Phoenix: Reignited Edition

Ranko sighed, rubbing her eyes as she waited for the ceramic tea kettle to whistle on the two-burner glass cooktop in her apartment. Come on. Go faster. I still gotta let you cool some before I can put you in my face, and I need caffeine, like, urgently, she thought.

Remembering something Kasumi used to say about watched kettles never boiling, she wandered back to the narrow bathroom at the far corner of the little studio apartment above the Phoenix, setting to work brushing her hair. Gods, it looks like freakin' ferrets nested in it. I really gotta start washing the hair spray out before I go to bed. She'd opted against a shower before bed, owing both to it being almost three in the morning by the time she and her sisters had finished cleaning up the bar, and not wanting to go to bed with wet hair. 

Grateful though she was to have the apartment and not still be living on the street, the old brick buiiding's central heating system was optimized for the bar area downstairs, and her room still got quite chilly at night in late December. It didn't help that she owned nearly no warm clothes, as nearly everything she possessed, and everything she'd been loaned by Izumi, had been intended for the stage. I just need to convince Izzi that boys find sweat pants and a soft, fuzzy sweater sexy, and I'm golden, she mused hopefully. 

I mean, I used to be a boy, and I did. When it was Akane wearin' it, at least. 

Her cheeks flushed hot, and she hid them in her hands even though no one was in the apartment with her to see them. 

Ranko wore the warmest outfit she did own, a mauve sweater dress that came nearly to the middle of her calves. She had tried to wear her black gi pants under it to add an extra layer, but they kept bunching uncomfortably under the dress. Beyond that, the two fabrics rubbing against each other kept producing static electricity that periodically zapped her as she touched random surfaces. Better to shiver than spark, she presumed.

Having declared styling her still-tacky hair to be a lost cause and coaxed it back into a simple ponytail, she emerged from the bathroom just as her tea kettle began to whistle. Freakin' finally! She took it off the burner carefully, pouring its contents into a teapot at the maximum extension of her arm. Hot, hot hot hot! Not today, boy mode and agony. Not today.

While her tea steeped, Ranko opened her half-size refrigerator, sticking her head in it to look around. Eggs. Eggs. Where are you, eggs? Crap, did I use them all?

"Ranko?!" A loud rapping came at the front door of the little shoebox of a studio apartment. "You up?"

The redhead jumped, startled by the sudden sound, and struck the back of her head on the roof of the refrigerator's cold compartment with a hollow bonk. 

"Owww… Come in…" Ranko was still rubbing the back of her skull and blushing when the door swung inward and Ayako entered in a white cable-knit turtleneck sweater and a pair of black jeans. 

"Good morning, little sister!" Ayako grinned, tossing a brown paper bag onto the white pine dinette table and setting a clear plastic cup of brown liquid next to it. "Breakfast is served!"

Ranko beamed, opening the bag and finding her sense of smell had not betrayed her. She extracted a large chocolate muffin, still warm from the oven, from the bag and shoved a straw down into the cup of iced coffee. "Aya, have I told you lately that you're my favorite sister?" she asked with her mouth still full of the first bite.

The taller woman chuckled, shaking her head. "No, but clearly, it's because my pastry deliveries have been slow in coming." She motioned to her younger sister's attire. "That dress is so freaking cute on you."

Ranko shrugged, swallowing. "Thanks. It's just warmer than most'a what I have. It gets a little chilly up here sometimes." 

Ayako cringed a little, nodding as she watched her sister shiver through her breakfast. "Yeah, you're right. I should have remembered we emptied the place out when Mei moved in with Yui. There used to be extra blankets in the closet, but Mei took them with her. I'm sorry. We should have thought of it. We'll get you some new ones, promise, and maybe a space heater too, if you need. But, hurry up and eat. We got a busy day planned."

"News to me," Ranko said. "We handled most of the cleanup last night, so… what am I missing? And what are you even doing here?"

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Ayako slipped into the dinette chair opposite her sister. "Baby, you just single-handedly saved the bar. I think it's probably earned you a day off. And I'm taking you shopping. After all, it's almost Christmas. Only a few days left!"

Ranko frowned, her shoulders slumping over her half-eaten muffin. "Yeah, about that. I… don't really have too much money. As it is, I've been trying to get a few things I need here and there when I get paid, but there's not a lot of extra."

Again, Ayako waved her sister's protest away with the back of her hand. "I kinda thought you'd say something like that, but don't worry about it. I'm the big sister. It's my job to take care of you for your first Christmas with us. I'll spot ya enough to get some gifts for everybody. It'll be our little secret." 

The redhead's eyes bulged and her cheeks reddened around the straw in her mouth. "Aya, I can't ask you to do that. I'm…"

"Hush," Ayako said with a soft smile. "You weren't asking. I was insisting. C'mon. I've been there. I know it's not a great feeling when you're just getting started and you're broke around Christmas time. I wanna help, honey. Besides, it's a good excuse to just hang out with you. I feel bad; I've been so preoccupied with Kage and his family and everything that I haven't had much time to spend getting to know my new baby sister. I'm sorry about that." 

Ayako grinned broadly at the sight of Ranko's further blushing. "I feel like I'm closer to Yui, Izzi and Mei because I've spent more time with them, and I'm sure you feel that way, too, but I don't want that for us. You're my family, too, Ran-chan. I love you just as much as our other sisters."

Ranko shrugged, but she couldn't help cracking a gentle smile at the idea. "It's okay. I know you're busy and everything. I didn't, like, take offense or anything. I mean, you're a newlywed, and I'm… well, whatever I am, I guess."

Ayako stood, walking to the kitchenette counter as Ranko popped the last bite of her muffin into her mouth. She returned a moment later, walking up behind the redhead and plopping her green velvet hat onto her head. Its white faux fur trim tickled Ranko's skin between her eyes. "Come on, Santa. Sleigh's a-waitin'."

* * *

"Here, we know that Christmas will be green and bright! The sun will shine by day, and all the stars at night! Mele kalikimaka is the wise way to say Merry Christmas to you!"

Ranko giggled as she sang along with the car radio and waved her arms in front of herself, letting her wrists flow like waves over the dashboard of Ayako's black Honda Civic. She only occasionally flubbed the lyrics, despite the fact that she was largely just mimicking the sounds of the unfamiliar English vocabulary. Her backside wiggled in the tan vinyl seat, doing the best impression of a hula dance that her seat belt would allow. 

Ayako pulled the car into one of the vacant parking spaces in front of the Shibuya shopping mall where, just barely a month ago, Izumi had given Ranko her first real outing as a woman. The place was a bustle of activity, with people frantically darting to and fro with arms overflowing with bags and wrapped packages. "That's a fun song," Ayako said as she turned the key to silence the engine and the car radio with it. "You seemed to be enjoying it."

The redhead nodded, blushing. "Sorry, was I getting too…" 

With a wave of her hand and a shake of her head, Ayako reached for her car door. "Not at all. You're a performer. You're supposed to be a little over the top."

Ranko's blush took on a whole new level, and she looked down at her hands. "I… I guess I am, huh?" She grinned, popping the door handle inward and stepping out of the vehicle. "Aya, what's a kalikimaka? It's in an English song, but it sounds Japanese. So, I feel like I should recognize it, but I don't."

Ayako laughed as she pushed her car door closed behind her. "It's Hawaiian, honey. That's what the whole song is about. Mele Kalikimaka is the Hawaiian phrase that means Merry Christmas." 

"But…" Ranko huddled closer to her sister to step out of the way of a frantic-looking woman who struggled to carry her armloads of bags and parcels back toward the parking lot. "Hawai'i is in America. They speak English, right?"

"They do," the elder woman said, pulling the heavy glass door of the colossal shopping plaza open and holding it for her sister, "but Hawai'i has only been a part of America for about ninety years. Before that, it was its own kingdom, with its own native language."

"Huh!" Ranko shrugged. "Learn something new every day, I guess." She sighed contentedly as her body adjusted to the warmth of the artificial heating inside the crowded shopping venue. "It's so crazy in here. Look at all these freakin' people!"

Ayako peered over a kiosk displaying a map of the mall, nodding absently as she planned their first step. "Well, yeah, blockhead! It's three days before Christmas!" 

"Like…" Ranko motioned to a long line of people - mostly parents with small children - snaking around what appeared to be a small cottage erected in the middle of the mall's common area. The little house couldn't have been bigger than Hana's office. It had a bright green roof and red walls, and was brightly decorated in tinsel, colored lights in fake snow, with a fence of red-and-white striped candy canes surrounding the whole of it. "What the hell is going on over there? Whatever they're selling, it's going like freakin' hotcakes."

The raven-haired woman turned to follow Ranko's gesture, and her jaw fell open. "You… don't know what that is? Really?!"

Shrugging, Ranko playfully swatted the white cotton ball at the tip of her hat out of her face. "No clue. Looks like… a candy store, maybe?" She looked up to her much taller sister, blinking as Ayako took her hand and began pulling her toward the little indoor cottage. "Umm, Aya… what are we…"

"You'll see." Ayako pulled her sister into the queue behind a woman shepherding her two children. The little girl couldn't have been more than six years old, and she was wearing a bright white dress cinched with a glittery silver belt. The other child, this one a boy probably a year or two younger than his sister, was dressed in black dress shirt with a pair of red suspenders holding up his black pants. "So. Do you know what you're thinking about getting for the girls? We've got a minute here, so, let's plan of attack this thing."

Ranko frowned, looking down at her shoes as they stepped forward in the line. "I… I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much money I'm supposed to work with, and…" She sighed heavily. "I feel like, I've only been here a couple'a weeks, and everybody's been so focused on getting to know me, that I haven't really gotten a chance to get to know them very much. I guess… that makes me kind of a shitty sister, huh?" She made a pair of air quotes with her fingers at the use of the word sister. 

"In fairness, you've been a sister for barely a month, Ran-chan. Of course you're still figuring it out." Ayako nudged the diminutive teen's shoulder with her hand. "C'mon. Don't be so hard on yourself, honey. First of all, some of us aren't so good at talking about ourselves to begin with - Mama and Yui especially. And… for most of us - with the exception of maybe Mei because she was the newest of us before you - understand that when someone new joins us, there's a period where we sort of have to give her our undivided focus. Like, me and Yui and Iz and Mei, we're all… ya know, mostly okay now. I mean, we're works in progress, and we probably always will be, but like…"

Ranko nodded softly. "I get it. I was a hot mess. You ain't gotta remind me."

Ayako shook her head, advancing in the line again. "It's not that. I mean, yeah, you were, but no worse than any of us were when we found the Phoenix, in our own ways. But, like, that's been our focus. Getting you stabilized and on your feet, so you can start figuring out how to thrive. You're just lucky there's five of us now to team up on you. You're getting the full-on intensive care routine."

The redhead nodded, giving Ayako the smallest of smiles. "It definitely is intense, I'll give ya that. But… it's felt… nice, having a family. Like, one that gives a damn, anyhow. I just don't know how I'm supposed to repay everything you and the girls have been doing for me."

"We absolutely give a damn," Aya began. "And, the reality is, nobody expects you to repay anything. I mean, hell, you've only been with us a month, and you've already saved our asses, so it's not like this isn't a two-way street here already. You're taking care of us, too. That's what family does. I wash your back, you wash mine, and we don't keep score. There is no, I did this for you, so now you have to do this for me, and you're beholden to me until you do. It's more like, my sister needs help and I can help, so I will help. 

"Maybe tomorrow, I'll be the one who needs help, and you or one of the other girls can be there for me. We do those things for each other not because we owe each other, but just because we love each other and want to help each other when we can. Right now, you need a lot of help, so I can understand why you might feel like you're taking more than you're giving. But, Ranko, I promise you, more days like this week will come where all of us are sitting around a table going, thank the gods for Ranko! She really came through for us."

Ranko smiled brightly at the thought of being helpful. "I hope so! I really wanna be worth everything you're all putting into me." She stepped forward in line again, standing on her tiptoes to try and see what it was she was queued for, but her barely one-and-a-half meter frame was insufficient to crane over the line that doubled over itself at least three times.

Ayako shook her head, wagging a finger in Ranko's face. "You stop that now, girl. You hear me?! I'm trying to tell you, it's not transactional. There's no sense of, like, we have to get such-and-such out of Ranko or she was a waste of effort. I don't know how many times we have to tell you, Ranko, but you…"

"I know, I know. I am wanted, I have worth, and I have people who care about me," Ranko said through a chuckle in an almost singsong tone, stepping forward in line again. "It's just…"

Aya sighed. "Nuh-uh. No justs, and no buts. You are the reason you're worth it. Nothing you can do for us, no amount of asses in the seats at the Phoenix listening to you sing, is ever going to be more important to this family than your being a part of it. You are all the reward we need, sweetheart, just exactly the way you are. It scares the living shit out of me - all of us, really - how hard it's been to convince you of that."

Ranko shrugged sadly, a distant frown crossing her lips. Her voice took on a hollow tone. "Yeah, well, you try getting sold for a bowl of rice and a couple pickles sometime - I think there might have been a fish - and it'll make you think awfully hard about what people think you're worth, too." She grunted loudly as she was grabbed and pulled into Ayako's grasp and tight against her sister's chest.

"You listen to me, Miss Tendo," Ayako said as she squeezed her sister tight. "I love you. There is no price on Earth that would make that not so, and Mama or any one of the other girls would say the same. You are our family. You are part of us, and we wouldn't be whole without you." She leaned down, kissing the smaller girl on the forehead just below the white fuzzy trim of her green velvet hat. "We love you so much. You don't even know. Not yet, anyway. But you will."

The redhead froze in Ayako's arms. "You… you really do?" She'd heard the phrase a few times from the denizens of the Phoenix, but she still struggled to understand at times what it meant in the context of being a live-in waitress who also got spoiled with the occasional gift, and the far less-occasional hug.

Ayako nodded, giving her sister one final squeeze before letting her go and turning the corner to double back in the line. "Of course I do. We all do. You're something special, kiddo. We're all so excited to see what you grow into. And we wouldn't ever let a silly thing like you not knowing what Mei's favorite video game is after four flippin' weeks get in the way of that. That kind of shit will come. I mean, hell, kid, you barely know who you are right now."

Ain't that the truth, Ranko mused as she stepped forward again. "Then… what do we do? How does it get better?"

"We talk. We get to know each other." The taller woman reached down, rumpling the crushed velvet hat on her teenage companion's head. "We be sisters." 

Ranko beamed, nodding intently. "I think I can do that!" 

Ayako threw her arm around her sister's shoulder again. "You bet your ass you can. Now, let's get down to business. Anybody you got ideas for? Who do you need help with?"

The redhead stroked her chin after returning Ayako's side hug, smiling as she glanced down at the black cross-body bag whose strap rested between her breasts. "Well, Izzi saw a bag she really liked when she took me shopping for my birthday, but she didn't get it, so… maybe that, if it's not too much?"

The elder sister giggled. "Well, you've got her dead to rights. Buy that girl a nice purse, and she'll have your baby."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Ranko said with a giggle. "I mean, I've only known her for a month!" 

Ayako grinned as she stepped forward again. "True, and besides, we wouldn't want to make Akane jealous!"

"I… wha… huh?" Ranko stammered, but no coherent words came out of her mouth. "It's… I…"

"Oh, please," Ayako said, tittering at her sister's flustration. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love that girl, and I'll eat that fluffy-ass hat you're wearing." She stepped forward again, all but watching steam escape her little sister's ears. 

Ranko gasped, stomping her foot defiantly. "I do n…" She blinked at the skeptical look in her sister's eyes. "I… I…"

Ayako giggled, bopping her kid sister playfully on the nose with the tips of her fingers. "Aaaaand, it looks like I'll still have room for lunch." 

"But, I… I… aww, damn it!" Ranko shrunk under her sister's tittering gaze, looking down at the floor as she trudged forward in the line.

The taller woman nudged her sister to get her attention again. "You ready? We're almost there!" 

"Ready for what?" Ranko lifted her eyes from the ground as she reached the front row of the snaking line, only then seeing what it was she was actually queued for. The little cottage had what seemed like a small stage built in front of it, and on it sat a large, green velvet chair with gold-painted trim that could have almost been mistaken for a throne. It was backed by an arc of five brightly-decorated Christmas trees festooned with oversized glittery balls of every color, roughly the size of Ranko's head. Long ribbons spiraled to their tops, capped by silver sparkling stars, and soft, white twinkling lights illuminated them ethereally from within their branches.

Seated on the great throne was a large, chubby man, wearing a coat and matching pants of bright red, a thick black belt with a brass buckle cinching it around his rotund waist. He wore a fairly obviously false long white beard, and a matching red conical hat atop his head. A young girl of no more than six, in a sparkly white dress, was balanced on his right knee. 

Two tall, blonde women, both wearing striped red-and-green leggings over green tunics, shuttled about between the line and the seated man. A third attendant, a young man with a pronounced square jaw that was probably about Mei's age, was similarly attired, frantically clicking at the flash button of a professional camera on a tripod.

"Aya, what the hell is…"

Ranko's sister laughed, though there was a tinge of sadness in it. She threw her arm over her companion's shoulder again. "Yeah, I kinda figured you didn't know what this was. That's why you've gotta do it." 

As she spoke, one of the attendants collected the little girl from the seated man's knee, holding her by the hand as she toddled back toward her parents. The other attendant ushered the little girl's younger brother forward. She lifted him up, depositing him onto the rotund man's lap. 

"Aya, I don't understand. What's this about?" Ranko looked around nervously. "Like, these are all little kids and stuff…"

Ranko's elder companion smiled reassuringly. "So, we're gonna go visit with Santa there. It's easy! You just sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas, and they take a super cute picture."

"I am not sitting on some dude's lap!" Ranko's eyes widened, and she shook her head emphatically. "I don't even do that for guys when they ask at work, and they're paying customers!" 

Ayako cackled, shaking her head in amused disbelief. "Oh, honey. What are we gonna do with you? This is different. It's okay. If it'll make you feel better, I'll do it first. You'll see there's nothing gross or weird about it. He won't do anything. It's not like the drunks at the bar."

Ranko looked around, ensuring most of the small children were distracted enough to not be listening to her, and leaned in close to her sister. "Like, these kids do know that's not really Santa Claus, right?"

Snickering as she wrapped her arms around her sister's neck, Ayako responded in a similarly lowered voice, close to her ear. "How do you know it's not?"

"Because it's…" Ranko gesticulated in the direction of the portly man sitting on the velvet throne. "I mean, come on!"

Smirking deviously, Ayako gave a little shrug in the direction of her sister. "A test, then," she said, still keeping her voice lowered. "They do it all the time in the movies. When you get up there, you ask Santa for something impossible. Something that couldn't possibly happen without magic. And then, if you get what you asked for, you'll know."

As Ayako finished her challenge, one of the attendants carried the boy in black back to his parents. The other, the taller of the two women, approached Ayako. "You're up. Just you?"

Ayako gestured to her right with a bright smile. "And my baby sister. It's her first time meeting Santa!" 

"Awwww. Well, come on up, ladies!" The slender, attractive young attendant in the elf costume gave Ranko a thousand-watt smile as she led Ayako and the blushing redhead up onto the little stage. Tinsel and fake snow was spread all over it, other than a small red carpeted area immediately surrounding the oversized chair. Ayako approached the throne readily, but Ranko held a step or two back. 

"Well, hello there, young lady," Santa said, emitting a deep ho, ho, ho! as she approached his seat. "Merry Christmas!"

Smiling reassuringly at Ranko, Ayako gingerly lowered herself to the man's right knee, careful to keep most of her weight on the floor. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Santa!"

I swear, that dude's hand gets within the same postal code as her butt, and he's gonna need eight reindeer to haul his fat ass to the emergency room, Ranko thought with a watchful glare, feeling her fist clench at her side. 

"So, tell me, miss…" 

"Ayako," replied the woman in the mall Santa's lap, in response to his unspoken question.

Santa chuckled merrily, nodding with a smile under his false white beard. "Ayako! Of course! And tell me, miss Ayako… what would you like for Christmas?"

The black-haired woman crossed her ankles, shifting more of her weight to the gold-painted wooden arm of the velvet chair. "Well, I'd love a new wok, I think!" 

Good to know, Aya, Ranko thought, cracking a small smile through her protective watchfulness. I didn't have the foggiest freakin' idea what to get for you. Great job, Santa. Look at you, helping out after all.

Santa grinned, nodding. "A practical girl. Fair enough. Santa will see what he can do! Ho, ho, ho!" 

Ayako rose to her feet, walking back over to Ranko and taking her hand. "C'mon, kiddo. Your turn." She dragged her recalcitrant sister closer to the green plush chair. "Santa, this is my baby sister. She's never actually gotten to meet you before."

The seated man reached out his arm invitingly for the nervous redhead, waving her closer. "Well, don't be shy. Come closer, honey."

I really don't wanna… but… all these people are watchin'. I'm gonna embarrass Aya if I don't… dammit. Ranko trepidatiously approached, and Santa patted his thigh through his thick red winter pants.

Don't be weird… please don't be weird…

Ranko slowly rested her backside on Santa's lap, crossing her ankles tightly enough to crush a watermelon between her knees under her sweater dress. She looked up at the man, forcing herself to smile through the flicker of multiple hot white camera flashes. 

"What's your name, little girl," Santa asked excitedly, seeming to put a bit more effort into his performance than he had with Ayako. 

The young redhead flushed hot enough to boil water at being called a little girl. Whether his extra ebullience was because Ayako had told him it was a new experience for her, or to try to allay her nerves, Ranko did not know, but her smile softened and became more sincere in response to his question. While she'd gotten accustomed to giving her new name to hundreds of customers a night at the Phoenix, both at their tables and from the stage, she rarely got an opportunity to do so outside of work. Something about the simple act of saying her name outside those four walls, and having no one question it, made her identity feel more real to her, as if it helped to convince her that it wasn't still just an act she was putting on for the benefit of the family that ran the bar and called itself her own. "I'm Ranko, Santa! Good to meet you."

"It's wonderful to meet you too, miss Ranko! Now, tell Santa… have you been a good girl this year?" The red-clad man lowered his voice as he asked, as if to imply to her that if she hadn't, it would be their little secret.

Ranko swallowed hard, her face glowing brighter than the quintet of Fraser firs behind the throne at the idea of being a good girl. Her mirthful grin faded a bit as she thought about it, though. 

Well, let's see, she thought pensively. Back in February, I lost a fight with an old woman and turned into a girl forever. Then I spent six months hating everybody and everything, and ran away from home. I abandoned Akane and everybody I ever knew. I tried to punch my way into a job, and when that didn't work, I damn near offed myself in a city park. I lied to a nice old lady and her daughters so I could get a job slinging beers in short skirts. I kissed a girl yesterday, right after deciding to try to be one. Oh, and I almost killed a dude in an alley last week with my bare hands. He kinda had it coming though, so… 

"I'm really trying, Santa."

The mall Santa threw his head back, letting out a deep ho, ho, ho that shook the whole of his body under Ranko's backside. "Aren't we all, honey? I'm sure you're doing a wonderful job, and Santa is very proud of you." 

Man, Ranko thought, biting her lip gently. Pretty fuckin' sad that you're a fuckin' fairy tale, and you're also the first man to ever say that to me. 

"So, Ranko…" Santa reached out, giving the girl on his lap a gentle poke on the nose with his white-gloved index finger. "... what would you like for Christmas? More than anything else in the world, what do you want?"

The redhead's face flushed crimson again. Ask for something impossible, huh, Aya? She leaned in close, putting her arm over the back of the chair and whispering something in the man's ear. To do so, she had to rest nearly all of her weight on his lap. 

Beneath her, Santa coughed and sputtered as if he'd nearly choked on his own tongue. His eyes bulged and his face reddened as if he'd just been fed a fistful of wasabi. "I, ummm. Well. I… I'll have… I'll have to… just… see what I can do."

Ranko giggled brightly, hopping to her feet with a bit of a self-satisfied flounce. "Merry Christmas, Santa!" 

"M… merry C-christmas," the mall Santa sputtered as Ranko flitted off the stage with a bounce in her step to rejoin Ayako, who was holding the photos from both girls' encounters with Father Christmas in her hand. 

Ayako led the tittering redhead away from the crowd, turning to her once they'd cleared the group by a few dozen meters. "You little minx! What did you say to that poor man?!" She smirked, rolling her eyes and joining her in her laughter. "You asked him something about Akane, didn't you?!" 

Ranko flashed her sister a spritely grin. "Oh, c'mon, now, Aya! You know how it works." She winked her right eye, nibbling mischievously on the corner of her lower lip.

"If you tell people what you wish for, it doesn't come true."