Maho's Christmas Carol; Stave Two

Posted on Sun Dec 14th, 2025 @ 5:43am by Captain Maho Takahashi

1,468 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Christmas Vacation
Location: Constitution-class transporter room, Kumamoto, Japan
Timeline: Christmas 2374, 2384

Maho came to because her sleep had become deeply uncomfortable. When she had dozed off, she had been in her own bed covered by her own blankets, but now she felt like she was lying on cold deck plates without any covering whatsoever. When Maho opened her eyes, this was indeed the case: She found herself lying on the floor of a transporter room that looked like the one on the New Jersey at the Fleet Museum.

Standing (or, rather, kneeling) over her was a man dressed in a long-outdated style of Starfleet uniform, dating from a time when gold was still the color of the command division.

"Good, you're finally awake." Were the first words that he spoke. The old timer immediately rose to a standing position and moved towards the transporter pad. "That was quite a tumble you took there, Captain."

"What the hell?" Maho mumbled groggily. "Where am I?"

"The Starship Christmas Past." The man replied. "You might call me its captain: The Ghost of Christmas Past. Now, come along, we have an important away mission... And I don't have all night."

Maho groaned.

"What's so important, it can't wait until morning?" She asked. "Or, at the very least until I have something to take care of the soreness from sleeping on cold deck plates..."

"Your welfare." The old-timer replied, returning to Maho and kneeling back down, holding out his hand. "Here: Rise, and walk with me..."

After a few seconds of hesitation, Maho finally accepted the other officer's hand, and to her surprise, as he pulled her upright, all the aches and pains that had developed as a result of her situation seemed ease up. It was almost as if his very touch was fast-acting hypospray.

"There we go." The ghost said with a warm smile. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, actually." Maho responded. "How did you-?"

"Never you mind," The ghost dismissed. "Now, as I said, we have an important away mission to go on, so let's get a move on..."

Maho hesitated at first, but eventually followed the ghost onto the transporter pad.

"Energize." The ghost called out.

Within moments of the command being given, the two of them were enveloped by an old-fashioned transporter beam.

---

[Kumamoto, Japan, 2374]

When Maho could see once again, she found herself standing in familiar environs. Although the night was darker than usual, Maho knew exactly what street she was standing on.

"Spirit, I know this place:" Maho said once her eyes had adjusted to the lower light levels. "This is Kumamoto, isn't it?"

Maho's gaze quickly fixated upon a familiar sight to her: A piece of propaganda encouraging citizens to conserve power. That would explain why the ambient light level was lower than usual: Maho had been brought back to a specific time.

"And I think I know when as well:" Maho added. "This Christmas was in the middle of the Dominion War when I was seven years old! So, that must mean-!"

Maho broke into a sprint up the street. It didn't take long before she found what she was looking for: The Nishizumi residence had been blacked out in 2374, but Maho could still make out the building's silhouette amongst the darkness. Though the street-facing windows (and most windows in the residence, for that matter) had heavy blackout curtains behind them blocking out the majority of the light escaping the structure, the spirit's magic turned them (only to Maho) transparent, allowing for Maho to peer in on the warm scene occurring within:

Maho watched as her and Miho's younger selves excitedly unwrapped their Christmas present from daddy after getting off their holo-call with him. Maho forgave the spirit for not bringing her a few moments earlier when they were on the call still. Though Maho had more of an idea then of why daddy couldn't be home for Christmas, and played it down for the more clueless Miho, neither of them truly understood the burden that their mother carried behind her smile.

"Ah, those were simpler times:" Maho commented, her heart melting at the cuteness unfolding in front of her. "And look at mom smiling! She stopped smiling at Christmas after Miho turned 10..."

"Oh, Merry Christmas, Miho!" Maho's younger self exclaimed, pulling her younger sister into a warm hug. "I promise that I will never let anything come between us, ever!"

Tears began to roll down Maho's cheeks, a product of nostalgia for the simpler times that were being shown before her. When her mother still smiled and didn't hate Miho with every fiber of her being. Beside her, the spirit's expression was now grim.

"Ten years later, you broke the promise you made." He said. "And let something come between you and your sister: Your mother."

The spirit raised a hand and snapped his fingers, and suddenly the scene changed. Now, Maho and the spirit were standing inside the house. With the spirits words, Maho knew right away that she had been taken to the disastrous Christmas of 2384. The older tree of the mid 2370s had long been replaced by a newer one that was higher tech. Yet, following the events that were now currently transpiring at the dining room table before her, Maho grew to despise that tree. Instead of bringing her joy to see it, the fucker brought back the traumatic memories. Safe to say, she hadn't been sad to see it go when the tree finally broke seven years ago, and was replaced by the one Maho knew in the present day.

In front of Maho and the spirit, the scene at the dining room table was tense: It was evident that the Christmas meal laid out upon it was only portioned for three people, and Miho was not one of them. Maho remembered spending the weeks leading up to the holiday begging and pleading with her mother to let Miho come home for Christmas, and a week before school was to let out for winter break, Shiho had finally caved. However, it appeared that she had been fully expecting Miho to blow them and not actually show up. So, when Miho actually did show up, things had been tense from the off.

Maho remembered that in the lead up to the serving of the meal, she had raised concerns to her mother that there wasn't enough food to feed Miho. To which, Shiho had replied that she had no intention of feeding "the hobo that [Maho] had let in."

The meal had started out on the wrong foot: Miho's attempts at good will and breaking the ice had been met with Shiho ignoring her. But Maho had been brought into the scene near the end of this period of ignorance, meaning things were about to get ugly:

"The only daughter of mine understands the need to sacrifice a teammate to preserve a winning streak!" Shiho had finally snapped.

"Maybe that's how Klingons play, but not me!" Miho responded, turning to Maho. "Please, Onee-chan: You know that Akaboshi was dying!"

The now-17-year-old Maho was conflicted. The school nurse had told her that if it hadn't been for Miho's actions, Akaboshi most certainly would have expired right on the Parrises Squares court. Her most basic instincts were to protect Miho from the monster their mother had become, but she also knew that in so doing, she too would be cast out. And so, in an act of self-preservation, Maho made what she felt was the only decision she could:

"I'm sorry, Miho." Maho sighed. "Maybe it was mistake to let you come home for Christmas after all..."

"O... Onee-chan..." Tears began to well in Miho's eyes.

30 year old Maho was now also crying at her 17 year old self's cruelty. Of course, Maho had apologized to her sister in private, and the two young women had agreed to leave it behind them, it still didn't change what had happened.

"Take me back, spirit:" Maho sobbed. "I can't take it any longer..."

"These are the voyages of the things that have been." The spirit said. "They are what they are. Do not blame me."

"I said... Take me back!" Maho repeated, her hands now balling into fists.

Looking into the spirit's face, somehow, it seemed to bear fragments of all the faces that had been shown to her thus far. As 16 year old Miho now began to sob, 30 year old Maho's anger finally boiled over, and she lunged at the spirit.

"Take me back, you stupid f**k!" She yelled as she gripped the spirit's golden tunic. "Leave me! Haunt me no more!!"

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer
USS Myogi

 

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