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“Hey, whatcha doin?” Maya asked, leaping down from her hammock and startling Karone, causing her to scatter the piles of colored sticks she'd been making all over the table.
“How do you wake up so fast?” Karone asked. Maya shrugged, and Karone gathered the sticks and began sorting them again. “Anyway, I'm making a Frostmorn gift for Andros, since it's probably happening around now.”
“You're making something?” Maya asked, eyes wide. “Did just break it? I'm sorry, I can help y–”
“It's fine, Maya,” Karone said. “I haven't assembled anything, I was just making sure I had all the sticks right. It's the joints where things get tough...”
“What is it going to be?”
“It's going to be a kids' toy,” Karone said, blushing a bit, “but I think he'll know what I mean by it.”
“What's it a gift for, again?”
“Frostmorn. It's a–” Maya's stomach growled. “Why don't you grab some breakfast and I can explain while I work. I only just learned recently, myself.”
***
“–and that's the Council Building,” Andros said, pointing. “That's where they make all the decisions about how to run the community.”
“Wow,” Karone said, taking a good look at another part of the hometown she barely knew. “It's... kind of small, isn't it?”
“It's temporary,” Andros said. “It was decided that rebuilding the old one properly was a waste of wartime resources, especially if it were to be targeted again.”
“Oh,” Karone said, mentally cursing the part of her brain rushing off to try to remember if she ever played a role in deciding to target it, even as she knew, with hindsight, that Dark Spectre had deliberately kept her away from Karovian outposts.
“Are you okay?” Andros asked, noticing her silence.
“Fine!” Karone said. “Just, y'know. Thinking.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am, Andros,” Karone said. “I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to worry about reminding me of the things I did as Astronema when I haven't really stopped thinking about them yet.”
“Oh,” Andros said. “That makes sense.”
The two walked down the street in silence for a moment.
“Hey,” Karone said, pointing, “what are all those decorations up there?”
“They're... Frostmorn decorations?” Andros said. “It's rather early for them, but I suppose they might be out to celebrate the end of the Alliance.”
“Frostmorn?”
“It's a holiday on KO-35, do you not remember?” Karone shook her head. “Well it starts the first morning there's frost or snow on the ground in Merinan, and–”
“Merinan?” Karone asked, familiar with the name but not able to place it.
“It's the first town in the colony.”
“Oh, right!” Karone said. “On Lake Gardor!”
“You remember!” Andros said. “Anyway, the first morning there's frost in Merinan, you start making presents for your family and friends and you have to have them ready before Lake Gardor freezes over entirely, which is when we give them.”
“That sounds fun!”
“It is,” Andros said. “It helps keep people in a good mood during the cold season, which was especially important the first few years here since homeworld doesn't have enough axial tilt for varying seasons.”
“Oh wow.”
“Supposedly it started as a game one of the families played – a lot of the fun is keeping what you're making secret, especially if the lake is taking a while to freeze and everyone's gifts have been ready for ages – and it spread from there, but it's also traditional to be extra nice and mindful of favors others need in the weeks afterward and nobody's really sure where that came from.”
“That's lovely. Do you remember anything I made you before... well. Before?”
“Actually...” Andros paused. “You were still too little to make anything yourself back then. You “helped” mom and dad but mostly that meant you blabbed about what they made and they made second presents so I would still be surprised.”
“Really?” Karone laughed. “Okay well, were you old enough to have made me anything?”
“Do you remember your kinesis ball? You'd float it around and it could expand and contract... You were playing with it that day, actually.”
“I think I do.” Karone said. “You made that?”
“Yeah.”
***
“That sounds like what you're making here!” Maya said. “Is it?”
“It is!” Karone said, smiling.
“Oh, he'll love it,” Maya said.
“You've barely even met Andros!” Karone exclaimed.
“Still,” Maya said, “how could he not?”
“Well,” Karone said, “that's assuming we ever get out of the Lost Galaxy and I see him again.”
“Of course we will!” Maya said. “We'll be out of here in no time and then you can head home whenever you like!”
“Well what about you?” Karone asked.
“Me?”
“Well once we're out of here I can get to KO-35,” Karone said, “but you still won't know how to get to Mironoi.”
“Yeah,” Maya said with exaggerated dismissiveness, “but I accepted that a while ago.”
“But you don't miss it?” Karone asked. “There aren't any big festivals you miss?”
“Well...” Maya said. “I know I didn't miss a celebration since everyone's stone, but...”
“But?”
“I don't know for sure,” Maya said, “since I don't remember what day it was when I left and I think Earth days are shorter? It took forever for me to sleep when everyone else did. Anyway, I think the Long Night probably passed by now since I've been on Terra Venture so long, but I don't know for sure.”
“The Long Night?”
“Well Mironoi doesn't have seasons the way you or anyone from Earth talks about them,” Maya said. “There's snow on mountains and in the Cold Places but nowhere sometimes has snow and sometimes doesn't. We do have a warmer and a colder part of the year, though, and the skywatchers say the sun is out slightly more in the warm part and the moon slightly more in the colder.”
“Skywatchers?”
“They tell us what weather to expect and keep track of the stars and when the Long Night is coming and a new year starts.”
“I take it that's the night the moon is out longest?”
“Yes!” Maya said. “And the weather then is always the best – it's warm, but not hot and there's almost never big rains, so it's perfect for lazing around in the evening and having a big feast. Which is what we do.”
“We should do it.”
“What?”
“I'll make everyone presents for Frostmas and once I have them all ready, we'll have a big feast for the Long Night!”
“Yeah!” Maya said. “And I know everyone will help. I've noticed Kai's a big softie about people missing home... I bet I could talk him into talking someone into making the weather in the forest dome perfect.”
“Oh, if I'm going to make presents for everyone I need to pick up all kinds of material,” Karone said, grabbing her jacket and heading for the door. “Wait, Kai's a softie? Maya, I have met Kai. I have serious doubts.”
“I know what I'm talking about!” Maya said, catching up with Karone, linking their elbows and leaning in to murmur conspiratorially. “See, first of all you have to hit him with your best sad look. Second, if that doesn't work you just turn the act on Leo.”
“Leo?”
“And then Leo goes running to Kai with his sad look and there isn't any 'if that doesn't work.'”
“I see,” Karone said, and the two continued down the hall, planning their celebration and perfecting their pitch.