DISCLAIMER: RAINBOW BRITE, RAINBOWLAND, AND ALL CHARACTERS CONTAINED THEREIN ARE THE PROPERTY OF HALLMARK, INC. I DO NOT OWN THEM (I JUST LOVE THEM) AND AM NOT RECEIVING ANY PROFIT FOR THIS STORY (THOUGH IT WOULD BE NICE...)

Inspired by Katy's nifty Christmas-themed pic of Patty...

PATTY'S BLUE RIBBONS

A Rainbow Brite Christmas Story
by Cyanne (katherine_of_egypt@hotmail.com)

"That should do it," Patty said with a sigh, as she fastened the last piece of garland into place and leaned back to admire her work. She and several of the green sprites had been draping green garland around the tower of the Color Castle, to complement the red garland that Red and his sprites had put up earlier that day. By now, most of the sprites had gotten tired and gone home, but Lucky, her deputy sprite, had kindly stayed to help her put the finishing touches on the decorations. Now, he was holding the ladder for her, and looking up at her hopefully. ~Are we done yet?~
"Just a second." Patty scrutinized the garland with a critical eye, then touched it, concentrating. The green garland began to glow slightly, the color deepening and strengthening until she took her hand away. Satisfied, she climbed down the latter, and wiped the sweat off her brow. Outside, the Rainbowland clock chimed twelve times, and she groaned. "Oh, no, it can't be midnight already! And tomorrow's Christmas Eve!" She folded up the ladder. "It's not fair, Lucky," she confided as they left the tower. "Red and I have to work overtime while everybody else has fun baking cookies and singing carols. In fact, while the other Color Kids are decorating our tree tomorrow, I'll be on Earth making sure all the trees in the Christmas tree lots are green. It's just not fair."
Lucky yawned. ~Why did we have to stay up so late decorating the tower?~ he asked. ~Couldn't we have done it tomorrow?~
"No," Patty replied. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, remember? Red and I will be down on Earth all day long. Everything has to be perfect, and tomorrow's our last chance to get it right before Christmas Day." She yawned. "I don't understand how Rainbow does it, going down to Earth every day, all year long. Right now I'm so tired I can hardly stand up."
After saying goodnight to Lucky, Patty headed toward her room, looking forward to a few hours' sleep. On the way, she almost ran into Buddy, who was heading toward his own room. He had a bag of Star Sprinkles in his hand which he quickly hid behind his back when he saw her. "Oh, hi, Patty," he said. "Finished decorating the tower?"
"Yeah." She looked at him curiously. "What are you doing up so late?"
"Oh, nothing," he said, feigning nonchalance. "Just going to bed myself."
"Uh-huh." Something fishy was going on, but she was too tired to press him further. "Well, good night, then."
"Good night," he echoed.
Patty opened the door to her room and fell into bed without changing out of her uniform.
She was asleep within moments.

"Whew, that was close," Buddy thought, entering his own room. It had been a risk, making a trip to the Color Cave at that time of night, but he hoped it would pay off. He opened the bag and let several uncut pieces of the purest blue color crystal spill out. He drew in a breath. His trip had been worth it. He took a piece between his fingertips, concentrating, and felt the crystal tingle and grow warmer, then watched as it seemed to come alive with the power flowing from his fingers. "Yes," he thought triumphantly, "this will do just fine."

When his alarm went off at its usual time--six a.m.--Buddy considered doing something he had never done before--pressing the snooze button. But then he remembered what day it was, and his fatigue disappeared. Christmas Eve was a big day in Rainbowland. There was much to do. He shook off the covers and began his morning exercises. As he did so, his eye caught sight of a small wrapped package on his desk: Patty's Christmas present. Buddy smiled. He'd worked half the night, trying to get it just right, and his hard work had paid off. He couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when he gave it to her. Still smiling, Buddy finished his exercises and began to get dressed, looking forward to the day's festivities.

"Is everyone here?" Rainbow asked, looking at the eager faces of the Color Kids and sprites. Behind her, the huge Christmas tree loomed, waiting to be decorated. But Rainbow never let them start decorating until everyone had arrived, so no one would miss out on the fun. Buddy, standing by the doorway, looked around and saw that a few of the Kids were still missing.
He heard the sound of high heels clicking on the floor, and a moment later Lala Orange fluttered in, in a cloud of her favorite perfume. Buddy noticed that she was decked out in her best holiday finery. "Have I missed anything?" she asked Buddy breathlessly.
"Not yet. Where's the 'caped crusader?' " Buddy asked, referring to Red Butler, her beau.
"Oh, he won't be here," Lala replied, disappointment evident in her voice. "He and Patty left early this morning to finish the holiday colors on Earth. They won't be back until tomorrow. It's not fair," she whined, "here I am, looking so cute, and Red's not even around to appreciate it."
But Buddy wasn't listening. He felt foolish. He'd hoped to give Patty her Christmas present at the tree-decorating ceremony, but he'd completely forgotten that Patty worked overtime every Christmas, along with Red, because their colors were associated with the holiday. That meant that Patty wouldn't be here to decorate the tree, or go carolling around Rainbowland, or exchange gifts the next morning. "Well, then I'll just have to give it to her tomorrow night," Buddy told himself, trying not to listen to the small voice inside him that insisted it wouldn't be the same. He remembered how tired Patty had looked the previous night. "She's works so hard for this holiday," he thought sadly, "and she never gets to enjoy any of it."
Someone called his name. Buddy looked up to see Indigo beside the tree, holding a string of colored lights and beckoning him over. "Help me put this up, won't you?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.
Determined not to let his melancholy thoughts ruin anyone else's fun, Buddy forced a smile and nodded, trying not to think of the brightly-wrapped present in his room that would have to wait another long day to see the delight on the face of its recipient.

Seven minutes before midnight, a rainbow appeared over Rainbowland, briefly lighting up the dark sky with soft colors, and gently set down the two figures it was carrying in front of the Color Castle
"I still don't understand why we couldn't stay on Earth," Patty complained, yawning. "Why come all the way back to Rainbowland when we'll just have to leave again in a few hours anyway? We might have gotten more done if we'd just spent the night like we always do."
Stifling a yawn of his own, Red replied, "We'll get a better night's sleep in our own beds. Besides, I promised Lala I'd be back to exchange gifts tonight, since I'll be gone tomorrow."
"How sweet of you." Patty gave him a tired smirk, which he returned. "Don't let her keep you up too late, Loverboy, we've got a busy day tomorrow. See you at five?" she added, as they headed into the Castle.
"Better make it four-thirty. Kids on Earth get up awfully early on Christmas morning, and they'll be the first ones to notice if the colors are off."
Patty nodded, remembering that that had been exactly what happened during the catastrophe affectionately known as "The Big Color Mix-Up." "All right, but you may have to drag me behind you."
"With pleasure, my lass," Red replied, grinning rakishly at her.
Patty rolled her eyes. "Good night, Red."
"Good night, Patty."
Before heading to bed, Patty decided to make one last stop. "I've been checking the color on everybody else's Christmas tree," she thought, "I might as well check on ours." She wandered through the darkened corridors until she reached the tower, where Rainbow held her meetings with the Color Kids, and where the tall Christmas tree now stood, amongst the decorations she herself had put up the previous day. She caught her breath as she saw the tree. The inhabitants of Rainbowland had outdone themselves again. The huge tree was ablaze with lights of every color of the rainbow, and bejeweled with ornaments ranging from wildflowers to Star Sprinkles. Patty felt a pang of regret that she hadn't been able to decorate the tree with the others, but she immediately pushed the unpleasant thought away, concentrating instead on the hue of the tree, looking for discolored or faded patches among the deep green needles. She found a few and touched them up, bringing them up to par with the rest of the tree. She stood back to get a look at the big picture, then, chewing on her lower lip, brightened the color of the tree as a whole, until it glowed softly, a healthy resplendent green.
Behind her, someone whistled appreciatively. Patty turned, startled, to see Buddy standing there, admiring the improved tree. "You haven't lost your touch, so to speak," he grinned.
"Thanks," she answered, smiling back. "Staying up late again? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were up to something."
"As a matter of fact, I am. Here." From behind his back, he brought out a small, brightly wrapped package and held it out to her.
"Buddy!" Patty's grin widened. "But it's not Christmas yet."
"Open it and you'll see why I want you to have it now."
Patty took the package and began to unwrap it with more care than she usually displayed. When she opened the small box, she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth in wonder without even realizing it. "Buddy, it's beautiful!"
It was a Christmas ball of the deepest, most mesmerizing blue she had ever seen. As she gazed at it, the color seemed to swirl and shift, yielding seemingly different hues that wound and unwound into ripples that dissipated like waves, then formed again. Beside the ornament were two hair ribbons of the same brilliant cerulean.
Patty's mouth had gone dry. "Where did you get these? I've never even seen Star Sprinkles this color."
"I didn't use Star Sprinkles," Buddy replied. "I used raw blue color crystal. It's purer."
"You did this yourself?" Suddenly she understood. "That's what you were doing last night, when I ran into you!" Patty tried to imagine how long it must have taken him to color the Christmas ball and the ribbons, to get them just right. And using pure color crystal, slower to react in its original state than the more efficient Star Sprinkle--only a Color Kid could get raw color crystal to react--it must have taken hours.
"I don't know what to say," she stammered, awed and humbled by the gift. "I haven't had time to get you a present--"
"Don't say anything," Buddy replied, adding to himself that the way her eyes were shining was more than enough of a present. "You've got less than a minute left."
Patty blinked, confused. "What do you mean?" Then she saw that he was pointing toward the tree. Understanding, she reached up and placed the blue Christmas ball on one of the branches, where it complimented the enhanced green nicely. Outside the castle, the clock chimed midnight.
"Merry Christmas," Buddy said.
"Merry Christmas," Patty answered. "Thank you, Buddy." She held up the ribbons. "I'll wear these when Red and I go to Earth tomorrow--or I guess I should say today," she corrected herself ruefully. "In four-and-a-half hours, actually."
"Then you'd better get some sleep," Buddy said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Patty nodded. "It may be pretty late, though," she warned, but she knew that he would wait for her.
THE END