There were a lot of things that the genomes couldn't teach Conner; like the taste of ice cream, that breathless feeling after a good laugh, and the joy that comes with waiting for Santa Claus. Of course the clone knew the man wasn't real, and that the holiday commemorated the birth of Christ, but there was a little part of him that wanted to believe- if only to be able to say that he experienced the anticipation of presents from the North Pole.
The weeks leading up to Christmas were filled with enough baking, decorating and missions to last Conner a lifetime. He felt that he would never understand the vigorous acts of Earthlings for a single day out of the year. The team noticed that he was brooding more than normal, and attributed Superboy's mood to Superman's absence. They tried to cheer him up, but all of their joy was thrown in Conner's face and made the lack of understanding more painful.
On Christmas Eve he finally snapped, stomping off to his room in the Cave to escape his friends. The clone turned off all of the room's lights and huddled in his blankets in the safety of the darkness. A stray tear fell from his watery eyes as he struggled to feel human. Wolf curled against him, and Sphere whirred comforting sayings. Eventually Conner fell asleep in the tenebrious atmosphere.
A sharp noise woke the boy up a couple of hours later. He was used to tuning out sounds that he heard on a normal basis, like the team's voices, and the TV when it wasn't on the static channel, so the tinkling noise invited paranoia about the Cave's defenses. All of a sudden, the sound stopped. Superboy snuck into the kitchen to see what was going on, and saw that the team's Christmas tree had gained some new presents. Conner looked around for suspicious figures, and walked over to the new additions. Looking closely at the name tags on the crinkly wrapping paper, his eyes widened in shock.
He ran back to his room and lay quietly in his bed. He did not rustle the sheets, and breathed slowly and silently. The boy was listening for a sound he was afraid he'd never hear again: the sound of Santa's sleigh bells. [1]
On top of Mount Justice, a bat and his robin perched, jingling small silver bells above the superboy's vents.
A glance from the latter seemed to say 'Do you think he heard?'
A nod came from the shadows.
The next morning, even M'Gann was surprised at the sudden change in Conner's behavior; he was smiling and laughing as he ripped the paper from his presents, possibly the most enthusiastic person in the room. After all, it was hard to top off Robin's joy as he watched from afar, hanging buckets of water over mistletoe for unlucky couples.
[1] An edited version of the original quote "On Christmas Eve many years ago I laid quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets, I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound I was afraid I'd never hear: the sound of Santa's sleigh bells." From the Polar Express.
Merry Christmas! : ) – KF13