Psychosis

Chapter 34- Implicit, Part One

Isabel looked over at her team member, who was holding out the CD with an awkward smile on his face. He was awaiting her judgment, wanting to know if he had gotten what she wanted and needed. She looked down at the disc in his hands, having never heard of the band before, but eager to listen. She was always eager to try out new bands and looking at the cover of the CD, she might really like this new band. But she'd have to try it before she said anything. She looked in between the CD and her team member, who was still awaiting her judgment. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and began to lead him to her room.

"Uh, what are you doing?" he asked, anxiety lacing his voice.

"I want to listen to the CD with ye. I want us to listen together."

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Ciara looked around her living room, checking to make sure that she and Akilah had everything for the day. There were nine gifts of varying sizes settled into a box at the edge of the couch, ready to be taken out to Akilah's car. Ciara had explained what Christmas was all about to Akilah on Christmas day, telling her all the stories she had overheard growing up but had never actually been directly told. Stories of Santa and his reindeer, of the North Pole and all of the elves who lived there, and stories about how on Christmas Eve, Santa flew in his magic sled and delivered gifts to all of the good children of the world and coal to all of the bad children. Akilah had been enamored by the stories, listening to them with the same twinkle of wonder and amazement in her eyes as Ciara had seen so often in the other children. Afterward, she had told her the real reason behind Christmas.

Akilah was slightly disappointed that Santa wasn't actually real, but then Ciara told her the story of the birth of the baby Jesus, the story of the virgin birth. Ciara told the story of the angels who heralded the newborn Jesus and the shepherds who watched over Him and the star that shone all through the night and the wise men who had come bearing gifts. Akilah listened intently the entire time, though she didn't seem particularly surprised or impressed, and Ciara suddenly realized that she'd heard this story before, just a different version of it. Once she had finished, Ciara asked what the Qur'an said about the birth of Jesus, if it said anything, and Akilah shrugged.

"Well, we believe that Jesus, peace be upon him, was born of the virgin Mary. It's the only example of such a thing and Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur'an. So there's that, but we don't believe that Jesus is Allah or the son of Allah. He's one of the five greatest prophets and he will return to bring justice to the world," Akilah explained, before sighing. She admitted to Ciara that she could have recited that part of the Qur'an from memory, but chose not to. She admitted that her father had considered her to be tainted and filthy and hoped that reading and memorizing the Qur'an could cleanse her soul. And Akilah had done it- she had done everything she could to earn her spot in her father's good graces, but it hadn't been enough. Nothing had ever been good enough for him.

But Akilah was starting to overcome her tumultuous childhood, and she had shown interest in learning about other religions. Ciara wasn't sure if she believed in any of them, but learning was a good start. Ciara had invited Akilah to attend church with her to learn more about Christianity, but she had yet to do so. Ciara wasn't going to push the issue. She also hadn't pushed Akilah to really take part in Christmas, and Akilah agreed that she wouldn't take part in any gift exchanging as she was still getting used to not taking part in all of her old Islamic rituals, but she would certainly attend the BAU celebration with her and see what Christmas was really about, and that was good enough for Ciara.

Ciara's thinking was disrupted by Akilah finally coming out of her room dressed and ready to go. Her long red hair was pulled into a French braid, similar to Ciara's, except Ciara had French braided until the nape of her neck, where she had twisted the rest of her hair into a bun. Akilah grabbed her keys and Ciara grabbed the box of presents, both of them leaving the apartment and heading to where the celebration was taking place.