A/N-The timing on this was unexpected, however...Merry Christmas.

"Flynn!"

Kevin Flynn looked up from the lines of code he was reviewing. Did someone say—?

"Flynn, we have something for you!"

Behind him, Kevin Flynn could hear the voices of his two best friends on the Grid calling him. He turned around to see them walking closer; CLU with his hands behind his back as though holding something out of sight. Tron was walking next to the system administrator, a broad grin spreading across Tron's face to match the proud one on CLU's.

"Hey guys," Flynn said. "What's up?" He always enjoyed seeing and spending time with the two programs. It had been a surprise when he emerged from the arcade to not find Tron waiting for him. Instead, one of Tron's secondary security programs had been there, informing him that the system's head security monitor was required elsewhere.

"I reviewed the memory files I received when I installed into the system and learned about User run_time anniversaries," CLU told him. "When I learned about the appropriate protocols for observing them, I discussed it with Tron. We agreed we should follow the protocols and observe your run_time anniversary."

The two programs looked at each other for a moment and then CLU revealed what he had been hiding behind his back with a flourish.

"Happy run_time anniversary, Flynn!" they chorused, looking rather pleased with themselves as CLU held out a cake.

A cake.

Here on the Grid.

With all the things Flynn had anticipated or wondered about concerning building the system, somehow this happening had never occurred to him. He looked down at the cake, unable to keep the surprise from his face.

The cake had the faint glow to it that let him know it was formed of energy; which made sense, there would be no other way to ingest it in the system otherwise. It was slightly-lopsided, with icing spread unevenly across it. It looked familiar….

It looked like the cake he had baked for his Mom's birthday when he was eight years old.

It was an oddly straight-forward reason for the cake's appearance that came to his mind. Of course, Flynn thought, CLU would have picked the cake that I had the strongest memories of….

He looked up at the faces of the two programs in front of him, their smiles beginning to fade a little around the edges as they watched him. It was a lot like seeing Sam standing there, uncertainty in his eyes as he wondered if whatever it was he had made would be accepted.

The effect was disconcerting, and somehow, when seen on his face—CLU's face—almost heartbreaking.

"Wow," Flynn said, smiling. "Look at that. That is something…." There was no way he was going to leave that look on CLU's face.

"It's a cake," Tron announced, proudly.

"It sure is," Flynn agreed, "This is impressive. Did you make this, CLU?"

That eager, proud look was back on CLU's face.

"Yes," the sysadmin said, excitedly. "It's an exact replica of the cake in your most reviewed memory files."

"Well. It sure is," Flynn said. It was a good thing that he was meant to be smiling, he thought to himself. It was impossible to not smile at the innocent pleasure the two programs were showing at their ability to surprise Flynn with a cake.

"Are you going to eat it now?" Tron was asking. "CLU made it in one of your favorite flavors."

"Why not?" Flynn said, agreeably. "Cakes are meant to be eaten." He looked around the room in the central processing unit until he spied a console with an uncluttered surface. A moment later, he was settling the cake down and stepping back.

"CLU, would you do the honors?" he asked, indicating that his program double should use his disc to cut the cake.

One large bite of cake later….

"How did you pick the flavor for the cake, again?" Flynn asked around a mouthful of cake, the smile frozen stiff on his face.

"It's sushi! I learned that it was one of your favorite User foods!" CLU replied.

Still holding the smile on his face, Flynn swallowed, the mouthful of cake disappearing as he did so.

"It does taste like sushi, doesn't it?" CLU asked, suddenly nervous.

"Exactly like sushi," Flynn told him, reassuringly. "I have never had a cake that tastes more like sushi than this one."

The program visibly relaxed at the words, going back to happily devouring his portion of the cake. Next to him, Tron was also eating a slice of cake, the sharp planes of his face framing a large grin as he did so.

Kevin Flynn took a deep breath and looked back down at the cake held in his hand.

Sushi cake, he thought to himself. Well, Mom always said that you will do surprising things when your friends and family make a cake for you…although I thought I would have to wait a few more years for Sam to be the one baking.

He smiled again, and took another bite of cake.

A/N-for my folks; who cheerfully ate every cake I baked as a child...no matter how badly I screwed up the recipe.

(No, really...some of them did not truly qualify as cakes)