There's no real plot to this one. I just wrote whatever I thought was cute and/or funny.
December 24th: Magic
It was Christmas Eve, finally, after almost an entire month of planning, stress, squabbles and excitement, the big day was almost here.
The residents of Radiator Springs had decided that they all wanted to be together that night. So, everyone was spending the night at the courthouse. Lots of blankets had been spread out across the floor- to cover the cars while they were asleep and, in the meantime, reserve everyone's spots- as well as mattresses for those who used them.
They enjoyed their leftover sandwiches, mini pizzas, candy canes and Chrysler knew what else from their cast party as an indoor picnic. Then Lizzie showed everyone endless photo albums from Christmases in the past, from the town's humble beginnings with black and white photos of unfamiliar faces, right up until Fudge as a toddler. Everyone laughed and exclaimed over the photos, unable to believe how young everyone looked. Flo and Ramone adored the ones of them when they first got married Of course, there were some bittersweet tears shed for those no longer with them too.
Now, most of them were getting a little zooey. Every minute felt like an hour; every hour felt like a year. Mater, Lightning and Fudge were chasing each other around the room like crazy with pillows. They were full of energy because they were so excited. The Santas were coming that night. As they tore around the room, they kept shouting to each other, talking about all of the presents they were going to get the next day.
Still, it drove everyone crazy. So, they were relieved to hear Ramone shout, "Hey, look! It's snowing!" As usual, the Lowrider's paint job was nothing short of incredible. He had painted himself a dark forest green with brightly coloured ornaments; golden bells and candy canes all over him. On the real tree, every single resident of the small town had an ornament onto which they'd written their name with a marker. All of those ornaments had made it into his Christmas look as well. He had even painted a gold star on his roof.
Everyone headed outside to watch the snow fall and the neon lights illuminate the town in an array of colours, in a comfortable, companionable silence. They had done lots of things with the snow that month: snow people, snow angels, snowball fights, ice skating. For the time being, though, they were just happy watching it. With the snow, dark sky, bright stars and colourful neon lights, Radiator Springs had truly become a winter wonderland and there was that inexplicable magic in the air that only came with Christmas. They could practically hear sleigh bells jingling as they stared up at the night sky, feeling almost as if they would be able to see the Santas and their reindeer at any second.
After about an hour, though, Luigi gasped. "Is that the time? We need to get you ready for bed, Fudge."
"Wait!" the human girl cried. "We don't have milk, oil and cookies for the Santas yet! Or carrots for the reindeer. I wanna help do that."
Sarge shook his hood firmly. "You heard your papà. Time to get ready for bed."
Fudge turned back to Luigi. "Papà? Please?"
Luigi sighed. "Okay, as long as you are quick." He gave her a kiss. "Then it is bath time for you, angel."
Sarge shook his hood again as Fudge followed Mater and Flo over to the V8 Café and into the kitchen. It was no secret that he disapproved of the way Luigi raised his daughter. He felt that the Fiat both spoiled and coddled Fudge.
"How many carrots do we need?" Mater wanted to know.
"Nine", Fudge answered promptly. "One for each reindeer."
"Don't worry. It won't take long", Flo promised, but it was obvious that she was trying to assure Sarge, not Luigi.
After much deliberation, Mater, Flo and Fudge had selected four cookies (two each) for the Santas and nine carrots for the reindeer. Then Mater filled a glass with oil while Fudge filled one with milk. There were a couple of minor spills from both of them, but not too much. Sure enough, in two minutes, everything was ready. So, Fudge went home with her dads to take her bath. Even though she was supposed to be going to bed soon, the six-year-old was bouncing around, still yammering away at a million miles an hour about how excited she was for the next day.
Lightning couldn't help laughing and looking worried. "I sure hope Fudge is gonna fall asleep tonight. I think she's gonna be a real tyreful."
Doc laughed too. "We'll manage. We always do."
Nobody said anything for about thirty seconds.
"So, Stickers", Sally began, "do you wanna take a drive with me?"
Lightning grinned. "I'd love to."
So, the two of them left the courthouse and strolled down Main Street, marvelling at the sight of the town. For the most part, neither one of them said anything. They just enjoyed the scenery and each other's company.
Finally, though Sally sighed.
"You okay, Sally?' Lightning questioned worriedly.
"Of course!" she assured him. "It was a sigh of happiness."
"Oh." Lightning chuckled, a little embarrassed. "I was worried something was wrong."
"What could be wrong?" the Porsche wondered. "It's Christmas Eve, the town looks great and I'm here with you." She sighed again. "I thought the neon made the town look beautiful enough, but the snow adds something special to it as well."
"Yeah", Lightning agreed, smiling softly. He, too, found Radiator Springs absolutely breathtaking. He couldn't believe just how quickly this little town, this "hillbilly hell" had become home.
"Aren't you cold?" Sally asked abruptly.
Lightning shook his hood. "Nope. I got my love for you keeping me warm."
Sally came to a complete stop, blinking in surprise. "Your what?"
"My love for you", Lightning repeated.
Sally didn't reply. She just looked shocked and Lightning realised why: neither one of them had said the L word yet. Even so, he didn't regret saying it.
He just took a deep breath and repeated it. "I- I love you, Sally."
Sally still didn't answer. Okay, now he regretted saying it. Oh, God! Lightning thought to himself. I am such an idiot! She's not ready for that yet. We haven't been going out that long. And Sally prefers to take things slow. Oh, no! She's so freaked out right now!
Instead, however, his girlfriend broke out into a huge smile. "I love you too, Stickers."
By that point, they had arrived back at the courthouse.
"We're under the mistletoe", Sally observed softly.
She stared back at Lightning, who was also looking at her with a goofy smile on his face. Without a word spoken, they both knew that they wanted to.
So, they kissed.
It was a very soft kiss, but full of emotion. Unbeknownst to them, the others were all gathered by the windows inside, watching them with soft smiles on their faces. All of them had always known that the two of them were in love and while they had kissed before, this one looked different. They knew that something must've happened. It was about time, too. You could call it a Christmas miracle.
Meanwhile, Luigi and Guido had finished giving Fudge her bath. They had dried her off, got her into her pyjamas (brightly coloured Christmas themed pyjamas), brushed her hair and made sure she brushed her teeth. So, now, it was time for bed.
Once she was returned to the courthouse and tucked in under the covers of her makeshift bed, everyone else made themselves comfortable as Doc read The Night Before Christmas to everyone. Most of them had heard the story before, but were happy to listen to it again. Fudge, however, had never heard it before and was fascinated. Then Guido and Luigi made up a story about a little girl named Fudge meeting the Santas. Of course, that story delighted the little girl to no end.
When they were done, Luigi sighed. "Okay. Time to go to sleep, Fudge. Tomorrow is a big day." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Good night. I love you."
Fudge smiled and gave him a kiss. "Night, Papà. I love you too."
Then Guido kissed her. "(Good night, Fudge. Sweet dreams.)"
Of course, Fudge had to return his kiss as well. "(Good night, Babbo. I love you.)"
"(I love you too.)"
"Good night, Fudge!" the other residents called.
"Go to sleep quickly, honey, or the Santas will never come", Flo added.
Once Fudge was closing her eyes and starting to drift off, Guido smiled at Luigi. "(You do know she will be awake again soon, don't you?)" he whispered.
Luigi laughed. "(Of course! There is no way it is going to be that easy.)" He yawned. "(I think I will go to sleep now. I think we will be up early tomorrow.)"
Guido smiled. "(I think I will do the same)", he decided.
The others all decided to do the same thing. They knew darn well that Fudge would be awake early in the morning and wake up all of them. Besides, they couldn't do much while Fudge was trying to sleep. They just had to park there in silence, in the dark. They figured they might as well get some sleep. One by one, they all drifted off and were in the land of dreams.
A few hours later, Fudge was lying in bed and she was wide awake. The excitement that the next day was Christmas Day was only part of the reason for that. Of course, gazing out of the window at the neon lights and the snow, expecting the Santas to arrive at any moment was awfully exciting.
However, the other reason she couldn't sleep was not quite so exciting. For the aforementioned reasons, she was fine when she had her eyes open. Though, every time she closed her eyes, she was afraid that she was going to wake up in a cupboard under the stairs, in an orphanage run by a hateful old woman, who would probably ban presents and make her spend all of Christmas Day scrubbing the floors. She felt a little comforted by hearing her family breathing (and, in some cases, snoring). Still...
"Papà?" she whispered, shaking him a little.
Luigi opened his eyes and sighed when he discovered his daughter still awake. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" He thought she would and he hoped so too. He preferred having his daughter sleep with him to sleeping alone.
Not to his surprise, but to his happiness, Fudge nodded and dragged her blankets closer to Luigi and flopped on the mattress. She closed her eyes, cuddling a stuffed animal. Even if she was still too excited to sleep, at least her fears were no longer a problem.
Luigi smiled and kissed her forehead as he wrapped a tyre protectively around her waist. It may have been a cold winter night, but now, he felt plenty warm enough.
'Twas the night before Christmas, in Radiator Springs,
And all the townspeople, were dreaming wonderful things,
As everyone slept, inside the courthouse,
Into Flo's went two figures, each quiet as a mouse,
One car and one human, they were, of course,
Santa Car and his friend, Santa Claus,
They soon found the stockings, hung from the counter with care,
Yet, nobody knew, the Santas were there,
Quick as a flash, they searched through their sack,
With so many presents, it was hard to keep track,
They filled every stocking, yes, all fourteen,
With something for Sally, and Lightning McQueen,
For Mater, for Red, for Guido and Fudge,
For Lizzie, for Sarge, and the town judge,
The Santas smiled at each other, their good deed done,
And very soon after, the cookies were gone,
Now ready to depart, this small desert town,
Down came the reindeer, down, down, down,
They munched on their carrots, left as a treat,
While the two Santas, returned to their seats,
No one heard them exclaim, as they took flight,
"Merry Christmas tow all, and tow all, a good night!"
I made up that poem at the end myself. I just hope it wasn't too dumb.
So, I hope you enjoyed that. Obviously, tomorrow is the last one. And in case you didn't know, tomorrow is a doubly special day. Not only is it Christmas, but it's also someone's birthday. Reviews would make an excellent Christmas/birthday present.
Happy holidays, everyone!