It was only a few days till Christmas. Four to be exact. The x-men had decided to stay at the institute for the holidays. They needed to for there master plan.
To bad they don't know what it is yet.
"All right, well, Hau'oli Kalikimaka to you too then. Bye Alex." Cyclops hung up the phone.
"What was with the Hawaiian lingo man?" asked Ray.
"Alex is a big show off. He loves to wave that he got Hawaii and I got Alaska."
Ray laughed. "Hey if I were him, I would too."
Scot laughed. He took a seat next to Jean. "Yeah, but I bet he never had a white Christmas. Not once," she said.
"Yeah," Cyclops agreed, "But I bet he never had a white summer vacation either."
This time everyone had a chuckle.
"Has anyone figured out 'Operation: Santa' yet?" asked Kurt, swishing his tail.
Kitty sighed and simply said no.
"You think the Brotherhood will have any ideas?" asked Kitty.
"Ha! Yeah right. Brotherhood don't have a lick a sense. Trust someone who's been there," Rouge scoffed.
Colossus, Boom Boom, and Gambit laughed. The giant Russian looked out the window. It was snowing.
"You know," he began, "This is the anniversary of little Illyana's death."
The valley girl pouted. "I'm so sorry pete. Who's Illyana?"
"My little sister. She died from a very, very serious virus. Ah, poor devushka. At least she had a good last day."
"If you don't mind me asking, Pete, what happened?"
Piotr sighed. "I don't mind. I actually relish speaking of the kindness of this man.
"As I have said, Illyana was very sick. She was bed ridden for a week, growing weaker and weaker.
"A blizzard was blowing. My older brother Mikhail and I were taking care of Illyana while my parents slept: they hadn't in so long.
"A knock came to the door. There was this old man standing in the midst of the blizzard. Of course when he asked for entrance, he was not refused.
"I laughed when I saw him. He had the same white beard and the 'jelly belly' you Americans talk about. I told him to sit down as I went to check on Illyana.
"The poor child. I asked her what she would like for Christmas, telling her that whatever it was, I'd find it.
"She looked up to me, and her eyes, they twinkled like the stars in sky! 'Brother,' she said, 'I wish to see Father Frost. I have not visited since I've been sick.'
"I didn't know what to do. How was I going to bring Santa Claus? The old man sensed my troubles, and he asked me what was wrong. When I told him he laughed. I laughed too, but I don't know why. He had the most peculiar miasma about him.
"Well, he figured that since he looked so much like Santa, he could 'fill in' for him. I then asked my papa if he still had his Father Frost suit, as he played him in the parades we had in our town. I took it and gave it to the stranger.
"It fit him perfectly. He then made his way to Illyana's room. The old man made her so happy, she found the energy to laugh. All of us sat there, watching in wonder as our little Illyana livened up the situation. 'Spashiba bolshoy,' she thanked him. Then she went asleep with a smile on her face. And she never woke up."
A loud sniffiling was heard. Everyone turned to find Berzerker, with his eyes red and puffy.
"Ray?" asked Tabitha "Where you crying?"
Ray shook his head. "No," he defended in favor of himself, "I just… I just had something caught in my eye."
Rouge smiled, "Sure Sparky."
"Okay. So I was crying! Grown men can cry! Besides, it reminds me of when I was little. And how I always saw Santa with my sister: Noelle, who was delivered by a Santa Claus!"
"What! Your pulling my leg Crisp!" shouted Roberto.
"Really! Before my parents died, Mom would tell me all the time about how Noelle was delivered on the 23rd by a Santa Claus. Luckily, this Santa had a PhD. Mom went into labor when I was at home with Dad. All of a sudden, we see the news and there's Santa, holding my baby sister."
"Yeah… yeah, I've heard of that! That was your sister?"
Ray nodded in pride. "Yup. That was Noelle. I even met him once, the Santa with the PhD."
Rogue looked at him. "What happened to your sister?"
He looked down. "She's back with my Grandparents. She's not a mutant."
Enough was said. They all understood that some people just can't accept someone different.
"Reverand Craig wasn't too kind either. They tried to kill me last year. Moira, my guardian, she became my new mom. She took me to see my first Santa. I didn't care that I was too old, and he didn't either. This Santa was just like people said. He even gave me a present later that day. It was a statuette of a wolf and a beautiful maiden."
"You mean that thing you keep on the shelf is from your first Santa?" asked Jubilee.
"Aye."
Rogue smiled. "Kind of reminds me of my first Santa, 'cept I wasn't thirteen. I was five, and Irene took me.
"I was so happy! I couldn't remember being happier. I loved watching Santa on the TV in the windows. It was wonderful.
"He asked me, 'What's your name little girl.' I told him it was Rogue. He laughed at me, and asked me what my real name was. I told him it was Rogue. He just shrugged. 'What would you like for Christmas?'"
"I told him I wanted a doll, like the one my papa gave me when I was littler. He nodded, and asked me what kind of doll it was. I told him it had looked like my mama, with long straw hair.
"Well, Saint Nick thought about this for awhile, and he dug into his sack. And wouldn't you know it, it was the same kind of doll!"
"That's beautiful chere. Just beautiful."
"Shut up Swamp Rat."
Kitty sighed. They still hadn't an idea. She got up and grabbed her coat.
"Where ya going?" asked Kurt.
"To the Brotherhood House!"