• “SANTA’S COMING, SANTA’S COMING!!!!” A loud girl’s voice yelled. Until then, all had been quiet inside the Hinamori home. But that was before the early morning sun had woken up the overly excited six year old. Momo Hinamori was jumping up and down on her bed with joy. According to her hand made calendar (She didn’t mind that all the days had been spelled wrong), tomorrow was Christmas. Christmas was Momo’s favorite holiday out of the entire year.

    “Momo Hinamori, don’t make me come in there.” Her mother’s voice threatened from the room next door. Momo stopped jumping and ran to her frosted window. The weatherman had promised six inches of snow, and boy was he right! The outside seemed like it was coated in a fluffy white covering.

    “But mommy, Santa’s coming!” Momo whined, walking over to her parent’s room. Yuki and Shiro Hinamori were still in bed. Momo climbed onto the bed and snuggled between her parents. With a sigh Yuki brushed some of Momo’s brown hair out of her eyes.

    “I know Santa is coming tomorrow. Have you been good this year?” She asked playfully. Shiro glanced at his daughter warily, though he was smiling.

    “Of course not. There’s no way my little monkey was good enough for Santa.” He teased. Momo stuck her tongue out at him.

    “I’ve been really good! Just wait and see, me and Toshiro are both gonna get lots of presents!” Yuki and Shiro smiled at each other. Their neighbors, the Hitsugaya’s, had a son Momo’s age. Ever since they were born Momo and Toshiro were together; building mud pies and playing tag in the back yard. They were very fond of the boy, and thought he and his family were decent people.

    “Well, I guess you might have been good, once or twice.” Her father added.

    “Come on, Santa won’t visit you on an empty stomach.” Yuki climbed out of bed and scooped Momo up in her arms. She carefully carried her giggling daughter down the stairs, with Shiro walking close behind.

    “How about oatmeal for breakfast?” Yuki suggested, sitting Momo down at the table.

    “Yeah!” Momo replied happily, her little face bright with pre-Christmas excitement. Yuki made her daughter’s oatmeal and sat it down at the table. Momo ate the oatmeal as fast as she possibly could.

    “Where’s the fire kid?” Shiro asked, sipping his morning cup of coffee.

    “Toshiro and me are gonna build a snowman!” Momo answered, her mouth thick with oats. Before her mother could scold her Momo shouted

    “I’m done!” and leaped from the table. She pulled on her snow pants, boots, gloves, and coats and ran out the door. Toshiro was already outside when Momo ran next door.

    “Morning Toshiro!” Momo panted, her breath rising in bursts of fog. Toshiro was on his knees, putting together the base of the snowman. He was short for his age, and his hair was silvery white and spiky. His eyes were a pretty shade of blue green, in contrast to Momo’s dark brown eyes.

    “Good morning.” Toshiro replied, piling more snow onto the ball that would turn out to be the bottom of the snowman. Momo kneeled down and started helping. They gaily chatted about anything and everything while they worked. As early morning passed into afternoon, Yuki stepped outside to check on the children. She was impressed at the size of their snowman, and happy at the sight of Momo and Toshiro’s beaming faces.

    “That’s wonderful!’ She commented, stepping out into the wintry air.

    “We worked all day on him mommy!” Momo bragged, her cheeks red from cold.

    “I see that. And how are you, Toshiro?” Yuki asked. Toshiro shrugged; he was a little bit shy around adults.

    “I’m fine.” He said softly, staring at the ground. Yuki found this adorable.

    “Well, I think you two could use a break. Why don’t you come inside for a cup of hot chocolate?” Yuki suggested, taking both one of Momo’s hands and one of Toshiro’s.

    “Wait, you have to say goodbye to Mr. Dragon Peach!” Momo and Toshiro yelped in unison. Yuki glanced back at the snowman, assuming this was the Mr. Dragon Peach the kids spoke of.

    “Adios, amigo.” Momo’s mother waved, throwing in the Spanish phrase to entertain Momo. Sure enough, the little girl was rocking back and forth, laughing. Inside the Hinamori home, while Shiro sat their wet clothes in front of the wood burner to dry, Momo and Toshiro sat on the couch watching cartoons. Yuki brought out two cups of hot chocolate.

    “Remember, it’s hot.” She warned, not wanting Momo or Toshiro to burn themselves.

    “Thank you!” The two kids said in unison, turning their attention back to the TV. Momo and Toshiro were content to watch cartoons for the next hour and a half. As they sipped their hot chocolate, Momo’s phone rang. Yuki answered it and talked for a few minutes. After she hung up Yuki told Toshiro that his mom wanted him to come home and help bake cookies for Santa.

    “Bye bye now Toshiro!” Momo waved. Toshiro smiled and waved back.

    “I’ll see you later, Momo. Make sure you tell me what Santa got you!” The young boy gathered his snow things and headed home. Momo then spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the Christmas tree with her parents. In the distance, a school bus could be heard dropping off the big kids from school. Momo sat on her front porch; she liked to watched the big kids walk home. A small group of boys walked by, throwing snowballs and laughing loudly.

    “Merry Almost Christmas!” Momo waved at them. The boys stopped walking and sniggered at Momo.

    “Oh yeah, we’ll tell Santa you said hi.” One of them said.

    “Yeah, and his reindeer too.” Another added, earning a handful of squeals from his friends.

    “You know Santa?” Momo gasped, her eyes wide. The boys howled with laughter.

    “Hey, dork, there is no Santa Clause! He’s just a load of crap your parents tell you! Besides, only babies believe in Santa!” Momo’s bottom lip quivered.

    “You’re a liar!” She yelled, running into the house. She slammed the door, hard, and started crying. She wandered around the house, looking for her parents. They were talking upstairs in their bedroom with the door mostly shut. The door was cracked slightly though, and Momo paused to listen.

    “-You’ll make sure to eat the cookies? Santa never leaves without eating cookies.” Yuki said.

    “Yes, I’ll eat the cookies. And you’ll put the gifts under the tree?” Shiro added. Yuki must have nodded, because Shiro then said

    “It’s a good thing Momo is outside right now. I bet the truth would kill her.” Momo gasped again and ran into her room. She climbed on her bed and cried for awhile. Sometime later, somebody pounded on the door. Momo assumed her parents were to busy wrapping gifts to hear the knock, so she went downstairs to answer it. When she opened the door, there stood Toshiro.

    “Momo, I forgot my sock- hey, what’s wrong?” Toshiro uttered, seeing Momo’s tear covered face. She explained about what the boys had said and what she heard her parents talking about. Toshiro seemed as shocked as Momo to find out the truth, though he didn’t cry. It bothered him to see Momo so upset.

    “Here, I’ll get your sock…” She said, leaving Toshiro standing in the doorway. Momo came back with a gray sock in her hand.

    “I’ll see you later, Toshiro.” Momo said sadly, closing the door. Toshiro frowned and walked towards his house, deep in thought.

    ‘Poor Momo…what am I going to do? It’s not fair for her Christmas to be ruined!’ It wasn’t until he had passed Mr. Dragon Peach that a solution occurred to him. Toshiro knew exactly how he was going to save Momo’s Christmas. He only hoped it would be enough. As night approached Yuki and Shiro tucked Momo in, reminding her that if she wanted Santa to come, she had better get right to sleep.

    “There is no stupid Santa!” Momo snapped, glaring at her parents.

    “Why would you say that?” Yuki asked, glancing at her husband. Momo relayed what she had told Toshiro to her parents. When she was done speaking, Yuki and Shiro didn’t know what to say.

    “I’m sorry Momo.” Yuki finally whispered.

    “At least it was fun while it lasted. Now try to get some sleep, honey.” Shiro said, kissing Momo’s forehead. Yuki hugged Momo tightly before she and Shiro left the room. Instead of going to sleep Momo forced herself to stay awake, and to listen. As time passed, she heard her parents acting as Santa Clause and felt a fresh wave of pain flow through her body. The outside sky grew darker and darker until Momo thought she’d go crazy without a bit of light in the sky. It was then that she heard something moving downstairs. Momo thought it must be Yuki or Shiro, so she ignored the noise. But then it repeated itself again, and again, until finally Momo stood up and tiptoed down the stairs.

    “Hello?” She whispered into the darkness. The Christmas tree’s lights were beautiful, all gold and silver and sparkly. It lit up about half of Momo’s living room. She walked towards the tree, staring sadly at the Santa decorations. A tiny hand tapped on her shoulder. Momo whipped around and found herself face to face with Toshiro. He was dressed as Santa Clause, with a hat on his head and a Wal-Mart ((A/N: I don’t own Wal-Mart, just thought I should add that ^__^)) bag slung over his shoulder. Momo stared at her best friend, speechless. Toshiro reached into the bag and pulled out a hand made Christmas card. Inside was a drawing of himself and Momo holding presents while Santa watched them open up their gifts. Momo felt her eyes water up.

    “Oh Toshiro, thank you! You just made this the best Christmas ever!” She whispered, pulling Toshiro into a tight hug. Toshiro hugged her back and said

    “Merry Christmas, Momo.”