Disclaimer: Marty is mine, the rest of the crew belongs to Marvel. This is set when the New Mutants lived with X-Factor but before the "Coming of Cable".

"Joy to the world!"

"Hey watch it with those lights!"

"Oh my god, the turkey is moving!"

"It is not."

"Yes it is!"

"Oh my god, she's right!"

"Oooohhh, fruitcake!"

"Yuck!"

"How can you eat that?"

These were the sounds that filled the air of the sentient ship called 'Ship', the headquarters of the mutant super heroes X-Factor, along with their charges, the X-Terminators and New Mutants. The holidays were just around the corner, and the kids were attempting to get into the spirit of things by hanging up decorations, and everything else people do to celebrate the holidays.

Well, almost all of them. Tabitha Smith sat apart from the rest of the group, staring moodily out the window, her clear blue eyes clouded in a strange silent pain. This in itself was unusual for the perky blonde, especially around Christmas. But for some unknown reason, Tabitha had decided to distance herself from her friends. This did not go unnoticed by one young man though.

"Hey Ric?" Sam Guthrie said as he grabbed the Mexican by the arm.

"Yeah, amigo?" Rictor asked distractedly. He was attempting to wrap Rahne's gift perfectly, and so far, he wasn't having a whole lot of luck.

"What's the matter with Boom-Boom?" Sam asked.

"Got me. She normally loves Christmas." Rictor went back to his wrapping.

Sam attempted to put Tabitha from his mind, but for some strange reason it upset him that she was upset. Chalking it up to being worried about a friend, Sam went about his business, wrapping his family's presents, decorating the tree and what not.

For some strange reason though, Tabitha's silence was beginning to get to him. He'd never admit it, but he was actually beginning to miss the sound of her voice. She spoke so rarely anymore.

Sam finally had had enough of it and went to talk to the short blonde. Walking down the hall, Sam slowly raised his hand to knock when he thought he heard the sound of crying. Bending over, he pressed his ear to the door so that he could hear better. He was right, somebody was crying.

Sam straightened up, and slowly pushed Tabitha's door open. She was curled up in the corner of her room, rocking back and forth slightly. Her room was a total disaster area. Not like it normally was, it actually looked like a bomb had went off in it. There were torn clothes, books and tapes strewn about, and the bed sheets were ripped to shreds.

"Tabitha!" Sam cried, rushing as best he could to her side. "What happened?"

Tabitha looked up at him with her large blue eyes brimming with tears. Hurriedly brushing them away, Tabitha answered "Nothing. My room always looks like this."

Sam looked at her for a long second, then gently reached out to her and wrapped her in his long arms. Tabitha looked at him strangely for a second then allowed herself to hug him back. Slowly, Sam bent down to kiss the top of her head softly, and lay his cheek on her soft hair.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked again, his voice a soft whisper against her ear.

Tabitha began to sob harder. Each sob shook her small body like a rag doll, great alligator tears rolling down her face. It took her a long while to finally get her tears under control.

Sniffing, she pulled away from him, and brushed the rest of her tears away. "I'm okay now."

"Um-hmm. Now, will you tell me why you're cryin'?" Sam asked, sitting back on his heels.

"Why do you wanna know?" Tabitha demanded, her voice hostile.

"Because Ah'm worried about you. You ain't actin' normal." Sam answered, ignoring the hostility in her tone.

"Go away." Tabitha said.

"No." Sam refused.

"Why won't you leave me alone? I just want to be alone!" Tabitha wailed

"Because there's something wrong. And Ah get the feeling that leaving you alone is not going to help you solve it.

"How do you know?!" Tabitha snapped viciously.

"Because if you were okay, you're room wouldn't look like a tornado hit it. And you more then likely wouldn't be cryin' so hard." Sam reasoned.

"Shut up! Just shut up and leave me alone!" Tabitha screamed again.

"Ah already told you that Ah wasn't gonna leave you alone. Now, will you tell me what's buggin you?" Sam tried again.

"NO!"

"Tabitha, Ah just want to help you." Sam started.

"That's right! All you wanna do is help me! Why?! Because you see me as some charity case?! Because you need to feel better about yourself?! You don't know me, and I don't know you! Why won't you just leave me the hell alone?!" Tabitha screeched at him.

Sam looked hurt. Rising to his feet, he said "Ah guess your right. Ah don't know you at all."

Tabitha pulled her feet up close to her chin and began to rock some more. Fresh tears began to fall down her face, but this time there was no one to wipe them away.

Sam left Tabitha's room, a frown deeply etched on his face. As he stomped around the corner, he ran directly into Hank "Beast" McCoy.

"Oh, sorry, Hank!" Sam apologized.

"Think nothing of it. What seems to be troubling you my young friend? Your scowl could scare Medusa." Hank asked, laughing a bit.

"Ah was just talking to Tabitha." Sam ground out.

"Oh. How is she?" Hank asked, his voice concerned.

"She's a brat!" Sam snapped, grimacing

"Oh? " Hank asked, looking at the normally friendly young man in surprise. "Why is that?"

Sam sighed, and said, "I went to ask her if she was okay, and she acted like a total brat. What is her problem?"

"She has been acting like that toward everyone recently. I believe that it has something to do with her sister. She recently died, if memory serves." Hank said, shaking his head sadly.

"She has a sister. Ah mean, she had a sister?" Sam asked shocked.

"Yes. Her name was, er, Marty, I believe." Hank told him.

"Mah god. No wonder she's so upset!" Sam groaned in dismay.

"Yes. From what I understand from Jean and Tabitha herself, they were very close." Hank added.

"Oh lord." Sam moaned again. Then he turned around and headed in the other direction.

"Where are you going Sam?" Hank called after him.

"To apologize to Tabitha." Sam said over his shoulder.

As Sam rounded the corner, he again ran into some one. (This has really not been my day.) Sam thought at himself angrily.

"Sam!" The person he had ran into said in surprise.

"Oh, Tabitha!" Sam replied, looking down at the blonde.

"I was looking for you." Tabitha said softly, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Oh. Ah was looking for you too." Sam told her.

"Oh. Why?" She asked.

"To tell you that Ah was sorry for bein' nosy. Ah should have just left you alone." Sam explained.

"Thank you." Tabitha said softly. "I came to apologize to you too. For acting like such a bitch when you were just worried about me."

They stood there for a long second, the silence awkward. Sam was the first to speak.

"Well, Ah best be movin' on. Got lots of work to do." He moved off in one direction.

"My sister died." Tabitha's words froze him in his tracks.

"That's horrible." Sam said, turning back around to face her.

"Yeah. She was all I had. And she never missed seeing me on Christmas. She always found me. Even when I was living on the street, she could find me." Tabitha wept softly, rubbing a hand across her face. Sam reached up to push a tear off her cheek. Tabitha smiled softly at him, and reached up to kiss him softly on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Sam wanted to know, slightly stunned.

"For being a good friend." Tabitha told him. Sam grinned and blushed at the same time.

That night at dinner, Sam found himself sitting next to Tabitha. The table was beautiful, candles and fine china and all kinds of food. It was the perfect Christmas dinner. Sam saw Tabitha slowly began to sniffle and reached out under the table to grasp her hand and give it a soft squeeze. Looking at him in surprise, Tabitha smiled and squeezed his hand back. They kept a hold of each other's hands through the entire meal.

Love Stories