Jessie sat on the bunk in her cell quietly, just as she had been all day. It was December 20 and the fact that Christmas was 5 days away didn't escape her. She knew that this year would be without family, presents, and cheer but she couldn't say that she regretted how things had ended up. In fact the only thing she would change about the whole thing would be Storm Shadows death, the pain of his death was just as raw as the day it happened. She felt the familiar sensation of tears burning as they tried to escape and quickly snapped her eyes shut and tilted her head back in a futile effort to keep them from streaming down her face.

She had to laugh, of all the Christmas's that she had had in her life this would defiantly be the worst, and that was saying something considering that she had spent 13 years of her life living on the streets. It made the saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone" all too real for her. In an attempt to lighten her mood she thought back on the first Christmas she had spent with her family.

She was 15 at the time and had long ago given up on the concept of Santa. She knew that there was no fat man living at the North Pole who delivered toys to all the boys and girls of the world. It was hard not to lose faith in him when she spent every year sitting on the sidewalks of Dundee and watched as parents rushed from store to store buying their kids present after present, never stopping to once to spare her glance. After a while she grew numb to the depravity of humanity, and then her father and Storm Shadow had shown up and for the first time in a long time, she began to have faith in others.

That year was quite possibly her best Christmas ever. Anna had insisted that they pull out all the stops and have a Christmas Extravaganza, and seeing as how McCullen was infatuated with her, she was indulged. As a result the entirety of December up until Christmas day was filled with every Christmas movie and special known to man, at least 5 different Christmas trees each decorated differently, enough cookies and other treats to feed an army of small children for a month, and so many Christmas lights that Jessie was sure that if they connected them all that the strand would wrap around the entire earth at least once.

At first she had been a bit annoyed with everything, she found half the Christmas movies stupid or pointless and after the fourth batch of cookies she decidedly swore off sweets for the rest of the year. The only good thing about it was that she got to spend copious amounts of time with her new family. She would never admit it but every morning she woke up fearing that they would suddenly not want her and she would be left to fend for herself on the streets again. Christmas Eve eventually came around and the day was spent singing carols and enjoying each other's company, Ana insisted that she tuck Jessie in that night even though she insisted that she was old enough to get ready on her own. Ana insisted that she was still a child and there for could be tucked in and after 10 minutes of arguing Jessie finally gave up and allowed her to do as she pleased. It was surprisingly nice to have the older woman tuck her in, not that she would ever admit it to anyone, and when she kissed her forehead before turning off the lights and leaving Jessie was filled with warmth she hadn't felt before.

Christmas morning was everything she had dreamed it would be and more. She woke up early and went down stairs where she saw each of their stockings filled and so many presents under the tree that they seemed to spill out in every direction. She was somewhat overwhelmed by the entire effect the room had on her and was about to head back upstairs when the others walked out from the kitchen. Storm Shadow handed her a mug of hot chocolate before she was steered towards one of sofa. She sat in the middle with Storm Shadow on her right and Rex on her left while Ana and McCullen shared a love seat and Zartan sat in one of the arm chairs. Jessie insisted on opening her gifts last wanting to see what everyone else though of the gifts she got them. She had bought Storm Shadow a new practice sword insisting that he should keep his real blades sharp for battle, Rex got different chemicals that she knew he was running low on, Ana got a new dress, McCullen got a large plaque with his family crest on it, and Zartan got money because Jessie had no idea what he wanted or needed. After all the others had opened their gifts Ana jumped up from her seat and practically skipped over to the tree where she gathered all of Jessie's gifts and brought them over to the girl. She was nearly brought to tears; Ana had gotten her a beautiful set of blouses, pants, and shoes that could be mixed and matched, Rex had gotten her a book about medicines and poisons and how to make them, McCullen had gotten her a necklace with his family crest on it stating that it was her crest as well, Storm Shadow had gotten her a light weight katana and had promised to teach her how to use it. However it was Zartan's gift that she loved the most, he had gotten her a small grey kitten claiming that all girls loved cats. And in truth she did love the cat, it was small and quiet yet extremely fierce, when Rex tried to pick it up it promptly bit him before jumping up into Jessie's lap. She laughed joyfully and scooped the kitten up and holding it so that it was face to face with her.

"That wasn't very nice! Oh well, I think I'll name you serene, because you remind me of the calm before the storm."

Everyone agreed that it was the perfect name for the kitten and after cleaning up all the discarded wrapping paper they spent the rest of the day eating and being merry. That night she fell asleep hugging her gifts tightly too her chest, it was hard for her to imagine that she had been so blessed and she was afraid that if she let go of her gifts that they would melt away into nothingness.

Storm Shadow walked into her room an hour or so after she had fallen asleep and carefully pulled each item out of her death grip before placing them in their proper spots before returning to her bedside to pull her covers over her. After making sure that she was comfortable he leaned over and gently brushed his lips across her cheek before heading off to his own room. He would never tell anyone else but that night was when he first started to love her.

Jessie's eyes snapped open when she heard footsteps approaching her cell, apparently she had spent the better half of the day reminiscing and that it was already dinner time. She smiled as she stood, she may not have been in the best place then but she had her memories and they would tide her over until she was able to escape her imprisonment.

So I know this isn't anything really spectacular but I figured it might be fun to write a special Christmas chapter as a Christmas gift from me to everyone who had read and followed and favorited this story. I hope you all liked her first Christmas with everyone, please REVIEW and tell me what you thought.

Have a Merry Christmas,
Ambercat999