December 24, 2008 :: 1 day to go!

Link and Zelda walked downstairs to breakfast the next day, hand in hand. Nobody took much notice, except Mario. He was in the middle of enjoying a croissant when his eyes widened. The pair looked at each other, then nodded, taking their places at the table. Mario bit back into his breakfast, deciding to rant to Link about it later.

"Guess what!" Roy cried, smiling broadly. "It's Christmas Eve!"

"We know!" everyone chorused back in annoyance.

"You've told us a million times," Pikachu sighed.

Roy was drumming his fingers on the table in an annoying fashion. Marth glared at him, and he stopped. But when Marth looked away, he started it up again. This annoying pantomime routine continued for a while, until Young Link banged his fists on the table.

"Christmas Eve is the slowest day of the year!" he wailed.

"I concur," Snake muttered.

"You spoke!" Roy cried in astonishment. Snake rolled his eyes. "Wow! Wonders will never cease! Snake just spoke! Put out some bunting! Organise a street party! Let off some fireworks! Telephone the Queen! Give everyone a week's holiday! The man with no mouth's been talking! Everyone go to the lavatory in amazement!"

"You don't know how you wound, Roy, you really don't," Snake replied. He stood up, and walked out the room in utter silence. Mario burst out laughing.

"Don't listen to him, Roy," Mario said. "They--"

"You know that lot from Metal Gear Solid...well. They're all utter utter utter utter bastards," Pikachu interrupted.

Link stretched. It was going to be a long, hard, boring day.

Mario sighed. He was lying in his chair while Link lay on the sofa opposite him. Young Link was right - today was incredibly slow. There were only so many times they could watch Pimp My Pizza without getting bored. They pretty much knew every line from every show off by heart, and nothing interesting was coming on TV.

She says we've gotta hold on,

To what we've got!

It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.

We got each other,

And that's a lot,

For love.

We'll give it a shot!

"Do you hear Bon Jovi?" Mario asked.

Link shrugged.

"It'll be Fox going through his record collection again."

Hours later, Link and Mario had had enough. They had been forced to listen to literally endless Bon Jovi songs, and Mario could stand the words "Living On A Prayer" no longer. He got up, and walked to the staircase.

"FOX MCCLOUD! IF YOU PLAY ONE MORE BON JOVI SONG, I'LL....WELL, IT WON'T BE PRETTY! I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT!"

Finally, it was near the end of the night. Link was sitting in his room, playing Sonic The Hedgehog 2. It was wild, cold and wet outside. He was thankful his room was warm and snug and cosy. His little lamp was lit, giving the room a lovely orange glow. Also, what night was complete, without chocolate by your side to keep you going? He forced one hand away from the controller to take a bite of succulent chocolate. He smiled to himself.

The clock read 23.45. In fifteen minutes, it would be Peach's birthday, and Christmas Day. Two things to celebrate. He was actually looking forward to it now. On December 1st, he wished the day would come to get it over with, and he also dreaded its arrival. But in the course of one month, it felt like he had grown up.

He had even returned all the 'presents' he'd bought and with the money, spent four hours looking for something the Smashers would love. He had even bought Snake a present. And he had spent ages looking for something to give to Zelda. He had finally settled for a golden necklace with a shining blue sapphire, even though it cost nearly half his money.

But it felt good to do good.

Link had a feeling this Christmas was going to be a lot more fun than the past 19 Christmas Days he'd had in his life.