After our little scene Bernard brought me back to his office, struggling through the crowd of elves as they giggled and whispered about us. I blushed as I stumbled into his office while he locked the door.

"God, those elves love a good story." He snorted and ran a hand through his hair, "They just wont leave you alone." He muttered and replaced his hat on his head. He glanced at me, smiled and took two steps forward, crashing his lips into mine. My hands automatically circled his neck and his hugged me closer. I could feel his heartbeat racing as we kissed and one of his hands raised up to run through my hair.

I felt so happy I couldn't pull away until I needed to breath and I tore away, gasping. We both inhaled awkwardly, still within kissing distance as we panted. I looked up into his eyes, blushing like crazy. Bernard was also blushing but it also looked like he was keeping his cool.

"Bernard . . ." I whispered and he leaned in to kiss me again but I looked down shyly. Having all this kissing was making me nervous and embarrassed. "Bernard we need to talk about this before it goes any farther." I said and grimaced as he nodded.

"I agree." He said and straightened up. His hands lingered on my waist before he leaned back propping himself up on his desk. "We have to make a few things clear." I took a chair in front of him and stared at my shoes.

"Bernard," I started and at the same time he said-

"Kira," We both stared at each other then started to babble incoherently before returning to silence.

"You go first." He finally ordered and I nodded, clearing my throat.

"Um, about the cards . . ." I started and he looked away in shame.

"What about them?" he more growled than said. I blushed and looked down at my hands.

"I can understand if you can't forgive me for that, but I can't stay here if you don't. I'll have to go back to my mom's hotel and-"

"No." he ordered and I drew back in surprise.

"Wha-"

"Kira, Santa was right." Bernard sighed, "I was miserable without you here. I couldn't help but see little flashes of you in everyone. It made me so . . . frustrated-Not because I was mad at you!" he added quickly when I started to look away in shame, "I was mad at myself for letting you go."

"What about all that stuff at the hotel?" I asked and he sighed looking down.

"When I saw you again I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even think of what to say and I just wanted to leave and think of something. When you called out to me I couldn't leave so I ended up just staying and trying to think of something to say to you."

"But I went to talk to you and you just . . ." I whimpered a little and he looked down. He leaned back and opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out a box.

"That's what you were looking at in your room." I said stupidly. It was a beautifully carved wooden box with white snowflakes appearing to drift down the sides. He handed it to me, a whisper of a smile on his face.

"Open it." He said and I peeled the cover off.

Inside were all of my little notes and letters.

Every single note I wrote to him and every single card. They looked worn, like he had gone through them every night I was gone and they were filed neatly by date. I pulled out the top one and recognized my final card. The corner of it was wrinkled, like water had been spilt on it.

"I thought, when you didn't come talk to me, and because you kept avoiding me, you were still mad. I ended up just staying in my room and trying to find a way to make you forgive me." He sighed and pulled out one of the cards. It was the one from when I was sick. I giggled and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I thought it was the other way around." I laughed and he smiled.

"Kira, I know I was in the wrong. I never needed to forgive you." I smiled back and stood up, coming dangerously close to his face.

"I never needed to forgive you either." I said and touched my nose to his. We were both blushing like crazy and he suddenly started laughing. It was the most magnificent sound in the world I started to laugh as well, eyes closing from the force of it. Soon we were just sitting there, noses touching, as we laughed, happy to have the company of one another.

As we slowed to a stop I opened my eyes to find Bernard's calm collective brown eyes staring into mine.

"Kira, I had something else I wanted to talk to you about." He admitted and I raised my eyebrows, still smiling.

"Hm?" I asked and he reached down, grabbing my hands comfortably. We linked our fingers and I was surprised that they fit perfectly.

"Well, seeing as we both like each other mutually . . ." he started, blush spreading over his face, "Would that count as us . . . would that mean that we . . ." he cleared his throat as I stared at him.

I think I realized what he was trying to say, but I wanted him to say it.

"What I'm trying to say is," he said, now more frustrated and blushing like crazy, "Would you go out with me sometime?" it was more of a statement than a question but it didn't stop me from grinning like a mad person and snogging Bernard full on the mouth.

We stayed like that for a long moment before I pulled away, smiling wider than before.

"Of course." He sighed with relief and leaned in, kissing me harder than before. Soon it became a tangle of limbs and I pulled away for a moment, hooking my fingers around my sweater and throwing it off before returning to Bernard. The heat was powerful and I hugged closer to him. It felt so right to be here I hooked my fingers on my under shirt while Bernard fumbled to get his sash off when-

KNOCK~KNOCK~KNOCK

Suddenly there was a loud rap on the door and we jerked away from each other. I gawked at the floor uncomfortably. My sweater lay in a heap and I blushed like crazy as I dove for it.

"Bernard!" Santa called and Bernard pretended I wasn't here with him and opened the door a crack while I scrambled to put on my discarded clothing.

"Yes?" he asked and Santa barged past him just as I slid my sweater back on, hugging it close.

"Ah, I'm glad you and Kira are back together. You two really made a scene." We both blushed and Bernard swallowed, hard.

"I was just getting the paper work for her old job." Bernard muttered, not meeting Santa's eyes.

"Good!" Santa smiled and winked at me. "Glad to have you back, Kira." He smiled and turned strutting out.

"Have fun you two. But don't forget, we have Christmas in 365 days!" he smiled and I blushed.

"What are you insinuating, Calvin?" Bernard growled and Santa chortled as he exited the door.

"Nothing, Bernard, nothing at all."

Bernard slammed the door after Santa, re-locking it for good measure.

"That nosy old . . ." he glanced at me as I stared at the floor, arms wrapped around my chest tightly. "I suppose we should actually do the paper work." He muttered thoughtfully. "Kira? Are you okay?" I looked up at him, into his eyes, blushed and looked away.

"I-I'm f-f-f-f-fine." I stuttered and he smiled, sliding down the couch to sit next to me.

"I missed that." He whispered and I jumped, unsure of what to do.

I almost just did 'it' with Bernard. I thought in surprise. The act. I blushed and looked at the floor as Bernard waved his hand and a sheet of paper appeared in front of me.

"Seeing as we know you're qualified and all that I'll just have you fill out this application and you can start back up right away." He said and I nodded, mute. I couldn't look at him in the face without feeling embarrassed.

"Kira . . ." he whispered, "About what just happened . . ." he reached over and touched my shoulder and I stood abruptly walking to the other side of the table.

"I-it's f-fine." I mumbled and looked over the paperwork. It was basically the same sheet as when I applied to go here.

Seven hundred years ago

"So, Kira Thotae," Kalen, the old head elf, asked. He had really thick curly hair and nearly black eyes, "You would like to work in the delivery department?" he asked and I nodded, trying my best to smile. "You do realize, of course," he continued, "That it is one of our least popular departments and has the highest rating of dissatisfaction in the whole Workshop?" Again I nodded, this time adding a little-

"Y-yes Sir." As I struggled with my stutter.

"Okay. Can you tell me why you would like to join the department?" he asked, preparing his pencil and pad. I cleared my throat and looked nervously around the room.

"W-well, the way I s-see it." I said, focusing on his pencil nervously, "while everyone aspires to-to make the ch-ch-ch-children of the world happy, I want to be the bridge to –g-get there. An elf c-can't make toys without suppli-ies and if I can get those to them I-I am becoming both the joy the elves feel and the happiness the children feel." Kalen nodded as he wrote I chewed my lip.

"Okay. I can see your mother was in the department as the head elf. Your father was the head of the inventive department. Do you aspire to become the head of the department or simply to get into the department?" he asked and I looked at my feet.

"F-for now my g-goal is to get in and do my j-job well. After that I might aspire for greater things, b-but I'm not sure if it's what I want yet." I said, my voice shaking when it didn't stutter.

"You seem nervous, Kira." Kalen said and I tried to smile.

"I-I am not very good with as-associating c-consciously with elves, s-so I would like to do so unc-consciously." I added and he nodded.

"I think that's enough. I will contact you in a few days to let you know if you got in." he said and led me out the door.

I went home and cried until I got the call I had gotten in.

The very same year, Kalen retired and Bernard took over.

I filled out the form and handed it over to Bernard. He took it and it vanished and he leaned back on his desk.

"Kira . . ." he mumbled and I stood.

"I guess I better get to work." I said approaching the door. Bernard appeared in front of me and I immediately looked at my shoes.

"Kira, we need to talk about what just happened." He said, holding the door closed with one hand. I chewed my lip and shrugged.

"Nothing happened." I pointed out and he frowned.

"Yet." He frowned and I blushed, "We have to be careful about what we do, if we have that kind of reaction just from kissing." He said and I nodded, still not looking up. I was too embarrassed to actually look at him.

"Kira," he growled, annoyed with me. "Would you look at me please?" I glanced up, blushed and looked back down.

"I-I get it." I whispered. "We have t-to be c-careful."

"Kira!" he snapped and I winced looking up through my curtain of hair. He sighed and brushed my bangs out of my face, keeping one of his hands on my jaw to make sure I didn't turn away. "I want to be with you." He said and I blushed looking down.

"I want to be with you too." I replied and I could tell he was repressing a smile.

"How about we go on a date?" he blurted, voice cracking, and I snapped my eyes forward.

"Wha-what?!" I exclaimed and he smirked.

"It'll be fun. Dinner, a movie, ice skating. Whatever you want." He smiled and I gaped at him.

"Wha-really?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah. How about tonight? Eight thirty sound like a good time for me to pick you up?" he asked and I blushed.

"You m-mean . . . we'll be g-going out t-t-t-together?" I whispered and he smirked.

"Of course. If that's okay." He added and I nodded, vigorously.

"But don't you have to watch over the night shift?" I asked and he sighed.

"I knew all the elves thought I slept here." He muttered annoyed, "Curtis and Roy watch over the night shift. I do have a house outside of the workshop. It's admittedly not much but I do go sleep there for a few hours every night." He grimaced.

"Oh." I whispered, embarrassed.

"It's fine. I do spend a lot of time here." He replied. More awkward silence followed and I smiled, kissing his cheek.

"I'd love to go on a d-d-date. Maybe we could go ice skating for a little bit then eat dinner." I suggested and he nodded.

"Alright. I'll pick you up at eight thirty." He said and opened the door for me. Outside were about twenty elves, all pressed to the door that jumped away as the door opened. They smiled sheepishly; among them were the twins and my sister.

"Ah," I blushed and smiled at Bernard. "Okay." I whispered and he sighed.

"Aren't you all supposed to be working?" he snapped.

"Aren't you?" someone from the crowd shot back and they all giggled. Bernard glared into the crowd.

"Let me make this clear, just because I'm going to be dating Kira-" I squeaked and blushed, shrinking with embarrassment, "Doesn't mean I wont be as strict with you as I was before." He glowered.

"Then what does it mean?" the same person called and he ground his teeth.

"It means you should all get back to work before I fire the lot of you!" he shouted and they scattered. I blushed and stared at my feet.

"I'll see you tonight, Kira." Bernard sighed and leaned over, kissing my cheek lightly. I beamed and turned to join the crowd. Bernard returned to his office and closed the door while I ran back to the delivery department.

"Hello Kira." The twins greeted darkly. I gluped and tried to smile.

"Hi girls. What's up?" they didn't stop smirking evilly at me and pulled me in.

"You owe us the juicy details." Ava grinned,

"Yeah," Mina smirked, "You promised to tell us once you got back." The alarm rang and I grinned.

"Wow, look, a delivery. I'll run it." I smiled and picked up the boxes, surprised by how light they seemed to me.

"We'll come with you." They grinned, "Talk while you run." I gulped and sighed.

"Fine, but you can't interrupt." I scolded as we turned to walk out the door. They grinned at each other and turned back to me.

"We would never . . ."

And off we went.