Heero and Duo are still stuck in
Santa's
AN: Personally, I'd like to obsess over this chapter a
little more. But I still have one more to go. Thanks for
reading! Love, Rose
Santa Baby
by
the Black Rose
Chapter 2
Heero opened the curtain to face a mob. A screaming, throbbing, swirling mob. He fought the
urge to rub a hand over his face, seeing as it could dislodge the spirit gum
holding on his white eyebrows, and streak his 'rosy' cheeks.
"This sucks," his ever-cheerful elf muttered behind him.
"Go collect Christmas lists like you're supposed to."
"Yeah yeah."
Duo trudged off in the direction of the front of the line.
Heero quickly
counted heads. It looked like there were about twenty-four kids in
line. He needed to keep each visit as brief as possible. It was
when he said too much that the kids got nasty, kicked his shin, or tried to use
his beard as toilet paper.
Two hours later...
The line was empty again. Heero sat back and
breathed a sigh of relief. It was
Duo continued sorting through the lists. "No. Nothing."
Santa closed his eyes. This was nightmarish. Actually, he didn't
think he had nightmares this bad. At least not in a
long, long time.
He clamped his eyes shut tighter at the sound of footsteps. Many footsteps. Like a crowd moving together.
And a voice, calling out in a loud tone that echoed off the tile all around
them.
"We're here. I need you to line up single file. It's okay if
you're not first, because Santa won't leave until he's heard everyone's wish,
ok?" She sounded patient, far more patient than he was capable of at
this point, and kind. Very kind. He peeked
through his eyelashes.
Heero's eyes opened wide when he saw her. At
first, he thought he was hallucinating. He blinked, shot a look over at
Duo, who with one glance, confirmed he was not. A familiar woman with
long, blond hair - one he would have known anywhere - stood in the center of a
gaggle of kids. Munchkins of all sizes, shapes, and color, crowded around
her, none of them rising higher than her waist. A couple of guards stood
by the door. Heero could pick them out by their
dark suits. And accompanying the foreign minister on this trip were a woman
with a microphone, a guy with a camera, and another, taller man wearing a suit
- who seemed to need to lean down every so often and whisper something in Relena's ear. The children, for their part, seemed to
be listening to their 'guardian', and had started to form a line.
The tall man left the foreign minister and jogged over to Santa's cave.
As he approached, his features became clearer, and Heero
realized it was someone he didn't recognize. Which meant it wasn't 'him'.
"Hi. We called and spoke
with the manager, earlier."
"Who are you."
The tall man smiled and held out a hand to St. Nick. "I'm John Parker, I work for Ms. Darlian's
office. I'm her publicist."
"I see." Heero regarded the hand a moment
before shaking.
"Ms. Darlian, Relena,
every year, she takes war orphans to visit Santa as one of her causes. We
called earlier and the manager said it wouldn't be a problem. We have
forty kids, though, and I know you close in two hours. Ms. Darlian personally requested that you stay long enough for
all of the children to see and get their picture taken with Santa."
The muscles around his eyes tightened, and Heero
realized the guy was really afraid Santa would say no.
He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine."
"We have a reporter accompanying us this time. Apparently, they
found out... Relena doesn't really like the
idea, but she thought it might raise awareness."
He frowned. "Spit it out."
"Well, we know you have your own photographer, and we wouldn't dream of
getting in your way. But if you would allow them to shoot some footage of
you with the children..."
Heero fought the urge bang his head against the back
of Santa's throne. "Fine." Forty more kids. The things he did for her. He
opened his eyes so he could at least see...
"I'll need you to sign this release."
Heero dragged his Relena
and returned his focus to Mr. Parker - who was currently holding a pen and
sheet of paper in Santa's direction. "What's the release for?"
"Just that you agree to let us use your image on the
news story, etc. etc." He was wearing that tight expression
again. The man was far too apologetic.
"Who gets the release?"
"The reporter. For the
station."
Heero took a deep breath and nodded. He penned
his name on the form in a rush. Mr. Parker smiled, shook Santa's hand and
thanked him. "You really have no idea how much this means to the kids
and to Ms. Darlian."
The Preventer closed his eyes again and rubbed his
right temple with his hand. 'Yes. Yes I do.'
She was wearing a red sweater that seemed to brighten her hair and her eyes
when she waltzed into the room. How was it that she always managed to
look like she was floating on air?
"Heero,
why don't you go with me this year?" She placed both palms on his
forearms.
"No."
He could see it: the pain he caused. So plainly written
on her face. A brief sense of satisfaction flit
through him, only to be replaced by guilt.
"But Heero, certainly you can relate to
them. They lost their parents in the war."
"I fought in the war. How does that equate with relating to
them?" He pulled out of her loose embrace and turned away.
"Heero, you could be a role model to these
kids. They need people to look up to, someone to spend time with them.
You have no idea how much it means to them just to spend a little time with
someone, relating to them, talking to them. They're so eager to--"
He glanced back, over his shoulder. "I already told you no."
"I'm sorry. I won't ask again."
"My name is Kerridan." A little girl with
dark brown hair said while tugging on the front of his pants' leg. She held a
raggedy looking doll in her other hand.
Heero nodded. "I'm...Santa."
She grinned with missing teeth. "I know you're Santa."
He picked her up off the floor and settled her in his lap. The
photographer snapped the picture.
"What would you like for Christmas?"
She hugged the doll. "I want a mommy."
Heero blinked. "I don't know where your
mommy is. Isn't there a toy or something you'd like me to bring you from
my workshop?" He glanced out of the side of his eye; there was the
cameraman, with his camera right on them, and the reporter nearby. It
felt hotter in Santa's cave than it had all day.
"My mommy is in heaven."
Heero sucked in a breath and tried to keep his grip
on the little girl. He didn't know if he could handle this. Bring
back Christopher and his shin splintering, or Timmy and his leaky diaper.
"I see." Just when he thought he had this whole 'Santa' thing
down.
"But I want a new mommy. One like Miss...Miss Rewena."
"Okay." He looked up, asking for help from somewhere, anywhere.
And found it in blue eyes he hadn't seen up close in years.
"Oh, Kerridan, sweety. You're supposed to tell Santa what you
want for Christmas." Relena bent down and picked
the girl up in her arms. Kerridan clung to her
neck.
"But thass what I want for Chrismus."
Relena continued to hug her tight as she carried her
towards the exit of the enchanted cave. "But honey, Santa can't
bring you that."
"Why not?"
"Because that's not what Santa's do. They bring toys and clothes and
shoes and things that growing boys and girls need."
Santa never felt so useless in his life. He got the strange feeling that
the assembled adults in the 'audience' were glaring at him. Heero glanced down; another child was inching his way
towards the supposed owner of the cave.
"Tell me your name."
The little boy shook his head.
"You don't want to sit on my lap."
The little boy again, shook his head.
Heero groaned inwardly. "What do you want
for Christmas?"
The boy took a step towards him, then another. He stopped when he was
just in front of the arm of Santa's chair, and motioned Heero
closer.
Santa leaned down to let the little boy whisper in his ear.
"I want some baseball shoes."
Heero nodded. "Okay. What
else?"
The little boy stepped forward to whisper again. "A
baseball glove."
"So you want baseball equipment."
The little boy shook his head. "I want to play on a baseball
team. But I need someone to teach me to play."
They
need people to look up to, someone to spend time with them.
Why did those words suddenly feel like a knife in his heart? He shoved
the feeling aside. "Okay. So, no
picture?" He reached towards the boy to pick him up. The kid
backed away and ran towards the exit.
Heero stared at
the line and wondered how he was going to make it through this. At least
with the brats from earlier, he could tell them to be good and maybe Santa
would bring them those insipid toys. But what do you say to a child asking for
a new mommy, or someone to teach them how to play baseball? Somehow, he
didn't think he could lie to them. They believed he was Santa Claus, and
if he said he'd bring them something, and then they didn’t get it...
"It's okay." A soft voice said from behind him. Heero's shoulders tightened.
"I've already explained to them that
you just take their wishes back to the real Santa. That
you can't promise anything." She touched his arm. "But just hearing them out, spending time with them today,
that's enough."
Heero nodded and kept his head
turned away. He didn't know that she would recognize him in the costume,
but he didn't want to take that chance.
He waved the next child over. Kelly
wanted dance shoes. Heero could handle
that.
A little boy, Sean, and his brother, Tom
came up next. They wanted to go on a trip to Earth. They'd never
seen it before. Then Tom confided: "I think my mommy and daddy are
there."
Sean shushed his brother, and Heero tried to hold on to them for the picture to be taken.
It was a three hour emotional
beating. Some of the kids requested clothing, new shoes, a doll or some
sporting equipment. Some of them wanted families, to see relatives they
missed - to find their lost puppy. His heart bled for them all, and by
the time he'd seen the last one, he didn't know how anyone with less training
could have survived. He was sure he'd seen the reporter cry more than
once. Even now, Duo had tears in his eyes.
And Heero knew
they were all thinking he was the coldest Santa Claus in the universe.
"All right, Santa, Santa's little helper," the publicist began.
"We prefer to be called 'elves'. It's a little more pc," Duo
interrupted.
"Oh hey, we should get a shot of Ms. Darlian
telling Santa her Christmas wish," the reporter suggested. "For the piece."
Relena blushed, and Heero
would have protested, if he'd thought of it. She looked to her
publicist. John nodded at her and then rushed to take charge of the kids.
Santa remained frozen while Relena sat down in his
lap. "I know, this is silly," she said in a low voice.
"Closer. Look like you're telling him your Christmas list."
Relena turned to look up at him. He tried to
keep from flinching when she met his gaze. He hadn't seen her this close up in...far too
long.
"Santa, this year I wish..."
He knew what she would wish for before she said it. It was the same list
she gave every year.
"For peace to last another year between the Earth and
its Colonies. For mankind to improve in understanding.
I wish for another year without war, so that these children can grow up in a
world that only knows peace."
"That's great, Relena. Thank you so much
for letting us come with you today," the reporter said.
Relena's weight shifted so that she could stand up.
"What about your wish?" The
words tumbled from his lips before he could stop them.
"Pardon?"
"What do you wish for?"
The reporter and her cameraman were
no longer paying attention. They were packing up equipment, getting ready
to go. Duo was helping John corral the children,
and the photographer had hightailed it out of there - probably to go
home. They were alone.
"I don't have any wishes for myself."
He recognized his own words. But she didn't know what he had meant.
"Everyone does."
"Why won't you tell me what you wish for, Heero? Why won't you let me in?"
"I don't have any wishes for myself."
"I..." She looked down at her hands and folded them in her lap.
"You're a department store Santa."
"Everyone
has wishes. Everyone that has hope, has some wish--"
"I don't need your pity, Relena."
"I take wishes to the real one."
"Ok ok. I wish...I wish that someone I
care for..." She glanced up and stared into his eyes. "This is
silly." She moved to stand up.
"You'd insult Santa Claus?" He held on to her at her waist.
She sat back down and wrinkled her nose at him. "Okay, so, there's a
man I used to... I still care for him very much, but...."
"But?" Heero
swallowed against a lump in his throat. Did she mean--
"He left. Two years ago. I don't know where he is, but I'd
like to know. I just want to know that he's found someone."
He closed his eyes. "That's not something for yourself."
"You don't understand. He's stubborn. He gets so focused on
his work.... It's just not good for him to be alone. I-I worry about
him. I want him to be happy. I..."
His hands tightened on her waist despite himself. He opened his eyes and
met her gaze. "You love him."
She nodded her head turned away. "I always will."
Heero sucked in a breath. This couldn't be
happening. This couldn't be.... His hand came up to move her hair
so he could see her face, and then he remembered. She didn't
know... She didn't know it was him.
"Thank you for listening." Relena
stood up from his lap and turned to face him. He wanted to say a hundred,
maybe a thousand things, but all he could do was nod.
She left, and took the children with her. Santa's
The magic gone.