Authors' Note: We have been plotting this story since last Christmas and the idea started with a Christmas CD, the thought of Kairi as a Christmas worshiping pop-singer, some creative liberties with 'heat miser' and 'snow miser' cough and Riku and Sora. And a good laugh at a certain somebody as Santa. The more we thought about it, the more plot developed, and here we have it.
Warnings: This has male/male relationships. If you are uncomfortable with that in any way, please leave.
Warning 2: This story may forever alter how you view certain Christmas songs, and may permanently change your view on "Santa". Read at own risk.
Disclaimer: Sora, Riku, and Kairi are © Disney. Squall Leonhart, Cloud Strife are © Square Enix.
Enjoy.
"Christmas is here
Everywhere, oh
Christmas is here
If you care, oh
If there is love in your heart and your mind
you will feel like Christmas all the time, oh"
"Where are you Christmas" – Faith Hill
Making Christmas
Chapter One: Where are you Christmas?
--oOo--
Everything was white and barren, a snow storm raging across the Arctic. Suddenly, the storm stilled, leaving only softly falling snow to kiss the pristine Earth. The air seemed to shimmer and a mirage appeared. A thriving, whimsical town and large buildings of colorful ornamentation.
Jingle… Jingle…
The sound of bells and the tinkling sound of magic.
Everyone gathered 'round as the sleigh came into view, coming closer before the reindeers' hooves hit solid ground, spraying snow at the closest onlookers.
Excited whispers. Another completed year.
The reindeers' slowed to a stop just inside the wide entranceway of a large building. Immediately, elves rushed forward to unharness them and take them to their stalls for grooming and rest.
A man stepped off the sleigh, slim body clad in red with white trim. Everyone cheered and caps flew into the air, chatter and jingles spread throughout the crowd.
Workers rushed forward with buckets of warm soapy water. They immediately started sponging the elaborately carved sleigh, melting the encrusted ice before the paint and wood became damaged.
Then, the large red velvet bag was pulled out of the sleigh and opened up. Cheering stopped and a hush came over the onlookers. Wrapped presents were pulled out and passed to be put back into the workshop.
"Not again…" Someone muttered.
"I thought we were doing better this year."
Murmurs went throughout the crowd as everyone watched more and more presents were pulled out of the bag.
The man in the red suit made his way through the crowd, waving and giving smiles to onlookers along the way. Once he entered through the two large main doors, and the stained glass doors shut with a light thud, the entranceway erupted into chatter as they dispersed to their homes. Everyone had the week off and was looking forward to the time.
Once inside, the man in the red suit leaned heavily against the doors, head rolling back to thud against the glass, able to hear every murmur of the outside crowd. Don't they know by now that I can hear them?
"Here, Santa." Someone pushed a mug of steaming coco into his hands. He was too tired to even correct them. Downing it swiftly, he handed the mug to a random passerby and continued toward his room.
On the way there, he crashed into two arguing bodies. "It's all your fault! You made it too cold for people up north! Who would believe if their furnaces were shutting down and left them freezing!" the boy talking had unruly brown hair and determined blue eyes. Those blue eyes clashed in a heated glare with aquamarine orbs.
"Well," huffed the silver-haired boy companion, "Isn't it your job to warm things up if I make it too cold? Besides, it barely got below 70 degrees in the southern hemisphere! How are people supposed to feel Christmas Spirit when they're wearing shorts and a tank top!"
The man in the red suit they ran into cleared his throat. Both looked up, angry glares sent his way before immediately turning to shame.
"Sorry Santa."
"Won't happen again Santa."
They hurried off before he got a chance to correct them. Sighing and rubbing his temples, he continued toward his room not pausing to chat with any of the idle passer-bys that waved his way.
Once safely within his soundproof room, he felt another hot mug pressed into his hand and the strong sent of black coffee reached his nose. His piercing blue eyes met the stormy eyes of a tall man with shaggy brown locks and an imposing scar between his eyes.
"Thanks, Squall." He smiled appreciatively at the other man.
"No problem, Santa." The man in the red suit frowned, not due to the strong taste of the coffee.
"I told you not call me that! You know that was my great great great grandfather's name. It's only a title now." The other man couldn't help but smirk as the man in the red suit went to a bar in the corner of the room and poured Irish Cream into his coffee.
"Sorry, every time I see you in that suit it just pops out, Cloud." Blue eyes just gave him a sharp look, but didn't bother replying as he started pulling said suit off, haplessly throwing it on the floor and pulling plain gray sleeping pants on.
Coffee in hand, he sat on the edge of his large bed. He felt calloused hands run through his hair and leaned into the touch, feeling his stress begin to melt away as nimble fingers gently rubbed the pressure points behind his ears.
"You came back with more this year."
Cloud couldn't help the sinking feeling that settled in his stomach. But not wanting to talk about it, he nodded it off, taking a big gulp of the warm liquid. Squall didn't pursue the subject after that. He, more than anyone, knew that the topic was sensitive to the blond.
"Did they behave themselves while I was away?" Cloud asked, giving the brunet a smirk over his bare shoulder. Squall couldn't help but roll his eyes at the mention of "behavior" and their team of elves.
"Oh, they were as spirited as ever," he deadpanned, which caused Cloud to give him a small smile, something Squall enjoyed very much. It didn't look right for the infamous 'Santa Claus' to be frowning all the time.
Finishing off his coffee, Cloud placed the empty red mug down onto the bedside table. Squall smiled softly as his lover crawled into bed beside him and instantly molded their bodies together. His skin was as warm as ever, and his hair smelled of cinnamon and pine.
Arms entangled as the lights dimmed automatically leaving only a few candles that glowed in the shape of stars onto the ceiling. A tiny toy train that had been steadily roaming around the room chugged to a quiet stop, its little whistle chiming a soft 'good night' sound as eyes dropped closed and deep sighs of contentment met bare skin.
With a kiss being placed to his temple, Cloud settled himself warmly against Squall, fully intent on having the best sleep of the year.
"Merry Christmas, Squall."
The brunet let one stormy eye open, a tiny smile coaxing up the corners of his lips. He held the blond a little tighter as he shifted the burgundy colored blanket further up Cloud's bare shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, Cloud."
-.-.-.-
"Thank you everyone! Merry Christmas and good night!" she yelled into the red and green rhinestone covered microphone. She rose her hand up in a big wave, smiling brightly at the crowd as they gave loud cheers and whoops of appreciation.
Walking prettily off the stage, she smiled kindly at the backstage crew that gave her sweet compliments, high fives, and little applauses. Once inside of her dressing room, she sat before the vanity, starring at the soft blooms of a full pot of poinsettias as her adrenaline wound down from the concert.
A wistful smile appeared on her lips, as she brought a small music box to her and wound the ratchet lever. The little ballerina on the reflective surface started to spin slowly, the tinkling Waltz of the Sugar Plum Fairy sounding throughout the room. She stood, a grand smile on her face as she twisted about the room, pulling off her concert outfit and tugging on something much better (but still in the Christmas spirit!) to go to the hotel in.
A knock on the door had her sing-songing a "come in" as her dancing dropped in excitement slightly. A woman with blonde hair pulled tightly onto her head, came into the room an almost sour expression on her face.
"Kairi, we were supposed to leave for the resort ten minutes ago," she barked, placing a hand on her hip as her blue eyes narrowed on the red head girl.
The singer looked slightly taken aback, and simply nodded her head. "I'm sorry, Larxene, I'll be ready to go in a minute," she said quietly and ignored the little scoff and eye roll of the young manager as she exited the room.
Kairi straightened out her pink sweater, the ends of which were lined in white trim and the matching skirt that fell to above her knees. She pulled on a pair of high white boots and began to collect her make-up, clothes and shoes. Picking up her little red purse, she tugged out her cell phone.
"No missed calls," she hummed sadly, and placed the object back inside her bag. She tucked the music box gently into her large shoulder bag before gathering the poinsettias into her arms. A little card was tucked gently into the green leaves with a simple "Merry Christmas" written in fine script.
At least someone hadn't forgotten Christmas. She smiled.
Once at the hotel, Kairi was left alone and Larxene's only parting words were "be ready to leave for the television station at six." Sighing, she let her bags fall from her shoulders onto the large bed, her indigo eyes wandering around the room.
She wasn't a very picky person. She never requested extreme things like "extra bubbles in her bath water" or "no cashews in her nut mix"; but she had wanted her hotel to have at least a small Christmas tree. The maid's must have been the one's to do so for a little white tree decorated in simple glass bulbs and multicolored lights sat prettily on top of the TV. Kairi smiled warmly and opened her bag, pulling out two wrapped objects. The tissue paper was old and crinkled, but inside the objects were still sparkling.
A little yellow star was unfolded first which she promptly placed upon the top of the tree. The next, she unrolled and was happy to feel the cold object in her bare hands. A glass heart, its surface as chilled as pure ice glinted up at her and she gently placed the ornament onto a bare branch of the tree. It was indeed like ice, and stuck to her fingers as if she was holding a frozen ornament.
She stepped back and observed the little thing, a soft smile appearing on her pink lips. Sighing quietly, she pulled on her nightgown and wandered over to the large window on the opposite side of the room. She pressed her fingers against the glass, observing the twinkling lights of the city below her and how it shined somewhat brighter.
The frost on the glass blurred and gave life to the glow of the lights and she smiled following a particularly large swirl of frost with the tip of her finger. The frost crept along the glass as she watched. She stopped suddenly, when the sweet icy swirls morphed into words; the letters as perfect as frost inscriptions could get but oh so familiar to her.
Merry Christmas.
Kairi smiled, eyes wandering up to the heavens above the city, stars twinkling in between clouds full of oncoming snow.
"Merry Christmas, Santa."
-.-.-.-
The first rays of pure sunlight poked over the earth's horizon, which out glowed the still shimmering Christmas lights and caused the frost on windows to sparkle like clear stained glass. Around the world, region by region, children were waking up.
The pitter patter of little feet hurrying to gaze at the Christmas trees and the little gifts left inside shoes caused little glee's of delight across Europe, while countries in South America had little ones running to be the first to gaze into a mirror to see if "Viejo Pascuero" had left a kiss mark in the shape of soot on their cheeks.
In Germany, several children stood in triumphant at the extra present they received from "Weihnachtsmann" for being the first, and smartest child to find the hidden pickle in the boughs of their Christmas trees.
Several families dished out bowls full of rice porridge that was left for them by Mother Christmas, and other's showed their parents in pure triumph at the fact that Santa Claus had indeed eaten their cookies, drank their milk, and fed the reindeer their carrots.
But not every family had little one's squealing about presents from Santa or half eaten cookies. Those children, the one's that didn't believe, received nothing special underneath their trees or in their shoes and stockings. They simply were given the gifts their parents had left for them, which, if not, simply satisfied them. No magic, no special surprise. Not caring about the fact that the cookies and Reindeer treats had been disposed of by the parents.
Kairi had woken almost in the exact same manner that she always had. She had tried every year since she was small to listen for Santa's visit, but yet every year, she never heard him. She couldn't count the letters she had sent to him and the extra cookies she had always left that she tried to use to coax the infamous Mr. Claus into letting him see her, meet him, say thank you to him properly.
But as always, she had woken up on Christmas day, greeted by the tiny tree that stood proudly. It twinkled in the warm sunlight as the glass ornaments caught the shine of the sun which reflected off the slowly melting ice on the window glass. The little ice heart ornament glistened in the morning light, sending sparkles across the room.
Under the tree, nestled against the base, was a tiny wrapped present with a very evident tag sticking up against a stark white bow. Like a child, the pop star was up in a flash, bare feet thumping against the warm carpet. On her toes, she reached for the gift, grasping it gently and pulling it toward her.
The wrapping paper was a deep red, silky and thick with golden curls and angel wings patterned prettily across it. The tag had her name spelled in an enchanting script that curled and looped, and she happily recognized it as the same penmanship from all her 'Santa presents'. She smiled.
Slipping her finger through an open slit in the paper, she gently worked off the wrapping, careful to fold the paper neatly. In her hand she held a small, square compact. Its outside surface was an icy silver, her initials engraved in the back in a soft Christmas blue, outlined with elegant swirls and snowflakes. She blinked and opened it to be met with her reflection.
"A mirror?" she asked, almost disappointed as she studied that look on her face. The look didn't suit her at all, so in an instant, she was smiling widely at herself, a small sparkle in her eye.
All of a sudden, her reflection seemed to disappear and was replaced by a stream of sparkles that wound in mazes across the glass surface only to dissolve into an image of a little village surrounded in the whitest snow she had ever seen.
Green and red roofs aligned with lights of all colors sparkled in the night, and in the center of it all a giant Christmas tree stood. A star, the biggest one she had ever seen, glimmered against the crisp black of the sky, and behind the tree a huge building stood. Candy colors aligned every street and doorway, wreathes of holly and ivy on every door and window, giant jingle bells strung from light post to light post. When she tilted her head enough, she could make out the word "Workshop" on the largest building and she felt her mouth dropping open in a silent gasp.
Out of nowhere, a tiny jingle, a whisper at first, flitted into her ears which soon increased into a sparkling breath of magic, as a sleigh pulled by the infamous eight reindeer, journeyed across the town and circled once before landing.
Tears shone in the girl's eyes as she realized that Santa, in a way, did answer her Christmas wish. She had no doubt in the world that this was definitely Santa's Workshop in the North Pole. It was like something out of her dreams, exactly how she had pictured it.
"Thank you," she breathed, taking one last long look at the little scene, before closing the mirror and cradling the object to her chest. Not a minute later, Larxene was knocking on her door telling her it was time to go down to the television station.
Somehow, she felt she could do anything now, especially spreading some Christmas magic.
-.-.-.-
Christmas day came and went before the elves had gathered back inside the main room of the workshop. Machines that usually hummed all year long were dead quiet and the Christmas music had ceased to play. There was a faint smell of hot cocoa and fresh cookies in the air, but the kitchens were still and the halls were nearly empty. No one seemed to come up with anything to say as they stared quietly at the small mountain of unwrapped presents on the large center table.
"What are we supposed to do now?" one elf asked, a little watery, as he wrung his hands together and glanced around at his fellow workers. "There's at least a hundred more than last year."
"We'll just save them for next year, it's less work for us, right?" another answered, trying to sound smug. But just thinking about not working on toys and creating special Christmas gifts had everyone looking uneasy.
"This is ridiculous," another huffed, hands coming to rest on a pair of hips. "Why aren't those stupid human's believing any more, I mean, it really isn't all that hard!"
"That's just the point," another added quietly, and small jingles were heard as a majority turned to look at her, "maybe it really is that hard for them to believe."
"She's right, kids these days are more concerned with other things besides believing in Santa," another chimed in softly, and all paused when the door to the workshop opened. In walked Squall, a little confused as to why they all stood there.
"Shouldn't you all be eating cookies or something?" he asked, the tiniest bit of humor in his voice. As he descended down a flight of stairs, he was suddenly grabbed around the legs by a small elf, her expression watery and worried as she stared up at "mother" Christmas.
"What's gonna' happen to us when they don't believe in Santa anymore?" she asked, and Squall blinked down at her before sinking to her level and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, little one, someone will always believe in Santa Claus," he told her, giving her a rare, warm smile. The other elves simply looked on, unafraid of what to say, but each dreading the same thing.
What would happen?
-.-.-.-
Cloud sat at his desk, staring intently at a thick pad of paper. Between his fingers he curled a quill, the only sound being the tiny crackle of the fire place behind him and the gentle tick-tock of an old grandfather clock in the corner of the room.
Suddenly, his door opened, and a female elf dressed mostly in pink's and red's poked her head in and smiled at him. She bowed, and Cloud frowned, disliking the kow tow. "Santa, there are visitors here for you," she told him, her soft voice floating sweetly toward him.
The blond sighed and gave her a pointed, but gentle look. "Aerith, how many times have I told you? It's Cloud," he told her like he was talking to a child. She simply blushed and nodded her head, mumbling an apology before darting out of the room.
Not a minute later in strode a man that had auburn hair that fell around his face and sparkling green eyes that glowed at Cloud in happy recognition. He was dressed in robes that fell about him softly and were rumored to increase in color depending on his mood. At the moment they were a happy, healthy green and a wreath of holly settled on the crown of his head, cherry red berries glinting in the light.
Behind him entered another man, hair a soft periwinkle that laid in wind-blown wisps around his head. He was clad in a silver tunic that had ruffles of white trim and patterns of snowflakes across the fabric. His skin seemed to glimmer like fresh snow, and tiny icicles shimmered lightly from the tiny head dress that sat on his head. He smiled warmly at Cloud, and the blond smiled back at the both of them.
"Cloud, it's so wonderful to see you," the green one hummed, smiling so sweetly it was as if a flower were blooming. The silver one nodded, idly wandering closer, noticing the blank paper in front of the Christmas legend.
"How was your flight?" he asked, and noted how Cloud's blue eyes flicked away from him for a split second.
"It wasn't too cold was it? We did let the little one's practice last night," the green one muttered quickly, the colors of his robes changing to an embarrassed spring green.
"It was alright," he told the green being who seemed to relax at his words. "What can I help you two with?" he asked as the beings glanced at each other.
"Well," started the green one, as he swallowed against his throat. "We heard that, well, maybe,…" he stuttered and the silver one sighed.
"What he means to say is, we heard last night didn't exactly go so well," the snow being replied, and Cloud blinked at them.
"The flight was fine, I just had presents that came back, is all," Cloud supplied, looking down and scribbling something inaudible on the paper. White Christmas rose an eyebrow and looked over at his green companion who didn't look convinced either.
"Again?"
As soon as the question was proposed, Cloud froze a little and his hand stopped moving over the paper. After a moment, he nodded, and the two sighed almost in sync.
"Don't make it a big deal," the blond muttered quietly before the two beings could say anything. But the two were already looking at each other in worry.
"But, Cloud, it is a big deal," Green Christmas supplied softly and jumped a little when Cloud's fist hit the table top, causing random objects to jump and shudder.
"There's not much I can do. You know that." he said quietly, but harshly, causing the two to take a step back. "I can't go into their homes if I'm not even allowed in their hearts," a sigh, and hands were running through blond spikes.
"Well we've got to do something," White Christmas muttered and Cloud shot him an accusing glare.
"You could start by getting your apprentices to behave and be civil to each other. I can't have the Snow and the Sun arguing," Cloud told them, a slight hum of humor under his words.
The pair's eyes widened, and they looked at one another. Their wards behaved just fine in front of them! But if Santa Cloud said there was a problem, and he obviously could see and hear everyone at all times, well, it wasn't as if they could disagree.
"We'll…have them work on that," Green Christmas murmured, looking ashamed as his robes turned that embarrassed spring green again.
Cloud nodded, giving them both a smile that they didn't find very convincing. "I know you want to help," the blond muttered quietly, which caught the others' attention, "but…just make sure they're ready to go on the flight next Christmas, okay?"
The two glanced at each other, wide eyed, smiling softly at one another. Going on the trip with Santa was almost like a graduation present for becoming the next spirits of Green and White Christmas. They nodded and hummed good byes to Cloud before leaving to go find their students.
Alone, the blond sighed, running a hand over his face. He stared at a small golden hourglass that rested on his desk, watching as the small grains of sand shifted from one side to the other in time with the minutes and seconds. It suddenly didn't seem like an innocent countdown to Christmas any more.
It almost felt as if time was running out.
--oOo--
To Be Continued
Any Questions Welcome.
Holiday Trivia!
At the end of each chapter, we will post a holiday trivia question. Those who answer correctly will receive a song from our 'Making Christmas' Playlist. So by the end of the story, you will have an entire playlist of Christmas songs!Question #1:
What country takes part in eating the special rice porridge that is delivered by Mother Christmas each year?
We are looking for one country but there are three possible answers.
Hint: It is in northern Europe, and feel free to use outside sources because it is not in the story.