Stave Five: Christmas Day

Ike's eyes shot open as the morning light spilled through his window. The mercenary trembled a bit at the memory of his last vision—a future that seemed so gloomy and tragic. He still felt a tinge of sorrow that had come from connecting with his older self, but soon, his mind snapped back to reality. What he had seen just now hadn't happened yet. Even the scene Soren had shown him was yet undone; all the power to change it was still his. Ike's heart swelled with hope as he realized that somehow, in spite of himself, he had been given a second chance.

Immediately, he leapt to his feet and skidded to the window, where fresh snowflakes were falling outside. He burst open the windowpanes, sending the snow that had piled up on the sill already plummeting down onto a small blonde head below.

"Ahh!" Lucas cried in surprise.

"You there!" Ike called, oblivious to having startled the boy. "Tell me, what day is it?"

Lucas stared back at him as if his face had sprouted mushrooms.

"Um…Christmas?"

"And how old am I?"

"W-what?! How am I supposed to know that?" the boy yelped.

"Well, how old are you, then?"

"Thirteen."

"Great!" the mercenary shouted and slammed the window shut again.

The blonde boy was still staring up at it, speechless, when his Ness returned with the hot chocolate he had gone to get to help keep them warm while building snowmen.

"Hey, Lucas?" his friend asked. "Something wrong?"

The blonde turned to him, mouth still hanging open in disbelief.

"I think Ike's gone crazy."

The mercenary, meanwhile, was busy rummaging through the giant trunk that he kept all his less commonly used items in. For a moment, he was worried he wouldn't find what he was looking for, but as he dug his way to the bottom of the trunk, he finally saw a flash of red. Grabbing it, he yanked his forgotten Santa hat out from the pile of junk and dusted it off. It definitely looked like it had seen better days. It was a bit ruffed up and discolored in one spot where Ike had accidently spilled something on it once, but nevertheless, the mercenary arranged it neatly on his head and left the room at a hurried pace.

He had never been happy to see so many Christmas decorations spread about the mansion after seeing the unfortunate prediction of what would happen if Princess Peach were unable to take control and no helpful Brawlers remained. I'll never let that happen, Ike promised himself. Not as long as I'm here!

He sped around a corner and promptly collided with a box. There was a thud and a loud "ow!" as the carrier toppled backwards and fell on his rear. Ike raised his eyebrows in panic as he recognized the voice. Lifting the box off from on top of the youth, he found himself staring down at Pit. The angel's puffy and tired eyes widened with fear, face growing crimson as he looked up at the man who had rejected him the night before.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stammered. "I-"

"Don't apologize," the mercenary told him, setting the box down on the floor and hanging his head in guilt.

He reached down and offered a hand to the angel, who took it tentatively and let Ike help him to his feet. The blue-haired man's face was burning with embarrassment as he tried to think of the right words to say to get Pit to forgive him.

"I'm really the one who should be apologizing," he said quietly. "I'm so ashamed of the way I treated you last night. You opened up to me, and I was too afraid to even accept you as a friend. I want to start being more like you. You're a strong fighter, but you're not afraid to put yourself on the line and let people get close to you, even if it means you'll have to fight them later. What I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry. Hey, Pit? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah," Pit said, still looking kind of dazed. "But Ike-"

"What?"

"Your hat…"

The angel's eyes were filling with tears. The blue-haired man stiffened with the fear that the other Brawler was upset at the state his gift was in. Ike hadn't meant to treat it so badly; he hadn't even thought that Pit might have this reaction upon seeing it.

"I, uh…"

"You're wearing it!" the angel burst happily.

"I'm wha-? Erm, yes. Yes, I am."

Pit smiled and wiped away the wetness from his eyes.

"I thought you had forgotten all about it for sure. After I gave it to you last year, I thought maybe you had even thrown it away."

Ike smiled back, turning a bit red again.

"I'd never get rid of a gift someone was so kind to give to me on my first day," he said. "But where's yours?"

"Oh, um…Up in my room. I'll get it after I'm done with this decorating!"

"Need any help carrying that?" the mercenary asked, indicating the box.

"No, it's fine," Pit laughed, picking up the box before giving Ike a gleeful grin. "I'm used to its weight."

The blue-haired man smiled.

"Let's decorate together, then," Ike told him, eyes lighting up.

"Okay!" the angel agreed, and the two of them walked to the ballroom to put up the last-minute finishing touches.

The mercenary felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off him. He no longer felt alone and isolated in a mass of opponents. He wasn't here to impress or intimidate anyone. He was just himself, Ike, the general of Crimea's army, someone who trusted all that promised to support him. Now, almost every time he saw another Brawler, he thought of them as a potential friend more than an enemy—even the more prickly ones. He was amazed at Pit and his ability to forgive so quickly. He remembered the angel's kindness even to his future self, the least deserving person he could think of. Gratitude mingled with affection, and as the two of them stood in the doorway, Ike holding the ladder while Pit hung up the mistletoe, the mercenary prompted a question.

"Pit…would you like to go to the Christmas dance with me?"

THE END

A/N:A short and sweet ending~ I was way too amused with the Lucas scene. At least Ike didn't send him to go buy a turkey.

I really hope you've enjoyed the story. Thank you so much for reading!

Happy holidays~!