I'll start this off a bit cliche by saying Merry Christmas to all my lovely readers. If you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays. If you don't celebrate holidays, Happy...uhhhh...something. I started writing this on Christmas Eve and finished very early Christmas morning when I couldn't sleep. It's just a cute little Christmas story featuring the fuzzy warm stuff and the not so fuzzy warm stuff (i.e. a pointless argument over which Christmas tree is the best). Some of the stuff is based on me and my sister (i'll explain what at the end if anyone's interested). Well anyway on with the disclaimer
Notice: I, SHSLAwesome do not own Persona 4, the Persona series, or anything related to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and it's spinoffs. [legal jargon] Initial X SHSLA
Now onto the story
Teddie woke up on the morning of December the 25th with a light heart and a smile on his face. He'd heard stories of the wonders of Christmas from Yosuke and the others, but this is the first time he'd really experience it for himself. After all, his first Christmas in the real world was spent with all his friends and Nanako, who had just been released from the hospital for the holidays. This would be the first time he experienced the Christmas his friends told him about.
Teddie leapt out of bed, careful not to wake Yosuke, and snuck downstairs to see the treasures underneath the tree. He paused for a moment to look at the tree all lit and sparkling. He'd remembered how much fun he'd had decorating the tree with his friends.
[Insert cliche flashback scene here]
When the Investigation Team realized that Teddie never had a proper Christmas the year before, they all decided to go all out this Christmas. The group agreed that this should be a special Christmas for their friend and decided to hold a special secret meeting to make the plans. As they walked to school the Friday before Christmas, I thought popped into everyone's heads: Where should we hold the meeting?
"Should we have the meeting at our 'Special Headquarters'?" Yukiko asked the group, clearly excited at the thought of planning the surprise.
"I think it best that we don't hold the meeting there, Yukiko-senpai." Naoto replied. "If we hold a meeting at the Junes Food Court, there is a very high probability that Teddie would find us, thereby ruining the surprise."
"You make a good point, Naoto." The group's leader, Souji, agreed. "We could have the meeting at my uncle's house."
"Yeah, except Teddie was gonna go over and build a snowman with Nanako-chan today…" Yosuke sighed, clearly exasperated.
"If we are trying to keep Teddie from finding out, my family's estate may be our best bet. I'm sure my grandfather wouldn't mind if you all came over today." Naoto suggested.
"Then it's settled! After school today we'll all head over to Naoto-kun's place and plan the big surprise for Teddie!" Chie exclaimed.
[Yes, these are the line breaks for this story]
"It seems Grampa had some business to attend to." Naoto returned to the group with a few drinks she gathered from the kitchen. She set the drinks down on the coffee table in front of them and took her seat on the couch between Souji and Rise.
"Are you sure it's okay for us to be here?" Rise asked. "I don't want you to get in trouble for inviting us over when no one's home."
"My grampa wouldn't be angry with me for inviting friends over, especially since I never had friends until last year."
On that note, the subject changed to their Christmas surprise. Unfortunately, no one quite remembered their first Christmas, so they were trying to decide between a party and a large holiday dinner.
"Hey, uh, what about a Christmas tree decorating party?" Everyone turned to look at Kanji – who suggested the idea – with inquisitive looks on their faces. "I mean come on, when you think of Christmas, don't you think of Christmas trees with presents underneath? So why don't we get a tree and bring it to Yosuke-senpai's place and let Teddie decorate his first Christmas tree?"
Everyone agreed that it was a great idea. Yosuke took out his phone to call his parents and tell them about the group's plan. After getting permission from his parents, the whole team headed out to find the perfect Christmas tree.
[How difficult could it be to find a Christmas tree?]
"I can't believe it took us 2 hours to find a Christmas tree…." Yosuke whined as the group carried the tree back to his house.
"Well if you imbeciles could learn to compromise, maybe it wouldn't have taken so long." Naoto bit back.
"Oh like you're one to talk. All you did was nag us!" Yosuke then made his voice high-pitched, as if to mock Naoto. "'That one's too bare on one side. That one's not full enough. It's too thin. It's too fat. It's too short. It's too tall.' NO ONE CARES!"
Naoto's eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "I was trying to get the perfect tree for Teddie's first real Christmas! Yakushiji-san always used to say my sharp eye and perfectionist nature are perfect for choosing the right Christmas tree!"
The two bickered for a while until, finally, Souji got tired of listening to them. "That's enough!" He said, in a harsh tone, not often heard from the calm young man. "If you don't stop arguing by the time I count to three, you're both going in time out."
"Stop treating us like children" The two bickering teens said simultaneously.
"If you are going to act like children, then you are going to be treated like children." The silver teen scolded.
At his tone, Naoto and Yosuke ceased their arguing, both staying quiet until they finally reached Yosuke's house.
[Don't worry, Naoto. I'm the same way with trees.]
After the tree was set up, Souji called Nanako and asked her to bring Teddie back to Yosuke's house for a surprise. About 15 minutes later, the group saw the duo walking towards the house. Teddie looked excited at the prospect of a surprise this close to Christmas. Souji walked outside to greet them.
"Hiya, Sensei! Nana-chan told me you had a surprise for me!" Teddie said with a gleeful smile.
Souji smiled back in response to his youthful excitement. "We all have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes first. Nanako and I will lead you to where it is."
Under normal circumstances, this statement would have been cause for one of Teddie's strange, dramatic soliloquys. However, it Teddie was far too excited to take advantage of that moment and risk the chance that his friends might take away the surprise.
Souji and Nanako led an excited Teddie to the living room of the Hanamura Residence they both let go of his hands and backed away slightly before Souji gave Teddie permission to open his eyes. When Teddie finally opened his eyes, the expression on his face became even more joyful.
"Wow! A Christmas tree! Just like the ones at Junes, Yosuke!" He exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah, except this one is real. We're gonna have a tree decorating party on Sunday."
"Really?!" The group all swore in that moment they saw tears forming in Teddie's light blue eyes. "Thank you all beary much! You guys are the best friends a bear could ever ask for." This time the tears did form, and began streaming down his face.
As the sky began to turn dark, the group went their separate ways with the promise to meet up Sunday morning.
[Know that feeling when you can't sleep on Christmas Eve?]
"Yosuke, wake up!" Teddie was jumping up and down like a child, shaking Yosuke in a feeble attempt to wake him up.
Yosuke groaned and sat up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he said in an annoyed tone, "What it is Ted? I'm trying to sleep."
"But Yosuke, it's Sunday morning! We have to get ready before Sensei and the others come over." Teddie then hurriedly ran over to the closet to get dressed.
Yosuke took that opportunity to glance at his alarm clock, worried he'd missed the alarm he set. "It's only 5:50?! Why the hell would you think anyone would be over this early?!"
Upon hearing Yosuke's complaints, Teddie had a sudden look of disappointment on his face. "I was so excited I couldn't sleep at all last night. I kept waiting and waiting for morning to come so that everyone would come over to decorate the Christmas tree. But time was passing soooo slowlyyy…"
Yosuke felt a slight twinge of guilt as he looked at his friend's disappointed face. "Hey, it's alright man. Why don't we go downstairs and get all the decorations ready so that when everyone gets here we can start putting them on the tree right away?"
"…R-Really, Yosuke?"
"Yeah, sure. Just make sure you don't make too much noise or you'll wake my mom and dad." On that note, Yosuke slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs with the overly-energetic-yet-sleep-deprived bear in tow.
[Deck the tree with lights and tinsel! Fa lalalala lalalala]
After about 3 more hours, the entire team had arrived at the Hanamura Residence. Yosuke offered them all coffee, to which they happily accepted. After everyone had their drinks in hand, Teddie stood and asked, "So, what do we do first? Ornaments? Lights? Tinsel? Garland?" Teddie's tone of voice betrayed his excitement at the prospect of decorating his first Christmas tree.
"Ted, ya know you're not s'posed to put both tinsel and garland on a tree, right?" Kanji spoke in an almost annoyed tone, as though that fact was common knowledge to everyone.
"Well I'm not surprised you don't know that, Teddie. After all this is the first time you've decorated a Christmas tree." Chie spoke up before Kanji's words set in and upset Teddie. "And you always do the lights first. If you try and do the light's last, all the ornaments will just fall off."
The whole group all got up and worked together to put the lights on the tree. When they finished, streams of colorful, blinking lights illuminated the green branches. Everyone stood back a moment to admire their handiwork. Even Teddie, who was the most excited to see what the tree would look like when it was finished, stared in awe at the sight. Eventually, however, the group of teenagers snapped out of their stupor. Then it was on to the ornaments.
The group all grabbed ornaments and started putting them on the tree. The red, green, silver, gold, and blue ornaments embellished the tree, accenting the colors of the lights. "The tree's really looking good! You weren't kidding when you said you're good at decorating Christmas trees, Naoto-kun!" Rise said as they all admired the unfinished tree.
Naoto replied to Rise's compliment with a nod and gentle smile. "Thank you, Rise-san. I hand-picked the decorations to complement each other. I wanted Teddie's first Christmas tree to be the best it could be." Naoto could have sworn she heard Teddie say something along the lines of 'Nao-chan is such a nice girl!', but she wasn't sure.
"Teddie, do you want to use tinsel or garland on the tree?" Yukiko asked. "We thought it would be a good idea to get both and let you decide."
Teddie thought for a moment before deciding on garland. They all gathered to string gold garland around the tree's branches. When they were finished, Yosuke grabbed a ladder from the hall closet and Teddie put a beautiful gold and silver star on the top of the tree. After he was done and everything was put away, the group closed the curtains and turned off the lights in the room. Smiles grew on the faces of everyone in the room as the tree shimmered. They all joined hands around the tree and taught Teddie some Christmas carols. Everything seemed so peaceful and everyone was so happy. No one wanted it to end. But as the night fell, they all said their goodbyes and parted ways for the night once again, leaving Yosuke and Teddie to admire the tree.
[Now we are back to present day]
Teddie looked beneath the tree, at the presents laying in colorful ribbons and bows. Then he looked at the shimmering tree once again. He sat in front of the tree, looked up at the tree, and thought, I don't really need any presents this year, because nothing can beat how much fun I had with my friends.
...
A Beary Merry Christmas to you and yours
Thanks so much for reading. And for those of you who are following my multi-chapter stuff, thanks for bearing with me (no pun intended). I had a really busy and stressful semester and the next one may be worse. But i'll do my best to post stuff as often as possible.
I originally had plans to have Nanako decorating the tree with them. However it is currently 5:06 am on Christmas day and i'm basically out of time. plus i'm lazy. Also i'm sorry for all the cliche's. I was so stressed from exams last week that i didn't get the chance to work on this until yesterday and even then i was constantly being pulled away by family.
I mentioned some things referring to my sister and I, and I meant it. The arguing about the tree between Yosuke and Naoto was something that normally happens when we decorate. My sister and I always argue when we decorate the tree it's kinda tradition by now. I chose those two characters because i feel they fit us best. I'm a lot like Naoto in some ways and my sister is a lot like Yosuke (it's not as weird as it sounds). Also I really am a perfectionist when it comes to the tree. But another thing to note is MY FAMILY NEVER USES GARLAND. The only reason we didn't use tinsel this year is because we were worried that my almost one year old niece would put it in her mouth.
Well anyways I have a month off for winter break so i'll be balancing a lot of stuff. Hopefully i'll be able to get more stuff up. Thank you guys for reading once again. I wish you all Safe and Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year. Arigatou Gozaimasu!
