All I Want For Christmas
Avery: I just wanted to write a happy holiday story about everyone getting together and exchanging gifts. Since at the moment there is no SVTFOE holiday episode I wrote what my interpretation of what the holiday episode might be. It is currently one in the morning on December 25, officially Christmas. I did write this half-asleep, just a warning. This is just for fun, the show doesn't belong to me.
It didn't snow in California; December was never below sixty degrees. There were no snow days to cancel school, or snowmen lining the streets. There were no chestnuts roasting on an open fire, or Jack Frost nipping at your nose. But the lack of snow didn't make the holidays any less merry. Somewhere on a street in northern California was a tiny house covered in red and green lights. The sound of jingle bells could be heard from down the block as a large group of teens partied inside. There were red stockings hung over the fireplace, which emitted a warm glow thanks to the colourful orange flames. A tall evergreen tree was decorated with lovely little ornaments and topped with a gold star. Underneath the tree were carefully wrapped presents in a variety of colours and shapes. The entire house smelled like gingerbread, and there were candles were glowing in the windows. The teenagers, clad in the ugliest sweaters they could find, were either eating candy canes and fruit cake or dancing to the holiday playlist on the radio. Among the teens were a blue eyed blond girl holding a gift bag in one hand and a wand in the other, and a tall boy in a hoodie, carrying a large gift in two hands. A taller blonde with a blue streak in her hair and a shell necklace waved to them.
"Marco! Star!" Jackie exclaimed happily. "So glad that you could make it."
"Thanks for inviting us," Star replied. "Where do I put my Secret Santa gift?"
A few weeks prior to her party, Jackie had gotten all of her guests to pull a person's name out of a hat to buy a present for. Star didn't completely understand the rules of a Secret Santa, and had immediately asked Janna what she wanted for Christmas, which was basically anything Tim Burton related. Since Star had asked Janna what she wanted, she didn't need to worry about getting something that Janna would hate. But Marco was a nervous wreck. Marco, by some strange twist of fate, had pulled Jackie's name from the lovely little Secret Santa hat. He spent days in the mall, going through every store and carefully considering what the perfect gift for Jackie might be. He bought and returned so many gifts that Star eventually grew tired and ripped up the receipt for the last item he bought for Jackie, meaning that he couldn't return it.
"Under the tree, dudes." She responded with a smirk. "There's eggnog, cookies, and cake in the kitchen, help yourselves. Oh, and Happy Holidays."
"Happy Holidays." Star said with a smile before skipping away to join the party, leaving Marco alone with Jackie.
"So, uh-" Marco stuttered. He could never figure out what to say around this girl. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get past a simple greeting. "Happy Holidays."
"Need some help with that?" Jackie asked, noticing Marco struggling with the large package in his arms.
"Uh, sure." Marco replied.
He handed the present off to Jackie, his fingers accidentally brushing against hers as he did. It was hard to hide the blush on his face after that. He noticed Jackie almost fumbled with the gift for a moment, not realizing that it would be so heavy.
"Well, someone is lucky to get such a nice present." Jackie chuckled, placing the gift box wrapped in red paper underneath the tree.
Marco just shrugged and smiled, a part of him wanted her to open the present now and another part wanted to make sure that she never unwrapped it. The two teens stood there by the tree in awkward silence. In that moment Marco really wanted to say something, anything. But someone on the makeshift dancefloor called her over, she walked away and the moment was gone. Marco sighed heavily and trudged off to go find Star, the annoying pop rendition of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree blaring in his ears. When he got to the kitchen Star was sitting at the table with a group of other teens, drinking eggnog and eating cookies. She waved him over.
"Want some cookies?" One of the girls at the table asked, Marco recognized her from math class, but didn't know her name. He took a gingerbread and a shortbread cookie.
"My mom and sisters made those." Janna told him. Marco immediately tried to cough up the cookie he had just taken a bite of. "Relax, there's no poison. Just a Christmas tradition, baking cookies as a family."
"My mom makes dreidel shaped cookies for Hanukkah." Ferguson interjected. He took a bite of his own cookie before continuing. "We eat them after lighting the menorah."
"In my family we hang socks on the fireplace in place of stockings." Alfonzo explained, readjusting his glasses. "In the morning they are filled with candy."
Around the table people were jumping in with their different holiday traditions. Ed's family celebrated Ramadan, he told the table about how difficult fasting was but such a rewarding experience. Even though he had celebrated during the summer, he would never pass up the opportunity to party. Andrea celebrated Kwanzaa, she explained her family's tradition of giving traditional African toys and garments along with other gifts during the holiday. Star loved hearing about everyone's different holiday experiences and traditions. They all spoke of times with their families, everyone celebrating together, just being happy with each other's company. Star couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, not being with her family during the holidays for the first time. She had always valued family, but she never realized how much they meant to her until that moment. She missed the celebrations in Mewni, the people dancing and singing in the streets, and the decorations in the castle. She knew that they were never really that far away, she could take out her inter-dimensional scissors and go home right now if she wanted. Still, she decided that she should call her mother and wish her a happy holiday when she got home.
"What about you, Star?" Janna asked, leaning over the princess. "Any holidays in space?"
"Oh," Star snapped out of her daze. "Well, on Mewni we have a Christmas-like day on the 29th of December. But instead of one big tree you have small three foot trees made to represent each member of the family, and there's this fun little scavenger hunt for your presents. All over the kingdom there are people celebrating in the streets, doing good deeds wherever they go. Then at night we would host a ball for everyone in the kingdom to celebrate together."
Star had been so caught up in the nostalgia that she hardly noticed that her eyes were becoming misty. She looked up at the faces of her peers, their eyes were all wide with wonder. Maybe one day she could invite them to join in her holiday festivities on Mewni. Star took a deep breath to calm her nerves before smiling. She missed Mewni and her holiday traditions greatly, but that didn't mean that she didn't love Earth's holiday traditions too.
"Secret Santa time!" The teens heard Jackie yell from the living room.
Everyone jumped from their seats and bolted to the living room, eager to exchange presents, leaving Marco and Star standing alone in the kitchen. Marco twisted a piece of discarded tinsel around in his hand, part of him wanted to hide in the kitchen until the gift giving was over. He could already hear Jackie's grimace when she opened up his present. Marco took a deep breath and Star smiled confidently at him.
"Ready?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Ready." He confirmed, but he still didn't move. Star rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the kitchen.
The two teens joined the large circle of teens around the Christmas tree. One by one people started grabbing presents and handing them to their recipients. The sounds of laughter, joy, and tearing paper filled the room as each teen received their gift. A few people were noticeably disappointed with their gifts, but played it off as if they were not going to re-gift their present. This made Marco gulp, wondering if Jackie would have the same reaction to his present.
Brittney handed Star a small box wrapped in green paper.
"I'm your Secret Santa." She said in monotone. "Here's your gift, or whatever. Hope you like it, or don't, I really don't care."
Star ripped apart the green paper to reveal a small silver box with a pair of gold dangling earrings inside. They were pretty, but knowing Brittney she probably bought Star fake gold earrings to turn her ears green. Nonetheless, Star thanked Brittney for the earrings and took her own gift bag from under the tree.
"Here Janna." Star said with a cheery smile, the beanie wearing girl jumped up excitedly, and practically ripped the bag from Star's hands. "Happy Holidays."
Janna tore apart the tissue paper and screamed. She attacked Star in a hug and held up her gift. It was a figurine of Lydia Deetz from the movie Beetlejuice, the base that she stood on was engraved with a quote from the movie. It read "I myself am strange and unusual." Which described Janna perfectly.
"How did you find this?" Janna exclaimed.
"I have a wand." Star replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Touché." Janna remarked with a confident nod.
Marco felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see his fiery haired friend, Ferguson presenting him with an envelope.
"Happy Holidays, Marco." Ferguson cheered.
Marco chuckled and took the envelope. He silently wondered how Ferguson managed to keep his identity as Marco's Secret Santa a secret, as he has always been a huge blabbermouth. He ripped open the envelope to find three gift certificates, one for his favourite restaurant, another for the mall, and one for the Karate Warehouse that sold martial arts equipment.
"Thanks, Happy Holidays to you too." Marco replied, giving his friend a quick hug.
The gift giving went on until there was only one gift left, the one for Jackie. Marco picked up the present and handed it off to Jackie. He felt like everyone's eyes were on him at that moment, he was so nervous. He looked over to Star for support, she shot him a thumbs up. He watched anxiously as Jackie tore through his wrapping job, holding his breath as he waited. He heard her gasp, and for a split-second he couldn't tell if it was a bad or good reaction. That was until Jackie leaped to her feet and hugged him. Marco was caught off guard for a moment, his wide eyes found Star. He gave her a surprised smile as if to say "I can't believe this is happening." Star smiled, happy that all of Marco's hard work to find the perfect gift had paid off.
"What did he get you?" Janna asked eagerly.
"A hoverboard." Jackie replied with the biggest smile on her face.
Marco realized in that moment that he shouldn't have been so worried about whether or not Jackie would like his gift that he forgot something important. They were friends, he knew her. She loved anything with wheels and would have loved his present no matter what it was. But he wanted to impress her, he thought that she was the prettiest girl on Earth. He had always liked her, aside from her looks she was cool and funny, it was why she had so many friends.
"Hey everyone!" Someone yelled from the window. "Look outside."
All of the teenagers ran to the window to see what they were talking about. Everyone gasped in shock and excitement. Outside the window, tiny white snowflakes floated down from the clouds. They melted as soon as they hit the ground, but it didn't matter. It was snowing in California. It was the most peculiar and most exciting thing to happen. Naturally, Janna was the first one to dart out of the house and into the night. She didn't mind the frigid night air, or the bitter wind that sent chills down her spine, or that she would probably catch a cold without a jacket. She tilted her head back and tried her best to catch snowflakes on her tongue. She laughed and spun around on the lawn as everyone watched from the window. Jackie was the first person to join her in the snow, she grabbed her best friend's hand and the two spun around in the snow. Janna wasn't sure if it was the cold, or the pretty girl in front of her, but she could feel blood rushing to her cheeks.
One by one the party-goers assembled outside for the brief snowfall. Except for Star, who just looked on in wonder and amazement. Marco looked at her, realizing something important.
"You've never seen snow, have you?" Marco asked.
"I've seen snow," Star replied. "But not like this. The snow that I've seen is natural, but with this climate snow shouldn't be possible. This snow is magic."
Too many people believed that there was no magic on Earth. But magic existed in the little things, these little miracles in life. The holidays were all about magic and miracles. While it may not come from a man in a red suit who makes a living delivering toys to children, it comes in the spirit of the season. The season of family, friendship, and belonging. The time to remember the distant memories of times long forgotten, and to rejoice in the celebration of the new year.
"Want to join them?" Marco asked, offering Star his arm.
She smiled warmly and linked arms with him. The two of them ran out to join their friends in the snow and enjoy the holiday season together.
Avery: I tried my best. I decided not to do an 'under the mistletoe' fic because that has been done so many times. I tried to fit as many ships as I could to make everybody happy (I'm still Jackna trash).
I asked a few friends what their holiday traditions are and used them in this fic for when everyone is sharing around the table.
It's still one in the morning on December 25, but I don't feel tired. My mom gave me my Christmas eve gift, it's a TARDIS shirt (and anyone who knows me knows that I love Doctor Who.)
Happy Holidays. Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Spiritually Fulfilling Equinox, Merry Christmas.
Since everyone celebrates the holidays differently please share in the reviews how your family celebrates the season.