Hey it's a Christmas fic! This fic features heavily implied Nescas but it doesn't go anywhere beyond hand holding just fyi. I hope you enjoy!

Everywhere they've been has been empty and eerily quiet. There's no shops or other kids his age or even police officers, it's like the whole world is a wasteland. He walks behind the pink round creature he'd stumbled upon earlier who had called itself Kirby when he'd asked its name. Feeling incredibly out of his element his eyes flick around nervously for any sign of danger as they enter what had appeared to be a stadium from the outside. Once they're inside Ness feels relieved (and somewhat nervous) when he sees the other creatures and humans present. Not one of them he recognizes.

A couple of the members present acknowledge their presence with a quick glance but they appear to be as confused as Ness and Kirby about their whereabouts or how they got there. A sudden eerie rumble fills the air and Ness stiffens as a voice echoes through the stadium. "Ahh finally, you're all present! Good evening and welcome to the World of Trophies!"

Unlike the others present Kirby appears rather unfazed by the odd turn of events and looks curiously up at the sky, eyes shining with innocence. Ness clutches his bat tighter in his hands and steps forward so he's next to the pink creature. He'll protect Kirby if he has to, he's the only friend he'd managed to make in this strange place so far.

"I am your creator. You may call me… Master Hand! Each of you is an exact replica of a hero from an outside world or universe! I have created you with their likeness, their memories and even their powers, with a few of my own personal touches of course!"

His words are like a blow to the head as Ness momentarily reels at the information, almost dropping his bat in shock. The other 'creations' around him appear to be in varying states of disbelief as well, even Kirby looks shocked.

He's not sure how long they all stand quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Eventually a man dressed in green jumps forward slashing his sword around and shouting, "Where are you? Show yourself!"

The voice responds back coolly, "Now, now, don't be so hasty my child."

What appears to be a robot steps forward beside the green clad warrior and yells in a feminine voice, "Don't call us children! What do you want with us?"

Silence follows for a long enough time for Ness to start feeling queasy. Kirby looks ready to pounce at anything that moves beside him and Ness tries to recall if he has any healing items.

"Ah yes… I should explain. You see I have decided to make my own tournament of sorts. Each of you has been cordially invited by me to participate! I will provide you with everything you need in exchange for a wonderful show of courage and strength!"

A man wearing green and overalls hiding behind a similarly dressed man in red shakily speaks out, "Wha… what-a kind of tournament?"

"I am glad you asked my dear Luigi! In this tournament you will compete against each other in a fight to determine the greatest hero! I assure you the winner will be known throughout the entire galaxy!"

The robot girl speaks up again voice strong and defiant, "And if we don't participate in your tournament?"

'Master Hand' laughs gleefully sending shivers down his spine. "I adore your spunk Samus! Sadly I'm afraid you don't really have much of a choice."

The ballroom of the Smash Mansion is covered in all kinds of decorations including paper snowflakes, mistletoe, holly and globs of ink meant to look like snow. In the middle of the room the humongous tree Ike chopped down a couple weeks ago glitters with lights of every color and ornaments shaped like starfish, squids and all kinds of different fish. Toon Link tells him its homey but Ness personally thinks it looks like Christmas decorations for an aquarium. Normally a group of smashers were assigned the task of taking care of holiday decorations and planning. However, the Inklings had enthusiastically taken over the entirety of Christmas planning and decorating this year. Ness had to admit the decorations were impressive even if their choice in ornaments was unfitting in his opinion.

This had to be their most extravagant and crowded Christmas Eve party in the history of the tournament; the entire ballroom filled with conversation and Christmas music. He briefly makes out the lyrics to "All I want for Christmas is You" and wonders if the Inklings actually picked the music for the party or if Peach or Isabelle had intervened so they weren't listening to squid gibberish the entire time.

His Mom used to turn the radio on in the mornings. In December she'd specifically tune it to a station playing Christmas music and he'd wake up to songs like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" or "Jingle Bell Rock." When he'd asked her about it she explained it helped her wake up. Sometimes Lucas hums to himself in the morning when he thinks Ness is still asleep, he'd never told him but he found it very comforting.

"Ness?"

The day of Christmas Eve his Mom would bake all kinds of Christmas desserts. That morning was particularly special because he'd wake up to the smell of peppermint or chocolate and when he'd trudge downstairs in his pajamas his Mother and Tracy would be in the kitchen stirring bowls of cookie dough. King would sit at their feet hopeful they'd make a mess so he'd get a taste. Yesterday him, Toon Link and Lucas helped the Inklings make Christmas cookies. It had been a more tedious task than Ness had expected, the Inklings could be rather immature and hyperactive when they wanted to be which had made teaching them a handful.

"Ness!"

His Mom would always ask him for help when she'd decide it was time to decorate the house. Pokey's family would put their lights up the week after Thanksgiving and they'd make a huge deal out of it, covering every inch of their front yard with decorations like it was a competition. His Mother would smile happily enough once Ness helped her put up a single string of lights around the tree in the front yard. She'd then put a candy cane welcome sign on the door and tell Ness it was absolutely perfect. About a week or so ago Lucas bought a blue holiday reef and hung it up on the door to their room looking rather pleased with himself. Ness had told him he liked the color he'd picked out and that it was absolutely perfect.

"NESS!"

Ness startles out of his thoughts almost dropping the cup of punch he's holding. Leaf is standing beside him looking thoroughly annoyed. She's wearing a pink sweater with what Ness thinks looks like a snowman on it but it's probably supposed to be a Pokemon he can't recall the name of.

She pushes hair out of her face and crosses her arms, "Were you listening to anything I said?"

Ness looks away attempting to recall anything from the past couple minutes. "Uhh… were you talking about Pokemon?"

Leaf pouts and stomps her feet, "I don't always talk about Pokemon!"

Thankfully something in the distances catches her eye and the anger on her face vanishes, "Forget it. I'm hungry and there's a plate of deviled eggs with our name on it Squirtle!"

She leans down and picks up her turtle companion who happily climbs aboard perching itself on her shoulder. Ness looks away as she stalks off feeling somewhat out of place. To his right there's some kind of commotion going on between Falco and Sonic while Fox attempts to deescalate the situation; and to his left Pit (who has taken quite an interest in matchmaking) is attempting to drag Zelda and Link under the mistletoe. Ness makes a face and looks away not particularly interested in watching more people awkwardly kiss tonight. He stares in his cup of punch as the lyrics to "Baby, It's Cold Outside," filters through the room. From the crowd of people around him Toon Link appears to his right and Ness's eyes are drawn to the weird hat he's wearing that looks like cake with eels sticking out of it that he remembers one of the inklings wearing earlier.

His friend walks up to him catlike eyes darting around, "Ness have you seen Lucas anywhere? He said he'd be right back and he's been gone for an hour."

At the mention of their mutual friend Ness looks around realizing he can't recall the last time he'd seen Lucas. Most likely Lucas had felt overwhelmed with all the socializing and gone off somewhere to be alone. Ness can't say he blames him, he normally likes these kind of events but right now he just wants to sit in front of a fireplace and fall asleep. His Mom could never quite lift him when he'd do just that the night of Christmas Eve so she'd wake him up and help him trudge up the stairs. Tracy was always in bed already because she wanted to be wide awake at 7 am on Christmas morning.

"Hoy Ness! Did you hear me?"

Ness startles again looking over at Toon Link who's watching him with concern. A pang of guilt and shame hits him and Ness mentally degrades himself. He'd been so excited for the party this morning, why'd he have to start feeling like this now? Sighing to himself he makes a quick decision and downs the rest of his punch before asking, "Which way did he go when he said he'd be right back?"

Toon Link looks at him carefully, "He went toward the entrance hall. He grabbed his coat so I think he was planning on going outside."

Ness nods and hands his empty cup to Toon Link sending him what he hopes is a grateful expression. As Ness walks in the direction he placed his coat earlier he hears Toon Link call after him, "When you find him let him know I saved some deviled eggs for him!"

He's able to grab his coat without any interruptions but as he attempts to get to the door to the entrance hall Isabelle jumps in front of him and attempts to make conversation, asking him if he's enjoying the party. Ness assures her the parties great but really he just wants to book it out of there. The lyrics to "A Wonderful Christmas Time" echoes through the room and it only increases Ness's longing for a home that isn't really his. Isabelle appears to notice he's acting a bit unusual and lets him go thanking him for taking the time to talk to her and Ness practically runs out of the room.

Stepping out into the entrance hall is like pouring water over his head as he closes the door behind him muffling the sound of chatter and music. The entrance hall is unusually quiet with no one else around and he makes out the muffled sound of Wolf howling with laughter on the other side of the door. For a moment he's not sure where he is and he feels small and alone, lost in the place he'd normally call his real home.

"Lucas! You need to find Lucas."

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear away the fog in his mind he pulls his coat on and makes his way toward the exit. Before he knows it he's grabbing the handle and thrusts himself outside into the cold.

There's something familiar about light snow falling on his face and the cold that nips at his ears. It's quiet but not the eerie quiet of the entrance hall. On one side of the door sites a display of snowmen the Inklings made two days ago that appear orange under the Christmas lights above him. Tracy loved making snowmen, Ness would be inside playing a video game and his Mother would insist he go out and help her. After some pouting he'd do as she said and he'd always end up enjoying himself. Ness shivers pulling his mittens over his fingers when he spots a pair of familiar footprints on the ground. He smiles a little to himself and begins following them away from the entrance.

As he walks along he pulls at a strand of his hair that peeks out from under his hat squinting at the small snowflakes on it. Had Lucas really been out here for an hour? He thinks maybe he should've grabbed a hot chocolate for Lucas before he'd left, he's sure the blonde had to be freezing by now.

As he walks he occupies himself by looking at the array of decorations he passes and tries to guess who put them up based on what it is. The sea turtle light display he passes was definitely put up by the Inklings and the two swans making a heart was probably Peach or Palutena. The light display of a dog wearing antlers and a rudolph nose was set up by him, Lucas and Villager a week ago. Lucas had dressed up the dog and duck that made up the Duck Hunt duo in a similar fashion that morning. Unlike King who would pout and whine when Tracy tied a bow around his neck Duck Hunt dog loved the attention and had kept the nose and antlers on all day.

As he follows the footsteps he realizes they're leading to the large garden by the back of the mansion. While most of the plants were covered in snow the Inklings had pretty much decorated the entirety of the garden with the same decorations as the main hall. The whole area appears to glow thanks to the white ink covering the shrubs and trees reflecting the Christmas lights. Amongst the glow of lights Ness spots a familiar silhouette and naturally quickens his pace.

As he grows closer to his friend he notices Lucas is still wearing the pair of reindeer antlers Ness had placed on his head that morning while he was busy making Duck Hunt look festive. It had been a spur of the moment thing, Ness had taken quite a liking to them when he pulled them out of the box of Christmas headgear and had decided they'd look especially nice on Lucas. The blonde hadn't protested, in fact he had seemed to like them if the smile he sent Ness was any indication.

Ness is close enough now that he can hear Lucas humming to himself and he's relieved that he's not humming a Christmas song but instead it sounds like one of the songs the Inklings liked to listen to. Out here in the cold, surrounded by the glow of lights, gently falling snow and the sound of Lucas humming Ness feels like he's stepped into another plane of existence entirely.

"Hey Lucas! Whatcha doin out here in the cold?"

Lucas's humming stops and he glances behind him, a content look on his face.

"Hi Ness! I needed a break for a while so I was admiring the Inklings decorations."

Ness steps up beside him so their shoulders are touching and turns to look at the lights his friend was looking at. In front of them is a light display of multiple Inklings that flash various colors at different intervals. He briefly wonders how costly all these decorations were.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turns back to Lucas, "I don't blame you for needing a break, I was really starting to get sick of watching Pit drag people under the mistletoe. There's only so much PDA a guy can handle in one day y'know."

Lucas stifles a laugh with his hands and the bells on his antlers twinkle under the lights and make a pretty chime sound. The sound makes him feel nostalgic and he suddenly remembers why when he thinks back to the jingle bell earrings his Mom always wore on Christmas. Quickly glancing away from Lucas he swallows the lump forming in his throat. When he looks toward the blonde again he notices there's a clump of snow on Lucas's cheek that was definitely not caused by the light snow falling from the sky.

"Did you trip?" He reaches a hand out to touch his cheek but Lucas swats it away before he can make contact and starts wiping the snow away with his sleeve, a bashful smile on his face.

"Oh um yeah... I was distracted and got my foot caught in an electric cord." Looking away Lucas attempts to change the subject, "The Inklings really out did themselves, don't you think?"

Ness frowns and ignores Lucas's previous statement as he tries to get a closer look at his friends face, "It looks like it might've bruised."

Lucas brushes him off cheek dusted pink over the greenish color of a bruise forming, "It's fine Ness, I'll heal it later."

Ness suppresses the urge to heal it himself right now and instead decides he should probably convey Toon Link's message before he forgets.

"Toon Link was looking for you by the way. He saved you some deviled eggs before Leaf could eat them all."

Lucas finishes scrubbing at his face looking somewhat guilty, "Oh… that was nice of him…. Sorry, I've been gone for a while haven't I?"

Lucas's head tilts slightly and the bells jingle again. Ness's mind grows foggy with memories of Christmas songs on the radio, his Mom baking cookies with Tracy and Pokeys obnoxious Christmas decorations.

Like a zombie he reaches out and grabs one of the bells on Lucas's antlers rubbing it between his thumb and his finger. He wonders what his family's doing now, or rather what the real Ness's family is doing now. After all he's just a perfect replica isn't he? All the memories he has aren't really his... so then why did he still miss them so much?

"Hey." There's suddenly a hand holding his wrist and Ness is drawn back to reality. Lucas is looking at him with concern shining in his eyes. "You feeling alright?"

Ness fidgets under the weight of his gaze feeling shame settle in his stomach. It's been so long, this really shouldn't bother him anymore. He attempts to look away and pull his hand back but Lucas can be surprisingly stubborn when he wants to be and keeps him from pulling away.

"Ness… are you feeling homesick?"

Ness doesn't meet his gaze which is a clear indication to Lucas that yes he is feeling homesick. Lucas moves their hands down and laces their fingers together which isn't weird at all because Ness had done the same thing this morning when he'd dragged Lucas by the hand out of their shared room to get a head start on the Christmas activities.

"It's okay Ness. No one blames you for missing home."

Lucas has assured Ness multiple times that he's never been able to read minds but Ness still has a sinking suspicion he can and he's lying. Ness would occasionally catch snippets of peoples's thoughts but he often tried to avoid doing it. Reading minds was far too much to handle especially after hearing some of the perverted thoughts going through Wolf's head.

"They're not really my memories Lucas… it shouldn't bother me so much anymore."

Lucas squeezes his hand gently, "They are your memories Ness, because they're part of what makes you you. That's why they're so important to you and there's nothing wrong with valuing them."

Ness considers his words as he watches a snowflake land on a plant nearby that looks suspiciously like a sunflower. His Mom never liked sunflowers because they'd make her sniffley but Ness has grown fond of them because Lucas loves them so much.

He lets out an exhausted sigh and offers Lucas a meek smile, "Y'know… my Mom used to wear jingle bell earrings during the holidays. They'd always make noise when she'd move. It was a nice sound."

Lucas looks a bit unsure of himself and before Ness can figure out what's going through his head he let's go off his hand and instead reaches to take his antlers off.

"Sorry I didn't-"

"S'okay I like it!" He grabs Lucas's wrist and stops him from pulling them off his head, moving his hand back down.

Lucas doesn't protest but still looks uneasy, "Are you sure?"

Ness nods and links their fingers together again. A moment of silence follows and Ness absentmindedly rubs his thumb over Lucas's hand as he watches more snowflakes fall to the ground. Lucas fidgets and looks shyly over at Ness, "Umm.. can you tell me more about what your family was like around Christmas?"

Ness brightens a little as he recites what he remembers, "Sure! While my Mom loved to bake. So on the morning of Christmas Eve she'd wake up really early and start baking all sorts of Christmas treats! Tracy would always join her before I woke up and King would sit at their feet and hope they'd make a mess so he'd get a taste. I'd help her once I woke up too and we'd end up spending most of the day in the kitchen baking and decorating. Mom and Tracy were really good at decorating their desserts but mine would always end up messy and ugly looking."

"Aww I thought the ones you decorated the other day were nice!" Lucas replies quickly.

"Don't lie, they were terrible. Especially compared to yours and Toon Links."

Lucas sends him a sheepish smile, "Alright maybe they weren't the best but they were oozing with personality."

"My snowman cookie looked murderous Lucas."

"Exactly! Oozing with personality!"

Ness chuckles to himself, "Thanks but I'm pretty sure your cookies were the best decorated. Your puppy cookie was so cute I almost felt bad eating it!... Almost."

Lucas crosses his arms with a playful smile, "Are you sure? You scarfed it down pretty quick for someone who felt bad about it."

"I couldn't help it yours were just so good! The inklings were way to sweet and Toon Links were all burnt."

Lucas giggles, "Well your cookies weren't the best decorated but I personally thought they did taste the best. I bet your Mom's baking skills rubbed off on you."

Homesickness fading away, Ness's usual smile returns to his face as he rubs the back of his head bashfully. "You really think so?"

"Of course, they were wonderful Ness! The cookies at the party today were bland in comparison."

Ness brightens as an idea forms in his head, "Y'know what? I think we should quit the tournament and start our own baking business! I'll cook all the desserts and you can decorate them! Maybe we can even convince Toon Link to help us!"

Lucas laughs and plays along tapping a finger against his cheek in mock consideration, "Hmm I don't know… how much moneys in it for me exactly?"

Ness presses his shoulder against him playfully, "All the money in the world! That's how popular we'll be!"

"All the money in the world? That's a lot to promise Ness."

Ness grabs Lucas's other hand in his own and spins them around like their dancing. The sound of small jingle bells chiming follows. "I'll work really hard to make sure we're the best bakery in the world and we get a ton of money! Just for you!"

Lucas smiles and his eyes gleam in that way they do when he's truly 100% happy. Ness's heart does a fluttery thing and he spins them around one more time for good measure, feeling unusually warm when he'd been cold moments before. Lucas laughs warm and bright and it's like music to his ears.

"Okay, I can't possibly say no to that! But before we begin our baking venture we should head back inside." He looks up at the sky thoughtfully, "It looks like the snows picking up."

Ness glances up, just now noticing the thicker snowflakes falling from the clouds above. Ness takes the lead tugging Lucas by the hand back towards the mansion feeling far more content with himself than he did an hour ago. Ness thinks he'll probably feel homesick again tomorrow but at least he won't feel so guilty about it. And if he does he could always vent his feelings to Lucas. He wonders how he'd feel if he had to leave the tournament behind one day. He thinks he'd feel even worse, everyone here had truly become like a family to him and he'd do anything to keep them safe. A thought suddenly strikes Ness and he turns to his best friend, squeezing his hand.

"Your family didn't celebrate Christmas, right?"

Lucas looks away from a nearby group of lights that make a reindeer and shakes his head. "No… my Mom did enjoy the winter though. She especially liked hot chocolate, are house always smelled like it in December."

Ness slows down a little, "My Mom was an apple cider kind of person. She used to make it herself every year!"

Lucas's cheeks dust pink and he looks away, "I like apple cider too... it's warm and sweet."

Ness smiles even bigger and turns completely around so he can grab both of Lucas's hands again.

"How about we make some when we get back! We can ask Toon if he wants to join us too, kay?"

Lucas meets his gaze and sends him one of those eternally grateful smiles he rarely sends to anyone else but Ness. Ness easily smiles in return, heart fluttering and spins them around again, comforted by the sound of jingle bells and Lucas's laughter.

I hope you liked it! It's pretty much just shameless fluff cause I'm sad and writing this kind of stuff helps me feel better. Hopefully the beginning makes sense I added it primarily for context since I like the theory the smash fighters are trophy recreations of the characters that Master Hand created. I was actually thinking of possibly starting a story of a bunch of smash one-shots to explore the characters more, if I have the time. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this and if you leave any feedback please be kind and constructive. And thank you so much for reading I hope you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season!