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Chapter Text

One of the benefits of traveling with a circus throughout Europe was the various loot it allowed Skipper to stash. In preparation for the holidays, Skipper found himself in the cover of night and early morning sneaking away to retrieve gifts for his boys. He knew his brothers well enough to know they were sound sleepers. Secretly he made off, with his list, to classified destinations in England, Russia, and Scotland. And the clever penguin would be back before any of his men awoke. They were none the wiser. But, the oldest penguin had to admit, all that running around was tiring. Not to mention, they still had their penguin festivities to attend to. He could never miss their holiday traditions. He wouldn’t. Not even for the entire world’s remaining stock of Cheezy Dibbles.

The circus animals had just completed their last show before the holiday. Skipper and the zoosters had planned for them to take their vacation in a perfect secluded spot in the mountains. It was snowy and just far enough away from civilization. Just how Skipper liked it! It would be the perfect holiday with the perfect gifts he had acquired, just him and his family.

The zoosters had begun making their way off the train to set up camp. Even they were impressed by the location.

“What a place to break for Christmas,” Alex sighed looking over the snowy valley.

Marty happily chimes in. “It’s not New York, but the Alps sure are crack-a-lackin!”

Just then Gloria stepped out of the train with Melman by her side. She cuddles up against the giraffe. “And romantic.”

“Let’s just hope no one catches hypothermia.” Melman sighs nervously. It appears his anxiety was already getting to him. “But if they do, I am trained in emergency winter first aid.” He reassures himself.

The Penguins were next to get off the train. Private and Rico rushed off into the snow. Kowalski and Skipper lagged behind watching the two youngest. They shook their heads and chuckled. These knuckleheads were acting as if they’d never seen snow before.

“It’s Christmas!” Private cheered. He bent down to scoop up a bunch of snow. Then, he threw it up in the air. The powdery mix fell down on his head and returned to the ground.

“Yeehoo!” Rico exclaimed. He leapt into the air and landed flat on his back in the snow. This sent waves of it up, as Private shielded his face and laughed. The wild penguin then proceeded to make snow angels in that very spot.

Soon enough Private plops down and joins Rico in making snow angels.

“Kowalski,” Skipper admired the scenery for himself. “I think you’ve picked the perfect spot. It’s remote, snowy, and does not extradite Danish criminals.”

Kowalski nodded, pleased with himself. “I kept all those criteria in mind, sir.”

Skipper slapped his flippers together. “This is shaping up to be quite the holiday.”

Private then sprung up from the snow as if on cue. “Oh I know! I can’t wait for the North Wind to join us here!”

Skipper jerked his head back. This was news to him. And it was bad news… at the very least jarring. “The who?”

“I believe that’s a 70s rock band, sir.” Kowalski responded to Skipper.

“No, the North Wind!” Skipper shook his head.

Private smiled giddily. “Why yes! I invited them several months ago.”

Kowalski filled Skipper in on any details he might have remembered. “The Private’s pen pals with Corporal.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Skipper sighed. He knew nothing good could come from staying in touch with that team. He turned to Private, trying to hide the sudden surge of pressure he was feeling. “So, when’s this delightful, double holiday going to start?”

Private, who was already back to sitting in the snow, looked up at his leader. He tapped his chin trying to remember what his friends had written. “They said they would be arriving sometime… on the 20th.”

“Which is today,” Kowalski clarified.

Skipper placed a flipper up to his face. Now this was going to complicate his plans for Christmas tremendously. “Private, you can’t just spring things on me like this.”

Private winced. He didn’t mean to make Skipper so stressed. He noticed his oldest brother had already been doing a lot of running around for the holiday. In fact, he usually gets flustered around the holidays. For some reason, it appeared Skipper put a lot of pressure on himself this time of year. Private felt guilty for adding to any of that stress. “Sorry, Skippah.”

“Actually, Skipper, if my episodic memory serves me correctly, I believe Private told us they were coming back in November.” Kowalski didn’t want Private to take the wrap for something that wasn’t his fault.

“Oh.” Now, Skipper felt a little silly. How could he have forgotten this important detail? He didn’t even remember Private telling him such a thing.

“You have been doing a lot of running around since then on solo missions. Perhaps, you just forgot.” Private smiled forgivingly up at his big brother. He knew Skipper meant no malice.

“Hm, must have. I’m sorry, boys.” Skipper rubbed his chin.

That’s when the abrasive sound of the North Wind’s vessel alarmed the whole campsite. Animals of all kinds were getting out of their tents or looking up from their luggage to catch a glimpse at the source of the commotion. None of them but the Penguins understood what was happening. Honestly, things like this were a common occurrence with them. As soon as the circus members saw the Penguins were unphased, they pretty much went back to their regular activities.

“Ooh! There they are now!” Private hopped to his feet. He rushed off to greet their guests.

The North Wind vehicle eventually landed in the middle of the field. The wind from the ignition had the Penguins and small animals, like the dogs, struggling to maintain their footing. When the massive machinery came to a complete stop, a long ramp jetted out. Classified was the first member of the team to walk out and scan his surroundings.

“Ugh… that guy.” Skipper frowned, glaring at Classified from afar.

“Judging by the inflection in your voice, my guess is you and Classified still have your differences to work out.” Kowalski looked over at his leader.

Skipper shrugged, looking rather defeated. “I just want to make this year special for you boys - give you a holiday to remember.”

Kowalski had already gotten side tracked from the conversation. Once he spotted Eva soaring off the vehicle, it was the point of no return for his concentration. “Oh, I will. This is my chance to properly woo Eva!”

The tall penguin certainly hadn’t forgotten the brief kiss they had shared in Manhattan after defeating Dave. Thoughts of the snowy owl still sent Kowalski’s heart aflutter. Sure the odds were stacked against them - he was a penguin and she was a bird of prey - that and this would be a long distance relationship. But he was certain their love would overcome it all. They would make it work for sure!

“Welp, just you and me, compadre.” Skipper turned to Rico.

This does not last long either. Rico’s eyes lit up as he stared at the North Wind’s arrival.

“Presents!” Rico took off in a dash as well.

“Huh?” Skipper stuttered. He hadn’t anticipated the North Wind joining them, let alone them bringing gifts as well. Not only did this mean he had to do even more … shopping, or acquiring let’s just say, but also knowing how over-the-top these north polars were, he had to compete with their lavish gifts.

Skipper took his time to join the team at the North Wind’s landing spot. Reluctantly, he decided to greet their guests. He figured he better before he got a lecture from Private or Classified’s disapproving glare.

However, he is hardly even noticed. The much larger animals were tossing around presents much bigger than him. He felt like an ant in the presence of elephants.

Corporal stood on the edge of the ramp. Two wings of a snowy owl reached out to hand him a present. Quickly, Corporal the polar bear tossed the gigantic package to Short Fuse the seal. The seal stood in the snow beside the ship.

“Head’s up.” Corporal warned Short Fuse.

However, the present fell short of Short Fuse’s flippers. Instead, it dropped right in front of him. Unfortunately for Skipper, he just so happened to be standing in its path. The unintended trajectory sent the package crashing into the little penguin. Under its weight, Skipper found himself trapped and smushed up against the snow below.

“Oops! Sorry about that.” Short Fuse found some humor in the slapstick nature of the situation. He had to stop himself from chuckling has he lifted the present off of the penguin.

Skipper wobbled to his feet. By the time he was up and the world was no longer spinning, Classified had made his way out. Skipper slapped a flipper up against the side of his head to knock the dizziness out.

Then, he placed his flippers on his hips and looked up at CLassified. The penguin fought to keep any signs of stress or inferiority, for that matter, hidden.

“So, are all these gifts for us?” Skipper asked.

“Well, yes.” Classified barely looked up from the thermos he held in his paws. He was going to need coffee and lots of it if he was going to get through this holiday with these butterballs. “There are four of you - thus four gifts. Don’t worry. We didn’t do anything too elaborate.”

That is when one of the presents began glowing. The gleam was visible through the wrapping paper. Still, Skipper had no idea what type of contraption could be underneath there. He let his imagination run wild.

“My bad!” Short Fuse called, before slapping the gift. He must have pressed the right spot as the glowing immediately dulled back down.

“Huh?” Skipper was overwhelmed by this, not to mention overstimulated by all the gadgets and gizmos that naturally came alone with the North WInd.

At this point, Private was already wrapped up in a big hug from his pen pal Corporal. The massive polar bear swept up the little penguin in an excited hug. Private giggled happily. He had been waiting so eagerly to see his friends again.

“I’m so happy you guys are here!” Private cheered.

Corporal lowered the penguin back down into the snow. This is when Private got to see Eva and Short Fuse. Eva spread out her wing and placed it on Private’s back. The littlest penguin was rather endearing.

“And we’re happy to see you, too.” Eva smiled warmly.

This is when Kowalski slyly… or not so slyly, slid in. “It’s uh, good to see you, Eva.” He tried to put on a charming smile but it ended up just being awkward.

This garnered looks from everyone around them.

“Oh yes, Kowalski. It’s good to see you too.” Eva seemed surprised by the intense attention this penguin was giving her. They were not particularly close according to her memory. Sure they had shared that one kiss, but that didn’t really mean anything. Right? She was starting to feel embarrassed in front of her team.

“I got you something!” Kowalski smiled nervously. He was a bundle of excitement and anxiety. “I mean it’s nothing big… but uh, not small either. I mean - it’s a present! For you, because it’s Christmas.” He was tripping over his words completely.

“Rico?” Kowalski turned to his brother.

Upon request, the penguin spits up a big poinsettia.

The owl was not used to her gifts being regurgitated. Slightly repulsed, she reached out for the present. She tried to hide the fact that this was a disgusting way to store a present. Though the plant was rather pretty… wait, if he gave her a flower, did that mean… he liked her?

“It’s a poinsettia!” Kowalski smiled proudly. “It’s the official flower of Christmas. In Guatemala and Mexico, it’s known as the ‘flower of Christmas Eve’.” He could never resist sharing his trivia knowledge.

“Oh, okay…” Eva inspected the plant. She doesn’t quite know what to do with it at the moment. “It’s lovely, thank you.”

Short Fuse smirked at Eva and chuckled. He just knew he would be able to tease Eva later for this. Eva, not wanting to hurt Kowalski’s feelings, elbows Short Fuse sharply.

Private, sensing how awkward that all was, turned to Classified and Corporal. He bounced with excitement. “Well, what do you all have planned while you’re here? Any sightseeing? I hear the Alps are beautiful this time of year!”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Classified chuckled and waved the penguin off. Unlike the penguins, his team was always prepared. “We already have a jam-packed itinerary - tighter than the belt on Father Christmas himself.”

“Oh, well,” Skipper was looking for an excuse to spend as little time with Classified as possible. He was pleased to hear they already had their own plans. That meant this didn’t have to interfere with his plans at all. “I’m glad to hear that, Classified. We’ve got a few plans of our own.”

Classified lifted a brow and glanced down at Skipper unimpressed. “Oh really?”

“We’re cutting down our own Christmas tree!” Short Fuse exclaimed, somehow he had gotten his flippers on an ax in the past few seconds.

“Ooh!” This peaked Rico’s attention.

“Baking cookies,” Short Fuse continued down the list. Now he had the long, literal paper list in his flippers.

“Yum!” Private looked eagerly towards Rico. He knew Rico would find cookies just as exciting as he did.

“Sled riding, ice skating, decorating the tree, and to top it all off, caroling!” Short Fuse finished his list.

“I love caroling!” Private clapped his flippers together. It was true, the kid did like to perform. The question wasn’t whether or not he was good at singing… but he enjoyed it regardless. Plus, no one would dare hurt Private’s feelings like that. He turned to Skipper. “Skippah, can we join them?”

Skipper glanced at his team. All of them looked at him with pleading eyes. How could he say no at this point? Maybe Classified would do that for him. He looked up at the wolf who just so happened to be looking down at him at the same time. Perhaps, they had the same thought. But as soon as the two made eye contact, their gaze darted away.

“I mean…” Skipper scratched the back of his head. “if it’s all right with Classified.”

“Oh, yes, well.” Classified straightened up and cleared his throat. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to intrude on any of your… penguin plans.”

Skipper looked down to his own paper itinerary. Since none of the Penguins, except Private, could read, it was all pictures. He flipped halfheartedly through the mission file filled with drawings of the Penguins doing various Christmas activities, like putting up lights, watching movies, making a bonfire, and riding a sled of their own invention.

But when he looked up, he saw the hopeful faces of his team. That meant more to him at the end of the day. His team’s happiness is more important than some cliche traditions, right? He sighed. “We are a-go for a Penguin-North Wind holiday.”

Private, Corporal, Rico, and Short Fuse all let out a roar of cheers. Skipper and Classified were less pleased but they mutually acquiesced for the sake of their teams.

Kowalski leaned over to whisper to Skipper. He caught the older penguin off guard. “Thank you, Skipper!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

And just like that, the holiday festivities start. The first item on their itinerary is sledding. Perched on the side of a mountain, the teams have found the absolute perfect sledding slope. The Penguins all hop into their own sled. Being as crafty as ever, the Penguins used a spare panel of the old plane as their base. Skipper dusted off some snow and leapt in the front. In his flippers, he held gears, also from the plane, to steer the contraption. Kowalski sat behind him to provide tips for maximizing their speed, while Private sat in the back and waved at the North Wind.

Skipper also glanced over at the North Wind. It appeared they were still scraping together their own sled. Skipper smirked. He knew his team would have the better sled. They’d been doing this for years. Rico trotted up from behind and gave the sled a good shove before jumping on himself. Now that’s what you call a good start. They were rushing down the mountain, snow was flying out from behind them. He thought, there’s no way those mammals would catch up now.

Unfortunately for Skipper, he was proven wrong. It looks like the North Wind souped up their sled. The team of larger animals zoomed right by the Penguins in a flash. Much to Skipper’s chagrin, the North Wind had hitched a few of Short Fuse’s rockets to the back of their sled. Team Penguin Skipper growled as the North Wind surpassed them significantly. While Rico and Private stared over in awe, Kowalski was more interested in what was in front of them.

“Uh. Skipper - Skipper, the - Skipper, look out, the -” Kowalski stammered. Skipper was no longer paying attention to what was ahead of them.

Skipper was too busy glaring at the North Wind. He did not notice the massive fir tree right, smack in their path. But when Skipper finally turned to look, it was too late. The Penguins crashed right into the tree. THUMP! The Penguins were thrown from the sled and each individually smacked into the tree. As they fell from the tree bark to the snowy ground, this caused a stir within the tree. Just when they were able to sit up and steady themselves, they found a whole heap of snow rushing down from the tree and headed their way. Under the heap up snow, the Penguins stick their orange beaks out like carrot noses on a snowman.

Next, the two teams squared off for a rather intense snowball fight. Skipper, with his military strategy, had ordered his men to build a trench. It was rather impressive how deep they managed to dig their trench in that short amount of time. The North Wind took a much different approach. They were all hiding behind a massive snow mound as they reached out to lob snowballs.

The snow flew back and forth from base to base. When seemingly randomly a carriage, led by their dancing horse friends from the circus, pulled up.

Kowalski smiled eagerly at the sight. He then chuckled nervously and checked his breath. Then, he took a flipper and slicked by his already smooth head feathers.

“Kowalski?” Skipped asked under the heat of fire. “Earth to Kowalski!”

The tall penguin doesn’t respond. Instead he leaped out of their trench and dashed his way towards the opposite side. All the way on his trek, he was pummeled by snow all after snowball. But the penguin was far too infatuated to care. Eventually he made his way to the North Wind base.

Skipper watched on with disgruntled horror as his soldier abandoned post to go flirt with the enemy. Kowalski was, as clear as the beak on his face, extending a flipper to Eva and guiding her to the sleigh.

Skipper shook his head and glared. He watched the whole betrayal occur. This also meant he left himself completely vulnerable as he lifted his head out of the trench. Soon enough he, and the rest of his team, were completely overcome with snow.

Classified, with Corporal and Short Fuse by his side, claimed the penguin base for the North Wind. He stuck a big North Wind flag amidst the snow. Corporal held onto Skipper by the foot. He extended the penguin far from his chest as the feisty penguin was still trying to slap him even while being held upside down. Short Fuse had Private and Rico handcuffed.

The third activity started, as Skipper poked his head out behind a tree. From afar, he scoped out the North Wind as they picked out a tree of their own. Unlucky for them, Skipper had this tree that was much grander. Private had joined the North Wind in this activity. Again, Kowalski was off in lala land with Eva. She had joined him in making snow angels, less enthused than he was with the activity. At least, Skipper still had Rico by his side. He wanted to surprise all of them with this beast of an evergreen he found.

“Now this is a tree!” Skipper remarked. “Rico!”

The loyal penguin hacked up a massive chainsaw. Skipper laughed maniacally as Rico pulled the cord back. The engine revved once. He cranked it again… nothing. All that emerged was a puff of black smoke.

“No fuel.” Rico shook his head.

“Hmm…” Skipper turned to think.

While Skipper’s back is turned, Rico spewed up two plastic butter knives. It’s the only other tool he packed today. The sound caught Skipper’s attention. Rico shrugged and offered Skipper a butter knife. Skipper nodded and smirked.

“Nice.” Skipper affirmed his soldier, ready to get to work.

The two penguins got to work sawing away at the tree bark. Though it took a while, neither penguin broke his resolve. They were both eager to show off their massive find. Unfortunately for them, by the time they were halfway through the trunk of the tree, the North Wind was already loading theirs onto the ship. Private sat on top, as Corporal and Classified carried it up onto their vessel. Short Fuse was quick to leap up and tie it down.

All of this distracted Skipper. He was too busy watching the others, including his youngest soldier, enjoy themselves. He didn’t notice that his own tree was starting to tumble down. Right in his direction.

“Timber!” Rico shouted from the other side.

But it was too late. At that point, all Skipper could do was wince as he saw the massive tree headed his way. He squeaked.

The tree crashed down onto Skipper and landed in the snow below. The impact of the fall caused all of the needles to evacuate the branches. Turned out, the tree may not have been as healthy as either penguin thought.

Rico rushed over to check on Skipper. He grabbed a hold of the older penguin’s flippers and tugged him out from under the trunk. Skipper was quick to his feet. He found himself covered in pine needles. Some poked into his feathers. Worse still, the sight of needles, even the tree kind, set Skipper immediately into a bout of fear. His fear of needles was so intense that, upon inspection of the needles sticking from his feathers, he passed out and dropped to the snow.

Rico sighed. He bent down and grabbed ahold of his leader. Skipper was still limp, as Rico lifted him and carried him over his shoulder. Rico had to carry him all the way back to camp.

Ice skating came next. The Penguins had created a makeshift rink for the circus animals to skate on during their vacation. It appeared everyone was out on the ice that day. The lemurs were doing their own thing, as Mort chased Julien’s skating feet. The zoosters skated around as Gia taught Alex how to do a lutz jump. Or… at least she modeled it for him. He was not as graceful in his attempt. Gloria was still convincing Melman he wouldn’t break anything if he fell on the ice.

Skipper was much more confident in his abilities here. Kowalski awkwardly skated up to Eva. The owl, who was talking to Short Fuse, looked over to find Kowalski offering to skate with her. She didn’t want to be rude. So, she acquiesced and grabbed onto his flipper with her wing. Private, who had been skating around greeting everyone, finally made his way to Skipper. The little one always liked to watch his big brother do tricks on the ice. He would stare on with awe, wonder, and the biggest smile. It was also a good stroke to Skipper’s ego to see his little brother look up to him. Sometimes he would teach Private how to do the move. Private also saw it as a good bonding moment with his Skipper.

Skipper was in the midst of one of his best moves. He took a couple strides back. Then, he burst forward, gliding and picking up speed. Private watched him with anticipation. He leaned forward.

That’s when Classified launched himself into a triple salchow, a few feet from where Skipper intended to make his move. To avoid a collision, Skipper had to make a quick stop. Since he didn’t expect to stop himself so abruptly, he began to trip over his own feet. The now grumpy penguin landed flat on his tail feathers. Then, he proceeded to spin out onto the ice.

What he didn’t expect then was for his flipper to be grabbed. A big, white paw held onto his flipper and swept him onto his feet. It appeared now he was part of a skating chain, instigated by Corporal. Private held onto the opposite paw of the polar bear. He happily joined in as they found more animals to join their chain. Skipper was much less enthused.

Then it was baking cookies. Kowalski and Rico were working with the dough. Skipper had delegated the task of overseeing the oven and overall operations to himself. Private, on the other hand, was laughing and having a great time with Short Fuse and Eva. Kowalski cut out heart shaped cookies, as he gazed over at the owl of his dreams. Rico, who determinedly rolled out the dough, kept finding the dough sticking to the rolling pin. He was getting frustrated and eventually dropped the rolling pin. It just so happened to land right on top of Kowalski’s flipper.

“Yaa-owww!” Kowalski yelped. He grabbed onto his throbbing, swollen flipper.

Skipper was too busy checking on the cookies in the oven. He lowered the door and peaked in. Still doughy. He checked over at the North Wind. Their cookies were all mostly done by now. Private was icing cookies shaped like members of the North Wind. Skipper grumbled. He lowered the oven door again. He peeked inside. A bellow of smoke puffed out into Skipper’s face. The penguin coughed. That wasn’t a good sign. Once he recovered, he reached back into the oven. The resulting tray of cookies were shriveled and pitch black. A couple were even on fire.

Rico rushed over with a fire extinguisher under his flipper. He blasted the area indiscriminately with foam. What resulted was Skipper having a full beard of white foam.

“Heheh… sorry.” Rico shrugged, before sliding the fire extinguisher down his gullet.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Finally, it was one day before Christmas. Christmas Eve was here at last. For both teams, this meant it was the pinnacle of all their celebration and all their festivities. Every year the Penguins finished their tree decorating on Christmas Eve. They had to prepare the tree for the Big Man, Santa Claus himself, to see it that night. Just as Skipper’s file had shown, the Penguins always stacked on top of each other to put the angel on the very tip top of the tree. Private was always the one to put it on. And it wasn’t just any angel, it was a penguin angel. The little penguin had constructed it with Kowalski. Well, Kowalski made it and Private helped decorate it by gluing on the eyes and wings and coloring in the details.

The Penguins were all going about their activities, while they waited for Private to return. Once he got back into the tent, they would begin their decorating party.

“Oh wow! That was such fun!” Private waddled in happily.

Rico looked up from the fish he was wrapping. The present was still flapping around. “What’d ya do?”

“I just came back from writing my letter to Santa!” Private skipped deeper into the circus tent.

Skipper chuckled to himself. The little one always got so excited around the holidays. Yet, a part of him was also amused by the North Wind’s lack of understanding of Big Red. He pulled out some bright, sparkly red tinsel from a box. “On Christmas Eve? Don’t you think it’s a little late for the jolly, old man to get your letter?”

“Classified said it’s about what’s in your heart.” Private closed his eyes and put his flippers over his heart. Then, he opened his eyes back up and shrugged. “Santa can tell apparently.”

From behind Skipper, Kowalski whipped out a notepad. He began scribbling down this new revelation. “Hmm, didn’t know that Santa was omniscient.”

“Yeah, yeah. That sound enchanting” Skipper crinkled his face. Then, his expression lit up like a Christmas tree. He slid over to Private and gave him a playful elbow in the ribs. “But are you boys ready to deck out this tree tonight? Penguin style?”

The rest of the Penguins grow silent. They looked at one another, before Kowalski cleared his throat. Kowalski cleared his throat and spoke up first. “Actually, Skipper, I have a date with Eva tonight. I don’t know, but… things seem like they’re starting to get a little serious between the two of us.”

“Ooh, la la!” Rico mused.

“That’s all right!” Skipper wrapped his flippers around Private and Rico on either side of him. “Who needs him, right?”

Kowalski folded his flippers and whimpered. “I’m right here, Skipper.”

Skipper ignored him. Sure, the tall penguin felt left out but he’d get over it. “We;ll decorate this tree by ourselves - just the three of us.”

“Skippah,” Private stepped out of Skipper’s hold. “The North Wind was going to decorate that tree. We can help them, though!”

Skipper whined. “But we always do our own tree and you always put the angel on top, see?”

He pulled out the file. He gave Private the drawing of the Penguins stacked up with Private on top. His little flippers are extended out towards the tree top with the makeshift angel in his flippers.

Private smiled at Skipper, before giving him back the paper. “Well, maybe this year we can start a new tradition. I’ll still put the angel up on the tree.”

Rico spat up the angel and handed it to Private. “Here ya go.”

“You should join us!” Private lifted the angel up to Skipper.

“Uh, that’s all right, Private.” Skipper turned away. He forced a smile onto his beak. “I might use this time to get some last minute things together. You know, some top secret - Christmas - hush, hush sort of stuff.”

“Oh,” Private slouched down a bit. He tilted his head sadly, as he watched Skipper waddle out of the tent.

“Ooh! Time to decorate that tree!” Short Fuse called, as the North Wind approached the tent.

Private is left watching Skipper exit the tent. His eyes grew big with disappointment. “I’ll see you after decorating the tree, then?”

“See you then, Young Private.” Skipper half-heartedly exited the tent. He didn’t want to be here when the North Wind got there.

[To Be Continued}

Chapter Text

At the same time, Eva walked into the tent Kowalski had prepared for them. The lights were dim, on a television screen Kowalski had turned on a fireplace video. There was a bottle of sparkling apple cider in a bucket of ice next to a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

“Oh my…” Eva was speechless. This was The cherry on top… the star on the tree - he most definitely liked her romantically.

“Why, Eva.” Kowalski nervously tried to be slick. He rushed over to walk her in, but stumbled over his feet. He caught himself. “I - uh… I just happened to turn on the fireplace here.”

“Kowalski,” Eva lifts an eyebrow. “I think we should talk.”

“Yes?” Kowalski slowed bats his eyes.

“I think you might have the wrong idea.” She tucked her wings in. “Everything has been lovely so far, but - “

This sent Kowalski through the moon. He was so giddy that he had managed to impress her. His brothers had given him tips on how to woo Eva. Now it appeared all of it was paying off. He had always been rather awkward, but now it looked like he was going to make a lasting impression.

“Really? You liked it?” He perked up.

“Yes, but - “ She extended a wing.

“To be honest, I was nervous.” Kowalski interrupted her in his anxious burst of energy. “I mean, you’re so intelligent and smart and I - ”

“I want to stay friends.” Eva put her wing to his beak.

“Huh?” Kowalski whimpered. That’s not at all where he thought this was going.

“It’s nothing personal, Kowalski. I just think we make better friends than… anything else.”

“Oh.” Kowalski squeaked. He straightened up his posture even more. This was officially the worst case scenario.

“Are you okay?” Eva asked hesitantly. She really didn’t want to have to do this. But, she needed to be honest with the penguin. He was sweet, but… just not her type.

“Yeah,” Kowalski continued laughing nervously. His built up confidence was dashed. Surely he didn’t want to be overbearing or weird about things. He had to play it cool. “I didn’t really think we were anything else.”

“You didn’t?” Eva clarified.

“No, we’re just friends.” Kowalski laughed even louder, waving her off. “Pfft! Of course, I knew that.”

“Oh good.” Eva sighed in relief. Maybe it was a penguin thing to be this friendly with your friends. She thought it was strange, but she was glad to have his friendship. She turned to face the TV screen. “The fireplace looks nice.”

“Thank you.” Kowalski felt as though he was crawling in his own feathers. He was absolutely embarrassed. How could he have misread all the signals? “Well, I better be going. Skipper wanted my help with something.”

And with that, the penguin dashed out of the tent. The mistletoe, he had set up, fell to the ground.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now in a tent, with the comfort of his brothers, Kowalski sat down on a hay bundle. Rico stood next to him, listening to all of his woes. Kowalski blew his beak into a hanky as he sobs.

“There, there.” Rico grunted, patting his brother’s back.

“I mean,” Kowalski dropped his hanky and picked up a tub of ice cream that was sitting beside him. He scooped out a whole heap of eggnog ice cream and took a bite. With his beak full, he cries. “I thought we were perfect for each other. Eva!”

Skipper was distracted by what was happening in the next tent over. He crouched down behind another hay bundle closer to the tent’s opening. The frigid, night air didn’t bother him nearly as much as his own insecurities. With binoculars, he watched the shadows of a happy holiday party occurring next door.

“I’ll never find love.” Kowalski wailed.

Skipper, who was not listening. Instead saw Private being lifted by Corporal to put the tree topper on. He replied sourly. “Yeah, yeah. Probably.”

“What?” Kowalski gasped helplessly.

“Huh?” From Kowalski’s response, Skipper could tell he gave Kowalski the wrong response. He did his best to correct himself. “Oh no, I mean definitely not…”

When silence followed, Skipper turned to Rico. “Was that the right answer?”

Kowalski lowered his ice cream. “With all due respect, sir, are you even listening?”

“Me?” Skipper looked over his shoulder. He smiled nervously. “Uh, well, yeah… of course.”

Kowalski’s tone flattened. He put his flippers on his hips and squinted at Skipper critically. “What did I just say?”

“Are you even listening?” Skipper repeated the only words he remembered from Kowalski’s rant. Having been able to repeat something, the penguin felt triumphant. He smiled. “Which I am. So, case closed.”

“Before that!” Kowalski cried.

“Uh…” Skipper looked back frantically between Kowalski, Rico, and the ice cream Kowalski was holding. “Science! The science of ice cream!”

“Skipper, this is really important to me, and you’re not listening.” Kowalski expressed himself. Skipper usually wasn’t good with tough emotions but he could really use his support right now.

Just then, the Penguins heard clapping from the other tent. Skipper lifted his binoculars back up with urgency. It looked like Private had finished the tree. He can see the lights shine through the thin, tent fabric.

“Sorry, soldier.” Skipper sighed. “I’ve just got other things to worry about. Private’s been spending all his time lately with Classified and those blowhards.”

Kowalski already is on his feet. He waddled towards the open exit. Huffing, he passed Skipper. “At least Private’s having fun.”

“Hey!” Skipper shouted, feeling slighted by Kowalski’s remark. He turned to Rico. “What did I say?”

“Ugh,” Rico facepalmed and waddled his way out of the tent as well. Skipper really wasn’t much fun to be around the past couple days. And it was a shame. The Penguins usually had lots of fun around the holidays.

“What?” Skipper asked defensively. Looks like he was all alone. But he didn’t deserve that. No. He was trying his hardest. They were the ones all throwing away their Penguin traditions. And it was all the North Wind’s fault. It was Classified’s fault. That mangy mutt. Skipper was determined to fix things before it was too late. He growled to himself before getting to his feet and marching over to the next tent over.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

By the time Skipper got into the other tent, everyone was finished decorating. A little part of him had to notice how nice the tent looked. The North Wind really put some hustle into their mission here. But, if Skipper were to be asked to compliment their work, he would have also mentioned their gadgets and gizmos that likely helped them in this process.

“Hey, Classified!” Skipper confronted the much larger wolf. The penguin lifted his chest and placed his flippers on his hips.

“One moment.” The wolf was in the middle of fixing a tilted ornament. He did not pause to look at him. Instead, he held up a finger… or digit in his paw, to signify he was busy.

This enraged Skipper even more. Just as he was able to let his anger loose, Private called him.

“Skippah, doesn’t the room look wonderful?” Private did a little spin, admiring the hard work they had all put into it. “We spent most of the evening decorating!”

“Looks great.” Skipper said flatly. He didn’t want to appear curt with Private. Yet he didn’t want to give the North Wind too much credit.

Private, desperate for Skipper’s attention, grabbed ahold of his leader’s flippers. He really wanted to spend some time with Skipper. It looked like the oldest penguin needed a break. “We’re going caroling! You should join us!”

Skipper tilted his head and smiled at Private. “That’s quite all right, Private.”

“It’ll be a lot of fun!” Short Fuse pumped his flipper.

“No, I’m really fine!” Skipper dropped his flippers and shouted.

Everyone went silent. Stunned glances darted across the room. They could tell Skipper was at his breaking point here. Not a single one of them understood why though. It appeared the best course of action would be to give him some space to cool down and tread lightly themselves.

Skipper, realizing he has made a bit of a fool out of himself, cleared his throat. Trying to regain his composure, he said. ”I’d like to have a word with Classified.”

“All right, well.” Classified broke the silence after Skipper’s outburst. Keeping his own dignity, he brushed at the fur on his chest. “You all go on and I’ll catch up.

“Suit yourself.” Corporal shrugged. Then his tone lightened as he shouted jollily. “Let’s go caroling!”

“Let’s go sing some carols, malinky.” Eva kindly wrapped her wing around Private and ushered him out.

Classified wanted to get back to celebrating. He tapped his foot and looked down at his watch. “All right, what is it?”

“I want you,” Skipper pointed aggressively at Classified. “to back off and stop being such a holly, jolly blowhard!”

“Me?” Classified placed his paws on his chest. “All I’m doing is giving my team a good holiday.” He leaned over and pointed down at Skipper. “You’re the one being a scrooge.”

“A scrooge?” Skipper was offended.

“Yes, a scrooge! We’re out here trying to have fun, and you’re ruining it for everyone!” Classified accused further.

“I’m plenty of fun!” Skipper spread out his flippers in defense. Of course he’s fun. Well… not all time. He couldn’t be fun all the time. Right?

“If you’re so fun, how come your boy has been spending the holiday with us?” Classified bared his teeth, going straight for where it would hurt.

Skipper turned his head and took a step back. That hit like a punch in the gut. Classified was right. Private had been spending a lot of time with the North Wind lately. What’s even worse was how much fun he was having while doing so. What was wrong with him? Did Private not want him anymore? That’s what all of this was about if he was being honest. The holiday traditions didn’t really matter unless his team was enjoying them. Even though Skipper had tried really hard this year, the hardest in years, he had failed.

Classified realized instantly he had gone too far. “I - “.

Skipper refused to look up at Classified. He felt ashamed of himself. However, he never would want to let this on. Instead, he found something else to redirect his attention. When his glance met the very top of the tree, his sadness morphed into bitter resentment. Instead of the penguin angel, there was a star. Worst of all, the star had the North Wind logo printed on it.

“Well, clearly you don’t know what the holidays are all about.” Skipper retorted, gesturing up at the highly manufactured tree topper.

“Oh, and I suppose you do.” Classified crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. This argument was ridiculous. It was going nowhere. Clearly, the two would always been at an impasse. The wolf figured it would be best to just catch up to his team and enjoy the rest of his holiday at this point.

“I mean, look at this tree!” Skipper, without warning, hopped onto the tree. The penguin clung onto the branches as he scaled the fir. “It’s all cattywampus!”

Now was Classified’s turn to be offended. The wolf did care a lot about the visual presentation of things. He surely would never approve the setup of a crooked tree. “There is nothing wrong with that tree!”

Skipper climbed higher. He grunted as he climbed. “Christmas isn’t about all your fancy pants machinery, show-off-y activities, and extravagant gifts.” Then, Skipper stopped. His eyes caught sight of the penguin angel. Only it wasn’t on the top of the tree. It was hung up just like it was any other ornament. “Wait, this isn’t an ornament!”

Skipper held out the penguin angel in front of him. “THIS was supposed to go on the top of the tree.” He looked up and glared at the North Wind snowflake on the tree.

“Don’t even think about touching that tree topper!” Classified growled at Skipper. Half of him wanted to grab the penguin and remove him from the tree himself. It took all of his self-control not to do so.

“It’s not supposed to be a ‘tree-topper’. It’s supposed to be a penguin angel!” Skipper taunted from above Classified. He had to admit, it was nice being the taller of the two for once.

“That is the property of the North Wind Headquarters!” Classified struggled to find a way to talk any sense into Skipper.

“And I’m sure every North Wind agent has one just like it.” Skipper climbed higher still.

Just as Skipper made his way to the top of the tree, Classified lunged forward. With his claws, he dug into the tree tugging it with all his might towards himself. Skipper held his own, though. He pulled in the opposite direction.

“Let go!” Classified struggled. He couldn’t believe how strong the little butterball was.

“No, you let go!” Skipper struggled just as much.

Eventually, Skipper found his footing once more and managed to reach the snowflake. If the dog won’t drop the tree, Skipper will just make him go fetch.

Skipper took the penguin angel out from under his flipper. He grabbed onto the North Wind Snowflake and removed it from the tree. For a second, he inspected it in his flippers. It looked like it was made of some sort of plastic. Then, he proceeded to toss the snowflake. In its place, he hopped up to put the penguin angel in its ‘rightful’ place.

He stood back to admire his handiwork. With flippers on his hips, he smiled. “Great. Now, it’s perfect.”

What he didn’t realize was the tossing of the snowflake would cause Classified to dive after it. He watched it fly through the air in horror. He surely didn’t want his tree topper to break. Thus, he let go of the tree. Without the counterweight, Skipper struggled to hold his balance on the tree. It teetered and tottered back and forth in a relentless, woozy sway.

Just before it collided with the hard ground, Classified managed to dive for the snowflake. His paws were shaking as he admired his catch. One second too late and it would have shattered. He was afraid to breathe too heavily as the tree topper looked so delicate in his paws.

Above him, Skipper struggled to stabilize himself in the tree. One wrong step backwards led his foot to get snagged in a row tinsel. The penguin kicked to get free, but this only tangled him more. The furious motion of the penguin sent the tree swaying even more. It was enough to send the tree barrelling towards the floor. The penguin watched in horror as the angel slipped off the tree top and began free falling. He was too far to reach it. Instead, he went down with the tree.

“The angel!” Skipper gasped.

The tree crashed down right next to Classified. He watched from below as the penguin angel crashed down in a dramatic fashion. The body of the creature cracked in half. And the head, complete with a now tilted halo, rolled off separately.

“Phew!” Classified was admittedly relieved. He at least knew his tree topper was safe. And now it wouldn’t have to contend with that hideous homemade one.

Just then, Skipper fell beside the tree. He had gotten himself free of the tinsel trap. However, this meant he would land directly on Classified’s back. The unsuspecting wolf gasped at the sudden blow. The jolt made him jump. Unfortunately, this sent the snowflake right out of his paws. Upon impact with the ground, it shattered. Hmm, turns out it was glass.

“Oops,” Skipper got to his feet and hopped immediately off of Classified. With flippers behind his back, he overlooked the chaos they had unleashed.

“What have you done?” Classified snarled, getting to his own feet.

“Me?” Skipper immediately went into a state of defense. He was already accused of being a scrooge. How could Classified blame him for this too? He would never break their irreplaceable angel. It was more than just some tree topper. It was made by his boys. “If you hadn’t -!”

The head of the angel continued rolling until it ran directly into an orange foot. As it turned out, this was the moment the two teams had returned from caroling. Shock, alarm, and disappointment were all painted in a horrendous blend on each face.

“Why, hello,” Classified stood up taller. “We were just - “

“Arguing?” Private’s beak quivered. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. “On Christmas?”

“Well, technically Christmas Eve.” Classified tried to make things better than they looked.

“What happened to the tree?” Corporal, the sensitive bear, gasped.

Skipper’s and Classified’s eyes widened. They said nothing but pointed to each other. Neither one wanted to be framed for this.

Seeing the glares from everyone, Skipper decided it would be best if he spoke up. He would tell his side of the story. The true side. “Well, after Classified missed the mark here on the tree, I took the liberty to commandeer this fir and fix it.”

Classified grumbled. He could not stand the thought of Skipper making him look bad. “If your idea of fixing it is completely destroying it, then you did a good job,”

“I wouldn’t have had to fix it, if you didn’t completely trample all over Christmas!” Skipper threw up his flippers.

“Even the angel…” Private let out a whimper. He wasn’t interested in hearing any more of their quarreling.

“Now, Private,” Skipper took out a breath. He had to calm his tone before talking to his youngest brother. “There’s no need to cry and you better not pout… And I’ll tell you why. Kowalski hot glue this puppy back together!”

Kowalski knelt down to get a better view of the angel. He was not as sure. “Skipper, I don’t know…”

“Oh,” Skipper straightened up. In that moment, he was hit with the realization that he himself had broken this family heirloom. “Look, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

“We spent all day on this room!” Short Fuse complained.

Private rushed out of the tent crying. He simply couldn’t dare to listen any longer. What was happening to Christmas? This was supposed to be the best time of year! Why was everyone so unhappy now?

“Private, wait!” Skipper began to follow after Private. Instead, he let him go. What else could he say?

“Did you get what you wanted now, Skipper?” Kowalski asked plainly. He was incredibly disappointed with his older brother. Couldn’t he just swallow his pride and make peace with Classified for one week? Was that too much to ask for them, for Private? This holiday was always so special to the youngest penguin. Now, he would have this memory of Christmas with him forever.

“Kowalski?” Skipper gasped. His own men… turning on him?

Eva looked down at the disaster of smashed ornaments and pine needles. She shook her head. “You could have come caroling.”

Kowalski and Rico turned slowly and left. They wanted to go find Private and comfort him. He hated seeing Skipper angry. He deserved to at least cheer up as much as he could before going to sleep that night. The rest of the North Wind, except Classified, followed.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In another circus tent, Private was sitting on a bundle of hay. Wrapped in a blanket, he cried as he spoke to Kowalski and Rico who were sitting on either side of him. His friends from the North Wind were there for him too. The smaller animals, Short Fuse and Eva, sat on the hay while Corporal sat on the ground in front of them.

“All I wanted for Christmas was for Skippah to be happy.” Private whimpered.

Kowalski tilted his head. “Wait, was that what you asked Santa for?”

“I helped him write it in his letter to Santa.” Corporal nodded.

“But it’s all my fault, Skipper's angry. I should have spent more time with him. He’s just been so stressed and busy lately.” Private wiped his eye.

“Aw, Private.” Rico gave Private a tight squeeze.

Short Fuse waved him off. “Eh, it’s not your fault. The boss gets like that sometimes too.”

“Those two have a history of getting on each other’s nerves.” Eva raised a brow.

“Really?” Private sniffled. Maybe he shouldn’t blame himself completely, after all.

“Indubitably,” Kowalski patted Private on the head. “Now why don’t you try to get some rest. Santa will be here before you know it.”

“Okay,” Private rolled over and put his blanket over his head.

Everyone wanted to give Private space to rest. They began their trek out of the tent. None of them looked the least bit jolly or in the Christmas spirit.

“Poor kid,” Short Fuse shook his head.

“Eureka!” Kowalski lit up.

Everyone looked at him with confusion. What was he so happy about? This holiday was shaping up to be a disaster. None of them would blame Santa for skipping over their tents entirely. At the very least, they could expect Skipper and Classified to be receiving coal.

“You said Private asked Santa for Skipper to be happy in his letter.” Eva was picking up on Kowalski’s realization.

“Yes?” Corporal was confused as to what this meant.

“So, all we have to do is get this letter to -” Kowalski baited the teams to guess their plan.

“Santa!” Rico cheered.

Kowalski and Eva exchanged looks.

“Erh, no.” Eva shook her head.

“To Skipper!” The two brainiacs said in near harmony. They high fived to seal the plan.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Meanwhile, Skipper and Classified were still arguing. With flippers and paws pointed, they were shouting back and forth at each other. In order to be heard even, members of both teams had to shout as they were entering.

“Stop! Stop!” Corporal yelled.

“Armistice!” Short Fuse called out.

Both Classified and Skipper turned to see what all the commotion was about.

“Huh?” Skipper looked over.

“What?” Classified wanted to get a word in for himself.

“What in the name of Old Saint Nick is going on?” Skipper demanded. He’d rather get back to quarreling and blaming Classified for making everyone unhappy. It lightened the burden he felt.

“Skipper, there’s something you have to see.” Kowalski rushed over to him breathlessly and handed him the envelope.

Skipper looked at the envelope with puzzlement. You know, reading someone else’s mail was a federal crime. He didn’t want that on his wrapsheet too.

“It’s Private’s letter to Santa.” Corporal explained.

“Yeah, I know.” Skipper rolled his eyes. What? Now were they all here to gloat? Yeah, he failed at Christmas! He was well aware of that.

“Well, yes, we wrote our letters together but… -” Corporal tapped his paws together.

“I know, he’s had plenty of time to bond with all of you this past week.” Skipper griped.

Rico, getting frustrated, snatched the envelope. He removed the letter from inside. Then, he proceeded to shove it in Skipper’s flipper.

Skipper’s eyes scanned the paper. The room grew silent in anticipation.

“Pst, Skipper.” Kowalski leaned over to Skipper. He didn’t want to embarrass him. “Can you read?”

Skipper ignored him. Instead, he pretended to read. Though he was starting to feel uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. He certainly didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know how. That would just be another reason why he was inferior to the great North Wind. After all, if he knew how to read, he would have taught Private how to do all this stuff. In fact, part of him felt ashamed that he couldn’t teach Private how to do this stuff… “Well, this is nice…”

“Ugh, give it here!” Classified was tired of Skipper’s dramatics.

“No, I’ve got it!” He pulled the paper in closer to him defensively. “Uh… Dear Santa…” Skipper felt his throat get dry. There was no way he could even read the next line. “Kowalski?”

Kowalski passed the letter on to Eva. She then handed it over to Short Fuse who reached up to give it to Corporal. Then, Corporal smiled and delivered it to Classified. Maybe he would empathize more with Skipper if he read this letter.

Skipper huffed and Classified shrugged.

“Dear Santa…” Classified began.

Private had been sitting on the floor next to Corporal as he wrote. Corporal helped him spell the big words and sound out others. “I hope you’re having a good holiday season! This is Private from the circus. We’ve met before back in Madagascar. Please tell Cupid I said hello. I miss her a lot and hope she is doing well.”

Classified paused. “Do I really have to -”

“Keep reading!” Short Fuse shouted.

Private’s letter continued. “Anyway, what I was really hoping to tell you was want I want for Christmas this year. My friend Corporal is helping me write this letter. I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with my friends this year.”

“Hmph!” Skipper interrupted, crossing his flippers on his chest.

“I wonder why.” Classified asked sarcastically.

“Keep reading.” Kowalski sighed.

Private’s letter continued again. “There are a lot of things I could ask for this year, but there’s one thing I want the most. My Skipper’s been very busy lately and he looks very stressed. For Christmas this year, all I want is for Skipper to be happy.”

Classified stopped. Skipper’s beak opened and tears began to form in his eyes. His cheeks grew warm while he tried to clear his throat. He didn’t know what to say.

Classified continued to read. “Skipper works very hard to make us happy and he always looks out for us. He’s my best friend, and all I want for him is to have the best holiday ever. It would mean so much to me, if you could help my Skipper be happy this Christmas. He’s the best Skipper in the world!”

Classified had to fight back tears even. This sentimental letter from Private had even affected him. He finished up the letter. “Thank you very much. Have a merry Christmas. X-O-X-O, Private.”

Skipper muttered in astonishment. He knew Private had such a good heart, but this was more than he expected. “All he wanted was for us all to be happy.”

“For you to be happy, Skipper.” Kowalski corrected him.

Skipper could feel everyone looking at him. He lowered his head. Now he really felt ashamed for how he had been acting. “I’ve uh… I’ve been trying real hard this year to get you boys the perfect gifts. Then you.” he turned to Classified, with less hostility. It was more like a defeated gesture.

“all came in here with your fancy gifts and I just… I felt inadequate, like a teeny tiny speck. The more time Private spent with you all, the more I began to worry that maybe he didn’t want to spend time with me anymore.” Skipper admitted.

“Aww,” Rico patted Skipper on the back. None of them knew he was struggling with all of this.

“Of course he does, Skipper. You’re Skipper - his hero. He… - we all love you.”

“Uh-huh,” Rico nodded urgently.

“By just being together, you’ve already given us the best gift we could ever ask for.” Kowalski grabbed onto Skipper’s flippers. The two smiled at each other. Skipper was relieved to hear this.

Classified didn’t mean to interject. He too felt embarrassed by his behavior. It was rather unbecoming of him to fight over the Christmas tree like that. Still, he felt as though he should say something. “By the looks of the letter, it seems Private agrees.”

“Yeah,” Skipper turned back to Classified. “I uh…”

“I’m sorry.” He and Classified said at the same time.

“I’m sorry for overstepping. It seems my gifts were a bit… excessive. I should have checked with you first.” Classified admitted sheepishly.

“No, the fault lies on me too. I was so wrapped up in my own gifts for the boys that I … I took it out on all of you. I’m sorry if I made you feel unwelcome. Private’s lucky to have such good friends.” Skipper smiled up at Classified. That was hard for him to say. But if he were honest, it was the truth. He always loved watching Private make new friends… though sometimes, it scared him. Skipper didn’t trust the outside world. But little by little, Private taught him that others weren’t quite as bad as he thought.

Corporal swept Skipper up into a great big hug. It was a sneak attack that caught the penguin leader off guard. Corporal snuggled the cuddly penguin closer. Skipper didn’t resist though.

“We’re lucky to have you as a friend too.” Corporal hummed.

Skipper sighed and patted the bear on the snout. Corporal gently let Skipper down on the ground.

“So, we’re all good?” Eva asked.

“Are you two done fighting so we can enjoy Christmas now?” Short Fuse was more blunt.

“Well, Classified, everything’s clear on my end. What do you say?” Skipper extended his flipper.

Classified bent down to give Skipper’s flipper a light yet firm shake. “Let’s give our units a great Christmas.”

“Woo hoo!” Rico shouted.

This led to Skipper turning to his boys. “Now, you two better head off to bed. I don’t want you boys to be awake when Big Red gets here. You’ll miss out on your presents.”

“But won’t you need any help cleaning this up?” Kowalski asked.

“Nah,” Skipper waved his flipper. “Classified and I have got it.”

“You’re sure?” Eva turned to her leader.

“Absolutely,” Classified saluted his team playfully.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Early the very next morning, Private awoke to the sound of music. He rubbed his eyes and had to ensure he wasn’t dreaming. He didn’t even think they’d have a Christmas based on how last night went. He rolled off of his hay bundle. Then, he waddled around to find the tent empty. It appeared he was the last one to wake up too. Usually Rico was the first one to wake everyone up on Christmas morning. But it looked as if he was alone. Still, Private followed the sound of the music. It led him to the next tent over, where they had set up the decorations.

Once Private entered the opening of the circus tent, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The Christmas tree was back up in its full, former glory. The decorations were back up, some were duct taped together. Even the penguin angel was sitting on the tree, taped together. Though, it wasn’t the tree topper this year.

“Why is everything so festive and jolly?” Private groggily rubbed his eyes.

Everyone shouted “Merry Christmas!” when the little penguin entered. It was like his very own surprise party.

“Why, you’ve even got a new angel on the tree!” Private looked up in awe.

Balancing on top of the tree, Mort had a pair of cardboard wings and a wire halo taped to him. He had cheerfully accepted the role. Turned out they didn’t need a tree topper after all. What they needed was Mort.

“I’m an angel!” Mort declared happily.

“Hold still, Mort!” Julien instructed from below. He was measuring up the tree, inspecting it to make sure not a single ornament was out of place.

The zoosters and more circus animals joined in on the holiday fun as well. Now it was starting to be a party.

“What a beautiful tree!” Gia cheered.

“Buon Natale!” Stefano greeted everyone as he entered the room.

The leopard and sea lion had to drag in their friend Vitaly. He was less enthusiastic than the rest of them.

“Wasn’t there a different angel on the tree yesterday?” Gloria observed. She would have noticed if Mort was up there the whole time.

“You know,” Melman squinted. “I think so.”

“What happened here?” Marty looked at all the taped and makeshift decorations.

“No idea,” Alex shrugged. “It’s the Penguins. What can you say?”

Private rushed up to greet his friends from the zoo. “Oh, you all made it!”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Private finished greeting just about everyone, when he made his way to the back of the tent. He was absolutely gobsmacked to see Skipper and Classified sharing a laugh together. Skipper stood on stacked hay and leaned up against a makeshift table of crates so he could talk to Classified.

“And you two are having a good time?” Private asked, half excitedly and half hesitantly.

“Oh yeah, Classified and I are getting along just fine!” Skipper leapt up and wrapped a flipper around Classified’s big head. This dragged the much larger animal down, making him hunch over slightly.

“We are in fact just peachy.” Classified forced a reassuring smile. He was counting down the minutes to when Skipper would go somewhere else.

Kowalski observed and whispered to Rico. “Just keep the eggnog flowing, Rico.”

Rico winked and nodded.

Private nearly tackled Skipper with a big hug. “Merry Christmas, Skippah!”

“Merry Christmas, Young Private.” Skipper sighed happily, hugging his little brother a little tighter.

“Present time!” Corporal shouted, as he entered the tent. On his head, he wore a bright red Santa hat. He carried a sack of presents over his back.

Private perked up as he looked at all of the presents.

“Now, go open those presents, soldier. That’s an order.” Skipper patted Private on the shoulder.

Private smiled back at Skipper before rushing over to the tree. Skipper and Classified sat back as their teams divvied out presents amongst themselves. Like two proud dads, they sat back and watched their teammates open presents.

Kowalski was the first to unwrap his present from the North Wind. “Hologram glasses? Classified, this is wonderful!” He put them on right away. With the push of a button, a bright blue hologram appeared right in front of him.

Rico paused to inspect the blue figure with suspicion.

“You’re welcome.” Classified lifted his glass of eggnog in acknowledgement.

Then, Kowalski moved onto the next gift. Tears of happiness formed in his eyes. “Aw, Skipper!” He really squealed. “Charles Darwin’s personal diary!”

Skipper tilted his head and smiled. That was one present down.

“How did you -?” Classified stared on in shock.

“I’ve got my ways.” Skipper shrugged nonchalantly and took another sip of eggnog.

“A snowmobile!” Rico uncovered his present. He leapt onto the seat. Before he had the chance to rev the engine, Private caught his attention. That was probably for the best.

“Rico, look over here!” Private directed him to another present. He knew chaos could ensue if Rico tried to drive his new snowmobile indoors.

“Dynamite!” Rico called out excited, with one tear of the wrapping paper.

“Not just any dynamite. You’ve got a whole collection there, mister.” Skipper smirked.

“Wahoo!” Rico hugged the pack of dynamite close to his chest.

Private looked up at Classified with a present of his own. He smiled widely. “My very own jetpack?”

“Well, Corporal told me how much you like flying so… it’s all yours.” Classified offered. It had been North Wind property, but Corporal begged to give it to Private. The little one would take good care of it… at least, he would be the most likely to do so compared to his brothers.

“EEE!!!” Private yelped with happiness in a pitch that was difficult for some of the animals to hear.

“Private, I believe there’s one more present under the tree for you.” Classified pointed.

Skipper gulped. He really hoped Private would like his present. After all, this was the final test. Kowalski and Rico already liked theirs. Maybe this would make up for the big mess he had made of things lately.

Private scurried to a modest box. His flippers went to work opening it as fast as he could. When he opened the box, he looked in and gasped. Not a second later, he was reaching in. He pulled a big, pink stuffed unicorn.

He hugged the plush and spun around with it in his flippers. As he cuddled its soft faux fur, he looked over at Skipper and Classified. “Skippah! I love it!” Private ran off to show everyone… and that means everyone, in the tent, his new unicorn.

Skipper smiled. Mission accomplished.

Classified pulled out his own present for Skipper. “And while we’re giving out presents, I wanted to give you yours. Merry Christmas.” He said awkwardly.

Skipper held onto the box. “Well, thank you, Classified. We got you a little something too.” Then, he eagerly handed Classified his present in return. He was excited for the canine to open it. Skipper had thought a lot about what to get him.

Skipper opened his present to find a rather nice captain’s hat. His eyes gleamed as he ran his flipper along the brim of the cap. “Oh wow… This is - I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, you are the Skipper.” Classified shrugged. “Now I guess it’s official.”

Classified opened his up. His reaction displayed a bit more confusion. He held up his present, revealing it from the wrapping. In his paw, he lifted up a silver water bowl.

“And oh… it’s a … water bowl? Yes, it’s very nice.” Classified did his best to be polite.

“And!” Skipper smiled enthusiastically. He was proud of his gift. The penguin genuinely thought Classified would be able to use it. “It’s got your name engraved on it.” Skipper pointed to the word CLASSIFIED typed out on the side of the bowl.

“You know, I can drink out of cups too.” Classified held up the cup he was drinking from.

“But this way, if it gets lost, everyone will know who it belongs to.” Skipper elbowed Classified. The penguin was well meaning, even though his gift was a little defunct.

“Yes, well, thank you.” Classified nodded and accepted the kind, strange gesture.

Private came up from behind them. In a surprise, he pressed his unicorn’s snout up to Skipper’s cheek to give him a little “kiss”. Skipper turned, though he immediately knew who it was.

“Thank you, Skippah!” Private moved his unicorn in front of him as if it were speaking to the older penguin.

“You’re welcome, Young Private.” Skipper smiled peacefully. Now all the hustle and bustle of the past few months was over. He could take a nap just by how relieved he felt.

Kowalski and Rico joined them on the hay bundle. It appeared the boys had something behind their back. Skipper raised his brow. Now what were they hiding?

“Skipper, the three of us really couldn’t afford to get you much this year but…” Kowalski cleared his throat.

Much more impulsively, Rico whipped out the present from behind his back.

Skipper smiled. His men didn’t need to get him anything. In fact, he had forgotten to expect a present. He was so focused on preparing the holiday for them that he didn’t even think about receiving a present. However, he opened it up to find a new coffee mug. It had words on it, though Skipper couldn’t quite read it. In reality, it said “World’s Greatest Dad” but the team scratched out the word “dad” and wrote “Skipper” at the bottom.

Private pointed to it. “It says ‘world’s greatest Skippah’!”

“We know our gift wasn’t quite as good as what you got for us, but…” Kowalski looked down. Compared to the thoughtfulness Skipper put into each of their presents, he felt a little silly.

But Skipper was still focused on the mug. Tears returned to his eyes. This little gesture meant the world to him. They really thought he was “the world’s best Skipper”? He felt like he didn’t deserve the title, though he’d never say that aloud.

“Boys, I - “ Skipper stammered. He was at a loss for words. After all, he was never good with the sappy stuff.

Instead, he pulled them all in for a hug. “I love you, boys.” Skipper sighed. The Penguins all embraced in a big group hug.

Their attention shifted and the hug disbanded when Phil and Mason, the chimps, began playing an upbeat song on the piano. In response, Mort rang a little bell he found on the tree.

“Every time a bell rings, a buffalo gets his wings.” Mort recited his own variation of the saying happily.

“Boys, I think I’ve had a little too much ‘nog.” Skipper held his head steady.

[The End]

Happy Holidays! :D