It's my first update in a while and I kinda struggled putting this simple one-shot together. So, yeah, that says something about any other ongoing projects I may have in this website.
Christmas tree and Santa's toy factory, third floor
"Your beard smells funny," the little girl with a ponytail at the top of her head said sitting on his lap.
"Well," Jack said thickening his voice and laughing exaggeratedly in a way that made his prominent foam belly wiggle. "Santa hasn't bathed in a couple of days now. You know, because he's busy making all the toys for nice little girls like you."
He pinched the girl's nose affectionately, making her giggle in delight. He lowered his head and cupped his hand over the little girl's ear so he could whisper, "But don't tell Mrs. Claus that," to what the girl giggle again.
"Alright, Agnes," the girl's father called clapping his hand twice. "You've had your time. We still have to pick your sisters up. Let's go," the tall man said sentence after sentence without stopping for air, as if chanting a mantra.
The girl, Agnes, pouted and looked pleading at Santa with big puppy eyes.
"Your dad is calling, little girl," Santa said with a sad smile. "You don't wanna go to the naughty list now, do you?"
Agnes's eyes shot wide open and she immediately jumped from the guy's lap.
"Say goodbye to Santa, honey," the man said as his daughter stopped beside him and caught his hand.
"Bye-bye, Santa!" The girl waved energetically. "Please, don't forget my unicorn!"
Santa waved back with his white gloved hand.
As soon as the two were out of ears reach, he heard a female voice coming from beside him. "Nice going, Frost."
He turned his head to find one of Santa's helpers. A girl about his age wearing a green dress and red leggings. Her most distinguished feature, though, was the gravity-defying beautiful red curls around her head.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"You really should get a prize, you now," the girl continued shaking her head disapprovingly. "You just passed your terrible hygiene habits to a little girl. That was great. Congratulations, dingass."
"You're overreacting, DunBroch." He rolled his eyes. "Kids are allowed to be a little smelly at that age. They smell like sugar and mud. Quite an interesting combination of fragrances, if you ask me."
The girl groaned in frustration.
"Now if you're done talking, we gotta get back to work." Jack moved his neck and shoulders cracking his tired bones. "Let the next one in."
Arendelle Flower Shop, second floor
He felt stupid. And it didn't help that all the customers around him were in that crazy haze of last-minute shopping for Christmas and he was just standing there like he had the toughest choice in the world on his shoulders.
Flowers were the lamest gift he could ever get. Well, it wasn't like he could get a bottle of bourbon or anything like that…
He sighed heavily. He had been staring at the holiday arrangement of bouquets for what felt like hours. There were some roses in front of him. They were fully blossomed and the heavy scent was nauseating. He wondered how many chemicals had been given to those flowers for them to look so beautiful and so unnaturally perfect.
"Red roses are very popular at Christmas too, you know," he heard a female voice saying from somewhere to his left.
He looked in that direction and found a platinum blonde teenage girl smiling at him from the counter. She had a pink apron on and her hair was braided in a complex, yet at the same time casual, French braid.
"Can I help you?"
"I…Uh…" he stuttered feeling the nape of his neck heating up in embarrassment. "I'm looking for a present… kinda…"
"It may sound like a big cheesy cliché, but most girls like flowers and wouldn't be opposed to receiving red roses, no matter the occasion," the girl said with a warm smile.
He scratched the back of his head, his fingers running through his auburn messy locks. "That's… not really…"
The blonde's eyes widened as she realized her assumption was wrong and one of her hands went to cover her mouth. She blushed embarrassed, making him even more uncomfortable. "I'm so sorry, I just..."
"It's okay," he said quickly to ease the awkwardness between them. He gave her a genuine smile. "I'll take the lilies." He pointed to the bucket of white lilies on the floor next to the roses. Those were his mom's favorite, he felt like it would be a decent choice.
"Alright." The girl walked around the counter and went in his direction. "Let me wrap these up for you."
"Thanks." He fished his phone from his jeans pocket and checked the time. Despite his delay to pick the flowers, he had plenty of time to spare.
The girl took a dozen of lilies in her arms and went back to the counter, expertly arranging the flowers along with some green foliage in a sheet of tissue paper.
As he waited, he took a moment to look around and take in the environment. Looking at all the people made him a little dizzy and claustrophobic. He turned to an emptier side of the store, a corner where a little girl around the age of five—probably related to some employee—played with her dolls. In the wall behind the counter, there was a cork board with many notes pinned to it. He focused on those, identifying some flower orders, receipts, tasks… He heard the announcement about the Santa's factory coming from the speakers outside the shop.
"Would you like anything else?" the girl asked catching his attention, the elegantly done bouquet resting over the counter.
"No, that would be all." He fished some crumpled up bills from his wallet and gave to her. "Thanks for your help."
"I'm happy to help," the blonde said with a smile. She handed him the bouquet along with the receipt. "Here you go."
"Thanks. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too."
Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, second floor
She leaned against the wall and stared at the full body mirror on the other side of the room. She looked at her reflection and sighed. She was a mess. Her once youthful joy was practically gone, replaced by plain exhaustion. Her green eyes were heavy with tiredness, her clothes were all crumpled up from running around the store the whole day, and her hair was all tangled in a messy braid…
She would never, ever take a holiday shift again. No matter how much they offered her to do it, no matter how much they begged her to do it.
"Don't forget to smile!" A melodious voice came from the entry to the changing room.
The girl found the sales manager smiling at her kindly. Her boss looked stunning, her hair pulled back in a neat bun at the top of her head, her beautiful dress sparkling with all the colors of a hummingbird, so contrasting with the white, cold, concrete walls surrounding them.
The woman approached and the teenager pushed herself off the wall with a weak smile.
"I know it's been hectic," the woman said apologetically. "You really saved us, honey."
"I didn't do anything…" the girl said shyly.
"You're being modest. This is one of the busiest days of the year, and we needed all hands on deck." The woman placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder. "And you've been of so much help!"
The girl smiled. "Thank you, miss T."
"I should be the one thanking you!"
The door to one of the changing booths opened and the two employees turned to see a petite woman walking out. Her platinum hair cascaded down her shoulders and she wore a sophisticated black cocktail dress. She was stunning.
"You look amazing!" the girl said out of breath at such gorgeous woman.
The client gave her a polite smile. "Thanks."
"She's right." The manager nodded in agreement. "That dress looks incredible on you. You are stunning."
"Well," the woman chuckled checking herself on the mirror and turning to the right, then the left to inspect the dress. "You sure know how to treat a client in here."
The manager laughed. "Our founder believed in making our clients' wishes come true."
"And you're succeeding remarkably, from all the movement I've seen," the woman in black said gesturing to the front of the shop, where all the action was happening. "I'd call it a successful Christmas."
"It's quite a pleasure to be able to help so many people in one day."
"So what do you think of the dress?" the younger girl asked.
"It's a beautiful dress. And I do like how it feels," the platinum haired woman said looking from over her shoulder to the image of her back on the mirror. "Plus, you also complimented me, and that should be taken into account."
"And you will not regret doing so," the manager reassured her with confidence.
The platinum haired woman chuckled softly. "I'll take it."
"Would you like me to wrap it up for you?" the blonde asked.
The client checked her watch with a little pout as she pondered her options for a moment. "That won't be necessary," she said going back to the changing booth and picking her things. "I'll wear it now."
"Alright." The girl nodded and gestured to the entry. "I'll get a bag for you to put your clothes in." The girl left hurriedly.
"And if you follow me," the manager said. "I'll take you to the cashier."
The two women made small talk on their way there, the manager's professionalism enough to make them look like old best friends talking to each other. The platinum haired woman paid for the dress with her credit card and the teenager met her by the counter with a paper bag with the boutique logo stamped in gold ink on it.
"Thank you for shopping with us!" the blonde girl said with a cheerful smile. "Have a nice day!"
Water fountain, first floor
A group of kids sat by the water fountain in the center of the first floor. They had been dropped by their busy parents not so long ago accompanied by their sixteen years old sitter. They had made a deal with the teen so she would spend the day with her friends while they did their own things without having to listen to her demands, and no parent would have to hear about their deal.
"What are we doing today?" Candlehead, a girl with green pigtails asked.
"How about we go to the movies?" A boy with an upward cowlick and brown hat spoke.
The girl rolled her eyes and stared at him. "We did that last week, Rancis. And there aren't any new movies yet."
"I was thinking about the arcade," The blonde girl, the leader of the squad said pulling her lollipop out of her mouth with a pop. "It's time we check if anyone's beat my score on Sugar Rush."
As the boy noticed someone familiar walking in their direction, he gestured with his head as he said, "Check who's coming this way."
The rest of the group turned their heads to stare at the blond boy approaching.
"What are you guys doing?" the tiny boy asked curious.
The green haired girl stepped up with her arms crossed and stood in front of the newcomer, as if a barrier to stop him from taking another step.
"Beat it, loser. This is our spot," the leader of the gang said.
A brunette girl by the end of the group snorted. It was the first sound she pronounced during the whole time she had been there with them. "Give it a break, Taffyta," she said turning to the rest of the group, the colorful hairclips holding her bangs in place becoming visible from under her hoodie. "This is a public space."
"Yeah, but he can't talk to us," the boy with a cowlick, Rancis, said with a frown.
The girl with red hair and cherry themed clothes nodded in agreement. "I don't want people thinking that we are friends with that." She pointed in the boy's direction with contempt.
"It's already kinda bad that we hang out with someone so like… you, Vanellope," the leader said with a mocking smile. "No offence."
"Sure, why would I be offended?"
"We just tolerate you because you're Taffyta's cousin," Candlehead said.
"And I am grateful for that every single day of my life," Vanellope rolled her eyes.
"Ahem," the newcomer cleared his throat annoyed for being ignored.
Taffyta turned to look at him and sized him up and down slowly. "So what brings you here, Parr?"
"My mom took my baby brother Jack Jack to the doctor, so I had to come here with my sister," he explained with a shrug. "She's working at the arcade today."
"The arcade, you say?" the eyes of the kids sparkled with excitement.
"Yeah, she's on the prizes booth," the boy said unaware of their change of heart.
"You think she could let us play for free?"
"I guess she could…"
Taffyta narrowed her eyes intently analyzing the blond boy. "Tell you what, Dashy boy," she said with a smug smirk. "It's Christmas Eve, and I'm feeling the holiday spirit. So I'll let you hang with us." She looked around for a moment as if looking for something. "You see that store over there?"—she gestured with her head and the rest of the kids turned to look at it. –"All you have to do is…"
Wandering Oaken's, first floor
A brunet guy was waking to the entrance of the store with his newly purchased bag of Christmas goods. He switched the paper bag from one hand to the other carefully not to damage the present he had just bought.
"Excuse-me, mister?" A tiny man in a blue uniform stopped him as he passed the perfume section of the department store.
The teenager guy stopped and looked at the smaller man with a questioning look. "Yeah?"
"Can you help me real quick?" the man asked.
The teenager checked the time on his watch and made some mental calculation. Then, he shrugged. "Sure."
"What do you think about this cologne?" The man blew a puff of perfume right on the younger one's face, making the latter cough disgusted. He could taste the chemicals burning his throat.
"It's a good cologne," he said feeling his eyes water. With a quick check up and down the man, he added, "But I think it's a little bit too strong for you. No offence."
"Oh, no." The man waved it off with an amused chuckle. "It's not for me. I agree with you, it's a bit too strong for me." He looked down at the perfume bottle fondly. "It's for my younger brother. He's this big, tuff guy but a good man with a heart of gold."
The corner of the teenager's lips curved upwards without him noticing. "Well, in that case, I think he would like it."
The man smiled. "Thank you, young man. I really appreciate your help."
"Anytime."
The taller guy watched as the shorter one walked in the direction of the cashier with a bottle of the cologne murmuring to himself, "Oh, boy. Ralph is gonna love this!"
As he walked to the entry of the shop a blond kid came running in his direction and bumped into him unceremoniously.
"Hey, watch it!" he shouted holding the paper bag higher.
"Sorry," the boy muttered as he walked away with his head down.
"Kids," the teenager groaned as he stepped out of the store…
… And the alarm went off.
Christmas tree and Santa's toy factory, third floor
"Alright, I'm heading out," Merida said to the rest of the team as she shoved her belongings inside her backpack.
"Leaving so soon, Dunbroch?" the silver haired guy asked as he got in the tiny backstage room they had at his disposal for breaks. He quickly took his Santa hat off and pulled the beard down to his neck.
"Got another gig right now." She pulled out her phone. Crap, she cursed inside her head. She was late.
"Really?" He uncapped his water bottle and took a sip. "I thought you and I could grab a bite somewhere later."
She snorted throwing her bag over one shoulder. "When hell freezes over."
"Oh, come on, beautiful. You know you can't resist this." He gestured to his fake belly and moved up and down making its stuffing wiggle.
"Enjoy your meal alone, Frost," the ginger head said before she disappeared through the curtains.
He laughed. "Merry Christmas, Merida."
Somewhere in front of Wandering Oaken's first floor
The group of kids was gathered behind a bench. As soon the alarm went off, they all turned away from the shop windows and covered their ears.
"Are you really gonna let that loser hang with us?" Rancis, the blond with a hat yelled so he could be heard.
"Yeah, Taffyta," the girl with green pigtails added, also yelling. "He's… a loser!"
"Don't be dumb, Candlehead," Taffyta said with a roll of eyes. The alarm started fading out, and soon enough, the mall's Christmas-themes playlist could be heard playing again. "We're just gonna let him stay with us so he can score us some free passes in the arcade."
"Ohhhh!" The green haired girl clapped excited. "That's clever."
The dark haired girl facepalmed feeling annoyed. "For the love of God. Don't you have any shame, Taffyta?!"
"Did you guys hear anything?" the leader of the gang asked placing a hand on her ear and looking around with a frown. "Maybe it was a bug."
Rancis laughed and pushed Vanellope by the shoulder. "Buzz off, little bug."
"Look, he's coming back," Candlehead said gesturing with her head in the direction of the store they had sent Dash in. The boy was fidgeting, his shoulders were down and he kept looking around seeming uncomfortable and ashamed.
"Way to go, Dash!" Rancis jumped from the bench and tapped the other blond in the back.
Taffyta popped her lollipop out of her mouth and gave him a pleased smirk. "Well done, Dashy boy."
"Thanks…" Dash said rubbing his arm. He kept staring at the floor the whole time.
"Now, why don't we go have some fun at the arcade?" their female leader asked as she stood up headed. "Your sister can hook us up, right?"
"Yeah, sure." Dash shrugged and followed the other kids in the arcade's direction. "No problem."
Taffyta stared at him from over her shoulder for a moment as if reading his thoughts. Then, she nodded. "Awesome."
"Congratulations, Dash." Vanellope clapped with contempt. She hadn't moved a single muscle from where she had been sitting and she kept staring straight at him until his eyes met hers. "You succeeded in framing someone for shoplifting."
Taffyta glared at her cousin. "Don't listen to her. She's just jealous 'cause she's a loser."
"I'd rather be a loser than being evil and having no scruples."
The entirety of Taffyta's posse gasped in unison. The leader turned on her heels and narrowed her eyes at Vanellope. "What did you say?"
"You heard me." Vanellope crossed her arms and challenged the other girl with an arched eyebrow. "And you know what? Enjoy playing at the arcade. You so deserve it." She jumped from the bench and started walking in the opposite direction to them. "I'm out."
"Where are you going?" Taffyta asked, shock evident in her voice.
Without even turning to look at the rest of the group, Vanellope replied, "Anywhere away from you!"
"Don't come crying for forgiveness later!"
"I won't!" She stopped and her eyes locked with Dash's once more. "Oh, and again, congratulations, Dash. You so deserved becoming part of the gang."
Security room, second floor
It didn't take long after the alarm had gone off for someone to stop him and start searching his bag, pockets, anything. Even sooner, one of the mall's security guard was handcuffing him and throwing him inside the mall jail.
"For the last time, I didn't steal that," the teenage guy said pointing to the white watch/bracelet/evil controller thingie the security guard held in front of him, on the other side of the bars.
The security guard, a woman in her mid-thirties with short blonde hair and heavy eye makeup narrowed her eyes at him. "Well then, can you explain to me how it ended up inside your man purse?"
"For the record, it's not a purse, it's a satchel," the guy explained matter-of-factly, but quickly recoiled at the glares the woman was throwing at him. "I mean, I don't know. Look"—he sighed,—"I was leaving the store when the alarm went off, but I have no idea how that thing ended up in my bag. I don't even know what that is!"
The security guard rotated the white device in her hands. "That's a very convenient story."
He gritted his teeth and the hold he had on the cell bars tightened. "Why don't you check the security cameras, then?"
She snorted turning around and walking back to her desk. She sat down and propped her feet over the wooden surface. "You know how long it would take to go through all the footage just to find the exact moment you made the alarm go crazy?"
"It's a relief to know that the mall security is so willing to do their job!" He hit the metal with his fist, making the loud clanking noise echo through the room.
"Watch your tongue, boy. I don't like your contemptuous attitude and I can hold you in here for as long as I have to."
The guy sighed rubbing his temples. "Look, I apologize, Miss…" He took a moment to read the name tag on her uniform. "Tamora Calhoun. Beautiful name. Can I call you Tamora?"
"No."
"Okay. Look, officer, I apologize for my attitude." He looked at her straight in the eyes, conveying as much honesty as he could muster. "But you gotta understand my side of the story. I'm in a hurry—I was on my way to pick my girlfriend up. You see that bag?" He gestured to the gift bag over Calhoun's desk. "That's my Christmas present for her. We have reservations for Gusteau's. You know that restaurant?"
Calhoun shrugged checking her nails out of pure boredom. "Never heard of it."
"It's a five stars restaurant that serves French cuisine. You should go there some time." When he closed his eyes, he could taste the flavors dancing in his mouth. "It's divine." He sighed. "So anyway, I was on my way to pick my girlfriend, she works here at the mall, and we were going to celebrate our first Christmas together."
The security guard rolled her eyes holding back her gagging reflexes. "That's sweet."
"So can you please, please, have a heart and let me go?"
Calhoun slowly put her feet down and placed both hands on the table, leaning her torso forward in a threatening manner. "You think you can throw a beautiful story at me and get rid of the consequences with that pretty face of yours?"
He shook the cell bars frustrated. "I'm not trying to get rid of the consequences! I'm innocent! Which you would know if you saw the footage of that fucking store!"
She rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes at the teenager. "What's your name, boy?"
He hesitated before replying with apprehension, "…Eugene Fitzherbert?"
She walked slowly in his directions, one step at a time until she stopped right in front of him. "Mr. Fitzherbert, you were going to meet your girlfriend, weren't you?"
He felt chills running down his spine. "…Yes, I was."
"And apparently you don't mind making her wait, since considering that you're doing everything you can to be kept locked up in this cell."
"What?!" the teenager shouted. "Are you kidding me?"
"Raise your voice again and I'll make sure you spend your entire Christmas in here."
Arendelle Flower Shop, second floor
The door bell rang and Merida, the red haired girl came stumbling inside. "Sorry I'm late," she said rushing to the counter.
"Hey, Mer," the blonde girl greeted the other teenager with a smile. She was in the middle of wrapping a bouquet of hydrangea. "You're right on time, actually," she said checking her watch. "What happened to you? You look like you ran from across the mall to get here."
"Kinda," the ginger head mumbled as she went to the back to leave her backpack. "The Santa's helper gig took longer than expected."
"I can't believe you're overworking yourself at Christmas Eve," the blonde said giving the flowers to the female client in front of her.
Merida came back to the front wearing the shop's apron and tying the strings behind her back. "I've got bills to pay."
"Right." The blonde laughed as the other girl sat beside her behind the counter. "You didn't pay for that tapestry you destroyed yet?"
"Not everything." Merida sighed. "Mother could cut me some slack, though. That thing was ancient and it was about time we got rid of such monstrosity."
"Wasn't that a family inheritance?"
"Still hideous," the red head mumbled. "Enough about my family's awful taste in wall decoration. How's business?"
"We're selling alright. It's a little quieter now," the blonde said as she cleaned up her work station and got rid of cut out leaves and stalks.
Merida nodded. "That's good to hear."
"Can you stay on the cash register while I go check the flowers in the refrigerator?"
"Sure." The redhead nodded and moved to sit behind the cash desk as the blonde went to the door.
As the blonde walked, she heard the sound of something cracking under her foot. As she looked down, she saw one of her sister's plastic pink furniture toy shattered into pieces. "Anna, how many times did I tell you not to leave your toys on the floor?" she asked as she bent down to pick up the broken toy.
"Anna is here?" Merida asked looking at her.
The other girl put the plastic toy in the counter and headed to the back room. "Yeah, didn't you see her? She was in the muffin counter."
Merida looked around to check. "Uh… no, she wasn't."
"What?" the blonde's voice came muffle by the wall between them.
" Elsa?" Merida stood up concerned. "She's not here."
Somewhere on the second floor
"You'll see, Candlehead. Today I'm beating you in Sugar Rush," Rancis said as he walked backwards with his face turned to the girl in particular.
"In your dreams, Rancis!" the green haired girl replied.
"What's Sugar Rush?" Dash asked. He was isolated walking behind everyone else in the group.
Rancis laughed pointing at the other blond. "What's Sugar Rush?! What kind of question is that."
"Sugar Rush Speedways is only the best game ever invented," Rancis stated.
"It's a sweet-styled racing game," Candlehead clarified as she pushed Rancis out of the way. "And Taffyta holds the top scores."
As Taffyta was mentioned, she threw her shoulders back and could not help the smug expression that spread through her face.
"Except from that time when Vanellope beat her," Rancis reminded them, to what the other kids gasped in surprise.
"Rancis!"
"I-I mean…" The blond boy stuttered trying to find a way out of the uncomfortable situation. "when she cheated!"
"Exactly," Taffyta agreed. She kept her voice low and her expression cool and composed. "That's the only explanation as to how she beat me." As she chose to change subjects, she looked back from over her shoulder and noticed that Dash wasn't keeping up his pace and distance was growing between her friends and the new kid. "Dashy boy, hurry up!"
Candlehead cupped her hands in front of her mouth and added, "Yeah, blondie! We're gonna leave you behind!"
All eyes turned to the blond boy in a teamed act to intimidate him.
"… No."
Taffyta put her lollipop down. "What?"
Dash raised his eyes to look at her. "I'm not going."
The leader girl laughed crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you talking about? You're the one who wanted to hang out with us."
"Yeah, but now I don't want to anymore."
"Is this because of what Vanellope did?"
"No, it's not." Dash shook her head. "But I agree with her. What I did to that guy was wrong. And I'm gonna fix it."
Taffyta crossed her arms and walked toward him. "So what, you gonna turn yourself in?"
He shrugged. "If that's what it takes, then, yeah!"
She narrowed her eyes. "You're gonna get in trouble."
Dash smirked at her. "At least I'll be doing the right thing," he said before turning on his heels and leaving the girl gaping.
Rancis let out a long whistle. "Two people in a row went against Taffyta. That must be a record."
"Shut up, Rancis."
Somewhere on the third floor
The Santa's costume was heavy and itchy and one could not wander around freely while wearing it. So as soon as his break started, the silver haired guy quickly went backstage to change his outfit.
He was on his way to the food court to grab something to eat when he felt a bump on his legs. He looked down to discover that a little girl had fallen to the floor after colliding with him.
"Sorry." He leaned on his knees and stretched out a hand to the little girl. "Are you alright?"
"Yes…" The girl accepted his help, and then quickly dusted her skirt averting her eyes from the teenager.
He looked around ready to apologize to some mad-looking parents, but found no one paying any attention to him—or to that little girl. "Where are your mommy and daddy?"
"Working."
"Do they work here?"
The girl shrugged. "Sometimes."
He ran an exasperated hand through his hair. "Okay, you're not really helping, kiddo."
The girl looked at him and leaned her head to the side in confusion.
He locked eyes with her. From what he could see, she should be around five or six years old, maybe younger—an innocent little girl with her pretty dress and childish pigtails. Definitely too young to be running around a crowded space by herself. "What's your name?"
"Joan…" she replied turning her eyes to the floor.
He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Your name's not Joan."
"It's a codename," the girl mumbled moving up and down on her toes.
He arched his eyebrows in surprise. "A what now?"
She tentatively looked up and smiled a toothy smile. "Like a spy."
Losing his composure, he laughed. "Okay, Joan." He crouched down on knees so his eyelevel equaled hers. "I don't think it's safe for you to be walking around here alone. I'm gonna take you to the customer services desk so someone can pick you up, okay?"
"I can't!" The girl shook her head as she took a few steps back. "I have somewhere to go!"
"Where you headed?" he asked softly not to panic the already distressed girl even more.
"It's a secret," she whispered taking one more step away from him.
"Come on, kiddo." He sighed as he stood up. He approached her slowly. "I can't let you wandering alone with all these weird people. Someone must be worried sick looking for you."
He stretched out a hand in her direction in an attempt to give her some comfort, but it only made her shake her head more intensely.
"No!" she yelled as she ran away from there.
The girl's reaction caught some unwanted attention, and it made him look very suspicious to the random onlookers passing by. Nonetheless, he had to find her before anything bad could happen. "Damn it, Joan!" he groaned. "Come back here!"
Somewhere on the second floor
"Hi." The teenager girl stopped a random couple and pulled out her phone. "Have you seen this girl?" she asked showing them a picture of her little sister.
The couple apologetically shook their heads and the blonde thanked for their attention.
"Gosh, Anna," she mumbled biting her nail. "Where did you go?"
Berk High's Christmas Campain, donation booth, second floor
A couple—a male with messy dark blond hair and brown eyes wearing glasses and a blue turtleneck and a female with a brown pixie-cut and blue eyes in a red dress—walked together holding hands.
"I hate Secret Santa," the man said glaring at the gift bag he had just purchased.
"Oh, Bernard." The female rolled her eyes playfully slapping him in the shoulder. "Where's your Christmas spirit?"
"Why do I have to waste my money buying a present to mr. goody two-shoes?" he asked vehemently shaking the handles.
"Careful, or you'll break it."
As their conversation continued, a blonde teenager girl approached them with a charming smile. "Good afternoon, sir, ma'am," she greeted the couple and as they looked at her, they could notice that she wore a gray school blazer and matching skirt. "Could I talk to you for a second?"
The man and woman looked at each other, and the teenager girl took that moment of silence to continue talking.
"Hi, my name is Astrid Hofferson and I am a student at Berk High," the girl started with eloquence and charm. "Our school is collecting toys for the unfortunate kids in the Sixth Street Orphanage. It doesn't have to be a new toy, as long as it's in mint condition. We are scheduled to go there tomorrow morning to deliver the gifts and—"
Astrid's explanation was interrupted by a nearby sudden shout.
"Hey, you!" Both the teenager and her companions turned in the direction of the shout, where another blonde student furiously was pointing at the other side of the hall. "I talked to you yesterday!" the girl continued pointing at a man wearing a lab coat. "Where is your present, huh?"
Terrified, the man turned around slowly and tried to leave the area unnoticed. "Come back here, you bastard!" Astrid's colleague started to run after her target, gaining her even more attention than before. "You sure as hell have money to come two days in a row to the mall but not to make some poor, innocent child's Christmas a little happier, huh?"
After a moment to recompose herself, Astrid brought the smile back to her face and turned to the couple in front of her. "…Would you be willing to help us?"
"Of course!" the woman said wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's. "We'll go right now to the store to buy something."
"Two somethings!" the man added as they quickly slipped away. "Just a second!"
"Thank you very much," Astrid called after them.
As soon as they were out of ear shot, she turned around and sighed rubbing her temples.
"How far is Ruff running after that dude?" she heard another voice calling from beside her.
Astrid opened her eyes and looked at her black haired classmate. "I'd be more impressed if she gave up in the middle of the chase."
"Oh, look," the other girl gestured with her head to their blonde teammate. "She tackled him."
Astrid looked, and indeed, the guy in the lab coat had been knocked face down on the floor. Their female friend was sitting on top of him while she yelled something they couldn't understand from the distance. Astrid flinched. "That must've hurt."
"Am I seeing things or is he giving her money?"
"We're not supposed to take cash."
The brunette shook her head as she turned around and took a few steps away from the scene. "I didn't see anything."
Astrid took it as cue to get back to work. As another person appeared, she put on her game face and said, "Good afternoon, sir. Do you have a minute?"
Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, second floor
Jack had run after the little girl pushing aside the idea that he probably looked very suspicious in that moment. He followed her when she turned a sharp right and went inside a store, and immediately found her hiding behind a rack of clothes.
"Come on, Joan!" He pulled the items of clothing apart with both his arms and found the little girl sitting with her back against the wall and her knees up to her chest. "Get out of there. You're getting your clothes all dirty."
"No!" the girl cried pushing herself away from him. "I won't go with you!"
"Okay! Okay!" he said in a hushed tone. He felt his ears heating up. "Just, please, keep your voice down."
"Go away!" she yelled.
"Excuse-me, sir?" he turned his head to find a blonde teenager employee worriedly looking at him. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is perfect," Jack replied with a casual wave of his hand. He hid his mouth behind his hand so he could secretly whisper to the teenager girl, "I told her she would have to wait for her birthday to get the fluffy unicorn and she became all whiney…" He gave the girl his best smile. "Kids, right?"
The girl shyly smiled back. "Well, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know," she said before leaving him with the little girl.
"Thanks," he said letting out the breath he had been holding, relieved she seemed to have bought his story. "Sorry for causing all this trouble."
"Don't worry about it," she said from over her shoulder. "Good luck."
"Yeah..." As a thought occurred to him, he turned his back to the clothes rack and fished his phone from his jeans pocket. He called one of his contacts and waited as it rang.
"Speak," he heard a female voice saying from the other side of the line.
"Heeeey, Hics," he greeted with forced cheerfulness.
"What do you want?" his friend asked.
"You were coming to the mall today, right?" Silence. "You here?"
"…Yes." He could hear the hesitance in his friend's voice.
"Are you free right now?"
"For what?"
"I need you to do me a favor," Jack said running a hand through his hair.
"Name the favor and I may consider it."
"Can you cover for me at that Santa gig?" he asked with an apprehensive frown.
"What?!"
"I've got a little bit of a situation in my hands."
"What kind of situation?"
"I found this girl, and I'm pretty sure she's lost," he said looking behind him. He could see the little girl's feet poking out from between the clothes.
"Why didn't you take her to Customer Services?" his friend asked, and Jack felt annoyed at the judgement.
"I'm trying"—he rolled his eyes,—"but she's not being very cooperative." He noticed movement. "Hey, Joan?" He watched as the girl crawled from behind the rack. "Joan?" The girl ignored him and ran to the store's entrance. "Where are you going?" he asked raising his voice.
"… Frost?" his friend called from the other side of the line.
"Sorry, Hiccup," he said already going after Joan. "Gotta go. I owe you big time."
"I didn't say I was—" Before Hiccup could finish, he was already hanging up and shoving his phone back inside his pocket. And before anyone could give him any more odd looks, he was already out of the store and running after a little girl for the second time that day.
Bibbity Bobbity Boo Boutique, second floor
As her shift ended, the girl hurried to the back room so she could change and pack her belongings. Despite the long day and exhausting running around the store, she could not hide the excitement for her evening plans.
"Miss T, I'm leaving now," she notified the manager while quickly braiding her hair.
"Thanks again, Rapunzel," her boss smiled placing a grateful hand on her shoulder.
"No problem." The teenager girl smiled back. "See you next week."
"Merry Christmas, honey!"
"Merry Christmas."
Christmas tree and Santa's toy factory, third floor
"You!" A very tall, skinny man wearing a long black coat grabbed a ginger haired teenager dressed in a Christmas elf costume by the collar. He dragged him to the curtains and pulled it just a small crack so the guy could see the other side. "You see that line of precious, sweet children out there? You know what they are waiting for?"
"Uh…" The boy felt sweat forming as his heart raced with fear. "They are waiting for Santa?"
The man grabbed the ginger head from his shoulders to look at him straight in the eyes. "And do you happen to know where my Santa is?!"
"I-I…"
"Uh… excuse me, sir?" The man felt a weak poke to the shoulder. When he looked at the responsible, he found a young man with auburn hair and emerald eyes looking at him with confusion.
The man released the former boy and latched himself into the latter. "You! Why haven't changed yet?!" He pushed the green eyed teenager to the changing facilities. "Your break was over ten minutes ago!"
"No, no," the teenager protested moving his arms to help make his point clear. "You got that wrong, I'm not…"
"I don't pay to hear your excuses!" the man said before slamming the changing room's door shut.
The boy kept staring at the door for a long moment before shaking his head and starting unbuttoning his shirt. "You don't pay me at all, Mr. Scrooge."
Berk High's Christmas Campain, donation booth, second floor
"Yo, Heather," Ruff called as soon as the guy the brunette had been talking to left.
"Yes?" the other girl asked going to the donations box and placing a wrapped box at the top of the pile.
"Check that girl." Ruff gestured with her head in the direction of a girl standing beside the escalator. The girl seemed to be waiting for someone, her head turning apprehensively to the sides at the slightest of the sounds. "She's been standing there for, like, almost an hour."
Heather looked at the girl her friend mentioned and frowned in thinking. The girl in question was around their age, had beautiful blonde hair and something about her posture screamed naive. "Doesn't she go to our school?"
"Really?"
She shrugged nonchalant. "I feel like I've seen her before."
"What are you two morons gossiping about?" The third member of the Berk students trio asked as she approached the other two.
"Do you recognize that girl over there, Astrid?" Heather discretely pointed at the girl by the escalator.
"Not really." Astrid uncapped her water bottle and took a sip. "Why?"
"I bet she's been dumped," Ruff mentioned. The three girls stood beside each other directly facing the subject of their conversation.
"Damn." Astrid shook her head. "Dumped at Christmas Eve."
"Bummer," Heather agreed finding her friend's theory completely possible.
"Boyfriend didn't even show up," Ruff concluded. "What a jerk."
"Totally." Heather nodded. She went behind their foldable table and grabbed her purse. She fished a granola bar and started munching at it.
"Speaking of jerks, you guys going to Snotlout's party?" Ruff asked.
"I don't know," Heather said with her mouth half full of food. "Being in an environment with mistletoes and Snotlout doesn't seem like the brightest idea."
Ruff shrugged. "You can always punch him."
Heather laughed. "I'd rather not resort to violent, though."
"Why not?" Ruff asked confused. "Violence always works."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"You going, right, Astrid?" Ruff asked turning to the other blonde.
"I'm not."
"Why not?" Heather asked.
"I'm having dinner at Hiccup's."
Heather and Ruff exchanged glances at that. "Oooh," Ruff said wiggling her eyebrows.
Astrid narrowed her eyebrows at the two girls. "What?"
"Nothing," Heather replied with a wave of her hand, but her tone was patronizing and endearing.
"What?" The blonde repeated with even more ferocity in her tone.
The brunette smiled at her angered friend. "It's just hard to get used to our little Astrid being in love."
"Yep."
Astrid rolled her eyes flicking the hair covering her eye. "You two are idiots."
"You know," Ruff said ignoring the other girl's insult toward them. "You can go to the Jorgenson residence after dinner."
"Yeah, it won't be the same without you and Hiccup there."
Astrid let out a tired sigh. "I'll think about it."
Ruff pointed a threatening finger at Astrid. "We'll be waiting for you."
"Someone's gotta keep Ruff in line," Heather mentioned.
"Speak for yourself," Ruff said with a snort of contempt. "I intend to erase the line's definition from my hard drive."
Heather turned to Astrid, a worried look on her eyes. "See what I'm talking about?"
Astrid laughed. "I'll see what I can do."
Litwak's Arcade, third floor
He was leaning against a broken videogame machine watching the little girl in pigtails playing a round of whack-a-mole.
"Thanks for helping me out, Willbur," Jack had to raise his voice to be heard over the noise of arcade. He looked over his shoulder to the arcade's employee. He raised his hand to fist bump his friend.
"No problem," the other guy yelled back as he walked to his side, bumping his fist with the silver head. "but… are you gonna explain where that little girl came from?
"I found her, and I'm trying to return her."
Wilbur turned to fully face the other with confusion. "What the hell?" Wilbur yelled.
Jack waved it off with a hand. "She said she has somewhere to go, but she doesn't want to tell me where." He leaned back with his arms holding the railing. "So I'm trying to get her to the Customer Services desk without her realizing."
"Good luck with that, my friend."
Customer Services desk, second floor
She walked as fast as it would be accepted—safety wise— in a crowded environment. And when she got to the information desk, she was panting, her hair was a mess and her clothes were wrinkled… But she could care less about her appearance.
"Hi," she said leaning her upper body over the counter and locking eyes with the woman behind it.
The girl, an Asian-American lady with violet streaks mixed in her black short hair popped a bubble gum before asking with disinterest, "How can I help you?"
"My sister is missing," the blonde girl said.
"I'm sorry for that," the other girl replied uninterested.
Elsa's grip on the edges of the desk tightened. "Can't you help me? Please?"
"I can announce it in the mall's sound system, if that's what you want."
"Yes."
"Alright. Hold on a second," the employee turned on her wheeled chair and went to the main sound system's microphone. "What's her name?"
"Anna. Anna Arendelle," the blonde girl said nervously running her hands through her tangled hair. "She's five, and she's wearing a green dress, she has blue eyes, reddish blonde hair…"
"Slow down, miss," the Asian-American girl said with her index finger held up gesturing for the other girl to wait. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," she politely announced in the speakers. "This is a customer announcement. If there's an Anna Arendelle in the mall, could you come to the Customer Services desk, please? Thank you for your attention and have a Merry Christmas!"
As she finished, she turned off the mic and opened up a drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper from it. "Could you write down some information about your sister in this form? I'll ask our staff members to look for her. Also, write down your name and contact number so we can call you if we find her."
"Thank you," Elsa said, her pen running through the paper filling in the information with as much details as she could.
Security room, second floor
A cellphone started to ring and his attention went back to the room he found himself locked up inside. He recognized the ringtone as his own and he grabbed the bars of his prison cell once more.
"Yo, miss security guard, ma'am," Eugene called trying to convey some respect in his clumsy words. "Can I take that?" He gestured to the cellphone buzzing on her desk—the phone that she had taken from him during his incarceration. "Must be my girlfriend wondering where I am."
The security guard looked at him for a second before taking the boy's phone and rejecting the call with a quick swipe of a finger.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" he yelled banging at the bars and glowering at her.
Before she could answer, though, there was a knock on her door and a tiny frame inclined their head inside her office.
"Excuse-me, Tamora?" A guy half her height wearing a blue cap called her.
She took her feet off the table and sat straighter in her chair narrowing her eyes at the man. "Felix, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well…" The man approached her desk with a flowy rhythm to his steps. "Since I was in the mall, I thought I could wait for you so we could go home together."
"In case you haven't seen it: I'm busy," the security guard stood up and gestured in the direction of the cell.
"Oh, sorry." The man's eyes followed the woman's movement and he finally saw the young man behind bars. He frowned as he took a more attentive of the prisoner. "Wait a minute..."
At the same time, the teenager's brain made the connection and he, too, recognized the man. "You're the cologne guy!" he shouted.
Calhoun looked from the man in front of her to the boy she had arrested. She narrowed her eyes at Felix. "You know this thug?"
"Yes, he helped me pick out the perfect present for my brother," the man said waving friendly at the boy.
"Exaclty!" Eugene stretched out his hands in a plea for help to the man. "I helped him out! Right before you threw me in here!"
"You mean right before you attempted to steal Wandering Oaken's."
"For the last time"—he rubbed his eyes tiredly, —"I DID NOT STEAL ANYTHING. You"—he pointed a finger in the man's direction,—"cologne guy! Please, let me out of here."
"Tamora, honey," the tiny man said kindly as he turned to the woman. "Be reasonable. It's Christmas Eve." He went around her desk and took her hands in his own, his eyes never leaving hers. "Can't you let the boy go just this time? He seems sorry enough."
"Yes!" the teenager yelled from the cell. "I am! I am so sorry."
Calhoun freed her hands from Felix's hold and stormed in Eugene's direction. "So you admit that you tried to steal the shop?"
"What?!" The teenager shook his head with disbelief. "No!"
Calhoun slammed her fist on the desk, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Enough said! I'm calling your parents, mister."
Eugene protested, but the woman ignored him and reached out for the phone. The discussion continued with Felix trying to make amends, until a voice interrupted the fight.
"He didn't steal it!"
"What?" Confusion overtook them at the unexpected reply. The three previous occupants of the room turned to the direction of the sound to find two kids—a boy and a girl—standing by the door.
Felix took a step closer to the kids as if trying to certify himself of who he was looking at. "Vanellope?"
"Oh, hey, Felix." The girl waved at the man, having identified him with ease. "How are you?"
"Good, thanks for asking. How about you?"
"I'm good too."
"Felix," Calhoun called with urgency.
The man looked down embarrassed. "Sorry."
The security officer crossed her arms and looked from one kid to the other. "Who are you and why are you invading my office?"
"Oh, honey." The man walked to the kids and put a kind arm over the girl's shoulder. "This is Vanellope, my neighbor."
"Hi…"
Calhoun then turned to the boy. "And you?"
"I'm Dash," the boy said rubbing his arm feeling very conscious. "Dashiel Parr."
"And may I ask why you two are here?" she asked.
"And what was that about me being innocent?" Eugene added waving his arms in the kids' direction. The glare Calhoun shot him was enough to shut him up, though.
"I'm the one who put the remote in that guy's purse," the blond boy said shyly.
The teenager snorted. "Not a purse, kid. A satchel."
"Oh, boy." Felix put a shocked hand over his mouth. "Why did you do that?"
The boy shrugged still looking down. "You see, this girl said I could hang out with her and her friends if I did that..."
"But it wasn't Dash's fault," the girl vouched for him. "Taffyta is a bitch."
"Watch your mouth, little girl," Calhoun warned Vanellope. To the boy, she said, "Proceed."
"B-but I realized it was wrong, so I came back to confess—"
"See?" Eugene shouted with satisfaction pointing at the security guard. "I told you I was innocent!"
"Shut your goddamn mouth, Mr. Fitzherbert, or I swear I'm ripping that stupid goatee off your face with my bare hands."
The boy raised his arms offering his closed fists to the security guard. "You can arrest me now."
"Tamora…" The man intervened feeling touched by the young boy's sincerity.
"Shush, Felix," Calhoun chastised him. Then, looking at Dash, she added, "I expect you have learned your lesson, Dashiel."
The boy looked down before nodding. "I did."
"Very well." She crossed her arms and slowly took some steps in the direction of the kids. "I will not arrest you today, but be warned:"—she pointed a finger straight in the boy's face,—"next time you do something remotely similar to this you better be prepared to rotten in jail."
"Yes, m'aam!" the boy answered eagerly.
"Hey! That is so not fair!" Eugene complained. "Why did I have to stay in this smelly old cell for God knows how long and that little kid is off the hook just like that?"
"Wasn't your girlfriend waiting for your?" she asked before unlocking the cell and opening the door.
"Shit!" Eugene stormed off the cell, grabbed his possessions from the security guard's desk and left room.
"You too." She gestured to the two kids. "Get out of my office before I change my mind and arrest both of you."
Dash and Violet looked at each other and silently reached a quick agreement. "Thank you, ma'am," the boy said going to the door.
"Merry Christmas!" Vanellope yelled before disappearing though the door herself.
As the older couple was left alone in the room, Felix turned to the woman, a warm smile on his face. "I'm proud of you, darling."
Calhoun groaned. "Let's go home before anything else happens."
Christmas tree and Santa's toy factory, third floor
"Oh, God. Where did I put myself into?" Hiccup asked himself as he rubbed his temples. He was sitting on Santa's chair waiting for the next child to come.
"Hi there!" He nearly jumped when he heard the squeaky voice so close to his ear.
He turned around and a girl, probably younger than him, dressed in the Santa's helpers costume was smiling at him.
"You're not Jack," she said mouthing the words with astounding speed. "But you're dressed like Santa, so I think it's okay."
The girl gestured to the next child to sit on Santa's lap and Hiccup went back to the job's procedure. Ask for a name, ask whether they'd been good or naughty, ask what they wanted to get, make a silly joke, pose for a photo, etcetera, etcetera…
As soon as the kid was no longer sitting on his lap and was going back to their mother, the girl beside him began talking again.
"My name is Kari," she said. "Kari Mckeen."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kari—" Hiccup said nicely, but the girl spoke over him like she hadn't hear a thing.
"It's like Carrie only with a K instead of a C 'ah' instead of an 'ae' and only one R and I instead of an I-E."
A boy, this time, sat on Hiccup's lap and again, the girl shut her mouth as he talked to the kid. But as soon as the boy left, Kari resumed her rambling.
"Sometimes I work as a babysitter. It's alright usually because, you know, there's so much trouble a baby can make. But then there was this one time that I took care of this baby and YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENNED!"
Another kid, another pause. And then, back to Kari's angelical voice.
"It started out like a normal sitting day—you know with reassuring of the parents and all."
"Kari," Hiccup called.
"So then I pulled out some toys for neurological stimulation, put some Mozart to play…"
"Kari…"
Another kid.
"Because leading experts say that Mozart makes babies smarter. But then some Weird things started happening and—"
"KARI!" Hiccup snapped, his closed fists hitting the armrest with force. He turned to look at the girl and she seemed frozen in shock. "I'm sure this is a very interesting and utterly exciting story but believe me when I say this: I DON'T CARE."
"So then I called mrs. Parr, and then…"
Hiccup rubbed a hand through his face getting his faux beard out of place. "Somebody kill me…"
Customer Services desk, second floor
After spending some time, all of his coins, and a good amount of patience at the arcade, he had finally managed to bring the little girl to the Customer Services desk.
"Hi," he said to the girl chewing gum behind the counter. He pointed to the little girl beside him. "I found this little girl, and I think she's lost."
"Oh." The girl leaned over the desk and narrowed her eyes intently inspecting the little kid. She picked a sheet of paper and read it for a while. "Excuse-me, miss?" she called the little girl, who looked up shyly at her. "Is your name by any chance Anna?"
The girl nodded surprised. "Yes."
"Your sister is looking for you." The teenager girl said sitting back on her chair. "Sir, thank you for finding her. If you could wait over there for a moment," she pointed to a bench nearby. "I'll call her sister right away."
"Sure." Jack nodded and gestured for the little girl to follow him. "Come on, Anna."
Arendelle Flower Shop, second floor
"I looked everywhere," Elsa said rubbing her eyes. After going to Customer Services and making the announcement of her missing sister, she had returned to the shop in hopes that Anna would have come back by then.
"Calm down, Elsa," Merida said soothingly rubbing her back in circles. "I'm sure she's just hiding somewhere. You know how kids are. The triplets always disappear for only the Gods know how long causing mayhem somewhere."
Elsa groaned in response sinking her head lower.
"I'm sure Anna is fine."
"When I find her, I'm so gonna kill her," the blonde said slamming her fist into the counter.
Before the ginger head could say anything, Elsa's phone started ringing. She picked it up and noticed an unknown number was calling her.
"Hello?" she asked with apprehension.
Merida carefully looked at her, paying attention to the slightest of changes in Elsa's expressions to get a grasp of the conversation.
"Yes, this is Elsa speaking," the blonde said straightening up on her seat. "Oh, really?"
"Thank God." She put a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes sighing in relief. "Yes, I'm coming right away. Thank you so, so much."
She put her phone down and looked at Merida with a weak smile.
"Well?" the redhead asked.
"They found her."
"See? What did I tell you?" Merida asked smug.
"I'm going to the Customer Services," the blonde said standing up.
"You want me to close the store for you? So you guys can go home from there."
Elsa grabbed her purse. "Thanks, Mer."
"Anytime," Merida said with a wave of her hand. "Give her a whack for me, will ya?"
"Sure. Merry Christmas, Merida. See you tomorrow?"
"Yup. Merry Christmas."
Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab
The Japanese-American student wiped the sweat off his forehead as he did some final twitching on the prototype he had been working on. He heard a knock on the door.
"Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Hamada?"
"Professor Callaghan!" the student greeted the middle-aged man grabbing a semi-clean cloth to clean his hands. "Actually, I was just finishing up."
"Be careful not to be locked up in here again," professor Callaghan said walking around and casually inspecting his student's lab. "It's Christmas Eve, so the lab will be closing in less than an hour."
"Yes, I know that…" He checked the clock on his work desk. And as soon as he read the indicated hour, he slapped his forehead almost making his cap fall from his head. "Holly shit, is it this late already?"
"Something wrong, Mr. Hamada?" The professor watched with amusement as the younger scientist ran around the room throwing things inside his bag.
"I lost track of time I was supposed to be home by now." He picked a pile of papers and unceremoniously shoved it in his bag as well. "Oh, man. I forgot to buy her present," he mumbled to himself.
"I'm sorry, professor, but I have to go now," he said as he turned off his computer. "Can we talk about my project when the lab opens again?"
Callaghan walked to the entrance of the lab and waited for the young man. "Yes, we can schedule a meeting after recess."
"Excellent." The young adult switched the lights off and closed his lab's door. "Thank you, professor."
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Hamada," the professor wished him as Tadashi ran to the elevator.
"Merry Christmas, sir!"
Customer Services desk, second floor
"ANNA!" She almost tackled her little sister to the ground when she took sight of the girl in the green dress hopping on the white floor tiles.
"Elsa!" The little girl hugged her back.
"Thank God you are alright." Elsa pulled away and placed both hands on each side of her sister's face looking for any sign of distress. "I was so worried! What the hell were you thinking sneaking out of the shop like that?"
Anna looked down holding the hem of her dress. "Sorry…"
"Don't be too hard on her, Elsa."
With all the rush of being reunited with her sister, Elsa had paid close to none attention to her surroundings, thus not noting the familiar male that was sitting on the bench near them and that was by then talking to her. "Hey," he said she looked at him.
Her eyes grew wide as recognized the guy. Her arms easily slid from Anna's shoulders and the little girl took it as chance to put a little distance between them. "What are you doing here?"
"He was the one who brought your sister here," the Customer Services employee informed.
Elsa looked from the other teenager girl to the guy smirking at her. "Really?"
"Didn't know she was your sister, though," he said throwing his backpack over his shoulder and walking to the sisters. He crouched beside Anna. "Right, Joan?" He stretched out a hand to mess her hair.
"Jack!" The little girl whined. "That was supposed to be a secret!"
"Don't think I forgot about you, young lady," Elsa said threateningly pointing at her sister. "What if something had happened to you?!"
"I wanted to find you a gift…" the little girl said looking around looking for something. Jack rolled his eyes before giving the little girl the missing item.
As soon as she saw it, Anna took it from his hands and gave it to her sister.
"Anna, what is this?" Elsa looked at the white plush toy the little girl had pushed into her hands. With a little more attention, she could recognize that it was in reality shaped like a snowman.
"It's a Christmas gift," Anna said moving up and down on her heels. "For you. His name is Olaf and he loves warm hugs!"
"Anna…" Elsa looked from the white plush toy to her sister, and the mixture of apprehension, excitement and pure good in Anna's eyes was enough to melt all her frustrations away. With a free hand, she pulled Anna for a hug. "Thank you. But don't you ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Okay!"
"Let's go home," Elsa said standing up. She noticed that Jack was copying her movements and had stood up as well. "Mom and dad are waiting for us."
"Alright."
As they started walking, Anna a few steps on the front and the two teenagers side by side, Elsa rubbed her fingers wondering how would be the best way of starting conversation with the guy beside her after such a long while.
"Thanks for finding her," she said at last. With the corner of her eyes, she paid close attention to his movements.
He shrugged with his hands inside his pockets. "It was nothing."
"I feel like she was a little bit of a pain." Elsa narrowed her eyes at the girl jumping from one tile to the other.
"We managed to get along eventually."
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to steady herself. "I'm sorry, Jack." Her voice quivered, and it was very low, but he managed to discern it.
He frowned for a moment, thinking about the deeper meaning behind her words. "If you're really sorry about it, then humor me a little…"
She looked at him with suspicion and felt her cheeks heating up as she found him looking at him with a kind smile. "Don't be too mad at her. She was looking for a Christmas present when I found her." He turned away from her ad focused again Anna. "And the little girl would not come find you unless she had the perfect gift for her beloved sister."
She looked at the snowman plush toy in her hands and tightened the grip. "Thank you. Really."
"Don't mention, it. I should go too." Suddenly, he stopped walking. And she, a step later, stopped as well. "Merry Christmas, Elsa." He gave her a two fingers salute and a quick wink. "Merry Christmas to you too, monkey!" he said more loudly to Anna.
The girl turned around and waved at him cheerfully. "Merry Chritmas, Jack!"
"Merry Christmas…" Elsa waved—a more contained and discrete than her sister's wave—at him as well. Before he could leave around the corner, though, she called, "Hey, Jack!"
"Yeah?" he asked turning on his heels.
She bit her lips and took a step in his direction. "Would you like to have coffee some other day? With me?"
His eyes widened at her proposition. Looking at her, he could see that she was nervous and emotionally exhausted but also, she was being kind, sincere and… hopeful. "I'd like that," he said with genuine a smile.
"Alright." She adjusted her braid over her shoulder and let out a laugh. "I guess I'll text you later, then."
"I'll be waiting for it."
In front of Arendelle Flower Shop, second floor
"Oh, no, no, no, no…" Tadashi mumbled rubbing his hands through his hair nervously. He ran to the entrance of the flower shop and looked inside through the glass. "It can't be closed yet." "Hello?" He knocked. "Anyone in there? I'd like to buy some flowers." He knocked with more urge. "Please!"
"Hey, man." He felt someone placing a hand over his shoulder.
"Yeah?" Tadashi asked turning to the auburn haired guy looking at him.
"Here." The guy stretched out his hand and gave him a bouquet of lilies. "Take this."
Surprised, the Asian-American man asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," the unknown male replied with a casual shrug.
"Thanks, man." He accepted the flowers with a relieved sigh. "How much for them?" he asked reaching out for his wallet.
"Don't worry about it," the auburn haired guy said with a hand wave. "Consider it a Christmas gift."
"I—thank you so much." Tadashi stretched out his hand for a handshake.
The other man shook his hand with a friendly smile. "Merry Christmas."
"Yeah, yeah." Tadashi nodded eager. "Merry Christmas to you too."
Escalator, second floor
"Blondie!" She heard that familiar voice calling and soon heard the heavy footsteps approaching her.
"Eugene!" She let go of the hair she had been playing with for the past hour or so. "Thank God! I was starting to get worried," she ran in his direction and met him halfway.
"Sorry, got held up," he said bending over exhausted from the running.
"What happened?" she asked placing a worried hand over his cheek. "You seem flustered."
"It's kind of a long story." He gave her hand a kiss before intertwining his fingers with hers. "How about we talk about it over some nice dinner?" He winked.
She gleamed. "Alright."
"Don't you wanna know where your amazing, devilishly handsome, smart boyfriend got reservations at?"
The girl shrugged. "Not really. I'm just glad you're here."
He frowned disappointed. "That's... nice too."
She laughed and hooked her arm with his. "But since you wanna tell me so badly, I'll bite. Where did my humble, thickheaded, always late boyfriend get reservations for tonight?"
He remained silent for a dramatic pause. "Gusteau's."
She sucked in a breath and stopped astonished. "For real? I always wanted to go there."
He let out a triumphant chuckle. "I know."
"Oh, Eugene." The girl grabbed onto his arm and started jumping up and down. "You're the best."
"Anything for my favorite girl," he said putting his hands on both sides of her jaw and placing a hand at the top of her head.
"I love you," she mumbled wrapping her arms around his waist and hiding her face on his shirt.
"Love you too, blondie."
Customer Services desk, second floor
"Gogo!" He yelled as soon as the Customer Services desk was on his eyesight.
"Tadashi?" The female behind the counter asked. She was getting ready to leave when she heard the calling. "What the hell?"
"Thank God I made it," he said between heavy pants. He leaned his upper body against the desk trying to catch his breath.
"I thought you were spending Christmas with your family," the girl said as she zipped her backpack and stood up from her chair.
"I was." He straightened up. "I am." He waited for her to look in his direction to add, "I just had to see you before that."
"Okay…" She locked up her station and went to the front to meet him. She nodded to the bouquet he had in hands. "What's with the flowers?"
"Oh, those are for you, actually," he said holding the gift out for her with both his hands.
"Thanks, I guess?" She accepted the flowers with narrowed eyes.
"I know you're not really the flowers type of girl," he said sheepishly. "I ordered your present online, but it didn't arrive in time…" He scratched the back of his neck. "And I didn't want not to give you something."
Gogo raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. "So you bought me flowers?"
"Kinda…" He shoved his hands inside his pockets. "Sounds stupid now."
"It's not." She adjusted the flowers in her arms so she could take a better look of them. "It's sweet in a dorky way." She touched his upper arm making him stop with a questioning look. Standing on her tippy toes, she leaned against him to plant a peck on his cheek. "Thanks."
He smiled embarrassed. "I gotta go home now… I'm already late…" he said checking his watch. "But do you wanna come? I'm sure Aunt Cass made plenty of food. And my brother will probably love having you around."
"Sure." She shrugged. "Why not?"
DunBroch residence
As soon as she opened the door to her home, she could hear her mother yelling.
"Fergus! I asked you to keep an eye on your sons!"
She took of her coat and scarf and left them in the hanger as conversation continued from the direction of the living room.
"I am keeping an eye on them!" her father yelled in response. A few seconds later, he added, "Well, on most of them."
"Mom," she called sniffing the air with a scowl. "Something's burning!"
"Oh, no!" She heard rushed steps. "My haggis!"
"Merida!" her father greeted her with wide open arms and her little triplet brothers came to hug her knees.
"Hey, guys!" she said rubbing their red heads affectionately.
"We were waiting for you." Her father clapped twice to have all the four siblings' attention. "It's time for the annual DunBroch night of games!"
"Alright." Merida threw her backpack on the nearest couch and rolled her neck and shoulders stretching out the muscles. "Ready to lose, old man?"
"Is that a challenge, lass?"
"Loser has to do the dishes!"
"Oh, it is on!"
Table of Kings Cemetery
The place was silent with no other live being around. The chilly wind blowing messed his hair as he took his time walking up the hill. He stopped in front of his family's gravesite.
He crouched on the grass and just stared at the words engraved on the stone: Stoic Haddock (1969 – 2014). "Hey, dad…" he mumbled, his eyes blurring the letters as memories rushed through his mind. "Sorry I didn't bring you anything. Some things happened on the way here…" he said rubbing his hands together and sitting down on the dirty ground.
He shrugged throwing his head back. "I mean, you were never a flowers person anyway…"
A moment of silence followed as he stared at the horizon in thoughts.
"It's the first Christmas without you around, dad." His voice was just a little higher than a whisper. "I'm gonna have to eat mom's special fruitcake alone"—he let out a snort with contempt,—"so thanks for that. And then I'll have to take care of a drunken Gobber. I just hope he doesn't decide to sing this year again…" He flinched remembering previous experiences with his father's best friend. "Neighbors are so not gonna enjoy that…"
He closed his mouth again as the weak smile on his face faded. "I miss you."
He let out a frustrated groan and pressed the palm of his hands to his eyes letting his world darken for a while.
He didn't know how long it had been when he felt a gentle touch to his arm and a female voice near his ear saying, "Hey."
"Hey, milady," he greeted the blonde girl beside him as he let his hands fall from his eyes. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light.
"Sorry I'm late," she said adjusting her sitting position by his side.
"Nah, you're right on time." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, feeling comfort in her warmth. "I was just catching up with dad."
"I didn't know if I should, but I got this from the mall…" She took the small pot of snapdragon flowers she had laid beside her and gave it to him.
He looked at the colorful little flowers and could not help but smile. "I don't know what my life would be without you." He took the pot and placed in front of the stone. " Thanks, Astrid. I'm sure dad would love them." As he adjusted the gift to his father, he could not hold a sudden sneeze.
Astrid narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "Tell me you're not getting sick."
"It was just a sneeze," he said nonchalant as he sat back beside her.
"I don't know, man." She poked him mockingly, but her eyes were concerned. "You have the immune system of an eighty years old person."
"Ha-ha," he said with a roll of eyes.
"I think we should get you somewhere nice and cozy," she suggested. When he nodded, she helped him stand up. "Don't want your mom nagging at me about how I got her precious baby sick."
Hiccup laughed and threw his arms around her catching her off guard and trapping her in a bear hug. "Mom loves you. Chances are she'll yell at me for not listening to you."
"That's because she knows how stupid and reckless her son can be." Her voice came out muffed by his coat.
"In my defense, I am son of my parents," he said finally letting go of her and taking her hand in his.
"I'm not complaining." They began their way down the hill and out the cemetery. "I do find that part of you endearing."
"The stupid and reckless part?" he asked with a smirk.
"Yep," Astrid said popping the 'p' sound.
"What about the rest of me? All this raw vikingness?" He gestured with his free hand up and down his body.
She shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."
He pushed her with the side of his arm. "Okay?"
"Uh-huh…" she replied holding her smile.
"Just okay?" he pushed further.
She flicked her hair nonchalant. "Give or take."
"Harsh," he said with a pout. "But I still love you."
She pushed him by the shirt and kissed him on the lips before replying, "Love you too."
Before uploading this, I realized there's a lot of running going on in that mall. So I had the main ideia for writing this two years ago, but just completed it today... for various reasons. This was the longest one-shot I have ever written, and I gotta say, it was kinda tiring.
I'll give a golden star to anyone who can identify all the movie references in this story. Whether it's a character, location, quote, prop or situation. To be honest, I don't even remember everything myself.
So thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas, I guess.