On the outskirts of CB town, next to a towering, green-needled pine tree, a girl and three other people sit there. She watches as the others CBers far away dash around, chucking snowballs and sipping hot cocoa. Self-consciously, she looks down at the thread she created, feeling smaller. She wasn't supposed to be here--she'd taken a break, after all, but--she couldn't resist. How could she stay away for long? It was ingrained in her now, in her jacket and AEs and even her names.

Shifting in the snow, she turned to look at the other threads. The hurtful ones, the leaving ones, have sunken deep into the snow, leaving trails and gaps where they'd carved away the powder and cheer. But now, there were other ones covering it, ingraining festive feelings and hope for the future.

Would it be okay to come back?

She was sure--she felt knew these people better than many in real life. They forgave and forgot, and never held grudges. Mostly never, she thought ruefully, but then again--they were only people. People are difficult creatures sometimes, but beautiful ones as well. Silently she turned to look up at the person sitting at her left, his light brown hair and gray ears tossed across his face in the blustery winter wind. He glanced down at her, just barely nodding, but his emotions shown through every pore of his face. The other person, though...

His violet eyes were cold as the snow around them, gazing reproachfully towards the CB town. But... somehow the girl knew that despite his chilling stare, he couldn't stay away for long either. None of them could. The girl suddenly got to her feet, her leopard-dappled tail leaving a soft groove in the snow, and looked towards the town, filled with longing.

"I'm sorry," she breathed quietly. "Is it done? Has it--" Suddenly a thread came spiraling past, the very one that had seared people apart and left the deepest scars, the down-to-earth thread, the snow-melter, and slowly it vanished into the night. In its place was a small soapbox, more beat-up and ragged than anything the girl had seen before, but yet still remained resilient, holding out with hope. "--blown over yet?"

And on all other threads, whether pudding or ink or earth or cricket--they all seemed to be fine. There were protests--peaceful, of course, this lovely place had nothing else--there were apologies, there were--ski lodges! Oh how the girl had missed the sight of those. There were RPs, there were picturings, there were friendly chats, and now this holiday party.

The girl took a deep breath, though a slight smile curved over her lips. How silly she'd been, to think she could depart for long. Not even a week--not even three days! What a break that was--though, eveidently, it had been enough for wounds to heal and spirits to rise. No, she'd be here for many more years--even all the way to Valentine's, 2019. As she slowly broke into a run towards the party, her AEs dashing alongside her, she began to sing a song.

"Jingle bells,

Jingle bells,

Clouded Leopard went away.

But now she knows, though spite may blow,

It could not keep her at bay!"

She too wanted to come back oh, so much. But she couldn't. She couldn't come back to her home.

So there she was, sitting on her statue, watching the festivities, wanting to join in. To return to the old CB. And yet it was gone, far from her reach.

There would be no claiming it now. No giving of gifts. That was really her favorite part; giving someone a present, and then watching their beaming face as they opened it. 

Many would welcome her back, but she had been hurt far too much for them to repair it. They would all welcome her back, despite all they had said in anger and under aliases. She knew that they would try to help her.  

But they couldn't, and she knew it would only hurt them if she tried to explain it. How her mother had suffered in a similar way. And how her mother had tried to find a way for her to stay ... but whatever way was suggested, she would still lose something.

She had been lonely before. Surely she could endure it again. She shook her head. It would be hard but she had to do it.

They Editors had chosen, and there would be no swaying them. So she bowed her head for a second time, hoping that the third time would be different.

It had to be. She stood up, and walked away from all of the happiness she had ever known in the world called the Internet. A tear trickled down her face, but she ignored it.

She had to. She was weak, yes. She was broken, yes. But she had to go, otherwise sacrificing all of her values. 

And with those last few thoughts, she turned, and 

let

the

shadows

fall 

behind

her. 

Snow was falling on Chatterbox City, and three young girls were walking toward the town square through the white crystals. Volcano shivered and continued talking. 

"...AND SNOW IS SO WEIRD, YOU KNOW? IT'S SO COLD AND ANNOYING AND FIRE IS BETTER RIGHT BUT SNOW MEANS WINTER AND COOKIES AND CHOCOLATE AND ICE SKATING AND SKIING AND IT'S SO COOL WATCHING IT M E L T UNDERFOOT!"

True to her word, the snow melted where she stepped, leaving a wet trail of cobblestones in her wake. Volcano paused, sighing a bit and muttering something under her breath before looking up again and happily continuing her tirade.

Shifting Sands was quiet, watching the snow fall as she drifted through it and wondering about all the change that had gone through the CB. Good thing the holiday season was here – she had never been quite as nasty during the holidays. The best thing? People always had fruitcake they didn't want. Shifting herself liked fruitcake. 

Somebody wasn't preoccupied with anything else. She attempted to do a handstand in the snow, smiling at the prospect that tomorrow she would turn thirteen, and then fell over forward and landed in a bridge to save face. She collapsed in the snow and rose again, picking up the carrier of cookies she was taking with her. 

"OH YEAH! THE COOKIES! DIDN'T I DO A GREAT JOB ON THOSE, SOMEBODY? AH I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO BE TEENAGERS TOMORROW! BUT DIDN'T I COOK THEM GREAT?"

"Yes Volcano, you did a good job baking the cookies. But I remind you I improvised the recipe!" Somebody replied, grinning. 

Shifting smirked herself. "Oh yeah, and I got the ingredients from the Baking Universe. AND added the interdimensional spice to them so they would be eatable by EVERYONE. I am so kind! I am so thoughtful! Do you not agree?"

"Maybe with this holiday party thread we can calm the upset throughout the CB for now," Somebody said, chainging the subject. "I just hope people accept te peace cookies." 

"Please," Shifting said scornfully. "How could they–"  

"NOT!" Volcano broke in, too excited to contain herself, and then jumped up and announced to the world the cookies. "THERE'S A BUNCH OF SPICES IN HERE! THEY'RE NOT REALLY SPICY BUT THEY GIVE YOU THIS WARM FEELING INSIDE, AND PLUS THEY'RE SHAPED LIKE DOVES AND OLIVE BRANCHES BECAUSE WE'RE JUST. THAT. COOL!" Noticing Shifting scowl at her thunder being stolen, Volcano put in, "AND SHIFTING IS THE ONE TAHT GOT THE OLIVE BRANCH COOKIE CUTTER! HOW COOL IS THAT?" 

--

So guys, I know I've probably caused a share of the hurt feelings through this war but

...cookie?

Excellent idea, Ronan.

Inktail was skating on the pond in human form when Ronan rushed past.

"It's the holiday season...and come one and all, to the holiday ball..." Excited by the news, Inktail turned a triple lutz, landed flat on her bun and giggling. She picked up a tune, flying in from a chipping cricket.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." She heard Clouded Leopard join in, her voice far away but growing steadily louder, Somebody chimed in with her sweet soprano, and Abigail began humming along too. Inktail began running along the roads, singing loudly the whole time.

"It's the hap, happiest season of all..." Finally, Inktail reached the town square, where someone had decorated the statue of Mei-xue in Christmas lights. Inktail smiled, changing into a cat.

"Oh, Ronan." She said happily.

"Snowball fight!" Suddenly, Inktail was whacked in the head from behind.

She transformer into a human. "Who did that?!" She asked playfully. Bluebird's blue wings ducked down behind a snowbank, leaving only the tops showing. Inktail giggling, walking over silently.

"Gotcha!" She cried, throwing a snowball at Bluebird, just as she popped up from the bank, getting a snowball square in the face.

"It's on now!" The two girls cried. 

"So, ready for a holiday party?" Abigail grinned over her many layers of scarves, cheeks bright pink from the cold.

"Why are you wearing so many layers?" Critic asked instead of answering the question first posed. She herself donned only a pair of fleece pants over long underwear, a ski jacket, and a beanie.

"Hey, I live in Malibu," Abigail shrugged, a movement barely noticeable behind the at least five sweaters she was wearing. "We have two seasons there: Summer and windy summer."

Critic rolled her eyes.

Mandy skipped over, carrying a tray of sloppily frosted cranberry muffins, decorated like snowmen.

Hobbes trailed behind her, eating one of these wintery desserts. "Hey, they actually turned out pretty good this time," he said with a shrug in response to Critic's scandalized look, which turned more severe as he grabbed another.

Mandy was wearing a rather large pair of fluffy pink earmuffs, and they seemed to be affecting her hearing a bit. "I'M EXCITED FOR THE PARTY! FUN! FOOD!" She said, almost shouting— unnessecary, given how close the four were standing. 

"Could you be any louder?" Hobbes rolled his eyes, making a "cukoo" motion with his muffin. 

Everyone stared, a tad perplexed, as Mandy squinted up at the sky, caramel-colored pigtails bobbing, before she said, "YEAH, THAT CLOUD DOES LOOK LIKE A DUCK."

With that, she ran ahead, singing Oh Chanukah.

"She's insane," Abi, Hobbes, Critic said in unison, the first fondly and the latter two in utmost annoyance.

Abigail laced her arms around the shoulders of her two AEs, accidentially knocking their three heads together. "Aw, it's nearly Chanukah and Christmas. Give her a break."

"Sure," Critic said, "When she gives us a break." 

She and Hobbes fistbumped behind Abi's back.

Re-do:

St.Owl shivered in the cold, pulling her jacket closer to her body and wishing for warmth. Snow was dusted on her head, and she brushed it off with one bare hand every once in a while-- Devil Owl was walking nearby, enjoying her gloves, as he had come severely underdressed. On the other side of the CBer, Feather was complaining about it being hot. (this was probably due to the fact that she was wearing two winter coats.)

"THE FIRE ISN'T STAYING LIT," complained Dev, looking inside the container he was carrying.

"That's because you're opening the lid and letting all the snow in," Feather sighed. "Just keep it closed and maybe the pies will be halfway decent when we get there."

"I still don't understand why you eat the flaming brussels sprouts pies," said St.Owl. "Don't you hate brussels sprouts? Aren't the pies just to throw at people?"
"I ONLY EAT THE CREAM PART! THEN I THROW THE FLAMING BRUSSELS SPROUTS AT PEOPLE."

"I'm curious as to how you lit cream on fire in the first place," Feather pointed out.

"PHYSICS!"
"It's the opposite of physics, actually."
"Oh hush up, we're here."

St. smiled at the sight of the square. Statues surrounded it (she quickly found her own, being arrogant), all strung up with lights and tinsel. A menorah sat on the main table, all of its candles lit. Flanking either side were Christmas trees. Feather hurried up to string her ornaments on them: all words or miniature grammar books, of course. St.Owl stacked a few gifts under them, and supervised Dev's delivery of the pies ("no, you cannot throw one at Mandy. No, NOT ONE") and then placed her own food on the table-- snickerdoodles baked by her mother.

A snowball fight seemed to be taking place. Dev joined in with enthusiasm, making up for his earlier pie deprivation by throwing a snowball at Mandy. St.Owl set up by the side and started mass turning out snowballs, handing them out to CBers and AEs who needed a quick reload. Feather looked for Hobbes.

"It's the most wondeful time of the year . . . "

Oh, come on. This is on the second page? Top, thread, the party's only getting started!

----

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" Mandy yelled, swiping pieces of snowball off her face and trying to chase a madly laughing Devil Owl, who was much faster than her. Mandy tripped and fell face-first into the snow again, but got quickly back up (only her pride was bruised), chucking snowballs at Dev, who always managed to dodge them, grabbing Volcano by the shoulders at one point and using her as a human shield.

She dumped a bucket full of slightly smoking snow (AE logic, don't question it) on his head.

Critic rolled her eyes and sampled one of Somebody and Co's olive branch cookies. "Not bad," she decided, licking cream-colored frosting daintily off her fingertips. Hobbes was eating another winter muffin and peering about for Feather.

"She's over there," A sighing Critic pointed towards where Feather was standing by St. Owl, bundled up in thick jackets and a scarff surveying the area as well, presumably for the anthro-tiger himself.

"Ah, there she is!" Hobbes conveniently forgot to thank Critic for her assistance and, after selecting two hot chocolates from the snacks table, started toward her, smiling goofily.

Critic rolled her eyes. He lost all of the cat-like dignity he was usually so proud of when he was anywhere near Feather.

Abi bounded over, popping one of Kestrel's snowball cookies into her mouth. "Mm," she nodded approvingly, reaching for another. Once she had finished that one, she grinned at Critic. "How're you enjoying the party?"

Critic gave an indifferent sniff.

"Don't be like that, A! Everyone else is having fun!" She gestured around. Mandy, Dev, Volcano, and several other CBers and AEs were in a full-blown snowball war, some people were ice skating, singing carols, passing out presents, among other joyful holiday activites.

Critic still remained stoic.

"This calls for desperate measures," muttered Abi, then yelled, "HEY, VOLCANO! PLUG HER WITH A SNOWBALL!"

The hot-tempered AE grinned maniacally and chucked a handful of snow at Critic, which smacked her square in the face, sending her toppling over backwards.

"Why, you—" She stood up, grabbed an empty cookie bowl and loaded it with snow, running over to join the fight, calling over her shoulder, "I'LL GET YOU TOO, ABI!"

"Totally worth it," Abi said.