Hi all.  Well I was going through some of the ficts I have started and 
sort of put away till the Muse returned, and I spotted this Christmas bit.  If 
you have some advice, let me know.  If you want me to let it die, let me know.  
If you think you can do better with it, be my guest.  Anyways, I never got round 
to finishing it.  Please bear that in mind.
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	It was Christmas eve and Ranma couldn't sleep.
	He had found Kasumi and Akane looking through one of the 
photo albums from when their mother had been alive to celebrate 
Christmas with them.  This had started him thinking about his own 
Christmases with his mother, but at the time he couldn't remember them.  
He could see them now, though.
	Flashes of memory drifted through his partially conscious mind, 
recalling the times he had been with his mother as her son.  As each 
memory came into his mind, he came alert from the near sleep to grasp 
and examine it, only to feel it drift away.  He would relax back into 
unconsciousness only to jerk back to waking as he recalled something 
more about his Christmases of so long ago.
	>Argh, this is driving me nuts.<  Ranma thought to himself as he 
made himself sit up in bed, breaking the cycle.  >Now, how can I help 
myself fall asleep?  It's never been a problem for me.  Hmm, Milk!  I 
think someone said that helped.<
	Ranma rose from his bed and slipped down the hall.  Everyone 
else was sleeping, but he still stayed quite.  Just as he reached the head 
of the stairs he felt a moment of disorientation.  >Whoa, I felt dizzy for a 
second there.  I wonder... What was that!<  Ranma was distracted 
from his self contemplation by the distinct sound of movement coming 
from downstairs.
	>That doesn't sound like anyone who lives here.<  Ranma 
thought to himself.  He slipped down the stairs and followed the sounds.  
Downstairs he saw a man in red with a large sack open at his feet.  
Ranma leaped forward lashing out with a kick.  The man turned just in 
time to get knocked over by the attack.
	He instantly rolled to his feet and assumed a defensive stance.  
Ranma took a moment to look over his opponent.  He was tall and 
rather chubby, which was enhanced by the bulky red felt coat he was 
wearing.  Ranma was sure he had seen him before but he had no idea 
where.
	"Well now, what are you doing here?"  the man said in a deep 
friendly sounding voice.
	Ranma felt a surge of guilt, which was almost instantly 
overwhelmed by a surge of anger.  "Your the one who doesn't belong 
here, HAAA!"  He shouted as he attacked the man in red again.  This 
time however his opponent dodged his initial punches and jumped aside 
with a speed belying his sise.  Ranma kicked low to sweep his 
opponents landing point, however the man in red jumped over the kick, 
swing his own leg around to hit Ranma in the face.  The blow knocked 
Ranma to the ground.
	*He's good*  Ranma thought to himself as he rolled to his feet.  
*Let's see if he can dodge this*  He steped forward and unleashed his 
full speed Tenshin Amaguriken against the man in red.  Who blocked 
every punch though he was forced to back up.  Sudenly he caught 
Ranma's hand with the large candycane which had sudenly appeared in 
his hand.  Ranma was thrown into the wall.
	"Now then, hasn't this pointless exercise gone on long enough."  
The man in Red said as he walked over to where he had left the sack.
	"No Way!"  Ranma shouted as he gathered his chi energy.  He 
glowed blue with the surging aura, and holding his hands forward he 
formed a sphere of power between his hands.  "Moku..."
	"Ah, Hello!"  Kasumi said as she walked out of the kitchen 
toward the man in red.
	Ranma instantly realised that Kasumi was at ground zero of his 
building blast.  He also realised that he had to release it.  Raising his 
arms he shouted "Takabisha"  releasing a pillar of chi through the roof.  
Ranma relaxed, then froze in tension as he visualised the layout of the 
second story, determining which room he had just smashed.  He 
realised it was Kasumi's, then relaxed as he looked at her standing next 
to the old man in red.
	"Ah, Kasumi...  You know him?"  Ranma said gesturing toward 
the now relaxed man in red.
	"Ranma, this is Mr. Santa."  Kasumi said in a surprised 
sounding voice.
	"Santa?"  Ranma said taking a close look at the man he had 
been fighting just a few moments ago.  As he recalled the last few times 
he and his father had actually taken the time to celebrate christmass he 
could recall the details of Santa, which exactly matched this guy.  There 
was however an unmentioned detail.  "I'm sorry I didn't know you 
studied martial arts."
	"You've obviously never met some of Hasbro's insustrial 
espianage agents."  Santa replied.  "Well, no harm done, I realise you 
haven't thought about christmas for a few years.  Oh, and don't worry 
about Kasumi's room, it wasn't really damaged."  He gestured toward 
the unmarked patch of ceiling that had gotten hit by Ranma's technique.
	"How?"
	"How do you think I manage to hand deliver presents to 
everyone on earth in one night?  I enter this paralel dimension where 
time moves differently and do everything here.  It looks like the real 
world, but it's actually a shadow.  Anyways I put the present's into 
place here, then I phase them into the real world."
	"Uh, could you explain that part about... Well could you explain 
it all to me again."  Ranma replied with a confused look on his face.
	"Boss!"  Came a voice, and everyone looked up as a three foot 
tall kid with a green suit and pointed ears jumped in.  "We got a 
problem!"
	Santa looked at him and said "What's wrong?"
	"Some wierd enegry blast just punched through the roof.  It 
cliped the sled, and we've lost sacks 79, 82, and 114."
	"Hmm, that is a problem.  Is you know who still waiting back 
home?"
	"Yeah, they wouln't be able to get rid of him till you get back."
	"... No problem.  You recalculate my rout, making the lost 
sacks my final destinations here.  I'll make sure I get the replacements."  
Saying this Santa turned to Ranma while the elf pulled out a laptop and 
started punching away.  "Ok, apparantly your Chi blast demolished part 
of my deliveries.  Now I'd like you to go and pick up the replacements 
if it's not too much trouble."
	"Well..." Ranma started.
	"And if not I'll just drop the stuff off here, and leave everyone a 
note saying that you are the one to see about waylayed christmass 
preasants."
	Ranma had a suden vision of being mobed by crying children.  
"I'll help!  Uh, but how can I help?"
	"I'll lend you a reindeer, you'll ride him up to the north pole, and 
get the replacements.  Simple Eh?"
	"Well, If that's what I gotta do."
	"Splendid.  Ok first off, as I was explaining earlier, we are 
curently in a place where time flows differently from regular earth.  In 
the time a day passes on earth, a year passes here."  Santa grined, "It's 
one of those tricks that lets me deliver to the entire world in one night.  
So you have a little leeway timewise, though I'll still need you to move 
as fast as you can.  I'll radio ahead so the appropriate sacks will be 
waiting."
	"Don't forget about Burbank."  Called the elf without moving 
from his laptop.
	"Ah yes, You'll also need to use that Martial arts expertise 
you've shown tonight.  You see, there's a lava troll camped outside my 
workshop.  When I expanded back in the 70's I hired him to hook up 
the geothermal heating.  The moron messed up everything so badly I 
wound up firing him and he blames me for his not being able to get other 
work."
	"Lava troll... What's he like?"
	"Oh, don't worry you should be able to beat him just fine."  He 
sudenly pulled a packet from his sack.  "Oh put this outfit on, It's 
climate controlled for the trip and it should let you fight Burbank without 
burning yourself on his skin.  Just be careful because it'll only 
margionally protect against those fireballs of his."
	"Got your new course computed boss."  The elf said as it 
handed Santa the Laptop.
	After studying it for a second, Santa nodded.  "Yes that'll do, 
Good work."  He turned to Ranma.  "Ah, it fits."  he said as he 
considered Ranma who was now wearing a red wool jacket, black 
boots with white wool trim, and a red stocking cap.  "Come on," he 
said as he walked up to the wall, and snaped his fingers.  A fireplace 
appeared in the wall.
	"How..."  Ranma said as he looked at the fireplace.
	Santa sighed and said "Everyone asks that question.  Now will 
any explination beyond it works and it's magic be useful to you?"
	"No,  good point."
	"Ok, take my hand."  As Ranma clasped his hand, Santa put a 
finger of his other hand on the side of his nose and nodded.  A intense 
vortex of air sudenly foumed sucking the pair up the chimney.

	Ranma looked down from his perch on the reindeers back, 
awkwardly holding onto it's kneck with his arms and legs.  The ocean 
they had been galloping fifty feet above was giving way to a great sheet 
of ice.
	"Ok Comet, how much farther?"  Ranma asked the reindeer.
	*It should only take another half hour*  The reindeer thoughts 
echoed into his mind.  The second thing Ranma had learned about riding 
one of Santa's reindeer was that they could telepathically communicate 
with their riders.  The first thing had been that he didn't know anything 
about riding.
	Ranma groaned slightly as he tried to reposition his legs so he 
could grip the Reindeer's back with a muscle group which wasn't 
cramped.  He soon found this to be impossible.  "Can't we take some 
sort of break?"
	*Ah, haven't riden much eh?*  Comet responded.  The 
Reindeer shifted under Ranma, who grabed onto it's neck in fear of 
being thrown off.  *Well, if I remember corectly there's a unbroken 
section of Ice seperating us from the shop.*  The reindeer landed and 
Ranma rolled off it.  Comet put a hoof on Ranma's chest to restore the 
telapathic link *It'll take a little longer than flying, but you should be able 
to recuperate in the sled.*
	"What sled?"
	*In your pocket there's a miniature sled.  Just take it out, put it on 
the show and tell it to 
grow.*