Words: 3,644
Disclaimer: Square-Enix owns the characters. That goes without saying, really.
It was Christmas in four days.
Terra and Bartz stood at the foyer to the mall, staring at the immense crowd of spouses, parents and all the other kinds of customers trying to get in their last-minute shopping. People holding towers of boxes and carrying an abundance of bags pushed each other about, making the Christmas atmosphere look almost brutal. Many decorations were strung about, with clouds of garland being streamed beneath the store signs and a few Christmas trees here and there standing proudly covered in colourful lights. A Santa could also be seen talking to children and asking them what they wanted for Christmas.
Terra blinked at the sight, as if nearly in fear, and remembered why she was here. It was just three days ago that Zidane had gathered their group of friends at 7th Heaven, a favourite hangout of theirs, to engage them all in Secret Santa.
"Secret Santa?" Squall had repeated, his tone expressing disinterest in the idea.
"Yeah, why not?" Zidane said as he placed a box on the table. "I already put in all our names, too, so all you have to do is pick!"
"That sounds like fun," Tidus said, reaching over and drawing the first name.
"When would we be exchanging the gifts?" Cecil had asked, drawing as well.
"I was going to have a party at my house on Christmas Eve so we could do it then," Zidane replied, drawing for himself.
"Your brother and sister won't mind?" Cloud asked, taking a slip of paper.
"Nah, they'll probably just be going to hang out with their own friends, anyways."
Terra remembered having looked towards Bartz and wanting to draw his name. They were neighbours, only living a couple of houses down the street from each other, and occasionally called on each other's aid to help with chores and the like (just that morning Bartz helped Terra shovel her driveway). The girl had thought that if she drew his name she would have a good excuse to get him something nice to repay him.
But no, Terra thought with exasperation as they faced the angry mob of a crowd. She had drawn Cecil instead. On the bright side, it gave her the excuse to spend more time with Bartz by going shopping with him to find their Secret Santa gifts. It was an opportunity she was willing to take.
"Well, the gifts aren't going to buy themselves," Bartz said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Shall we?"
He offered an arm, and she linked hers with it, the pair then blending in with the flow of the crowd.
"This Secret Santa thing's harder than I thought," Bartz said as they flipped through sweaters in a clothing store. "I spent the past three days trying to think of one, and then gave up hoping I'd just see something and like it." He picked up a sweater, inspected it for a few seconds, and then moved to the next pile of clothes. "It would be a lot easier if we could just ask them what they wanted."
"But then they would know, and that would take away the point of Secret Santa," Terra replied, amused.
"I know, but still," Bartz pouted. "What about you? I noticed your shopping in the guy's section with me."
Terra giggled. "Well, it's not like I picked myself."
"...oh yeah." Bartz facepalmed. "Blond moment."
"I resent that." Bartz and Terra looked up to see Vaan behind them, dressed in his store clerk uniform, nametag and all. "And I bet Terra does too."
"Oh come on, it's not like I meant-" Bartz rolled his eyes. "How about we all just mutually agree I'm not on the ball today and be done with it?" Bartz asked, lifting his hands in surrender. Terra and Vaan chuckled.
"I didn't know you worked here," Terra said to Vaan, changing the subject for Bartz's sake.
"Yeah, I just got the job about a week ago," Vaan said. "Just in time for the holidays, when the big bucks are sure to roll in."
"Not if you're slacking off talking to us," Bartz teased with a smile.
"Hey, is it so wrong to say hi?"
"Vaan!" The three looked up to see the manager of the store frowning at Vaan sternly. "If I catch you socializing one more time you're fired."
Bartz smirked. "I guess it is."
Vaan rolled his eyes. "And that's about as Christmas-y as it gets in here," he mumbled. "I'll catch you guys later."
Terra and Bartz waved good-bye as the blond boy departed to help some lost customers, when a thought occurred to Terra.
"How come Vaan wasn't invited to Secret Santa?" She asked Bartz.
The brunet shrugged. "It's pretty busy this time of year; he's probably getting brought in for more store hours."
"I guess that's true." Terra really liked Vaan, as a friend. Maybe she would get him something for all his hard work.
Or lack thereof, Terra thought as she noticed Vaan being scolded for flirting with some girls.
The two had browsed through a handful of stores, but came out with nothing for Secret Santa. Terra had seen a couple of nice shirts she thought Cecil might like, but wanted to get something more special for her friend, and wrote them off as a last resort. She assumed Bartz had thought the same, as there were clothes he would see but leave alone.
Terra also took into account the fact that they only looked in the boys' sections of stores; she wasn't his Secret Santa, and he probably wasn't hers, either. Which was okay with her, because she would feel bad if he was the one who ended up getting her something.
And I still plan on getting him something, Terra thought as she waited for him to come out of the bathroom. Cecil was her prime objective for today, but always kept an eye out for anything Bartz seemed interested in, or would interest him. However, that plan was coming up short as well.
Terra looked towards the boy's bathroom; Bartz sure was taking his time. Maybe she could take a quick look in one of the nearby stores. A jewelry store caught her eye, and she walked towards it. Maybe she could get him a watch, or a ring? No... Bartz wasn't the type to wear jewelry. Besides, he was far too adventurous, and would probably end up losing it, or breaking it somehow.
But maybe Cecil would like a watch, Terra thought as she looked at the selection. They were all very nice, and on sale, luckily. She saw some silver ones that were especially fine, and thought for sure Cecil would like one.
Her eyes drifted across to a selection of necklaces and earrings. She stepped over for a closer look, admiring them. Gold chains and silver chains, rubies and sapphires, studs and loops—all of them were quite beautiful. She sighed, thinking of the day when a special someone would buy her something as beautiful as these.
It would be the best Christmas ever, that's for sure, she thought as she pushed her way into the door to purchase Cecil's gift.
Terra left the store, bag with gift in hand, and turned to see Bartz looking at the jewelry. He looked up, smiling in greeting.
"Hey," he said. "Did you find your gift?"
"Uh-huh."
"Good, now you can help me find mine," Bartz said as Terra wrapped her arm around his. "Because I'm still pretty clueless."
"Oh come on, it can't be that hard," Terra replied. "Just think about what they like and what kind of hobbies they have."
Bartz's face screwed up in thought as they wandered through the mall. Terra watched, waiting for him to come up with something. A big, goofy grin soon spread across his face.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said, still grinning. "But we need to go to HMV, right now."
After a quick trip to AMV, both shoppers were content that they had found their Secret Santa gift, and were on their way out of the mall when a certain shop window in Terra's peripheral vision distracted her.
"Awww!" Terra made her way to the pet shop window, admiring all the fluffy kittens and puppies sporting red and green bows for the holiday season. Bartz joined her, admiring them as well; being animal-lovers was something they had in common.
He knelt down next to her as the small creatures came to greet them at the glass.
"Aren't they cute?" Terra asked.
"Yeah," he agreed, smiling as a kitten prodded at the glass. "Do you want to go inside for a better look? We have time on our hands."
Terra nodded eagerly, and the two made their way in.
Creatures of all shapes and sizes captured the interest of the two, from the puppies and kittens, to hamsters and gerbils; even the lizards impressed them. Terra avoided the tarantulas, though.
They also looked at all the exotic birds, which came in many different shapes and sizes. Terra couldn't help but notice the shine in Bartz's eyes. He really did love birds; he even had one of his own. Which reminded Terra, "Are you going to get something for Boko?"
Bartz widened his eyes. "Oh man, I totally forgot about Boko! I have to get him something. It's his Christmas too!"
He immediately began exploring the selection of bird cages and accessories when Terra heard a voice.
"Luneth, get that toad away from me!"
Terra looked up to see a girl with long blonde hair throwing a disgusted glare to a silver-haired boy holding an amphibian. The boy had a mischievous grin on his face.
"Kiss it, Refia, and maybe you'll get a prince for Christmas," the boy, Luneth, snickered.
"Hello, you two."
The two looked over as Terra walked over to greet them. Luneth quickly put the toad back into its case.
"Hi Terra," he said, smiling friendily. Refia gave him a look of disbelief.
"Of course you play nice when she shows up."
"Shut up."
Trying to eliminate the squabble, Terra asked, "are you two shopping for friends as well?"
"Yeah, for Arc and Ingus," Luneth replied. "But then Refia saw the kittens and wanted to take a detour. How about you?"
"Bartz and I were on our way out when we felt like stopping in as well," Terra said, looking up towards the brunet holding up a bird cage.
"Oh, so, are you two on a date or something?"
"Don't say that!" Luneth hissed to Refia as Terra reddened. "Besides, she'll just deny it."
"You're the one who tells me they should be going out!"
Luneth flinched under Terra's stern glare.
"We're not going out," the older blonde insisted, even though she was still red in the face. She should be used to this teasing by now—as it wasn't only Luneth that did it, but all of their friends—but Terra was starting to feel as if they were indirectly begging them to go out. Did they really look like that much of a couple? Terra wasn't even sure if she could see Bartz that way.
Even though... she thought as she glanced in his general direction, he is really nice, and fun to be around... and even a bit good-looking...
"You're blushing."
Terra swatted Luneth away, but he and Refia continued to giggle. She folded her arms in protest, refusing to speak to them until Bartz was ready to leave.
Zidane opened the door, smiling in greeting at Bartz and Terra.
"It's about time you two got here," he said. He cocked an eyebrow as he added, "geez, you two are inseparable, aren't you?"
"It's called carpooling," Bartz retorted flatly. "Now let us in."
Zidane snickered as he opened the door for them, and took their presents into the next room as they removed their coats. Terra kept her purse with her, however; it had Bartz's present inside, and she hoped there would be a good chance to give it to him.
They entered the room Zidane had disappeared into to find most of their friends already there, engaged in conversation while sipping from their glasses of eggnog. In the corner of the room stood the tree, all the gifts already placed under it. The doorway to the balcony showed it was snowing gently outside.
"Well well, look who finally showed up," Tidus announced, directing everyone's attention to the pair.
"Are we really that late?" Terra asked.
"Yes."
"And for what reason, I wonder," Cecil added, smiling with amusement.
Bartz and Terra turned deep red. "You guys just won't let up, will you..."
"Oh, you know we're just teasing," Zidane said as he offered cups of eggnog to them; Terra wasn't that fond of eggnog, but accepted hers for the sake of being polite.
"So now that everyone's here, does this mean we can open the presents now?" Luneth asked, practically bouncing in his seat.
Zidane reached over, grabbed one of the gifts and tossed it to him. "That's what this party's about, isn't it?"
Luneth began unwrapping as the others stood, gathering around as Zidane handed out the gifts. They all sat in the nearest seat, some even the floor, as they all hastily unwrapped their presents. Luneth, being the first to get his, was the first to unwrap his, and grinned widely at the gift.
"The new Dragon Quest! All right!"
Terra unwrapped her gift to see she had received a strapless red dress with flower designs.
"It's so pretty," she said aloud, hoping whoever got it for her heard it. She held it in front of her, hoping it would fit her slim figure.
As she set it back down into the box she looked around to see everyone else's gifts. She was happy to see Cecil admiring his watch, as well as the personalized engraving on the back. Squall had received a black Swiss Army Knife with a lion insignia personalized into it and was currently exploring all its features.
"A vase, for my rose," Firion said, lifting up his gift. "It's perfect."
Terra heard snickering, and turned to see Bartz wearing that same mischievous grin from the mall. She followed his line of sight to see Light (which was his nickname; they had addressed him as such for so long his real name was practically forgotten) staring at his gift—a Christmas album by the currently-mainstream pop star who was said to have with the appearance of a goddess and the voice of an angel. Terra suppressed her giggles as he tucked it into his coat, looking around suspiciously, even though the fact that he was the biggest Cosmos fan out of all of them wasn't exactly a secret.
"Dating for Dummies?" Zidane announced the title of the book in his hands. "Gee, I wonder who got this for me!"
Terra looked between the friends to see Cloud shooting him a smirk before going back and flipping through his photo album, which were, as far as Terra could see, filled with pictures of himself and his friends.
"Tidus, stop kicking that around!" Zidane snapped. "If something breaks it's my ass that will be had!"
"Sorry," Tidus said, dropping the new Blitzball he had received. Terra could tell by his expression and jitteriness that he was dying to play more.
Terra smiled at all the happy looks on her friends' faces; it felt great to be spending Christmas with them, especially in an atmosphere such as this one. As cheesy as it was to think, this was what Christmas was really all about.
"Merry Christmas everyone!"
"Merry Christmas!" Everyone repeated.
Terra and the boys had gathered around Zidane's TV, watching the movie Scrooged. They all sat snacking on either popcorn or whatever was left of the gingerbread cookies.
Halfway through the movie, Terra noticed Bartz getting up and leaving. She didn't think much of it at first, thinking he was just going to the bathroom, but grew curious as he instead moved through the den and out onto the balcony outside.
Concerned, Terra grabbed her purse and turned to Luneth beside her, whispering, "I'll be right back."
Luneth nodded, and Terra got up to follow Bartz.
She gently opened the door to find him leaning on the railing, facing the night sky.
"Bartz?"
He spun around. "Oh, hey Terra."
"Is everything okay?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I was just getting a breath of fresh air." He chuckled, "I don't think that eggnog agreed with me after all."
"Oh, I see," Terra said. "To be honest, me neither."
Bartz let out a small laugh before an awkward silence fell upon them. Terra was about to excuse herself when Bartz looked back up to the sky.
"It's a nice night out," he said, smiling.
Terra looked up, smiling as well. "It is," she agreed. "Perfect for Christmas."
"You should check out the view," Bartz said, taking a step aside. Terra walked up to stand beside him, breath taken by the sight of all the Christmas lights on every surrounding house.
"It's beautiful..." she whispered. The two quietly enjoyed the view for a few moments, admiring it as the snow delicately descended upon them. The air was cold, but that wasn't going to stop Terra from enjoying the moment she had with Bartz right now.
Terra looked up at Bartz, then took a deep breath, reaching into her purse.
"I got you something," she said.
"What?" Bartz looked down at the gift in modest surprise. "That's for me?"
"Yes."
He smiled at the present in his hands. "Wow, thank you."
"Open it," Terra said, although she felt a bit nervous with the anticipation of his reaction. Bartz unwrapped it, lifting the lid on the box.
"Oh wow," he lifted up the wind chimes with admiration, smiling even more at the little yellow bird that the mobile was suspended from. The chimes clashed, making music in the night air.
"I don't know what to say..." he said, "but, what inspired you to get me this?"
"You're always going out of your way to come over and help me out whenever you can," Terra said, "and I wanted to show my appreciation."
Bartz laughed, setting the chimes back down into the box. "Wow, that's kind of funny."
"How so?"
Bartz reached into his pocket to pull out a small box with a bow on it. "Because I got you something too."
She accepted it, baffled. "For me?"
"Open it."
Terra lifted the lid, her jaw dropping at the necklace inside. It had small pink zircons encrusted in a gold heart, and hung from a gold chain.
"You-you didn't have to do that!"
"But I wanted to!" Bartz said. "You're always ready to help out too, y'know! Like that one time, where I wanted to make a birthday cake for my mom, and you helped me bake it. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have learned the difference between baking soda and baking powder!"
Terra hesitated, still feeling incredibly guilty about Bartz going through the trouble of getting her something.
"Besides..."
Terra looked up to see Bartz rubbing the back of his head, appearing embarrassed.
"Christmas is time to show how much to care to those you find special, and, well..." he looked away bashfully, rocking back and forth on his heels. "You're special to me."
Terra blushed, her heart beating just a bit faster at those words.
"You're special to me too," she whispered, almost automatically. She almost didn't know where they had come from, but in this moment, they just felt right to say.
Bartz looked at her, as if not expecting to hear the words returned to him. He closed the distance between them, and gently leaned forward to kiss her on the lips. Terra kissed back, the cold air no longer a bother as a feeling of warmth came over her. It was a feeling that she didn't want to go away.
Unfortunately, it was short-lived as lights suddenly flashed about them, and they jumped out of the moment in surprise. They covered their eyes with their hands as their vision adjusted to let them see the rest of the boys watching from the doorway. Zidane and Tidus were laughing hysterically, the former's hand still covering the light switch.
"Was that really necessary?" Firion asked the two.
"You could have at least waited until they were finished..." Cloud mumbled.
"Does this mean you two are finally going to get together?" Cecil asked.
Bartz and Terra groaned, covering their faces in their hands in humiliation.
"Why don't you go back to watching your movie?" Bartz snapped at them.
"This is way more interesting," Luneth said, smirking.
"You two showed much more Christmas spirit," Light said.
"It was some kind of spirit, that's for sure," Tidus said.
"You're all a bunch of perverts."
"Oh come on!" Zidane said. "We were the ones getting tired of waiting for you two to finally hook up!"
"It was getting rather painful to watch..." Squall added.
Bartz hung his head, giving up on protesting, and Terra patted him on the shoulder for comfort.
"Okay, come on now," Firion said. "Let's let them in before they catch a cold."
They parted from the doorway, still giggling and joking, and Bartz and Terra finally just shook their heads and went with it. What were friends for, anyways?
"Come on," Terra said, holding out her hand. "Let's go back inside."
"Yeah, and make them jealous," Bartz added, taking it. "Then maybe they'll be more careful for what they wish for in the future."
Terra gave him a look as they walked in. "Was it really that bad that it came true?"
"Not for me," Bartz said as he closed the door behind him. "I know that for sure."
Agh, oh my goodness. I've been trying to write this for nearly the whole month and barely got it posted on Christmas day. But as they say, better late than never.
It's also after 11pm where I am, so I don't really want to proofread right now. =/
I really hope you guys enjoyed this one. It took a hell of a lot of effort, even though I don't think I did the best I could, but it's certainly up there. And remember, you can always critique so I can get better in the future!
I also would've liked to include all the Duodecim characters, in the Secret Santa even, but I felt that it would be too many characters to work with, and just left it as it was.
And while it says the story is complete, I have a couple of ideas for side-chapters staring some of the other characters that I may or may not add. It all depends on whether I feel like writing/finishing them.
Shout-out goes to thepinkiest on Deviantart who made me a picture to help inspire me to keep writing. :D Thanks again!
Happy Holidays everyone!