"Have fun?" Gabriel asks Niel as the latter heaves his bag behind him into the car's back seat.

  "Yeah," Niel responds simply, energy exhausted. His hair is messy with dried sweat and his body is sticky and stinks through his deodorant too, making even someone as aquaphobic as him ready for a shower. A private one, though.

  Judo has been an interesting experience thus far, and quite different from Muay Thai not only in its teachings but also in its structure. First to note: most terms, if not all, are in Japanese. Waza, ukemi, kuzushi, randori—just to name a few of the simplest. Predictably, Niel does not speak any Japanese, and after doing some research into it, he figures it will take him more than a few years of learning to become fluent. At least it's only for the terms; no one is expected to speak the language in regular conversation.

  Judo is also far more traditional than Muay Thai—ceremonial even, and nothing demonstrates that better than rei, or a bow. The act of bowing is an expression of courtesy and respect, deriving from traditional Japanese culture and etiquette. A standing bow, or ritsu-rei, is given whenever they enter or leave the dojo, step onto or off the mat, to the sensei, and to their partner before drills or sparring. When starting or ending a class, zarei, or a seated bow, is given instead by everyone at once. There's culturally much more to judo than just rei and what's been mentioned already, but Niel isn't knowledgeable or experienced enough to cover the rest off the top of his head. He found it strange at first, but he later became intrigued by this new culture when he learned the meaning behind bowing.

  While he could wear nearly whatever type of shirt and shorts he wanted to in Muay Thai, their only outfit in judo is their judogi (or for short: gi outside of Japan, dogi within), a uniform consisting of a bleach-white jacket and pants, and the skill-signifying belt that many people are familiar with. Niel already knew that the jacket was going to be thick and heavier than a typical shirt, but he was still surprised by its heft. It's not uncomfortable or limiting by any means, just surprising. As a beginner to the discipline, his belt colour matches the rest of his gi: white, which will eventually be swapped out for different colours once he shows proficiency.

  They have a warm-up much like in Muay Thai, but after so many burnout exercises in Muay Thai, Niel finds it less exhausting. Laps around the mat and line drills are usually what they do, with some calisthenics thrown in for good measure. The cooldown has consistently been stretches, then they take a formal kneeling-sit called seiza for a minute of meditation followed by zarei, and then they're free to go home.

  As for the classes themselves, the first thing Niel was taught as a new student was ukemi, or breakfalls. Judo consists of a lot of throwing, and what happens after a throw but a fall? You learn how to throw others, but you're not the only one learning—so you will be thrown, and you need to learn how to fall and land safely, and from several elevations and positions as well. So for his first two days, Niel learned how to fall. He might not have been able to throw, but he could be thrown for others practicing. And so they learned together—them how to throw, and Niel how to fall. Again and again and again. Only after he had the basics of ukemi down was he ready for stances and footwork, and later kuzushi, or balance breaking. And then after understanding what kuzushi is on a fundamental level, he was finally taught his first throw: o-goshi, one of several hip throws.

  Randori is a term that describes free sparring, and it's during randori where much gets put to practice. It took many attempts, but Niel finally ended up successfully landing o-goshi and throwing his partner to the mat—a euphoric feeling new to him even after doing Muay Thai. He wasn't (and still isn't) good at o-goshi, or many other things apart from hitting the mat, but it's a taste of what's to come and a high to keep chasing.

  After o-goshi, Niel learned another throw called osoto-gari, a leg-sweeping throw. However, as good as throwing your opponent is, it's not an end, for the fight then goes to the ground. That's where Niel is introduced to ne-waza, or ground techniques, specifically being taught the kesa-gatame, meaning scarf hold. Now when a fight goes to the ground, he'll know how to act. Or, he will. Eventually.

  Finally, that leads to today: his eighth judo class thus far, and the last one until next Saturday. With much to contemplate and research until then, he has a pleasant shower for once, his neural threads all taken up by his ever-growing appreciation for the discipline, rather than the darker recesses his panic wishes to take him to. As it's a Saturday and judo runs from 12 to 2 pm today, he still has most of the day left to do whatever he pleases, so he descends to the living room after getting dressed. There he finds his found family gathered in lively conversation, surrounded by the shiny green, red, and white of holiday decor.

  "I believe you were only six then," Mabel says, referring to Reed.

  "Yeah, it's been, like, just over ten years now," Reed confirms to Mabel. From what Niel can gather, they seem to be explaining their history here at the home to Illia and Voltaire.

  "Because there was a spike in permanently displaced children, we ended up switching from a transitory home to a permanent one instead. Things were... rough at that point for me..." With how her voice is trailing off, Niel knows exactly what she's referring to.

  "...But then we got Reed," she finishes, her voice returning to gentleness.

  "And her life was never the same since!" Reed jokes boisterously, causing Illia, Gabriel, and Niel to crack a smile and Mabel to chuckle.

  "And it wasn't!" Mabel humouredly echos. "You were the first permanent child we got—about this tall then," she says as she levels her hand roughly waist-high. "Stubborn, and so shy you would run and hide behind the couches!"

  "And from what I hear, he went from hiding behind the couches to hiding behind Mabel until he was ten!" Gabriel adds.

  Reed pulls his arms closer to his body in embarrassment. "I think I remember that..." he shyly admits with a slight blush. Lydia cracks at this; she'll use this for teasing later. "I didn't have my mom in my life, so I guess I got attached to you, huh?"

  "As much as I was to you!" Mabel states dotingly. "Everywhere we went, it always seemed like we were together!"

  An unpleasant series of memories surfaces in Reed's mind, causing him to shift in his seat again. "We kinda had to be, back with him in charge..."

  Mabel's expression drops noticeably at this. "...Yes... It was a dark time for us then with Victor in charge," she painfully reminisces. "Jenna and Karen got fed up with him and left, and this was a while before Gabriel and I started dating."

  "Yeah..." Reed sighs with a heaviness of his own. But, after looking at the family around them, he relaxes. "But that asshat's gone now."

  "Language," Gabriel says, mild but firm.

  "Oh come on, I vividly remember hearing you say at one point you wanted to beat him senseless."

  "That's beside the point."

  Mabel chuckles again as the mood lightens. "He may be gone, but you're still the same stubborn little boy you were then!" she says as she pats him on the head.

  "A stubborn little mommy's boy!" Lydia pokes with a shit-eating grin, her resilience against mocking him cracking instantly. In response, Reed casts a small flame of phosphorus in her face to startle her, though it doesn't have any effect after prior repeated use.

  "That doesn't scare me anymore," Lydia states, feeling as if she still has the upper hand against him. However, a glance from Reed convinces Niel to play along.

  "Your hair's on fire," Niel says nonchalantly, even going as far as to use his Dust to simulate a flame. Lydia squeals from seeing the motion of smoke in her peripheral and hastily smashes together hydrogen and oxygen molecules in the air to wet her hair with. The resulting laughter of everyone around her immediately tells her it was nothing but a farce, and she gets up to shake Niel by the wrists in playful anger.

  'That was a good one,' Illia signs, which Niel repeats aloud in translation before thanking her.

  "You've gotten really good at sign language," Mabel comments.

  "How long has it been since you started?" Reed asks.

  Niel thinks for a moment, trying to remember when their tenure at the hospital ended. "Five months...? Since near the end of July, I think."

  'He learned faster than you did,' Illia signs, with Niel understanding her sooner than Mabel does.

  "You're a quick study, then. I still only barely know the alphabet," Reed says.

  'Because you don't practice.'

  "Because you hate me," Niel purposely mistranslates, causing both Lydia and Mabel to laugh, though for different reasons. Illia spins her head to glare a pout at him.

  "Hey, I don't...! Oh." Reed cuts himself off once he realizes the tomfoolery at play.

  "And here I thought you weren't capable of making jokes," Voltaire says with a grin.

  "I wasn't a few seasons ago," Niel admits.

  "And you've grown a lot since then!" Mabel remarks warmly.

  "Yeah. He's a pain to deal with sometimes, but I suppose he's got his moments," Reed jabs in retaliation.

  With a quick wit and little hesitation, Niel deflects by gesturing to Voltaire and saying, "I agree."

  "Watch it, Dusty," Voltaire snaps back.

  "You've grown a lot, too, Voltaire," Mabel states gently.

  "Despite how things started, you turned out alright," Niel says, in part honest and in jest.

  "Yeah, despite how things started..." Voltaire drones, with more weight than he intended. This inflection is swiftly caught by Reed.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Like you being the Electric Mute Thief? Or were?" Reed interjects, immediately catching Voltaire's undivided attention. "Yeah, we kinda guessed that already. 'Cause, you know, the electricity. And the stealing."

  "And how the adults were cautious of you," Lydia adds.

  'And court,' Illia tacks on, translated by Niel.

  "Oh." Voltaire is somewhat dumbfounded—not only that he was found out so easily, but also by the fact that they treated him (relatively) so well despite this.

  "When did you find out about it, Niel?" Lydia asks.

  Despite knowing that he might get in trouble for it, Niel decides to just tell the truth. "The moment I first saw him."

  "What, you're a psychic or something?" Reed questions rhetorically.

  "I tried robbing him before," Voltaire admits bashfully.

  "What?" Gabriel reacts firmly, a mix between concern for Niel and displeasure that this was kept from him.

  "I can hold my own better than anyone, so I'm not scared of going down alleys. On one of my walks, we ran into each other, and he tried robbing me," Niel explains.

  "And you beat him up," Reed presumes.

  In sync, both Niel and Voltaire answer, "Yeah."

  "More specifically, I stapled him to a dumpster and let the police find him."

  Gabriel sighs and rests his forehead on his hand, while Mabel stares disapprovingly. They can't blame him for defending himself, nor for him ignoring danger because he's not exaggerating his strength, but this clearly goes against some kind of morality or critical thinking lesson.

  "Just— If something like that happens again, please tell us," Mabel insists.

  "I will," Niel agrees.

  The family conversation continues after this in no particular direction, even breaking apart into a couple smaller ones between individual members. Illia, who is mostly just listening to everyone else, notices something move in the window from the corner of her eye. She points outside and draw everyone's attention to this wondrous discovery: heavy snowflakes are falling peacefully from the sky.

  Niel has seen snow plenty before, but it's always a dismal herald of winter's bitter cold. Smart and efficient use of his Dust was required to hide in the shadows within warm buildings for extended periods of time. Voltaire shares a similar pain, having to spend two isolated winters out in the elements with nothing but small fires and blankets in a makeshift tent to keep warm with. Illia, more fortunately, was never subjected to that harsh bite. Instead, she would longingly gaze out the window of whatever facility she was held in, never allowed to engage with the pretty snowfall until after it became a dirty, oil-stained slush on the ground. She had tonnes of fun last winter when it snowed and she's been longing to play again since, so it's no wonder that she's the first one to don her winter clothing and rush out to embrace the snow like an old friend.

  Niel is the second one to leave given their closeness, with Lydia and Voltaire joining him outside in front of the door. Illia gracefully runs and dances around the yard in a bid of playful happiness as she catches the snowflakes in her pink mittens and on her tongue. With her facing the sky so frequently, Niel decides to follow suit, and he becomes enamoured by the clockwise swirl of white descending all around them. A snowflake falls into his mouth when he opens it. Predictably, it tastes like nothing.

  "Having fun?" Voltaire asks Niel.

  "For winter, yeah," he responds with just a slight step above monotone. Voltaire relates empathetically.

  "And this on the first day of winter, too. How fitting," Lydia adds. Inside, the others are watching with revelry of their own.

  The fun goes by with the hours, and soon enough it's time for bed. Niel is winding down for the night by putting his thoughts and feelings to paper, but he's interrupted by a knock at his bedroom door. A scan shows it to be Voltaire. Niel uses his Dust to let the ex-thief in.

  "Hey," Niel greets laconically.

  "Hey," Voltaire responds in tune as he closes the door behind him. Seeing the Warden's Key resting alone on the nightstand holds his attention for a brief moment, though he pulls himself back to the topic he means to bring up. "I've got an update on the trial, if you wanna hear it?"

  "Sure."

  Voltaire explains that early this week, he and Dwayne were informed of the pre-trial conference that would be taking place late January, though Voltaire doesn't quite understand what this entails beyond a discussion between the judge and lawyers. Regardless, neither he nor Dwayne will be attending. They'll be debriefed on the important stuff afterward, and they'll finally have a trial date sometime after that. This wait is already painful for Niel—he can't imagine what it's like for Voltaire. Perhaps talking about this is how he's venting off some of that stress.

  Their conversations continue on and on from there, branching into their martial arts, winter experiences, past Christmases, and more. By the time either of them remember to check the time, it's already well past one in the morning, so they decide to break it off and get some sleep.

  The next morning, Illia's mood is soured when she looks out the window. It had been snowing all day yesterday and all night too, yet the ground is barren. Boo. When she explains her grief to Niel and Mabel, all she gets from each is an amused chuckle and a pat on the head. It's too cold for her to bother going outside if there's no snow to play in.

  Poppy's birthday arrives that Monday. Gabriel hasn't forgotten her eyeing his Father's Day gift, so they got her the same model of indoor electric grill he did. Niel hopes she hasn't bought herself one since then. Based on her expression, it doesn't seem she did.

  Winter break runs from now until the sixth of January, so none of the kids have to worry about school for the next two weeks. They fill this gap in their schedules by lazing and helping around the house. Voltaire and Niel are the odd ones out, though—Voltaire having Muay Thai that evening and Niel his walk. The gym will be closed for the next three days due to Christmas and Boxing Day, meaning both him and Niel will be missing out on classes until Friday and Saturday, respectively. Niel will be continuing his walks regardless, though Voltaire won't be partaking due to the cold.

  Christmas is drawing closer and closer, and the anticipation from the kids is growing to match. Reed is the most excited with Illia to match, then Lydia behind them, followed by Voltaire, and then Niel in last. Unlike the others, Niel has never celebrated Christmas before. He's known it was a thing even before coming to the home—extravagant decorations for the holiday have been on display in every town and city he found himself in—but he never partook. Being invisible was the absolute top priority; he could not allow the lab to follow him. He doesn't even know what the holiday entails, or why it began in the first place. It's extra special to Gabriel, though—he knows that much at least. Despite him not understanding its significance, the big holiday event is occurring tomorrow morning, and this alone is enough to excite Niel into losing some sleep.

  The time on Niel's phone reads a quarter past nine when he stirs. What time is everyone supposed to be getting up at? He throws a scan downstairs to survey and finds Mabel alone in the kitchen, still in her pajamas. Might as well make it now, then. After making up his bed and forgoing changing out of his pajamas, he heads down to join her.

  "Good morning," Mabel greets.

  "Morning," Niel reciprocates. "Where's Gabriel?"

  "Mass. He'll be back soon."

  The pair decide to have breakfast together while waiting for Gabriel to return and the others to wake—both occurring not even twenty minutes later. Though Illia is less than enthused over a snow-less Christmas, she and Reed are giddily excited over the quantity of presents under the tree. However, their gazes are forcibly pulled back to the dining room table when they're reminded to eat. Only after they're done are the morning's events allowed to proceed.

  The Christmas tree is stacked to the brim with various ornaments, tinsel, and ribbons on each branch, nearly entirely hiding the plastic green of the tree underneath. It hardly even looks like a tree apart from its vague shape. Niel was told that Illia placed the star on its peak last year and that it was his turn to do so this time, but a pitiable look convinced him to heave her up with his Dust and allow her the honours again. It's been empty underneath the tree for the past month, but now this morning, wrapped gifts of various sizes, colours, and designs are overflowing past its skirt. Which ones are his?

  One after another, Mabel and Gabriel hand out gifts to each of the children. Each of Niel's are stuck with a colourful label that all list him as the recipient and either Mabel, Gabriel, or Dwayne as the sender. At least he knows who they're from. They're all free to open whichever one they want in whatever order, and Reed predictably chooses the largest one he has as his first. It's a warm winter's jacket! Niel can tell just by his face that he was expecting something else. Reed's still thankful, though, and Mabel can't wait to make him put it to use with some outdoor activity.

  The most common type of item unwrapped is clothing, with everyone including their guardians receiving various shirts and pants, many of which the girls are excited to try on. Niel and Voltaire get heavier sweaters in place of the lumbering winter coats they didn't enjoy wearing. The next common gift is candy bars, sweets, and other junk foods Niel didn't know existed, though these are stored in a stocking rather than being individually wrapped.

  After this, the only gifts that remain are the special ones: items that each of them either requested, showed interest in, or may like. Mabel's present is a package of bath bombs to relax with, something Niel finds oxymoronic until their use is explained to him. Gabriel is given a toolbox containing various tools he either didn't have and wanted or needed as replacements. Reed's reaction to the video game he wanted contained more energy than anyone else's that morning. Not only does Illia get a large fluffy blanket to wrap herself in, but she also gets a cute plushy of a sleepy seal to go with it. It takes all of five seconds for her to turn herself and the seal into a blanket-wrapped blob of comfy.

  Niel's gift is the smallest of them all, something Reed makes him keenly aware of. Contained in the thin rectangular box is a butterfly knife, though dull by design and with holes throughout the blade. While real butterfly knives are illegal, trainers like this one are not and serve as more of a toy than a weapon. It's no secret that Niel has a habit of spinning various objects in his hand. Gabriel figured he'd like something to call his own, and something not made of Dust. Niel displays his gratitude by immediately playing with it. In opposite to Niel's gift, Voltaire's is the largest, and it's no wonder why: beneath all the wrapping paper are a pair of shin guards and the headgear he's missing for Muay Thai. Now he has everything he needs and no longer needs to borrow the gym's worn and smelly gear. His smile feels like redemption for his birthday present.

  Last up is Lydia. The shape of her gift is a standard box and is modest in size, but it's quite heavy despite this. She didn't ask for anything other than makeup, and this certainly doesn't fit that profile. After peeling away the paper, she's caught off guard by what she finds: a brand-new and certainly expensive camera with all accessories included. Mabel hopes she'll use it to capture the beauty she finds around her, rather than hopelessly chasing perfection in her mirror. It's such a poignant message to her that Lydia can't help but cry as she gives her heartfelt thanks. With the battery pre-charged by her guardians, she turns it on and points it towards her family. She won't let the rest of this morning pass her by.

  A rumbling at the front door catches everyone's attention. It's Dwayne!

  "Merry Christmas, everyone!" he exclaims boisterously, to which everyone responds in their own manner. After taking his boots and jacket off and taking stock of the morning's progress, he reveals five new presents in his possession. "It looks like Santa made a wrong turn this year and left these at my house!"

  As he hands the new presents to the kids, Niel observes that the sender on the label is now Santa. But Santa isn't... Didn't Niel overhear Dwayne say at one point that sponsors or people often donate to group homes like this? Or was it Reed that said this a while back? His train of thought gets cut off by Reed's excitement over the leverless controller he just unwrapped. After taking a picture of Reed's outburst, Lydia opens her gift and finds a gold-plated locket within. Of course, no one's picture will fit better in it than Aaron's. Illia is initially confused by her fairy lights, but after learning that she can program them to pulse to music or twinkle like stars, her head ignites with possibilities for cozy nights. Voltaire's gift from Santa is a pair of wireless earbuds. He'll use them around the house, sure, but his thoughts go to no longer needing to listen to other people's music during heavy bag work between classes.

  And finally, there's Niel himself. There's nothing he really wants or needs, and it's made him the hardest one to buy gifts for (next to Voltaire, of course). So, what could be in this fist-sized box? He methodically tears away the paper, and what he's left with is the clear container housing...

  ...a watch.

  Matte black face, silver case, brown leather strap... Chronograph, tachymeter, 24-hour sub-dial, lume—it has the full package. He was to make use of a similar watch after 'graduating' from his training in the lab, but his escape made it never come to be. Digital might feature more, but analog can't be beat. Is it fate that blew this to his hand, or something else?

  Niel fastens the watch to the underside of his wrist. He may not be a soldier of the lab anymore, but the smiling faces of his new family are more than worth fighting for.