OMFG guys I am SO SORRY! It has been so hectic at my house this month, honestly; it's not even funny. I apologize for the gap in between postings, and I really can't be sure if I can keep up the pace I set during the holiday season. But I will update! I promise. I have to know what happens too.
(Insert Usual Disclaimers here.)
Here we go then! Onward!
Also: Sorry, but I have been obsessed with LotR lately, and so is Elle. You have been warned. Some T scenes: screaming, swearing, romance, and weird, semi violent dreams. What can I say? Nightmares suck.
Major plot development. WARNING! WARNING!
Cheers!
-Ana
12. Madness of the Mind
"They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!" Ellington crowed, dancing around the kitchen in her pajamas, doing a jig as she poured yet another bowl of cinnamon toast crunch.
Jacquie sipped her cocoa on the opposite side of the counter, shaking her head at her friend's antics. "This is why you can't stay up all night. You get like this."
"What did you say?" hissed Ellington, in her best Gollum impression. Jacquie was about to repeat herself when Elle yelled, "The hobbits the hobbits the hobbits the hobbits to Isengard, to Isengard!"
Jacquie scowled.
Yes, they had indeed spent the entire night up. After living through Beauty and the Beast, at Jacquie's insistence, Elle likewise insisted they actually watch The Lord of the Rings. Bernard, for one, didn't mind, and so Jacquie had had to sit through three and a half hours of The Fellowship of the Ring, while Elle explained things to Bernard since he said he didn't really know much about it. He did. But he loved just listening to the sound of Elle's voice.
And then they'd watched the other two movies as well.
Oh joy, Jacquie had thought. But for the sake of the two lovebirds (and the future —and past—of the Pole), she endured.
And Elle had felt oddly comfortable around Jacquie's 'family friend', and sat next to him most of the night, explaining the minutiae of anything and everything that came to mind from the film—what was in it, what wasn't; what each character meant when they said something. Also, it became very clear to Bernard that Legolas was her favorite character.
"It isn't funny," said Jacquie, a bit sourly. "I had to sit through not only the movie, but your incessant chattering. 'I like Frodo, but Legolas is totally amazing. He's my favorite character...but Aragorn is my favorite to dress up as. Dark hair, blue eyes, ya know?'" she teased, in a high pitched voice.
Ellington stopped her dancing and gave Jacquie an irritated look. This kind of bickering happened when they didn't get enough sleep. "I did not sound like that," she insisted. Then she froze. "Oh crap, Jacquie." Her face adapted an expression of terror. "Did I sound like that?"
Jacquie almost laughed at her friend's response. "No, not quite that bad," she relented. "Even I was kind of interested in some of the things you said. But trust me, Bernard walked away knowing you are a die-hard Ringer."
"Damn." Elle slumped onto a stool next to Jacquie. "I was really ME-centric...dangit, Jacquie, this is why you can't invite hot guys over when we're watching those movies! I'm in the zone, and I don't always realize I'm...gushing." She face palmed, and buried her face in her arms on the counter. "I must have totally chased him off."
Jacquie was more than a little surprised. "Wow, what happened to the Ellington Connelly I know?" she mused. "The one who doesn't give a flying flip about guys? You almost seem...distraught."
"I feel distraught!" Elle burst out. "I don't know what it is, Jacquie, but...there's something different about Bernard. I've only met him once, I know...but I feel like I've known him before."
Jacquie sat up straighter, then glanced at Elle to see if she'd noticed. Her friend sill had her face in her arms. Good.
"Well...I dunno, Elle. Maybe you guys have got something special."
Now Elle looked up. "Good grief, Jacquie, I've met the guy once. It's not like we're engaged or something!" Suddenly she was bright and perky again. "Huh. That was weird. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?"
"What do I do if Bernard calls?" asked Jacquie calmly. Elle's reaction was immediate . She whirled around and asked eagerly, "Do you think he will?"
"Whoa, down girl," said Jacquie with a laugh. "I'm just saying, would you be willing to...overcome your shame, and meet up somewhere today?"
"Umm...yes!" said Elle, as if it weren't even an option to say no in her mind. Perhaps it wasn't. The magic worked that way sometimes. Then she made as if to sprint up the staircase.
"Elle?"
"Yeah?"
"Please take your cereal with you. The cinnamon is giving me a headache."
Bernard, on the other hand, had gone home and passed out around 5.
Finding himself waking up in an unfamiliar bed, his mind (oddly) jumped to the conclusion that...Oh God, no. Had he slept at...
Nope. There was his alarm clock on the nightstand, the same one from back home. Judy had brought it down for him.
Bernard sighed in relief...and, surprisingly, disappointment. Disappointment? Why? Wait...
Good grief, Bernard! He berated himself. Get your mind out of the gutter!
That was new; his mind thinking stuff like that. Uncomfortable with the idea of dirty thoughts running through his head around Elle, he went to the bathroom to take a shower.
But walking past the bathroom mirror, he had to do a double take.
Bernard stared at his reflection for a good minute. Then he screamed.
And one thought made it through his shock:
I. DO. NOT. HAVE. FACIAL HAIR!
Then:
OH GOD LET IT BE THE LIGHT.
He flipped on the light switch.
Nope.
Second scream.
Bernard was glad the neighbors were on holiday, so that they didn't think he was getting axe murdered and chopped up into little pieces.
His phone rang, back out on the nightstand.
He ran to it. Oh. It was Jacquie. Had he even given Elle his number last night?
Drat. He would have to do that today.
If there was a 'today', with Elle...
Last night, he had realized just how much he had ignored her at the Pole. As wonderful as it was to be around her, it hurt to see her be so passionate about the movies, because I reminded him of how passionate she had been about her job. She really was an excellent Number Two; and now, having seen her response to a film she was 'obsessed' with, made him realize why.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Jacquie."
"Yeah, I know." Bernard sighed and ran a hand over his cheek. Oh...right.
"Did you sleep well? Cause, we didn't sleep at all here."
"Is Elle around?" he cut to the point.
"Um, no she's in the shower. Why?"
Taking a deep breath, Bernard said quickly ,"Because I woke up this morning to...facial hair."
Jacquie laughed out loud.
For a good thirty seconds.
"It's not funny!" insisted Bernard, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Well, well, well," said Jacquie, still giggling, "looks like Elle's going to make a man out of you, fa Mulan."
Entirely missing the Disney reference, Bernard's mind went back in the gutter. "Jacquie!"
"What!" Jacquie caught up. "OMFG, Bernard, eww! Like, seriously. I think the transformation is beginning."
What transformation?!" yelled Bernard, horribly alarmed. "And what does 'OMFG' mean?"
She told him.
"Oh."
"And I only meant transformation loosely; but..." she paused. "Maybe you really are transforming a bit. After all, you were all teenagery, and Elle is very much an adult. So...if the magic thinks you need to be more masculine, I can hardly argue."
"Thanks. Because that makes me feel so much better," said Bernard, then sighed. "Gosh. As if this wasn't hard enough without having to face...physical changes. And the mind of an adult."
"Yeah. I'm already seeing a shift towards the nasty," said Jacquie with a distinct note of disdain. "I think the hormones are hitting you, hard. Look, I gotta call someone. Get ready, roam around town if you want...I'll call you later and see if we can meet up somewhere. I was going to suggest I ditch you with Elle for a while, but I'm sort of worried about leaving you alone with her now."
"No!" cried Bernard, then said, "I mean, please. We've got to hurry up. With the time thing, and now this..." He noticed that his hands were shaking, and he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I love her, Jacquie; but I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Dude, you've only been here for two days!"
Bernard made no reply.
"Okay fine. So you're uber lovesick. I get it. And Mother Nature will be really disappointed if I don't get you back in time for Christmas. We've technically got three days, but it might be a good idea to speed things up."
"Uh, hmm. Duh. I just said that."
"God, you're humor's getting worse too. Major rush, then." Jacquie snorted." It may do your adrenaline spiked heart some good to know that Elle's drooling over you. You should have seen her this morning..." The sprite trailed off.
"What? What did she do?" He was oddly desperate for details.
"I'll tell you later. Gotta go. Call you later. Bye!"
"Wait, Jacquie!" The line went dead.
"F**k," Bernard swore, then started. He'd never said that before. "Damn." His eye twitched, then he shook his head and went to the shower, ignoring his reflection. He couldn't handle everything just then. It felt like his world was spinning out of control, whenever Elle wasn't around.
And it was become unbearable, how often that was.
Meanwhile, Elle was having just as much of an odd time herself.
Pandora was playing as she showered; her favorite Ellie Goulding Radio was playing Jar of Hearts, by Christina Perri, and it was giving her the strangest sensation.
And who do you think you are?
Going 'round leaving scars
Collecting your Jar of Hearts
And tearing love apart
You're going to catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?
As though she had multiple personalities, almost. The song was bringing Bernard to her mind, which made no sense. He'd never broken her heart, as she'd only met him the night before. Right?
But a bitter feeling was nestling in her stomach; and it burned like a poison in her gut, unsettling. A distrust of the dreamy guy was building in her mind; and she didn't want to see him anymore. Like, ever. Perhaps it was just the lack of sleep?
She couldn't understand it. She felt like she wanted to be near him, and yet be as far away as possible. It made no sense. That was the one thing that kept rattling around amidst the confusion of her thoughts. It made no sense.
And it was giving her a headache.
She dragged herself out of the shower and dressed. Bu no sooner had she thrown her clothes on that she passed out...literally, on her bed.
The magic needed a moment with her.
Elle was on her knees in the snow, crying. Her stomach burned, her heart felt smashed into a million tiny bits...
The sky above her was a dismal grey. It was cold; so very, very cold...
And she looked up to see a man in a blue suit coming towards her.
'Who are you?' she asked, confused. He seemed vaguely familiar.
'Oh come now, Ellington dear. You know me well.' The man said nothing more, but pulled her to her feet by the elbow. 'Come on. I want you to see something.'
'What?' she asked, bewildered. Who was this strange man with the blue, spiky hair? Where was he taking her?
Into a large, ornate building with beautiful stained glass windows. There, in a room, were a large group of people dressed up in...
Seriously!?
LORD OF THE RINGS COSTUMES.
Although, they all had pointy ears...
And they were all frozen, as if time had stopped.
'Geez, this pocket watch is handy' the strange man said. 'Makes replaying bad episodes a cinch.'
There, standing with a strange, floozy looking girl in a red sequined dress, was...
Legolas?
'Nice try,' said the strange man, and he snapped his fingers. Instantly, the clothes changed, into a red tunic with gold insets, brown pants, a green beret... floppy curls.
Elle's heart stopped.
It was the boy from her other dream.
'Umm, who is he?' asked Elle forgetfully. She couldn't remember what she had said, just before she had woken up.
'Don't you know him?' the man asked. He was oddly cold; standing next to him felt like standing next to a freezer door that had been left open.
'No,' said Elle, but her voice was uncertain.
The strange man laughed, and said, 'Oh mon cherie. That's where you're wrong!' He snapped again, and the boy's clothes changed yet again.
Elle gasped.
Those dark blue jeans, the black shirt, and hair falling in his eyes in an attractive and VERY distracting way...
'Bernard?' she whispered. The man laughed again.
She ran up to the boy. A hot wave of jealousy washed over her, and she flung away the girl's hand from his arm, setting her own hand on his cheek. It was so cold...
'Bernard? Can you hear me?' It was an intimate gesture, but somehow she felt comfortable with it.
There was no response. His dark brown eyes remained motionless.
She brushed aside his hair from his eyes. 'Bernard?' Panic was hitting her hard. Something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.
The room faded away. They were out in a snowstorm. 'Bernard!' she yelled, and turned around. There he was, snow falling on him as he stood, stock still.
She put her hands on his chest. It was warm...he was alive, but something was just wrong. She couldn't put a finger on it...
Time, her mind whispered. You are running out of time. Either he is yours, or he is not. It is your choice, girl. But if you choose wrong...
Visions of her father dying in a strange farm house, thin and powerless, her mother and Annise crying over him flooded her mind. Being unable to stop it from happening... she was there in the room. Her hands were warm still; she lifted them and found them dripping with warm, red blood. She screamed.
A life will be on your hands. One among many.
'Oh God,' she whispered. It faded from before her eyes. She was back in the snow with Bernard, her hands on his black shirt. The bitterly cold wind ruffled his hair. That burning was now mingled with a new desperation.
Do it.
In a sudden rush she slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
His lips were warm, alive. A strange energy moved between his mouth and hers. She felt him jump a little, and he moved. Thank God, he moved.
And then, he kissed her back. Sweetly, gently, yet with his own element of desperation. And, she noted, relief. His arms slipped around her, and the burning faded away. Only a sense of peace, and belonging. And the air around them grew warmer.
The kiss ended. But the feeling didn't go away. Slowly, Elle opened her eyes. Into the deep, brown pools that she had fallen for, countless times. In the movies, in the Pole, in her own life. The eyes that could tell her just what they meant without saying a word. Why had she been so afraid to see what they said before? Or was it that she hadn't looked at all, afraid of what she might see there?
Choose, said the voice. Him, or your life.
Elle opened her mouth to speak, but then hesitated...and that was her downfall. All of a sudden, the strange man in the blue suit was back. He ripped her out of Bernard's arms, and spun her around to face him.
'NO!' he snarled. 'No! you will not choose him. I gave you this new life to keep you apart! If I can't have you, he can't either!'
'It's my choice,' Elle repeated weakly, remembering what the voice had said. 'My choice...'
The man grasped her by the shoulders, and shook her. 'NO! It is not! Stay away from him! Stay away!'
'Who are you?' she said, tears in her eyes.
"Jack!" Bernard yelled angrily. She felt his hand grab for the back of her coat, but the man—Jack—was pulling her away.
"STAY, AWAY," Jack said again, shaking her roughly. Elle looked up into his eyes... and they struck her to the core, a cold bolt of pain.
She knew those eyes.
A scream tore from her throat...
"JACQUIE!"
Elle sat up in bed, drenched in sweat. Well, so much for the showering.
The sound of Jacquie's feet came storming up the staircase, and a few seconds later, she burst into the room, blonde hair flying. "What! what is it?"
One look at Elle answered the question.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you stay up all night," Jacquie muttered, her eyes widening.
Elle looked into Jacquie's blue orbs and shrieked. "Y-y-you!" She burst into tears.
Jacquie was bewildered. "What?"
"Your eyes," Elle whimpered fearfully. She didn't look like she was awake all the way yet.
"What about my eyes?" asked Jacquie, carefully.
"JACK!" sobbed Elle, burying her face in her bedclothes. "Jack said stay away...stay away..."
Jacquie paled.
She came over, quietly, and sat on the bed beside her distraught friend. Then, slowly, so as not to alarm Elle, she set a hand on her shoulder.
Images flashed before her eyes—most shockingly, that of Elle choosing to kiss Bernard—before the last scene of Jack, shaking the girl by the shoulders and yelling at her.
His words chilled Jacquie to her core... and that was saying something, her being a winter sprite and all.
So that was Jack's angle. He had wanted Elle for himself, and he wasn't about to let an elf have what he, as a Legendary Figure, couldn't.
Eww. Creepy.
Jacquie was glad she was there to keep her brother away.
"Elle, it's alright," she soothed, realizing that she had to be honest with her friend. "Jack's not going to get you. I'm here."
"H-how do you know?" Elle said, her voice muffled. "Bernard's here, and he shouldn't be here by any right either."
Wait, WHAT!?
Jacquie said just that.
"Bernard," said Elle. "HE should be up at the Pole, not down here flirting with me. "
Jacquie's jaw dropped. "Oh my God! Elle!"
"What?" Elle didn't seem too excited.
"You just remembered your dream!"
Elle stiffened, and she sat up. "You...you're right. I do remember my dream." Then her eyes widened. "Wait...oh my God! I remember my dream!" She sat, her brow furrowed as she thought. "And...Bernard. Is an elf. That can't be right."
"It is," Jacquie said. Part of her mind was warning her to be more cautious, as Elle was very volatile after her nightmares and prone to jump to irrational conclusions. But the larger half wanted Elle to know the truth about who—and what—she really was, and so she threw caution to the wind. "Bernard is the Head Elf of Santa's Workshop. You are his Number Two Elf."
"Then...why is he flirting with me? Isn't there some rule about not dating in the workplace?"
Jacquie laughed. "Um, no. Most of the elves work in Santa's workshop, so that would just make things more difficult."
"I see," said Elle, though really she was nowhere close to understanding what Jacquie was telling her. "And...he cheated on me?"
"Not exactly..." Jacquie was about to tell her he whole story when Elle cut her off.
"No...we weren't even dating. I just had a crush on him, and was falling in love with him when he fucked it up." Anger was creeping into her voice. "I do see. So he thinks he's going to come back and fix everything up, and then haul me back to the North Pole as his Victory token."
"No! Elle, you don't understand..."
"NO! I DO understand!" Elle was remembering more and more. "He treated me like crap, and I was stupid enough to just keep coming back for more! Well, not this time, asshole!" She got up off her bed and stormed into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.
"Elle, that's not the whole story." She sighed, got up and went to stand just outside of the bathroom door. "I have a brother—"
"Yeah, I've met Fino, Jacquie. Your point?"
"Geesh, you're worse than Bernard for snippiness today," Jacquie said irritably. A low growl came from the other side of the door. "No. I have another brother...one you've met more than once. Most notably, in your dream."
A pause. "Jack?!"
Jacquie sighed. "Yes. Jack—Jack Frost—is my brother. I am his Legate, and he is a royal pain in my ass." She shook her head. "After that scene you found Bernard in, he realized he loved you, Elle. But you had run off, upset. So he looked all over for you, but Jack—my brother—found you first."
There was a long pause. Elle decided to ask, "What happened then?" simply out of curiosity. Also, she knew that Jacquie would never lie to her...or would she?
Relieved that Elle was hearing her out, Jacquie went on. "Cupid, that little winged nitwit, had decided to shoot you with a Vulnerability arrow. Apparently he thought you were too difficult for Bernard to approach in your normal state of mind." She rolled her eyes. "Because of this, Jack was able to convince you that your time in the Pole was so awful as to be a complete waste of time. He got you to use your telepathy to fix a problem in the Polar Cap, then, using Father time's pocket watch (I'm still not sure how he got that) he created an alternate timeline, and sent you here."
"So...I have another life?"
"A worse one. Your dad was dying from cancer, Elle. The Council of Legendary Figures came to the conclusion that he could be saved, but only if you gave up your life with your family to become the Number Two Elf."
Elle's lungs tightened. So that was why she had seen her dad dying in her dream...it was what would happen if she rejected Bernard in that timeline. She would have to go home, and that would mean her father's death.
The voice had lied then. She didn't have a choice.
And Jacquie...
"You knew," Elle said finally, the truth sinking in. "You knew, all this time, and didn't tell me?!"
"I couldn't," Jacquie said in defense. "the Council sent me to protect you from my brother. I was forbidden to tell you anything, until the magic deemed the time right to reveal your past to you. Which, apparently, it just did. I would have liked a little warning, but that's not how it works."
Elle, leaning against the door, slid down onto the floor. "I was an elf?"
"Well, mostly," said Jacquie slowly. "You were almost finished with the process of turning into one. In fact, now that you know it, you should begin transforming back into an elf...oh shoot, and Bernard's just started turning into a human. This is getting even more complicated..."
"Bernard's turning into a human?!" Elle yelled. "And I'm turning into a elf?!" She found herself having a hard time breathing. "Shit shit SHIT!"
"Yeah. That's about right," Jacquie agreed. "I gotta call Bernard. And oh damn, I just called Santa down before you woke up screaming..."
"You WHAT!?"Elle shot up, throwing open the door. "That's it! I'm...getting out of here!"
"Wait, what? where are you going?" Jacquie didn't understand.
"Away! For a while!" Elle ran into the closet.
"What do you mean, 'away'? We don't have time for you to go away! We only have until Christmas before the old timeline is destroyed! We'll be stuck here, Elle!"
"And that would be so terrible WHY?"She rushed back out, hauling a duffel bag.
"OMG, you don't seriously keep a ready bag, do you?" Jacquie followed her down the staircase. "Wait, Elle; you can't go! We—"
"Watch me!" said Ellington, grabbing a pair of keys off of a hook, and storming out the door. She slammed it hard behind her.
"...Need you," Jacquie finished, watching helplessly as her friend sped off in the Maserati. "Christmas needs you. Bernard needs you."
She sighed. "Oh frostbite. What am I going to tell the Council?"
And then, even more fearful: "What am I going to tell Bernard!?"
It had been thirteen hours without word from Elle.
And Bernard was (inwardly)freaking out.
He and Jacquie had gone everywhere, checked every place Elle was known to go. The Space Needle, the Science Museum, the Children's theater, her favorite Starbucks', libraries, stores, hotels...
Nothing.
And the Council was not pleased.
"I've been called back," Jacquie said, walking into the dining room with a phone in hand. Bernard sat at the table, his head in his hands and trying desperately not to break down. "I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble...either that, or they just want to remove me from the situation before I screw something else up," she huffed. "Ten years undercover, and the week you show up I blow the whole thing. Leave it to a Frost."
It was bound to happen eventually," said Bernard hoarsely. His voice didn't want to work...or maybe it was how tight his throat was. He didn't know. "She was going to wake up one day and remember. It just...would have been better if she hadn't been so upset when it happened."
Still, I—"
"Jacquie." Bernard said, weakly. "Please."
Seeing the state Bernard was in, Jacquie stopped talking. Losing Elle twice was really taking a toll on him, the poor guy. And his time, he hadn't even had time to screw things up. "I'm...just sorry, Bernard. That you have to stay here and sort this, while I bow out."
"It...would be okay, if I knew where she was," admitted Bernard. "I just can't get to her. I can't say anything to make it right...and I don't even know if there is anything that I can say to fix it."
"ERMEGERD Bernard," said Jacquie, with a small laugh, then her face went very solemn, very quickly. "STOP with the helpless attitude. You're the man in this relationship...argument...thing."
"Oh thanks; that helps."
"You're welcome. My point is, you have to start. You have to say something. You ignored her for a good long while, not wanting to speak with her. She's got some resentment. So you're going to have to fight off a beast of your own making. There. Unfortunately, that's all the advice I have time for." She paused. "Okay, maybe one more thing, actually. If we've checked all the places she goes in this reality, maybe we need to consider places she went in the other. Do you know anything about Elle's past life in Seattle?"
"No," said Bernard glumly. "I never paid attention."
"Well, that blows."
"Don't you know? You were her friend for ten years, like you said. And with the whole telepathy thing..."
"I tried not to press Elle's mind for details. The magic was keeping the memories from her for a reason, and I thought it best not to mess with that. Nightmares are one thing. Buried memories a whole other."
Bernard sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to get creative."
"Yup." Jacquie looked around the room. "I'm gonna miss this place. Spent a lot of time here when...oh never mind, I don't have time to get all gushy." She brushed her coat off and straightened up. "Well, off I go then. You know how to reach me if you need me." Her eyes shone sadly at the elf/ boy/man. She was close to tears, wondering if everything would work out okay for him and Elle. "All the best, kiddo," she said, and vanished in a shower of blue sparks.
"Kiddo?" Bernard repeated distastefully. They were almost the same age.
The house felt even more empty without Jacquie there chatting in that bubbly way of hers. It felt like the silence was eating him up. Or maybe that was his own conscience?
Bernard knew Jacquie was right; he needed to 'man up' and figure this out. But somehow the heartache was making his head not work right...his normally orderly and well managed mind had been thrown into chaos ever since...well, ever since Elle had come to the Pole. He needed to focus, think...but the felt like he was missing something.
And then he knew.
Cocoa.
Closing his eyes, he made a wish...
"You know, I'm really too busy to be making personal deliveries, Bernard." A bright voice rang through the room, like music to Bernard's ears. He sighed, and opened his eyes. "Thank you for coming, Judy."
Judy smiled, but then froze. "Oh my..! Bernard...you look terrible. I mean, you look well enough, your outfit is nice; very mature. Just..."
"I know," said Bernard wearily. "I look like I haven't slept in days, like I've walked all over the city, and been snowed on, twice. I get it."
"No," said Judy quietly, stepping closer and peering into his eyes. "It's your expression. I've never seen you look so...sad."
Bernard said nothing. What could he say? He never had felt so sad, except for once before in his life, when he had lost someone very special to him...only he had gotten him back. With Elle...
"Elle is gone," he said flatly. "She ran off yesterday, after a dream that triggered her memories of the other timeline. Of me. We've been looking for her for over twelve hours, and nothing. We have no idea where she is." Not for the first time, Bernard recalled Elle saying, 'If I didn't want to be found, you wouldn't find me; plain and simple.'
"Oh Bernard." Judy came over, setting the cocoa on the table and a hand on his sagging shoulder. "I'm so sorry. This has been so difficult for you."
"I just don't understand," he said, frustrated. "She seemed genuinely happy after her promotion. Where did all the resentment come from? I mean, I know where it came from, but...still. Losing your family is terrible, awful; maybe I didn't pay attention when other girls were flirting with me, and maybe it too me longer than it should have to realize I loved her..."
Judy gasped.
"What?" Bernard gave her a curious look.
"You just admitted you loved her," she said softly, her eyes shining with tears. "I couldn't get you to admit it before you left."
"Oh." Bernard hadn't paid much attention to when he'd said it first, but Jacquie hadn't put any special emphasis on it, so...oh. "I said it for the first time when I, um, yelled at Santa."
"Ah," said Judy swiping at her eyes.
"Is he still mad about that?"
"He never was mad about it," Judy admitted. "He knew you were under a lot of emotional strain, so he let you have your space for a while, to let you and Jacquie do your thing."
"Some job we did."
"I think you did very well," said a familiar voice from behind them. "If not a bit overly cautious."
Bernard spun in his seat. There was Scott in the doorway, wearing street clothes, suitcase next to him. Carol stepped into view as well. Both were smiling, albeit sadly. "You had it made, Bernard! Pizza and a movie? You should have kissed her, and you know it."
"Wh-what are you guys doing here?" Bernard asked, his voice cracking in typical Bernard style. He was also blushing. Probably at the idea of kissing. His mind could go in the gutter, but the talk of kissing sent him blushing? Good grief.
"We're here to help," said Carol, sliding into a seat next to him. Scott did the same.
"Jacquie called us down, just before everything happened," Santa explained. "We didn't see a reason for circumstances to change our plans, and frankly, I really needed a break from Curtis. Even if it meant coming here so you could yell at me."
Bernard blushed again. "Look, Santa; all the stuff I said—"
"We'll deal with that later," said Carol. "Right now, we need to work on finding Ellington."
"I'm staying too," said Judy firmly, and held up a hand to check Bernard's protests. "Nope! Abby can handle the Kitchen for a while. Ellington is my friend too. I want to help." She looked to Santa.
"Permission granted," said Scott with a grin, and Judy beamed.
Bernard frowned. "Really? Going over my head now, are we?" Judy gave him a wry smile.
And Bernard actually smiled. Somehow, with his friends there, he knew everything would work out in the end.
Others weren't so easily convinced. Jacquie stood in Santa's study, looking out over Elfsburg with her brows furrowed.
"Jacqueline?" Mother Nature glided up behind her. "Something is bothering you."
"No big surprise there," said Jacquie, a bit stiffly. She was glad to be back in the world of magic, where she could be herself and not a blonde anymore. It was a relief to wear her own dress, and have her own hair curling down her back. But she missed Elle. "The last thing we did together was fight. And I saw the look on her face: she was furious with me. She felt like I had betrayed her. And the thing is, I did! I had to, to get things the way they should be, and look how it turned out!" She sighed, a light frost coating the glass of the window and hiding away their reflections. "How am I ever going to face her again? When all of this is over?"
She just kept seeing the look on Elle's face: the sheer terror, when she'd looked at her and recognized her for what she really was...a part of Jack.
"I think things will work themselves out," Mother Nature said comfortingly. "These kind of situations often do. She will realize what you did was to help her, and she will forgive you. You two were good friends; you don't just throw something like that away."
"Hmm." Jacquie wasn't convinced.
There was a silence. "Have you... felt anything?" Mother Nature asked, hesitantly.
"Hmm?" Jacquie shook her head to clear it. "From Jack, you mean? Oddly, no." She thought. "Which has also been bothering me, actually. Jack can hide his thoughts from me, even his location. But I usually can get a reading of his feelings, intentions. I'm getting...well, nothing. Just silence. And that worries me."
"I see." Mother Nature coughed. "Well, you will tell me if you hear anything?"
Jacquie nodded mutely.
Mother Nature sighed. "Go home, Jacqueline. Go and see your family. You need to get away from all of this for a while."
And Jacquie, for once, obeyed without arguing.
After all, it was Bernard Elle really needed, not her.
And that is Jacquie's last active scene in The Emissary Clause. Let's give her a round of applause, for her excellent performance! *crowd goes wild*
All kudos and hat tips to SafyreSky, for the use of Jacqueline Frost. Please, if you haven't already, check out her story Meet the Frosts, as well as her new story, Crystal Springs. They're great! Also, I doubt I could have finished this chapter without her. Thanks for everything, girl!
I know! I am such an asshole to my characters, always making them be sad and stuff! But in my defense, this was coming. This story has not been perfectly upbeat (which, oddly, I pride myself on) and all of the crap in past chapters was bound to resurface at some point. And I just had to make Elle remember her past at some point, so there it is. Now. Instead of later. But don't worry! There will be a lot of mushy romantic goodness, once Bernard and Elle sort (or fight, I haven't made up my mind) it out.
On a happier (or sadder) note, there will only be 4 more (at maximum) chapters left to this story. After that, ? I'm open to suggestions.
But wait, there's an idea! You, my beloved readers, can pick how you want to see the next chapter go. Should Bernard and Elle (once he finds Elle, of course) fight it out, or will Elle have already come to terms with things on her own? You decide! Cast your vote in the review section, and the idea with the most votes, wins!
All the Best!
-Ana