Chapter Text
The snow falls gently down on the white land, the cloudy sky blocks the sun, making it frosty for all, and the trees are dead, making its leaves no longer sway in the wind.
Yet, despite the chilly dead land, a group of friends have trudged through to their friend’s house to celebrate Christmas.
Once everyone arrives, they notice that someone is missing, someone is still sleeping.
It was Sunny.
“Everyone, keep quiet.” The older girl, Mari, sister to Sunny, whispers to everyone, “We need to prepare for the surprise.”
Everyone agrees, shuffling around the presents quietly, and making sure that Sunny’s present was somewhere easy to get, but not too obvious. Once the presents were arranged, everyone and everything was prepared.
However, Sunny hadn’t woke up yet.
“I think one of you should wake Sunny up.” Hero suggested, “Me and Mari are going to bake cookies for everyone while you do that.”
“I think Kel should do it.” Aubrey says, about to make a jab at Kel, “He can easily wake someone up.”
“Hey!” Kel puts a hand to his chest, “I’m not going to wake him up, that would be rude! Why don’t you wake him up?”
“I-I um . . .” Basil stammers.
However, before anyone could hear him, someone else spoke up, “I can get him!”
It was Cris.
“Thank you, Cris.” Hero was relieved, not only did he not have to stop a potential argument, but he was also thankful that Sunny would not have been rudely awaken.
Cris nods and decides to go up the stairs and into Mari’s and Sunny’s room.
Before she knocks on the door, she sees that it was open slightly, and through the crack, the room was lit by the sunlight, and she can see Sunny.
He was laying there, peacefully, the sunlight only lit the room but did not hit his face, however, it made Sunny seem more angelic to Cris.
It was so calming . . . So gentle . . . So quiet . . . And he was so cute.
What? Why is her heart beating faster? What were these feelings?
Cris shakes her head and finally knocks on the door, “Sunny.” She sees him stirring, it made her heart hurt for some reason, “Sunny, wake up, it’s Christmas.”
Suddenly, Sunny’s eyes shot open, and although he wasn’t the most expressive, Cris could tell that he was surprised.
He jumps out of bed as Cris opens the door, “Merry Christmas, Sunny! Oh! By the way, everyone else is here!” Cris tells him, noticing that he deflated a bit, before reassuring him, “Don’t worry, we haven’t started opening the gifts yet!”
Sunny perks up at that and nod, he then goes to a cupboard, signally that he was going to change. Cris should leave, and she does.
When Cris enters the living room, she sees Mari and Hero place down cookies, while Basil opens his present, revealing that he got a camera.
“Ah, Cris! You’re back! Is Sunny coming down?” Hero asks as he greets Cris.
Cris nods, “Yeah, He’s just changing.” She picks up a warm cookie and bites into it. It was made by Mari and Hero, so it was obvious that it was going to be delicious.
Kel then opens his present to reveal, “Wow . . . A new basketball?” Kel looks to Hero, “Thanks, bro!”
“No problem, Kel . . .” Hero perks up, “You can thank me by doing a little better in school.”
Ignoring Kel’s pout, Hero brings out Cris’s gift “Okay, Cris! This is from . . .” Hero reads the tag, “Sunny!”
Cris was surprised, but she expected it; Sunny always gets everyone a gift, although, nobody knows how he manages to get the best ones.
She opens the present as Sunny enters the room, then she brings out the gift.
It was a seashell necklace.
“Thank you, Sunny!” Cris smiles and admires the necklace, “This is so nice!” She puts it on and feels giddy, while Sunny rubs the back of his head.
Hero chuckles and brings out Sunny’s gift, “Okay Sunny, now it’s your turn!” This is it, the moment to gang have been waiting for.
Sunny looks at the long gift, but before he could open it, Mari speaks up, “This year, you get just one present from all of us.”
Basil nods, “It probably doesn’t look like much . . .” He tilts his head from side to side, “But we had to save up for it together.”
“Yeah!” Aubrey jumps with excitement, “Me and Basil even started selling cookies and lemonade in the summer.”
“And Mari and I took a job at the bakery for a while, if you remember.” Hero says.
“Me and Kel went to deliver newspapers every morning.” Cris sees Kel grimacing, and she chuckles, “And you know how much he hates mornings!”
Mari claps, “We know this might be a lot of pressure, but . . .” She turns to Hero, who continues for her, “It’s been a while since you quit playing the violin.” Hero turns to Basil, who continues for him, “Mari told us about how you always sit in the room with her when she’s practising the piano.”
“Or if you can’t stay with Mari, you hang out with me!” Cris adds, turning to Kel, who carries on, “And there was even that one time I caught you trying to play your old mini violin, even though it was small for you.” Kel gets a glare from Aubrey, but she resumes for him, “Anyway! This was Basil’s idea, but we all decided to pitch in for a really nice one . . . So . . . Yeah!”
Sunny opens the box and brings out the wrapped object, “We hope you like it, Sunny!” Mari smiles, “This is from all of us to you.”
He peels the wrapping off to reveal a case . . .
Sunny unlocks the case and brings out . . .
A violin
“TA-DA!” Kel shouts out, “It’s your very own violin!” Aubrey states, “We hope you like it, Sunny . . .” Cris adds on, “Go on and try it out.” Basil says.
Sunny picks up the violin with hesitance, he positions the violin like he has played it before, and in a way, he has, just with a smaller version.
He takes a deep breath and plays one note.
CLICK*
The sound of a camera snapping a photo was heard, making everyone turn to Basil.
“S-Sorry . . .” Basil apologises, “It just felt right . . .”
“It’s okay, Basil!” Mari reassures, “Besides, I have to agree. This is a moment worthy of a photo!”
It really was a moment worthy of a photo as the image of Sunny looking undisturbed whilst he holds the violin is engraved in Cris’s mind.
That and the image of Sunny laying peacefully on his bed, which still makes Cris’s heart flutter for reason she doesn’t know.
Regardless, this was the best Christmas that she has ever had.