-Christmas Day-

Yachio stirred a little before he letted out a small yawn, stretching the tiredness out of him, as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

He looked over at Lukari and noticed that she was still asleep.

He smiled to himself at the thought of her being a heavy sleeper before he quietly got out of the bed and tucked Lukari back in after moving her a bit.

Then he went and took a shower before heading downstairs and fixing breakfast for him and the kids.

As he was finished cooking, he went back upstairs and woke Lucas and Luka up before they followed after Yachio and headed downstairs.

After they ate breakfast, it was time for Lucas and Luka to open their gifts Yachio and Lukari had gotten for them.

"Yaaayy~y! Presents!!!" Luka squealed as she was given her presents.

Yachio smiled and chuckled a bit before he ruffled Luka's hair.

"Alright, you two...You can open your presents in just a sec. Imma go get mommy, so she can see what it is you two got from Santa." Yachio says before he hurried upstairs and went into the bedroom.

He noticed that Lukari was still in the bed and chuckled again.

"She must've been really tired for someone like her..." Yachio thought to himself.

Then he went over and shook Lukari gently.

"He~y, Lukari....You better get up or you'll miss out on the kids opening their presents to see what they got." Yachio says as he teased.

When he heard no response, Yachio shook Lukari again gently.

"Wakey-Wakey, Lukari~..." Yachio says.

When he still got no response from Lukari again, Yachio started to grow nervous.

"Lukari? Is everything okay?" Yachio asks worriedly.

No response.

Yachio started to panic a little.

He rolled Lukari over on her back and rested his ear on her chest, hoping to hear a heartbeat.

When he didn't hear a heartbeat from Lukari's chest, he started freaking out a little but remained calm.

"Dad? Is everything okay up there?" Yachio heard Lucas call out from downstairs.

"When can we open our presents?" Luka asked.

"Everything's alright, you two...Your mother's having a bit of an issue but she wants you both to go on ahead and open your gifts..." Yachio lied.

"Okay! Thanks, papa!" Luka replies before she started to open her presents.

Lucas did the same thing without saying a word.

Yachio letted out a small sigh of relief before focusing back on his main concern.

He rested his ear back on Lukari's chest and checked to see if she was breathing.

When he found out that Lukari wasn't breathing either, he panicked and started to do CPR on her. Even doing it mouth-to-mouth.

"C'mon, Lukari! Breathe!" Yachio says under his breath as he continued doing CPR.

It's a good thing that he and Lukari took CPR class and got their certifications on it.

So that way, if him, Lukari, or the kids is in distress, he and Lukari can save the kids and each other's lives.

When none of those tactics worked, Yachio called Edmund, Zaia, and Xander for help in support of Lukari's distress.

As Yachio waited, Edmund and Zaia came with Xander following them.

"Oh, thank Arceus that you've arrived! I really need your help.

I don't know what happened to Lukari but she's not breathing and her heart isn't beating either."

Yachio says once he quickly entered back into the bedroom before shutting the door behind him after Edmund, Zaia and Xander went in as well.

"How did this start?" Xander asked.

Yachio shrugged.

"I'm guessing that it happened to her while we were asleep." Yachio says, feeling very unsure.

"What did Lukari say to you before she went to bed last night? It could give us a clue of what probably could've happened to her..." Zaia suggested.

"Uhh..." Yachio went before scratching his head in confusion, trying to remember. "All she mentioned was trying to decide what Xander's christmas present should be."

Zaia looked at Yachio in surprise while Edmund raised an eyebrow.

Xander didn't show a lot of emotion after Yachio mentioned it.

"What was she trying to get me that I could've possibly wanted the most for a christmas gift?" Xander asked.

"She - - " Yachio began before he was suddenly interrupted by someone.

"...She brought me and Amber back to life, Xandy~..." A shiny Braixen said as she appeared and entered into the room.

Xander's face suddenly dropped in shock as he stared at her.

"S-Sierra...." Xander went.

Silence filled the air as everyone stared at her and Xander in shock.

What stunned Yachio, Edmund and Zaia the most was that golden light suddenly appeared and surrounded itself around Xander, making him start to age back into what he looked like in his 20's or 30's.

Going from an old ghoul in his 50's to looking strikingly handsome and almost the same age Sierra was.

Without any warning, Xander suddenly embraced her into a tight hug as tears began to appear in his eyes and run down to the sides of his face.

"It really is you...You're not an illusion or anything...You're alive." Xander went as he sniffed.

Sierra smiled as she held her daughter in one arm while hugging Xander back with her other arm as she started rubbing his back soothingly in comfort.

"Wait...If a dead pokémon has been brought back to life...Then...That means....." Edmund began.

Yachio's face paled as he suddenly grew horrified, realizing what Lukari had did.

"Lukari's....dead." Yachio says before tears appeared in his eyes and ran down to the sides of his face too.

He looked over at Lukari's lifeless body and knelt over before picking her up and holding Lukari close to his chest as he sat on his knees.

The tears in his eyes continued appearing and running down to the sides of his face as Yachio looked over at Lukari's face while he ran his paw through her beautiful, long golden hair.

"Why did you do this, Lukari? You could've waited until the holiday was over..." Yachio went before he started crying.

Sierra and Xander's gaze softened as they looked at Yachio before Sierra walked over to him after giving Amber to Xander for him to hold on for a moment.

"I don't why Lukari did what she had to do for me and Xandy but it was very kind and noble of her to do this..." Sierra says as she rested a paw on Yachio's shoulder.

"She wanted to bring you and your daughter back as a gift to Xander. She wanted Xander to live in happiness and joy again instead of living in sorrow, grief, and regret...." Yachio says as he wiped his eyes and sniffed.

"The truth is...Lukari really didn't hate Xander. She finds him more like an elder brother to her. She understands what Xander had suffered through after you and Amber died until now..." Yachio began.

"She went through the same pain that Xander went through. The loss of her parents...Her sister, Yaruichi...War...

And so many other things that she went through that were in common and similar to Xander's...But...What pained her the most was how Xander felt after you and Amber died.

Lukari couldn't bear the thought of Xander trying to process through his grief and his pain. It hurted her more than anyone else from what Xander has become...

So...As her christmas gift to Xander...She decided to take things into her own hands and give her life up in exchange of bringing you and your daughter back...As well as exchanging her youth to Xander's elderly age...Permanently."

Shortly after Yachio explained that to her, Sierra instantly understood the pain Lukari and Xander had went through without them realizing until now.

"Lukari was only stubborn with Xander because she knows his emotions are getting to the best of him.

She can even sense him giving into his grief...Internally. That's why she was angry at him a lot. Lukari was born with a ton of abilities and foresight is one of them.

These abilities were given and blessed to her by Arceus himself before she even existed...She was even given Arceus' mark on her back as proof that she's ______________ as well and will pass it on to our kids and so on..." Yachio sighed.

"...I know it sounds like a bunch of nonsense but I'm not a liar."

At first Xander thought he was hearing things because he grabbed a tissue and started to clean his ears out.

"What didja say at that part? I didn't catch that..." Xander asked once he was finished cleaning his ears and threw the tissue away in a nearby wastebasket.

"I said that Lukari's ______________." Yachio repeated.

Again, Xander couldn't hear that.

But, why?

His hearing has improved to the point to where he can hear others clearly again ever since he just got his youth back, thanks to Lukari.