Metal Chocobo: Okay this story came about because I wanted to write a winter holiday story. Well there are tons of Christmas stories and I wanted to be original so I thought what other holidays are there? Hanukkah is a well known holiday that I figured I could write about and there don't seem to be any other Hanukkah stories here. So happy Hanukkah and enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any other Square Enix games. Otherwise there would have been some major differences in the story line in KH2.
Mistletoe on Hanukkah
"Take it back, Riku!" Sora shouted as he threw a fry at his best friend.
"But it's true, Sora, I'm better at everything," Riku said shrugging as he caught the fry. He popped the potato wedge in his mouth and chewed it before saying, "I'm stronger, faster, smarter, better looking—"
"Not to mention modest," Sora added sarcastically.
"Oh, but of course," Riku smugly agreed, "more popular, older, more mature. I've done everything better and before you."
Sora glared at him. After a moment he brightened and said while trying to smirk, "Riku, there is one thing I know for certain I did before you."
Riku laughed and grabbed another fry. The two boys were seated at Sora's kitchen counter eating slightly burnt French fries. School had ended an hour ago leaving them two weeks of winter vacation and they planned to use their time to the fullest.
Riku decided to take the bait. "All right Sora, I'll bite. What did you do before I did?" he asked before drinking some orange juice.
"I became a man," Sora said proudly.
Riku spewed juice out of his mouth and nose all over the counter. Images of Sora doing very adult activities flashed through his mind. After blowing his nose to get the last of the citric flavor out, Riku asked, "You've done it, Sora?"
"What?" Sora asked. When he realized what Riku was asking, he blushed a deep shade of red and stuttered out, "N-no way, R-riku, I'd… I'd never."
"Good, cause you're only sixteen," Riku said warily.
"Oh like being a year older really makes you that much more of an adult," Sora said laughing.
Riku smiled wryly as he cleaned up his juice mess. Sora was wrong, Riku did think about more adult things, all the time in fact and they all involved Sora. He had wanted to be more than "just friends" with his best friend so badly that it hurt to think about. Though Riku tried not to think about it because Sora was straight, and naïve, and wouldn't understand what Riku was alluding to unless he did something really drastic.
"So what do you mean by saying you're a man if that's not it?" Riku asked teasingly tossing the wet rag in the sink.
"He means he had his bar mitzvah three years ago," snapped Cloud as he entered the kitchen, "Now move, I want eggnog."
As Cloud dug around in the fridge, Riku asked what a bar mitzvah was.
"A bar, or bat if you're a girl, mitzvah is this rite of passage for Jewish kids," Sora clarified cheerfully, "We usually have them on our thirteenth birthday."
"You're Jewish?" asked Riku feeling very shocked.
"Yeah," Sora said, "Cloud is too."
"I'm your brother, Sora, of course I'm Jewish," Cloud said.
"But you guys eat pig," Riku said, "and you celebrate Christmas!"
"We celebrate Santa-Day," Sora said glowering at him, "There is no dead carpenter worship in this house."
"We're also not a strict Orthodox family," Cloud said drinking out of the carton, "So we can eat pork and shellfish without going against our religion, but we still practice other stuff like going to Temple on Saturdays."
"Oh," Riku said feeling stupid, "Why haven't I ever noticed?"
"We don't broadcast it and you are sort of a self-centered kid," Cloud said putting the carton back. "I'm off to see Tifa," he announced, "Oh and if Link calls—"
"I'll tell him that you're a very sorry boyfriend and that you love him dearly, brother," Sora teased grinning.
Cloud gave him the icy cold death glare before walking away. Riku heard him mutter that Link wasn't his boyfriend as he left the house.
"What was that all about?" Riku asked.
"Ah," Sora said waving his hand, "My cold stoic intellectual of a brother is head over heels in love with his roommate. Cloud denies it, but he talks about Link all the time in his letters, when he doesn't mention anybody else. Cloud cooks for him too."
Riku digested this information. "Your brother having feelings for anybody is a creepy thought," he finally concluded.
"I know," Sora agreed nodding vigorously. "So… will you come to our Hanukkah party, Riku? It's always really fun."
"Hanukkah? Is that the thing with the candelabras?" Riku asked, "Would I have to wear any of those little hat thingies?"
"It's a menorah, and no you wouldn't have to wear a yarmulke since the party is here and not at a Synagogue," Sora explained sounding slightly annoyed.
"I'd love to come, Sora," Riku answered grinning, "When is it?"
"This Saturday, the twenty-third," Sora happily informed him, "Be there or be square."
Riku stared at those big beautiful blue eyes of his and promised that he would. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games.
- - - -
Riku shifted nervously before he rang the bell. He had never been to a real Jewish party before, one where a Jewish holiday was being celebrated and not simply something like Sora's birthday. Riku had been to all of those.
Sora opened the door and said excitedly, "Shalom, Riku."
"What?" asked Riku not understanding.
"It means 'hello and welcome,' Riku," Sora grinned and pulled Riku into the house, "It's Hebrew; what do ya think?"
"It's really cool," Riku smiled as he accepted a candy cane from Sora. "Do you know any more?"
"Riku love, I'm fluent," Sora said as he twirled about.
Riku flushed from both the pet name and the gap in his knowledge about Sora. He grabbed the spiky brunette around the waist and started tickling him. Sora laughed and squirmed trying to get away from the older boy. Riku however was having too much fun to let him escape.
"Let go, Riku! Get off!" Sora yelled while trying to get away.
Suddenly, Riku was picked up and jerked away from Sora. Cloud held him by the collar and frowned at him. "Stop molesting my brother," he growled, "When he tells you to stop, you stop."
Cloud set Riku down after giving him a good shake and turned to Sora. He said something in Hebrew in a warning tone that made Sora blush before walking away. Riku wanted to know what Cloud had said. Whatever it was, it had a drastic effect, and Sora was bright red.
"That was nothing," Sora said trying to control his blush, "Come on, Riku, I wanna give you some gilt."
"Guilt?" Riku asked as he was pulled along into the kitchen.
Sora dumped a handful of chocolate coins into Riku's palms. "Gilt," Sora said happily grabbing a pancake from another plate, "They're latke, potato pancakes, and they're really good."
Riku eyed the latke and then carefully took one. He bit into it, chewed slowly and tasted its flavor, then swallowed. Seeing Sora's worried face he assured him, "It's really good, Sora."
Sora beamed. "I'm glad you like them, Riku," he said happily, "I made them myself."
"You'll make a great mom someday," Riku smirked. Sora stuck his tongue out and popped a piece of smelly fish in his mouth. He started saying something that was clearly an insult in Hebrew before breaking off suddenly. Riku waited for Sora to stop playing around and translate.
"Come on, Sora," Riku said grinning, "Stop goofin' around."
Riku heard Cloud swear and saw him rush over to his little brother. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy and performed the Heimlich Maneuver. Sora coughed and upchucked a glob of fish and a large chunk of candy cane. Cloud set his brother down carefully and gently patted his back as Sora gasped for air.
"Don't talk and eat at the same time anymore, kiddo," Cloud admonished. His cell phone went off. Cloud ignored it for about three rings before yanking it off his belt. "Strife," he barked into the phone. After a moment Cloud's eyes widened. "Hold on," he said into the phone then he turned to the recovering Sora and said, "Sora, I've got Link on the line. Do you need me to stick around? I need to talk to him, but I can do that later when you're okay."
Sora waved him off. "Cloud, go talk to your lover-boy. I'm fine, really, and if I'm not, I have Riku here to help me."
Cloud slunk off to talk to Link leaving the boys alone again. Riku shifted slightly as he stared worriedly at Sora. "You're certain you're okay, Sora?" he asked.
"Riku, I'm fine, really," Sora said smiling. "Can we please talk about something else?"
"Sure. Let's hang out in the basement and you can explain what Hanukkah is to me," Riku said, grabbing another latke.
Nodding in agreement, Sora led Riku into the basement. Riku sat down at one end of the decrepit blue sofa. He glanced around the room he had spent so much time in while growing up. All the old books and movies were shelved against one wall next to the TV, while at the opposite wall sat the Strife family's washing machine and dryer.
Riku thought fondly of the time he and Sora had filled the washing machine with vinegar and baking soda. The entire basement flooded with the fizzing liquid and both boys were soaked, leaving them pungent smelling. Laughing gleefully with Sora after they were chewed out by his mom was when Riku first realized that he loved Sora.
Riku felt something hit his lap. He looked down to see Sora's face grinning up at him. The brunette had sprawled himself across the couch. He waved a fat book and said, "I found a copy of the Torah, so if you want I can read the exact passage," Sora said cheerfully.
"Is it in Hebrew?" Riku asked. Sora nodded. Riku grimaced and said, "I think I'll take the abridged, easily understood English version."
"Okay. Well, first off, Hanukkah isn't very important on the scale of Jewish holidays. Yom Kippur is way more important. Hanukkah just gets all the attention because it happens around the same time as Christmas," Sora explained while shifting slightly. Riku groaned slightly and wished he had the foresight to grab a pillow.
"So anyway on to the story of Hanukkah," Sora said having settled comfortably. He opened the Torah and flipped to the section on Hanukkah. "Hanukkah… okay so there was this Temple in Jerusalem that only had enough oil for one day of keeping the sacred lamps lit. They sent a dude out to prepare more sacred oil, and miraculously the one day's oil lasted for all eight days. And ever since then we've had Hanukkah," Sora finished shutting the Torah and setting in on a small table.
"Interesting," Riku said. He glanced down at Sora who had his eyes shut. The brunette looked like he was fast asleep. It was then Riku realized that he had been running his fingers through Sora's hair.
When he pulled his fingers out, Sora sat up and glared at him. "Why'd you stop?" the brunette whined, "That felt really good!"
"I thought you wouldn't want me touching you like that," Riku said quietly.
"I love it when you touch me!" Sora blurted out. He turned cherry red as the implication of what he said sunk in.
It was an awkward moment. Riku looked around trying to find something to put Sora at ease. He looked up and saw mistletoe. "Mistletoe," he murmured.
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"Mistletoe," Riku repeated pointing up, "We're sitting under mistletoe."
"So?" Sora asked not understanding.
"Tradition says we kiss," Riku said smirking, "So are we gonna or are you too chicken?"
Sora pouted and glowered at the older boy. "I'm not a chicken," he said. The younger boy bit his lip and stared at Riku.
Riku's bravado failed him. This was an important moment and if he screwed up, he could seriously mess up his friendship with Sora. He leaned in near Sora's face. Placing a hand on Sora's knee, Riku saw fear in the brunette's eyes. "It'll be okay," he whispered and kissed him.
The kiss wasn't exceptional. Riku had very little experience and Sora had none. It was a bit sloppy, short, and they managed to knock their heads together, but Riku thought it was wonderful. He was kissing Sora.
As soon as that thought occurred to Riku, he pulled back. Both boys were left breathless even though the kiss was short. Sora silently touched his swollen lip as he stared at Riku. Riku started to get up, he knew he had messed up and he wanted to get out before Sora started crying. Riku had managed to get one leg off the couch when Sora grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him back. Sora locked his fingers into Riku's hair and kissed him.
They spent a long time exploring each other's mouths. Tongues were bitten, bits of potato passed between the mouths, and slobber got everywhere. They were having a great time; Riku even found out that Sora was wearing a retainer, which he didn't know Sora even had.
It only ended when Cloud came downstairs and said, "Sora, stop sucking face. Mom wants you upstairs since we're about to light the menorah." The blond shook his head and ran up the stairs leaving the boys to disentangle themselves.
When they were finally standing up, Riku carefully brushed dust off his best friend and straightened his shirt. "So, Sora," he drawled, "What do you think?"
Sora grinned cheekily at him. "I think we need more mistletoe," he answered before running up the stairs. Riku smirked wolfishly and followed the boy up the stairs back to the party.
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