Adventures in Dating - 9. Christmas Down Under

Christmas was in the air, and Chase was trying to get everything ready for his big surprise for all the Rangers, Kendall and Keeper. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to spend Christmas in Amber Beach, but he wanted to be part of everyone’s holiday celebrations while he went home. He had been working on this little project to make sure he gave the best Christmas present ever for a few weeks now, and everything was finally ready so that he could give everyone their presents on Christmas Eve and still have time to fly home.

As he was writing the note for each of the Rangers to read and signing each of their envelopes, Chase smiled fondly at what he had created. Thank goodness that Tyler was always taking team selfies and posting them to Facebook; that made it really easy to find a photo that had everyone in the team. Of course Tyler didn’t know what he was getting from Chase, but he was sure that it would be a hit with everyone. Making this jigsaw puzzle was one of his better ideas; giving everyone one piece would help make sure that they all had to be together during Christmas as well, which was important considering how few of them had people to spend the holidays with otherwise.

It was nice to be going home, he’d been holding onto this plane ticket that Chloe had given him months ago. He had been waiting impatiently for the moment that he’d be able to go home and be with his family again, and it meant everything to him that he’d be able to spend Christmas with his mum and sister. Christmas was still Chase’s favourite time of the year, and while he loved being around the Rangers and especially with all the time he got to spend with Riley, he knew that home was where he wanted to be, if only so that he could have a few days to himself and not have any work to do.

When Chase rolled up to the base he made sure to put most of the gifts into his locker, except for the piece of the puzzle that kept his face in it. For that part, he needed to find Keeper, who always seemed to know when he was needed by a Ranger. By the time Chase had stored the other presents, Keeper had appeared in the base.

“Your calm personality belies the fear and panic you feel right now, what is it that concerns you Chase?” Keeper asked, having appeared behind Chase inside the base.

“How do you keep doing that…?” Chase wondered. “Anyway, doesn’t matter right now. I’m supposed to be leaving to go home for the holidays, but I wanted to give the Rangers a present. Once I’m gone, can I ask you to give this envelope to everyone once they’re all together? It will complete the present I’ve made for everyone.”

“You have a good heart Chase; I sense how much of yourself you have put into this. Give me the gift, I will deliver it when the time is right.”

“Great! Thanks Keeper.”

When Chase caught up with everyone else, part of Chase wondered why no one else was giving out presents. He didn’t think that they had all grown up past wanting or needing to give out presents, so maybe it was something that’d be happening later in the day. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much later, since he did have to leave in a couple of hours and wanted to spend a little bit of time celebrating with everyone.

Just then, their communicators went off and the Rangers were forced to go help save Santa from Poisandra and Wrench. Chase was panicked, he knew that this would take awhile, but he didn’t have much time before he had to go catch his flight. He also figured he couldn’t just show up to the airport still dressed in his Ranger uniform, that’d be something of a giveaway about who he is, and the Rangers agreed that they should be trying to keep their identities a secret.

With every step he took and every movement he made, Chase could see Chloe’s face flashing into his mind. He was glad that nothing else had come close to hurting her; ever since Prince Philip had to save her from the Vivix it’d been on his mind that she could get hurt again. That was part of why he was hoping to get home for Christmas, he wanted to be there and keep her safe and know that everything was okay, even if that was just for a few days.

Once they finished rescuing Santa’s computer, the team raced back to the base so that they could celebrate Christmas, and Chase quickly went to see if there would be time to get to the airport in time or his flight. Sitting at his laptop, he checked the time and realized his flight had already left. Downcast, he returned to the base and let everyone know that he wasn’t going to be able to go home. That’s when Santa appeared and offered to let him take a ride to New Zealand to get home for Christmas.

Chase was excited; who wouldn’t want to take a sleigh ride with the real Santa Clause?! He went sprinting back to where his bags were, grabbed everything and started to run after Santa to make sure this wasn’t a joke. He was just about to leave when he remembered to get the presents for everyone! Chase ran back to the lockers in the back of the base where he had stashed all of the presents for the team. When he presented everyone with their envelopes, he left before anyone could ask him what they were supposed to do with them.

Keeper waited in the shadows, hearing the Rangers and Kendall putting together Chase’s gift. He smiled to himself as he handed over the final piece of the puzzle, thinking that in the millions of years he existed among humans, none had touched him and made him understand the species as much as this Ranger team.

Thousands of miles away and tens of thousands of feet above the ground, Chase was flying. Not in a plane, but in Santa’s sleigh, watching as Santa visited and left gifts for every last person on the Nice list in New Zealand. He got to watch as every house lit up with the spirit of Christmas, except for his own. He knew why without Santa ever saying so; he wasn’t home yet, so a Christmas wish hadn’t been granted. He arrived just as the sun was rising and as Chloe would be waking up to open presents.

The look on her face when the door opened with the sun shining behind him was exactly what he wanted from her for Christmas. She looked so wonderfully happy to see him that all of the stress from the last twenty-four hours completely disappeared. He’d miss Riley and everyone else, but being home was where he was supposed to be, and he knew that if he were still in Santa’s sleigh his house would be just as bright as all the others.