Decorating a Tree
- I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Seto Kaiba hadn't decorated a Christmas tree in years.
The last time had been the Christmas before Mokuba was born. Seto was five and his mother had only just discovered she was pregnant. Everyone had been happy in their household, the promise of a new life and Christmas cheer filled the house. His mother had smiled all the time as she fluttered around making a ginger bread house that Seto helped to ice and decorate with lollies. In the weeks leading up to Christmas the house had been full of the warm smells of home baked food. His father had joked constantly, frequently kissed his wife lovingly and played with Seto every day after work, sometimes even bringing home a little gift for his soon to be oldest son.
The small family hadn't had a real pine tree, just a plastic one that stood about a metre tall; much taller than Seto though. The first day of December had seen his father dragging the boxes containing the tree and the decorations down from the attic before he ducked off to work. Seto's mother had started up the new CD player and had put on one of Christmas Carols. She had sung along in her soft soprano as she flitted around the tree placing baubles here and there and hanging the sparkling decorations that Seto passed her. He couldn't decorate much of the tree him instead contenting himself with nibbling on a gingerbread Santa. When his daddy came home however Seto's mother handed him an angel in a white silky dress with soft wings and his dad lifted him to place the pretty angel atop the highest point of the tree, watching the happy family.
After his wife died, Seto's father hadn't bothered with a tree; he had barely bothered with Christmas. Seto's mother had always been the soul of the family's Christmas, there was no baking that year, no carols, no smiling woman letting her sons help her decorate the small tree. There had been presents and a dinner away from home with other family. Little changed in the five years the brothers had with their father. Seto hadn't bothered with a tree either, all he had done was to take the angel he had held when his family was happy and placed it on the window sill of the room he shared with Mokuba. Seto liked to think it looked over them, just as their mother had.
In the two years that the brothers lived at the orphanage they had barely tried to join in with the communal celebrations. The younger children who hadn't lost faith in the happiest time of the year decorated the ratty tree the workers carried down from the attic with equally dilapidated ornaments. The tinsel was more of confetti with the frequency at which it fell apart. The only promising parts of the tree were the prettily wrapped presents that lay hid beneath the tree. The gifts were always extravagant and donated by the wealthy that needed to feel as if they had done their good deed for the yuletide season. However wonderful the gifts were in a place like the orphanage they were easily ruined within months at longest. The only true celebration the brothers made was to place their little angel, still in pristine condition on their window sill so their mother could find them when they were so far away from their home.
Gozaburo had thought Christmas was a waste of time as it required him to take a break from his work; even so he always made an event of the holiday. There were the parties with the trees that brushed the ceilings of the grand halls they occupied and at the Kaiba house itself a real pine tree that sat in the corner of the living room. It almost brought a homely touch to the house. The tree was always twinkling with tinsel and glistening with decorations. The baubles even displayed the Kaiba Corp logo. Fairy lights were hung on the walls behind the tree but as perfect as the scene was, the two brothers didn't get to decorate the tree themselves. No, the decorating was left to a group of professionals, the same ones Gozaburo hired to decorate the trees around the office and at his parties. There was no room on the tree for the old angel that Seto instead placed on his window sill.
Mokuba had an easy life and in the three years the two boys lived with their adopted father he would sit and watch the lights flicker different colours, Seto could care less. The tree was just like every other one of Gozaburo's expenses for the boys was a show of false care and devotion. Christmas mornings were carefully staged, the brothers had been allowed downstairs at seven o'clock; Mokuba in his pyjamas and Seto fully dressed, it was Mokuba's job to look cute. Once down in the room they would open the gifts passed to them by a Santa hat wearing Gozaburo whilst the invited paparazzi snapped photos of the deeply 'personal' moment.
Mokuba's face had always lit up as brightly as the flashes from the cameras as he opened his presents. The shower of material items certainly looked like love especially when it was printed on glossy paper the very next day with captions of the two boys sitting in front of the 'home decorated' tree.
This first year of being free however had Seto nervous. Mokuba had insisted on having a Christmas tree that he could decorate for the very first time in his life, he also insisted on having his older brother join him in the tradition. Seto was unable to deny his brother such a simple request. Compared to the other requests Mokuba had made this was relatively easy. Mokuba had begged him to take two weeks away from the company, the one week between Christmas and New Year's Day was acceptable but two weeks was not. Nor was this request as unreasonable as what had been on Mokuba's list of presents from Seto (he had long since stopped believing in Santa Claus), he had wanted a quad bike which Seto would not be getting him due to the dangers involved. This request would take only around one hour of Seto's time and didn't involve a great deal of danger.
Mokuba grinned when his brother walked into their family room where Mokuba had decided the tree would be. The younger brother had handled all the details of the tree decorating including finding the tree and the decorations. The tree was just a plastic one that stood about a metre tall. Surrounding Mokuba were boxes full of decorations. He pressed a button and Christmas Carols began to play softly through the stereo which Mokuba began to sing along to. It was enough to make Seto smile for the first time in months.
The finished tree stood proudly in the corner, it didn't fill the entire room and it wasn't created to be showcased to the media. It was a family effort ordained in baubles, glittering with tinsel and twinkling with glass ornaments. Seto handed Mokuba their old angel, still in her perfect silky dress with her feathery wings. She had been with them through all their lives and now she could once more sit in her rightful place atop the family tree. The smell of some home baking Mokuba had tried began to waft through the house.
Mokuba was taller than a metre but Seto picked him up anyway, both brothers smiling as the younger placed their angel on their tree, letting watching them from above.
Thank you for reading. This idea just popped into my head and I couldn't get it out, besides who doesn't love a little Kaiba family love.