Ashley held her breath, pressed up against the rough bark of a huge pine tree. Her mittened hands clasped in front of her, she listened as the crunching footsteps came closer.

"Andros," she heard Zhane yell threateningly, "if you think that sled--"

His shadow fell across the snow in front of her as he approached her tree, and she leaped out from hiding. "Gotcha!" she shouted triumphantly, tossing a handful of powdery snow in his face and smirking as he jumped back in alarm.

"Hey!" Zhane was right behind her as she darted off, skirting their snow angels and heading for the overturned sled at the top of the hill.

"Rise and shine, Andros!" She beat Zhane to the top of the hill and kicked the end of the sled gently with her foot as she ran past. They both knew Andros was hiding underneath; he was terrible at hide and seek.

She heard Zhane's yelp behind her and spun around instinctively, her foot catching on the thin coat of ice over top of the snowcover. She tumbled to the ground, just as Zhane got slapped in the back of the head with what looked suspiciously like a snowball.

Andros stepped out from behind another pine tree, laughing at his friend's indignance. "You should have been paying more attention," he reproved mildly, ducking as Zhane threw a handful of snow at him.

Ashley broke off a chunk of light ice and tossed it in his direction too, wondering how in the world he had made a snowball out of the dry, fluffy snow. "We thought you were under the sled!"

"That was the idea," he said with a grin, coming over to give her a hand up. "I think you're It."

There was the creak of a raising window, and then Carlos' voice broke into their game. "Hey, Ash! You said you wanted to see this one!"

She brushed the snow off of her jeans and waved back at the house. "Thanks, Carlos! We'll be right there!"

"'We'?" Zhane repeated, from right behind Andros. A miniature snow shower burst over Andros' head, and Zhane laughed as his friend tried to shake the snow out of his hair. "That was for the snowballs!"

"Come on," Ashley said, helping him dislodge the tiny ice crystals. "This is my favorite Christmas video! We *have* to watch it."

***

"Hey!" Cassie slapped Zhane's hand away. "I'm going to fine you one cookie for every time you steal dough, you know."

"Every time you know about, you mean," Zhane replied smugly, sticking his finger in his mouth and grinning at her.

"Maybe we should multiply the number of times we catch him by two," Tessa suggested, fitting a metal disc into the bottom of the Spritz cookie-maker.

"Oh, look, Andros," Ashley said, her tone perfectly innocent. "Mistletoe."

Cassie looked up in time to see Ashley stop Andros in the doorway between kitchen and living room and point to the green sprig hanging above them. She smiled to herself as they kissed again--Ashley had been the one to hang the mistletoe in the first place, and she'd already caught Andros under it twice.

She glanced over at the window where Saryn stood, gazing out at the well-trampled snow in the backyard. "Well, if you're sure," Carlos was saying, as he closed the window beside him.

She had heard Carlos trying to convince Saryn to come watch "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" with them, but he was in one of his non-conversational moods today. The most Carlos had been able to get out of him was, "Thank you, no."

A giggle from Tessa made Cassie glance down, and she grinned at the blob of cookie dough on the pan. "And what was that supposed to be?"

Tessa turned the cookie-maker over to display a disc with the shape of a tree cut out of it. "It was going to be a tree. I used a little too much dough."

"I can help with that," Zhane offered, but Tessa grabbed the cookie off the pan before he could touch it.

"It goes back in the bowl so we can try again," she told him, and Zhane shook his head sadly.

She pressed the cookie-maker against the pan again and twisted, and Cassie laughed when she lifted it up. The diminutive "cookie" still clung to the bottom of the cookie-maker.

"All right, this time it's for real," Tessa said, her delighted smile belying her serious tone. "I was just practicing before."

***

Carlos lounged against the doorframe, watching his girlfriend stare raptly at the TV screen. She seemed as entranced by the Whos as Ashley was, and he couldn't help smiling as she pulled the sleeve of his old sweatshirt over her hand and rested her chin on her fist. With her contrasting shades of red and green, she looked as festive as any of them.

Seeming to sense his regard, Aura glanced up and cocked her head at him. "Will you not join us?" she asked, patting the carpet beside her.

"In a minute," he assured her. "I'm waiting for you to come over here first."

From her place beside Andros on the couch, Ashley spared a single glance for him and giggled. "Smooth, Carlos," she said, turning her attention back to the television.

Aura gave her a puzzled glance, but got to her feet obediently and made her way around TJ's chair. He pulled his feet in for her, shoving the footstool to one side as she passed. "Why?" she asked, as she joined him.

"Come a little closer, and I'll tell you," he offered.

She stepped closer, and he lifted one finger to point above their heads. She glanced up at the mistletoe automatically, and he leaned down to kiss her upturned face.

***

TJ looked away from the TV and rolled his eyes. Sitting forward in the armchair he had appropriated as soon as Ashley and Andros dragged Zhane out of it to go play in the snow, he pulled a pillow out from behind him and tossed it at the couple still standing in the doorway. "Get a room!"

Carlos caught the pillow as Aura pulled away, and TJ ducked as she grabbed it from him and threw it back. "It was just a little friendly advice," he protested good-naturedly.

"Shh," Ashley scolded. "Some of us are trying to watch the movie!"

"I don't know why," Carlos teased. "You know the words by heart."

Ashley wrinkled her nose at him, and TJ grinned. "Yeah, why don't you recite along with it, Ash? That way we'll know when they get parts wrong."

The ornaments on the tree clinked gently as someone tugged on one of the strands of lights, and Kerone looked up from her place beside the couch. "The bottom string of lights is still out," she offered.

"Yeah, I can see that." The bare feet of the person lying underneath the tree drew further back as she pushed a few more presents out of the way and propped herself up on her elbows. "One of the bulbs must be loose. Burned-out lights don't make the whole strand go out."

"Then why do you need so many replacements?" Kerone asked, holding out another blue one.

One of the still-lit strands went dark momentarily as Starhawk pulled out one of the bulbs and put in the new one. "Because I keep finding lights that *are* burned out. Thanks."

Zhane appeared in the doorway, peering over Aura's shoulder and into the living room. "Cassie says to tell you that they're decorating the first batch of cookies. So if you want to help, or steal cookie dough, now's a good time."

"No stealing cookie dough!" Tessa shouted from the kitchen, and TJ chuckled.

"I'll help," he volunteered, pushing himself up out of the armchair. He knew that by vacating it he was giving up any claim he had, but Zhane sat down next to Kerone instead.

Aura pulled Carlos into the living room as TJ strolled through the doorway. "I want to see what happens to the Whos," she explained, somewhat plaintively. "The grinch is trying to steal their tree!"

TJ shook his head, bemused. If he had had to pick one movie on Earth that would appeal to the intense, action-oriented Aquitian Ranger, a Dr. Seuss Christmas video wouldn't have been it.

***

"They're decorating the cookies!" Starhawk yelled.

Zhane watched intently as Astrea uncurled her fingers to reveal a red Christmas tree bulb. "You have to show me how you do that."

She clenched her empty hand into a fist, then opened it the same way to display a green light. "I can't," she told him. "It's magic."

Zhane glanced up as footsteps thundered down the stairs in the front hall, then rolled his eyes at Astrea. "Sure it is. It's all magic; none of this is real."

"Hey!" an indignant voice exclaimed from under the tree. "It is so real! I live here, you know."

"But not *here* here," Zhane reminded her. "This is only quote reality."

Traveler appeared in the doorway between the front hall and the living room, wearing a t-shirt that said "Go to your studio and make stuff". "Don't diss quote reality," she told him. "If it wasn't for this, Andros wouldn't have gotten to see real snow."

"Quote real snow," Starhawk muttered from the floor.

"Non-Simudeck snow," Traveler said, putting her hands on her hips. "You know, I was in the middle of making your Christmas present when you interrupted me."

"Fine; don't help decorate the cookies," Starhawk replied, holding out her hand for another Christmas tree bulb.

"I didn't say that," Traveler said quickly. "But if your present is a few days late, don't blame me."

Zhane caught Astrea's fingers just as she uncurled them again. A deep purple twinkler light appeared this time, and he shook his head. "How do you *do* that?"

"Hey, Traveler," Ashley said, tearing her eyes away from the Whos for a few seconds. "I want to--"

"No!" Traveler said, clapping her hands over her ears. "Don't say it!"

"--talk to you for a minute," Ashley finished, giving her an odd look.

"Oh," Traveler said, lowering her hands with a sigh of relief. "Maybe later." She darted out of the room before Ashley could say anything else, heading for the kitchen and the cookies.

***

"You're as bad as Zhane!" he heard Cassie say. "We're going to start fining you cookies too!"

"Fining me?" TJ asked, sounding amused. "How do you fine me?"

"You get one less cookie for every time you steal dough," Tessa informed him.

"Fair enough," he agreed, and from Cassie's exclamation, the Blue Ranger must have decided the crime was worth the penalty.

New footsteps on the tile floor announced Traveler's arrival, and Tessa asked, "Have they started a new movie yet?"

"No," Traveler said, grabbing one of the boxes of sprinkles off the counter. "They're still watching 'How Saryn Stole Christmas'."

He heard Tessa try to disguise her giggle by coughing, but he didn't turn around. The snow outside the window glittered in the sunlight, flashing colored sparkles at him every time he moved. It was beautiful enough that he ignored the chill seeping through the window to stare at it.

He saw Cassie's reflection in the glass as she came up behind him, and he smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Hey," she murmured. "You okay?"

He nodded. "I like the snow," he said quietly, and he saw her smile back. They stood that way for a few moments, listening to TJ, Tessa, and Traveler argue over which color sprinkles went with which others.

"Come help us decorate cookies," she suggested at last, and he let her pull him away from the window toward the counter.

"Yeah, before there aren't any left," Tessa chimed in, batting TJ's hands away from "her" corner of the cookie pan. "TJ, you are not putting pink sprinkles on my red and green cookies!"

"I like pink," Saryn informed her, and had the satisfaction of hearing Cassie giggle.

***

"Maybe it's easier for me because I have magic in real life," Astrea said doubtfully, watching Zhane open his empty hand for the third time.

"Okay, that was the last light," Starhawk announced, crawling out from under the tree and staring at the dark strand in annoyance. "What else could be wrong with it?"

"Is it plugged in?" Ashley asked helpfully.

"Of course it's plugged in. They're all plugged into each other. If one's out, the others would be too."

"You could just make a new one," Astrea pointed out.

Starhawk shrugged. "That's like saying Cassie and Tessa could just pull freshly baked cookies out of the oven. It's more fun this way."

"'Fun' isn't the word I would use," Carlos said, seated on the footstool behind Aura as he wove her long hair into a braid.

"That's because you don't know how to fix anything that runs off something as simple as electricity anymore," Ashley told him.

"I don't see you helping," he retorted.

"You know," Starhawk said, to no one in particular, "if the fuse in this string is burned out I'm going to laugh."

"Remember having it," Astrea suggested, as Zhane opened his hand again. "Here--hold this." She gave him the twinkler bulb she had created. "Now close your hand and pretend it's there."

"It *is* there," Zhane protested.

"Well, I didn't want you to have to work too hard," she told him, and he gave her a "very funny" look.

"Traveler, can you get me some tinfoil?" Starhawk called.

"How much?"

"Just a little piece," she answered, pulling something out from one of the light bulb sockets.

"What's wrong with it?" Carlos asked, reaching around to take Aura's scrunchy from her hand.

"The fuse," Starhawk said, as Traveler wandered in. "Of course. The one thing I didn't check. Thanks." She tore off a tiny piece and wrapped it around the burned-out fuse carefully before replacing it.

Astrea watched with interest as she put the light bulb back in, and the bottom strand of lights finally came on. "What did you do?"

"Fixed it," Starhawk said, sounding satisfied.

***

"This is my favorite part," Ashley said, settling back in his arms with a contented sigh. "I like it when the Whos sing."

*It's my favorite part too,* Andros answered silently, hugging her tightly against him for a moment. *I like it when I get to hold you.*

She turned her head and smiled up at him. *Me too.*

"So who's going to help us make a snowman while we wait for the cookies?" Tessa asked, putting her hands on either side of the doorway and leaning into the living room.

"But the snow isn't wet enough," Ashley objected, giving the TV a last glance as "The End" flashed across the screen.

"Sure it is," Andros said. "If I can make snowballs, then we can make a snowman."

"How *did* you do that?" Ashley asked suspiciously, twisting around to look at him again.

"Yeah," Zhane agreed. "I'm waiting."

Andros caught his sister's eye and shook his head. "They don't get it, do they?"

She sighed, and offered him the purple twinkler bulb. "I've been trying to explain it to Zhane."

Andros clenched his fingers briefly, producing a small two-volt battery. He touched the twinkler light to one end, and it lit up like a violet firefly. A moment later, it started to blink on and off, and Kerone nodded in satisfaction.

Ashley stared at it in fascination. "All right," she said abruptly. "I'm convinced. Let's go make a snowman!" She scrambled to her feet, and he followed.

He had to smile as TJ came up behind Tessa and put his arms around her, giving the mistletoe above them a significant glance. On the floor beside the couch, his sister reached out to hug Zhane, and Traveler held out her hand to help Starhawk up.

Carlos and Aura were also getting to their feet, and a motion through the window caught his eye. He nudged Ashley gently and pointed, and as she followed his gaze, she put a hand over her mouth in silent amusement.

Cassie and Saryn were already out in the backyard, but they weren't getting very far on the snowman idea. The Phantom Ranger was carrying her piggyback, laughing as she swung her legs forward playfully. Around them, slow, drifting snowflakes had started to fall.

Andros wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist and smiled when she turned her warm brown eyes on him. "Merry Christmas," he said quietly.

"Look out, snow!" he heard Traveler shout from the kitchen door.

"You're *not* going out barefoot in this." TJ's voice sounded incredulous.

Starhawk must have already been outside, for her answer was inaudible.

"Is it really frozen water?" Aura's alien inflection was unmistakable, and he saw Ashley press her lips together in an effort not to giggle at the Aquitian's amazement.

"Ashley, Andros!" Carlos yelled, his words distinguishable even from outdoors. "Leave the mistletoe alone and get out here!"

This time Ashley did giggle. As they started after their friends, she rested her head briefly against his shoulder and told him fondly, "Merry Christmas to you, too."