As promised, here's my morph Christmas story, just in time to celebrate solstice!

Grace was working at the table in the house she and Marie shared when Marie came in, humming. Grace looked up from her work, a tool she was trying to fix.

"You seem cheerful today."

"Oh, I was just thinking," Marie replied as she sat down.

"About what?"

"Well, it's getting close to Christmas, and I was thinking about maybe getting everyone together and celebrating it."

Grace stared at her blankly. "What exactly is Christmas?"

"Oh, I forgot you wouldn't know about it," Marie said apologetically, "It's a holiday that's celebrated this time of year. My...my trainer really enjoyed it."

Marie became quiet, like she usually did whenever she talked about her former trainer. Grace allowed her a few moments of silence before changing the subject.

"So how does one usually celebrate it?"

Marie perked up a little. "Well, there's usually a tree that gets decorated, and presents, and lots of decorations, and snow, but we probably won't get the snow. It's usually a really fun thing. I know a lot of other morphs have said something about it."

Grace nodded thoughtfully. "There's a council meeting tomorrow. I'll bring it up if someone else doesn't first."

The next day Grace came home to find Marie once again humming as she swept the floor.

"How did it go?" Marie asked as she finished sweeping and put the broom away.

"Everyone liked the Christmas idea, so we decided to ask some morphs to get it together. Would you mind being in charge of at least part of it?"

"I'd love to. Who else were you thinking of doing it?"

"Seth, Rin, Clarence, and Martin, mainly. Jeff would probably be willing to help if you wanted him to."

Marie nodded. "Sounds good. I'll get in touch with everyone else and see what we can do."

Within a short amount of time Marie had gathered Rin, Martin, Clarence, and Seth and began deciding what was going to happen. When they had a plan they presented it to the council during the next meeting.

"We were thinking of decorating the Hall," Marie, who had ended up as the spokesperson, explained. "Anyone who wanted to help could do so. I contacted Miles and Julia and they've agreed to send over anything we'd need. As for presents, we were thinking about everyone drawing one name out of a hat and giving a gift to that person so as to not drain our resources too much."

The council nodded in unison.

"I guess it's unanimous," Grace said, "Just get an estimate of how much it'll cost and start whenever you get the stuff."

Four days later a large assortment of boxes and crates arrived on the boat that ran between the morphs' island and the mainland. Willing hands helped carry them to the Hall, a large structure that served as a place where morphs could gather to talk and relax or to hold meetings if they needed to. Grace and Jeff, who had volunteered to assist with the decorating, helped Marie start to unpack.

"What's this?" Jeff asked, holding up a fake cluster of leaves with white berries.

"Oh, that's mistletoe," Marie explained, "You hang it up above doorways and if two people meet under it then they kiss."

Jeff looked around nervously. "Ice doesn't know about this, does she?"

"I think she does," Grace said, pointing to where Ice was on a stepladder, hanging mistletoe above a door.

"Oh great," Jeff said miserably.

"She's still going after you?" Marie asked, trying to keep a grin off her face.

"Like a Houndoom after a juicy steak."

"Interesting analogy," Grace said as she started pulling out a garland.

"Just please warn me if she starts getting close," Jeff said as he glanced at Ice, who was looking at her work with a smug grin.

Under the direction of Marie and Rin, who seemed to possess the most decorating talent, the chaos that had spilled out of the boxes slowly manifested itself into cheery decorations that adorned the walls, ceiling, and almost any open space that wasn't a major walkway.

"Hey Marie, where does this go?" Grace asked, holding up a star with a short cord attached to it.

"Oh, that goes on top of the tree. That's usually the last thing to go up, though."

Grace shrugged as she put the star by the tree. "Any particular reason?"

"Tradition, I guess."

Once everything but the star was in place the rest of the morphs were gathered into the Hall. Amid the murmurings about how wonderful the place looked pens and strips of paper were passed out, along with instructions to write their name on the paper and put it in a box that was standing near the Christmas tree. Once everyone's name was in the box Marie motioned for everyone to be quiet.

"Alright, before we draw names for presents we need to put the star on top of the tree. Who wants to do it?"

"I vote Grace!" someone called.

"I vote someone who can reach the top of the tree," Grace retorted.

This was met with grins and chuckles. After a bit of discussion (and some influence on Grace's part) it was decided that Marie should be the one to put the star on top of the tree. With a slight grin Grace handed her the star. Marie jokingly glared at her for a moment before reaching up and carefully placing the star on top of the tree. Martin plugged it into the rest of the lights and plugged them into the wall. The tree lit up, extracting oohs and ahhs from the morphs. The box was passed around and everyone drew a name. After a few humorous incidences where someone drew his or her own name out everyone had a morph to give a present to. Most of them dispersed, talking to each other about what to give. Marie was folding up her name when Jeff came up to her.

"Um Marie, could I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"I got Grace. What should I give her? I mean, what would she like?"

Marie was quiet a moment, thinking. "Hm, that's a tough one. I think she'd like pretty much anything, though, as long as it had a good thought behind it. Maybe make her something."

"Alright. Thanks."

Jeff walked off, looking thoughtful. After a minute Grace found Marie.

"Who'd you get?" she asked.

"Martin," Marie replied.

"He's easy. Just get him anything that has transistors in it."

"Who did you get?"

"Bart. Any ideas?"

"Hm." Marie thought for a moment. "Well, I did hear him say that Jeff keeps stealing his knitting needles."

Grace nodded. "I think I have an idea. By the way, do you know who got me?"

"Even if I did I wouldn't tell you."

Grace sighed. "Alright. I just wanted an idea of what to expect."

"Afraid you might get a statue?"

"Exactly." Grace grinned before going to begin Bart's present.

The next day Marie and Grace were in the Hall when Jeff came in. He glanced up and stopped dead. Above every seat was at least one sprig of mistletoe. After checking and double-checking to make sure Ice wasn't there he went over to where Grace and Marie were sitting and stood awkwardly. Grace raised an eyebrow, glanced up, and nodded in understanding.

"I don't think you have to worry about either one of us kissing you."

Jeff glanced around. "Yeah, but just in case Ice comes in..."

Grace suppressed a grin as she turned to Marie. "Did you really get this much mistletoe?"

Marie shrugged. "I didn't think we got that much. It might have been a mix-up. Or Ice came up with her own."

"Do you think Ice hung all this up?" Grace asked.

"A couple of morphs saw her putting it up last night."

Jeff sighed as he rubbed his temple. "Of all the people who had to get an obsessed member of the opposite sex, it had to be me."

Marie looked behind Jeff. "Oh, hi Ice."

Jeff let out a quiet "meep" before bolting, revealing that there was no one behind him.

"That was a little mean," Grace said.

"Yes," Marie admitted, "but it was still funny."

Clarence, who had witnessed the entire thing, walked by and winked at Grace. She gave him a small nod. Soon after Marie left and Clarence came and sat by Grace.

"That seemed awfully mean," he said.

Grace nodded. "Especially with how paranoid Jeff is starting to get." She glanced up at the mistletoe hanging everywhere. "Not that I blame him."

Jeff came back in, once again checking to make sure Ice wasn't around before coming over to where they were sitting. "Ice wasn't behind me," he said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Feel up for some revenge?" Clarence asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Jeff grinned. "Sounds great. What did you have in mind?"

In a quiet voice Clarence outlined his plan. Once he was done the other two were grinning.

"You do realize she's probably going to kill us for this, right?" Grace said.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Jeff replied.

That afternoon Clarence was waiting in a doorway when Marie came by.

"Hey Marie, could you come over here for a second?"

Marie came over. "What is it?"

Clarence pointed to a sprig of mistletoe over their heads. Marie glanced at it before asking, "What does that..."

Clarence grabbed her and planted a big, sloppy kiss, complete with sound effects, right on her lips.

"Clarence, what the crap..." Marie looked up and saw Grace standing close by, camera in hand. "Grace, I am going to kill you."

Grace took off, Marie hot on her tail. Clarence chuckled as he turned to Jeff, who was standing behind him.

"You got a picture of that, right?"

Jeff nodded and held up a camera. "I got a couple, just in case."

"You think Marie is actually going to kill Grace?"

"Hopefully not."

"I guess we shouldn't tell Marie about the pictures, huh."

"Yeah. If she found out she probably would kill us."

Meanwhile, Marie was chasing Grace through the streets. When she began to lag Grace slowed down.

"You can calm down, Marie," Grace called over her shoulder. "I didn't actually take a picture."

"Prove it."

Grace stopped, allowing Marie to catch up, and handed her the camera. Marie went through all the photos on the camera before sighing and handing it back.

"May I ask why you and Clarence did that?"

"Clarence thought it was really mean to scare Jeff like you did, so he came up with a way to get back at you."

Marie glared at her for a few moments before chuckling a little. "OK, I guess I deserved it."

They went back. Grace looked at Jeff, who nodded slightly, and suppressed a grin. When Marie was talking with someone else she leaned close to Jeff.

"I want a copy of it."

Jeff grinned and nodded. "You'll get one."

"Good." Grace turned and joined Marie's conversation, leaving Jeff to chuckle quietly.

The next day was Christmas Eve. Marie opened the door to her and Grace's house and was greeted by the sound of electric guitars.

"What is this?"

Grace looked up from where she was working at the table. "Trans-Siberian Orchestra," she answered as she pressed a button on the CD player that sat on the table, silencing the music. "Basil lent it to me. He said I might like it."

"And do you?"

"Yeah," Grace went back to her work.

"What are you doing?"

"Finishing Bart's present." Grace held up a knitting needle, Bart's name partially engraved on it. "This should keep Jeff from stealing it."

"He'll love it."

Grace grinned. "I hope so. Nice handwriting isn't my strong point."

"I know." Marie laughed as she went to start dinner.

The next morning everyone gathered in the Hall to exchange presents. Bart had whipped up a variety of treats for the occasion. Everyone was talking and laughing as they ate and tried to hunt down the morph their gift was for.

"I notice most of the mistletoe is gone," Grace observed as she and Marie both looked for Bart and Martin.

"Jeff probably snuck in at one point last night," Marie said.

"Probably. Hey Martin!"

The Raichu-morph came up. "Yeah?"

"Merry Christmas," Marie said as she handed him a wrapped package.

Martin sniffed it. "I smell electric wire," he jokingly said as he unwrapped it. It was a set of flashing Christmas lights. "Awesome! These are so going up in my window. Thanks. Oh, have you seen Seth? I still need to get his present to him."

"He's right over there," Marie said, pointing near the tree.

"Great. Thanks again!" He headed towards where Marie pointed.

"That's one down," Marie said.

"Hey Marie, heads up!" Lyra called from across the room.

A package came flying towards Marie, and she barely caught it.

"Thanks!" Marie called back. Lyra gave her a thumbs-up.

"That's one way to get a gift to someone," Grace said.

"Well, it looked like she was trapped in that corner pretty well," Marie replied as she opened the present to reveal a blue-and-white knit hat. With a small smile she put it on. Grace smiled.

"It looks good on you."

Bart walked by. "Having a good time?" he asked.

"Yep. Oh, Merry Christmas." Grace handed him her present.

"Excellent!" he said when he unwrapped them, "Maybe Jeff won't steal these."

"Hopefully."

Bart left as Jeff walked up.

"Um, Merry Christmas," Jeff said as he held out a small bag. Grace accepted it and pulled out a dark blue scarf with a simple geometric pattern in gray.

"Cool. You made this, right?"

"Yeah. Bart taught me how to do patterns."

"Awesome." Grace wrapped the scarf around her neck. Marie grinned.

"It looks nice." She looked at Jeff. "What did you get?"

Jeff held out a small, clear cylinder with two green objects in it. "Earplugs. Clarence figured mine were probably getting worn out."

"They probably are." Marie smiled, then sighed. "I guess that's it. Too bad there isn't any snow, though."

Grace gave Jeff a look. Jeff nodded and started talking to Marie. While Marie was distracted Grace slipped off. After about fifteen minutes she came back, a slight twinkle in her eyes.

"Hey Marie, look outside."

Marie glanced out the window and gasped. Everything was covered in a thick layer of white. "Is that..."

"Only one way to find out."

They went outside. It was indeed snow, a good three inches of it.

"How'd you manage this?" Jeff asked as Marie started building what was probably going to be a snowman.

"I talked to the ice types. They thought snow would be a good idea too."

"Smart." He grinned before turning to watch Marie as she carefully pressed more snow onto her creation.

"Hey Jeff."

"What?" Jeff turned. A snowball exploded against his chest. "Hey!"

He scooped up some snow and flung his own at Grace, who dodged. By then most of the other morphs had come outside. A full-fledged snowball fight began. Those who didn't feel like getting pelted made snowmen or snow angels. By the time the snow started to melt almost everyone was at least partially soaked and laughing. The festivities continued until it grew dark, when most of the morphs started heading for home. Once they were home Marie disappeared into her room for a moment before returning with something wrapped in plain brown paper.

"I made you something," she said as she handed it to Grace.

"I made something for you, too," Grace said as she pulled a small package from her pocket and gave it to Marie.

"You first," Marie said with a smile.

Grace carefully tore open the paper and pulled out a beautiful sketch of her and Marie. "It's wonderful," she said as she held it up.

"I'm glad you like it," Marie replied as she opened her own gift. It was a silver chain with an intricately wrought pendant made from wire. "It's beautiful," she said as she put it on.

"I'm glad you think so."

Marie smiled before hugging Grace. "Thank you for making today so wonderful."

"You were the one who put it together," Grace replied as she hugged Marie back.

"But you were still the one who made it wonderful." Marie released Grace. "We should get to bed now."

Grace nodded, and they headed to bed.

The stars twinkled brightly as Grace slipped through the streets, coming to a stop in front of the statue that stood in the middle of the island. She stood silently in front of it for a few minutes before speaking.

"We missed you today, Tori. I know Marie especially wished you could be here. But she was happy, and I know that's enough for you. Merry Christmas."

Grace smiled sadly at the statue before returning home, humming quietly as she walked.

Fun fact: this was written a year ago for a story exchange (which is now on its fourth year), mostly late at night when I was on sugar. And listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which is why Grace likes it. Merry Christmas, solstice, etc.!