It's that time of year again—there's two feet of snow on the ground, the air is freezing cold, and the television is bombarding us with sales ads and toy commercials. Yup, it's Christmas. And once again I'm writing a fic to commemorate the occasion.
Shade: Will you get on with it already?
I had several ideas for a Christmas story, including a follow-up to the one I wrote last year ("The Promise"). But I decided on this one mainly because I've yet to do this pairing and I've been itching to use it for awhile.
Crystal: Don't get scared now!
Well, here's to another season of good cheer. This story is supposed to be a bit on the silly side, so keep that in mind as you read it. Hope you enjoy it!
Mist: And as always, Midnight does not own Golden Sun.
*Mistletoe*
Vale was absolutely covered in tinsel, garland, sparking lights, ornaments, bows, poinsettias and other Christmas paraphernalia. Every single house and building sported some form of decoration or another and it was enough to make Felix ill. The lengths people were willing to go through just to appear merry and cheerful astounded him. What was the point? You had to do all that hard work just to put all the decorations up, and then you have to take them down after only a few weeks or so. What a waste of energy. And no matter what, the Valeans always put up so many decorations that the whole town looked gaudy. Really, the snow was decoration enough. Why did they have to bother with all that tinsel and garland and ribbon?
Worst of all was that there was always that dreaded decoration that made him scream and want to run for the hills: mistletoe. Undoubtedly the most evil invention on the face of Weyard. It never failed. Every year at Christmas, since he was a little boy, a girl in the village would corner him under a sprig of the evil substance, and then he'd have to kiss her. He shuddered at the memories. No matter how hard he tried to avoid that fate, some girl always caught him at Vale's annual Christmas party.
Cringe.
"Felix!" Jenna came running up to him. "There you are, big brother. I've been looking all over for you!"
"What is it, Jenna?"
"We need help decorating the town tree. Come on!" She latched onto his arm and started dragging him towards the plaza, despite his protests. There was a huge evergreen planted smack in the middle of the square, and all of his friends were swarming around it like a hoard of bees. Ivan and Sheba were actually up in the branches trying to string garland while Picard and Garet were sitting atop stepladders hanging ornaments. Isaac and Mia actively sifted through the numerous boxes of decorations scattered around the base of the big tree.
"Oh look, mistletoe," Mia said as she pulled some out of a box. She smiled and crept up to Isaac, dangling the offending plant over his head. "You know what this means, don't you?"
Isaac turned a bit pink but naturally didn't protest to kissing his beloved Mercury Adept several times, even though they were busy and surrounded by watching eyes. Felix groaned. If he'd merely been ill before, now he was downright nauseated.
"Felix!" Picard exclaimed. "Where have you been hiding all day? We were afraid you'd disappeared."
"Wouldn't want you to miss the big Christmas party tonight, would we?" Garet asked. "This year's is going to be the best yet."
"You say that every year, Garet," Jenna pointed out.
"But it's true every year. They just keep getting better." He smiled down at her. "And I can't wait to see that new dress you've been talking about all week."
"Patience, Garet," Jenna said mischievously. "There have to be some surprises this time of year."
The word "nauseated" didn't capture the feeling. No, Felix was positively ready to convulse. As if watching the lovey-dovey Isaac and Mia weren't bad enough, these days he had to tolerate it between his sister and that loud-mouthed buffoon. What was this world coming to?
"What exactly do you need me for?" he asked with a sigh.
"There's another ladder over there, so why don't you climb it and help Ivan and Sheba with the garland?" Jenna suggested.
"Fine." Felix clambered up the stepladder and looked for signs of either of the Jupiter Adepts, only to find himself staring at an endless sea of green needles.
"Hold this!" came Ivan's voice as a hand suddenly popped out of the thicket. Felix almost lost his balance from the surprise.
"Don't do that!" he exclaimed.
"Do what?" Ivan poked his head out of the branches.
"Sneak up on me!"
"Oh, sorry. But this garland is being rather stubborn. Sort of like you."
The Venus Adept made a low growl in his throat, but Ivan had already disappeared back into the branches, leaving Felix holding part of a long string of golden beads. He sighed and sat down on the top of the ladder. Christmas just got more tedious every year. He hated to think what tonight's party was going to be like.
"You'll have to excuse Ivan," Sheba said as she appeared on a nearby branch. "He's been gobbling down piles of Christmas cookies all day long."
"I had a feeling," Felix grumbled.
Sheba took the beaded garland from him, smiling a gentle smile. Her green eyes were alight with sparkles of joy and merriment. It seemed to suit her. "Thank you for helping us, Felix. We really appreciate it."
Felix found himself smiling in return. There was something about her that made it easier to put up with all this Christmas craziness. "Is there something else you need?"
"Could you get another string of garland for me please?" she asked. "Isaac and Mia have been sorting all the decorations—it should be easy to find some more."
"Except that those two are always too busy with each other to do anything productive." Sheba giggled, prompting him to smile again.
"That's not very nice, Felix," she said.
"But you'll agree it's true, right? Wait here—I'll be back with that garland in just a moment." He hopped down the ladder and circled the base of the tree for either of the two lovebirds.
"Hey!" came an indignant yelp from Isaac. "That's cold!"
Felix groaned again as he saw Isaac brushing snow out of his hair and Mia forming another ball of the stuff behind him, obviously hoping to ambush her beloved again.
"Duck," Felix warned flatly.
"Huh?" Isaac looked up from the box in front of him only to get another snowball in his face. Mia giggled, and above, Garet, Jenna, Picard, Ivan and Sheba started laughing as well. Felix just rolled his eyes.
"You're asking for it, Mia," Isaac said in a mock warning tone as he wiped the snow crystals from his eyes.
"Give me your worst," she said.
"I hate to interrupt this fountain of disgustingly cute romance," Felix cut in, "but I'm in need of some more garland for the tree."
"There's a whole box of it right there," Isaac pointed. "Ornaments are here in these boxes, and the Psynergy lights are over there."
Felix lifted an eyebrow. "You mean the two of you actually managed to organize everything? I'm surprised."
Mia made a face. "What's that supposed to mean? Jenna asked us to sort everything neatly, so we naturally did."
"Nothing. I'll just take that garland and leave you lovebirds to your flirting."
Isaac and Mia colored slightly, and then Mia frowned. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing," she said. "You know, Felix, maybe you wouldn't be so cynical about love if you had a girlfriend of your own."
Felix snorted. "Romance is so overrated. I have much better things to do with my time than fawn over a giggling female."
"Felix!" Jenna hissed. "That's a terrible thing to say! You should apologize!"
"Part of the beauty of Christmas is that you're supposed to spend it with the people who mean the most to you," Isaac said. "And after all we went through to get here, we should appreciate these times more than ever."
"Agreed," said Picard. "Is something bothering you, Felix? You seem very out of sorts today."
"Maybe he's just jealous that he won't have a girl to kiss under the mistletoe tonight," Garet teased.
"It's often true that the people who are the most cynical about love are the ones who long for it the most," said Ivan in rapid-fire fashion. He hopped across a couple of thick tree branches, still stringing garland behind him.
"I'm not cynical!" Felix exclaimed angrily. He threw down the garland he'd been carrying back towards his ladder. "Finish decorating your own stupid tree—I'm out of here!"
The other seven Adepts watched him stomp off in surprise. "Woah," said Garet. "What's got his ponytail in a twist?"
"He gets worse every year," Jenna sighed. "I'm afraid my brother doesn't care as much for this holiday as the rest of us do."
Sheba carefully climbed down the branches of the great tree. "Why is that, Jenna?"
"Well, it seems that every Christmas, something unlucky happens to him. Like there was that year that our tree fell on top of him, and the year he fell through the ice in the river when he was skating, and the year he almost got run over by a reindeer...the list goes on."
"Poor guy," said Picard.
"But I think his worst memories come from Vale's Christmas Eve party," Jenna continued. "For as many years as I can remember, at least one girl has sneaked up on him with mistletoe and stolen a kiss from him."
"I never pictured Felix to be the object of so many women's affections," Ivan joked.
"He isn't," said Jenna. "They do it to be cruel to him. It's not the kiss they really want—they're out to humiliate him."
"That's terrible!" Sheba cried.
"I never knew that," Isaac said. "This has really been going on every year?"
Jenna nodded. "It always happens when no one else is looking. Felix always tries so hard to get out of going to the party at all, but our parents end up dragging him along. I'd like to pound all the girls myself, but he never gives me their names. I guess he figures it would only make it worse if his little sister had to stand up for him."
"Probably," Garet agreed.
"We should do something for him," said Sheba. "I feel really bad."
"No!" Jenna said firmly. "None of you can breathe a word about this to anyone. If Felix found out I'd told you, he'd be so embarrassed. And he'd probably kill me too."
Her friends sighed in resignation and returned to their decorating, lacking the enthusiasm and cheeriness they'd initially had. Only Ivan was able to continue to flit about as before, fueled by the energy of a pile of Christmas cookies. Sheba did her best to keep up with him, but her mind was elsewhere, thinking of Felix. She wanted to do something that would help turn him away from the path of the scrooge, but what? What could she do that would make this Christmas more enjoyable for him?
***
Felix sat off in the corner of the inn's main room, listening to the music, munching on refreshments and watching all the people milling about. What was he doing here anyway? He'd been here for over an hour and hadn't moved from this spot, and some people were eyeing him questioningly. Perhaps it was because his expression was the definition of grumpy, or perhaps it was because he hadn't bothered to dress up like everyone else. The only good thing about this night so far was that he had yet to be accosted by a female, and for that he was extremely grateful. It seemed that his Lemurian friend had captured the attention of every young woman at the party, thereby causing them to ignore him. He chuckled to himself. He should've met Picard years ago.
Off in the distance he could see Jenna and Garet talking to each other. The dress she'd been bragging about all week was a deep red velvet creation with a neckline slightly lower than Felix approved of. Her shiny cinnamon hair cascaded down her shoulders and was strung with delicate white pearls, and a matching tear-shaped pearl hung by her throat. Felix had to admit that his goofy little sister had indeed grown into a very beautiful woman. Garet's eyes were glued to her, so he obviously liked the ensemble.
Elsewhere, Isaac and Mia were dancing slowly, oblivious to everything else around them. Ivan was scarfing down cookies from the buffet and Sheba...
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Sheba here at all. Where was the pretty little Jupiter Adept? It wasn't like her to miss out on a good party or gathering. All he could think was that maybe his earlier outburst by the tree had scared her off and she'd decided not to come. Felix suddenly felt bad. Sheba had said many times that this was her family now, and it meant a lot to her since she hadn't found her real family during their travels.
"Ivan," he began "have you seen Sheba?"
"Not since we finished decorating the tree," Ivan blurted out. He stuffed a handful of bonbons into his mouth and swallowed them whole. "Maybe she was too tired to come. That job was a lot of work. Chocolate?"
"No thanks. Maybe you should slow down on those things. You might get a stomachache or something."
"A stomachache from sugar?" Ivan laughed. "I highly doubt that!"
Felix shook his head, suppressing a grin, and left the inn to search for Sheba. But no sooner had he started up the hill than he saw her coming towards him, and he was taken aback by her appearance. She was wearing a very simple but very elegant emerald green dress, precisely the same shade as her eyes, and she had a pair of sparkling rhinestone barrettes in her hair. Truly, she was lovely, like some sort of Christmas angel, and she suddenly looked much more grown up than he remembered.
"Sheba..." he said. "Here you are. I was wondering why you weren't at the party."
"I was preparing something special for a special someone," she said softly. She blushed a bit and handed him a small package. "Merry Christmas, Felix."
"For me?" Felix was a bit dumbfounded. She was late to the part because she's been preparing a gift for him? Why would she do something like that?
"Open it."
Confused, he carefully ripped off the shiny red paper and opened the box. Inside was a single sprig of mistletoe. He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously.
"Jenna told me about your past experiences with mistletoe," Sheba explained. "I understand it's not your favorite part of this holiday."
"That's an understatement," he said flatly. "So what's this for?"
"Well, I...I thought that instead of letting your impression of mistletoe be formed by your past, that instead it would be nicer if you had a better experience with it to focus on." Now her face was bright crimson.
"What sort of better experience?" Felix inquired.
Sheba swallowed hard but kept smiling. "I'll show you." She took the sprig and held it up as high as she could, which wasn't exactly over his head but it was close enough. Then she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. He was a bit taken aback at first, but then found himself wrapping her in a tight embrace and returning the kiss with gusto.
"How was that?" Sheba whispered when they broke away.
Felix grinned broadly. "I like it. I like it very much indeed!"
Shade: ::Gag::
Mist: Awww... ^_^
OK, so it's obnoxiously cute and it won't win much in the originality department, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Crystal: And watch out for mistletoe!