“Nice, yeah,” Nori said when Koji walked into the market, his eyes wide with surprise. The fish market had been transformed into a scene from a mainland Christmas card Daniel had sent to them one year when he had to work and was too busy to return.

In red block letters, MELE KALIKIMAKA, Merry Christmas, was tacked up on a long piece of paper behind the front counter, while Benny Goodman and his band’s jazzy rendition of “Jingle Bells” played on the radio, and two large poinsettia wreaths, no doubt Leia’s handiwork, hung from the front picture windows. On the koa bar were growing piles of papayas, lychee, and coconuts picked right from the trees, while Nori’s sweetbread and tarts sat next to freshly sliced tuna Wilson and Mano had caught that morning, and the hulking centerpiece was a large kalua pig the Yamamotos’ older son had shot and cooked all night in a fire pit.

“Thought it would be good to forget about the lava flow for a few hours, yeah,” Nori explained. “Sent Samuel and Wilson out to cut down an island pine.” She pointed to the large tree they’d decorated with flowers and colorful ribbons and put up next to the back tables. “Just like the movies, yeah.”

The first time Koji had ever seen a real Christmas tree was when Daniel was still a toddler and Mariko had asked him to help cut down a small pine for the house. He was confused at first; didn’t seem to make sense dragging a live tree into the living room, but when he saw the tree decorated, the sharp, woody tang of pine in the air, and Daniel running around it with such joy, he saw the sense of it.

“Went all out, eh,” Koji said. He knew it had nothing to do with the haole religion. Nori’s Christmas had to do with cheering up the community. If this was to be their last celebration together in Hilo, then Nori wanted it to be a memorable one.

“Also brought back this,” Samuel said, sneaking up behind Nori and holding a sprig of mistletoe above her head, stealing a kiss.

“You are an old fool,” Nori said, teasing.

Samuel leaned closer to Nori. “Your old fool, yeah.”

Koji laughed. He stood among his old friends and glimpsed the almost full pickle jar of nickels next to the cash register. When he dropped his five cents into the jar yesterday, he’d predicted the planes would be bombing the lava flow the day after Christmas at midmorning, and he planned to stay the night with Nori and Samuel to collect his winnings tomorrow. He had bothered Daniel long enough.