AUTHOR'S NOTE:

• I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with college and worrying about a certain Hiccup Role-Player for the past couple of weeks/months.

• This idea popped into my head the other day and, no matter what I did, it wouldn't go away. So I started writing and got more than halfway through it. Then the document I was writing it in crashed, losing more than half of it. Needless to say, I was about to drop the idea completely, but it once again wouldn't leave me alone. So I re-wrote everything for my Role-Playing buddy and I think she was in love judging by the way she laughed at the the outcome and proclaimed to be in a sudden "writing" mood. Needless to say, I feel successful. 83

• I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or Kingdom Hearts. HTTYD belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Sqaure Enix, Tetsuya Nomura, and Disney.

"What in Thor's name are you doing?"

The question was innocent enough despite the fact that Tuffnut Thorsten was anything but the spokesperson for "innocent". The male twin was having one of his rare moments in life where he actually was freely wondering around, bored out of his mind, and absent a sister. Or rather, it was only a "rare" moment because of the last detail and because he wasn't trying to pull a prank. And he actually was paying attention to the world around him. Neither twin was known for their observation skills or eye for detail. For Thor's sake, Ruffnut didn't even know about his birthmark on his left side until they were going through dragon training. What an ignorant half - troll.

Tuffnut had left the house in the hopes of finding something to do despite the piles of snow that were taller than he was even if Ruffnut was sitting on his shoulders. What he ended up finding was Berk's latest resident running toward the Haddock residence with a roll of the brightest red colored cloth Tuffnut had ever laid eyes on. The brunette had come to an awkward stop once he realized that Tuffnut was addressing him and not the mounds of snow surrounding them. Sora hefted the roll's weight onto his right shoulder. He looked to be in a hurry. "Getting ready for Christmas." The answer was said in a tone that suggested that Sora thought it was obvious. A tone that made Tuffnut think Sora had been hanging around Hiccup too long. A tone that Tuffnut decided needed to be tweeked before the brunette got into any serious trouble thanks to the slightly sarcastic air it gave him. But that would be too much work and Tuffnut was in no mood to fight anybody other than his sister who had abandoned him today for some reason or another. Oh well. Maybe whatever this "Christmas" thing was would work out for Tuffnut's own entertainment.

"What is that . . . ?"

Sora's reaction left Tuffnut confused and nearly wishing he hadn't asked. "Are you serious!" The blond twin rolled his eyes, actually hoping for a subject change in the near future. This was probably another one of those weird things outsiders did that Vikings deemed unimportant or something incredibly stupid. Tuffnut wasn't given a chance to throw in a snide remark before another Viking arrived on the scene.

"And the point in needing sewing needles was . . . ?"

Both boys froze for a split second before relaxing again. Fishlegs stood on Tuffnut's left side with a brown box underneath his arm. His head was covered in an odd woolen hat that Fishleg's mother had recently come up with. It completely covered the top of his head, most of his forehead, and had two flaps that went down the sides that covered his ears. The entire thing was lined with a thick layer of wolf fur and was a light tan color. When the boy had first shown up with the toboggan cap one night while the rest were roasting dinner over a fire, the twins had been quick to poke fun at him and shove it down over his eyes every five minutes. Snotlout joined in on the mockery of his mother's invention soon after. Sora would have jumped the gun and defended the larger boy, but he was learning that was a normal occurance among Viking society and that there wasn't any real ire behind their quibs. So as much as it bothered him that people were making fun of somebody Sora deemed a friend (Fishlegs had been taking the time to teach Sora their language, writing, culture, and beliefs), the brunette had to learn to back off and not get himself involved. After all, he was not afraid of becoming the target of the twins "wrath".

Sora offered Fishlegs a grin. "I'm going to try and make a Santa hat." Sora was by no means a seamstress, but he wanted to get the things together anyway and at least attempt it. At the very least, he could try and pester Astrid or Hiccup into helping him. And, judging by Tuffnut's reaction, Christmas was unheard of around here. Maybe they called it something else. That had to be it! Who could honestly say they'd never heard of Christmas? The idea was unfathomable to Sora.

Tuffnut and Fishlegs exchanged glances before looking back to Sora, each wearing a facial expression equivalent to calling Sora a nutcase without saying a word. Sora, on the other hand, took their stares as something other than calling him insane. "Wait . . . YOU GUYS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF CHRISTMAS!" The proclamation - turned - question caused both Fishlegs and Tuffnut to jump. Fishlegs slowly shook his head, almost afraid that he had somehow broken Sora's precious brain. After all, Sora knew far more about the outside world than anyone else in Berk. Tuffnut just snorted loudly. "No Bone-Head. What was your first clue?" While sarcasm wasn't Tuffnut's forte, his sardonic tone was not lost to either of the other two boys. Sora's pupils dilated to inhuman size as he quickly shook his head. "How can you guys NOT know about Christmas?" Fishlegs was quick to try and mend the blunder. The larger blond waved his free hand. "M-maybe we call it something else here! What is Christmas?" Sora blinked several times, trying to comprehend the possibility. The brunette shook his head a little. "It's not easy to explain and I've never heard it called anything else."[/color][/b] Fishlegs and Tuffnut exchanged looks. While Tuffnut still looked skeptical of Sora's sanity, Fishlegs was eager to learn something new. "Maybe we should head inside. I want to hear more." Tuffnut exhaled loudly at this. He was hoping for a means of getting out of his boredom. This wasn't what he had in mind. The male twin shook his head. "Pass. I'd rather watch grass grow." Sora shot the boy a confused expression that to some might have also appeared to be a little on the heartbroken side. But Tuffnut was oblivious and immune to such looks. He turned and walked away from the two, but the back of his vest was caught by Sora. Apparently, the brunette would have none of it. Tuffnut let a few vulgar offenses slip out as he was, quite literally, dragged against his will up the snow covered hill to the chief's house.

A few hours (and several sheets of paper) later and Sora found himself sitting at the head of the Haddock's kitchen table with five pairs of eyes staring at him. The first, sitting to his immediate right, was Spitfire. He had come down from his sleeping place in the roof rafters over the fire pit to see what was going on with the sudden surplus of visitors in the house. The green Terrible Terror was the only [i]person[/i] present to actually be sitting on the table, his tail dangling off of the side and his head tilted to the side at a curious angle. To the right of Spitfire was Fishlegs, who was busily going over Sora's drawings and little scribble notes scattered across the table as eagerly as a child on Christmas Eve night not wanting to go to sleep because they are waiting for Santa to arrive. The only reason he was even able to decipher Sora's "chicken-scratch" language was because Fish had been teaching Sora's Berk's language in exchange for learning Sora's written language back home. Sitting across from Fishlegs were Tuffnut and Ruffnut. After Tuffnut was forcibly dragged into the adventure, his twin wasn't far behind after hearing the boy's screams and profane oaths. She quickly wanted in on whatever they were doing simply because it was torture for her twin brother. The two were currently arguing over which one would get more coal for being the naughtiest this year. Despite their original disdain toward the "happy" holiday, both latched on the idea of getting coal for Christmas as they apparently saw the lumps of black more of a reward than a punishment as it was intended to be. And on the left of the twins, while not actually sitting on a bench at the table, was Toothless. The Night Fury had stayed home today due to the cold and had spent the entire day up until now just being curled up next to the fire pit. Having something else to pay attention to while Hiccup was at the forge was better than staring at a fire all day, eagerly awaiting his rider's return so they could go flying before the next blizzard hit. Toothless sat on his haunches with his front paws resting on the bench. His expressive pupils were large and round as they scoured over Sora's drawings. Every once in a while one of his ears would flick due to something one of the twins said or did. While he wasn't a big fan of the Thorstens, they proved to be a good source of free entertainment more often than not. Though, aside from that, Toothless held little tolerance toward the pair. And somebody had to make sure nobody trashed the Haddock residence to later blame on Hiccup. The red fabric Sora had pawned off was leaning against the wall behind him. The sewing kit from Fishleg's mother was sitting on the ground next to it.

Normally, bringing other people in the house was not something Sora would have done without permission. But here he was with the twins and Fishlegs, sitting around a table and discussing his favorite holiday. Toothless let out a soft whirring noise, sending the twins a glare after Ruffnut had shoved Tuffnut into the dragon's side. Not wanting a fight between Vikings and Night Fury to break out, Fishlegs quickly jumped in with another question. "So... What's the point in gift-giving?" Sora was about half-way out of his seat when he heard the question. The brunette slowly finished rising from the chair as Tuffnut hauled himself back onto the bench and scooted away from Toothless. "You know how I mentioned they're meant to be given to those who matter the most to you?" Fishlegs and Spitfire nodded their heads eagerly. Toothless directed his attention back to Sora, but it was hard to tell if it was out of not wanting to pay attention to the twins or if the Night Fury was generally interested. This was mostly due to the fact this previously large pupils had narrowed a bit in the last ten seconds. The twins ceased in their quarreling long enough to direct their attention back to Sora as well. "The point is the act of giving a gift; to wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy." Sora was eternally grateful to Sally for explaining that one in a way that it was easy to remember and understand.

Tuffnut didn't look convinced. "So . . . Wait - a - minute. We're supposed to believe that, by being 'good', some fat guy in red is going to come into our house, leave stuff, not take any food, and go without waking anybody up?"

Sora nodded his head.

The twins looked at each other before they started laughing.

Sora would not take this lying down either.

"Hey, I've met Santa! I know he's real!"

"Then why hasn't he come here before?" Ruffnut shot back with her usual cynical drawl.

As for that . . . Sora didn't have an answer for that. But before Tuffnut could throw his own two cents in and potentially start another fight, Fishlegs jumped in. "Maybe Santa's never heard of Berk because there isn't really anybody he might consider 'nice' living here?" It was a plausible explanation, though that didn't mean Sora liked it. Astrid, Hiccup, Fishlegs, most of the dragons, the Elder, and Gobber had been nice to him. Maybe there was too much "bad" going on that it outweighed the nice. It could have been that Berk was too far north, but Santa lived on the North Pole. Or maybe it was because Santa was afraid the dragons would eat his reindeer while he was busy leaving presents under a tree. Or - or what if it was because nobody decorated trees in their house, therefore not having a place to leave the presents? A whole bunch of different possibilities ran through his head, but no matter what the reason the outcome was still the same; Santa didn't visit Berk on the night of December 25th.

Well, Sora was just going to have to do something about that now wasn't he?

Surprisingly, getting Tuffnut and Ruffnut to work was easy once you found the right bribing material. And, in this case, it was giving them permission to annoy the living hell out of other people. While Sora was normally against such tactics, he needed to keep the twins busy and make sure neither Astrid nor Hiccup found out about what they were doing. So Tuffnut had been sent on his way to pester Hiccup and Gobber at the forge while Ruffnut was out and about annoying Astrid by doing Light only knows what. Sora knew if word got around that he and Fishlegs had requested that the twins antagonize those two, Astrid would kill them both and Hiccup would likely be a complete sour-puss for the rest of the month. Neither outcome sounded fun to Sora, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Okay, Fishlegs!"

As soon as Sora gave the okay, the brunette felt himself being lifted up and set down again on Fishleg's shoulders. They were standing on the steps leading the front door of the chieftain's house. Sora had the butt of a nail between his teeth and a hammer in his right hand. Fishlegs took a moment to balance himself out thanks to the added weight. The top of the doorway was too high up for either of them to reach on their own, so this was the next best thing. And Fishlegs hadn't seemed to mind when Sora proposed the idea to him. "Hold still please." The request wasn't necessary, but Sora felt like putting it out there anyway. His mind wondered elsewhere as he set to work.

This morning had been a little odd. Well, stranger than usual at least. Sora was used to waking up in strange places, but not to listening to other people grumble under their breath and falling off of a roof banister. During the night, Sora had taken notice that something was up even before he decided he wanted to sleep on a wooden roof support instead of on the floor. The brunette had thrown his things up on a low-hanging support beam near the fire before he even realized something was going on.

Hiccup had been grumpy (or at least slightly put-off) by something. When Sora up and asked him what was up, the most he got out of the smaller brunette's mutterings was that Astrid was trying to get him to do something he didn't want to for reasons he didn't completely understand, that Hiccup thought the blond was crazy (nothing new), and something about poking people potentially causing spontaneous combustion. Whatever that was all about, Sora hadn't been able to figure it out no matter how much he tossed it around in his head. Toothless didn't seem to know what was going on either judging by the curious expressions the Night Fury was exchanging with Sora. Stoick hadn't come home last night and hadn't been present this morning either, so there was no way to ask the Viking chief if he knew what was bothering his son. Honestly, Sora had been hoping a good night's worth of sleep would put Hiccup in a better mood. And while his grumbles were toned down a bit, the shorter boy still seemed bothered by whatever it was that Astrid had said or did. All Sora could do was hope that it wasn't severe enough to damage Hiccup's friendship-turned-relationship with Astrid.

Sora didn't snap out of his thoughts until he felt the hammer collide with his thumb. The brunette yelped and threw the hammer behind him, popping his thumb into his mouth. He sucked on it for several seconds before examining his handiwork. The nail was crooked, but it would do for now. Satisfied, Sora gave the all-clear and Fishlegs eased him back down on the steps next to him. The two looked up at their work. Fishlegs was confused at first by the sight, but he figured this had something to do with Christmas and that Sora would explain it to him once they were back inside while waiting on the ham roasting over the fire to be finished.

"RUN FOR IT!"

Before either boy was given a chance to react, they felt Ruffnut barrel between in them in a desperate attempt to get inside, all the while howling with mirth. A sharp, shrill screech reached their ears soon after. Sora and Fishlegs exchange terrified looks before taking off inside after Ruffnut. There was no mistaking those angry cries for anyone other than Astrid Hofferson. And no sooner did they get inside did they see a the blade of an all too familiar battle axe sink in so far into the thick wood of the front door that at least three centimeters of it was sticking out on the inside. The three took the small window they had to arm themselves. A wooden board was put into place across the door to help keep it shut. Fishlegs had an iron cooking pot slamming on top of his head since he had left his Viking helmet at home. He had a shield in in both hands as he pressed his broad back against the front door. Ruffnut came in on his right side. She had her traditional helmet on, but she was also wielding a long wooden spoon in one hand and a metal fire poker in the other. The female twin had her shoulder shoved up against the door for good measure. Sora came in right after on Fishlegs's left side. His right shoulder was shoved against the door while he held the Kingdom Key Keyblade by the handle in both hands. What made him stick out even more amongst the three of them was that he had a Viking helmet on his head. And not just any helmet either. Somehow, in his fit of frenzy, Sora had grabbed Hiccup's "Breast Hat" and put it on his head without even thinking twice. It was an awkward fit due to his head spikes, but Sora wasn't about to complain about head protection now of all times.

Seconds later, there was a powerful slam on the other side of the door. It was far stronger than what they were expecting from somebody as lean as Astrid and Sora was nearly thrown off balance as a result. The only reason he didn't go flying was because Fishlegs had thrown an arm behind both Sora and Ruffnut the second the impact hit, succeeding in holding them in place despite the brute force being brought down upon them. Sora let out a yelp out of pure surprise while he felt Fishlegs stiffen up next to him. A tall, dark shadow crossed his line of vision, drawing the brunette's attention upward. A pair of glowing green-yellow eyes with wide pupils met his. Apparently, during the commotion, Toothless had seen fit to get involved. The Night Fury was standing on his hind legs, leaning forward, and pressing his clawed front paws against the front door. His hind legs weren't as sturdy as his front, meaning all of his weight was being pressed against the door just to hold Toothless up. His long tail was behind him and pressed against the floor boards for extra support. Sora looked down when he felt something brush against his calves. Spitfire had also seen fit to join in their desperate attempt at safety as the Terrible Terror stood on his hind legs and pressed his spine against the door. The green dragon's tail coiled around Sora's ankle as an extra measure.

There was another slam at the door. This one wasn't as powerful as the last, but it still took all of Sora's strength in his legs just to remain upright. Toothless let out of soft, almost strangled gargling noise while Spitfire made some sort of twittering noise that was possibly the Terrible Terror's equivalent to "I'm-Scared-Out-Of-My-Mind" yelp. Fishlegs started muttered off some statistics about their chances of survival while Ruffnut was cackling with laughter like some sort of witch. "What did you tell Astrid to make her so angry!" Sora felt another shove against the door, causing Ruffnut to continue laughing rather than answer his question. This wasn't how Sora expected to die. He was expecting old age or some heroic death at the very least. Not beaten to death by a girl almost two inches shorter than him with anger management issues for something he wasn't sure he was being accused of doing, saying, or thinking.

And then there was silence.

Aside from Ruftnut's laughing that is.

"Oh I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

All five occupants within the Haddock household froze. That was Tuffnut. Ruffnut had gone off to pester Astrid, who was now on the other side of the door trying to kill them. Tuffnut had been sent out to annoy Hiccup. So if Tuffnut was here . . . Where the heck was Hiccup?

Sora, Ruffnut, and Spitfire bolted for the nearest window, leaving Fishlegs and Toothless to barricade the main entrance alone. Sora felt Ruffnut shove him over in their frenzy to see what was going on. Spitfire landed on the end of the window sill and leaned as far forward as gravity would allow him to without falling. Sure enough, Astrid was still standing at the top of the steps in front of the door. Said door was covered in deep battle scars thanks to a certain double - bladed battle axe. Lying discarded in the snow, likely along with the hammer from earlier, was Tuffnut's horned helmet. The only other indication Tuffnut had once existed there was a pair of boots sticking out from a snow drift several feet away down the hill. Ruffnut cracked up laughing once again, drawing Astrid's wrathful eyes upon them. In that moment, Sora felt two strong emotions; fear for his well-being and utmost respect for Hiccup for willingly being in a relationship with Astrid and going this long without losing another limb. The brunette barely noticed Hiccup coming up the hill toward the house, likely wanting to know what was going on and why Tuffnut had been sent to bug the crap out of him for almost one hour.

Astrid took one step closer toward the window, her right fist was wound into a ball while her left hand started to crack her knuckles. "Wait-a-minute! Before you kill us, look up." The blond paused for a second, the closest thing to puzzled crossing her expression. Astrid just stood there, but eventually decided she would amuse her prey before breaking their necks. Her blue-gray eyes traveled upward, seeing the oddest thing hanging from the front door frame. "That's mistletoe," Sora continued to explain while silently gesturing for Hiccup to venture closer with one of his hands while his eyes never left Astrid. Hiccup likely didn't know where this was going, but after a few seconds of silence and likely realizing that Sora wasn't going to continue until he got closer to Astrid, the smaller brunette shuffled a little bit closer. Satisfied that they were finally getting somewhere, Sora continued. "It's a Christmas thing. When two people are standing underneath mistletoe, they have to kiss each other." Letting that hang in the air for a moment to sink into everyone's brains, Sora pushed on by adding, "And I'm not opening that front door until you two kiss and make-up." Whether Sora was aware of the fact or blatantly chose to ignore it, Astrid could just as easily walked away from the situation and go home. But Sora was confident that Astrid wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did. Then again, she likely also knew that Sora wouldn't be able to leave Hiccup out in the cold and Toothless wouldn't allow such mistreatment of his rider. "And before either of you ask, I didn't tell either of you I was planning on doing this." As soon as Sora said this, he had to duck down as Tuffnut had made a run for it and dived into the window, narrowly missing smacking into Toothless or Fishlegs. Ruffnut crowed with laughter once again while Toothless rolled his eyes at the sight of Tuffnut hugging the wooden floor boards.

Every Viking knew the story behind mistletoe. Baldur's mother was the Norse goddess, Frigga. When Baldur was born, Frigga made each and every plant, animal, and inanimate object promise not to harm Baldur. But Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant - and the mischievous god, Loki, took advantage of this oversight. Ever the prankster, Loki tricked one of the other gods into killing Baldur with a spear fashioned from mistletoe. The demise of Baldur, a vegetation deity, brought winter into the world, although the gods did eventually restore Baldur to life. After which Frigga pronounced the mistletoe sacred, ordering that from now on it should bring love rather than death into the world. Happily complying with Frigga's wishes, if two people meet by chance beneath a mistletoe in a forest, they would laid down their arms and maintained a truce until the next day.

By now, Fishlegs and Toothless had wondered away from the front door to peek out of the window. Astrid turned her back on them (and the door) to stare Hiccup down. Without any sort of warning, the blond reached out, grabbed a fist-full of the smaller boy's shirt, and yanked him in for a quick, almost clumsy kiss on the lips. Astrid pulled back and cracked a small smile at the sight of Hiccup's lopsided, dazed look on his face. It was likely the first grin she had made all day judging by Hiccup's mood last night. Ruff and Tuff let out harmonious whistles while Sora slapped a high-five with Fishlegs. Spitfire got up and flew around in circles. Toothless warbled in a pleased manner as his pupils widened once more.

"That's for not scheming behind my back."

Satisfied that his plan had worked out according to plan, Sora moved away from the window sill, careful to avoid stepping on dragon tails, and he moved the wooden board-turned-latch off. On the other side of the door, Astrid's grin twisted into a near demonic smirk. The second she heard the plank moved away, the blond leaned back and kicked the door with all of her might and weight put behind the impact. The door flung open and collided with Sora, causing the lanky brunette to be sent flying backwards. He landed roughly on the stairs leading to the upper floor of the house. The Kingdom Key clattered to the ground and vanished in a bright flash of light. Hiccup's Breast Hat, which had previously been on Sora's head, was sent flying and smacked Tuffnut on the head. It bounced off of his noggin and landed on Fishlegs. Thankfully, both of them still had on their protective headgear. The Breast Hat bounced one more time and landed on Toothless's head lopsidedly, almost literally hanging from his right ear. The Night Fury shook his head, sending the helmet flying one last time. The Breast Hat landed on top of Spitfire's head, causing the green Terrible Terror to let out a sharp screech and run into a wall, causing a chain reaction of chuckles to take effect.

Astrid manage to silence the blissful laughter by stomping her foot as she took a step into the house. Her eyes were narrowed once again, her hands on her hips, and a near teasing smirk pulling on her lips. "And THAT'S for being a conniving little sneak." Sora blearily lifted his gaze to look at the blond. He gave a slight grin and gave her a thumbs up gesture before sliding off of the stairs when he tried to roll over. Astrid crossed her arms and shot Ruffnut a look. "I'll deal with you later," she snarled as her previous smirk left her face.

With that concession out of the way, Astrid approached Sora. She squatted down next to him and, with about as much warning as she had given Hiccup earlier before kissing him, Astrid quickly (and rather violently) poked Sora's chest. The brunette sputtered and flailed his arms for a split second before they fell to the floor limply. Astrid poked him again and again on the ribs and his sides. Satisfied for some odd reason, Astrid stood up and looked back to Hiccup. "See? I told you he wouldn't explode." As soon as those words left her mouth, Sora let out a mild belch. Within seconds, the twins were cackling with laughter, saying things like "good one" or "could have been better". Fishlegs chuckled. "I give that a 6 out of 10." As Sora began to slowly haul himself back up off of the floor, Astrid turned to retrieve her axe, which was embedded into the thick wood of the front door.

"Now, what's the 'Christmas' business all about?"

FOOT NOTES:

• I did some research on mistletoe and was highly amused by the origins of kissing while standing underneath it. I didn't even know about it until I was finished writing this drabble idea.

• The whole bit about poking was actually a brain-fart between me and my RP buddy. Somebody's gotta break Hiccup into the habit of defending himself and Astrid takes it upon herself to be his teacher. The problem is that he won't comply to anything. She becomes so determined that she eventually lowers her standards far enough to just wanting Hiccup to poke Sora. The problem was that he argued that maybe Sora would explode if he poked him since, in an earlier conversation, we figured that things exploding and Hiccup just go hand in hand. And this was just the result of such a confrontation in my mind.

• MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY‼