The storm was right on schedule. A blizzard so thick that it would block all forms of tracking, even satellites would be blind to his route. Secrecy was essential to his mission. Every year it was the same, as he left or approached the North Pole, the blizzard would appear, a 200 square mile storm to completely cover all tracks.
Santa pulled the sleigh to a halt in the centre of the landing pad. The storm was not a problem here. No wind, and no snow below 500 feet allowed him to set down on the first pass, of course the reindeer knew where they were going. They had been doing this since before he was born.
The pad descended into the warmth of the hanger and the hanger crew was waiting for him. The elves had the stalls prepared for the reindeer and the blocks for the sleigh. They too had centuries to perfect their routine. Within minutes the tack was removed and hung up, the reindeer fed and sleigh chocked and blocked for another year.
Santa watched the elves for a few minutes before heading off to his quarters, smiling all the way. It had been another good year completed and he was looking forward to their vacation. Every year since he took over, the week between Christmas and New Years was spent in the tropics on vacation, for the whole company.
He noticed a small spring in his step and more smiles on the faces he passed. The craziness of the last month fell off with the completion of another successful toy run. Every elf he passed was relaxed and the picture of health, they always were. Santa walked on and concentrated on the magic that the elves had taught him.
Elves had the ability to change their physical appearance at will and had shared this gift with the current Santa, a first. Up until he took over Santa was made old by magic and kept that way until he retired, but this Santa had implemented so many positive changes for the elves that they had shared some of their secrets with him, the first being the ability to change outward appearances to one's own wishes.
All of the elves about him now appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties. They chose this form for the strength and stamina of the young. The truth was none was under 300 years old, in fact he had rarely seen an elf under 200. The elves considered 200 the age of majority for their race and kept the younglings in seclusion until that age. For their fact finding missions among the people of the world they could appear as young as 5 or as old as 75 for the senior citizens.
Santa felt the changes start as he approached his quarters, the weight started to fall away, the beard shrank back into his face, the white hair changed back to his normal sandy blonde colour, the wrinkles in his face smoothed out and he had to hold his pants up as he walked, not that it mattered here, but he still did not like to drag the suit around. As he reached his office leading to the master bedroom he was the 22 year old man he had been when he became Santa.