Prompt: Grinch

Fandom: Jem

Pairing: Stormer/Roxy

Heart of Ice

Roxy has never been known for her kindness towards others. Growing up on the streets of Philadelphia, the white haired girl had learned early on to not care for anyone but herself and she still lived by that rule all these years later. This attitude is probably what made her fit in so well with her band, The Misfits. Like her, all the members of the band were known for their rude and horrid behavior that is, all except one, the very woman who was walking next to Roxy at the moment.

Roxy turned to look at her girlfriend. Stormer has always been the softy in the group. She always thought of her bandmates first and also tried to be courteous to everyone she met. The blue haired woman knew that if it wasn't for her musical talent, The Misfits would never have let her in the band. While at times she tried to fit in a bit more, Stormer knew in her heart that she would never be a 'true Misfit.'

Roxy and Stormer have been dating for several months now, but neither had told the other members of their group yet. While both Pizzazz and Jetta had known about Stormer's bisexuality, they still believed Roxy to be straight and Roxy, hating the very thought of showing any kind of weakness, wanted to keep it that way. She thought that if the others knew that she was in love then they would take advantage of that in some way and even though Stormer hated keeping a secret from those she considered her friends, she was willing to keep their relationship a secret for Roxy. Plus they both knew it would bring a huge scandal for the group.

Stormer felt Roxy's eyes on her as they walked through the snow; she knew before looking that her girlfriend was giving her a less than unloving stare. Turning to look Roxy in the eyes she spoke, "Please don't give me that look! You know I hate that look in your eyes."

Letting out a frustrated sigh Roxy did her best to soften her expression, something she would never do if anyone else had asked, "You know I'm only doing this for you. Not only am a breaking my promise to myself to never celebrate Christmas, but now you're making me spending Christmas Eve with the people I hate the most in the whole fucking world."

Stormer let out a sigh of her own. She knew how much her girlfriend hated to celebrate the holiday season, mostly due to her past experiences. Stormer grew up in a house with a loving family, where Christmas was a joyous time and was always spent with those she most loved. Roxy, however, had not been that lucky, the only Christmas memory that she had was shivery on those icy cold nights and watching as others seemed to be having the time of their lives, while she was doing whatever she could to get warm.

Being one of the few people to know of Roxy's past, Stormer understood why the thought of celebrating this holiday was so hard on the guitar player, but she was determined to change the other woman's perspective of Christmas. That was why the two rock stars were now on their way to Starlight mansion with bags full of presents and treats in their hands.

"You know as well as I do that we made a truce with Jem and the Holograms They are all looking forward to the two of us attending their Christmas party, and I just figured that maybe spending time around the kids would show you what Christmas was really all about Roxy. This holiday means so much to me and I want to be able to celebrate it with the most important person in my life." Stormer tried to defend herself to her girlfriend.

The comment just made Roxy look even more pissed off than before, "You're a real sap sometimes, you know that?" This only made Stormer roll her eyes, she was use to Roxy's less than loving manner, but she was holding out hope that spending Christmas with Jem and the Holograms as well as the Starlight girls would get her girlfriend into a jollier mood.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Starlight Mansion. Just a minute after Stormer rang the doorbell, Kimber Benton was opening the door to let them both in. "Merry Christmas Stormer! I'm so glad you guys were able to make it!" exclaimed Kimber as she gave Stormer a hug.

Hugging her long-time friend back Stormer spoke, "Merry Christmas Kimber! We wouldn't miss it for the world, right Roxy." She turned slightly to look at her girlfriend again, pleading with her eyes for the other woman to not be rude.

Putting on the most polite face she could Roxy said, "Um, yeah sure."

As the two stepped inside they could instantly tell that the other girls had definitely been busy decorating for holiday. Every surface was covered in some kind of Christmas decorations. There were snow globes, snowmen, bells, and little Christmas trees everywhere you looked and Roxy had a feeling that the deeper into the house she got the more disgustingly cheerful it would be. It was then she knew that she was in for one long night.

"Hey you guys! I see you made it through the snow." Jerrica laughed as she came down the stairs and saw the two Misfits.

Returning the laugh Stormer spoke for the two of them, "Yeah it wasn't all that bad."

"Here Stormer, let me help you with those presents. The real tree is in the great room." Jerrica bent down to take some of the packages out of the blue haired woman's hands.

"Thanks Jerrica." And with that the two left Roxy alone with Kimber, something she was less than thrilled about. Roxy always suspected that Stormer may have dated the redhead, back when the two left their respected bands and went out to make their own album together. Stormer, however, always talked of Kimber as only being a friend and if Roxy was being honest, she would say that she was scared to ask Stormer if there had been anything more between them.

"Why don't you and I put those treats in the kitchen?" Kimber asked trying to break the tension forming in the room.

"Yeah, okay." Roxy handed her some of bags she was carrying.

As the two walked down the hallway toward the kitchen Kimber could tell that Roxy was less than thrilled to be spending Christmas Eve here with her band, and honestly there was a part of Kimber who did not want the woman anywhere near her house during this time, fearing she would make one of her famous scenes and completely wreck the party. However, Kimber also knew how much Roxy meant to Stormer so she tried to make her feel welcome. "I meant what I said before I'm glad you're here Roxy. I know the two of us aren't exactly friends but this is the time of year for forgiveness and all that, so why don't we both try and make this a Christmas none of us will ever forget?"

"Whatever Kimber. I only came because of Stormer; I don't care about anything else."

This was enough to make the redhead irritated. Normally Kimber was the first to shoot her mouth off but she used all her self-control not to.

When the two finally reached the kitchen they found about half of the Starlight girls in there, helping out cooking the dinner for the party. Roxy recognized some of them, although kids were never her thing. She never knew how to act around them. While she knew that she shouldn't be too harsh with them, she also hated showing weakness and that included being nice to others. Because of this she treated kids as she did most adults, which normally made the kids cry or yell.

However, everyone who knew the Starlight girls knew they could take just about anything anyone dished out at them. Each of them was foster children that Jerrica had taken in. They had been either orphaned or abandoned by their parents. Part of Roxy actually respected the young girls for surviving the same ordeal that she had, while the other part of her was jealous that they had found the home that she had always wished for growing up.

Suddenly Roxy felt a tug on pant leg. She looked down to see the one Starlight girl that she could never forget, Ba Nee. The young girl was always known for her soft heart and her almost always happy mood.

She was also the one who had given Roxy a book on reading when she learned the older woman was illiterate. Roxy couldn't deny that she was grateful to the child for giving her the motivation to learn to read. The book Ba Nee had given her was enough to teach her the basics, the rest Stormer had taught her whenever the other Misfits weren't around.

"Would you like a Christmas cookie Roxy?" the young girl asked, holding up a tray of freshly decorated treats.

"No thanks kid." It was the most polite answer she could say, but everyone in the room could hear the annoyance in her voice.

Ba Nee didn't care though, "Okay but there's still plenty if you change your mind." She said as she put the cookies on the table.

Kimber was the next to speak, "Roxy how about you go help the others get set up in the great room while I help the girls out in here."

Without saying one word, Roxy just turned and left the room. When she got to the great room she saw the rest of the Starlight girls, along with Raya and Jerrica, putting the finishing touches on the twelve foot tall tree. Looking around some more, she saw her girlfriend helping Aja and Shana to untangle the rest of the Christmas lights that was to hang around the walls of the room.

Seeing that her lover had entered the room, Stormer went over to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek then held up a strand of lights that she had already untangled and asked, "Want to help?" She already knew that she didn't but she was hoping that Roxy would do it for her.

"Fine." Roxy said with a slight scowl on her face as she headed to climb up the ladder to start hanging the lights.

Well maybe this will work out after all, thought Stormer as she went to hold the ladder for her girlfriend.

All the girls spent the next hour or so decorating the room and decided to eat their dinner early so the rest of the night can be spent celebrating and have some fun. The kids sat at one end of the table and the adults at the other. The room seemed to erupt with the voices of everyone talking, Roxy, however kept quiet throughout the meal. Even when someone spoke to her directly she would only give a short answer in response. The holograms saw this as being rude but Stormer could tell that Roxy was trying her best to be polite for her.

After the food was all gone, they all went back into the great room. The Starlight girls quickly took their positions and started singing the Christmas carols that they had been practicing all month, each wearing the holiday outfits that Shana had made for them.

Roxy sat at one end of the couch with Stormer curled up next to her; the others were sitting throughout the room each paying vivid attention to the children. Even Roxy had to admit that the kids were a lot better than she expected them to be.

Stormer looked up just in time to see the smallest of smiles grace Roxy's lips. Seeing this made her snuggle even closer to her girlfriend. Unfortunately, as soon as the girl's music stopped so did Roxy's smile.

As the rest of the group applauded the young girls, Roxy leaned over and whispered to Stormer, "We ate and listened to the brats sing, now can we get out of here?"

"Roxy, I know you've been trying your best to be polite tonight, but I could tell that you actually enjoyed the girls singing. Why not stick around just a bit longer? Please?"

Letting out a tired sigh, Roxy folded her arms across her chest. Stormer was right, she did like the music, but to her it was not enough to get her into the Christmas spirit. She felt like she was almost at her breaking point. She had such a strong urge just to get up and run out of the room, maybe knocking over the tree on her way out.

Jerrica stood up then and addressed the Starlight girls, "Okay girls, you have a choice to make. Do you think you should all go to bed now and wait for Santa or would each of you like to open one of your presents now?"

"PRESENTS!" all the girls screamed in unison. This made the holograms and Stormer erupt in laughter at the girl's enthusiasm.

While all the others were watching as the kids raced to the tree to open their gifts, Roxy was watching Stormer. All night she was trying to understand what her girlfriend saw that she didn't. To her all Christmas meant was, freezing weather, horrible crowds at the mall, and seeing everybody else with stupid cheerful grins of their faces. She knew that Stormer was seeing everything differently.

Ever since the two had started dating, Roxy had been doing her best to show her softer side, but it just wasn't that easy for her to do. In the past whenever the white haired girl had lowered her shields she had been hurt in one way or another. Even though she trusted Stormer more than she trusted anybody else she had ever met before, it was still hard to put down all her defenses.

Roxy was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Stormer was looking back at her now. That was until her girlfriend spoke to her with a smile on her face. "Roxy, I think someone has a gift for you too." She then gestured for Roxy to look straight ahead.

When she did, there again stood Ba Nee. This time however instead of holding up a tray of cookies, she had a neatly wrapped gift complete with a red ribbon around it.

"What…what's this for kid?" Roxy asked in confusion.

"It's your Christmas present Roxy." Ba Nee said happily, "When we were all out shopping I found this and thought you might like, so we all chipped in a little and bought it for you. I hope you like it."

Roxy looked past the girl in front of her and saw the rest of the children looking at her expectedly, waiting to see if she liked the gift they got for her. She automatically did what she always did when somebody got her something, she got suspicious.

She had never gotten anything from anyone that didn't expect anything in return. If these kids thought they were getting a little extra. If these kids think they're going to get a little more in their stockings from me, they have another thing coming.

Stormer could tell that her girlfriend was suspicious of the gift in front of her. Putting a relaxing hand of Roxy's shoulder she leaned into whisper into her ear, "How about opening it before jumping to conclusions."

Roxy looked to Stormer to see her smiling and then back to the kids each still looking at her. The holograms were staring at her as well, for the first time Roxy didn't see any hostility in their faces.

Taking the gift from Ba Nee, she sat it on her lap and began to unwrap it. Roxy could feel everyone's eyes on her as she lifted the lid of the box. Her eyes grew wide as she saw what was in the box.

Lifting it carefully in her hands Roxy looked closely at the snow globe she had just been given. The base of the globe looked like a sheet of music paper, the music notes were black and the lines of the paper were Christmas lights. Inside the globe was an angle dressed as a rock star. She had white hair just like Roxy and held a purple guitar, and instead of snow, colored glitter filled the orb.

"It's beautiful." Stormer said leaning over to get a closer look at Roxy's gift. Roxy herself was still too memorized by it to say anything. Slowly she turned it over to whine the switch at the bottom of the globe, when she did everyone was able to hear the music to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree playing.

"Do you like it Roxy." Ba Nee asked her with a big smile on her face. But when she didn't get a response, her smile began to fade. "Roxy?"

Roxy was completely lost in thought. I…I don't get it. After all these kids have seen me do in the past, why the hell would they give me this? Is this the power that this holiday has on people?

Not even Stormer could read the expression on her girlfriends face. The girls began to think that the gift they had given their new friend was not that good and the holograms began to get angry over Roxy's rudeness. Kimber was just about to say something to her about it when she and the rest of the room saw something that they were sure very few people ever saw before, Roxy was crying.

Carefully she sat the snow globe down, Roxy leaned over and hugged the small girl and in a quiet voice she said "Thank you. I love it."

As Ba Nee was returning the hug, the other girls went to play with their new gifts. The holograms, as soon as they got over their shock of seeing Roxy being incredible nice, went with to play with the girls as well.

Stormer sat there looking at the love of her life. She had a happy and satisfied look on her face. Looks like someone finally realized what this holiday is really about.

It was about an hour later. The Starlight girls were heading to bed, eager to wake up to see what St. Nick would bring them during the night. The adults stayed up a bit longer, drinking hot coco and talking about their plans for the next day. Roxy still wasn't that talkative, she mostly just looked at her new snow globe, it was the first real Christmas present she had ever gotten and no matter how hard she tried she could not wipe the smile off her face. All the others could tell that this was the best Christmas that the woman had ever had.

When the clock struck midnight, Stormer and Roxy knew that the other Misfits would be coming to pick them up any minute now. As they were saying their goodbyes, Kimber suddenly went over and hugged Roxy like she did to Stormer earlier.

Even though she was in a lot better mood than before Roxy had to resist the urge to push the girl away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Thanking you for showing everyone that you heart isn't made ice." Kimber replied jokingly.

Roxy blushed as everyone else laughed, "Don't get used to it."

As the two stepped out the door, they immediately heard the impatient honking from the Misfit van. They waved good bye to the holograms and thanked them for the evening. Before they got close to the van Roxy grabbed hold of Stormer and stopped them in tracks. "If you tell either of them about what happened tonight you are so dumped."

Stormer had a feeling that her girlfriend wasn't joking but she giggled anyway, "Don't worry babe, it'll be our secret."

"Good and put this in your purse so they won't ask about it." Roxy handed her the snow globe and watched as Stormer put it away.

Looking back up at Roxy, Stormer couldn't help but say "Merry Christmas Roxy. I love you."

"Right back at you baby." Roxy said with yet another rare smile on her face.