Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

AN: Sorry, everyone! I went away for Christmas and couldn't take my computer. Don't worry, I'll finish this and get back to my other stories as soon as possible.

"Liwy?"

The Two-year old looked up from the toys she had been playing with. Developing their friendship while Jesse was still in the Womb, he and Lily had, unbeknownst to their parents, already formed a telepathic link of the sort the adult Scoobies hadn't mastered until their early Twenties.

"Jesse?" A frown crossed the little girl's face. Her friend sounded worried. "Wha's wrong?"

"Daddy sad."

While he was only just beginning to speak, Lily, hovering in the stage between baby and child, understood Jesse's baby-talk, including the parts still indecipherable by the grown-ups.

"Why?"

"I 'tink he boked his favit thingy tha' makes funny picturs on da TB."

"DVD?"

Lily could feel Jesse shaking his head.

"Nuh-uh. Oder one."

"Oh."

"Daddy sayed Cwhistmas was ruined."

"Oh no! That's bad."

"Gotsa fix it. Help?"

"Uh-huh."

Lily stood, determined, and ran through the House, yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Mommy Wiwow! Mama Tawa! Sophie! Evvybody! We gotsa save Unckie Xander's Cwissymas!"

And, after discovering, through a phone call to Anya, that Xander's chances of a happy Christmas were in fact in danger, the Scoobies set about doing just that(No one really questioned how Lily knew Xander was upset. Ah, the joys of magical children).

Both Willow and Buffy each tried to give him their own special brands of best friend comfort. No luck.

Faith gave him a 'Suck it up and get over it' speech. That didn't work either. Neither did letting him win at their favorite video game.

Tara's pancakes didn't help either. Xander usually loved Tara's pancakes.

Sophie and Lily did the Snoopy dance for their Uncle, trying to coax a smile out of him with adorable-ness. Unfortunately, being Snoopy related, it only made Xander feel worse.

Anya.. Well, nobody really needed to know the details of what Anya did. Just that it didn't work.

Xander was still depressed. He had still lost his Christmas spirit.

They all continued to try, of course, but when Christmas Eve arrived, nothing had changed.

"What are we going to do?" Willow sighed.

"I don't know" Buffy pouted. "We've tried everything, and Xander's still Mr. Cranky-Pants."

"Everything except the most obvious thing" said Faith, seeming to suddenly realize something. "Actually, I'm kinda surprised that I'm the only one who's thought of it, considerin' I've never been the brains of this outfit. You're losin' your touch, Red."

"But what is it?" cried Buffy. "What's this obvious thing we're all forgetting?"

"Just get a new copy of the damn movie!" Faith replied.

The others shared a look.

"For a group of relatively smart people, we can be pretty stupid" Tara groaned.

"Uh-huh" Willow agreed. "We took so long to work out this very simple solution to the Xander problem that we've given ourselves an even bigger one."

"What's that, Red?" asked Faith.

"Going to the Mall on Christmas Eve."

"Oh." For a while, they fell silent. "Shit."

Though the girls were nearby, nobody called Faith out on her language. There was no other way to describe their situation.

AN: Sorry! I went on a last-minute trip for Christmas, then got horrible writer's block. Don't worry, I'll finish this as soon as possible.