This is my early Christmas present to all my Alien Uprising fans! Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you all enjoy!
The Aliens' First Christmas Tree
Pudding bounced around the Café, singing as she decorated.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la, na no da!" She sang as she hung up a wreath. "Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la, na no da!"
"Uh, Pudding? Aren't pine needles supposed to stay outside?" Rirī asked as she walked into the dining room.
"Don't worry, they're fine," Lettuce said as she hung up a garlands.
"What exactly are you decorating for?" Rin asked, confused.
"Christmas of course, na no da!" Pudding exclaimed. At seeing the confused looks on the three alien girls' faces, Pudding's smile drooped. "You don't know what Christmas is, na no da?"
The sisters shook their heads.
"Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ," Zakuro explained gently from the counter, where she was setting up a Nativity set. "It is a season of giving and love, as God loved us and gave us His Son to come to die for our sins."
The aliens nodded, all now having a small grasp of understanding about the holiday.
"What do you do to celebrate Christmas?" Pie asked.
"Well, we give people presents, and we sing carols," Mint said.
"And make gingerbread houses," Keiichiro called from the kitchen, where he was working on cutting out gingerbread house pieces.
"And do a lot of eating," Masaya added. "Usually eating a lot of sweets."
"And we decorate our houses," Ichigo said from where she and Kish sat in the middle of a huge tangle of multi-colored lights. "We use lights, tinsel, ribbons, garlands, candles, strings of popcorn and a lot of other things."
"Yeah," Ryou said. "In a little bit, we'll bring in a tree and we'll put lights and ornaments on it."
"Like the big one in Odaiba?" Tart asked excitedly.
"Yep, just like the big one in Odaiba," Ichigo said. "We'll go get one after we close up for the day."
The aliens looked excited at the prospect of getting a Christmas tree.
"And also we write letters to Santa Claus, na no da!" Pudding added excitedly.
"Who is Santa Claus?" Rozū asked, her brow furrowed.
"Only the coolest old guy in the world, na no da!" Pudding said, throwing her arms up in the air in enthusiasm. "Every Christmas, we write a letter to Santa Claus, and on Christmas Eve, while everyone is asleep, he leaves the presents under the Christmas Tree, na no da!"
"How do we know if he has come?" Rozū asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
"Well, we know if there's presents, and if he's eaten the cookies and drank the milk left out for him, na no da," Pudding said. "And we also leave carrots for the reindeer, na no da."
"Reindeer?" Rozū asked, confused. "But there are no reindeer in Japan."
"Santa Claus travels around in this big flying red sleigh that is pulled by eight reindeer, na no da!" Pudding said. "Santa Claus travels all over the world, bringing presents for good girls and boys, na no da."
"Only the good ones?" Rozū asked, her head tilted.
"Uh huh," Pudding said, nodding her head vigorously. "The good ones get presents, but the naughty ones get only coal, na no da."
Rozū frowned and looked at the ground for a moment.
"Do you think I'll get coal?" She asked worriedly.
"Of course not, Rozū-Chan!" Pudding said, hugging her friend. "Rozū-Chan is nice all year, only being naughty once in a while, usually when Mylo deserves it, na no da! Rozū-Chan is probably at the top of Santa Claus's Nice List, na no da!"
Rozū smiled in reassurance.
"Pudding-Chan, will you help me write a letter to Santa Claus?" Rozū asked.
"Of course, na no da!" Pudding said, and the two girls ran upstairs.
By the time the decorating was finished, Rozū had come back downstairs, grinning widely with a letter addressed to the North Pole in her hand.
"We can mail it on our way to pick out the tree," Keiichiro told the excited Cyniclon girl, who was literally walking on air with anticipation.
After they were bundled up, they locked the doors and piled into Keiichiro and Zakuro's cars and headed for the tree farm, stopping briefly for an excited Rozū to put her letter to Santa Claus in the mailbox.
The Cyniclons could hardly sit still, they were so excited to be getting a tree.
"So, where do we get one?" Rirī asked as she jumped out of the backseat, looking around eagerly.
"Well, first we have to get a saw-" Keiichiro started, but was interrupted.
"What do we need a saw for?" Kish asked, his brow furrowed. The rest of his siblings looked just as confused.
"To cut down the tree, of course!" Mint said.
The humans watched as the Ikisatashi siblings' eyes widened with horror.
"WHAT!?" They all yelled at the same time.
Looking around they saw other people cutting down the trees, saws in hand, though many were now looking at the aliens in confusion over their simultaneous outburst.
"You… you cut them down?" Rozū asked with a bit of a squeak, tears in her eyes.
"Yes, but after they cut them down, they plant a new one," Masaya explained gently to the troubled girl.
This did nothing to appease the siblings, who still looked disturbed.
"You don't cut down trees on Cynnth, do you?" Ichigo asked, suddenly realizing what the problem was.
"We do, but only for firewood and building materials, and that is only rarely," Pie explained. "Only the leftover wood that cannot be used is made into items that serve neither purpose. Trees are still considered rare enough to remain untouched."
"Okay," Zakuro said with understanding. "Well, here it's different."
"Hey, wait a second, you three should know that," Mint said, looking at Pie, Tart and Kish. "You were here for Christmas before. You saw the big tree in Odaiba. Remember?"
The humans didn't think it was possible for their eyes to get wider.
"That one was cut down too?" Tart asked, shocked.
"You didn't know that?" Ryou asked, surprised.
"We thought that it was grown there overnight, like with what Tart can do with his powers," Kish said. He gazed sadly out over all the trees. "We really have to cut one down?"
"If we want a Christmas tree, then, yes, we do," Masaya said. At seeing the Cyniclons' ears droop in unison, he muttered, "And they call me a tree-hugger."
"Well, we don't have to cut down a tree," Lettuce said suddenly.
Everyone turned to her in confusion.
"What do you mean, na no da?" Pudding asked.
Lettuce told them what she had in mind. The Cyniclons' ears shot straight up and they all grinned, while her human friends glared.
And they were still glaring as they sat on the benches at the mall while Pie, Rin, Rirī, Kish, Tart and Rozū went crazy, trying to pick which artificial tree to take home to the Café.
"I like this one!" Rirī said about a white tree with pink lights.
"No, this one!" Rozū said, pointing at a tall one with multi-colored lights.
"This one!" Tart argued, pointing at the tallest tree.
"I like the blue lights," Pie said, his fingers carefully going over one of the glowing bulbs.
"Thanks a lot, Lettuce," Mint grumbled. Lettuce gave a sheepish smile.
"Don't be a scrooge, Mint," Ryou said with a sigh. "It wasn't a bad idea."
"Better for the environment," Zakuro said, like she was trying to convince herself that.
"Less hassle," Masaya said, slowly nodding with a frown.
"Don't have to water it, na no da," Pudding said with a sigh.
"Don't need to put lights on it," Keiichiro said.
Ichigo scowled.
"You mean to say that Kish and I spent all morning getting those lights untangled for nothing?" She asked
"Looks like it," Ryou said, his arms folded over his chest.
Ichigo sighed. But then she smiled as she watched the six siblings' eyes and grins broaden as they finally agreed on a tree.
"May not be what we usually do," She said. "But I guess it's worth it."
The other Mews and humans grinned as well as they were excitedly dragged over to see the tree.
No one could deny that the tree was perfect.
So what if it wasn't real? It didn't matter. What mattered was that they were all together to celebrate Christmas.
And, somehow, they all knew that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.