From: "P. Rico" Hello again I was reading through my story and I noticed ALOT of little mistakes. I decided to redo and resend it. It's not much differnt but I just felt better correcting the errors. Standard disclaimers still apply ***************** All I Want For Christmas... A little piece of RK silliness by P.Rico "Ken-niiiiiiiiiiii!" Kenshin turned to see Ayame and Suzume running up to him and smiled. "Ohayo, Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan." "Ken-nii," said Suzame. "Where's Kaoru-nee?" "She went shopping for the Christmas dinner, de gozaru yo." The two girls did a little dance and cheered. "It's alittle cold out here," said Kenshin. "Why don't we go inside." The Ayame and Suzume followed Kenshin into the dojo and began frantically looking around. "What are you looking for?" "The tree," said Ayame "Tree?" "The Christmas Tree," replied Suzame. "Grandpa told us about it." "Why isn't there a Tree, Ken-nii?" asked Ayame with wide, sad eyes. "Um..." Kenshin laughed nervously. "I guess we never thought about it." "But we have to have a tree." "Please go get it for us, Ken-nii." "Yes, please get it." "Um...well..." Kenshin looked out the partially open door. It was getting cold and it looked like it might snow. Not really a good time to be running around the forest. Then he looked back and saw the two girls looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He really hated to disappoint those two. "All right," he said finally. "YEA!" The girls did another little dance of joy. Just then, Yahiko walked in. "Hey, Kenshin, what's up?" "I'm going out to get a tree for Christmas," Kenshin replied picking up his sakabatou. "A tree?" "Ken-nii is going to get us a Christmas tree!" "Take care of these two until Kaoru-dono comes back, de gozaru yo." "Why not," muttered Yahiko. With that, Kenshin left for the forest. --- Kenshin hadn't been walking too long when he found what he thought was the perfect tree. "It's just the right size," he mused. "And a lovely shade of green. I think Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan will love it. Kaoru-dono, too. I just wish I had brought Sano with me. The tree looks a little heavy. Oh, well. I'll figure out a way to get it home." He pulled out his sakabatou and flipped it over. "STOP!" cried a booming voice. "Oro?" "I said 'Stop' can't you understand Japanese?" Kenshin looked around for the source of the voice. It seemed to be coming from the tree but he couldn't see anybody hiding in it. "Please come out, de gozaru yo. I won't hurt you." "HA!" laughed the unseen speaker. "Like any mortal can harm the tree god." "Tree god?" "That's right, Tree god," as if to prove it's point, one of the branches on the tree lashed out and knocked the sakabatou out the the confused Kenshin's hand. "Sumen," said Kenshin, rushing to retrieve his precious sword. "I didn't mean to offend you, Tree god-dono." Kenshin watched in shock as the tree pulled it's roots out of the ground and began moving toward him. "Your kind have already offended. And continue to do so. My brothers in the west have been taken and used for man's amusement this time of the year for centuries. And now, man has come to take my children here. And the worse are the ones like you. Who dare to challenge the Tree god, himself." "Oro?" "Fine I accept your challenge!" "Oro, what challenge?" "If you win, I'll be your Christmas Tree for this and every other year of your life." Kenshin didn't quit know what to do. Finding a talking tree was bad enough, but finding one that actually wanted to fight him, this was a little too much. "Well, human?" Kenshin was going to decline his offer and just go home empty handed. But remembering the looks on Ayame and Suzume's faces...he couldn't disappoint them. "Besides, they'd never believe this." Kenshin took a deep breath. "I'll fight you," he told the tree, his eyes narrowing. "I was hoping you'd say that." The tree almost looked like it was smiling. --- "Kenshin, we're back!" Kaoru walked into the dojo, followed closely by Megumi and Sano, to find Yahiko trying to entertain the two girls. "Yahiko, where's Kenshin?" "He went to get a tree?" "A tree?" "A Christmas Tree?" asked Megumi "Yea!" yelled the two girls. "But he's been gone for awhile," said Yahiko. "Where did he go?" asked Sano. "That way," Yahiko pointed to the small north of the dojo. Sano and Kaoru both gasped. "What?" Kaoru grabbed Yahiko by the shoulders and began shaking him. "Pleasetellmeyouwerewrongpleasetellmehedidn'tgointoTHATforestlookingforatree," she yelled rapidly. "Looks like we won't be celebrating Christmas with Kenshin this year," mutter Sano. "Why?" asked Megumi. "What's so terrible about that forest?" --- Kenshin laid on the ground panting. "I've fought Okita Soushi, Saitou Hajime, Shishio Makoto, Shinomori Aoshi, and countless other great warriors. And in the end, I lost to a tree," he sighed. "Not just any tree," said the tree. "The tree god!" Kenshin picked himself up. "I guess Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan are going to have to go with out a tree." He began to walk toward the dojo. "Not so fast." Kenshin looked at the tree over his shoulder. "Nani?" "I said that if you won, I'd be you tree, but you lost." "Don't remind me." "So now, you'll have to do something for me." "Oro?" --- "Tree god?" Megumi, Yahiko, and the two girls had listened in silence as Sano and Kaoru related to them the legend of the tree god. "It started when Westerners began coming to Japan and bringing over parts of their cultures, like Christmas," said Sano. "They say that this tree god is an excellent fighter and challenges any man that comes into his forest looking for a Christmas tree. If the man wins, the tree god will be his Christmas tree for the rest of his life," added Kaoru. "And if he loses?" asked Yahiko. --- The tree god entered his lair. He smiled when he saw his lovely wife and two saplings waiting for him. "Did you get one, father?" asked one of the saplings. "Yes, I got this year's Christmas human." The saplings did a little dance. The tree god roughly tossed Kenshin on the floor of the lair. He stood up and began dusting himself off. The little saplings stopped their dance abruptly when they saw him. "Well?" asked the tree god. "I don't know, dad. It's kinda scrawny." "Oro?" "And look at that red hair. That can't be healthy." "That rude," muttered Kenshin. "Honey," said the tree goddess. "Maybe you should go get another human." The tree god muttered something under his breath. "What was that, Dear?" "Nothing. Fine, I'll get another human." "A tall one," said one sapling. "With long limbs," said the other. "And get rid of that little runt," said the tree goddess. "Hey," protested Kenshin. "Sure whatever." He grabbed Kenshin by the legs and pulled him along as he left the lair. "Just trying to get a nice human for my family but do they appreciate it? Noooooooooooo." "Ororo?" --- Kenshin was never so happy to be home. "Beaten and then rejected by a tree. How humiliating. I hope Saitou doesn't hear about this. He'd never let me down." "Kenshin!" "Ken-san!" Kenshin looked up to see all the occupants of the dojo running up to him. Kaoru threw her arms around him and held him close. "Kenshin we were so worried." "When Yahiko told us that you had gone to get a tree," said Sano. "We were afraid that you would run into the tree god." "Actually," said Kenshin smiling sheepishly, "I did." "Really?" Kenshin nodded then turned to the two girls. "I'm afraid I wasn't able to get a tree." Ayame and Suzume threw their small arms around him "That's alright Ken-nii." "We'd rather have you here than any old tree." "My sentiments, exactly," said Kaoru --- Saitou walked briskly thought the forest mumbling all the way. "What's the deal with this Christmas? It's just a stupid Western invention desined to make peopl go into debt. And now Tokio wants a tree. What does a tree have to do with anything?" But Saitou would do anything to make his wife happy. Unfortunately for him, she knew this all to well. Saitou stopped before a big, lush tree. "Tokio will like this one," he said, pulling out his katana. "STOP!" "Nani?" **************************** A little better, ne? So did Saitou beat the tree god? Or will he be this years Christmas human? I think I'll leave that up to you. Thanks for reading and sorry again for that first version. _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in forms and passwords with just one click! Comes with $50 in free coupons! Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------