Dec. 20, 2099, 3:15 pm: Halo City Protectorate HQ, The Office of Shakti Haddad

“Shakti, when I came to you with this idea, I thought I made it clear that we really weren’t expecting anything quite of this… magnitude.”

“I know, Xi’an, but you really got me thinking. When you said you were organizing a toy and clothing drive at your church, I just figured, why stop there? The X-Men can do more than just give dolls to a hundred kids; we could make a real difference here.”

“Well, I’m not saying you were wrong, it’s just… how do you expect to fit a crowd of 35,000 homeless families, orphans, and shut-ins into the church?”

“That’s easy,” Shakti smiled, “We don’t.”

“Ah, and then where…?”

“The Halo City Convention Center was designed to hold up to 50,000 in a time of crisis. I’ve already booked it, and wait until you see the tree! It’s breathtaking. We commissioned a florapath to make it specially for the occasion.”

“Florapath?”

“A mutant whose special abilities revolve around a certain affinity with plants; in this case, she could cause plants to grow faster and to her specifications. She chose a wonderful shade of green, and Krystalin made a few hundred prismatic crystal angels to decorate it with; when the light hits that tree, it covers the whole room in rainbows! I can’t really do it justice describing it, but you’ll see.”

“You seem rather excited about this, Shakti,” Xi’an said with an amiable smile, leaning back in the comfortable arm chair he occupied across from Shakti’s large oak desk. Her office was rather comfortable; a warm, pink carpet spread across the floor and melted into cream-colored walls. Several mostly empty bookcases lined the wall behind her desk, and the only other real “wall” was the one with the always-open door in the middle. The other two walls of the corner office were all glass, providing a spectacular view of the Halo City Commons in front of City Hall, where an enormous tree had been installed and brilliantly lit. The first Christmas in Halo City was decidedly turning into one to be remembered.

“I suppose I am,” Shakti replied with a small sigh, “It’s nice to have something other than the Council to worry about.”

“Don’t let them bother you, Shakti. Whatever happens, I have every confidence that you can do what’s right.”

"Thanks, Xi’an. That really means a lot to me.”

Xi’an smiled in response, and for a few nervous seconds, the two mutants sat staring out the window.

“So who all is helping out with this?” Xi’an finally said.

“Oh, all the X-Men. Henri and Krys took over decoration duties; she makes them fast, he hangs them up faster. Eddie’s going to be playing Santa at the actual event; I think he and Rosa are off getting him fitted for the suit. He looks ridiculous with the beard.”

“Luckily, I can’t see that bothering him very much.”

Shakti chuckled lightly, causing a slight smile to spread across Xi’an’s own face.

“Tim and Luna have been bringing the Experience around to the pick-up points everyday and getting all the donations,” Shakti continued, “So far, we’ve got more than enough clothes and toys, but we don’t seem to be getting a lot of donations in the way of food for the feast afterwards.”

“Hm,” Xi’an said, furrowing his brow, “So what do you plan on doing about it?”

“Well, we have a pretty generous stock of food here in Protectorate HQ. I’m just having Tim and Luna take it all over there.”

“All? For someone so concerned about having the Council on her back, that seems like a bad move.”

“Don’t worry about it; we get new shipments every month. Protectorate salaries are generous enough that we can afford to feed ourselves for a while.”

“Whatever you say,” Xi’an responded, shrugging his shoulders, “You said all the X-men were involved, what about young Sham?”

“Santa’s elf. She seems to have found a friend in Eddie, so I figured it would be best to put them together.”

Xi’an nodded his assent.

“Well, Shakti, you seem to have this all under control. Is there anything you need from me?”

“Yes, actually,” Shakti responded, “I was just getting to that. We’re running the festivities with volunteers, but we don’t seem to have quite enough. Do you think you could convince the Sisters to lend us a hand? They have to have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be glad to. What day is this, again?”

“Christmas Eve. We’re asking all the volunteers to show up by noon, but we don’t start until 4:00. You want the full schedule?”

“Sure.”

“Volunteers get there at 12:00 to start the meal and set the tables. Doors open at 4:00, ‘Santa’ goes to work taking wishes and giving out toys at the same time, and stays until he’s gotten to all of the kids. We start serving food at six (Henri’s going to do the waiting, he says he can handle them all), and give out clothes at 8:00. We hope to have everyone out by 10:00 or 10:30, so we can start cleaning up.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Xi’an responded, rising from his seat. He strode to the door and paused in the doorway. Turning back, he waved to Shakti, who smiled quickly in return before burying her head in her work. It really would be easier if she would just let Henri handle all the red tape, not to mention faster, but Shakti had always played mother hen to the X-Men. Perhaps it was too much pressure for her, perhaps not. X-Men affairs were no longer his own.