As it would turn out, Earth inhabitants are not the only ones with winter holidays. Many other students also celebrated holidays of togetherness in the winter season, and so, the Academy suspended classes for four weeks and encouraged students to, in Vince's words, "Go on, skedaddle!"

Kyle was relieved to be returning home. He packed his bags in a heartbeat and kept his eyes glued to every time-telling device within his sight. He nearly packed Fledermaus in one of his bags in his rush. When the final bell rang, he practically flew to the Birchwood Tower.

"Akfernen!"

The frosty air had already chilled him through and through, and he was unsure if the voice helped to freeze him more or if it helped to thaw.

Akora, Sasha, and Runt came barrelling through the crowds of other Birchwood students. She pounced on him, and knocked him to the ground. Runt and Sasha ran up and licked his face.

Kyle laughed and struggled to push her off himself. "I'm gonna miss you, too," he assured her.

"This is going to be a long month, friend."

"Well, they didn't say we couldn't visit," he said.

She nodded. "True."

"Oh no! Kyle's getting eaten!"

The two looked up, and saw Elvia and Nixie approach hand in hand, their Familiars close behind. They both had smiles on their lips, but sadness in their eyes.

Akora and Kyle stood, looking like sheep with snow all over their clothes. Fledermaus burrowed into Kyle's hood. "You two ready to go?" Kyle asked.

The two girls exchanged glances, then, with a somber simplicity in their voices, replied, "Not really."

"Gonna miss this place?" Akora asked. "To each his own, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm not leaving," Nixie said. "I got myself kicked out, remember? And my stepdad is an UnFamiliar, remember? Basically I'm staying here."

"Staying here?" Kyle and Akora echoed.

Nixie nodded. "Yeah. Did you know Mr. Efeta actually lives here? And Mr. Draug? Most of the custodians, actually."

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"What an arrangement," Akora muttered.

"But don't worry," Nixie assured them. "I'll be back for a day or two to get my stuff together for the dance. I've got a bank account with at least something in it, I'm pretty sure."

"And if not," Elvia added, "Mr. Efeta and the others said they'll give her an allowance, which was really nice of them." She brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "Kyle, are you going with anyone?"

Kyle shook his head. "Nah, think I'm gonna just enjoy my time alone."

"I'm not going, either," Akora chuckled. "No mead, wine, or beer? That's not a party!"

"Oh no, is Akora coming, too?"

The group looked up and saw Sean, Aoife, and Asim trudging through the snow. Clopin had joined them, and carried many of Aoife and Sean's bags. He stood right behind Aoife, who appeared a bit wobbly on her crutches. There was also another, who looked almost exactly like Aoife, only a boy.

"I'm just seeing you lot off," Akora told him. "No need to worry."

Kyle looked at the new boy. "So is this your brother?"

Aoife nodded. "Yep. This is Collin. He's going to give me a hard time over this." She held her injured foot forward and wiggled the boot.

"I have been," Collin confessed, "and I will continue. She's got to learn to let things go."

Aoife hung her head a bit.

Sean changed the subject. "Maybe if you're feeling alright during the break," he began, "we could hang out. "I could probably use the van one day, as long as Mom's not planning on going out."

"Yeah!" Elvia beamed. "That's a great idea!"

The others agreed. Already, they could look forward to something else.

Before any more planning could happen, however, Vince exited the tower, completing his route to make sure all the rooms were secure and no students were left hiding somewhere within. He passed through the barrier and gave a sharp whistle to silence the crowd of giddy students. "We've enjoyed hosting you for the past few months, but now it's time for you to go home. We'll see you back here in thirty days." He paused to wait for the cheers to die down. "I've already marked the door. You're going to go through and emerge in the Birchwood Basement. Someone will be down there to greet you and send you on your ways. And if anyone asks, you're just visiting friends and family for the holidays."

"So secret all the time," Nixie muttered.

Vince stepped aside. "Go on, scram!"

Akora, her beasts, and Nixie backed away. "We'll see you around."

Kyle gave her a wave goodbye as he and the others joined the crowd. The line moved at a steady snail's pace, with no pauses or stand-stills, but not much speed either. Those with Familiars that did not fit with Earth pets - dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, snakes, creatures of that nature - tucked them away within their jackets and scarves. Sean kept Drake at his side. Though Drake was an unusual pet, he resembled a Komodo dragon just enough to pass as one. Aoife was able to keep Joy on her shoulder as well. They were the only two students Kyle knew who had this luxury.

After what seemed to be hours of shuffling, Kyle and the others passed through the barrier. His heart raced and his palms were warm. He had a small leap in his step. He did not realize just how much he missed home until he was almost there. He passed through the doorway, kicking a bit of snow down the steps. Already he could feel the warmth of home. He reached the bottom of the stairs. Asim, the last in the line, closed the door. Kyle shuffled through the darkness until he kicked someone.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Take a seat," ordered a familiar voice.

Kyle, Sean, Elvia, and Asim sat on the dusty linoleum floor. Aoife stood beside them. As their eyes adjusted, they noticed a flickering light above. After a moment, they could make out the image of Ms. Kreechure standing at the front of the group.

"I hope you've all had fun," she said in a hushed tone. "I hope you're all doing well in your classes. I hope you've been good." She rubbed her hands together and breathed into her fists. She was cold. "With that being said, I hope you will continue to be good. This is the first time in years we've allowed students to bring their Familiars home for the holidays, and we expect that you won't ruin it. If anyone tells, if our secret gets out, the consequences will be grave. If any of you know you absolutely cannot keep this secret safe, please surrender your Familiars now. They will be kept safe at the Academy until the holiday is over."

There were alarmed murmurs and a few panicked gasps. Many students, through one way or another, had come to understand the dread and fear of being without their Familiars. No one was willing to surrender their companion.

Ms. Kreechure waited for about a minute, and when no one came forward, she said, "Well I hope I can trust your judgement. Should you change your mind, return here. There will be someone to take care of you." She clasped her hands together and shivered. "Your parents and guardians are waiting upstairs for you. Let's get going." Everyone stood after that, and some heard her mutter, "I gotta get a nice hot chocolate."

Kyle helped Sean to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aoife and Asim looking rather pale. He turned to them. "What's wrong?"

"Just the thought," Aoife muttered.

"It's too much to bear." Asim slipped his hand inside his sweater and stroked Leonidas. "You're not at all concerned that someone will see Fledermaus?"

Kyle reached into his hood and felt the dragon's smooth scales. "We don't really go out and we don't have close neighbors. Yeah I worry about it, but no one's gonna come."

"I hope, for your sake, you are correct about that feeling."

The group made their way up and out of the school basement. They followed the other students to the auditorium, where families - guardians, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even a set of great-grandparents - were waiting. Kyle's family had settled right next to Sean's, but Kyle's father was absent once again. When he made it to his family, he gave his mother and uncle a hug and a hello before asking, "Where's Dad?"

"Back at home," his mother replied. "There'll be a surprise waiting for you."

While Kyle was disappointed, he did like surprises. He would have liked to see his father more, but he would see him in a few minutes' time.

Some families left right after collecting their babies, but the majority stayed behind to talk with one another. Nobody was surprised when Aunt Margaret saw Crystal and went off on a great speech about how much she had missed her, and about how great things had been since they last met. There came a time, about an hour later, Ms. Kreechure had to shoo everyone away. The sun had begun its descent at that point, and night would fall soon. Everyone said their goodbyes and went off on their separate ways.

Kyle had a lot to discuss as he, his mother, and Uncle Jack walked through the woods. He hung close to them, and as the sun fell to the horizon, he only moved closer. Every time he heard a twig snap, every time a breeze rustled the bare branches of the trees, he looked around, expecting to see the old man or Mr. Turncoat or one of their terribly Ivory Hearts waiting to steal him away. Every time this happened, Uncle Jack assured him that if someone were to attack, he and his mother would tear them limb from limb before they even got close. Though he believed his uncle, he had a very difficult time ignoring the feeling that someone was watching. He saw their house towering in the distance, and felt a wave of relief wash over him. The three walked faster until they reached the wooden gate.

Kyle was the first one inside the house. He opened the door and allowed a rush of warm air and the aroma of chocolate to escape. Sitting on the table was a chocolate cake, still hot from the oven, not quite ready for frosting. His father emerged from behind the table, another layer to the cake in his hands. "Hey there, bud!"

Fledermaus emerged from Kyle's hood. He jumped to the table and investigated the cake. Kyle, in the meantime, rushed to embrace his dad.

The door shut and Uncle Jack hung up his coat. "Little man couldn't get here fast enough," he laughed.

"I was hoping for another minute," Greg said, holding his boy tight. "It's not even frosted yet."

"I can wait," Kyle assured him. "I've got a lot to talk about."

The family spent hours talking about everything that happened since they said goodbye that morning a few months back. They ate most of the cake when it was ready, drank some hot chocolate, and after another hour of talking, they all went to bed. He had a difficult time falling asleep that night. He tossed and turned on his cot. Every now and then he tried reaching down and stroking Fledermaus, who was knocked out cold. His cool scales brought Kyle comfort, but could not bring him sleep. Kyle rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The moonlight cast funny shapes into his room. The shapes changed as the light changed. They got bigger when clouds covered the moon, but they became more intense when the light was unobscured. He tried closing his eyes again. He had the feeling something was watching him. He opened his eyes, but only enough for him to peer through his eyelashes. Something was watching him.

He screamed and tried to throw his sheets over it. He reached for his nightstand and grabbed his flashlight, flicked it on, and shone it towards the thing. He saw it thrash around under the sheet. He could hear his parents running up the stairs. He reached back for the nightstand and grabbed something, prepared to throw it, but then stopped when he saw Akora and Runt at the edge of his bed. He sighed with relief and put down the thing (which turned out to be his alarm clock). He took a deep breath and asked her, "What are you doing?"

"Just checking in on ya."

"And how did you - you know what, nevermind. I don't think I want to know."

Kyle's parents emerged and the light came on, blinding everybody for a moment. He called, "It's okay, it's okay!" When his eyes adjusted, he saw his father holding a bat and his mother holding a hunting knife. He was glad they heard him before they attacked.

His mother made a sound that was somewhere between a relieved sigh and frustrated groan. "Kyle, sweetie, who is this?"

Kyle took a few more breaths to calm himself. "Mom, Dad, this is Akora Rynne. Akora, these are my parents."

Akora nodded to them. "Hello."

Crystal sheathed the knife. "Hello, Akora. I'm Crystal, this is Greg. Um, I'm not trying to be rude, but what are you doing here and how did you get in?"

Akora folded her arms and stood tall, as if she had every right to be standing in that room at that moment. "The symbols to get to other worlds are common knowledge," she informed them, "and the window was open."

Crystal sighed and looked to Greg. "I'd feel bad asking you to leave at this hour, even though you are a stranger..."

"Nah, it's fine." Akora insisted. "I can go back through my door, no problem." She turned back to Kyle. "So when is everyone getting together?"

Kyle shrugged. "We haven't set a date yet. We were thinking about going out in a few days."

Akora smiled. "We'll see you then." She threw open the window and climbed out, Runt behind her.

Crystal rushed to the window. "Sweetie, you don't have to go out that way!"

"I'm already halfway there!" she called back.

Crystal shut the window, then locked it. "She makes me nervous."

Kyle gathered his pillow and blanket. "Makes me nervous, too. I think I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight."

The next day, Kyle went to the library. He returned books his mother had borrowed, and then went into the back to e-mail his friends. He had no computers at home, nor did he even have a telephone, and so he had no other way to communicate with the others. He knew Aoife and Elvia checked their inboxes often, Elvia because she did not have a cellphone and could not trust her parents to deliver a message, and Aoife because she was always looking to hear back from colleges. He logged on and waited. Public computers always took an eternity to load. He ignored the number of new messages in his inbox, and opened a new message for his two friends.

"Subject: Hanging out," he muttered as he clicked the chunky keys. He waited for the machine to process this portion of his message, then continued.

"I was wondering when we could hang out. Any day is good for me. Also, Akora broke into my house last night, and I'm pretty sure she's going to want to join us. Is that okay?"

He hit send and waited for a bit, then saw the blurb, "Message Sent".

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a folder. The library was empty, save for the occasional passer-by, and he determined it would be safe for him to start at least some of his homework while he awaited a reply. He finished a few math problems, then noticed a new message, "Re: Hanging out", in his inbox. He clicked on it, and read Elvia's reply.

"I'm okay with that," she wrote. "I mean she kinda creeps me out, but it should be fine!"

Moments later, Aoife replied, "Uhh I'm not sure... I mean I can go out, my ankle won't get in the way, but I'd have to ask the others about her."

He returned to the chunky keys. "I understand. Should I ask?"

After some buffering, Aoife replied once more, "I got it."

He returned to his homework. Someone passed, and he could feel the person looking over his shoulder for a moment. The person continued on their way. Kyle, for the first time in his life, was glad to be working on math. He finished the front of the page, then checked for a reply.

"Texted Sean, Asim, and Nixie," Aoife wrote. "Waiting for replies. Asim said 'sure' about 2.5 seconds later. Wonder if he's crushing on her now, haha."

Elvia replied, "Can Nixie get a signal from the school? She's coming later today so I'll ask then."

Kyle clicked the keys, "Just gotta wait for Sean then."

The passing stranger sat at the computer across from Kyle. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but he tried to dismiss it. Anyone could sit wherever they wanted.

He went back to his math homework. There were only three problems on the back of the sheet. He completed those, then returned the paper to his folder. He glanced down at his bag. Fledermaus was curled up inside, hidden under notebooks and scraps of paper. He retrieved another sheet from the folder. It was science homework. He reviewed the questions. They were safe to have out in the open. He pulled the formula sheet from the back of his folder and set the two papers beside each other.

Elvia sent another message. "Anyone else feel like they're being watched???"