A/N: TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! Is anyone else super excited?

Thanks for the reviews on Chapter 3. I also liked the fan girl shouting scene. Much to my surprise, it's actually turning out to be a bit of a challenge to write myself as an 18 year old again. While I know the way I was, my natural inclination is always to take the more serious side of things, so my lunatic self that I was as an obsessed fan girl tends to elude me.

Just a thought; never eat Swiss Chalet for two meals in a row… your stomach will NOT thank you afterwards.

So, a little bit of funny to brighten your day. My mom and I are about to watch SC1, and the phone rang. So she grabbed the volume control, and I grabbed the DVD control, and as she's answering the phone, the two of us are desperately pushing buttons on the controllers trying to shut off the sound and pause the movie... ahem

Chapter Four: What if I Choose Not to Believe It?

By the time Tabs made it to the sleigh room, the sleigh was already being lowered in through the giant skylight. It had taken her nearly ten minutes to get there, having had to ask at least five different elves for directions.

The nice thing at least, was that she had beaten Bernard to the room, which meant he wouldn't know that she had gotten lost.

The elves, despite knowing that this was a new Santa coming to the Pole for the first time, did not seem to care too much. They continued on their way, smiling cheerfully, and glancing every now and then at the sleigh.

"So you finally made it," Bernard said from behind her, causing Tabs to jump.

"Uhh… yeah, I kinda got lost," she admitted sheepishly. So he had actually arrived there before her.

Bernard smiled and leaned against the wooden frame of the entranceway. "So, are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me about this Santa?"

Tabs hopped up on the gate beside Bernard and shook her head. "Not a thing."

Then, with a grin that only a nerd could recognize, she turned her gaze to the descending sleigh, ready for a front seat viewing of one of her favourite movies.

"Whoa, dad this is soo cool!" Charlie exclaimed from the sleigh, leaning over the edge and watching the elves.

Scott Calvin was looking around incredibly confused, with a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes.

Tabs fought back a giggle, causing Bernard to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You must have really liked the movie," he said.

"Yup!" she nodded vigorously. "It's my ultimate favourite Christmas movie."

The green and gold sleigh reached the floor, and the elves continued to bustle about.

"Where are all the grownups?" Scott asked, standing up. "Charlie, stay in the sleigh." He hopped down and called to the nearest elf.

"Hey, kid, kid! Who's in charge here?"

The elf, who was wearing a bright green outfit paused and looked at Scott like he was retarded.

"You are. And I'm not a kid. I have pointy shoes older than you," the elf replied indignantly, then turned and began to walk away. "I'm an elf."

Bernard let out a chuckle, and began to walk towards the grouchy man.

"Hey, you guys, or girls!" Scott called to the next elf. "Who's in charge?"

"You are," she retorted, obviously annoyed.

"No, I mean who's the head elf?"

"You are!"

Bernard cleared his throat and stepped forward, Tabs standing behind him, trying not to laugh.

"Who's causing all the trouble here?" he demanded.

Both Scott and the elf immediately accused one another.

"Excuse me, are we on a coffee break here?" Bernard asked the elf, giving her a glare.

"We don't drink coffee."

Tabs found that watching the scene wasn't quite as amusing as the movie. She glanced over at Charlie, who was beginning to climb out of the sleigh. He was definitely an adorable kid.

She walked over to him. "Hey, I'm guessing you're Charlie?"

Charlie nodded with a grin. "My dad's the new Santa, isn't he?" His eyes were wide and sparkling with childish delight, as he took in the sights and sounds around him.

"Yep, that he is. Pretty sweet huh?"

Charlie bobbed his head up and down. "Who are you? Are you one of the elves? Or Mrs. Claus?"

Tabs laughed. "Neither. My name is Tabs, and I'm a regular human, just like you."

"What are you doing at the North Pole then?"

"That's a bit of a long story…" she replied. She reached down and took Charlie's hand. "Come on, let's go catch up with your dad. I still haven't seen the whole place yet, so we can look around together."

"Awesome!" he exclaimed, and before Tabs could start moving, Charlie had began to run after his father, dragging the teen behind him.

"Can I get you a drink?" Bernard was asking Scott, rolling his eyes as they walked on.

"No I don't want a drink!"

"I'm thirty, and hungry too!" Charlie piped in.

"Charlie, I thought I told you to stay in the sleigh!" Scott grumbled.

"Bernard, this is Charlie," Tabs introduced, ignoring Scott's protests. "Scott's son. Cute, isn't he?"

Charlie beamed, and Scott mimicked her mockingly.

"Heya sport," Bernard greeted with a grin.

Tabs heart melted at the sight of the elf's familiar grin and she wanted to smack herself in the forehead. This was no time for being a fan girl!

After the elf gave Bernard the snow globe, Tabs left with Charlie and Larry, despite Bernard's pleading glance for her to stay.

Larry took them down the hall the same way Bernard had, and to the kitchen. "Hot cocoa alright?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, please!"

Larry walked over to the cocoa dispenser and chuckled. "And Tabs, what would you like? I heard through the rumour mill you're not a chocolate fan."

"Wow, news sure travels fast around here," she laughed. "Do you have coffee?"

Larry nodded. "You're in luck. Our late Santa made it mandatory to have coffee on stock. Something about it being a lifeline or something like that."

"Haha, I know EXACTLY what he means."

Charlie looked over at Tabs, a look of surprise still on his face. "You really don't like chocolate?" His mouth dropped open.

"Nah… it's too sweet for me."

Charlie looked thoughtful. "Weeeiiirrrd."

"You're telling me," Larry said as he slid the hot chocolate in front of Charlie, and passed Tabs a steaming hot mug of coffee.

"Wow, that was quick." Tabs was impressed. It didn't look like the elf had made her instant coffee. She smelled it. It sure didn't smell like instant coffee either.

Larry flashed her a charming grin. "Actually… Judy had a feeling you'd be needing some coffee, so she put some on about twenty minutes ago."

As she watched Larry turn and dig through the fridge for something other than sweets for the boy, Tabs couldn't help but realize that wrapping her mind around the fact that these elves were hundreds of years older than her was proving to be a little difficult.

He returned a moment later with a plate of Christmas dinner. "Here you go, Charlie."

Charlie dug right in to the steaming hot meal, while Tabs examined it curiously from her seat. Larry had just pulled the plate out of the fridge, there was no way it had stayed that hot.

"Elf magic," Larry explained, reading the look of confusion on the girl's face.

"Nice. So no need for microwaves?"

"Never."

"Hmm. Impressive." She glanced at Charlie, who was shoveling the food down far faster than a child should. "Whoa, slow down there buddy, you're going to make yourself sick."

Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." He took a couple more bites then shoved the plate away. "Thanks, Larry. Can we go see my dad now?"

Larry reached for the plate, but Tabs held out her hand to stop him.

"I'll clean up in here, you go ahead and take Charlie Back," she said with a smile.

Larry smiled back. "Thanks, you're a good kid."

Tabs crunched her nose. Being called a kid by someone who looked at least ten years younger than her was weird. "Thanks… I think?"

Another cheerful laugh escaped from Larry. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." He reached out and took Charlie's hand. "C'mon Charlie."

After they had left, Tabs washed the mugs and the plate and fork, then placed them neatly on the counter. She couldn't find any dishtowels to dry them with, so hoped that the kitchen staff wouldn't be furious with the dishes being left to air dry.

The kitchen was beyond anything she could imagine, now that she was actually taking the time to look at it, and take in all that was in it.

All the tables, chairs, counters and cupboards had quite evidently been hand made, with handcrafted etchings to add some life to them.

She sighed and trailed her hand along the woodwork. It reminded her of when her dad used to do woodwork, back before his life became busy. She felt a pang of sadness at the thought of her family, but shoved it to the back of her mind. Thinking about them would only depress her, and she wanted to enjoy this place.

The more she saw of the North Pole (which she admitted still wasn't very much at this point), the more she fell in love with it. In fact, she wouldn't mind living there, if there was a way to see her family every now and again.

With a sigh, she took one more look around the beautiful kitchen and headed back towards the workshop.

By the time she reached the workshop, Bernard and Scott were mid-argument. Tabs walked towards them, amazed at how well the elves were pretending not to be eavesdropping on the argument that could probably be heard on the other side of Elfsburg.

"What if I don't want to do this?" Scott demanded, ignoring the pained expression the statement caused on his son's face.

Bernard froze and looked at Scott with an incredibly serious and annoyed expression. "Don't even kid about a thing like that."

"Why not?" Scott retorted. "What if I don't buy into this whole Santa 'Clause' thing? What if I choose NOT to believe it?"

A hush fell over the room. That was too horrible a statement for the elves to pretend like they weren't paying attention anymore.

Tabs pulled Charlie to her protectively as the boy looked like he might start to cry.

"Then there would be millions of disappointed children around the world." Bernard shook his head, saddened by the lack of faith Scott Calvin presented. "You see, children hold the spirit of Christmas within their hearts. You wouldn't want to be responsible for killing the spirit of Christmas, now, would you, Santa?"

Scott looked at the elf dumbfounded. He hadn't actually thought that far into it.

Bernard sighed. "Judy will take you to your room. Get out of the suit, it needs to be cleaned."

"And taken in," Scott interjected.

If this statement amused Bernard, he certainly didn't show it. "We have a lot of work to do and only a year in which to do it."

Tabs bent down and hugged Charlie. "Night kiddo, it was good to meet you."

"You too!" without another word, the boy bounded off after Judy.

The elves had all returned to work at this point, acting as if Scott's little outburst had never happened. Tabs walked over to Bernard, and reached up, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

One thing the movies didn't show, was just how much the events of the evening took out of Bernard.

"You okay?" Tabs asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

Bernard snorted. "I'll live." He shrugged off her shoulder, and started to walk away.

Tabs was stung by his response, and stared after him a moment. She was tempted to snap something back at him, and stalk away angrily, but the sight of his slumped shoulders and slower walk made her change plans.

She jogged after him, and slid her arm through his.

"Come on, we're going to get you to relax."

Bernard looked down at the girl who was grinning up at him, wondering how after all that she could be so cheerful. He still wasn't sure what to think of this strange human who had entered his world only a few hours earlier.

"Good luck on that," he told her, and though she missed it this time, a smile was definitely itching at the corner of his mouth.