Lamp Entertainment presents…

Chapter 1: What is Christmas?

Earth.

Beach City.

December 1st.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way"

Steven was humming to himself as he pottered about outside of his home. It was in the afternoon. The day was grey and sullen. Thick clouds obscured the sun in the sky and it was already starting to get dark.

The young man was in good spirits, however. He was just putting the finishing touches on the large spruce standing on the deck in front of the house. He stood balancing on top of a stool, holding a golden five-pointed star in his hand. All that was left was to put the star at the top of the tree, and he'd finally be done.

"Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open slei-"

"STEVEN!"

"-gah!" A very sudden and very loud noise startled him and Steven fell off the stool, landing bottom first on the cold, hard floor beneath. "Ow," he muttered, more annoyed than anything. He looked up at the source of the noise; three very tall and very colorful ladies.

"Hi Steven," said White Diamond with a radiant smile. "It's us, the Diamonds!"

"Yeah, I can see that," Steven mumbled as he got up. Thankfully, the star was not damaged. He had shielded it with his body. "What are y'all doing here?" He considered also asking them how they'd managed to sneak up on him without him hearing them. A most impressive feat, considering they were all the size of large buildings and about as subtle as your average skyscraper. After a moment's consideration, he decided not to ask.

"Oh, we just wanted to check in and see how you were doing," Blue said.

"We were in the neighborhood of the galaxy anyway," Yellow added. "We were personally checking the restoration progress on Colony Six-Four-Three."

"It's going very well!" White said, clapping her hands.

Steven nodded, pretending to remember which colony that was supposed to be and why the Diamonds had to go and check on it themselves. He suspected that maybe they just wanted a reason to come visit.

"Right," he said. "That's good to hear. As for me, well… I've spent most of the day decorating. Was just about to finish." She gestured towards the spruce before he jumped into the air. He floated momentarily right next to the top of the spruce. He quickly adjusted a light strand and put the large golden star at the top of the tree before he drifted back down to Earth. A lot more gracefully this time.

Well, a little more grace at least.

Finally, the time had come! He'd spent most of the day before and today setting this whole thing up and now it was finally time…

The Diamonds watched with great fascination as dramatically plugged a power strip into an outlet. Suddenly, several electric lights lit up all over the house and front deck. Seemingly everything was covered in light strips and other brilliant decorations. Multi-colored lights created a soft, warm, inviting bubble around the house, with the Diamonds standing just outside it.

"Whoa…" Yellow whispered, trying hard not to show how impressed she was. She always had a bit of a weakness for pretty lights.

"This is beautiful, Steven," Blue said enthusiastically. "Did you set this up all by yourself?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Steven said with a smile. He neglected to mention Peridot had had to modify a few electrics here and there to make sure he didn't accidentally set something on fire.

"But…" White spoke up. She'd been staying silent for a few minutes, watching Steven with a small frown. "What's this?" she asked and gently tapped a small sign in front of the house.

"Landing Zone," the sign said, with a silhouette of a rotund figure in a sled pulled by several reindeer.

"Oh, that's for Santa," Steven said.

"…and who is this 'Santa,' Yellow asked, the trio of space matriarchs getting more and more confused by the second. They had all just assumed that Steven put up the lights because it was getting darker on this part of the Earth at this time of the solar cycle.

"Oh, Santa Claus is the man who delivers presents every Christmas to everyone who's been nice," Steven said casually.

"Kriss-muss?"

"Santa Claws?"

"Presents?"

xxXXxx

A While Later…

The Diamonds were hanging out on the hill behind the Crystal Gem temple, processing the things Steven had just told them about this 'Christmas' thing.

"Only on Earth," Blue mused. "Only on Earth would you find a holiday devoted to giving to others for no other reason than kindness."

"It does sound nice," Yellow said. "But the story of Santa sounds a bit… strange to me."

White hadn't said much, only listening and gazing out into the nothing of the grey sky that was quickly losing whatever little color it still had.

"It does raise a lot of questions," Blue admitted with a sigh.

"Hey!" A smaller voice shouted at the three of them. It was Pearl of the Crystal Gems. "Steven wonders if you're staying for dinner?"

"No, we should really be getting back to Homeworld," Yellow said. "Spinel will get worried if we're gone for too long."

"Yeah, I remember what happened last time," Blue said with a shudder. "Poor Yellow Pearl was close to crying."

White still hadn't said anything, but she extended her hands towards Pearl. Pearl rolled her eyes but hopped up on the giant hand.

"Pearl, we were wondering about something Steven told us," White said. It was still kinda bizarre to hear any hesitation in her voice. A faint pink light on her face revealed to everyone present that she was embarrassed to ask. "About… Santa Claus?"

"Oh, Steven told you that story?" Pearl said, shaking her head.

"Story…?"

"Yeah, Santa isn't real," Pearl said mercilessly. "It's just a story."

…

"WHAT!?"

xxXXxx

On the Way Back to Homeworld…

Yellow and Blue paced back and forth inside the Diamond Flagship. White was leaning against a wall, her head lowered in deep thought.

Pearl had told them everything she knew about Christmas and Santa Claus. She told them about the legend of Saint Nicholas, the history of how the tradition developed, and the reality of Steven's dad dressing up in a costume every year.

"Poor Steven," Blue said. "He was so excited when he told us about Christmas." She sobbed loudly. "But it's all based on a lie!" Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

She had done a good job of keeping her negative aura in check for the last two years, but just this once, she let it slip. At least, that's what Yellow would tell you if you asked her about the single small tear in her eye. There were no tears in White's eyes, but a deep shade of blue on her face revealed that she too was feeling the sadness.

"What happens when he finds out?" Blue asked. "He told us Christmas was his favorite holiday. He'll be heartbroken!"

"No!" White suddenly shouted, startling both Yellow and Blue. White stood straight up, the sad blue color on her replaced with a determined orange light. "Steven is not going to find out Santa isn't real!" she said. "Because we are going to make Santa real!"

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Surely, this can only end well.