Spoiler warning for KH2, like usual.
Obviously, the Kindom Hearts Characters (and anyone else from Final Fantasy that I roped in) do not belong to me. I am aware that the citizens of Radiant Garden might not have celebrated Christmas or had a calendar like ours, but the presence of Christmas Town hints that they at least celebrated it in some form. I just felt like playing with Xehanort some more.
Apologies to those who noticed that I dropped off the face of the earth last month. I was doing NaNo, and could not spare much time for other writings.
One part of winter usually felt more or less like any other part of the season, so Xehanort was more than a little surprised when the castle began preparing for Christmas very shortly after Master Ansem took him officially as his apprentice. The amnesia had stolen his sense of the date along with everything else, it seemed. Although Master Ansem assured the teen that there was no need to concern himself with providing gifts, Xehanort was determined to return some of the kindness he'd been shown, if only in part. He set to work the moment he came across a good idea, feeling the weight of the clock in the back of his mind. It was only December third, but he would need every day if Master Ansem's gift was to be ready in time.
Most of the materials he needed were easily acquired, especially since he had open access to Master Ansem's laboratory and the raw materials they used in it. Wood wouldn't do as it rotted away after time, and metal was far too lifeless for what he had in mind. No, it was stone that he needed, carved out of the land Master Ansem ruled and carefully shaped into the desired structure by Xehanort. Afterwards, he put the stone through several treatments to keep it from weathering and improve its durability.
He couldn't make everything he wanted by hand, so one morning when Master Ansem was distracted by royal duties, Xehanort quietly slipped from the castle and into the town. It was easy to find the toyshop at this time of year, though it was empty this early in the morning. Thankfully, the owner didn't laugh when Xehanort finished describing what he was looking for.
"A gift for your family?" the man asked, smiling. He didn't wait for an answer. "You'd be surprised how often we get asked for one of those. They're in the back, along the wall."
"Thank you," Xehanort said. The box was less garishly decorated than some of the others he saw, but it was still very eye-catching. After bringing it back to the counter, he asked, "Do you have a dark bag or something I could put this in?"
The owner chuckled. "Of course, young sir. We wouldn't want your little sister or brother to catch you with it, would we?"
Xehanort nodded and smiled, hoping it didn't look as forced as it felt. He handed over the munny for the gift and slid the box into the paper sack provided for it. As he fled the store, he promised himself once more that he would recover his memories, not matter what it took. He could only hope that his true identity was one that Master Ansem would be proud of.
The holiday seemed spoiled after that sharp reminder of what he'd lost – did he even have any family? were they out there somewhere, looking for him? - but he plowed gamely on through the snow back to the castle and through the series of halls and lifts to his own set of rooms. He spent the next few days cutting apart plastic where it was needed and discovering ways to attach the pieces to his stone base. It was, he had to admit, a very educational project.
There were still two weeks left until Christmas, once the waterproofing seal dried. With only the one step left, Xehanort felt his spirits rise once more, especially after the initial testing went perfectly. Not even being caught under one of the sprays of mistletoe by one of the prettier maids made him lose his grin for more than a moment, in spite of the added embarrassment of being caught doing so by Master Ansem himself.
The next free time Xehanort had found him tracking down Radiant Garden's head gardener, who sent him to a woman named Elmyra Gainsborough. While Xehanort explained what he wanted and why, he became acutely aware of her daughter's gaze on him from her place on the sofa. Unable to help himself, the shopkeeper's comment about younger siblings rising in his mind, Xehanort gave the little girl a small smile. She immediately turned red and scurried from the room, much to Mrs. Gainsborough's amusement.
"Aerith has been going through a shy phase for a while," she explained, collecting the empty cups. The smell of the hot tea she had pressed on the teen lingered in the air, comforting and homey. "I think I have something that would work perfectly for this gift of yours. Come along with me."
She and Aerith accompanied him back to his rooms and helped him arrange and replant until he was satisfied with the look. The result when he ran the water through it once more was everything that he had hoped for, and the pleased reactions of the Gainsboroughs was a heady boost to his confidence.
On Christmas Eve, after the castle feast, Xehanort placed a large box (a cardboard one, not anything close to the brightly-decorated one from the toy store) over the gift and carefully transported it down into the laboratory. Master Ansem was already there, recording readings from one of his projects. He looked up from his notes when Xehanort wheeled the cart into the room.
"Xehanort, what is this?" he asked, setting aside his clipboard and moving to stand in front of his student. Even after knowing him for such a relatively short time, Xehanort recognized and smiled at the gleam of curiosity in his teacher's eyes.
Still, now that the moment was here, butterflies fluttered in his stomach. What if Master Ansem didn't like it? Or it didn't work? Or- Stop that, he told himself firmly, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to give you your Christmas gift early, Master Ansem," he said. "I hope you like it." The butterflies shifted to large-winged birds as he lifted the box off of the structure. He bent over slightly to set the box on the floor and flipped the small switch on the back.
The model of Radiant Garden sprang to life, water flowing from tiny pipes hidden by the plastic homes and weaving its way through the gardens of the tiny flowering plants until it fell into the encircling basin. The castle rose above it all, the light from dozens of minute lamps scattered over it reflecting into the water and back again, rippling over the structure. Xehanort's only disappointment in it was his inability to recreate the Rising Falls, but a glance at Master Ansem's entranced expression told him that it didn't matter.
It was several long moments before Master Ansem could speak. After two false starts, he murmured, "It's beautiful, Xehanort. I'm very touched by how much time and effort you must have put into this." His hand came to rest on Xehanort's shoulder, and he looked the teen directly in his eyes. "Thank you very much."
Xehanort smiled up at him, warmed all the way through by his teacher's words. "Merry Christmas, Master Ansem."