Katrina had found all different colors of paper in the staff lounge, in the cupboard next to the copy machine. Except for that very first time when she had come with Hunter to eat ice cream, there were always guards in the staff lounge, taking their breaks, drinking coffee, and playing ping-pong. While the guards were generally burly, they were also nice. They had let her know where the paper was and let her take as much as she needed, and envelopes. On one occasion they had even let her play ping-pong with them. She had lost.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Katrina had finally gotten the hang of Origami. The results of her week of paper folding work were now tucked away in individual envelopes with names written on them. The envelopes each had a hole punched in the corner and string tied through the hole. She planned to hang them on the "Christmas tree" in the library. She put the envelopes along with extra paper and string into a shoebox and carried all of them down to the library.

In the library, on the low center table, was the tree. It was so small and scraggly that it made Charlie Brown's Christmas tree look handsome in comparison. Calley had found it outside and brought it in one day, his explanation being that, "it looked lonely and cold and potentially edible." Katrina decided that there weren't enough branches to hang all of the envelopes on, so she left them in the shoebox under the tree. She took out the extra paper and began folding them into peace cranes to decorate the poor little tree.

------------------------------------------------

Inside of the envelopes waited a gift for each member of the Resistance. Katrina had picked out an animal using the animal symbolism book she had found for each person, trying to find an animal that suited their personality or would bring them luck, courage, or some other attribute that would help them in the coming days. Each Origami animal was accompanied by a short description of the symbols she had found in the book.

Inside the envelopes:

Tris: a tan antelope, symbolizing grace and beauty.

Shogun: a gold horse, symbolizing intellect, chivalry, freedom, and coping under difficult circumstances

Hades: a grey wolf, for loyalty, success, thought, and shadows

Syn: a red cat with black tabby stripes painted on, for sensuality, stealth, liberty, and detachment

Kami: a light yellow ram, symbolizing sacrifice, achievement, solar energy, and creativity

Sapphire: a blue snake, symbolizing darkness, feminine power, beauty, healing and destroying, venomous when protecting family

Zodiac: a black scorpion, for defense and protection

Kitra: a light purple dolphin, symbolizing kindness, joy, and play (it also seemed like the most creative animal to Katrina, which was shy she picked it for Kitra.)

Overcast: a (light fades into dark) blue kingfisher, for beauty, dignity, and serenity

Kaz: a silver boar, to symbolizing leadership, protection, and a warrior

Nicki: a pink doe, to symbolize love, meekness, gentleness, kindness, and meditation

Geo: an orange moose, to show self esteem, assertiveness, headstrong, and spontaneous

Dream: a red dragonfly, symbolizing dreams, carefree attitudes, and supernatural powers

Nail: a brown bear, showing gentle strength, introspection, and protection

Nox: a white owl, for wisdom and truth (Katrina really picked it though because Nox's name reminded her of the spell to extinguish light from the Harry Potter books.)

Voltaire: a red lion, symbolizing strength and courage

Vibe: a yellow crane, for solitude and independence (Katrina picked yellow because it was the most cheerful and happy color she could think of.)

Mandain: a green alligator, for aggression, survival, and adaptability

Fade: a tan pheasant with green accents, symbolizing caution and concealment

Raven Fire: a phoenix made of flame colored paper, symbolizing rebirth and passion

Gearhead: a tie dye colored squirrel (Katrina picked this one because Gearhead was always full of energy and on the move.)

Aidan: a brown eagle, for clear vision, protection from evil, courage, and power in battle

Iris: a red-orange fox, for intelligence, feminine magic, and diplomacy

Neptune, Mercury, Venus, Pluto, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter: (each in their own envelope) six red monkeys and one light purple one, symbolizing mischief, keen wit, curiosity, and observant

Hunter: a dark (hunter) green turtle, symbolizing long life, mother earth, planning, and protection (Katrina picked the turtle to poke fun at Hunter for claiming to be so old.)

-------------------------------------------------------

There were also two unmarked envelopes that each held a raven, one black and one orange with tiger stripes painted on. The ravens symbolized the trickster, teacher, healing, protection, transformation, shape shifting, and change in consciousness. They were for Calley, or the two Calleys. She wasn't sure what names to put on them. After talking with Abyss, she was sure that both of the Calley's would have their own names, just like Pluto and all the others, but she hadn't had a chance to ask him yet. Perhaps he would come to the library today and she could finally ask him. As she thought these things to herself, she continued folding peace cranes and tying them onto the tree.

Calley came to the library that day, all right. What was the point of having a fantastically handsome Christmas tree if there weren't presents under it? He came in proudly carrying a very large bag that he couldn't necessarily see over. And that's why he didn't notice Katrina until he set it down, a few feet from his tree. It had proven to be non-edible, but it did make a lovely, somewhat chewed-upon addition to the library. Festive! Especially with those nice pink plastic beads he'd found lying on the street for it.

He blinked at the young girl. "Hello. Didn't see you. And you," he pointed at his bag, "don't see this. 'Cause Santa brought them, not me." That being definitively stated, Calley plopped onto the oriental carpet, and started unloading goodies from the bag into an untidy heap circling the Christmas tree's table. Each present was lovingly wrapped in tinfoil pilfered from the cafeteria, and was of questionably legal origins. Sure, he had money. But he also had a lot of free time, and purchasing things wasn't nearly as interesting as, say, finding creative uses for his pockets. The lime green squeaky hedgehog had been in good company. Speaking of which: he stood briefly, and stuck the squeaky into the upper branches of the tree as their angel. The tree wobbled uncertainly, and its branches bent to alarming new angles, but the lime green squeaky hedgehog caught against its needles with its quills, and managed to precariously hold its perch. That complete, he sat down, and kept adding more tin foiled packages to the floor. There wasn't one for everyone at the Resistance. Just ones for the people he'd thought about.

Abyss and the clones were getting socks with the seven dwarves on them. Can you even comprehend the trouble he'd gone through to get seven dwarves socks in their sizes? Also, red Santa hats! Because they matched the man's color scheme.

Amp was getting a tiara. Granted that she was at the camps, but he'd bought it for her, anyway. Vibe could hold on to it for her until they'd done their Resistance-y thing and gotten Wonderful out of the camps. Speaking of Grumpy: she was getting a jewelry box. With a lump of coal inside.

Deja was getting a butterfly necklace with pink rhinestones, because it was shiny so he'd wanted it, but it was a butterfly and a necklace so he'd decided he didn't want it to keep.

Doc Jimmy was getting two presents. The first was a pretty blue tin with very yummy cookies inside. The second was a box of rat poison with a pretty bow. Calley intended to make sure the cookies found their way to the man, first.

Geo was getting one of those cool new ipods that played videos and surfed the web and were kept under temptingly tight security at all majors electronics stores and priced in the hundreds.

Hunter was getting a wooden paper weight the color of loathing and the shape of hatred. It was sort of grey-purple with a lot of sharp spikes.

Iris got a gift certificate to a pet shop. It had a really cute picture of a guinea pig on it. Not that they were trying to imply something, or anything.

Isabel was getting a gold necklace with a mini-NYPD badge pendant. Not that she'd actually be opening it, since she was over in the camps, but he'd seen it and thought of her. It would be waiting for her when she stabbed her way to freedom, thus proving that he'd thought of her for at least five consecutive seconds during her long imprisonment.

Katrina was getting a book about horses from him, and a book about astrophysics from Slate. Calley hadn't bothered to argue with Slate on that one: it had been, after all, Slate's favorite book for the past month. And Slate had actually made him buy it, with money, for the girl.

Kaz got an empty box. Because they figured it would irritate him, in a raise-your-hopes-first sort of way.

Kitra was getting a square popsicle-stick ornament with a picture of him and her, ripped from the lab security cameras, inside its frame. Combined with the glued-on macaroni, the glitter, and the crayoned line "Best Sis Ever!", it was the present he'd officially put the most effort into.

Nicki was getting an encyclopedia erratica. Full of all the knowledge you never knew you didn't need to know!

Nox was getting a trick-shop knife. When you stabbed someone with it, the blade slid back into the hilt. She could clearly use more of them in her arsenal.

Raven Fire was getting a five pack of really nicely colored BIC lighters. And a big red gallon of gasoline! In tinfoil!

General Shield was boring and locked in the camps, too, but when he stopped being a loser like that, he'd have an old Civil War captain's sword, with really nifty horse engravings, waiting for him. The antique shop had noticed that it was missing straight off. It was the present he'd gotten the most exercise out of getting.

Shogun was getting a book in Braille. Calley didn't know what it was about: he'd seen the Braille, and he'd run with it. Not quite as literally as with Shield's sword.

Syn was getting an Emily the Strange diary, complete with a really easily picked lock. It was black and red and perfect for the shoe-throwing she-devil.

Voltaire was getting mittens. With lightening bolts!

Zephyr was getting a voucher for a lifetime supply of free air.

Notably absent was any form of present for Slate. Slate was in the back of their mind, caring so little about that admission that he was reciting the multiplication table. Loudly. Calley happily looked at his shiningly wrapped haphazard heap, and beamed with pride. He grinned over at Kat, fully expecting the girl to share in his joy. It was tinfoil, after all. "I like tinfoil," he stated happily. Then he blinked at her origami folding, and her box of envelopes. "Did you get people gift cards? And you're making an awful lot of those, aren't you?"

Katrina smiled and shook her head good-naturedly at the Santa comment. She didn't really believe in Santa Claus any more. She did watch with curiosity as Calley unloaded the tinfoil wrapped presents from the bag that she wasn't supposed to be seeing delivered. There was a lot of tinfoil and a lime green hedgehog, and more tinfoil.

She watched as he balanced the lime green hedgehog on the top of the tree. It almost fell, but didn't. They now officially had the most original tree ever, complete with Marti Gras beads, cranes, and a hedgehog. "It's perfect!"

She noticed that tinfoil was not the best wrapping for hiding the shapes of things, as it was rather clingy. There were a lot of interestingly shaped things among Calley's presents, including one that looked like it might be a real sword. There was also one with a handle and a spout, which could have been either a watering can or a gasoline can.

"I like tinfoil," he stated. That he did.

"These aren't gift cards, they're presents. I made one for you. Or rather I made two, one for each of you. Except, I wasn't sure what names to put on the envelopes." She was a little embarrassed to ask, and a little embarrassed that she hadn't already asked. How did one go about asking someone what their split personalities were called? "You do both have your own names right? Like all of the Abyss brothers have their own names?"

"And, these are peace cranes. It would be better if we could have real peace, but maybe the peace cranes will help. I'm making enough to decorate the tree. They say that if you make a thousand of them, though, you can make a wish and it will come true."

"You do both have your own names right? Like all of the Abyss
brothers have their own names?"

Calley paused, looking at the young girl with surprise. Not really
surprised-surprise, since they tended to not care about which of them
was in charge around her, so she'd seen them flip more than most. But
still... they'd just gotten called. Slate stopped going over his
multiplication tables. They sort of looked at each other, as far as
people in the same brain can look at each other. Well, I guess it
wasn't totally unexpected.

...No.

You're happy, aren't you?

...Potentially.

Tentatively, Calley raised his hand. "I'm Calley! Really Calley. As
in, that's my name. He's," he pointed at his forehead, "Slate. Like
blank slate. Because he's sort of boring like that."

...And you are obnoxious and over-rated like "that".

"Over-rated"? Where'd that one come from?

Hmph.

But Katrina was talking again, so it was Important Listening Time.

"And, these are peace cranes. It would be better if we could have
real peace, but maybe the peace cranes will help. I'm making enough
to decorate the tree. They say that if you make a thousand of them,
though, you can make a wish and it will come true."

Calley tilted his head to the side, and took a moment to contemplate
how insanely boring his life would be if the world was a utopian
wonderland of peace and flowers and—apparently—cranes. This didn't
seem like a thought to share with the young girl who was possessing of
cute lofty dreams. Slate, meanwhile, was paying alarmingly close
attention to her words. But that's sort of what Slate did.

You want to talk to her?

Yes.

Go for it. I'd probably say something really stupid if I talked right
now. ...Peace! Heh!

"How do you make these cranes?" Slate asked simply,
observing one of her pre-folded ones with interest. They were all
relatively uniform in shape, but their colors varied dramatically.
Additionally, he had recently seen a book upon the mathematics of
origami. The cranes reminded him of his intent to read that, seeing as
how none of his more formal mathematics texts had addressed the
topic.

"I'm Calley! Really Calley. As in, that's my name. He's Slate. Like blank slate. Because he's sort of boring like that."

So silly-Calley and serious-Calley were actually Calley and Slate. Katrina wrote "Calley" on the envelope containing the tiger striped raven and "Slate" on the envelope with the black raven. She frowned at Calley's insult of Slate. She considered them both to be her friends, and didn't approve of people insulting her friends. Slate (she was pretty sure it was Slate from the tone of voice), however, seemed more interested in how to make the peace cranes. Katrina just gave them a stern look that was meant for Calley, then went on to explain how to make peace cranes.

She set the envelopes to the side and took out a piece of red paper. "First you start with a square piece of paper, then you fold it in half diagonally like this in both directions, then horizontally in both directions." Diagonally and horizontally were new words she had learned from her Origami book. Or rather, she thought she had heard them before in some class, but she actually knew what they meant now. She continued her demonstration and explanation until she had a brand new crane sitting on the table.

"See? It isn't so hard. Why don't you try?"

Is she stern-looking me?

Hush. Katrina was explaining how to make the cranes: that was infinitely more important that listening to Calley.

"See? It isn't so hard. Why don't you try?"

Slate did not respond verbally. He simply reached for a piece of colored paper—a white sheet—and began to follow the steps he had just been told and shown. His end result was passably crane-shaped. In a manner of speaking. If one took creative liberties, and was particularly kind with one's phrasing. Slate held the crane up to his eye-level, then impassively set it to the side, and reached for another sheet of paper.

[/color]Okay, if you're going pancakes over the cranes, then this is going to get boring. Vocal chords. Mine. Now.

Hmm?

Vocal chords! Keep the hands. Enjoy your obsessive compulsive quest to perfect origami.

Oh. Slate easily let Calley have control of their capabilities of speech. The rest of their body stayed intent upon the task of crane-making, however. Slate deftly smoothed down a fold.

[/color] "So, peace cranes." Calley said simply, and with the faintest traces of amusement. He didn't actually look at Katrina when he spoke: Slate was keeping their eyes on the folded birdie prize. "Let's assume for a second that peace cranes aren't going to cut it. If you could do anything—I mean anything at all—how would you force everyone to be all peaceable?"

Be nice, or I will take back control.

Don't pretend it's yours to take, and I won't argue with you.[/i]

As Slate reached for another piece of paper, Katrina took the one he had already made. He was apparently unhappy with the results. He was a little bit of a perfectionist, as she had noticed when he helped her with math problems.

"If you make sure that the very first folds are very straight it helps the whole thing be very neat," Katrina offered, "and if you pre-crease the head before you try to flip it inside out, you can control the angle of the head better."

She tied Slate's first peace crane to the tree along with the others, then added, "Your first one was much better that my first one. Mine ended up looking like a baseball diamond for some reason."

Usually it was Slate, or sometimes Calley, that was teaching her and not the other way around. Katrina had never really had a chance to teach anyone before, but it was kind of a fun turn around. She hoped her constructive criticism had been helpful.

Slate continued to fold cranes, carfully lining up each fold, then started speaking as well. Calley/ Slate often did two things at once, such as read and hold a conversation. Or apparently fold peace cranes and hold a conversation.

Calley, at least she assumed it was him by the slight hint of amusement in his voice, asked, "If you could do anything—I mean anything at all—how would you force everyone to be all peaceable?"

Katrina thought about the question for awhile before answering, "I'm not sure I could force anyone to be peaceful. That is kind of the opposite of peace, isn't it? When someone tries to force peace on people, they just wait until that person is gone before they start fighting again. Like when a parent tries to force two children to stop fighting, or when a country tries to force two other counties to stop fighting. Instead..."

She was silent again for a few moments, thinking about what she could do personally and also folding another paper crane of her own. "I think people have to choose to be peaceful themselves. I could talk to people to teach them to see the other side. I could maybe even show them, but I can't force anyone." That still seemed kind of vague and hopeless. There has to be something one person can do to make a difference. She just hadn't thought of it yet.

Calley's amusement continued. "Ah, yes. Talking to people. Talking to people who choose to be violent is an excellent, highly proven way to get them to choose peace. Especially teaching-talking them. They love that."

Slate was still methodically folding his cranes, using Katrina's new advice. He was also feeling a little displeased that his first, highly imperfect attempt was now hanging on the tree. That did not mean he was entirely tuning out their conversation, however. Be nice. Or would you really care for a power-struggle in front of present company?

...Pfft.[/i]

"Umm, you'd probably have more luck if you talked to people your own age. The Big Baddies are all rather... not easy to talk to." He furrowed his eyebrows. "And they sometimes stab you, or punch you, or other things, while you're talking. I bet they weren't as bad as kids, though. Especially before they figured out they were mutants. Or at least, before everyone around them figured out they were mutants." Calley had images of a young Hunter in a room with a little Kaz, playing with a little Nox who was pulling on the hair of a little Syn. They looked so... cute. He shuddered. "You know, come to think of it, you'd probably want to be talking to a bunch of humans, too. They're the reasons that a lot of mutants go bad."

See? I can be nice.

You can be less cruel to children, yes.

Same diff.

Katrina thought about what Calley had said while she folded another crane. She didn't know who the "big baddies" were, but so far she hadn't met any mutants that were hard to talk to. Well, maybe it was because she hadn't tried to talk them about anything like peace.

The kids thing though, that was an interesting thought. "Maybe I could be a teacher someday and teach humans and mutant students how to get along. Maybe if they learned at school how to get along instead of separating everyine into mutant only schools and human only schools and schools where mutants have to hide that they are mutants, then they could actually understand one another better."

She reached for another piece of paper and began to fold another peace crane.

Slate had slowed down. He was on crane three, now, and it looked very much like he would be on crane three for awhile. Calley, for his part, was quite happy to play along with the girl's little idealistic sayings in a way that was more amusement than malice, but had hints of both, if one had the ears to hear them. "A mutant-human school? Cool! Umm... ooo. Ah, what would you do when, you know, the bombs started showing up? From the anti-mutant protestors. Oh, and the attacks. From the mutant supremacist groups. Those... might be bad, too. Though on the bright side, each group will only be trying to kill half of your students. The school would be fun, but adults in general... probably not so fun."

Katrina forgot about the peace crane she was working on. Thoughts and emotions were shooting off rapid-fire in her head. Calley was being mean. Mean in an innocent-dream-crushing, too-realistic-to-even-be-called-pessimistic, making-you-think kind of way. He had a way of hiding it behind almost-humor and innocent-sarcasm so Katrina wanted to laugh and get angry all at the same time. She had thought only other middle school girls could be mean that way.

Despite how he said it, what he said was important. He was right. If it was a real school it would need much better protection than the mansion had had.

"It will have to be protected. A thousand times better than the mansion was protected." Like the thousand peace cranes. "I'll make the whole school invisible so no one can find it unless they are supposed to be there."

((ooc: Calley is on the social level of a mean middle school girl! Whoot! *air punch*))

"Ooo, good idea! The Mansion definitely could have used that." Calley beamed, as Slate meticulously folded along a diagonal. "Oh… but, umm," he started in again, "how will you know who's supposed to be there? I mean, I know the Mansion got taken down in a raid, but the police probably could have just walked right into the place, too." He paused. "Errhm, I guess the invisibility would counter that. But that wasn't what I was trying to say… Spies! Spies and sleeper cells and things like that: how can you stop people from signing up for classes, or being teachers, or being janitors and stuff, but also being all I'm-plotting-to-take-you-down? If that makes sense." Calley was fairly certain that most of the things that came out of his mouth didn't, but yet, people tended to reply to him in a somewhat coherent manner.

A mystery of the universe.

You missed a fold.

What? No, I did not. I am certain of it.

Calley continued smiling happily as Slate unfolded crane number three, and restarted it from the beginning.

"I don't know what sleeper cells are. Spies are an interesting idea though." Katrina tried to wrap her head around spies that were spying for the good guys. All the ones she had ever heard of were bad. "So the spies would check to make sure that everyone who we let come to the school would be good." She thought that was what he was saying anyway. "They would have to be really sneaky spies, so that no one knew they were even being spied on and the spies would have to be really good at telling who was a good person and who wasn't."

She looked over as he started unfolding his crane again. "Why are you unfolding that one? It was your best one so far."

"Actually, I was talking about spies getting into the school, not about spies getting sent out by the school." Calley tried to wrap his head around spies that were spying for the good guys. Now that was a fun thought. Though it might force a new definition of 'good' to evolve. "That's kind of a really cool idea, though." For once, he wasn't saying that as a lead-in to a sarcastic comment. He rather liked the idea. Spies for everyone! Some competition would be great. Seriously. Hunter had clearly decided to slowly torture him to death, by not giving him any missions. If Calley had other spies that he was trying to outsmart at every turn... now that would be awesome. His mind was racing with all the things he'd need to do differently if someone else was on the playing field, when Kat brought him back out of his happy fantasy land:

"Why are you unfolding that one? It was your best one so far."

He blushed. "Errm... Slate though he might have, ah, missed a fold." Caught. Caught by a twelve year old.

...I knew I did not miss a fold.

If you knew it, why'd you listen to me?

...That is a fairly good question.

He winked at Katrina, even while he was blushing. "Information is powerful stuff. Even if someone doesn't trust you—but especially if they do—you can get them to do things, just by giving them something. Like how you can get your big sister in trouble by telling your parents she didn't have a party while they were gone. Definitely not. And there wasn't alcohol." He grinned at the memory. "Completely true statements, those. Can't imagine why they grounded her." He flicked his eyes towards Kat: Slate wouldn't let him turn their whole head. Crane number three was complete, and currently under inspection for flaws. "Do you have any brothers or sisters, Kat?"

"I'm an only child," Katrina responded, grinning at his older sister story. Too bad though, I'll have no one to use that trick on. "I have a butler though, and a horse and a cat, and two parents. That's mostly my family. Lately though, I feel like I've got a lot of older brothers and sisters." Like Kaz and Nicki. And Iris. And Abyss too, but he's more like an uncle. And Calley had definately just been picking on her for a bit just then, just like an annoying older brother.

She wondered what her own family would be doing on Christmas Eve without her. Would they still decorate the tree and get presents for each other? She wondered if they were worried about her and if her mother had told her father yet that she was a mutant. She pushed the thought of them to the back of her mind. She had been getting better at not getting all emotional when she thought about them. Later, when she was alone she could think about them.

"How about your family? What is your older sister like?"