~Red~

For Mario, Christmas was a very stressful time. One would think this would be the one time he'd get to kick back and relax, but they were far off the mark. Being the natural born leader he was, Mario found himself saddled with task after task without even realizing it. What began as simply hanging up stockings suddenly turned into a crusade to go chop down the stadium's latest Christmas tree. Pitching in for a single present evolved into a fiasco with wrapping paper and several rolls of ribbon. Not to mention keeping Bowser from kidnapping Peach…and taking her to the mistletoe.

Needless to say, Mario couldn't catch a break.

Every year Mario swore he sprouted gray hairs, and just once did he wish he could be as a carefree as some of the others. As he plugged away at the list of jobs he received, he watched as the Villager and Toon Link ran through the halls, laughing their heads off at some game they were playing. And of course Sonic had to swing around with that sarcastic grin, mocking Mario with nothing more than a knowing look before darting off again.

Mario worked himself to the bone during Christmas, pushing so hard for the sake of others until he was utterly red in the face.

But despite all the hardships Christmas placed upon him, there was one thing Mario could always look forward to. After all, being the leader wasn't always such a bad thing! The tree he'd dragged in from the forest was now standing tall in the center area, decorated on every branch with tinsel, lights, and ornaments that properly represented everyone's worlds. Everyone, in a way, got to put a piece of themselves onto the tree- Pikachu a Light Ball, Sonic a Gold Ring, and Pac-Man a Power Pellet, for example- but Mario chose not to partake in that, albeit with a smile on his face.

He allowed all the others to go ahead of him, opting to make his move the final one. Once everyone else had contributed, Mario made his way towards the tree, where DK handed him the object in question. The crowd stirred lightly as excited whispers brushed through the gathering, but none were happier than Mario. A ladder had been placed in front of the tree, the plumber climbing up it gingerly until he reached the top. He stared at the bright object in his hand for a few fleeting seconds before placing it at the top of the tree where it belonged, which was followed by excited cheers and applause.

Mario could never, ever hate Christmas…certainly not while he was the one to put the star on the tree.

. . .

Donkey Kong and Diddy were quite the unusual pair when it came to the holidays. The Kong clan was never into things like this, but they always made sure not to ruin the fun times for others. Everyone could do their own thing, and they'd stick to theirs…probably eating bananas.

But Diddy often got curious- was there really any harm in participating in Christmas just once? This only occurred to him because he felt like he owed his uncle a gift, yet they'd never done anything of the sort before. Would DK be thrilled at the thought? Or perhaps go ape over the broken tradition?

Well, Diddy was willing to take the risk.

There was only one thing DK ever wanted, but it was incredibly hard to find at this time of year. Diddy asked as many people as he could for some help, but no one had offered him any concrete ideas. Diddy grabbed his red hat and threw it to the ground in frustration, and suddenly he was starting to get the feeling why the Kongs usually didn't bother with the holiday.

After days of searching high and low and even getting involved in a back alley black market with Snake –who'd been lurking around ever since getting kicked out- Diddy managed to get his hands on the ideal present for DK. Due to being inexperienced with things like "tape" and "wrapping paper", Diddy had to swallow his pride and ask Mario for a little assistance…but he was tied up in ribbon at that moment in time, so Diddy took it upon himself to properly package the gift.

Once the tree had been put up and decorated, the presents had amassed in spades. Diddy waited a while before adding his, but when he headed down to do so, he found that all the presents had been big boxes and wrapped perfectly in shiny foil and lacey bows. His dinky present with crumpled wrapping paper tied with a string utterly paled in comparison, and he suddenly felt self-conscious about.

Nearly everyone else had been doing this for a long time, and for Diddy to just suddenly partake in the tradition with his meek contribution intimidated him a little. Not only was the wrapping more professional, but the gift quality was much higher- proven by the fact that someone had managed to smuggle a small car in the corner. DK would probably be disappointed by Diddy's less glamorous gift…

When gift-giving time came around, DK was waiting for Diddy, but he was nowhere to be found. As the gorilla quickly became surrounded by mountains of wrapping paper, his face lit up when Diddy finally arrived with something behind his back. The two quickly ran at each other, but paused hesitantly as if second thoughts had crossed their minds. Yet in the next moment, both of them produced crudely wrapped presents suspiciously shaped like bananas…and neither one of them could be happier, despite King Dedede insisting on walking by and taunting them for their horrid wrapping job.

But what the present looked like didn't matter. It was the thought that counted.

. . .

King Dedede and Christmas were in a love-hate relationship.

On the one hand, the king's greed skyrocketed to insurmountable levels during the festive season, as alluring thoughts of over-consumption overtook his mind as soon as it came around. Early presents under the tree would be swiped, and hours later Dedede could be found stretching out a sweater or inexplicably sporting expensive jewelry. Eating food with the guy was twice as bad, as he gave Kirby a run for his money with how quickly he'd inhale the massive spreads put on the table. Rarely did anyone else manage to smuggle even a crumb, and Dedede would waltz away, grabbing his belly and bellowing to himself as he strutted away.

He was infamous for that one time he tried to "steal Christmas", and he wasn't particularly known for being a Saint. Dedede couldn't help it- being mean and nasty came naturally to him, and during a time when everyone else was just oh so infinitely happier than he was…he had to do something to level the playing field, that was all. Nothing personal.

And yet, as much as he loved ruining everything for everyone else, the portly king also found that he didn't entirely hate what the festive time was all about. Somehow, the music that filled the house didn't grate on his nerves as expected, nor did anything else overly cheer get to him. It was tolerable, and every once in a while Dedede would be tapping his foot to the rhythm of the whole building. Being an avid dancer, he was prone to picking up a tune.

But he never thought he'd be doing some icky-sticky good deed during the holidays. Dedede had just been minding his own business counting the cash he'd stolen from Wario –hey, Wario didn't exactly need it- when he bypassed the kids putting on some gear to go outside. Most of them were outfitted in parkas, scarves, and boots, but the Villager was lagging behind as he desperately searched for his hat. The poor boy tore up half the house looking for it, and the others had gone outside without him. The Villager was practically on the verge of tears at being left behind, giving up and starting to retreat to his room…until he came across a red hat placed on the table, with a note labeled "For Villager" on it.

Eagerly slapping it on his head and not questioning where it came from, the boy sprinted out the front door…

…while King Dedede headed back to his room to grab a spare hat. And maybe take a shower to get the warm fuzzy feeling off of him. And certainly not before taking all of Peach's freshly baked Christmas cupcakes for himself.

. . .

Back in the town he came from, the Villager didn't exactly celebrate Christmas- he celebrated Toy Day instead! It was practically the same thing, but the principles behind it was different. As he was –technically- the mayor of his town, the Villager got to play Santa with Jingle the reindeer and give out presents to every member of the community. It was how he showed everyone that he cared, and their varying degrees of enthusiasm in return demonstrated how much they appreciated him.

Thus, the Villager wasn't entirely used to others giving him gifts. Sure, a present from his mom and a few close friends were okay, but he'd already took inventory of what was currently under the tree, and six of the boxes were for him alone! His mind had been so geared toward giving that receiving was almost foreign. It nearly drove him mad- he had to return these acts of kindness…!

Over the course of days, the Villager had been on a roll of doing good deeds for everyone who'd left him a present. He dusted Olimar's shelves, polished Mega Man's armor, and cleaned the training room for the Wii Fit Trainers. Feeling satisfied, the Villager went back to check under the tree…and found four more presents for him. Normal people would have been thrilled at this finding, but to Villager, that only meant more debts to be repaid…! And he'd hardly bought presents for anyone else as it was!

The sentiments drove him into a silent panic, having no idea what to do. Very few understood just what was going through his head, merely drifting by and scoffing at the clear turmoil he was in. The Villager watched them all glide away like nothing was wrong…was this what Christmas was? Were you just supposed to receive and not feel obligated to repay?! But…wasn't that against the meaning of Christmas too?

Evidently he was thinking just a little too deeply into it, as he eventually flopped on the floor and curled into a fetal position. He stayed like that until Ness approached, swinging his yo-yo around with little care in the world. The psychic came across the Villager looking worse for wear, and managed to piece together what was wrong- after all, a few hours after Ness finished prepping his gift for the Villager, said villager had organized his sock drawer and alphabetized Ness' baseball cards.

"…hey, it's okay," Ness finally spoke up, leaning down and holding out a hand to the boy on the ground. The Villager stared at it for the longest time, not entirely understanding what it meant. "You don't have to fret about returning the favor to everyone, you know. I'm sure seeing you open your gifts with a wide smile is all they want…just like you would, if it were you giving the gift."

The Villager accepted Ness' hand and pulled himself back up on his feet, letting the words sink in as Ness carried on his way. It was…okay not to return the favor? Sometimes gratitude was just enough…? After giving it some thought, he understood. He suddenly remembered giving Isabelle a gift once, recalling how she'd been so overjoyed and promising to somehow repay him for it. He'd laughed and told her that since it was a special occasion that it was fine if she thought of herself for a little while…and here he was now, completely not taking that advice.

Time to change that.

Thus, the Villager at long last smiled to himself, and relaxed for the first time in several days. And eventually, he came to find that a touch of selfishness was perfectly fine when you deserved it.

. . .

Ness was once seen as the leader of the younger sanction of Smashers, as he was the most experienced youth (and was slightly more reliable than Kirby). He hadn't asked for the position; it was ascribed to him whenever the "kids" wanted to hang around and do "kid" things…unless Sonic, Link, and/or Pit decided they counted as kids for the day. Then he wasn't in charge.

But he did like how it netted him a lot of friends.

Ness wasn't shy, but he wasn't outspoken, either. He held a mutual respect with everyone he came across, and for the longest time he mainly kept to himself because he was the only representative from his world. But when Lucas ended up joining the Brawl, he saw how quiet the other boy was, and he felt the need to step up and welcome him personally. The two had been inseparable ever since.

The psychic sighed as he stared solemnly out the window, mind drifting into memories of simpler times like the snow drifted by outside.

Eventually, through helping Lucas make some friends, Ness made some himself in Nana, Popo, and even Trainer Red. They became a tight knit group, and they hung out the most often out of everybody. Lucas was the thoughtful one, Nana was the most reasonable, Popo was mostly likely to crack a bad joke, Red would retaliate with quiet quips, and Ness was generally the one to keep them all glued together. Admittedly they reminded him of his friends from his adventuring days, and suddenly being in the Smash Stadium didn't feel as lonely.

Then the new tournament started, and all of them had gotten kicked out.

Ness knew Red wasn't coming back when Charizard turned out to be a solo fighter, and rumors of Nana and Popo no longer being able to work as a pair served as the excuse for their departure. It had taken Ness forever to get his confirmation of return, and he initially thought it was because Lucas had already been accepted and was going to be the new representative of their world.

Turns out no one knew why Lucas had been kicked out. They hadn't even been lucky enough to say goodbye.

As Christmas was coming around again, Ness was lonelier than ever now that he was a solo rep once again. He remembered how last year, he and the group had spent the day out in the snow after tearing through their presents, then spent the night watching old holiday specials while sipping cocoa. A simple memory, but Ness cherished it just the same…and he doubted he'd have another with that group of friends ever again.

He masked his pain as he went about his days, showing everyone the bright optimistic boy that they expected him to be. He threw himself into the spirit of Christmas like everyone figured he should, and no one suspected that anything was wrong. His smile was forced the whole way through, and none batted an eye at it. Just because Ness was feeling cruddy during the holidays didn't mean he wanted anyone else to, so he kept his feelings hid and hoped that they'd go away…but he dearly missed his friends, and that just hurt too much.

One day, someone finally managed to see through his façade as he spent the day staring out the window. Ness felt a hand on his shoulder, and glanced behind him to find Samus staring down at him. She was a master of hiding what she really felt –er, most the time- so if anyone was to see right through his phony attitude, it was her.

"You've been holding it in for a long time, huh?" she asked quietly, unaware of what he was holding in but knowing it weighed heavily on him. "…let it out. It's Christmas. Do yourself a favor, at least…"

As if he received some unknown permission that he hadn't known he'd needed, Ness picked himself up and dragged himself to his room with the thought that holidays weren't necessarily a happy time. Christmas was just as capable of bringing on bouts of sadness as it was ample happiness.

When he entered his room –outfitted for one- Ness stared blankly forward at the wall, the first sign of tears welling up in his puffy red eyes. Once he realized there was no keeping them in anymore, he flung himself onto his bed, thrust his face into the pillow, and let himself sob- something much, much overdue.

Even on Christmas, it was okay to let himself cry. Just a little.