Christmas Day passed splendidly, as Christian and Marie conspired on how to defeat the Mouse King. The Judge and his wife, naturally, were oblivious to the more grave nature of the children and instead attended to the next round of guests on their second party that afternoon while whispering about how pleased they were that Marie had come out of her room and her shell for the holidays.

Usually Christian enjoyed parties such as these—but he had no time for games or glamour or fun as he usually did. There were entire realms of people counting on him and Marie when the clock struck twelve that night.

His head was still spinning at the revelations of the night before. It all seemed unreal, like a fever dream. But he knew as soon as Marie had told him that he had to do what was right and help. His father, after all, had instilled in him a strict sense of morality.

It started exactly at midnight, when the clock rang out for the twelfth time. The mouse hole appeared, but no foot-soldiers, pawns, or any other such positions came out. Rather, it was just the seven-headed Mouse King, with a sword in one hand and a scepter in the other. His own shadow cloaked around him, instead of following him on the ground as shadows usually do.

His red eyes gleamed malevolently as he stared down the Nutcracker with his silver sword.

"You stand alone, Nutcracker—has your kingdom finally abandoned you, as Princess Pirlipat did?"

"I have not been abandoned." Benjamin lifted his sword. "But I will not risk the lives of my subjects on a matter that is personal—I have convinced the Queen that this is between us, and no one else."

"On that matter, you are wrong," the Mouse King snarled. "I will not stop until all the Stahlbaums and their creations are dead! For they had advised the King and Queen of Parthenia to turn against my mother and siblings—I will avenge them, as I will eradicate all who involved themselves in my vengeance! Mice! Come to my aid!"

But nothing happened.

The Mouse King turned one of his seven heads to see that the mouse hole and the portal had vanished entirely. He raised his scepter, presumably to summon the portal. But it did not come. He tried again—nothing.

"I'm afraid that Parthenia no longer can be accessed, at least, not through any portal," Marie said as she stepped from her hiding place behind her cabinet of dolls. She held open a small ornate book that gleamed strangely in the light. "Perhaps there are still cracks between that world and others—but I suspect there isn't."

The Mouse King's seven heads returned their attention to Marie, their red eyes narrowing as he snarled:

"So the last of the Stahlbaums has managed to interfere one last time. Fine—I will find these cracks between words when I am finished with you and your Four Realms! I will conquer all the worlds in the name of Mouserinks!"

"You will not do so! In the name of the Queen!" Benjamin swung at the Mouse King, engaging him in a duel.

Christian glanced at the owl, nodding at it.

Prince Benjamin was brave and stalwart, even as he was forced back with every attack, the sword nicking at the wood and one fall snapping his nutcracker arm. Still, he fought, and that was enough time for Marie and Christian to enact their plan.

Marie took off her heeled fashionable shoe, courtesy of Madam Drosselmeyer. The shoe hit the Mouse King in four of his seven heads, knocking him to the floor and causing him to drop his sword and scepter. His seven golden crowns fell across the polished oak floor with a clatter.

Without wasting a second, Christian set the owl free. It soared and snatched up the Mouse King. Before Christian could give another order however, to everyone's revulsion, the mechanical owl swallowed the Mouse King, who let out a terrible scream. Marie covered her ears, and Christian rushed over to cover her eyes before shutting his own.

They only opened their eyes to a flash of light, to see the nutcracker, nicked and damaged, transform into a tall man in a Nutcracker's regiment uniform with a golden sword. He bowed and dropped to one knee.

"My lady, I hope I served you well."

"You have, Prince Benjamin." Marie smiled and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. "I could not have asked for a more stalwart protector, of me and my realms."

Prince Benjamin turned pink, smiling all the same. "I have done my duty, Your Majesty. I am humbled by your gratitude and wisdom."

Marie smiled and turned to Christian. "And I thank you. Without you and the owl, I do not think we could have won this victory."

Christian smiled.

"And thank you for being my friend, after my parents died," Marie said in a smaller, graver voice. "I cannot give you enough of my gratitude."

"Perhaps a start would be showing me these four realms," Christian teased.

"Oh, you'll love it, they're wonderful," Marie gushed. "Come, Prince Benjamin—I think it is high time that we show Christian our home."

"Our?" Prince Benjamin turned redder.

"Of course it is ours, silly." Marie kissed him on the cheek again, and then took both youth's hands. "Come along— I suspect my regents would like to know of our victory!"

The three of them stepped through the wardrobe into the Land of the Snow, beginning a new adventure entirely.

There were of course, many more adventures and tales after that one. They all blended together into an era of halcyon memories for Benjamin as he now stood in front of his three children, Drosselmeyer, and Captain Phillip Hoffman to recount their shared tale.

How Benjamin wished that Marie could have seen this. She had always been so hesitant to connect her worlds after what had happened to their parents and how they had jeopardized her and so many others. He had done as his wife and queen had wished—but he now realized, as he was now sure that Marie herself had, that the realms were meant to be shared.

As Christmas Eve turned to Christmas morning, he began his tale—ending exactly where we had started. But with the promise of more adventures to come.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading and following this story. I know some of you have been waiting for two years for me to finish. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. Consider this a gift to you. Happy holidays to everyone!