Christmas Day

So, to put it bluntly, the snow cone machine has gone haywire and this awful, white fluff that is actually cold is blowing everywhere and I'm pretty sure that I'm about to die of hypothermia. The scratched vinyl sounds nothing like the smooth Frank Sinatra that Demyx said it would be (man, fuck that guy) and a hell of a lot more like the satanic screeching of a drunken Sora. All of the food that I had spent all night making has somehow found its way onto the carpet (and I can already tell that Eraqus is going to make me clean it up—dammit) and the Siberian Husky pups are running around like crazy and I'm vaguely concerned that one of them is going to accidentally jump into the fireplace.

I hear the loud hiss of the flames and turn just in time to see the Christmas tree fall to the ground, quickly catching fire and spreading to the gifts that I had placed underneath its boughs.

I feel like I'm about to faint.

Behind all of the chaos, I see Vanitas dressed in an over-sized Santa outfit, running away while screaming, "I didn't do it!"

And of course, because my luck is absolutely awful, Terra and Aqua choose that exact moment to appear. Their eyes are wide with alarm as they attempt to take in the scene before them and, slowly—ever so slowly—they bring their attention to me and that's when I realize that screw fainting, right now, I just want to die.

"Ven...tus?"

o o o

Alright, alright, alright. I know what you're probably thinking: what's going on?

I've never been good at telling stories, but this one? Man, this one is going to make me famous. Me, Ventus, everybody's little brother, finally ascending into the independence of adulthood. This is a story about coming of age, being completely selfless, and of course, spreading Christmas cheer.

Well, sort of.

I guess I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let's start this from the beginning.

One week ago…

"Remind me why we're friends again?"

Vanitas is glaring at me from the driver's seat as I continue to fidget with the bundle of wool in my lap and I have no real choice but to shoot him a joyous smile in a lame attempt to alleviate the tension between us. "We're friends because you love me."

He can only sneer at me in response before making a sharp turn that doesn't fail to remind me that I should probably put on my seatbelt. "You have me up at six in the morning so that you can go to a stupid knitting class. Ventus, I want you to understand that I designed my college schedule specifically so that I wouldn't have to wake up until eleven in the morning."

"Yes, but even then, you choose not to go to any of your classes and have to rely on the notes that I give you to keep your GPA up."

"Right, so that's why we're friends."

"I like to imagine that being the only person willing to put up with you for the past nineteen years would have something to do with it as well, but I guess you're right, Van. Whatever floats your boat."

The brunet beside me grumbles a couple of angry curses before choosing to slam on the brakes and throwing me into the windshield. I shoot him a glare while he snickers at my misfortune, faking an innocent shrug. "Should've gotten your own license, Ventus. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if you didn't choose to rely on other people every waking moment of your life."

"Hey!" I frown, unamused by his jab at me. "I'm being independent right now aren't I? Aqua and Terra are always teasing me for being a baby, but I'm an adult now, right?"

"Wrong."

"When they see that I got them both a really original gift instead of just one for them to share as a couple, they're going to be super impressed."

"It'll be more of a concern for your disregard of basic instructions."

"Then they won't feel obligated to hold my hand everywhere or call me every night or give me those stupid hugs."

Vanitas manages to perfectly parallel park between two cars on his first try (which is incredibly unrealistic, my goodness) before turning to look at me with incredulity flashing in his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Ventus. We both know that you're secretly in love with those Ven Sandwiches."

I fight the blush that threatens to appear at the sound of that dumb nickname and shoot him the most venomous glare I can muster. "S-Shut up, Van, you're being stupid."

"Is that really the best comeback you can think of?" he drawls teasingly. "That's pathetic."

I make sure that my wool, knitting supplies, and works-in-progress are adequately stuffed into the vinyl bag at my feet before slamming the door shut behind me. As I turn to the community center located roughly an hour and a half away from my university, the last thing I hear is Vanitas' mocking laughter from inside his BMW.

Not wanting him to have the last laugh, I offer him a raised middle finger, then trudge into the slightly rundown building.

We've yet to have our first snow of the season, but everyone is clad in thick sweaters and padded boots to avoid slipping on the frost outside. The senior citizens who run the knitting class look up as I enter, smiles immediately widening as they greet me with joyous welcomes. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather flutter towards me in order to dote, pulling on my cheeks and commenting on my weight.

I guess you could say that I'm a lady's man.

"Ventus, dearie! We were waiting for you before starting today's workshop!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! My friend was in a bad mood this morning, so it was a little difficult to convince him to drive me," I admit sheepishly. "Thank you so much for waiting though!"

They coo at my words and part of me wonders why I'm unable to elicit this reaction from women my own age.

"Anything for you, sweetheart. It's so kind of you to drive all this way just so that you can give your friends handmade gifts!"

Part of me feels the sudden urge to state that this is the closest place that offers free knitting lessons, but I feel like that'll make me look like an asshole, so I choose to hold my tongue.

"I've actually been working on my first sweater back at my dorm!" Eyes in the room widen. "I figured that I had picked up most of the basics already, and you guys did say that the first sweater always takes the longest!" I think someone mumbles a flustered curse. "Since I need to knit two, I figured that I should do whatever I could to speed up the process a bit." The women are looking back and forth at each other with this unknown discomfort that I don't quite understand.

"O-Oh, I see! Well, do show us what you've done."

I grin widely at them, still oblivious to the hidden meaning behind their reactions, and pull out a large green bundle of wool, holding it in front of me with pride.

Fauna faints.

"Oh dear…"

The grin on my features quickly turns to a frown when I realize that I'm not quite sure what the issue is. I angle the sweater so that I can look at it appropriately: this one was made for Terra and features his favorite Christmas movie, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

Oh, was that the issue?

I quickly blush, realizing that I had probably offended the three women. My lips part to usher a rushed—but heartfelt!—apology, but I'm quickly cut off by Merryweather.

"That looks like it can fit three people—maybe four!"

"We were trying so hard to make sure you wouldn't mess up!"

"Oh no, oh no, there's absolutely no fixing this one!"

It takes a moment for me to truly figure out the situation.

When I do, it feels like I've just been punched in the gut, but instead of the air being knocked out of me, it's all of my hopes and dreams for a big thumb's up from Terra's.

"I-I thought that it would be better to make the sweater bigger rather than smaller, so I—"

"We'll have to scrap it." Flora interjects, much to my shock.

Merryweather is quick to agree. "Oh yes, oh yes, that's the only thing we can do!"

"Why, we'll start over and make the thing ourselves."

"Yes, there's still a week until Christmas, I'm sure that we can salvage this somehow!"

"His friends will be so happy, it'll be so sweet!"

Though I tried to downplay my effort, I had literally spent hours of time knitting that damned sweater when I could have been studying for my finals, so hearing them treat my accomplishment as though it was nothing definitely hurt. I feel the anger surge up in my body, but it quickly turns into exasperation as I realize that the two of them are getting carried away and aren't even willing to let me finish.

"Stop!" I screech, looking between the two of them frantically. They pause in their planning to look at me with a curious expression on their features. "T-There has to be some way that we can fix this, I mean, it's not that bad, right?" I raise the sweater as though to prove my point, but when they both flinch, I decide to lower it once more.

Finally realizing that perhaps they've been a bit too harsh with their reactions, the two flutter to my side and each give me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Oh, sweetheart, please don't worry about it. We can knit sweaters in no time! You can come pick it up when you're on your way back from university."

I allow a dejected sigh to escape my lips, before contemplating my options. It would be so easy to just assign the task to them and focus on my exams, but something inside me insists that it just wouldn't be the same as the heartfelt gift I had envisioned in my mind for Terra and Aqua.

An imaginary Vanitas clad in a maroon toga and a menacing, black halo suddenly appears on my shoulder. At his random appearance, a string of curses prepares itself to reflexively fly forth from my lips, but he interjects before they get a chance. "Look, as your conscious—"

Why the fuck does my conscious take on the form of Vanitas in my time of need?

"—I just want to remind you that the whole reason why you went through the trouble of knitting that stupid sweater was because you wanted to prove to Terra and Aqua that you're an independent individual who doesn't have to rely on others in order to get things done. Letting these old ladies make your gift for you will totally destroy that entire notion."

Oh, man. I hadn't even thought of that!

"Well, duh, asswipe," the miniature Vanitas states with a roll of his eyes. "Why do you think I had to appear out of nowhere and spell it out for you? I swear, you can't do anything on your own."

I feel an angry tug inside my chest and narrow my eyes as I angrily shout, "That's not true!"

The two women's matching looks of confusion seem to only intensify. "Dearie, is everything alright?"

I shake my head vehemently, "N-No! Well, yes. But no, don't take charge of this! I'm going to find Terra and Aqua gifts that are better than some dumb old sweater!"

They both gasp, but in that moment, it only fuels my purpose.

"Y-Yeah! I'll get them both the nicest gifts that they've ever come across in their entire lives and they won't even know what hit them! It's going to be great!"

When I throw the sweater back into its bag and turn to begin my march outside of the community center, all I can hear is the two of them angrily muttering to one another about my new status as an ingrate. However, all I can focus on is scrolling through my contacts until I hit the dial button and an angry man hisses a "What the fuck is it now?" over the phone.

"Vanitas, I'm going to need a ride. For like, the entire day. We're going on an adventure and you don't have the option of saying no because it's super important."

He begins to angrily yell obscenities at me over the phone, combined with halfhearted excuses that aren't particularly believable.

I hang up and stop at the building's sign outside, trying my best to pretend that the frigid winter air has no effect on me.

The façade falls apart when Vanitas finally pulls up to the sidewalk and I find that I can't stop shaking in my seat, even after I turn the heat onto max and the seat warmers on.

My friend lets out an annoyed sigh, before stating, "There's a hypothermia blanket in the first aid kit Aqua made in the back seat. You should probably get it out."

Once I frantically grasp it in my fingertips and layer it over my shaking frame, something finally clicks. "Why did Aqua make you a first aid kit? She doesn't even like you."

The reminder seems to only agitate Vanitas further as he answers my question through grit teeth. "She figured that even if she made you one, you'd never be responsible enough to have it on your person when you actually needed it, so she gave me an extra because she figured that I'd be the one taking care of you now."

I groan.

"Same," he mutters, before shifting the gear to drive and accelerating past the speed limit.

Since I don't really know what I'm looking for, I insist that Vanitas avoids the highway and only takes the local route on our way back to university, which only succeeds in pissing off the brunet even more.

"Okay, so do you have any idea what we're looking for right now?"

"Not a clue," I chirrup.

Vanitas proceeds to make an unintelligible noise that I assume means that he's agitated. Part of me thinks I should feel a remote sense of guilt, but then I remember how much of an ass he is, and said guilt instantaneously dissipates.

"I mean, do you have any bright ideas since you're in such a rush?"

The question immediately makes Vanitas sit up a bit in his seat as though he's suddenly recalled something. "I don't have any bright ideas, but I know someone who does."

And with that, he proceeds to make the sharpest, most illegal u-turn that I have ever encountered in my entire life, ignoring the angry horn honking that immediately ensues. I register that there's this high-pitched noise ringing throughout the car, and it takes a moment for me to understand that I'm the one screaming. Which kind of makes sense, because all Vanitas is doing at this point is laughing hysterically.

Once he's completed his turn, he slams the gas pedal and we're off.

(I don't stop screaming.)

"Where the hell are we?"

Vanitas ignores my question and steps out of the vehicle with a simple, "You can bring your stupid blanket, if you want. I get the feeling that you'll be needing some sense of security when we go inside."

I'm not quite sure what that means, but the way his eyes glint with playful malice is enough to get me to shut up and do as he says.

It looks as though we've parked in front of a gated community filled with houses colored a dull brown and I'm vaguely surprised that we've ended up in such a rich neighborhood. I follow Vanitas as he approaches one of the doors, attempts to pull it open, and then makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat as he finally knocks.

The door's quickly opened by a couple in their late fifties, smiling from ear to ear in their matching holiday sweaters with a plate full of cookies at the ready. I can feel Vanitas instantly cringe at the sight of them, but I can't help but grin back at their friendliness. A classical holiday medley is playing on an old school record and the scent of cranberries floods my senses as I peer behind them to look inside their house—which, now that I think of it, is kind of rude, but to be fair, I hadn't really been thinking about being polite with Vanitas beside me.

I don't know if you've caught this yet, but he's a pretty bad influence.

"Oh, Vanitas! We're so happy to see you! Is this another one of your friends? Do come in, do come in!"

The brunet beside me mumbles something about being embarrassed before sulking his way inside, leaving me no choice but to follow suit (but not until snagging a cookie or two from the plate the woman had offered me). It's clear that Vanitas is uncomfortable in his current situation—which I can't help but think is odd since he's the one who brought us here in the first place—and it's hard for me to figure out why. My initial thought is that maybe they're his parents, but then I instantly feel stupid because Van and I have been best friends since birth so I already know his parents. My next thought is that wow, I'm only nineteen and I'm already showing symptoms of Alzheimer's.

Not knowing what else to do, I trail after Vanitas while trying not to drop any crumbs onto the hardwood floor. The couple from earlier have been following close behind, asking polite questions about Van's state of wellbeing which he chooses to either ignore completely or answer vaguely. Feeling kind of guilty, I can't help but interject with something that hopefully sounds a little nicer and am quickly rewarded with the insistence that I take more cookies.

It's not long before I begin to answer the questions for Vanitas in his stead.

We arrive at a door that clearly leads to a basement, and it's only then that my friend chooses to stop in his tracks and turn to look back at the rest of us. "We shouldn't be too long. Is there anything specific that you want me to say?"

I blink in confusion at his words, but the elderly man offers a sheepish smile as his wife answers, "Please try to get him to come out of his room more often. We understand that he likes to do things his own way, but it would be nice if we got to see our son on occasions more meaningful than him giving us a list of things that he needs us to buy."

"Noted," Vanitas drawls, "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, Van, you know that he only ever listens to you!"

The boy shrugs before turning on his heel and beginning his descent into the basement. Not wanting to be left behind, I scamper after him, almost succeeding in tripping over the blanket still draped over my head. It's basically pitch black, in my defense, and when I ask Vanitas if I'm allowed to take out my phone to use it as a flashlight, he tells me to shut up and just follow his lead.

It's hard to miss the booming sounds from a television and the whooping cheers of a gathered group of friends, and I now realize that there must be soundproof padding in here or something since it's impossible to hear anything from above ground. Dull, blue light illuminates the faces of three individuals: a blond with a mullet who's smiling like an idiot, a blue-haired boy who looks incredibly annoyed with the situation, and at the center of it all, a green-eyed boy with fiery red spikes atop his head and a glowing controller held in his hands.

"Axel, you're twenty-two and all you do with your life is mooch off of your parents and play video games. Do you even realize how pathetic you are?"

At Vanitas' words, all three men re-focus their attention on the two of us. With a flick of his wrist, the lights have been turned back on and everyone flinches but Van and the blue-haired man who only shrugs, "That's what I keep telling him."

The red-haired boy, who I take it is Axel, shoots up with a large grin on his face at the sight of Vanitas. "Cousin!"

My friend grunts in acknowledgement and I can't help but look between the two of them in confusion because they don't look anything alike. As though he catches my stare, Vanitas simply offers the words "hair dye" as an explanation.

It isn't long before Axel wraps his shorter cousin in a hug (that looks more like a chokehold) as he exclaims, "It feels like it's been so long! What brings you around town?" There's a pause as he pulls away to stare at the brunet with a suddenly serious expression. "You're not only here because my parents are paying you again, right?"

"No, Axel, I have better things to do than drive two hours just to accept a stupid bribe from your parents."

The mood lightens easily after that as the redhead relaxes his grip on the shorter boy and falls to the floor in a tired heap. "Well, that's a relief. Whatever you need is yours, buddy."

Vanitas leans against the wall as he gestures to me, "My friend here's actually the one who needs help this time."

"I was going to ask you what was up with the walking blanket but I didn't want to be rude."

I flush at the words and hastily remove the blanket from atop my head, but that only succeeds in making the man on the floor laugh harder, though I'm not too sure what's funny. I receive a sharp jab in the ribcage, and so I let out a squeaked, "I-I need help buying gifts for Christmas." The blue-haired man on the couch mutters something about how "this entire situation is just incredibly pathetic," but I choose not to pay him any mind. "I need to impress my friends, Terra and Aqua, but I'm running out of time to find them anything cool."

Axel kind of scoffs at this, but finishes it off with an amused chuckle. "Van, you seriously came all this way for advice on shopping?"

Vanitas shrugs. "He wouldn't stop bothering me, so yeah."

"Or you genuinely just wanted to be a good friend and are too scared to admit that you're going soft," I mumble, annoyed at the treatment that I'm receiving.

The room bursts into laughter and Vanitas' face immediately becomes flushed with embarrassment.

"I'll help you just for that comment," Axel cheers, and at this point I'm wondering what this guy can possibly offer that makes him so great.

My question is answered almost immediately.

"Okay, so if we really want to impress people, we need to go above and beyond, which means that we're going to have to split up. We're going to need homemade Christmas decorations, fancy gift wrap and ribbons, family-friendly holiday music—something nice and vintage for that super tryhard feel—at least three iron chefs, snow, something exceptionally cute and lovable, designer gifts, and Santa Claus." The list rolls off his tongue so easily that it almost seems as though this idea had been crafted months in advance and he had simply been waiting for an opportunity to share it with the world. It's kind of admirable. "Based on the way you're dressed, you're definitely not going to have enough money for all of that, but I can cover you for most of it—think of it as part of Van's early Christmas present."

Vanitas curses under his breath.

"W-Wow, thanks!" I grin. "So what exactly is the plan?"

"You and Vanitas will be a team, and Demyx and Saïx here will be their own team. I'll stay back here because the sunlight burns my eyes more than these fluorescent bulbs do and do some online shopping from my trusty laptop—Amazon Prime is a lifesaver, so don't worry about things not coming in on time." The blue-haired man—Saïx—looks slightly angered by the fact that he's being dragged into this mess, but if he has any real objections, he doesn't voice them. The blond guy with the mullet—Demyx—seems pretty excited about the scavenger hunt though. "Van, you and your friend just worry about finding some fancy chefs and something cute—we'll take care of the rest."

A part of me wants to repeat my thanks to him, but I have the feeling that this guy isn't a fan of redundancy, so I settle for just nodding with a stupid grin on my face.

I guess my agreement to the plan serves as Vanitas' cue that it's time to start moving again, because he kicks himself off from the wall into a standing position and walks until he's hovering over Axel's frame. "Not gonna lie though, your parents did ask me to tell you to spend more time out of your room. I'll get you a copy of that video game you've been wanting before the official release if you do it."

Axel smirks. "Oh, dear cousin, it's always such a pleasure doing business with you."

Vanitas snorts before pivoting on his heel and ascending the staircase. I scramble to do the same thing but trip over my hypothermia blanket and fall onto the floor.

Our cool exit is immediately ruined since Vanitas has to walk back to help me up and I'm not sure if he's even annoyed at this point or if he's just used to helping me when I need the help. A piece of me is annoyed by this aspect, but I figure that snapping at him is only going to end up making things harder on me, so I choose to say nothing despite being goaded by laughter.

"We're approaching a town that's known for its lack of commercialization. Most of the stores here are all owned by the townsfolk, so if we're going to find anything remotely unique, this will be a good stop."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," I mumble, beginning to feel impatient with the slow progress of our journey.

With my words of confirmation, we pull into a conveniently open parking spot and get out of the car.

Vanitas makes me throw the hypothermia blanket into the backseat of the car and I choose not to complain as I follow him out.

It's a pretty rundown town with sienna colored buildings beginning to become overgrown by ivy creeping up their walls. It looks as though most of the businesses house residential areas above them, reinforcing the idea of a town run primarily by its tradesmen's creativity. Frost lines the rooftops of the buildings and I wonder if it accentuates the dull grayness of the city like I think that it does. Thinking about it makes me shiver, so I pull my parker tighter around me and silently thank my earlier self for deciding to wear a heavy pair of boots this morning.

Next to me, Vanitas looks like he's just stepped off a runway with his fitted peacoat, leather sleeves, and maroon scarf. His hands are stuffed into his pockets and as he glares at the nothingness around him, he looks like a man who grew up too fast. There's an air of maturity around him that I never really noticed before, and he just seems devoid of any sort of emotion whatsoever—his apathy is saddening.

Noticing this makes me feel a little guilty and so I try to perk up a little bit more in order to alleviate any tension that lingered between us from earlier. "Wow, they would definitely benefit from adding some color around here: it's so white and gray. It looks like the buildings are supposed to be orange-ish, but they're really letting the place go."

He chuckles at my remark with a raised brow. "Never took you as the type to be so interested by exterior design."

"That's because I'm artistic enough to excel in both interior and exterior design—why do you think I rearrange our dorm's furniture so often?" I grin back.

"Something about how it 'opens up the room.'"

"Well, it does!"

Vanitas actually laughs at that—actual, unconstrained fits of joy erupting from his throat—and at the sound, I immediately feel a wave of relief wash over me. He nods his head in the direction of the sidewalk ahead of us before beginning to step forward, smiling at me with that familiar glint of mischievousness in his eyes.

I resume my position slightly behind him and begin reading out the names of all the shops that we pass, knowing that it'll annoy him to no end. "Castle Oblivion, Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden…"

"These names sound like they've come straight out of one of Axel's video games," Vanitas remarks passively. "Anything catching your eye?"

"Nothing sounds especially cute or like they'll be putting out gourmet chefs for hire. So no, I guess."

My brunet friend only grunts in response before pointing at a cafe the next block over. "Let's get something warm to drink and ask the workers if they have any idea where we should start looking. I'd rather we didn't spend the entire day going on some stupid adventure when I could be back at our dorm sleeping."

I huff at his complaints but agree that his is probably a good idea. "Alright. Aqua prioritizes functionality in her gifts, so we should keep an eye out for something that she'll definitely use in her everyday life, while Terra is into fandom merchandise. He's going through a Vocaloid phase right now."

"Axel said that we only have to worry about finding something cute and getting some fancy chefs," Vanitas states dismissively, before entering a building. If I weren't more aware of my surroundings, I would've walked into the glass door of the coffee shop since he didn't bother holding it open for me.

Yeah, I have a great best friend.

There's an auburn-haired girl behind the counter who perks up when the bell above the door chimes at our interest. "Hey there!" she chirrups, "What'll it be for you folks?"

"I'll have the largest size Caramel Macchiato with skim milk, three extra shots of espresso, extra hot, with no whipped cream. Make sure it's sugar free."

"Uh… Can I just get a hot chocolate?"

She beams at us with a "Coming right up, sirs!" and quickly gets to work making our drinks. The two of us decide to take a seat at the counter and watch her as she frantically tries to get all of the machines to keep up with her pace. Vanitas is resting his hand on his chin, carefully observing her as though he's questioning whether or not she's capable of properly fulfilling his order, and I'm debating whether or not she'll accidentally burn herself if I try to break the silence with some light conversation.

It's ultimately Vanitas who makes the first move with a surprised, "Wait a second. You're Kairi Lockhart."

The girl stops all of her movements immediately and turns to look at him with wide eyes. "H-How did you…?"

"I read the papers," my friend answers with a halfhearted shrug. Taking her reaction as confirmation in itself, he turns to offer me an explanation. "She's the daughter of one of the candidates for Prime Minister in the next election. There was a scandal a few months ago when she stated that she's a liberal versus her father's conservative stance, so it resulted in a lot of negative publicity." He turns back to the fearful Kairi behind the counter. "Kudos to you for sticking with your gut, kid."

Her lower lip trembles for a moment, but it's not long before all the trembling disappears and her eyes harden with some sort of renewed resolve. "Yeah, I'll do what I want, thanks."

Vanitas mumbles something under his breath about a quick turnaround, but it goes unheard by the redhead.

"So what brings you to this town anyway? I was sent here to live with some old family friends since my father wanted me out of the house, but nothing really goes on here. This is a small city, so everyone basically knows each other and you two definitely aren't Sora and Roxas like I thought you were."

I blink. "Who are Sora and Roxas?"

"The Hikari twins," she answers easily. "You—" she points at me. "—look just like a slightly more lovable version of Roxas." I frown, since it's like I'm being coddled by a younger girl that I don't even know. "And you—" she points at Vanitas, "—look just like an incredibly demonic version of Sora." Vanitas grins proudly at this. "When you guys walked in, I thought you were going to play a joke on me since it's been so boring today at work, but once you started talking, I realized that Sora would never know that much about coffee—the boy definitely doesn't need anymore caffeine in his life."

"Huh," Vanitas responds, actually looking interested in this idea of a possible lookalike. "And how do you know them?"

"We're classmates, over at Twilight Town Prep. Graduating this year, actually," she huffs, before resuming her work in completing our orders. "You're avoiding my question though: what brings you to this town? It really doesn't have much to offer."

Vanitas shoots me a look that tells me that I should be the one to respond. "We're Christmas shopping," I state lamely. "I want to get really awesome gifts for two of my closest friends, Terra and Aqua, but not that much luck so far."

"We need to get something cute. Any ideas?"

By now, Kairi's finished making our drinks and slides them down the counter as she sashays towards the cash register. Vanitas tosses her his credit card and she offers him a smirk. "Leaving any tip?"

My friend immediately launches into a series of angry curses underneath his breath, so I figure that it's my role to step in before he offends Kairi and we both get kicked out of town. I pull out a handful of loose orbs from inside my jacket pocket, get up from my seat, and drop the munny into the tip jar.

Kairi stands up on her tip toes so that she can have an aerial view of my deposit, mentally calculating the amount of munny in her head.

"Is that all you've got?"

I feel my face flush in embarrassment and Vanitas groans audibly. "Give yourself an extra hundred munny off of my credit card as your tip. I really don't care at this point."

She squeals in delight as she swipes the card and I can't help but shoot Vanitas a look of annoyance. Like, man, he doesn't have a right for always making fun of my pushover status when he's almost worse than I am.

"That Sora guy I mentioned earlier is a volunteer at the animal hospital about a ten minute walk from here. His dog just gave birth to a whole litter of Husky puppies, and he's eager to find them all a home so that they don't have to go to a shelter." The register makes an odd whirring sound as it prints out two copies of our receipt. Kairi writes something down on the back of one, before walking back to Vanitas and handing him both his credit card and the curled pieces of paper. "I wrote down some of his contact information on the back of the customer copy, but I'm pretty sure that he'll be at the shelter, trying to talk people into adopting those dogs. Tell him that Kairi sent you and you should be good to go." She pauses for a moment, as though trying to remember something that she's forgotten. "Oh, and don't forget to sign your receipt."

I beam at her in thanks, but Vanitas continues to mumble angrily.

When we exit the shop, I smirk at Van. "So apparently we have a pair of twin lookalikes on our hands. Do you think that means that we could've been brothers in another life?"

He snorts at this. "I'd rather have my testicles chopped off and stuck in a blender."

I let a low whistle of air escape my lips.

Man. Fucking harsh.

It doesn't take us long to find the animal shelter.

It also doesn't take us long to realize why Vanitas was labeled the "demonic lookalike" of this Sora kid, because the only reason why we're able to find the animal shelter so easily is because there are these hand-drawn signs posted throughout the town with arrows and pawprints leading to said shelter. Each poster is signed in the corner by the high school student, and next to said signature, the drawing of a stick figure grinning widely and offering a single thumbs up.

I'd be lying if I said that the posters aren't cute because they're absolutely adorable.

Vanitas grimaces every time we come across one though.

Like Kairi had promised, Sora's presence is made clear to us by a single yard sign that says "Husky Adoptions Inside!" along with the same smiling signature from before.

When we walk into the shelter, Vanitas' lookalike status is immediately established, and I feel my eyes widen in pure astonishment. There's a foldable table set up near the entrance of the shelter, right next to a cardboard box that yelps playfully. The boy manning the station seems to be sidetracked with the puppies contained inside of the box, as he's kneeling down and cooing at the dogs. Once the chimes above the door signal our entrance though, he turns to look at us with eye blue enough to rival my own and brown spikes identical to Vanitas' in their style.

He blinks at us innocently, before his jaw drops and he says, "Man, I am feeling very confused right now."

I can't help but still feel overwhelmed by the resemblance he shares with Vanitas, so I stumble over my words. "Uh, Kairi sent us here to adopt some puppies."

Sora continues to stare at us with wide eyes, and at my comment, he tilts his head to the side ever-so-slightly as though to accentuate his ever-growing perplexion.

Vanitas rolls his eyes before stepping forward like the assertive adult he is. "We're kind of in a rush, kid, so stop ogling us and just let us know if we can take some puppies or not."

There's a beat of silence before Sora's confusion turns into a pleased grin. "Yeah, okay!"

My shock at Sora and Vanitas' close resemblance quickly turns to surprise at how quickly the boy makes up his mind. "That's it? That's really it?" My friend seems almost affronted by this quick response as well, judging by his slightly widened eyes and raised brow.

"Well, yeah, I figure that anyone that looks like me and my brother can't be bad."

Something flashes in Vanitas' eyes as though he's just been challenged, so I quickly butt in before he can ruin this for the both of us. "Oh, that's wonderful! Is there any paperwork that we need to sign? Immunization forms that we should receive for their records?"

Sora simply shakes his head. "Nah, that would be too complicated. You can just grab them and go."

I'm not sure if I should feel concerned or thankful, but all I know is that this is one of the most unofficial things I have ever done in my life and I can't help but be concerned if this procedure even counts as legal.

Not knowing what else to do, I walk towards the box in order to look at the puppies and gesture with my head for Vanitas to follow suit.

I peer inside and instantly feel something inside me melt.

"They're so cute," I shriek, excitedly picking one up and bringing him towards my face so that I can rub my nose against his. "Vanitas, Vanitas, just look at them!"

Two puppies wag their tails up at us, while the third in my hands offers an excited bark. They're colored a dark brown and white, with blueish gray eyes that glimmer with the promise of undying loyalty and neverending adventure. Vanitas looks down at them with mild interest, but if he has any positive thoughts about the pups, he chooses to keep them to himself.

"Alright, so which one are you taking, Ventus?"

I stare at him with incredulity. "You're making me pick one?"

"Well, yeah," he sneers, annoyed at what he assumes is a stupid question. "You don't really think that we're taking all of them, do you?" When I don't respond, he groans. "C'mon, Ventus, we have other things that we need to get done today."

Sora perks up a little at that and turns to face us with a curious expression on his features. "Oh, maybe I can help! It would really be amazing if you could take all of the puppies because family should never have to be separated from one another!" Vanitas winces at the cheesiness of the statement.

"I'm not sure if there's much you can do," I admit sheepishly. "We need to find a gourmet chef and—"

His blue eyes widen with delight as he claps his hands together in excitement. "Oh, Roxas! My brother! He's at work right now, we can go meet up with him!"

I blink in surprise at my good luck and Vanitas turns to look at me with this expression of what the fuckery that states that he doesn't believe this is actually happening.

"Just give me a second to pull one of the other volunteers over here to watch the puppies while we're gone. It'll only be a moment!"

The Husky in my hands lets out another bark of delight as Vanitas mumbles a stunned, "This is really too good to be true."

"It's a Christmas miracle!" I reply, hugging the dog to my chest. My friend snorts at this, but I don't miss the way he gingerly picks up one of the pups by the scruff of its neck and observes it carefully before gently holding it in his arms with a small smile on his face.

"Sora, I'm working."

"Yeah, I know, but—"

"No 'buts,' I'm working."

"But Roxas, please! The puppies! Do it for the puppies!"

My lookalike allows an annoyed sigh to release itself from his throat. The four of us are standing outside a busy diner that probably doesn't count as "gourmet," but hell, it's almost sunset so we'll have to work with what we can get.

"Okay, what?"

"So our secret twins—" Sora starts, gesturing excitedly to us, "Need one last thing for their ultimate Christmas present for their friends, and you're the only one who can help them out!"

It looks like Roxas is unable to remove his gaze from us due to the pure shock of our similarities, but all he does is mumble a, "I'm not even going to ask."

If this guy is anything like me, it's clear that he has to be a pushover, so I rationalize that with a good amount of appropriate prodding, we can get him to do what we need. "See, two of my closest friends always look down at me for being 'too dependent' on them, so I wanted to get them the best Christmas presents ever to prove that I can be independent too! After Van's cousin helped us come up with this ingenious plan, we've spent the day hunting down items on his list to make sure that this Christmas is the most magical one they've ever had! We only have one thing left on our list, and we could really use your help."

He regards me silently for a moment, and I figure that in order to have the best success rate, it's important that I don't break eye contact with him.

It's difficult though, since I kind of feel like I'm just looking at myself but there's no actual mirror present, so it's just creepy.

"Okay, fine," he gives in with an exhale that sounds a little bit like regret. "What do you need me to do?"

I beam up at him, "We need a chef to help us make a wonderful holiday feast!"

Roxas stiffens. Raises an eyebrow. "This can't be good," Vanitas mumbles under his breath.

"What did Sora tell you I do here?" he asks slowly.

"Y-You're a chef, aren't you?" I reply, a sudden wave of foreboding washing over me.

My lookalike slaps his palm against his forehead. "Sora, I'm a busboy."

Vanitas groans.

I feel like I'm about to collapse.

Sora offers up an apologetic grin. "Oops?"

"Christmas miracle, my ass," Van remarks, shooting a glare at everything and anything in his line of sight.

Roxas catches sight of this and lets out a low whistle of amazement, "Wow, you are literally the demonic version of my brother."

"Yeah, I'll take that as a compliment."

"What am I going to do now?" I whine, allowing myself to finally collapse onto the frigid sidewalk below me. "We're supposed to be back at Axel's place in an hour to finalize all of the arrangements, and I still have finals to worry about!"

The twins both have matching expressions of guilt written on their faces and it's clear that they aren't quite sure what to say.

Feeling obligated to pick me up off the ground before I somehow manage to get sick, Vanitas crouches down to my level and offers me a halfhearted pat on the shoulder.e "Don't worry too much about it, if worse comes to worse, we'll just get Axel to figure something else out. It's going to be fine."

"You know, my psychology professor says that sometimes people saying that they're fine is the equivalent to them saying, 'Fuck you.'"

"Now, now, Ventus," he joking chastises, "No cursing in front of the minors."

I force a chuckle that sounds incredibly hollow before allowing Vanitas to help me up from the concrete.

"Hey, you know…" Roxas carefully interjects, "The diner I work for has some really classic, homestyle recipes that are easy to make, and I'm pretty good friends with the owners. It's not much, but at least it's a start. And hey, you said that you wanted to prove that you're independent, right? I think that cooking food yourself will send a stronger message than just orchestrating a big event."

At his words, I feel my features break out into a large grin as Vanitas cheers (yes, he actually cheers), "We're back in business!"

"Snow cone machine?"

"Check."

"Frank Sinatra?"

"Check."

"Santa costume?"

"Check."

"Christmas decorations?"

"Check."

"Something cute and lovable?"

"Check."

"Wrapped gifts?"

"Er, they'll be here, don't worry. Check."

"Three iron chefs?"

"Uh…" I stutter. Vanitas nudges me in the ribcage. "C-Check!"

Axel smirks. "Looks like you're good to go, Venny-Boy."

"Don't call me that."

"It could be cute though."

"I said no."

Finals week passes by in a blur and it's not long before Van and I are back in the car again, driving back to our hometown for the holidays. I can't help but feel this mixture of excitement and nervousness in the pit of my stomach, and as though he's caught onto this, Vanitas shoots me a curious look. "You alright there?"

"Y-Yeah."

He hums in easy response and the car is consumed by silence once more.

"Oh, Vanitas?"

"Hm?"

"I need you to be Santa Claus."

The brunet slams on the breaks in the middle of the highway, ignoring the honking that ensues immediately.

"You need me to what?"

I had kind of been hoping that if I introduced the suggestion slickly enough, he would just agree to it without really paying attention to what I was saying. Apparently I had been wrong.

"Well," I start with a sheepish grin on my features, "I can't be Santa Claus because they have to know that the gifts are from me, and so that kind of only leaves you to play the part." When his glare only intensifies, I add on a squeaked, "You've always looked like a movie star?"

He grunts, and it's clear that my compliment went unappreciated. To my surprise though, he mutters a hissed, "Fine," before moving the car back out onto the road.

"Really?" I ask with delight.

"Don't push it, Ventus," he growls, hitting the gas pedal. His frustration and embarrassment only make me chuckle.

I figure that it wouldn't be right if I don't finish off with the icing on the cake, so I smirk at him and say, "You're definitely going soft, Vanitas."

He makes the most useless swerve in the history of mankind and—because I'm stupid and have forgotten to put on my seatbelt yet again—it sends me flying into the window as Vanitas cackles at my misery.

I'm honestly not sure how we haven't gotten into a car accident yet.

And, well, I suppose you're about caught up now:

The snow cone machine goes haywire but my hypothermia blanket is nowhere to be seen because I left it in Van's car, Demyx's stupid record basically sounds like a screeching chorus of demons, the pups have pulled on the tablecloth, making all of the food I slaved for hours to make fall to the ground, and the Christmas tree—along with everything around it—is now on fire. Not sure what exactly Vanitas has done, but him running away and screaming, "I didn't do it!" means that he definitely did it.

And of course, because my luck is absolutely awful, Terra and Aqua choose that exact moment to appear. Their eyes are wide with alarm as they attempt to take in the scene before them and, slowly—ever so slowly—they bring their attention to me and that's when I realize that screw fainting, right now, I just want to die.

"Ven...tus?"

There's no anger, no sadness, just this empty tone that I think resonates with disappointment, but for all I know is really nothing more than shock.

"Uh… H-Hi," I manage, face burning a bright shade of red, and I'm not sure if it's because of the heat of the flames or the extreme embarrassment I feel at my failure. "Merry Christmas?"

They don't really react to that, and instead—like the responsible adults that they are—they dash in separate directions in a frantic attempt to put out the fire before it consumes the entire house.

I know that I'm supposed to help—because this is my fault after all—but suddenly I just can't. The mini Vanitas has popped back up on my shoulder and seems to be trembling in fear alongside me, but when I look at him for some kind of answer to what I should do, he's gone.

It isn't until the fire is out that both Terra and Aqua run towards me, fear and concern written all over their features. Aqua grabs both of my shoulders and gives me a careful shake. "Ven? Ven, are you alright? What happened?"

And I don't mean to do it because I know that it'll make me look stupid, but it's like I have no control over my body anymore. The tears start to well up in my eyes, and it's not long before they race down my cheeks in messy streaks. "I… I just wanted—"

She takes me into her arms in that moment, and I can feel Terra rubbing my back in a soothing matter.

"I-I just wanted to give you guys a good Christmas," I finally say, and hearing it out loud makes it seem so incredibly lame that I want to just disappear altogether.

At my words, Terra joins in the group hug and Aqua squeezes me tighter. "Oh, Ven. You know that we'd appreciate anything you got us, right? You didn't have to…"

"To go through all this trouble," Terra finishes.

"Yeah, but," I start, breaking the embrace so that I can look at both of them directly. The tears have stopped flowing, and with a single sniffle, I'm able to gain back some control over my voice. "You guys are always treating me like I'm a little kid, so I just wanted to prove that I wasn't, you know?" They both offer a small smile at my words and I allow myself a short bark of forced laughter. "I even took up knitting classes in a stupid attempt to make you guys matching sweaters. That was a disaster."

"You made sweaters?" Aqua giggles, "Ven, that's so cute!"

"Not as cute as these puppies though," Terra admits, bending down to rub one of their bellies.

"Do you still have the sweater, Ven? I'd love to see it!"

I can't help but blush at their unconditional affection for me, and it's only in that moment that I begin to realize that it doesn't matter if it seems like I'm a little too dependent on them, because Terra and Aqua have never looked down on me for a single moment. We're best friends, and now, in hindsight, my entire journey to prove myself to them was nothing short of ridiculous. After all, why would you need to prove yourself to the people that already think the world of you?

"Yeah! Let me get it really quick."

I leave the room to Terra still ogling the puppies and Aqua staring at the charred room with a mixture of mild amusement and faint worry.

I re-enter the room with Terra on the floor, laughing as the puppies lick at his face, and Aqua giggling at the sight.

"You guys are totally going to laugh at me."

"We are not going to laugh at you, Ven."

"No, you don't understand, you guys are so going to laugh at me."

Terra sits up and shoots me a wild smile. "We will not, Ven."

I release a playful sigh from my chest, before pulling out the sweater from behind my back and holding it up for the two of them to see.

As I expected, they each burst out into maniacal guffaws that they can't contain. Terra falls back onto the floor and Aqua doubles over, clutching her stomach.

"I totally called it."

"Is that Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?" Terra snorts, barely able to form a coherent sentence in between his laughter.

I nod solemnly as my affirmation makes them both break out into hysterics once more.

Aqua finds a way to level her breathing amidst it all, and with a suddenly serious expression states, "We have to try it on."

Terra looks up at her with a raised brow, "We?"

"I mean, look at it; all three of us can definitely fit in that thing."

And before I know it, the three of us are squished into the itchy wool of the Christmas center: me in the middle and one of them on either side.

"Hey, Aqua, you know what this is a perfect position for?"

My eyes widen. "Don't do it."

"Oh, of course, Terra! How could I forget?"

"Please, spare me!" I cry.

But alas, it's all to no avail when they each wrap their arms around me and squeal, "Ven Sandwhich!"

I grumble in complaint, but on the inside, I feel warmer than I ever have in a long time.

a/n: wow, this ended up a lot longer than i thought it would be! i'm a little late, but i hope that you enjoyed this nonetheless. c:

extra.

"So what did you guys get me for Christmas?"

"Ventus, everything literally burned down in that fire."

"Okay, but c'mon, think of something last minute!

"Oh, I've got one!"

"Terra…"

"Aqua's pregnant!"

"What?" I shriek, spitting my milk out onto the floor beneath us. "You guys didn't tell me sooner? Oh my God, I'm going to be an uncle!"

"Uh… Merry Christmas?"

fin.