The North Pole. Sarah's heart was pounding with anticipation as she rode through the northern tundra on the velvet bench of Santa's sleigh. She'd seen all of the Christmas movies and read all of the books. Like most kids, she had always imagined seeing Santa's Workshop herself. She wasn't a child anymore but the desire to see something spectacular was sill there and rising further to the forefront of her mind as the reindeer continued to lead the sleigh along it's course.

"There it is!" Santa said with a proud expression. He pointed below them where a small city had just come in to view. Santa gave a snap of the reins and the team of caribou pitched downward. The sleigh angling to the ground and it was coming in fast. With over two decades of experience under his belt, Santa was able to guide the reindeer and his sleigh into an effortlessly smooth landing.

"I can't wait to show you around!" Santa told her as he helped her out of the enchanted vehicle.

"Santa! Santa!" Four figures came charging over to them immediately, giving Sarah very little time to take in their surroundings.

She found herself forced to stifle a giggle as she watched four men trudging through the snow in her direction. Two of the men were of average height, standing somewhere around five feet eight or nine inches tall. One was dressed in normal winter apparel including a fur-lined parka, hat and scarf. The other was dressed nearly identically to Santa except that his suit was green rather than red. The third man was only and inch or so shorter than the others but dressed almost like a train conductor from a children's book. He was wearing a blue and white stripped shirt and a red bandana, with round silver framed glasses covering most of his face. The final man was significantly shorter than the other two, maybe about five and feet six inches tall, if Sarah had to guess. He wore a red tunic, brown pants and a green velvet hat over his head of tightly wound black curls. The four of them were quite the team.

"We are running out of time." The train conductor elf stressed. "We only have until midnight tonight."

"I know, Curtis, I know." Santa promised. "But this isn't the kind of thing you just dump on someone. Listen, we still have plenty of time alright? Now, I want you all to meet someone, this is Sarah Quinn, Sarah these are my top advisors! This is Curtis, he's the Keeper of the Christmas Handbook…"

"It's just a fancy way of saying that I'm in charge of making sure the rules are being followed around here." Curtis explained as he shook Sarah's hand.

"Then, you're not doing a very good job, are you?" The Man in the velvet hat hissed.

"Bernard, can't you play nice, as least just for one night?" Santa sighed. "That grump is Bernard. He's our Head Elf."

"I am being nice." Bernard huffed. "You already know how I feel about this." He rolled his eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you, Sarah. As Head Elf, I'm directly responsible for overseeing the progress and efficiency of all the toy making elves here at the North Pole."

"So there really are elves?" Sarah asked, after very briefly exchanging a handshake with the Head Elf. She got the impression that he did not like her very much.

"Of course, there are elves!" Santa interjected. "All those stories had to be based on a little bit of truth. The elves are the bread and butter of the North Pole."

"Are you all elves?" Sarah wanted to know. "Just because the stories always say that elves are short…" She let the sentence trail off knowing the elves would understand what she was implying.

"Bernard and Curtis are elves." Santa confirmed. "But these are my sons. Buddy is only twelve, so he's still learning the business. He introduced the boy who was dressed in the green suit. "And Charlie, is our director of operations."

"Basically, I'm in charge of everything Bernard doesn't want to deal with." Charlie told Sarah with a charming smile. Maybe it was just because she was standing at the literal top of the world in the heart of December and it couldn't have been more than ten degrees outside, but there was something about Charlie. He looked warm. Like the kind of person who just radiated heat. She had to stop herself from reaching out and giving him a hug.

"Which is why," Bernard sighed, interrupting Sarah's thoughts. "You and Buddy are going to take Sarah on a tour of the Pole while Curtis and I try one last time to talk some sense into your father."

"On it boss." Charlie rolled his eyes at Bernard. "Come on, I'll show you the workshop first." Charlie waved Sarah on as he started walking towards a large building at the center of the center of the North Pole.

"Hang on a second." Sarah said, chasing after him in the knee-deep snow.

"C'mon, aren't you cold?" Buddy asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Well, yeah." Sarah shivered. Why did he have to go and mention the weather? "Listen, I get that this is just normal for the two of you, but well I was in bed; sleeping with my cat. Then I hear a noise in my living room and there's a man and a fireplace that weren't there before. So like a crazy person I follow this man to a sleigh of reindeer. They take me to some random house with a girl named Lucy…"

"You saw Lucy?" Charlie asked.

"What is going on!" Sarah demanded, raising her voice slightly.

"It would be better if Dad told you." Charlie explained. "Let's get inside. You'll feel better after some cocoa."

"Cocoa? Is it spiked? Because I don't think drinking is the best idea right now…" Sarah shook her head, but followed them towards the main entrance of the workshop again.

"No." Buddy laughed. "But its magic cocoa."


A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to anyone celebrating today! I didn't spend too much time with my family this year because I'll be working midnight on Black Friday! (Im actually working like 16 hours but that's neither here nor there.) I've working on this for a few days and wanted to have something to leave for ya'll on Thanksgiving so I hope its been worth the wait! I have really been enjoying working on this story even though its a bit of a slow burner!

I was on the fence of who I was going to pair Sarah with, it was down to Bernard and one of other character but since the general opinion is that you guys DO NOT want another Bernard x OC out there, I've decided to go with the second character.

Thank you to Grace93, Jessenia22, & Alyssa. for your reviews of Chapter 3! I don't know when I'll be back, but there will be more updates before Christmas!