Chapter 3 Taking Back the Toys
The doors swung open to reveal a truly sorry sight. The factory was in shambles, divided in half by rocks and ice, and covered with mud where the two were absent. Broken toys fell from the shelves and scattered along the dirty floor as tiny copies of the Christmas culprits pushed and shoved the elves from their places. On each side, their masters shared a contemptible scowl.
"Well, at least we're getting a lot of pet rocks this year" Shocky quipped.
"Step aside Slush-for-Brains, I'M running christmas this year!"
"Dream on Hot Head! Your toys are just rocks!"
The brothers bickered, hurling their elements across the room-unaware of the two potential targets witnessing the fray
The girls looked down to find two minions bracing themselves against them but only briefly, before their resolve melted into an argument.
"All right, that's enough you two!" Aqua picked the would-be bodyguards up by their collars and carried them over to the hallway.
"Now you guys either go do something productive or I'll put you in a special time out"
"Made of candy canes!" Shocky added.
Aqua tucked her short gossamer sleeves in, brawny arms exposed as she headed briskly inside.
Enough was enough.
Shocky darted behind the protection of the wooden doorframe, voice barely above a whisper. "What are you doing?!"
The tiny plea was enough to catch Heat's attention, his eyes widening when they landed on the sturdy woman marching her way through the middle of the war zone. He paused mid throw.
"Hold your fire!"
"You admitting defeat already brother dea-"
The sneer died in Snow's throat when his eyes travelled to the thick muscular arm and rested on a familiar tiny face peeking out from behind the threshold, bright eyes wide with what could only be horror.
"U-uh oh"
Aqua faltered for only a moment, fingers twitching. It would be so easy to end their fighting, to bar them from their powers with tight binding, to daze them with a carefully placed hit. Brown eyes met her fiery green pair nervously, waiting for the blow.
…But it wouldn't be right. Such forcefulness was unbecoming of someone responsible for the welfare of their people.
She continued on without a word, carefully collecting as many broken toys as she could hold.
Hopefully the example would send the same message.
The brothers looked to each other and then to her…before a carefully crafted icicle shattered inches from her hands, prompting the battle to begin anew.
Aqua's eyes rested on Heat first, wistfully, before traveling to Snow.
"…H-hey hey! lemme help you with that"
Shocky weaved in between the fighting and began stuffing toys into her own arms.
"I'm fine. I can handle making Christmas on my own."
Aqua stood and made her way towards the doorway with arms full of broken toys. Heat marched after her.
"Hold on now where do you think you're going?"
He placed his hands on his hips, shifting his weight to one side.
"…Aren't you going to help me spread a green Christmas?"
Aqua paused, turning partly to face Heat, her nerves breathing a sigh of relief. "I am helping love. I'm going to take these broken toys somewhere safe and repair them for your delivery."
"My delivery? Bah! If I'm in charge of Christmas this year then I should be in charge of what I deliver!" He folded his arms. "Who needs those silly dolls when the children can have sand buggies and sunglasses anyway"
"Sand buggies? Sun glasses?" Aqua shook her head. "Whatever those are the children don't need them. What they need is comfort and joy, hope that the darkness will end some day."
Heat paused for a moment mouth opening and closing. She didn't know what sunglasses were?
"W-well wooden blocks aren't gonna gonna do that either! Sounds like what they need is a flashlight"
"Need I remind you that it was a flash of light that caused all this?"
"That incident was entirely caused by my step brother!"
"Oh I didn't realize your step brother owned both sides of the divide"
"He doesn't and it'd be over my frozen body I'd let him take my territory! If it weren't for that obnoxious statue of his head he used to block my view of the sun, I wouldn't have bothered with the frozen fool"
"You say the sweetest things"
Heat scoffed. "I try"
The corners of their mouths turned up slightly. For a moment they almost shared a smile.
"Do try harder not to frighten the children though, it'd be a terrible thing for them to be reminded of when they were used for fuel."
He stopped and stared, brows knitting in confusion. Children for fuel? What on Earth was she talking about?
"Whatever nonsense rumors you're spouting, I can assure you they're untrue! I have never done such a thing"
She shook her head "Of course not but a Christmas without Santa will be sure to remind them of the one who did…Especially if you intend to go through with putting those coal sculptures in their stockings" She nodded to the many rocks on the conveyor belt.
"Now you look here, coal is a perfectly practical gift! those kids are lucky they're getting anything anyway. I can't remember the last time Santa Claus brought US any presents"
"Coal is a warning-"
Before anyone could add to that, Snow slid into the hallway with a scowl.
"Hey! You're not in charge of Christmas Hothead! Don't listen to anything he says he's a compulsive liar!"
The gangly man put his hands on his hips. "Don't you remember brother dear? I'm the cool one so I ought to be in charge of Christmas this year"
"The only thing you are is a sell out riding on a cheap endorsement from Santa Claus Blizzard Brains"
"Oh come on now Flaming Fritter, we both know he's not on my payroll. The Clauses just happen to be big fans of my glorious work. Of course you wouldn't know what those are though, haha!"
"He's still grossly unfair, and so are you!"
Watch your blood pressure there Hothead, Mother warned you about that low boiling point of yours"
"Jkyeww that does it!-"
"-Hello I'm still standing here"
No sooner had the duo summoned their elements than Aqua stepped forward, a mild agitation flashing across her features.
"Forgive me, but I'm not entirely sure why we're loitering around debating which color to use for our wrapping paper when there's…three? hours? before someone is supposed to deliver presents?"
There was a long pause.
"Blue-"
"-Red"
The brothers glared at one another.
She chuckled dryly. "No no you seem to misunderstand. It's not about wrapping paper. It's not about being in charge, it's not about who looks better in the suit because no one's going to see you anyway."
The boys simultaneously opened their mouths in disappointed protest. Aqua shook her head.
"No, hurling ice and flammable objects at each other when you're guests in someone else's home is one thing, hurting my.. family…is another, but Christmas- Yule- is far more important than this."
"Haha chill out Miss Christmas! We'll run this operation smoother than a glacier, whatever the reason for this production. Besides" Snow flashed the woman a smug smile, pointing a thumb to his chest. "You girls can't make toys on your own, you need our help"
Aqua bristled, shooting the icy elemental a withering glare and shrugged her shoulders to lift the toys, her voice dripping with venom.
"Do we? Because it looks like we girls are going to be picking up your slack. We're losing precious daylight and I need to get these back to the elves you chased out….if we don't start producing acceptable gifts, there won't be any reason for you to stay here anyhow"
Snow shrank under the heat of her stare, frowning at her. He squirmed slightly, folding his arms. "F-fine then…nnnh you take your toys and do things your way, we'll do things our way" with that, he stomped his way back into into the factory.
Heat lingered, however, watching Aqua's retreating form, intrigued. For someone so at home in the north she sure was fiery. The thought lit a blaze in his belly and he marveled at the sensation. There was so much more he wanted to say, so much more he wanted to know about this fierce and saucy daughter of Santa Claus… He looked to his step brother with a dejected sigh. It didn't matter what he wanted, he doubted that she'd want to hear any of it after that.
Reluctantly, he turned and headed back inside.
As Heat turned the exchange over in his mind, the boys stopped abruptly, bumping into each other when they noticed the straggler. They backed up, glancing at each other and then down to her.
Shocky's brows furrowed. "…You never got any presents?"
Heat growled "No! Not a single one!"
"W-we don't know why, Santa just completely ignored us." Snow folded his arms, frowning down at her. "Why should we have to care about Christmas? It's got nothing to do with us apparently!"
Shocky took a step forward, eyes widening.
"But it does! Solstice is about everyone, it's about you and me a-and love and hope and everyone deserves that! Everyone deserves to be remembered! Mister Kris is one of the nicest people I know" She placed a gloved hand to her cheek. "Gosh if anyone knows about the Christmas spirit it's him." She turned to the brothers, gazing tenderly at them. "I'm so sorry you got left behind… it has to be a mistake!"
Snow's eyes widened slightly "A mistake you say? You seem pretty confident about this Christmas thing.. but would Santa really goof up that much?"
Heat huffed. "That's what I've been saying! it's a grievous error and it's been been overlooked for years but nobody believes me"
Snow folded his arms with a pout. "They think that we deserve to be out in the cold just because we don't get along"
"I can't imagine how that must feel"
Heat scoffed. "It feels pretty rotten, that's how it feels!"
"That's horrible! You don't deserve that"
Snow's cheeks darkened as he traced Shocky's smooth rounded features and he smiled softly at her. "Thanks"
Her doe eyes twinkled under the bright lights like freshly fallen snow, feathery lashes batting innocently at him. Just under a long pointed nose sat soft pouty lips, seemingly beckoning him with their small frown.
She was doing an excellent impression of a puppy and she looked so so cute. His face began to burn.
Had his brother sabotaged the thermostat again?
"I-I've known Mister Kris forever and the whole time he's cared about us and everybody in this world." She folded her hands and looked down at them "…Except for one time when he was sick and he didn't think people cared about him anymore." She looked back up at them, determined. "But he knows how it feels! that's why it's not like him to leave people out like that."
"Santa thought people didn't care about him? But he's the most popular guy in the whole world!"
"No" Shocky shook her head.
Snow lost himself in her breathy silvery voice as she continued.
"It was a while ago a-and we didn't make it that year because we got tied up with two feuding diplomats who were fighting over a trade route that cuts through here." She crinkled her nose "Messy business! But we heard about it later from Miss Jessica who said that he was really sick and the mean doctor came over and told him nobody cares about him anymore so he should stay home."
"W-what a prick! ha! why if I'd been there I'd have given him frostbite so bad he couldn't sit for a week!"
"Two feuding diplomats huh?" The brothers exchanged glances.
Shocky tilted her head bashfully. "Y-yeah it's part of our job, negotiating treaties with neighboring territories"
Heat narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute that story sounds familiar. That was the year I got to have the North Pole wasn't it?!"
"For one day brother dear, you remember the deal. Don't get any ideas!"
"So THAT'S why our ice caps melted so fast!" Shocky lunged forward, pointing to Heat with a gasp. "Our builders could not figure out why their work wasn't holding like it usually does!"
"You're welcome" Heat replied flatly. "It was high time this place had a good thaw"
Shocky tapped her chin. "Well, we did get a really good bounty of fish that day. For the first time in forever we finally had enough to share with our neighbors on Solstice eve and it solved the conflict between our two diplomats! So thank you!" She beamed at Heat, who smiled smugly down at her.
"I'm glad someone appreciates what I do around here"
"B-but what about those poor ice caps?" Snow protested. "Your builders struggled all day just to watch their hard work melt away into nothing. All there is separating you from the ocean is ice!"
"It was a little tricky… but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle!" Shocky puffed out her chest proudly, causing Snow's heart to flutter. "Besides! All the spots that melted away gave us the extra fish. If we hadn't gotten that warm sun, we wouldn't have been able to share like we did. And the way it made the ice sparkle was beautiful!" Shocky clasped her hands together, smiling fondly at the memory.
The duo paused, looking thoughtfully at each other
Snow leaned in, muttering softly. "What would either of us be without the other?"
Shocky drew back slightly, eyelids fluttering. They smelled different today, like peppermint and smoked hickory. They didn't smell like that last night.
Had they? He…?
She forgot the conversation. She forgot the fight. She forgot the reason they stood before her. The only thing she knew was the intoxicating cocktail of thoughts and nameless sensations creeping back into her conscious mind. She shook her head and her stomach lurched threateningly.
It would seem she'd come to regret that sausage after all.
"I guess the old snowball is right" Heat frowned. "Mother always likes to talk about the balance of nature and working together."
"But we aren't exactly the coolest heads on the team"
Heat's scowl deepened. "I still don't get why she picked us to do this silly thing, we can't stand to be in the same room half the time and even when we can, Christmas clearly never involved us!"
"Eheh W-well mean too is…uh You n-never sould spend… your time… all your time being angry at someone because...because it gives them power over you and means you're not being the better person" She shook her head more aggressively, shaggy bangs bobbing with the motion. "…I-I never liked the naughty list because naughty kids are people too you know! They make mistakes and sometimes they get mad but they have feelings! S-still though It's wrong and mean on pick to people a-and fighting isn't a very nice thing to too on Solstice either…"
Snow's lip curled up, mouth parted ever so slightly. He tilted his head, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder as Heat stepped back.
"…Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah, are you all right?"
"hahhhh…"
The air left Shocky's lungs in the form of a heavy sigh. Chills ran down her spine, nerves prickling with a familiar sensation when his hand touched her shoulder.
Her stomach lurched again, more forcefully this time. She really regretted that sausage now.
"For a moment, she almost saw someone else's reflection in the glass"
"Mystery girl with the bright green hair
You made me feel strangely aware..."
"His snow…."
His touch...
...He's touching me...
he's actually touching me"
Any hope of recovering her original train of thought was lost.
She almost didn't take notice of the warmth rising from her core, settling on her jaw in violent red patches.
"…..I…uh…S-sorry I'm...what was that?"
Snow blinked at her, his thumb ever so gently stroking the side of her shoulder. The thrill consumed her in waves- his cool touch was gentle but the effect was devastating.
She was a goner.
"I uh I…are you feeling okay? you went all…quiet on us there heh, like your mind went other places"
"Yeah, it was as if you were in la la land or something"
"I…."
"He's touching me-"
"-It doesn't matter"
" He's stroking my shoulder-"
"It doesn't matter"
"...Am. Fine. Yep. Just. Fine… J-just thinking about what you…you guys said"
What was it that they said? She silently cursed her extremely short term memory, heart fluttering as she lost herself in hooded almond eyes.
"You're pretty…" She breathed. "I-I mean pretty overworked, heh heh, trying to keep everything just right all the time I mean!"
She quickly looked away from Snow, ignoring both the surprise on his face and the furious blush settling on her own in increasingly more noticeable places. She instead made eye contact with his puzzled step sibling, whose brows were knitted together as she spoke, his eyes shifting suspiciously between the pair. She gripped her arm. "I-I guess I can see why you'd be fighting a lot, heh with what with the stress of a big family holiday and running the weather" She shyly tucked a shimmering strand of hair behind her ear. "You deserve love from people… I hope you get that this Christmas"
Heat's face softened at this, lips pulling slightly into a serene expression. "Well…thank you"
"Heh yeah that's mighty ice of you haha!" Snow grinned at her and winked.
Shocky giggled softly, raising gloved fingers to her lips.
The taller Miser pulled his own hand away with a goofy grin. "Well uh, all right then...well...we'll get back to work then. Thanks for stopping by, we had a blizzard haha! … I suppose you ought to be getting back to your sister now heh…"
"Yeah...sister…" She echoed absentmindedly as he patted her lower back towards the door.
Shocky teetered aimlessly into the break hall, where Aqua was standing before a growing crowd of elves.
"...I know that it's short notice and I'm sorry to ruin your breaks, but as you know, we can't actually put rocks in our children's stockings. They might be popular, but we can't have the world waking up in fear again. It is my belief that we can make it if we work together! About time that you dropped in."
"Yeah uh hi! I'm just gonna… over there, yeah"
Shocky deposited her toys and squeezed her way past the anxious and confused faces. From behind the door, Miss Jessica's voice filled the awkward silence.
"Heat Miser, Snow Miser, would you please pause your production and come to the map room to discuss your path of gift giving? I'm sure your little friends can continue making toys for you"
An audible groan came from both brothers in the production room. Then all was quiet, no arguing, just the faint sound of the machines and grunts of the Flakes and Flames.
Jingle looked up at Aqua. "Should we shoo those little guys out and get some real toys made?"
"Show of hands, who seconds Jingle's motion?" Aqua raised her own hand. Steadily, more raised until everyone in the room had agreed.
"Motion approved. Move out troops!"
The large swarm of gnomes and elves chattered amongst themselves as they trickled through the door, a few of them hanging back to check on Shocky, placing the backs of their hands on her pallid face and hooking arms around her with reassuring smiles.
The wild haired woman tied up her unruly locks and marched her way into the production room, staring each of the minions down when she pushed the doors wide open.
Now was the time for retribution.
The minions side eyed the growing crowd before returning to their work but with the exchange of hungry smiles, the Elf mob descended upon them- binding the creatures with slinkies and jump rope, packaging them in wrapping paper with pretty little bows.
The mini Misers fought the invaders- but to no avail. The Flames and the Flakes were outnumbered.
Little by little the workers advanced, forcing them out of the workshop and into the hall.
Aqua pulled a needle from behind her ear and with mixed cheers, the crew set about fixing the machinery and repairing the toys. She settled on a bench in the corner of the room, surrounded by the victims of the Miser war- a pile of torn stuffed animals- and set to work.