Homer and Marge are in bed.
"I get the feeling there's something you haven't told me Homer." said Marge.
"Huh? Oh, I love you, Marge." Said Homer.
"Oh, you tell me that all the time." said Marge.
"Good, because I do love you. I don't deserve you as much as a guy with a fat wallet and a credit card that won't set off that horrible beeping." said Homer.
"Well, I think it does have something to do with your Christmas bonus. I keep asking for it, but…" said Marge.
"Marge, let me be honest with you." said Homer.
"Yes?" asked Marge.
" Well... I... I want to do the Christmas shopping this year!" Said Homer.
"Well, sure, okay." said Marge.
She hands him a piece of paper. Homer smiles in a big grin, and Marge switches the lights out. Homer's eyes and teeth can still be seen.
Homer is at the store, shopping.
"Marge, Marge, mmm, lets see... oh, look! Pantyhose! Practical and alluring. A six pack, oh, only $4.99. Ooh, pads of paper. I bet Bart could think of a million things to do with these. That just leaves little Maggie... oh look, a little squeak toy! It says its for dogs, but she can't read." Homer says as he gets presents and puts each of the objects into his cart.
Just as Homer is close to the checkout, he suddenly sees Sora and tries to hide. Unfortunately for him, Sora had seen him.
"Oh, hey Mr. Simpson! Your wife said you were doing the Christmas shopping. Don't worry. I won't look," Sora reassured.
"Did you see anything, though, boy?" Homer asked, half in worry and half in frustration.
"No, I didn't. You know, I could help you look for the gifts you plan on getting for the kids, if you didn't already do that," Sora suggested.
"Okay, fine! Stop with the prodding! I didn't get my Christmas bonus, okay?! Don't tell anyone in my family, but Burns was too stingy to pay me or the other employees this year!" Homer confessed.
"Wait, really? That sounds bad. No wonder you reacted poorly upon seeing the jar be empty," Sora noted.
"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and laugh," Homer grumbled.
"I'm not going to laugh. That's pretty sad, and…I'm sorry. If I only stopped Bart from getting that tattoo, then you all would have a much happier Christmas. If it helps, I do have enough money to help buy some gifts if you need it," Sora kindly suggested.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need your pity gifts! I'm getting my family perfectly serviceable gifts already," Homer declined.
"Well…okay. Still, if you want me to give you any assistance buying gifts, just let me know," Sora said as he went back to looking for gifts for the family.
Outside, Homer runs into Flanders and they both drop their boxes.
"Oh, ho ho Simpson, it's you." Ned says.
"Hello Flanders." Homer said annoyed.
"Oh my, what a little mess we've got here. Well, which ones are yours and which ones are mine?" Asked Ned.
"Well, lets see…" Homer says as he picks his box, stopping when he noticed that Kairi was there as well.
"Oh, hello there Mr. Simpson. It's nice to see you again," Kairi politely greeted.
"Hey, you're Sora's girlfriend. What are you doing with Flanders? I thought that Bart's teacher was who you were staying with," Homer was confused.
At this, Kairi blushed before answering, "W-Well…I needed money to get some gifts for Sora and Riku once we find him. So Flanders here offered me money in exchange for assisting him with Christmas shopping. He's a pretty generous and kind person."
"Yeah, I'm sure he is," Homer grumbled partly in annoyance and partly in sadness.
"Anyway, I'd say it's about time we get back to business here. Need any help getting your gifts?" Kairi offered…until she noticed he had gotten all that there was.
"Well this one's mine, and this one's mine. This one's mine, and…" Ned says as he picks up his boxes.
"They're all yours!" Homer said angrily.
"Looks pretty light there. Is everything okay?" Kairi asked.
"Hey, Mr. Simpson. You dropped your pork chop." Tod says as he hands Homer the dog toy.
Homer snatching it saying,"Gimme that! And yes! Everything is just peachy! Now let me get home from the crummy shopping already!"
"Well, happy holidays Simpson!" Ned says.
"And good luck with your Christmas, Mr. Simpson," Kairi said goodbye as she left with the Flanders.
They walk off. "Gee Dad, this is going to be the best Christmas ever." Tod told his dad.
"You bet!" Ned said to Tod.
Homer is at Moe's Tavern.
"What's the matter, Homer? Did someone leave a lump of coal in your stocking? You've been sitting there sucking on a beer all day long." Moe asked.
"So?" Asked Homer.
"So, it's Christmas." Moe says as he hands Homer a candy cane.
"Thanks Moe." Thanked Homer.
Barney enters the bar wearing a Santa suit.
"Drinks all around!" Yelled Barney.
"What's with the crazy get up, Barn?" Asked Homer.
"I got me a part time job working as a Santa down at the mall." Barney told them.
"Wow, can I do that?" asked Homer.
"I dunno, they're pretty selective." Barney says before he belches.
Homer is being interviewed for the Santa job.
"Do you like children?" Asked the Manager.
"What do you mean, all the time? Even when they're nuts?-" the manager frowns at him. "Uh, I certainly do!" Homer tells him.
"Welcome aboard, Simpson. Pending your completion of our training program that is," Said the manager.
Homer is in a classroom, filled with Santa look-alikes."
"Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho!" All the santas say.
Homer raises his hand.
"What is it now, Simpson?" the teacher asked ,annoyed.
"Uh, when do we get paid?" Asked Homer.
"Not a dime till Christmas Eve. Now, from the top." the teacher told him angrily..
"Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho!" All the santas say again.
Later in class.
"Um, Dasher... Dancer…" "Mm-hmm." "Prancer…" "Mm-hmm." "Nixon... Comet... Cupid... Donna Dixon?" Homer said, trying to remember all of Santa's reindeer.
"Sit down, Simpson." the teacher said annoyed.
Later again. The teacher is sat on Homer's lap.
"And what would you like, little boy?" Homer asked in a santa voice.
"You're not really Santa, tubby." the teacher said, pretending to be a child.
"Why you little...!" Homer says angrily as he tries to strangle the manager.
"Hey! No Homer, if such an emergency arises just tell them Santa is very busy this time of year, and you're one of his helpers." the manager told him.
"D'oh, I knew that one too." Homer said.
At the mall, while Homer was at the Santa practice class…
"So, should I get the rest of the Simpsons gifts too? I mean, they did take in Sora when he needed a home and they seem to be very good people…," Kairi considered for a moment in front of the toy store before deciding, "Sure! It may mean less money for Mrs. Kraubapple's and Sora's gifts, but it is the nice thing to do. I should probably ask Sora what to get them. See, Kairi, you're figuring this all out. Now I just need to figure out what to get Sora for his gift. It needs to be very special."
"What needs to be special?" Sora asked as he ended up running into Kairi.
"Oh, nothing! I'm just trying to work on my holiday shopping," Kairi admitted a bit nervously.
"That was what I was doing. It isn't the easiest finding everyone the perfect gift. I hope I can at least make them a pleasant surprise for everyone," Sora said.
"Who have you gotten gifts for so far?" Kairi asked.
"I just need to get gifts for Mr. Simpson and you and everything will be peachy keen…I hope," Sora admitted.
"You hope? Is there something wrong? Because if you can't get me a gift I understand," Kairi said supportively.
"No, it's not that. I promised to keep quiet about this…though Mr. Simpson did say to only keep quiet to family. You see, Mr. Simpson doesn't have enough money this year to buy gifts for his family. He got gypped on his Christmas bonus and he's desperately working to find a way to get better gifts," Sora admitted.
"Poor guy. Explains the light load from earlier. Well, if it helps, I was planning on getting the family gifts for Christmas if that helps," Kairi suggested.
"I guess so. Though Mr. Simpson didn't seem to be very happy about having someone else give his family the family they deserve," Sora said.
"I guess maybe we can find some other way to help. Perhaps we can give him some of our extra money to help him out," Kairi suggested.
"Maybe…," Sora sadly muttered.
"I guess something else is bothering you. Is everything okay?" Kairi asked.
"It's just…this is all my fault. If I just prevented Bart from getting that tattoo then Mr. Simpson wouldn't be struggling like this," Sora guiltily said.
"Hey, it's not your fault that happened. Still, it is pretty sweet that you care," Kairi consoled.
"Thanks Kairi. I just wish I knew a way to solve Mr. Simpson's problem. I'm not sure if he would just accept my money," Sora noted.
"Maybe you should talk with him the next time you see him. You two may be able to come to a helpful conclusion for everyone. I can even help you if you wish," Kairi suggested.
"Perfect! Once we're done with our shopping we'll go help Mr. Simpson. If you are cool with that," Sora said a bit nervously.
"Sure thing," Kairi said.
Back at home. Homer has just arrived back.
"Homer, why are you 7 hours late?" Asked Marge worried.
"Not a word Marge, I'm heading straight for the tub." Homer told her.
"But Homer, my sisters are here, don't you want to say hello?" asked Marge.
Homer shudders.
"Daddy, Daddy!/Welcome home!/We're so glad to see you!" Bart and Lisa say as they get out of Selma and Paties grip.
"Why? Oh yeah. Hello Patty, hello Selma, how was your trip?" Homer asked with annoyance clear in his voice.
"Fine." Selma relayed.
"You both look well." said Homer.
"Thank you." replied Patty.
"Yeah, well, Merry Christmas." Said Homer.
"It's Christmas? You wouldn't know it around here." replied Selma snarkily.
"And why is that?" Homer asked, annoyed.
"Well, for one thing there's no tree." Patty told him.
"Well I was just on my way out to get one!" Homer told them.
At this point, Sora had just entered the house. "Oh, Mr. Simpson. Can we talk?"
"Not now! I need to get a tree!" Homer grumbled.
"Can we go too, Dad?" asked Lisa.
"Yeah, can we?" Bart asked.
"No!" Homer yelled angrily as he slammed the door shut.
"What an annoying gremlin. Now, who is this boy supposed to be?" Patty asked.
"I take it that this is the Sora you've told us so much about, Marge?" Selma asked for confirmation.
"Yes, this is him. He's a real sweetheart. Nicest boy you'll meet," Marge said.
"Um, yes, that's me. Look, I'd love to stick around and chat, but right now I need to talk with Mr. Simpson about something," Sora said as he turned to leave.
"Can we come with you?" Both Bart and Lisa ask, hopeful that they can get a break from their aunts.
"Uh, this is a very personal conversation. Sorry," Sora apologized as he was about to open the door.
"You really should just leave him alone," Selma bluntly interrupted.
"Yeah! That gremlin is just a waste of time and energy," Patty agreed.
"I understand? But this is very important," Sora was about to open the door when he heard the car start up and drive off. "Looks like I'll talk with him later."
Homer drives around, looking for Christmas trees. He passes signs that read "All trees $75, "Trees $60 and up and "Christmas trees, slightly irregular, $45. Finally, he goes to an area marked "No trespassing" and cuts down his own tree. A guard chases after him.
"Hey you! What do you think you're doing?" A guy in the distance yells.
"Uh-oh." Homer said.
"Hey! Hey! Come back here!" The guy yells.
He shoots several shots off a gun as Homer drives off.
Back at the house, the family admire the tree.
"So, what do you think, kids? Beauty, isn't it?" Homer asks.
"Wow!" Bart says imprested.
"Way to go, Dad!" Lisa says happily.
"Pretty impressive tree, Mr. Simpson," Kairi bowed respectfully.
Wonder where you got it?" Sora asked, mentally berating himself for failing to read the room in time.
"Um, at a tree lot, of course," Homer said in a way that was hiding his anger.
Sora mouthed a sorry to Homer, who was taken away from this line of thinking by Marge's sisters.
"Why is there a birdhouse in it?" Selma asked.
"Oh, that's an ornament." Homer said.
"Do I smell gunpowder?" Patty asks.
"Well, I think we've had enough excitement here for right now. Kairi and I need to have a chat with Mr. Simpson here," Sora said as he and Kairi pulled Mr. Simpson into another room.
"What do you want, kid? You wanna embarrass me even more by confessing to my family or belittling my efforts?" Homer asked in judgemental annoyance.
"No, we're here to offer you help," Kairi said.
"You told your girlfriend?!" Homer yelled as both teens blushed.
"W-We're not sweethearts!" Kairi protested.
"Yeah! And, yes. I did tell her. I just needed to talk to someone to come up with a solution to your money problem and you did only say to not talk with family members, so…," Sora explained.
"Can we get to the point please? I need to go back to pretending I'm not a complete failure," Homer grumbled.
"You see, Sora and I were thinking we can give you some of our extra money from our jobs," Kairi suggested.
"That way you can buy your family gifts for Christmas. What do you say?" Sora asked.
Homer stood there for a moment thinking over the situation. On one hand, it would be great to make his family happy. However, there was the fact that Homer knew that he would have failed to provide for his family. In addition, he would owe these two kids that he didn't fully trust yet. Besides, he had a job that would help him out of this predicament. So, he, albeit reluctantly, said, "No thanks, kids. I'm gonna solve this on my own. End of discussion." And so, Homer walked out of the room and went back to his family.
"So, you think we should still get the gifts?" Kairi asked.
"I guess so. If there is no other choice but to do that. I don't want Mr. Simpson to feel bad," Sora answered reluctantly.
At the mall, a boy sits on Homer's lap.
"And then I want some Robotoids, and then I want a gook monster, and I want I great big…" A little boy says.
"Ah son, you don't need all that junk. I'm sure you already got something much more important: a decent home, and a loving father that would do anything for you. Hey, I can't afford lunch, give me a bite of that donut." Homer says.
Bart, Milhouse and Lewis watch Homer from the gantry.
"Get a load at that quote-unquote Santa." Milhouse says.
"I cant believe those kids are falling for it." Lewis agreed.
"Hey Milhouse, I dare you to sit on his lap." Bart said.
"Oh yeah? Well I dare you to yank his beard off." Milhouse dared
"Ah Touché!" Bart says.
Back down below.
"I hope you feel better, Santa." Says a little girl.
"Oh, I will when Mrs. Clause's sisters get out of town. Thanks for listening kid." Homer says.
Bart is up next.
"Hey Santa, what's shakin' man?" Bart askes.
"What's your name Bart... ner... uh, little partner?" Askes Homer.
"I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?" Asks Bart
"I'm jolly old Saint Nick." Homer says angrily.
"Oh yeah, we'll just see about that." Bart says as he pulls Homer's beard off.
"D'oh!" Yells Homer as a picture is taken and Bart realizes that the man is Homer.
"Homer!" Bart yells.
"I want a word with you in Santa's Workshop little boy!" Homer makes an aside, "Cover for me Alphy." Homer says.
"Don't kill me Dad, I didn't know it was you!" Bart pleaded upon getting into the workshop.
"Nobody knows! Its a secret. I didn't get my bonus this year but to keep the family from missing out on Christmas I'd do anything." Homer tells him.
"I'll say. You must really love us to sink so low." Bart says.
"Well let's not get mushy son, I still have a job to do," Homer reminds Bart as he leaves the workshop. "Hey hey! Santa's back! Ho ho," he bangs his head getting out of the workshop. D'oh! Dammit!" Homer curses, much to the shock and confusion of the people present.
The second story of the mall on Christmas Eve…
"Okay. I've gotten one gift each for each member of the Simpsons family. Between me and Sora, that means the kids will each have at least two gifts. Not the best Christmas, but still decent. Now I just need to get Sora a gift and…," Kairi said to herself before noticing Sora was arriving. "Oh, Sora! I managed to get some gifts for the Simpsons. That's great, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. Still, I just hope Mr. Simpson isn't upset with us. I don't like the idea of going behind his back and take away from his hard work on whatever job he took for money," Sora said.
"I understand. I don't want to make Mr. Simpson sad, or wound his pride. Still, it's Christmas Eve so we can't just send the gifts back. We'll just have to make do and tell the family Mr. Simpson bought them," Kairi said.
"Maybe we should at least tell him our plan. And it may be pretty easy to do that," Sora said.
"Really? Why?" Kairi asked.
"Because Mr. Simpson and Bart are right down there," Sora pointed as the duo both noticed the father and son enter a room where Homer was to be paid.
Homer is getting paid.
"Ah, son, one day you're going to learn the satisfaction of payday - receiving a big fat check for a job well done." Homer says.
"Simpson, Homer. Here you go." The manager says.
"Come on son lets go cash this baby and get presents for... aah! Thirteen bucks? Hey wait a minute!" Homer argues.
"That's right. $120 gross, less Social Security…" The Cashiers says.
"Yeah..." Homer says.
"Less unemployment insurance…" The cashier says.
"But…" Homer says.
"Less Santa training…" The cashier says.
"Santa training?" Homer asks.
"Less costume purchase…" The cashier says.
"Wait a minute…" Says Homer.
"Less beard rental…" The cashier says.
"But…" Homer says.
"Less Christmas club." The cashier says.
"But…" Homer says.
" See you next year." The chaser says.
"Ohh…" Homer says sadly.
"Come on dad let's go home." Bart says.
"Thirteen bucks? You can't get anything for thirteen bucks." Homer says.
"All right, thirteen big ones! Springfield Downs, here I come!" Barney says happily.
"What?" Askes Homer.
"You heard me, I'm going to the dog track. I got a hot little puppy in the fourth race. Want to come?" Barney tells them.
"Sorry Barney, I may be a total wash out of a father but I'm not going to take my kid to a sleazy dog track on Christmas Eve." Homer tells him.
"Come on Simpson, the dog's name is Whirlwind. Ten to one shot. Money in the bank." Barney says.
"Uh-uh." Homer says.
"Aw, come on Dad. This could be the miracle that saves the Simpsons' Christmas. If TV has taught me anything, it's that miracles always happen to poor kids at Christmas. It happened to Tiny Tim, it happened to Charlie Brown, it happened to the Smurfs, and it going to happen to us." Bart tells him.
"Well, okay let's go. Who's Tiny Tim?" Homer asks as they walk off.
Sora and Kairi end up arriving in time to see Homer and Bart leave and decide to follow after them.