Disclaimer: The New Mutants and other characters that appear in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Marvel—lucky them.
Extra Disclaimer: This is not your usual WAFFy Christmas story. You have been warned.
So, this is Christmas
Starring the New Mutants
By Mako-clb
"Ack, there ye are, Dani. If ye aren't too busy, I need to speak with ye." The polite, soft-spoken request came from the youngest member of Charles Xavier's newest group of students.
The girl was Rahne Sinclair, the redheaded ward of well-known scientist and Xavier's longtime friend, Dr. Moira McTaggert. The students were the New Mutants. As the name implied, all of these students were young men and women, some barely teenagers, who were gifted or cursed at birth with a genetic anomaly that gave them abilities that few average humans could even hope to posses. Like many before them, Xavier was teaching the New Mutants how to control their abilities so they did not harm themselves or others and so they would be able to defend themselves against those who would harm or kill them simply because of the way they were born.
Rahne understood that need especially well. Before Moira became her guardian, she had been under the care of Reverend Craig. When the young Scottish girl had first manifested her ability to transform into a red wolf, the Reverend had branded her the spawn of Satan and sought her death. Although Moira had saved her from that fate, and she and Xavier had taught Rahne that her powers were not the curse of the devil, it was difficult for her to forget everything the Reverend had taught her about God and religion.
However, it wasn't this fear that made the girl sometimes known as Wolfsbane seek out her teammate and friend Dani Moonstar, the New Mutant known as Mirage. It was Rahne's desire to celebrate the Christmas holiday properly.
"What's up, Rahne?" Dani asked her young friend as she entered the game room.
"I was wondering…That is," Rahne replied a bit nervously. Then taking a deep breath, she said, "No one's set up the manger scene, and it's so close to Christmas. Is that because we're supposed to be doin' it? The X-Men did put up the tree, even though we helped decorate. Maybe that means it's the New Mutants' job ta put up the manger. Should we na ask the Professor to be sure?"
"Slow down there, Carrot Top. What's the big deal about the manger?"
"'Tis Christmas coming, of course. Ye canna properly celebrate the birth o' the baby Jesus without a manger scene an' Christmas services."
"Well, I haven't heard anything about a manger scene, but we can ask Professor X, if you want," Dani said, unsure of exactly what to do about the situation. Rahne was probably her best friend in the New Mutants. The two of them had a special connection beyond the one they shared because of Dani's ability to communicate with animals and Rahne when she was in her wolf form. Maybe it was that both of them had been terrified of their abilities when they first manifested or that both of them had lost their parents. Dani wasn't sure, but the connection was there.
Still, there were times when the differences between them seemed bigger than the ties that bound them together. For Dani, religion was one of those differences. Rahne came from a very strict Christian background. Dani wasn't really sure which sect, since it all seemed about the same to her. Dani herself was Cheyenne, and her gods were not the god that Rahne and most of the New Mutants believed in. It was another thing that made her different, different from most non-mutants and different from the other New Mutants. And at times like this, it also made her especially uncomfortable. Her parents had been Christian, at least in name and some practices, but Black Eagle kept more to the old ways. And it was Black Eagle who had raised her. So Dani knew about Christmas, about decorating trees and the birth of the son of the Christian god, but she didn't believe.
True, she had decorated the tree with the others. It had been fun, with all the laughter and music and silly antics. But, it had also made her feel as if she was betraying her people and beliefs by participating in another religion's ceremonies. So Dani was not really in the mood to discuss the importance of a manger scene. Fortunately, she was saved by the timely appearance of a member of Xavier's senior team, the X-Men.
"Oh, sorry to interrupt," Kitty Pryde apologized as she stuck her head in through the closed door, "but I'm looking for Illyana. Have either of you seen her?"
Rahne shook her head, and Kitty started to leave when Dani stopped her. "Wait a second," the co-leader of the New Mutants said, almost sorry she had done so the minute the words left her mouth. There was bad blood between Kitty and the New Mutants. Not so much now as there had been when the X-Men first returned from space. At the time, Professor Xavier had told Kitty she would be moved from the X-Men to the New Mutants. Angry at being demoted from the senior team, Kitty had taken to calling the New Mutants the X-babies. Dani, who was older than Kitty even if she wasn't as experienced in the use of her mutant powers, had resented the demeaning nickname. Since Kitty had been allowed to stay with the X-Men, and especially after the New Mutants had helped rescue her from the Hellfire Club's White Queen, things were not quite as bad. Of course, it also helped that Kitty's best friend and roommate, Illyana, was now a member of the team. On the other hand, sometimes it made things worse since most of the New Mutants were uncomfortable around Illyana, to say the least. Considering that she was a demon sorcerous, as well as a mutant time-traveler, most everyone tended to be suspicious and sometimes outright hateful of the newest member of the team. Dani often suspected that was part of the reason Kitty and the New Mutants still didn't get along very well.
Right now though, Kitty was the person most likely to know the answer to Rahne's question. So while Kitty stood waiting not quite in yet not quite out of the room, Dani asked, "Do you know anything about a manger scene?"
"Nope, why?" Kitty replied, obviously a little puzzled by the question.
Dani waited for Rahne to say something, but gave up when she realized the other girl was either too shy or embarrassed to say anything. "Rahne was just wondering who was in charge of putting up the manger scene for Christmas," Dani replied, uncomfortable at having to ask about something she didn't even care about.
"Well, we didn't have a manger scene last year," Kitty replied. "But, I'm sure you can put one up if you want. Ask the Professor, but I'm sure he won't mind."
"Won't mind what?" The door opened so that Kitty was no longer half in and half out of it. Illyana stood behind Kitty wearing the bottom half of her uniform and a thin, long-sleeved white blouse. Even though it was warm enough inside the mansion, it was freezing outside, so almost everyone else was wearing sweaters or heavy shirts. But not Illyana. For some reason, she never seemed to be cold. Bobby, one of the youngest of the New Mutants, had once commented that it was the fire of Hades in the demon sorceress' blood that kept her warm. Dani doubted that, but with Illyana, you couldn't be sure.
"Hey, there you are," Kitty said, turning toward her best friend and the younger sister of her teammate Colossus. "I thought we were supposed to go shopping?"
Illyana shrugged and pointed to the partial New Mutants uniform she was wearing. "I got held up in training. The Professor wasn't real thrilled with the way I handled the situation he set up, so I got lectured. But, don't worry, I'll be ready to go in a jif."
"You better be. We've gotta make it back before sunset so I can light the first candle."
"If you're that worried, we can just go shopping tomorrow. I've already bought all your Hanukkah presents, and you've got time before Christmas," Illyana replied.
"Can't. I forgot my menorah got destroyed along with everything else when the mansion went up in flames, so I've gotta get a new one before sunset.
"Oh, that reminds me," Kitty said, turning her attention back to Dani and Rahne, "whatever you do about the manger thing, leave some space on the shelf at the far end of the family room for my menorah, okay."
"Menorah?" Rahne asked, then blushed slightly as all eyes turned toward her.
"Yeah," Illyana replied, beating Kitty to an answer. "Hanukkah starts tonight or today or whatever. That whole sunset thing always throws me."
"Are ye Jewish?" Rahne asked hesitantly.
"Nah, not me, just Kitty," Illyana replied.
Addressing Kitty, Rahne said with just a touch of disbelief, "But…but ye helped decorate the Christmas tree and sang carols with us."
"Yes," Kitty replied, obviously unsure where this was heading.
"But, ye are a heathen tha does na believe in our Lord Jesus Christ," Rahne said, becoming more sure of herself as she repeated the words she had so often heard during Sunday sermon. "How can ye celebrate his birth?"
"Rahne!" Dani admonished, trying to stop a fight Rahne probably did not even know she had started, but which Kitty, a stern look now on her face, probably intended to finish.
"Ack, I'm sorry," Rahne said, looking towards Dani. But, the look on the older girl's face made Rahne turn toward Kitty to finish. "'Twas rude of me to say such a thing, but…"
"You know, Kitty wasn't the only non-Christian decorating the tree," Illyana snapped. "Dani, Amara, Peter and I were there, too. Not to mention Ororo and Kurt's girlfriend, and who knows about Wolverine."
"But, uh," Rahne muttered, obviously flustered. She turned questioning eyes towards Dani, and the co-leader of the New Mutants wasn't sure if she was questioning what to say next or Illyana's statement about Dani's faith.
Before Dani could even think of an answer, Illyana continued. "Not like any of that should really matter. In fact, if anyone should feel bad about decorating the tree, it's you. After all, it is a heathen," and Illyana stressed the next word, "pagan tradition dating back to the Winter Solstice rites held long before Jesus was born. Heck, most Christian traditions come from pagan practices, so you really shouldn't get so upset."
"'Tis not true, is it?" the redhead asked Dani, and once again Dani was left wondering if it was Dani's own faith the girl was calling into question.
"I don't really know," Dani said, deciding to answer about Christian traditions instead of her personal ones. "I've never really thought about it."
"Well, I have," Illyana retorted. "I had a chance to study plenty of ancient rites and rituals, and trust me when I say it's true."
Dani wasn't sure if Illyana was doing this because she was trying to get even with Rahne for all of the things the girl had said about the sorceress in the past, when she thought the blond couldn't hear, or because Illyana was just trying to defend herself and her friends from Rahne's accusations. Dani wanted to believe it was the latter, because that at least she could understand and forgive.
Dani took a deep breath, trying to think of something to say that could calm things down, but Kitty beat her to it. "I understand how important your faith is to you. Mine's important to me, too. But, that doesn't give you the right to pass judgement on anyone else.
"And, just so you know, Illyana's right," Kitty continued, firmly, but not with any real anger. "Ancient pagan traditions have influenced Christianity, and Judaism, since the very beginning. Just like you bring some of your ancestors' traditions with you into the modern world, Judaism and Christianity took the traditions of their ancestors' beliefs to help forge their own faith. Why not keep the best traditions of times past and combine them with the best of what you discover now?
"Besides, it's not the rituals you practice that determine your religion, it's your faith. Lighting the menorah at Hanukkah is a tradition in my family, one I happen to like. And now I like the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree, too. Doing both, or neither, doesn't make me any less Jewish than if I did. As long as I believe and as long as I am proud of my beliefs, than that's all that matters, and it's all anyone else needs to know."
There was silence after that, except for the slight sniffling that came from Rahne. Dani was almost sure the sensitive Scotts girl was crying as well. Torn between comforting her best friend and wanting Rahne to understand how much it hurt others when she labeled anyone without her beliefs as some heathen, Dani just stood there.
The silence was broken a few moments later when Illyana suddenly grabbed Kitty by the wrist and pulled her away, saying, "We gotta get going or we won't make it back before sunset."
The silence resumed for a few moments until Rahne turned around to face the girl that had become not only her teammate and leader, but a friend and the closest thing the orphaned girl had ever had to a sister. "Kitty, she…" Rahne began, then shook her head and tried again. "I dinna mean to hurt Kitty's feelings, but I was taught that anyone who does na believe in Jesus will na go to heaven. 'Tis a sin."
"Do you really believe that?"
"It's what I was taught," Rahne replied, unsure. "'Tis a part of my faith."
"Do you think Dr. McTaggert is a sinner?"
"Of course not!" she replied, shocked that her friend would even suggest such a thing. "Lady Moira is na sinner."
"But, she doesn't believe the way you do. If she did, then she wouldn't have saved you from that mob that tried to kill you. And, what about me? I'm Cheyenne. I believe in the spirits and my ancestors. Does that make me evil?
"I don't pretend to understand your faith. But, from what I do remember about Christianity in general, I thought it was about bringing peace to the world. And that's what the New Mutants and the X-Men are trying to do, too. We're trying to bring peace between mutants and humans. And aren't we trying to do that by helping mutants and non-mutants understand and accept each other, differences and all?"
Looking terribly confused and sad, Rahne asked, "But, if it is na wrong to believe differently, than does that mean that I've been wrong in my faith all this time?"
"No, I don't think that at all," Dani said. "I think it's like Kitty said. I think the idea is to take the best parts of everything and put them together so you have something even better. So, maybe you just need to take the best parts of your faith, whatever they are, and combine it with an understanding of other religions."
Rahne's eyes still watered, but the tears had mostly stopped. And, while she still looked confused, Dani noticed she also looked as if she were concentrating very hard on something.
"Can I be alone for a bit?" Rahne asked.
Dani nodded and headed out of the room. As she did, she said, "I'll ask the Professor about that manger scene for you, okay."
NM-NM-NM-NM
"Good evening, Rahne. May I ask what you're doing?" Kurt Wagner, the X-Man known as Nightcrawler asked.
Rahne jumped when she noticed who it was, but forced herself to calm down. This was as good a chance as any to start putting into practice her decision to be more tolerant of the other people in the mansion, including the demonic-looking X-Man.
"I'm just moving this miniature manger scene over to give Kitty more room for her menorah."
"That's nice of you," Kurt replied.
Rahne just nodded, and then said, "Thank ye, and Merry Christmas, Kurt."
The End