Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I already had a chunk of this chapter that I'd written on file, which is good, because I might have taken longer. I'm a terrible procrastinator. I hope that doesn't make anyone mad, especially the one person who kept telling me to update over and over. Not that I'm mad at them for saying that- I thought that was kind of funny actually. =) I'll try to update sooner next time, but it's best if I write while I'm inspired, not because I have to, or else the story could end up crappy. However (hint hint) if you review some more, I might get a little more inspired... ;D

I own nothing but what I own. All else I don't own. So there.

Chapter 1: A Last Minute Decision

It is Christmas Eve in the North Pole. From an airplane's view, all is calm and still. There is no noise, no lights- the Northern Lights have passed for the day- there's not even a breeze. It seems the picture of serenity.

Inside the Pole itself, the atmosphere is just the opposite.

Elves run to and fro, desperately trying to cool burnt machines with their child-size hydrant guns and salvage broken toys in the stock room. Elf cooks work rapidly to remake ruined cookies in an unmelted oven and fix magical cocoa makers in the kitchen. Elf doctors race in circles around and inside the delivery room, calming Mrs. Clause, cleaning and dressing her baby, and congratulating Santa. Then there was the circus in the factory.

One one side of the large circular toymaking room were all of Santa's relatives. There were his in-laws- Mrs. Claus's parents, Silvia and Bud Newman, who were at the moment still in shock over the fact that their son-in-law was Santa Clause and not a Canadian toymaker, as they once thought. There was Santa's ex-wife Laura, her husband Neil, their son, Charlie, and daughter Lucy, who were celebrating the fact that the two adults were alive. Moments before, Laura and Neil had been frozen solid with little hope of unfreezing. Of course, that wasn't true anymore. They jumped, hopped, skipped, shouted, and danced with the in-laws, who were more than happy to join in since they were still in too much shock to be as serious as they normally were.

In the center of the room were most of the elves, busily remaking toys and fixing machines that had been broken. Most of them were trying hard not to break down from stress, as this was quite literally the last minute before Christmas and they had not been able to fill their quotas in the chaos. Curtis, the temporary head elf, was mourning the fact that Bernard had gone on a vacation down south with Fiona this Christmas (it was more like he was forced to go by Fiona, along with some help from Santa and Curtis, another source of pain and embarrassment for the little elf) and that it was this very Christmas that everything had gone more wrong than they had in centuries at the Pole. He could not wait until the true head elf got back again so that he could relax- at least, as much as a Christmas elf can relax.

Then, on the farthest side of the room, up the stairs, was the Council of Legendary Figures in an emergency meeting. So urgent was this meeting, in fact, that they could not meet in a proper room- neither Santa's office, nor the conference room, nor even the kitchen, as they had done earlier. Mother Nature, Father Time, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Cupid all stood in a solemn circle, looking at the subject of their meeting: Jack Frost.

For Jack Frost was the cause of nearly all the trouble this Christmas, not counting the in-laws' revelation and Mrs. Claus's pregnancy. It was him who had broken all the machines, burnt the ovens in the kitchen, destroyed the cocoa makers, frozen Laura and Neil, scared Lucy out of her whits, practically ripped Santa and Mrs. Claus's family apart, used a secret clause only high ranking people in Santa's life knew about to reverse time, and nearly ruined Christmas itself forever.

Yes, all this chaos was his fault, but, at the same time, it wasn't his fault. Jack Frost had done it all, but Jack Frost was not the Jack Frost he had been. Because, unbeknownst to all but a certain few, Laura and Neil's daughter Lucy had magical hugs. Whether this was natural or because Lucy's uncle was Santa was unknown. Whatever the reason, her hugs had the ability to warm people, human and legendary alike. And it was Jack Frost she hugged, and Jack Frost she warmed, and now Jack Frost had changed. He was a brighter, happier sprite.

Instead of the icy blue, freeze-dried hair and frozen pinstripe suit, Jack Frost sported smooth brown hair and a shiny white pinstripe suit. His skin was tanner, and his smile more genuine. For the past hour he had been running around with the elves he had once terrorized, hugging them, apologizing, and pulling minor, harmless jokes and pranks; he might have changed, but he was still a mischievous imp. However, he was truly sorry for his actions, and this was good enough for most of the elves. It seemed all had been taken care of.

There was just one problem. What was to be done with Jack? This is what the Council was trying to decide upon when they summoned the Winter Sprite from his joyful little rounds and stood before him on the landing.

Jack stood with his hands folded behind his back, and a sheepish smile on his face. He looked back and forth between all the faces and hoped somebody would say something soon. Normally he would have said something by now, but his new nicer brain said that it wouldn't be a good idea.

Finally, the Easter Bunny spoke up. "Look, I'm real glad about this 'warmed by a magical hug' business and all," he started, his face betraying the fact that he really wasn't all that glad. "But, hasn't Jack caused enough trouble? I mean, he killed fruit!" He looked around the Council for encouragement. He didn't get any. Ears bending apologetically low on his head, he continued, "I mean... he almost destroyed Christmas! Which is much more important than some fruit of course, but... well, I think we should just banish him from the Council of Legendary Figures once and for all, and just be done with it."

"I disagree," came Cupid's voice. For once, he was not hovering in the air. He decided it might be easier for him to focus if he were on the ground, due to the... ahem... gravity of the situation. Now he turned and faced the Easter Bunny with conviction in his voice. "As much as I hate to say it, old Frost here looks like he's turned over a new leaf, and that's not a fact we can just ignore. I say we give him another chance."

"Oh, yes, I would really appreciate that!" Jack put in, his impish face grinning hopefully.

The Tooth Fairy interrupted before Jack could continue. "You want us to give him another chance? Cupid, we've given him chance upon chance! He might have a new outfit now, but we can't just let him go unpunished for almost destroying the hopes and dreams of kids all over the world waiting for Christmas!"

"Hey, I know about dreams more than anybody," the Sandman said, yawning. "And I think you're taking the wrong view there. I mean, weren't Jack's dreams destroyed just now, too? I know... his..." Sandman's head started to bow. Nobody looked surprised. Mother Nature gently nudged him, and his head popped back up in mid snore. "I know his dreams weren't all that good. More like nightmares, really." He shuddered. Sandman hated nightmares. They were so dank and dark and hopeless. "But all that's over now, right? I'm all for him being able to work on some new dreams. I love working on new dreams. Those are my... favorite... kind..." With those words, he fell asleep again. This time no one woke him, knowing he was done.

"Agreed!" Cupid declared. "Agreed with my whole heart!"

"Everything's with your whole heart, Cupid," the Tooth Fairy retorted.

"Yeah, and maybe we can't ignore Jack's change, but we can't ignore what he's done, either!" the Easter Bunny argued. The four Council members broke out into argument, shouting out bits of logic heavily weighed with silly insults and mentions of times that had nothing to do with the task at hand.

"Well, you're just an old guy in a dress and a diaper!" the Easter Bunny yelled at Cupid.

"Well, what about the time you ran out of chicken eggs for Easter and tried lizard eggs one year?" Cupid yelled back. "That idea really sucked eggs!"

"Oh, how original, Cupid!" the Tooth Fairy snapped sarcastically. "That might have been even better than my Toothinator idea!"

The Sandman snored loudly. Jack frowned and slid back to stand between Mother Nature and Father Time. "This is quite a way of making decisions, hmm?" he whispered to Mother Nature.

Mother Nature shook her head sadly. "They know better. I'll put a stop to this." She raised her hands to say something, but just when she opened her mouth another voice rang out.

"Everybody, quiet!"

Cupid, The Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny snapped their heads up. Sandman heard the yelling and woke up, looking back and forth rapidly before deciding to just look in the direction everyone else was, which was toward Father Time. He was holding his staff up in the air, and seemed ready to hit someone with it. His eyes were wide as if he were surprised at his outburst himself. Finally, he set his staff down and took a deep breath.

"Thank you," he said. "Now, the way I see it, we have two choices. We either say that Jack should have a second chance, because he's not the same anymore; or," he held a finger up, "we say that it doesn't matter if he changed, because what he did can't be ignored, and he should be banished. Now, here's what I have to say." He took another deep breath. He obviously wasn't used to talking this much in one go. "I say, no, we can't ignore what he did."

Jack flinched and took a step back further behind Father Time and Mother Nature. If Father Time decided against him, he would be the winning vote. Father Time eyed him and frowned. "I'm not done yet. No, we can't ignore what he did. He has to pay for it somehow. But why does it have to be with banishment? We have a new, much better, in my opinion, Jack here! This is a Jack Frost who could actually contribute to meetings when the old one never did anything! Did you ever think of that?" The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy glanced at each other. It appeared they had not thought about that. "So, I say, yes we should punish him, but no, not with banishment. Find another punishment. Not one that would teach him a lesson, because he's already learned it with that hug he got from Santa's niece. He needs one that would help him to fix what went wrong."

Now he leaned on his staff, evidently done with his speech. Mother Nature smiled and stepped forward. "Thank you, Father Time. I believe you're suggesting that we give him some sort of community service again?"

"We've given him that before!" The Easter Bunny whined.

"Well," Mother Nature countered, "what's he going to do, then?"

On the other side of the factory, in the sled chamber, mechanic elves were preparing Santa's sled for his depart in a few minutes. They had just gotten the reindeer harnessed to the sled when another elf ran in, shouting, "Sled incoming!" The other elves looked up in shock and scrambled to move Santa's sled off of the center platform. They pulled and pushed the reindeer until they had all run forward about ten feet toward the exit of the chamber. The sled was pulled along behind them and cleared the platform just in time for a circular plate in the ceiling to start lowering down to the floor.

All the elves stood back and watched, some in amazement, some in confusion, and some in anger, as the plate slowly revealed who was riding it. Then everyone cheered. "Bernard is back!" they yelled. One of them turned to the one who had run in. "You!" he called. "Go tell Curtis, quick!" The elf nodded and ran off. Meanwhile, the plate had finally lowered to the floor, and its riders were attempting to get situated.

On the plate was a small personal sled that could only fit two people. Those people were, of course, Bernard and Fiona, returned from their Christmas vacation to Australia. Fiona hopped off the sled and ran around to the front to unhitch the reindeer attached there. Childish and random gibbering was heard echoing loudly around the room, and Chet pulled and yanked on his harness to get at Fiona and lick her face like a puppy. She giggled and reached for the strap to unbuckle it, but the baby reindeer just pulled away and jumped some more. She reached again and he pulled again. This went on for several minutes before she finally sighed and said, "It's last week all over again. Can I get some help over here?" A couple elves ran over and helped to hold Chet down while she unbuckled his harness. It still took ten minutes. Finally, she got the last buckle off, and the elves led the gibbering reindeer away.

Fiona sighed and walked back around to the seats of the sled. She bent over to look at the floor, where a tallish elf lay curled up with a blanket over his head. She knelt down with a sweet look on her face, putting her mouth right next to his ear. She puckered her lips for a whisper. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Wake up Bernard! It's Christmas Eve!"

Bernard woke up screaming, and leaped like on Olympian out of the sled. "What?! Where?! Is Santa ready?! Are the toys done?!" His beret was sideways on his head and it was a wonder it wasn't falling off. He was wearing a cheesy Hawaiian shirt over his normal outfit. His chest heaved up and down with his shocked gasps. After a second, he took a deep breath and help up his hands like he was telling the world to wait a minute, and turned to Fiona with an irritated expression on his face. "How many times have I told you not to do that? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Fiona put on an apologetic pose, folding her hands in front of her and flipping her lashes innocently. "I'm sawwy Bernard." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and he blushed and gently pushed her away, crossing his arms and trying to look strict. She laughed. "I just wanted to see the look on your face. You said you wanted to get here before Christmas after all. It's before Christmas."

Bernard's strict look suddenly vanished. "Wait, you mean it's actually Christmas Eve?"

Before Fiona could answer, the sled chamber doors burst open. In ran the elf who'd run in a little while ago to warn about the sled. Behind him ran Curtis. The little elf's glasses were tilted like Bernard's beret, and he looked stressed out of his mind. He grinned as soon as he saw Bernard. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! You wouldn't believe what I've been through!"

Bernard gave Curtis a slightly superior look, tinged with oncoming stress. "Yeah, being Head Elf wasn't as fun as you thought it would be, huh? Is everything ready? Are the toys done? Santa's coming in a few minutes, right?"

Curtis suddenly looked a bit like Fiona had, folding his hands in front of him and rocking back and forth like he didn't want to say anything. "Well... you see... we've had a few minor issues..."

Bernard's eyes widened. He grabbed Curtis by his arms and shoved his face inches from the little elf's nose. "What. Happened."

Curtis shook a little bit, then spoke at light speed. "The in-laws are here, the exes are here, Mrs. Clause is having a baby, and Jack Frost nearly ruined Christmas." Bernard let go of Curtis so suddenly he dropped to the floor. Then he ran out of the room.

Fiona gaped and ran after him, yelling, "Wait for me! I'm sure we can work this out!"

Curtis stumbled off the floor and ran after them both, also yelling, "The COLF is meeting on the factory landing! Wait!"

The three of them ran down the hallway from the sled chamber, just like on the day the Spring Sprite and Head Elf had left for their vacation last week. Bernard ran like he was in a marathon, and elves still trying to repair damage screamed as they leaped out of the way. They ducked their heads when Fiona dashed past, jumping over the elves who had hit the ground and yelling behind her, "Sorry! Sorry about that!" Then, just when they thought it was safe to get up again, there came Curtis, who was gasping too hard to dodge and who's legs were too short to jump very high, and they all got bowled over again.

They made it to the main factory room and ran all the way around the balcony to get to the landing the Council of Legendary Figures was meeting on. They were still discussing what to do with Jack when the said Winter Sprite dove for cover behind a chair. Mother Nature gave him a confused look, but Sandman was pointing behind her and looking slightly afraid. She turned and saw Bernard standing there with blazing white fury in his eyes. Fiona stood behind him gasping, and Curtis was behind her wheezing.

"The toys are broken," Bernard said with surprising calm. "The cocoa makers are frozen. The Naughty and Nice list printer is going haywire. The ovens are melted. Santa's family is dancing around like a bunch of lunatics!" His voice rose now. "What the heck happened here?! What exactly did Jack do to try and ruin Christmas?!"

Fiona tapped his shoulder. "Bernard, I'm sure he didn't try..." she said falteringly.

"Um, actually, my dear Fiona..." Jack peeked out from behind the chair. "I did."

"Aha!" Bernard yelled. "See! He-" the elf stopped in confusion. "He's... I mean... you are Jack, right?"

Jack blinked at the unexpected question. "Well, of course I'm Jack! The one and only Jack Frost! Why would you ask a silly question like that?" He stood up and came out from behind the chair. Fiona and Bernard stared.

"What are you wearing?!" Fiona exclaimed. "It looks so weird!"

"Well, not weird per say, but, uh..." Curtis stammered, finally speaking.

The Tooth Fairy spoke for him. "It actually turns out that Santa's niece has magical hugs."

"What?" Bernard asked, while Fiona went, "Huh?"

Cupid smiled one of his dramatic holiday smiles. "Whoever she hugs gets warmed by her love. I think it's rather sweet."

"I think it's rather weird!" the Easter Bunny snapped. Fiona and Bernard still looked confused.

"She melted him," Sandman stated, finally answering their looks.

"Melted him!" Fiona yelped. "Oh, no!" She ran over to Jack, feeling his jacket and patting his hair. He gave her a very strange look. "You're not cold anymore! Does that mean you can't be the Winter Sprite? Are your powers gone?"

"No, I'm fine!" Jack replied. "I can still make snow and ice. I just can melt it now, too, and I'm... I don't know... nicer, I guess." He flashed his impish grin. "Not that I wasn't nice before. Now would you mind not patting my head and jacket like that?"

"Sorry," Fiona murmured, looking relieved.

"Now that that's covered," Bernard crossed his arms and looked stern again, but this time for real. "I repeat. What did he do?"

Mother Nature frowned a little bit. "I know you're worried Bernard, but the whole story would take some time to explain."

"I don't have time!" Bernard retorted. "I have something like five minutes until Santa leaves for Christmas!"

Mother Nature summed it up and said, "Then suffice it to say that Jack Frost caused a lot of trouble and stress around the factory in an effort to gain his own holiday, that it was almost fatal to Christmas and to Laura and Neil, and that Santa's niece Lucy ended up giving Jack a magical hug that melted him and made him into a much nicer version of himself."

"And he's sorry now!" Jack added, seeing that Bernard was still angry.

"Well, you might be sorry, but we can't just let this go!" Bernard spread his hands in a sweeping gestures towards the factory. "Look at this place! What are we going to do?"

"That's just what we were deciding," Mother Nature agreed. "We're not going to banish him, since he's a different person now, but he needs to do something to fix what he did before."

"What if he helped get Christmas ready?" Fiona asked. "I don't mean like he was supposed to before, but if someone specifically watched him to make sure that he got work done and helped to get the toys remade, the ovens and cocoa makers fixed, and did a little extra to make sure things were okay?"

"And how exactly is that different from what he did before?" the Easter Bunny asked impatiently.

"We won't just let him go on his own like Curtis probably did." Bernard gave Curtis a look which he shrunk uncomfortably under. "Like Fiona said, we'll have someone specifically watching him to make sure he works and doesn't slack off. He won't get a chance to cause trouble, and he won't stop until all the trouble he has caused is fixed. I don't like the idea of him staying any longer than he already has, but I don't know anything else to do."

Mother Nature smiled. "That sounds about right to me. All in favor?" Jack, Fiona, Bernard, Father Time, Sandman, and Cupid all raised their hands. The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny looked at each other and the others around them, and after a minute begrudgingly raised their hands, too. "It's unanimous!" Mother Nature said. "Motion carried. And I think that Fiona should do the watching over Jack, since she's the most patient with him, don't you?" The other members nodded and murmured their agreement. "One more thing. I want us all to meet in Santa's office tomorrow. I have a special announcement to make." Everyone looked at her curiously, but she just smiled and left to head to her guest quarters. After a few minutes, everyone else did, too, leaving Jack, Fiona, Bernard, and Curtis on the landing.

"I'm saved!" Jack cheered. He grabbed Fiona and spun her in circles. "Oh, you wonderful sprite, thank you!"

Fiona giggled. "Thank Bernard, too! He supported you." She looked over at Bernard and smiled. "Which, by the way, I'm very proud of him for."

While Bernard tried to keep looking stern and hide a blush, Jack straightened up and looked at him. They both gazed at each other for a few moments. Then Jack stuck out his hand. "Thanks for not telling them to banish me. I don't know why you didn't."

Bernard looked at his hand, then sighed and took it. "I honestly don't know why I didn't either. Maybe I'm glad that you might have changed your attitude some." Jack snorted. "I said some. Anyways, try not to cause anymore trouble." He turned to Fiona. "Would you mind taking him to the packaging room so he can help package and stack the presents? I need that bag full in-" he looked at Curtis, who was holding up his stop watch and tapping it worriedly. "Three minutes. Come on, Curtis, we have work to do." With that, he and Curtis rushed one way, and Jack and Fiona glanced at each other with wide eyes and fairly ran the other way.

As they ran, Bernard shouted over his shoulder, "And get your old clothes back!"

Jack snickered and shouted back, "You too! Nice shirt!"

Bernard grunted and looked at himself. He'd forgotten about his Hawaiian shirt. He started pulling it off, grateful that he'd put it on over his other clothes and not instead of them.

Fiona glanced at Jack next to her. "You do have an extra suit, right? And you can still freeze-dry your hair? Please tell yes. This look so does not fit you."

Jack snickered again. "Of course I have extras! What, do you think I never do laundry? And I might be melted, but I'm still the Winter Sprite, so freeze-drying my hair should be easy. Don't you worry your little red head."

Fiona smiled again. "Good. Now I just wonder what Mother Nature has to say to us tomorrow."

What do you think? Too long? Too little detail? I know this is a lot longer than my other one, so I hope it's not a drag to read. And I'm going to try to get my pictures up for this story and my other one I'm writing. I just don't know exactly when. ^^' Like I said, I'm a procrastinator.

Please R&R, and God Bless!