In the midst of all of Kai's gloom, he woke up one morning to find snow falling as he looked out the window and the sound of cheerful music going through the house. Feeling curious, he got out of bed, walked to the door, and then jumped back as it opened.

"Oh, I'm so glad you haven't left the room yet," Victoria told him as she came in and closed the door behind her. "Cause I have a surprise for you and I don't want it to be ruined by you seeing it before I could come and get you. Come with me."

"Should I close my eyes?" Kai asked, feeling very intrigued.

"Nah," Victoria shook her head. "You'll get more out of it if you keep them open." She took his hand and led him out of the room, everywhere Kai looked being decorated like Christmas.

"How long have I slept?" He asked, looking awestruck. "It's not really Christmas, is it?"

"No, but here, does that matter?" Victoria asked. "Merry Christmas, Kai."

They sat down at the table and split large gingerbread men and drank glasses of milk for breakfast, then Kai's eyes widened as he looked at the tree and all the presents under it. "Which ones are mine?" He asked.

"All of them," Victoria told him. "You can open them when you're done eating."

"Okay," Kai replied and then shoved the rest of his cookie in his mouth so eagerly that Victoria had to whack him on the back a couple of times. Then, they both ran over to the tree and Victoria watched Kai opening his presents.

"I hope you like them all," she said. "I guessed on what you'd like for some of them, so if you want something else, that's okay."

"Oh, of course not!" Kai told her. "I'm sure you got me great presents!"

"Don't be so sure of that until you open them and see," Victoria told him.

Of course he started with one of the bigger ones, which was one of those tins that have the caramel, cheese, and regular popcorn in them. "You think you'll be able to eat all that?" Victoria asked.

"Yes," Kai replied, reaching into the cheese corn section for a handful already. "You know me so well." After a couple more handfuls, he opened a smaller present that was a key chain of a picture frame with Victoria's picture in it.

"I figured you should have something to put keys on when we get out of here," she explained. "It's probably a little self-centered to give you something with my face on it, but I don't care."

"You shouldn't," Kai smiled. "I like it."

After a few more presents of food were received favorably, she hit her first stumbling block.

"What in the world do you think I'm supposed to do with this?" Kai asked, holding up a green sweater that had three gingerbread men on it who looked like they were tap dancing and each holding a candy cane in one hand. "I know you mean well, but…it's hideous!"

"It's a tradition to wear an ugly sweater on Christmas," Victoria told him. "Don't worry. I have one too."

"Well, good," Kai replied. "It's nice to know I don't have to suffer alone." But he humored her and put the sweater on anyway. After the presents were opened, Victoria looked out the window and said, "Looks like there's quite a bit of snow out there. You wanna go and make the most of it?"

"Sure," Kai nodded. "But just know that if we snowball fight, I'm going to kick your ass."

"Oh, whatever!" Victoria told him, smile of challenge on her face. "You just go on thinking that, and prepare to be proven wrong!"


Unfortunately, Victoria was beaten at snowball fighting and she was beaten soundly. "See?" Kai told her as they made their snowman. "I told you I would beat you at snowball fighting."

"Well, that's because you cheated!" Victoria replied. "You used your magic and I didn't until the last minute."

"You didn't make a rule that said I couldn't use magic," Kai told her. "If you didn't want me to use magic, you should have said so."

"Good point," Victoria conceded. They made their snowman and then Victoria took Kai's picture next to it. It was when she put the camera down that he noticed how wet she was and that she was visibly shivering.

"Okay, that's enough," he said and picked her up. "We need to get you inside so that you can be warm."

"All right," Victoria agreed. "That would be nice."

They got inside and he carried her to the bathroom in his bedroom which had a large tub. He filled it up and then helped her out of her wet clothes and into the water. "Too hot?" He asked.

"No, it's fine, thanks," Victoria assured him and relaxed into it. "It's nice."

"Good," Kai replied, then undressed and followed her in, washing her gently with a loofah.

"Sorry if my hands are still cold on your bare skin," Victoria told him as she ran her fingertips over his chest and kissed his neck. "But I just have to touch you."

"That's fine," Kai replied and kissed her. "I really don't mind." They stayed in the tub until both of them were sure Victoria was warm enough, then got out and put on underwear and bathrobes before heading back into the living room.

"What do you want to do now?" Victoria asked.

"Let's just sit for a bit," Kai said. "And this might seem like kind of a stupid request, but…will you read me A Christmas Carol?"

"Sure I will," Victoria replied. She called up the book, then she and Kai both sat on the sofa. He put his arm around her shoulder as she opened the book and began reading.


After it was all over and Scrooge had learned to appreciate Christmas, Kai played with his presents and they didn't really do anything else until nightfall, when Victoria woke up from a nap and smelled turkey and chocolate cake. She came out and gasped at the table that was once again covered with food.

"Did you do this?" She asked Kai.

"You made breakfast, so I thought I should make dinner," Kai replied. "I thought we could be fancy for at least one meal."

"I see no problem with that," Victoria replied. She zapped herself into a red velvet dress with long sleeves and took a spot at the table that seemed to have a present next to it. "What's this?" She asked.

"It's your present," Kai smiled. "But you're not allowed to open it until after dinner."

"You didn't have to get me a present!" Victoria smiled. "I know what a good Christmas is like. This was all for you!"

"I know, but…I wanted to get you something anyway," Kai replied.

As Victoria ate her turkey and drank her egg nog, she couldn't help but wonder what the present was. When all the dishes had been cleared away, she brought the box to the living room and opened it. It looked like a small TV. "What is this?" She asked.

"I-I wished for something that would allow you to talk to your parents face to face," Kai told her. "And this is what I got. I know you haven't seen them since you've been here with me and I thought you probably missed them by now."

"Yeah, I do," Victoria admitted. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Kai replied. "You wanna use it now?"

"Not yet," Victoria replied. "We can figure out how to get this working tomorrow. Now we watch movies."

"Fine," Kai replied. "But nothing sappy like "It's a Wonderful Life."

"All right," Victoria nodded and zapped up How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Nightmare Before Christmas instead. "Are these all right?"

"Never seen them," Kai replied. "Are they overly sentimental?"

"Well, the end of The Grinch is a little, but not most of it," Victoria assured him. "And in Nightmare, a skeleton kidnaps Santa and takes over Christmas himself."

"That sounds exciting," Kai remarked. "I think those are acceptable movies. You set them up and I'll go make the popcorn."

"All right," Victoria nodded. "Sounds good."

When he came back, she'd not only set up the movies, but also put a fire in the fireplace. When he saw it, he tensed a little, but she put a reassuring hand on his arm. "It's okay," she said. "There's a screen in front of the fire so it's contained."

"All right," Kai nodded and then went to sit down. "That's good."

They watched the movies, ate popcorn, and finished off the rest of the egg nog, and by the end of The Grinch, Victoria had fallen asleep. Kai kissed her cheek, picked her up and carried her to bed, and as he tucked her in and turned off the light, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Vicky. Merry Christmas."


While Kai and Victoria were doing things like having a delightful Christmas in their home, in the real world, things weren't quite so rosy. When Liam got to work the next day to tell Astrid about their plan with Kai, James stopped him on the way in. "You have to go home," he said.

"No, I don't," Liam shook his head. "I have to talk to Astrid. Why in the world would I need to go home?"

James leaned in closer and said in a worried voice, "You're the one who killed Edele McCullough, aren't you?"

"Yes," Liam nodded. "Why? Has Kai returned and decided to take some sort of vengeance against me as a last hurrah before he's hauled off to have his powers taken away?"

"No," James leaned in close and shook his head. "I'm afraid it's much worse. When we got into your office this morning, it was a mess. And we saw…" He sucked in a breath and opened the door to Liam's office. "You might just want to have a look for yourself."

When Liam came into his office, his chair was facing backwards. He turned it around and let out a cry, as he saw his own double sitting in the chair, horribly mutilated, and obviously dead. And when he looked under the desk, he was even more frightened by the sight of Mary's body.

"Is she okay?" Liam asked James. "Real her, I mean."

"Yes, we called, but it was after you'd gone," James assured him. "I think Edele has come back somehow to get revenge against you for her death, and that we'll all be relieved about Kai when she's through. If this is what she did to your doubles, what she has in store for you isn't gonna be pretty."

"Oh, damn," Liam swore. He made the doubles disappear and then rushed home to check on Mary again and tell her what happened.

"She's seriously back?" Mary looked at her husband with frightened eyes. "Liam, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"We're getting out of here, that's for sure. We can go stay with your parents, and then I'll call Regina and tell her about Edele showing up. Maybe if she tells Kai, we can get some much needed help."

"Oh, I hope so," Mary replied. "I really do."


They got in the car and drove to Jonathan and Savannah's, and while they were there, Liam called Regina and told her what was going on. Regina wasted no time in contacting Victoria, which happened just as they had finished setting up the phone-like device Kai had gotten her the day before.

"Are you serious about Kai's mom being back?" Victoria asked her mother.

"Yeah, Liam and the other people at the Council are pretty sure," Regina told her. "You think Kai could help us out?"

"I don't know," Victoria shook her head. "His mom is a bit of a sore spot for him and finding out she's back in any form might put him in a bad place. Plus, I'm a little worried that even if he does help, certain other people will take advantage of the fact that he's back in Council territory and use that opportunity to capture him. Thanks to Eva, I know that's coming."

"Pointed taken," Regina told her. "Just be careful, all right?"

"We will," Victoria promised her. "And tell Liam and Mary I'm thinking about them, won't you?"

"Yes," Regina promised. "I will."