Chapter 3: Overprotective

Later that night Scott finally met Ella. The meeting was over and they all wanted to see Ella. Ella was back inside standing on the steps looking over the workshop like she was analyzing it, she was just looking to see how much had changed.

"That's Ella?"

"Yes." Mother Nature said. "Ella." She called.

Ella looked over her shoulder, saw them and walked up to them. Mother Nature hugged her. "Oh, Ella, you look beautiful."

"I look the same I did a hundred years ago."

"I know. How are you?"

"Could be better, but I'm alive, thanks to somebody."

"Why would you lose your faith in Christmas?"

"I lost it the day my father died and I was forced out of the only home I knew by the people I loved."

"Let me guess, one of them being a workaholic head elf?" Scott asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied

"Ella, we told him."

"What? Why?"

"I noticed Bernard acting different since he came back, then when you showed up they figured it out and told me."

"I see. How much did you tell him?"

"Only that it was my fault." Cupid said.

"Well it was. Did you have to shoot me when only elves were around?"

"You know I don't have a choice, it just happens."

"Uhuh, well thanks for ruining my life."

"Ella don't talk like that, your life isn't ruined."

"My mother and sister are now dead, the only people who understood me and what I went through with…you-know-who, and now all I'm left with is my brother who I hardly ever see."

"Who's fault is that?" A young looking man said standing at the bottom of the stairs with a bag over his shoulder.

"Noah?" Mother Nature asked.

"HI." He said walking up the stairs.

"Noah?" Scott asked.

"My brother."

Mother Nature hugged Noah. "It is so good to see the two of you again."

"You too. But I have to ask, why are we here?" he asked his sister.

"I know why I'm here, why are you?"

"To get you."

"Get me?"

"Yeah, you went missing and I had to – " he stopped as he saw Bernard walk through the workshop. "Wait a minute, please tell me this isn't about him."

"Him has a name."

"Very funny, now answer the question."

"No." she said and tried to walk away but he grabbed her arm.

"Yes, and it better be no."

"Ok, no."

"You're lying."

She glared at him and then walked away jerking her arm out of his hand. She went straight, not downstairs. He did though.

"Hey!" he called but Bernard didn't stop. He stopped and whistled really loud. All the elves stopped and Bernard turned around and didn't like who he saw glaring at him. Noah signaled for him to come with his index finger. Bernard closed his eyes for a sec knowing he was in trouble and took a deep breath then walked over.

"What?"

"Did you bring her here?"

"No."

"Are you why she's here?"

"I don't know Noah, ok, we're busy." Bernard said and walked off in the direction he had been headed in.

Noah huffed and went to find his sister.

"This is going to be fun." Scott said sarcastically.

Noah went to his sister's old room and knocked knowing that's where she went.

"I know you're in there, open the door."

"What do you want?"

"I told you, I'm here to take you home."

She opened the door said "I am home" and closed it again. He groaned.

"This isn't our home anymore, it hasn't been for a century, now come on."

"Why are you here?" She asked frustrated opening the door again. "I haven't seen you since Christmas last year."

"Your son called me, he's worried, and frankly I'm the only one he can call."

"Well now you know where I am and you can go tell him I'm fine." She said and closed the door again.

"Ella!"

But she didn't answer him and he left. "Ugh!" he marched off to Scott's office and he was in there along with Carol and Buddy.

"Noah." Scott said surprised to see him.

"Sorry for intruding."

"It's ok."

"Who's this?" Carol asked.

"Oh right sorry, this is Noah, Noah this is my wife Carol, and our son Buddy."

"Hi, nice to meet you. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that my sister has apparently taken up her old room again."

"That's ok, no one's using it."

"I just feel like she's intruding, but I'm here to take her back home, so we'll both be gone tomorrow."

"I get the feeling she doesn't want to leave, and she feels that this is her home."

"Wrong, it's your home now, not ours."

"Well you all were born here."

"You were?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, our dad was Santa at one point, a long time ago."

"About a hundred years ago?"

"Really? And you're – you haven't aged?"

"Nope, we're like the elves in that sense. You sure you don't mind that we're here?"

"No, not a problem."

"Well then I'm going to go to bed, I just wanted to tell you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem." Noah said and then left and went to his old room. On his way there he ran into Bernard again. Bernard saw him coming and tried to avoid him. "Hey."

Bernard stopped and turned slowly.

"All I want to say is stay away from her, if she comes to you just walk away. And we'll be gone tomorrow and you can go on as you always do, work, work, work. Ok number one?" Then he walked into his room. Bernard sighed.

Bernard went to Scott's office.

"He doesn't like you does he?"

"You noticed?"

"Does it have anything to do with your relationship with Ella?"

He just shrugged like he didn't know.

"I know ok, Cupid fessed up about shooting her and the others filled in the blanks."

"Great."

"I'm lost." Carol said.

"Him and Ella had a thing."

"No we didn't."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying. We didn't because it wasn't allowed."

"What do you mean? They said her dad didn't have a problem with it."

"He didn't, no one did, but there was one problem."

"What's that?"

"There's a rule."

"A rule against elves and humans?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's not fair." Carol said.

"Tell me about it."

"So why does Noah hate you now?"

"Because I'm the one who insisted she leave after her father died. She wanted to stay and I said she didn't belong here anymore, whether I wanted her here or not didn't matter, she needed to be with her family."

"Did you want her here?"

He nodded.

"Is she why you left?"

"Yeah. A couple days before I left I found out that she was dying, which can only happen once she lost all faith in Christmas. See, like us what's keeping her and her brother alive this long is the spirit of Christmas, but instead of the world's, or the kids', it's their own faith, and hse lost it."

"Poor girl."

"I just couldn't let her die, so I went to her house and gave her something to make her remember hoping it would give her her faith back, and apparently it worked. Sorry for not telling you, it was just…personal."

"We understand." Carol said.

"I still don't quite understand why Noah is being so dramatic about it, why he hates you as much as he does."

"He's just overprotective of her, he always has been. It probably doesn't help that she's all he has left, Noelle's gone too. I deserve it anyway."

"No you don't, you were doing the right thing."

"That' what I thought, but she doesn't believe that, and he thinks I could've handled it better, instead I broke her heart."

Bernard just sat there moping.