Author's Note: Deck da halls with bows of holly fa la la la la la la la la...
Salutations, everyone and happy December second! Thanks to my two reviewers for this story! =D I'm really glad that you guys are enjoy the story so far!
Here's chapter two of "That Time of Year!" I hope you all enjoy it! =D
Chapter Two: Decking the Halls
December Second
North's storage room was filled to the brim with many different decorations of all kinds. While the majority of them were Christmas decorations, there were Thanksgiving decorations, Halloween decorations, Valentine's Day decorations, and a lot more. It was like the storage closet of all storage closets. Jack had only been in the storage room once or twice, and he wondered if he'd ever get lost in the giant maze of shelves, boxes, and crates.
Bunny blinked at the room and then turned to North and said, "Ya have every single decoration in existence, but nothin' Easter related?"
North shrugged. "Easter iz one day. Vho decorates their house vith eggs?"
Jack had to laugh at that. He hadn't seen anyone with Easter decorations, but he had seen some people at least try to decorate for Easter Sunday. Mostly with little rabbits wearing bowties and flowers.
Bunny scoffed. "Chrismtas only lasts one day two, mate!"
"But what about Christmas Eve?" said Tooth. The Tooth Fairy was already rummaging through a box of ornaments. "Wouldn't that make Christmas two days?"
"That's like sayin' New Year's Eve is New Year's Day," said Bunny with a frown.
North patted Bunny on the back and did his best to hold back a smile. "You vill soon understand."
"I won't ever bloody understand!" Bunny exclaimed. "There is no way Christmas is better than Easter! Easter is better, period!"
Jack shook his head. The winter spirit knew that the argument would never come to an end. He personally liked both holidays. Both were important and both required a lot of work. Bunny had billions of eggs to paint; North had billions of toys to make. The two holidays were both special, and Jack hoped that maybe one day North and Bunny would realize that both holidays were equally great.
"Hey! I found some tinsel over here!" Tooth said. She pulled out the long string of silver and smiled. "We could hang this over the fireplace in the library!"
"That iz great idea Toothy," complimented North. He clapped his hands together. 'Alright everybody, ve have entire building to decorate, and very little time. So, grab what you can find and spread out!"
"Come on people, let's deck these halls!" said Jack enthusiastically. The Guardians laughed and headed deeper into the storage room to scour for more Christmas decorations. Jack dug in a box and found a wreath. He held it up and smiled. The wreath was adorned with a red bow and gold, white, and red colored balls. Specks of white were flecked onto the circular decoration like sprinkles. There was just one thing missing.
Jack tapped his finger against the holiday wreath and the instant the tip of his finger touched the wreath, streams of frost weaved their way across the green, covering the leaves with a coat of sparkling ice. It looked just like the frost that one would find outside of their window. Jack decided to hang the wreath outside of his bedroom door. The winter spirit thought it would look nice against the dark wood of the door to his room.
Jack tucked the wreath under his arm and picked up the entire box and carried it out of the storage room. The box was filled with tinsel, and Jack remembered Tooth mentioning that she was decorating the fireplace with it. Jack walked through the halls and entered the library, which seemed much more Christmas-y than usual. Jack could tell the yetis and elves did a little bit of decorating.
"Jack!" Tooth said happily. Jack spotted the Tooth Fairy fluttering in front of the fireplace. She waved the winter spirit over and Jack walked up to her.
"I found some of these back in the storage room and I thought you could use them," Jack said as he held up the box.
Tooth dug through the box and she pulled out a roll of red ribbon. "I can work with this," she said. She began to braid the red with the silver tinsel, and with the newly added red ribbon, the tinsel seemed much brighter and more hung the garland of tinsel on the fireplace and Jack helped her hold it in place as she tucked the decoration into place. Tooth fluttered backward and admired her work.
"I think it looks pretty good," said Tooth. She turned to Jack. "Now we just need to deck the rest of Santoff Classen."
Jack laughed lightly. "Yeah, I wonder how long that's gonna take us."
"I guess maybe about a few hours if North and Bunny don't get into any arguments," said Toothiana. The Guardian of Memories flew out of the library with Jack by her side. "I wonder when the argument about Christmas or Easter started anyway."
"Me too," said Jack.
Tooth pointed to the wreath that was tucked under Jack's arm. "That's a really beautiful wreath, Jack! Did you find it in the storage room."
Jack nodded and held it up. "I added my own touch to it."
Tooth brushed her hand against the Christmas wreath. "You have a way with frost, Jack. It looks amazing."
Jack smiled. "Thanks, Tooth."
The Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies nodded with a smile. Then, three of Tooth's fairies suddenly appeared and chirped a few things to their queen. Tooth sighed and twittered a few things back. Jack looked back and forth between the three fairies and Tooth, but he couldn't understand the language of the bird-like fairies.
"What are they saying?" asked Jack curiously.
"Oh, just that North and Bunny are arguing. Again," said Tooth. "I'm going to go and get them back on task before we fall behind on decorating duty."
Jack nodded and waved to Tooth as she flew off toward the direction of the Globe Room. The winter spirit decided to go and hang his wreath on his bedroom door and then return to decorating. Jack had hundreds of ideas on how to decorate the rest of Santoff Claussen, and since he didn't have to worry about anything else for the day, he had a lot of time to help North out with embellishing Santoff Claussen in Christmas cheer.
I wonder if North would put up inflatable Christmas decorations on top of his roof, thought Jack with a small chuckle as he walked to his bedroom.
...
For the rest of the day, the Guardians spent their time decorating and spicing up Santoff Claussen in Christmas decorations. Tooth had finished up with the library and North had decorating every railing in the North pole with garlands of holly. Jack topped the garlands with some of his frost, which the ex-Cossack loved just as Tooth had with the winter spirit's wreath. Bunny painted on some of the bulbs of ornaments and hung them on some of the garlands and tinsel. All that was left was the Christmas tree. It sat all the way in the back of the storage room, but Jack understood why it was kept so far in the back. The tree was huge. So huge that Jack wondered if it would even fit through the door.
"Bah, we've gotten it out several times before," said North with a wave of his hand. "Iz no problem at all. Vill slide through door like butter."
"If you say so," said Jack as he eyed the tree. The winter spirit knew that getting the tree out of the room would definitely be a challenge. North had a small habit of making things sound easier than they really were.
"Okay, Jack, you grab front. Tooth and Sandy vill support middle vhile Bunny and I support back," directed North. All of the Guardians got into position.
"On three," said North. "Three!"
"Mate, ya didn't even count!" exclaimed Bunny.
"I said on three, not on three, two, one," North said. Jack chuckled from the front.
"Let's get this tree out of here," said Jack. The winter spirit picked up the tree from the front while North and Bunny supported the back. Sandy and Tooth balanced it from the middle and the five began to walk toward the door. Jack stepped out and pulled the front of the tree with him. It slid through the door like grease. The Guardian of Fun blinked, so North was right after all.
Tooth and Sandy flew out next. The Christmas tree was halfway through the door. Bunny and North just had to push from the other side and the tree would be out of storage, but something seemed wrong.
"Uh, are you guys okay over there?" asked Tooth.
"Yeah, what's holding you two up?" Jack added.
"It's the bloody tree!" Bunny said from the other side. "It won't move!"
"Uh oh," said Jack. The tree was stuck!
Toothiana fluttered around the front of the tree. "Did you guys try pushing harder?"
"We're pushing with everythin' we've got!" said Bunny through huffs.
"Maybe ve should get running start," said North. "Then tree will slide out."
"I don't think that's going to work," Jack said. "There's a simpler solution."
"Simpler solution"" repeated Bunny front the other side. "And what might that be?"
Jack smiled and picked up his staff that was leaning against the wall outside of the door to the storage room. The winter spirit tapped his conduit against the doorframe and ice crawled across the wooden frame. Jack took a step back and told Tooth and Sandy to do so as well.
"Now try pushing!" said Jack. The winter spirit could hear shuffling from the other side and North and Bunny pushing the giant tree. The Christmas tree slipped out of the door with ease. North and Bunny walked out of the storage room and Bunny wiped a paw across his brow.
"Ya need ta get a smaller tree, mate," said Bunny as he examined the large, green tree at his feet.
"It's really big," Jack remarked. Now that the tree was out of the storage room, it seemed much bigger. Jack guessed that if the Christmas tree was standing straight up, it would almost touch the ceiling.
North waved his hand dismissively. "Nyet! This iz best one, and it iz not going anywhere."
The Guardians brought the tree to the Globe Room so it was standing at its full height. Jack looked up at the towering tree, his mouth gaping open. It was the tallest Chrismtas tree he had ever seen.
"Ya might want ta close yer mouth. Ya don't know what flies around in here," said Bunny from Jack's side.
The winter spirit looked up at the Pooka with a mischievous smirk. "You're right. You never know when a flying airplane is gonna hit you in the face."
Bunny ruffled his hair and walked back to the storage room with North to get the Christmas tree decorations (yes, after decorating all of Santoff Claussen there was still leftover decorations for the Christmas tree). Jack was surprised when the Guardians got into position to move the tree once again.
"Wait, isn't the tree staying here?" asked Jack.
Bunny snorted. "Ya really think we could hold hundreds of immortals in this room?"
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...I mean...Where is everyone gonna be?"
"Pick up tree from front and you vill see," said North with a smile. Jack complied and hoisted the tree up from the front and North directed him where to go. The direction the Guardians were headed was an area of Santoff Claussen that Jack hadn't explored yet. The winter spirit had received a tour of the place after becoming a Guardian, but there were still lots of places that Jack hadn't been to yet. The North Pole was a huge place, and Jack knew it would take him a while before he knew every nook and cranny.
North wasn't kidding when he said that he was mysterious. As the Guardians traveled deeper into Santoff Claussen, Jack noticed things that he hadn't noticed before. North had a laboratory, a theater, a training room, and even a room that included items and trinkets from his old life as a Cossack. Jack made a mental note to start exploring Santoff Claussen soon.
The Guardians took a left and soon found themselves standing at a large, ornate double door with the Guardian "G" engraved into the center of it. Jack tucked his staff under his arm and pushed the large doors open and looked around, eyes wide. North had a party room! It had the same color palette as the rest of Santoff Claussen, but with the decorative wooden floor and wide, open window ceiling, the place looked like a completely separate part of the North Pole.
"You have a party room?!" Jack exclaimed after a few seconds of silence. The winter spirit laughed and looked around. It seemed to not have been touched in a while, and Jack knew that it was probably used sometime around last Christmas.
North nodded. "Iz only used for special occasions. Like Christmas!"
Jack couldn't believe it. The place was humongous. The ceiling was a large, dome shaped window and the floors were a crisp light brown. There was another window behind a stage-like structure and Jack knew that was where he was going to be announced as a Guardian. The winter spirit felt a little nervous knowing that he was going to be presented to hundreds of immortals, but the young Guardian shook the feeling out as if he were shaking off snow.
"It's been a while since we've been here," said Tooth. The Fairy Queen was looking around and brushing her hand against the walls as if they were filled with old memories, which Jack guessed probably were. Tooth took a deep breath and smiled. "Now I'm even more excited for the upcoming Christmas party."
"Can we please stop the chit chat and get this tree put up? My arms are gettin' tired," Bunny said from the back.
"Aw, does the Kangaroo feel tired?" said Jack teasingly from the front.
Bunny's ears twitched in irritation at the nickname and he retorted. "If I hurled my boomerang at ya, would that change yer mind about me bein' tired?"
Jack smirked but resumed carrying the Christmas tree to the center of the room. The Guardians set the tree down and lifted it up so it was standing upright. Jack did a lap around the giant, dark green tree and smiled. Decorating the tree was going to be fun.
After setting up the Christmas tree, the Guardians headed back to the Globe Room to pick up the tree decorations and began decorating. It was a fun-filled session as Jack predicted, and Jack suddenly found himself remembering all those years ago when he was still human, decorating the Christmas tree with his mother, father, and little sister Mary. Jack smiled softly his sister would have loved to decorate a giant Christmas tree, and the thought of her being gone made Jack feel slightly downcast. Jack shifted his thoughts onto making sure that there were as many snowflakes and blue ornaments as possible on the tree...no matter how many times Bunny protested.
"Oi! Blue isn't a Christmas color!" exclaimed Bunny as Jack hung a light blue ornament onto the tree.
"But blue is the color of winter, and winter is Christmas," said Jack with a smirk.
"And so's white," said Bunny as he held up a white ornament. "Why don't ya just hang these?"
"Because they're not blue," said Jack. He picked up a star shaped cerulean ornament and hung it up next to the light blue ornament. "Besides, I thought you didn't like Christmas, and here you are defending Christmas colors."
"I like Christmas," said Bunny. "I just don't like North sayin' it's better than Easter."
Jack shrugged and he pulled out a snowflake and flew near the top of the tree and hung it up. The tree was looking magnificent. Different ornaments of different colors, shapes, and sizes hung from the tree. Silver, gold, and red garlands of tinsel wrapped around the tree in a hug. Tooth had a way with the shiny decoration, Jack deemed. And Sandy seemed to be an expert with the Christmas lights. Although, there was a small argument between the Sandman and North on whether to stick with the classic white lights or to do the bright, colorful red, green, and white. After a while, the Sandman and ex-Cossack eventually decided to do the classic lights.
The Guardians took a step back and admired their work. The tree looked absolutely stunning. Jack smiled.
"This is probably the best Christmas tree out of all Christmas trees," said Jack. He turned to North. "Can we light it up now?"
North laughed and patted Jack's shoulder. "Ve haven't even put up final touch yet."
Jack blinked and then it hit him. The star. They hadn't put up the star yet. Jack walked over to the boxes and pulled out the bright, golden star. Jack ran a hand over the smooth surface of the star and the five-pointed object seemed to glow in Jack's touch.
"Why is it glowing?" asked Jack.
"It's infused with starlight," replied Bunny. The Pooka turned to North. "North wasted an entire bottle of it on that star."
"It was not entire bottle," said North. The ex-Cossack rubbed the back of his head. "It was two entire bottles."
Tooth laughed lightly and laid a hand on North's shoulder. "You do know that Ombric can't get his hands on stuff like that every day."
"I know," said North. "But star looks nice!"
Jack nodded. It did look nice. Wonderful and alive. Jack looked up at the Guardians and asked, "Can...can I?"
North gestured to the top of the tree with a fatherly grin. "Go ahead. No one iz stopping you."
Jack let out a laugh and called on the Wind, flying up to the top of the tree with snowflakes trailing behind him. The winter spirit hovered next to the top and gingerly placed the star on top of the tree. Jack flew back down to the Guardians below and admired the Christmas tree along with them. The halls were decked and Santoff Claussen was swarming with festiveness.
Christmastime was just beginning.
Author's Note: Isn't Christmastime just a wonderful time? X) I hope you guys enjoyed chapter two! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203
