Laughter
Instead of being woken up by the rays of sunlight or the icy shiver of his ghost sense, Danny arose to the sound of bells. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with a pair of blue eyes like his own and a smile bigger than any he had ever seen.
"Danny, wake up!"
He rubbed his eyes, craning his neck to glance at his cracked alarm clock. 8:23. Why had he not been waken up by a ghost yet?
"Morning, Ellie," he mumbled, feeling only slightly more rested than usual.
"Don't just say 'Morning'," she scolded, the grin not leaving her face despite the disappointment. "You're supposed to say 'Happy Christmas'!"
His eyes found the clock again, this time searching for a date instead of a time. The 25th of December.
"Oh," he said. "That's why I had a full night' sleep, I guess."
Ellie raised an eyebrow, still too excited to actually make a not-happy expression. "What, you forgot about Christmas?"
"I just forgot about the Christmas truce," Danny lied, sitting up. "And by the way, it's 'Merry Christmas', not 'Happy Christmas'. But since this is your first one, I'll cut you some slack." He ruffled his hair and she leaped at him, hugging him like it waz the last time she could.
"Now come on," she urged, scrambling off the bed. "There's presents to open, right?"
He chuckled at her enthusiasm, suddenly feeling a lot less tired than before. "Right, you go on, I'll just get dressed real quick."
His littler sister's laughter was better than any christmas present he could have received in his life, half-life or after life, he was sure.