Chapter 12.

Buffy's eyes widen at the sight of Anya's hands all over Xander. She is furious that she is dancing with him. Suddenly, time begins to slow down and Buffy puts on a smile. She heads over to Xander and Anya. Time had stopped as Xander is swinging Anya away from him. Buffy decides to push Anya's grip on Xander's hand a little, then walks back to the stairs.

"Time resume," says Buffy silently. As the time comes back, Anya falls on the ground on her butt.

"Anya," says Xander in shock and half laughing about it. Dawn and Buffy come over to where the two are. Xander helps Anya up and Anya sees Buffy. "I don't know what happened. I'm really sorry."

"I'd like to have a dance with you?" asks Buffy innocently. Xander smiles at her and takes her hand, ignoring Anya as she storms off. Dawn shakes her head and smiles at the two.

They dance to a soft ballad and stare at each other. Lost in each other's trance for mere minutes, when Xander breaks their trance with words.

"I've got it," says Xander. Buffy looks at him strangely, wondering what he means. "When I was around eight and I asked Santa for a video game. It was one of those that were pretty pricy and it was brand new in the market. My parents had told me that Santa wasn't real and that they bought me the gifts, but I still sent the letter. I don't know why. Then came that Christmas day and I saw that my parents were surprised that I had gotten the video game. I was young and I didn't realize that the video game really did come from some one other than my family."

Buffy is surprised to hear this from him. She was right about him, he does believe. Suddenly, the clock strikes eleven o'clock. Cinderella has only 45 minutes till she turn into a pumpkin and never see her prince charming again. Buffy takes a deep breathe and decides on something.

"Xander, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"Can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure." They head over to Xander's dad's den. Xander closes the door and turns to Buffy, who is looking all nervous. He walks up to her and is about to grab her hands to calm her, when she springs out with an unexpected question.

"Do you still believe in Santa Claus?" Xander looks at her strangely for a bit.

"Buffy, that was a long time ago. Why are you so rapt up about the subject?"

"Because what I'm about to tell you is relevant to it."

"Huh?"

"Xander, my dad, well he's…he's Santa Claus and this year I'm taking over his reigns because he broke his ankle. My best friends are elves, I live in the North Pole, my first pet was a reindeer, and I have special abilities."

"What?"

Meanwhile at the party, someone rings the doorbell and Dawn heads over to get it. When she opens it, she is surprised to see Connor at the other side of it. Dawn gasps and is silent for a second.

"You live here?" asks Connor.

"Ah huh," replies Dawn. "What are you doing here?"

"Buffy's here. I need to see her."

"Oh, sure." Dawn allows him to enter. "This way." The two go through the crowd.

Back in the den, Xander is sitting down, taking all that Buffy has told him in. He thinks that this could all be a dream, but it isn't. There is a woman standing in front him telling him that she is Santa Claus' daughter.

"The gifts I bought at your store the first day were for the children who didn't send any letters. Even if they are non believers or don't send a letter, they still get presents from Santa," says Buffy trying to continue explaining this to Xander. "The other gifts were for the elves, girls and boys."

"This is all too…" Xander begins to say.

"Weird."

"A little. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but it is." Xander stands up and runs his hand through his hair.

"I know it does and that's why I didn't want this to get serious, but it did and…"

"You were trying to push me away last night, weren't you?"

"Yes." Buffy nods her head. "It wasn't because of Dawn or anything else."

"But you called and you apologized."

"That wasn't me. That was my friend Willow who used a voice changing device."

"It sounded just like you."

"I know it's a pretty amazing gadget. Those elves, the things they come up with these days."

"You didn't want to come tonight, did you?" Xander is hurt and stares at Buffy, who feels like she's been shot by a bullet.

"I was tricked into coming, but when I saw you open the door, every doubt in my mind told me that my friends made the right decision in messing in my life." Buffy's eyes connected with Xander's and his sad expression changed.

"I knew that there was something special about you, but I didn't think this." Xander sighs and walks over to Buffy. He grabs her hands. "I am glad you came. I know that this was a hard thing for you, but I've got one question."

"What?"

"How do you go around the world and distribute so many gifts in one night?"

"That's easy. We use magic."

"Oh, now that makes a lot of sense." Xander smiles at that.

"We can freeze time and a lot of other things. Plus the time zones totally help out a lot. We do strategize the route."

"A lot of work goes into this, doesn't it? It's like running a company. There is work everyday especially on the holidays."

"Yeah, we work all year to get all the presents made and when the letters start coming, is when we get real busy."

"When do you have to go?"

"At 11:45 they're picking me up." They both look at the clock in the room. It's 11:20PM. The two look at each and are about to kiss, when someone knocks on the door. They both close their eyes.

"Who is it?" asks Xander as he rolls his eyes.

"Xander, it's Dawn," says Dawn. "Buffy has someone here to see her."

Buffy turns around and goes over to the door. She opens it and sees Dawn and Connor together.

"Buffy, we need to go now," says Connor.

"What?" says Buffy. "Why?"

"We have a problem with the…" Connor looks at Xander and tries to pull Buffy away. She pulls back away from him.

"It's okay, Connor. I told him."

"You told him." Connor looks at Xander. "And he's not freaking out?"

"No, I'm not," says Xander. "What's the problem?"

"The sleigh. It's broken."

"What!" says Buffy.

"Can't you fix it?" says Xander.

"No, it's not something that will take five minutes," says Connor. "More like three weeks."

"Does my father know about this?" asks Buffy.

"No."

"Okay, we just gotta think of something, quick."

"I'm completely lost in this conversation," says Dawn. "But if you guys are in need of a sleigh, I know where to get one." They all look at Dawn.