With summer approaching, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to upload, but I will continue to try and upload on a consistent schedule.

We will see.

And this chapter will have some fun Disney Town lore as well.

Hope you all enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!

Final Fantasy © to Square Enix!

All OCs © to their respective creators!

Chapter 33: Christmas Carols

"Delicious!" Xion dug into a stack of pancakes.

Minnie laughed. "Today is going to be wonderful."

Everyone sat around the breakfast table, all dressed in bright winter clothing, all made by Daisy.

"So, the plan is to go into town for the parade and then the Christmas performance." Mickey turned to Riku. "And then I'll take you and Nami home, so you can be with your families for Christmas."

"Great."

Oswald hopped up. "And us royalty have to get to the parade quickly anyway. So, we better get out there."

Shoving the last of his pancake into his mouth, Mickey looked to Felicity and Minnie. They stood up and hurried out.

"Aren't you going, Frank?"

"Nah." The taller mouse leaned back. "I'm more of a leader back home than here."

Ortensia nodded. "I'm the same way. Neither of us have been leaders here in a long time. And honestly we get to have more fun watching the parade."

"Agreed." Frank and Ortensia high-fived.

Xion giggled. "I'm so excited. I've never seen a parade before."

"Well then," Della grinned, "you're in for a treat."

"All of you."

"We get to sit in the Royalty section?"

"You're royal guests, so of course." Ortensia sat down.

Xion sat in her chair, bouncing happily.

"You're excited."

"I don't know why, but I just can't sit still. I'm so excited!"

Aqua giggled. "Be as happy as you want. This is Christmas after all."

"There they come!" Ven jumped up as music filled the air.

Sourceless and magical.

The first float came down the road, the citizens of Disney Town cheering and singing along.

The float looked like a Christmas tree in front of a fireplace, but everything was in black and white.

"This is the story of Christmas throughout the world's history." Ortensia explained. "This is the First Era, when our world was simply 'Timeless River'." She pointed as Daisy duck, dressed in purple robes, came around the tree, waving a magic wand around. "And Daisy is supposed to be the wizard, Asha, who brought color to our world and restored the Cornerstone."

Behind the float came a bunch of dancers, dressed in simple black and white suits and dresses.

"Is the parade the same every year?"

"It's similar." Frank smiled. "But the floats and stuff are different each time. Looks like this time they went for a simpler float setup and more dancing."

Daisy waved at them as she passed by and they all waved back.

The next float rolled through, the music changing to more upbeat music as a more tropical tree covered in Christmas lights rose over the float. Donald and a green parrot in a suit danced across the float singing as a rooster played a guitar and sang. Hanging from the front of the float was a sign that said 'The Three Caballeros'.

"I remember this!" Ortensia laughed. "When Donald and his friends saved another world that became part of ours. The one playing the guitar is Panchito Pistoles and the one singing is José Carioca. They had a band together long ago when our world was called 'Melody Town'."

"Looks like a Christmas reunion to me." Frank laughed.

Roxas laughed as Donald tried to hit a high note, but José playfully knocked him on the head and took the note.

Riku chuckled, taking out his phone to video the performance. "Sora will kill me if I don't video this."

"Oh, he'd love this."

Donald gave them a wave as the float passed by, followed by dancers in flowy, colorful clothes.

The music changed again as the third float approached. Oswald stood on top of what looked like a mountain of black ink, holding his paintbrush.

Twirling the paintbrush, the air sparkled with shimmers of color as he began painting images of presents and Christmas in the air. As he spotted his wife, he painted himself and Ortensia holding hands.

Ortesia waved back with a giggle. "This one celebrates Oswald stopping the Ink Blots and us becoming rulers of the Wasteland."

Oswald continued to paint the air around him as dancers followed, their outfits looking like they were dripping with colorful paints.

Naminé sighed. "I wish I had a brush like that. It would be so much fun."

"You'd paint the whole of Radiant Garden with that." Isa smirked.

"Mom would kill me."

"Like that would stop you."

The fourth float approached, looking like a tall city covered in Christmas lights. On top of the city stood Scrooge McDuck, waving his cane. A magical cannon shot out fake money into the air around him as he laughed.

"As much as it looks like Scrooge just celebrating himself, it celebrates our world joining with the world of Duckberg, which brought a brand-new era of commerce and business. Which Scrooge certainly helped with." Frank laughed.

Scrooge saw the group and took off his hat, giving a polite bow as he smiled happily.

Roxas and Xion waved back excitedly.

Behind him came a bunch of dancers doing acrobatic dances, flips, backflips, and the like.

The next float looked like a tall castle with a rainbow bridge coming from the doors. Felicity stood on it, waving. She took her staff and lit up the air around her with an illusion of shooting stars, causing the crowd to gasp in awe.

"That's my wife! Celebrating our defeat of Mizrabel and her becoming queen of The Land of Illusion." Frank blew his wife a kiss as she passed by. She laughed and blew one back to him.

The music changed once more as the next float entered, looking like a stage which Riku recognized.

"Country of the Musketeers!?"

"You know it?"

"Yeah, I do."

Goofy stood on the stage, dressed in the outfit of a Musketeer. He marched around the stage, pretending to battle invisible enemies.

"Michael, when he became king wanted to make sure he, Donald, and Goofy were ready to lead, so he searched out another world connected to ours. They joined the musketeers, and ended up saving the world. And that's where Michael met Minerva."

Goofy paused as he passed the group, taking off his feathered hat to wave it at them.

Behind him came a group dressed in musketeer outfits. They danced around in almost a military march.

The crowd cheered as the last float came toward them.

Minnie and Mickey stood on a replica of Disney Castle, waving and laughing together. They waved to the group as they passed.

But the float stopped not far away. Mickey gave Minnie a kiss on the cheek before summoning his Keyblade.

Minnie focused and created a bright burst of light in the air as Mickey propelled himself in the air, coating himself with magic as he spun around. Holding up his Keyblade, colorful sparks filled the air, exploding in bright bursts of color.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" The town shouted back as he landed beside Minnie.

Everyone cheered as the float moved on.

The parade over.

"That was so fun!" Terra laughed.

"It was amazing!" Xion bounced happily.

Aqua looked at Terra. "And it was really cool to see the history of this world as well."

"Absolutely."

Frank hopped down. "I'll be back. They need help setting up the stage for the performance."

"What is this performance, exactly?" Axel asked Ortensia.

"It's different every year. We usually have children from the town reenact a large event from this world that happened this year, so it's always something unique. And while some of the children are nervous, it's always very cute."

"With little kids, the cute factor makes up for everything."

"Oh yeah."

Ortensia sat down. "That's why the kids aren't around this morning. They're very excited about the performance, and needed to practice before."

Xion looked at Roxas. "This will be awesome!"

"Oh yeah!"

As the stage was set up in front of the castle walkway, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Oswald, and Felicity joined them.

"Did you like the parade."

"Oh yeah!"

"It was spectacular!"

Riku stared at the stage before looking over at Mickey. "So, what event is being acted out this year?"

The king chuckled. "You'll see." Riku raised an eyebrow at the mischievous look in his friend's eye.

"Ok..."

The entire town sat down around the stage to watch as Clarabelle walked onto the stage, smiling. "Merry Christmas! I hope you're as excited as I am for this year's performance. The children have put a lot of work into it. And we're especially excited to have some special guests with us this year." She gestured to the group sitting with the royalty. The townsfolk cheered and clapped, making everyone blush a little bit. "Now, enjoy the show!"

The crowd cheered as she left the stage.

The curtains parted and the group recognized Honker from the day before, but all dressed up like Master Yen Sid.

"I'd like to tell you a story of courage." He spoke in an obviously nervous monotone, but everyone still smiled. "A story of light verses darkness. And it began with a journey to find a new power. The power to save others."

The curtains parted and the group gasped.

A young chicken, dressed like Donald, stood with a small bear dressed like Goofy(1). Standing next to them was B.O.Y.D. dressed in red and black, with his feathers spiked in a way that... resembled Sora.

This wasn't just any story.

This was their story.

They watched these kids act out Sora, Donald, and Goofy going to help Sora find the Power of Waking.

Riku gasped as he saw Mickey's nephew, Morty come out, dressed as HIM. No wonder Morty was so excited to meet him yesterday! A little bear walked with him, dressed like Mickey(2). Together they pretended to fight off cardboard Heartless.

And it was so cute.

As Organization members entered the story, they recognized some of their new friends from the day before. Violet played Ansem. Gosalyn played Larxene. Louie played Vanitas. And Ferdie played the Riku Replica.

When they watched Sora/B.O.Y.D. rescue Aqua, played by Webby, Aqua smiled. Remembering that moment as well.

This wasn't just a way to show their story. It also showed Sora... in a way where people would remember him.

They'd see who he was.

And B.O.Y.D. played Sora well.

Ven grinned widely as his entrance came, and he saw his friend Dewie playing his part.

Made sense.

Roxas and Ven shared a glance, as that probably meant that Huey was playing Roxas in the show.

Again, made perfect sense.

Axel laughed as he and Kairi entered the scene, Kairi being played by Minnie's niece, Millie. But that wasn't what made him laugh. No, seeing that Lena was playing him made him laugh.

And she did a good job.

Isa and Axel glanced at each other, nodding as she played his character to perfection.

As the story came to the Keyblade Graveyard, they all stifled giggles at the sight of a very pompous looking duck playing Xehanort(3).

It made his scenes so amazing, even the ones that should have been emotional. It just made them laugh a little.

Terra smiled back at Naminé as the kids included a little scene of her talking to him and calling out to him, with Millie also playing her and a young chicken playing Terra(4). Something they both knew about, but the others really didn't. Terra did tell Jiminy about it, and said Jiminy could make it public record.

Guess he did.

And he got to see his own redemption played out before him. And he couldn't help but smile.

Xion giggled as she came into the scene, played by Melody, which explained why Melody was so excited to meet her.

And Roxas was right as Huey entered the scene as him.

They watched the battle with Xehanort play out. Even the tragedy of Kairi's death.

They watched Sora defeat Xehanort and leave

And the curtains closed and Sora/B.O.Y.D. came out again, addressing the audience directly. "I did manage to find and save Kairi. She is safe once more. But to do so, I paid a price and vanished." He looked directly at the group and smiled. "But I know my friends. I know they will find me again. And our hearts are always connected, no matter the distance." He looked around and bowed. "Thank you for joining us to hear our story." He gestured to the group in the audience. "... their story."

The curtain came up and the cast came out and took a bow.

Everyone clapped and cheered, but then turned to look at the group, the cast included, and began clapping and cheering for them.

They all looked around in surprise as Mickey turned to them. "We wanted to honor all of you, your stories, and your sacrifices. Merry Christmas."

"You didn't have to do that."

"We wanted to." Minnie smiled. "You've been through so much, and we wanted you to see how many people you inspire, and the heroes you all are."

Roxas felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, and as he looked at the others, they all looked the same, and some already let tears fall.

"Thank you..."

The cast of kids came down off the stage, running up to the group immediately.

Xion knelt down as Melody approached. "Did I do ok?"

"You did great!"

She could see Riku kneel down and hold out a hand for a high-five, which Morty immediately gave.

"It was like looking at another me!" Axel laughed as Lena smoothed her red-dyed feathers. "Great job!"

Millie walked to Naminé, chatting excitedly about playing two roles.

She could see Webby asking Aqua about how she fought and if Webby was accurate in her portrayal.

The triplets gathered around Roxas and Ven, chattering excitedly.

Other member of the town approached, asking to meet the famous heroes they'd heard about. Some people even recognized Terra, Aqua, and Ven.

This was more than Xion could have ever imagined happening.

They were famous heroes here. Even if most worlds didn't know about what happened, there was one place where they would be remembered for their deeds.

And it felt kinda nice.

"See you both soon!"

"Yeah. Merry Christmas!" Riku and Naminé, both holding their luggage and some presents to open the next morning, stood with Mickey in front of the doors to the gummi hanger. They weren't the only ones to leave. Felicity and her family, along with Oswald and Ortensia already left to spend Christmas with their people.

"Have a great time." Riku smiled, looking directly at Roxas and Xion. "And you two, enjoy your first Christmas."

"We will."

The two waved before going into the hanger with Mickey.

Minnie sighed. "Now, let's get ready for supper, so we can all get to bed early. We don't want to make Santa Claus wait to bring us presents."

"Santa Claus?"

"Who is that?"

"Axel! Isa! Have you told them nothing!?"

"There's a lot to tell!"

Ven hopped over to them. "We'll explain everything! Come on!"

"Ok!"

The next morning...

"Wake up!"

Xion blinked as she heard pounding on the suite door. Sitting up, she saw Aqua going to the door and opening it.

Ven's voice came through. "Come to the throne room! Quick! You've got to see this!"

"We'll be right down."

Xion got up as Aqua handed her a beautiful Christmas dress. "This is going to be a fun day."

"Yeah."

Going downstairs, they saw the giant tree... piled HIGH with presents.

Everyone else stood around.

"Isa, Terra," Axel called out, "we better sort these."

"No kidding."

Xion stared at the present pile.

"Are those for all of us?"

"I think so."

After about half an hour of sorting, everyone sat on the floor, presents piled around them.

Roxas looked at his pile. He had one from Terra, Aqua, and Ven. One from Xion, one from Axel, one from Isa. There was also about 5 from this Santa person.

Xion, and everyone else seemed to have a similar amount.

"Listen to this." Terra held up a note written on gold-leaf paper. "Dear friends, Some of you have missed so many Christmases due to circumstances, and two of you have never had one before, so I added a few extra gifts to make up for it. Merry Christmas. -Santa."

Ven bounced in his seat. "Santa gave us extra!"

"Well, let's open them!"

The sound of paper tearing filled the room as everyone ripped into their gifts.

Isa opened the one from Xion first. He smiled at a framed picture of them at Xion's play; him giving her a hug. Opening the rest, Roxas got him half of a series of books from a series he'd been planning to read, and Axel got him the rest of the series. From Terra, Aqua, and Ven he found a Wayfinder.

Actually, everyone received a Wayfinder from them.

His was a silver-blue metal with a yellow-white coloring to the stained glass that filled the stars.

And from Santa... he got some violin music books, a new briefcase for work, a new cookbook, and two snow globes(5). One looked like Radiant Garden; as he shook it and the snow fell, he gasped as magical images of himself and his parents appeared. The other looked like Twilight Town, and when he shook it, he saw recent memories of the last few months with Axel, Xion, and Roxas.

Axel opened his gifts to find a sketchbook from Xion, a set of drawing pencils from Isa, and a new notebook to hold his film ideas from Roxas. The wayfinder he got was a bright silver metal, with the stained glass colored a gradient of yellow, orange, and red. From Santa, he received a new scarf, just like the one he had as a kid, a new set of books from a series he'd grown to like, a new frisbee set, and two snow globes. Like Isa's, one showed him and his parents, and the other showed recent memories, but his also showed happy memories with Roxas and Xion during the Organization.

Xion received a large stuffed dog from Isa, and a stuffed fox toy from Axel, which she immediately set in her lap. Roxas gave her a bouquet of paper flowers, and when she looked at him, he blushed a little. The wayfinder she received was a darker metal outside with a gentle gradient of soft yellow to a pink, like a thalassa shell she once had. From Santa, she received a new set of baking tools, a cook book, a new dress, a stuffed owl toy, and her own snow globe. This one showed all the happy memories of her entire life.

Roxas opened his presents to find a new skateboard from Isa, a new scrapbooking set from Axel, and a painting of the Twilight Town sunset, with the silhouette of two people holding hands, from Xion. His wayfinder was a white metal with red stained glass, shimmering with flecks of silver. From Santa, he got a new set of struggle bats, a tripod for his camera, two new lens attachments for his camera: one for long distance and the other for better sky photos, and his own snow globe of his happy memories.

The four sat, holding their gifts.

Hearts warmed with joy and happiness.

A day they'd all remember for the rest of their lives.

And the joy it brought.

And the joy carried all the way to the castle feast that night.

And the trip home the next day.

Back to their normal lives, with their hearts full.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Footnotes:

(1) The chicken is Newton Gearloose and the bear is Kit from "Talespin".

(2) The bear is Molly from "Talespin".

(3) Xehanort is being played by Doofus Drake from the 2017 "Ducktales".

(4) The one playing Terra is an unseen and only named character. It is Clara Cluck's son, Clifford.

(5) I got this idea from FadedPhantom's Christmas story.