Soon, the Charming family was getting ready to go away for the holidays with Alice and Hatter. Snow and Charles were packing up in their bedroom while the twins got ready before going to see their parents before they would meet right back at Looking Glass. Jack and Jill were filled with wide wonder about Christmas as they took their bags to meet their parents before they would head out of the castle while the rest of Fabletown was distracted by their anticipation for the beloved winter holiday.
"It's really nice that we're going on a trip for Christmas," Charles smiled at Snow warmly. "I don't think we've had Christmas in a long time since we left home after the magic mirror broke."
"It does seem like a lifetime ago since we last had a chance to relax with our old lives," Snow nodded. "I even remember the Christmas I spent with the dwarves while hiding from Queen Gwendolyn."
"And then I swooped in and came to your rescue back when I was merely only Prince Charles," Charles then said with a smirk as he came up next to her and twirled her before letting her lie down in his arm. "I helped defeat The Evil Queen with the dwarves and I kissed you to bring you back to life."
"And you melted my frozen heart~" Snow blushed and smirked back at her husband. "You really lived up to your name back then, my dear~"
"Well, I am a Charming after all~" Charles chuckled before he helped her back up on her feet. "We'll live happily ever after back home someday I'm sure... As soon as Alice and Hatter find all of the missing pieces of the mirror and the children can live in peace with us once more."
"Even if it caused them to lose Hope..." Snow frowned and sighed about their long-deceased friend who was the birth mother of the twins. "I wish we could've prevented that somehow."
"Things happen for a reason, my dear Snowy," Charles reminded his wife softly. "The important thing is that we can help give them the lives that they deserve. You weren't very different from Hope with her being a miller's daughter and you being enslaved by The Evil Queen until she decided to hunt you down for being the fairest in the land since you were your mother's daughter."
Snow smiled softly before Charles smiled back and the two shared a kiss. There were then a pair of chuckles heard before Snow and Charles stopped and then looked down and over to see Jack and Jill standing there with small smirks.
"How long have you two been standing there?" Charles asked the twins with a soft chuckle.
"Probably long enough." Jill replied innocently.
"Are you two ready to go and celebrate Christmas with your Aunt Alice and Uncle Hatter then?" Snow then asked the twins.
"Yep!" The twins replied rather merrily.
"...Even if we don't know much about this holiday." Jack said softly then while Jill nodded at her brother.
"What?" Snow asked tenderly then. "Surely you two have heard of Christmas."
"Uh... Well, no, we don't actually know what Christmas is even if our teachers have mentioned it and why we're out of school for the month." Jack said with a small shrug.
"You didn't even celebrate Christmas with Hope?" Charles then asked, referring to the twins' birth mother of course.
"No... She died when we were very young," Jill replied softly. "And we had been taking care of ourselves ever since until we found Queen Sn-I mean Mother with that Big Bad Wolf and Rumplestiltskin and his rebellion army."
"And we had that hill we had to walk up to get water from the well." Jack added.
"Oh... My dear children," Snow said with a sigh before she sat on the end of her bed with a small smile at the twins. "Christmas is a time for giving. To be with one's family."
"Your mother's right," Charles added. "Christmas is about sharing the holiday with family and friends and we all celebrate from Christmas Eve, that's December 24th up until the morning of Christmas 26th."
"Which is also known as Boxing Day!" Hatter added as he suddenly came into the room.
"Boxing Day?" Jack wondered.
"Must be a Wonderland holiday or something." Jill added with a shrug.
"...Anyway, people often celebrate by decorating their homes, putting a tree inside, and there are usually presents left under the tree while we're asleep on December 24th by the one we used to call back home 'Saint Nicholas' or as the people outside of Fabletown call him 'Santa Claus'." Charles then informed the twins.
"Santa Claus?" The twins then asked.
"Yes, of course," Snow nodded. "Santa Claus is the man in charge of Christmas."
"And this happens every year?" Jack then asked.
"Yes, it's an important holiday tradition." Hatter nodded.
"Okay, who let you in here?" Snow then asked The Mad Hatter. "The doors are locked until we leave the house so no one can break-in, especially Bluebeard."
"I have my ways," Hatter smirked as he tipped his hat to her. "Anyway, my dear Alice is anxiously awaiting for your company down at Looking Glass so she can see her family... Or I suppose I could say 'our family'." he then added with a look to Jack and Jill.
"Well, let's not waste any more time then," Charles suggested as he clapped his hands together. "Snowy, children, let's go down to Looking Glass and probably have the best Christmas ever."
Jack and Jill then smiled hopefully as they came to follow Hatter out of their castle to go down to Looking Glass as promised.
And at that, they soon walked off together as Alice was staring down her bobblehead of The White Rabbit that led her down to Wonderland as it was often a reminder of her leaving her home as she was seen as odd and strange back home and even more so in Wonderland until she met Hatter. Jack and Jill huddled close together as Snow and Charles spoke to Alice for a few moments about the excitement for Christmas, especially in Alice going back home for the first time in a very long while and they soon began to leave through the mirror fragment's magic and would soon be around Alice's family before they knew it.
Meanwhile, in that Fairy Tale World, there were children inside of a very old looking house hiding around in what appeared to be an attic as a mouse was scampering around underneath a crafted device.
"Shh! Fritz. Now, be very still," A girl's voice told the younger boy beside her. "This is how we'll do it. With science, mechanics, and a bit of luck. First, we've got energy," she then said before lighting a match onto a candle on what looked like a very old-fashioned hot air balloon. "The heat from the candle will make the balloon rise."
The younger boy watched the older girl as she began to make the device work as the mouse was nibbling on the cheese on the wooden floor in front of them.
"With the momentum from the ball, that hits the monkey, and pivots onto the bellows." The older girl then continued.
"Which blows the longboat." The younger boy added.
"Giving us Newton's third law of physics, that says every action has an equal and opposite...?" The older girl continued before she prompted the younger boy.
"Reaction." The younger boy guessed.
The older girl nodded to him as that was correct. Soon, after a little while, a basket fell down on top of the mouse they had trapped.
"Yes!" The siblings beamed in victory once the mouse was trapped. They then decided to examine the mouse a little bit closer
"Do they bite?" The boy then asked the girl.
"I suppose they do. If you're horrid to them." The girl replied as they watched the mouse.
After a little while, the floor opened up, shooing away the mouse as it was sitting on top of there which had a hatch underneath. Out came an older woman who seemed to had been looking for the two of them.
"Oh, there you are," The maid said to the siblings. "Up and down I've been looking for you rascals. Worn out, I am."
"We were catching a mouse." The boy said to the older woman.
"Well, if you catch one, I'm not cooking it. Too many bones," The woman then said as she climbed down the steps. "Now, come on, be quick. We have a lot to do before this evening."
The siblings, Clara and Fritz, soon followed her before they ran into an older girl who was their older sister and the eldest sibling of the Stahlbaum house: Louise.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Louise told her younger siblings in a maternal tone of voice, patting down Fritz as he was covered in dust. "Look at the state of you."
"We were trying to catch a mouse, with toys and momentum and matches and-" Fritz defended.
"Matches?" Louise asked in concern.
"It was Clara's idea." Fritz then said.
Clara pouted to her younger brother in the blame.
"Catching mice on Christmas Eve? Honestly, Clara." Louise scoffed at her sister.
"We nearly had him." Fritz then told Louise.
"What were you gonna do with him when you caught him?" Louise then asked her younger siblings.
"Teach him tricks. He could dance." Fritz said innocently.
The siblings soon made it down to the foyer as a grand Christmas tree was shown all decorated and even lit with candles and various ornaments as far as the eye could see and saw the man of the house who had helped put it together who was also their father: Benjamin.
"Ah. There you are," Benjamin greeted his children. "What do we think?"
"It's wonderful, Father." Louise smiled warmly.
"With a few adjustments, perhaps." Benjamin smiled back at his eldest.
"It's not how Mother did it." Fritz pouted on the other hand.
"Fritz..." Louise softly told her younger brother.
Fritz then flinched before looking down at his feet.
Benjamin then frowned and turned away at his children as this time of year was a little rough on them due to what happened to his wife and their mother. "Now before we open Christmas gifts, we have some guests coming." he then informed his children.
"Christmas presents?" Louise asked. "But it's not Christmas Day."
"They're from your mother," Benjamin said softly. "She asked me to give them to you on Christmas Eve." And then suddenly, there was a rapid knock heard at the door as he then decided to answer it.
First, out came Snow and Charles as Jack and Jill cropped up from beside them until Alice and Hatter also came through the door. Benjamin had a word with the adults as the children looked curious about their guests coming over for Christmas before Jack and Jill stepped over and saw the siblings. Fritz seemed to back away from them while Louise gave a small smile and Clara tilted her head out of curiosity.
"Hello, I'm Clara." Clara said as she came over to the twins as Jack and Jill saw her and Jack suddenly looked wide-eyed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Clara." Jill said with a small smile.
"So you must be some of our guests?" Louise guessed.
"Yes, I'm Jill and this is my brother, Jack." Jill introduced as Jack seemed to be distracted.
"Nice to meet you both." Louise smiled as she curtsied to them.
Jill blinked and smiled back as she decided to curtsy back to the older girl. "Hey, Jack? Aren't you going to say something?" she then asked her twin brother.
"Hi..." Jack breathed bashfully as he approached Clara. "How nice to meet me... I-I-I mean... Nose to please you... I mean!" he then stammered nervously as Clara just gave him a small smile.
"I'm glad to meet you too, Jack," Clara told him with a small smile. "You seem like a very charming and delightful young man."
Jack blushed and put his hands behind his back shyly.
"So... What are you guys doing here?" Fritz then asked the twins.
"We were invited to come celebrate and have a Christmas adventure." Jill replied.
"Oh, I don't know about an adventure, Jill," Jack said to his sister. "Aunt Alice said we were here to visit her family."
"Yes, but almost everything is an adventure for us, Jack," Jill reminded. "Like when we got to visit Neverland or help Aunt Alice with her new recruits for Looking Glass."
The other three siblings just blinked, not sure what exactly the twins were talking about right now.
"Wait... Did you say Aunt Alice?" Louise asked. "That's strange... It almost sounds like-"
However, before that thought could be finished, Alice soon walked on over and beamed at the Stahbaulm siblings. "Children!" she then greeted warmly.
"Aunt Alice!" Louise gasped in surprise before rushing over and she hugged the woman right away. "I didn't think you were ever coming back home."
"And miss a chance to visit you and your brother and sister?" Alice smiled warmly as she hugged Louise back before they broke apart.
"Alice... It's been a while..." Benjamin said to the brunette woman. "Many of us assumed you were dead."
"Gee, thank you, Benjamin..." Alice rolled her eyes slightly.
"Alice hasn't died... She was just simply... Under the rabbit hole..." Hatter spoke up with a chuckle as he came beside Alice.
Alice smirked and also chuckled.
"So, I'm Snow White and this is my husband, Charles," Snow then introduced. "And I see these children have already met Jack and Jill."
"Ah, yes," Alice nodded. "I haven't seen Louise since she was very little and when Clara was a baby."
"And then you just mysteriously ran away when we offered for you to marry my old friend, Hamish Ascot." Benjamin added.
"Hmph... Indeed..." Alice rolled her eyes as she remembered Hamish even if she didn't really want to.
"I don't remember that." Fritz piped up.
"Clara was a baby, Fritz," Alice reminded her nephew. "So you weren't even born yet and I mostly came to see my sister..." she then looked around. "Speaking of which..."
"Oh, that's right, you don't know," Benjamin sighed. "...I'll tell you later. It's a bit of a long story. We're glad to have you though."
"Yes, it's very nice to see you, Aunt Alice." Clara added.
"And I'm glad to be here," Alice replied softly. "Also... Has he shown up yet?" she then whispered to Benjamin with a strong emphasis on "he".
"No, not yet, but probably soon," Benjamin told her. "It's time for the children to receive their Christmas presents right now actually."
"On Christmas Eve?" Alice asked.
"Yes... It's what Marie would've wanted." Benjamin nodded.
"Oh... I see... Well, don't let me stop you..." Alice replied.
"In the meantime, I'll put on some tea." Hatter offered.
"None of your tea, Hatter," Alice smirked at him. "Last thing these children need is that sort of excitement."
Louise, Clara, and Fritz merely looked curious at what Alice had meant by that, but it was none of their business for now.
"That one's for you." Benjamin said as he gave his son one box.
Fritz beamed and took it right away.
"Louise." Benjamin then told his elder daughter.
"Thank you." Louise replied, taking a rather large box.
"Soldiers! Yay!" Fritz beamed once he opened his present to see what it was.
"Clara." Benjamin then said, giving another present to his middle child.
Clara took her present and came to sit beside Jack and Jill to see what her present was.
"The enemy has found our location!" Fritz called out as he played with his toy soldiers. "We've been ambushed! They're from both sides!"
Louise soon opened her present and beamed once she found a special dress inside of the box. "It's Mother's favorite." she then said softly.
"Yes. Yes, it was." Benjamin nodded in memory.
Clara then opened her gift and found what looked like some sort of jeweled egg.
"What is it, Clara?" Jack asked the girl.
"It's an egg of some sort." Clara replied.
"What's inside?" Jill then wondered. "Is it jewelry?"
"I don't know," Clara pouted as she shook the egg a little. "It's locked."
"Are you sure it opens?" Fritz then asked as he played with his soldiers.
"There's a keyhole. Here," Clara said as he continued to examine the egg. "But there's no key. Why would Mother give me this without a key?" she then wondered.
"It's just a silly egg that doesn't open." Fritz scoffed.
Clara firmly pouted. "It's not just a silly egg, Fritz." she then said before suddenly storming off.
"Clara. Clara!" Benjamin called out to his middle daughter then, but she refused to come back.
Jack and Jill looked at each other and decided to go after Clara.
"Do you think she'll be all right?" Snow wondered.
"She should be fine once she finds the answer," Alice replied. "I know that my sister has special intentions, especially for Clara to deem her worthy."
"Erm... Worthy of what exactly?" Charles then asked.
"Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?" Alice smirked slyly. "She'll probably be just fine~"
Snow and Charles just felt confused before sighing as Alice was very unpredictable at times.
"Alice and her riddles..." Snow mumbled.
Soon, the kids met up with Clara in her room to find out more about her mysterious present.
"This is very curious," Jill remarked, taking a cue from Alice's way of speaking. "Why would your mother leave you an egg that has a keyhole, but no key?"
"I'm not sure... Oh, but wait... Here's a note." Clara said before she soon found an envelope with her name on it and inside there was indeed a note written just for her.
"What does it say?" Jack asked.
"'Everything you need is inside'." Clara read aloud before she shrugged as she felt even more lost and clueless than she was before.
"Clara?" Benjamin's voice soon called which prompted the girl into hiding the note away from her father as she sat up on her bed. "Is everything all right?"
"No," Clara pouted as she showed the egg. "This is a pin tumbler lock. It's impossible to open without a key."
"I see," Benjamin said softly. "Well, why don't you get ready for the party, and then you can work it out tomorrow?" he then suggested.
"A party?" Jack asked. "Are we invited?"
"You're guests with Alice, so I don't see why not." Benjamin nodded.
"Ooh... I love a good party." Jill beamed.
However, Clara was still deeply upset.
"Clara, Christmas comes whether we like it or not," Benjamin told his daughter with a sigh. "We must do our best to enjoy it."
"I don't want to enjoy it," Clara pouted at him. "I don't want to enjoy anything right now."
"Well, that may be the case, but it's important to maintain traditions as a family," Benjamin replied as he tried to comfort her. "It's what's expected of us."
"I don't care what's expected." Clara then huffed.
"Well, you should." Benjamin retorted.
"Father? It's almost time to go," Louise soon called as she came into the room, wearing her mother's dress. "Do I look all right?"
Benjamin stared Louise down for a few moments as she looked so much like her mother right now before he then answered calmly. "Yes. Yes, indeed. Please get your sister ready." he then said with a nod.
Louise nodded before taking out a hairbrush and Benjamin decided to get going downstairs. "You must be gentle with him, Clara." she then told her younger sister.
"You look very nice, Louise." Jill said to the older girl.
"Thank you." Louise smiled proudly.
"You're welcome." Jill smiled back.
Clara sighed and pouted as Jack found himself hurting to see Clara in such emotional pain. "I wish Mother was here." she then said weakly.
"We all do." Louise reassured her sister.
"I have to open this." Clara then said as she brought the egg out again, trying to take a closer look at it.
"You'll work it out," Louise replied. "You're an extremely clever girl, just like Mother."
"I don't feel very clever lately." Clara shook her head.
"Maybe you should spend a little less time in the attic and a little more time in the real world." Louise then suggested.
"The real world just doesn't make sense to me anymore." Clara replied.
"You're beginning to sound like Aunt Alice," Louise told her sister as she continued to brush. "You must try, Clara. If only for Father." she then advised.
"Father is acting as if nothing has changed, but everything has changed," Clara sighed and pouted before she brought out a magnifying glass. "'D'. It's Drosselmeyer. He must have made this!" she then realized as she took a closer look at the egg.
"Drosselmeyer?" Jack and Jill asked curiously.
"He's a family friend of ours." Louise told them.
"Ohh." Jack and Jill then said, now understanding.
"And maybe he can open it!" Clara then said hopefully.
"Good. Now, will you let me finish with your hair?" Louise chuckled softly as she still had to help Clara get ready to go to the party.
"Yes," Clara then said before sitting down as calmly as she could. "But please hurry."
Louise chuckled before Jack and Jill smiled hopefully at each other as they hoped that this would probably help make Clara happy at the most wonderful time of the year.