Time Flies
Author's Note: Although this chapter is very short, it covers some important aspects of the story. Ebony and Bernard have a discussion, and the fourth and final child of Time makes his entrance with a bang.
Disclaimer: All characters and ideas from The Santa Clause, both 1 and 2, belong to Disney. I don't think I borrowed anything else to write this chapter.
Chapter 6 – Before I Melt Away
"I'm going out."
Charlie, Neil, and Laura looked up at Bernard from where she was seated at the kitchen table. "To meet your three charges?" Laura asked.
Bernard shook his head. "No. I'm going to try moving around the city to see if I can find Sherwin in the compass's range."
"But I thought it worked better if you brought the others with you," Charlie said.
Bernard hesitated. "I think I need to be alone for a while," he said at last.
Neil nodded. "That's probably for the best." Charlie, frowning, started to ask a question, but Neil cut him off, giving him a cautioning look. "You might want to try Central Park. If Sherwin is traveling from out of the city, he'd probably want to visit it. Also, from there, most of Manhattan should be in your range."
Bernard nodded slowly. "I'll try that."
"When will you be back?" Laura wanted to know. Bernard just shrugged. "Well, be careful. It's not good to wander around alone when you don't know the city."
Bernard gave her a half-smile. "I'll be fine. I can teleport away from any trouble." He looked around again, nodding a farewell. "Guess I'll see you later, then."
He teleported out, sending himself to the Central Park that Neil had suggested. He'd heard Scott talk about the Park before, but he'd never been there. Maybe now he'd know what Scott kept going on about.
But when Bernard arrived, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Reindeer?" He stared into the enclosure in front of him. He was standing behind a wall disguised as scenery, while people gathered at the fence on the other end, stretching over to pet the creatures. "There are reindeer in New York?"
It appeared that there were. The animals perked up their ears at the voice of an elf, and a couple trotted over to his side of their pen. Bernard smiled, wishing he could find a door to enter the reindeer's area. It reminded him of home.
"Hey! What are you doing back here?"
Bernard turned around to see an extremely startled security guard addressing him. "Looking at the reindeer."
"This area isn't open to the public," the guard informed him. "You're supposed to stay on the other side of the pen."
Bernard simply nodded, and went around the enclosure to the side where the people were gathered. The two reindeer stayed close, nuzzling his hands when he approached the fence.
"You're lovely creatures," Bernard whispered to them, even though they weren't as intelligent as the North Pole animals, and probably couldn't understand him. He gently caressed their antlers. "Lovely indeed."
His tenderness with the reindeer earned him some decidedly odd looks, so Bernard bid them a reluctant farewell. Not particularly sure where to go, he simply picked a direction and began walking. He seemed to be in some sort of zoo. Was this Central Park? Or was the zoo a part of the Park? Then the Park itself would have to be huge…
Another exhibit caught Bernard's eye – the same tank of polar bears that Scott and Charlie had looked at once, when Scott was just beginning to become Santa, though of course Bernard didn't know the tank's history. He just recognized more animals that reminded him of home, and was drawn to them.
Like the reindeer, the polar bears responded to Bernard's presence. Once swam near the glass, studying the elf inquisitively. Bernard laid a hand on the glass in front of the bear's face. The animal rolled over in response, then tapped the glass with a paw. Bernard's smile was bittersweet, his pleasure at being recognized countered by his suddenly sharp longing for the North Pole.
"Feeling homesick?"
Bernard snapped instantly out of his reverie, spinning to face the last person he'd expected to meet here. "Ebony?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, you don't have to sound all happy that I'm here," she said, a little offended.
"I wanted to be alone," Bernard said pointedly. Then he frowned. "How did you find me? Not even the Millers knew exactly where I'd be."
Ebony shrugged. "I'm not sure, really. I was just wondering where to find you, and I suddenly knew. It was kind of weird."
"Oh, Lord." Bernard paled. "That's Time magic. You shouldn't do that without being properly trained."
"Well, I didn't do it on purpose," Ebony snapped. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so grouchy?"
"Weren't you listening? I want to be left alone." Bernard turned his back to her.
"Well, you don't always get what you want." Ebony moved around to face him. "You want to be left alone? Well, I think we need to talk. So here's the deal – we talk, then if you still want me to go, I'll leave."
"I have a better idea," Bernard said. "You leave now, and we don't talk at all."
"No." Ebony folded her arms obstinately. "If you don't like my deal, then I'll just keep following you around until you do talk to me. And since I'll just use my magic to track you if you do your glittery disappearing thing, you can't lose me. So I suggest you save time, and talk to me now."
Bernard sighed. He knew she really would follow him, if he didn't agree. She'd left him with no choice. He raised his hand to the glass one last time, saying a silent goodbye to the graceful creatures within, then looked back at Ebony. "All right."
She was staring at him with the strangest look on her face. "You really are homesick, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Bernard shrugged. He didn't want to discuss that. "So where do you want to go to talk?"
Ebony chose a seat on a bench near the penguin exhibit. "I like penguins," she said defensively, when Bernard raised his eyebrows questioningly.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the penguins swim and waddle. Finally, Bernard spoke. "You want to talk about last night, don't you?"
"Congratulations, Sherlock," Ebony said dryly. "Yeah. That's the topic. I don't normally kiss guys I've just met. I'd like to know what was going on between us."
"Can't we just agree to pretend it never happened, and leave it at that?" Bernard asked. "It was a mistake, nothing's going to come of it, and it's never going to happen again. I think that covers all the angles pretty well."
"You think so?" Ebony's eyes were unreadable.
"Of course!" Bernard said harshly. "I'm more than two thousand years older than you. I'm an elf, you're half human. There are so many other reasons that I can't even go into! Anyone with sense could see it was a temporary lapse in judgment, nothing more."
Ebony nodded slowly. "Yeah. Actually, I was thinking about this most of last night, and I came up with all the same reasons. Age, heritage, personality, circumstances… the list goes on. I think I must have spent hours coming up with every reason why we should just forget about this."
"Good," Bernard said in relief. "Then we can – "
"But you know what else I kept thinking about?" Ebony interrupted him. She smiled. "This."
Ebony leaned over and kissed him, so gently Bernard could scarcely believe it was her. Somehow, when he moved his hands with the intention of pushing her away, he ended up embracing her instead, holding her to him as if he never wanted to let her go. This kiss was soft and sweet, as tender as their first kiss had been violent.
They only broke apart when they realized a small crowd had gathered around them. Bernard turned red, remembering that they were still in a public place. Ebony, however, was incensed rather than embarrassed.
"Don't you people have somewhere else to be?" she demanded. "There are plenty of animals here to gawk at – you don't need to stare at us!"
"But you were – " a teenage girl started to protest. Ebony glared at the younger girl, and she wilted. "Never mind."
Deprived of their show, the people quickly dispersed. Ebony rolled her eyes. "Honestly – you'd think they'd never seen people kissing before." She looked over at Bernard. "Want to pick up where we left off?"
"No!" Bernard pulled away from her. "Were you even listening to what I just said? That's exactly what we can't let happen!"
"Why not?" Ebony challenged him. "When it comes down to it, what do all those reasons really matter? So you're older than me. Mentally, emotionally, and physically, you seem about the same age. And what does it matter if I'm half human? You seem to like Charlie and his family well enough, and they're entirely human!"
Bernard stared at her. "You don't get it, do you?" he asked, taken aback. "Sure, this might be fine for you, but think about it from my perspective. You're a mortal. It's hard enough when the Santa Clause I've worked with for years up and dies on me. I refuse to get romantically entangled with someone who's just going to die in fifty or sixty years!"
Ebony frowned. "But I thought you said I can't stay half human, half magical. What if I become entirely a creature of Time?"
"What if you don't?" Bernard countered. "It isn't a choice to be made lightly. You have to base it on what will make you happiest overall, not on what you think you want in a passing moment."
"What if this isn't just a passing moment?" Ebony snapped. "Don't go acting so high and mighty at me, mister! Something happens when we kiss, something special. I know you feel it, too. It's like a fire in my head, whenever I'm with you. I'm drawn to you somehow, no matter what I think should be happening. Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. There's something there between us, and you're scared of it."
"I'm not scared – " But a loud squealing noise cut him off. Bernard's confusion was not abated in the least when he realized that the sound came from the compass around his neck. He took it off to get a better look at it, and Ebony came to stand behind him so she could see as well.
The hand in the middle of the compass was spinning wildly, as if it was trying to point everywhere at once. The first three names were flashing silver, but Sherwin Lennor's name was blazing a fiery crimson. When Bernard cautiously pressed the button beside Sherwin's name, the arrow snapped abruptly into a single direction, quivering as it pointed the way.
"What's going on?" Ebony asked apprehensively.
Bernard shook his head slowly. "I have no idea. But I don't think it's something good." He put the compass back on, standing resolutely. "I'm going to try to teleport directly to Sherwin."
"Can you do that?" Ebony sounded extremely dubious. "Don't you need to know where you're going?"
"Usually. It's very risky to teleport to a place you've never been, focusing on a person you've never met. But this looks important. I think your brother may have accidentally lost control of his magic."
"What can we do if he has?" Ebony wanted to know.
Bernard started to answer, then noticed her phrasing. "We? We aren't going to do anything. You're going to tell Dimitri and Bianca to meet you at the Millers' house, then wait there for me to get back with Sherwin. I don't want to have to wait to get you four out of this place if I have to do something drastic. Tell Charlie to use his snow globe to get in touch with Santa. I'm going to need another elf to help me teleport you lot up to the North Pole."
"But if it's this dangerous, you might need help!" Ebony stood, arms akimbo. "I'm not letting you charge into an unknown situation by yourself."
"And what would you do to help me?" Bernard demanded. "Track me down if I fall? Or maybe start ranting about a special connection between us? You don't know anything that could possible be useful to me now. At best, you'd slow me down. At worst, you could get all three of us killed!"
"I'm not leaving!" Ebony insisted. "There's got to be something I can do."
"Yes – you can stay out of the way and get the others ready to leave." Bernard glared at her. "Do that, if you're so set on being helpful. We had a deal, remember – I talked to you, now you leave me alone."
"This isn't what I meant!" Ebony cried in frustration. "I don't want you to go alone!"
Bernard looked at her coldly for a long moment. "Well, you don't always get what you want." He snapped his fingers, and disappeared in a shower of golden sparks.
Ebony glared at the place he'd just been. "I'm not going to run away," she muttered.
That teleportation journey was one of the rockiest Bernard ever hoped to take. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Ebony it was dangerous. He only had maybe a fifty percent chance of going where he wanted. Thirty percent said he'd land somewhere else, probably in another dimension. The other twenty percent said he'd land in several somewheres, all at once. Not prospects he particularly wanted to dwell on.
Fortunately, Bernard made the trip successfully. He slumped against the wall to catch his breath, taking in the scene before him.
He was in what had probably once been a perfectly nice, if small, apartment room. It was still an apartment room, of course, but now it was completely trashed. He saw stuffing torn out of sofa cushions, broken lamps, and a phone ripped off the wall. What did this? he wondered anxiously, scanning the room.
Then he heard a crash from the adjoining room. It's still here! he realized, bolting for the door. He wrenched the doorknob, but it was locked from the inside. Well, this was hardly the time for good manners. He teleported himself inside – and immediately ducked. Objects were whizzing through the air, slamming into walls, furniture, and floor with a complete disregard for property.
"Get down!" A hand reached up and pulled Bernard flat on the floor beside the bed. Bernard looked over. A young man was crouching on the floor, huddled under the bed sheets he'd torn from the bed.
"Sherwin?" Bernard asked in a whisper, just to confirm.
"Yeah. Who are you? How'd you get in here? I thought they'd locked the door." Sherwin ran a hand through his hair, which was probably why it stuck up wildly in every direction.
"They? Who are 'they?'" Bernard asked warily.
Sherwin pointed up. Three grey, pixie-like creatures, each about a foot high, were seated on the ceiling fan, laughing in delight as the flying objects destroyed the room.
"Those almost look like Moments," Bernard said, surprised. "Except… I don't think I've ever seen a grey Moment before."
"What are you talking about?" Sherwin stared at Bernard blankly. "Does it matter what color they are? I have to get them out of here!"
"I know, that's why I came," Bernard told him. "Do you know how they got here? Maybe that will give us a clue about how to get rid of them."
"Um…" Sherwin had the decency to look ashamed. "I think I may have summoned them, somehow."
"Summoned – !" Bernard groaned. "You were trying to do magic on your own, weren't you?"
"No!" Sherwin hesitated. "Well – maybe. I've just been feeling this pull on me for the past few days. It's weird, and I was getting kind of worried. And I really wanted something to come tell me what was going on."
"And you said something about a Moment," Bernard predicted.
"I think so," Sherwin admitted. "Something like, 'I wish I had an answer this moment.' And then there were all those little flying things attacking me."
"But Moments don't attack," Bernard said, puzzled. "There'd have to be something really wrong – " He stopped. "Oh, no."
"What?" Sherwin demanded. "You figured something out?"
"I think so," Bernard said slowly. "I think you freed the Time Flies."
"The what?" Sherwin asked, frustrated.
"The Time Flies are Moments gone wrong," Bernard explained quickly, trying to get a good look at the creatures. "Father Time had them locked up thousands of years ago, but it looks like you've set them free. Well," Bernard tried to look on the bright side, "at least you only let out a few."
"Um." Sherwin looked like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Not exactly."
"Great." Bernard sighed in resignation. "How many?"
"A lot," Sherwin confessed. "Most of them disappeared. These three are the only ones that stayed. I think they wanted to make sure I couldn't go anywhere."
"But if the Time Flies are loose…" Bernard's mind leapt to the only possible conclusion. "The other three are in danger!"
"What other three?" Sherwin tried to ask.
"No time to explain!" Bernard snapped. He grabbed Sherwin's hand. "Don't let go!" He teleported them both back to the Millers' house.
"Bernard!" Everyone in the full living room cried his name as he and Sherwin appeared. They all tried to question the Head Elf at once.
"What's going on?" Scott demanded. "Charlie said you were in trouble?"
"Ebony said you had to rescue Sherwin!" Dimitri said, anxiety showing in his eyes.
"They're all going on about some stupid teleportation stunt you tried," Quentin added. "Did you really make a jump without a definite location?"
"Quiet!" Bernard roared. Everyone was startled into silence. "I'll explain when we get back to the North Pole – there's no time now! Santa, go back and get Father Time. He needs to know about this, if he doesn't already. Quentin, I can't teleport four people that far. I'll take Sherwin and Dimitri, you take Bianca and Ebony. We can – "
"Wait, wait," Quentin interrupted, frowning. "Ebony?"
"Yes, she – " Bernard stopped. He stared rapidly around the room. "She's not here?"
"She said she was meeting you," Dimitri said, worried. "Something about you needing backup?"
"Oh, no." Bernard pulled out his compass and pushed Ebony's button. Nothing happened. "No." He pushed it again, several times in quick succession. There was no response. "It isn't working!"
"What does that mean?" Dimitri asked.
Bernard looked up with a helpless dread in his eyes. "She's no longer in this dimension."
Author's Note: Lovely cliffhanger, huh? I suppose it serves Bernard right for not realizing Ebony would follow him, but it's still pretty rough on him. The next chapter will reveal in more detail exactly what happened to Ebony, and where she is. Also, Father Time will finally get to meet some of his children.
Thank you everyone who reviewed!
Melena Marquis – I have to ask – how does Piers Anthony relate to this story? I've read some of his books, and I'm just not seeing the connection.
CrystalHorse72 – I'm glad you approve of angst. There's more coming up in the next few chapters. ^_^
Kitty the drunken butterfly – Yep, there is definite glowing going on. There was actually a repeat performance at the zoo, but Bernard and Ebony don't realize it.
Jesus-freak – You'd want green hair? Well, you've just endeared yourself to Ebony forever. ^_^
Zhai'helleva!
- Mystica