side of the bar furthest from Yui and Ayako's domain at the counter roared out in response.

"That's the jingle bell!"

The songstress rocked her hips to the left, swiveling in place at the waist and pointed the microphone out at the side of the room closer to the kitchen entrance. Everyone who had not chimed in for the first repetition did so, Akane included.

"That's the jingle bell!"

The redhead pulled the microphone back to her own lips in her right hand, finishing the song at a full belt. "That's the jingle bell RO-O-O-OCK!" She held the final note for almost three seconds, even after the background music had ended.

"Alright!" Ranko clapped her hands after a few moments' pause for applause. "I've never had four hundred backup singers before! Not bad, everybody!"

The crowd whooped loudly in response.

"So, tell me something, Phoenix!" Ranko rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Are you all ready to see Santa?!"

Yet another roar came forth from the assembled revelers.

"I don't think he can hear you! We'd better call him! You ready, Phoenix?! Here we go! SAN-TA! SAN-TA!"

By the second repetition, the audience had joined in the chant, and on the fourth repetition, the tape Ranko had queued up with Mei blared out the speakers just as she had scripted it. Ranko's voice flowed from the chant directly into the verse. "SAN-TA! SANTA Claus is coming to town!" There was an almost sultry sass in her voice and choreography that did not escape Akane's notice. "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good…"

She looked back over her shoulder at the crowd off to her left, putting a mischievous twinge into her voice. "So, be bad, for goodness' sake!" She winked and kicked one of her heels back behind herself, almost high enough to get it caught in her skirt, and the crowd erupted.

Ranko surveyed the gathered partygoers as her second song drew to a close. Everywhere she looked, people were clapping, cheering, and smiling. She'd even seen a few video camcorders here and there, and tried to wave to them whenever she could. It's working. I still can't believe this is all… for me. Sure, people have always been impressed by my martial arts stuff, but folks pretty rarely applaud you for a fight. The last time somebody clapped at a fight I was in was… She swallowed the thought back as soon as it began. Not tonight, Mikado, she thought to herself. You can't take this from me tonight. In fact, you'll never hurt me again. I made sure of it. I won.

"RAN-KO! RAN-KO! RAN-KO! RAN-KO!"

The redhead blinked, shaking her head and willing her consciousness back into the moment. Focus, Ranko. People are waiting. No time for that shit tonight. She smiled, waving to the crowd. Much though she knew she needed to start the next song, she couldn't help taking a few moments to bask in the moment. They see me as who I am. Not who I was or how I got here. She looked down at the dainty lace glove on her right hand, her blackened knuckles still aching within as she gripped the microphone. They don't know where I came from. They don't know what a mess I was. And still am. She raised her eyes to the anxious crowd, and an impish smile was all it took to rile them back to buzzing. But they know this is where I belong.

She caught Yui out of the corner of her eye. The blonde was frantically shaking two aluminum containers, one over each shoulder. She must be exhausted already, Ranko thought. "Hey, real quick - is everybody enjoying the drinks tonight?" Another assenting cheer rose from the patrons as Ranko extended her arm toward the main bar counter. "Then let's all give some love to Yui and Ayako back there at the bar, huh?"

Both women raised the bottles in their hands in response to the cheering crowd.

As the audience whooped in appreciation, Ranko swiveled at the waist, motioning with her open hand to the service bar. "You guys in the front! How's Izumi treating you tonight?" The roar continued in acknowledgement of the Phoenix' third bartender; with the tables removed, most table service had been suspended, converting the service bar into a third station for walk-up cocktail sales.

"Do I sound okay up here?" Ranko smiled as the capacity-plus crowd howled in approval. "If so, make sure to thank my sister Mei! She's running the audio and lights for our little party tonight!"

Mei looked up from Ranko's notes, waving from the little makeshift booth next to the VIP table as the crowd cheered again.

Ranko beamed at the sight of a tall woman in a leather jacket peeking over the blue slatted door leading into the kitchen. "And let's not forget Hana – the heart and soul of the Phoenix. We love ya, Mama!"

Hana waved from the saloon doors, yelling back to her youngest daughter loudly enough to be heard over the thundering roar of humanity packing her bar. "Yeah, yeah! Now sing something, will ya?"

The crowd laughed in unison.

"I will, Mama!" Ranko giggled, shaking her head playfully. "But first, I've got one more person I want to mention."

Akane blinked, looking around. I could have sworn there were only the five of them. Do these friggin' women grow on trees?

Ranko lowered herself down and sat on the edge of the stage, dangling her feet off and crossing her ankles as she spoke into her microphone. "So, there's somebody here tonight that's… really special to me. She's been there for me through some stuff I couldn't even begin to describe, and…"

She turned her head to Akane, the sole occupant of the sole table left in the room. Her gaze left no doubt about to whom she was speaking. She smiled warmly – almost lovingly. "I just wanted to tell her thank you. For everything."

Akane blushed, hiding her face a little bit as the crowd cheered.

Ranko laughed into the microphone, scanning the assembled throng with her eyes. "You know, it was actually Akane here that got me into singing?" A few more whoops rose up from the crowd. "Yeah! Would you believe I used to hate it? And now, I couldn't imagine my life without it. She used to make me get up in front of parties and sing with her, and it always embarrassed the crap out of me."

Ranko reached next to herself and picked up the second microphone from where it lay on the edge of the stage, spinning it around in her left hand so that the handle side was offered outward to the lone table in the room. She leaned down into her own microphone with a devilishly devious smirk. "What would you all say to helping me return the favor?"

Akane's eyes widened in shock as the crowd began chanting her name. She shook her head, all the blood in her body rushing to her face at once. Otherwise, she did not budge.

"A-KA-NE! A-KA-NE!" the crowd continued.

Ranko grinned, the microphone still extended toward her once-betrothed. "Akane, you know how stubborn I am. I'll wait here all night until you get your butt up here with me. You wouldn't do that to all our new friends out there, would ya? C'mon!"

After a few more seconds of the chanting, Akane rolled her eyes and stood, and the crowd roared. She made her way up the three stairs to the stage platform as Ranko rose to her feet, handing over the microphone.

Akane shook her head with a grin, having not yet turned the microphone on. "I'm gonna get you for this, you know."

Ranko grinned back roguishly, switching off her microphone just for a moment. "Is that a promise?" She flicked her thumb to turn the mic back on, dropping a sharp nod to Mei.

The redhead turned her body away from Akane, hanging her head cutely to the side with a playful challenge in Akane's direction as the music began. "I really can't stay…"

Akane shook her head in amusement. That little minx! They had sung the duet together at the last Christmas Ranko had spent at the Tendo residence, but even though Ranko was in her feminine form, Akane had gotten a kick out of giving her the masculine side of the duet. By singing first, Ranko had flipped the script on her. Still, the musical gauntlet had been thrown and it was too late to back out, so Akane responded. "But, baby, it's cold outside…"

Ranko took a few steps away from her, looking back over her shoulder and coyly playing with her braided hair. She put on a stage face of shy nervousness, but the blush on her cheeks was real. "I gotta go away… "

Akane smiled and shook her head incredulously. She strongly doubted the flirtatious act was intended for her, but she couldn't deny that the audience was eating it up. "Baby, it's cold outside…"

Ranko took another few steps away, biting her lip and putting on an innocent face for the audience. "This evening has been… so very nice…"

Akane stepped closer toward her, singing her part as well. "I'll hold your hands… they're just like ice!"

As the song continued, Ranko continually made a show of trying to get away, with Akane picking up on the act and giving chase. As the first verse ended, Akane closed the gap enough to really get a look in Ranko's eyes, and there was an unexpected sincerity in her expression.

"I ought to say, no, no, no sir," Ranko crooned softly. "At least, I'm gonna say that I tried…"

As the second verse came to a close, Ranko took a step back toward Akane. "There's bound to be talk tomorrow…" and she suspected that there might be. She wasn't entirely sure she cared. "At least, there will be plenty implied."

Ranko blinked, looking up at the black-haired woman who had just taken her hand. "I… really can't stay…" Her cheeks were warm enough to melt the light snowfall outside.

Akane stepped closer, her eyes sparkling above a bright smile. The two teens harmonized together, gazing deeply into each other's eyes. "Ah, but it's cold outside."

The crowd roared in approval as the song ended, but the two young women on the stage barely seemed to notice.