"We're not in Canada, are we?" She hesitantly asked Jack in a stammering voice, catching up with him. Her eyes were as wide as can be, given the circumstances, and her voice was at a high pitch due to shock and realization.

"Finally guess it, have you?" Jack laughed lightly, rushing up the stairs. "We're in the North Pole, and 'Scott' is actually dear old Santa Claus." He said in an almost resentful tone, which Christine picked up on. "I probably shouldn't have been the one to tell you, but your family has been lying to you." He pushed open a stained glass door where some vending machines were, and a broom closet. Opening the closet, he took out a very small mop.

"They," Christine paused for a moment, blinking and shaking her head. "Lied to me?" She then looked around the room with sad eyes. "We're in the North Pole? This is Santa's Workshop? So," she trailed off, turning back to Jack. "They are all elves. Real elves?" Jack nodded. "And you are really, truly, Jack Frost? The bringer of Winter and all that is cold?" He grinned and nodded at that.

"Yeah." He laughed and winked. "Cool, isn't it?" Pun intended.

"Wow." Christine breathed out, looking into the workshop, but then furrowed her brows together in confusion and disappointment. "But, why would Uncle Neil and Aunt Laura lie to me? Did they know all along?"

"To be fair, it seems it isn't their secret to give out." Jack said nonchalantly with a shrug. "And Mrs. Claus' parents don't know, either. Something called an S.O.S. or whatever."

"S.O.S?" Christine tilted her head, following Jack back down the stairs and into the kitchen, just as Scott seemed to have returned on his own. Also gathered there were Neil, Laura, and Lucy. Christine couldn't help but gaze at them with sad eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what happened?"

"Nothing!" Jack jogged up behind him. "Except you didn't tell your in-laws that your ex-wife is spending Christmas with you."

"More secrets." Bud nodded as Sylvia gave Scott an accusatory look.

"Secrets, indeed." Christine couldn't help but give her aunt and uncle a sideways glance before stepping up next to Jack.

Suddenly, Christine jumped at the hissing noise behind her as the espresso machine that Jack seemed to have used earlier started spitting out parts and coffee/cocoa beans. Elves started screaming and running away from it in surprise.

"Nothing works in this joint!" Bud exclaimed over the sound of the machine.

"If you think this is something, you should see the delivery room!" Jack then suggested, to which Scott gave him a small glare. Jack just smiled up at him sheepishly.

"Is there a problem?" Bud asked before turning to Scott. "I want to see the delivery room!" Sylvia then gave a disbelieving look.

"What?!"

As the elves started to clean and fix up the kitchen, Scott, Carol, and her parents went out to check out the infirmary. Or is it elfirmary, since Christine just found out that all the stories about this place were true.

So there she was, sitting at the table, the sandwich she asked for sitting right in front of her, untouched as she was suddenly not hungry, while her aunt and uncle sat across from her and tried to explain everything as best as they could.

"You know why we couldn't tell you, right?" Laura asked, reaching over and taking Christine's hand in hers, to which Christine tugged her hand away and placed it on her lap.

"Yes. I," she paused. "I understand. It's Scott's responsibility, and it's meant to be kept secret." She then looked up at them. "But if you wanted me to come along, why didn't you tell me the truth? Or at least suggested that Scott would tell me? He would have allowed me to know, right?"

"We didn't know how to bring it up." Neil said in a soft tone, in his psychiatrist voice. "When Scott started to become Santa Claus twelve years ago, neither of us believed it, because we only knew this as stories growing up. And you know how parents eventually tell their children that Santa isn't real. The only one that truly believed, because they were there with Scott, was Charlie."

"So, Charlie knew, too?" Christine even felt more terrible before scoffing. "Of course he knew, he's Scott's son."

"Please don't be mad at us, sweetie." Laura tried to console Christine.

"I, for one, wouldn't blame her for being mad."

Christine looked up to see Jack Frost standing beside her chair, arms crossed. He had took off the apron he was wearing earlier, but still wasn't wearing his jacket.

"In fact, I'd be pretty upset, myself, if I were in this kind of situation."

"It's kind of difficult to explain magic is real to an adult, Jack. It took us months to get through it." Laura said, defending herself. "Lucy wasn't told until she was six."

"But he's right." Christine said, looking back at her aunt and uncle. "It may have seemed difficult, but do you know what I read? All sorts of books about magic. Legends and myths, and you think that I, of all people, wouldn't have believed you? Wouldn't have believed that Santa Claus truly exists?" She took a deep breath before standing up and draping her coat over her left arm. "I just need a while." Her voice was surprisingly dull as she turned to walk away, leaving her family and her uneaten sandwich behind.

Some kind elves were able to direct her to the room where her suitcase was brought to, so even though she never made it to that part of the tour, she eventually found the room she'd be staying in.

Normally, she would marvel at the amazing architecture, the brick coloured walls and the stained glass windows. But she was so upset at the moment she could think of nothing but to sit on her bed, covered in emerald green sheets, and thought about today.

So much has happened that she needed the time to dwell over it.

Hopefully, not for too long, tomorrow was Christmas Day.

Quickly, she took out some fresh clothes to wear and changed. Now, she wore a black, tube skirt that hugged her hips and charcoal coloured leggings, which had a fleece lining in them to keep her legs warm. On her feet were some tan boots that had a two inch heel on them. She wore a dark green and dark blue stripped shirt that had a v-neck collar. Sitting at her place on the bed again, she went back to thinking about her family. And what they did. Or what they didn't do.

"Dreaming of the stars on high that speak to me in secret sighs, drifting on a breeze only I can feel and hear." The words escaped Christine's throat without a second thought. Whenever she was distressed, she'd always sing the same song. "Could it be the sacred wind? It's calling me to now begin. To walk into the dark, carrying the light of tomorrow." She stopped a moment, taking a deep breath and shaking her head. She ran her slim fingers through her straight, blonde hair.

"I knew you had an angelic voice."

Christine jumped with a start, looking up with wide eyes. She hadn't even heard her door open, let alone Jack Frost walking into the doorway. Hesitantly, Christine smiled lightly with furrowed eyebrows, her cheeks flushed pink as she looked away from him.

"Oh, there's no need to be embarrassed." Jack insisted, walking towards her, sitting next to her on the bed. "Your voice could rival that of any Broadway star."

"Really?" Christine glanced up at him before staring at her feet with a frown. "Thanks, Jack, but I don't feel like compliments, right now."

"Now, now, is this because of the fact that your family lied to you?" He placed a hand on her back, causing a chill to run up and down her spine. "That they betrayed your trust?" She closed her eyes as he said those words, a strange coldness came over her, her heart seemed to clench in her chest painfully.

"I've already had trust issues. Because of my parents." Christine explained softly. "My mother didn't trust my father, and my father didn't trust my mother or my siblings. When my parents had a divorce, my father took me with him, my mother had my older, twin sisters. They always lied to me. I resented them. Uncle Neil knew that. Which was why I was spending Christmas with them this year. He and Aunt Laura were the only people I could trust." She shook her head again, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. "I know, that there are reasons, real reasons why I wasn't told. But it feels like they didn't trust me. Like, I was supposed to not know the entire time here. And after." She held the tears back, suddenly glaring at the wall. "Out of everyone, I can keep a secret. There is no way I would give out information of this place without being allowed to. And from what I understand, Scott would have allowed them to tell me. But they chose not to. I commend them for keeping the secret safe, but I'm upset that they didn't feel like I could keep it secret, either."

"I completely understand." Jack said in a strangely soft voice, causing her to look up at him. "I know exactly how it feels to be betrayed. Untrusted."

"You do?" She blinked her eyes before looking at her feet again, leaning her shoulder against his. "Thanks, Jack. I appreciate you listening to me."

"Any time." He chuckled lightly, rubbing his hand against her back. "Now, how would you like to be one of my elves?"

"Excuse me?" Christine looked up and blinked again, giving him an incredulous look of confusion.

"Just, someone to help me out. I've got a plan to set things right up here, in the Pole. A plan to make everyone understand how we feel." He stared into her eyes. "So, would you help me?"

Christine thought about it for a moment. She wasn't one to do things behind anyones back, especially bad things. But something inside of her told her that she should. She should help Jack and give her family what's coming to them.

"Ok." Christine gave him a determined look filled with trust. "I'll help you."