Jingle, Jingle
A/N: Who got some awesome presents? Anyone get everything that was on their list? Anyone watch some Christmas movies? Eat cookies? Drink egg nog? …Keep a save file of KH2 so they could play through Christmas Town? *shamefully raises hand*
Disclaimer: You knooow.
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Sora's eyes couldn't have been wider. He was sure they would have fallen out if they were. But then, with as many presents as there were under the tree, it was understandable that he had such a reaction. After all, he had no siblings, his mom hadn't asked for any presents as far as he knew, and he hadn't seen his dad in about a year now, so there couldn't have been any for him there. Sora was sure he'd come back to get his presents from last year one of these days, but he shrugged the thought off for the moment. Maybe he'd write him another letter later that day and tell him what he got.
Looking around himself in wonder, Sora surveyed the wrapped gifts in silence, unsure of where to start. Shooting a glance at his mother, wrapped in her robe and looking tired from all the jumping he had engaged in on her bed to wake her up (and subsequently got scolded for), his eyes lit up as she nodded at him to go ahead and start unwrapping his gifts. Deciding to no longer stall, he immediately started with the biggest gift. And one by one, each of them were unwrapped, revealing clothes, toys, games, and even a new radio. Sora was so giddy, he didn't know what to do with himself. Turning his gaze to his mom again, he asked her if all of these were from her or Santa. At the question, his mother smiled.
"Have you checked to see who they're from?" she giggled. She of course, didn't elaborate on who might have signed those tags and what name they were signed under, but that was clear from the start.
"Oh yeah," he mumbled, having not paid that any attention as he was too busy trying to rip the paper off to even actually look at it. Picking a few shreds of wrapping paper with the gift tags on them, he read to himself: From Mom, From Santa, From Mom again, From Riku, From Kairi, From Santa, From Riku's parents, so on and so forth. He'd gotten some pretty nice gifts from just about everyone, and he hoped his mom couldn't see the pleased blush on his face at Kairi's gift. A paopu fruit shaped charm. The sort to fit on a keychain.
The majority of his gifts, however, stated 'From Santa' however, and Sora immediately felt the urge to go next door and gloat at Riku. He wouldn't do it for long, after all Riku had gotten him a way better present than he had gotten Riku, but it felt nice to prove that he was right for once. He'd even get the chance to take back what he said to his friends before, now having proof that Santa must exist. Popping up from his pile of toys, Sora immediately darted up the stairs.
"Mom I'm gonna change and go see Riku and Kairi!"
He knew Kairi would be over to Riku's house at some point that day. Her father was the mayor, however, so she had to spend her morning getting dressed and looking nice for whatever party he held that night and likely wouldn't even get to play with her presents until she made it to Riku's house. Sora didn't bother looking nice. He'd only mess up his clothes playing, so it was an unspoken agreement between him and his mother that he would get dressed later. After all, he and his mother, along with Riku and his parents, were invited to the party as well. And dirt didn't fit a dress shirt and slacks very well. Sora's face scrunched at the thought of those uncomfortable, stuffy clothes as he grabbed far more comfortable attire. A pair of jeans and a sweater worked perfectly fine.
Running back downstairs and grabbing his toys, he quickly stuffed his feet into a pair of boots at the front door and slid into his oversized jacket. Waving to his mom, he quickly dashed out of the house. As he closed the door, he didn't notice the small, confused frown on her face, or how she mumbled to herself. "I didn't buy him all those gifts…"
Scrambling across the sidewalk, Sora raced up to Riku's front door and opened it without bothering to knock. Riku's parents didn't even expect him to at that point. He was there so often, he practically lived in that house. Quickly he walked down the hallway and into the living room where he found Riku sitting on the floor with his own toys. His father sat on the couch drinking coffee and listening to the radio. Sora shouted his greeting, earning a not quite as enthusiastic greeting in return, before sitting in front of his best friend.
"Guess what!"
"Good morning to you too," Riku snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, good morning," Sora quickly dismissed before inquiring again, "Guess what!"
Riku eyed him skeptically for a moment.
"You're not gonna tell me you hid another chipmunk in my closet, are you?"
Neither boy missed the small choking fit Riku's dad had at those words, but they ignored it.
"Noooo. Not this time, at least. I wanted to show you these!" Sora exclaimed, proudly holding his toys up and into Riku's face. Leaning away, Riku have the gifts a bored look.
"That's what happens in Christmas time. You get presents."
"No no! I don't mean the presents themselves! I mean they were signed by Santa! And you made me tell everyone that Santa wasn't real!"
Riku was already shaking his head as Sora spoke.
"No, Sora. They were probably signed that way by your mom. See?" Riku sighed as he held up a few of his own gifts.
"My parents don't do that. They only sign their own names. After all, they were the ones who bought the presents, so why should someone else get the credit?"
Sora pouted at that. He had no retort to Riku's words and no proof against them, so what could he say? Riku had done nothing to end up on the naughty list, so he couldn't use that as an excuse.
But why would his mom encourage him to believe in Santa if he really didn't exist?
When he voiced this, Riku set his toys down and patted Sora on his shoulder.
"I wonder the same thing. Why do parents lie about Santa? But I figure it must be nice to believe in something like a fat man in a red suit giving kids presents if it means they could ask for anything. It's a good way to aim for a goal at least. 'If I'm good, Santa will bring me presents, so I'll ask for the best present there is' and stuff like that. But if Santa really gave us everything we wanted, then why is it that not every kid gets what they want? Shouldn't Santa be able to give us anything, as long as we're good? Why can't he do that, huh?"
It was then Sora realized that Riku was speaking from his own personal experience. He must not have gotten something he wanted from his list, and decided from then on to not believe in Santa anymore. After all, it wasn't always that Riku would declare to their friends that Santa doesn't exist. And this year was the first that he ever encouraged Sora to do the same. Perhaps that was why his parents signed their own names on his gifts. Sora watched Riku sadly, returning his friends pat on the shoulder. He had never asked for much, after all he was pretty content with his life, so Sora never experienced not getting something he wanted on Christmas. Not knowing what to say, he offered to play with his new toys with his best friend instead as they waited for Kairi to arrive.
Minutes later, Riku stood at the knock on the door that signified exactly that. Sora sat still, listening for a moment as Riku told Kairi she was free to just walk in and should stop being so polite. And, of course, her retort that it wouldn't seem so polite if he wasn't always so rude. Sora couldn't bring himself to be amused, however. The thought of Santa's existence was still at the forefront of his mind. There were so many questions running through his mind, and all of the answers contradicted one another. Why would Riku have not gotten gifts from Santa? Did that truly mean he didn't exist? But then why would his mom sign all those gifts under someone else's name? She never seemed the type to do such a thing. His mom was warm and kind, and lies were not.
Turning at the sound of footsteps, Sora decided he would get an outside opinion on the matter.
"Hey Kairi, do you think Santa's real?" he asked. Kairi blinked at him, surprised, before rolling her eyes a bit.
"Hi, Sora."
"Yeah, hi."
Sighing and shaking her head, she moved to sit next to him, Riku on her other side.
"Is this about that stupid thing Riku made you say to everyone yesterday?"
Riku sheepishly looked down at his lap as his dad peeked over at him curiously before ultimately leaving the children be.
"…Yeah?" Sora mumbled, not feeling right about ratting out Riku. But it was necessary if he didn't want Kairi to be mad at the both of them.
"I told you before. Riku's not your brain. If you wanna believe in Santa, then go ahead. I know I do…"
"But Santa's for—"
"Riku, you're nine. Don't even start with that 'babies' thing. That's just something Tidus and Wakka say 'cause they think it makes them seem more grown up."
Both Riku and Sora wondered to themselves then, how was it that Kairi was the one who sounded grown up? However, Sora realized that his friend had a point. Just as his mom told him, it wasn't up to Riku to decide what he would believe in.
Sora decided then that he wasn't going to stop believing. After all, when he thought about it, he never asked what it was Riku didn't get.
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A/N: Anyway, last chapter tomorrow and, again, Merry Christmas!