Summary: Somebody has a very cruel sense of humor when it comes to Christmas gifts... Pity Cloud and Tifa! PITY THEM!
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I don't own the song in its original form. I do, however, own this new version of it! Kandi is AmazonTurk's and Akalara is mine. The other OCs mentioned herein belong either to me or MysticSpiritus. Except the one mention of Revan. He's Kingmunkey's.
Queen's Quornor: Well Amazon, here I hope your question will be answered…
Day Seven
On the seventh day of Yuletide, someone evil sent to me…
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Ordinarily, Cloud liked it quiet. But this particular quiet was…disquieting.
Tifa and the Remnants had gone out to the market for eggs and flour and milk, several key ingredients required for cookie-baking that they had run out of during Yuffie's latest theft. This left Cloud alone in the house with Reno and Rude (still drunk) and the metal-mummified Yuffie.
And the latest 'gift' was due. Cloud could feel it in his bones.
Cowering (he would call it 'a necessary act of concealment') in his room upstairs, listening to Reno and Rude discussing whether or not Tifa's chest was real, the swordsman nearly created a new skylight with his body when the phone beside his bed rang. Reaching up from his position on the floor, he put the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"
"Cloud? Is Tifa there?"
It was a female voice, familiar to the delivery boy. "She's out right now, Kandi."
"Well, maybe you can help me." He heard the red-streaked Turk rip open a chip bag and begin crunching on the contents. "Andria's missing. Seen her?"
"Can't say that I have."
"Well, I'm not worried or anything. Just damn concerned, since she was supposed to come straight home after she and Axys got their ice cream." Kandi sighed over the phone. "Maybe she went to visit Ak and Az. If she pops up, call me."
"Sure thing, Kandi," Cloud promised. He hung up the phone, but no sooner had it left his hand than the thing rang again. "Hello?"
"Cloud, this is Akalara. Is Azrael there?"
The swordsman shook his head. "No. I haven't seen him since he spent the night with Denzel last week."
"Dammit!" the green-haired Turk cussed. "He was supposed to call me ten minutes ago, when he got to Rev's for sword-training. Are you sure he hasn't been anywhere near the bar?"
"No. Why would he be? You and the other Turks all live near Old Midgar, on the other side of Edge," Cloud pointed out.
"Good point." He could hear Akalara pacing over the phone. "I'll try Kandi, then. Maybe he went to visit Andria instead. Thanks, Cloud."
"No problem." He hung up the phone just as Rude appeared at the door. "Yes, Rude?"
"Knocking. Door." His message delivered, the bald Turk passed out on the floor, flatter than a beached whale. Cloud stared at him for a moment, then raced downstairs.
The culprit had already been and gone. This time, however, the 'gifts' had gotten inside on their own. Marlene, Denzel, Axys, Andria, Azrael, Damien, and Kaya all blinked up at him wordlessly, bound together in a group by lengths of red ribbon.
There was a note this time. Cloud snatched it off Axys' head and scanned over it.
Yuletide Greetings, my Dear Friends! Enjoy the Sweet Company of these Younglings, and the Good Tidings I send with them. May they provide you with many Hours of Exercise this Night, so you do not get Fat on Holiday Sweets and lose your Muscle Mass.
"Since when did they start getting sarcastic?" Cloud muttered. "All right, kids. I'll get you out of there. Just sit tight for a second." The swordsman went searching for some scissors, mentally reminding himself to call Akalara, Kandi, Nilto, and Christine so they could all retrieve their children. Well…Axys could stay here with her father, but Cloud seriously doubted that Christine would appreciate her daughter seeing Reno in his present state.
The moment he cut the ribbon, it was like somebody had thrown a switch. One second the kids were just standing there, and the next they were running all over the bar, climbing on the stools and swinging from the fans above, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Sweet company…" Cloud muttered dazedly. "Exercise…"
The bastard had given them all sugar.
…seven kids a-hyper, six stolen weapons, five mastered materia, four Shadowfoxes, three Remanents, two drunk Turks, and a clumsy little thieving brat.
