Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sharp, long pieces of wood flew everywhere, and it was a wonder that nobody nearby in the vicinity was hit or splintered by them.

As Hero let out an uncharacteristic shriek and immediately ran over to the broken body of the violin, Mari could only have her gaze dart from the ready gift wrapper - a very beautiful red with some Christmassy stripes - on the table she was going to put it on, to the ground where the violin had first made an impact just now.

Everyone else stared in silent horror - well, whether they were silent, Mari couldn't tell - while the girl herself kept her wide eyes glued to the ground still. Everything was falling apart. The wood pieces...they were....

"No...." she held her arm as she mumbled, nearly wearing a hole through the cloth of her sweater, "....t-this can't...sorry– I-I..."

"Wait what? It just broke like that?" Another pair of hurried footsteps rushing over to the mess.

A warning voice cried out, "Kel, don't get any closer!"

"Yeah Kel, you don't want any wood sticking up your leg!"

"I wasn't going to step in any wood, Aubrey! Im smarter than you think!" A raspberry was blown.

The violin broke. Broke.

Mari couldn't bear to lift her eyes to stare at the end of all their hard work, yet she somehow did this very moment. The sight was as if one of those sharp wooden pieces had literally stabbed her in the heart, so pained was her chest from seeing this.

Selling all that lemonade all summer wasn't just for fun, and Mari was harshly reminded of that again now.

"....c-could we get him another gift?" Basil's timid voice ventured for a suggestion, his tone only a little buzzing in Mari's ear with how distant yet close it sounded. "Could we?"

Helplessness was in his tone, yet - unfairly, Mari felt - she thought that she felt more helpless than that. 

“Mari….” More distant footsteps, and Mari wondered whether Basil's question would ever be answered.

Or maybe it had been answered already but Mari hadn't heard it.

The calm voice from earlier spoke again. Hero. “Hey, you could sit down if you want. I….put the pieces in the trash, alright? B-But just….watch your step around here, alright Mari?”

Today was supposed to be a beautiful day, with the first snowfall coming to Faraway. Now, Mari wouldn't be able to enjoy that. How could she, when she was so careless like this?

She didn't deserve to be with her friends today, or eve—

“Mari?” Another concerned voice. Aubrey again. “We….we could get him a plant! A really, really pretty one too…Basil could help pick one out! We could go to the store right no–”

Hero cleared his throat, very obviously on purpose, then started with, “Guys, she just needs to rest a little. And don't go outside yet without a jacket!”

“...awww, I don't have a jacket…” complained Aubrey, in a whiney way.

Mari heard Kel's rather loud, childish laugh. “You could borrow mine! I don't feel cold anyways!”

“Ewww! You got your cooties all over it…”

Kel's indignant reply went, “Hey! Says YOU!”

“I think I got an extra jacket to spare,” managed Mari, her voice unusually stiff and quiet. That was true, and it would be easy to get as they were all in her own house right now anyways. “You….you don't have to get another gift, Basil.”

Mari felt those eyes on her again, probably filled with hatred and disappointment.

She didn't lift her head to meet them.

●○●•°☆°•●○●

Everyone else long gone from the house, Mari succumbed to the empty buzzing in her head, her gaze on the window with the curtains brushed to the side. Sure enough, as she could see, little clumps of white were falling outside upon the soft ground of the same color.

Had she edged closer to the window, she would have seen the fluffy snow decorating the boughs of her favorite tree in the backyard.

What was she even doing, just sitting on her bed? The violin they had all saved up for just broke, and couldn't be repaired by Christmas. Not that Mari had ever wanted it to be, now that she thought about it.

Was that present even a good idea anyways? Sunny had always wanted to join her whenever she would practice the piano, but….was it truly because he wanted to play another instrument?

Was this all just a waste of time?

The younger three - of course, since Sunny hadn't been in on the “surprise” - truly had fun doing their little odd jobs around town, but…..

….yeah, she had truly wasted their time. All of that just for the violin to fall and break in the end.

Her hands were raised, and she almost brought them to her hair before deciding against that and dropping them to the mattress she was sitting on.

Turning her head, her gaze cell upon the sleeping Sunny in the bed next to hers. He always looked so peaceful when sleeping, - well, that could be applied to almost anyone…maybe - so Mari made sure not to move a single inch to make the mattress creak loudly.

Hopefully, she thought, carefully lying back on the pillow now as she flinched at the long and slow creaking sound that resulted from this, hopefully Aubrey had gotten home safely. The way to Mari's house hadn't been filled with snow yet, but it was still freezing cold.

And the idea of Aubrey traversing that weather without a proper coat on was a frightening one. The fact that anybody, her family, at home didn't give her a coat or anything - coupled with the younger girl not wanting to invite anyone to her house for play dates - raised Mari's suspicions.

At least the coat Mari had given her earlier today was a good, warm one of a pretty color. And she was safe anyways on the way back, heading home while being accompanied by the three others.

Basil….

He had suggested an alternate gift idea with such earnest that some further guilt seeped into Mari at even the memory of that. Buying a plant….no, Sunny had already grown some plants in the past - with help from the others, of course - and the gift needed to be a grand one.

One to make up for the loss of the violin….

…..which had seemed to be a good gift until recently. It had been just an impulsive idea to suggest in the first place, right?

Because otherwise, it wouldn't have broken so easily right when they all were beginning to wrap it up in a nice box.

The sounds of bells from downstairs, followed by the gentle singing of Christmas songs, told Mari that one of her parents was watching a Christmas movie downstairs. Most likely, the culprit was her mother.

Her movements were slow and steady, so as not to set off any explosively loud sound - whether from the floor or the bed itself - as she reluctantly got off the bed and placed one foot lightly in front of the other when leaving the room. For an instant, her foot met and pressed into the ground with a small creak, making her nearly jump as she lifted the foot to place it somewhere else.

A solitary window right before when the flight of stairs started showed Mari more snow outside, everywhere being like a winter wonderland.

Walking down the stairs proved to be a much easier task, in the sense of not waking Sunny up. Probably this was due to the fact that Mari had - softly - closed the door to their shared room before heading downstairs.

The instant she reached the bottom of the flight, Mari knew what movie was being watched. It was the one where some kids trap Santa or something. Imagine doing any of that in real life….and Mari wouldn't actually admit she had actually attempted something wild like that in the past.

Shaking those memories off, Mari still felt a smile growing on her face at the thought of those. Maybe she could do something like that as a joke for this yea— focus.

Mari walked towards the TV room, her eyes immediately drawn to the bright red poking right above the couch's arm.

“...mom?” She watched as the screen flickered, filled with action and holiday vibes. It was enough to get Mari even more excited and in the Christmassy mood, but— how could she feel that way, after messing up Sunny’s Christmas gift so badly?

At the sound of her daughter's voice, her mother quickly paused the movie and turned around with a confused look. Her hand was on the sofa arm as she faced Mari, not getting off of the seat.

“Mari? Go back to sleep, it's so late!” she admonished, still having that concerned, soft look gracing her features. “Is there….something on your mind?”

Mari felt her tooth embed itself in her bottom lip. How on Earth her mother had already guessed it, she didn't know. Perhaps this was the whole “mother's intuition” thing that has always been talked about by the other townspeople of Faraway.

Or maybe her mother just knew her well.

Speaking in a hushed tone, so as not to wake her father(or Sunny) up, Mari fiddled with her fingers as she stood. “I….tried giving Sunny a gift. Behind your back….it was supposed to be a violin. So he could….” She gulped, nearly choking on her own words before pursing her lips.

The warm dark eyes were boring into her, yet Mari couldn't bear to look back at the owner of them. Sounds of something falling gently against the floor, then the sofa squeaking, didn't faze Mari, until the hand came into contact with her shoulder.

Gently.

“This doesn't sound like a whole confession of doing something bad,” remarked her mother. “I'm sure it's more than just you doing this ‘behind my back.’” Her voice emphasized that last part in a way that made Mari want to question her.

And that she did.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Mari raised her face suddenly with an eyebrow raised in incredulity. This wasn't what she thought it was. This wasn't what she thought it wa—

A laugh from the woman nearly towering over her. “You know how Kel and Hero's parents and I are friends?”

“You knew– but I ended up breaking it….” Mari quickly got out, with a heavy exhale, her expression downcast, though she didn't tilt her head down. “I…”

“...breaking it? Oh wait, was that why there were wood pieces in the trash?” questioned her mother with widened eyes and a slightly open mouth after she finished speaking.

With a flinch and clenched fists, her daughter awaited the potential scolding.

“Oh….dear, what happened?”

Huh?

“W-What?” Mari's fingers frantically clutched at the pants of her night dress. She struggled to get the words out coherently. “You– I‐I destroyed it! Sunny deserved a good g-gift but— I RUINED IT!”

No, she didn't actually shout. But with how she felt herself heaving with shaky breaths, sensations of moistness under her eyes, Mari felt she was as loud as those cosmic explosions in sci-fi movies.

Her hands flew to her mouth as her shoulders heaved. Arms wrapped around her, and suddenly there was a warmth like a jacket on her.

“You didn't ruin anything,” a voice said, and Mari knew to whom it belonged.

After that, Mari felt her breathing and heartbeat slow down greatly as she grew limp in her mother's hug. Eventually, she had to pull away.

As soon as she did so, the woman tilted her head at her in curiosity. “Now…how did it break? I won't be mad or anything,” she reminded, though she looked pretty serious about it.

“N-None of your money was wasted, we raised the funds for it on our own…” Mari said, just to reassure her as she adjusted the way she stood on the floor, the heels of her feet suddenly aching. “A-And….I don't remember, but I t-think someone was carrying it to the table where the gift wrapper was a-and it—”

She clutched at her arms, her fingers nearly hurting the soft skin. But she didn't look away from her mother.

A silence. Then—

“Come on, let's watch this movie together,” suggested her mother, a bright grin growing on her face, a harsh contrast to her growing concern from earlier. “I haven't even started it yet- it's just the opening part happening right now!”

A gasp escaped Mari's throat. How did the mood change so suddenly?

“Movies? But Da—”

“It's alright Mari, he and Sunny don't need to know,” her mother sighed, pulling Mari by the hand to the sofa gently. And to her own surprise, Mari followed and didn't resist. “And it's the winter break anyways, you deserve all the fun whether you like it or not!”

Mari comfortably sank into the cushions of the sofa. “What about Sunny? His…gift….”

Her voice was growing weaker as she continued on that topic, yet her mother still obliged her and tried to reduce her worries, even if it was by a little.

“We don't always have to give gifts on Christmas,” she said in reply, and Mari couldn't see her face as she spoke, being on the other side of her on the sofa and further away from the screen. “What about we do something new? You and your friends could go over to…what's that place called, Gino's? Yeah, Gino's! For Christmas.”

“But we still need to give him a gift….” Mari started again, her eyes stuck on the screen as the opening part ended and the camera panned over to a cozy, decorated room with a fireplace and stockings. “Everyone got something for each other too.”

“We could still get him something, you know?” Her mother's voice grew subdued, as she looked back at Mari. “Just….don't tell him about the violin until he's older. Maybe you two'll have something to laugh about when you grow up!”

Mari felt herself gasp. Maybe again. Because….was this incident really as small as her mother thought it was? If so, then….

“Hehe, alright!” Mari laughed, genuinely this time as she clasped her hands together next to her cheek and bounced in her seat as she adjusted the way she sat. “I can't wait!”

The events that unfolded on the screen melted away her worries for now, though she still had some misgivings about the whole thing. Would it really all be okay? Did her friends hate her for this? Did she even des— no, stop it.

They were all going to Gino's tomorrow, and it was going to be fun….and hey, what was Sunny’s new gift going to be?

That, she and her mother would decide in the morning, when potentially going shopping together. After all, it wasn't Christmas.

Yet.

●○●•°☆°•●○●

Gino's for Christmas. An idea that had sounded quite unconventional in Mari's head, yet here they all were. Surrounded by people sitting on other tables and chattering, much like the closely-knit six right this moment.

Mari felt a drop of sweat fall down the side of her face as she eyed her little brother taking a humongous bite out of his….WAS THAT STEAK PIZZA?!

Seriously, she thought, setting her hands down and staring at Hero beside her as she got ready to say something to him, Gino's recipes could be pretty wild sometimes….

Hero was having the “Christmas special version” of his regular Hero sandwiches, with the sandwich bread itself being shaped like a stocking. Interesting, as the regular bread was already pretty long itself.

Not having ordered anything for herself yet, Mari felt her stomach growl at the sight of Hero's food. He hadn't taken a bite out of it, having just ordered it.

Meanwhile, he himself was too busy turning to talk to Kel.

“Mind if we share this sandwich, Hero?” She teased, as Hero quickly whipped his head away from Kel and looked at her in surprise.

“M-Mari?!” He started, a hand protectively over his own food. “And hey, this is mine!”

“Okay, okay princess,” sighed Mari dramatically, before giggling at Hero's pouty face.

“Euurghhhh,” gagged Kel over his own cheese pizza, dangerously close to knocking his glass of Orange Joe over. Aubrey had dared him to order it, and as she had guessed before, not a drop of it had been finished by Kel. “Can't you guys do this somewhere elssseeee????”

At Kel's whining, Aubrey spoke up from the other side of the table. “KEL! Let them have their moment! You just ruined it…” she groaned overdramatically before falling back against her chair in the same fashion.

Mari felt a warmth bloom in her chest. These kids were so….childish. Not a single worry in the world. Why would she ever give them a reason to be concerned?

“Anyways, Basil~! You brought your camera?” The younger girl smiled at the blond next to her cheekily as she latched onto his arm. She had already ordered something, but it was late in arriving at their table.
Maybe it was because Aubrey had ordered something both for herself and Basil…..though she herself would have never admitted that, just saying that she ordered a big meal for herself so Kel wouldn't have any. Mari felt herself sigh - Aubrey didn't have to do that. She could feel safe with the group, with all her friends. Trust in them.

And Mari herself could order something for Basil too, of course.

She thought of all the times the younger girl, practically her younger sister, - somewhat a joke, but also not - had flinched away those times Kel would randomly tap her on the shoulder after running up behind her, or when Mari herself would put her hand on her shoulder quickly in the past. Of course, she had learnt from this, but she couldn't help but wonder what was going on at the girl's home.

Sure, Aubrey had always talked about how she loved her father, her mother too but less often….but….

No! Mari just couldn't put a damper on Christmas, of all days! Her mother had already reassured her of everything a few days back, so—

“Mari? You looked spacey,” said Hero from next to her. “If this is about the—”

“Nope, no need to worry about it!” She quipped back with a close-eyed smile instantly put on her face. “Stress doesn't look good on such a pretty face!!!”

“What– M-Mari!!!” Hero groaned with a small scowl as he flushed red and turned away from her. “Not in front of everyone else—!”

He was cut short by…something.

That being Kel shoving him in the ribs with an elbow. It didn't hurt, but still!

“Get a room!” He complained, and Mari saw that his pizza was almost finished now. Sheesh, maybe she should order something. “H-Hey!!!”

Now Kel was the one cut off. By Hero messing up his hair. Mari giggled again as she watched this.

“Shouldn't have said that, Kale!!!!” Aubrey called out.

Sunny groaned loudly, making everyone look at him, and giving Kel enough time to fix up his hair.

“S-Sunny? Did anything happen?” Basil asked, uncertainty in his voice as he adjusted his chair a little closer to where his best friend was.

A smile growing on her face again, replacing the earlier look of concern, Mari leaned over to her little brother and patted his head. His expression looked annoyed, maybe at the rowdiness of the other five. Well, four, because Basil didn't count.

“It's alright, Basil! Nothing happened!” She turned to him with that same bright smile. “Hey, isn't that your order Aubrey?”

“Ewww, she ordered Orange Joe too?” Kel cried out, nearly collapsing against his part of the table. He also nearly spilled his own Orange Joe on his equally orange jacket in this way.

“Drinking contest!” Aubrey called out cheerfully after getting her order, pushing it a little to the side where Basil was sitting next to her - as Mari had expected. “Whoever finishes the Orange Joe first wins! And Basil has to do it too!!!”

“Noooo!”

“H-Huh? Really?” Basil stuttered, eyes darting here and there, occasionally towards Sunny with a silent message of “Please save me from these two goofballs.” Meanwhile, Sunny just stared at him and went back to finishing his third slice of steak pizza. “I-I can't— wait, is that why you ordered it for me?”

Mari watched Hero visibly facepalm at the “drinking contest” - wait, how on Earth did Aubrey know that term….?

“This is why you guys are getting coal for next Christmas instead,” he sighed, hand sliding down his face.

“Hey, they're just having fun, Hero!” Mari grinned at him, making him face her with a grumble.

“Alright," a sigh again, "if you say so….”