3.

"This is amazing," said Ellington, truly awestruck as she took in her new home away from home. Her room was papered in dark green and trimmed in dark wood, with stained glass windows set in deep hues of red, green, blue and purple. It was through this window that she was looking, noticing that there there was a stone balcony connected to her room that overlooked a wide courtyard below. Or was it a town square? It could have been both, for all she knew. She didn't know how big the town was.

"I haven't seen so much snow since…" She trailed off, grateful when Annise popped in the room before Carol could ask her to finish her sentence.

"Can you believe it's already morning here? We had hardly gone to bed at home! I saw a bunch of flying reindeer out of my window, too! It was awesome!"

"I think I could believe just about anything right now," Ellington replied distantly, staring at the mountains in the distance. She wondered why those heavy storm clouds didn't appear to be moving any closer. Perhaps they were always there, but she thought they looked a little too ominous for the cheerful Christmas atmosphere.

Carol sat down on the bed, patting for Annise to sit next to her. "Yes, well, the reindeer training team usually gets started pretty early in the morning, as do most of the elves. All of Elfsburg will be bustling within the next half hour."

"Elfsburg?" Ellington asked.

"Uh huh. You see, the Pole is situated on top of an enormous iceberg, so I guess you could call it a pun, if you like. I think Bernard had something to do with it."

"I see." Ellington traced the wood of the windowsill thoughtfully. "Carol, why is Bernard my chaperone? I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but it doesn't take Sherlock to deduce that he sees it as babysitting." She scowled faintly, not enough for anyone to notice. She was really hoping he'd just keep his distance.

Carol shrugged. "I'm really not sure. Scott didn't tell me, but he seemed very adamant that he be one of the chaperones. You could ask Bernard, maybe he knows. Then again, he seems to be in a bit of a bad mood lately—even before he found out you were coming for a visit. It's possible his behavior and your presence are actually unrelated."

"Maybe." Ellington figured that any conversation she had with Bernard would be strictly as needed. Whatever Carol said, Bernard was definitely standoffish, and she knew how to take a hint—especially now that Carol had confirmed her suspicion: it hadn't been his choice.

She would waste as little time with Bernard as possible. Anyway, she was in no mood to try and get people to warm up to her. It mattered to keep in mind that she was only at the Pole because her father was dying, and Santa had taken it upon himself to help her family-out of the goodness of his heart perhaps, or for some other unclear reason.

The more she was able to remember that, she figured, the better off she would be.

Abby quickly returned with what seemed to be highly caffeinated cocoa, and after downing it neither of the girls felt unbearably sleepy anymore-a boon, considering the jet lag they might have had otherwise. Besides, the excitement was enough to keep them awake. Afterward, they went and got dressed in new clothes. Annise chose a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with some converse shoes—clothes she was comfortable in. She apparently had had a wide selection of jeans and shirts to choose from, and had even found a snowcoat she liked among the clothes.

Ellington, on the other hand, went into the closet and found a graphic tee, a button up, and a cardigan, all of which she layered. Then she threw on a pair of black jeans, a pair of combat boots and a beanie, eventually locating a sort of military jacket that worked with the look. She emerged from her closet feeling a little more confident than she had before, grateful for the warmer layers.

Carol took Annise to meet with Curtis, and offered to take Ellington to Bernard as well. But Ellington declined, preferring to wander about a bit on her own before being subjected to Bernard's likely irritation and grousing. Not that she phrased it that way, of course. She merely suggested she would "find Bernard on her own, thank you."

Stepping out of the Workshop, Ellington immediately realized how impossible it would be to blend in. She was a great deal taller than most elves at five foot six, dressed in muted tones of grey, black and green, and if that wasn't enough, she had a tan, something that was unheard of that far North. A few of the elves stopped and smiled at her, and Ellington smiled back, pulling her jacket warmly around herself to keep out the chill. And boy, she did feel the chill. Mrs. Claus was right, the tropical to polar weather change was no small thing.

Despite how out of her element she felt, the atmosphere was welcoming. Ellington figured that that was a part of the Christmas spirit that permeated the entire town. But somehow, something felt…off. She attributed it to her fluttery stomach and pushed the thought from her mind.

Elfsburg was charming to say the least, but it was difficult to tell where the Workshop ended and the town began-there were so many outlying buildings. However, in spite of her initial assumption that giving herself a tour would be practically impossible, Ellington found that most buildings were labeled, so she could easily tell what was what. And, of course, there were many street signs that directed her in every direction possible, making her self guided tour that much easier.

So Ellington was occupied for a good two and a half hours, enjoying the decorations and ornate architecture of the town. Each building seemed to have been designed with Christmas in mind—which she realized, was rather obvious. She noticed that, among many of the more common festive motifs, they relied heavily on swirls and rich colors. Ellington, who had a fondness for intricacies, was delighted to find that almost everything, for the streetlamps to the paving stones, had a special pattern or signature embossed onto their surfaces.

It wasn't snowing, but the ground was dusted with snow all the same. Either by merit of the cold or some kind of magic, it stayed dusty and didn't stick to the bottom of Ellington's boots like snow usually had in Washington. She'd forgotten how much she missed the cold, the snow. It was a refreshing change of pace from the muggy, hot Hawaiian weather she was accustomed to.

She stopped on a corner to look across at some young girl elves playing together in the snow. Not for the first time since her arrival, Ellington thought about her sisters. Annise, she knew, was her best friend. But Dottie, far away on the mainland, lived a life entirely different from theirs. The three sisters weren't close like they used to be. Dottie had pulled away from them long before their father got sick, and as Ellington had told Mackenzie and Kyle, she didn't even talk to them anymore. It was an awkward, distant situation at best, and deafening silence at its worst. This was part of the reason Ellington was so concerned about seeing her face to face for the first time in three years. She had told the truth; she genuinely didn't think Dottie would want to see them.

She was drawn out of her dismal thoughts by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Ahem."

With a slight jump Ellington turned to see Bernard, dressed warmly in a coat and scarf in addition to his beret. He was holding two steaming drinks. "Took me a while to find you."

"Oh." Her voice flat, Ellington struggled to bring her head back from the dark place it had been going. "I guess I stayed out longer than I realized."

"What led you way out here?" Bernard was a little puzzled why she wouldn't want to explore the workshop instead. That was what most kids would have gone for…but then, she was closer to an adult than a child.

"Curiosity?" Ellington shrugged, looking up at the sky. "I miss the cold, to be honest. I needed to clear my head and…I didn't want to be in anyone's way." It was unspoken but clear just who she meant by 'anyone'.

Bernard looked at the drinks in his hands with a surprising pang of guilt in his stomach. "I didn't say you were in my way," he began tentatively.

"Well I didn't specify who, but I'm glad to see you're clear on the subject." Ellington turned her gaze down to him, her expression blank and tired. "I didn't really need you to tell me. Your silence earlier practically screamed that you don't want anything to do with me. And that's fine! Really. I understand this whole 'chaperone' thing is probably a huge burden for you. I just don't need to feel like more of a thorn in everyone's side than I already do, okay? So let's not make it personal and just agree to go our separate ways." She sighed and looked over the surrounding buildings. "Sorry you had to come looking for me."

"It wasn't a problem. Look, I—"

Ellington scoffed. "Don't lie, it only makes it worse." She scuffed the snow with one booted foot, hands thrust deep into her pockets.

Bernard watched her for a minute, trying to figure out if she was just stressed out, upset, or downright depressed. He gave up after a moment and followed after her as she walked on. She was pretending to look at things in the shop windows. "I think we're really getting off on the wrong foot here."

"Oh really? I thought we were well on our way to becoming best friends."

Great, a mouthy one. "Very funny. Now, sorry to ruin your walk about town, but I was sent to come and get you. I've got a lot to deal with today, you and your sisters aside, so if you could just follow me—"

"And what if I don't?" Ellington narrowed her eyes, assessing him. She felt exceptionally resistant all of a sudden, unwilling to put them both through such a struggle for nothing. "Would we really get in trouble for just leaving each other well enough alone? I'm sure you're a busy guy, and I don't need to cramp your style…frankly, with all of this going on and so much to think about, I wouldn't mind being left to myself."

Bernard's mind flashed back to Annise's letter. My sister Ellington is scared, but she doesn't say so. Ellington doesn't like to be afraid of anything. She's seventeen and really smart. She would be in college by now if Daddy wasn't sick all this time. She needs a friend, cause she doesn't really have any, besides me. I think that she needs a friend, someone to talk to. If you could help her, it would mean a lot to us both.

Sometimes that memory of his was actually more of a pain than a help.

"Thanks," Bernard replied. "It's nice to know that you realize how I feel."

Ellington frowned mid sip of cocoa. "Wasn't exactly talking about you, pal, but nice dose of narcissism. Must go well with that winning personality."

Bernard glared. "You're got a real smart mouth, you know that?"

She shrugged passively, clearly unfazed. "Takes one to know one, doesn't it?"

"I was trying to find common ground." Bernard said with a tired grimace. He was beginning to think he had been right about her being a real headache after all.

"Yeah, because an elf and a teenage millennial have so much in common."

"As the more mature of the two of us, I was merely suggesting we try to get along rather than find reasons to hate each other." He looked at her for a long moment before going on. "I know that this is really bad timing all around. But truth be told, it's never a good time for me to be sociable outside of work, because that's what I do: I work. A lot. A few people have argued more than I should, but hey; I figure, if I've been at it like this for sixteen hundred years and it hasn't killed me, why should I stop?" Why in the name of Christmas was he telling her all this? Bernard was used to speaking his mind, but not about personal things.

"You're sixteen hundred years old?" Elle repeated, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"Sixteen hundred and eighty six, actually."

She nodded slowly, appreciatively. "Impressive. It was hard enough for me to make it to seventeen."

"Thanks. But my point is…" Bernard stopped midsentence. "Wait. What did you just say?"

"I said, 'Impressive. It was hard enough for me to make it to seventeen.' Honestly, did I stutter?"

Seventeen. Why did that matter, exactly?

Bernard shook his head, shaking off the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. "No. Nothing. Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything."

Ellington gave him a long, puzzled sideways look. "Consider it done."

"My point was…you know what? We'll talk about it later. As it happens I am late now. Come on, time to go. If you really have a problem with me, you can take it up with Santa. Until then, yes: we are stuck with each other. And good luck with convincing him this is a bad idea, because god knows he hasn't listened to me about it."

Irritated, yet not in the mood to challenge him openly again because it would probably cause a scene, Ellington followed after Bernard in a charged silence. Sometime later, walking down a seemingly endless street, she shored up her reserve and decided to actually apologize. Rude though she often was, she could never hold out long before feeling plain old awful about whatever she'd said.

This time, though, apologizing seemed to be even harder than usual. All she could manage was, "I'm…sorry. For the way I acted back there. I'm burning on a short fuse lately, and I know it's not exactly pleasant to be around."

Bernard looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. Ellington's gaze was fixed on her drink. He decided to answer, instead of pretending not to have heard like he normally would. "Yeah, I didn't exactly try to be welcoming when you arrived, either. You were right, I made it sound more like I'd rather you left then stayed."

"Well, at least you were being honest."

"Doesn't make it okay." Ellington's stomach clenched. So there it was then. "And it's not entirely true, either. Like I explained, it's always a bad time for me to have extra tasks—and I'm not exactly the life of the party, even on a good day."

"Regardless, me being snippy and making an ass of myself by giving you the cold shoulder doesn't exactly help. It's a miracle that you're all helping us as it is. I should be grateful, not difficult. It's just...I guess when I'm this stressed, it's a bit hard to keep that in mind."

"I can understand that better than most," the elf agreed, pausing a moment to actually pass her the drink he'd meant to give her. She looked startled before accepting it with a quiet thanks, and his mind went back to what she'd said earlier that morning. "Is it true what you said about having to look after your family's farm all by yourself? That's an awful lot of responsibility for someone your age."

"Not really," Ellington replied with a soft shrug. "It's just a routine, you get used to it. In all honesty, I don't feel like I'm doing enough. The way things are just makes me feel so powerless, you know? Like no matter how hard I try, it's never enough to actually help." She sighed. "By all rights I should be at the hospital with my mom, assisting her in any way I can. But instead, I'm just sitting at home feeding chickens. And it's more frustrating because even if I was there, I don't think I'd be much use either."

He stopped walking to look at her. "You're too hard on yourself. Your father's health and what's happening to your family because of it is out of your control. You shouldn't feel guilty because you can't fix it."

Bernard was still looking at her, deciding something for himself. He could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she was refusing to cry. Annise was right: Ellington was afraid.

"Is it wrong for me to wish I could?" She asked, and after a moment he shook his head.

"Of course not."

Ellington moved her eyes quickly to the ground, eyes pricking painfully. She pursed her lips and looked away, inhaling sharply. "Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to...I shouldn't have said anything. Forget I brought this up, I'm only making you more late." Trying to walk around him, she felt him snap the sleeve of her coat again.

"Hey." His voice had changed, was somehow kinder. It struck a nerve and made her want to cry even more. "It's okay to share how you're feeling."

"Yeah, not with the guy who would rather not be here right now."

Bernard sighed in irritation—mainly, irritation that he wasn't irritated anymore. "I don't mind—"

Ellington rolled her eyes, looking worn out. "Look buddy, I don't want your sympathy. I get the feeling that I'm going to have nearly drowned in compassion by the time I end up going home, so please. Don't strain yourself." She shook her head and looked at him sideways. "Besides, I've had enough false sympathy, or pity, or whatever you want to call it over the past year to last me a lifetime."

"Then I won't pity you, or sympathize," Bernard replied simply, not looking too bothered by her statement at all. "But I think we could both benefit by having someone to commiserate with."

"?"

Bernard shrugged…or maybe he was re-adjusting his coat. "Since we're already stuck with each other for now, we might as well make the best of it, right? I don't mind having someone to talk to, if you don't."

The girl eyed him skeptically. "You're just saying that so I don't feel bad about wasting your time, aren't you?" Based on the direction of the street Bernard chose Ellington guessed that they were headed back to the workshop.

"No, that's not it. You read into things too much."

"And you make a lot of definite statements for someone who's known me for all of ten minutes, but I wasn't calling you out."

Bernard tried again. "What I'm trying to say is, I wasn't resenting you, I was just resenting the situation. And since the situation isn't going to change, I might as well actually try to enjoy it rather than make it hellish."

"You sure you wanna go through the hassle?"

He shrugged. "I'm willing if you are."

"Well, I suppose we could try," Ellington replied, turning her attention to the snow covered ground. "But I can't promise it'll work. I'm not exactly the most personable, even on a good day."

"But that really you, though?" Bernard asked, after a thoughtful pause. "Or is that just the situation you're in?"

"Honestly? I'm not even sure I know anymore."

"Well then." Bernard tilted his cup towards hers. "Here's to finding out."

Tentatively, Ellington brought her cup to tap against his. Who knew how well this was going to go, with both of their sharp tongues and clashing wits. More than likely it would end catastrophically, but why not take the risk? She'd already made a big enough leap of faith today, what was one more? "To finding out."


Meanwhile, Curtis was busy showing Annise around the Workshop.

Annise was quiet, walking with him with wide eyes as she took in all the amazing sights around her. She wasn't exactly talkative, but she was definitely appreciative. It was actually a perfect match, because Curtis loved to explain everything, and Annise was more than willing to listen.

"You okay?" Curtis eventually asked, stopping his torrent of demonstrations and excited chatter to look at Annise's face.

Annise nodded, letting out a little sigh along with a smile. "Yeah, it's just…a lot to take in." She looked around at the bustling floor, eyes bright. "I mean, yesterday I didn't even think this place existed, let alone understand how big it is."

"It is big, isn't it?" Curtis looked around thoughtfully. "You kinda lose sight of that after a while." His attention eventually shifted back to Annise. "So, are you hungry? I know of a great little café in Elfsburg."

"Okay," Annise said, looking up with a sparkle in her eye. "Hey, could I maybe go see the reindeer when we get back?"

"Sure. Maybe you can even take a ride on Chet." Curtis took her hand again, smiling for a moment before frowning. "Well, maybe not Chet. He's making leaps and bounds in his training but he's still not the best for joyrides. Maybe Dancer, instead-but never mind that for now. Come on. If we hurry, we can beat the break time rush."

This wasn't as hard as he'd expected, to be honest. Annise was a really easy girl to get along with, and his initial blushing, fumbling manner had worn off quickly—especially since she seemed to be eager to put him at ease. He wondered if that was something she learned from being around her older sister. She certainly seemed to know how to calm Ellington down.

They almost ran into Bernard and Ellington at the front doors. Bernard was tugging them open just as they got there, and Annise almost crashed into her sister.

"Hey senpai," Ellington said, a genuine smile breaking out across her face. Annise was bear hugging her sister a moment later.

"Senpai! Have you seen this place yet?" Annise asked, even though Curtis was behind her back mouthing 'senpai' in confusion.

"Not yet," Ellington admitted, glancing around the bustling workshop briefly. "Sure looks impressive though."

"It is. Maybe if Bernard has time he can show you around."

"Not sure Bernard's got the schedule for that right now, kiddo. But I will as soon as I get a chance," said Ellington with a smile. "Where are you two headed?"

"Out for lunch I think, and then Curtis says I can see the reindeer."

"Great. I'll catch up with you later then, okay?" Ellington hugged her sister once more and let her out the door, Curtis following after her with a slightly awkward smile. She watched them go until they made it off the staircase.

"Funny." Ellington turned to look at Bernard, unsure what he meant by that. He was wearing a crooked little smile. "For a second there I could have sworn you actually looked happy."

Ellington flushed pink, ducking her head slightly to hide her smile. "Shut up. Of course I was happy, I was with my sister."

Bernard reached a hand up and patted her on the shoulder. "See? I think I was right."

"Oh? About what?"

He looked almost triumphant. "That it's your situation making you sad and antisocial."

"Oh, thanks."

He let his hand drop and grinned, actually grinned as he shook his head ruefully. "Don't take it like that. It's a good thing."

"Really."

"Yeah. It means things can get better." This made Ellington stop and stare a second. When he put it like that… "Makes it seem simple, doesn't it?" He didn't seem fazed by her startled look.

"Yeah," Ellington broke into a smaller smile, almost hopeful. "It does."

Bernard tugged her by the sleeve once more. "And I actually do have time to show you around the workshop. That's kinda why I came to get you, so I can multitask and give you the grand tour while I make my rounds. Mind tagging along?"

"As long as you don't mind," Ellington replied, still hesitant to intrude.

"Not a bit." And from the look on his face, Bernard actually meant it.


Disclaimers:
I am not Disney or Disney affiliated and therefore do not own any rights or credits to any characters, concepts or places portrayed in or from "The Santa Clause 1, 2, or 3". The only thing I own is my own creative work and original content and characters, including the Connelly family, the Emissary Clause and Elle herself.

Many characters and concepts are borrowed/used shamelessly from the works and headcanons of SafyreSky, all rights and credit go to her for coming up with such incredible ideas. These include but are not limited to the Legate concept, Jacqueline Frost and the portrayal of many other non-canon/canon characters.