Jinxing settled well into her space in the office provided for her at the Interpol station at Heiya Island. The agency had established one regional office there after Interpol, in coordination with other local law enforcement agencies, had rescued a fair number of teens, male and female, from what Jinxing had seen in the news as copycat sex rings, like those that had kidnapped her and her sisters many years before. Heiya Island was deemed safe enough to bring those rescued for rehabilitation and protection while waiting for the trials. It would also allow for Interpol to then begin the hard task of trying to find family and loved ones of those they rescued, though many were found to have either lost their families or lost memory of their families. The efforts to reunite these families was still ongoing, but by now it was likely that they may not be able to send all of them home, leaving many to live their lives on Heiya Island.
For Jinxing, those reports had been painful to see so many fall into the same trap that she and her sisters had been victims of, particularly when Muxing at times still seemed to bear the scars fairly openly... though she seemed to be getting better thanks to Li-Wei being there. That was something that got her volunteer to train and work with the Interpol agents when they set up their regional office on Heiya Island. There, she began to get some training in procedure and communications, along with many of the other various rules and tests to earn a badge that could let her join Interpol in the future, and she'd been making good progress at that. She even got to do some teaching with her own martial arts form she had been developing and practicing since becoming a Snow Leopard Animalian. It was fun and gave Jinxing some hope of being able to do more, even if it was limited to communications and intelligence work for Interpol.
The best part of the training proved to be meeting with some of the other officers that were helping with that work, and one was a young spectacled man of Japanese descent named Mitsue Hondo. His family had been involved in various forms of law enforcement, either in police work or as prosecutors, in Tokyo and he'd grown up being expected to get into that. However, he didn't really want to be a lawyer and being nearsighted soon made prospects for promotion or active work seemed remote. Interpol then seemed to him like a better option where some of his computer and communications skills could be used on a larger scale and his poor eyesight wouldn't be as much of a hinderance. Jinxing found him friendly and even humorous at times when he was not on duty and when she wasn't taking part in her own training.
Most of their dates had been relatively quiet and low key, mostly to make sure that Huoxing didn't learn of things to then over celebrate it, or for Muxing to become too suspicious of Mitsu, or for Mitsu to then feel embarrassed at not matching Nate's size and strength. But as Nate, Lenard, and Mikey prepared to celebrate Christmas and the Elements celebrated Dongzhi, Jinxing had the sense that now was the time to let them meet Mitsu and let him meet them. Jinxing figured it would be a special gift for him, as he'd seemed like it would be a good thing going forward... and as she thought back on it, she enjoyed the memory...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You really don't have to do all this for me... particularly so early in December," Mitsu spoke as he followed after Jinxing along the sidewalk.
He was dressed in fairly formal suit, as though he were going out to dinner, while Jinxing wore light blue dress that looked like it had glitter on it or was part of the fabric. At times he did his best to avoid looking down as the glitter in Jinxing's dress danced well in the early morning light while her tail moved above her butt. It was something that Mitsu thought would come off as being too forward and would be too much like what Jinxing had said had happened to herself and her sisters. He wanted to show he was a respectable man and a gentleman, which his parents had also wanted him to be. He blinked and looked up when Jinxing turned back to look to him, though she must have noticed and actually giggled a little.
"Oh, but I do," Jinxing answered and drifted back to him and took his arm, "I have told the others that I'd found someone and had some dates when we're not on duty..."
"But you didn't tell them more about me?" Mitsu asked.
"Mostly just to make sure Huoxing didn't throw a party before we were ready or to probe my mind for ideas on getting her boyfriend ready for conversion," Jinxing answered, "but now... I think we're ready, and you've asked about them. So... I figured it would be a nice treat for you to meet everyone, including the Bearstones."
"Bearstone?" Mitsu wondered, "I thought you said the man who married your sister had the family name of Bowman?"
"That's Shuixing's husband," Jinxing answered, "Lenard Bearstone is Tuxing's boyfriend, he's been saving money, and since his part of Idaho didn't get hit that hard by the winter storms, he's come with his younger brother, Mikey, to spend Christmas with Tuxing. They'll be here till just before New Year's, as Mikey will have school resuming and Lenard works as a school librarian."
"This sounds big," Mitsu said slowly, "and I am afraid the only gift I had to give... is now on your wrist."
Jinxing looked down to her wrist and noted the gold bracelet that was there, with a pendent in the shape of the outline of a leopard's head filled with blue stones. The stones were synthetic, but the gold in the bracelet was real and she had the sense that Mitsu had spent most of this year's salary on the gift, and he'd insisted she open it when she arrived at his apartment to pick him up. She loved it, but she was fairly certain that the others would like Mitsu as well and that was going to be all that mattered. And she also knew that it would represent changes and developments that would relate to how many things were changing and would change. But that was all for the future, for now, all that mattered was introducing Mitsu to the others.
"Your being with me will be all that matters," Jinxing answered, "for Nate and the Bearstones, it's part of how they see Christmas... with family coming together. And for you and I..."
"Dongzhi," Mitsu nodded.
"And since your job won't let you go to be with your family..." Jinxing then finished, "you can have it with us."
Jinxing felt herself smile as they came up on the Elements' home. Mitsu practically whistled at it's size and followed along. She opened the main door and lead him in. He quietly wiped his shoes on the entry rug and stood a bit unsure for a moment on whether or not he should remove his shoes or not. Some of that was hard to measure as Animalians generally didn't wear shoes. Some had strong pads under their feet, like Jinxing, and those that had hooves walked on hard hooves. About the only Animalians that might wear shoes were those that were based off of animals that had soft feet and largely avoided major issues because as mundane animals they were also fairly small or lived in areas that wouldn't have the worry for stepping on something sharp.
"You can take your shoes off, Mitsu, now come on," Jinxing urged with a chuckle, "come on, everyone is waiting."
Mitsu carefully undid his shoes and placed them on a small mat inside the doorway. He then followed Jinxing in and found the living room was fully packed. Seated on a large couch were Lenard and Tuxing on one end while Shuixing and Nate were on the other end. Mikey was seated on the floor at Tuxing and Lenard's feet with his eyes focused a small artificial pine tree that was decorated and set up in the corner of the room, with several wrapped presents set underneath it. Not too far from Mikey was Huoxing seated next to Gang, though Jinxing noted that Gang remained a bit nervous and shy at times, no matter how many times Huoxing complimented him. It was something that Jinxing had followed with some amusement, the two got along quite well and it was clear that just as Shuixing fell in love with Nate, Huoxing was falling in love with Gang, and it was reciprocated. But almost every time when "the next step" could be taken, Gang would get nervous, fear he wouldn't please Huoxing never got to that point. Fang was seated on the other side of her brother and periodically seemed to be nudging Gang into Huoxing.
Liao was standing behind the couch with her eyes looking toward one box that was under the tree with an obvious tag. It was addressed to her and was from Wayne, the other male Tiger Animalian and she and Tuxing had met at the Year of the Tiger competition. Work had kept him at home, but he did write to Liao fairly frequently, and this often included some photos and selfies. Including one that was of him in a pair of orange and black shorts holding up a dead mundane whitetail deer above his head with the caption "hunting success" at the bottom of the picture. Liao tried to explain that she wasn't Christian and didn't expect a Christmas present, but she wasn't complaining about a present. Behind the couch was Muxing and Li-Wei. Jinxing looked back to see Mitsu looked a bit in awe with the meeting.
"So... this is the mystery boyfriend," Tuxing said slowly, "looking very sharp."
"He doesn't look pointy," Mikey said from the floor, earning a bit of a laugh from Jinxing and even Huoxing as well.
"It means he looks well dressed," Lenard said to his younger brother.
Mikey looked up to Mitsu and asked, "you're not working on Christmas, are you?"
"I'm not on duty," Mitsu answered, "though, given the invitation, I thought it best to be presentable and not look like a slob in front of the family of so wonderful a woman."
Jinxing smiled at the compliment, "Yes, everyone... this is Mitsu Hondo. He's one of the Interpol agents I've been working with and learning from... though he isn't responsible for the training and other lessons. And I have invited him for Christmas and Dongzhi."
"I would thank you for accepting my presence," Mitsu then spoke, "I have a couple of days off... but not many, which would limit my ability to have time to travel between Heiya Island and Tokyo for Dongzhi with my own parents."
"It is no problem," Tuxing answered, "in fact, it's a great gift to all of us to actually meet you."
Mitsu made a weak smile as Jinxing then continued with the introductions.
"Mitsu, this is my sister, Huoxing, and her boyfriend, Gang, his sister Fang," Jinxing spoke and gestured to each person she introduced, "Lenard Bearstone and his younger brother, Michael... or Mikey as he prefers, my sisters Tuxing and Shuixing, and Shuixing's husband Nathan Bowman. Tuxing's apprentice Liao, and then there is my last sister, Muxing and her VERY good friend, Li-Wei."
"I think I remember the Animalia Ambassadoria special on your uplifting... how are you adapting to Heiya Island?" Mitsu asked to Li-Wei.
"Very well," Li answered, "people have been friendly..."
"And Muxing has been a very good teacher," Wei added, "we... or I... hope to learn a lot from her."
Muxing felt the blood rush to her cheeks and hoped that her scales were thick enough to hide the blush. Love and romance weren't the first thing on her agenda, and at times she felt that Nate and Shuixing were a bit to sappy with it, but there were plenty of times where Li-Wei was enough to get her own "engine" started and showed that he wasn't some sex craved maniac. Over time, it was also steadily wearing at her resistance to looking to him as more than just a friend. Though, it was also something that left her suspicious over at least one of the gifts for her, and she was sure that someone, probably Huoxing, had gotten her lingerie with the idea of luring Li-Wei with it.
"Well... from all the stories, I would think you've certainly found someone noble enough for the role," Mitsu answered the two headed Snake Animalian, "particularly if she is anything like her sister... I... I must admit that I don't think I've ever met anyone like Jinxing, and she's made me very happy."
"I feel the same way about Shuixing," Nate smiled and nuzzled his nose to Shuixing's, "join us. We were about to get ready to open gifts..."
"Before Mikey burns a hole in the floor with excitement," Tuxing chuckled and rubbed Mikey's head.
"Hey, if anyone burns a hole in the floor, it'll be me," Huoxing joked, "fire is MY element."
A few laughs rose at that, and Jinxing looked over to see a small smile and laugh escape Mitsu's lips as well. He looked happy and was fitting in with the Elements' extended family, and that was the most special part of the whole plan.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Of course, the funniest part of all of that was when Muxing did get to the gift of sexy lingerie," Jinxing laughed to herself as she thought back on it, "yellow to work with her scales and thin enough to get a good idea on what's underneath. Her frustration with Huoxing was expected, but ultimately lost when Li-Wei asked what the lingerie would be for and that Muxing would always look beautiful. That sucked all her anger out and she never even figured out that I was the one who gave her the gift."
Jinxing smiled again as she thought back on it.
"It doesn't take a detective to see that Li-Wei likes her and that she likes him, no matter how hard she tries to hide it," Jinxing thought to herself, "just as it doesn't take much to see how wonderful a man Mitsu is... and hopefully one day soon, how wonderful a Snow Leopard he will become."