A little Christmasy thing. Merry Christmas everyone!
Barnaby loved Christmas, like any other child.
Christmas was beautiful, overflowing with positive feelings, everyone around him was smiling and everything was shining brightly.
Christmas made him happy.
Visiting the big tree in the center of Sternbild, walking around the booths and ice skating with his family, everything made him happy. He already knew he would always remember and treasure these moments spent together, not doing anything particular, just walking, him between his two parents and holding hands with them both, or perched on his father's shoulders, able to look at everything around, able to see them holding hands with each other, fingers interwined, because that's how people who love each other do they explained to him.
Even when his parents were busy with their work they would always take a few hours to decorate the tree with him and Samantha. Every year his father would take him in his arms and sweep him up to put the star at the top. For some reasons it would never stand straight and everyone would laugh. It was frustrating and he would pout, his light frown quickly disapearing with a flick of his father's fingers on his forehead and the women smiling at them. That smile soon transforming into laughter as Barnaby Senior would fail to straighten up the star with his only free hand.
His mother would say "Leave it like that, it'll serve as a proof that the men of this family are useless"
"We're not useless!" They would answer in unison, and everyone would start laughing again, happy to be in this family, happy to be able to spend days like that together.
After the tree Samantha would always make hot chocolate and they would sit around the fireplace, watching the fire burning down, sometimes spending glances at the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of snow falling down from the sky.
Everything was already dark outside but it didn't matter because inside everything was warm.
Their Christmas Eve was always peaceful, just the four of them at home, eating Samantha's delicious food, just a bit more fancy than usual. What he liked the best were the desserts, Samantha's log roll being the best he has ever tasted even to these days. They would eat as much as they could, joking, telling Christmas stories, singing. His mother had a really pretty singing voice, but he couldn't remember the songs she taught him that well anymore.
He smiled as he remembered feeling asleep, his head resting on the table, knowing when he awoke in his bed that his father had carried him there. He stood up quickly, walking as quietly as he could to the living room, firmly set on waiting for Santa Claus. He had slept already, he could last until morning if he wanted, he just hoped he didn't miss him. For long he stared at the feeble flames dancing in the fireplace and before he knew it he was asleep on the couch again.
When dawn came to wake him up the gifts were already there and a warm blanket was on him. He missed Santa. Frustration lasted only for a second before he shrugged it of. He could still catch Santa next year.
Next year, Santa never came.
If he had to compare everything he had then and what he had now he couldn't, it would be unfair to everyone, things now and then were different.
The tree wasn't a real one, just a regular plastic tree that Kotetsu had picked up at random one day, claiming that Christmas without a tree was not Christmas, Barnaby told him there was no need for Christmas spirit in a gym but when Kotetsu promised it'll make him work out harder, he really couldn't say no anymore. He didn't dare say a thing about the decorations either, mostly things that were laying around, papers made into origami ornaments by Ivan, Karina making ice decorations (he didn't even know why she'd bother since they'd melt shortly anyway), Fire Emblem putting in feathers (red of course "for a fiery Christmas"), Antonio surprisingly bringing in little stars he claimed to have sewed himself, Keith putting flowers on it, Pao-Lin adding some gifts from her family, as for Kotetsu, he tried covering the tree with his cards ("But Bunny I have too many of them, I don't know what to do anymore".
He didn't really want to, honestly, but it would appear he had been contaminated by his fellow heroes' Christmas spirit and found himself bringing the old star from his home. He didn't even realize he had kept it until Kotetsu asked him to contribute something, and, as he tried to put it on the tree he realized it would still not stand straight, no matter how much he grew up.
He frowned, then smiled when he heard Kotetsu starting to laugh, just like his parents did back in the days.
Suddenly there was warmth at his side and a hand next to his, helping to straighten up the star, telling him, "You're useless little Bunny"
"I'm not useless and I'm not Bunny", he said softly as a huge smile was forming on his lips.
He couldn't compare what he had now and what he had lost, but he didn't even want to compare anymore. For the first time in more than twenty years, surrounded by his friends, he was happy on Christmas Eve.