A/N - EDIT 12/18/14 - I changed Crona's story about what Christmas was like when they were little, because the crossover AU should stay in the crossover AU. I also changed their pronouns from "he" to "they," since they are agender, and explained why the hell it's snowing in Death Valley (The idea came from the excellent fic "Something Sweet" by Hillside Dancing Down – if you have the time, go and read it!). Also, the song Tsubaki sings is Yuki Kaji's cover of Jingle Bells. It's on YouTube if you want to listen for yourself.
~0~
"There...Perfect!" Maka gave a satisfied smile as she got the last string of multicolored lights hung up on their tree. She stepped back behind the couch and put one hand on the light switch and one hand on Crona's shoulder. "You ready?"
Crona, who was sitting next to Soul on the couch and practically bouncing up and down with excitement, nodded vigorously. Maka giggled, remembering how confused the young swordmeister had been to see everyone in Death City putting up lights and decorations on their houses and bringing home trees, and how the more she explained Christmas to them the more amazed they looked. Since then, they'd gotten more enthusiastic about the holiday than Maka had seen them get about anything, and they had been looking forward to helping decorate the apartment for their Christmas Day party all month. They'd all had lots of fun with that today, now there was only one thing left.
"All right, lights on!" Maka flipped the light switch and the little tree in the corner lit up their living room, bathing the darkened part of the apartment with red, blue, yellow, and pink light. Crona's face lit up just as brightly.
"It looks great, Maka!" they exclaimed.
"Yeah, not bad, tiny tits," Ragnarok agreed, leaning on his meister's head to get a better look. Maka twitched a little at the nickname, but decided to refrain from Maka-Chopping him - it was Christmas Eve after all, and he'd probably use Crona as a shield from it anyway.
"It's a lot better than last year's tree, for sure," Soul remarked, lounging on the couch next to Crona and nibbling a red-and-green iced Christmas cookie.
"Anything's better than last year's, Soul, you set that one on fire trying to decorate it."
"Hey! Did you really need to bring that up...?"
"It sounds funny!" giggled Blair, coming into the living room with a tray of hot cocoa with generous amounts of whipped cream and marshmallows. "You'll have to tell us all about it sometime, scythe-boy!"
"I don't even know how that happened anyway..." Soul muttered, taking a cup and dipping his cookie in it. "Shut up, Ragnarok," he added to the other weapon, who was cackling like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
"Heh heh heh...Hey, Crona, move over so I can reach the cookies!" Maka frowned as Ragnarok gobbled up the delicious iced treats.
"Don't fill up here, you guys, there'll be plenty of food at Kid's party!" she chided, then glanced over at the clock. "And speaking of that, we should probably get going. Let's go, boys, we don't want to be late!"
"Yeah, hurry it up, Crona! At this rate all the best snacks will be gone before we get there!" Ragnarok said, poking his meister's head as they pulled on their coat (an early present from Liz and Patty).
"Don't worry about that, Maka's having us leave early. Hey, Ragnarok, did you ever go to a Christmas party when you were younger?" Crona asked as the three of them headed out, with Blair hanging out the door waving goodbye and promising to have more hot cocoa made when they returned.
"If I did before your mom got ahold of me, I don't remember," the weapon replied with a shrug. "This one's gonna be great, though!"
"It's nice to see you two so excited!" Maka chimed in. "I don't think I've seen you this happy about anything, Ragnarok."
"You'd be excited too, if it was your first real Christmas since you were nine," retorted Ragnarok. "I'm telling you, Crona, you're gonna love it! You eat like it's Thanksgiving again, and then you get a bunch of presents, and candy like it's Halloween again! It's awesome!"
"I know," Crona said with a light giggle, "you've been saying that for weeks! I know we're going to have fun tonight at Kid's party, but I've never wanted tomorrow to come so badly before! I...I hope everyone likes what I got them...I'm not used to giving or getting presents."
Soul stepped closer to Crona and put a hand on the younger meister's shoulder. "Relax, your presents were great, I hardly had to give you any advice. Everyone'll like them just fine."
"Thanks, Soul." Crona's cheeks turned a soft gray at the compliments. "All I really have to go on is my family, and you know they're not the best examples of anything," he added, softly and a little embarrassed.
"...Don't answer if you don't want to, but what was Christmas like for you before?" Soul asked, frowning.
"Soul! Don't ask them that!"
"It's okay, Maka. Well...When I was little, I didn't know it was supposed to be a special day for everyone. To me, it was just that time near the end of the year when Medusa-sama would just be irritated all the time. I don't think she liked this season much."
"Wow. She's such a cliché evil person that she hated Christmas?" said Soul, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, no, I don't think she minded the holiday itself," Crona corrected. "It was just the cold and snow and all that that she couldn't stand."
"That does make sense," Maka mused. "Snakes are cold-blooded, and they can't function in too-low temperatures."
"Right. Anyway, nothing much changed just because it was winter. I don't much like the cold either, I guess it's a hereditary thing, but I still had to...go out at night for her like usual. Like I told you, I didn't even know what Christmas was until I came here and you told me about it. Sometimes she'd give me some peppermint candy or chocolate if she was feeling nice, but I didn't know what for, and that was about it..." Crona stopped when they saw the disconcerted look on Maka's face and the stony expression on Soul's. Oh, no...I shouldn't have answered, I can't make them sad on Christmas! Crona pulled the corners of their mouth up into what they hoped was a reassuring smile. "But don't feel bad about it, that's all over for good now! I have you and everyone else now, right?"
They were relieved to see the tension leave Soul's face and the smile return to Maka's. "That's right, we're all here now," Maka said as she took Crona's hand, interlacing her fingers with theirs. "We're going to have lots of fun together, this year and all the years after that, okay?"
"Okay," Crona said, a genuine grin lighting up their face. "I'm looking forward to it!"
"Great," Soul said, looking content again. "Then let's hurry it up, Gallows Manor is on the other side of the city after all." He glanced up at the wispy gray clouds obscuring the stars. "And it's starting to snow."
The other two followed his gaze to see the tiny snowflakes starting to fall. Maka was about to comment on how pretty it was, and how nice it was of Shinigami to make it snow in the city special for the Christmas season, when she saw that Crona looked a little worried. "Snow...?" they said softly to themself. Maka wondered if their mother had made them train in the snow and ice, and if they now only associated it (like too many other things) with hardship and pain.
"Hey, Crona!" she said brightly. "Watch this!" As the snow came down around them, she stuck her tongue out and caught a flake on the tip. "You want to try it?"
"Uh...Okay." It sounds strange, but Maka thinks it's fun so I'll try it, I guess. They hesitantly stuck out their tongue, letting one of the snowflakes float down onto it. It melted in a second, and it was kind of hot and cold at the same time. It didn't feel bad, just weird. They stuck their tongue out again and tried it a couple times more. Crona smiled, deciding they liked it.
They had never liked winter in general very much: the cold weather put their mother in a perpetual bad mood the whole season, barring when she was able to get them both away from the city to the kind of warm, humid place best that a snake preferred. But now, they were finding more and more things to enjoy about this time of the year. And now that it was Christmas Eve, they were sure they'd find even more tomorrow.
~0~
"For the last time, Kid, it looks fine!" The muscles in Liz's arms and legs were starting to burn. She couldn't take much more of this.
"Just a few centimeters higher and it will be perfect!"
"It is perfect! Can't we go get dressed now, the party's supposed to start in a half-hour!" Liz huffed. Everything had been just fine four hours ago when they'd finished decorating the manor for the party, but their eagle-eyed meister had spotted one, just one, little inadequacy in one string of tinsel, and it had all gone downhill from there.
"This will only take a moment...Patty, stop wobbling, you'll drop me and I'll have to start all over again!"
Kid, seeing tiny problem after tiny problem, had dragged his weapons all over the manor again to correct them. Damn it all, she was supposed to be putting the finishing touches on the elaborate hairdo she'd wanted to try out tonight, not struggling to hold Patty up on her shoulders, who in turn was holding up Kid on hers while he meticulously fixed lengths of lights on the wall that had seemed off to him.
"Sorry, Kid," Patty said, trying to keep still and keep her balance. "You're a lot heavier than you look!"
"Just hang in there, you two," Kid muttered. "A little bit more work and this manor will be perfectly symmetrical and orderly - Liz!"
"Nee-chan!"
"Urgh...Sorry, guys. I'm doing my best not to let you fall, but I don't know how long Patty and I can last," Liz ground out, struggling to straighten back up after her legs had almost given out. "Whatever you're doing, do it fast, Kid!"
"Don't rush me, Liz, you can't rush perfection!" Kid insisted, hastily tightening the little light bulbs that had come loose when Liz had stumbled.
"This is the last one, right? After this we can go get ready?" Patty asked hopefully, her voice strained from the effort of keeping herself and her meister upright for so long.
"Yes," Kid said, earning relieved sighs from his weapons. "As soon as I'm finished with this, Gallows Manor can officially be called the picture of holiday excellence - Patty, hold on to me!"
"I'm trying, Kid! Nee-chan and I can't hold out much longer!" Patty yelped, wobbling uncontrollably. She gripped her meister's ankles as tight as she could, but it didn't help much.
"Come on, you two, just hold on one more minute...whoa...Patty, stay still, for just a little longer...whoa...Liz, Patty, help me - help meeee whoaaaa - !"
The twins' strength had given out, and all three of them came crashing down to the floor in a heap. Kid was the first to get to his feet and dust himself off, but when he looked up and realized that in trying to stop himself from falling he'd grabbed on to the wire, and accidentally brought every string of lights on the wall down with them. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he stared at the mess.
"...Oh, no," groaned Liz when she looked up and saw the broken lights strewn all over. She gently pushed Patty off of her and got to her feet. "Kid, don't freak out, we can fix this - "
"Look at this! The symmetry is ruined!" Kid shrieked, horrified at what his mistake had done. "This is UNACCEPTABLE!"
Liz sighed. It would take a lot more than her words to get through to her obsessive meister. "Patty, go find a mirror and call Shinigami-sama," she instructed her sister, rubbing her temples to try and ward off her incoming headache Kid's conniption was causing. "We're going to need some divine intervention."
~0~
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu, ready go!" Tsubaki sang along to Yuki Kaji's voice as she pressed red and green M&M's into the soft, fresh-from-the-oven cookies. It had felt a little silly downloading this to her iPod, but she enjoyed it. Really, was there a better way to spend Christmas Eve than baking holiday treats for her friends and classmates with a seiyuu from her favorite show singing her favorite Christmas song in the background, surrounded by the sweet aroma of fresh-baked cookies? If there was, Tsubaki didn't know of one. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; hayaku kite kure oshogatsu! Kinishite nante, betsuni nai yo, souiu nori gara ni naishi..."
Christmas was hands down Tsubaki's favorite time of the year. Back in Japan with her family, they'd always enjoyed themselves that holiday, no matter what was going on. Even stoic Masamune would open himself up to her and their parents, and smile more in that one day than he would the whole rest of the year. "Demo terebi toka, rajio kara mo, kikoete kuranda ano uta ga! Mo usaai!"
And when she'd moved to Death City, that hadn't changed. The holidays were so lively here, everyone usually got into it. Her friends were no exception. Shibusen went all out with Christmas celebrations, largely due to the fact that it was one of Shinigami-sama's favorite holidays, second only to Halloween. The festive atmosphere lasted all through December, and at the end of it she always had the Christmas Day party at Soul and Maka's apartment to look forward to. It was even more exciting this year, she thought, now that Kid was throwing a party tonight too, and now he, Liz, Patty, Crona, Ragnarok, and Blair would be going to Soul and Maka's tomorrow too. Of course, it meant food for her to make for both parties, but Tsubaki didn't care. Cooking and baking were fun, and she loved watching her friends enjoy her food. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu, ready go! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; monita no naka ni hairitai na!"
All the presents she'd bought had been carefully wrapped and placed in her closet to be brought to the party tomorrow, and she went over her mental checklist of all of them for the fifth time as she packed the last batch of M&M cookies into the Tupperware. She wanted to make certain that she wouldn't have to run out late to grab a last-minute gift for someone, but felt sure that she had taken care of everything. Tsubaki put a lot of thought and consideration into her gifts, and hoped she'd gotten the right things for everyone, especially with another group of people to shop for this year. She'd worried for a little while, but Black Star had reassured her that she "always picked a winner." She smiled at the memory. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu, ready go! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, kyonen yattadaro kurisumasu! Kyonen yattada!"
For the past few hours she'd been busy in the kitchen, Black Star had been in the living room wrapping the presents he'd gotten. Part of her had wondered if he'd do a repeat of last year and just give everyone huge autographed posters of him, but she'd seen him shopping too and working hard in his room on other things, so he was definitely putting more effort into it this year. Maybe he's upgraded to homemade statues of himself, she thought wryly, then immediately pushed it out of her mind. She trusted her meister more than that. "Nanda kanda de, isogai shiishi baito mo arushi, oosouji dashi; dakara hontou, nanno hi toka, doudemoiinda hontou nanda!"
The last batch of cookies completely packed up, Tsubaki placed it on the counter with the rest of the filled-to-the-brim Tupperware and checked to make sure she had finished everything she'd intended to make. Two batches each of chocolate-chip cookies, double chocolate mint cookies, chocolate-chip peanut butter fudge, and M&M cookies, and a triple layer cheesecake, a white and dark chocolate fudge torte, and a chocolate strawberry whipped cream cake - perfect.
She tended to go a little heavy on the chocolate, she realized with a soft giggle, but what the hey, she liked it and so did everyone she was baking for. "Me kara ase ga! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu, ready go! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kiiboodo kachikachi kurashimasu," she sang, then turned off her iPod and slipped it into her pocket.
She crossed the kitchen and threw open the door to the living room to get her partner. "Black Star, I'm finished, let's get ready to go now - Black Star! What are you doing?!"
"Waiting for you, of course! How do you like this?" the blue-haired boy called down to her, and flashed her one of his huge grins. Black Star was perched, seemingly-comfortably, on the very top of their Christmas tree. He'd stuck the bar he used for chin-ups from his door to the ceiling above it, and was gripping the bar with both hands to make sure he and the tree wouldn't fall.
Tsubaki let out a deep sigh at her meister's antics. "Why are you up there, Black Star?" she asked wearily, bringing her hand to her forehead.
"Come on, Tsubaki, you know we have to have the biggest star on top of our tree!" he shouted, sounding exceptionally pleased with himself.
"... I suppose you have a point," Tsubaki conceded. As long as he didn't bring the tree down, she reasoned, there was no harm in Black Star having his fun. "Let's go, we need to get ready for the party!"
"Yeah!" Using the chin-up bar, Black Star swung down from the tree and rolled to his feet right in front of her. "You get all dressed up, and since I'm already all ready," he said, tugging a little on the collar of his dark blue dress shirt, "I'll just get the food and wait for you a little longer!"
"Remember, only one of each batch of cookies and just the cheesecake. The rest are for tomorrow's party," Tsubaki reminded him. She'd wanted to take Sid-sensei up on his offer to give them a ride to the parties, but Black Star had turned him down, insisting that he could carry all the food himself. He'd promised her that he would make sure every bit of it reached its destination undamaged, and she liked walking with her partner anyway.
Glancing at the wall clock and realizing they had to move fast, she dashed into her room to get dressed, and when she came out ten minutes later with her hair smooth and straightened and her new navy blue dress on, Black Star grinned at her.
"You look perfect!" he told her, and laughed when her cheeks turned pink. "As expected of the great Black Star's flawless partner! Let's go, there's a party that's in need of my presence!" With that, he turned on his heel and (since the four boxes of food in his arms left him with no hands free) kicked their apartment door open and strode down the hall. Tsubaki gave a little laugh and followed him. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu," she sang softly. She had a feeling that this would be their best Christmas yet. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; kyo wa tanoshii kurisumasu. Tsugi koso kachigumi de kurisumasu!"
~0~