(Since it is a little past Christmas, I decided to write the only light-hearted chapter that'll ever be in this story. Merry Late Christmas. So for all the fans of the fear, the gore, the suspense, do not be alarmed. Really)

I never did like doctors. Especially shrinks. But after what just happened, I wouldn't decline a trip to Doctor Mario's office

-Fox McCloud

Fox McCloud

It was a very quiet train ride. The kiss played over and over in my mind like an animated GIF image.

Now, being the most famous, and most wanted (dead) mercenary, I've been on the receiving end of the most cruelest plans and tricks. But this one... This was just a cut below impersonating my parents. I should of known it wasn't Samus. I mean, finding her right there was just too convenient.

But what angered me the most was how I felt during the kiss. I felt like I was in Heaven. I forgot I was in this Hell hole. I thought she was mine and I was hers. So much for that.

I guess Dr. Mario and I are going to have a long chat when I get back.

The images of the kiss played over and over in my head, adding fuel to the fire that is my anger.

I looked out the window of the train, noticing the lake. My eyes blinked. It was beautiful. It showed the reflection of the full moon in the sky. I sighed. Why couldn't the town stay pure like this. I shook my head and looked down for second, before looking forward, noticing that Ness had taken a seat in front of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked slowly.

"No," I replied frankly. "This town is starting to get to me."

Silence came over the car once more. Ness then spoke again.

"Well... you really love Samus, don't you?"

"Yeah..."

Ness startled to chuckle. My eyebrows furrowed for a second, then started to chuckle with him.

"What?" I asked, still chuckling.

"It's just... a part of me always thought of you as Dad and Samus as Mom, that's all," Ness replied. I looked at Ness, a little wide eyed. I then thought about. I pictured the family portrait. Well, actually maybe I didn't think about it. The victory photo from the first ever 3-on-3 bout popped into my head.

"I think we already have the family photo," I replied. I then raised an eyebrow. "But if you thought of Samus and I as Mom and Dad, did you always... wish we were a couple or something?"

"...Yeah," Ness said. He then laid himself out on the seat. "I mean, you two seemed so perfect for each other. Well, maybe perfect is a stretch. But you both were so similar." I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, how?" I asked. Ness scoffed.

"You two would only talk to one person openly. When you were around Falco and when she was around Zelda, you two would open up like cooked clams. But other than that... y'all were like an alarm clock. Only heard at certain times, you know?"

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it. It was true. Samus and I were always the quiet ones. Hell, even Link was more vocal.

"You're right," I muttered, looking at the opening that used to be the door to the next car that we left behind.

"I heard you and Samus sort of hit it off during Christmas."

"Yeah..." I clasped my hands together before having the memory.

Samus Aran

I stopped struggling after a while. I just laid there deciding to just watch the screen. I read the lips of Ness and Fox. Their conversation were as clear as day to me. Ness thought of me as his mother? Sighing, I looked at the doorway. That crazy doc decided to take a leave of absence for a while. He said something about sending more 'hounds for the slippery fox'.

"You really love the little fuzzy wuzzy, don't you?" the ghost asked in a teasing tone.

"You know what...?" I started. Then I remembered something. "What is your name, by the way?"

"Kerri."

"Well, Kerri... you're right..."

"I know..." she said jokingly. She then narrowed her eyes. "Who's the boy with him?"

"Ness. If it wasn't for him, Fox and I would be dead by now."

Sighing, I tried to stretch, only to remember I was strapped down. I sighed in despair. Kerri must have noticed.

"Could you tell me about...Christmas?" she asked.

Author's P.O.V.

Seven days before Christmas, five o'clock in the afternoon, Mario called all the Smasher down to the common room. As Mario waited, he noticed that some people were quicker to come down then others. First came the Pokemon, sans Mewtwo and Pichu. Then came the Hylians and inhabitants of Mushroom Kingdom, including Donkey Kong, but not including Young Link. Then came the young ones, followed by almost the rest of them. Mario waited patiently, expecting the last two. Fox and Samus eventually came down. But from two seperate areas. Samus entered by stairs while Fox entered through a door. Mario couldn't help but notice their comewhat reluctant gaits.

"Now-a that everone is here, it's time for Secret Santa. You all know the deal." He pulled out a top hat, not unlike the kind that magicians usually used. Half of the Smashers almost expected a rabbit to jump out. "All of your names are already in the hat. All you have to do is reach in. Then on Christmas, we exchange the gifts privately." Mario picked a name from the hat first, then laid it on the coffee table. One by one, each Smasher took a name, then walked off until Fox and Samus was left. Mario looked at Samus and Fox. They weren't exactly the most social out of the bunch. Fox decided to reach in first, then Samus. They both looked down at the names, then at each other for a few seconds before making an exit.

A few hours later, Fox was in his room, searching through the secret stash of money shared with Falco. They always kept it under a loose floor board. Unfortunately, the money was gone. Looking down into the cavity in disbelief, Fox shook his head.

"This can't be right..." he muttered to himself. Fox then noticed something inside the cavity. Frowning, he exited the room. About ten minutes later, Fox found himself in the unofficial guys lounge of the mansion. It was really the basement. But the male fighters decided to make it their own. Fox spotted Falco, who was sitting on one of the recliners, along with Mario, Luigi, Captain Falcon and Link.

"Hey, Falco," Fox greeted, putting on a smile. He took seat next to Falco.

"Hey, bro," Falco replied. "What's up?"

Fox took a glance at the television set. CSI: Miami was on.

"Well, it's nothing really," Fox started. "You see, the thing is, a few hours, all of us -" At 'all of us', Everyone in the room turned towards Fox. "- were picking names out of a hat for Secret Santa. So I decided to take the time between then and 7:50 to think of a nice gift to give to the person I picked out. Then it popped into my head: Why not just grab some money and window shop until I find a good gift and buy it." Falco's eyes started to look for a non-existent object on the floor.

"So what's the problem?" Link asked.

"Well, you see, Falco and I share this stack of money we keep on a rainy day. So I decided to try and borrow some money from there. Thing is..." Fox slowly turned towards Falco. "It was gone. Care to fill me in on what happened?" Falco sighed.

"Sorry, but I grabbed the money earlier today and spent on a gift," he explained.

"You spent 2500 dollars on a gift!" Fox exclaimed. "Who the hell did you get for Secret Santa and what the hell did you get for him or her?"

"I can't say... but I got him or her a personal flat screen TV."

"Nice," Captain Falcon commented. "But don't you think it's fucked up that you used all the money to buy a gift? I mean, Fox's going to look like the biggest asshole come Christmas."

"Don't worry about it," Fox said dismissively. "But I do have a dilemma on my hands."

"You're mercenary," Link pointed out. "Why don't you just find a bounty?"

"No," Fox said. "I don't like performing missions around this time a year. Seven times out of ten, when I'm on a mission, I have to kill somebody. Besides, disturbances are almost non-existent around this time."

"Jeez," Luigi said. "Only around Christmas time? I'm pretty sure people would like peace year around."

All of the fighters laughed at Luigi's comment.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure people would like a peaceful Saint Patrick's Day," Mario added between laughs. The groupl then exploded into hysterics. After a while, they were able to gain their composure.

"But seriously," Captain Falcon said. "Fox, being a soldier-for-hire like, I don't like doing missions around this time. But you care so much about getting this person a good gift. You're going to have to a find a mission." Fox sighed slightly.

"I was afraid of that..." Fox replied. Falcon frowned a bit, then smiled.

"Hey... this is the first time we had a full conversation with you."

"Yeah, you're usually a lot more quiet, 'cept around Falco here," Link added.

"Don't take my silence personally," Fox added. "It just takes me a while."

All the way in the attic, Samus Aran was in a similar situation.

"Crap, crrap, CRAP!"

Samus slammed a into one of the wooden beams. She then withdrew her hand in pain, remembering she was not in her suit.

"Is everything okay?" a voice said. She turned her head to see Peach behind her. Samus blinked a few times, before sighing.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied. Samus turned to walk away, before Peach grabbed her by the arm.

"Samus... I know you only talk to Samus. But you should know that you can talk to me about anything." Samus looked at her for a few moments. "You can trust me." Samus sighed before sitting down on a chest.

"It's about Secret Santa," she confessed. "I don't have any money to spend on a gift. Hell, I don't have any money to spend period." Peach sighed.

"Aren't you a bounty hunter?" she asked, sitting down with her.

"Yes."

"So why don't you just... you know..."

"Off somebody with a bounty on their head?" Samus finished for her.

"Yeah," Peach said.

"I don't like making hits or finding criminals around Christmas time. I prefer to have one period of the year without violence." She sighed. "It is Christmas. Peace on Earth and all that good stuff."

"I understand," Peach said. "But if you care so much about getting someone a gift, something's got to give."

"That's what I am afraid of," she said.

So for the next six days, Fox and Samus did everything they could gain some money. They tried to get second jobs. They even abandoned their rule and tried to find a bounty. However, they couldn't find anyway to generate a single dime. Come Christmas time, they decided to come clean.

During Christmas morning, Fox was in front of one of the four fireplaces. He sat there, a scowl on his face.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice said. Fox looked up to see Samus. He then closed his eyes and moved over. As Samus took a seat next to him, Fox couldn't help but notice the somewhat sad look on her face.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No..." She sighed. "Look, Fox, I grabbed your name out of the hat. I'm your Secret Santa." This made the sick feeling in Fox's gut grow. "And I came here to tell you... I wasn't able to get you your gift. I didn't have the money" Fox blinked a few times. He was speechless. That was until he started to see the guilt on her face. "I'm sorry."

"Well don't be," Fox said bitterly. "Because of the duche bag I call my best friend, I didn't have any money period to get you a gift." He sighed. Now it was Samus' turn to be speechless. She then chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just ironic, no? We both couldn't each other a gift for the same reason."

"Yeah..."

Silence settled into the room as the two sat there. The sound, or lack there of, combined with their gift, wore down the two of them little by little, like water on stone. Three minutes passed by before Fox finally gave in.

"You want to go somewhere?" Fox asked.

"What do you mean?" Samus replied.

"You know, somewhere. We need to do something. It is Christmas, after all."

"Yeah, you're right. But don't expect me to go ice skating or something."

"Don't worry about that," Fox said. "I suck at ice skating. I heard there was a Christmas carnival a couple of hours away."

"Sounds good," Samus said. "But what do we during the trip?"

"Talk."

Fifteen minutes later, the two were on the road, with Fox behind the wheel of Mitsubishi Eclipse GS.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Samus asked.

"Anything," Fox said.

"Anything?"

"Well... I don't know what to talk about really. It's hard to carry a conversation about a person you don't anything about."

"You're one to talk," Samus said teasingly. "You're as much as a mystery as I am."

"Yeah I know..."

"So why do you want to open up all of the sudden?" Samus asked, taking the offensive.

"...I don't know.. I just - "

"Get tired of talking to only Falco every single day, with the exception of the Master Hand? And the whole 'self-isolation' thing is getting old?" Fox looked at her with an amazed look.

"...Yeah... How did you?" Fox asked. Samus sighed.

"I'm the same way, you know? Except I only talk to Zelda."

"Why?"

"Because I hate making friends. Not that I hate having friends. I just hate the pain comes with knowing your friend is hurt or dead. I lost a lot of friends during my life, as well as..." She gulped slightly.

"What?"

"My parents..." she finished. Sighing Fox nodded.

"I understand..." Fox replied.

"Do you?"

"Yeah," Fox said, eying a sign on the highway. They were halfway there. "I lost my parents, too. Never got the chance to know my mom. She died in a car bomb meant for a dad, who was a mercenary like me. So I was pretty much raised only by my dad. I loved my dad so much. But then, one day, he had to leave for a mission." The young vulpine shook his head slightly. "It was like a regular day. That day I was thinking that my dad will have a story to tell me. That was until two days a friend of my dad's, Peppy, came back looking like Hell. Then he told me the news..." Fox trailed off, debating on whether he should go any further. Sighing, he simply said, "That's why I became a mercenary. Just so I can get the bastard that did it."

"Two peas in the same pod, huh?" Samus said softly.

"Yeah," Fox said. His eyes gazed across the road until he saw the exit. "We're pretty much here."

Samus looked ahead. She then smiled slightly.

Ten minutes later, the two were walking around, taking a look at all the attractions. As they were walking around. they got to know each other.

"So what is it like in your part of the universe?" Samus asked, eying a booth.

"It's quite great," Fox replied. "Different planets have different climates. I've been to them all. From forests, to wastelands. Hell, I even visited my home Sun."

"Really?" Samus mused. "What was it like?"

"I don't think calling it an oven does it justice. How about your part?"

"Quite the same. But I tend to drift from here to there, you know?"

"Yeah," Fox said. He then looked at a booth. "Hey Samus, I have an idea."

"What?"

"It's a surprise. Sit over at the bench over there." She stood there confused, then reluctantly walked over. Smiling, Fox ran over to a booth. It was a shooting range. He pulled out a few bills, then placed in front of the manager of the booth.

"One turn," Fox said.

"You sure?" the manager said. "You only win a prize if you can hit five out of five."

"Sounds good," Fox chuckled out. He picked up the rifle, smiling. In a mere ten seconds, Fox was able to down every single last target. The manager stood there in dis belief. Fox then pointed to his upper right. "That one, please."

After getting the prize, Fox walked over, smiling.

"Hey Samus," he called out, carrying stuffed animal. A pink bunny to be exact. "Look what I got you."

Samus looked up, then looked at him blankly. "A rabbit..."

Fox started to frown. I should of known she wouldn't like anything like that. I mean come on, this is Samus Aran, a bounty hunter. "You don't like it..."

Samus noticed the look on his face. She mentally kicked herself for replying in such a way.

"No, no, I like it." She then smiled. "This was the nicest thing any guy has done for me."

"Really?" Fox said, smiling.

"Really," she said. "Come on." She took my hand. "Let's take a picture with it."

"Merry Christmas, Samus."

"Merry Christmas, Fox."

Author's Note: I'm sorry is this chapter sort of sucked. But I was filled with the Christmas spirit. But don't fret. This will be the only mushy chapter... for a while.