~ With Little Tin Horns And Little Toy Drums ~
The icy blizzard wind was so thick and biting, Sora was wondering if he truly knew what he had signed up for in this mission; but he didn't have time to wonder anything, as the flying, shiny red sleigh lurched suddenly and violently, dipping down and down through the clouds until the soft, orange lights of a small town glowed up at them.
"London!" Santa called out over the snowy storm, his hearty voice still jolly and warm. Sora screamed back, "Got it!" and bent down to the massive, red velvet bag filled to brim with more bags – one for each world, filled with gifts for their residents. He didn't even have to search for the Neverland sack; as it had done in the last several worlds, the right one just seemed to wait on the surface as if enchanted. Considering Santa normally did this task with only his booming, jolly laugh and his jingling reindeer, it made sense his bag had to have something to help the man find the right gifts across thousands of houses. If anything it made Sora a little superfluous for this mission, but Sora was grateful he was allowed to help.
"Ah!" Sora cried, nearly dropping the pouch in his hands as the sleigh dropped abruptly yet again. It seemed that Santa enjoyed the ride like a child on a roller coaster, because he laughed as they closed in on the first house. Without warning, Santa outstretched his hand behind him with three fingers raised, asking for the first gifts. Sora scrambled to grab one from the bag, trusting again that the right ones to magically find his grip.
Sora should have known. As he handed off the gifts, wrapped in brilliant reds and greens, with big, perfect bows, he read their tags: Wendy, John, and Michael. With a grin he handed off Wendy's gift, wondering what she wished for. Santa took the gifts and vanished, down their chimney to place their precious presents.
That was the great thing, about Santa. He knew basically everything: when people slept, when they were awake, if they'd been naughty or nice; but even better, he knew what everyone wanted. Well, for Christmas, specifically.
So, the logic followed, he'd know what Riku wanted.
Maybe it was naughty to have ulterior motives, but thats exactly why he offered to help Santa deliver presents this year. He needed to know what to get Riku, and not just any gift would do. It was their first Christmas together again, at home, and so the gift needed to be perfect! And, what with him and Riku on the naughty list, if Santa wasn't going give it to Riku, it had to be Sora.
Who knows, maybe this would give the two of them enough brownie points to get on the nice list for next year, anyway. They both believed now, after all – seeing is believing.
So that was where he found himself, donning his Three Good Fairies tailored battle clothes again, the garments familiarly transformed to his dark Santa costume that he met the saint himself in, keyblade at the ready though the heartless were few and far between. It was strangely exhilarating, being on a mission again after what felt like so long.
The sleigh shot up again as soon as Santa re-appeared in his seat in a burst of twinkling lights – Santa's entire operation relied on magic beyond even Donald's wildest imagination. But after the tenth time, the wonder of it wore off, because it always accompanied the jolting, stomach-dropping lurch of the sleigh accelerating from zero to one hundred in the span of a single second. How Sora kept his black Santa hat, he had no idea.
"El Segundo, California!" Santa called with a flourish, pointing up in the air with a single finger; which was enough for the reindeer to pull them higher and higher into the sky and towards Santa's personal world gateway.
Sora gripped the side and blinked, puzzled. Was this a world he'd never been to before? Up till this point it'd been familiar sights – though seeing Ariel's castle (not underwater) and counting the presents under her tree to be three was a little wild – but he hadn't heard that name before. What was "California"?
The wormhole practically sucked them in, as it had before, though Sora was not afraid, just eager in the anticipation of a new place. It was much like the Gummi-ship world-hopping after the gates had been opened. When they popped back out on the other side, Sora fully expected to find himself gripping the side of the sleigh like before, ready for Santa's next call out.
Except, he was falling.
"Whoa!" Sora cried, instinctively, at the vertigo of the world growing and growing and him falling and falling. And it wasn't just the world around him, it was himself, too; he felt his form changing, clothes and body shifting familiarly. But he couldn't distinguish this change from the others, it was happening so fast – the only thing he could distinguish was the sharp clack of plastic as he hit something (a box, maybe?) in Santa's bag.
And then, darkness. He felt the momentum slip him past velvet bags and wrapped boxes, bounce on a bow, and fall unceremoniously onto hard cardboard. The sound of sleigh bells and Santa's booming laughter drifted away as he slipped into unconsciousness.
The fifth bulb on the third layer of branches on their fake Christmas tree had flickered uncertainly four times in the last ten minutes. Riku's baby cousin – yes, he had one of those, apparently – had crawled to the fireplace twice in that time and Riku had (discreetly) cast Aeroga on him both times, nearly putting out the roaring fire within. And Riku was about to sigh for the millionth time, waiting for his mom and aunt to return from the kitchen, to open the gifts under the tree as was their Christmas Eve tradition. Though, it was the first year Riku could participate in recent memory.
Ever since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had gone home, there was a hyper-awareness that settled (or was it, 'persisted'?) that made it very difficult for Riku to sit peacefully on this family, brown leather couch. His knee kept jumping in impatience. His fingers purposefully sought out the Light around him, just to assure him it was there, should he need for the weapon that championed it. His eyes kept an active inventory of everything that moved and breathed around him. And, ugh, his cousin was now trying to stand by lifting himself on the side of the coffee table, and Riku could barely stop his jaw from tensing.
God, he had really hoped Sora would be here.
Aside from the fact Sora's presence would add double the keyblade mastery in the general vicinity, it would at least help Riku feel more at home. Destiny Islands was… calm. Destiny Islands was all soft, white sand, and rolling waves, and incandescent sun. It wasn't a prison anymore, not by any means – but it was too quiet for someone who had been in the deepest darkness, ears trained for even the slightest shift in the air. If Sora were here, he'd have something else to focus on than this blood-related toddler and the cheap electric Christmas lights.
It wasn't really Christmas without him. It wasn't home without him.
"Oh, Riku, you didn't have to stay to watch him!" his aunt said, giggling over a crisp glass of champagne as she entered the living room. Riku determined that perhaps it was good he had been watching, considering the child's fascination with fire.
She sat next to him on the couch like family would; close and familiar. Riku fought his instinct to move —not because he didn't want the touch, but that he still struggled to grasp that anyone would want to touch him. Sora held his hand all the time and he still struggled to process that. Granted, that was less due to social anxiety and due to… something else.
"Let's open the gifts!" his mom said, following her sister. She sat on the recliner by the couch after pulling her tiny nephew into her lap. That left him to get up and distribute them.
There weren't that many – it seemed Santa had a one-gift-per-individual policy. At least it wasn't age restricted; his mom and aunt got one too, along with his baby cousin who slapped the top of the wrapped cube like a drum as soon as it was plopped into his lap.
There was even one for him.
That was … unexpected. He was sure he was on the Naughty List; Sora had only lamented the fact ten or so times that because Riku had renounced the saint when he was, like, ten that both of them had ended up on said present blacklist. But, he had a gift, wrapped in red paper and a bright green bow with 'Santa' written on the 'from' tag. He wondered what he had done to deem Santa's approval, or if his faith was enough. After handing off his family members' gifts, he sat back in his spot, turning his present slowly over in his hands. Nothing shook inside it; if Riku really wanted to know the contents before opening, he'd have to use the powers of darkness to feel within. And that was simply too much work.
"Youngest first!" his mother cooed to the child in her lap. Of course, he was too young to do the task, so his mom unwrapped it. Inside the box was a Winnie The Pooh patterned blanket; his mom gasped at it with undue enthusiasm, as one does with babies. Riku's aunt's eyes lit up, "Nice! He loves Winnie–"
And then his cousin's eyes lit up in recognition, his tiny, uncoordinated hands gripping the cloth in excitement. The baby released a screech-like laugh, and Riku felt the burst of Light across the living room. Kairi was right about the power of children; they really were pure in the most literal sense.
"Santa did good, huh, kid?" His mom cooed again, then looked up to her son with a bright smile. "Your turn, kid number two!"
He frowned at the word 'kid', but he supposed it was true, for her. He turned his attention back to the present in his lap. He untied the deep, shiny green bow first, then meticulously lifted the tape on the sides. For a brief moment in his minds eye he could see Sora bouncing in place beside him, groaning that Riku was taking so long. With a secretive smile he slipped the box out of the paper, and lifted the lid.
He couldn't even hold back his incredulity; "What?" he said to the box.
"What is it, what is it?" his aunt asked, peering over impatiently.
Almost afraid to touch it, like it wasn't his, he lifted the doll – err, well, action figure – from the box. It was blocky, all plastic, and lightweight. Wearing a gray short-sleeve vest with red and black checkers, and black shorts that went past the knees, the toy definitely fit the "hero" description. Surprisingly, every joint was bendable; it was perfect for playing make believe with fight scenes and heroic adventures. And the face, the hair — the resemblance to Sora was striking. Riku briefly frowned; was this Santa's idea of a joke?
His mom laughed when she saw; not the derisive type, but the kind when thinking of times long gone. "Oh my god, it's been years since I've seen those toys!"
"Err, yeah… me too," Riku said, stunned. Now that she said it, he remembered that years ago, when he was a kid, he had wanted one of these. Zorah, he suddenly recalled – that was the action figure's name. Or as Sora and him had called it as children, the Sora Hero.
In between giggles, his aunt added, "You know, Santa never gets a gift wrong. I guess that's what your heart really wanted, huh?"
"Yeah, maybe when I was seven," Riku scoffed. But still, he handled the figure gently, placing it sitting up in his lap. He had the insane thought that the figure would be annoyed if he couldn't see around him.
"Maybe Santa used your Christmas list from then," his mom added onto the tease, then turned to her sister, "Remember when he begged for those funny cards and figures–"
"Mom, please cease," Riku groaned. To make his point, he turned to his aunt too, "it's your turn."
With an amused smile, she obliged and opened her gift. It was a bunch of bottles Riku thought for sure were potions, but his aunt insisted they were for relaxing baths. Weird present, but considering his own gift Riku had no comment. His mom got flower seeds, the packets with suspiciously other-worldly images on the front. Santa was apparently just as bad as Sora when it came to keeping the worlds' order.
It was hours later that Riku got to retire to his bedroom for the evening, Zorah in hand. He was exhausted, having spent another hour watching his cousin and keeping his drool and snot covered hands away from Riku's toy. Riku couldn't explain why he was so protective of it, but now that the whole event was over he let it slip away from his mind. Wistfully, he immediately set about finding a home for the toy in the room. It was a plain space, just a bed, a desk, and a small chest of drawers — far from the lighthearted, cluttered room of a child. Riku settled on the desk, deciding to prop him toward the back, so that the toy could see the room.
"Sorry, little guy," he told it, looking at it in his palm with soft eyes, "I'm kind of too old for you now." The figure's resemblance to Sora really was uncanny; it reminded him of a comment Sora had made off-hand, how toys have hearts, too – something about how as soon as Sora got home he was going to dive into his box of toys in the attic and hug each one. Sounded like him. Riku was kind of jealous of the toys.
"Maybe when my cousin is older I can give you to him; then you'll have someone to play with." He sat the toy, positioned almost like how Sora slept that one time in The Tower after their exams; legs outstretched, hands poised peacefully in his lap. "I promise, though, I did want one of you, to play with Sora."
Riku remembered now; he had been 'obsessed' (as his mom had put it) with the toy because Sora had wanted it. Sora liked it because it looked like him; and so Riku put it on his Christmas list to hopefully lord it over his friend – and maybe because the appearance secretly appealed to him, too.
Riku checked his gummiphone. No texts from Sora. With a sigh, he muttered, "Wish Santa could give me the real person."
Then, he turned away, phone in hand to maybe call Kairi; she'd probably know where Sora was, and they still had their Christmas get-together tomorrow to confirm. It was kind of late, almost midnight, but she was just as much of a night owl as he was, lately.
He didn't even get to press the call button before he heard a voice cry, "Riku! It's me!"
Riku whirled in the direction of the sound, recognizing the voice instantly. "Sora?"
But there was nothing there. Riku blinked, dumbfounded. He looked at the Sora lookalike toy; wait, had he raised one of its arms? They were both in his lap before, right?
When nothing else made a single sound, Riku furrowed his brows at himself. Maybe Riku had had too much eggnog. Maybe he should go take a shower and then call Kairi, clear his head. He turned again–
"Ri!" Riku began to twirl again, but Sora's voice said, "don- don't move!"
Nonsensically, Riku listened. "Sora?" he asked again, more uncertain.
"Yeah! It's me — I'm a toy!"
"What?" He began to turn again, but Sora cut in with panic, "Don't look at me or I'll freeze again!"
Riku turned but stared at the ground near the desk. He heard the crisp clacking of plastic against the desktop, and even saw the shadow on the ground shift. "What?" he reiterated, hardly believing his eyes or ears.
"It's like, a rule of being a toy. I was helping Santa deliver gifts, but then we went to the Toy Box and I transformed – at least, that's what I think happened?"
The voice was unmistakably Sora's, and he did say he was helping Santa with something today. Out of all the weird things Riku had seen across their many adventures, he supposed he could believe this. "This is one of your forms?" He couldn't help himself, he looked up. The toy froze immediately and teetered as it appeared to be mid-step. The arms were raised behind the figures head. It was Sora, alright. "Sorry," Riku muttered, glancing away. He found a spot on the wall where the shadow was more a defined outline of him. Sora began moving as soon as he looked away.
"Whoa–" Sora said, trying to catch his balance. His plastic shoes teetered noisily on the desk until he centered himself. "Uh, yeah! Hey, don't move, I'm gonna climb to your shoulder."
"Um, sure," Riku said, because really, what else was he going to say.
"Hup!" Sora grunted, and Riku watched Sora's shadow shift as he parkoured across the desk to the chair and then somehow made the leap onto Riku's hoodie string. With a final grunt, he sat on Riku's shoulder. It was… strange, but at least he couldn't see Sora and "freeze" him this way.
"So, uh, you can't… change back?"
"Well… I tried but it's not working for some reason." In his mind's eye, Riku could see Sora shrugging and frowning in thought. "I was thinking maybe in the morning you could take me to Toy Box and then we'll leave and it should… fix it, I guess?"
"Hmm," Riku considered, and then decided it was a better idea than none, "Sure." He'd suggest to go now, but it was getting really late and–
Right as he thought it, the grandfather clock down the hall heralded the arrival of a new hour with its low, resonating chime. Huh, midnight already, he thought, but then he felt Sora stir on his shoulder. Or, no – there was a new weight there, growing so fast that Riku was stumbling before he could blink. It slid off before he fell, and Riku stood up straight fast in his attempts to counteract the weight.
And that's when he saw Sora, a pile on the floor. In a black Santa suit rimmed in white, fluffy wool.
"What?" Riku stated bluntly, wondering just when the oddities would stop.
Sora scrambled back on his knees, looking down at his hands and then wildly around the room. "Hey, I'm back!" he cried in glee, "We did it!"
"Err, we didn't do anything," Riku clarified. "And just what are you wearing?"
"It's my Santa costume!" Sora replied excitedly, twirling to look at his friend. He spread his arms wide to show off the outfit, but Riku was too preoccupied with the fangs jutting over his bottom lip to notice anything else. As if sensing Riku's confusion, Sora explained, "it's black 'cause it transformed from Halloween Town."
Riku hadn't seen the Halloween Town one, either, but he could guess that that's where the fangs originated.
When he didn't reply, Sora looked down on himself thoughtfully, and muttered, "Though it's kinda weird I'm in this form now…"
"Maybe its because that's the form you were with Santa in?" Riku guessed, outstretching a hand to pull Sora up. He took it, and Riku pulled in one fluid motion until Sora was upright. Sora was a little taller than usual; a quick glance down confirmed that Sora's shoes had a slight wedge. Cheater.
"Huh, maybe so. Well, at least I'm full-size." When Riku looked back to Sora, it struck him how close they were – it was from Riku pulling him up, but Riku was surprised that Sora hadn't backed away. Close up, even in the dim lighting of Riku's room and under the fake shadow on Sora's face (part of the costume?), his eyes shined their everlasting bright blue, twinkling in mirth and mischief. "So…" Sora began, not-so-subtly changing the subject, "you wanted a Zorah for Christmas, huh?"
Maybe it was the faux innocence in his voice, or his expectant, satisfied grin, or the way he leaned far in toward Riku's face so that he couldn't escape, but Riku flushed red all the way up to his ears. "No – ugh," Riku scoffed defensively, "I wanted that when I was, like, seven. Santa must have gotten it mixed up or something."
"Yeah, you told me that, already," Sora said, shit-eating grin still proudly displayed, "Or am I supposed to forget that part now that I'm not a doll?"
Oh shit. Right. Sora had heard all that.
All that.
He couldn't stare into Sora's smug expression anymore. He looked away, heart pounding at all the implications laden in the things he'd said, and did Sora understand them? And why was he so smug about it? And–
"And besides, Ri," Sora's was lecturing now, "Santa always gives nice children their greatest desire." Sora was absolutely sure of this fact, by the confidence in his voice. It made Riku want to run — but where would he go? It was his own room.
"Within reason," Riku stammered back, unsure how that discredited anything Sora was saying, but he just kept talking and digging a deeper grave, "There's some things you can't just… give to people…"
But Sora giggled and drew even nearer, leaning to one side so Riku was staring right back into his gorgeous eyes. "I dunno…" he said, eyelashes fluttered as he looked down then up again, "I think Santa brought you exactly what you wanted."
If he wasn't blushing before, Riku was definitely blushing now; and if he melted into the floor, he'd count that as a great Christmas gift. "Listen," he said, the panic welling in his chest, "I was going to tell you sooner–"
But he stopped at a strange sound, and the two simultaneously looked up in confusion. Fainter than the clock toll, but just as distinct, the sweet jingle of bells rung through the air. Then, the air around them dropped to a wintry chill, a strange flurry of snow swirling in Riku's room.
"What–" Sora gasped.
"Merry Christmas, Sora!" burst a jolly, deep voice, and then, "ho, ho, ho!" Santa's voice filled the room as if the man was standing within. But just as fast as it came, the jingling ebbed away, leaving them in a confused silence. It was when the two of them stopped staring at the ceiling that they discovered a candy-cane archway had just appeared on either side of them, and resting in the middle at the very top, a branch of mistletoe and a gift-tag.
Bewildered, Riku slowly reached a hand up and flipped the tag to read the label. "To… Sora. From Santa." He blinked twice at the tag, then twice at the mistletoe, and then turned back to the recipient.
He was bright red. Like, Rudolph would be sympathetic, red. Sora stood there, dumbfounded, mouth agape in the cutest silent gasp Riku had seen to date. The seconds ticked by as the puzzle pieces started to fall into place in Riku's mind. He stared in growing wonder, barely allowing himself to breathe lest he find out he was wrong.
Sora's lips quirked in a bashful grin, and he rubbed the back of his head. "Hah, uhm…" he faltered, "okay, maybe Santa is getting too straight-forward with these 'gifts'…"
Even with the magical, freezing snow in his room, Riku's chest filled with warmth. It was his turn to look a little smug, now; he leaned in just as close as Sora was before. "But Sora," he said, unable to keep his smirk from growing into a full, giddy grin, "Santa always gives nice children their greatest desire."
He expected Sora to blush harder and fumble on the reply; but instead, he smiled back, looking up through his eyelashes, and said, "Well… I think Santa might need your help with this one." His gaze dashed to the side, and he scratched his cheek before adding, "Oh-only if you want to, of course."
Riku could hardly believe this was a question Sora thought he needed to ask. "Yes. Definitely. Yeah."
It earned him a wide, toothy smile that seemed to lighten the room, though the only true light was the moon through the window. Sora straightened up, preparing, and Riku willed his heartbeat to stop roaring in his ears. He was so pre-occupied with not freaking out that he only realized Sora was waiting when he grabbed both Riku's hands. It wasn't an unfamiliar gesture; it was something they did to comfort each other ever since Riku woke up Sora from sleeping after their Mark of Mastery exams. Sora's hands were always warm, grounding. A reminder that they were here and together. For Riku, it meant that he was truly home. But right now, it felt like a little more.
He glanced to the mistletoe again, letting the soft thought that this was what Sora wanted most for Christmas fill his heart like hot chocolate in a coffee mug. Riku squeezed Sora's hands back. "You're a sap," was his comment, though it came out way softer than intended.
"Oh, yeah, says the one who literally wanted me for Christmas," Sora said, sticking his tongue out briefly. "Kiss me already."
Yep, Sora was the kind of guy to rip through the wrapping paper. Riku shook his head, blushing again, and pulled Sora closer gently with their held hands. Riku thought, maybe, he should say something before just going for it, but he couldn't think of anything other than stupid things like how cute he was with his little fangs and dark Santa costume, or how the fake shadow on his face made his eyes twinkle in comparison, or how mistletoe was very cliche, even for Sora. And anyway, Riku wasn't complaining. Instead, he leaned in, slow enough that Sora would know Riku's intentions.
Sora caught on immediately, and impatiently leaned up. Their lips crashed together, noses bumping together before Riku tilted his head to the side. It was awkward, and tense, and Sora had his eyes shut tight, cheeks rosy. It was Riku's turn to ground him, squeezing his hands — a gesture that Sora returned, before he smiled into the kiss, and visibly relaxed. And then it was entirely different. Sora's lips were soft, Riku realized, and warm. The heat spread from his lips down to his core, like he was sitting in front of the fireplace. It was just so right, that he wondered if this was really a gift for Sora or himself. Riku got so swept away that he didn't even notice when he let go of one of Sora's hands to cup his cheek until Sora leaned into the touch. Sora smiled again, wide enough that the kiss was broken, but he didn't lean away.
His eyes fluttered open, gazing straight up at him. "Best Christmas gift ever," he said, his breath ghosting across Riku's lips.
"That was Santa's gift, though," Riku replied, head swimming in what could only be described as bliss. "Not mine."
Sora's eyes widened. "Oh no! I still haven't figured out what to get you." He pouted. "That was like… part of the reason I was helping Santa in the first place."
"This could count." He brushed his thumb over Sora's cheek, smiling. "Besides, I don't think you can top Santa's gift."
"Oh, who's the sap now," he scoffed, but grinned. "But don't you worry. I'll think of something. Just 'cause we're on the nice list now doesn't mean we gotta stop exchanging gifts."
Oh, right; he could only assume Sora was correct, given that they'd both gotten gifts from the saint himself. "Yeah," he agreed, "We could uh, do more of this, then." He glanced at Sora's lips again, helplessly grinning lopsided.
Sora chuckled happily. "Noted. I'm going to take this mistletoe and spring it on you all day tomorrow." By the way he said it, it sounded like a punishment of some-sort. It was not.
It was all he wanted.
A/N: Merry Christmas (and happy holidays) everyone! Ahhh I'm so relieved I got this finished in time; I've been in a huge slump & generally insecure about my writing but... I'm hoping 2019 I will rise above! :) If you liked, leave a favorite or comment? It would be a wonderful Christmas present ;)
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