Okay, so I guess I got this done by Christmas, which is today. Sadly, it's not a very merry one for me.

...Please don't ask why. I'd rather not go into it. Just read this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.

Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 33

As the group ran into the workshop, they were met with a strange sight. Kyrie and Sally stayed in the back while the boys walked forward, weapons drawn. The room seemed darker than the rest of the place, and half of a roulette table was painted over the wall of the toy producing machines.

"But where is Santa Claus?" Kyrie thought as they looked around. Out of nowhere, a large bag jumped down on them, knocking Sally and Kyrie to the side as the two fell down, landing about ten feet below the ledge with a loud thump. She groaned internally for a moment, letting the pain of the fall dull a little.

"Ow…whoever did that is SO going to get it-!" Kyrie thought as she sat up, rubbing her posterior. Sally looked over from where she lay, looking at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. She nodded, making the other girl sigh in relief. She and Sally looked up, just as the commotion started.

"Jack Skellington!" an unknown male's voice growled. This, she assumed, was the voice of Oogie Boogie.

"Oogie!" she heard Jack shout.

"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!" the voice continued. She and Sally got to their feet, before spotting Santa as he lay on one of the conveyer belts. Kyrie pointed and Sally nodded, as she began to undo the thread on her leg.

"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" Jack demanded.

"Who? Sandy Claws? I don't know what you're talking about!" Oogie shot back. Kyrie quickly helped Sally, trying her best not to look at the limb as they undid the threads that held it to her body. Once it was removed, she was surprised that it was stuffed with old leaves, instead of muscles and other things you find in a normal human leg. Holding Sally's arm over her shoulders for support, the two quietly made their way over to where Santa was, before Oogie jumped down on the conveyer belt, approaching the man as he lay there.

"And why is this roly-poly guy here? Time to go, grandpa!" he continued, forcing him to his feet. Kyrie and Sally gasped, before she helped the girl get in closer range, making it possible to throw her leg so that it landed in front of them for a distraction. Just as Oogie got Santa to the end of one of the belts, Sally threw her leg, making it land in front of them. Oogie stopped and stared at it curiously, leaning down and releasing his hold on him. This gave Santa a perfect chance to escape, Sally and Kyrie waving him over from where they stood.

"Mr. Santa Claus!" Sally called. Oogie turned his attention to the two girls, and before he could run after them, Sora and the gang stepped in and blocked him off. She stopped and handed Sally to Santa, before turning back and running to join the others, summoning her keyblades as she did so. Oogie looked at the group, realizing just how badly outnumbered he was. Currently, the odds were not in his favor.

But all that changed when he backtracked, running up the conveyer belt and jumping into a glass case, before raising it and pressing a few buttons, bringing the machine to life.

"Stop!" Donald shouted as he ran forward, running into the opening just as a blue square appeared above it. He came out on the other conveyer belt to the left of them, and looked around in confusion. Goofy gave a small wave.

"Hiya, Donald!" he called. The duck huffed and continued looking around in confusion. "Huh?" with that, he ran back through the whole, only to end where he started.

"Not again?" he cried. Kyrie sighed, this reminded her of one of Luxord's gambling tables. And the few times she actually played cards with him, she knew she had horrible luck when it came to gambling. She quickly jumped out of the way as a bomb came down, exploding in the place she had been just moments ago.

"Man, this is annoying! I wish Luxord was here, he'd probably know how to beat this guy at gambling." she thought as she dodged attacks. The group tried going through the holes, only to end up being separated between the three belts. Oogie laughed at their plight, pressing more buttons as presents fell onto the three belts. Sora took one look at the presents, before looking at the glass box where Oogie was standing. Picking up three of them, he threw them and caused the case to lower because of the added weight. He smirked.

"Guys, throw the presents into Oogie's box!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Trust me, just do it!"

With that, the group began to chuck every present on their conveyer belts into Oogie's glass box, causing it to crack with the added extra weight. After a few minutes, the box finally cracked, dropping Oogie onto the conveyer belt Sora was on. The others ran back into the holes and most of them except Goofy were reunited with Sora.

"Oh…uh…n-now let's not be rash-!" Oogie stammered at the group towered over him. They looked at each other and smirked as Sora and Kyrie raised their keyblades, Donald raising his wand as well. After that, it was a flurry of swings, magic, punches, and screams as they wailed on the poor sack of bugs. Oogie managed to free himself from their merciless beatings and quickly ran, getting into another glass box and starting the process over again.

It took another two times before Oogie finally gave up. Well…it was more like stop to try and close up the burst seams that were allowing his bugs to pour out. The group watched as he closed up one hole with a sigh, but then another hole burst, causing him to cry as his bugs began to leak out onto the belts.

"Oh no- Look what you've done! My bugs…! My bugs…!" he cried, his voice changing as the bugs crawled away. By the time the sack was empty, only one little green bug was yelling as it scampered, before being squashed by Donald.

"Hmph. Serves him right. But where is Maleficent, I wonder?" Kyrie thought as the group turned their attention to Sally and Santa. After a few minutes of talking, the group headed outside again.

"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora sighed in relief. Kyrie nodded as she held her arms behind her back happily, it felt good saving people.

"Perfect! I'd better get down to business!" Jack exclaimed. Donald looked at the skeleton in surprise, as well as the others. They didn't expect for Jack to hold out this long with his favor.

"Leave that to Santa!" he argued. Goofy and Kyrie nodded in agreement, Christmas was Santa's job, like Halloween was Jack's.

"Yup, you outta stick to Halloween and spooky stuff!" Goofy agreed. Sally gave a small cough from behind them, making them turn as she walked forward. She was carrying red fabric in her hands, and was looking at Jack apprehensively.

"Jack? Here it's done." She spoke meekly, handing the pumpkin king his suit. The skeleton man smiled and took the suit from her hands, unfurling it as he admired it.

"Wonderful! Why, I love it! Thank you, Sally!" he cried. With that, he began to change into his suit, causing Kyrie to cover her eyes in respect. She wasn't sure if he was stripping down or slipping the suit on over his clothes, but one can never be too careful. Once he was done, she uncovered her eyes and watched as he admired it. Sally looked over at her and gave her a pleading look, causing the girl to nod in understanding.

"Jack… do you really have to do this?" Sally asked. Jack nodded as he indicated his suit.

"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" he explained. Kyrie shook her head and pulled out her notebook, before tugging on the pumpkin king's sleeve.

Jack, I think you should leave Christmas to Santa. I know you love Christmas, but how would you feel if Santa or someone else took Halloween away from you?

Jack look disheartened at her words, before putting a hand to his fake beard.

"Well…I see what you are saying. But…" he spoke, trying to explain away. But Santa walked out of his house, as if he heard the whole conversation.

"Listen here, Jack Skellington. You saved me and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise you won't cause any more trouble! And about that suit! Don't even think about taking over for me again!" Santa explained. Jack looked a bit modest and sheepish as he looked at the smaller, fatter man.

"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws. You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And… I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right." He explained. Santa sighed, feeling a bit bad for the skeleton, but knowing that he was the only one who could run Christmas.

"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring. But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year after year. And you, Jack… you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?" he countered. Kyrie shook her head, knowing that she had just written almost the exact same thing only moments ago. But since it wasn't said aloud, of course Santa wouldn't realize this. Jack looked between her and Santa, both having pointed out the exact same thing. He would've felt awful if someone had tried to take Halloween away from him.

"We both have very important jobs to do, Jack. Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can. After all, you're the face of Halloween…Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares! And even though you're fascinated with Christmas, Jack… Halloween is your true specialty. Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention… and I know Christmas needs mine… urgently." With that, the man turned and went inside as Jack thought about his argument. After a few minutes, he smiled.

"You're right! I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!" Jack exclaimed. Kyrie smiled and whistled, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy clapped. Suddenly, a voice called out to them, making them turn and stare in confusion.

"Jack! Oh, Jack!" the mayor cried as he ran up, a bunch of papers in his hands. "I've been looking for you everywhere! We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do anything without your approval!" he explained as he stopped at Jack's feet. The skeleton nodded as he and the mayor began to walk away.

"So true!" he exclaimed. Santa came out of his house and waved to the skeleton.

"Good luck, Jack Skellington." He called. Jack waved an arm in response as he and the mayor chatted. Kyrie smiled at this, everything turned out alright.

"And now Santa can run Christmas safely, and Jack can run Halloween. Everyone's happy." she thought, holding her arms behind her back as she shifted from foot to foot. Sora held his arms behind his head for a moment, before speaking.

"Well, there he goes." Sora spoke. Santa nodded.

"Yes, and I've got lots of names to check and preparations to finish!" he mumbled. But out of nowhere, Jack's suit began to glow, as well as Kyrie. This made the girl sigh as she looked at her hands.

"How many times do we have to do this? I hate lighting up like a Christmas tree!" she thought, no pun intended.

"Jack, this is no time for joking!" the mayor cried. Sora quickly summoned his keyblade, but when he did, Kyrie's Lost Memory keyblade appeared as well. The two stared at each other, before she joined him, both pointing their keyblades at the keyhole that appeared. A beam of light shot out of both blades, and intermingled, before going through the keyhole.

"We better get going." Sora spoke, looking at Donald and Goofy. Santa quickly walked forward, holding a hand out to stop the boy.

"Before you do, Sora… I believe there's a friend of yours… who, if I recall correctly, was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?" Santa spoke. Kyrie raised her eyebrow, who was he talking about? Sora thought for a moment, before he nodded.

"Oh, yeah… he did say that."

"Be sure to give him my very best wishes."

"I will, but…Do you know where I can find Riku?" Sora asked. The man shook his head, making the boy sigh.

"No… but don't give up! Remember, if you believe in Riku, you will find him. Just as you found me." He explained. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Right!" he agreed. Then the man turned to Kyrie.

"As for you my dear, I wish to apologize for earlier. Some of the things I had said were out of line, and I had no intentions of hurting your feelings." he apologized. Kyrie smiled and shook her head as she wrote in her notebook.

No Mr. Santa Claus, I'm sorry. I was prepared for whatever you were going to tell me, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. But, can I ask you something?

"Of course my dear, what is it?" he asked. She quickly pulled him away, trying to keep Sora and the others out of earshot.

I want to ask if you can deliver presents to certain people, instead of giving me any. That would be my Christmas wish.

He read her words carefully before nodding.

"Very well, who would you like me to give them to?" he asked.

Some of the members of Organization XIII. Preferably Axel, Demyx, Xigbar, and Luxord. You can give some presents to the others, if that would make them happy.

"Hm…well, I'll see what I can do."

Aw, isn't she sweet? Well, I guess I'll just end this by wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza (I know I spelled that wrong, don't attack me), and whatever holidays you may celebrate.

Please read and review!