Haven't….had…candycane…in a week….DX

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Must…have…candycane…DX

Of Christmas Present

"Lloyd?" Kratos whispered, staring down at his son.

"Heh heh, yeah, I know you're kinda weirded out and all…" the teen rubbed the back of his neck, "But this is for your own good!"

"My own-?" Kratos scoffed. "Lloyd, what is the meaning of this? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Didn't Yuan tell you?" Lloyd bit his lip. "This is…well…I used the Eternal Sword and Origin said he'd help me out a bit, so we decided to do the Christmas Carol thing Yuan mentioned-"

"So Yuan is the one that got this idea into your head?" he scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Well yeah- but look, this doesn't last long, so we need to get down to business," he smiled.

"Lloyd-" the man started.

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present!" Lloyd grinned warmly, throwing his arms out with a flourish as he did so. "And I am going to show you all the good stuff about Christmas!"

"For some reason I doubt strongly that I will be impressed," the man spat icily.

Despite his appearance of the stoic man he was believed to be, accompanied by the heart encased with his icy demeanor, he was in fact truly disturbed. For what his departed bride had said did indeed unnerve him, his thoughts now focused on that of his child before him and how exactly it was that he would lose him…

"Hmph," Lloyd crossed his arms, glaring at his father, "Well, too bad! You're going to go through this, okay? Besides, you don't get a choice- Oh yeah, I suppose you're wondering what all the food is here for, right?"

"I already know," Kratos sighed slightly, "it's the food of generosity, correct?"

"Y- Yeah…." Lloyd blinked, "How'd you know?"

"I know this story, Lloyd," the man sighed.

"Oh…well, then you know what's coming, huh?"

With this he smirked slyly at his father, who went to speak before Lloyd snapped his fingers and the world whited out around them. Kratos flinched, realizing he was doing the very same thing his mother had done not minutes ago.

"Sorry Dad, but you forced me!" Lloyd grinned. "We're going to see what everyone is doing Christmas tomorrow! Starting with Yuan …"

Now, Yuan was known to be reclusive in his own right, and quite enigmatic to those that were not in his immediate circle. Not that there were many in his immediate circle either, but perhaps it was some sense the brown-haired male had, or Origin's influence, but the father and son found themselves standing in what was unmistakably the Renegade base, though it was almost impossible to recognize it due to the décor. Both Kratos and his guide froze, their mouths hanging agape somewhat as they observed the scene. Chaos ran rampant as many Renegades, helmetless, cheered and socialized loudly, the majority of them drunk, yet all of them quite obviously enjoying themselves. Yuan himself was currently laughing hysterically at something one of his troops had told him, red in the face and evidently rather tipsy.

"Hah hah hah! Y- Y'know, I always-" he hiccupped loudly, grinning like a fool, "Thought that'd be fucking funny…yer sucha funny guy…."

He slapped the soldier on the back and then they erupted into fits of somewhat manic laughter, haphazardly singing some indistinguishable Christmas tune.

"…" Kratos blinked.

"Uh…" Lloyd stared, then flinched suddenly.

"Lloyd?" Kratos eyed his child.

"Oh, yes," Lloyd laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "Right, as you can see, Dad, even Yuan gets excited about Christmas! Sure, he's not really doing it the way most of us would, but he's still celebrating and enjoying himself! And he has just as much 'I'm old as hell I hate the world' baggage as you do!"

"Yes, thus he destroys his liver and pollutes his brain in order to escape it, quite admirable," Kratos spat, his arms crossed over his chest.

Lloyd glared at his father, trying not to say anything that might endanger his 'mission' of sorts. Instead, he took a deep breath and continued, doing his best to focus on the task at hand.

"The point is, Dad, that even Yuan can enjoy himself at Christmas! He doesn't even really have family, but the Renegades are his family! Don't you see that? He still celebrates and has fun with the people he cares about, and he's…Yuan."

"…" the Seraph merely looked away.

"Oh come on, did you have to mention that buzzkill?"

Both Aurions turned to look at Yuan, whom had spoken and was now groaning a bit, his head propped up by his arm that rested on the table.

"Sorry, boss…we were just kinda wonderin'…" said one male, frowning.

"Yes," nodded a female, "I mean, no offense, boss, but we do know the whole story behind you two- sure, maybe not the details, but you used to be so tight!"

"Heh, nice word choice," Yuan spat, taking another drink, "That's exactly what happened to him, he got so uptight. I mean, yeah…I completely understand why he would be, after what happened with Anna and all…"

Kratos' throat tightened, merely staring at his eldest friend as Lloyd in turn zeroed in on Yuan's words, anxious to hear more from the enigmatic Seraph.

"It's a shame, really," Yuan sighed, muttering under his breath, "Since Botta's gone…and Mithos went nuts years upon years ago…he really is the only real friend I got left…"

"Real friend?" one of them teased nervously. "Look, boss, we know we're not really on your level and all, but we all agreed to follow you for a reason, right?"

"Yeah," agreed another, "We all respect you and look up to you, boss!"

"I wouldn't mind getting a little closer to you," a female giggled, intoxicated.

Yuan being so himself, laughed loudly along with his workers, throwing back his head as they all erupted into fits of drunken guffaws.

"…" Kratos shook his head, "How very like him."

"Is that all you can say?" Lloyd asked, somewhat irritated. "Your best friend is sitting right there, saying how important you are to him, and that's the only thing you-? Doesn't this make you feel at all?"

Kratos merely looked away, leaving the teen to sigh a bit.

"Okay, fine then, let's go see something else," Lloyd said, trying to ignore his disappointment.

"Lloyd, this is a waste of time," the man brought a hand to his head, "I…I apologize if I made you upset enough to do this, but-"

"If I stop it now, well you come down and celebrate with us?" the teen interrupted, an eyebrow raised at his father.

"No-"

"Then this isn't a waste of time," he glared, his stubborn nature put to use, "I'm not going to give up, Dad."

As the man went to say something, they found themselves in quite a different scene. What they found was a family of three seated down to dinner, all of them blonde, consisting of an elderly woman, a middle-aged man and a familiar female Chosen. The family had apparently just seated themselves down before the meal, smiles on all present as they took their seats.

"That's all it has to be, really," Lloyd said from beside Kratos, his eyes on the scene, "It doesn't have to be a crazy party or anything, it doesn't even have to be food like this…it just has to be people together."

"…" Kratos hesitated, "Lloyd…"

What could he possibly say? He…wasn't worthy of joy, wasn't worthy of happiness, wasn't worthy of the right to call him his son. Dirk was the one with that right, that joy, that privilege…he had earned it where he himself never would.

The blond father cleared his throat.

"Well, before we eat, I'd like to say something," Frank smiled.

"What is it, Father?" Colette asked, blinking.

"Well….I just want to say I'm very grateful," he said, looking at her, "Your grandmother and I both are, that you're here, Colette."

"Father?" the blond bit her lip, unsure of how to react.

"We had fifteen Christmases with you, and we savored every minute of it," the man said, looking at his daughter, "We did not ever think that we should have a sixteenth…so we- we are both immensely glad that you can be here today. We're…very…"

At this point the man choked slightly, unable to continue on. Here Phaidra spoke up, a small smile on her wise, aged face.

"We are very happy you're still here with us, Colette," the woman said, "We thought that when you left, that would be the last we would see of you…just that you are alive and with us is blessing enough, no matter the day."

"Grandmother…Father…" Colette whispered, her eyes welling up a bit.

Frank fidgeted just a moment before he got up out of his seat, rounding the table's edge and wrapping his daughter tightly within his arms. Gently he kissed her forehead and then held the back of her head, doing his best to fight the tears forming in his eyes.

"F…Father…" Colette whispered.

"I love you so much, Colette…" he choked a bit, "I just want you to know that, all right…?"

Colette hugged him back, tears slipping down her cheeks as a smile flitted onto her face.

"I love you too, Father…" she said.

"…" Kratos looked away.

"A parent's love for their child is amazing, isn't it?" Lloyd said with just a tinge of bitterness, causing the purple-clad man to flinch.

He deserved this pain, he told himself. After everything he had put this child through, he deserved every ounce of pain, deserved every drop of bitterness and anger that the teen had for him. Lloyd was deserving of far better than anything he could hope to provide, Lloyd…should hate him, it would be better that way.

It was then that the dual swordsman said something that abruptly shook the Seraph from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Pardon?" the man said, turning to look at him.

"I put your through a lot of pain saying stuff like that, back on the journey, didn't I?" Lloyd muttered, glancing aside. "Is…that why you don't want to hang around me much? Do I just keep hurting you?"

No. No, of course not, he wanted nothing more than to be around his son- but was that true? After all he had just said to convince himself that Lloyd would be better off without him, that Lloyd didn't need him? This was absurd, he loved his son, loved him more than he could describe, and yet he couldn't bring himself to act like it…

"No," he managed to say, "Lloyd, you…nothing you have said or done is wrong, you have done nothing that would you need to apologize for."

"Then what is it?" Lloyd asked, frowning. "Why don't you- Why won't you do things like that with me? I get that you don't like being around people too much, but…couldn't you make an exception just every once in a while? Or…or do you want to be away from me too?"

"No, of course not," he shook his head, "That's not true at all, Lloyd, it is merely that…"

His voice faltered and he was left once again with a gnawing feeling of emptiness that came from not knowing what it was to say. The words would not form as the thoughts would not form as well, and he found himself cursing the thousands of years he had roamed this earth only to result in feeling so inexperienced in the manners of interacting with other people.

"You don't have an answer for me," Lloyd muttered, biting his lip a bit as he glanced away from his father, "Do you?"

"Lloyd-"

"Dad, look," he said, gesturing to the family which had no settled down to dine, "What do you see here, Dad? You see people eating, but that's not really seeing anything! You don't see that they're people who care about each other, caring for each other, with each other! That's love, that's family, Dad! That's Christmas! Love and family! I- I know you don't- you can't hate those things, right? So why do you hate Christmas?"

"Lloyd, I-"

The tolling of a clock echoed in their ears, the people they viewed showing no sign of hearing it. Kratos twitched slightly as Lloyd stood steadily in his tracks, his eyes locked on his father.

"I know you don't hate me, Dad, and I don't hate you," he muttered, "but I hate what you do, I hate how you can't see what's right in front of you because you keep looking over your shoulder."

Instead of whiting out as it had done before, the area around them turned black, leaving Kratos standing in the abyss with Lloyd, who was beginning to fade away.

"Please, Dad…I don't want to hate anything about you," he whispered.

At the last, booming toll, he had disappeared completely, leaving Kratos alone in the darkness. He went to call for Lloyd, but stopped, knowing full well it would do nothing at that the boy would be safe. So instead he tried to get his bearings in the darkness, sensing nothing aside from a cold chill that began to slither its way over his being. He turned as he felt the presence of another being behind him, turning to find a figure blending with the darkness, a dark cloaked that concealed every part of whomever it was that had found him. To his own surprise, the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise, seeing the fabric seem to shift and morph of its own accord, as if flitting, sludging through water.

"…Christmas yet to be, correct?" Kratos asked, with far more effort than he thought would be necessary.

Its face was covered by the draping black hood, though a nod was detected. Kratos knew well enough that whoever it was would not speak until they must, such was the role they played. Though truthfully, the ghost of the future did not speak at all, he had a feeling that would not be the case.

"…" he closed his eyes, "Very well, let us go."

The figure turned from him and began to walk off into the shadows, the angel reluctantly following. All the while his thoughts drifted over what his son and wife had said, and knowing very well that he was not going to like what he was most likely to see.

A tad short, but that was all I could dish out…I thought it did the job, at any rate. (Shrug)

Oh ho ho…next chapter is going to be WICKED X3 I know I said it already, but I adore Dickens…he had just to right twisted little touch to torture his characters with heart-jerkers…(sighs dreamily) Am not worthy to be blessed with his writing…(starry eyed)

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