The theme of this is based around Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the three spirits or Maximum Ride.

Dr. Martinez's house creaked as the brutal wind assaulted it. Snow danced and twirled by my window like a Latino dancer. I realized I might have to be in the middle of that tomorrow night if it doesn't let up. A real cruddy time to leave.

From the spot on my bed I could hear the flock giggling and shuffling downstairs as they prepared to watch a movie. They sounded as if they were having the time of their lives and really, they probably were. Thanks to Dr. Martinez –Max's mom – the flock was being able to experience Christmas for the first time in years. It would probably be the best, too.

Plus, Total decided, hey why not get married on Christmas? Everyone will be together!

Well, somewhat. One person would be missing as of tomorrow night; me.

Yes, I am leaving the flock. It is for the best, really. Everyone is right about how when Max and me are together, we are focused on each other. Dylan is right about how me being with the flock might be putting them all in danger. Even if the threat from Dr. Hans is over, no one is sure that was the end. With me splitting from everyone, it will increase our survival chances.

I nodded to myself, convinced to leave even more and continued writing.

'Good-bye, my love.
Fang

P.S. Tell everyone I sure will miss them.'

My hand had cramped by the time I finished the letter. The letter that I had been working on for weeks now.

I grabbed an envelope and scrawled Max's name onto it quickly. I stuffed the paper in, and then put it delicately onto the dresser.

"Fang," someone whispered, so quietly I almost couldn't hear it. Instantly I tensed up and prepared for a fight. Not saying a word, I swept the room with my gaze. The only light in the room was from the lamp that I was using to write my letter to the flock, but my raptor vision made up for the dim lighting.

And then suddenly, a boy no more than seven years of age appeared in front of me. His hair was a rich honey brown and his chocolate eyes bore into my own black ones. He looked exactly as we had left him at the school before the scientists got to him.

"Ari?"

"Yes, Fang, it is me in my rightful form,"

"Why are you here?" I questioned suspiciously not believing it was really him. We had been tricked in the past. That or I was just losing it.

"You aren't going crazy, Fang, and I am here to help you realize the mistake you are making by leaving the flock and Max. I barely had anytime with her as a whole. You get to be with her everyday. Don't go and throw it away. She loves you, Fang, and you love her," he said as he looked at me a bit sadly; remembering his short time with Max.

"I have to leave, Ari. You don't understand,"

"I understand perfectly. Dylan just wants you to leave because he thinks it will protect Max. He doesn't understand how much she loves and needs you. You don't understand either,"

"I'm a distraction to her. Every time we are together, we forget about the flock,"

"Control is the answer, Fang. You guys can learn to control yourselves around the flock so you are there for them,"

"But Angel said-,"

"I know what she said, too. But tell me, how is splitting up going to help you guys survive? Yes, maybe they won't get you all at once, but how are you going to know if everyone is okay?"

"We-,"

"You have no clue," Ari said interrupting me yet again.

"Look, Ari," I started, getting a bit angry. "I get that you want us to stay together, I do too, but this is for the best for everyone. I won't be sitting here waiting to die, and I won't be a distraction,"

"Three ghosts will visit you. The ghosts of Christmas' past and present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The first will come at the stroke of one, the second will come at the last stroke of two, and the third will come at the last stroke of three," Ari said, ignoring my last comment.

"But why are they coming?" I asked rather stupidly.

"To show you what you will be missing if you leave, and what memories you will leave behind. Now, if you excuse me, I must go," Ari said, and then he vanished.

There goes my….hallucination?

I shook my head. I must have eaten something bad; making me see and hear things that weren't there. I flopped down onto my bed and told myself to get some shut-eye and forget about Ari.

Closing my eyes, his words echoed in my head. "How are you going to know if everyone is okay?"

'I'll find a way,' I told myself. 'I'll know,'

"Fang! Get your lazy butt out of bed! We don't have all night, and believe it or not, you have a lot of past to go through and look at," a female voice woke me. I rose fast, glancing at clock out of habit. 1:00 a.m.

Oh crap.

So it wasn't the 4 ham sandwiches that did me over last night. Well this should be interesting.

I looked up at the woman standing in front of me with her arms crossed in an impatient way. Her blue eyes glittered and her long, curly blonde hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She wore a simple, white gown. She looked more like a much older version of Angel than she did a spirit.

"Who are you?"

"I am the ghost of Christmas Past," she introduced herself kindly surprising me considering the way she had woken me up. "Come, we shall fly,"

She made her way over to the window and waited for me to join her. In sync, we jumped out of my window and flew into the world of the past.

The woman landed outside of a building; a building so horrifyingly familiar it seemed like it punched me in the gut. The weather was warm for December, but then again, it was California. Death Valley, to be precise. Yeah, we were at the School, the building of my past.

I turned to her. "You brought me here? Of all places, you brought me to the school?" She just ignored me and walked right up to the building and...through the wall? I ran after her, and hesitated a bit before the wall before slowly stepping through it. She was way ahead of me, already down the hallway and turning the corner. I kept running and eventually caught up to her in a room full of dog crates.

White coats were carrying a struggling, strawberry-blonde, 5 year old. "Please, no!" he shouted, tears streaming down his face. A girl with dirty blonde hair sat in another dog crate, trying to reach towards the boy. Another boy sat in a different dog crate, trying to break through the crates door to get to his friend. A little girl with browned skin and curly hair sat in a smaller dog crate crying.

Suddenly, I realized that this was us ten years ago. That boy being taken away was Iggy, the girl reaching through the bars of her crate was Max, and the little girl crying was Nudge. And the boy trying to break out was me.

The Ghost of Christmas Past moved to stand next to me. "This is your past," she said quietly. "The day your friend went blind." Slowly, I nodded. I remembered this day, but I hadn't realized it was on Christmas.

Little Me gave up trying to break out and reached for Little Max and Little Nudge. I smiled softly, remembering holding Max's and Nudge's hands as they cried.

"We are the best of friends, huh?" I said quietly. The Spirit looked at me. "Were the best of friends, you mean. You're leaving them, remember?"

I set my mouth in a straight line. "Yeah, I remember."

Suddenly, the whitecoats brought the boy back in and shoved him in his crate. "I can't see!" he cried, "I can't see!"

"Iggy, what did they do to you?" Little Max sobbed. Everyone was crying now, except Little Me.

"G-guys, what if I don't e-ever see again?" Iggy hiccupped. "I don't wanna be in darkness forever."

Little Me looked at him. "We'll still be here with you, Iggy. Forever and always."

"Yeah, Iggy. Forever and always. We will always try to keep you safe and sound," Little Max said seriously. Little Nudge just hiccupped a little.

Then, the memory faded out, and I was surrounded by blackness.

I was woken up at 2 o'clock by a deep, rumbling voice saying, "Fang, get up,"

"Garr goo da fhost of Chrigmas Pheasant?" I asked incoherently as I tried to rouse myself to go on another trip. Suddenly, I felt warmth encircle me, warming me from head to toe and making me livelier.

"That should keep you awake," a man's voice said behind me, chuckling softly. I whirled around to see a man that could only be described as a jolly giant. He had dark brown curls and a beard that seemed to grow a bit longer with each passing second. He was wearing a fur-lined green robe with a holly wreath crown on top of his head that was set with shining icicles. In his huge hand was a torch, which explained how I became warm.

The big man got up and went to the window. I silently followed him, and for the second time that night, I jumped out the window.

Moments later, we appeared in the living room of Dr. M's house. The tree was just as it was last night except there were many more presents encircled beneath it.

"You know we could have just walked downstairs," I told the giant Spirit. I noted that he had more wrinkles than when I first saw him.

"Yes," he answered. "But where's the magic in that?" I rolled my eyes and turned to watch the scene that was unfolding in front of me.

"Max, look at all of those presents!" Angel squealed, running downstairs. I was in her path so I tried to move out of her way, but she passed right through me.

Sensing my confusion, the Spirit whispered, "Remember they can't see or hear you,"

Ah, of course. Two Fangs would be overkill.

Gazzy, Total, Akila, Iggy, Dr. Martinez, Nudge, and Dylan came down all at once and took their places around the living room.

"Why don't we wait for Max and Fang?" Nudge suggested to an excited Angel who had a hand posed to grab a present. It gave me hope to see Angel act little again. Deep down, Angel was still the strong, sweet little girl I once knew. We just had to dig a bit deeper to find her.

I heard footsteps trudging down the steps and looked at the wooden staircase to my right. And then there was Max and me, holding hands as we descended down the stairs.

We walked sleepily over to the couch where there was no one residing and collapsed onto it tiredly.

And at that, everyone attacked the presents like a starving man would attack a Milky Way. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time to see what everyone got. All I could tell was that everyone got something.

When I saw myself sneaking to the back of the tree to retrieve Max's present, I looked at my feet. I didn't need to have the look of happiness upon her face seared into my mind twice.

"Everyone is so happy," I said to the Spirit as a lame statement.

"Too bad you are distracting Max so much," he said sarcastically gesturing to the way Max was holding up a shirt to Nudge and admiring it while I was checking out a new chemistry set Iggy got. I stayed silent at that comment.

When Dr. M clapped her hands and told everyone it was time to get ready for the wedding, the Spirit walked over to the front door and opened it.

"Where are we headed now?" I questioned as he stepped outside. Was it me or were his legs shaking?

"We are headed to another time in the present. Come," he replied and we flew off again once more. This time we landed back in my bedroom.

"Does it really kill you to take the stairs?" I asked the Spirit, irritated.

"Yes," he replied in all seriousness. I just rolled my eyes and looked at the scene in front of me.

The whole flock was gathered around Max who was still dressed in the dress she wore to the wedding. As a matter of fact, everyone was still dressed up. Max was clutching a piece of paper for dear life and sobbing while everyone else stood around her with tears running down their shocked faces.

Wait a minute…sitting next to Max was an off-white envelope with her name scrawled onto it hastily as if whoever addressed it wanted it gone as soon as possible.

"Yes, Fang. That is your letter. The letter you wrote to Max to say good-bye," the Spirit whispered in my ear. I shook my head, unable to tear my eyes away from the heart breaking view in front of me.

"No, no, no, I never meant to hurt her. That can't be," I said in denial. I tried to back away, but something was holding my feet to the ground.

"Fang!" Max screamed out, sobbing even harder. Each noise she made was like a stab in the chest. I never meant to hurt her. I meant what was best. I finally tore my gaze away to stare at the giant spirit. To my utter surprise, the giant man had grown frail and old.

"What happened?" I breathed out, shocked at what the Spirit had become.

"I only exist in the here and now which is why I had 2,010 brothers before me. I am not around for the next Christmas,"

"I loved him!" Max screamed out again making me look away from the dying Spirit.

"What have I done?" I murmured to myself.

"You can't convince someone not to love you," the Ghost of Christmas Present whispered softly in a weak voice.

And with those words echoing in my ears, the vision of the present faded from my sight.

I woke up from the terrible vision of the present to the feeling of cold breath on my cheek and looked up. There the last Spirit was looking down on me. The Spirit was dressed from head to toe in a cloak that was blacker than midnight. Its head was covered in a black hood, and even when I peered into its face, all I saw was a bottomless pit of blackness. It moved like a ghost, moving fluidly, but somehow not moving at all.

"Where are we going?" I asked the phantom. It pointed out the window. Together, without speaking, we jumped out the window and into the future.

We appeared in a meadow. Instantly memories flashed into my mind. This was the meadow that the E-shaped house had resided in.

The Flock stood in a half circle around a tree, crying and wailing. Nudge and Iggy clutched Angel and Gazzy to them, creating one titanic, sobbing heap. I tried to go around them to see what they were gathered around, but something seemed to keep me back. I noticed Max was missing. Where was she? Surely she wouldn't be anywhere but with the Flock, especially in their state of despair.

After a few minutes, one by one, the Flock pulled away from each other, and took off into the air, sniffling and wiping tears from their faces.

I slowly walked to where the Flock had stood. A small gravestone sat under the tree, reading:

MAXIMUM RIDE

The girl who saved the world, but couldn't save her heart.

1996-2012

No, no this wasn't real. This wasn't happening. Max couldn't be dead! She wasn't gone; this was just a sick joke. But...this was the future, wasn't it? It hadn't happened yet. Speaking of which, how did this happen? Nothing could kill Max; she was simply unable to be defeated. She wouldn't accept defeat. Not my Max.

"H-how?" I asked the Spirit, shaken up a bit. "How did she meet her end?"

No reply. The Spirit just stood there staring at the grave as if almost it couldn't believe it either.

And then, I heard a voice speak. It was neither male nor female, and it didn't seem to be coming from the Spirit but from my own mind.

"After you left, she saved the world," the Voice said unemotionally. "But she couldn't repair the damage you did to her heart. She's dead because of you Fang; you left."

"I-I didn't leave!" I shouted. I probably would have appeared schizophrenic to any other person.

"Yes, you did," the Voice replied in a monotone, "You left her with just a note to say good-bye. You left her without love. She rejected Dylan. He left shortly after she saved the world. And then she killed herself. You did this. You are to blame. All because you left."

I buried my head in my hands and collapsed onto my knees. "No!" I yelled, "No! You're not dead Max, you're not. You can't be! And if you are, it's my fault...all because I left. Ari was right. I can't leave, not knowing what it's done to you. I won't."

I lifted my face from my hands and grabbed the front of the Spirit's black cloak. "Please tell me this is the future that may be! Not the future that will be! Tell me I can change it!"

Once those words were spoken, the future of yet to come faded away into blackness.

I woke with a start and jumped up up out of bed with the kind of energy that would have made the energy bunny envious.

Rushing to where I'd put the note, I ripped it into shreds and tossed it into my waste basket. I then rushed downstairs as fast as I could, grabbed Max by the shoulders, and kissed her.

"Merry Christmas, Max," I said, smiling. She looked a little shocked that I'd actually run downstairs that fast and was actually showing something more than a blank face, but it was Max and nothing throws her off for very long.

"Merry Christmas to you, too." she replied, smiling and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy came rushing into the room with Angel exclaiming excitedly, "It's time to open presents!"

"Whatever say you, kiddo," I said picking her up and spinning her around. She looked at me like I was a bit off in the head, but I didn't mind. I was just glad to see everyone happy and together; no tears.

Everyone, Dr. M and Ella included, ran over and sat around the Christmas tree. Nudge squealed as she opened her gift from Dr. M, a new designer bag from something called Coach and a shirt.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said throwing her skinny arms around Dr. M.

Gazzy received fireworks and matches, Iggy a chemistry set, Dylan a book about singing which I snorted at humorously, Ella some make-up, and Angel opened her gift to find a small crystal hairpin in the shape of a wing.

Leaning over to Max, I whispered, "I'm saving your gift for later, when we're alone."

She smiled and whispered back, "Then that's when you'll be getting yours."

Dr. M handed me a box and another one to Max. Grinning wide, Max opened hers and pulled out a new pair of black combat boots. "Thanks, Mom! I needed a new pair!" she said happily and pulled them on.

Looking down at my own, I wondered what it could possibly be. After all, I hardly ever talk about what I want or need. I unwrapped it carefully and pulled out a knife with a blade about six inches long with a teethed edge. Searching the box some more, I saw it also came with a sheath.

"Wow, this awesome. Thanks Dr. M," I said gratefully, sliding a finger along the surface of it admiringly. "Now I can keep you safe where ever we go," I said, glancing at Max with a smirk, full well knowing she could handle herself.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and hit my shoulder. "Yeah, whatever Fang."

"Alright, come on guys! We have a wedding to get to!" Dr. M. said standing up and clapping her hands together. We all put our presents down and hurried off to get ready.

The wedding passed quickly. It was a tiny one with just us, Jeb, and a few of the scientists from the Wendy K. I noticed that Dylan kept staring at Max longingly, and I reminded myself what I had learned from last night. Max loved me, I loved her, and that was that. No perfect science creation could get in the way.

Soon it was late and everyone went home. The flock decided to fly home because hey, we have wings so why not? Once home, everyone except Iggy went to their rooms and immediately passed out. Personally, I think Jeb let Iggy have a little wine because he kept hiccupping and didn't walk quite straight.

"Night, Ig," I said and smirked knowing he was trashed.

"Nighty night, Smarkles," Iggy drunkingly said from where he was seated on the couch. As I watched, he slowly slid sideways so he was sprawled on the couch.

"What happened here?" Max asked disapprovingly as she walked towards me from tucking Angel in. I simply shrugged and lifted my mouth up in a half smile. Max shook her head. "I'm going to change," she said simply gesturing to the dress she was forced into.

As she started to turn away I caught her arm. "You looked beautiful today. And don't forget, I still need to give you my present,"

"I need to give you yours, too," Max replied, looking at me and smiling. I watched her as she made her way upstairs and just before she turned to go into the hall she said fleetingly, "You know, you should wear a tuxedo more often,"

Then, she was gone.

I led Max outside by the hand, her gift in my other hand behind my back.

"C'mon," I said, leading her to a grassy spot in the middle of the yard. It was open yet private thanks to all of the trees that bordered the yard. "Close your eyes,"

She closed them, smiling slightly. I leaned in and clipped a necklace that had a heart which had engraved 'M & F' in it with wings on either side of the heart.

"Okay...open them," I said.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the necklace. "Oh, Fang," she whispered, "I love it."

I kissed her softly before sitting and pulling her down into the grass with me. We laid there for a while looking at the sky. It was a perfect night in Arizona.

"I have something for you as well," she said after a while, as she reached over and grabbed the present that was sitting in the grass next to her. "Here," She handed me a photo album titled 'Forever and Always.' I smiled, remembering when I said that exactly the day Iggy went blind.

I opened it and started flipping through it; looking at the photos from the years as they had passed. Gazzy's 6th birthday, which had been crazy; full of fireworks. Then there was the first time Angel saw a rabbit. She was all over that fluffy creature. Me and Max sprawled out on the couch at the E-shaped house fast asleep and using each other as pillows. And the last page, all of us together in a circle smiling and laughing.

I pulled her close to me and kissed her. Pulling away, I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close to me as she sighed in content.

"I love you, Fang," she said. I smiled.

"I love you, too, Max," I said as I kissed her forehead. I closed my eyes and whispered very quietly, "Thank you, Ari. For everything,"

At the edge of the forest, a figure cloaked in white stood watching the teenagers. In a tone that could only be described as thankful although, it was hard to tell because it was so montone, the figure whispered quietly in a voice that was neither male nor female, "Thank you, Fang, for realizing where you belong. I almost made you leave by convincing Dylan was right for her. I was wrong, and I am sorry. Thank you for saving Maximum Ride,"

And then, the figure faded from sight. But, before it was completely vanished, a picture floated down from his white cloak. The photo was a man and a woman, a bride and groom to be exact, standing and kissing each other before an alter. The groom had jet black hair and olive skin while the bride had dirty blonde hair and sparkling, mischevious brown eyes.

But, that is not all the picture had. If you peered hard, you could see at the top of the photo there was faint writing that said:

Max & Fang

The girl who saved the world, and the boy who saved her heart.

December 25, 2016. New Hampshire.

Well, I hope you guys liked it! This is something that I had in my head since November after watching the original Christmas Carol. If you haven't seen it then go and watch! I suggest the 1937 black and white version.

Oh, and I had something mentioned in here that was mentioned in MAX. See if you can find it! If you think you've got it, mention it in a review. :)

I hope you all have/had a very merry Christmas, Kwanza, or Hanukah!

Review?