I know people are waiting for an update, the next chapter is still in the works. This is a filler chapter, which takes place before the movie.

Why I made this is because a lot of things have happened this December:

I turned 23 on December 6.

I saw The Good Dinosaur on December 8.

My mom died on December 22 at 4:05 PM.

I made this filler mostly for that last one. Merry Christmas, everyone.
_

Anyone who was always so incredibly agitated would think Riley was having the ultimate brain freeze. But for those who were calm and level-headed knew that the frost was merely snow.

If a world different from humans could exist within a person's head, how could it be impossible for there to be snow?

Agnes barreled her fuchsia-colored car with flower-patterned wheels through the heavy white, hoping a little snow wouldn't stop her from reaching her family. Dressed in a heavy blue coat with her brown hair styled upward, she smiled as she watched neighbors and other citizens of the mind proceed for last-minute Christmas errands.

Although in Riley's world there were no candy cane waterfalls or life-size gingerbread houses, even in the mind world parking was still a hassle. Agnes had been lucky it took her twenty minutes to find a spot!

The stores had been no better. She had to fight her way through impatient parents, demanding children, and workers who were carrying and hanging Christmas daydreams everywhere.

She had walked out with a daydream for her own household. The devices shaped and designed like donuts produced imagery within their hole. Pictures like Santa Claus, cookies being baked, and even hopes of getting a hundred gifts under the tree played once it was switched on.

The daydream was stored in the trunk of her car, along with presents she bought at last-minute. Earlier, Agnes had already brought other gifts to the Train of Thought to be delivered to friends near and far. The lines hadn't been too horrible as last year, and the conductors had been making good progress.

Agnes stopped her car momentarily and gazed through her windshield.

As the snow fell, she could see Headquarters looking like a torch shining through the winter. There was never any decorations outside the building, but she was certain there were tons of it within.

Even though the emotions had never set foot outside of their mansion-like estate, at least they celebrated Christmas like any other.

At least, Agnes hoped they did...

Every year she would have the Train of Thought deliver them extra daydreams, followed by Christmas sweaters, a jug of candy cane milk, and a box of gingerbread cookies. While she had never met them, she was sure they would like to know they were especially important during the holidays.

She wondered if they thought about the people outside their comfort zone. True, Mind Workers had come into HQ to either make major deliveries or fix something, and record and scan the surroundings for just-in-case matters (like determining just what kind of person Anger was). But nothing more, the emotions were fine being just with each other, and no one else outside their little circle.

Agnes herself often had daydreams of her own, within her head she could picture the emotions taking those first steps outside their comfort zone. They would see what world was outside their own, and maybe learn to live beyond just the console.

She knew a certain blue emotion would probably desire that. Because being cooped up in a tower, wondering when 'life' would really begin for her, and feeling loneliness all year round, was not the way anyone, even an emotion, should live.

Agnes broke contact from the tower's appearance as she continued driving. The costume designer of Dream Productions kept hope that one day something would change.

And her daughter's dream would finally come true.

She halted her vehicle in front of a peach, dome-shaped house. It looked like half an Easter egg sticking out of the ground, with two balconies in separate locations. The garden, which was shrouded in snow, consisted of a variety of colored flowers with ice forming at their petals.

The multi-colored lights and plastic golden stars completely covered the house. And the moment the front door opened, Christmas music blasted out, followed by the smell of baked sweets.

"Mommy, you're here!" a small Mind Worker cheered as she raced through the snow, her boots leaving deep prints in her path.

Agnes grinned at her before another figure emerged from the house. The female Mind Worker waving at her bore the color of mint green, her hair a much darker brown.

"Sis, come inside now!" she urged happily. "The Christmas ham is finally done, and it isn't a feast until my big sis pops the cider!"

Agnes smiled as she hugged her daughter. "No, it's not a feast until the pie is on the table!" She ushered for her sister. "Come on, Gina, help me get it out of the car!"

Once everything was brought inside her sister's house, the table was already set, and all the candles had been lit. The older sister of the two marveled at the decorations of the home, from the wreaths above the fireplace to the gingerbread door of the closet, and the tree with the tips of its leaves pink, purple, and white. On the very top of it was a snowflake-shaped daydream, where holiday images played nonstop.

"Aggie, dear," Gina said as they stood around the room with holiday beverages, "isn't he supposed to be coming?"

Her older sister's smile faded, replaced with an expression of reluctance. Fortunately for them, Dottie was too busy at the dinner table nibbling on cookies.

"He's not, sis," Agnes admitted with a painful sigh.

"Boy, am I so surprised," Gina toned with sarcasm, rolling her amber eyes. "Some piece of work he turned out to be that poor excuse, sack of-"

"Ginny!" her sister hissed through gritted teeth before glancing over at her daughter.

"What? It's true!" the younger one insisted.

"Sis, it's Christmas," Agnes sighed, swishing her drink. "Riley and her family are having a great time at her grandma's, let's try to be the same without mentioning him, okay?"

"Alright," Gina muttered, rolling her eyes once more. Then she grinned. "So what did you get me?"

Agnes smirked. "I'm not telling you. And besides, shouldn't you be more concerned with what Santa's going to bring you this year?"

"What about what he's going to bring you this year?" Gina questioned. "Like maybe someone who might replace a certain other someone-"

"I asked Santa for pair of slippers," Agnes cut in with a frown, gripping her drink. "So whatever you're thinking, it's not going to happen."

"Only wishing the best for you, big sister," Gina told her mannerly before sipping her glass. "And just slippers? I asked Santa to give me a dozen shoes."

"What about the shoes he gave you last year?" the older one asked.

"Uh, hello!" the mint green Mind Worker scoffed. "Those shoes were last year! I want what's in this season!"

It was Agnes' turn to roll her eyes, but she smiled nevertheless. She and Gina glanced over at Dottie, who was narrowing her eyes in thought while looking at a piece of paper in front of her. She tapped her blue crayon on the table as she pondered.

"Dottie, sweetheart," Agnes called lovingly, "I thought you already had your list to Santa finished last week."

"It didn't look good enough!" her daughter whined. "And I checked! I already have a plush pony!"

Agnes smiled as Dottie resumed tediously on her letter, which was drowning in a color of crossed out words.

The belief of St. Nick himself was mutual in the mind world. Any mind world for that matter. Even when Riley becomes 12, her belief that the jolly man in red existed would still remain.

In the world of today everyone knew there was, indeed, a Santa Claus. Media, internet, and even video bloggers believed in him. And he, in return, knew about everyone.

By everyone, meaning everyone. Inside the mind or out.

And he was magic, so visiting people inside someone's head wouldn't be so difficult. While they never did catch a glimpse of him, Santa knew about people like Agnes and her family, not just Riley and hers.

Thinking about family, Agnes never felt more fortunate that when Riley had been born, the Mind Worker had been created with a sister. Like the emotions, almost everyone in the mind world had been "introduced" as an adult. And like those emotions, most had been brought up without parents.

When Agnes had her first steps into the mind world, she had no mother or father to take them with her. But instead, she had a sister, who came seconds after the first one did. There were some Mind Workers who were brought up with siblings, and there were those who were not.

Flora had been brought up by herself. Many of Agnes' co-workers had been alone when they were created.

The thought made her wonder if the emotions ever imagined what it would be like if they had parents of their own, maybe think of what it would have been like to start out as children. They had been up in that tower since Riley was a baby, and the only family they had was each other. None of them had been "born" with a mom or dad, only gazing into the ones that were Riley's.

Of course, they knew what love was. But until then, they might not ever realize what real love was, like the kind Agnes shared with her sister and daughter.

Gina often commented that most of the emotions were simple-minded, especially a certain one that represented happiness. However, much like Dottie, she favored a certain blue emotion, who was practically the only one with any real common sense compared to the others. Gina often expressed her dislike for the red one, while once or twice mentioned the purple one was 'alright looking'.

Dottie continued scribbling on her letter, trying to think of any random toys that came to mind. She thought about the memory orbs she witnessed during her last trip to Long Term Memory, many showing Riley's trip to the stores where children were fighting over leftover products. Some of those toys appeared alright to the small Mind Worker. But in the world of Riley's head, Dottie had seen way better toys than what humans had.

On her list she already wrote down that she wanted a toy convertible for her doll house. But there was still so much space, and Dottie sought to fill it all in for Santa to read.

"I think I just want a dinosaur too," Dottie mumbled before jotting it down.

"Please tell me you mean a toy one," Gina asked nervously. "After Riley had that dream with the T-Rex and a car backing up, I think the last thing her mind needs is an actual dinosaur roaming around!"

"I mean a toy one, silly!" Dottie giggled before regarding her list again. "I think I can put in one more thing..."

Agnes peered over her daughter's shoulder and gazed at the list. "Well, why don't you ask Santa for something a little more, I don't know, interesting?"

"Like what?" the child asked curiously.

"Oh, it can be anything!" her mother encouraged. "Maybe a plush pony that's actually alive, so she can be your pet, or a tricycle with headlights, or maybe even something you can share with your friends."

That last one had Dottie's eyes widen in realization. She gave a toothy grin before turning back to her list.

"I know what I'll ask for!" she concluded. "I'll ask him to bring us Bing Bong for Christmas!"

Gina nearly spat out her drink while Agnes stared at her daughter in shock. Before Dottie could scribble the third wish down, her mother stopped her, gently laying her palm over the crayon.

"I...I don't think Santa has the time to find Mr. Bing Bong and bring him over here," she told her carefully.

"Why?" Dottie asked, her innocence nearly breaking Agnes' heart. "I mean, you told me about him a bunch a times. I thought you'd like Mr. Bing Bong to spend Christmas with us."

Agnes swallowed, her heart growing heavy. She shared a quick glance with her sister, who only shrugged.

"Sweetheart," she began, gazing into her daughter's eyes. "Mr. Bing Bong is a very busy man."

"He can't be too busy for Christmas, could he?" Dottie gasped.

"Oh, he loves Christmas," Agnes assured her. "He...he just likes to spend it some other way."

"Is he all alone?" Dottie asked, worry evident in her tone.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sure he's not alone," her mother promised.

"Yeah!" Gina added quickly. "I mean, just because no one's seen him for years doesn't mean he's not having a great Christmas!"

"I never met him..." Dottie sighed, lightly doodling on her. "You and Aunt Gina never met him either...

Agnes bit her lip. She had never seen Bing Bong up close and personal, only through the screen where it showed both him and a much younger Riley play together. She recalled those trips in Long Term Memory where she would stumble across an orb that featured the pink elephant, and she would watch it for hours.

Her heart fell when she recalled how just a few days after seeing those memories, they had been gone from aisles they were discovered. Maybe the Forgetters were just careless and got rid of nearly any memories that were beneficial...or almost everyone really didn't remember him anymore.

And this was before Dottie was born.

She mentally sighed before rubbing her daughter's head. "Sweetie, Mr. Bing Bong is a very important part of Riley's life. I'm sure one day we'll meet him without Santa's help."

The hopeful look on her daughter's face overwhelmed Agnes with despair. Fortunately for her, Gina stepped in.

"How about asking Santa for something a little easier?" the younger sister asked carefully.

Dottie turned back to her list. "Yeah, you're right. Besides Mr. Bing Bong, there was someone else I wanted to meet for Christmas..."

Agnes didn't even have to ask, rubbing her daughter's head comfortingly. "Honey, I'm not really sure if Sadness can come over for Christmas."

"Why not?" the child whined. "It's not like she's having a nice Christmas in Headquarters!"

"What makes you say that?" her mother asked.

"Besides four other emotions who have no idea what they're doing?" Gina couldn't help but quip.

Dottie frowned as she doodled a teardrop shape on her letter. "She's always stuck up there in that big tower with mean people like Anger and Disgust. And Joy probably won't share her presents with anyone...if Santa didn't give her coal yet."

"But she's with Fear, isn't she?" Agnes reassured, placing her hands on Dottie's shoulders.

That made the child smile a little more. "Yeah, Fear is nice...he would never be mean to anyone."

However, the smile fell, and the doodling stopped.

"I really wish she could come over for Christmas, mommy," Dottie murmured. "We would make it her best Christmas ever. And for Mr. Bing Bong too if he ever comes over."

Agnes didn't want to crush her daughter's hopes of ever meeting these two special people. After all, the woman herself still clung to the belief. It was practically a dream to meet the once-famed Bing Bong, and especially the quiet and kind emotion known as Sadness.

She peered at the list. Then she smiled.

"You know what Santa can give you?" she encouraged before wrapping her fingers around Dottie's hand, guiding the crayon.

Gina approached the table and watched what her sister was doing. Her eyes widened in amazement as the words came into view.

A stuffed pink elephant with a little detachable blue orb.

Dottie gasped in delight as she gazed at the third item. "I'd like that so much!"

"Me too," Agnes smiled. "It's what I want from Santa too."

After adding the finishing touches to the letter, Dottie folded it up before planting a kiss on it. Later before going to bed she would put it on the coffee table, along with milk and cookies.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way," Gina spoke. "Can we please eat now?"

"Alright, we can start," Agnes said. "Can you go get the potatoes? I think they're already done."

While her sister went into the kitchen, Dottie joining her to get the pitcher of milk for her to drink, Agnes looked at the folded letter. She carefully opened it, scanning over the crossed out requests to "bring Mr. Bing Bong for Christmas" and "bring Sadness for Christmas".

Refolding it, she looked out the window where the snow began to settle. The lights of the other houses blinked in rhythm with the stars.

There were just some things Santa couldn't bring. And sometimes one couldn't count on Santa to bring what mattered most.
_

I'm asking Santa for an LE 150 Bing Bong pin this year! :D