************************************************************
Disclaimer: I only own the new characters.
Chapter 8: Before We Go
Noel ducked out of the way as a piece of the ceiling crashed two inches from her feet. She ran past the falling objects to the nearest and most undamaged staircase. Moving cautiously and quickly, she let out a small yelp of surprise as her foot went through the fifth step and she had to grab at the railing.
Regaining her balance, she pulled her leg back up, receiving a few scratches. The pain made her wince but she continued upwards toward the second floor. Though she was not particularly tall, Noel was strong from all her years at the North Pole and she moved pieces of furniture nearly effortlessly in her panic.
Once on the level where she needed to be, Noel looked around and spotted the little elf boy. Now curled up on the floor below the window, he nearly jumped for joy upon seeing his boss.
"C'mon!" She yelled, pulling him into her arms and turning back toward the way she'd came in. The glass of the window cracked and shattered onto the spot where the boy had been, and he sighed upon realizing his luck.
The older elfess kicked at the door she'd come though only minutes ago. It budged an inch out, and no more. She peered around the corner and saw that a pile of debris from the ceiling had fallen directly onto the walkway outside.
"What're we gonna do?"
"I don't know." She whispered, turning around and searching for another exit.
Sidestepping, a widening hole in the floor, Noel began to run down the hallway, the elf still in her arms. The weight she carried however, was beginning to decrease very suddenly.
********************************************************
Bernard stalled once he was inside the building. He knew where Noel must have gone, it was the fastest route to the elf she wanted to save. Observing it though, the blocked door was not where he needed to go at the present time. Bernard knew of another way up to the third floor.
"Noel!" He yelled, hoping to attract her attention, "Noel! I'm coming up!"
No response was made and he started off toward the other staircase.
**********************************************************
Noel leaned forward as she ran, trying to ignore the worries that were beginning to take over her mind. She suddenly tripped and fell forward, sprawling onto her hands.
She looked around for the young elf she had been carrying, and found him nowhere in sight. The last glimpse of a few dimming sparkles in the air told her that he too had vanished from the North Pole.
"Oh no!" She moaned, shutting her eyes tight in her pain for a moment, "I'm sorry."
A voice from behind her made her stand up quickly, "Quit being sorry so we can get outta here!"
It was Bernard, running up behind her, they nearly collided as he reached for her hands. The floor was beginning to shake beneath them, giving way to powers that destroyed their world.
Suddenly, the ceiling above them cracked, and bits of it struck them as they fell. At almost the same time, the floor which had been shifting, took them down with it as it fell. Noel and Bernard clung to each other as they hit the first floor, and didn't land on their feet.
He looked up instantly, "The ceiling! Move!"
A flurry of snow and dust clouded any chance of sight beyond two inches as the pair rolled in opposite directions to avoid the large pieces of wood and shingle as they fell to the spot they had been laying.
Once the dust had settled, the male elf jumped up and gazed around, trying to see past the pile of building materials in front of him.
"Noel?" He asked, moving his eyes frantically, "Noel?!"
No one responded, and through the crash of the building, there was a deafening silence as the former head elf began to dig into the rubble to find his love.
****************************************************************
Judy looked over the courtyard and shook her head, "They're all gone."
"We're next." Quinton stated, the realization finally dawning on all of them.
"How long do you think it'll be?"
"Does right now sound okay to you?" Stumbling forward, Quinton brought it to the attention of his two friends that he no longer had his legs to support him. He was vanishing from the ground up.
Judy and Curtis decided to save themselves the trouble of falling down and sat down next their friend.
"I can't believe that we're going like this. No fight, no nothing." The tearless cries were answered.
"We couldn't have done anything anyway."
"True. It's up to Bernard and Noel."
"Do you think they'll figure it out in time?" Curtis asked, running his hand through a more solid object. None of them were any longer made of any physical substance.
Judy sighed, "They already know, but I'm hoping being this close to the end will make them realize it."
"Huh, I think we're in real trouble this time."
"Probably," Judy agreed, "But I think it's time we said our goodbyes."
They placed their transparent hands in the middle of the circle, not touching, but intersecting the others.
Quinton smiled, "See you on the other side guys." He vanished from sight then, the others not far behind him.
Curtis leaned forward and to the best of his ability, pressed a small kiss to Judy's forehead, "It's been wonderful to work with you all these years and I - "
"You are so formal, right to the end." She kissed his cheek, "Goodbye Curtis."
"Goodbye Judy."
A peacefulness settled over their consciousness, and they fell into one of the deepest slumbers they'd ever known as they faded away from the North Pole.
************************************************************
Bernard dug faster and faster in an effort to uncover Noel. He was distraught and desperate, and took no notice of the fact that he'd cut his own hands in the process. Above him, something else was beginning to fall.
Suddenly, he felt himself pulled back by a pair of strong arms, and he fell backwards. Where he had been standing, an especially heavy piece of ornamental wood crashed into the ground.
"You okay?" Came a rather breathless voice.
He searched his body with his eyes and mental sensors, he didn't feel any pain, but another sensation came to him. His back, he knew, was pressed into someone's stomach, and the steady sound of a heart beat told him that he'd laid his head on someone's chest. The feeling was wonderful, but they couldn't stay that way.
"Noel, you're alive!" He said in relief, getting to his feet, "How did you - "
She took his hand and pulled herself up, "I rolled too far in the opposite direction and it took me a minute to get over here to you."
"I thought you were dead."
"No, but you almost were."
"Yeah, thanks for the save there."
"You're welcome, but let's get outta here!"
They ran out into the snow and gazed around them, moving to the center of the yard. The experience of nearly being crushed had instilled a desire in them both to be away from anything capable of falling.
"Where are Judy, Curtis, and Quinton?"
"I don't think they're here anymore."
"No! They can't be gone! Bernard, they can't be!"
He couldn't think of anything to say, and instead pulled her to him while she cried, "They were my children. I loved them like they were my own!"
"I know."
"Why are we still here?"
"Maybe it's because we're the oldest elves. It'll be my turn next." He added the last part as quietly as he could, but it was a fact that he couldn't long conceal.
"I don't want you to go."
Trying to ease her sadness, he joked, "Don't want another of your kids to go away?"
"I love every elf on the North Pole, but some I just love more than others." Almost ashamed of her words, she pulled herself from his arms and walked a few steps away from him, "I don't want to be alone here."
Bernard let the reality of what she'd revealed sink in, "You won't be alone. We'll go together."
"We don't get a choice. You'll fade away and I'll just end up sitting here, by myself, and we don't even know what's on the other side!"
"It can't be any worse than being without you for twenty years."
She wheeled around to face him and found him not two inches from her, "Did you just - "
"Yeah, I guess I did." They fell into an easy embrace, "Noel, can I ask you, do you think you ever could, would you - "
"What?"
"Just this." Stopping his mumbling he moved his hands from around her waist and placed them on either side of her face. With all the apprehension of a novice, he slowly placed his lips on hers in a tender first kiss.
Knowing it was coming didn't prepare her for it any better, and it took only a few moments of being stunned before she finally began to move her lips against his.
Pure enjoyment invaded the minds of both for nearly a minute straight before the need for oxygen, forced them to separate.
For the first time in days, Noel giggled, "I don't think that was a question."
"Let me ask again then." This time he pulled her lips to his roughly, and captured them with possession and desire that was sure to have bruised them in the process.
She dug her nails into the fabric that covered his back, not willing to let him go, and moaned against his mouth.
Had anyone been there to witness the kiss, they would've noticed that beside the passion, it was the uniting of two elves in the deepest and purest stage of true love.
Breaking again, his forehead pressed to hers, he whispered, "I've wanted to do that for two thousand years."
"Me too."
"You really have?"
"Why do you think I made you an elf first? I saw you and I was just, just…"
"Saved? Like when I first saw you?"
"Exactly. I needed to have you around the rest of my life."
A smile danced across their faces, and embarrassed blushes filled their cheeks.
Bernard had been going over a decision in his head since the first kiss and he was finally sure of it, but as he began to speak, he discovered he could no longer stand. Noel grabbed him as he fell and helped to lower him down.
"I think I'm finally disappearing."
"Don't leave!"
"I'm not going without telling you something first!" He held onto her shoulders keeping her close to him, "Noel, I love you."
"I love you too."
"I'm glad you said that, because if you hadn't, what I'm about to ask would sound very stupid."
Her eyes looked into his, and what he was going to do became clear.
"Noel, will you marry me?"
"How? We're disappearing!"
"It doesn't matter how! Wherever we go after this, whatever life we end up in, marry me there. Just, please, don't say no. I'm not going to get through this if I don't have you with me."
She felt as if she couldn't respond, her lips seemed to not want to move to give her reply. The look that came into his eyes told her that he was beginning to get nervous and to soothe himself, he tried to grasp her hand.
It was then that they discovered that they were no more than lines painted on air, very close to being swept away by an unforgiving gust of wind.
Finally, she found her voice, "Bernard, I will marry you."
Grinning, he leaned in and tried to give her a final kiss before they went off to somewhere unknown. To the surprise of them both, flesh met flesh.
Noel lifted her hand and found that she could touch his cheek, and the warmth he gave off flowed into her palm, "We're not disappearing anymore."
"This has got to be some kind of miracle." Not wanting to wait, he engaged her in another earth-shattering lip-lock.
"Look." She whispered and they both turned to stare in amazement at the scene that was unfolding before their eyes.
Where there had once only been piles of rubble, the whole North Pole seemed to be playing in reverse. The buildings were slowly going back to their original forms, coming up from the ground as if lifted by invisible hands.
The glory and majesty of their beautiful hometown was being restored, and faster than it had fallen apart.
*************************************************************
From somewhere in the darkness, the sense of being was beginning to come back into Judy's mind. She was slowly waking up from what seemed like the deepest sleep that she'd ever been in.
At the moment, it was impossible for her to open her eyes, but it seemed she could feel the presence of her fellow elves around her.
Finally, after what appeared to be an eternity, she felt her feet as they touched the ground and sight was once again hers. What had happened was taking shape in her mind,
"They figured it out!"
**************************************************************
"Judy!" Noel cried, running toward the newly reappeared elfess. She swept the other girl into her arms and gave her the hug to end all hugs. Judy was like a daughter to her and it was the greatest relief in the world to her that she was back.
Bernard turned at almost the same time to see Curtis and Quinton suddenly drop back in from oblivion, and he went to them, "Are you two alright?"
"Yeah, I feel like I've slept for a thousand years." Curtis rubbed his eyes.
"Did you guys figure it out?" This time, it was Quinton's turn to speak.
Bernard looked confused, "Figure what out? Everything just went back together on it's own."
Curtis and Quinton looked at each other, and began to gaze around to see if the book that had held the answer had come back yet, however, something else caught their attention.
The entire North Pole, and all of its elves, had been restored. It was like none of it had ever happened.
Bernard walked over to where Noel stood, staring at the beauty of a scene she had taken for granted so many times before.
"This is such a lovely place."
"Yeah, I'm glad we get to have the wedding here." He whispered into her ear.
Noel smiled and put her hand on his cheek, pulling him in for a kiss. The two newly united lovers continued their embrace, not caring what the elves around them thought.
Judy turned and looked over at Curtis and Quinton, finding their jaws hitting the ground as much as hers.
Somewhere behind them, a little elf spoke, "It's about time."
************************************************************
Mother Nature stood over the viewing pool in the center of her grove. She had been watching this sequence of events play out since the beginning of it all. Until this point, she had not been expecting to get the result that she'd desired, but she now had it.
A gigantic smile crossed her face, Noel was the closest thing she'd ever had to a daughter, and she remembered the years they had spent together.
Waving her hand over the pool, she vanished to go retrieve the Clauses.
****************************************************************
*Hey all! This story has just one chapter left, and all the secrets will be revealed. Along with the final chapter, will come DVD-story features, like deleted scenes, a list of hints that could've revealed the ending earlier on, a song list, and as suggested by my friend Shmeilia Rockie, a writer's commentary on the chapters. So, the last chapter will be a little bit longer of a wait, but hopefully, worth it!*
REVIEW PLEASE! IT MAKES ME WRITE FASTER!!!
Disclaimer: I only own the new characters.
Chapter 8: Before We Go
Noel ducked out of the way as a piece of the ceiling crashed two inches from her feet. She ran past the falling objects to the nearest and most undamaged staircase. Moving cautiously and quickly, she let out a small yelp of surprise as her foot went through the fifth step and she had to grab at the railing.
Regaining her balance, she pulled her leg back up, receiving a few scratches. The pain made her wince but she continued upwards toward the second floor. Though she was not particularly tall, Noel was strong from all her years at the North Pole and she moved pieces of furniture nearly effortlessly in her panic.
Once on the level where she needed to be, Noel looked around and spotted the little elf boy. Now curled up on the floor below the window, he nearly jumped for joy upon seeing his boss.
"C'mon!" She yelled, pulling him into her arms and turning back toward the way she'd came in. The glass of the window cracked and shattered onto the spot where the boy had been, and he sighed upon realizing his luck.
The older elfess kicked at the door she'd come though only minutes ago. It budged an inch out, and no more. She peered around the corner and saw that a pile of debris from the ceiling had fallen directly onto the walkway outside.
"What're we gonna do?"
"I don't know." She whispered, turning around and searching for another exit.
Sidestepping, a widening hole in the floor, Noel began to run down the hallway, the elf still in her arms. The weight she carried however, was beginning to decrease very suddenly.
********************************************************
Bernard stalled once he was inside the building. He knew where Noel must have gone, it was the fastest route to the elf she wanted to save. Observing it though, the blocked door was not where he needed to go at the present time. Bernard knew of another way up to the third floor.
"Noel!" He yelled, hoping to attract her attention, "Noel! I'm coming up!"
No response was made and he started off toward the other staircase.
**********************************************************
Noel leaned forward as she ran, trying to ignore the worries that were beginning to take over her mind. She suddenly tripped and fell forward, sprawling onto her hands.
She looked around for the young elf she had been carrying, and found him nowhere in sight. The last glimpse of a few dimming sparkles in the air told her that he too had vanished from the North Pole.
"Oh no!" She moaned, shutting her eyes tight in her pain for a moment, "I'm sorry."
A voice from behind her made her stand up quickly, "Quit being sorry so we can get outta here!"
It was Bernard, running up behind her, they nearly collided as he reached for her hands. The floor was beginning to shake beneath them, giving way to powers that destroyed their world.
Suddenly, the ceiling above them cracked, and bits of it struck them as they fell. At almost the same time, the floor which had been shifting, took them down with it as it fell. Noel and Bernard clung to each other as they hit the first floor, and didn't land on their feet.
He looked up instantly, "The ceiling! Move!"
A flurry of snow and dust clouded any chance of sight beyond two inches as the pair rolled in opposite directions to avoid the large pieces of wood and shingle as they fell to the spot they had been laying.
Once the dust had settled, the male elf jumped up and gazed around, trying to see past the pile of building materials in front of him.
"Noel?" He asked, moving his eyes frantically, "Noel?!"
No one responded, and through the crash of the building, there was a deafening silence as the former head elf began to dig into the rubble to find his love.
****************************************************************
Judy looked over the courtyard and shook her head, "They're all gone."
"We're next." Quinton stated, the realization finally dawning on all of them.
"How long do you think it'll be?"
"Does right now sound okay to you?" Stumbling forward, Quinton brought it to the attention of his two friends that he no longer had his legs to support him. He was vanishing from the ground up.
Judy and Curtis decided to save themselves the trouble of falling down and sat down next their friend.
"I can't believe that we're going like this. No fight, no nothing." The tearless cries were answered.
"We couldn't have done anything anyway."
"True. It's up to Bernard and Noel."
"Do you think they'll figure it out in time?" Curtis asked, running his hand through a more solid object. None of them were any longer made of any physical substance.
Judy sighed, "They already know, but I'm hoping being this close to the end will make them realize it."
"Huh, I think we're in real trouble this time."
"Probably," Judy agreed, "But I think it's time we said our goodbyes."
They placed their transparent hands in the middle of the circle, not touching, but intersecting the others.
Quinton smiled, "See you on the other side guys." He vanished from sight then, the others not far behind him.
Curtis leaned forward and to the best of his ability, pressed a small kiss to Judy's forehead, "It's been wonderful to work with you all these years and I - "
"You are so formal, right to the end." She kissed his cheek, "Goodbye Curtis."
"Goodbye Judy."
A peacefulness settled over their consciousness, and they fell into one of the deepest slumbers they'd ever known as they faded away from the North Pole.
************************************************************
Bernard dug faster and faster in an effort to uncover Noel. He was distraught and desperate, and took no notice of the fact that he'd cut his own hands in the process. Above him, something else was beginning to fall.
Suddenly, he felt himself pulled back by a pair of strong arms, and he fell backwards. Where he had been standing, an especially heavy piece of ornamental wood crashed into the ground.
"You okay?" Came a rather breathless voice.
He searched his body with his eyes and mental sensors, he didn't feel any pain, but another sensation came to him. His back, he knew, was pressed into someone's stomach, and the steady sound of a heart beat told him that he'd laid his head on someone's chest. The feeling was wonderful, but they couldn't stay that way.
"Noel, you're alive!" He said in relief, getting to his feet, "How did you - "
She took his hand and pulled herself up, "I rolled too far in the opposite direction and it took me a minute to get over here to you."
"I thought you were dead."
"No, but you almost were."
"Yeah, thanks for the save there."
"You're welcome, but let's get outta here!"
They ran out into the snow and gazed around them, moving to the center of the yard. The experience of nearly being crushed had instilled a desire in them both to be away from anything capable of falling.
"Where are Judy, Curtis, and Quinton?"
"I don't think they're here anymore."
"No! They can't be gone! Bernard, they can't be!"
He couldn't think of anything to say, and instead pulled her to him while she cried, "They were my children. I loved them like they were my own!"
"I know."
"Why are we still here?"
"Maybe it's because we're the oldest elves. It'll be my turn next." He added the last part as quietly as he could, but it was a fact that he couldn't long conceal.
"I don't want you to go."
Trying to ease her sadness, he joked, "Don't want another of your kids to go away?"
"I love every elf on the North Pole, but some I just love more than others." Almost ashamed of her words, she pulled herself from his arms and walked a few steps away from him, "I don't want to be alone here."
Bernard let the reality of what she'd revealed sink in, "You won't be alone. We'll go together."
"We don't get a choice. You'll fade away and I'll just end up sitting here, by myself, and we don't even know what's on the other side!"
"It can't be any worse than being without you for twenty years."
She wheeled around to face him and found him not two inches from her, "Did you just - "
"Yeah, I guess I did." They fell into an easy embrace, "Noel, can I ask you, do you think you ever could, would you - "
"What?"
"Just this." Stopping his mumbling he moved his hands from around her waist and placed them on either side of her face. With all the apprehension of a novice, he slowly placed his lips on hers in a tender first kiss.
Knowing it was coming didn't prepare her for it any better, and it took only a few moments of being stunned before she finally began to move her lips against his.
Pure enjoyment invaded the minds of both for nearly a minute straight before the need for oxygen, forced them to separate.
For the first time in days, Noel giggled, "I don't think that was a question."
"Let me ask again then." This time he pulled her lips to his roughly, and captured them with possession and desire that was sure to have bruised them in the process.
She dug her nails into the fabric that covered his back, not willing to let him go, and moaned against his mouth.
Had anyone been there to witness the kiss, they would've noticed that beside the passion, it was the uniting of two elves in the deepest and purest stage of true love.
Breaking again, his forehead pressed to hers, he whispered, "I've wanted to do that for two thousand years."
"Me too."
"You really have?"
"Why do you think I made you an elf first? I saw you and I was just, just…"
"Saved? Like when I first saw you?"
"Exactly. I needed to have you around the rest of my life."
A smile danced across their faces, and embarrassed blushes filled their cheeks.
Bernard had been going over a decision in his head since the first kiss and he was finally sure of it, but as he began to speak, he discovered he could no longer stand. Noel grabbed him as he fell and helped to lower him down.
"I think I'm finally disappearing."
"Don't leave!"
"I'm not going without telling you something first!" He held onto her shoulders keeping her close to him, "Noel, I love you."
"I love you too."
"I'm glad you said that, because if you hadn't, what I'm about to ask would sound very stupid."
Her eyes looked into his, and what he was going to do became clear.
"Noel, will you marry me?"
"How? We're disappearing!"
"It doesn't matter how! Wherever we go after this, whatever life we end up in, marry me there. Just, please, don't say no. I'm not going to get through this if I don't have you with me."
She felt as if she couldn't respond, her lips seemed to not want to move to give her reply. The look that came into his eyes told her that he was beginning to get nervous and to soothe himself, he tried to grasp her hand.
It was then that they discovered that they were no more than lines painted on air, very close to being swept away by an unforgiving gust of wind.
Finally, she found her voice, "Bernard, I will marry you."
Grinning, he leaned in and tried to give her a final kiss before they went off to somewhere unknown. To the surprise of them both, flesh met flesh.
Noel lifted her hand and found that she could touch his cheek, and the warmth he gave off flowed into her palm, "We're not disappearing anymore."
"This has got to be some kind of miracle." Not wanting to wait, he engaged her in another earth-shattering lip-lock.
"Look." She whispered and they both turned to stare in amazement at the scene that was unfolding before their eyes.
Where there had once only been piles of rubble, the whole North Pole seemed to be playing in reverse. The buildings were slowly going back to their original forms, coming up from the ground as if lifted by invisible hands.
The glory and majesty of their beautiful hometown was being restored, and faster than it had fallen apart.
*************************************************************
From somewhere in the darkness, the sense of being was beginning to come back into Judy's mind. She was slowly waking up from what seemed like the deepest sleep that she'd ever been in.
At the moment, it was impossible for her to open her eyes, but it seemed she could feel the presence of her fellow elves around her.
Finally, after what appeared to be an eternity, she felt her feet as they touched the ground and sight was once again hers. What had happened was taking shape in her mind,
"They figured it out!"
**************************************************************
"Judy!" Noel cried, running toward the newly reappeared elfess. She swept the other girl into her arms and gave her the hug to end all hugs. Judy was like a daughter to her and it was the greatest relief in the world to her that she was back.
Bernard turned at almost the same time to see Curtis and Quinton suddenly drop back in from oblivion, and he went to them, "Are you two alright?"
"Yeah, I feel like I've slept for a thousand years." Curtis rubbed his eyes.
"Did you guys figure it out?" This time, it was Quinton's turn to speak.
Bernard looked confused, "Figure what out? Everything just went back together on it's own."
Curtis and Quinton looked at each other, and began to gaze around to see if the book that had held the answer had come back yet, however, something else caught their attention.
The entire North Pole, and all of its elves, had been restored. It was like none of it had ever happened.
Bernard walked over to where Noel stood, staring at the beauty of a scene she had taken for granted so many times before.
"This is such a lovely place."
"Yeah, I'm glad we get to have the wedding here." He whispered into her ear.
Noel smiled and put her hand on his cheek, pulling him in for a kiss. The two newly united lovers continued their embrace, not caring what the elves around them thought.
Judy turned and looked over at Curtis and Quinton, finding their jaws hitting the ground as much as hers.
Somewhere behind them, a little elf spoke, "It's about time."
************************************************************
Mother Nature stood over the viewing pool in the center of her grove. She had been watching this sequence of events play out since the beginning of it all. Until this point, she had not been expecting to get the result that she'd desired, but she now had it.
A gigantic smile crossed her face, Noel was the closest thing she'd ever had to a daughter, and she remembered the years they had spent together.
Waving her hand over the pool, she vanished to go retrieve the Clauses.
****************************************************************
*Hey all! This story has just one chapter left, and all the secrets will be revealed. Along with the final chapter, will come DVD-story features, like deleted scenes, a list of hints that could've revealed the ending earlier on, a song list, and as suggested by my friend Shmeilia Rockie, a writer's commentary on the chapters. So, the last chapter will be a little bit longer of a wait, but hopefully, worth it!*
REVIEW PLEASE! IT MAKES ME WRITE FASTER!!!