I do not own the Ben Ten franchise or A Christmas Carol.

So if any information in this chapter happens to be inaccurate, let me know and I'll fix. I took a World Religions class in high school, but that was admittedly a while ago.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

What Exactly is Christmas?

Standing at the bottom of the steps that led to his front door, Ben stared in awe at the mass of snowflakes that swirled down from the grey sky, creating a white sheet that covered everything. "I can't remember a time when Bellwood got this much snow!"

Sandra dug her car keys out of her purse as she went over to her vehicle. "It's certainly been a while," she agreed. "But it'll be lovely to have a white Christmas. Thank you for cleaning the snow off the windshield, dear."

"No problem." Ben rocked back on his heels and stared at the cardboard box that rested by his feet. "You sure you want me to put the lights up? I can wait until you and Dad are home."

"I think it would be best if you did them now. For all we know, this storm might get worse!"

"Okay. Have fun Christmas shopping! And no underwear!"

Sandra cast her son a smile before climbing into her car and driving off. Ben waved until she disappeared down the road. "Alright, time to deck this place out with Christmas cheer!"

He retrieved the ladder from the garage and rested it against the house. He opened the box and removed a long string of multicoloured lights. Grinning, he looped the lights around his shoulder and scaled the ladder, climbing carefully onto the snow-covered roof.

He tugged on the lights and frowned when he realized that they were tangled in one big knot. "Man. I hate this part."

Ben set the lights on the roof and started pulling them apart, soon realizing that there was more than one strand in the bundle. "Great," he groaned as he attempted to take two strands apart. "It's like trying to get the knot out of my shoelaces-and that's hard enough."

In his efforts to make the lights neat, he ended up draping them over his arms and head, trying to keep them from mingling together. He took a step back as he tried to undo a particularly tight knot, and his right sneaker slipped on the snow. With a yelp of surprise, Ben tumbled the short distance to the ground below, where the white powder made for a soft landing.

But in his rapid descent, the lights flailed about and once more got tangled-only this time, around his body.

"You gotta be kidding me!" the boy whined, trying to jerk his feet apart. But they were locked together by a strand of lights. Another strand was wrapped securely over his Omnitrix, and his other arm was trapped against his side. "Ugh."

Lying in the snow, Ben pouted. Here he was, dressed up like a Christmas tree, and there wasn't a single person out for a wander to help him out of his current predicament. Though maybe this was a good thing…at least there was no one to embarrass himself in front of.

But then again, he didn't want to be stuck on his front lawn for the whole day.

"Cell phone…" he muttered to himself, digging through his pants pocket. He dug out his green device, and soon found that it was difficult to use the touch screen with his mitten-covered hand. "Come on…"

Managing to poke his right index finger through a hole in his mitten, he poked at the Call option and without looking at the name he selected the number he called last. Unable to get his phone to his ear, due the tight restraints of his Christmas bindings, he turned on the speaker phone.

"Ben?"

"Myaxx?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah, Azmuth's out of his lab at the moment. He'll be back soon, though, if you want to hold."

"Actually, I don't really need him, per se. Just someone to help me-I picked the number I called last and Azmuth just happened to be that one."

Geez. I really do call him a lot.

"You in trouble or something?" asked Myaxx in concern.

"No. Well, not serious trouble. Can you teleport me over there?"

"I can't really do the teleporting-Azmuth controls that with his little remote. But I can get him for you."

Ben winced. Azmuth was definitely not going to let him hear the end of this one. "Yeah, sure."

"Hang tight, kid. See you in a few."

She hung up and Ben managed to wiggle his phone back in his pocket. "So much for doing the Christmas lights."

A few minutes later, the familiar green light engulfed him for a brief moment before he found himself sprawled on the floor of Azmuth's lab. Ben smiled. "Hi."

Azmuth blinked at his wielder, who was trussed up in strands of what appeared to be lights. Myaxx stared at the boy curiously. "What happened to you?"

"I had a mishap," said Ben. "Can you help me out of this?"

As Myaxx assisted him, Azmuth stuck his remote in the pocket of his robe and crossed his arms. "You bothered me for this?"

"I didn't want to be stuck like that for the rest of the day," protested Ben, kicking off the last of the lights. "And everyone else I know is busy."

"I'm busy."

"I know, but you're always busy and I always bother you. So you're the exception."

Azmuth rolled his eyes. "Lucky me."

"What are these things?" asked Myaxx, staring at the coloured bulbs in interest.

"Oh, they're Christmas lights."

"Christmas lights?" echoed Myaxx in confusion.

Ben tilted his head to the side. "You do know what Christmas is, right?"

"Not a clue," admitted Myaxx. "My knowledge of Earth customs is pretty limited. What do you with Christmas lights?"

By now, most of the Galvans had stopped their work and were eyeing the human curiously. Ben picked up the plug and went over to the console. He plugged the lights and grinned when the bulbs sparked to life, shining a brilliant blue, green, red and yellow.

"We use them to make our homes look pretty. To make them look festive for the holidays."

"Whoa," a Galvan said in awe.

"Those look really nice," said another.

Ben pulled off his mittens and stuffed them into his jacket pocket. "You can keep them, if you want. We got tons more in the attic."

Every Galvan immediately looked to Azmuth hopefully. The First Thinker shot the teen a withering look. "Why must you disrupt my workplace every time you come here?"

"That means yes," translated Ben, and the Galvans cheered before continuing with their work.

Azmuth watched as the child strung the lights around the main lab table. "I don't like them."

"Lies," said Ben. "You're just being a Scrooge."

"A what?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "You don't know A Christmas Carol, do you?"

"I have no time to learn about insignificant Earth customs and traditions," said Azmuth dryly.

Ben's green eyes grew wide. "So that means you don't know much about Christmas."

"Do not state the obvious. It's irritating."

"Hey, I can show you!" exclaimed Ben. "You like learning stuff. I can teach you about Christmas!"

"I have more important things to do than-"

"Please?" pleaded Ben, clasping his hands together. "You're always teaching me things. Can't I teach you something for once?"

Azmuth faltered at the earnest expression on the sixteen-year-old's face. After a moment of thought, he finally heaved a sigh of surrender. "Fine. But if it is a waste of my time, you will not like what I have to say."

But Ben's enthusiasm was not deterred. "Cool!" He bent down and picked the Galvan up, placing him on his shoulder. "This'll be fun."

"And that's what worries me," remarked Azmuth, pulling out his remote and teleporting them back to Bellwood.

The first thing Azmuth saw when they appeared on the Tennyson's front lawn was that every house on the street was covered in lights, ranging from pure white, pure blue and multicoloured. Glowing blow-up figures were tied down and railings were strewn with tree-like material.

"That is an eyesore."

"To each their own," Ben partially agreed. "You know what that stuff is of, right?"

"Not entirely," Azmuth was forced to admit.

"Well, the red-and-white things are candy canes," said Ben, pointing at each respective decoration as he named them. "They're a popular Christmas treat. That's a snowman, we like to make them when the snow is wet enough. Uh…that's called garland."

"What is the point of all this?" asked Azmuth, frowning at the glowing yard.

Ben blinked. "It's just a Christmas tradition. I think it dates back a long time ago, but over the years it's become this. Oh-that big guy in the red coat, that's Santa Claus."

"Who?"

"Santa Claus," repeated Ben. "It's a popular myth-well, at least in North America. I'm sure there's different versions of the story all across the world. But when I was a kid, I would write to Santa, and if I was nice he would bring me what I asked for."

"Why?"

"Because Santa brings toys to all the nice girls and boys in the world on Christmas Eve, flying in his reindeer-drawn sleigh."

"You cannot be serious."

Ben put his hands on his hips. "Have you ever heard of magic?"

Azmuth rolled his eyes. "That doesn't exist."

"Well, that's why you're so grumpy. You believe too much in science and not enough in miracles."

"It's ludicrous. Why would parents encourage such foolish thoughts?"

Ben sighed in exasperation. "It's part of the Christmas tradition. I think Santa Claus derives from Saint Nicholas, who existed long ago, and was really generous. I'm sure there's more to it, but that's as much I know."

Azmuth squinted through the snow, and was able to make out a tree standing proudly in front of the window across the street, covered in more lights and ornaments. "Trees. You put trees inside your house."

"Uh-huh."

"You take it out of the wilderness, where it belongs, put it in your home, and do that to it."

"Well, some people use real trees and some people use fake trees that they can reuse every year. But there's different thoughts on how the modern Christmas tree came to be, and I think the initial Christmas tree is explained as the Christianization of a pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the winter solstice," explained Ben. "That's what Christmas is about-the birth of Christ."

Azmuth glanced at Ben. "Creationism."

"Er, kind of," said Ben carefully. "See, we have many different religions on Earth, so in this case, it's a Christian holiday."

"People do all this to celebrate someone who may or may not have existed?"

Ben flinched at the derisive tone. "But to many people, He does exist. That's why they celebrate Christmas, for Him."

"Is that why you celebrate Christmas?"

The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know," he said honestly. "It's become this big commercialized event, straying from what the holiday is supposed to be about. That's why some who aren't of the Christian religion celebrate it. It's become all about the presents and the glitter and the television specials. But the thing is, there are other holidays too."

Azmuth arched his brow. "Really?"

"Hanukkah, which is a Jewish holiday and Kwanzaa, which honours African heritage."

The Galvan shook his head. "And what is the point of Hanukkah?"

"I'm not too well educated on that subject, but it lasts for eight days. Over the course of the eight nights, they light a candle in the menorah, one each night. It is said that in 165 BC, after the Jewish revolt was successful and they reclaimed the Temple, they needed to light the menorah. But there was only one flask of olive oil, which was only supposed to last for one night. But it burned for eight days, enough time for more kosher oil to be made. So, the eight day festival was created to commemorate the miracle."

"Two different holidays for two different religions," said Azmuth, a skeptical expression on his face.

Ben nodded. "They're both important stories, and they mean a lot to many people. Though the beliefs are different, the holidays share a core."

"And that would be?"

"Give."

Azmuth glanced at his wielder. "Give?"

"Give, don't be greedy. Love, don't hate. Forgive. Celebrate with your family." Ben extended his arms as he spoke. "The holidays are about being nice to your fellow man. They're about working together, helping those who need it, doing things that should be done every day of our lives are emphasized during this month. And you know what? It works. People are nicer, they do more, there's just something in the air that makes me feel warm inside. Whether you believe in Christmas or Hanukkah, both are about miracles, what can happen if you just believe."

Azmuth studied the teen thoughtfully. "And how does this Christmas Carol fit into this?"

Ben smiled. "Scrooge, the main character in the story, is an old miser who only cares about himself and is selfish. He gets visited by four ghosts. The first warns him of the ghosts that will arrive, and how he needs to change his act. The second ghost shows him his past, the third shows him his present and how miserable he makes others, and the fourth shows him a future that's dark and depressing. By the end, Scrooge finds the spirit of Christmas alive in him, and he sets about fixing his wrongs."

"By giving."

"Exactly," said Ben cheerfully.

"I see."

"Was that okay?" asked Ben uncertainly. "I probably didn't explain everything too good-"

"You did fine," interjected Azmuth. "I did learn something. While humans may have different reasons for celebrating the holidays, the core point is the same. To celebrate their beliefs, and to bring joy to their fellow mankind."

"Yeah," said Ben, relieved. "Okay. Great. So, speaking of giving, what do you want?"

Azmuth glanced at the gently falling snowflakes, a slow smile curling across his face. "Nothing."

"You sure?" the sixteen-year-old asked. "'Cause I was planning on getting you something anyway-I've always meant to, but it's really hard shopping for you, so ideas would be-"

"You already gave me a gift."

Ben blinked. "I did?"

"A long time ago," answered Azmuth. "But it's one that'll last me a while."

He scratched the back of his neck, confusion on his face. "What'd I get you?"

Hope. Hope for a better future. Belief. Belief that there were self-sacrificing people out there, willing to stand up and fight for those that couldn't. Freedom. You freed me from my isolation, my bitterness and my self-hatred. You gave me a reason to truly live again. You showed me that my inventions can be used for peace, so long as I trust them to the right person. And you'll always be that person.

"Perhaps I'll tell you someday. What do you want?"

Surprise crossed Ben's face. "Me?"

"You did say that Christmas is about giving."

"You already gave me a gift, too. When I was ten." Ben held up his left wrist, flashing the white-and-green Omnitrix with a bright smile. "You changed my life."

And you changed mine.

"But…is the Master Control an option?" added Ben hopefully.

Azmuth could not help but grin. "Try again on Christmas during your nineteenth year."

"Wait, but you said I'd get it on my eighteenth birthday!"

"I said maybe."

Ben pouted. "Oh, fine." But a second later the lips lifted into a smile. "Hey, you wanna build a snowman?"

The Galvan was finding it very difficult to say no to these particular pair of eager green orbs. He didn't get exposed to much snow on Galvan Prime, anyway. "If I must."

"You must," confirmed Ben cheerfully.