A Little Sister's Love

Love is Spending Christmas Together

That Christmas, Dream Land had a huge snowfall overnight - a real white Christmas, just like out of a storybook. I awoke on the morning of December 25th to see a gentle flurry falling outside my window. Even through my usual morning drowsiness, I was filled with excitement.

I quickly ran through my morning routine - brushing my teeth, combing my hair, throwing on clothes while adding a scarf to my usual ensemble - and dashed down the hall and out into the gardens without even having breakfast.

"Merry Christmas, Dream Land!" I cried out, bending down to scoop up a pile of snow and tossing it all into the air so it sprinkled around me like soft white confetti.

Escargoon was already out in the gardens,
wearing a thick red scarf and tending to the holly bushes that grew at this time of year.

"Merry Christmas, Errie!" he trilled back.

"Merry Christmas, Esky! You're in a good mood," I beamed. Even on a festive day like Christmas, it was unusual to see him so jolly.

"I got a Christmas present from my mom in the mail. Homemade Christmas cookies." His eyes always sparkled when he spoke about his mother. "My mom's homemade cookies would turn any frown upside down."

"Don't suppose you saved one for me?" I teased, giving him a gentle nudge.

To my surprise, he reached into his scarf and pulled out a tissue paper parcel wrapped in ribbon. "Mom always taught me to share," he said with a wink, pressing the small parcel into my palm.

"W-Wait a second, you mean it? Is it really OK for me to have these?"

"You better eat 'em before I change my mind," he said in a sing-song voice, trimming another wilted leaf from the holly bush.

I gently tore back the paper to reveal a pair of festive shaped cookies - one Christmas tree, one candy cane - each one iced to brightly-coloured perfection. They were so pretty I almost didn't want to eat them, but I picked up the candy cane shaped one and took a small bite.

"Wow!" I exclaimed with a mouthful of cookie. "This actually tastes like candy canes!"

"See? I told you, my mom makes the best cookies," he said proudly.

It turned out that cookies weren't the only festive food I had to look forward to. Escargoon and I, with some help from the Waddle Dees, were soon set to work preparing a feast for the King and all the castle servants, guards, and other staff. Escargoon, having worked at the castle for much longer than me, took charge of the main dishes and the Waddle Dees, instructing me to work on the desserts.

"Desserts are harder to mess up," he explained, "so that's your job, got it?"

I didn't mind that he didn't trust me with the savoury dishes - this was a task I would undertake with pride. As a child I loved baking and cooking desserts with my father, so to be in a such a well-stocked kitchen with all the equipment and ingredients I could dream of, an endless assortment of recipe books, and the freedom to create whatever my heart desired... maybe there was some fairytale magic in the castle after all.

It took all day (and a lot of willpower to resist eating any of the food before dinner time), but by the time evening fell I had successfully prepared two different flavours of festive trifle, a fruit cake, a mango and pineapple cheesecake, and an assortment of mince pies cutely decorated with pastry cut in the shape of holly leaves.

"That doesn't look half bad," said Escargoon, raising an eyebrow at my cheesecake.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I laughed.

Escargoon and I summoned the Waddle Dees to help carry the various platters and bowls filled with food. Waddle Doo and the Waddle Dees ate in their own dining hall, but the banquet hall was set with enough seats for Sir Ebrum and his family, Meta Knight and the other knights, and Escargoon and I seated opposite each other right beside the King himself at the head of the table that was adorned with a pristine white tablecloth.