Sleigh Bells Ring
Mav's comments: I wrote this especially for my secret santa-ee at SESA for the Saint Seiya Secret Santa 2007 fanfic exchange but I forgot to submit this to FFN after names were revealed in January 2008.
For Muinteor, may the holidays be bright and cheery for you and light up some cosmos for next year! I was going to add in your fic, Saori giving you her staff, but that wasn't what you requestedXD But please grab a hot cup of cocoa and enjoy my secret santa fic for you^o^
On December the 23rd
…
The snow covered the whole Kido mansion quite nicely. It appeared thick like frosting. If Saori ever ordered her servants to put gumdrops on the roof, you'd have thought it was the fanciest gingerbread mansion on the block.
But of course, giant plastic gumdrops were too silly for Saori's taste.
"So, remind me again why I'm here? Heck, somebody tell me why I'm a reindeer!!!" exclaimed the Russian blond.
Hyoga, the Saint of Cygnus, wasn't wearing his manly Cloth. Except for the reindeer hoodie with antlers that he threw back, he was sporting a nice body of velvet brown in the shape of Santa's horsepower.
I mean reindeerpower.
Shun shook his green hair as he removed his reindeer hoodie. "It's for a good cause. C'mon Hyoga, it's not that bad."
"NOT THAT BAD?!! Shun, its kindergarten all over again! We've become her slaves!" raved Seiya, as he threw Rudolph's red nose onto the floor.
Shiryu bent down to pick up the red nose, his long black hair lightly touching on the snow. He sighed as he looked at his reflection on the red nose.
A few months have passed since the Galactic Tournament began. Last month, Seiya had just rescued Saori after she was abducted by a silver saint's ravens. But she returned the favor when she used her cosmos to scare away Shaina.
Looking out her tall glass windows, she peered down at the Bronze saints standing around the water fountain in front of the mansion. She lifted her hand to move away her locks of hair, but remembered she had tied back her purple hair. Smiling, she watched Seiya jump onto Shiryu, sending them both into the snow. Shun and Hyoga immediately stock-piled onto them.
"Hahahaha!" laughed Saori, as she collapsed onto her highback chair. With her hand, she tried to stifle the laughter but flashes of purple-faced Seiya and Shiryu danced in her head. They certainly had the wind knocked out of them.
"Is something funny Saori-sama?" asked Tatsumi, as he brought a maid with him. The maid, who was also wearing a red outfit with white frills, set down tea for her.
Saori calmed down and adjusted her long, red velvet dress. Taking a sip, she bid the maid thank you. Turning to Tatsumi, she ordered, "Please go and tell Seiya and the others that their charity work for today is over. They're free to go."
Tatsumi, being the grinch that he is, suggested some more, er, costume-wearing charity events they could go to. Saori giggled but shook her head.
"It's alright. I'm sure Seiya is being a grumpy Rudolph by now."
Down below, Seiya caught a glimpse of Saori's dress whipping out of sight. The young Pegasus scratched his head.
Hyoga was giving Shun a noogie on the head but stopped as he saw how quiet Seiya had become. "Hey Seiya, what're you staring at?"
Shun eased himself away from under Hyoga's arms. His green eyes watched his unusually quiet friend.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Let's just go inside. I'm really hungry," said Seiya, his stomach making agreeing sounds.
The others laughed. It was typical Seiya again.
As they settled down for hot cocoa with whipped cream, Seiya, unbeknownst to the others, was staring off to the side.
Shiryu, who was watching Seiya for some time, came over and put a warm hand on his shoulder. "It's pretty snowy outside isn't it?"
Seiya's coffee fumbled in his hands as he tried to keep the cup from falling. With a huge sigh of relief, he asked, "Aw, Shiryu, I almost dropped my coffee! Don't sneak up on me like that, jeez."
"Seiya, you look like you've been thinking hard about something," chipped in Shun with a worried look.
"Yeah, which is definitely unusual for you," added Hyoga, although he too, was wondering about his friend.
They watched as Seiya's brown eyes looked off once more into the darkening sky. He turned to his comrades with a big smile on his face, "Let's have a party for Saori!!!"
"SAY WHAT?!!"
On December the 24th
…
In the darkened living room, sounds of muffled voices and movements were heard. Outside its' double doors, Saori was being led blind-folded by an excited Seiya. From within, we can barely make out Hyoga's voice.
"Does this pants make my butt look fat?" Following suit, we also hear a sharp knock and a loud, "Ow!" As if someone's head was just hit.
"Heehee, Seiya, really now! What do you want to show me?" giggled Saori, trying to suppress her laughter.
"You'll see," said Seiya as he pressed both hands against the door.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS SAORI-SAMA!!!!!!!" cheered Shiryu, Hyoga, Shun, and a rather glowering Ikki.
As Saori's blindfold came off, her eyes widened at the tall Christmas tree. As she walked closer, mesmerized by the yellow, red, and green ornaments, she realized just how much she missed spending it with the other orphans. And also how many Christmases she spent alone after they were shipped off to train.
"Saori?" asked Seiya quietly.
They watched as Saori wiped away her tears, her back towards them.
"I-" began Saori as she turned around, a surprised look came over her.
A beautiful red sleigh was pointed towards the French doors, adorned with soft cushions and bells… right in the middle of her living room. She blinked a few times before turning her eyes towards them for an explanation.
"Saori-san, we thought you'd like a sleigh ride through the snow tonight. It's a little weird I'm sure, to see a sleigh here but Santa Hyoga ran it over here from Jacob's, so it didn't cost anything. We've even dressed up as elves too. And just to let you know, this was Seiya's idea," explained Shiryu, chuckling at the 'don't-tell-her' look Seiya was giving him over her shoulder.
"Yeah, well, it's Christmas and all. The Galactic Tournament's over and we're here together. So… so I guess we have you to thank for that."
For the first time in a long time, a grateful smile crossed Saori's face. Seiya began scratching his head and looked away.
"And Seiya is going to be escorting you on the sleigh ride," spoke up Shun to break the awkward silence.
"WHY ME?!!"
"Stop complaining and do it Seiya," ordered Hyoga as he shoved the Pegasus Saint into the sleigh. Ikki smirked. Shun offered a hand to Saori and led her to the sleigh.
"Ready? 1, 2, 3, GO!!" yelled Seiya, getting excited over his first sleigh ride. Ikki, Hyoga, Shiryu, and Shun pushed the sleigh with enough strength to make it run at 30 mph.
"YAA-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Seiya, lying back with his hands thrown up in the air. Saori laughed by his side, her purple hair whipped back. They went on like that for almost an hour through her backyard (acres man!). The bells tinkling merrily away.
As the sleigh began slowing down, they were both gasping for breath. Finally, their ride came to a complete stop before the garden's waterfall. The water was completely frozen, with the fountain in an icy arch.
"Whew! Wasn't that awesome?" exclaimed Seiya, turning to Saori.
"Yes it was! It was great," said Saori. They both watched the stars in silence until Saori spoke up.
"Seiya, I… I thought you hated me."
At first, Seiya seemed to stay still. Then he looked up at the majestic black sky and said, "I did," and Saori's eyes were cast down. "But earlier I realized that you were sad. And that you were holding it in. I guess I can see that you've changed too. So, even though we couldn't take back the whole Sagittarius cloth, you still worried about us. And well, you did bring us back together!"
Saori smiled gratefully at Seiya. And once again, Seiya looked away.
"Don't sit up so straight Saori, just relax. I'm here," said Seiya, putting his arm around her small shoulders and easing her back against him.
"Merry Christmas Seiya."
The winter twilight melted away into a lighter sky. And then it was Christmas Day.
The End
EXTRA: Just made a few superficial changes from the original I submitted to SESA. Merry Christmas! I know that times are hard and my family has also suffered from the hurricane and recession. But that didn't stop me from donating money to those poor people who really need it. So please, if there's anything you can give, give. 'Tis the season=)