The teleportation stream released him at the back of the Youth Centre and sighing, Billy ran a hand through his dishevelled hair as he began to walk around to the entrance to the Centre. He had been thrown out of the Power Chamber - again - and was at loose ends - again. Sighing at the weirdness that his life had become recently, he walked in and looked around. An inadvertent smile appeared on his face as she saw Kat sitting by herself over by the corner. Stopping at the counter to get a couple of juices from Ernie, as he could see Kat didn't have one, he walked over and grinned slightly as he put the glasses down.

"Mind if I join you?" Kat looked up, startled and then grinned and waved at the empty chair.

"Not at all Billy, please, sit down." Her smile suddenly turned wicked. "You know what they say about people bearing gifts." He laughed softly.

"I think that saying is beware of Greeks bearing gifts." Laughing softly he returned her grin as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh you." She smiled at him and he grinned, sipping his juice. "So, get kicked out again?" Billy gave a rueful smile.

"Yeah, again. This time though they said that I'm not allowed to come back for 48 hours unless it's an emergency. I guess I've been a bit of a hermit." Kat gave him an incredulous look.

"Just a bit of a hermit Billy, we've barely seen you." Kat reached over and tapped him on the nose with her pen. "You need to get sunlight more than once a week my friend." Billy grinned as he swatted the pen away.

"I know, I know. What are you doing anyway?" He gestured to the stack of cards that were sitting on the table that she had been busy writing on when he walked in. Kat looked down and smiled slightly.

"Christmas cards to my friends back home. In Australia." Her softly accented tone became slightly sad and her soft blue eyes became sad. "I just wanted to let them know I was still thinking of them, even though I'm over here now." Billy studied her a moment, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

"You miss home don't you?" Kat nodded.

"Even though I live here now, Australia will always be my home." Kat shrugged in slight embarrassment and ducked her head slightly. Billy smiled and reached over, tilting her head up to look her in the eyes.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of Kat. This place must seem very strange to you sometimes. I guess we forget your feelings of homesickness. I'm sorry if it seems we're insensitive to your needs." Kat blushed slightly and smiled gently at him.

"Thank you. Guess it's just hitting home now that I won't be there for Christmas this year. It's going to feel very strange." Billy looked at her and his never ending curiosity won out.

"So tell me about how you spent your Christmas there please. What did you do, what was your favourite part?" Kat grinned and laughed softly, sipping her drink before she began speaking. Billy was always the inquisitive one, but she didn't mind, and besides, it would be nice to talk about home for a while. She thought a moment and landed on one of her fondest memories.

"Well, there was this one tradition we did every year as a family that I'm particularly going to miss." Kat's tone was soft as she spoke.

"What's that Kat?"

"The Carols by Candlelight held on Christmas Eve."

Kat took another sip of her drink, absently playing with the pen in her hand as she spoke softly and Billy sat there, watching her speak and listening to her words, not only with his ears but his heart as well. There was something special about Kat that always intrigued him and he was suddenly glad he had gotten this opportunity to spend some time with her without the others around.

"Each year, on Christmas Eve, the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind hosts the Carols by Candlelight at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Every year we would gather a whole bunch of our friends and family and go to them. We'd arrive early in the day, with picnic baskets full of food and drink. We'd set our blankets up on the ground and spend the day playing cards, games, walking around the park, anything really. Then we bought our candles and just when the sun started to go down, out would come the bands and the carollers. It's broadcast on television nationwide and they get millions of viewers each year. We would sit there, light our candles sing our hearts out and it is always such a beautiful summer's night." Kat sighed softly. "I'm going to miss it this year for the first time ever."

"Sounds like you really have a great time there." Kat smiled and her eyes lit up.

"Yes, I really did. To me, they were Christmas. And they'll always mean Christmas I suppose, no matter where I am in the world." There wasn't much Billy could say to that, but his mind was already busy on an idea to make this Christmas just as special for Kat.

Billy had spent hours wandering around Angel Grove Mall looking for what he wanted. After leaving Kat at the Youth Centre he had gone home and spent a few hours doing some research on the Net and had a nice long shopping list by the time he was finished. The next morning he spent going around Angel Grove Mall buying what he needed, but he didn't mind, as it was for Kat. He then spent the rest of the day tracking down each and every ranger and getting their agreement for his surprise that he had planned for Kat. Taking the things he had purchased home he then spent a few pleasant hours busy in his kitchen. It wasn't well known among the rangers, except for Jason, that he was pretty good in kitchen. So, later that night he fell into bed into a tired but happy sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a great day, he couldn't wait to see the look on Kat's face.

Kat looked around in confusion, wondering what was going on. After breakfasting with her parents, she had been handed a letter with a grin and a wink by Tanya and confused, she opened it. Inside was a note in Billy's extremely neat handwriting, telling her to bring Tanya with her and meet him at the park by the lake, at lunch time. The only thing that the note said to bring was herself and a box of matches. Confused but intrigued, she and Tanya spent the morning shopping for Christmas presents for the other rangers.

At lunch time they made their way to the park, wrapped packages in bags by their sides. Tanya had sort of insisted that they bring them along, but wouldn't say why. Kat was extremely curious by now, and was eagerly waiting to see what was going on. They arrived to find a blanket spread out on the ground with an envelope on it. Curious, Kat opened it and there was another note from Billy. This one said to leave the packages and go to the Youth Centre and pick up a package from Ernie, but when they returned, all would be revealed. Curiosity raging by now, the girls did what the note said and left their packages and headed for the Youth Centre. By the time they returned to the park, almost an hour had passed and they carried a rather large picnic basket between them both. When they got back to the spot they had left earlier, what they found caused them both to break out into wide smiles.

The four male rangers, plus Billy, were arrayed in a semi-circle around the blanket, candles in their hands and innocent expressions on their faces. Billy gestured for the ladies to sit down on the blanket in front of them, and exchanging grins they did. The five men then bowed their heads as one at the two ladies and Billy stepped forward slightly.

"Kat, did you bring the matches?" Kat nodded and threw them to him from her seat on the ground, too amazed and choked up to speak by what she was seeing before her. Catching them with one hand, he quickly lit everyone's candles and then stepped back to stand with the others.

"Kat, we know that you're missing your home back in Australia, and especially at this time of year. So, after what you told me the other day I thought we'd bring a little bit of Australia here for you. So, after doing some research, I got the others together and well, this is our Christmas present to you. Your own little special version of Carols by Candlelight. In the basket is food that we got together," Here Billy was interrupted by Jason.

"He means that he spent hours cooking Kat, don't let him deny that." Billy blushed and continued to speak after throwing a glance at his oldest friend.

"So we're going to sing a few carols, have a picnic with you, and then tonight we'll sing some more when the sun goes down. And I've arranged some fireworks as well." Kat was speechless and she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at them all, smiling widely. Finally she managed to find her voice and when she spoke, her eyes locked onto Billy's blue ones.

"Thank you. Thank you everyone, especially you Billy. For making this a Christmas I won't forget. Thank you all." They all smiled and Billy nodded, blushing slightly.

"It's not a problem Kat. Ready guys?" At their nods, suddenly they began to sing. Kat clapped her hands and laughed loudly as they began to sing Six White Boomers, a carol written specifically for Australia. Smiling widely and laughing with Tanya, Kat relaxed and enjoyed the effort that her friends had gone to. This Christmas would be one she definitely wouldn't forget in a hurry.