Disclaimer: All characters from Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story (and Hikari and Ban) belongs to me.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Hikari clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her scream. She stared in horror at the sight in front of her. A tug on her robe sleeve drew her attention to her baby brother. Quickly she covered his eyes and pulled him to her. She couldn't let him see this.

What should she do?

SHIPPO!

She picked up her young brother and raced to the room where her older brother was sleeping. Quickly she snuck in, then leapt up onto his belly. Yoshio squeaked as his big sister kept a death grip on him during the flight.

"Oooof!" The fox demon blinked rapidly, a bit confused from his sudden wake up call. "Hikari?" He rubbed his eyes. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus..." she whispered. She didn't want the baby to hear. She needed to protect him as much as possible from the slaughter that was to come.

Shippo groaned, flinging an arm over his eyes. "It's sooooo early Kari..."

"Underneath the mistletoe last night." She loosed her grip on her brother and huddled closer to whisper her terrible secret. "She didn't see me creep down the stairs to take a peek."

"It's sooooo early..." Shippo rubbed his face and groaned. "Look... Hikari... just... just go back to bed, okay? I'm sure Kagome was just... uh... whispering something to him or... something."

"She thought I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep!" Of course, she had been far too excited about Santa visiting to possibly stay asleep. And to think, she thought she would bring her poor innocent beloved little brother along so that he could see the magic too. WHAT was she thinking!? She should know better than to let him anywhere near an unknown situation!

After all, she was fairly certain that Santa was a demon of some sort. If she wasn't still suffering from a slight cold she would have been able to smell what kind of demon he was. But why wasn't Shippo more concerned? Why would he be telling her to just go back to bed when some strange demon was kissing their mother? That was crazy! It was impossible! What could possibly keep Shippo from wanting to help her dispatch the ... a spell...

IT HAD TO BE A SPELL!

Of course! Now it all made sense! Only a powerful evil spell would make her mommy kiss anyone but her daddy. She nodded to herself. Yes, that had to be it! And that same spell must be keeping Shippo from waking up and helping her. Why wouldn't the spell effect her though? Unless... unless it was a spell that got you by smell! Yes! That made sense too! Her stuffed -up nose must have saved her from smelling whatever was making everyone act wrong!

She had to save them. She had to protect her family from this evil.

But how? That Santa demon looks pretty big. Much as she loved Shippo, she couldn't trust him if he was under a spell. And what would she do with Yoshio? She couldn't bring him into a fight! She could leave him with Daddy... but what if he was under a sleep spell? Or what if he got mad at Mommy when it wasn't her fault she was put under a spell? She didn't want to have to keep a secret from Daddy... so maybe she would just tell him... later. After everything was fixed.

She needed help though.

Hikari smiled.

Then disappeared.

Bantan woke up to a familiar scent. There she stood, sillouetted by the moon at the entrance of the cave that he and his brothers shared, her hands on her hips looking like an avenging angel. She was summoning him!

Carefully and quietly he tried to sneak out of the cave without drawing notice. His brothers were not very nice to Hikari, except when the grown ups were around. Something mus be really wrong for her to stand in the opening rather than be upwind and tossing pebbles at him (she has the BEST aim!).

She reached out her hand, and he took it. The air buzzed and blurred, and in a heartbeat they were standing in her room. She was wearing her fire rat robe over her pink Howdy Kitty pajamas. But what was odd was the Santa hat she had been wearing for a month was laying in shreds on her rug.

Quickly she whispered everything that had happened. He agreed that it must be a spell. Kagome would never kiss another. He should know, his dad would still try on occasion. No way would anyone be able to kiss Kagome while Inuyasha was around. And that was a worry he didn't bring up to HIkari. If Inuyasha was around... alive... then there was no way this Santa creep would have been able to spell her into kissing him.

What would Hikari's pack do without their leader?

Maybe his dad would let them all come live in the cave. Though... his mama probably wouldn't want Kagome living with them. Maybe he could hunt for them sometimes, maybe help protect them when they traveled!

Suddenly he was shaken out of his daydream as Hikari kept talking.

"Then I saw Mommy TICKLE Santa Claus! Underneath his beard so snowy white."

Poor Hikari.

"Oh, what a laugh it would have been if Daddy had only seen Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night." She laughed, but it wasn't a real life.

If Inuyasha HAD been there, Santa would be in lots of little pieces all over the place. Ban patted Hikari on the head, hoping to comfort her.

"Let's see if we can break the spell," he said. There would be time to deal with the rest later.

Poor HIkari.

Together they snuck down the hall to spy on the situation. Hikari made him tie a scarf around his mouth and nose so he wouldn't be affected by the spell. Silently they watched as Kagome sat on Santa's lap and feed him some sort of cookie.

The situation was dire indeed.

Hikari took Ban's hand and led him down the hall to her grandfather's bedroom. He had been here once, but the old man had caught them and threatened to seal him in a paper doll and set fire to it if he ever broke into the room again. Luckily Hikari was the one to break out and Ban stood outside the door acting as a guard and lookout.

When she returned she held several slips of paper in her hand. Demon wards he would bet. Or protection spells. He had seen the monk they traveled with use similar ones. Was HIkari practicing spells too? How cool! His dad would never let him touch human magic. She was so lucky to be part human too.

The first thing they did was ward the room where her little brother was sleeping in the crib next to his big brother Shippo. Once they were sure they were safe, they headed to the stairs. They warded the stairs too, to keep the upstairs safe from the evil that was down the stairs.

Crouching low to the ground they snuck down the stairs and into the kitchen. They peeked around the corner into the living room. They watched as Santa sniffed the air, then let out a weird laugh that sounded like ho ho ho.

Then...

Then he said good little girls should be in bed.

HE KNEW!

Hikari looked around frantically. They had no time left. They had to find the source of the spell.

"What's that?" Ban asked, pointing up at an odd twig and leaves hanging from the entrance to the kitchen. They were sitting right under it!

HIkar whispered in a horrified voice about it being mistletoe. This was the enchantment! Mistletoe made people kiss! All they had to do was get rid of it. Then they would all be safe.

Ban and Hikari looked at each other, then nodded. The young wolf demon cupped his hands and bent to one knee. Hikari took a few steps back, then darted forward and darted towards him. She landed with one foot in his cupped hands and he shot her into the air. Snatching the wretched thing on her way up, she did a mid air roll and tossed it to Ban on her way down.

He took the sprig of leaves and ran. When Santa came towards them, Hikari tossed spell scrolls at him and yelled out the words to activate them. They knocked over a few pieces of furniture to stall him as Hikari grabbed Ban and took them back to his time.

Breathing hard, but thrilled at their success, the kids danced in celebration. Then they tore the mistletoe into tiny pieces and set fire to it. Satisfied that the spell had been broken, they sighed in relief.

"Hikari!"

They grimaced and turned to see a very angry Inuyasha coming towards them. Quickly they explained about the spell (leaving out the kissing part, no need to get him mad at Mommy) and how they thwarted evil. When they finished, Inuyasha sighed heavily.

"Let's go home, Hikari."

Hikari turned and waved to Ban, then grinned up at her Daddy.

When they got back home, her mommy kissed her, then kissed her daddy. Then Mommy started laughing, then her daddy turned his head so she wouldn't see him smile.

HIkari grinned.

She had saved Christmas! Santa would never kiss Mommy again!

Or else.

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Author's Note:

This story if for those who felt I ruined last Christmas's story (though I still like Mouse and Wolf), and for those who wanted to see more of Inuyasha's daughter.

Merry Christmas!