The instant The Girl and Asi arrived in town, they were both blinded by all the lights that were sparkling on every corner, both blinking a few times, but still gazing around in wonder.
"I didn't know people actually decorated like this…" The Girl said, turning a full circle to see all the sights around her.
"Of course they do. Some people even do more than this, if that's really possible."
The Girl nodded, still looking around in shock.
"Where do we go first?"
That was a good question…
Asi looked around at all the stores and people around them, finding Christmas staring back at every turn. There was so much to do, it was impossible to tell where to start.
They eventually wandered into the first store they came too, finding ornaments hanging all around them.
The Girl had immediately ran to some of them, and picked them up.
"Aww, look, they're little hearts! We should so get them, they'd be perfect, since you're all collecting them, and I'm a princess of them! Can we, please, can we!?"
"Sure, get whatever you want. We need everything, since it's our first Christmas and all."
The Girl gave a cry of joy, quickly moving to the next wall to see what else she could find. Asi meanwhile was hunting for ornaments of his own. He hadn't gone shopping like this since he was a Somebody, and it felt sort of odd to him to be doing so without Saïx's opinions mixed with his own. Asi smiled. It was kind of fun, though…
A small yelp suddenly came from the back of the store, a yelp Asi had come to know well. The Girl was in trouble… Again…
Asi quickly went to her, wondering just what she had done this time, only to stop dead in his tracks. A laugh quickly made its way to his lips at the sight before him.
The Girl was standing before him, tinsel and sparkles covering her, making her shine and glitter like a decoration herself.
"Well, that's one way to take them all home, dear…"
The Girl smiled.
"Oops… I think they were too high up for me… But don't I look so pretty!?"
She spun around, throwing fragments of light all around her. Asi laughed again.
"Gorgeous. All we need is to wrap some lights around you, then you'll be perfect."
"Let's go find some!"
The Girl took off running then, trailing the tinsel behind her, and a shower of sparkles flying off.
Someone had the nerve to mumble after her, Asi's glare an instant later silencing them. He didn't care if this girl was more trouble than she was worth. She was his girl to watch, and no one was going to do anything against her.
Still glaring, daring anyone else to do anything against The Girl, Asi followed her to the front of the store, finding her digging through a display of lights.
"They change colors, and flash! We never had anything like that on Destiny Island!" she cried, Asi glancing around, making sure no one heard her speak of her world. No matter how much they tried to get her to stop talking about these things so openly, it seemed she couldn't…
Picking up a box of lights, The Girl held them up for inspection, smiling. It seemed she had found the lights she wanted.
It wasn't too long later that they left that store for another one, tinsel still trailing behind The Girl, and stares following her all the way.
"Blue… Or red… Blue? Or red? Why don't they have pink?"
The Girl held up both stockings in front of her, staring at them intently, while Asi picked out a few more figurines to hang up.
"They probably do, it just may be hidden…"
The Girl promptly threw the stockings she had been holding down and began digging through the others, searching for a glimpse of pink.
They had been all over the town by this time, and bought so much Christmas stuff that Asi could already hear the reprimanding words awaiting him for spending so much money… Again… And this was only the beginning, they hadn't even bought presents yet…
"Ah ha!"
The Girl pulled herself out of the stockings, holding a pink one high above her head.
"They did have one! And now it's mine!"
She jumped down from the display to stand beside Asi, holding up her find happily.
"Okay, so is that all we need for decorations then?"
"I think so… We should be able to decorate the whole castle with all of this!"
Asi nodded, those reprimanding words coming back to him, more forcefully this time. Oh well, if Ansem wanted him to spend less money, then he shouldn't give him so much to spend. That sounded like a good argument to him.
"Okay, then I think we can go back to the castle and start setting this all up."
The Girl nodded, quickly running to buy her last victory. It was quite sad to think of her former life before she came to the Heartless. She had lived on the island, without any huge shopping centers at all. Asi almost shivered.
The Girl soon came back, a new bag now added to the one's they already had.
"Let's go find somewhere to use the Darkness, then."
The Girl nodded a little apprehensively this time, still not used to traveling with Darkness. Poor thing, she seemed almost afraid of it. At least Riku had taken to using the Darkness rather quickly, but his friend here wouldn't…
The pair made their way out of the store, returning to the streets that were still full of people. Every time a group finished shopping and went to their homes, it seemed a new group joined the throngs on the street, everyone running around and pushing past each other. Asi couldn't
remember ever rushing his shopping back when he was Isa. Then again, he was fairly sure this wasn't the world that he had lived on…
A scream suddenly came from next to him, a very familiar scream… Turning quickly to see what had happened, Asi saw the girl falling backwards, apparently a group of three kids having walked right into her, pushing her out of their way. Unfortunately, The Girl's balance was nothing to brag about… Quicker than was possible for a Somebody, Asi caught The Girl before she could hit the ground, noticing how she immediately caught hold of his arm and tightened her grip. She was becoming used to being rescued…
Asi set her back on her feet, before turning his glare on the kids who were only a few feet away. He had to fight off the urge to allow the Darkness to take him over, telling himself these were only children, someone easy enough to handle in his human form…
"Hey!"
Before the group had time to turn around, Asi had grabbed the flowing white coat of the one in the middle, pulling him back and turning him to glare at.
"What are you strangers doing!? Let me go!"
"This is our town, ya know!?"
"Not welcome."
Amusement began to overcome Asi. These children honestly thought they were able to overtake him? If he weren't angry with them he probably would have smiled.
"Look, I don't really care if you want us here or not, because to be honest, we don't want to stay in your boring little town. You can have it. But the thing is, you should have just let us leave on our own, instead of trying to get us out faster. You see this girl? Nothing's going to happen to her, no one's going to hurt her, not even little misfits like you. Because, you see…"
Asi allowed his eyes to turn to those of the Heartless he was, glowing a bright yellow, causing the two children who were able to take a quick step back.
"If anyone does even one little thing to her, then they have to answer to me. And trust me, I'm not someone little kids like you want to mess with. Understand?"
All three nodded as one, clearly able to mess with the other kids around town, but suddenly finding themselves out of their league.
Asi released the proclaimed leader of their group, glaring at them all one last time, before turning to The Girl.
"Come on, let's go home."
Asi put his arm around her, leading her down the street, watching in amusement as she turned her head around, sticking her tongue out at her would be attackers. Shaking his head, Asi lead her to one of the darker alleyways, opening the Darkness so The Girl would be able to use it as well, then returning her to the End of the Worlds.
