Once upon a time in a little village, a family was having a Christmas celebration. The 25th of December was always a huge day for this family of four, all their relatives and friends came over to play and exchange presents. The family consisted of Mother, Father, their daughter Annie, and their little son Rory, who lived in a rather big house. The house was full because of all the relatives and friends.
"Alright, everyone!" Mother called, "Are you happy with your presents?"
All the little kids like Rory cheered happily, while the older ones like Annie just nodded solemnly. Annie and her best friend Katniss were sitting on the couch, and Rory was playing with Katniss' sister Primrose.
Suddenly, the door flew open. A shadowy figure stood at the entrance as everyone became silent. The silence was interrupted when Annie's father called out "Haymitch! Bro!" and walked over to the shadowy figure. The man was his best friend, who was also Annie's godfather.
"Hey, man." Haymitch replied as he walked in and closed the door. "Kids, I have PRESENTS!"
All the kids cheered as he took his gifts out of the bag. Haymitch took out a couple of tiny tanks and toy soldiers.
"These are for Rory." he said.
"Yay! Perfect for my toy army!" Rory cried, taking them and running to his toys. Haymitch continued giving out gifts. He gave one to Katniss, her boyfriend Peeta, and all the others until he reached the last one. A little nutcracker, with bronze hair and eyes that were just as green as Annie's.
"Wow..." Annie said when she saw the nutcracker.
"This gift is yours, Annie." Haymitch answered, handing Annie the little nutcracker.
"Thank you, Uncle Haymitch." Annie said. Annie and Rory called him Uncle Haymitch even though he wasn't their real uncle.
The kids played with their gifts for five minutes, then it was time for them to go home.
"Nice seeing you!"
"Merry Christmas!"
"Have a good night!"
Father, Mother, and Haymitch said to everyone.
The three adults went into the kitchen while Annie and Rory stayed in the living room. Annie went up to her room and came back down with a little bed that she used for her old dolls. She was about to put the nutcracker in it, when Rory noticed.
"Oh, that guy would be a perfect solider."
"Rory, he's mine."
"But I want him to be my soldier!"
"Too bad!"
"Ugh. You're so mean. Just let me have him for a bit." Rory said, trying to take the nutcracker from her.
"You're being selfish." Annie replied, moving away from him.
"You're not sharing!" Rory cried.
"You're not saying please!" Annie shouted. Rory looked beyond mad, he tried to take the nutcracker again. Annie and Rory wrestled over it for a couple of minutes, and suddenly they heard a crack.
Annie looked down at the nutcracker in her hands, and saw that his leg was cracked.
"Uh, you can have him, I don't want a broken toy anyways..." Rory said, backing away.
"Rory!" Annie said, "Look what you did!"
"It wouldn't have broken if you didn't fight back!" Rory replied.
"But if you hadn't asked for it in the first place-" Annie started, but she was interrupted when her parents and Haymitch came in.
"What's going on?" Father asked.
"My nutcracker broke." Annie sighed.
"Annie, you're older than Rory. Why are you acting so childish?" Mother asked her.
"I still like my toys... I even still have my other dolls, Johanna and Gale..." Annie replied.
"Gale was mine, you're lucky I even gave him to you." Rory said.
"Alright." Mother sighed, "It's Rory's bedtime anyways."
"I'm takin' the guest room, guys. And Annie, I'll fix the nutcracker for you. My job is fixing things, after all." Haymitch said. Haymitch travelled a lot, he went to different towns and kingdoms fixing and inventing things for everyone. He made sure to come home for Christmas every year.
"Thanks, Uncle Haymitch." Annie replied sadly.
"Would you like me to tell you guys a bedtime story? I'll tell you the story of how this nutcracker came to be." Haymitch said.
"Yeah!" Rory said happily, "I can stay up for a story, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so. But he has to be in bed by 9, Haymitch." Mother said. Haymitch nodded, and Mother and Father headed upstairs.
"Once, in a kingdom, there lived a young boy named Finnick. He was working for the King and Queen, trying to capture the rats that lived in their castle. He caught most of the rats, including the Queen Rat. There was only one that wasn't dead yet, the Queen Rat's son, who declared himself as the new Rat King. The Rat King was furious. He casted a spell on poor Finnick, transforming him into a nutcracker. Finnick's uncle tried to catch the Rat King, but he escaped. The only way for Finnick to return back to normal is if he defeats that Rat King, who disappeared a long time ago..." Haymitch explained.
"Wow! That's so cool!" Rory said.
"Yeah..." Annie agreed, looking at the nutcracker Haymitch was holding.
"Haymitch, get them to bed!" Mother called, so Annie and Rory went to bed while Haymitch started working on the nutcracker.
Annie had been lying down for hours, she couldn't sleep. Everyone else in the house was asleep, why not her?
"I just want some water." she whispered to herself. She took her dolls, Johanna and Gale, and walked down to the living room.
"Nutcracker," Annie said, taking him out of the doll bed, "this is Johanna and Gale. They're your new friends."
She noticed that Haymitch had started working on the nutcracker, but hadn't finished. Annie put the three toys down on the couch and went to get a glass of water.
"What time is it?" she quietly asked as she walked back into the living room. She looked at the grandfather clock as it struck midnight, and the owl on top of it transformed into Haymitch!
"Uncle Haymitch?!" Annie asked. Haymitch laughed, and suddenly an army of rats emerged, led by one bigger rat with a crown.
"The Rat King..." Annie whispered. Haymitch nodded his head, and the nutcracker came to life and jumped off the couch! Johanna and Gale jumped up and followed him, then Rory's toy soldiers also joined. The army charged towards the rats.
"Nutcracker?" Annie asked, as she unknowingly started shrinking down to his size.
"Annie!" he cried, as he kicked another rat out of his way. The Rat King came closer to the nutcracker, looking furious.
"Look what you've done to my soldiers." he hissed, swinging his sword at the nutcracker.
"Look what you've done to mine." the nutcracker replied. He dodged the Rat King's sword, but his own sword was knocked out of his hands. The Rat King shoved him to the ground and pointed his sword to the nutcracker's chest.
"Say goodbye to everything, Finnick." the rat snarled.
"No!" Annie cried, taking off her slipper and throwing it at the Rat King's head. He was knocked over and Finnick stood up as quickly as he could with his injured leg, then grabbed his sword, and pointed it at the Rat King.
"Leave, Rat."
"Fine. You win this time, Finnick, but I'm going to capture Madge and take over!" The Rat King declared.
"Yeah, yeah. I'd like to see that happen." Finnick laughed. The Rat King glared at him, then punched him in the leg that was still injured.
"Stupid nutcracker." the Rat mumbled, then he disappeared along with his other soldiers. The fog they produced upon disappearing made Annie feel lightheaded, and she passed out on the living room floor.
Annie awoke and sat up on her bed.
"What? Was that a dream? It couldn't be..." she said. She looked next to her and saw that Johanna and Gale were lifeless again and in the doll bed together.
"That bed was in the living room yesterday..." Annie said, "What's going on?!"
"Annie, are you okay?" Mother asked as she walked into Annie's room, "Dad found you in the living room last night and brought you up here."
"The-the..." Annie started. Her mother put her hand on Annie's forehead.
"Yeah, you've got a fever. You should just rest today."
"But mom! There was-" Annie tried to say.
"No, Annie, just rest." Mother replied, then she walked out.
Later on, Haymitch walked in, holding the nutcracker in one hand and a bowl in the other.
"Your mother said you're feeling sick today, she told me to bring you this soup." he said, placing the soup on her dresser. Then he gave Annie the nutcracker.
"You fixed him! Thank you." Annie said.
"You're welcome." Haymitch replied.
"But I'm not sick, Uncle Haymitch, I'm fine! It was Finnick, and the Rat King! And there was an army!" Annie cried out. Haymitch, who was now standing at the doorway of the room, just shrugged.
"The story about Finnick...is true?! I thought you just made that up as a bedtime story for Rory!" Annie said, gazing at the little nutcracker in her arms.
"See for yourself." Haymitch said, then he disappeared from the doorway.
That night, Annie waited for everyone to fall asleep. She went back to the living room, holding the doll bed with Gale, Johanna, and Finnick inside. Surely enough, the Rat King was there.
"Annie, what you did last night was not very nice." the Rat King hissed, looking up at Annie.
"You're not very nice." Annie replied, putting the little bed down.
"Wow, I'm so scared." the Rat King said sarcastically, "What're you gonna do? Throw your other slipper at me?"
"Uh..." Annie looked down at her slippers on her feet.
"I'll capture Madge, Finnick, AND you, like Finnick did to my mother." the Rat King said to Annie. Suddenly, Haymitch appeared on the clock.
"I have a whole army I could put against you, so I suggest you back off!" Gale said to the Rat King as he and Johanna came to life. Annie ran to where Finnick was and picked him up. The Rat King shoved her and Annie fell, then he grabbed the nutcracker. Haymitch nodded again, then Finnick came to life and tackled the Rat.
"Ugh! Whatever. I'll see you guys when I take over." the Rat King laughed, that sentence weakened Finnick's grip, so the Rat threw him across the room then disappeared, and Annie shrunk down to toy size.
"Finnick!" Annie cried as she, Gale, and Johanna ran over to him.
"I'm fine." the nutcracker said as Gale helped him up.
"Where did the rat go?" Annie asked.
"He went to the land of the toys and mystical beings. Madge, who is known as the SugarPlum Fairy, is the Princess." Finnick explained.
"Is that where we have to go now?" Johanna asked excitedly.
"Yes, it is." Finnick replied, "Everyone hold hands!"
Finnick took Annie's hand. Johanna grabbed Annie's other hand and then Gale grabbed Johanna's, and they teleported to the Land.
Annie was amazed by the Land, everything was made out of candy and it was absolutely beautiful.
The four of them got into a boat in the river, and Finnick rowed them to the castle.
"Finnick!" a blond girl with beautiful wings ran up to them when they arrived.
"Madge, this is Annie, Johanna, and Gale." Finnick said.
"Welcome, welcome to my castle, there isn't much time." Madge said, bringing them into the castle. There were rats running everywhere, it was chaotic.
Finnick spotted the Rat King and ran after him. They ran to the very top of the castle.
"You are NOT getting away with this." Finnick said.
"Oh yes I am, you stupid little-" the Rat King started to say, but Finnick pushed him off the castle and he fell all the way down.
"Finnick!" Annie cried, as the nutcracker came back into the castle. Annie ran to him and Finnick picked her up and spun around. Madge opened the doors and many cheering citizens started entering the castle.
"All hail Finnick, the new Prince of the Dolls!" they cried.
"May I have this dance?" Finnick asked Annie as music began to play. Annie took his hand and they danced around the floor gracefully.
Finnick led Annie out to the balcony and they looked out at the beautiful sky.
"Annie..." Finnick said, getting down on one knee and holding her hands tightly, "I...I want you to be my Princess..."
"Finnick..." Annie whispered, "I wish I could, I really do, but I have to go back home..."
"But-" Finnick started, but he suddenly started weakening. Annie brought him to the castle, where she saw Johanna and Gale weakening as well.
"What?..." Annie asked.
"It's Haymitch's magic..." Madge said, "His magic was the only thing keeping Gale, Johanna, and Finnick alive. Finnick's going back to being a nutcracker, and Gale and Johanna will be dolls again..."
Gale and Johanna fell down to the floor as regular, inanimate toys.
"But... Haymitch said the only way for Finnick to return back to normal is if he defeats that Rat King..." Annie said, looking down at Finnick who was lying in her arms.
"The Rat must not be dead..." Finnick said in a shaky voice. Tears started to fall from Annie's eyes, but Finnick weakly brushed them away. As the nutcracker took his last breath, Annie lightly kissed his lips.
The Rat King entered right then and there, though he was very weak.
"I will defeat you..." he said, walking towards Madge. Annie gently released Finnick, then shoved the Rat towards the balcony, and pushed him over it. But as he fell the Rat King grabbed her arm. Annie screamed as he dragged her down, but she grabbed onto the balcony before she could fall. The Rat fell down to his doom, while Annie climbed over the balcony and ran back to the inside. Madge and everyone else were now gone, just the lifeless Gale, Johanna, and Finnick remained. Annie brought the three of them close to her, then took Finnick's body in her arms and silently cried herself to sleep.
Annie woke up on her bed, just like she had last time. Her cheeks were still stained from crying. Gale and Johanna were in her bed with her.
"I guess Haymitch's magic brought us back..." she said, "Did it bring Finnick back?!"
She ran downstairs and didn't see Finnick anywhere. The living room looked like nothing had ever happened.
"Dad!" Annie called, "Is Haymitch still in town?!"
"Yeah, he's at his workshop. Why?!" her father asked.
"I need to speak with him!" Annie cried, then she rushed out of the house still wearing her nightgown and slippers.
"Haymitch!" Annie said, rushing into his shop.
"Whoa, you never call me Haymitch. It's always 'Uncle Haymitch.'" he told her.
"Last night a whole fiasco happened... That fairytale you told us about Finnick... Is it true?..." Annie asked. Haymitch didn't really know how to reply.
"Uncle Haymitch, is it true?..." Annie asked again. Before either of them could say anything else, a bronze haired, green eyed boy entered the shop.
"Hey, Uncle Haymitch... and Hello, Annie." the boy said.
"Hello, Finnick." Annie replied, smiling brightly. They ran to each other and hugged tightly. Haymitch smiled at them and disappeared at the back of the shop.
"What happened to the Land?" Annie asked him.
"Madge is ruling it on her own again. The Rat King was defeated and I turned back into a boy, so I can no longer be the Prince of the Dolls... But I don't care, I'd much rather be here with you." Finnick explained, smiling at Annie and looking into her eyes.
"Oh, Finnick..." Annie said, smiling back at him, "I'm glad we could finally be together."
Finnick kissed Annie, and they knew they would live together happily ever after.
The End! And Merry (late) Christmas to everyone!