A/N: Hey everyone, this is my first DC fanfic. It's a one-shot so I hope you enjoy it. Have a very good Christmas and Praise the Lord for His Son!

A Little Holiday Spirit

It was a brisk, cool day as two tiny figures trudged home from school. Multicolored leaves were flying everywhere due to a sharp wind. Both tiny figures were bundled in heavy coats. On the way home, they stopped by a book store for a bit of rest. The shorter of the two children immediately made his way towards the mystery novels. He carefully looked through them, specifically the Sherlock Holmes books. Meanwhile the little girl had leisurely made her way towards where her best friend was. She merely rolled her eyes as she watched how engrossed he was flipping through the various mystery novels. Annoyed, like she always was when he was like this, the little girl decided to distract him by starting up a conversation that had nothing to do with mysteries but rather the upcoming holiday.

"Are you excited for Christmas?" The little girl, Ran asked excitedly.

"I guess," The little boy, Shinichi said clearly not interested in this conversation as he picked up another mystery novel and started to read the backside of it.

"Shinichi," Ran pouted. "How can you act so uninterested? It's Christmas! What's your family doing?"

Sighing he replied, "My parents wanted to celebrate Christmas differently this year, so my mom has gone all out by buying stockings and a tree, which she wants to decorate this evening."

"How fun! Ran exclaimed clasping her hands in front of her. "It'll look nice for Santa when he comes."

Shinichi wearily looked up from the book and curtly said, "Santa doesn't exist, Ran."

"Yes, he does!" Ran insisted stomping her small foot, both hands fisted against her side.

"It's the parents who put the presents under the tree not Santa." He said again returning to the back cover of the book he was looking at.

"Is not." Ran said vehemently glaring at Shinichi.

"Is too." Shinichi insisted glaring up at Ran annoyed.

"IS NOT!" Ran declared glaring menacingly at Shinichi.

After a while he started to cower in fear of Ran intense gaze. "Ummm… How about you come over to my house for Christmas and then we can both stay up all night to see if Santa comes or not." Shinichi finished in a small voice.

"Fine!" Ran huffed. Still annoyed at Shinichi she snatched the book away from him, receiving a startled squawk and returned it to the shelf violently. She then grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him out of the bookstore. A very amused owner watched them leave.

Ran returned home after school and sat down on the cold floor, in front of her home above her father's detective agency, with her knees pulled up to her chin. Gazing at the front door she thought about what Shinichi had said to her. He had seemed so certain that Santa wasn't real. She buried her face in her knees, her faith in Santa starting to waver. Finally, she got up and walked towards the door. Her hand reached for the doorknob as a look of determination shone in her eyes.

Walking into the living room Ran immediately spotted her mother. She was cleaning up the mess on her father's desk. Jut then nervousness started to gnaw at her at the question she wanted to ask her mom. So after taking a deep breath Ran jogged up to her mother and asked in a sweet innocent voice, "Is Santa real?"

Eri paused what she was doing startled by the question. She frowned inwardly and wondered what had prompted her daughter to ask such a question. Putting a smile on her face Eri bend down to Ran level and said, "Of course he is. Why would you ask such a question?"

"No reason. Just curious." She said with a shrug of her shoulders before darting off to her room.

Eri had caught the glint of confusion in her daughter's eyes before she left. Glancing at her husband Mori, she knew that he had seen it too. Looking away, Eri frowned letting her feeling surface on her face. She was concerned for her daughter and wanted to know what was going on.

Mouri Kogoro caught his wife's glance and tried to reassure her, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Tomorrow will come and Ran will be just fine."

Eri sighed still not convinced as she asked, "But why do think she asked such a question in the first place?"

Kogoro shrugged his shoulders, "Who know. Perhaps someone told her Santa isn't real."

"But who would tell such a young girl like her that he doesn't exist." Eri almost shouted but hissed it quietly at her husband. Concern evident on her face.

"I don't know," Mori sighed, "I don't know". Kogoro tried to read his newspaper again but his wife's concerned face kept floating back into his mind.

The cold wind tousled Shinichi's hair as he walked the rest of the way towards his house. He pushed the gates open before realizing that his mother might find it odd if he suddenly asked her if the Mouri's could spend the night at their home on Christmas Eve. Therefore, he decided that he had to be extra nice to his mother today.

After helping his mother set the table for dinner as well as clean up, without being asked, Shinichi asked his mother, "Can Ran-chan and her family spend the night over at our house for Christmas Eve?" He had a look of pure innocence on his face.

This surprised Yukiko, but she hid it behind a mask as she scrutinized her own son's face trying to read past his mask of innocence. Earlier today, she knew he had been up to something; he had been extra helpful, which had clued her in to the fact that he wanted something. She hadn't anticipated this but decided to agree upon it, besides perhaps Eri might shed some light as to what was going on; she would have to call her later tonight. As she continued to think about all this, she eyed Shinichi out of the corner of her eye and noticed when he him started to get nervous. Smirking inside, she thought it over a bit more just to torture her little Shin-chan before finally exclaiming "Of course we can Shin-chan! Just let me see if it's alright with Eri. Is there any particular reason why you want Ran-chan to stay the night?" She asked suggestively.

"Not really. I just thought it might be nice for them to rest before heading home. It is Chistmas the next day so they should be well rested." Shinichi attempted to say calmly while fidgeting, which clearly meant that he was nervous. Before Yukiko could even think about saying anything else her son quickly walked off towards the library with a quick 'gotta finish homework' excuse.

'Nonexistent homework' since grade-schoolers had no homework over the holidays. Yukiko shook her head as she watched her son walk away and wondered just what was going on. She had never seen her son so nervous. It was obvious he was hiding something. A determined look spread across her face, she was going to find out what her son was hiding. In the meantime, she had to call the Mori's and ask them if they wanted to stay for the night at her home after their big Christmas dinner, which they had each year with the Mouri's and inform Yusaku of their change in plans.

Yukiko headed into the family room and reached for the phone. In the process of doing that, she was still contemplating her son's behavior and wondering if Ran had acted oddly when she had gotten home too. The two kids had walked home together. Shrugging, Yukiko decided to ask Eri about Ran as she brought the phone up to her ear after dialing.

"Moshi Moshi." Eri's clear voice came through the phone.

"Eri-chan! This is Yukiko." Yukiko said cheerfully.

"Yukiko-chan, it's been a while." Eri said happily.

"I know. It's been too long since we last saw each other (considers a week too long). I know this is impromptu but I was wondering if you wanted to spend the night at our place after our Christmas dinner."

"Why?" Eri asked confused, "We live really close to each other and I'd hate to intrude on your Christmas morning."

"Oh don't worry about that, you're always welcome to stay at our place. Though the reason why I'm asking is because Shin-chan asked."

"Shininchi-kun? How odd."

"I know, not only that but he was nervous when he asked me."

Eri was silent as she contemplated what Yukiko had just told her. Slowly the gears in her brain started to move. A smirk appeared on her face, "You know Ran was acting odd as well. She asked me if Santa existed."

"Really? Why would she ask you…" Yukiko trailed off as it clicked in her brain what had happened. "Oh, that Shin-chan, he's going to pay for upsetting Ran-chan like that."

An evil smile formed on Eri's face at that statement, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Actually I do. I'm going to prove to my son and Ran-chan that Santa exists!" Yukio stated with a determined look on her face.

"Wh…What," Eri stuttered shocked, "How?"

"Well…" Yukiko said starting to explain.

Snow drifted lazily to the ground as the sun started to set on Christmas Eve day. Despite the calm atmosphere outside, the Kudo household was quite chaotic. Eri and Yukiko were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Kogoro and Yusaku had managed to escape upstairs to Yusaku's study to talk about detective work, which left Agasa to watch the two very active kids. Who were currently running around chasing each other in the family room, where a big Christmas tree stood that was covered in numerous ornaments with a star sitting on top.

At the moment Agasa was hunched over breathing heavily, exhausted from chasing Ran and Shinichi around in a game of tag. "Can't you kids go a bit slower?" Agasa wheezed.

"Nope!" cried Ran cheerfully as she ran behind a sofa away from Agasa.

Shinichi, who was behind a chair, watched Ran dart behind the sofa. A sudden thought struck him and his eyes gleamed mischievously as he looked at the sofa. He left his hiding spot and fast walked, but not too fast, passed Agasa, who realized he had a chance to tag Shinichi. Lunging at Shinichi, he succeeded in tagging him. "Shinichi's it." Agasa heaved gratefully.

Shinichi pretended to look down cast for a tiny bit before his face brightened up as he declared, "I'm going catch you Ran." Ran peeked her head over the sofa and saw the determined look in Shinichi's eyes. Becoming nervous, she darted away from the sofa. Thus, commenced the pursuit as he chased her all around the room.

After a while, Shinichi finally put his mischievous plan into action. Ran had just run past a chair and was starting to dart towards the sofa when a body thudded right into her and both, she and Shinichi went flying to the ground. Smirking, Shinichi started to mercilessly tickle Ran. Bursts of uncontrollable laugher erupted from her. In gasps of breath she managed, "Shin… ichi… st…op." Instead, he tickled her even more. Agasa, bemused by all this finally decided it was time to rescue poor Ran. He walked over to the two children and scooped Shinichi up in his arms relieving Ran from Shinichi's tortuous hands. A grateful Ran shot him a relieved smile.

"I think that's enough playing for tonight. Why don't we see how your mothers are doing in the kitchen," he asked hoping to divert their attention elsewhere, too exhausted for any more running around. Gingerly, he let Shinichi down who glared at him before looking towards the kitchen.

Reluctantly, both children agreed as they followed behind Agasa to the kitchen. When they entered Agasa asked, "Is there anything you need help with."

Eri was just pulling the ham out of the oven so Yukiko replied, "No, we're almost done any. . . ."

"Actually," Eri interrupted as she put the ham down on the counter, "Would you mind setting the table," Eri asked looking at Agasa. "Both of you," she said feigning politeness while glaring sternly at Ran and Shinichi, "will help Agasa-hase right."

"Of… course." Both said timidly flinching away from Eri and cowering slightly behind Agasa.

So a few minutes later saw the two helping Agasa set the table. Neither one of them dared to complain or say anything for that matter.

Yukiko stared in amazement. "I don't think I've ever seen Shin-chan set the table without complaining."

Eri merely shrugged, "It's all in the body language, Yukiko."

Yukiko frowned, "I suppose but don't you think you were a bit harsh on them."

"No, even though it's Christmas Eve both of them should still be helpful. Besides just think of it as retribution for that little secret both of them refuse to tell us." Eri said with a grin.

"I guess." Yukiko said still frowning.

Five minutes later Yukiko wiped her hands on a towel and headed upstairs to inform the men that dinner was ready. Both were hungry and gladly followed her down the stairs to the dinning room where dinner was waiting. When both men entered they stared in amazement. A succulent ham stood in the center with a pleasant smelling green bean casserole next to it. The mouth-watering crescent rolls were off to the side, next to the festive mashed potatoes. This was a meal that everyone was going to enjoy.

Everybody sat down at the table to enjoy this wonderful meal. Yusaku sat at the head of the table while Yukiko sat on the right next to her husband with Eri on the other side of her. Kogoro sat next to his wife while the kids occupied the other side of the table with Asaga next to them. The food was passed around ensuring that everyone had the opportunity to indulge in what they wanted, despite a small protest from the kids. Neither of them wanted any green bean casserole but both stopped protesting when their mothers had threatened to take away future toys from Santa.

On the other side of the table, Kogoro was excited, the display of food looked delectable and he hopped that it tasted just as it looked. His eyes wondered over towards Eri and he had to wonder how much she had helped; he still had nightmares when it came to her food. Tentatively he took a bite of the ham and said in awe, "This is delicious. Did you both work together to prepare this?"

"I don't know what you are implying by that last statement, but yes we both prepared this meal together," Eri ground out, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"Of course we prepared this together," Yukiko agreed proudly. She saw a look of suspicion in Kogoro's eyes at the food before it passed and a look of contentment replaced it. Though in actuality Eri's role in preparing the meal was minimal she helped Yukiko with the preparation while Yukiko had done the actual cooking, which neither of them were going to fess up to.

After that the conversations amongst the adults went smoothly while the children had their own conversations going on.

Once dinner was over Agasa got ready to leave. He was in the hall with a full stomach when Shinichi came in and pleaded, "Please, won't you stay Agasa? It's getting really late and we have plenty of room in our house."

Agasa considered this for a moment while Yukiko and Eri looked at each other grinning. Both were pleased that they had so far correctly interpreted their child's behavior. Yusaku had opened his mouth to remind his son that Agasa lived right next door. When Yukiko exclaimed, "That's a wonderful idea! You're so considerate of others Shin-chan."

Confused, Yusaku looked over at his wife, about to object, only to be more baffled when he saw a knowing smile on her face. Kogoro had also looked over at his wife and saw the same smile on her face and was just as confused as Yusaku. Both decided not to think too much about it at present, both thought that Agasa was going to decline. However, both were very surprised when Agasa replied, "Thank you, Yukiko. I would be pleased to stay here for the night." Agasa looked down at Shinichi, "Thank you for inviting me."

Yusaku and Kogoro both looked at each other, each of them expressed confusion and looked slightly worried. However, Yusaku also noticed Yukiko acting a bit differently. Now he knew for sure that she was up to something and was worried about it, silently he berating himself for not noticing it sooner.

Earlier that week, over the phone, Yukiko had asked Agasa if he would like to stay the night at their home after the Chistmas Eve dinner. Surprised by this Asaga had asked why. In response, Yukiko mentioned the mysterious behaviors of Shinichi and Ran. After that Asaga agreed to the request though was asked additionally by Yukiko to keep this a secret between the two of them. As well as, to act surprised if one of the kids asked him to stay over for the night.

In the meantime, Yukiko said, "Well, I think it's time you two kids went off to bed."

"But mom." Shinichi complained.

"No buts Shin-chan. Now off to bed with both of you or else Santa might put coal in your stocking."

Ran straightened up at that. "Come on Shinichi. Let's go to bed." Ran said a bit panicked as she dragged Shinichi up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

"Agasa lives next door. There was no need to invite him over." Yusaku quietly said to his wife.

She merely smiled at him and said mysteriously, "You'll see why I invited him tomorrow morning."

Yusaku tried and mostly succeeded to keep a worried expression out of his eyes as he turned to Agasa to show him the way to one of the guest rooms.

The silent glow of the green digital clock read 11:54. Two weary eyes became alert the minute the clock turned to 11:55. A young boy jumped out of the covers of the massive bed he was suppose to 'sleep in' and crawled over to the other small form on the other side of the bed.

"Ran. Ran. Wake up. It's almost midnight," came Shinichi's quiet voice.

A small grunt accompanied his efforts until two bleary eyes opened. Ran yawned and rubbed her eyes before her gaze settled on the boy next to her.

"Come on. Let's go to the family room so we don't miss 'Santa'." The voice next to her said. The sarcastic tone when he said the last word finally woke the tired girl up.

She glared at her friend and hissed, "Santa. Will. Come."

"Let's just go already so that I can prove you wrong," came the snide reply.

Ran huffed at that and hopped off the bed following her best friend. Together the two tiptoed into the family room and hid behind a sofa that gave them a clear view of the Christmas tree and the chimney.

A large grandfather clock stood close to the entrance of the family room. The clock chimed at exactly the stroke of midnight and much to Shinichi's surprise at that exact moment a poof of smoke came from the fireplace and a big round man stepped out of it. A red hat covered his long white hair. He wore a big red coat held together by a black belt with red pants and large black boots. His face was covered with a white mustache and a long white beard. Over his shoulder, he held a bulky bag as he made his way towards the tree.

Ran, in her excitement, immediately stood up exclaiming, "Santa!" Shinichi stood up too in shock before replacing it with a thoughtful face.

'Startled', Santa turned around and spotting the two children he asked, "What are you two children doing out of bed?"

"We were waiting for you so that I could finally prove to my best friend here that you really do exist." Ran said excitedly.

"Oh! You don't believe in Santa, little boy."

Shinichi turned his gaze on Santa and stared at him with sharp eyes, "No and I don't think you are Santa. My dad's a smart man so he probably realized that I doubted Santa's existence and that I was trying to prove to Ran-kun that Santa didn't exist so he came up with this scheme. Am I right Agasa-hase?"

Santa let out a hearty chuckle, "Sorry little boy but Agasa-hase is sleeping soundly in your guest room downstairs. Do you want to go over there to check up on him?"

"Yes, I want too. Come on Ran-kun." Shinichi said not believing this 'Santa' one bit. He seized Ran's hand and led her to the guestroom that Agasa-hase was currently occupying.

When they reached the guestroom Santa silently opened the room. Both children peaked in and saw a bulky figure under the covers. Shinichi, not convinced, turned to Ran and quietly said, "I'm going in to take a closer look." Ran nodded her head. The young boy then proceeded to creep to the head of the bed. Once he got there he stared at the bulky figure and into the face of a sleeping Agasa. Shinichi stared there for a full minute in shock. His head swiveled to the Santa at the door and to the sleeping Agasa before he finally walked back with a pale face.

"Well," Ran asked once he got back, "Was Agasa-hase under the covers?"

Shinichi nodded numbly, "Yeah, he was." It was then that Ran realized just how rattled Shinichi was.

"Are you ok, Shinichi?" Ran whispered as she put an arm around him in comfort. Shinichi nodded his head while taking relief in Ran's embrace.

The small group slowly walked back into the family room. During that time, Shinichi's mind had time to process all this information, but despite the evidence he still didn't believe that this was 'Santa'. When they arrived at the family room Santa inquired, "Do you believe now, that I really am Santa?"

"No," Shinichi said slowly, "For all I know, you might be a friend of my parents masquerading as Santa." He gazed intently at Santa.

Inside, 'Santa' grinned at the challenge faced before him. Yukiko was right this was fun. Putting on a thoughtful face, Santa suggested, "How about you pull my beard. If it was a fake it would come right off."

Shinichi hesitated before reaching out his hand and yanking Santa's beard, which didn't budge at all.

In spite of this, Shinichi still was not convinced. "You may be a friend with a really long beard. I want to see your sleigh and reindeer." Shinichi said stubbornly.

"Of course," Santa said, smirking inside. "Come with me." He took the two children by the hand and walked over towards the chimney. "Hold on tight kids," he said holding them close to himself. With a poof of smoke, wind suddenly rushed past them, and when the kids opened their eyes, they saw that they were on the roof of Shinichi's house.

However, that wasn't the reason why Shinichi and Ran had their mouths hanging open.

There, on top of the roof, were 12 reindeer and one sleigh.

"You can pet them if you'd like." Shinichi jumped at Santa's voice but didn't say anything. Instead, he walked over towards them and tentatively held out a hand to pet them. Ran joined him a few minutes later.

"Do you want to go for a ride on my sleigh?" Santa asked. Turning away from the reindeer, Shinichi slowly nodded his head. Beside him, Ran was bouncing up and down with excitement, "Really! We can ride on your sleigh?" Santa smiled at her, "Of course, you can."

Both of the kids mounted the sleigh and with a whip of the reins the reindeer leapt into the air. Wind rushed past them and whipped their hair in many different directions. They flew over the Mouri Detective Agency and Ran eagerly pointed it out. Santa smiled in her direction. While Shinichi's eyes kept growing bigger.

Finally, they landed back on top of Shinichi's roof. "Did you enjoy the ride?" Santa asked in a merry voice.

"Yes," Ran said animatedly, "It was amazing." Shinichi was too shocked for words however, this was the last straw that pushed Shinichi's little mind over the edge. He believed in Santa again. Suddenly feeling ashamed for his actions he managed to mumble an apologize, "Gomen Santa."

Santa chuckled before replying, "It's alright little boy everyone disbelieves occasionally. How about I give you both a present before I leave?"

Ran's face lit up as well as Sinichi's, "Yeah!" Both exclaimed.

Santa pulled two items from his coat, a green butterfly clip for Ran and a mystery novel for Shinichi. Both their faces brightened up immediately. "Arigato Santa."

Ran was stoked because she had been eyeing that clip for some time. Shinichi was very excited; he had been bugging his parents for a while to buy him that particular mystery novel.

Santa merely winked at then and said knowingly, "I know, each year, what your little hearts desire. Well now, it's getting pretty late. You too should be getting back to bed."

"Aw, but Santa."

"No buts now. Both of you need your sleep." Before the kids could protest again, a puff of smoke surrounded them and when it cleared they were in the middle of the family room. The tree full of presents.

Ran and Shinichi couldn't go to sleep after that and stayed up for a couple of hours talking excitedly about everything that had happened. Shinichi was still shocked that Santa was real. But both were forced to go to bed soon after they realized just how tired they were. The green luminescence of the clock read 2:00 A.M.

As a result of their midnight visit with Santa, the two children woke up later than normal. When Ran woke up, she looked around the silent room. The clock read 7:08 in the morning and Shinichi was still asleep. She shook his small frame whispering repeatedly, "Shinichi wake up". After what seemed like an eternity, the small boy got up rubbing his eyes. "Shinichi it's Christmas!" Ran exclaimed right in his face.

After Ran's words penetrated Shinichi's brain, he grinned eagerly. Reflecting on last night, he was almost convinced that it must have been a dream; however, when he lifted his pillow there lay the mystery book underneath. Tearing his eyes away from it he looked at Ran and noticed the butterfly clip in her hair. "Santa's real." Shinichi finally said at last.

"Of course, he's real. Now let's go wake our parents up. I want to open the gifts that Santa gave us." This time a wide smile spread across Shinichi's face as he readily agreed and in no time they had raced upstairs and awakened their parents, as well as Agasa when they got downstairs, before dashing into the family room.

Finally all the parents and Asaga shuffled tiredly into the family room only to meet by the site of Ran and Shinichi bouncing around the tree excitedly collecting their presents. Yusaku had never, in his life, seen Shinichi this happy about Christmas before and just stared at his wife, who had a broad smile on her tired face.

Yusaku was almost convinced that Ran and Shinichi were on a sugar high considering how wild they were. In excited voices, they slowly reiterate to their parents and Agasa their adventure with Santa, with both interrupting the other, and waving their arms in wild gestures to indicate certain points.

Once the tale was finished and everyone was comfortably settled in, the adults sipping coffee, and the kids next to their gifts, they finally opened the presents.

None of the adults received anything too spectacular until Yukiko and Eri opened a small rectangular present. Inside laid a video tape. Yukiko cracked up laughing and had a hard time containing herself. A few seconds later, Eri grinned and started to laugh as well. After they had settled down, they received curious stares from their children and worried looks from their husbands. Hastily, the two women told their husbands that they would explain later.

That night in their bedroom Yusaku asked Yukiko, "What happened this morning? I have never, in my life, seen Shinichi that excited about Christmas."

"What do you mean? I don't know what happened." Yukiko said feigning ignorance.

Yusaku sighed, "You know what I mean. Shinichi doesn't believe in Santa and know he does. What did you do to fool him and don't deny that you didn't do anything. You have been acting a bit strange for some time and don't think I didn't notice the looks you and Eri have been sharing with each other lately."

"You got me," Yukiko said with a dramatic sigh, "Eri and I noticed that the two children had been acting strangely so we concluded Shin-chan had been trying to convince Ran-chan that Santa didn't exist. Obviously we couldn't allow that to happen. So I merely thought that it might be nice if Shin-chan did believe in Santa so I asked a friend of mine to act as Santa in order to fool him."

"Who on earth did you ask?" Yusaku asked, bewildered that it had worked so well.

"I asked my good friend Tochi. He's a master of disguise as well as a magician. I knew he would be able to fool Shin-chan and I'm sure he had fun with it too." Yukiko added with a grin.

"Ah." Yusaku replied as recognition dawned on him. "I understand now." Indeed, he did. Yusaku knew that Tochi was a very convincing magician and would be able to pull this off without a problem. He had probably willingly accepted Yukiko's request too. And knowing Tochi flare for the dramatics, he probably pulled out all stops, enjoying the challenge his son gave him.

"Wish I had see it," Yusaku murmured under his breath.

"Do you want to?," Yukiko asked grinning. "Somehow Toichi managed to tape it," she said holding the tape she had received that morning, in front of her.

Yusaku grinned as well as both of them headed towards the nearest television.