How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Lelouch Lamperouge was never a big fan of Christmas. What was the big deal about some fat man in a red suit and white beard supposedly sneaking into everyone's house in the middle of the night? He didn't put much mind to the whole matter. He wouldn't have bothered to put up a tree or any decorations if it weren't for Nunnally. Nunnally loved Christmas and every year-Lelouch gave her what she wanted just to make her happy. This year, Nunnally wanted to spend Christmas along with Suzaku as well, saying as how they hadn't in a long time. And as always, Lelouch gave his sister what she wanted, even if it meant inviting Zero's mortal enemy to spend a 'wonderful' Christmas Eve and morning with them.
When Lelouch asked aif he could spend Christmas morning with him and Nunnally, Suzaku quickly agreed. As soon as Suzaku was able to leave the military base, he made his way to Lelouch and Nunnally's house. He was surprised to see the many Christmas lights and decorations that adorned the exterior of the house. It was like a winter wonderland. Lelouch had really outdone himself, considering he knew Lelouch didn't care much for the holiday itself. After knocking on the door at least three times, Lelouch finally opened.
"Welcome Suzaku. I'm glad you made it", he greeted.
"Wouldn't have missed being here no matter what" laughed Suzaku.
"Come in, Nunnally's in the living room waiting for you" said Lelouch as he stepped aside to let Suzaku pass. As Suzaku walked into the house, he noticed all of the many different Christmas decorations adorning the house. The inside of the house was probably like what the insides of a gingerbread house looked like.
Hanging his coat, he made his way to the living room where Lelouch had already made it back with Nunnally. To the corner of the living room stood the largest Christmas tree Suzaku had ever seen inside a house. How'd Lelouch get that inside the house? Decorating must have taken forever.
As soon as Nunnally heard him come in, she turned in his direction and smiled, "Hello Suzaku."
Gently taking her hand in his, he responded, "Hi Nunnally. It's good to see you again"
"Yes," agreed Nunnally. "We haven't spent Christmas together in a long time so I'm really happy that your here. Now all three of us are together again-just like back then" she smiled.
"Speaking of back then, you've really come a long way Lelouch. You've worked wonders here considering how indifferent you were about Christmas back then." mused Suzaku.
"Well, I just do what I can to keep Nunnally happy" replied Lelouch.
"Yeah, just make sure you don't let the Grinch steal all the presents again" joked Suzaku.
Lelouch glared at Suzaku. "Very funny Suzaku, that prank of yours was not funny at all"
"Yeah, your right, cause you almost cried remember?" teased Suzaku.
Lelouch's face immediately fired up. "I wasn't going to cry!"
Nunnally giggled then said," I remember that, but I didn't know that you almost cried, Lelouch"
"Any kid who believes the Grinch stole their presents would cry" replied Suzaku.
"I already said that I wasn't going to cry! I was just... just...sad for Nunnally" retorted Lelouch.
Suzaku leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. "I remember as if it was yesterday..."
~.~
Seven years ago, during the first couple days of December, Suzaku had gone to visit Lelouch and Nunnally in their little shed. Upon entering, he noticed something. No Christmas decorations.
"What? No Christmas tree?" asked Suzaku.
Lelouch looked over at Suzaku. "What? Did you expect one to fall out of the sky or something?" asked Lelouch. We've only been in Japan for a little while and you expect us to have a Christmas tree?
"No...I just thought that you'd be getting ready for Christmas"
"I don't have time for such a pointless holiday"
"Pointless? Christmas is not a pointless holiday! Christmas is about spreading joy and being thankful for everything!"
"That's Thanksgiving"
"Same thing! It's still about the joy of giving and coming together as a family!"
"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Suzaku"
Suzaku pouted and then turned towards Nunnally, "What about you Nunnally? Don't you like Christmas?"
"Yes! It's so much fun!" replied a cheery Nunnally. "I remember when Mother, Lelouch, and I would gather around the Christmas tree together on Christmas eve and sing songs all night..."her voice began to trail off.
Lelouch glared at Suzaku who had just realized that Nunnally would never be able to do that again with her mother.
"I'm sorry Nunnally! I didn't mean to upset you..."
"No, it's ok Suzaku." and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's just that, this will be our first Christmas away from home...without mother"
Lelouch held Nunnally's hands in his. "It's ok Nunnally..."
Now Suzaku just felt worse. He didn't mean to make Nunnally sad. He just wanted them to have a fun Christmas...in which, they still could.
"Lelouch! Can you come here a sec?" asked Suzaku while beckoning him to come closer.
After giving it some thought, Lelouch obeyed. "What?"
"Let's make this the best Christmas Nunnally has ever had!"
"Um...havent you realized -"
"Dont you want to make Nunnally happy?" interrupted Suzaku. "Her idea of a good Christmas is spending it with you and your mom, in which is NOT a bad thing, just that, I thought, maybe we can give her a really good Christmas she can also think about when remembering it. Or do you want her to get sad every time she thinks of Christmas?"
"I don't know" Lelouch seemed lost in thought "What can we do anyway?"
"Well, for starters, let's get a Christmas tree. Its traditional y'know. Let's just do what we can for Nunnally"
Lelouch glanced over at Nunnally. Thinking about it, he really didn't want Nunnally's first Christmas away from home spent with her thinking about how it could have been if their mother had been alive and if they were home in Britannia. He wanted to make Nunnally happy.
"Ok. Let's do it"
~.~
It was hideous. The ugliest tree Lelouch had ever seen. It was scrawny, dead, and hardly had any leaves. And to top it off, it wasn't even the kind of tree a Christmas tree was supposed to be! It was just some regular old tree he and Suzaku had found. They couldn't find any better tree that they could carry. They were all huge and looked extremely heavy, except for the ugliest one. Yippee
Suzaku was grinning widely as he observed the tree that was now placed to the corner of their little shed.
What's he smiling about? It's horrendous! wondered Lelouch.
"With a little love and care, it would be ready in no time!" smiled Suzaku.
"No way! Nothing can save that horrendous tree!"said Lelouch.
"Why do you always have to be so negative?"asked Suzaku.
Just then, Nunnally wheeled over to where she heard their voices. "Were you able to find a tree? How is it?" she asked.
Simultaneously, Lelouch and Suzaku replied "Wonderful!"
Suzaku then gave Lelouch a look that said, 'You weren't saying that a second ago'.
"With some lights and Christmas decorations, it would be perfect" said Lelouch.
"Yay! I'm so glad" smiled Nunnally.
In no time, Lelouch, Suzaku, and Nunnally were able to get the tree decorated. They also added a few Christmas decorations around the shed.
"There" said Suzaku when they finished. "Now we just need presents to put under the tree! I'll be right back!" and ran off back to his house. A couple minutes later, he returned with a bag. Pulling out four, wrapped gift boxes, he put them under the tree.
"I did some early Christmas shopping! There are two of 'em for each of you! Hope you like them." he smiled.
"Thank you so much, Suzaku!" said Nunnally.
"Yeah, thanks Suzaku." said Lelouch.
"No problem! You're both my friends!"
"Hey Suzaku, do you think you can get me some wrapping paper?" asked Lelouch. "So that we can wrap some gifts too, when we get them, of-course."
"Sure!" replied a cheery Suzaku. "Y'know, with a nice tree full of presents like that, you half-expect the Grinch to show up"
"The Grinch?" asked Lelouch.
"What's that?" asked Nunnally.
"You guys don't know who the Grinch is?" Suzaku asked smirking. "The Grinch is an evil troll who hates Christmas"
"A troll?" asked Lelouch. "Those aren't real"
"Oh yes they are, cause the Grinch is real! He hates Christmas so much, that one time, he decided to steal all the presents on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas morning, there would be no presents and everyone would be sad"
"But why would he hate Christmas so much?" asked Nunnally. "And why would he want everyone to be sad?"
"Because he has a teeny, tiny heart and is really mean. He can't stand all the Christmas carols and the thought of everyone being happy." replied Suzaku.
"So what happened?" asked Lelouch. "With that one time he stole the presets and stuff I mean"
"One little girl saw him stealing all of the presents and followed him when he was trying to escape. He was going to the top of a huge mountain so that he could throw the presents over and be done with Christmas. She tried to convince him not to do it and told him that either way, just because they didn't have presents, Christmas would still come full of joy."
"Yeah sure, because Christmas isn't about presents or receiving, it's about giving and spreading joy to the world, right?" asked Lelouch sarcastically.
"So was she able to convince the Grinch not to do it?" asked Nunnally.
"Y'know what? I'm gonna let you guys decide that. How do you think the story ends, Nunnally?" asked Suzaku.
"Um, I hope that the little girl can convince the Grinch not to throw the presents over and return them to everyone so that everybody can have a happy Christmas morning!" replied Nunnally.
"And you Lelouch?" asked Suzaku.
"Well, he could maybe throw the presents over and when Christmas morning comes, realize that everybody was able to overcome their disappointment of their waste of money on destroyed presents and abnormally come together to sing a joyous Christmas song" replied Leouch half sarcastically.
"Jeez, I don't know if that's a happy ending or what" said Suzaku. "But, I'm not gonna tell you guys till Christmas morning. It's gonna be another present from me."
~.~
It was Christmas Eve. After spending the evening with Suzaku, Lelouch and Nunnally went to sleep after Suzaku went home. During the night, Lelouch was awakened by a strange noise. Not moving an inch but opening his eyes, he quietly listened to what sounded as if someone was in the shed. Getting up, he quietly made his way to see who it was. He didn't want to be seen. What if it was a dangerous burglar? Or worse, someone who knew who they really were and wanted to hurt them? Peeking around the corner, he was surprised to see an incredibly short person, possibly a kid, but he wore a large coat over himself. He was by the tree, doing something, Lelouch couldn't tell what exactly. The 'short person' then turned around and made his way out, not noticing Lelouch. If Lelouch was seeing correctly, the person had green skin! He rubbed his eyes and blinked trying to make sure that what he saw real. After he made sure the 'green, short person' was gone, he made his way over to the tree. The presents were gone!
"What? He stole our presents?"
The next morning, Suzaku made his way down to Nunnally and Lelouch's shed. Upon arriving, he saw Nunnally seated in her wheelchair by the tree and Lelouch seated on the ground by the tree as well. They seemed to have been waiting for him for as soon as he came in, Lelouch got up.
"Suzaku! Some burglar came last night and stole our presents!" explained Lelouch.
"What? Seriously?" asked Suzaku and looked at the tree and surely enough, no presents. He then noticed that Lelouch as staring at him.
"Suzaku...why is your face green?" asked Lelouch.
"Huh? um..."
"And your hands too! Why are you green?"
"Well you see, yesterday night I was helping my dad paint his car green and um, it kind of POPPED on me, y'know? The spray paint POPPED and it sprayed all over me so...yeah..." he finished lamely.
Lelouch just stared at him. Not believing him at all but decided to just let it be. He had other things to worry about right now, like their stolen presents.
"Ok, fine, whatever. What should we do now? Our presents are stolen and I can't think of a single person who would have a sane reason to steal them!" said Lelouch.
"Could it have been the Grinch?" asked Nunnally.
"The Grinch?" asked Lelouch.
"The Grinch!" cried Suzaku. "Of-course it was him!"
"The Grinch isn't real!"cried Lelouch.
"Yes he is Lelouch! How would you explain the stolen presents?" asked Suzaku.
"I-I don't know! None of this makes sense."
"C'mon, let's see if we can find him. Maybe he didn't get far. Wait here for us, ok Nunnally?" asked Suzaku.
"Ok, please be careful" said Nunnally.
With that, Lelouch and Suzaku set out to see if they could find the Grinch. They searched high and low but couldn't find any clues at all. After what must have been at least two hours searching, Lelouch gave up.
Before making it back to their shed, Lelouch sat down on the ground looking completely defeated.
"You ok Lelouch?" asked Suzaku.
"No I'm not ok. I'm a failure. I ruined Christmas for Nunnally!" replied Lelouch.
"What? No you didn't. You weren't the one who stole the gifts y'know"
"I know but I still let it happen." Tears started forming in his eyes."I just wanted Nunnally to have a happy Christmas and I failed!"
"No you didn't Lelouch. Weren't you the one who said that Christmas isn't all about the gifts?"
Lelouch looked up at Suzaku with teary amethyst eyes.
"You and Nunnally still have each other, isn't that most important? And you know what? You guys will always have me too" said Suzaku with a comforting smile.
"Yeah, your right, thanks" said Lelouch while wiping his eyes.
"C'mon, let's get back to Nunnally. I'm sure she's probably worried about us" said Suzaku while offering his hand to Lelouch.
Taking Suzaku's hand, Lelouch asked, "Suzaku, can I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"What color is the Grinch?"
Suzaku froze.
"Suzaku, he wouldn't be green now, would he?"
"Um...actually yeah" said Suzaku with a shy smile.
"It was you wasn't it? You're the Grinch!" cried Lelouch while tackling Suzaku to the ground.
Suzaku burst out laughing.
"Yeah! You should have seen your face! Priceless!" laughed Suzaku.
"Suzaku!" cried Lelouch.
"It's just, you weren't taking me seriously at all! You were being all sarcastic and stuff so I just wanted to prove that you actually did believe me. You believed the Grinch stole your Christmas!" taunted Suzaku.
"So you spray painted yourself green and stole our presents just so that you could see if I believed you?"
"Well sort of, I just wanted to have fun. The presents are safe I promise and I was planning on telling you and Nunnally sooner or later" he giggled.
"Speaking of Nunnally, c'mon. I'm sure she'd like to know who the mastermind behind all of this was" said Lelouch while getting up and offering his hand to Suzaku.
As Suzaku took his hand, Lelouch muttered a small, "Thank You."
Nunnally thought the whole thing was funny. Suzaku was the 'short, green person' her brother had told her about. In the end, that Christmas really was one of the best they'd ever had.
~.~
"That really was fun, wasn't it?" asked Nunnally.
"The best part was when Suzaku was green for weeks after that" laughed Lelouch.
"Oh yeah. The green paint just wouldn't come off. It was sorta like payback, huh?" said Suzaku.
"Whenever I think of Christmas, that one always makes me smile. Thank you, both of you" said Nunnally.
"Well, at least we accomplished what we really wanted..." said Lelouch.
Although Lelouch didn't care much for Christmas, Nunnally loved it. And since she loved Christmas so much, Lelouch gave her what she wanted...
Just like that year and every year...
Just to make Nunnally happy.