[A/N] Well I was always intending to do a Christmas take at some point, only over the past year or so that it occurred I would be doing it in the Broken Bow continuity. Who doesn't love christmas after all, plus it feels good to be writing again. This is just a one-shot, I'm going to festively split it into 12 short chapters. It was originally under the working title Swordfights and Sleigh bells, with a subtitle, but I've decided to use the revised one instead, I also changed it at the end of BB5, just to mesh together. Anyhow, let's get this thing moving...
Broken Bow: The 12 Years of Christmas
Chapter 1: 2000
December 24th 2000, 11:35pm
'Santa' was doing his rounds, as he did every year. And, as usual, he had already set down what would have normally been the last present of the evening, in this instance it had been under the tree of young Michael Yew, and had been climbing back into his 'sleigh', when an idea occurred to him.
It was little more than a whim, but considering the lone soul that came into mind, he decided it would be a nice thing to do and 'Santa' being 'Santa' he was often one to give into such whims.
Little did 'Santa' know (and he really should have, considering who he was), this decision would spark a chain of events that would end up becoming a very strange Christmas tradition.
And so here he was, walking as silent as a mouse through the halls of a particular orphanage. He reached the end door in the corridor of the single rooms that each housed one of the young children.
Thankfully the door was without a lock and the man in red managed to open it without so much as a squeak and crept inside.
He paused to regard the tiny figure, curled up like a little wolf cub under the blankets, only a small mop of unevenly cut bangs visible on the pillow.
It had been a while since he had last seen him. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of 'Santa's' face as he realised the boy had barely grown at all. Even asleep, the slumbering form had a slight frown etched into his small face, as if his dreams alone were annoying him, his lips twitching occasionally into a pout.
The room was scarce, not decorated with any crayon-drawn pictures or the like. So perfectly ordered; in a sad way it was far too ordered for someone of his age.
He smiled lamentably as he quietly set down the gift he had hastily bought en route from a 24 hour Wal-Mart. He wasn't sure if a Gameboy was his thing, but it would have to suffice. Who knows, 'Santa' contemplated with a note of amusement, perhaps he might secretly end up liking it.
And with that, he turned to leave. It was also here when he made his mistake.
He let out a tiny, lamenting sigh under his breath, the entire room warming up a couple of degrees in the process.
As he opened the door, he spared one last glance over his shoulder at the sleeping child in the bed.
Only the bed was now empty.
'Santa' frowned and turned about, stepping back into the room, "What the-" he muttered, but was cut off when something hard cracked off the side of his skull with a resounding 'clonk'
He staggered back, his hand going to his head, "What in Hades'?" he groaned and it was then that he spied him, crouched into a squat on top of the wardrobe, the table lamp he had just smashed of 'Santa's' head still raised in defence, his glistening silver eyes wild like a disturbed animal.
'Santa' raised his hands to calm him, "Easy, little boy," he said in that deep voice, "now why don't you-" again he was cut off as the boy flung the lamp sideways between his raised hands, clanking him square on the forehead between his eyes.
'Santa' staggered back a step, his voice changing for a second to that of a much younger man as he cursed once in Greek.
He glanced back just in time to see the small boy propel himself straight at him and right into his wide chest.
It knocked him back a step but he instantly brought his arms around the flailing child and both vanished in a flash of yellow light, reappearing in the courtyard outside, the railed off area illuminated by only a single spotlight and the lights of the large Christmas tree that dominated the space.
Alarmed, the boy pushed back from his target and staggered back, his tiny feet crunching the freshly fallen snow.
His eyes flicked about, still startled and he sniffed the air once or twice.
"Don't you know who I am?" demanded 'Santa' in his deep voice.
The boy's eyes flicked back to him like a wolf sighting his prey.
'Santa' coughed, "Why, I'm Santa Claus!" he said a gaily as possible and then he shook his head slowly, "It's very, very naughty to try and beat up Santa Claus, little boy."
The child's brow twitched into a bewildered frown, one eyebrow raising slightly above the other; an odd sight on one so young.
Considering who he was, 'Santa' wasn't too surprised at his reaction to an unknown person sneaking into his room at night. All factors considered 'Santa' probably should have known better, not that he'd ever admit it.
"Now then, young man, off to bed," said 'Santa' waving his hand in the direction of the main doors.
The boy scowled and 'Santa' watched as his knees crouched slightly, readying to strike.
'Santa' realised the boy's combat reflexes were very good, especially for a child of his age, though if he had awakened them at this early stage of his development, then it could be very problematic in future, especially if the beasts start to catch his scent.
'Santa' reared to the side to dodge the boy using a speed that was unnatural for someone of his large mass and leapt back a good metre, landing slightly crouched in front of the Christmas tree.
'Santa' suddenly realised that teleporting the boy outside was probably not the best way of proving that he was just some harmless old man, if anything it was probably stirring his defensive reflexes up into a frenzy, luckily the little boy had little combat ability beyond charging and hitting, but he was abnormally nimble for one his age.
He raised his hands again, speaking in a low, controlled tone, as one might calm an animal, "Calm, just...be calm... Nobody's going to hurt you." 'Santa's' eyes flicked to the side as he heard the rattling of the main gate and spied a silhouette of something coated in Mist.
"It smells him..." he whispered inaudibly to himself, realising that this place would soon not be safe enough to hide the boy anymore.
It battered once off the gateway, and the thin golden barrier that had been put up to defend the structure pulsed once, destroying the shadowy form and leaving little more than a pile of dust in its wake.
The man turned back to see the boy looking on in shock, his eyes went back to his, and they narrowed.
'Santa' blinked, "Wait, now wait just a moment. That had nothing to do with Santa. In fact, Santa helped make it go away, I- Whoah!" he cried as the boy lunged at him again, this time he vanished into an almost comical cloud of party streamers and tinsel, the boy carrying right on and ploughing into the tree behind him.
The child let out a panicked yelp as he fell into the branches and rolled over until he found himself trapped and tangled up in a mass of Christmas tree lights and decoration.
'Santa' stepped out from the shadow of the tree, "Close one..." he sighed, "But Santa knows why you did what you did and won't hold it against you."
The boy hung there glumly and almost dejectedly, having realised that the man in red could have probably killed him if he wanted, especially now he was trapped.
The man cocked his head, "Now would you like Santa to help you down?" asked the man in his deep voice, only now there was a slightly cocky edge to it and the boy found himself scowling at the man.
"No" he said.
"Oh? And why not?"
"Can do it 'self" grumbled the boy as he wiggled about, only causing himself to be tangled up more.
'Santa' sighed with a small smile. He flinched as lights began turning on in the building behind him.
He waved a hand and a red sleigh shimmered into existence as if out of nowhere.
One of the reindeer shifted its hoof and the little boy could've sworn he heard what sounded like a car engine revving, which he found most peculiar.
'Santa' smiled apologetically and boarded his sleigh which began to rise off into the air.
Santa looked down at the small form hanging glumly in the tree… and he'd never be sure what inspired the next words out his mouth, only that they'd cause more trouble than he could've possibly imagined at the time.
He smiled cockily, "Not bad, young man, you fought well. Better luck next year! Ha ha-..umm.. Th-that is, Ho Ho Ho!"
And with a blur the man in red vanished in a blaze of yellow light.
A second later the main doors were flung open and the matron, a kindly middle aged lady with her hair tied back into a bun, took a step outside, her eyes sweeping about for a disturbance. Then she sighted the tree.
She adjusted her wire frame glasses and narrowed her eyes as she walked hesitantly towards it. She let out a slightly shocked gasp as she recognised the form wrapped up in the branches.
She hurried up to the tree and looked up at the boy who, thankfully, looked totally unharmed.
She paused and folded her arms, cocking a dark eyebrow upwards as the boy looked back down at her, "Armani...do I even want to know what you're doing up there?" she paused, then sighed, "Well?"
The boy looked impassively back at her for a moment and then said in his small voice, "...fell out of bed."
She blinked, "You... fell out of bed? And... out the door...across the courtyard...and... up into a tree?"
He was quiet again, then he merely cocked his head to the side and nodded as best he could, "...Yup."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise for a moment and, giving up, she shook her head and let out a long, tired breath, "Well I suppose it's not the strangest place I've found you... Come on, you..." she said, reaching into the mass of wires and slipping him free, she hung the tiny child over her shoulder and turned about, "Back to bed, " she said as she carried him back inside, "You don't want to stay up too late, Santa might not come if you do."
The boy opened his mouth to speak, and then decided it was probably better if he didn't.
Still, those words were burned indignantly into his young mind as he looked back up into the starry winter's night.
Next year...
To be continued...
[A/N] Like I said, short chapters. I was always planning on doing a prequel at some point, and so this sort of kills two birds with one stone. I'll suppose I'll catch you for the next little chapter which is, as you might have guessed:
Chapter 2: 2001