AN: Hi all, I woke up this morning from a wonderful dream and I simply had to write it all down. It's not proof-read, so there migth be mistakes here and there.
This chapter is a Christmas SPECIAL. It doesn't technically fit into this story in a timely manner. It's summer time in Forks at this point in the story and I don't even know if the context will still fit in half a year - it's just a little Christmas gift for you.
Also, it's technically a quadruple crossover of Twilight x StarWars x My little Pony x Dicken's Chirstmas Carol.
I highly recommend playing the songs of "A Heart's Warming Tail" as you read this story.
If you want to make a me a Christmas present, leave a review!
XxX
It was Christmas Eve in Forks. Everyone was putting up colourful lights on their houses, a big tree had been set up in the middle of the marketplace and groups of people of all ages were going around singing carols.
It looked similar in the Cullen house. Esme had bought a tree so tall it went over two stories, the top nearly touching the chandelier and Alice was dancing around it with a wide grin, removing and adding the decorations for the third time just because it was so much fun.
Leia had stayed overnight, as she often did these days and was only now sleepily coming down, woken by the scent of hot chocolate that Edward was preparing for her in the kitchen.
"Good morning, sunshine", he greeted her with a wide smile on this snowy 24th of December. "Are you ready for your very first Christmas together?"
"Ehh", Leia made dismissively. "I think I might just skip it."
"WHAT!?" Alice dropped a shiny red ball as her eyes glazed over with a vision of Leia staying in her room all day, reading books and practising her Force powers. Everyone else also stopped to stare at her aghast. Edward couldn't get his mouth to close, Esme who'd been in the middle of putting another batch of cookies into the oven nearly dropped the tablet and from over in the living room where Rose and Emmet sat, the two vampires also made shocked noises.
Leia shrugged. "I just always thought that Christmas was overrated. It's just a day dedicated to presents and candy, isn't it?" Mournfully she thought back to her own universe. They had a Christmas equivalent there called Life day and it had always only ever been a busy day of organization and smiling for the camera for her.
"Well yes, but why would you deny yourself presents and candy!?" Alice exclaimed. "That's crazy talk!"
"I think, what Alice meant to say was that Christmas is about more than presents and candy", Edward said.
"I know, I know. It's a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who was a really nice person, whatever. I heard the story", Leia made. She obviously didn't follow the religion made up by the author of Twilight. Life day was a religious holiday for the Wookies on Kashyyyk actually but it was so famous and beloved that many other worlds also held it in a smaller manner. Leia just never got the appeal of it.
"No, Christmas is more than even that", Edward said seriously. "Almost every culture on Earth has some version of it, some celebration in winter around the time of winter solstice. A celebration of love, family and friends during the time of year when the nights are the longest – when we are half way out of the dark." Edward smiled and took her hand. "I think you just haven't heard the right Christmas story yet. Come, I know just the one for you."
Edward collected a breakfast of cookies and cocoa for her. Alice had that mad glimmer in her eyes as she foresaw which story Edward was going to select and insisted on listening too.
Together the three of them sat down in front of the fireplace and Edward brought with him a book from Carlisle' study.
"This is a short story that Esme wrote herself, shortly after she was first turned", Edward explained. "We shared it with our friends in Denali and even some other vampires who came to visit and everyone loved it so much, it's now circling around and becoming something of a traditional vampire tale to read during Christmas time. It's a children's tale, and adaptation of a human story – she was mourning her loss at the time. It's called 'A Christmas tale'."
XxX
Once upon a time, there was a vampire called Victor Frost, who hated Christmas. He was part of a coven of five and among his brothers and sisters, he was the only one without a supernatural gift. However, he couldn't accept his lack of talent. Day in and day out he would try out different things to find out where he might be gifted. He would spend hours in meditation, read stacks of old tomes to get ideas and always got into fights with other vampires, looking for that one thing that made him special.
On the Christmas Eve when our story began, Victor Frost was pouring over a bunch of old occult books, researching the origin of vampirism and their supernatural power. One of his coven sisters, called Winter Blossom, had agreed to help him out with his work. It was then that a group of carol singers were passing in front of his window. The loud noise interrupted Frost's concentration. He snapped the book shut, went over to the window and called out for the singers to stop making such a noise.
"These annoying humans with their useless Christmas cheer", Frost cursed. "Don't they have anything better to do with their time!?"
"Oh yeah, gods forbid anyone actually has fun on Christmas", Blossom made with an eyeroll. She sighed deeply as she was working on sorting Frost's book collection alphabetically.
"Christmas is a useless holiday!" Frost cursed. "It's just an excuse for everyone to be lazy!"
"It's not useless!" Blossom protested. "It's the one day of the year go out to mingle with humans peacefully, without hunting them. Where we connect with the humanity we lost! You should try it too, Victor!"
"Pah!" Frost made. "I don't have time for useless mortals or songs. I need to find my talent so I can make our coven stronger and make sure we can live in peace. But hey, if you want to leave early despite all the work still waiting for you-"
"Yes!" Blossom made and clapped her hands. "The others are having a Christmas party over at the old villa. I'll go and join them – you come to us too when you're done, will you?"
Frost just rolled his eyes as Blossom skipped out of the study.
"Christmas. Such humbug!" he cursed and returned to his books. It was then that he found in one of his tomes a spell described. His eyes lit up. This was just what he needed!
It was an occult ritual to completely erase a day from the calendar and the memories of everyone. Any normal human wouldn't have thought twice about such fantasies – but Victor Frost knew that magic was real and who knew, maybe this was where his talent laid?
So he started to draw a circle with chalk on the floor of his study. He went out into town and connected his ingredients – a mistletoe here, a candy cane there, a holy wreath here – items to symbolize the day he wanted to erase. He dumped them all into a cauldron and started to chant his spell.
Happy Christmas, they say in the street
Happy Christmas, they think they're so sweet
Words said so often that they lack any meaning
Why should I join in when I could be intervening?
Everybody loves this cursed holiday
But would they be better off with it out of the way?
Well, okay
Say goodbye to the holiday
With this magic, I'll erase it
The greatest gift that I give today
And everybody will have to face it
No more little games for you to play
After you say goodbye to the holiday
Goodbye, Christmas, you had a good run
Goodbye, Christmas, it's over, you're done
Finally set free from your forced celebrations
No need to reply to your trite invitations
Calendar shorter by a single day
Is my magic up to the test?
Time to see, I can't delay
Say goodbye to the holiday
Prepare the spell, no hesitation
All memory shall fade away
See this town's new transformation
No more shall anybody say
Happy Christmas...
...after today! After today...
XxX
"Wait a moment, Victor Frost doesn't like Christmas so he casts a spell to erase it? That seems a little extreme", Leia said skeptically.
"Says the girl that caused a tornado because she got upset over a Star Wars movie", Alice muttered.
Edward clamped a hand over his sister's mouth. "What Alice meant to say is that everbody has their reason for doing this, even Frost. Nobody really knows where vampirism comes from but for the entirety of the Dark Ages, everyone was pretty much convinced it had something to do with black magic. It's actually not unusual for vampires to turn to the occult to try and find or refine their gifts. Frost doesn't know which gift he has so he didn't really expect this to work, he was just letting off some steam."
"Read on then, it's getting to the exciting part!" Alice said and grinned.
XxX
Shortly after Victor Frost finished his spell, suddenly there was a pale face emerging from his cauldron. It belonged to a small child, as beautiful as a vampire, with shoulder-length hair and big eyes. However this child was entirely translucent. It wasn't a vampire – it was a ghost.
"Who are you?" Frost asked surprised.
"I'm the ghost of Christmas past", the child said.
"A ghost?" He furrowed his brow. "I didn't cast any ghost summoning spell. I wanted to get rid of Christmas!"
"Ah, but you didn't think that a spell like that would get unnoticed by some powerful forces, did you? You've gotten our attention."
"Our?" Frost repeated.
The child waved his words away. "They'll be over in a bit. For now, it's just you and me. We're going to take a trip to the past."
Frost took a step back. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"Oh, but you will. I have a Christmas lesson to teach you", the ghost said and came floating towards him.
"I know all about Christmas", Frost scoffed. "It's useless and only distracts everyone from what's really important!"
"Ah, but we're not going to the past to learn about the holiday. We're going to the past to learn about you", the ghost made and put one shimmering hand on his shoulder.
The world around them faded in a shimmer of light. Frost felt himself grow weightless and lifted up and before long they were flying over the town. The child began to sing:
As a young thing,
life sure is something
You go making choices large and small
Always growing like a seedling
And playing is like dreaming
And before you know it, big and tall
And every little bitty choice you make
Sends you down a path to who you are today
So let's take a little trip down memory lane
And see just what the past has to say
They landed in a snowy winter night, two hundred years ago, where Victor Frost and his maker, a tall, grouchy man dressed in all black, were walking down a street. The Frost at his side looked about the same age as the vampire in the future but his entire demeanor was different. He had only just been made, only woken from his agonizing turning a few weeks ago and this was his first time as a newborn venturing out among the mortals again. His eyes were wide and amazed as he took in all the sights and sounds of Christmas, so enhanced now with his new senses. His was a look of wonder and delight. "Aw, look how happy you are", the child teased the older Frost as they watched a younger version join in with some carol singers. "Looks like you're not too mad it's Christmas either." "As a human, I used to love Christmas", Frost admitted quietly. "I used to have a family, a wife, children… But all of that was taken from me." That very first Christmas was a glimmer of hope after all the pain of the transformation and my first kills…"
The seeds of the past
They grow pretty fast
Just look at who you were back then
The seeds, as they grow
Look what they can show
Reveal the truth time and again
"What are you doing!?" Frost's maker snapped at his spawn as he roughly pulled the younger Frost with him. "You can't mingle among humans! They are your prey now, nothing but cattle, food! We are here to hunt, not to make merry!"
"But it's Christmas", young Frost protested. "I can't go around killing anyone on Christmas. That would be wrong!"
"You are a vampire, a creature of the night! You are above such silly things as mortal holidays", his maker scolded him. "All you have to concentrate on now his learn to embrace your dark gift and find out what makes you special. These humans are careless and oblivious. Christmas is only good for one thing, hunting! It will be easy to get a meal out of them."
With those words his maker stalked off. He went over to two ladies talking in the street. With a silky voice he invited them to 'taste test some experimental eggnog'. Enchanted by his vampiric beauty, the humans followed him into a dark alley.
The older Frost and the ghost of Christmas past could watch as the elder vampire drained one of the women while the younger Frost held the mouth of the other shut to prevent her from screaming. The younger Frost looked miserable.
"Drink", his maker commanded. "It is in your nature."
"But… I don't want to… Not tonight", the younger Frost protested.
His maker scoffed and cursed him for his soft heart, then snapped the neck of the other woman himself.
"You will never unlock your full potential if you remain this soft", his scolded the newborn and pushed the corpse at him. The young Frost caught it. The sadness in his eyes was replaced by bitterness. No trace was left of his festive awe as he reluctantly bit into the neck of the woman – she was dead already and though he hated that it was so, he was still a new born and thirsty and could not let her blood go to waste.
Then some distress, words so careless
Standing there, you don't know what to do
Feeling helpless, you can't make it hurt less
So you go and change your point of view
And in that moment, though you didn't know it
Your defenses set up walls you built to last
Leading to the person you've become today
And the spell you're about to cast
It all comes from your past
"I could show you two hundred Christmas past of yours", the ghost said quietly. "You scoff at your coven mates' ideals of mingling with mortals on this day… But you have never, ever in your long life killed as single human during Christmas."
"My maker was only interested in talented vampires", Frost remembered mournfully. "He made me and he taught me but whatever I did it was never enough. Eventually he abandoned me because I wasn't useful enough for him. Friendship, true bonds… he thought those things were useless. I suppose I learned that from him. I've been a member of seven covens since then but I would always eventually get chased out because I'm just a normal vampire with no talent… What am I supposed to do, ghost? I fear that I will never find my place in this world!" He turned around but the ghost was gone. He was back in his study.
"Ghost? Where are you?" He called out and turned in a circle. Then he gaped – there where his cauldron used to stand, there was instead a giant box wrapped in red paper with a big green bow on top. The box began to shake and then suddenly exploded in confetti. Out jumped a vampire ghost, his form translucent. This one was an adult man, old and rotund and bearded and though he too possessed a certain elegance common for vampires, Frost was eerily reminded of a certain Christmas legend.
"Hello my friend!" The ghost called out and gave him one icy hug. "I am the ghost of Christmas presents!"
"Err, don't you mean the ghost of Christmas present?" Frost asked.
"No! I mean the ghost of Christmas presents!" The ghost stuck a hand in the remainder of the box and pulled out a series of items. "Here you go! Have a scarf, a hat, a pair of gloves! Have a cupcake, a candle, some incense!"
"What are you doing, buffoon!" Frost cursed. "I am a vampire! I have no need for such useless things. I don't get cold and what the hell am I supposed to do with a cupcake!?"
The ghost laughed and shook his finger at him. "Ah, but that is the beauty of Christmas for a vampire, my friend! The greatest joy does not lie in receiving gifts but in giving them! You have no need for money or food or clothing – so you can give it all away! Truly, Christmas is the most joyous for the undead." He winked at him and slung a colorful scarf around his neck.
"Wait, no-" Frost protested but the ghost was already yanking him forward with the scarf – and off they floated into the streets of town.
Take a look at everything around you
All the smells that surely will astound you
Open up your heart, it will surround you
In the magic of Christmas Eve
The little things that make it better
Little children spreading cheer
Give a toy, a hug, a sweater
Memories that last all year
The present's always filled with presents
Large, medium, and small
Sometimes the most important things
Aren't very big at all
They arrived at the villa the majority of Frost's coven was using as a hideout. They never stayed in one place for long but in this night, the villa was decorated for Christmas and his mates had invited mortals to come in and celebrate with them. They'd taken in the homeless from the street as well as any random passerby and thanks to their charm and beauty, almost no body would deny their invitation. Frost remembered similar parties held by his maker but where he had used this as an opportunity to feast on the visitors, the mates of his coven now were just... having fun.
What a party, there's so much to see here
Can't believe you didn't want to be here
You'd have had a blast, I guarantee here
This is the spirit of Christmas Eve
Cider's flowing, this is living
Come on and feel the beat
Life is better when you're giving
Each time you do it feels so sweet
The present's always filled with presents
So come on, open your eyes
Spend time with people just like you
And watch your spirits rise
The present's always filled with presents
Take a look around
The reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found
Yes, the reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found
And the reason is to be with your friends!
The ghost and Frost landed in front of the window of the villa, gazing inside. It was that time of the day where everyone was exchanging presents. His coven mates all had presents for each other and he watched Winter Blossom unpack a pair of beautiful leather gloves gifted to her by one of her vampire friends.
"Oh, this is so nice! Thank you so much!" She gushed and pulled them on.
"Why does she look so happy about such a useless gift?" Frost wondered.
The ghost of Christmas presents laughed. "For your friends, Christmas is about mingling with humans and connecting with them. That means fitting in. It would draw notice if anyone was about in this weather without proper clothing, wouldn't it?" The ghost put an icy hand on Frost's shoulder. "But it's not just that. It's not important what a gift is but what the gift means."
"Gifts don't mean anything. It's just stuff", Frost muttered stubbornly. "We move around all the time and have to leave it behind anyway."
The ghost shook his head. "No, my friend. Every gift has a meaning. Sometimes a cupcake means "I love you!" Or a toy means "Hi, how're you doing?" Sometimes a book means "Your hair looks amazing!" And sometimes a scarf means... Well, a scarf usually means you look cold. That one's easy."
XxX
"Do you guys actually still make Christmas presents for each other?" Leia asked curiously.
"Of course we do!" Alice exclaimed. "We all stop buying things for ourselves a month beforehand and then make a list of things we want to have and share it with each other."
"So everybody knows what they're going to get and even if they don't get it, you all have the money to buy it yourselves… That seems kinda pointless", Leia made.
"It's like the ghost said", Edward explained. "It's not what the gift is. Whether it's useful or not, whether you could've gotten it yourself or not, that's not important. It's about sitting around the tree and unwrapping presents together. It's a beautiful tradition."
"Esme even goes and bakes a bunch of stuff and makes eggnog and whatnot and then takes it to church and donates it all", Alice added. "We might not be able to enjoy Christmas the same way humans do but we still have fun with the atmosphere.
"I see", Leia made thoughtfully. "So what happens next in the story?"
XxX
"Winter!" another one of Frost's coven mates called out to the female vampire.
"Merry!" Winter Blossom greeted her back.
"How are you doing? You look a bit down."
"Oh, it's just Victor", Winter replied sadly. "He said Christmas is useless and an excuse for people to be lazy."
Merry scoffed. "Oh that's ridiculous! He should come join us in our party."
"I know, I told him that too!" Winter said. "But he insisted he needed to find his talent so he could make the coven stronger and make sure we could live happily in peace or whatever."
Merry laughed. "What does he think living happily in peace looks like?" She motioned around the party. "I think we have all of that right here. Our coven is plenty strong without any more talent. If all Victor has a gift for is spreading misery and ruining people's fun, we don't need him!"
"I guess you're right", Winter muttered. "I just feel sad for him sometimes. I just desperately wants to have a gift, I hoped if I could help him find one he'd be happier."
"That is very noble of you", Merry said. "But you shouldn't do that at the price of your own happiness. Don't let him ruin your Christmas, sweetie." Merry gave her a hug and Winter smiled, a bit consoled.
Outside the window, Victor winced. He'd had no idea that in his attempt to be of use to his coven mates, he was only pushing them further and further away.
"Thank you, Merry.", Winter said. "And you're right of course. I think our coven is the happiest on Christmas Eve!"
"Aww, I think so too", the ghost of Christmas presents cooed. "Too bad it's going to be the last one ever… ever… ever…" His voice faded away in an echo as the scenery blackened.
Victor Frost whirled around confused.
"What do you mean? Ghost? What's going to happen?" he asked worried.
Snow whirled around his feet and rose with a strong wind. All the lights in town went out and darkness swallowed up even the stars.
Suddenly Victor was standing in a white snowy field. Dead trees popped up all around him and between them… a group of headstones.
A shadow rose before him then, dark and imposing. Unlike the other ghosts, this one was not translucent but black as night. Even so, Frost's vampiric eyes could make out some features in the dark visage and he gasped – he stood before his maker.
"Are you who I think you are?" he asked fearfully.
"I am the ghost of Christmas future", the dark spirit said with a loud, booming voice.
"A-And you're here to show me what future Christmas Eve's are like?" he stuttered fearfully.
"No", the spirit wearing the face of his maker said, "for there are no more Christmas Eve's for me to show you."
"I don't understand", Frost said. "What do you mean?"
The spirit smiled maliciously. "Congratulations, my child. You have succeeded in finding your special talent. You will succeed in erasing the holiday as you wished."
"And then what will happen?" he asked fearfully.
The spirit held out his hands and snow swirled between them forming faces and figures he knew all too well.
I see a cold wind blowing through
I see days neither fun nor free
I see a future caused by you
I see a path not meant to be
The future should be filled with magic
Dreams and wishes brought to life
But the days ahead are dark and tragic
No time for hope when all is strife
Whatever might have been
All the dreams that people share
Because of you, Victor Frost
Now the future is a cold nightmare
The snowy figures danced in the spirits hands, illustrating the story the spirits told.
"After you have cast your spell, no human nor vampire on the whole world will remember Christmas. Nobody will remember the name of Jesus Christ or any of his deeds. The churches will crumble and his religion be forgotten. But that's not all for you attacked the spirit of Christmas itself, which means much more to a lot of people. It is the end of one year and the start of the next. It is the light at the end of the tunnel, the hope in dark times. Without it, people will fall into despair. They will enjoy no reprieve from their hatred for each other and generosity will be foreign to them. For vampires especially, this means that no more than two who found each other via love or making another will be able to stand each other's presence.
Your coven will fall apart. Its members will turn on each other and they will use their gifts to destroy each other. Look…" He pointed one shadowy hand towards the tombstones.
Victor Frost was afraid. If the bonds of vampire coven fell apart, if it was everyone on their own, he could surely not survive in such a world without a talent. But as he wiped the snow away from the tombstones, one after another, he did not read his own name. Instead he found that of Winter Blossom and Merry Dasher and Carol and Christian, all of his coven mates, dead.
"They all die?" Frost asked brokenly. "But they're so strong!"
"They all died by each other's hands", the spirit foretold darkly. "For their greatest strength never laid in their talents but in the bonds they had to each other. You destroyed those bonds and with them, you destroyed your friends! You will become nothing more than a wretches creature feasting on humans, entirely devoid of any humanity yourself as you erase not just Christmas. You will grow jealous of everyone who has what you do not. You will erase Easter and Valentine's day and every other holiday that brings people joy just so that they may suffer the way you do!"
"But I never wanted this", Frost protested. "I just wanted to be of use! I just wanted to find my place in this world!" He sunk to his knees in the snow, crying out in despair. "Please spirit, I didn't understand! I didn't know how important Christmas is! Please spirit, tell me if this is a future bound to happen or just a possible future! I haven't cast the spell yet, have I? Please tell me there's still time!"
A particularly strong gust of wind drove some snow into Frost's face. As he blinked it away, suddenly he found himself kneeling on the carpet in his study again. Confused he looked around. The chalk circle was uninterrupted by any large present box and the cauldron with the ingredients still stood at the same place.
No time at all had passed. It was still Christmas Eve.
Victor Frost lost no time. He grabbed a bunch of random items from his study and wrapped them up then hurried to the villa. Immense relief filled him as he stormed into the ongoing party.
"Frost!" Merry and Winter greeted him surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Forgive me, my friends!" Frost plead with them. "I said so many harsh words earlier. You were right and I was wrong. I'm here to celebrate Christmas with you." He offered his amateurishly packed up gifts. "I brought presents?" He smiled hopefully.
Winter grabbed a present and unwrapped it curiously.
"'The dark rites of the Walpurgis night'?" She read the title of the book she held in her hands.
"Err, I was in a hurry", he admitted. "I'll do better next year, promise."
"Hah, are you kidding? This is pretty cool" Winter said and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Victor!"
And from then on, it was said that Victor Frost held Christmas the whole year and was the jolliest out of his whole coven. Christmas time remained a time of no hunting for them and he never used his special talent again.
The end.
XxX
"Oh, oh, oh", Alice made, "that's not the end, you forgot the last song. Come on, sing along!" she made. Edward smiled as his sister slung one arm around his shoulder and the other around Leia and they sung together:
Christmas Eve is filled with presents
Some take you by surprise
A story shared by your good friends
That makes your spirits rise
Sometimes you just let go of the past
Enjoy the present while it lasts
And really it's not that much to ask
With good friends by your side
"Well, that's it", Edward said and shut the book. "Thanks for listening to the story. I think I'll go and play a few Christmas songs on the piano now." He stood and held out his hand for Leia to take. "I could use some company, if you'd like?"
Leia smiled, touched by the story. She thought about all the online Jedi courses still waiting to be finished and her vague plans of asking one of the Quileute wolves, who didn't celebrate Christmas as grand, to train with her. But maybe Edward was right. She could use a break form practice and preparation.
"I would love to. Maybe you can teach me the lyrics to a song or two", she said and took his hand.
XxX
AN:
This December has been absolute shite for me. My beloved cat was diagnosed with cancer and wasted away within weeks until finally we had to put her to sleep just last week. Then there was also a minor family argument going on on top of that. Christmas cheer was hard to come by.
However, spending time with my family and friends, watching Christmas movies (especially My little pony and Doctor Who specials) is helping to heal my soul. I'm in a giving mood and decided to look at little things I have that I don't need anymore that I can give away to people for free. One of my hobbies is knitting scarfs and I was meaning to sell them online. I don't care about the money, I just enjoy knitting but I wanted to at least finance the hobby as the material's aren't cheap. Instead today I decided I'll just take all the scarfs I haven't sold yet and I'll gift every one of my colleagues at work one. I'm at an age where some people stop giving presents for Christmas and birthdays all together. If my friends or family need something, they'll just buy it. Sometimes it feels so pointless with everyone just exchanging gift cards.
But today I remembered that Christmas isn't about getting presents, it's about generosity and giving to others. Be it a special gift, a picture frame, a box of cookies or even just your time. It's the gesture that counts.
Whatever you do every Christmas - I encourage you to do just a little bit more this year. Maybe give a gift to someone you wouldn't usually give one to, maybe send a card to a relative you aren't on the best terms with, give some coins to the beggar at the corner and give an extra well wishing to that baker you get your bread from.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all.