Author: Pirate Turner
Dedicated To: My beloved Jack and our beloved boys, Jackeesy and Spike Zorro
Rating: R
Summary: Mater gives Lightning his Christmas presents.
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Slash, Holiday fic
Challenge: None
Word Count (excluding heading): 537
Feedback: Yes, please!
Archive: WWOMB, -- Anybody else, ask, and I'll probably grant permission.
Disclaimer: Lightning McQueen, Mater, Rusteeze, Radiator Springs, and Cars are & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: This is the finale in a series of 12 Days of Christmas fics written with my beloved Jack in mind but also shared with you, our readers and, hopefully, our fans. They will be unbetaed the first time they're sent out, as Jack does the betaing, and he'll know nothing of these fics until they hit his box. Happy Holidays, however you celebrate! :-)
Lightning was crestfallen as he looked at the piles of Rusteeze all lined up before him. He wheeled slowly to face his love and cringed inwardly at Mater's huge grin. He really thought he liked the stuff! Lightning adverted his eyes to his tires. He was all pretty and gleaming, and yet the truck he loved more than life itself thought he needed Rusteeze!
Mater gunned his motor just enough to make Lightning look back up into his grinning face. "That ain't all I gotcha either," he said, his grin growing even wider.
"It . . . It's not?" Lightning tried to feign a hopeful expression while he dreaded whatever might be coming next. What on Earth could Mater possibly follow Rusteeze with that wouldn't be worse or would show even less how much he knew him?
"Yup!" Mater's grin now covered his entire grill. The stocking hanging merrily on his tow swung eagerly back and forth. "I'm gonna give you backin' lessons!" Mater announced.
"Backing lessons?" Lightning repeated in surprise. He looked slowly back up from where his gaze had returned to his tires to hide his true feelings. Now that was something he probably could use! Mater was, after all, the world's best backer!
"Yup!" Lightning thought that he'd only ever seen Mater grin bigger one time in their entire relationship, and that had been when Lightning had announced he was returning to Radiator Springs.
Mater gained even more enthusiasm from the smile that slowly lit up Lightning's hood and made him shine like a cherry red apple in full bloom. "And your lessons start right now!" he announced. He sped suddenly away, flying backwards through the small town amongst laughter from the other vehicles. Lightning wasn't sure if they were laughing at Mater's eagerness or his own stunned expression, but it didn't matter. Their laughter warmed him even more for he knew he was amongst friends and family and that no car gathered would laugh at him scornfully.
He barely caught Mater's parting words as he raced backwards without him. "Your first assignment doohickey is to catch me if you can!" he called, laughing joyfully. "When you catch me, you can have me, and not just my body if you do it backwards!"
Lightning laughed gaily. Only his Mater would concoct such a scheme! He turned around and carefully began to run backwards. He was nowhere close to being even half as good as Mater and his motor pulsated nervously as he went, but he continued on, going slowly backwards throughout the town on his way to wherever Mater was taking him, trusting that, in the end, whenever he made it to his beloved, he would give him the present he knew was already his alone to claim.
As Lightning proceeded, he slowly began to pick speed back up, and along with his speed, his laughter also grew. He didn't know when or where he would catch Mater, but he remained confident that he would eventually and, when he did, he would claim the funnest Christmas he would ever know! Mater did that for him constantly: he always brought new fun into his life, and thus it was that Lightning's life shone with love and fun.
The End