It was almost time for the New Years Eve party to start, and things were getting frantic. Outside the bedroom, "Julie" and Ariel were fixing each others hair, while inside the room, Celeste was dabbing on the last of her lipstick. They were still waiting on Julie's friend to show up.

       "Celestial Seasonings," Cel rolled her eyes at her sisters favorite nickname for her, "I need some help. Julie's hair won't do right." Quickly, she slipped on her robe and walked out.

       "I still need to get my dress on!" She explained. Quickly, she picked up the needle and stitched a headband in Julie's pulled back hair and stood back. The theme of her church party was 'Historical Masquerade' but Julie and Ariel wanted something more trendy. They were dressed in neon baby doll dresses, and sporting the loudest masks that Cel had every saw outside of Mardi Gras. Because she was so traditional in attitudes, it was hard to find something nice to say about the dresses. "Nice sewing, Julie. You are learning so much about designing your own clothes."

       Jubilee beamed. A couple of weeks ago, sewing her own clothes would have been unheard of, but after admiring the way that Ariel's clothes fit her, she gave sewing a try. Not only was Jubilee enjoying it, she was beginning to think that she might have a talent for design.

       "Thanks! You were right about the material being hard to work with, but it did what I wanted. Thanks for the tips." Cel had been patiently teaching her sister's friend what she knew about sewing, but it surprised her how fast Julie had been picking it up.

       The grandfather clock started to chime as Cel left the room to finish getting dressed. She didn't have the money to spend on a dress for one night, so she had taken one of her grandmother's vintage dresses, a gold formal, from the 1930's, that matched her blond hair, out of storage. Luckily, the dress had come with matching opera gloves and a mask. Quickly, she lifted the good costume jewelry from her great-grandmother's jewelry box's secret drawer and slipped it in her purse. Then she returned the box to the antique roll top desk and locked the top.

       Patting the desk, she reflected how much she hated this night. It was the night that started end of the way of life as she knew it. Could it be that four years had pasted since that fateful night?

       Outside the apartment, M stood and waited at the door. She hated, with a bitter passion, New Year's Eve. To make things worse, she had gotten lost three times on her way to this old building. The only reason that she was here was she wasn't immune to Jubilee's nagging. For some strange reason, she thought that Cel and M would make good friends. M tugged at the vintage purple gown that she wore under her mink coat, straightening it so the winkles would fall out. Lifting a gloved hand, she paused.

       Jubilee was in the middle of telling her story about what really happened when she caught Ev and Angelo the night that they decided to go skinnydipping after a workout. "So I take the towels, the jeans, the shirts, the shoes and socks, and the jackets and throw them in the water, leaving them to suffer! But that wasn't the best part-- Artie and the L-dude were there, uh, camping out and they took pictures for me. Man, it was so sweet!" M chose that moment to knock on the door. "Hope she didn't hear that . . . "

       M walked in, looking even more pleased with herself than usual. Ev and Anglo had caught been so funny, dashing the few yards across the snow dripping wet. Someone had spied Jubilee dunking their clothes and then flown into the biosphere and locked the doors to the changing room. Too bad that somebody was too aloft to admit her part in the matter.

       Ariel smiled kindly at the girl standing before her. Monet had always seemed to be a very poor little rich girl, like April from Dallas. She would have every possible toy under her own Christmas tree, but would weep, knowing that her parents had spent more time picking out the gifts than they would spend with her in a month. While the idea to invite Monet was part necessity to get Julie to come, Ariel wanted her to spend some time with her sister, just talking.

       Cel walked out of the bedroom, wearing her coat, and forced a bright smile. "I'm happy to meet you, Monet." Dropping her voice, she added. "And you agreed to drive. I hate driving in heels!" M smiled a rare smile. Something in this girl said "friend."

       The party, M had to admit, wasn't the best New Year's Eve party in terms of money spent, but it had a joy that she rarely saw at her father's parties. So far, eight strangers had walked up and invited her into their groups for small talk. While to her, the Christmas pageant and cost of commuting were small topics but the offer made her feel welcomed at the party. But she didn't feel comfortable in large rooms, especially given the fact that this was New Year's Eve.

       Despite the fact Cel couldn't read minds, she echoed Monet's thoughts. They hadn't seen each other since she had stopped to slip off her coat in one bedroom and Monet went into another room. But, she decided to track down the girl and make a quick disappearing act. There was only so much of this night that she could take. Besides, an hour into this party, Julie and Ariel had slipped out to go to another party.

       In the back of the house, Ariel stopped for a moment. Slipping off her mask, she started to cry. Jubilee held the girl, not knowing what else to do. After a moment, Ariel calmed down. "Sorry," she said, dabbing at her tears.

       "You miss your parents, don't you?" Ariel's parents had been killed after a car accident, several years ago. Ariel herself had been seriously injured.

       "Can't believe I let Cel think that I wanted this party. I mean, I didn't want her sitting around feeling sorry tonight. She takes this night so much worse than I do. I guess I thought that by do something fun tonight, I wouldn't think about the accident, and she wouldn't either." Ariel frowned and tears welled up.

       Jubilee smiled. "No, you were being kind. I- I still miss my parents, and Logan told me I always will. I still hate April fourth, you know- the day they died. But the feelings, you know, they are what make you know you are alive." It had been only two and half years since their death, and six months after that, she had joined the X-men. Somehow during that time, she had grown up twenty years.

       After a moment, Ariel said, "The pain makes you feel alive?"

       Jubilee smiled, despite to break the sadness. "Yep. Now are we doing to live at the happening party, or we going to stay at this dead thang?" It wasn't really dead, just an older crowd than they had expected.

       "Well, we could get James to give us a ride in the geek mobile-" James was driving a car that only Steven Q, Urkle could love.

       "Or we could hoof it over the two blocks." Ariel sprung to her feet and smiled. Opening the door Jubilee asked, "What do you think they are going to do?"

       "They who and why?"

       "M and Cel are wearing the same dress." Jubilee giggled at the thought. M liked to think that she was the only person to do something, or wear something.

       Cel finally managed to locate Monet in the middle of a group discussing the impact of Creed's assignation. She hung back, learning from the group. Clearly, the girl had a keen understanding of the international political scene that was far beyond the combined knowledge of the rest of the group. Cel had a vague grasp of international politics, gleamed from shortwave radio programs and her grandmother's training that the world was much smaller than most people thought. After all, if it wasn't, her grandmother would have never become active in the resistance movement during World War II.

       She moved gracefully to Monet after the conversation ended and tapped her shoulder. "Monet, I hate to ask you this, but I just realized we don't have any food in the house. Do you mind making a grocery run and returning?"

       M smiled gratefully and then paused. After the events of the last few months, Generation-X was under strict orders to use the buddy system at all times in public situations, but she wanted a break. Quickly, she scanned the party area and did not find a trace of Jubilee. Expanding her telepathic search, she found Jubilee at a party a couple of blocks down. Despite the current situation, Jubilee could handle herself. M nodded.

       Suddenly, on the way out, Cel started to laugh. Pointing at the dresses, she explained that they were wearing the style dress. "What are the chances that you would have a dress just like my grandmother's?" Then she stopped, feeling something snap into place. "You're a Saint Croix!"

       M quickly put the pieces together. "You're a Dubrois. My grandmother was . . . "

       "My grandmother's soul sister." Sometimes, it seemed to Cel, life was a set of set patterns, replaying though the generations. Now meeting, wearing the same dresses that their grandmothers wore when they first met, just like M's grandmother Hannah as seen, that felt eerily right. "And your grandmother said that we would be so too."

       Looking around, even though they were in the car. M asked an important question, "How much do you know?" She had to know the truth.

       Celeste thought that question out. "I know what the name St. Croix means. My grandmother told me." M closed her eyes, trying to control her emotions. One of the best things she had gotten from her grandmother was the pride in whom she was. If this girl knew the truth, then all would be lost.

       "I also know that Julie, or Jubilee is a mutant-- I followed the X- men." Given the open acceptance that Jubilee had been given by this girl and her sister, she had less to fear. "When Julie wants Ariel to know, she'll tell her. It's not my place." So Cel was discrete, which was also good. Maybe this wasn't a bad thing.

       Soon, they pulled up at a Super-Walmart. "What's this?" M had never paid attention to the locations of things like grocery stores, or cheap clothing stores. She never saw the purpose in knowing where they were.

       "Picasso, you've never been in a Wal-mart before?" Cel shook her head. It had been four years since she could afford that attitude.

       "Monet or M, please. Never Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or anything else. And no, I have not been in a Wal-mart, ever."

       Cel suppressed her smile. "Think of it as a new experience." She walked in as if it was quite normal for two women to go shopping in a formal evening gown. And it was quite the new experience for M. The store was like a small mall without the separate departments. The prices were cheaper, and the quality was less than what she was use to, but it had its appeal all the same.

       Cel pulled out a coupon holder from her purse. "What's that?" M pointed. It was hard enough for her to understand the many varieties of food that were sold. Things like plain rice was sold by five different companies.

       "Don't you know what coupons are?" Over the years, Cel had become an expert coupon user, and really couldn't remember a time that she didn't shop with them.

       "I have heard of them. Where do you get them?" M looked around at the different kinds of frozen pizza. How did a normal person learn to buy food?

       Cel looked puzzled. "In the Sunday paper, after the funnies." Quickly she explained the fundamentals of shopping. After a moment, she shook her head. What was that saying, 'all book sense, and no horse sense? '

       Standing in line, M tried again, "Why did we come here?" Surly, they could have gone to a store devoted to selling food, not all the stuff that they had seen.

       "I work part time here, in addition to working my full time job. So, I get an employee discount. Plus, the prices are over all better here. Cheaper all the way around." Cel worked an average of sixty hours a week, and was a part time accounting student.

       At the forbidden party, things were not going as planned. Ariel had believed that this was stickily a girl's night out kind of thing, very innocent. But judging from the sweet smell in the air, and the beer kegs around the yard, that was not going to be the case.

       "Do you want to go back?" Ariel offered to Julie. Cel had trusted her so much, she didn't want to break that trust.

       Jubilee looked at the party scene and considered her options. This was not the best place to be, and if she were caught here she would be in a lot of trouble. Logan would be disappointed in her judgement, which would hurt much more than any punishment that could be given her. But on the other hand, she and CyJen had gone to parties like this one before, and Jubilee just wanted to be normal for a change. "Let's just stay for a few minutes. No more than half an hour."

       Ariel reluctantly agreed.

       Cel's apartment, located over a flower store, was just a few blocks from the Wal-mart. The furniture was a mix of fine antiques and cheap furniture, which added to the puzzle of what happened to her grandmother's best friend's granddaughter's money. Whatever had happened must of been a real problem.

       Cel looked at the girl who was looking around with hidden curiosity. "A lot of the money is waiting until Ariel and I turn twenty- five, but I had to sell a lot of stuff to paid the hospital bills."

       "Oh."

       Cel looked at the girl standing before her. Julie had always made her sound like a stuck-up, rich girl. Ariel felt that M didn't know how to connect to the people around her. Cel had a feeling that she was haunted by something and it would help M to talk about it. But as scared as M was, it would be hard to get her to talk. So Cel made an offer. "I'll tell you my story if you'll tell me yours."

       M sat and considered the offer. Some of the things that happened she never wanted to speak of again, some this girl already knew, and some she needed to tell. Cel clarified her offer, "I'll go first." M reached a decision.

       "Okay."

       She needed to talk about what happened to her, but she also needed to know that this person could understand what had happened to her.

       At the party, somehow half an hour stretched into an hour and a half. Anytime that Jubilee started to leave, the cute guy she met there, Tim stopped her with his dazzling smile. It felt nice just to be normal for a little while, and Jubilee gave into that feeling.

       Ariel had found a group of her friends, who like herself had come thinking that the party was not going to be as wild as it was. They were busy comforting the girl who had thrown the party in the first place.

       Joan cried, "My parent's will kill me! I can't get this crowd to leave!" She was on the verge of hysteria.

       Finally Beth came up with an answer. "I'll call my uncle, a cop, and get him down here to bust up the party." Joan nodded and Beth pulled out her cell phone.

       At this time, Ariel finally got a view of Julie and Tim, who were dancing very close. Something about Julie's eyes and movements told Ariel that Tim had spiked another girl's drink. "Shit!" she whispered as Tim opened the door to a bedroom. It didn't take much to get a petite girl drunk.

       Back at the apartment, Cel took a deep breath. This was the same as emotional blackmail, turning over enough painful secrets that the other girl could trust her enough to tell her secrets. But, there were things that she couldn't even tell her sister that she was going to reveal. With another deep breath, she started.

       "My family was a victim of New Year's Eve. That night, they were going to my dad's boss's party and I had a hot date." The party that Celeste had gone to was great, and her date was a lot of fun. She made only one mistake, leaving her drink unguarded. "Do you know about that date rape drug?" M nodded. "I do now. I was a virgin."

       After a long moment, Cel continued. "I got home that night to find two police officers at the door. There had been an accident, and I was needed at the hospital. A drunk hit my dad's car and my whole family wasn't expected to live the night. I never had time to report the rape." She walked up to get a glass of water and to dab at her eyes. It had been a long time since she allowed herself to think fully about that night.

       "I thought that we had wonderful insurance, but we reached the cut off point just after my dad died, a week after the wreck. Mom went the next day. Ariel was hanging on by a thread for three weeks, but she stabilized into a coma. I had to sell the houses, most of the furniture, a lot of the jewelry. What wasn't in trust for us I converted to cash." It was hard packing up every thing, it forced her to grown up almost overnight. Sipping the water, she continued.

       "I found out I was pregnant when I took an insurance physical. They were kind enough to cover me anyway, but I had a problem on my hands. I am pro-life, but I didn't want this child. Ariel, because she was in a coma, never knew about the baby." Ariel would have been heartbroken about the child. She, herself, had a hard time thinking about the child.

       "What did you do?" M prodded, after a long minute. This girl had lived though more than many mutants M had met.

       "I was going to put the child up for adoption when I heard about a treatment here in Boston that might work for Ariel. I moved us from Houston to give it a chance. It seemed like it might work, but it was very expensive. After eight months of hospital bills, everything was. I had sold everything but the furniture and clothes in this apartment. What could I do?"

       M looked around and though it out. What would she have done? No money, no family or friends, and very desperate. "I don't know."

       "A lady offered me a five hundred thousand dollars for the little girl I was carrying. Half a million! So I allowed them to take my little Nina, my baby girl. I don't know where she is today, and I never will. After paying all that money, I know the couple will take care of her. And my sister is recovering." Thanks to a deal with the devil, she thought bitterly.

       M shook her head, touched by the love that Cel had for her child gleaming in her eyes. That looked so much like the expression her mother had just before she died.

       Ariel slammed open the door that Julie and Tim entered just a moment before, and startled them mid-kiss. Julie looked like she didn't know what was happening and wanted the whole thing to stop, and Tim just looked mad at her butting in. "Julie, you're drunk!" Julie had a hard time holding her cold medicine, so any amount of gin would get her drunk

       "Am not!" Jubilee answered, "Just very mellow." With that, Ariel decked Tim in the jaw. He fell back on the bed, out cold.

       "I could have done that myself. I've mixed it up with the Brood, gone head to head with the Phallax, and thrown some blows with Gene Nation! I can handle a creep that doesn't know where his hands belong." Tim chose that moment to groan, and Jubilee hit him in a pressure point, sending him under again. "See!"

       Ariel started to giggle and Jubilee joined in with her. "Man that was sweet! You have some interesting gang names in New York."

       Jubilee decided that she should come clean with her friend. "I am a m---"

       "Mess," Ariel completed, "And the cops are coming in like ten minutes! Cel would have my hide so bad if I'm caught with here.

       "Frosty would have mine too.... Ten minutes, huh?" Ariel nodded. "Mr. Macho wanted to get naked so bad, it's a shame he won't." Ariel smiled as she considered the thought. "He won't get frostbite if he's just outside for a few minutes. He's out for twenty, anyway."

       M started. "My mother was very unusual, which is no surprise to you. She brought to the marriage her son Marius, my half brother."

       "Soon after they were wed, my mother found out that she was pregnant with my brother Vincent, and ten years later, with three girls. They were named Anna, Monet, and Zoe, we were three born of one egg." There was something special about the way that she said that.

       "You mean, like in music, three eighth notes equal a quarter note?" Cel tried to clarify the situation.

       "Exactly. Unfortunately, my body died in childbirth and my soul was absorbed into Anna and Zoe. To the world, there were two little girls, twins. But we knew the truth." Cel's eyebrows knitted together as she pondered, 'we'.

       "You understand what Emplate is?" Cel nodded, she had been warned of the mutant vampire. "My father hired him an aid to help him feed. David Owens Adams, or DOA because the victim was dead on arrival. And for our protection, he also hired us a nanny that doubled as a bodyguard. Everything worked fine until last New Year's Eve party."

       'It was the event of the year, as the elite of Monaco's society came to be seen as did our father's associates. Our nanny was needed as protection, as you might imagine. We were left to our mother's care. Marius, unfortunately, did not feed on Penance that night." M stopped, not wanting to continue this story. But Cel had opened up and she could do no less.

       "May I show you?" M asked. After a moment, Cel agreed. With a gentle mind touch, she started to show the events of that night. After a momentary shock, Cel started to flow with the story. She felt like she was standing in an another's body, feeling what they felt, thinking what they thought.

       Anna stood in front of the crowd, greeting people as they came in. Zoe had it easy, she thought. Zoe's senses were so strong that she had to retreat into herself, like many autistic kids. And she got out of wearing the itchy clothes and standing still and smiling and being patted on the head. Zoe got to climb trees and run and play. Monet had it best of all. Nobody but Zoe and Anna saw her, so she never had her cheek pinched and told how smart and strong she was. Monet was their friend, protector, and champion all in one.

       Finally, Zoe was brought in for a brief viewing. Because the treatments were working, her parents wanted both girls to be accustom to the public light. Mere smiled politely and took Anna to her sister.

       "Mere, may we go play?" Anna asked. She had stood still for as long as a five-year-old could.

       "No, but I'll take you for a walk in the garden." Their mother offered. Both girls started giggling at the idea. The garden was a lot of fun at night, when the moon was glowing and the birds had gone to bed. In the garden, they could have fun and dance to the music while watching the party goers.

       Marius was in the garden that night, watching as the twins played for a minute. His hunger was great, and his sisters were so sweet-- as sweet as candy. He had allowed himself a brief feeding from them before, before their father had brought the nanny. Now he was never allowed near them. But they were so close.

       The twins didn't know that they were being watched as they made Monet appear. Their mother watched as the three started to play. They were playing "Ring a-round the rosies" as Marius appeared before them.

       The children froze as the party goers noticed the creature outside the glass. Their mother tried to block Marius from getting near the children, but in his hunger, he tossed her aside, not noticing that she hit her head on a statue. Quickly, the triplets linked together and channeled their mind and powers into M, the person that protected them.

       "Sacre Bleu!" exclaimed the retired Colonel, who was suppose to protect the twins.

       The body of M started to form before their very eyes. "Un petit ange," they declared as she started to fight Emplate. To them, M had appeared to protect the children. The twins created her out of their soulss

       Emplate tried to feed off this girl, but she wouldn't let him. He grabbed Vincent and ran off. The nanny followed him. leaving Ambassador St. Croix with this unknown person.

       Slowly, her father turned around and looked at the damage done. He saw his wife with her neck bent at an unnatural angle, his children lying down, not breathing. And he turned to face the one that appeared before his eyes.

       M walked toward him, feeling some what like the little mermaid taking her first steps, breathing her first breaths. All this was new to the triplets, now forever housed in one body. Also new to them was the broken sound of their father's voice as he said. "I hate you, you monster! You have stolen my family from me."

       Suddenly, M broke the link between the minds, unaware that their were tears in her eyes. "After that, I wasn't allowed off the estate unless it was to a specialist. I am the sum of all the beings-- their mutant abilities and their souls." After that night, she went into a deep shock and didn't recover until she woke up in the Phallax's prison.

       Cel started crying, crying for the three little girls that lost their mother, crying for the facade that M had to put up, crying for her own parents and daughter. As she hugged M, she knew why they were meant to be soul sisters. The people they were had been conceived in pain, born in sorrow and raised on sheer grit. They knew the curse of being strong, self created women. They might never be friends, but somehow they understood each other's soul.

       Across the street from the party, Ariel and Jubilee watched as Tim stumbled in front of the cops. "That's public intox. and public nudity!" Jubilee giggled. "We did it!"

       Ariel smiled as the boy was arrested. For once, Tim had gotten what he dissevered. Now, she had to find a way to hide the fact that Julie was drunk. What was she told in school? "Okay, we are going to get you some peppermints and walk for a bit."

       Jubilee looked at her friend and smiled. This was a true friend, one that would stand by her no matter what. Ariel was entitled to the truth. "Ariel, I'm --"

       Ariel stopped her. "Julie, I can't lie. I can't. If someone was to ask me if I knew a mutant, I would hate to answer 'Yes, my best friend.' 'Cause if I didn't, I would get caught or tell on myself. But if I never know, I can honestly say. 'I don't know.' So what were you going to say?"

       "I'm drunk." Jubilee smiled as she leaned on Ariel. CyJen had never been able to really look past the fact that she was a mutant. Ariel was sweet and kind, but she was honest. Most likely too honest, but smart enough not to hold Julie's genetic code against her.

       "Yes, you are. Now let's see what we can do to hide it." Ariel and Julie walked into the convince store. A bag full of mouthwash and peppermint candy later, they walked out.

       "I love you man!" Jubilee half cracked.

       "I love you too, but you're still not getting my Dr. Pepper." Together they walked back to the party.

       After a moment of crying, Cel looked in the mirror. "I'm a mess!" Quickly, she redid her makeup. "And I'm going to get my New Year kiss, so let's get a move on it, M." Telling her story had been strangely cathartic. The had been a guy that she had liked for a long time, but now she felt ready to go after him.

       M did a quick search for Jubilee. "They're are heading back to the party. Jubilee's a little tipsy."

       Cel let out a laugh. "Well, I left instructions to the band that when they get back, the band was to start square dancing. They'll doe- say doe the crap out of her." M smiled. "M, what is you mutant ability?"

       M paused, Cel knew the rest of the story. "We were all mutants at birth. Anna had the strength, immunity, and intelligence, Zoe had the sensory abilities. I have all that, plus my mother's ability to fly and read thoughts. You see in addition to resisting my brother, I can become anything I want-- I take whatever powers a mutant had when they die."

       "Oh." All Cel could think was something very simplictic. 'I hope she's a good mutant.' The other was too scary to imagine.

       M debated asking an important question. "How do you go past the past?"

       Cel smiled. That was one thing she knew well. "Like this," taking a deep breath, "you decide to live, and soon you put 'your behind in the past.'"

       "Don't you mean 'You put your past behind ya.'" Franklin loved "The Lion King."

       "Something like that. Going on, living is the best revenge."

       "There's M and your sister." Jubilee pointed out. "What are we going to do?" Jubilee was just drunk enough to stand out.

       Ariel thought for a second. "Leave the talking to me," she ran over to Cel. "Dear, sweet sissy! I love you so much."

       Cel frowned at her sister. "I know where you were, I saw you sneak out. I have chores for you to do at home." Ariel frowned, the chores that Cel gave her were always the pits. "And Julie, you are going to help her- tomorrow."

       "But-" Jubilee knew that the morning wasn't going to be the best thing, and she would be in so much trouble when she got back to her school.

       "M called Ms. Frost and got her to let the two of you to sleep over. Think of it as a favor." Cel smiled. Jubilee stopped complaining. It was a big favor, allowing her to stay over night, sleep off the hangover, and be punished by Cel, not Ms. Frost. "M's cooking breafast tomorrow- oatmeal, scrambled eggs and sausage." So that was when the punishment started.

       At that moment, Ariel saw Matt walking over towards them. He had a crush on her sister for more than a year, but Cel had not been able to return his affections. This time, Cel lit up when she saw him. It was a promising sign of good things to come.

       Jubilee was less than happy to see James walk over with Matt, but at least he had a crush on Ariel. Something not so good always comes beside the good. Strange, she thought, this year couldn't have been worse- the new school, Xavier going crazy, Wolvie going off the deep end. Yet, it couldn't have been better- hitting bottom forced Wolvie to start getting better, Joe had a new chance, M looked a little bit happy, and the new school. Although the new year would bring many hardships, it would also bring something else- new challanges, new friends, new hope. So she cheered as the group exclaimed "Happy New Year!"