A/N: This is my yearly Christmas fic. Dedicated to Serene Ice Dragon. It's kinda a longer version of the flashback from An Espada Christmas. I was going to try to post this earlier, but I figured, why post a Christmas fic if it isn't Christmas? Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy the fluff!
Lieutenant Sousuke Aizen smiled broadly. He was in a very good mood, a fact that the members of Squad Five were quick to pick up on. His warm brown eyes glowed with goodhearted cheer and the smile on his handsome face made him seem all the more approachable. In his vibrant mood, he had the eye of nearly all the single ladies and quite a few of the single men.
The reason for his wondrously happy mood?
It was Christmas Eve, and Sousuke held a not-so-secret love of the holiday and everything that went along with it. In his arms, he carried a box of tree decorations. He and his captain were finally going to get the Christmas tree put up. He'd been asking his captain for weeks to put it up, but Captain Shinji Hirako just had the tendency to do things at his own lazy pace. It was only by Sousuke's reminder that it was, in fact, the day before the holiday, that Captain Hirako had agreed to get the tree up.
As he walked back to the squad's dining hall, he came across a little boy with short silver hair enjoying the freshly fallen snow.
"Hah! Take that, Lieutenant Aizen!" the child cried, pelting him with a few well-aimed snowballs.
Sousuke shifted a bit so the snow would hit his shoulders and not his face, but otherwise made no attempt to avoid the child's assault.
"Be careful, Gin", Sousuke warned. "If you're too bad, Santa won't bring you anything nice tonight."
The little boy rolled his eyes.
"Pft. I don't believe'n Santa."
"He'd be quite hurt to know you said that", Sousuke replied, setting the box down and kneeling so he was eye-level with Gin. "Why is it that you don't believe?"
Gin opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get out his answer, he was forcibly pulled away by a small girl. She had chin-length, wavy, strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. Her face was flushed and she looked on the verge of tears.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!", she cried. "I thought maybe you were hurt!"
"Oh, hello, Rangiku", Sousuke said, smiling at the girl. "Sorry, I was talking to Gin. You may have him back now."
The little girl flushed at being addressed so politely by a lieutenant.
Gin rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, you coward. Fight back", he taunted, tossing more snow at Sousuke.
Sousuke shook his head and smiled.
"Maybe later, Gin. I have to go help Captain Hirako set up the Christmas tree."
Gin made a face. Sousuke laughed.
"I know, but if I don't help him, it won't get done. You guys have fun. Don't stay out too much longer. It's already late."
He picked his box back up and left Gin and Rangiku to whatever plans they'd made for the evening.
"There ya are. I was beginning to think ya had forgotten."
Sousuke fought the urge to roll his eyes as Shinji greeted him. The two men simply did not like each other, but as they were Squad Five's captain and lieutenant, so they had to get along with one another to run the squad properly. Their personalities clashed, but they were able to hold themselves together and not let it show to people who did not know them.
Shinji pointed a skinny finger at the tall tree that stood in the middle of the squad's dining hall.
"Is that thing big enough for you?"
"Yes, I do believe that tree is more than big enough" Sousuke agreed, setting the box of decorations down beside it. He set to work immediately, pulling out smaller boxes of various ornaments and pushing them to the side so he could get the garland out.
With the captain's help, Sousuke had the garland on the tree in about ten minutes. The next thing to go on where the lights.
Shinji couldn't help but laugh when they both got themselves tangled in them and even Sousuke had to smile. It wasn't every day that one found himself tangled up in Christmas lights with their captain.
When they'd finally freed themselves from the chaos, Shinji shook his long pale blonde hair away from his face and commented "they should make these things a new form of execution."
Sousuke laughed.
"What are you standing around for, ya bum? Pass me that box of lights."
Sousuke rolled his eyes.
"I don't mean you any disrespect, Captain, but wasn't I the one telling you weeks ago we needed to get this tree decorated?"
"Yeah, yeah...", Shinji mumbled. "Where's that creepy little brat who follows you around all the time?"
"Gin is not creepy, Captain Hirako. He is exceptionally intelligent. However, he is outside playing with that Rangiku girl."
The captain gave his lieutenant a blank stare. Aizen sighed.
"She was just admitted to the tenth division. Cute little thing. Strawberry blonde. Blue eyes?"
Shinji shrugged.
"The only girls I bother to notice are the ones old enough to date."
Just then, Gin rushed into the dining hall. He was followed closely by Rangiku. Both of them appeared flustered, as though they'd been having some sort of argument.
"Lieutenant Aizen!", Rangiku cried, practically throwing herself into Sousuke's arms. "I was telling Gin about Santa Claus, but he keeps saying Santa's a myth and not real!"
Gin crossed his arms.
"Because he's not. Right, Captain Hirako?"
"Pft", the blonde said. "Of course not. Why would anyone want to believe in some fat old pervert going around the entire world in one night anyway?"
Sousuke was about to point out the only pervert in the room was Shinji himself when a small sniffle caught his attention. Rangiku's lip was trembling and she looked as though she were about to burst into tears.
"Don't cry, Rangiku. Gin and Captain Hirako don't know what they're talking about."
Rangiku sniffed as Sousuke gave her a hug and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"They don't?"
"We don't?", Shinji questioned as he exchanged glances with Gin.
"No, you don't. You're a smart man, Captain Hirako. I figured you would know about Santa."
Shinji rolled his eyes.
"Sousuke, you know one person can't travel the whole planet in one night."
Sousuke smiled and set Rangiku down.
"Captain, I don't deny that it is impossible for one man to travel the planet in a single night, but that doesn't mean Santa Claus wasn't a real person."
Gin and Rangiku both stared at Sousuke with wide eyes. Shinji rolled his eyes again.
"Go ahead and feed them wild stories if you must, Sousuke. I am going to get this tree up."
"Santa Claus was really real?", Gin asked.
Sousuke sat on the floor and the children settled down beside him. Rangiku put her little hands on Sousuke's knee, her blue eyes shining with excitement
"What was Santa like?"
"Well", Sousuke replied, smiling so warmly his face was aglow, "His real name was Kris Kringle See, when Mr. Kringle lived, most of the families where he lived were very poor and could not afford toys for their children. Mr. Kringle would spend the year making toys, and then every year on the same night, he would deliver the toys to families with children so they would find them the next morning."
"If he did it in secret, how did people find out about him?"
Gin was not as ready to accept the Santa Claus myth as Rangiku was.
"Rumors started circulating about an old man in a red coat who had a factory set up where he was making toys for the children. People went on a search for him, but they couldn't find anything about this mysterious man who always wears a red coat. It wasn't until after Mr. Kringle died that they discovered a note from him, explaining that while he was dead, he wanted someone else to carry on his legacy."
Rangiku yawned.
"How did they carry on his legacy after he died?"
She settled down against the floor, her head resting on Sousuke's left leg. Gin followed her, his head resting on Sousuke's right. Both children were about to drop off into the dream land.
"They started the Santa Claus story and designated December 24th as Christmas Eve and the 25th as Christmas Day. Parents tell their children of Santa and then on December 24th they set out gifts for them."
Sousuke glanced down at the children when neither of them said a word. Sure enough, they'd both fallen asleep. He gently eased them off himself and stood up, his eyes scanning the room for any blankets. He spotted two and covered up the sleeping children with them. He then made some tea for the captain and himself. When the tea was ready, he handed Shinji a steaming mug.
"Thank you", Shinji murmured, accepting the tea. "You made that story up, didn't you?"
"I did", Sousuke admitted. "But they're just children. Why not keep them innocent a little while longer?"
"I don't get you", Shinji replied.
Sousuke said nothing as he stepped out of the dining hall and into the frigid blackness of the evening. His eyes were on the stars. He settled down and gazed at them, sipping his tea, and enjoyed the calmness and tranquility of the bright, starry night.