Title: Wonderful Christmas Time
Category: Cartoons » Hero: 108
Author: Cahaya Sidur
Language: English, Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Published: 12-25-17
Words: 1253

Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108. Title is taken from Paul McCartney's song of the same name.

AN: For pinki, who requested something Christmas-themed, something sweet and romantic. (focused a little more on the sweet than romantic, hehe). Short but sweet, hopefully :) Merry Christmas!

"Hey, stop hogging the radio!"

"It's for everyone!"

"But those songs are horrible! And cheesy!"

"They're Christmassy, banana breath!"

"So? My taste in music is so much better!"

"Guys," Lin Chung interjected quietly from where he had been watching the argument, akin to watching ping-pong, "it's Christmas."

"We know what day it is." Mighty Ray snorted.

Mystique Sonia whacked him around the back of the head. "That's not what he means!"

"Are you calling me stupid?!" demanded Mighty Ray.

"Oh, so you can take a hint!"

"Guys." Lin Chung interrupted again, standing in between them to meet them both in the eyes. "It's Christmas, everyone is enjoying themselves. It's fine if you argue in here, but please don't argue outside."

Both huffed as they crossed their arms, knowing he was right but stubborn enough not to admit it to themselves.

"Mail!" Jumpy warned, and they managed to leap out of the way as the door opened and letters, gifts, and all sorts of interestingly-shaped parcels flooded the small room.

"Wah!" Mighty Ray yelped as he avoided a particularly heavy parcel which crashed into the wall and dented. He picked it up and turned it over, tossing it to Jumpy. "Ha, at least they're not all for ugly over here." He nodded at Mystique Sonia.

The girl stuck her tongue out at him, looking minutes away from sulking. Lin Chung quickly picked up a gift addressed to the fair-skinned beauty and handed it to her. "But a lot of them seem to be for you."

Mystique Sonia brightened up at the present, accepting it happily.

But Jumpy didn't seem to interested as he produced a present, neatly wrapped with carrot-style wrapping paper. "Secret Santa!"

The other three shrugged, joining him at the table and wading through the presents that reached their ankles.

"Mr. NoHands isn't here yet." Mystique Sonia pointed out.

"I'm sure he'll understand." Lin Chung murmured. He produced a package of his own, and pushed it to Mystique Sonia. "Merry Christmas." The girl beamed as she thanked him, before bringing out a prettily-wrapped present and offering it to Jumpy.

"Merry Christmas, Jumpy." The rabbit chittered happily as he accepted the present, tossing his present to Mighty Ray before carefully unwrapping his.

Mighty Ray seemed uncomfortable as he pushed something to Lin Chung, muttering uncomfortably under his breath.

Lin Chung accepted it with a serene smile. "Thank you."

This seemed to alleviate Mighty Ray's uncomfortableness, and he nodded at Lin Chung before tearing the wrapping paper apart.

"Merry Christmas, Mano." Rosefinch offered the taller man a present.

The man blinked, clearly taken off-guard by the offering. His expression slowly melted into one of his rare smiles as he accepted the present. "Thank you." he murmured.

"No worries." Rosefinch answered, bright as always.

Mano smiled shyly at her, before sharply cleared throat sounded from the side, where the rest of the Air Force was watching. Blushes appeared on the two's face as Rosefinch spluttered.

"Get back to work!"

Master Chou seemed smug as the Air Force gathered around him and slapped money into his hand before scattering. He sent them a wink as he pointed above their heads. Rosefinch glanced up and groaned.

"I hate it when they do this to us."

Mano looked up at the familiar red and green berries, smiling as he leaned down and kissed Rosefinch on the cheek. The woman froze and blushed before looking up at him, uncharacteristically shy. The man smiled. "Merry Christmas, Rosefinch."

"Why are we doing this again?" Hurricane Lee complained as he poked the lumpy parcel. He groaned as a piece of tinsel fell into his eyes.

"Because First Squad is doing it, and whatever they're doing, we can do better." Alpha Girl grunted as she stood on tip-toes to toss the star onto the top of the tree.

Kowloon rolled his eyes as he kicked a round-shaped parcel. "We could always do it for ourselves, you know."

Alpha Girl sighed, shooting him a tentative look. "Sure. We could."

Golden-Eye Husky smiled from where he was hanging the fairy lights. It was his leader's way of saying that yes, they were doing it for them. But they had a reputation to uphold, so they were pretending to be better than First Squad.

"Presents." Archer Lee grunted as he appeared, dragging a sack behind him. He opened it and began throwing at each member of the team. "Alpha Girl, Kowloon, Hurricane, Kowloon, Golden-Eye Husky, me, Kowloon."

Alpha Girl whistled. "Popular guy, aren't you, Kowloon?"

The man blushed dark as he accepted the presents. He paused upon seeing the scrawl on one of them. "It's from First Squad."

"What?" Alpha Girl demanded, crowding around him. Sure enough, there was a message on the neatly wrapped parcel.

Christmas truce.

Merry Christmas,

From First Squad

Alpha Girl eyed it skeptically, then looked at the rubbishly-wrapped up presents at the bottom of the tree, which had been bought with the intention to give but not with the same intention in wrapping. She bit her lip. "Is it too late?"

"No. I heard Cheetah King and Cheetah Queen are still delivering last-minute presents." Golden-Eye Husky offered.

"Fine then." Alpha Girl squared her shoulders and put in the call.

Sailor Brother 1 smiled at Sailor Brother 2, handing him a present. Sailor Brother 2 handed a present to Sailor Brother 3, who gave a present of his own to Sailor Brother 1. It was a small tradition they had ever since they had been orphaned - both brothers would choose a present for the other. That way, they all had a present, even with their limited budget.

But they couldn't forget their most important member of the Navy.

Heading over to where Sammo was enjoying the heated waters of Big Green's naval base, they offered Sammo some wrapped presents. Sammo beamed, and though he would have to let them open it for him, the face they thought of him was incredibly heartwarming.

Taking a seat next to the whale, the three started a small but cosy fire, sipping hot chocolate as they reminisced about their missions this past month and laughed, all four of them together.

"Lady Green." Lin Chung smiled as he passed the warrior. Lady Green raised an eyebrow but smiled, returning the nod.

"Merry Christmas, Lin Chung."

Lin Chung put the sack he was carrying on the ground, pulling one wrapped in green out and handing it to her. Lady Green's eyes widened at the present. Lin Chung smiled at her surprise. "Just a tradition First Squad goes through. We chose it too, don't worry, so it's not something inappropriate that Mighty Ray would pick as a prank."

Lady Green laughed. "Thank you."

"We know how hard it is for anyone's first year here." Lin Chung picked up the sack again. "I just came back from the gardens. Do you know where Rattle Diva is, by any chance?"

"Ah, I believe she's in her room." Lady Green nodded. "Last I heard, she was practising Christmas carols for the ball later in the evening."

"Great. Thank you, and merry Christmas."

Lady Green laughed again as he rounded the corner. She looked down at the present and smiled at the warm feeling it gave her. The present made her feel more at home at Big Green, like she fitted in here.

It was a nice feeling she hoped to have for the following years. She looked up at the decorations and murmured to no one in particular. "Merry Christmas, indeed."