Hey everybody :) December has come, and so has the Christmas season, yay! Got another fun-filled chapter for you all to read. This time Melena gets to take on her duties as a Christmas Elf in Santa's Workshop, but being half human, will she be able to handle it?

Leona returned to the dormitory an hour later to find a more composed Melena sitting on her new bed. She'd put her cloak away and her eyes were dry. The blond smiled at the sight of her sponsor. It was comforting to know she had a friend. Melena could tell that Leona was someone she could trust.

She tucked her hair behind her ears and stood up.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better," Leona smiled, "I worried you might not adjust very well."

"I'm fine," Melena said, adjusting her mussed up village dress. She hadn't changed her clothes at all since the big ride on Firedancer, so she still had on the same outfit. Leona noticed the clock and took a hold of Melena's hand.

"Come on, there's still lunch being served downstairs."

~/~/~/~/~

"….and it turns out, the little girl was over there, flirting with Simon! Can you believe it?" The two elves laughed over Melena's story.

"I never knew you had such a life down there," Leona said, getting over her laughter. She and the blond elf were down in the mess hall, sitting by a window to watch other elves outside. Melena had never eaten food given to her through a window, and she found it much more convenient than having to work all day to prepare a meal like she did at home. Melena glanced around at the Christmas decorations in the room.

"This is a beautiful place, you know," the blond said as she munched on some bread.

"You'll like it here, I promise," Leona assured her, "I want to show you around, but it's better if you get your rest for now." She then noticed how wrinkled and stained Melena's dress was, and realized the taller elf had no clothes other than what was on her back. Melena began cleaning up the dishes on her tray.

"Before we do anything," Leona said, stopping her, "we need to get you some clothes."

~/~/~/~/~

"So how exactly do you find clothing in this place?" Melena asked as they walked down the street.

"At Evelyn's Place of course!" Leona said, "She's the best tailor on the North Pole!"

"A tailor!" Melena exclaimed, "But tailors are for rich people! And I have no money with me!"

"Don't sweat it," Leona assured her taller friend, "we don't buy hardly anything up here except insurance, and even then, we get help. Besides, you won't be able to find a better elf at making custom-made outfits."

"Do I really need a tailor?" Melena asked, following to keep up with her smaller friend's quick pace.

"Yes, definitely," Leona replied matter-of-factly, "especially in your case. You're taller than most elves, so not many of the clothes they shell out each year would fit you. It's best to seek the help of a professional."

"I don't see why it's so important," Melena stated as they walked down a busy street, "I've been making my own clothes since I was ten."

"Really?" Leona said in surprise, staring at Melena's outfit.

"You made that?" she asked, pointing at the other elf's dress. Melena nodded.

"Wow!" Leona said in awe, "I haven't seen craftsmanship that good since I first met Evelyn."

It was true. It wasn't the fanciest dress Melena owned, but it was lovely on her. She wore a white blouse that exposed her shoulders and had puffy, elbow-length sleeves, and a full hunter-green skirt that reached to her ankles. A gathered, rust-colored overskirt covered the upper half of the green skirt, and a light brown lace-up vest adorned Melena's torso, flattering her figure in the process. Melena also wore her usual peasant boots and bracelet, but she had little else besides the dark green cape she'd left upstairs. And she had made it all on her own.

"Thank you," Melena said gratefully.

"Either way, you stick out like a sore thumb," Leona said, returning to her walk. It was true. Compared to the colorful costumes all the other elves wore, Melena's looked somewhat plain and out of place.

"Don't remind me," she said flatly, walking past various shops and buildings covered in Christmas décor.

"Don't worry," Leona promised, "once we've got you established and with a full wardrobe, you'll fit in like it's nobody's business."

The two elf girls came upon a tall, oval-shaped building that was draped in red ribbon and glittering green and gold banners. In great brass calligraphy, the sign over the door read, Threads for All Seasons. As they walked in, they were greeted by a very energetic elf.

"Leona, dahling," she said, even though her voice was too high and child-like to imitate an aristocrat, "back so soon?"

"Hey Evelyn," the redhead greeted back as she hugged the other elf, "I've got a new client here for ya."

"Really?" Evelyn said, intrigued. Leona gestured towards Melena.

"Ah! Melena, I've heard so much about you!" Evelyn gushed, rushing over and shaking the taller girl's hand. Melena was too busy staring at this new elf to wonder about how she knew her.

Evelyn was even more peculiar than Leona. She was even shorter than the average elf, wore her hair in a strange short style, and had cat's-eye glasses. Behind the glasses, she had large violet eyes that sparkled with enthusiasm.

"Evelyn, we're here to get Melena's measurements so you can make her some clothes," Leona reminded the designer.

"Oh, yes of course!" Evelyn cried. She rushed over to her desk and typed something into her laptop.

"Melena, stand over on the X please." The bespectacled elf pointed at a white X that was on the floor next to the wall. Not understanding, Melena simply walked cautiously up and placed her feet on the X.

"Turn around, and don't move," Evelyn said, her eyes focused on the screen of her computer. Melena did so, and a strange green light passed straight through her.

"Scan complete," the computer said, and Melena looked around, trying to figure out where the other voice was coming from.

"What was that?" Melena asked, rejoining Leona.

"Scanner dahling," Evelyn explained, "it tells me your exact measurements." She leaped off the desk and landed in front of the two girl elves.

"Now all I need is a mannequin in your size and you'll have clothes in no time. Expect them in by tomorrow."

"But wait," Melena said, "can't I just pick out my own clothes?"

"That's the beauty of Evelyn's craft," Leona said, crinkling her nose, "she can tell what elves like, just by looking at them."

"Is true," Evelyn said, forming her hands into a square as she looked Melena over.

"You seem like the medieval type. And you like the color red. I know of several colors that would look simply amazing with that hair, and none of it clashing." Melena stared at the fashion designer, not believing that the elf seemed to have read her mind.

"Come on, Melena, Evey can take it from here." Leona took her friend's hand. As they headed out the door, Evelyn called,

"I'll have them shipped to your dormitory tomorrow evening."

~/~/~/~/~

Later that evening, the two of them sat on Melena's new bed, with Leona was teaching her how to play the Sorry game. They'd already played four rounds and Melena was getting the hang of it.

"Tomorrow you start on your first job," Leona said as she moved her pawns several spaces.

"Job?" Melena asked. She dropped one of the cards.

"This is the North Pole, and you are an elf, you know." Leona reminded her.

"Oh yes!" Melena said, "I remember now. The elves are supposed to help Santa by making toys for him to deliver around the world. Do I get to do that?"

"We'll see," Leona replied, "but there's a lot more to working around here than simply making toys. A lot of us elves have to do jobs that help the people making the toys. Plus, you can't exactly choose what you want to do in this business. The Elf Council does the choosing."

"Why is that?" Melena asked. Leona thought for a moment as she read a card and moved one of her pawns to home.

"There's a lot of jobs out there, too many for even you to count. It's best if you let us pick the job for you, otherwise, things could get mixed up."

Melena thought about that as she sent one of Leona's pawns back to start. It seemed rather odd that the elves simply couldn't choose the job they wanted. But Melena couldn't imagine the true number or scale of jobs there were in the Community. Even after they finished the game and Leona said good night, Melena was pondering over the whole issue. She wondered what the Elf Council possibly had in store for her, and she fell asleep, dreaming about making toys.

~/~/~/~/~

Melena's first job was in the Doll Department. When she entered the building, she could have sworn she'd walked into a dream. Dolls of every shape and size could be seen, lining the walls, standing as decorations, and hanging from the ceiling. The majority of the dolls were being made as gifts for little girls all over the world. Dozens of girl elves happily toiled away at each kind of doll.

When Melena first saw the Head of the department, she couldn't help but notice the elf looked like a doll herself.

"Hello Melena," the Head said sweetly, "we're happy you can join us today. We're always in need of help around here. Come this way please."

Leona winked at the blond elf as they wove their way past tables and workstations galore. At one point, they entered a large room that had elves working on dolls up on a balcony, and wrapping them on the main floor below.

"The Doll Department's a really nice place to work for a newcomer," Leona told Melena, "everyone here is nice and willing to help. Don't worry. You'll fit right in."

The trio climbed a set of ornately carved stairs decorated in red and green ribbons up to the balcony. The dept. Head gave Melena a white smock with a pink double-D logo on one of the shoulders. She then led the girl over to a table near the balcony.

"We'll put you with the packaging crew, for starters," the girl elf told Melena, "here; you'll parcel up the new Holiday Barbie's and take them downstairs for wrapping. It's very simple and hardly a problem."

"What's a Barbie?" Melena asked as she sat down. She'd never heard such a strange name for a doll before. Leona and the department Head exchanged looks.

A small elf in a smock similar to Melena's brought up a wooden tray with at least twenty dolls on it. When the load was placed in front of the blond elf, she took in the sight of the doll. It was a pretty thing, with blond hair that seemed like real hair, and its body was jointed with a surrealistically molded and painted face. Melena had never seen a doll of this quality. She was used to rag dolls and (once in a while), a porcelain doll with a fancy lace dress. This thing was almost like a real woman lying in front of her. However, it behaved as it was; a doll. She was dressed in a beautiful gown that seemed like a perfect paragon of Christmas. Each one of these was attached to a thin, card-like backing that showed a snowy landscape.

Melena's stunned gaze was cut off when she was given a pile of flattened boxes and another tray.

"You are to package these dolls like so," the department Head said. As she spoke, she unfolded one of the boxes and closed the bottom to create the odd box shape. The elf then took one of the Barbie's and carefully slid it in before closing the box and pushing the upper flap through the slot.

"And then, when you're done with this lot, you can bring them down to Packaging for wrapping. Do you understand?" The Head finished.

Not entirely understanding, Melena nodded slightly and took the box from the elf. She put it on the new tray and took a hold of another Barbie and another box. Feeling an odd sense of happiness, she turned and smiled at Leona, who returned the expression with silent glee.

"I'll leave you here to get to work," the redheaded elf told Melena, "if you need me, just tell the department Head and she'll call me. Good luck!" With that, Leona was off.

Melena turned back to her job. She sat at a table with at least four other girl elves, all dressed in the same smock as her, and doing the exact same thing. There were other tables and dolls being worked on as well, and the din of noise was something to get used to. Music could be heard wafting around the huge complex, and Melena found it soothing.

She got to work; trying to manage the strange Barbie doll she'd been given. Following the example the department Head had shown her, Melena had to use her first box as a reference several times before she'd memorized the process. The box she used was equally as pretty as the doll, and she'd never seen one with a window on the front before.

Pretty soon, Melena had finished her twenty dolls. They looked okay, not too much scratching. Some of the stress Melena had been feeling half an hour before had worn off, and she felt more comfortable as she piled the boxes on her tray and headed towards the staircase the other doll packagers were using.

However, as she walked along the balcony, Melena soon found out how light the boxes were. Several on top of the pile slid off and landed on the floor. A few elves looked over their shoulders to see what had caused the noise. Blushing, Melena sheepishly picked them back up and continued.

She didn't know if she was being slow in her work, so Melena rushed towards the staircase. Suddenly, her foot slipped on an odd-looking tool on the floor. Melena fell towards the edge of the balcony, screaming in fright at her sudden loss of balance. Her underarms slammed into the railing as the boxes and tray went flying.

Down below, Bernard had been walking around amongst the wrappers, making sure they were getting the dolls done in time. Once in a while he'd wake up a sleepy elf, or remind a slow-moving elf that Christmas was coming. Usually Bernard wouldn't go near the Doll Department very much. It was too girly for him. But he would force himself to go to make sure things were kept up. Personally, Bernard had wanted to see what kind of progress the newcomer—Melena was her name—was having.

And all of a sudden, out of the blue, a shower of Holiday Barbie boxes fell on his head like small meteors.

"What the—" his surprised reaction was cut off when the wooden tray fell on him, knocking the Head Elf off his feet and causing him to bang his arm against one of the tables.

"Ow!" he yelled in pain as he landed with his back on the paper-strewn floor.

Dozens of elves gasped and stopped what they were doing. Never had they seen a calamity as this. The average elf would think that this was the first time in history anyone had ever dive-bombed the Head Elf with Barbie doll boxes. Melena stared down from the balcony; her blue eyes wide open in horror at what she had done. The other elf girls up on the gallery with her were staring down with equal dismay.

Now I've done it, Melena thought, biting her lip.

Gripping his arm, Bernard picked himself up off the wrapper-strewn floor. He did not look happy.

"Who did this?" he demanded, his glare causing every nearby elf to back off. None of the little girl elves spoke, they merely stared upwards. When Bernard saw where everyone was looking, he glanced up to see Melena, still slung over the rail, frozen in terror. The Head Elf stared up at her in contempt.

"Come here," he said, indicating with his finger.

Cautiously, Melena got off the railing and headed towards the spiral staircase. Her underarms hurt, no doubt bruised from the railing. She had heard Bernard yelling at other elves earlier, and she wondered what he would do to her.

Her face got red when she realized that all eyes were on her. It got even worse, for the Head Elf was waiting at the bottom of the staircase.

"What did I tell you about seeing me as little as possible?" Bernard demanded. He still held his arm and seemed to tower over Melena, despite the fact he wasn't much taller than her. The blond elf stared, trying to think of something to say, but nothing came out.

"You nearly gave me heart attack, you happy?" Bernard yelled, making Melena jump. He let out an angry noise and stalked off.

"Leona's going to hear about this!" he fumed as he left.

Melena watched him leave, shaken by the tongue-lashing. It wasn't the most shattering thing she heard, but it certainly left a mark on everyone. Without a word, Melena took off her smock and left it on the banister. The other elves went back to work, but many of them stole glances at the taller elf as she walked out.

Leona found her sitting on the steps, her elbow propped on her knee, staring at the ground. The redheaded elf heard what had happened and didn't need to ask. She merely put a sympathetic smile on her face and took Melena's hand.

"Come on," she said, leading her taller friend along, "let's go home."

~/~/~/~/~

"Can I still work at the Doll Department?" Melena asked. She was lying on her dorm bed, staring into space.

"I'm sorry," Leona apologized, "but when you get a yell from Bernard…well…its back to square one." Melena wasn't sure about the cliché, but she could tell when the answer was no.

"What kind of place is this?" she asked, sitting up on the bed, "First you're all happy to see me, and then you aren't happy. Which one is it?" Leona sat down on the foot of Melena's bed.

"We're all happy to have you here Melena; it's just that you can't work in the Doll Department anymore. Especially not after 'raining on Bernard's parade.'" At this, Leona giggled.

Still slightly pained from the memory, Melena flopped back on the bed.

"It wasn't that funny. I thought he was going to kill me." Leona's laughing subsided.

"No, no," she said cheerfully, "he's never killed anyone for messing up around here. Oh, by the way, I've got a new job for you, which you start tomorrow."

"Already?" Melena said in surprise, "But what if I make a mistake in that one?"

"Then we'll find you another job," Leona explained, "that's what happens when an elf makes a mistake. He or she is given another job in its place, until they find something they're good at."

"What's the job?" Melena asked. Leona then got a mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh, you'll see, you'll see."

Gee, bet you didn't think working with Barbie's of all things was so hazardous, lol. And what new job does Leona have for Melena to do? Next chapter is coming soon :)