It is the year 21XX, and the threat of Sigma had been stopped. Everyone was rejoicing, as the Mavericks will not disturb their Christmas, and they were walking around the streets of Tokyo, chatting with each other gaily as they shopped for presents for their friends and family. One person, however, was not happy.
If spotted, no one would ever imagine that this person was Rockman X, the hero of the Maverick War, and the one who had stopped Sigma's rebellion. He was still virtually unknown, and no one would have recognized him in his black shoes, blue jeans, and a blue winter coat, with a lighter blue scarf around his neck to keep it warm. He had a sad expression on his face, and those who know him know perfectly well why.
Zero was dead.
The other Reploid had been X's teacher and mentor, but more importantly, his best friend. In the Maverick War, Zero had sacrificed himself to save the life of X, much to the other Reploid's chagrin. X had rescued Zero's control chip and memory chip, but his body had been lost in Sigma's fortress, which had sunk into the ocean. A Reploid had the best chance of recovery in their own body (no one was quite sure why), plus Zero was different from every other Reploid. He couldn't be reconstructed without the original parts.
X's wandering had carried him to the outskirts of Tokyo. He didn't quite care; he had no promises or obligations to fulfill, besides Dr. Cain telling him to be back at some point. Either way, he just wanted to clear his head, and (hopefully) be not so depressed about Zero's death. However, he wasn't looking where he was going, and had wandered into a roped off site, where no one was allowed. And there was no doubt why. X took one more step, and…
"OW!" he yelped as he fell through the ground into a hollow opening. He picked himself up and dusted his clothes off. "Just what was that about?"
X now knew where he was; he had fallen through the archeological site that Dr. Cain had set up a year or so ago. This was no ordinary archeological site, however, as this was where X had been sleeping for a hundred years. He had no idea why, but he had tried not to ponder the question. Anyways, the dirt walls were not firm, and X found, after a couple of tries, that he was unable to climb out as he was too heavy for the walls.
So he sighed, gave up, and decided to find another way out. He went towards the only door in the room, and gazed at it carefully. It was active; how, X did not know. And it looked like it needed a handprint to open. Shrugging, X put his hand on the scanner, fully expecting it to reject him. To his surprise, it flashed green and the door opened. He blinked, before walking out of the bare room.
He climbed up a weak staircase, almost afraid that it was going to break and take him with it. Opening the door at the top, he walked through, and he was forced to give a soft smile.
He had found the living room, apparently, and there was a Christmas tree standing near the wall. However, it looked old, as if it had been standing there for many years, which X was sure it has. It was still decorated, with colorful ornaments and lights, and it would have looked very pretty had it not been for the dust collected on it. X felt slightly uneasy; the fact that the occupants hadn't bothered to take down the Christmas was slightly creepy. What had happened that had made them disappear during Christmas?
He walked closer to the tree, and dusted off a bright blue ornament, smiling at his reflection. In the reflection, he also noticed something else at the bottom of the tree, which startled him.
There was still one present left under the tree. It was small, rectangular, about five inches by eight inches, and was covered it with light blue wrapping paper with white snowflakes covering it. However, that wasn't what had startled him. There was a tag on the present, fully visible. The tag said, "To: Rockman X. From: The Family," in very pretty cursive handwriting.
"For me?" X whispered to himself, surprised. He picked up very carefully, shaking off the dust, and gazed at it for a long moment. It was touching, that they had known about him, and had even bothered to leave something from them for him. But he was confused as to what "The Family" meant. He had known that he had a creator, Dr. Light, but that only made one person. So who was the rest of the family.
Carefully, he undid the tape on the present and opened it. As he looked at his present and read the note that had been left inside it, he smiled
X had finally managed to find himself another way out of the old, abandoned lab, and had returned to Hunter HQ. It was now very late at night, and he had gone to his room and set both the present and the note on his desk. Finding it had made him so elated that he had almost forgotten about Zero. Almost. Seeing how late it was, he curled up in his bed (he still preferred sleeping in a bed rather than a recharge capsule) and went to sleep.
Snow began falling softly outside, covering the world outside in a smooth blanket of the white fluffy stuff. So late at night, no one was walking around After awhile, the clouds parted just enough to shine some moonlight on X's desk, reflecting slightly off of the gift's shiny surface.
The gift was a photograph, inside a beautifully ornate photo frame that looked very expensive. In the photograph were several people, only one of which X had recognized: Dr. Light. Also in the photograph were two black-haired boys, one with sunglasses (and who appeared to be the older of the two) and one without, who had blue eyes. Both of them resembled X to an amazing degree. There was also a blond-haired girl with the same blue eyes, along with a red dog, a green cat, and a blue bird. And, sitting in the back of the picture, a green robot that was holding a Japanese fan and a small red suitcase-style robot were sitting there, smiling.
The note, which was sitting right beside it, said,
Dear X,
After much debate, we left this under the tree for you, in the chance that you would find your way there and open it. If you are reading this right now, we are thankful that you have the chance to live in the world. Just remember that we are your family, and that we love you dearly, and would give anything to get to see and talk with you. If you just believe, anything can happen, no matter how incredible it may be. Merry Christmas, X.
Love, the Light Family (Father, Blues, Rock, Roll, Auto, Eddie,
Rush, Tango, and Beat)
And here's more of my corny one-shot, which is now my corny two-shot. More? Even if you DO want more, you're gonna have to wait another year, because I'm not writing anymore Christmas stories this year.