"You know, it'll be Christmas a little bit after we get home."
Mia's words draw my attention.
Christmas??
I hadn't thought about it.
"Christmas...?" I blink. "That's...I hadn't really..."
I suppose it is coming up. I didn't even think of that. So many things have been happening that it completely slipped my mind.
"Yeah..." Mia hums. "...That is, assuming things don't go wrong and we have to wait for the next supply ship."
I make a face at that.
I mean it's not terrible living here. It's better in every way at an immeasurable level than back with our captors.
But having to wait even longer to go home...that'd suck. And it'd mean putting the people here in even more danger.
The longer we wait, the more days we roll the dice and hope that they don't end up on snake eyes.
Or something like that.
I actually haven't ever really played dice games, so.
Yeah, I'm not saying that out loud. Just in case I got that backwards.
Once I used penultimate as second place or something, and my teacher almost lost her shit. I don't want to experience that kind of embarrassment again, if I can help it.
But...the point stands. Every day we sit here and wait increases the chances that somehow, some way, something will go wrong and our ex-captors will find us here.
I don't want to experience what running away through this wilderness with no set destination is like.
Hestia pads over to us, watching curiously.
Mia smiles. "Did you hear the word 'Christmas' from all the way over there?" Her tone is teasing.
Hestia huffs a bit, and settles down beside me.
I shift a bit, so that rather than pinning my arm to my side like she often does, I can have the somewhat more comfortable position of side-hugging her.
This seems to extra please her.
...She really is still very touch starved.
I'm afraid to wonder, every time, what age she was when she got here. She's so shy, and she can't talk. So it makes me feel like it must've been really, really young. Younger than I've seen anyone else here.
I blink.
"...Do you think it's possible Hestia was born here?"
The thought makes Mia freeze, her eyes flicking over to me and widening.
"I mean, she can't talk, she's super shy and nervous..." I glance at Hestia. "And she seems a bit younger than anyone else I've seen on this planet."
Only by like...a year.
But still.
If I'm right and she's been here awhile that would make her abduction super early.
Hestia is still just listening in, curious but silent. She's not really following along.
Mia sighs, and her expression is pained. "Maybe. But...that seems unlikely? I'm not sure if this place has the facilities to raise a child. And it would probably...mean that her actual parents are somewhere...out there."
That is, wherever they take us when our training is done.
Slaves to someone.
Out in the vastness of space.
My arm tightens slightly around Hestia.
Mia offers me a tight smile. "...It's...probably more likely she was young and got swept up somehow. Trauma would explain why she doesn't speak Constant or anything else."
"....Swept up..."
Wouldn't that still imply at least one of her parents were made slaves, though?
Mia looks at Hestia and doesn't say a word.
...Maybe she just didn't think that part through.
Or maybe she did.
And doesn't want to say it, any more than I do.
Hestia, meanwhile, looks between us and makes an inquisitive noise. I give her a slight smile and reach to pat her hair.
I guess, in the long run, the exact circumstances of her arrival on this planet are really irrelevant.
It's still horrible.
And it still doesn't matter, compared to getting her - and the rest of us - back home to our own planet, our own families, our own lives.
Hestia shifts and sits up a bit, then smiles at Mia. Her eyes sparkle. She points to Mia and makes an inquisitive sound.
Mia laughs. "Yes, you're right. I was talking about Christmas, huh? Do you remember Christmas last year?"
Hestia nods, smiling.
That's a little surprising. Our 'Christmas' was mostly just a stolen picnic in a similar empty warehouse to this factory. I wouldn't have thought Hestia would find it very memorable - much less associate it with Christmas.
Maybe she really did have a history on Earth, enough to prize Christmas still.
I smile at that.
Hestia tilts her head, studying me. Her eyes are bright and her expression thoughtful. Then she grins.
It's really sweet.
I don't think she knows most of what we're talking about right now. She's usually pretty good at understanding, though, so it tells me she doesn't really care about anything but the Christmas conversation.
Or, maybe...
She's excited to go home, too.
"Mia was saying we might be home for Christmas." I nod at her, grinning a bit. "Won't that be fun?"
Her smile brightens and her eyes sparkle, and she nods enthusiastically. I can almost see the excitement rolling off of her. It's adorable and sweet and...really heartening to see.
I'm glad she's excited. She deserves to go home.
They all do.
Everyone here deserves that much.
She leans in to the side-hug, and her expression softens.
There's still a sadness in those eyes that makes my heart hurt.
...Maybe Mia really is right. I was overreacting thinking she might have been born here. Hestia has a home to go back to, too. And..
Just like the rest of us, she misses it.
"If I could sing, I'd sing Home for Christmas..."
Mia scoffs and shakes her head. "Don't. You'll jinx us."
I snort, and she gives me a stern look.
"Besides." She continues. "We're still a month out. From the next shipment and from Christmas both. A lot of things can happen in a month."
She sounds worried again, but I don't blame her for it.
After all, it's a bit scary, isn't it?
There's no guarantee we're safe, and the aliens could be coming for us any minute now. Even if they aren't likely to find this base...if they do...
How scrambled will our plans be?
Will we ever regain this opportunity of surprise?
I don't know.
So.
I just have to believe we won't have that happen.