Author's Notes: Written for LoverofSilverHairedBishies for Christmas; you guys get it late by default. Sorries. I always wait a while and thenask permission before posting gift-fics. It's a policy of sorts. :)

As I was requested, I wrote an FFX fic revolving around Tidus and Auron and Christmas. It's my first attempt at this fandom, so please don't kill me if I destroyed, maimed, or otherwise disemboweled the characters. XD This takes place prior to the game.

Enjoy!

:EDIT: Thanks to Syncopative for pointing out that I forgot to specify Tidus' age in this; the game never says how old he was when his mother died, but for the sake of having a reference, I tried to write it with him being about 11 in my mind. :)

A Very Zanarkand Christmas

'It's bright.'

This was Tidus' first coherent thought upon waking up that cold morning.

He decided he must have slept in. 'The old codger's gonna be mad at me,' he thought in annoyance. That was, of course, assuming that "the old codger" made an appearance today (usually he was either out or kept to himself in "his" room), but Tidus was sure he would; the man always seemed to know it the second Tidus did something worth disapproving of. 'He's certainly more observant than my old man ever was,' the boy thought with a scowl.

Rubbing his eyes with one fist, and feeling sorely tempted to just go back to sleep and let Auron be irritated, Tidus clambered out of bed. He dressed hurriedly, racing the cold air that was trying to chill him to the bone. That accomplished, he opened the window shade…

…and promptly realized why it was so bright out.

"SNOW!" he hollered gleefully, bounding from the room and into the living area. Auron was nowhere in sight, and Tidus let out another whoop of joy. Dashing to the bay window, he looked out over the dark blue expanse of the ocean. The snow was still falling, and Tidus watched for a moment in rapt silence as the flakes merged with the sea. He opened his mouth to call for his mom to come watch with him…

…and closed it soundlessly when he remembered that she couldn't hear him.

For a few minutes, he sat on the window seat, sniffling quietly and wishing his mom was still around. He missed her. Then he started to get angry at his old man for leaving and letting his wife wither away. Just last year around this time, she'd been so tired that she barely had the energy to help Tidus decorate for Christmas. It had been hard doing it all by himself. And all the while, his mother would sigh wistfully and say things like, "If only Jecht were here…" that made Tidus want to holler the obscenities he'd heard his father use.

Shaking his head, Tidus had just gotten up and was turning around to mash the couch cushions in frustration when the front door banged open. As Tidus jumped half a foot in the air, Auron walked in as if he owned the place, snow blowing in behind him until he closed the door again.

The man's calm presence sparked another, newer anger in the blond. If he thought he could just barge in like that at any old time… well, Tidus had never agreed to such a thing.

Planting his hands on his hips as Auron finished stamping the snow off his boots, Tidus challenged him, "I don't know what my mom's rules were about letting you in here whenever you want, but I'M not buying your act, buddy; I—"

"Oh. You're awake," Auron said calmly. "Dressed, even."

Tidus' blood boiled.

"And don't tell me you've been crying already," Auron said, taking in his charge's red-rimmed eyes. "It's only noon! Jecht warned me about this…"

"You don't know anything!" Tidus shouted at him indignantly. "Not about me, or Mom, or anything!"

"Nevertheless," Auron cut in, unfazed, "I'm here to carry out a promise."

He had given Tidus this line many times before. The man's voice booked no room for argument.

Tidus argued anyway.

"You said before Mom died that you wouldn't know what to do. I'll tell you what you can do – you can get out of my house and go back to wherever it is you came from!"

Auron, used to these outbursts by now, ignored him and sat down on the couch. Tidus wanted to hurl a Blitzball at him.

"As I have said," Auron said thinly, "I made a promise to your father, and I intend to keep it. And seeing as you are still a child," he gave Tidus a pointed look over his sunglasses, "it would be rather poor conduct on my part to just leave you to live here alone, with or without the promise."

"You'd be doing me a favor if you left," Tidus said sullenly, sitting back down on the window seat.

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Auron took a swig from the large clay jug that he always carried around; it was strung on a worn piece of cord that seemed to be permanently attached to his belt, so far as Tidus could tell.

Though he had asked before, Tidus couldn't help himself.

"What IS that?"

Auron glanced at him.

"Something little kids shouldn't be asking questions about," he said dryly.

"It's beer," Tidus decided aloud. "Just what I need, a drunk old codger in my house."

"I am not going to get drunk," Auron said, glowering at him. "And I am not old."

"Are too."

Tidus grinned.

"AND you didn't deny it was beer. I win."

Auron just sighed. He went to take another swig of the liquid – that was definitely NOT beer – and Tidus snickered.

"You're such a good-natured child," Auron groused under his breath.

"I'll be nicer if you help me decorate the house," Tidus said quickly, an idea popping into his head. Auron was taller than he was; it'd be much easier to decorate this year if he enlisted the other's help. 'And then,' Tidus thought, 'maybe he'll go away.'

"Decorate?" Auron asked, sounding bewildered and a bit thrown-off by the sudden change in Tidus' demeanor.

"Yeah, for Christmas," Tidus said, hopping to his feet. When Auron said nothing, Tidus frowned. "You HAVE heard of Christmas, haven't you?"

Yevonites didn't celebrate Christmas, unbeknownst to Tidus.

"You HAVEN'T!" Tidus cried in shock and dismay when Auron failed to respond.

"What is it?" Auron asked the stricken boy.

"It's only the best holiday in the entire YEAR!" Tidus couldn't believe someone as old as Auron had never heard of Christmas. It was absurd!

"Where did you COME from!" he asked, not for the first time, in confusion.

As usual, Auron didn't answer him, instead taking a third swallow from the ceramic jar.

Tidus plunged into an explanation of his favorite holiday, putting lots of emphasis on the decorations, food, and gift-giving aspects of it.

"…Mom always used to sing while we decorated," he babbled on, waving his arms erratically.

Auron liked this idea less and less the longer Tidus went on about it.

"…and we made cookies, and…"

"Count me out."

Tidus jumped as Auron abruptly broke into his tirade.

"What! Why!"

"It sounds like a frivolous waste of time."

Tidus gawked at him. For once in his life, his mouth was open, but no sound would come out.

Auron sighed and got to his feet.

"Try to stay out of trouble," he said. "I'll be back in a few hours."

And then he was gone, back out into the snow.

The rest of that day – and several more after that – went by in a blur, as far as Tidus was concerned. He felt numb. All the nice memories he had with his mother seemed like they'd been crushed out of him by Auron's words.

"It sounds like a frivolous waste of time."

'Maybe it was," Tidus thought miserably. Maybe he HAD wasted the time – little as it was – that he'd spent with his mother during the brief periods when her entire being wasn't focused on Jecht. 'But it was OUR time,' he protested mentally.

He decided then that he didn't care what Auron thought – he would have Christmas all by himself if he had to. It was the least he could do for his mother's memory.

He got up from the window seat – he'd been moping and watching the snow again – and headed for the basement door. He opened it and reached for the light switch. He flipped it up.

Nothing happened.

He flipped it down.

Nothing happened.

After trying several more times, he concluded that, since the rest of the houseboat had power, the bulb must have died.

It occurred to him that he had no idea where he might find a replacement; his mother had always taken care of trivial things like changing light-bulbs.

'Maybe Auron would know,' he thought. A second later, he felt a furious sense of self-treachery just for thinking of asking him for help. 'I don't need him,' he told himself firmly. Still… He looked down the stairs and all he saw was darkness.

He made sure to close the door before he dashed to his room for a flashlight.

Tidus stood at the base of the stairs in the small light cast by the open door and shined his flashlight around. After a few moments, he located the shelf full of boxes labeled, "X-mas," and inwardly cheered.

After a few MORE moments, his elation ebbed away as he tried to figure out how he was going to lift the heavy boxes, shine the flashlight, climb the stairs, and see where he was going, all at the same time. The task was a daunting one, but Tidus was determined to get that houseboat decorated.

Clamping the flashlight in his teeth, he reached up over his head to get the topmost box… but he wasn't tall enough. Scowling deeply, he took the flashlight out of his mouth – grimacing as he got spit on his hand – and wandered about in search of a stepladder.

It didn't take him long to locate it, and he dragged it quickly over to the shelves, impatience creeping in on him.

He positioned the ladder and climbed up until he was in reach of the troublesome box. The flashlight returned to his mouth and he grabbed the box on either side, tugging it toward him.

It wouldn't budge.

Genuinely irritated now, Tidus tugged harder with just as little result. Growling around the flashlight, he tugged as hard as he could.

It was only his Blitzball reflexes that saved him as the box finally came free and he plunged backward with it off the ladder. He managed to land on his feet, just barely keeping the box full of precious breakables from hitting the floor. He set the box down quickly and carefully, his arms aching from its weight, then fell on his backside beside it, winded from the scare.

That was when he heard footsteps from upstairs.

Fear seized him; someone must have broken in! And they'd know just where to find him. He cursed himself in silence for leaving the basement door open, revealing his location.

He held his breath as the footfalls began down the stairs. Then the intruder let out a cough, and Tidus realized with mixed relief and renewed annoyance that it was just Auron.

He sat very still as the man descended, still holding his breath – he knew all that Blitzball training would come in handy someday.

Or at least it would have, if he hadn't been sitting out in the open with a flashlight in his mouth.

"What are you doing down here with the lights off?" the man asked, coming over to stand behind Tidus.

"Nothing that would interest you," Tidus said; the flashlight fell out of his mouth and landed in his lap. By its light, both Tidus and Auron could clearly see the boxes and their revealing labels.

After a beat, Auron sighed.

"So you came down here to get the stuff for some holiday, but didn't bother with a light," he said, his voice belying how he felt on the intelligence of such a decision.

"The bulb's dead," Tidus snapped, "which you'd know if YOU had tried turning it on when YOU came down here."

Auron said nothing, so Tidus went on, "And I don't care what you think about Christmas; it was important to me and Mom!"

That said, Tidus got to his feet, putting the flashlight in his pocket this time, and bent down to grab the irksome box that had tried to crush him earlier.

It continued to not cooperate.

Tidus let out a furious cry, trying to drag it towards the stairs when lifting it proved fruitless, but this method proved equally ineffective.

Auron, having watched all this, shook his head and, shoving Tidus somewhat-gently out of the way, lifted the box without effort or struggle and carried it upstairs.

Tidus watched him, feeling confused. A split second later, he ran up the stairs to start unloading the box.

Several hours and a changed light-bulb later, Tidus collapsed on the box-strewn living room floor with a sigh of both relief and contentment.

The relief was because from the time Auron had finished bringing boxes upstairs to the time he'd left about fifteen minutes ago, he'd been hounding and nagging Tidus about the pointlessness of such extravagance over a holiday. Tidus decided that if Christmas in wherever-Auron-had-come-from was that boring, then he much preferred Christmas in Zanarkand.

However, the contented half of his sigh was attributed to the fact that despite his dislike of the concept, Auron had helped Tidus out, and now the houseboat was covered from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall with Christmas cheer. Tidus liked the idea that maybe he'd changed Auron's mind, even if the man wasn't admitting it aloud.

And then something occurred to him that had him flying into a sitting position.

'I just spent a day with Auron without getting mad at him or hating him for being around.'

What was WRONG with the world? Had he gone insane? This was Auron, the man who had come out of the blue to act as a sort of… replacement for Jecht. The man who came and went as he pleased despite Tidus' protests. The man who seemed entirely inclined to brush off Tidus' family traditions as if they didn't mean a thing.

'But… today was… kinda nice,' Tidus thought in confusion.

Deciding not to dwell on it, he got up from the floor and busied himself with cleaning up the tissue paper and Styrofoam remnants scattered around the room, stuffing them back into boxes and cramming covers on. Then he carried the now-lighter boxes back down to the basement, before returning upstairs and heading for the kitchen, where he was startled to find a note on the table. Picking it up, he scanned the short bit of text with wonder.

Tidus –

Noticed the refrigerator was all but empty yesterday. I restocked it. You can thank me later.

– Auron

Tidus blinked.

Then he peeked in the fridge.

Sure enough, it was full of food. Tidus grinned in happy surprise and pulled out the makings for a ham and cheese sandwich. When he had finished his makeshift dinner, he quickly found a pen and scribbled on the bottom of the note,

Auron –

Noticed the refrigerator had food in it. I ate some. I'll thank you later.

– Tidus

Amused by his own wit, he bounced back into the living room to watch some television before heading to bed, but not before he'd had one more look around at his – no, THEIR – brilliant decorating job.

Quite suddenly, as the days until Christmas dwindled down into the single digits, it occurred to Tidus that the only way he was ever going to get Auron to fully appreciate Christmas was if he got him some kind of gift. He still didn't really LIKE the guy, but he figured maybe a present would make him lighten up, and then maybe Tidus would be able to stand him a bit.

'But what do you get for a grumpy old man?' he thought. He'd considered buying him beer, since he seemed to like it so much, but when he'd gone to the store for it, the shopkeeper had laughed uproariously at him and told him to try back when he was 21.

Auron didn't seem to be very fond of Blitzball, either, so merchandise was pretty much out of the question. He'd also gone looking for a new sword, but nothing had seemed appropriate for the man, although Tidus had seen several that he himself would've liked to play around with. At any rate, they were far too expensive.

'He already has that big weird coat and the sunglasses… socks are a lame present…' Tidus let out a frustrated sigh, shivering as the wind off the ocean picked up. He'd been wandering around downtown Zanarkand for the better part of two hours, looking for something – anything – to catch his eye that might be good to give Auron. Nothing was sticking out.

As he headed for home, he briefly saw a flash of color in his peripheral vision. Turning, he saw a vendor tucked away in between two of the larger shops. The kind-looking woman was selling beads and other trinkets. Tidus paused, trying to picture Auron wearing some kind of jewelry.

He nearly laughed himself to tears.

But another thought occurred to him as he recovered from that amusing mental image, and after a few negotiations with the vendor, Tidus was hurrying home with his supplies and a plan in tow.

He nearly got caught red-handed as Auron exited a building up ahead, but he managed to duck down a side street before the older man could see him. 'What was in that box?' he wondered, for indeed, the man had been carrying a rather large, nondescript box away from the shop. Shrugging to himself, Tidus decided it was probably a year's supply of sword-polish or something, and he continued his dash for home, intent on beating Auron there.

'It's bright.'

As Tidus ascended to consciousness, he recalled having had a similar thought earlier in the month, and immediately jumped up and lunged for the window.

"SNOW!" he hollered to no one in particular, as he threw himself into his clothes and rushed out of his room. A second later, another thought occurred to him, and he added, "CHRISTMAS!" as he plowed into the living room, where he found Auron sitting on the couch, his boots still covered in snow.

"Are you always this enthusiastic in the morning?" the man asked grouchily, grabbing for the jar at his side.

Tidus' eyes went wide, and he flew from the room, leaving a befuddled Auron to watch his retreating back.

A few seconds later, the blond had returned, small red-wrapped box in hand. He thrust it at Auron, who eyed it as if he thought it might try to eat his face if he touched it.

"Merry Christmas!" Tidus crowed grinning from ear to ear.

Auron finally took the box from him, still looking rather unsettled.

"What's this for?" he asked.

Tidus rolled his eyes.

"It's a Christmas present! And it's for you, so you'd better open it," he said, putting on his best pout.

Auron pulled the green bow off before tearing through the paper in silence. Down to just the unmarked white box, Auron sighed and lifted the cover. He moved the tissue paper aside to see…

"A necklace."

He raised an eyebrow at Tidus, looking at him over his sunglasses, then back to the string of multicolored, multi-sized beads before him.

Tidus shook his head quickly.

"It's not jewelry! It's for you to hang your beer-jar on because the cord you're using looks kinda beat-up," he explained.

Auron blinked his one good eye.

Tidus blinked back.

"Oh." Auron said.

"It's okay if you don't like it," Tidus said quickly, inwardly upset at his screw-up. He hadn't meant it as an insult or anything; he'd spent HOURS stringing the beads together… He had just wanted to lighten the guy up a bit…

He felt his eyes start to sting. 'I won't cry!' he told himself angrily.

Auron stood up so abruptly that he startled Tidus, who fell backwards onto the carpet with a yelp. He looked up, and his mouth fell open.

Auron silently untied the ragged brown cord holding the ceramic jug in place and tossed it aside, quickly threading the string of beads Tidus had made through the jar's handle and securing the ends to his belt. He carefully let go of them both. When they didn't go crashing to the floor, Auron nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you."

Tidus wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. The man's collar was obscuring his mouth from Tidus' view, so he hadn't seen his lips move. Nevertheless, he said tentatively, "You're welcome."

"Now, come with me," Auron said firmly, heading for the kitchen. Baffled, Tidus hesitated only a moment before he got up and followed him.

Lying on the kitchen table was the large box Tidus had seen Auron carrying little more than a week before. It was a lot bigger than Tidus recalled; it was almost as long as he was tall.

"I didn't know I was supposed to wrap it," Auron muttered. "Anyway, go ahead and open it."

Tidus stared at him in shock.

"It's for me?" he asked.

Auron nodded.

Tidus dove at it, hopping up on a chair so he could see properly as he heaved the cover off. He pulled out what seemed to be an endless mess of tissue paper before finally…

His eyes went wide.

"It's REALLY for me?" he asked in awe.

Auron nodded again.

Nestled in the bottom of the box was a sword. A Longsword. With a blood-red blade surrounded by shining silver gilding that made one think of a fang. From its tip, it tapered off in two directions, one half coming to another point facing the hilt, the other connecting into the hilt itself so that the whole thing together made a long, deadly arc.

It was the most beautiful thing Tidus had ever seen. He reached for the hilt of the thing…

…and was cut off as Auron quickly shoved the cover back on.

"Hey!" Tidus cried, yanking his arm out of the way before Auron could trap it.

"That," Auron said calmly, "is what you'll be aspiring to use in the coming years. In the meantime, I'll be training you myself, and you'll use the less-expensive, less-sharp training swords at the practicing range."

Tidus blinked.

"Why can't I use it now?"

Auron frowned at him.

"Can you even lift it?" he asked, opening the box again.

"'Course I can!" Tidus said confidently, grabbing the sword and tugging on it.

It wouldn't so much as twitch.

After a good several moments of struggle, Tidus finally gave up, sulking in defeat.

"Beat by my own Christmas present," he said dejectedly. Auron let out a bark of laughter before returning the box's lid once again.

"Merry Christmas, kid."

"…Thanks. Merry Christmas, too… y'old codger."

"I'm not old. And your training starts a week from today, at six."

"In the MORNING!" Tidus couldn't believe his ears. "No WAY! That's SO uncool!"

Auron smirked as he took a swig from his newly-decorated jar.

"Happy New Year."

End Notes – I hope the joke in the last line worked… New Years is a week from Christmas… and stuff. Yeah.

So much OOCness... gah. Hope people liked it anyway. About the sword thing: I thought it made very little sense in the beginning of the game that Auron just HAPPENS to have a sword for Tidus, and Tidus HAPPENS to know how to use it, so now he has a reason, omgliekwhoa.

Merry (belated) Christmas, folks. And Happy New Year, too... goodness, I'm late with this. XD;