Do You Believe In Santa Claus?

by the Fangirls of Insanity
Miss Lous and Kaz Valkyrie

CHAPTER ONE
More Than Your Imagination

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

Eva Cassidy, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Goku sighed as his youngest son disappeared from his view. Four words had destroyed a world of innocence and dreams, only four words. It was cruel how children were raised to believe in a fairy tale, only to take it away from them years later. It was so cruel.

Four words.

Santa does not exist…

"You shouldn't have said that Vegeta. Not like that."

The older saiyajin snorted.

"How else should I have told him the truth? Lying to him, only to let him discover the truth by himself later? Do you even think he would still trust you then? I doubt it. Or should I have used some soothing words to calm him down, taking hours to explain to him why that Santa person doesn't exist? He has saiyajin blood! He can handle the truth! Why waste a lot of time explaining the obvious?"

Bulma opened her mouth to answer her husband, when Trunks, who had been listening to the adults, interrupted their argument.

"You are only talking about what ifs! What would have been the best way to say the truth, when Goten himself ran away a few minutes ago and nobody followed him to help him?" The young demi-saiyajin scowled. "You don't even take the responsibility of taking care of him! And you call yourself adults?"

After those words, he ran away, to find his best friend.

"Trunks! Wait!" Bulma called after her son, but Vegeta stopped her.

"Let him go, he will be alright."

"Shouldn't we go looking for both of them?"

"No, they can take care of themselves." Vegeta answered, irritation written on his face. "Now let's finish visiting those blasted stores woman. I still have to train for at least 4 hours today!"

Bulma hesitated. "I don't know Vegeta…"

Wouldn't she be a bad mother if she would just leave her son alone? Vegeta was right, those two could easily take care for themselves, but still… it felt wrong. Goten was confused for sure. Maybe she should go looking for Chichi. It was, after all, her son.

As if reading her mind, Goku stepped next to Bulma.

"Don't worry Bulma. Gohan and I will go look for Chichi and tell her everything. You can continue shopping with Vegeta." Goku smiled when he saw that Vegeta's face became even more irritated when he mentioned the shopping part. "I think that Vegeta really wants to end this as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Son-kun" Bulma smiled and she looked at Vegeta. "Shall we go, Vegeta?"

Her husband said nothing and walked to the pile of bags and packets in the corner, picking them up if they were nothing. Well… a human would have problems in carrying it all, but for the saiyajin prince who had fought Freeza, Cell and Majin Buu, it was just as easy as blinking his eyes.

Bulma looked at Goku and Gohan and smiled.

"See you in two days!" she said, then reminded the Sons of the Christmas dinner they would have in Capsule Corporation. "This is going to be really great! We will all be together!" she continued excitedly, receiving a chuckle from Vegeta in reply, who obviously didn't understand why being dressed in a tuxedo and eating together with the third-class baka and his family was such a great thing.

Bulma just ignored her husband's comment. After all, she lived for at least ten years with the saiyajin prince and was used to his grumpy reactions.

"Say hi to ChiChi for me, okay?"

"I will!"

And the group separated in two small ones, both ready to go their own way.

"Is you Mister Son Goku?" a high-pitched voice suddenly said.

Goku turned to the source of the voice, using his excellent saiyajin hearing the pinpoint the exact place. "Yes, that's---" But he stopped talking and surprise appeared on his face when he saw the owner of the voice he just heard.

A highly unusual owner, to be precise.

It was a tiny creature. Even smaller then an average eight-year-old child. It had long, batlike ears; short, stubby legs; and a long, thin, pointed nose like what the cartoon character Pinocchio had in the animated films. It wore something that looked fashionably like the garments Santa Clauses wore when they paraded down the streets of the city, only that they were green in color, and on its feet were a pair of pointed brown shoes that curled at the edges.

"Who are you?" Goku asked.

The creature bowed. "I is Pinky, sir, most loyal elf of Santa Claus"

Vegeta snorted. "Not one of the entertainment humans again."

Pinky looked up to Vegeta, "I is not human, but elf. But I should know that you don't believe in my master. You is, after all, Mister Vegeta, a saiyajin." After that comment she turned back to Goku, leaving a bewildered Vegeta alone.

"I needs your help, Son Goku, sir!" the so-called elf said desperately. "My master, the Santa Claus and many of the other elves are ill! And we is not ready for Christmas yet! We needs you and yours friends help sir! Or there will be no Christmas this year!"

"No Christmas?!?" Gohan blurted out. "That's impossible!"

"But it is true Son Gohan, sir. As we speak, my master is lying in his bed with a high fever and moaning in pain. Pinky believes it is food poisoning sir. And Santa Claus isn't the only one! Half of all elves is ill too! It is horrible!" Pinky answered, a sad look on her face. She then looked hopefully at Goku. "Will you and yours friends helps my master?"

The saiyajin opened his mouth to reply, but Vegeta was faster.

"Why should we help you? We just explained to the third-class baka's youngest brat that your Santa Claus doesn't exist. And now you expect us to believe your story? Santa Claus doesn't exist, so leave us and go entertain someone else with your Santa is ill-joke."

The small creature widened her eyes in shock. "You won't help Pinky?"

"No."

Pinky looked at desperately at Goku. "Not even you, sir?"

The saiyan stared at the elf with a hint of compassion. "I have to agree with Vegeta. We all know that Santa Claus doesn't exist. That's why we are here in the mall. To buy Christmas presents for everybody. Which reminds me, I have to find Chichi now. She doesn't even know yet what happened to Goten." He turned away. "Bye Bulma, bye Vegeta. See you in two days!"

And he walked away, Gohan following him.

"Bye Son-kun! Bye Gohan!", Bulma replied, before she and Vegeta went in the opposite direction. Suddenly she stopped, turned around and looked at Pinky. "I'm sorry we can't help you. But I must say, it really sounds very real, you almost convinced me little elf. You are really a great entertainer." After those words she turned back to Vegeta and left.

"I'm sorry for you, Miss Bulma Briefs," Pinky replied softly. "That you don't believe in my master anymore…"

She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke and sparkles.

But he's real…

Ebony eyes brimming with tears, Goten looked down at all the presents he had received the past years during Christmas Day, from the fat man in red who comes to town on a sleigh dragged by magical reindeers. From the fat man with a long, white beard who laughs with Ho-Ho-Ho's. Santa Claus.

He clutched the presents close to him, not wanting to let go, afraid that Santa would disappear into thin air once he would release what the magical gift-giving man gave him the past holidays. Afraid that the presents themselves would disappear if he let go --- after all, Vegeta said that Santa wasn't real, so his gifts might not be real as well.

But he's real!

He did not know how he got home so fast, but he did. He did not know what took place while he flew away like mad, but he remembered very well the expressions the other saiyajins sported. He remembered the smug expression on his best friend's face and the I'm-too-old-to-believe-this-nonsense glimmer in Trunks' blue eyes as he announced that Santa wasn't real. The look of nervous uncertainty on Gohan's features, was as bright as day, and so was Goku's silence that bothered him greatly.

Yet the most vivid of all those was the knowing smirk on Vegeta's pale, intimidating face as he said the words with utter clarity, "He's right, brat. That Santa person of yours really doesn't exist."

Goten looked at the calendar posted on the wall of his bedroom. Written in big, red letters was the number 24 under the word December set in full caps, bordered with green Christmas tree leaves. At that, his eyes watered even more than ever, a horrible thought hitting him. If Santa wasn't real… then he wouldn't get any presents for Christmas, as Santa had been the one giving him gifts all those years.

But he's real! He's real! HE'S REAL!

He looked down at his gifts sadly, part of him was resigned to the truth, but a stronger part of him still refused to believe. If Santa wasn't real, then who had been giving me these presents? a voice from within him asked as he ran a finger through a box that still had the words, Merry Christmas, from Santa, scribbled hastily across it.

The seven-year-old demi-saiyajin looked at the other presents he received, and saw that more than one of them contained the same dedication. More than one of those gifts had the note, Merry Christmas, from Santa, written on them. Some had tiny, fancy-looking cards attached on their boxes, cards that held the same words. Merry Christmas, from Santa.

"Santa… Santa…" he whispered, clasping his hands together in his attempt to send a prayer to wherever the jolly fellow was at the moment. "Santa… please, show them that you're real. Send them a sign that you're real. Prove to them that you exist. Please, Santa, please…"

Tap. Tap.

"GO AWAY!" the little boy yelled as Trunks, who had obviously went after him, tapped the glass window of his bedroom continuously. He then went back to his prayer, this time he did so in silence. His eyebrows were knitted together in utter concentration, hoping against hope that Santa would hear him, no matter how far apart they were.

The lavender-haired demi-saiyajin, on the other hand, was getting desperate. He knew that if Chichi would find out that her baby was upset on Christmas Eve, she would go on a rampage, and they would be wearing giant red lumps on their heads to compliment their clothes in the upcoming party at Capsule Corporation. And he was sure that it would not take long for the woman who held the Mighty-Frying-Pan-of-Doom™ to find out what had happened, and in a few moments she would go on the rampage none of them would want to witness.

There was one very appealing option at the moment --- to blast the window and thus have a pathway inside Goten's bedroom --- but his fear of his best friend's mother was preventing his muscles from doing his will. He decided to try the door instead, because if he was lucky, Goten forgot to lock it at the outbreak of his tears.

And he was lucky.

He quickly darted towards the room where Goten locked himself in, and luck blessed him greatly the second time in a row: the bedroom door was unlocked. Not wanting to upset the other even more, he slowly pushed the door open, mentally rehearsing the speech he formulated on the way to the Son's residence and the speech he was planning to tell the younger demi-saiyajin…

… when a pair of bulging emerald eyes the size of tennis balls met his sapphire ones.

Trunks blinked.

It was a tiny creature, even shorter than Goten, who was, by Trunks' definition, short. It was looking at the demi-saiyajin curiously, as if it had never seen anyone of his kind before, and it was especially gaping at the eight-year-old's gleaming purple hair. It circled around Trunks --- once, twice, thrice, four times --- until it stopped once again right in front of him and bowed, taking off its hat as it did so. "You is Mister Trunks Briefs, sir?" it began in a high-pitched voice.

Trunks swallowed, uncertain of what was going to happen next. "… Yes."

"And you is Mister Son Goten, sir, Goten yes?"

The other's raven eyes snapped open at that. He knew that Trunks was in the room, as he felt his best friend's ki the moment he took off after him from the department store, but he did not notice that someone else had arrived. He looked at the creature inquisitively, and remembering that it asked him a question, he nodded in reply, a demure yet welcoming smile on his features.

To the duo's surprise, the creature bowed. In fact, it bowed so low that its nose touched the floor, and when it straightened up once more, there were specks of dust at the tip of his long nose. Goten and Trunks tried their best not to snigger, afraid that it would offend the visitor, but they knew that if it would pull off another stunt similar to that one, they would burst into laughter before it could blink. "I is Pinky, sirs. I is most loyal elf of Santa Claus, Pinky is, sirs. And my master needs your help."