Snow was falling gently, settling on the ground and slowly covering the whole place, making it white like a big fluffy pillow. All of Auradon was asleep and would wake up to a great surprise.
"Mal, Mal wake up. You have to see this." The purplette groaned and dragged herself out of bed towards the window where the blue haired princess was almost bouncing in excitement. Mal rubbed her eyes and opened a curtain to see the whole ground covered in white powder.
"Is that snow?" Mal asked, suddenly wide awake. They had never experienced snow on the Isle but they had read about it in some of there books once they arrived in Auradon.
Evie nodded. "I think so. Look how beautiful it is!" There was a knock on the door and Mal went to open it, as Evie hid, still not ready for the day, having only just got up.
Mal opened the door to see a red-nosed and rosy cheeked Ben standing there, wearing his Isle hat, with a blue and yellow scarf and blue gloves as well as a thick winter jacket.
"Hey." He said, removing his hat and pulling off his gloves. "It's your first snow day, right? I thought I'd come see if you wanted to come see it up close and personal."
Mal looked out the window and nodded. "Yeah, just let me get changed." Ben nodded and waited in the hall while Mal got changed. When the weather had started getting a bit more on the chilly side, Ben had instructed the VKs to go buy some winter gear so they wouldn't catch a cold. Mal finally opened the door and waved goodbye to Evie who was finishing off her make-up. She was dressed in green skinny jeans and was wearing a dark purple jacket, with a green scarf wrapped around her neck, as well as a purple set of gloves and a dark purple hat over her light purple hair (which was slowly fading back to it's natural violet colour)
Ben held out a gloved hand to Mal, which she took, and led her outside. She squealed when her boot clad feet touched the snow. It crunched under feet, which she wasn't expecting and she squatted down and touched it. She jerked her hand back when her finger made contact. It was really cold. Ben laughed at her reaction. Mal turned her head to look at him only to get a face full of snow which knocked her off balance and she fell into the previously undisturbed white powder. Ben laughed loudly, holding a hand full of snow in his hands. Mal got the idea and sat up.
"Oh, game on!" She grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him. It smacked him in the arm. Ben chucked his snowball at her again, hitting her back, while she was kneeling in the snow making more snowballs. Mal gave him an evil smirk and stood up, chucking snow balls at him. Ben gathered more snow and chucked it at her again. They spent the good part of half an hour chucking snow at each other until they were stopped by a scream of frustration. They both whipped around to Audrey, dressed in a pink coat and a fake fur cap. One of the snowballs had hit her in the chest.
"Audrey!" Mal cried out. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was throwing."
"Obviously." Audrey cried out, "Ugh! I got this coat last Christmas!"
"It's just snow, Audrey." Ben replied, "It'll dry."
Audrey sighed. "Fine. But still! Watch where you throw your snowballs next time."
"Sorry Audrey." Mal apologised. Audrey walked off and continued on with her day. Mal and Ben decided to get inside and have some breakfast and a hot chocolate before they both froze. They walked hand in hand into the cafeteria, Mal obviously deep in thought.
They sat down, hands wrapped around mugs of hot chocolate. Mal played with the handle of the mug, not really drinking it.
Ben noticed this as he brought his mug to his lips for another sip. He paused and slowly put the mug on the table in front of them. "Hey, you okay?" he said, looking at Mal with his soft eyes.
Mal nodded. "Yeah, yeah." She took a sip of her hot chocolate, "Just thinking."
"About?" Ben pressed gently.
"Nothing important. Just about something Audrey said." Mal looked down into her cup, staring down at the liquid that swirled around the base.
Ben thought back to the conversation they had with Audrey, if you could even call it a conversation. They barely said anything.
"What did she say?" he asked, not being able to find anything.
Mal shook her head. "Nothing. Just something about getting the coat at Christmas. Is that what you do in Auradon at Christmas? Receive coats?"
Ben shook his head. "Not exactly. Why? What did you do on the Isle?"
"Nothing." Mal replied, shrugging. "We didn't celebrate it."
"Oh." Ben looked at his hot chocolate before looking up again. "Well, at Christmas, we spend time with family, there is normally a big family meal and then there is games and such and we exchange gifts with family and friends."
"Gifts?" Mal looked at him slightly confused. "So Audrey got a coat as a gift? Seems like a bit of waste of a gift. Surely it should be something more meaningful?"
Ben coughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "I got her that coat."
Mal blushed. "Oh. Well I'm sure she loved it. I mean, you know, it's nice of you to buy clothes for her." Mal replied getting more embarrassed with every word she said.
Ben laughed. "She'd been eyeing it for ages. I figured I'd get it for her seeing as she seemed to want it."
Mal nodded. "Right. Because you were still going out with her." Mal looked down at her fingers.
"Mal." Ben said, grabbing her hand. "You know I love you more than I ever cared for Audrey, right?"
Mal nodded, squeezing his hand ever so slightly. "Yeah. Sorry. I don't usually get like this. So Christmas. Why?"
Ben thought about it for a while. He began to explain to Mal how a long time ago the winter months were the time of year where the poor had no means of warmth or sometimes even food, so rich people used to give to them to make sure they did. Over time the celebration grew into something where everyone was giving to loved ones.
"We also sing songs and have games and there is always a big family meal." Ben explained. Mal listened with great interest, especially seeing as she was always told that Christmas was a time where the heroes found an excuse to indulge themselves and turn their children into brats.
"Sounds like fun." Mal sighed. "Do you..." she hesitated a bit. "Do you think me and the others could join? I know we don't have family here technically but I'd like to experience Christmas."
Ben nodded. "Of course! Christmas is for everyone. I've been looking forward to spending our first Christmas together for months."
Mal grinned. "Okay. So, we all go out and buy our loved ones gifts?"
"If you want to. It's your first Christmas so we won't expect too much from you if anything."
Mal nodded. "Maybe. But it's our first Christmas. I want to try and make it special for everyone."
Ben grinned and leant closer to her. "And to think you used to think you were the most evil of them all."
Mal grinned back. "Oh shut up." She said, before pecking him on the lips. Ben grinned at her again before leaning in and stealing another kiss. Mal pulled away giggling and picked up her mug of hot chocolate, finishing the contents.
Ben drained his as well and they both placed their mugs on the dirty dishes line before heading back to Mal's dorm. Mal was very quiet on the way and this concerned Ben slightly but he quickly realised his concern was misguided because when he asked what was wrong, she replied that she was merely planning ideas of what to buy for her friends and family.
"We need a shopping trip!" Evie exclaimed once Mal had told her all about Christmas. "We can go buy presents together. And we'll take Jane and Jordan and Lonnie and Ally with us! And Audrey too if she wants."
The boys were slightly less enthusiastic.
"So, let me get this straight. We need to buy presents for our friends for a specific day?" Jay asked, trying to get his head around it.
Ben nodded. "That's the general idea. But if you don't want to go out and buy something there is always online shopping."
Carlos immediately perked up. "Online shopping? So I can do it on my computer?"
Ben smiled and nodded at him. "Of course."
Carlos snatched up his computer and immediately began searching online. Ben directed him to the best website and Carlos started surfing the website to find good gifts.
Ben laughed and explained that they still had a few weeks before Christmas so they didn't have to rush around to sort out the presents now. The boys nodded and waved at Ben as he left to go open an animal shelter for wild life animals in need.
Carlos pulled up another tab on his computer and typed 'Christmas Traditions' into the search bar.
A long list of various articles popped up and he clicked the top pick.
He looked through the traditions listed, trying to commit them all to memory so that he could make this a good Christmas. One tradition stood out to him.
"Hey, Jay. Come check this out." Jay got up off of his bed and looked over his friend's shoulder.
"Mistletoe?" Jay asked.
"Yeah. Apparently if two people stand under it, they're supposed to kiss." Jay contemplated this briefly.
"Auradon has some weird traditions." He finally concluded, standing upright again.
Carlos nodded in agreement. "I'm going to dig deeper, see what I can find."
Jay looked at Carlos in confusion. "Carlos, it's Christmas, not the Dark Web."
Carlos shrugged. "I want to know has much as I can." He began typing so fast that his fingers basically flew over the keyboard.
Jay shrugged to himself and sat down again, turning the TV on to watch the sports channel.
In the girls room, Evie was going through a large list that she'd made.
"How do you come up with gift ideas so fast?" Mal asked, looking at the list that Evie had just finished writing.
"It's my job to know what makes people uniquely them. So I can apply that to gift giving as well." She responded putting the list down and looked over at Mal, who groaned and slammed her head into her pillows.
"I have no idea what to get anybody."
Evie sat down on the bed and stroked her hair gently. "It's fine M. It's not that big of a deal. Just go out to town and buy something you think we'll like."
Mal shook her head. "No, E. It's our first Christmas. I want to make it special."
Evie nodded in understanding. "Well, you could make a list of things people like or that you know they want or would love and go from there."
"You make it sound so easy!" Mal complained, sitting up. "I just want to do this right."
"I know Mal. You know what, let's just go out into town for a whole day. And then we can see if we can find anything."
Mal nodded. "Okay, sounds good, I guess."
Evie smiled brightly. "I'll call the others and we'll go out tomorrow!"
Mal sunk back into her pillow and sighed.
"What's wrong now?" Evie asked, smile dropping from her face.
"What if I mess this up? What if I get someone something they hate? What if I do something to ruin Christmas and everyone's memories of it?"
Evie laughed. "You're not going to mess this up Mal. It's Christmas. A time of joy. A time of love. A time of family." Evie took Mal's hands into her own. "There in no way you can mess this up."
Mal laughed humourlessly. "You do know me, right? Daughter of the most evil villain in the world? Messing up being good is in my genes."
"M. Now you're just being ridiculous." Evie said, putting her hands on her laps. "It's Christmas. Think happy thoughts and smile."
Mal pouted at her. "But-"
"No buts. Pout away. Smile. Christmas shopping is not as hard as you're making it out to be. You are being a drama queen."
Mal looked at her offended. "I am not a drama queen."
Evie raised her eyebrow at her. "You were freaking out about ruining Christmas because you don't what to get people. You're being a drama queen."
Mal sighed. "It's more than just the gifts, E. Aren't you even a little bit worried? We don't know any of the traditions, we don't know any of the songs that Ben told me they sing and worst of all, we don't even have a family to share it with."
"But, M, we are your family."
"I know E, but that's not what I meant. I mean, all these kids are going back to their family for the holidays but us VKs? None of us are going anywhere. And what about Dizzy? And the Anti-Heroes Club? And the Gaston twins? They all don't have family either. And we know nothing about Christmas so how can we give them the Christmas they deserve if we don't know how?"
Evie slumped slightly, looking dejected. "I don't know, M. But we can try. We can ask the AKs. They'll probably help us."
Mal sighed again. "I guess."
Evie leaned over to her and gave her a hug. "It's going to be okay, M. Let's make this the best Christmas ever in any way that we can."
Mal nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Let's do that."
Jane began to back away from the door. She'd arrived to catch up with the girls because they hadn't just hung out for a while but when she arrived, she couldn't help but overhear their conversation. Evie was calling Mal a drama queen but the way Mal had answered was what made Jane stop and listen. As she walked away, Jane pulled out her phone.
"Hey, Ben?" She spoke quietly into the phone. "I just overheard something and you may want to help me do something about it."
The next day, Mal, Evie, Jane, Lonnie, Jordan, Freddie and Ally all walked to town together, wrapped up in warm hats, gloves, scarves and coats. They trudged through the snow, which had fallen even more over night and was still lightly falling as they arrived in town.
Mal moved her scarf away from her mouth and nose so that she could speak. "So what's the plan?"
Evie split them all into groups, her and Mal, Jane and Lonnie, and Jordan, Freddie and Ally would make up a three. They'd all go shopping in their groups, then they would meet up in an hours time and swap the groups around so that everyone could buy for everyone.
This plan worked well and after an hour, the groups came back, some people laden with presents, others not so much. They swapped the groups around so Evie was now with Ally, Mal was with Freddie, and Jane, Lonnie and Jordan made up the three. They all split up again and went shopping in various stores, and at lunch time, everyone went to eat something before splitting up into three groups one last time.
Mal and Jane walked around town for ages as Jane had been stuck the whole time for what to buy Carlos.
"Jane, he'll love anything you get him. It really doesn't matter." Mal reasoned, trying to calm her down.
"But it's his first Christmas in Auradon. And our first Christmas as a couple. It needs to special."
Mal laughed, quietly, remembering that she was thinking the exact same thing about her and Ben. About Christmas in general, actually. It was the first and firsts are important.
"Well, make him something."
Jane looked at her, confused. "Make him something? But..." She trailed off unsure of what to say.
"Look, Carlos would love anything that you get him, trust me. Anything. But, he would find the gift more valuable if you put your time, effort and heart into it."
"But what would I make?" Jane asked.
Mal thought about it and then replied, "Anything that will make him think of you whenever he looks at it. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it's something you can be proud of every time you see it and something that makes him think of how amazing you are every time he looks at it."
A lightbulb went on in Jane's head. "I got it. I know what I'm going to do. Thanks Mal." She hugged Mal tight before letting go and heading straight towards one of the stores that were on this busy street. Mal followed on, laughing to herself at Jane's enthusiasm. It could be annoying sometimes but at other times it could be very endearing.
After Jane had gathered all the supplies she needed, she and Mal headed back the rendezvous point. They were the first ones there so Jane explained her whole plan for what to do for Carlos while they waited.
"He'll love it." Mal exclaimed after Jane finished.
"Really?" Jane questioned. Mal nodded, smiling brightly.
Jane smiled back, feeling pleased with herself. The other girls finally arrived and everybody headed back to Auradon Prep, as it was too cold to just hang around.
A few days passed by and presents had been wrapped and put away for the holiday which was only two weeks away now. School had finally finished, meaning that people were packing to go home the next day. The VKs were to stay in Auradon Prep as Fairy Godmother was yet to find a place for them to go. She promised she'd try to have it sorted by the summer holiday but until then, all the VKs would have to stay at Auradon Prep for the holidays.
Evie immediately tried to make the best of it, claiming they had a few weeks to do whatever they want in the school. She had a few plans for what to do to make the most of their time.
The VKs waved their friends off as they all left, wishing them a Merry Christmas, trying not to seem too down about not having a home to go back to.
"Are you going to be okay?" Ben whispered to Mal as they hugged before he left to go back to Castle Beast for the holidays. Mal nodded.
"Yeah. I have my family here. And I'll come to see you on Christmas Eve to drop off your gift." She replied, smiling at him as she pulled back from the hug.
Ben smiled back and nodded. "Okay." he quickly pecked her on the lips. "I'll see you soon?"
Mal nodded. "Yeah. See you soon."
With one last peck on the cheek, Ben put his stuff in the limo and waved before getting in. Mal waved at the limo until it was out of the gates. Sighing, she made her way through the snow back into the school.
Evie was in the cafeteria getting Jay and the Gaston twins to help her move tables.
"What are you doing?" Mal asked, removing her scarf.
Evie looked over at Mal and smiled. "Oh, we're putting the tables together so that we can make it more family-like."
Mal smiled back. "E, you are a genius."
Suddenly they heard a yell and the sound of running feet. "Jason! Give it back!"
Mal exchanged a glance with Evie. "Speaking of it being more family-like."
Jason came running in and was caught by Jay grabbing his collar while Dizzy came rushing in after him. Mal grabbed Dizzy and held her back before things got messy.
"What is going on?" Evie demanded, crossing her arms.
"He stole my glue gun!" Dizzy exclaimed trying to get out of Mal's arms.
"I need it!" Jason replied, pulling the glue gun from his pocket. "Otherwise I can't finish my project that's due after the holidays."
Evie sighed and ran a hand over her face. "Jason, we're in Auradon. You don't steal, you ask. Give it here."
Jason reluctantly gave Evie the glue gun and Evie turned to Dizzy. "And Dizzy, don't run and scream in the halls. Ask him nicely and if that doesn't work, you come to me."
Dizzy looked down, ashamed. "Sorry Evie."
Evie gave her the glue gun and a side hug. "It's okay Diz. Just try to remember next time okay?"
"I still need it." Jason piped up.
Evie turned to him and raised her eyebrow. "So what do you do?"
Jason looked confused for a second before it dawned on him. "Oh. Dizzy, can I use the glue gun?"
"What's the magic word?" Dizzy shot back, with giggle.
Jason looked even more confused. "Abracadabra?"
"She means please. And Jay, let him go now." Jay looked disappointed but he obeyed Evie and let go of Jason.
"Can I please use your glue gun?" Jason tried again, sounding unsure.
Dizzy smiled and gave it him. "I want it back soon though."
Jason nodded and took off again. Dizzy gave Evie a hug and then ran off again.
"Would you look at?" Mal said, in wonder. She looked over at Evie. "You are officially the mother of the family."
Evie gave Mal a look before laughing. "Right, come on boys, let's stick these tables together."
After a dinner together with all the VKs together, Evie packed everyone off to their dorms because Fairy Godmother was still here so curfew was still a thing. On the way to their dorm, Mal kept joking about Evie being the mother of the family, which annoyed Evie slightly but she couldn't help but smile anyway.
In the morning, the girls woke up to the boys banging on their door. Evie hid under the covers while Mal opened the door.
"It's just Jay and Carlos." Mal said, looking over at Evie. Mal, Jay and Carlos were some of the very few people who were allowed to see her without make-up as she trusted them the most. Evie poked her head out of the covers and got up. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Carlos handed her a parcel, with a tag that read. 'To the Core Four. Open as soon as you get it'
Mal stared at it. "What? Where did you get this?"
"It was sitting under the school Christmas tree." Jay explained.
Evie came over, taking the parcel from Mal. "Well, let's open it then." Mal let the boys in and everyone sat down in the room. Evie looked at everyone and they all nodded, watching as Evie opened it slowly. Out from it fell a key and several pieces of paper. Jay picked up the key and examined it while Mal picked up the letter that she saw among the pieces of paper. Carlos noticed a map and grabbed it. Evie picked up the remaining piece of paper which happened to be instructions.
They all looked at each other confused before Mal read out the letter.
To Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos,
I'm sure you guys are confused as to why you found a package under the tree but I promise all will be revealed in due time. Read the instructions and use the map to help you. See you at the end.
Merry Christmas,
Ben
P.S. The instructions are enchanted so they'll only reveal the next step once you have completed the one before it.
Mal looked up after reading the letter. "Evie?"
Evie looked at the instructions. "Step 1: take the key and go to the point labelled A on your map."
Carlos looked at the map. "Ben's office?"
Mal took the key from Jay. "This is the key to his desk draw." Mal said, after studying it briefly.
"So, we go to Ben's office? If he's not there, won't it be locked?" Evie inquired.
Mal grabbed her keys from her desk. "I have a key. Let's get dressed and go."
"Okay, give me an hour." Evie replied.
"Sounds good to me. Meet you guys in the cafeteria in an hour?" Mal said, looking at Jay and Carlos. The boys nodded and left, leaving Mal and Evie to get ready.
An hour later, once they were all dressed, fed and wrapped up warm, they headed out to Ben's office. Mal tried the door to find that it was unlocked, and Ben was inside.
"Hey." He said with a smile, looking up from his work. "You got the package already?"
Mal smiled back and nodded. She walked in and the others followed her.
Ben checked his watch. "Well, you guys are earlier than we expected. I have to go."
Mal pouted. "Aww, why?"
"I'll explain later." He pecked Mal's lips and grabbed his things before heading out. "Lock up behind you, okay?"
Mal nodded and went to the desk draw. She opened it with the key and saw an assortment of things lying there.
"Uh… Evie? Step 2?"
"Step 2:" Evie pulled out the instructions. "Take the grand opening scissors and go to the point B on your map."
Mal raised her eyebrow and removed the overly large scissors from the draw. She placed them in their box and picked it up. "What on earth will we need these for?" she wondered out loud.
"I don't know, but let's humour him."
"Point B, that's the museum." Carlos said, reading the map.
"The museum?" Mal questioned.
Carlos nodded so Mal shrugged and led them all out of the office and together they headed to the museum.
"Okay, so we've arrived at the museum, with the scissors. Now what?"
Evie took out the instructions. "Step 3: Go into the Hall of Villains and take a selfie with your parents."
The Core Four exchanged glances. Carlos gulped. "The Hall of Villains?"
Evie nodded. "Look, I know we're all scared, but they're just statues. We can do this."
Jay nodded in agreement and clasped his hand onto Carlos's shoulder reassuringly. Mal grabbed Evie's hand for reassurance after what happened last time when they went to steal the wand.
They all walked in and smiled at various people who were looking around. The Hall of Villains had been closed off but when the guard saw them, he let them through.
"I've been asked to reserve this place and not move anything until you guys had come and gone."
They nodded their thanks and went to the statues. Rather than being absolutely terrified of them like they expected, what they saw made them burst out laughing.
Evil Queen had a red cape, lined with white fur draped over her shoulders and a red night cap that had a fake white wig under it. The apple she was holding had tinsel hanging from it and the frame she was standing in was covered in tinsel as well.
Cruella had a bag of gifts hanging from her claw like hands, and had a sparkly silver wig placed over her hair, which made it looked like she had massive tinsel dreadlocks. Her mean face was covered by the tinsel so you couldn't see it and her coat was removed, leaving her in a simple but fashionable grey dress.
Jafar had a santa hat on top of his turban and a fake beard hanging from his ears. A fake reindeer was placed under the leg he was holding up and the hand that was not holding his staff looked like it was grabbing the fake reindeer's ankle. The staff appeared to shooting tinsel out of the cobra's mouth.
Maleficent had reindeer antlers stuck between her black horns, which were ravelled in pink tinsel with sleigh bells hanging from the top. Her black clothes were covered in various brightly coloured clothes.
The Core Four looked at each other and burst into laughter at how ridiculous their parents looked. Evie took out her phone and everyone got together for a group selfie with their parents in the background.
They were still laughing when they bid the guard goodbye as they left.
"That was brilliant." Jay laughed, wiping his eyes. "What's next?"
"Step 4: Send us the selfie." Evie read.
"Who's us?" Jay asked
"P.S. Us is Ben, Doug, Jane and Lonnie." Evie read out again. She shrugged and pulled out her phone, sending the selfie to the listed people as well as her siblings.
Everyone smiled as their phones pinged in their pockets. Step 5 appeared on the instructions.
"Step 5: I hope you got a good laugh, now go to point C on your map."
Carlos checked the map. "That's Auradon Prep."
Mal rolled her eyes and they all walked back to Auradon Prep. Standing in the courtyard, Mal turned to Evie. "What's the next step because I am getting really cold."
"Step 6: There will be outfits lying on all VKs beds. Get everyone to put theirs on?" Evie said the last bit like a question.
They all shrugged and began searching for the VKs. Once everyone was rounded up, they were all sent to their dorms, with direct instructions to put on whatever was on their bed, without complaining.
Evie and Mal entered their room to see a formal dress laid out on each.
Mal immediately recognised hers. "Didn't you make this for me for formal occasions?" She said, picking up the long sleeved dress on the bed. It was a deep amethyst with a portrait neckline and a floor length A-line skirt. Evie nodded, picking up her own.
"I made this for me not too long ago. I never got the chance to break it out." She turned to the long mirror that was behind her and placed the long sleeved, cobalt maxi dress, with a straight skirt and a sweet heart neckline, against her body.
"I guess we put them on?" Mal asked, looking over at Evie who nodded. They both got changed quickly and put on their high-heeled boots before Evie sorted out their hair into elegant up-do's, both of them wearing a tiara on top of their heads. The girls grabbed the capes that were left them and tied them around their shoulders, Evie's being red lined with white fake fur and Mal's being such a dark purple it was almost black, trimmed with grey fur. They fastened them with brooches that had were shaped like their parents symbols.
They met up with all the others, each of them looking very formal, and together they read the final step.
"Step 7: Gather all the VKs, get in the limo. The driver knows where to go. Don't forget the grand opening scissors."
So, everyone piled into the limo, careful not to wrinkle anything because Evie was being a bit of a neat freak about the outfits, and they drove off.
Finally, they arrived at their destination and the chauffeur opened the door for them, and they stepped out to see a crowd of people standing around waiting to be called to be seated. They were standing outside a large building with numerous windows and a welcoming, homely look about it. Mal took the scissors from the chauffeur and walked up to Ben, who was standing on the platform waiting for them.
"Ben?" Ben turned to Mal. "What's going on?"
"Mal, hey." Ben pecked her cheek and took the scissors from her, putting them down before wrapping his arms around her waist. "All will be explained in due time. Tell me, did you have fun on the hunt?"
"I was confused for the most part but yeah, it was all right."
Ben grinned at her. "Well, it should be worth it. Sit down." Ben gently gestured to the seats behind him and went to stand at the podium.
"Can everyone please take a seat now? Thank you." Ben waited until everyone was seated before beginning. "As all of you know, not long before I took the throne, I had made an official proclamation which meant that the children on the Isle of the Lost were given a chance to come live here in Auradon. However, the four that originally came over, as well as all the arrivals we've had recently, they had nowhere to go besides Auradon Prep." Ben began explaining the importance of having a home and a family and somewhere to go when school was over. It went on for a few short minutes before he finally picked up the grand opening scissors. "So, in honour of every VK, I declare Home Away From Home now open!" He cut the ribbon that was in front of the door. This was responded with a massive applause. Mal got up from her seat and attacked Ben with a hug while everyone else began to mingle and get some food from the buffet table.
"Ben, this is amazing! You're amazing. A home for kids who have nowhere to go? You're amazing." She kissed Ben hard on the lips. Ben kissed back eagerly before pulling back.
"Merry Christmas." he whispered, with a goofy grin.
"Merry Christmas." She replied.
The next day, all the VKs had officially moved into Home Away From Home. A bunch of friends joined them to decorate the house for Christmas. Holly was placed in the corners of the living room and hallway, a wreath on the front door and garland lined the banisters. The tree was up and decorated, the star twinkling on top and the lights bringing smiles into the room. Above the living room, dining room and kitchen doorways hung mistletoe, so people suddenly became careful not to walk through doorways at the same time as someone else, except for Ben, who took every opportunity he could find to steal a kiss from Mal whenever he visited.
With the house decorated and the VKs feeling like they finally had a home, Christmas rolled around quickly. All the AKs had agreed to come spend Christmas afternoon with the VKs after spending the morning with their families. On Christmas morning, after a breakfast of bacon and eggs from Evie and cinnamon rolls baked by Mal, they all sat around the Christmas tree opening presents. Mal had received a large collection of art supplies from her friends, ranging from canvases to pencils. She had even received a packet of spray paint from Evie so that she could spray paint her room in the Home and make it more Mal-like. Evie had received a lot of different make-up supplies as well as a few gift cards for different shops. She also received a few books which looked incredibly interesting. Jay had received tickets to the professional tourney game that was happening after new year from Evie, Mal and Carlos (they all pitched in to pay for it) and everyone else had bought him different pieces of Tourney and R.O.A.R merch and gear. Carlos got loads of dog-related things, including a new vest for Dude from Evie. All the other kids got amazing gifts from their friends, all delighted to finally be able to unwrap presents for the first time in their lives, all of them like children on, well, Christmas, despite most of them being around the same age as the Core Four.
After a hearty lunch and a lot of dirty dishes being washed, everyone got up and went to the living room to play some games. The AKs arrived halfway through a game of charades and had immediately joined in. Once the game was done, everyone just chatted and enjoyed each other's company. Jay and Lonnie were both quite active and found themselves needing to walk around more than just sit down and talk.
At one point, Lonnie stopped Jay.
"What's up?" he asked, as she placed her hand on his chest.
Lonnie leaned to whisper in his ear. "Look up."
Jay looked up to see the white berries of mistletoe hanging from the door frame. He looked down at Lonnie again and smirked. "Well I guess that means I have to do this."
He pressed his lips against hers, gently, locking them in a passionate embrace. Lonnie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Eventually they pulled back because of this little thing called air, which they needed.
Jay looked up at the mistletoe. "You know, I think I like this tradition." He said, looking back at Lonnie with a cheeky grin. Lonnie grinned back, pulling him a bit closer.
"So do I." She said, before kissing him again.
Meanwhile, Ben and Mal were curled up together. "I have something for you." Mal said suddenly. Ben raised an eyebrow at her, smiling.
"Oh?"
Mal got up, much to Ben's disappointment, and grabbed something from under the tree. She sat next to him and handed the present to him. Ben took the present and carefully unwrapped the blue wrapping paper. He opened it to find an electronic photo frame, which was already slowly going through pictures of him and Mal.
"I figured you'd eventually run out of space on your mantelpiece so now you can have as many photos as you want and it only takes up the space of one." Mal explained. She looked at Ben's face which was still fixed on the frame before asking, "Do you like it?"
Ben looked up at Mal and Mal internally sighed with relief at the bright smile on his face. "Mal, I love it." He hugged her. "Thank you."
Mal hugged back, relaxing in his warm embrace. Ben slowly pulled back and looked her in the eye, smiling, before reaching in to his blazer pocket and pulling out a small box, wrapped in red paper.
Mal took the box when he held in out to her and unwrapped it. She opened the box to find a beautiful glittering hair piece. It had three jewels in it, one blue and two purple on either side. From the purple jewels sprouted two dragon wings and from the blue jewel hung a claw.
"Beast and dragon." Mal realised out loud. She turned to Ben, smiling brightly. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
"Only the best for my little dragon." he said, taking it out of the box and clipping it into her hair. He moved his hand from her hair and slowly stroked her face, before cupping her cheek.
She smiled at him and leaned into his touch, her eyes closing for a brief second. "That explains why I ended up with you." She said as she opened her eyes to look at him. Ben smiled and leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips before pulling back and pulling her towards him so that they could cuddle again. Mal complied and wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her head on his shoulder. They sat together and watched as the VKs all messed around and had fun with their new stuff.
Doug and Evie stood in the kitchen while Evie prepared dinner, talking.
"Hey, I have something for you." He said. "Let me just go get it."
Evie nodded and waited while he went to fetch her present. He came back with a large box wrapped in red paper with white snow flakes on it. Evie wiped her hands before taking it from him. She unwrapped the gift to find a dress-up doll, like the ones she'd seen little girls play with in commercials and such. It had realistic blonde hair, and had a blue dress on, with a collection of other dresses beside it as well as a collection of plastic shoes sitting along the bottom of the box. Evie looked up, a few tears welling up in her eyes.
"Oh Doug." she said, hugging the box to her chest.
"I remember you saying you never had any toys as a kid and I know you're not a kid any more but I wanted you to have that opportunity that loads of kids have had in their life."
Evie smiled at him, a tear escaping her eyes. Doug wiped it away with his thumb gently. Evie put the box down and hugged him, happy tears falling onto his shoulder. Doug rubbed her back, smiling. Evie pulled back, not letting go, and gave him a watery grin.
"I love you." She whispered.
Doug grinned back and kissed her on the forehead gently. "I love you too."
Evie wiped her eyes and pulled away. "The food will burn." She said, turning back to the dinner she was preparing. Doug smiled and watched her as she collected herself and returned to cooking. She kept throwing smiles at him over her shoulder and they stood together in comfortable silence.
Carlos was searching for something in his room when Jane knocked on the open door, hiding something behind her back.
Carlos looked up and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey. What are you doing?" Jane asked curiously.
"I uh..." Carlos looked around. "I misplaced your present." he told her honestly.
Jane giggled. "It wouldn't happen to be that box wrapped in red paper with 'Jane' written on the top, would it?" She said, pointing at a small box that sat on his bedside table. Carlos followed her finger and saw it, face-palming himself.
"I am officially the most oblivious person ever." He muttered. Closing the dresser draw he was searching through, Carlos went over to the table and grabbed the box. "Merry Christmas." he said, holding it out to her. Jane gratefully took and pulled her other hand from her back and offered the gift that she was hiding to him.
"Merry Christmas." she replied, grinning. Carlos took the present from her and held it in both hands, staring at it.
Jane looked at him nervously. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Carlos shook his head and smiled at her. "No, it's just...I almost don't want to open it. I mean, this is our first Christmas together and I feel like if I open it, Christmas is over."
Jane smiled and sighed,almost inaudibly. She put her present down and took Carlos's from his hand.
"Carlos, Christmas is more than just the presents." She explained, taking his hands in hers. "It's about spending time with your loved ones and being together. And, yes, we celebrate it with gift giving, but that's not what's important. Christmas is a time of love and joy. So, Christmas isn't over as soon as you open the gifts. It lives on, in our hearts, for far longer than the Christmas season."
Carlos smiled at her. "Really?"
Jane nodded. "Yes, really. Now go on and open your present, I worked really hard on it and I want to see your reaction."
Carlos picked it up, grinning. "You know I'll love it, whatever you gave me, right?"
Jane nodded again. "I know."
Carlos slowly unwrapped the gift and his mouth fell open in wonder when he saw what it was. Jane had made a collage of pictures and text conversations. There was the first selfie they took as a couple, right after Cotillion and they were both wet and tired but smiling brightly in the dim lights on the boat. He had his arm around her and was making a silly face in the camera, while she just laughed her adorable laugh. There was a picture of their first date, which was taken by one of Carlos's friends because they decided to follow them. Carlos and Jane were walking hand in hand around a duck pond in a park near Auradon Prep, smiling, looking satisfied with life. There were lots of other silly selfies they had taken together and loads more photos taken by friends. There were a couple photos that they'd taken of each other, like one where Jane had fallen asleep on his bed, curled up next to Dude. She had been sitting on his bed, waiting for him to finish Tourney Practice but she'd hadn't had much sleep the previous night so she found herself falling asleep on his bed. He couldn't bring himself to wake her so she'd slept on until dinner time. There was also a photo of Carlos, with a little bit of chocolate smeared on the side of his mouth because he was not paying attention to what he was doing with his spoon as he talked to Jane and accidentally missed his mouth. Jane had found it so funny that she had taken a quick photo of him, while he pouted at her in annoyance. Among other photos of them was a few screenshots of their cutest text conversations, mainly about how great the other person was and how amazing it was to be their significant other and how lucky they were (they're a sappy couple, okay? Leave them alone). The collage was framed with light brown wood and around the edges of the frame, were ribbons of black,red, white and baby blue weaved together.
"Do you like it?" Jane asked anxiously, "I would have added a pink ribbon as well but pink clashes with red so I just kept all your colours and only used baby blue for me."
Carlos looked up at her and smiled brightly. "I love it. It's amazing. It must have taken so much work."
Jane shrugged. "Not really. I'm just glad you like it."
Carlos put the picture on his desk and wrapped Jane in a hug. Jane hugged back, squeezing him tightly. Carlos pulled back and gestured to the package in her hands.
"It won't be as amazing as what you gave me, but I hope it's okay."
Jane peeled the paper off the present and found a blue jewellery box. She opened to see a beautiful necklace. It appeared to be half a heart, with jagged edges, like it was broken. It was made of silver and sat on a silver chain. Jane stared at it open mouthed. "Carlos it's beautiful." she said, pulling it out of the box and putting the box down. Carlos reached under his shirt and pulled out a necklace of his own.
"I have the other half." He explained. "To show that we may seem broken apart-"
"But together we are whole." Jane finished, smiling as she held the necklace delicately in her hands. "Put it on me?" She asked, handing him the necklace and turning around, lifting her hair out of the way. Carlos clasped the necklace around her neck, he fingers lingering there for a second before pulling his hands away. Jane turned around and smiled, her fingers playing with the heart. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
"Not as beautiful as you," he murmured, moving a piece of hair out of her face. Jane blushed and smiled at him.
"Come on, dinner will be ready soon." Jane took Carlos's hand and pulled him gently out of the room.
They walked hand in hand down the stairs until they reached the dining room. Jane stopped in the doorway and turned to look at him. She held both his hands and grinned at him. "Thank you, Carlos. You've made this the best Christmas ever."
Carlos grinned back. "No, thank you. You made my first Christmas one I'll never forget." Suddenly Dude came bounding over and pushed Carlos towards Jane. Jane had to catch him as he stumbled forward.
"Dude! What the heck?" He explained, after he steadied himself.
"Look up lover boy." Dude replied before running away.
"Look up? Wh-" Carlos looked up and saw the mistletoe hanging above them. "Ah."
Jane followed his eyes and giggled when she saw the plant hanging above them. "That dog." She said, shaking her head.
Carlos nodded. He then looked down at Jane again and smiled sheepishly. "Well, we wouldn't want to break tradition, would we?"
Jane grinned and placed her arms around his neck. "I guess not."
Carlos leaned down and gave Jane a long, sweet kiss.
"Get a room!" Claudine Frollo yelled, as she walked into the dining room via the kitchen door, to help set the table.
Carlos and Jane pulled apart and laughed, turning to see Evie with her phone out, glaring at Claudine.
"Evie!" Carlos exclaimed.
"What? I'll send it to you! Gosh." And with that, Evie scampered back into the kitchen.
"Send what?" Jane asked, looking at Carlos.
"I think she took a picture of us." He said, looking back at Jane, smiling.
"No respect for privacy." Jane laughed. Their phones pinged and both of them pulled theirs out to see that Evie had indeed taken a picture of them and had shared it to the group chat.
Carlos rolled his eyes and stuck his phone back in his pocket, swinging his arm around his girlfriend and going into the dining room to help set up.
The Christmas dinner was one of the best things anyone had tasted. Everyone was completely full by the end of it and went to sit in the living room for a song together before the day ended.
It was honestly the best first Christmas ever and everyone knew that there were even better ones yet to come.
MERRY CHIRSTMAS EVERYONE!
Response to Reviews:
DragonEmperor999: Yeah, that probably won't happen often. It was just a special thing for my friend's birthday
Grace: What can I say except You're Welcome! Lol, but seriously, you are so welcome. And I've been working on this since you told me when your birthday was. It was bit of a side project until a week ago and then it became top priority. Also, another lie I may have told, I was never stuck on the Christmas Special. I was just trying to find an excuse to tell you why I had so little for it done while I was working on your surprise. And I have a feeling our friendship is going to take far beyond anything we could ever imagine. Oh yeah, and thanks for helping with this one.
Love you guys!
Merry Christmas!
SparkyGurl