Jingle, Jingle

A/N: Last chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own.

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Sitting on his porch, Sora listened to his brand new radio as a contest program was going on. He didn't bother entering, after all he didn't feel he was lucky enough to win anything, but he enjoyed finding out about the prizes and listening to other kids describe what they got for Christmas.

It was warm out, as per usual on Destiny Islands, so Sora only needed his jacket and long jeans. There wasn't even a need for his boots this time, as it was too warm to need the extra padding on his feet. This worked out for him, after all it was the weekend after Christmas and he needed some fresh air after sitting around in his and Riku's houses and playing with toys all day long, and the porch was just warm enough for him to enjoy sitting out on. And speaking of Riku, Sora watched as the front door of the neighboring house opened, revealing silver hair and a brand new jacket. Riku made his way over to Sora's pouch and sat down next to him, silent for a moment before he started to speak.

"I have to apologize," he said, turning to his best friend. "My mom overheard me talking to you and told me that I should say sorry for telling you your mom lied to you. I guess she was right. That was a mean thing to say…"

Sora nodded and smiled.

"'Sokay. I guess everyone's allowed to think different things about Christmas."

Riku smiled back at that. Turning around to face the road, he started again.

"I guess I should also say sorry for making you tell everyone that Santa isn't real. I still think he's for babies, but I don't mind having a baby for a best friend."

Sora's eyebrows pulled together in discontent at that, but he didn't comment. He figured that was the best he'd get out of Riku.

"Thanks…"

"Yeah, no problem."

"What made you act so mature alluva sudden?" Sora asked, eyebrow raised.

"Please. I've always been mature. That's why I know that Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny don't exist," Riku retorted, crossing his arms. Sora let out a small gasp.

"The Tooth Fairy doesn't exist?" he whispered to himself. Riku snorted, rolling his eyes and standing up.

"C'mon, Sora. You're not gonna sit there all day and listen to the radio? That's what my dad does. Let's go see if Tidus and Wakka are out," he said.

"What? But if they are then Selphie's probably with them," Sora complained. Despite his words though, he stood anyway.

"Here, lemme put my radio in the house," Sora continued before moving to do just that. Opening the door, he set the radio onto the floor and turned it off before shouting to his mom.

"I'm gonna go play with everybody!"

A response was quickly heard from upstairs.

"Alright! But don't let them push you around anymore, okay?"

Sora cringed at that. He and Riku had already put the Santa fiasco behind them, and he had hoped his mom would do the same. Nevertheless, he answered with an affirmation before leaving the house. Riku knocked him lightly on his shoulder, smirking at his earlier words.

"Are you scared of Selphie or something?"

Shivers went through Sora's body at her name.

"Wait till she uses her jump rope on you and see if you're not!"

Riku only laughed at that. Jumping down from the porch, he sent Sora a challenging look.

"I'll race ya there. Tidus' house, no shortcuts."

Again, Sora cringed. Tidus' house was the farthest of their friends. Even farther than Kairi's and she lived in the richer part of the neighborhood. It would be a long and tiring race, but Sora wasn't going to back down.

"You're on!" he grinned, and both boys shot off, thoughts of Christmas and Santa replaced with those of their friends and fun.

From the upper story window, Sora's mom watched with a smile and shook her head at the two. They never changed. And she hoped they never would. The smile, however, was once again replaced with that same perplexed frown from the previous morning. Of the large amount of presents Sora received, only half of them had been bought by her and only a small few of the others were from friends and distant family. The larger, more expensive ones signed from Santa had come from seemingly nowhere. At first, she had figured they were sent by Sora's father, but the man had been lost at sea for a year now and none of hers or Sora's letters had ever been replied to. And she couldn't think of anyone else who would have sent them.

Sending a skeptical glance at the sky, she realized that perhaps her words to Sora weren't entirely without truth. Maybe the man in the red suit truly was out there.

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A/N: This was shorter than I expected it to be, but then this entire story wasn't supposed to be very long in the first place. I am working on other stories, after all. I likely won't get my new one out until after New Year's, so until then: Happy New Year's!