Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple,

'tis the gift to be free,

'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

It will be in the valley of love and delight.

--Shaker Hymn

Christmas packages had been piling up under the tree at Xavier's School for the Gifted, because most of its students lived there year-round. Guards had also, reluctantly, been posted over the gifts after someone opened up a SuperSoaker early and effectively ended the pyrokinesis class.

There were only five more days until Christmas, and classes had been cancelled this afternoon due to snow. Outside, things were proceeding much as expected. The more mischievous students and X-men were having violent snowball fights. Others were making snow mutants and other things out of snow. A few kids were making a sledding run down a haphazardly crafted snow hill.

Only a few people remained inside, and they were mainly discussing Christmas plans for the kids and the adults.

Wolverine was one of those who had gone outside. The short, stocky man avoided the wilder fights, like those between Bobby Drake and several of the younger kids, though he'd been invited to them. He was stalking Kurt, and in doing so had been preparing the snowball in his thick, strong hands for about five minutes. It was solid ice now in his tingling hands, which were almost numb down to the metal bonded to their bones. He deliberately let Kurt see him, took careful aim, and hit the tree branch above Kurt with his ice ball. Kurt had about five seconds to say, "Ha ha! You missed me..." before most of the rest of the snow on the tree fell on him, burying half his body and dropping snow in clumps over his face and neck.

Logan grinned. "Tactics, elf. You need to work on your tactics." He extended a hand to Kurt, who was dramatically pretending to drown in the snow, and pulled him to his feet. "So, we still on for the 24th, or did you find another ride this year?"

Kurt's happy demeanor fell away and he pulled away from Logan, averting his face as if in guilt as he sat on his rump in the snow. "I don't know," he said flatly. "I don't think I'm going to church this year."

"Not going? What, you crazy? You always go to church on the 24th." He dropped down beside Kurt and stretched out in the snow casually, looking up at the deep blue sky and thinking.

Kurt wrapped his arms around his legs for comfort, amber eyes staring at his knees. "I know. I go to a Unitarian Universalist church. Fifty miles away. Because it's the only one where I can go without being stoned or 'politely' told to leave." He frowned. "No one out there seems to do what they did in London in the 1800s, 'open their shut-up hearts to each other freely.' Besides, even at the church I get some odd looks, some parents grabbing their kids as I go by, for they only attend at Christmas and don't know I'm a member."

Logan shrugged. "It's still a church. They sing Christmas carols and all that, don't they?"

Kurt's lips twitched gently, but he did not laugh. "Sort of. They change the lyrics some, taking out the more offensive words." He smiled then, sadly. "I always sing the original words. It startles some."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know they were allowed to do that. Next thing you know, they'll be changing the Bible too."

Kurt nodded. "Well, they accept non-Christians, atheists, and mutants." He pointed to himself and grimaced. "They have no problem changing anything they don't like."

"Huh." Logan thought a moment. "Sounds like that's one church that isn't useless."

Kurt hugged his knees. "They aren't useless, but even there, some people worry about mutants. They also are regularly vandalized."

"Figures. Well, get up." Logan leaped to his feet and waited.

Kurt unfolded and rose from the snow, shaking it from his short fur. "What are we going to do?"

"We're gonna figure out what you're doing for Christmas Eve, elf." Logan started loping toward the mansion, and Kurt leaped along beside him, thin tail lashing in the cold air. When they reached the door, Kurt ventured, "Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you do?"

"Hmmm?" Logan opened the door and went in.

Kurt followed. "Well, you drop me off, and then I don't see you until after the party at the minister's house. What do you do during that time?" Kurt's eyes gleamed with interest as he looked down at Logan.

Logan remained silent as the door closed and they finished removing their snow covered gear. Finally, he said, "Maybe I'll tell you later."

Christmas Eve: Kurt's Revelation

Kurt sat by the window with a cup of tea, disappointed. Oh, he had enjoyed playing Santa Claus with the children earlier, and opening the Advent calendar, and all the usual Christmas Eve activities at the X-men's house. He loved seeing all his friends together. He had tried to act with his usual Christmas cheer for the children and his friends, but he feared he had fallen short.

Logan was the problem. After they had gotten warmed up by the fire, four days ago, Logan got a gleam in his eye and told him he had business to take care of. Yesterday was the first time Kurt had seen him since then, and Logan refused to tell him what, if anything, he had planned. He'd laugh, or tell him to be patient, and finally this morning to "have faith, already."

That had driven Kurt to sulk by the window with tea, to keep Kitty from offering him her awful leftover cocoa. He was already feeling miserable enough...he didn't need a stomach ache as well.

A weary voice said, from the doorway to his left, "Hey, Kurt? You okay?"

"Bobby?" The Iceman stood in the doorway, leaning against it for support. He looked dreadful, as drained as Kurt had ever seen him. His deep brown eyes had deep dark shadows under them, his cheeks were hollow, and he was swaying wildly even with the support of the wall beside him. Even his short brown hair looked tired. Instantly, all of Kurt's problems dropped away in the face of Bobby's need. "You look...are you okay, mein freund?" He moved over to Bobby and helped steady him. The man trembled and sank into his grip with relief.

Bobby then forced a smile and gave a short laugh, rubbing his face, resting his elbow on Kurt's shoulder. "I guess they'll believe me now when I tell them I age forty years every Christmas Eve, won't they?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. Bobby had been playing his "I Am Santa Claus" trick with the children at every possible opportunity, until two days ago. Hm. Had Bobby been on a mission? "What have you been doing?"

Bobby sighed, sounding a little bit drunk. "Kurt, I have been working my ass off, and I think the only way to get it back is to go to my room and sleep for eight days. So I'm gonna." He stumbled and nearly fell as he turned to go, but Storm swiftly appeared and steadied him.

"Don't worry, Kurt. I will take care of him. He was supposed to let me know when he was back." This was said pointedly to the wilting man in her arms, who smiled sleepily at her and waved to Kurt as she carried him off, happily relinquishing control to her.

After fifteen minutes more, as he was trying to choose a video to occupy his time, Logan stuck his head into the room. "Hey, elf. How ya doin'?"

(I will not let him get to me. I will not. I will not.) "Fine," he snapped back.

"Hm. Sounds like ya aren't in the mood for a little surprise I got together for ya. That's okay. I'm sure you'd rather watch," he paused for a moment, "Rugrats Christmas..."

Kurt dropped the tape and stood up. "No, no. That's okay."

"Nah. Don't want to spoil your fun."

"Logan," Kurt nearly growled, "I'm ready to see it now."

Logan shrugged. "If you say so. You're gonna need to get your coat on."

Kurt put on a coat, then, at Logan's urging, a thick hat and boots and a scarf as well. He followed the man out onto the grounds, walking until they reached an opening into one of the vast stretches of wilderness on the school property.

"This is where I leave you. Follow the trail and ya can't go wrong. Keep quiet and move slow and steady. Oh, and keep this in your pocket." He tossed Kurt a small circular metal device that looked insanely complicated, curved and carved on every bit of its two-inch surface. "Compliments of Hank. Don't lose it."

Kurt slowly put the metal disk into his coat pocket. It was surprisingly heavy. "Thank you."

Logan nodded. "Merry Christmas." He turned and walked away, and Kurt entered the wilderness.

There was no cleared trail, but there were footprints to follow...they were Jean's! He walked slowly, inhaling the cold crisp air, and followed in her footsteps until they ended by a rock. He leaped onto the rock and waited quietly.

After a few minutes, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He remained still, and soon a deer moved into his field of vision, followed by her fawn. The light seemed to focus in on them, and he looked up to see clouds clearing away and moving to different places in order to better pick out the doe for him. He smiled. Storm must have gotten Bobby to bed all right, for only she could have done this.

The two animals moved toward him, eating steadily, until they were nearly under his hand. He dared a gentle touch on the adult's head, and she started and ran. She was warm and wild. He felt joy welling up from within and decided to look beyond the rock for the next clues to follow.

About thirty feet out and to the west, after some searching, he found some prints made by someone's boots and followed them. A sound reached him first, a tinkling, sparkly sound of ... running water? A warm stream of water rose out of the ground in the small clearing ahead and ran out to the east, and green, fresh smelling earth filled his head and heart with hope for spring. This, too, was its own place of beauty. He enjoyed it for a few minutes, and then returned to picking out the next trail.

He almost missed it. A load of snow had fallen from a tree and obscured the beginning, but he saw the marks of small clawed toes to one side...Lockheed? Kitty's dragon must have been trying to guide him as well.

Lockheed's trail was hard to follow, especially since the small creature had apparently decided to fly a couple times, forcing him to cast about to find it. But he did, and soon heard a faint sound and saw beautiful colored light ahead.

He stopped at the edge of the large clearing and sank to his knees, his mouth open, tears leaking from his eyes. The place had been transformed. Ice, much of it colored, filled in many of the gaps between trees, imitating stained glass windows. Snowy figures of saints were present with flickering (and, sadly, extinguished) candles before them. Fallen branches and trees had become a makeshift crêche, holding figures of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Ice prisms flickered this way and that as Storm highlighted the ice angels, each with one real Angel feather...the small stone with a Communion cup and a Christmas cookie on it...the forest animals wandering up to the crêche and eating the food that had been put there for them...Lockheed, the small purple dragon, perched proudly above the crêche, breathing fire at strategic moments...and the wooden sign, hanging up above the arched entrance Kurt had approached, carved by claws, saying "All Mutants Welcome Here." Banshee and Siryn's voices sang quietly, ringing from the icy prisms in the clearing, old Christmas carols in German.

Bathed in the love of God as shown by his dear, dear friends, Kurt wept and prayed and sang quietly, filled with joy, without realizing that time was passing.

He finally noticed he was cold, and would have been colder if Lockheed hadn't been near him, warming him, when Sean's voice broke off from singing and told him to come back to the mansion. He followed Lockheed out and spent the next few hours tracking people down and thanking them, warmed by his memory of the forest.

Logan was not to be found anywhere afterward, and no one knew where he was, other than that he wasn't at the mansion. He did, however, leave a note on Kurt's pillow that said, "You're welcome, and remember that supposedly your God created the world outside of your church, too."