Happy Holidays, everyone, and here's chapter ten! Thanks to Beth and Mirai M. Mieux for reviewing last chapter.

Chapter Ten: Nobody's Celebrations

The Keyblade immediately came into contact with several small shadow Heartless, cutting their frail bodies in half and sending streams of smoke towards the sky. The Heartless, noticing a Key bearer had joined the fight, lunged at him. He gripped the hilt of the Keyblade tighter and whipped it around to hit several more Heartless. There was a flurry around him as Jack, Angel, and Shadow all added their own attacks to the melee.

Suddenly he felt something tugging on his shoulders, carrying him up towards the sky. Glancing up, he saw the Heartless, and a grimace crossed his face. Carry ghosts. Pain was lancing through him as the ghost-like Heartless carried him higher in his strange attack. Roxas swung the Keyblade back behind him. Satisfaction rushed through him as the blade sank into the Heartless. Suddenly, the grip on his shoulders was gone, leaving him to fall to the ground. He bent his knees as he hit the ground, letting them help absorb the impact.

It wasn't as effective as he'd hoped, though. The impact, even on the snowy ground, caused pain to lance up his legs. Groaning, he fell to his knees. It shouldn't have had that much effect, he thought as he forced himself to ignore the pain and whip the Keyblade around into another Heartless. He groaned as he realized what had happened. I still haven't completely healed from the Gummi ship crash!

"Roxas, behind you!" a voice cried in alarm. Startled, he forced himself to his feet, whipping around at the same time so that his Keyblade came in contact with the waiting arms of the approaching carry ghost. It flew back, slightly stunned by his attack. He staggered forward, brandishing his blade as he slashed at the Heartless several more times before it finally dissipating into smoke and bits of black blood, the heart inside floating up to the sky.

His legs still shook, though they were slowly recovering. He leaned back against the wall of Santa's workshop, letting the Keyblade fade away. He glanced towards the other three. Jack and Shadow seemed relatively unharmed, though Shadow had garnered a few small scratches. Angel, however, looked as worn as Roxas, one hand over his chest as he leaned over. Apparently, neither of us has healed, he thought as he looked at the other boy.

Shadow wasn't afraid to point this out. "You two need rest," she stated simply.

"I'll be fine," Roxas told her, hoping that was true.

"So will I," Angel added. His words, however, were contradicted when a grimace spread across his face and a quiet groan escaped his lips.

"Mh-hm," the brown-haired girl replied sarcastically. "So, you're telling me you guys have completely healed from the accident." At this, neither chose to reply. "Well, then, you guys need to rest!" She quickly grabbed the two and forced them towards the door of Santa's workshop, despite their protests.

Inside, a fire burning in the fireplace melted away the cold chill of the outer world. Slowly, feeling began to come back to Roxas's frozen body, causing him to let out a quiet sigh of relief. Snow, whatever anyone thought of it, was still cold.

"My, who's there?" a voice asked from an adjacent room.

"Just me, Sandy!" Jack called from behind the three teenagers. "I brought some friends with me this time."

From a doorway emerged a round, jolly-looking man garbed in red. His eyes seemed to glow as he stared at the three. "Ah, I recognize you two," he said. "Shadow and Angel, correct?"

"Yeah!" Shadow said, excitement pulsating through her voice.

Then his eyes turned to Roxas. The Nobody, looking at the man, suddenly had an understanding - of a sort - of what Sora had felt when he'd been so anxious to see him. "Santa?" he asked tentatively, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, that's right," he replied, "but I don't believe I know you. Strange…you look sort of familiar."

"I'm Roxas," the boy replied. "I'm, um…Sora's Nobody."

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid! he cursed himself mentally. You're not supposed to just give that away! He looked at Santa for his reaction. It wasn't what he had expected. A warm smile had spread across the man's face. "Well, that would explain why I recognize you, wouldn't it? And why I didn't know your name." Suddenly, his gaze grew troubled. "But, how did Sora get a Nobody? He's not on my naughty list, I'm certain of that."

"We'll explain everything later," Shadow assured him. "But, right now, I need to ask a favor."

"Yes, of course," the old man replied.

"My two friends here were in an accident a while ago and still aren't quite healed. I was wondering if they could rest here?" Angel sent her a questioning look as she said the word 'friends.' Roxas, however, did nothing, simply looked to Santa for confirmation.

He smiled at her request. "Of course they can. In fact, you can all celebrate Christmas here, if you'd like."

"Really?" Shadow cried in delight. When Santa nodded, she pumped a fist into the air. "YES!"

"No," moaned Angel, slapping a palm to his head.

"So, you're Sora's Nobody, huh?" Jack asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I look forward to hearing the story." He didn't have a chance to say more, though, as the two boys were ushered away.

~*~

Roxas was having a sense of déjà vu as Shadow and the elves forced him to remain in his bed. "I'm Ok now," he informed them. "The pain's gone."

"Yeah, but the wounds haven't actually healed," Shadow replied, applying new bandages around the bloodless flesh.

Angel had propped himself up against the bedpost while the elves went to work making sure his wounds were completely clean. When they were done with their inspection, Shadow strode over to him and wrapped the lengths of white cloth around his chest, arms, and legs. "You know, I'm just going to take them right back off again."

"Shut up and let me work," Shadow replied. As an after thought, she lifted her head and stuck her tongue out at him. A smirk crossing his face, he turned his head away. After a while, she pulled away and lifted her head, a satisfied smile on her face. "There! All done!"

"Oh, good, I can remove them quicker," Angel replied, immediately stretching a hand towards the white wrappings.

Shadow hit his hand away. "No, bad boy. Sit. Stay."

Angel glared at her. "I'm not a dog."

She ignored his comment. Instead, she turned to the elves. "Make sure he doesn't take them off." They nodded their consent.

"What are you going to do?" Roxas asked her.

"Nothing," she said, mischief in her eyes as she headed towards the door. She paused at the threshold, adding, "Oh, make sure that Roxas doesn't try and sneak out, too." This time she didn't wait for their response, hurrying out the door. Roxas could almost see her excitement.

"Hooray, she's gone," Angel said dryly. "Now, where was I? Oh, yeah." He reached out for the bandages once more. This time, instead of a slap on the wrist, he got several elves hanging off his arm. "Hey! How am I supposed to do this with you hanging there?"

"That's the point," one responded.

Roxas couldn't help a small laugh at his predicament. Absently, he found his eyes wondering towards the door. Curiosity bubbled inside him as he tried to see further beyond the frame, wondering what Shadow was planning. For a moment, he considered slipping out of bed and sneaking out to see. Then his eyes returned to Angel and the elves, and noticed the others that were watching him intently. Then again, maybe not, he decided, trying to force his curiosity away.

~*~

Days later, Roxas found himself in a staring contest with an elf. "Can't I at least walk around the room?"

"Only if you want elves hanging off you," the smaller creature replied.

Frustrated, he looked away. His entire body itched to do something, anything besides sitting in bed for days on end. However, every time he tried to move from his position on the bed, the elves would converge on him, and he'd be forced back onto it once more. At this point, though, he was almost beyond caring.

Shadow chose that moment to burst into the room. "Hey, guys! Do you know what day it is?"

"Christmas?" Roxas said, figuring he knew what she was so excited about.

She nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh! And that means you guys can come out now!"

Roxas took no time in springing out of bed, relived to at last be free of the confines. His legs were a little wobbly when he first hit the ground, but he soon had them under control once more. Shadow was first out the door, dragging Angel behind her, leaving Roxas to follow behind.

When Shadow led them to the main room, Roxas's eyes widened in surprise. "Merry Christmas!" she cried.

In the center of the room stood a massive pine, light shining from various ornaments in place upon it. Other than that, the room seemed relatively the same…but, for Roxas, it felt completely different. "Sorry there aren't any gifts," Shadow replied with a shrug.

"It's fine," Roxas told her. I've already got mine, he added silently. I get to understand.

"Who's up for games?" Shadow called in excitement.

"Not me," Angel replied, apparently still not wanting to participate.

"Hey, I heard a volunteer!"

The boy looked alarmed. "No, I wasn't-" Shadow forced him out into the snow, ignoring his protests. Roxas followed slowly behind. When he came out, it was still dark. He looked up, noticing the stars were just beginning to wink out. Shadow didn't waste any time, he thought. His eyes locked onto a star, burning far above. Thanks.

To his surprise, he received a response. Beware the past, Roxas. There are many things there that are better left unstirred. Startled, the golden-haired Nobody looked around wildly, searching for the source of the voice. No one was to be found. Eventually, he tried putting it out of his mind, deciding he must have been hearing things.

However, he couldn't quite get rid of the memory of the words, or the memory of the puppet without a heart. He was getting the feeling that had more behind it than it first appeared.

So, that's the end of chapter ten. Reviews would be appreciated if you'd give them.