AN: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays Everyone, today you are in for a special treat, a nice Earthbound Christmas Story. I hope you guys will enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed, writing it, all Earthbound/Mother 2 Characters are owned by HAL Laboratory, HAL, and Nintendo, and now onto the Story!
It was a very cold winter and snowy Christmas Eve in the town of Onett, kids were running around having snowball fights or having snowman building contests to try and build the largest snowman, and adults were out talking with friends or doing last-minute Christmas shopping, and some were doing neither and were instead spending some time with their families, chatting with each other or having a nice Christmas Eve meal. However, for a young boy in the small little, town he was doing neither, instead, he was chatting with his friends outside as they all sat together on a bench.
"Your town looks so beautiful tonight Ness." One of the friends said.
Ness smiled, "It sure does Paula." He replied. "After all, everyone here in the town breaks their backs, to try and make the town look nice during the Christmas season." Ness nodded his head toward the rest of the town. There were Christmas Lights strung up everywhere, Christmas wreaths hung up on every door, Christmas decorations on every porch, front yard, and on every single building, but most of all, a huge and beautifully decorated Christmas Tree right near the city hall.
"Well, they sure do a fantastic job of making the town look beautiful," Paula replied.
The other friend nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it sure does look beautiful...heh, I bet you could see this town from space, there are so many lights hung up."
Ness chuckled a bit before replying. "Hehe, I'm sure you could Jeff!"
"I don't think even the women back in Dalaam could rival how this town looks." Another friend butted in, "Everything just looks so beautiful."
Ness couldn't help but smile some more. "Why thank you Poo." He replied as Poo nodded, "Hey guys, why don't we go take a little walk around the town, and I can show you all more of the beautiful sights around Onett." All of his friends nodded.
"That's a wonderful idea," Paula replied as everyone stood got off the bench they were all sitting on, "Lead the way, Ness!" Ness nodded and the four of them all slowly began to walk around Onett.
As the four walked around, Paula, Jeff, and Poo were all amazed at the sights of the town, they were all very impressed by how well decorated the whole town was, they all found it very surprising that such a small town was so dedicated to looking so festive.
"Wow Ness, you're town is truly dedicated to making sure everything looks festive," Jeff stated as he pointed to the copious amount of lights hung up on the Onett Hotel.
Ness replied, "Yeah...everyone is...extremely dedicated when it comes to things like this you know?"
The other 3 nodded, as they walked past the hotel, and up the road, however, as they were slowly walking along the road they all heard a faint sniffle.
"Hey, guys did you something?" Poo asked the group.
"Hear what?" Jeff asked, turning around to face him.
"It sounded like...sniffling."
"You heard it too?"
"So you heard it as well Jeff?"
"Yep..." Jeff turned to face Ness and Paula, "Did you two hear it as well?" Ness and Paula nodded.
"I think it came from over there." Jeff pointed towards the buildings behind the hotel.
Ness nodded, "Yeah it sounds like it did." He paused for a brief second before continuing, "I think we should go find out who that was."
Paula nodded in agreement, "I think we should Ness, after all, something bad could have happened."
"I think we should go check it out as well," Jeff replied in agreement.
Poo nodded solemnly in approval with the others, "I think it would be best if we investigate as well...to make sure everything is okay."
Ness nodded, "I'm glad you all agree with this guys, now then let's go look." Ness slowly began to walk towards the buildings, with his friends in tow, and as soon as they got closer to the buildings they heard the sound again, except much closer and louder of course, "It's coming from in between these two buildings." Ness said as they walked towards the small alleyway. The group slowly turned to walk down the alleyway, and as soon as they did so, they all saw who was making those sounds. To their surprise, they all saw a small little child sitting against the wall, their head in their hands.
"I wonder if they are okay?" Ness thought to himself, as they all slowly approached the child, concerned as to why they were crying. Ness cleared his throat before he spoke, "Um, are you okay?" The child turned removed their hands from their face and turned to look at him, and Ness quickly realized that it was a small little girl who looked like they were around the same age as his younger sister, Tracy.
The little girl shook her head, "No...I am not okay." Some tears fell down her face, "I am anything but okay."
"Well...what's wrong?" Paula asked her.
The girl sniffled before continuing, "I...I'm...so alone...on Christmas..." She continued to cry as she continued speaking, "I...I just...can't stand it..."
"What about your family?" Jeff asked the girl, "Don't you have a family or something...?"
The girl began to cry even harder, "I-I don't...have one."
The four children were shocked hearing this, and they couldn't help but feel bad for the girl, Ness, Paula and Jeff couldn't imagine what living like this was like, having to live without having a mother or a father. Poo somewhat could imagine it as he himself never really had much of a family to begin with, but still couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Without hesitation, Ness kneeled down in front of the girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry," Ness said, "I-I had no idea-"
"It's alright...you didn't know that I...lived like this..."
Paula spoke up, "No kid like you deserves to live like this...you should be home and celebrating Christmas with your family..."
The girl removed her head from her hands, "Th-thank you..." She sniffled a little, "I...really wish...I could be in that situation right now..."
Ness felt really bad for her, he really wished he could do something for her...anything to help her, when suddenly an idea popped into his head.
"Um...excuse me...what's your name?" He asked the girl.
"My name is...Annie," She replied. "Why are you asking?"
"It's for...no reason...anyways me and my friends need to go..." She gave a sad expression, "B-but we will be back...we just need to...do something real quick..."
"Um...okay...promise?" She asked him.
"I promise."
Ness removed his hand off her shoulder and the four of them slowly walked back out onto the sidewalk of Onett.
"Master Ness, what did you mean by "we need to something real quick"?" Poo asked him.
"Yeah...now that I think about it, what DID you mean by that Ness?" Jeff asked him.
Ness sighed, "Well...I felt bad for what I heard, and I felt like we should do something to make her feel better."
"What are you implying that we do Ness?" Paula asked.
"I was thinking that we all head down to a toy store, and get her something..." Ness replied.
"That sounds like a terrific idea Ness." Jeff replied, smiling a bit, "But what should we get her?"
"How about a teddy bear?" Paula suggested. "I think a nice and soft teddy bear, would be a great gift...well to me at least."
"That's not a bad idea Paula," Poo replied, "I think it would be a nice gift to get her."
Paula nodded, smiling a little, "Thank you Poo, now I think we should hurry off to a store that would sell a toy like that...any suggestions guys?"
The four stood there in the cold thinking for a while, thinking where they could find a teddy bear for Annie.
Suddenly Ness spoke up, "How about the Fourside Department Store? It's a big Department Store, and I think a big store like that is bound to have something like that."
Paula, Jeff, and Poo all shrugged their shoulders.
"It may be going pretty far for something as simple as a teddy bear," Jeff stated. "But you may have a good point there Ness, and besides it doesn't hurt to take a look right?"
Paula and Poo nodded in agreement with Jeff.
"Well then...let's head on over..." Ness took a deep breath before saying a phrase he used nearly every day, "PSI Teleport ß...Fourside!" As soon as he said that, they all began to run in a circle for a few seconds before shooting off into a small portal. As soon as they went through the portal, they came out through another small portal and slowed down to a stop, now in the small park behind the Fourside Museum.
As soon as they slowed to a stop the four of them immediately walked towards the Fourside Department Store.
"Ness, what if they don't have a Teddy Bear?" Paula asked Ness, as they walked into the Department Store.
"I'm almost certain they will have one Paula," Ness replied as they walked onto the escalator. "If they don't...we'll look somewhere else...I am determined to make this girl's Christmas...a little better."
"Ness...you have a heart of pure gold." Jeff stated.
Ness smiled, "Thanks...It's pretty obvious isn't it?"
They all kept going up until they reached the top of the Department Store, upon reaching the top, they saw that the place was crowded, mostly adults crowded this area.
"Oh boy...this place is way more crowded than I expected it to be," Ness said, "Um, can you guys go get in line...I need to get some money so we can buy a teddy bear."
Paula, Jeff, and Poo nodded and walked over to the line for the Toy counter.
"I sure hope the Toy Store, will have a teddy bear in stock," Poo stated. "I would hate to see Master Ness so disappointed."
Paula sighed, "I would hate to see him disappointed too," Paula stated as she watched Ness, take his cash from the ATM. "But we have to stay positive."
The others nodded, as they watched Ness walked towards them, and take his place in line, in front of them.
"Man, I sure hope this doesn't take too long," Ness said, as he watched how slow the line was progressing, "I don't want to leave Annie all alone for too long."
It took them a good 20 minutes to reach the front of the line and were very relieved to have finally made it.
"Um, can I help you, kids?" The guy behind the counter asked them.
"Um...do you have any teddy bears in stock?" Ness asked, his heart pounding, he was very nervous as to what the answer could possibly be.
The guy smiled, "Well kid, your lucky to have gotten here right now, we only have three left!" Ness felt his anxieties melt away when he heard the guy say that.
"That's good, anyway, we'll take one please." The guy grabbed one from behind the counter and placed it onto the counter.
"That'll be one hundred and seventy-eight dollars." Ness nodded, and gave him exactly that amount of money, the guy took the money, placed it into the register, and gave Ness the teddy bear.
"Thanks, Merry Christmas!" Ness said as he and his friends began to walk away.
The guy behind the counter smiled. "No problem kid, also thanks and Merry Christmas to you too." Ness nodded as they headed down the escalator.
"Man, I can't believe we were all so close to not being able to get our hands on these," Ness said, smiling a bit, "It must be a Christmas Eve miracle!"
Paula chuckled a bit, "It might have been Ness it might have been."
They continued to go down the other escalators until they finally reached the bottom floor.
"You know, I kind of wish we had the time to wrap this gift...make it more...special you know?" Ness said as they walked outside back into the cold.
"Well, Ness...I think we might be able to have that present wrapped." Jeff said.
"What do you suggest we do then Jeff?" Ness asked him.
Jeff reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gun looking device.
"I made this a few days ago, I call it the "Instant Gift Wrapping Machine" I created it so I could wrap gifts quickly for some of my friends at the Snow Wood Boarding School back in Winters."
"That's a really cool and smart invention Jeff." Poo said, "Do you think you could wrap the teddy bear with that?"
Jeff smiled, "Of course I can, Ness can you place the teddy bear on the ground?" Ness nodded and placed it onto the sidewalk. Jeff then aimed the gun at the teddy bear and pulled the trigger, and in an instant, wrapping paper shot out of the gun and wrapped itself around the teddy bear perfectly.
Ness picked up the now wrapped teddy bear and smiled at Jeff. "Thank you, Jeff."
Jeff smiled back, "It's not a problem Ness."
"Well...I think we should hurry back to Onett wouldn't you say, guys?" The whole group nodded, and they all moved to the park behind the museum so they could have enough room to teleport.
"Okay then...PSI Teleport ß...Onett!" Ness and his friends immediately began to run in a circle for a few seconds before shooting off into a portal, they then came out of another portal and slowed down to a stop, now in front of Onett's hotel.
"Okay, well let's go give it to her," Ness said, "Hey Poo hide this behind your back I want to surprise Annie with it." Poo nodded as Ness handed him the present, hiding it behind his back. They then walked around the hotel and back into the alleyway where they saw Annie, and there she still was sitting in the exact same place.
"Hey Annie, we're back." Ness said, to her. Annie jumped a bit turning to face Ness and his friends.
"O-oh you startled me," She said. "Well, I am glad your back." She smiled.
Ness smiled a little, "I am glad as well, I am also glad we didn't take too long."
"What did you need to do anyway?" Annie asked him.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes...I kind of do..."
"If you want to know...close your eyes and hold out your hands."
"Why?"
"If you want to know...then I think you should do it."
"Fine..." Annie closed her eyes and held out her hands. Poo handed Ness the present, and Ness slowly but carefully placed the present into her hands.
"Okay...you can open your eyes now." Annie slowly opened her eyes and they immediately widened upon seeing a wrapped gift in her hands, she cracked a huge smile as small tears of happiness rolled down her face.
"For me?" She asked.
Ness couldn't help but smile at her reaction, "Yes it's for you."
Annie sat there for a moment in shock with the present in her arms, she just couldn't believe it.
"Well...aren't ya gonna open it?" Paula asked Annie smiling.
"O-oh right." She replied, as she slowly opened the present, and as soon as she tore off some of it, and seeing partially what it was, she tore off the rest of the wrapping paper as quickly as she could. Annie couldn't help but smile more and cry a bit more, as she stared at the teddy bear in her arms.
"I can see that you like it..." Ness said as he smiled more at Annie's expression. Annie immediately got up and embraced Ness.
"I love it!" Annie said as she hugged Ness a little tighter. "This the best Christmas gift I could have ever gotten, thank you so much!" Ness returned the hug and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"It's...not a problem Annie." He replied. Ness and Annie continued to embrace each other for a minute before letting go.
"I also want to thank your friends...for doing this as well," Annie said, facing Paula, Jeff, and Poo. "Thank you so much!"
Paula smiled, "You're very welcome."
Jeff nodded, also smiling, "I am glad that I have helped make your Christmas better."
Poo bowed, smiling as well, "I am deeply humbled to have helped as well."
Annie walked back over to the teddy bear and embraced it tightly.
"Thank you so much...I can't say it enough..." Ness and his friends all nodded, still smiling.
"You're welcome..." Ness said, "Also...we all have one last thing we want to tell you, Annie." All of his friends looked at him and smiled, they all knew what Ness wanted to say.
"What's that?"
"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Annie!" They said in unison.
Author's Note: Well, that's all there is...there isn't anymore...I hope you all really enjoyed my Christmas Story, and I hope you liked my first attempt at writing an Earthbound story. Now before I go, all Earthbound/Mother 2 Characters belong to HAL Laboratory, HAL, and Nintendo. Have a Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year.