“Alright, I’ve been waiting for my time to shine! No pun intended, Eileen,” says Johann. He takes stock of all the transformations that have already happened up until this point, wondering what is still missing. The tree and its decorations, the two snacks, the mantelpiece, the toys. There is a lot that has already happened. 16 transformations over 16 days ain’t nothing.

    And Johann will be number 17.

At parties around this time of year, we can’t have this be missing

Couples like to meet under this, where they will then start kissing

Johann chuckles while looking between Emilia and myself. “Of course you would.”

    I can’t help but blush a little as the transformation sets in. And this is one of the rare transformations where his clothes are part of the process. At first, it looks like his pants and shirt are combining into a full body suit but that’s not entirely what happens, for the bottom part is starting to ride up his legs. On top of that, it is all turning bright red.

    But perhaps it is no longer accurate to say ‘his legs’ because they are now quite green and have even started fanning out a little bit. It almost looks like a little green dress made of twigs and branches.

    “Mistletoe, huh?” says Eliza.

    “Ooh, I wonder who’s gonna be standing under him!” says Chloe while Luke starts making kissing noises for fun.

    Emilia, in the meantime, just starts blushing quite a bit.

    However, Johann is much more focused on what is happening to his body. His whole legs have been turned into a fan of mistletoe branches. Funnily enough, he is still able to stand upright even if he is currently still a bit top-heavy.

    But of course, that won’t stay true for long. More and more of his clothing is retracting upwards and the branches are simply growing along with them. Even his arms have started doing so, becoming individual branches of their own.

    “To think I’d end up causing love to flourish,” says Johann. Most of his body has been changed by now. His former clothes have taken on the appearance of a red ribbon that finally settles around his neck while the transformation continues to crawl upwards into his head.

    Johann’s final facial expression we are able to make out is one of quiet content, having already accepted his new form, before it too simply vanishes without a trace. A simple passerby could just as easily mistake this bundle of mistletoe for a real one but we all know better of course.

    The transformation finally concludes with the bundle shrinking down to be a much more moderate size. Of course, if we had hung him up now, we wouldn’t even be able to stand under him!

    “I’ll hang him up,” says Rey while grabbing a nearby chair. Upon tying the bundle up by its ribbon, he makes it a point to hang it directly over Emilia.

    Emilia buries her face into her hands while I wander on over to her and wrap my arms around her shoulders. “You know the rules,” I say to her.

    A meek grin forms on Emi’s face as she looks me in the eyes. She then places her own hands on my cheek and leans in as well. We share a lovely kiss while above us, Johann the mistletoe watches on silently. Perhaps it will not be the last kiss he will bear witness to in his current existence but it was definitely the first.

    On the mantelpiece, the Christmas card that was Sarah forms some new writing as her drawn image happens to be aimed in our direction. “Adorable!” it reads.