A Heartwarming Christmas

A/N: Okay, it's pretty obvious that this is not going to get done by Christmas. But at least my co-author on fanfiction.net and I are trying to update this more than once a week. So far, it hasn't been working. But now that college is over for the semester, I can get to more writing. So both of us are trying to get this thing finished quickly, so that we can get back to work on our main stories. 

Now, let's get on with Chapter 3! Roll it!

Chapter 3

Ash's Great Plan

Minutes later, Ash was back inside the castle, having taken off his winter coat and his skates. An annoyed scowl was on his face as he walked towards the library, which was where he would usually go other than his room and the outside battlefield (which was currently still heavily covered with snow) to be alone and try to calm himself. Pikachu and MJ were following close behind him.

"Why is Dawn being such a grump today?" Ash asked aloud.

"Don't know." MJ answered. "She's been like that for as long as I can remember."

"Even at Christmas?" Ash continued to question as they all entered the library.

"Yep." MJ replied before she asked him a question of her own. "Um, Ash? What's...Christmas?"

The raven-haired Trainer just smiled down at her. "Come on now, MJ." He said, coming over to her and picking her up gently in his arms. "You must know about Christmas. Stockings in front of the fire?"

When he saw the unfamiliarity in her eyes, he kept trying to explain. "Tree? Tinsel?" The enchanted Bellossom just shook her head. "Presents?"

"Presents?" MJ repeated with excitement. "Do I get one?"

Ash just laughed lightly. "Of course!" He said, placing her down on a cushioned chair near a desk. "Everyone gets a present on Christmas."

"Even the mistress?" MJ asked cautiously.

Ash nodded his head. "Yes, even the mistress."

"What are you gonna get her?" MJ questioned.

Ash was silent for a couple of seconds, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Well...I don't really know her well enough to know what she would want."

Pikachu's ears drooped down at his Trainer's words. It was true. Even if the two of them were on slightly better terms than they were a month ago, there were still some barriers around Dawn that hadn't been knocked down yet.

MJ pondered on the thought for a few seconds, trying to get an idea. "Well, what would YOU want?" She asked the Kantonian boy.

Ash lightly bit the corner of his lip, deep in thought. There were a lot of things that he wished for over the years around Christmastime. But now, there was one thing that he wanted more than anything, but he honestly doubted that it would be granted because of the deal that he'd made with Dawn in exchange for his mother's freedom.

"Well, what I love most about Christmastime is that I would spend it with my mom, and that I would tell her stories about my travels." He explained.

MJ had a brief look of sadness on her face. Ash still missed his mother terribly, but she knew that he couldn't be moping around all day. That wasn't like him. He would find something else to do to keep his mind off of his technical imprisonment.

Just then, she had an idea. "Why don't you do that?" She asked. "Tell the mistress a story?"

Ash thought about it for a few seconds, and then a smile came upon his face. "You're right, MJ. A story. But there are so many that I have. How can I choose just one?"

"Well, maybe you should choose one that has a special meaning for you." MJ suggested. "One that can also speak to the mistress."

Ash thought about it for a few more seconds. Then, an idea came into his mind.

"I might have one." He said to the enchanted Bellossom.

"What is it?" MJ asked him. She did love to hear Ash's stories about his adventures out in the world, which she'd never seen.

But the Kantonian Trainer just winked at her mischievously. "Sorry. Not telling." When he saw the pout on her face, he added, "Not yet, at least."

Ash began to get together a few pieces of paper that were scattered on the desk. Then he grabbed a pencil and started to write. As several minutes quickly ticked by, the Kantonian Trainer noticed that things were just a little too quiet, even though they were in a library. He spared a quick glance over at Pikachu and MJ, who were almost drifting off to sleep in front of the fireplace. Feeling the silence starting to get to him, Ash started humming a familiar Christmas song under his breath.

His humming caught the attention of the two Pokémon who were dozing off. "What's that song, Ash?" MJ asked him, almost yawning as she rubbed her drowsy eyes.

Ash paused in his writing to look over at the enchanted Bellossom. "It's a Christmas song." He explained to her. The castle must've gone for so long without Christmas that she didn't recognize the upbeat tune, since it was a well-known holiday song.

"It sounds so cheerful." MJ said. "Do you know the words to it?"

"Yeah." Ash replied.

"Can you sing it?" MJ asked. "Please?"

The raven-haired young man just smiled at her and said, "Okay. And maybe this song can give you a bit of an idea of what Christmas is like and why so many people all over the world look forward to it every single year."

He then turned over to his trusty Pokémon partner and asked, "Hey, Pikachu? Can you give me a bit of a beat? For the song?"

Pikachu nodded with a happy chirp of confirmation, also recognizing the song that his Trainer had been humming earlier. He then began tapping out a rhythmic little beat with his tail against the tiled floor. The beat was pretty catchy as MJ started to bob her head in tandem to it.

Feeling the rhythm speak out to him in such a familiar way this time of year, Ash turned back to writing the last bit of his story for Dawn with a wide and excited smile on his face as he started to sing.

Ash: It's the most
Wonderful time
Of the year;

With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you,
"Be of good cheer".

It's the most
Wonderful time
Of the year!

The upbeat song was proving to be contagiously happy as MJ started to dance along to it, all around the room. Ash beamed at her widely as he finished writing his story. Then he started to dance, to the best of his ability, along with MJ as he scoured the room for a stapler and colorful ribbons and boxes.

It's the hap-
Happiest season
Of all;

With those holiday greetings
And gay happy meetings
When friends come to call!

It's the hap-
Happiest season
Of all!

When he got the stuff that he needed to wrap his present to Dawn, Ash headed back over to the desk and began to carefully staple the pages of his story together. When he had put it down, MJ hopped onto the desk, mindful of Ash's other supplies placed on it. When he was done, he began to play with the enchanted Bellossom, making her spin around on top of the desk while he went from side to side around it, like they were playfully chasing each other.

There'll be parties for hosting,
Marshmallows for toasting,
And caroling out in the snow.

There'll be scary ghost stories,
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago.

Ash finally caught MJ and then began to spin her around in the air, making her laugh.

It's the most
Wonderful time
Of the year.

There'll be much mistletoeing,
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near.

It's the most
Wonderful time
Of the year!

Finally, after a few minutes of spinning, a slightly dizzy Ash carefully set down an equally dizzy MJ back on the ground. He then headed back to the desk to start wrapping a rectangular box with green wrapping paper with gold trim while Pikachu continued to tap out the beat of the song for MJ to continue dancing.

There'll be parties for hosting,
Marshmallows for toasting,
And caroling out in the snow.

There'll be scary ghost stories,
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago.

Then, Ash set the story carefully inside of the wrapped box and placed the colorful matching lid on top of it, sealing it closed with a red silk ribbon.

It's the most
Wonderful time
Of the year.

There'll be much mistletoeing,
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near!

Once he was done wrapping it, he joined the two Pokémon in their little dance as the song finally came to its end.

It's the most
Wonderful time;
Yes, the most
Wonderful time;

Oh, the most
Wonderful time
Of the year!

They then all jumped onto the comfy cushions by the fireplace, laughing joyously. "That was a fun song, Ash!" MJ said to the Kantonian young man.

"Christmas has all kinds of fun songs." Ash said to her as he carefully sat back up. "Also, there are some Christmas songs that just reach out and touch your heart in ways that...you can't always explain."

As he stood up and headed over to the desk to check on his work, MJ walked up to him while Pikachu jumped onto his Trainer's shoulder again. "Do you think the mistress will like her gift?" She asked him.

Ash did a thorough inspection to see if he'd done a good job of wrapping the present for Dawn. He then smiled brightly as he placed the gift back down on the desk and then knelt down to meet the enchanted Bellossom at eye level.

"I really think so." He said.

"So does that mean that we're gonna have a Christmas?" MJ asked.

Ash thought about it for a few seconds. If he and the other servants worked together and planned a nice Christmas party along with the gift, that was sure to cheer up Dawn and make her want to join in on the holiday celebration. Whatever might be bugging her today would be the furthest thing from her mind when she joined in on the fun. He then chuckled happily at the thought of it.

"Absolutely!" He said, eager to share his idea with the other servants.

*********************

"Absolutely not!" Kenny exclaimed.

It had only been a few minutes after, and everyone was in the kitchen when Ash, Pikachu, and MJ came in, the former two taking a seat on a nearby stool, and explained Ash's idea to throw a Christmas party. Most of them agreed to the idea, except for the enchanted Prinplup.

"Why not?" MJ asked him.

But Kenny didn't answer, as he was still trying to make his refusal very clear to everyone else. "Out of the question. Not a chance."

MJ just pouted as she plopped down next to Zoey, who was not happy with Kenny's refusal, and neither were Leona and Ash. "Come on, Kenny." Leona said. "Get into the holiday spirit."

"Have a heart, will you?" Zoey added.

"No, no, and no." Kenny said firmly. "This is where I have to put my foot down. I might've let you guys have your way a couple of times before, but this is crossing the line. Guys, you know as well as I do that the mistress has forbidden Christmas!"

"Forbidden Christmas?" Ash repeated in disbelief. "No one can forbid Christmas!"

"She doesn't want to be reminded of her past and Christmas is a most painful reminder of it." Kenny explained, making Ash lightly bite his lip in thought. That would explain why Dawn was so apprehensive about the thought of Christmas earlier.

"And I, for one, don't want to torture her about it." The enchanted Prinplup added.

Ash just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms against his chest. "Well, I think that a little Christmas cheer will do her some good." He rebutted.

What no one noticed was that Allegra, the enchanted Infernape, was listening in on the conversation from the kitchen doorway.

"The kid is right." Leona agreed. "We've gotta do something."

"It's not our place to get involved." Kenny said to her with a slight glare of annoyance. "We can't just barge into her business. It's best that we just keep our noses out of it."

"Well, I think it's a great idea." Zoey said.

"But the mistress doesn't want it." Kenny retorted. "Her castle, her rules."

"But it's not fair." MJ rebuked, crossing her tiny arms in annoyance with a childish pout on her face.

"Come on now. Look at us." Zoey said. "Fighting and bickering. I remember when things used to be...magical at Christmas. There would be such a grand feast for Christmas dinner, one for the entire castle. Not just for the mistress and her family, but for the rest of us as well."

"Yeah." Leona agreed, a plan formulating in her head as she glanced over at Kenny. "We can make some stuffed turkeys."

Ash caught the little glint in her eye and a smile formed on his face when he caught onto her little scheme to get Kenny to change his mind. "Cranberry sauce." He said.

"Gingerbread cookies." MJ added.

"Apple pies." Leona listed off.

"Potatoes. Gravy." Zoey went on.

"And of course, chocolate pudding." Leona finished.

"Pudding?" Kenny asked, a happy little sparkle in his eyes at the mention of the dessert.

Ash had to lightly bite his upper lip to keep himself from smiling knowingly. From what he knew, no one in the world could resist chocolate.

"Yep." Leona confirmed, a smirk forming on her face. "Along with all of the things that you would like with it. Whipped cream, chocolate chips, and finish it off with sparkling grape juice."

Ash and Pikachu were kind of happy that their stomachs didn't growl loudly at the mention of all of those foods at the moment, but they were starting to feel kind of hungry themselves.

However, Kenny's own stomach had no such qualms as it rumbled pretty audibly, making everyone lightly chuckle at the red flushing on the enchanted Prinplup's face. He was silent for a few more seconds before finally, he groaned.

"Fine!" He exclaimed, making everyone exclaim happily. "But if the mistress finds out before preparations are done, she'll be furious. So let's keep this quiet."

"Great!" Ash exclaimed, standing up from his stool, Pikachu chirping happily as he took his usual perch on his Trainer's shoulder.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Christmas?" Leona asked.

"Yikes, that doesn't give us much time!" Kenny said. "After all, it is Christmas Eve."

"I'll make sure that dinner gets started right away." Zoey came in.

"And we really need to brighten this place up!" Ash said, looking around and noticing that there wasn't a single Christmas decoration in sight.

"Well, I know just the person to call on in a time like this, Ash." Leona said, coming up to the Kantonian Trainer.

"Come on, then!" Kenny exclaimed. "Let's get to it!"

Everyone cheered and jumped for joy at the thought of putting together the Christmas party, before they all split up towards different parts of the castle to make sure that things are rolling as fast as possible.

After all, it was Christmas Eve, and they certainly had their work cut out for them, getting the castle ready for the holiday. They were going to need all the help that they could get!

A/N: At least I asked my co-author first about inserting Christmas songs. And don't worry, they will be familiar ones.

By the way, do all of you out there remember that there's a Pokémon Christmas music album? The Pokémon Christmas Bash! I really like that album. It would be nice to insert something from it. But there are not that many songs that just don't seem to fit in that well with the story. But I'll come up with something. And if I'm being honest, I did want to insert "As Long as There's Christmas" in the story, or at least the reprise, but my co-author was worried about it, so I won't do it. I'll think of something else.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed it! The song that I used in this chapter is "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams. It's one of my very favorite Christmas songs! However, I don't own it in any way or form. All credit goes to their rightful owners.

I'll see y'all soon, with the next chapter! Please leave a comment about what you think. They are highly appreciated, and remember to stay healthy!

Happy Holidays! Got to fly! ;)