Roxas, Xion, and Namine look out the window and take a good look at the world below them. A hollow forest filled with the dead, and snow-covered landscapes can be seen from their position. It's quite exciting to be back.
"You know, we never got to learn what it means to kiss someone." Says Roxas, thinking back on their previous adventure in this world
"Yeah. I'm still a bit curious too." Says Xion.
"Well, you two will find out eventually. But for now, you two should go and check on Jack and see if anything has happened recently. It seems the heartless are growing stronger in all worlds. . ." Says Namine worryingly.
"You're right. We have no idea what's happened since we left. Ready Xion?" Asks Roxas.
"I'm ready," Xion responds. The two close their eyes and disappear in a flash of light, leaving Namine in the gummi ship as usual.
"What I would give to be able to wield a keyblade . . ." Namine sighs, She sits down and opens her sketchbook, ready to help them in what little ways she can at the moment. Roxas and Xion appear in the dead woods of Halloween town yet again. Roxas looks down to see that he is once again in his monster form,, resembling that of a vampire, while Xion looks to see that she is once again a zombie. The two look ahead of them and see a strange sight, however.
"What's with all these wrapped gifts?" asks Roxas.
"I don't know. . ." Says Xion. In front of them lies a long trail of what resembles Christmas gifts on the ground that leads to Halloween town. Suddenly, emerging from the woods ahead, is one Jack Skellington, in the Santa clause outfit made by Sally. He picks up the gifts from off the ground and holds them with his other arm as he follows the trail. As he picks up a gift, he looks up and notices Roxas and Xion. The skeleton smiles, and waves.
"Perfect timing you two! Lend me a hand, won't you?" Jack says. "These presents must belong to Sandy Claws. So we'd better return them." Says Jack, handing Roxas and Xion a present.
"So you just happened to find these?" asks Roxas, a tad suspicious of the skeleton's intent.
"Of course Roxas! I'm finished with my Christmas fantasies. You know that." Jack says as he pokes Roxas's face, before walking past them and towards the Christmas town door.
"But. . . You're wearing the suit, Jack." Says Xion.
"What? This?" Says Jack, pulling on a segment of his Santa clause outfit. "It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it!" Says the skeleton, as he walks to the entrance to Christmas Town. "Come on. We've got work to do!" Jack exclaims. Roxas and Xion turn to each other before shrugging and joining Jack on his trip to Christmas Town. The three enter Santa's workshop, to see a nervous Santa pacing around the room. He turns to look at the three and is stunned as they put the presents on the table.
"Oh my! Where did you find these?" Asks Santa Clause.
"Scattered in Halloween Town's woods. You'll be needing them for Christmas, right, Sandy?" Asks Jack Skellington.
"Of course," Santa says warmly. "But these are just a handful of the Christmas presents that were stolen."
"Stolen!?" Xion says in shock.
"Who would steal Christmas gifts?" Asks Roxas in shock. There's silence for a moment, before Roxas, Xion, and Santa turn their heads to the pumpkin king.
"What? You don't think it's me do you?" asks Jack Skellington
"You're wearing the costume." Says Santa
"I'm just dressing for the occasion!" Exclaims the skeleton. There's another moment of silence before Jack speaks again. "Well, if you still think it's me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it!" the skeleton exclaims. Santa thinks for a moment
"Very well, I'll leave it to you." Says the jolly old man.
"Alright! Roxas, Xion! We're off!" says the skeleton, making his way out of the workshop, but before he can leave, the sound of glass shattering is heard in the toy factory. The three make their way to the gift wrapping room above the factory, and find Lock, Shock, and Barrel messing around with the toys. The three are tossing away toys, commenting on how boring some of them are.
"Hey!" Roxas shouts. The three slowly turn their heads to look at Roxas, Xion, and Jack, who stare disapprovingly at the children. "So you three took them."
"Took what?" Asks Shock, in anger.
"You stole the presents, didn't you!" Jack accuses.
"It wasn't us!" says Lock
"But. . ." Barrel gets an idea.
"It really sounds like fun!" Shock says, getting the same idea. The three make a run for nearby presents, But Xion is one step ahead of them. She casts a magnet spell and forces the three to one position. Roxas grabs a large box from a nearby shelf and opens it, to find it empty. He turns around and throws the box on top of the three, and pushing down on it so they can't escape. Roxas, Xion, and Jack push the box to a corner of the room, making sure the three children inside can't leave, before picking up the box and throwing it behind them, leaving the kids trapped and ready for interrogation.
"Where'd you put the presents?" asks Roxas.
"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Exclaims Shock
"Then why are you guys up here?" asks Xion
"We're looking for parts, for the experiment." claims Lock.
"Experiment?" Asks Jack Skellington.
"Dr. Finklestein's making us a friend! One we get to boss around!" says Barrel.
"Hmm. . .He has been hard at work making something lately. . ." Jack says, scratching his head.
"You see! Besides, Christmas presents are boring! They're not scary or gross. . . So what good are they?" says the devil child. "There's nothing fun here. Let's go back to Halloween Town!" says Barrel. The three children stand up and walk out of the room. Roxas, Xion, and Jack willingly letting them go, determining they're not the culprits. The three make their way out of the workshop and run into Santa.
"So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" asks Santa
"It doesn't look like it." Says Jack.
"Hmm. . ." Santa thinks deeply, but everyone gets distracted when Sally enters the workshop.
"Oh, thank goodness! You're all here!" Sally says as her face lights up.
"Is something wrong?" Asks Xion.
"The Heartless are back in the town square," Sally explains.
"Well, that's our cue!" Says Roxas, turning to Xion.
"Back to Halloween Town!" She says the two materialize their keyblades and are about to leave when Jack gets their attention.
"But wait! What about finding the gift-napper?" Asks the skeleton. Sally turns to Jack
"Actually. . . The Heartless were messing with some presents when I saw them. . ." Says Sally.
"So, the heartless are the culprits!?" Says Jack with surprise.
"Quick! Let's go before they break any of them!" Xion exclaims. The three run out of Santa's workshop. They make their way back to Halloween town's entrance. They jump into the hollowed-out tree and are spewed into the spooky, scary world of Halloween Town. They enter Guillotine square
"Somebody, anybody help! I'm only an elected official! I can't handle this myself!" says the mayor of Halloween Town as the three approach. There are heartless jumping around the town square throwing presents back and forth between each other.
"Sally was right. We've got to get the presents!" Jack exclaims.
The three swiftly attack the heartless in the town square, making sure to carefully catch and presents the heartless drop. Roxas dives to catch the last present as Xion slays the last heartless. The three look at the gifts, they seem fine.
"Well, I'm glad they're in good condition. We wouldn't want any children to get a broken gift." Says the skeleton. Though his attention is taken away as Dr. Finklestein exits his bunker.
"Somebody, please help me! My latest experiment is gone! It's been stolen!" Exclaims the mad doctor. The three help the doctor back into his lab and listen to his full story. "I was just sitting here brainstorming when all of a sudden I was attacked!" The doctor explained. "I had collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!"
"Don't worry, Doctor- we know who took it." Says Jack with confidence.
"Who!?" Asks the mad doctor.
"The Heartless," Roxas says.
"What. those wretched things?" Asks the doctor. "Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless." The doctor claims.
'Not the Heartless, huh. . ." Roxas says, a tad confused.
"Who else could it be. . ." Says Xion, Closing her eyes to think deeply
"Say, I have an idea." The skeleton says. He turns to Roxas and Xion. "The thief must like Christmas presents. So we can place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap!" Says Jack.
"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" asks Dr. Finklestein.
"Most likely." Says Jack.
"How will we know for sure?" Asks Roxas.
"We'll have to interrogate the culprit once we have them trapped." Says Xion.
"Correct! We must go to Sandy Claw's workshop! Posthaste!" Says the skeleton, running off to Christmas town. The two keyblade weilders join him. Upon arriving at his workshop, they explain their plan.
"Using presents as bait!? I don't like that. . ." Says Santa, but after a pause, he speaks again. "But I'll allow it, just this once. It's for a good cause after all. . ." Says Santa. The three nod and make their way to the second floor, where they had interrogated Lock, Shock, and Barrel Previously. Using the machines they fill many gift boxes, large and small, with decoy presents.
"Is that everything?" Asks Roxas.
"Not quite. You two go downstairs and ask Sandy where we should put these. I have a few more things to finish up." Says Jack. Roxas and Xion look at each other, before nodding to Jack. They go downstairs to meet with Santa
"Oh, are you three done already?" Asks Santa
"Almost. Jack just needs to finish some things up." Says Roxas.
"Do you know a good place to put these decoys? Somewhere safe where no one will get hurt if the culprit turns out to be dangerous?" Asks Xion.
"Oh, I know a good spot! Whenever you're ready, just say the word." Says Santa, after a moment of thinking. They wait for Jack to come down before Santa shows them the location he was thinking of. "This plaza should work well for your plan," says Santa. "Now, Jack. . . what IS your plan?" Asks Santa. Jack explains the general plan, as well as what he was doing upstairs.
"So, we're gonna hide in a massive present, and when it shows up, we'll get the jump on them?" Asks Roxas. Jack nods.
"Well, that's certainly a plan. . ."Says Xion, who goes along with it unable to think of anything better on the spot. Jack crams Roxas and Xion into a large fit, before jumping in himself and closing the top.
"I'm so cramped in here. . ." Says Roxas trying to move his legs to get more comfortable.
"Hey! Watch where you're moving your legs!" Says Xion, curling into a ball to avoid Roxas.
"Sorry!"
"Shhhh! Both of you! I hear something!" says Jack. A strange clanking sound is heard, and it's approaching. The sound is heard right outside the box, and that's when the three jump to reveal themselves. But they're taken aback by the sight of a horrifying metallic monster.
"Doctor Finklestein's experiment is the culprit!?" Jack shouts in surprise before the experiment knocks them all back and out of the present. They get back on their legs and prepare for battle. The experiment uses it's left arm to create a vacuum-like suction, pulling Xion in close enough for it to grab her by the throat.
"Xion!" Roxas cries out. He charges at the experiment. The experiment opens its mouth and shoots a red laser right at Roxas blind-siding him and knocking him back. Jack thinks fast and catches Roxas before throwing a large amount of fire at the experiment, knocking it back and releasing the injured Xion. Xion jumps back and clutches at her throat. Before materializing her keyblade once more. Roxas gets back up and joins her, as they prepare to give this battle everything they've got.
Jack freezes the experiment with a powerful ice spell, before Roxas and Xion strike it many times with their keyblades, shattering the ice, and the experiment! The body parts go flying and for a second, they think it's all over, however, the separate parts have a mind of their own and begin attacking in unison. Xion thinks fast and casts a magnet spell, pulling them all together, before she begins to gather vast darkness around her.
"Xion! What are you doing!?" Roxas yells.
"This is gonna hurt. . ." Xion winces, before casting an incredibly powerful fire spell, the fire and darkness mix together to create the spell dark firaga, the same one Riku had used against them not too long ago. The fire blasts the experiment away. Upon getting back up the experiment shows visible signs of damage, but as soon as it gets up, Xion falls to her knees.
"Xion!" Roxas yells and reaches out to her, grabbing her and jumping back, just barely dodging the experiment's laser. He sets carefully on the ground before enveloping himself in a dark red energy, entering limit form He slashes away at the heartless many times, before jumping back, and shooting vast amounts of light at the experiment, finishing it off for good. Roxas quickly turns to his beloved and picks her up "Xion! Are you okay?" asks Roxas.
"Yeah. . . Just. . . hurt a little. . ." Xion says weakly. Roxas nods and carries her, allowing her to build her energy back up. The three look up to the sky as they hear the sound of jingle bells descending to them. Santa stops his sleigh and gets out, and walks towards them.
"Did you three manage to catch the thief?" Asks Santa.
"Yeah. . . But we can't figure out why. . ." Xion tries to explain. "Why it would. . . steal gifts. . ."
"The machine is the thief?" Asks Santa
"Correct. It was a moving puppet created by Doctor Finklestein." Jack explains
"Moving. . . Puppet?" Xion asks Wearily.
"Hmm. . . The doctor's made a moving puppet? I see. . . he is always tinkering with things in that lab of his." Says Santa. He turns around to face the pumpkin king. "Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do. I can give you an idea of what it's like." Santa moves aside and motions for Jack to take a ride in his sleigh. Jack jumps in and takes to the skies leaving the three of them on the ground below. Santa turns to the machine and gives it a touch, feeling the cold metal through his gloves. "All that poor puppet wanted was a heart. . ."
"A puppet that wanted. . . a heart. . ." Xion says weakly, she looks to the ground and frowns. Roxas holds her closer to him, trying to comfort her. Santa turns to look at Roxas and Xion.
"You two have yet again saved Christmas. And I can't thank either of you enough for doing so." Says Santa. "When Christmas eve comes, trust me when I say that I will keep you and your friends in mind when delivering gifts." Says the jolly man with a smile, before walking off back to his workshop. Roxas looks down at his arms to look at his dejected lover. She won't look him in the eyes.
"Roxas. . . We should tell the doctor. . . shouldn't we." Xion says, not as weak as before but still not back to full strength.
"Yeah. . ." Says Roxas. He pulls her close and begins making his way to Christmas town
"Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own!" says the mad doctor. "In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!" the doctor says with excitement.
"Santa thought it might have been trying to look for a heart," Roxas explains.
"That's quite possible. Unlike Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart." The doctor explains as he turns around his wheelchair and rides off to his lab once again.
"But if it wanted a heart, Why was it going around stealing all those Christmas gifts?" Roxas thought out loud. Xion continued to look at the ground, not even acknowledging Roxas's question.
"Maybe because. . . Presents are a way to give your heart to someone special." Roxas turns to see Sally standing over by the guillotine.
"When you put it that way. . .I feel bad for it." Says the voice of Jack Skellington. The Roxas and Sally turn to see the pumpkin king walking into the town square. The four look up into the sky as the flying sleigh with the jolly old fellow flies by. Snow begins to fall on Halloween town for the first time ever. Jack looks down at his costume, and then at Sally.
"You know Sally, You worked really hard on this, but I never gave you anything in return," Jack says shyly. "What would you like? Just name it, absolutely anything." Says the skeleton. Sally approaches the skeleton and takes his hand.
"The nicest present I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you." Jack smiles at this, and turns her hand over and grasping her palm with his.
"You don't even have to ask for that." Says Jack Skellington. The pumpkin king escorts his queen outside the town square, leaving Roxas and Xion to their own devices.
"That's. . . beautiful. . ." Xion says, smiling for a moment, before looking at the ground again.
"Xion. . . Do you want to talk?" Asks Roxas, Xion shakes her head.
"No. . . let's just. . . go back to the ship. . ." says Xion. Roxas looks down at his beloved.
"I think we should Xion." He says. Xion says nothing. "We can lie in the snow in Christmas town and stare at the skies for a while if you want." Xion looks up a little and nods her head. Roxas takes this as an okay and carries Xion towards the entrance to Christmas town as snow falls from the heavens as Roxas walks through the graveyard carrying Xion. the ground covered in the white powder. The two look over towards the spiral hill and see Sally and Jack dancing a waltz together, they dance around the hill until they make their way atop it. Sally wraps her arms around Jack, and the skeleton does the same and they move closer together and close their eyes before their lips touch and hold each other closer for a long moment. Roxas and Xion had never seen this before, yet they knew exactly what it was. They had witnessed their first kiss, and it filled them with warmth in the cold. They move on to let the two be, before entering the hollowed-out tree. They enter the world of Christmas Town, and Roxas Gently sets Xion down on the ground, before laying down next to her. The two stare up at the starry night sky before Roxas begins to talk.
"What Santa and the doctor said really bothered you, didn't it?" he asks. Xion nods.
"It perfectly describes me. A hollow puppet, looking for a heart. It makes me wonder what would have happened if I had never met you. . . It's hard to stop dwelling in the darkness. . ." Xion says.
"I don't know why the organization did this to us Xion, but I know for certain that you are not a puppet," Roxas says softly.
"Thanks, Roxas, but that's not true. It's what I was designed for, created for. Just like that machine. Saix, Xigbar, and Xemnas all repeated it over and over. All I am is a puppet."
"That's not true Xion." Says Roxas, sitting up so she can see him talking to her. "The circumstances in which we're created don't matter, and neither does what anyone says about us. What matters is what we think we are." Roxas says "and while you can think about what they said, it's important to remember that the lie sprouted from them, not you. And if it makes you feel any better, to me, you've always been Xion." Tears begin to form under Xion's eyes, but she wipes them away before sitting up herself, and wrapping her arms around Roxas, and embracing him tightly.
"Thank you. . ." Xion squeezes him tight. "I needed to hear that." Roxas returns her embrace and they hold each other under the night sky. Eventually, Xion lets go, and Roxas releases her in response. Xion grasps Roxas's hands with her and looks into his eyes before her face begins to turn pink and she looks to the ground. "Would you mind. . . pretending we're under the mistletoe. . . just this once. . ." Roxas smiles.
"Of course," says Roxas. Xion wraps her arms around Roxas, and he does the same. They pull each other close and their lips connect, warmth fills their bodies, despite the cold temperature and falling flakes of snow. the feeling of butterflies in their chest emerges within them, but they don't mind, as the only thing they care about is holding them and connected to them.