Luigi looked in the mirror and frowned. Any other time he would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked, but he just wasn't in the mood today. Daisy came in and giggled. His outfit was darker green than his usual outfit. The hat had a yellow band around it and a mistletoe branch sticking out of it. His stockings were yellow and green striped, like Daisy's. He had curly-toed brown shoes that had golden jingle bells at the top. His buttons were gold and so were the cuffs of his sleeves. He tilted his head.

"You look amazing, Weegie!" She gave him a peck on the cheek. He blushed as he always did when she kissed him, and then he finally smiled. "This is going to be the best Christmas party ever!"

…

The air was getting bitter cold, and Mario's nose was turning blue, almost matching his Penguin Suit, which kept the rest of him warm. Suddenly, a shadow covered him. He turned around, and his eyes grew wide. "Mamma Mia!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." The Spirit before him was a huge white Yoshi with green spikes and eyes, green boots, and a green stomach. His nose was big enough that Mario could stand on it with adequate room. "I'm the Spirit of Christmas Presents! …erm… I mean Christmas Present."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Mario stood up. "So… where are you going to take me, Spirit?"

The Yoshi stuck out his tongue, grabbed him, and before Mario knew it, he was swallowed whole. He pushed at his prison until it cracked. The green egg with white dots opened up, and Mario sat inside, watching the scene before him. It was the annual Christmas party. "Looks just the same as the first year…" he noted to himself. He saw Peach in her red cape with white fur next to the throne, talking with Toad and Toadette, who each wore antlers.

The mushroom kids looked happy as ever, and jumped around, talking excitedly about something. Mario walked closer to them, knowing they wouldn't see him, and listened in. "Hahaha!" Toadette was laughing. "Just like Scrooge!"

Peach giggled a little. "I guess I've gotten used to it," she patted the girl on the head. "We can't expect too much from him… we already expect so much…"

"Well, whatever you think, Peach!" Daisy came into the conversation. "I'm sick of seeing what he constantly does to Luigi!" She pouted. "Letting him down every Christmas! I say, I'm really gonna strangle him next I see him!"

"Daisy… Don't look at the past too much, you'll only get angrier. Look now at what's happening…" she nodded towards the dance area, where Luigi was looking around for Daisy. "Why don't you two dance? You'll be the centerpiece of this party if you do!"

"You know it!" Daisy winked and ran off.

"Wow… she really hates you, doesn't she?" the giant Yoshi's voice came from above him.

"Yeah, maybe…" Mario shrugged. "She's just got a hot temper."

"So you say she's overblowing it? You don't agree with her at all?"

Mario didn't answer. He had learned his lesson from the last Spirit. He did let Luigi down. But right now, he seemed happy, so who was he to think that his presence would make a difference? "Well, Spirit, all you're showing me is happiness. They're forgetting all their cares, even about me. So what's the point?"

"You really think so, huh? Well, Christmas is certainly a time of peace. It's the one night a year that can truly be a Silent Night. But you should learn from what happens past that outward expression and inward joy. Joy doesn't mean happiness, Mario."

"Well, guys! It's time for storytelling!" Daisy shouted after the last song.

"What?" Luigi turned to her. "Oh, no…"

"Come on, Master Luigi!" Toad and Toadette begged.

Mario chuckled. "They're the only ones who call him that…"

Luigi smiled. "Fine, a story."

"Yippee!" all the mushroom children cheered. Luigi sat by the grand Christmas tree at the side.

"Once upon a long time ago, there was a star, just as there is atop this tree…" he gestured to it. "It took its place above a small town, full of people and activity, just like Mushroom Kingdom. But this place was so full, that they couldn't even provide room for a pregnant girl and her husband. They wandered around the small town until they found a small stable. The animals were kind enough to let them use their feeding box, their manger, to place the newborn baby. Right up above them that bright star shown, almost as bright as the morning star, the sun. People came from miles around to see the baby boy in the manger, as he was the greatest gift the earth would ever receive."

Mario smiled. "He is a wonderful storyteller…"

"Yes, but what he prides himself most of all in are stories of you."

Mario fell silent again. "Really, Spirit?"

"You bet."

"Now… what you may not have heard in that story is the visitation of the great hero, Mario!" The mushroom kids laughed.

Daisy growled, "Don't include that Scrooge in your story, Luigi!"

"Aw, come on, Daisy. It's a Christmas story! Everyone is invited to the manger."

"Fine… for Christmas's sake…" She sat and pouted in the corner as Luigi continued.

"Now, Mario was far away, beating Bowser for the hundredth time."

"Hey!" Bowser roared from the back.

"It's true, Bowser!" Luigi laughed. "Then, he saw that star in the distance. 'Mamma Mia!' he thought to himself. 'That star will make me invincible for decades!' So he went to grab it."

"Is that when he had his Penguin adventure?" Toad asked.

"Oh yeah! The Penguin adventure!" Toadette cheered.

"Yes it is!" Luigi winked. "Now, as you know… It was very cold that day, so Mario had to find a good Penguin Suit. He ran through, skating on the ice, using koopa shells like hockey pucks. That's when he came across a huge question mark block. Unsure of what would come from it, he kicked a koopa shell at it. When it opened, ten bomb-ombs came out of it!"

"Wait… I know what he's telling…" Mario looked up. "That's a true story! Told more eloquently than it happened, but it's true!"

"Well of course it is!" the Spirit said matter-of-factly. "He only tells true stories of you. He doesn't feel that he can quite create a story worthy of your heroism."

Mario looked again at his brother. "Well, he's making up the Christmas story… a little…"

"That's just Holiday flair. Something he rarely does, if at all. But as he said, everyone receives the gift in the manger. Isn't he right?"

Luigi was leaning into the kids now, "Luckily, they weren't lit, so Mario tried his best to creep around them. That's when a fireball koopa ignited one of them. That means that they could all explode together!"

"Oh no!" the children all gasped.

"That's when Mario grabbed that bomb-omb and ran past the big block, past the icy hills and snow pits. Then he threw it out, hitting a strong block way up above him with perfect timing. Out fell a Penguin Suit, which he happily donned."

"Yay!"

Mario chuckled. "They're really into it, aren't they?"

Luigi sat back. "So, Mario was snug and warm in the blue suit, waddling toward that bright shining star. He made it to the town, slid through the streets, and came across the stable. 'Mamma Mia!' he gasped. The star wasn't a power up. It was signaling the presence of a Baby King, and Mario knew this now. So he knelt at the manger, all filled with hay and that smiling Babe. He took off his Penguin Suit and wrapped the poor Child that lay in swaddling clothes in the warmth of the suit. And that's how the story ends." He smiled, stood, and looked up at the star atop the tree again. "Buon Natale!"

Mario was suddenly yanked back by a sloppy, wet force. In darkness again, he thought awhile about what he had just witnessed. "Buon Natale, Luigi, and all of you. I hope you all may have a Merry Christmas… with or without me…"

His shell cracked open again, and he was back where he began. "Spirit… I still don't get it… I may never spend another Christmas with my brother, but so what?" He looked around. "Spirit?" The egg had disappeared, and he sat on his brick again. "So what…?" he repeated.