"I said open, you crater-blasted piece of molecular-bonded plastic!" With one final tug, Buzz ripped the bag in two—more violently than he'd intended. Popcorn kernels went flying in directions, pattering across the tiled floor. "Well that's just perfect!"

He was glad he wasn't going to the Junior Rangers Holiday Party as Santa this time, because he wasn't feeling remotely jolly and he'd already used several words that wouldn't be appropriate for a kid-friendly setting. Not that he didn't usually enjoy the Santa thing, in fact it was one of his favourite parts of the Holiday, but that year he'd made other plans.

Yeah, other plans. Right.

It had been all set. He and Ozma would be camping out in the mountains by one of the big lakes. Capital Planet had some beautiful scenery away from the main city and he was determined to show Ozma the sights, though he'd promised not to do any fishing on this trip. Sure, it was a shame to let the chance to for some good ol' fashioned ice fishing go to waste, but he wanted her to enjoy the weekend as much as he did, and he knew how she felt about hunting. So it was just going to be two days of glorious hiking, roughing it, with maybe a few cuddles by the campfire too if he was lucky—just the way Buzz Lightyear liked it.

And then Ozma had cancelled. He didn't hold it against her—an emergency had arisen on Karn, with a population of endangered monkeys falling ill with some contagious disease, meaning Ozma had to work frantically to vaccinate those that hadn't caught it yet—but it had certainly taken some of the merriness out of the season. The rest of his team had left that morning, before Ozma had called off the camping arrangements, and they were probably all having a good time without him. Booster was off to Jo-Ad for the big Holiday festival his family would be holding, Mira was going to spend a quiet Holiday with her dad, and XR and XL had dragged Nebula off on a skiing trip to the icy slopes of Shragarak.

So there Buzz was, in Team Lightyear's favourite rec room, stuck on a space station that suddenly felt decidedly lonely. Only a few Rangers were on duty—the few that volunteered to keep things running while everyone else went home to be with their families. Buzz hadn't felt like hanging out with any of them, so he'd found an old bag of popcorn in one of the cupboards and decided to make one of his favourite Holiday snacks.

Unfortunately, he was now having to kneel on the floor and scoop up dozens of wayward kernels. This day just keeps getting better and better.

As he was scooping the last handful back into the bag, the doors swooshed open. He glanced up and found himself looking at a surprised Mira.

"Buzz, hi!" she said. "I didn't think you'd be here. Y'know, I thought..."

He sighed, rising from his knees. "Change of plans."

"Yeah, uh, me too." She rubbed her neck. "Things were going great at first, but then, um, you know... Father-daughter trouble. The usual."

"Did you have a fight?"

"Pretty much... It's... It's nothing big, it'll be fine, I'm sure we'll both forget about it in a few days, but, uh... you know. I didn't want to stick around."

Buzz nodded. "Want some popcorn?" He couldn't help being glad of her company, even if he felt a little guilty for it. At least he wasn't the only one whose Holiday wasn't going to plan.

"Please, that would be great," she said, flopping into one of the chairs. "Ugh, what a day."

Humming to himself, Buzz found a bowl and proceeded to pour the kernels in. He was just about to pop the whole lot into the microwave when the doors opened again.

"Buzz! Mira! Boy, am I glad to see you!" It was Booster. He looked tired.

"Hey, Boost," greeted Buzz. "Shouldn't you be on Jo-Ad by now?"

The rookie sighed. "You wouldn't believe what happened—my shuttle broke down on the way to Jo-Ad, and no matter how many towing agencies I called, I couldn't find anyone who was working today! And then the cab I called didn't show up, so finally I just decided to use my jetpack to get back here. It's a good thing I had a full tank!" His ears drooped. "But I'm gonna miss the festival. I called and told Ma and Pa, and they said not to worry, and they're gonna send Buster out in the old truck to pick me up, but I really wanted to make it on time."

Mira got up and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, big guy—come join us while you wait. We're having popcorn."

"Ooh, yay! With butter?"

"You bet!" said Buzz, closing the door of the microwave and setting the timer. "Just give this baby a second and we'll have all the popcorn you can eat!"

"Did someone say popcorn?" The doors opened to admit a short robot. "If there's caramel I call dibs!"

"XR, you don't even eat!" Mira rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Long story short, skiing accident—broken leg, lots of shouting, Pop says we're never doing this again."

Buzz spun around to face him. "The commander broke his leg? Is he okay?"

"Nooo, Commander Nebula's just fine. He skis like a pro. It was my leg! It fell off when I crashed into a snowdrift and a goat! Don't ask. The goat's fine, by the way, which is more than I can say for my bodywork." XR folded his arms. "The LGMs reattached my leg, but it's gonna take me weeks to get all these dents out of my chassis!"

Shaking his head and chuckling, Buzz turned back to the beeping microwave and slipped on a pair of oven mitts. "Okay, guys, who's hungry?"

All three rookies shot up their hands, with XR giving them a "whaaat?" look when they raised their eyebrows at him, and Buzz set the hot bowl on the table.

"Mmm, smells perfect!" said Booster.

Buzz nodded. "Ah, nothing like it on a cold Holiday afternoon. Nana and I used to pop it over the fireplace when I was a kid, then she'd fix some hot cocoa and we'd sit out on the porch watching the snow fall while we ate."

The team, sans XR who contented himself with a can of oil from the fridge, dug into the dish and crammed handfuls of the hot, buttery snack into their mouths. For awhile the only sound filling the silence was their munching.

"I never had popcorn for the Holiday when I was a kid," remarked Mira. "The first time I tried it was at my first Star Command Holiday get-together. I think I ate way too much, but at least I didn't start singing in Phlegmian like Rocket did after all that eggnog!"

They all laughed. "We have a big bunzel feast every Holiday," said Booster. "When I was a kid, me and Buster would stuff half the food into our pockets so we could snack on it at night while we waited up for Santa. One time we ate so much dessert in the night that we got sick and missed opening presents in the morning! But then when we got up, we found everyone else had waited all day for us and none of the presents had been opened yet."

XR shrugged. "Don't expect any heartwarming tales from me, I've spent every Holiday with you guys so far."

Reaching out to place a hand on the robot's shoulder, Buzz smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, XR. We may have had plans, loved ones to visit, all that stuff—but somehow it feels right for the four of us to be together."

"Huh, you know what?" Mira grinned. "I was gonna spend the day with my family, and I guess I am."

Booster nodded vigorously. "Me too! I mean, yeah, I want to be with my real family, but you guys... you're my best friends! You're the greatest. I'm glad I'm with you."

"It's a lot safer than skiing, I'll tell you that," said XR. "A few more presents would be nice though, especially the kind that come in the form of large cash deposits in my bank acco— Okay, okay, yeah, this is good too! Holiday time with the team, yeah!"

Studying the faces of his teammates, Buzz felt his heart growing full with pride and affection. How had he gotten the three most amazing people in the universe as his best friends? He couldn't believe he was so lucky. "Why don't I make us some cocoa, guys?" There was a cheer of enthusiasm.

Ah, nothing like the holidays. Best time of the year.