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"Aloy."
"Yes, Beta?"
"Do you know what a Christmas tree is?"
Aloy took another bite of her lunch and thought about it. She was familiar with Christmas, had read about the ancient holiday in datapoints and seen some of the customary decorations above the ruins of Las Vegas. None of those were a tree, though.
"No, I don't."
Beta smiled gleefully, setting down her mug a little too hard so it clattered against the table.
"They were decorations. Toward the end, they were all holograms or made of plastic, but in the beginning, people would go out and cut down a pine or spruce tree and decorate it with lights and little ornaments."
Aloy nodded. "Rost told me the Nora hang pine boughs over the windows of the lodges to keep the wind out during the winter."
"That's… I don't think that's the same thing," Beta said doubtfully.
"Wasn't Christmas connected to a religion?" Aloy continued. "Where did the tree come into it?"
"Their origins were debated, but people across Europe decorated for Christmas and the winter solstice with sprigs of evergreen for centuries. Some of the decorations had religious significance, like the star on the top, but others were just for aesthetic purposes." Her voice had taken on a practiced cadence, as though she'd memorized it from a lecture.
"Hmm." Aloy finished off her food and sat back. "What made you think of—"
"I was rewatching Unit 47 and in one of the Christmas episodes, Barnes and Zheng go and cut down their own Christmas tree and I want to try it," Beta blurted out, beaming.
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and Aloy couldn't help the smile that spread across her own face.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun! Do you know where you want to go?"
Beta hesitated, looking thoughtful.
"Maybe you'd better pick," she said at last. "Somewhere where the machines won't go nuts on us."
"We wouldn't have to go far," Aloy assured her. "There's lots of young pines on the slopes of the mountain, and if we went out the east exit, there's only Chargers."
Looking mollified, Beta nodded, and stood suddenly.
"I'll go put on some more substantial clothes," she announced, "then we can go out to look."
"I'll be here," Aloy promised, stacking her dishes with Beta's. While Beta got changed, she took the dishes to the kitchens. It was only then that she began to consider the logistics of hauling a freshly cut tree back up the cliff to the Base. A thought occurred to her, and she opened a call on her Focus.
"Hey, it's me. I hope I'm not bothering you, but I was wondering if I could ask you a favor…"
Beta was still a little uncomfortable outside, Aloy noticed. She kept her eyes on the sky, but at least no longer moved like she was going to bolt back inside at the slightest provocation. It was a beautiful day, though, and Beta's fears seemed allayed by the sunshine and cool breeze.
Aloy had brought along an ax that she'd found at the bottom of the supply chest in the common area, and was swinging it idly at her side while Beta darted between the pines, commenting on each one's height, bulk, and general appearance. All told, about an hour passed until—
"This is the one!" Beta called.
Aloy looked up from the patch of skybrush she'd found, and jogged to where Beta was standing, looking pink-faced and pleased with her choice. The tree in question was about a head taller than her, bushy and uniformly deep green.
"This one?" she asked, grinning at Beta's exuberant nod. She motioned for her sister to stand back, and took her first swing at the slender trunk. The ax was well-sharpened, and cut deeply into the soft, fragrant wood. Rost's voice echoed in her ears from when he'd taught her to do this as a child, collecting firewood.
Down then in, he'd say, as he cut the first notch. Like a possum mouth. Then he'd move his hand, fingers to thumb, like a mouth, and she'd fall down in helpless giggles.
One final chop to the backside of the trunk had the little tree falling with a satisfying thump on the snowy ground. Beta cheered from behind her, and Aloy stepped back to put the cover back on the ax blade.
"That was awesome, Aloy, thank you!" Beta cried, spinning to give Aloy a tight hug. "But—oh no."
"What is it?" Aloy asked, pulling back.
"I didn't even think about how we're going to get it back into the Base!" Beta's face fell, and she tugged away from Aloy to gaze dejectedly at the tree.
Aloy moved closer to reassure her sister, but as she did, the sound of flapping wings filled the air. First a shadow fell over them, then a Sunwing landed heavily a few yards away, sporting a jagged blue and yellow paint job.
"That's Fulgur," Beta said slowly. "What's Kotallo doing here?"
"I was just about to tell you," Aloy replied, patting Beta on the shoulder and stepping forward. "He's here to help us haul it back."
Kotallo slid off his machine and strode toward them, eyes crinkling in a warm smile. Aloy raised her hand in greeting, repressed the urge to meet him halfway and wrap him in a hug.
"I heard two needed someone with a strong back," he offered in greeting, unlooping a coil of rope from his shoulder.
"You called him to help?" Beta asked excitedly.
"I hope we haven't taken you away from anything important," Aloy said apologetically.
"Not at all. The clans are preparing for the long night at the moment, so things are quiet." He stepped up to the tree, and gave it a considering look. "This shouldn't be too difficult to manage. Aloy, will you help me tie it up?"
They both crouched and began passing the rope back and forth, wrapping the branches close to the trunk.
"Thank you," Aloy said. "I can't tell you how much this means."
"It's no trouble, truly. I'm glad to help."
Together, they tied a knot at the trunk, then Kotallo motioned for her to step away and hauled the tree up onto his back.
"Lead the way," he said, and there was that thrill again, the one she'd felt when she saw him haul the cannon back to the Bulwark, after their fight with the Tremortusk.
Despite how long they'd been out, they really hadn't gone far from the east door of the Base. It was a quick walk, even with Kotallo laden down by the tree, and Beta dumping her history of Christmas trees on him.
"How are you planning on decorating it?" he asked, when she finally hit a stopping point.
"I've put a few things together," she replied with a proud smile.
"I hope you'll allow me to join in."
"Would you? We need someone tall, to put the topper on."
They reached the cliff that led to the door, and Aloy was glad she'd rigged a ladder here earlier. Scrambling up the rungs, she caught the tail of the rope when Kotallo threw it to her, and after he joined her, the pair lugged it up onto the ledge. Beta fretted over the lost needles.
"I just want it to be nice and fat, you know?" she said, inspecting the bruised branches.
"It'll be fine, Beta, it has plenty to spare!" Aloy shooed her sister into the door while Kotallo replaced the tree on his back. Turning to him, she added, "I'm sorry, it's not much farther now."
"I am perfectly fine, I assure you." (She believed him; he seemed hardly encumbered, somehow.) "My duties in the Grove have been somewhat… unfulfilling, of late."
"Really?" She opened the door and stood back to let him through. "How so?"
"I'm not much of a diplomat," he replied simply.
"I know the feeling," she said.
The hallway was still cluttered from when everyone had initially moved in; Aloy stepped around a storage crate, and brushed up against Kotallo's arm. Some deeply ingrained instinct told her to pull away, but she hushed that little voice and nudged him lightheartedly. He shot her a warm look under his arm.
"Where would you like your tree, Beta?" he called.
Beta had raced ahead, and was rearranging things in the central atrium. An unfamiliar three-legged contraption sat in the middle of the floor.
"This is the stand," she said, pointing. "I'll go grab something to keep the water in, if you want to set the tree down."
Aloy helped Kotallo lower the tree to the ground. He rolled his shoulders, shaking needles out of his armor. A few had stuck to the paint on his neck, and before she could overthink it, she reached up and picked them away. The needles left little imprints in the paint, and she smoothed them away, letting her fingers linger a little longer than necessary. He turned his head toward her hand with a little smile.
"I missed you," she murmured, stepping closer.
"And I you," he answered. His hand came up to cradle hers, and he pressed a kiss into her palm.
"Okay, I hope nobody was using this cup, it's going in the stand," Beta called from the kitchen. When Aloy turned to look, she was filling a plain metal tumbler at the sink.
"Let's get this untied," she said, stooping to tug the knot out. Careful not to tangle the rope in the branches, she and Kotallo passed the rope back and forth until she had it in a smooth coil over her forearm.
"How does this device work?" Kotallo asked, nodding at the stand.
"First, I put in the cup," Beta explained, setting the tumbler into the slot at the junction of the three legs. "Then, the end of the trunk goes into the cup, and this—" here, she produced a long bolt, "—goes into the hole here and keeps the trunk secured in the throat."
"The craftsmanship is very fine. Is this all your work?" he asked, casting an impressed eye over the device.
"Yes!" Beta blushed. "I got everything to build it from the spare parts pile. It's fully dismantlable, so once we're done with the tree, we can just take it apart again."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves; first, I'd like to see it in action." Kotallo knelt at the trunk end, and nodded at the top. "Aloy, shall we?"
"We shall!" Aloy replied, grinning.
Together, they lifted and levered the tree until the trunk fit snugly into the cup and Beta was able to screw in the bolt. The branches shifted and settled, and in no time the tree looked as lovely as it had before they'd cut it down. Beta had a look of complete rapture on her face as she walked around and around the tree.
"A real Christmas tree," she breathed, running her fingers over the tips of the branches.
"Is it?" Aloy asked. "I thought you said they were decorated."
Beta straightened and spun on her heel, eyes round and bright.
"Let me get the decorations!" she exclaimed, and in a second she'd hared away down to the basement.
"I admit, when I first met her, I could hardly imagine anything bringing her this much joy," Kotallo remarked, sliding his arm around Aloy's waist and hugging her closer.
Aloy laced her fingers through his where they rested on her hip, and leaned into his side.
"It is nice," she admitted. "She's so serious when we're working. I love getting to see this side of her."
The sound of Beta coming back up the stairs prompted them to step apart. She was hardly visible behind a huge box, heaped in loops of cord.
"No, no, I'm okay," she said when Aloy tried to take the box. She set it heavily on the ground beside the tree, and together, all three peered in.
"Lights," Kotallo said.
"On string?" Aloy added dubiously.
"String lights!" Beta crowed, lifting one end.
Aloy recognized the bulbs—they were stripped from machine headlamps, and wired into thin blue cable. Beta retrieved a power bank from the bottom of the box, and mounted it on the tree stand. Then, she plugged the cable into the outlet, and the lights came to life, flashing in blue, red, and yellow.
"When did you make all this?" Aloy marveled, wrapping the cord over her fingers to see the way the lights painted her skin.
"At night, mostly," Beta replied. "Or between projects. Whenever I could, really."
"I had no idea." Aloy lifted her hand, and held the lights up to Kotallo's face, smiling at the way the bulbs cast little flashes of light into his dark eyes.
"How do they go on the tree?" Kotallo asked, cupping his fingers over Aloy's to hide the lights.
"I think you just wrap them." Beta experimented, pulling the first coil out to thread it through the branches at the base of the tree. "And you go up from there."
Standing at equal points around the tree, all three passed the lights around, adjusting it here and there so the light shone through the needles just so.
"Is that it?" Aloy asked when they reached the end of the cable. She stretched her arms over her head, wincing at the soreness.
"Yes," Beta said, spellbound. She'd plopped cross-legged to the floor when they finished, and was staring in wonderment up at the tree.
"It's missing something," Kotallo mused, and Aloy watched as he crossed the room to his old room. He returned with a painted piece of metal, wrought in a traditional Tenakth design. "I made this when I was first designing my arm," he continued, turning it this way and that in the light. "I think it would make the perfect topper, don't you, Beta?"
Beta had gotten halfway to her feet when he returned, and stood fully now, reaching out to run her fingers over the bauble.
"Perfect," she said at last. "Will you do the honors?"
"I'd be only too happy." Solemnly, he examined the top of the tree, and fit the metal ornament so it rested against the crowning branch.
Beta made a noise that could only be described as a squeal, and threw her arms first around Kotallo, then around Aloy.
"Thank you both!" Her words were a little muffled, as she still had her face pressed into Aloy's shoulder.
Aloy could only hug back as hard as she could, resting her nose in her sister's hair. She met Kotallo's eyes over Beta's head, and, lifting her face, she mouthed thank you to Kotallo.
He nodded, and though he'd never admit it, Aloy noticed his eyes looked a little misty.
"I'm starving," Aloy said, tipping her head back down to address Beta. "Should we make some dinner?"
"Yeah," Beta replied, giving Aloy one last squeeze before stepping away and turning back to the tree.
"Okay. Stay here, Kotallo and I will come up with something."
As she headed to the kitchen, she felt rather than heard Kotallo follow her. He reached out and looped his hand around hers, and she pressed her fingertips into his palm.
"What are we making?" he whispered.
"We're going to reheat stew," she whispered back. "I don't really want to cook."
At the kitchen counter, she retrieved two small pots, and filled one with leftovers from last night (or was it the night before?). There was more than she'd expected, but then again, she usually forgot to eat and Beta barely ate anything when she did. In the other pot, she placed some peeled cattail root in water, and set it to boil.
"This smells good," Kotallo remarked, "and familiar."
"It ought to, you taught me the recipe," she said, bumping him with her hip.
"I thought as much." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Thank you for calling me."
"I felt like I hadn't seen you in so long," she sighed, "and I knew you'd help."
"It was the perfect change of pace." He stirred the stew with a spoon she hadn't seen him procure, and then reached for the spice rack to shake in a bit more seasoning mix.
"Not too much," she chided. "Beta doesn't do well with spice."
"Much like someone else I know."
"Hey, I've gotten better."
"Yes, I'd say you're now at the level of a trainee."
"Progress is progress."
Dinner came together quickly. She mashed the cattail root and doled it out to three bowls, then ladled in the stew. When she looked up, she saw Beta still sitting at the base of the tree, and couldn't resist snapping a picture on her Focus.
"Here you go," she said when she got back to the seating area, and handed Beta her bowl.
"Thanks," Beta replied absently.
Aloy and Kotallo opted to sit on the nearby sofa. They ate quickly, and stacked their bowls on the little side table. Aloy thought about getting a blanket, then decided to just snuggle into Kotallo's side, tucking herself under his arm in such a way that she avoided the worst of the spikes on his armor.
"You're really unhappy at the Grove?" she asked.
"No, not really. I could never be truly unhappy serving the Chief and the tribe. This waiting for Nemesis to arrive—I feel it keenly, and I long to take action."
Aloy had been tracing the tattoos on Kotallo's forearm with her finger, but the mention of Nemesis made her take in a short, unhappy breath. He noticed, and shifted so they laid more parallel on the sofa.
"You know there's always a place here for you," she whispered. She could feel him bury his nose in her hair, and tipped her head back to look at him.
"I know. And a fine place it is. Someday, I hope to spend all my time there."
She knew then that neither of them meant the Base, or any physical place, but that he was once again promising to spend the rest of his life at her side. She also knew that, for now, for him and her both, here was not only good enough, but the only place either of them wanted to be. Contented, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, lulled by Kotallo's soft, deep breathing, and the sound of Beta humming some ancient song.