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„Bloody hell!”
Lara took a moment to rest, while she tried to figure out how exactly she should get this tree into the house.
As she looked up to the pine tree, what was towering over her smaller figure and pine-needles were falling into her neck with every pulling motion, finding their way under her clothing layers, pricking her skin, leaving red marks behind and the urge to scratch, Lara was pretty sure this was definitely not her brightest idea ever.
It was a sudden one. She was checking the attic, didn’t go there for years and ever since she wanted to renovate the building it was time to get rid of the old things she won’t use or didn’t plan to keep it. Opening dust-covered cardboard boxes, selecting what she wanted to keep and what not, found the old Christmas ornaments, the ones she remembered from her childhood.
Lara didn’t really enjoy the holidays ever since her father died, although Roth tried his best, getting a beautiful huge tree and decorating it, trying to involve her as well, but she refused mostly. Christmas became the reminder of everything she lost - how she should celebrate with her family, but she had none anymore, so why she should pretend to be happy? As Lara slowly became young adult and went to the university, abandoned Christmas altogether – as an adult didn’t need to pretend with tree-decorating and gift-buying. Rather spent the holidays in her room, alone, reading or working on school papers. The building was silent and calm and it was everything she could ask for – she could have this at least, not like getting back her parents, no matter how hard and often asked for it as a small girl.
But as she slowly reached into the box, fingers touched the cold material of the fragile, pretty things and took one out of the delicate glass ornaments, looking at it, feeling it, remembering to the good old times, realizing Christmas was around the corner and suddenly she toyed with the idea of getting a tree.
Maybe this time, now, this holiday can be a happy one once again. Besides Jacob had no idea about how modern Christmas was working - and that definitely put a smile on her face, already felt excited, making her grab the box and took it down with her.
Buying a tree wasn’t a big challenge. She only needed a short car-ride to do so, checking out the available trees and picking one out. Getting it back to the house and then into the house was another thing. Her choice of the future Christmas tree was a good one: a beautiful, thick, tall piece, not too grand, just tall enough to be bigger than Lara and make her job much more difficult. And she quickly realized that, when it was time to get the tree out of the car then cover the distance between the vehicle and the front door, open the entrance and get in. Her expectations were much more different than reality: the usually 3 seconds distance toward the door meant lots of pulling and cursing and scratches on her skin, hinting that her enemy was a cat or more like cats, instead of a cut out piece of a forest, which was unable to move on its own. Fuck, it would be so much easier with a bloody fake tree. But of course she didn’t want a fake tree, because it wouldn’t be real and she couldn’t organize someone’s first Christmas with a fake tree and damn why it was this big and heavy and how the hell she will get it into the house and moreover to its final place and ‘damn tree, move it tree, why the fuck I did this fucking dammit…’
“What are you doing?”
The question halted her in motion – even though she almost successfully accomplished her mission, standing in the door, trying to get the tree between the four walls of the house. His voice was slightly wondering, a bit confused, but also hinted a smile somewhere between the words, finding her situation a bit amusing and also entertaining. How long he was standing there?
Turned around to face him and yes, she wasn’t mistaken, a faint smirk was there. Probably she looked comical fighting with a tree, needles in her hair and well everywhere else too and apparently the tree was winning this fight.
“I’m trying to kindly invite the tree inside.” her voice was stern and stubborn, apparently displeased with the situation and annoyed by the mentioned plant.
“Ah…” he nodded like he instantly understood her intentions, took another moment to look at her with the huge, tied up green behind her. “But… why?”
His confusion finally put a smile on her face, letting out a small laugh. Time to enlighten him a bit. “Well, Christmas is coming, you know…”
Another nod let her know he was well aware of that. “…And?”
“And its tradition. Decorating trees, families gathering around it and exchanging presents under it.”
“Oh…” he seemed to think about it a bit, letting her words sink in. “Is that a new tradition?”
That earned a chuckle. “You are the only one who actually refers a 117 years old tradition as new.” To her it was simply a tradition to follow. To him, brand new. The 20th century wasn’t too far away memory for him after all – not like he knew anything about how people started to decorate pine trees for Christmas and how it slowly became more and more popular, steadily evolving into today’s Christmas trees.
He smiled back just the usual way he always did, in this calm and very warm way, which always reminded her to that feeling she often felt around him; what she described as being covered with a soft and thick duvet, hiding into it from the coldness of the world, having their own secret place to be.
Her attention was back to the problem behind her – the tree won’t get itself into the house. With Jacob’s help and some teasing – “The mighty Lara Croft, who beats various creators of the wilderness is being defeated by a tree.”- and a “Shut up.” retort it successfully got over the door and started its journey to its final destination.
The mansion was way too big for two people - and some parts were uninhabitable as well. After moving back, Lara only used a small part of it, the study, an en suite bedroom and the kitchen. Coming back with Jacob didn’t really changed things; he wasn’t used to such grand living space and neither of them felt like they need more than what they already had. She suggested to put the tree into the study, that was the place they spent most of their time anyway – either way for work or observing blue prints, planning how the renovating should go or just simply relax and spending time together, surrounded by books and the warmness of the fire and each other. A Christmas tree will be a nice addition, filling the room with its scent, faintly reminding them to the cold woods of Siberia, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of pine trees. It wasn’t exactly like that; the scent was much weaker and snow rarely happened in the UK; they’ve already got plenty of rain instead and looked like snow will avoid the island this year as well.
And despite the heavy clouds and cold outside Lara didn’t feel this… cheerful since years. She happily chatted about her memories of the past, about happy Christmases, how her father hid her presents and organized a treasure hunt for her, giving all the details about the holidays to Jacob, what families are usually doing this time of the year, how they share a traditional menu at the table, putting presents under the tree and opening them the next morning. How kids are hoping they were good enough to get the presents they wished for and excited to see Santa Claus’ arriving with the magical reindeers and his sleigh.
As a kid she loved these stories and the magic what wrapped Christmas around. As an adult Lara found the complexity of myths and the mixture of Christian and pagan holidays highly amusing.
Now was different as they exchanged stories, while put the ornaments on the tree, having Jacob around even if he was more like sabotaging her work as she tiptoed with a hanging ornament in her hand, trying to put it into its place, while he was sneaking his arms around her waist and making her literally disappear in a hug, embracing her form, showing affection in a form of a kiss placed onto the skin of her neck. Or more like series of kisses. And a playful bite too, what made her yelped a bit, then laugh, squeaking out her protesting, because he was rather holding her back than actually helping her and hearing his teasing, when she stood on a chair to reach the higher parts. Being happy and laugh once again this time of the year was the greatest gift she received and there was nothing else Lara ever needed.
Even if the rain came later that night, pouring like there was no tomorrow, forcing people into their homes, making everything grey and wet – the gloomy weather still found them happy and content, cuddling on the soft couch with two mugs of hot tea. The warm light was reflecting on the smooth and colourful surface of the ornaments, making them shine – it definitely made a strong contrast of the intense raining outside. It was nice – much nicer than being in the cold wilderness and fighting to survive, although it definitely had a kind of freedom. Jacob appreciated Christmas before as well, felt grateful for everything he had, his people, Sofia, the food they shared. The world he lived in now lost its simplicity and was quite challenging sometimes. He never understood the outsiders before, but being surrounded by his people made him felt more at home – although he never really found his peace or place even among them. But the people of today felt like they were aliens to him. Somehow, sometime they lost the focus of the important things and chased materiality, to have more, objects and power included. The Mongols, the Soviets and Trinity all sought power in the valley, to rule the world, while someone who had the ability, the one the raiders wanted for themselves, wished for nothing more than a simple, mortal life and the chance of dying, the chance to have a normal life with someone at his side, whom he can love. The chance to die sooner than his daughter. The chance to not see how everyone will fade away slowly around him, leave him to be last man of something ancient, something that no-one remembers to, not finding his place, not fitting into anywhere.
As he fell into his darker, more serious mood, Lara sensed it, looked at him, asked what was he thinking about.
Maybe mortality came too late for him?
He missed some things, the familiarity, knowing where he lived and what he could expect. He missed Sofia, now more than ever before. Although she supported him to go and finally live his life and enjoy it, telling him he did more than enough for her and for the Remnants too, and he doesn’t have to worry for her or their people; she was an adult now and more than capable to take his place. Jacob knew that for a while now, it was time for him to step down and let his daughter take care of the valley now and for everyone else who lived there. This was how it had to happen; parents eventually let their kids go. Even if one of the parents will live forever. And once he lost that ability Sofia told him to not be afraid and see the world, discover it and be happy with Lara.
‘You cannot let it go. Not for the third time.’
She was right – and always painfully honest with her words. It didn’t make the leaving easier though.
Looking into the brown eyes, finding some worry in them, gave a soft smile to her.
“We have no gifts under the tree.”
Jacob wasn’t sure he wanted to share these thoughts with her now, not today. Even if they were pretty open with each other, there were few things he preferred to have some time to think about a bit first and Lara wasn’t so different either. They accepted how the other worked and she didn’t force him to share now. Let out a big sigh instead, shook her head a bit.
“I already have mine for a while now. Found in the wilderness of Russia.”
Snuggled closer against him, her head on his chest, arms tightly around his torso, filling his chest with this warm, contented feeling, what pushed the sadder emotions back a bit.
“And I don’t really need anything else.”