Chapter 13

This time their eyes met the moment Phoebe – smeared with soot and blood – entered the hall with her sisters, and Cole caught his breath a little as he felt his heart starting to beat a little faster from an odd mix of fear and relief. The look in her eyes could mean she was going to trust him on this one, or simply that she would give him hell if he so much as sneezed her way.

Or both!

I'm asking a lot of you, Phoebe.

The breathless second of eye-contact was broken as the Winter Queen reacted to the sudden intrusion with a pleased smile. "Oh, good. You are just in time," she said, rising languidly from her throne, drawing all attention to her person. "Mind waiting where you are?" She gestured in their direction, and suddenly the three witches found their feet frozen to the floor. "I take it Henbane won't be joining us?"

"Your pet warlock is celebrating Christmas in a much warmer place," Piper informed her coldly, trying to pull her feet loose but only succeeding in almost toppling herself over.

Milady accepted this news with a shrug. "He wouldn't have appreciated the gift I had made ready for him anyway," she observed, slowly gliding up to the dais holding Santa. "I do have a couple of gifts for you as well. But if you'll excuse me, I will just unwrap mine first." She held up the pouch for them to see, and let it dangle above Santa's chest before slowly lowering it to come to rest on the green fabric of his coat.

"Give that back!" Phoebe demanded, holding out her hand. "It's mine."

Pulling at the string to loosen it, Milady looked up for a moment. "You mean it was yours, my dear?" Smiling sweetly, she let the pouch fall open. "Now what can this be? A Christmas potpourri, I believe. I think I need to put it in a bowl." Leaving it, she went to get a bowl of crystal clear ice from the fruit laden table by the throne.

"Pouch!" Paige called, holding out her hand – but nothing happened.

The Queen's soft laughter tinkled between the walls, and Phoebe thought that if a light snowfall had a sound, that would be it.

Disappointed, Paige looked at her empty hand. "Why didn't it work this time?"

"You tried to take something," Phoebe explained under her breath.

"Then maybe I can give her something." Piper gritted her teeth. "With my warmest regards." She aimed her hands at the Winter Queen, but before the blast met with its target, it was diverted by some kind of force field. Looking over, she saw Cole holding out his hand. "Well, at least we now know whose side you are on," she spat and changed her aim toward him instead.

"Piper, no!" Phoebe tried to slap her hands down without falling over since her feet were stuck. "We can't blow her up!"

"Not as long as Cole is siding with her, I can't. Let me blow him up first!"

Phoebe looked over at Cole. His eyes were dark and hooded, but didn't flinch from hers. Holding them for a beat, Phoebe pressed her lips together, then she turned back to her sister. "Piper, we can't blow her up. Okay?" she hissed. "If you won't trust Cole; will you at least trust me?"

"Phoebe…are you sure about this?"

"I have to be." As her sister relented, Phoebe turned back to the Queen. "You will destroy the balance."

"Wrong!" The Winter Queen drew herself up to her full height – her ice green gown billowing out around her as if a draft had been created in the great hall. "I will create a new balance. Belthazor, will you be a dear and give it to me?"

"Certainly, Milady." With a curt bow, he strode over to the dais to pick up the pouch. Eyes steady on Phoebe, he pulled the thong tight.

"Don't do it, Cole," she said.

As he weighed the pouch once in his hands, she believed for a moment he would throw it to her, but then he flashed her that devilish smile of his, and tossed it over to the Queen, who immediately emptied it.

"Now, let's see," she said and mumbled some words as she passed her hand over it. Inside the bowl, a thick frost began to cover the insides and the contents; freezing them like liquid nitrogen; turning them into finely crafted things of ice until they looked more like the ice roses that grow on windows on a frosty night.

Smiling, Milady raised the bowl, and slowly tipped it over.

One by one, spices, herbs and bits of dried fruits fell over the edge to tumble mindlessly to the hard floor, where they shattered and broke in tiny ice crystals that scattered across the ice with faint tinkling noises. "It is done," she breathed. "The last of empathy has been destroyed. Now, I will freeze your hearts. Then it's Santa's turn to receive a gift for Christmas." Picking up the dagger Cole had used before, she started toward the three witches, literally frozen in their tracks. "Merry Christmas," she said, eyes gleaming with her imminent victory.

Remember who you are! What you are.

Feeling his eyes on her, Phoebe glanced over at Cole, but while his gaze was intent, his face was closed to her. 'You're asking a lot, Cole Turner,' she thought. 'But I won't be a coward for you.' Bracing herself, she took the plunge.

'Remember who you are.' Finally understanding what he meant she clung to a fragile trust, and forced herself to reach for the gates to her empathic powers. She had no spell to help her break them open this time. This time they demanded the correct password; the only key that would open them again – and she knew the password meant she had to drag up what lay hidden deep inside her heart. For a brief moment, she felt like when they were kids and stood in the dark in front of the bathroom mirror, and dared each other to say 'Bloody Mary' three times – and recoiled; too terrified to do it. She knew what she would see this time: The very same, terrifying thing she had seen in the mirror back then; herself. 'Remember who I am – remember who you are!'

Taking a mental deep breath, Phoebe braced herself and spoke the word that would be as potent as any 'Bloody Mary':

'Cole.'

Slowly, Phoebe opened her eyes. The room seemed different somehow; like another dimension had been added. She imagined being able to see infrared light was something like this; only she didn't 'see' with her eyes. Gathering it all up, she fastened her gaze on the Winter Queen. "Wait!" she said, actually making the Queen pause. "I want to give you my Christmas gift first. I found something I'm sure you don't have; a little Christmas spirit."

Milady screamed and dropped the knife as the forage of emotions slammed into her, driving her to her knees. "NOOO!" she shrieked; the amount of raw feelings threatening to rip her apart. "This isn't possible! I froze your power!"

"You never had it."

"Belthazor!" Writhing, the Queen turned to Cole, who had remained by Santa's side. "I command you to kill them!"

Snatching a little, as if fighting an inner pressure, Cole took a step forward.

Beside Phoebe, the other two witches snatched a little too, but their feet were stuck, effectively preventing them to back away.

Between the dais and the witches, Cole stopped. "No," he said calmly.

"What!? You have to obey me! The potion…"

"Your potion may be potent," Cole cut in sharply. "But unfortunately for you, it only has full effect on what's good and pure. Like him." He gestured with his head toward Santa. "You may have dominion over my human half, but I'm still half demon, and that half is unaffected."

Realizing that he had tricked her, not once, but twice, Milady fought her way up on her hands and knees; eyes flashing with fury. "I will kill you for this, Belthazor!" she gasped in agony, clawing at her throat as if something was choking her. "Your powers won't protect you this time!"

"Piper, freeze her!" Phoebe screamed. "I can't hold her much longer."

"I'm trying! She's still too strong."

On the floor, Milady made a valiant effort to fight back. "Ladies first!" she hissed, unleashing her full power at her tormentor, sending the mother of all blizzards at the Charmed Ones.

Cole didn't even think about it – he just took a step forward, putting himself in its path, drawing it to him. Just like before, the storm hit him like a two ton battering ram; throwing both him and the Spirit of Christmas clean across the room to slam them violently into the far wall. Before he even hit the floor, his world was reduced to a blurred hell of stinging pain as a billion needles stung him when ultimate winter bit into his flesh with its ice-cold fangs.

And then it stopped.

"Geez, Pheebs! What did you do to her?" Paige struggled to hold her crumbling sister, who clung to her for support now that her feet no longer were frozen to the floor.

Trying to catch her breath, Phoebe waited for the buzz in her head to die down. "I projected all the Christmas feelings I could muster into her," she managed between gulps of air. "Hoping she wouldn't be able to cope with it."

"And she didn't." Proud of her sister, Piper hugged her. "You did great, Pheebs. But how? I really thought she had taken it from you."

Phoebe glanced over to where Cole had stood. "Someone reminded me of who I am – and that no one can take that from me."

"Okay…" Piper glanced at Paige, who shrugged. "I don't know how long she will stay frozen, so whatever we need to do next, we need to do now."

Pushing away from their embrace, Phoebe found her feet. "We need to get Santa out of here – fast. It must be very close to midnight." Still a bit unsteady on her feet, she stumbled off in the direction of Cole's trajectory, and stopped in momentary confusion.

Down on the icy ground, not one but two Santa lay.

"What's the matter?" Paige came up to her. "Oh…How do we tell them apart?"

Phoebe took a deep breath. "That won't be our biggest problem," she muttered. "Cole?"

It hurt just trying to open his eyes, but he did it anyway. "Phoebe…" he whispered and coughed weakly. "I'm sorry I hit you."

Crouching down beside him, arms wrapped around her knees, she peered down at him. It was odd how she felt him so clearly inside the shape of Santa. "You look sorry," she observed. "You look like a sorry shit."

Grimacing a little, Cole/Kris Kringle tried to move into a less uncomfortable position. "I feel like shit," he muttered, stifling a groan. "But I'll live."

Another couple of minutes anyway.

"You better. Because I'm going to yell at you as soon as you can stay conscious long enough to hear all of it."

He smiled faintly. "I'd like that, but I don't have that much time."

Her eyes flashed at that. "What do you mean? We beat her – we're getting everyone out of here. We won."

"Not yet," he corrected her. "And if we're to save the world, I can't go with you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Cole." She kept her voice soft and low, but couldn't hide the sharpness in it. "We're not leaving you here. I'm not leaving you. And don't for a minute think I won't yell at you when we get home, but we need to talk – a lot."

"Yes…we do," he agreed, lifting his hand to caress her face. It was so nice to feel her soft skin beneath his fingers. "But it will have to wait. You need to get the Spirit of Christmas to his sleigh, now."

"That's the plan, but we don't even know where it is."

"Just get him out of here – I've made arrangements for you to be picked up." He winked at her – a tired but mischievous wink. "Someone has to stay behind and buy you some time."

Phoebe shook her head. "Why you? Why is it always you?" She wanted to shake him.

"I have nothing to live for. Besides, I'm practically dead already," he deadpanned.

"Not funny! There has to be another way."

"It's okay, Phoebe. The Queen can't hurt me. By midnight I'm back in limbo again."

"Yeah…" She rested her chin on her knees. "About that…Piper told me what really happened, and…" His hand was sliding away and she took it in both of hers. "I wish I could find a way to get you out of there." She swallowed, searching for the right words. "And I'm sorry too – for everything, but..." Suddenly she knew exactly what to say, "I'm not sorry about us, I want you to know that."

Cole smiled wanly as he recognized his own words. "That's nice to know." He squeezed her hands a little. "Hey, don't cry for me." He reached up to caress the tears away from her already grimy face. "I'll have Tes to keep me company, and..."

"Cole…I need to tell you something," she managed, tears streaming down her face again. "Tes…saved our lives; she killed Henbane, but…"

The grief in her eyes told him what had happened, and he took a deep breath, as the old familiar lump in his throat began to swell again.

Tes…no…

"It's my fault," he whispered.

"Cole, no! She did it because she loved you."

"Yes… and I was cursed never to have love again." Suddenly realizing the extensions to that; that the very same thing could happen to Phoebe, he fought his way up to grab her by the arms. "Go, Phoebe! Go now and don't look back!"

"Cole…" She tried to fight him off, but his fingers were easily encompassing her arms, squeezing them so hard it hurt. The pale blue eyes of Kris Kringle were staring into hers, something frantic burning inside them.

"Trust me!" he whispered, releasing her. "Hurry!"

Sensing his urgency, Phoebe scrambled to her feet. "Paige, Piper, come and help me!"

As her sisters rushed up, she hurried over to the real Santa's side, and busied herself with checking for vital signs. "He's very weak," she determined. "Paige, can you orb him?"

"No orb!" Cole managed hoarsely. "Magical block. You can't get out that way."

"But… how do we…?"

"Cole says it's been taken care of," Phoebe cut in. "Get him up!"

With joint effort and as much muscle as they possessed between them, they managed to pull the bulky body of Santa to his feet; his arms slung over Piper and Paige's shoulders.

"For a spirit he weighs quite a bit," Paige complained, bowing under the weight.

"What about him?" Piper nodded at Cole. "Coming or staying?"

"Staying," Cole said, his eyes forbidding Phoebe to answer. "I'll catch up with you later, okay."

"Okay." Shifting the arm around her shoulders, Piper started toward the door, but stopped, took a deep breath and turned back. "Thank you, Cole. I don't think I ever got around to say that."

"Now I know it's Christmas," he chided, earning a rare grin from the oldest Halliwell. "Mind doing me a favor in return?"

"If I can."

"That won't be a problem; just freeze me."

Both of Piper's eyebrows lifted as high as they could go. "'Scuse me? Did you just ask me to freeze you?"

"Yes, and we don't have time for explanations. Just do it!"

"Okay." She lifted her hands, but Phoebe, who had kept back, suddenly sprang forth.

"Wait!" She kneeled hastily by his side. "Cole…I don't think I thanked you, either." Without stopping to think twice, she leaned down to take his face between her hands and placed her mouth over his in a fervent kiss.

The taste of him mixed with the salt of their mingled tears, and she felt her breath catch in her throat, almost making her giddy for lack of fresh air. Lips quivering, she pulled back a little to rest her face against his one final time, inhaling the air that seeped out from his mouth as he gasped faintly. "Thank you," she managed in a strangled whisper, unable to say the words she really wanted to tell him; squeezing her eyes shut against the annoying tears that just didn't want to stop running.

"You're welcome," he breathed back, savoring the nearness, the warmth and the scent of orange flowers that always seemed to define her to him. "Don't be sad, Phoebe. It's Christmas; the time for magical and amazing things to happen."

"Yeah? And who's going to make magical and amazing things happen when you're not around?" Holding his gaze, she straightened back up, wiping her nose on the sleeve of the no longer so white jacket. "Piper?"

His eyes were still looking at her even after Piper had froze him, and Phoebe leaned over to give him one last, quick kiss on the mouth. "Goodbye, Cole Turner, my special Christmas angel. If there is a way to break the curse, I will find it."

"Phoebe…" Paige urged quietly, a bit teary eyed herself.

"I'm coming now." Getting on her feet, she ducked under Santa's arm on Piper's side and together they headed for the doors at the end of the hall, when a side door slammed open in the wall below the right hand galleries.

As they swung around in fear, they saw a small, stocky shadow outlined against the blue of moonlit snow outside.

Fearing it was one of the Shapeshifters come back for them, Phoebe felt her stomach turn over. "Piper!"

Already aiming, Piper raised her hands, but Santa's feeble hand stopped her. "Erin?" he mumbled weakly. "I was afraid you had been killed."

Carefully looking about, the gnome came over to them. "No, he just made it look that way," he said soberly, taking in the frozen Winter Queen, the empty dais, and the body on the ground behind it. "It was a bit too realistic if you ask me, but I have myself to blame for it. I more or less told him to do it. He is cunning that one."

"We are still talking about Cole?" Paige quipped, her incredulity more out of habit than anything else.

"Yes. I was just stunned. Soon as the lights went out, he shimmered us away in the cover of the dark and there I made up some cunning and intricate plans." Catching their looks, Erin cleared his throat. "We made some plans," he amended; adding: "Mainly Cole. I'm sorry we had to keep you all in the dark, but it was necessary. Now, hurry, before she realizes the switch! The sleigh is right outside."

"But…" Paige began.

"Escape now, questions later," Piper decided. "Come on!"

"Yes, but how do we drive it?"

"You'll know," Erin assured her.

As her sisters struggled through the door, urged on by the gnome, Phoebe lingered behind. "What about you?"

"I have to stay, make sure he…" Erin hesitated, "…goes through with the plan," he finished with a reluctant look up at her, but Phoebe was looking in another direction.

"I see." Hearing her sisters call for her, she shuffled her feet in the need to be at two places at once. The ice-cold draft of polar-night air was not the only thing that made her shiver.

"Did he tell you that when I offered him a wish to get out of limbo, he wished for your safety instead?" Erin said quietly, in an unexpected display of understanding. "He wants you to go."

"I know." Phoebe wrung her hands. "Erin…I can't leave him in limbo."

The gnome studied her closely. From outside Piper was yelling for her, and from some unseen place, a clock rang out the first strike of the midnight hour.

Dooonngggg…

In the hall, the Winter Queen stirred.

"You have a minute or so to get airborne," Erin announced gravely.

"Please," she whispered. "I owe him that much."

"It's against the rules," he muttered, fishing around in his pocket. "But since it's Christmas…" A silvery snowflake, the size of his palm, rested in his hand. "It's good for one wish; use it wisely!"

Gingerly picking it up, Phoebe fingered the delicate filigree.

Dooonngggg…

The clock struck again, and quickly stashing it in her pocket, she bent down to kiss Erin on the cheek. "Thank you so much!" Then she ran out the door to her sisters. Behind her the door swung shut and seemed to disappear completely from the wall.

Keeping in the marginal safety of the shadows, Erin peeked around one of the ice pillars, to see the Winter Queen stir as Piper's freeze wore off. Disoriented at first, she looked around, then got to her feet.

"Where are you?" she raged, casting about her, but the only thing answering was the third toll of the bell.

Dooonngggg…

"No!" Seeing the empty dais, she rushed over, heart beating in anger and fear. "You didn't…!" Then she spotted the limp form over by the wall. "Never mind. I will deal with you later," she muttered under her breath and headed toward the green-clad figure.

Dooonngggg…

She bent down over the body to examine it closely. "Why did they leave you around, I wonder?" Absentmindedly, she reached out for the tufted wreath of holly that had fallen off in the rather violent flight through the hall, and picked at its leaves, reshaping it back into a circle.

Dooonngggg….

As the fifth toll rang through the dome of the ice castle, the Winter Queen placed the wreath back on Santa's head and quickly got to her feet. Hurrying over to where she had been frozen, she bent down to pick up the knife she had dropped, and hurried back. "I can still win this," she murmured, pulling at the limbs of the body until she had gotten him more or less flat on his back. "The days of Light are over – let the reign of Darkness begin!" Holding the dagger in outstretched arms over his chest, she waited – silently reciting spells.

Dooonngggg…

The dagger was plunged straight down to pierce through the thick green fabric, the brown inline fur and the shirt beneath it. It penetrated the skin easily, without as much grazing the two ribs it sliced down between, and found its goal in the heart that had been beating inside the broad chest.

There was a strangled, gargling sound, and the stabbed man arched up from the pain. His fingers curled like claws, scratching uselessly at the slick ice beneath them, while he sucked in air that just didn't go anywhere. On his chest a dark stain was beginning to form as the blood seeped through the layers of fabric.

Holding the dagger steady, Milady bent forward to gently place a cold hand on his paling face. "I'm sorry Kris, but it will be over soon."

Pale eyes opened slowly to stare at her.

"Yes…it will be over…soon…" he wheezed, dark blood trickling out through the corner of his mouth along with the barely audible words.

He felt his heart struggle against the impaling knife, his waning life throbbing in his head in time with the tolling bell, ringing in Christmas, sending colored blotches to dance in front of his eyes – or maybe it was the lack of oxygen.

Dooonngggg…

The twelfth bell rang mightily in the hall and in his ears; tolling for Christmas; tolling for the midnight hour to start.

The Winter Queen smiled down at him. "We made it!"

Yes, we did…

He smiled back at the beautiful woman leaning over him. "Merry…Christmas… Phoebe."

"Merry…Phoebe?!" Tearing out the dagger she grabbed the lapels of the coat and pulled his body halfway up to scream her question at him, when a piece of paper, concealed in the shirt pocket but torn free as the dagger ripped it open, sailed down in his lap. "What?" Letting him fall back, she snatched it up, turned it over – and hissed.

It was a black and white photo, smeared with blood, but the smiling face of Phoebe Halliwell was easily discerned. "No…" she breathed, dropping the photo to stare at the limp body – or where the body had been. Only some blood and a wreath of holly remained. "NOOO!" she shrieked. "Damn you to Hell, Belthazor!" In a flash she was back on her feet. "Garm! Grim! Fang! Don't let them get airborne! If you can't stop them, kill them!"

Behind the pillar, Erin nodded once and threw a handful of snowflakes into the air. By the time they reached the floor, he was gone.

Piper and Phoebe struggled to pull the plaids around Kris Kringle's bulky frame while Paige tried to entangle the reins to the reindeers.

"Okay, let's go!" Piper said as she climbed up beside her sister on the seat.

"How?"

"I don't know. Jiggle the reins, smack your lips, crack the whip!"

Paige couldn't refrain from giggling. "That sounds kinda kinky."

"Okay, can you hurry up?" Phoebe's voice was tense and high with anxiety. "Because I think we are getting company."

Snarls and howls could be heard, and it was coming closer.

Piper swung around, squinting into the darkness. "Damn it!" she muttered. "Gee up!"

The reindeers didn't move.

The first winterwolf detached itself from the shadows. It was bluish white in the moonlight, and huge.

Paige snatched at the reins and yelled "Gee up!" at the reindeers, with no more result than her sister had.

Paws rustled in the snow as the vile creatures came looping in, slowing to a trot. The sound came from all around them as the pack spread out to surround the sleigh in a large circle. Yellow eyes, too many to count, glowed in the dark.

"Get us airborne, Paige!" Piper said sharply.

"I'm trying, damn it!" Waving the reins, Paige made every prompting noise she could think of, but to no avail. "How do you drive this thing?!"

Coming in unseen from behind, the first wolf launched an attack toward the sleigh. It snapped its jaws in the air and Phoebe yelped and pulled back.

"Heydi-hoo, Silver! Ready, steady, go!" Paige shouted at the reindeers. "Up, up and away! Go, go, go! Go Redsox!"

"It's not a football team," Piper remarked severely, looking around wildly for the next attacker.

"Piper, can't you freeze them?" Phoebe called from the back.

"I have to see them first!" Another wolf detached itself and Piper aimed her hands at it, but her magic only slowed it down. "Maybe the cold makes them immune to any kind of freeze." She aimed again, and the winterwolf burst into flames and exploded. "Alright!"

"Piper!" Phoebe screamed as paws scratched at the wooden sides and another of the demonic wolves managed to get its head over the edge.

"It's too close! I will set the sleigh on fire."

Another wolf was attacking the front, and she had to concentrate on blasting it as well as the second one waiting behind. Muffled sounds and a loud whack were heard from the back. "Phoebe? Are you okay?!" Piper swung around to see her sister ferociously wielding a Christmas present, now slightly bent and crumpled, whacking it over the heads and noses of the attackers, sending them yelping on their way back to the flock.

Phoebe gave the messed up parcel a regretful look. "I think it's broken."

"Yeah? Well, we never said we were UPS."

Deciding that single attacks weren't the way, the wolves drew out of reach, forming a semi-circle behind them. Their snarls and low growls were unnerving the reindeers, but although they trampled around, no amount of effort from Paige could make them take off.

"Can you get us off the ground while it's still Christmas?" Piper snarled, aiming a few irrational blasts into the pack. "I can't keep them at bay for much longer."

"You wanna take over?" Paige snapped back. "I'm running out of ideas."

"What? No more cheer-leading calls."

"Maybe it takes a spell?" Phoebe suddenly realized. "Erin said we would know how to do it. He must mean that we could come up with a spell."

"Like a Power of Three-spell?"

"I don't know. But that's what we can do. How about… um… 'On this dark and dreary night…' Help me out here!"

" 'Leave the ground and take to flight!'" Piper finished the rhyme. "That didn't help much."

"Let's try it together!"

"'On this dark and dreary night, leave the ground and take to flight!'" they shouted in chorus, but the reindeers just shook their heads and snorted.

Then the Snow wolves attacked.

This time they went for the reindeers, baying and snapping at their haunches.

"This is great!" Piper shouted as she shot off several blasts, setting fire to one wolf after another. "We could just as well have recited The night before Christmas."

"I think The Grinch who stole Christmas would be more appropriate," Paige remarked. "Wolf!" Calling one wolf, she sent it into another to break their path and Piper took the opportunity to blast both off them, setting fire to a third in the process.

"Nice teamwork, sis'!"

"Thanks, but why aren't they going for their throats? Wouldn't they want to kill them?"

"I don't think they can be killed on Christmas Eve, but…"

"They can be spooked!"

Under attack, Santa's reindeers tried their best to defend themselves with cloves and horns. So far, they were holding the Snow wolves at bay, but the harness was hampering them and the ones at the back were trampling nervously, pushing the ones in front of them. 16 pairs of legs kicked and skidded, getting entangled and scraped. With nowhere to go, the reindeers began to get desperate and the wolves kept coming at them.

Piper was blasting all she could, but the explosions also helped spook the reindeers even more, and Paige was having more and more trouble holding them in place.

"They're too many!" Piper shouted. "I can't hold them off!"

"Same here!" Paige gritted out between clenched teeth, pulling at the reins. "Phoebe! Some help here!"

"Wait, I have it!"

"Have what?"

"The night before Christmas!"

The reindeers took off. Not into the air, but stampeding across the snow with the wolves driving them forward.

"We all have that," Piper quipped sharply, a tight grip on her seat to keep from falling off. "And not a very merry one."

"No, the rhyme, the rhyme!" Phoebe fought off the presents falling over her, bouncing around in the back.

"The rime? You're not making much sense."

"It's in the poem. When Santa gets in the sleigh, he calls out something to the reindeers to make them fly… Their names! That's it!"

"That's right!" Paige burst out. "I remember it now. Mom used to read it to me every Christmas."

"Phoebe, it's an old nursery rhyme." Piper shot another round of blasts.

"And we're three witches in Santa's sleigh," Phoebe snapped. "What's so unbelievable?"

"Good point." Piper took out another wolf, but there was a new one to take its place immediately. "Okay, so what are their names?"

"I don't remember," Phoebe shouted back to get heard over the din. "Grams never read that story to us."

"Well, try harder, because I think we are being herded towards that…drop!"

"Oh, God!" Phoebe gasped as she saw the cliff edge in the distance. The reindeers tried to steer to the side, but the wolves were driving them on. Racking her brain, Phoebe wondered why they were the only ones who didn't know that poem by heart. "Paige, help me out here!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying! But I have to go through it from the top. 'T'was the night before Christmas and…and nothing stirred, not even a mouse…" She went on mumbling the verses as fast as she could.

"Noo," Phoebe moaned. "That takes too long!" Holding on to the side, she bit her lip, as the drop was getting closer with breathtaking speed. "I'm sure one was called Cupid."

"Trust you to remember that one," Piper remarked. "Paige, just say the names!"

"Wait, wait… Prancer and Dancer! I think I have them all."

"Prancer?" Piper rolled up her eyes.

"On, Dasher, Dancer, Cupid and Comet," Paige began to call out. "On…Wait!"

"What!?"

"Is it Donner or Donder?"

"Who cares?" Phoebe screamed in fear and frustration. "Reindeers can't spell."

"Geez! Okay. On, Donner and Blitzen and… eh…"

"Prancer!" Piper filled in and they held their breaths, waiting for take off, but the reindeers merely flicked their ears, and kept running.

"No, no, no!" Phoebe called in near desperation. "That was only seven names."

"I know! It was the wrong order too. I always forget it when I don't take it from the top."

"How about Rudolph?" Piper offered. "What?" she burst out, nettled by their looks. "What's wrong with Rudolph?"

Paige and Phoebe shared a look. "Vixen!" they said in unison.

"Excuse me?"

"We're running out of time, Paige!" Phoebe shouted, ignoring her miffed sister.

"We're running out of ground too," Paige shouted back. "Hold on!"

Paige took a deep breath of the icy Polar circle air and shouted over the baying of the wolf pack: "'Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!'"

The first reindeers were stumbling over the edge, pulling the others with them.

"I said all the names!" Paige pleaded as they started to plunge.

"Maybe you should have said the magic word?" Piper snapped.

"What magic word? 'Please'?"

Indecision riding her like the mare, Phoebe pulled the snowflake out of her pocket. Once more she was faced with the choice between saving Cole and saving her sisters – saving the world. But if she didn't survive this – who would be left to even try saving him?

"I'm sorry, Cole." Squeezing the snowflake, she shouted with tears streaming down her cheeks: "I wish us out of here alive, and home safe!".

"Phoebe, no!" Piper shouted as she realized what her sister was doing, but it was too late. Phoebe had already thrown the charm in desperate defiance at the Snow wolves.

It twinkled once and disappeared in the midwinter night behind them.

The sleigh tipped over the edge.

Paige screamed as the chasm opened up to swallow them; but the scream stuck in her throat as she found herself bathing in a strange, twinkling light – not orbs at all, but like crystals of snow – and then the last line of the poem was as clear to her as if she had the book to read from. "Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!'" she blurted out, and gave a sharp whistle.

There was a surge as the sleigh was pulled up and away from the edge; up in the air – away from the furious winterwolves, howling in rage below them. Ice-cold air rushed toward them, and then all that could be heard were the jingling of sleigh-bells.

"We did it!" Paige cheered and hugged Piper. "We did it!"

Phoebe leaned down over the Spirit of Christmas. "We're safe," she whispered. "We're going home." Exhausted, she snuggled down beside him, sweeping the warm blankets around her. "I always wanted to go for a sleigh ride," she said with a quiet laugh.

The stars glittered and twinkled overhead and all around. She could almost believe the jingle came from them instead of the reindeers' collars. If the heavens have a sound, she mused sleepily, this must be it. Then the stars became a blur that smeared out, and her eyelids fell down almost of their own accord.