A/N: Have I told you all lately that I love you? No? Really? Hmmm...I thought I had...well, I do! I love you all! The response was more than I expected, and that makes me happy... And a happy Marsupial means faster chapters for my other stories...just sayin' ;)

Oh, and for those of you that found it funny that Effy was Mother Nature, well, she reminds me of my Michigan weather...mysterious, fickle and likes to mess with people!

Any and all typos/grammatical errors are mine

Disclaimer: I'm done making Christmas presents, so I'll be resuming work on TRTW and TBWITB... And I don't own Skins, but if it dropped down the chimney and slipped under the tree, I wouldn't mind;)

Chapter 2: The Dating Pool and Jumping In

It took about three hours to find Naomi after she had run away in panic. Freddie and Cook tried talking to her, but it was her mum, who finally brought her around and explained things to her.

So here she was, back home in good old Bristol, along with the almost the whole gang of Legendary Figures. Everyone decided that she needed assistance, which she couldn't deny, to be honest. So with Kieran and Gina running the Pole, Naomi headed back to the world.

She had only found out she liked girls in her second year of Uni, when an American by the name of Anna, joined her politics class. Naomi had the biggest crush on her, but was so awkward and klutzy every time she happened to be around the girl, that she just stopped trying. It wasn't long after that when the whole Santa Claus thing happened.

"Who's house is this?" Naomi asked as she wandered the halls one day. They were staying in a turn of the century maisonette with a large garden out back.

Effy appeared beside her along with Panda. "It's been in my fathers' family for years. My brother was the last one to live here before he passed away." She explained, a touch of longing in her voice. "I would stay with him when I wasn't with mum, and when he died, he passed it on to me."

Naomi listened to the underlying sadness in her voice. "Oh. It must be nice to get away from your realm from time to time."

Effy smirked, "It really is. This is were I come when I wanna play with the mortals." She told the blonde, giving her a wink before setting off towards one of the rooms.

Naomi shook here head, as she settled into the room that Effy pointed out to her earlier. 'God, I really hope this doesn't take too long!' She thought to herself, as she opened her rucksack. She had to laugh at herself a little as she looked at the used bag she'd had since college and the clothes inside it. 'I'm still a fucking kid!'

Being barely twenty when she took the job of Santa and playing with toys all day long for the last thirty years, has seemed to have kept her perpetually young.

She was chuckling to herself when Cook and Freddie came barreling into the room.

"What the fuck!"

"It's time to go, Naomikins!" Cook grinned at her, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. "Time to get your lezzy charms working!"

Freddie smiled at his friends. "Stop being a knob, Cook! What he's trying to say, Nai, is Panda and Thomas have a place to hit up...should be right up your alley."

"But...but...I'm not ready! Wait, I'm not even dressed properly!" She cried out, panicking again, trying desperately to tamp that down.

"Naomi, at the rate you're going, you're never gonna be ready and Christmas will be gone! For good!" Cook knew what he was about to say was for her own good. "If that happens, then we disappear too!"

"Whatdya mean?"

Cook looked serious. "I was talking with JJ before we came, and he says that once people stop believing in Santa, they'll stop believing in the rest of us." He explained, as they entered the lounge, where everyone else was waiting for them.

Naomi quickly looked for JJ, catching him with a glare. "Is that true?"

He nodded. "Yes. But I wasn't going to tell you that, because well, you seemed to have enough to worry about already." He told her while he levelled a pointed look at Cook.

"What? She has a right to know."

Naomi felt as if everyone around her knew more than she did and she hated that feeling.

"Alright, everyone had better stop pussyfooting around me right now!" She snarled at the group before her. "In case anyone here's forgotten, I'm technically almost fifty years old! I'm not a damn child!"

Everyone had the decency to look ashamed, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.

"I need a fucking drink that doesn't have cocoa in it." She muttered, and walked out the door, leaving everyone to follow her.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing just inside the door of the club that Pandora said was the hottest spot in town. Naomi looked around at all the young kids, drinking and dancing, and felt suddenly old.

"Fuck me!" She whispered.

"Don't worry, Nai. We're here to help ya, yeah? You've got nothing to worry about." Cook said before heading to the bar to get in a round of shots.

Freddie led them all to a table in the corner where they could watch what was going on around them. Once Cook arrived with the alcohol, things started getting a bit...sloppy. Naomi started pointing out individuals and telling the group how that one was on the naughty list three years in a row or how she was shocked to see a certain girl doing that, because she had never once left the nice list, and on it went for most of the night.

At one point Panda leaned over to Thomas and whispered, "I'm so fucking glad I'm The Easter Bunny! I'd hate to have to keep track of that bloody list."

Thomas laughed, giving her a kiss before responding, "I know, right? Once they lose those baby teeth, I don't ever have to worry about them again."

They both went back to listening to Naomi/Santa, as she talked about almost every one in the club.

Effy knew they were going to get nowhere with Naomi like this, and so she left the table to hit the dance floor, all the while keeping Naomi's voice in the back of her mind, listening. After a while, Effy couldn't hear Naomi at all, and oddly enough, she got worried. But after reaching their table she knew why.

Naomi was still there, still awake and staring at something...nope, make that someone. Effy followed the blondes line of sight, finding a very beautiful girl on the other end.

The girl stood alone at the end of the bar, cradling a glass in her hand, as she leaned back against a stool, watching something out on the dance floor. Effy took it upon herself to find out about the stranger, so she got up and walked to the bar, getting as close to the girl as possible.

"Great music, yeah?" Effy shouted to be heard, watching the girl nod in affirmation. "My name's Effy...that's my friend Naomi over there."

"So?"

"Well, she wanted to come over and say hi, but she's a bit shy. I told her I would come over and invite you to our table." Effy lied, but she knew Naomi would never come over herself.

"Right. And I'm supposed to fall for that?" Effy was about to respond to the stranger, when she held up her hand to stop her. "Look, I'm sure your mate knows how to have a good time, and she might even be fun to be around, but you're totally barking up the wrong tree and I'm kinda in the middle of something." The girl stated, in a matter of fact manner, as something caught her eye. "Fuck! I've gotta go."

With that, the girl stormed off toward the dance floor, leaving Effy standing there shocked at being rejected.

"Who was that?" Cook asked as he appeared behind her, clearly impressed with the attitude that was on display.

Effy looked back at Cook, still dazed by what had just happened. "I have absolutely no idea."

"You didn't get her name?" Cook laughed. "You must be losing yer touch, Princess!" He bounced away like Tigger, hopped up on speed.

Effy walked back to the table, sliding onto her stool, still in shock.

"What were you doing with her?" Naomi slurred, squinting out of one eye, trying to focus on the brunette.

Effy didn't answer right away. She was keeping an eye on the smaller girl as she wove in and out, between the bodies on the dance floor.

"Effs! Effy!" Naomi got her attention. "What is wrong with you?"

Effy looked around and saw the her and Naomi were the only ones at the table, so she leaned in closer to the blonde. "I saw you looking at her and thought I'd invite her over to the table."

"Why would you do that?"

Effy smirked at the blonde. "Because you were staring at her like she was the last cookie on the plate at the end of your deliveries!"

"Hey! Delivering that shit is hard work, I'll have you fucking know!" Naomi shot back indignantly. "Besides, it's totally rude if you don't take at least a bite."

"Yeah, yeah...whatever. Anyway, I invited her over for a drink and she said no."

"She said no?" Naomi looked surprised at that. Effy never got rejected, like, at all!

"Yeah...I'm surprised too."

"Well, for your information, I wasn't eyeing her up. She looked familiar and I was trying to remember where I'd seen her before."

"Right. You've remembered everyone else in this club, even going so far as to tell us what they got for Christmas when they where five, but you don't remember her?" Effy was shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm not buying that."

"Think what you want. I'm going for another drink." Naomi stood up on shaky legs, trying to remember the last she'd been this drunk. 'Oh, that's right! It was the night I became Santa Claus!' She thought to herself.

Before she could reach the bar though, the girl from earlier came storming out of the crowd of people that was standing on the edge of the dance floor, and Naomi was hit again with a sense of familiarity that she couldn't quite place. It took Naomi a few minutes to realise that she was dragging someone behind her, rather forcefully.

"For fucks sake, Emsy! Why do you do this every fucking year?" The girl shouted to be heard.

The stranger stopped just a couple feet from Naomi, and she had to do a double take. "Am I really that drunk?" She asked out loud as she stared at the double vision in front of her. Identical girls! Naomi blinked rapidly, but no...still there.

She must have spoken loud enough, because the second girl looked right her, her eyes wide. Naomi looked her up and down, taking in every feature she could, from her cute button nose, her chocolate brown eyes to her dark cherry red hair. Both girls were shorter than she was, and they looked positively pocket size. Hell, there were a few elves at the pole taller than these two!

But the one fact that ran through Naomi's brain was the fact that the red head was the most beautiful woman Naomi had ever seen. Naomi was lost in her own mind and didn't realise the sneer that the one had on her face.

"You! How fucking dare you show up after all this time?" She spat out and started to swing for Naomi.

"Emily, stop! Alright? Just...stop!"

Emily dropped her arms and stared at her twin. "That's her, Katie! Right there!" Emily's hands came up to gesture toward Naomi and the blonde flinched out of instinct.

"Emsy, please? Please don't start. Let's just go home and you can sleep this off." Katie pleaded with her, as she glanced over at Naomi. "I'm sorry, she gets a bit maudlin around this time of year."

Emily started to cry at that moment, causing Naomi to panic. Her mind was working overtime to figure out who these two were as she watched Katie wrap her arms around her sister.

"Is she going to be alright?" Naomi asked in concern.

Katie sent her a smile. "She'll be fine, once Christmas is over, yeah? Then she goes back to being our sweet Emily again. She thinks you're someone else, so it's nothing personal."

"Do you need help getting her home?"

Katie shook her head. "No, we'll be okay, we're getting a taxi, so...," she paused as she really looked at Naomi, "hey, wasn't that your friend earlier? Who tried to pick me up?"

Naomi blushed. "Yeah, she does that from time to time. Sorry about that."

Katie laughed. "Well, in the future, she might wanna think about who she's trying to chat up, yeah? If this had been a normal night, I would've decked her."

Katie had started walking again, pulling a crying Emily along with her. Naomi didn't realise she was walking with them.

"Actually, I think you're my new hero. I've never known anyone to reject Miss High and Mighty. The look on her face was priceless!" Naomi laughed as she remembered the confused look on Effy's face. "She's not bad really, she's just a little too sure of herself."

"She's down right cocky, is what she is. She should put a lid on that!" Katie scoffed and again, Naomi laughed.

"See? I told you it was her!" Emily said at the sound of laughter, slurring her words.

"No, Emsy, it's not her." Katie reiterated, cupping Emily's cheeks in her hands so that she could look in her eyes. "See?"

Naomi watched as the completely munted Emily looked at her through drunken eyes and she felt her breath hitch when she suddenly realised why she thought she recognised the twins.

"Okay? Do you believe me now?" Katie asked, getting a small nod from Emily. "Good. Well, thank you for the offer...," she turned back to Naomi, trying to remember if she got her name.

"Naomi. Naomi Campbell." She introduced herself and stood embarrassed as Katie laughed at her name. 'Fucking models!' She thought to herself. 'It was my name first, for fucks sake!' Arms crossed, she waited patiently for the brunette to finish.

"Oh my god, you were serious?" Katie cried out as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why would your parents be so cruel?"

Naomi shrugged a shoulder at the question. "Because my mum's a freak sometimes. Anyway, I should let you go and go find my friends."

"Naomikins?" She heard about behind her.

"Are your friends kinda crazy looking?" Katie asked looking around Naomi's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's probably them." Naomi sighed, as she too looked behind her. The whole gang was watching her and Katie, and Cook was giving her the goofiest grin along with two thumbs up. Naomi sighed again, and hung her head in embarrassment. "Twats!"

"Well, thanks again." Katie pulled her sister toward the door again, leaving Naomi standing there.

Later that night, as Naomi laid in bed, she couldn't sleep. The whole exchange with the twins had shaken her up, because somewhere in the time she had been talking with Katie, it hit her why they seemed so familiar.

Or Emily at least.

It was about ten years ago, she had received a letter from one Emily Fitch. Oddly enough, at fifteen, she still had a lingering belief in Santa Claus, and Naomi had been moved by her letter.

It explained how she had realised that she liked girls, or rather, liked a girl. Actually, if Naomi remembered it correctly, young Emily had been in love. But sadly, the girl that she loved didn't love her back, and little Emily's heart had been broken.

Naomi remembered crying as Emily's letter asked for Santa to make the girl love her. It was the one time Naomi wished she could have granted that request, but knowing that she couldn't, she had a special present made for the young girl.

Come Christmas Eve, she made her way into the Fitch house, dropping off the presents that little Jamie Fitch had asked for, a present for Katie and finally, the present for Emily. Naomi didn't leave right away, taking the time to enjoy the milk and cookies that Jamie had left for her.

Naomi was finishing up the last bite, when a noise made her jump. As she turned around, she saw a beautiful young teenager.

"Who are you?" The voice was husky, full of sleep, catching Naomi off guard for a moment.

But she stood up tall, making sure she brushed the crumbs from her coat. "I'm Santa Claus."

"Bullshit! Santa's an old, fat man. You're definitely not any of those!"

Naomi was stunned because no one was supposed to see the real her. If anyone looked at her, they were suppose to only see the embodiment of Christmas, the jolly man, with a bowl full of jelly, rosy cheeks and white hair and beard.

"What do I look like?" Naomi asked her, curious.

"Well, first of all you're a woman." Naomi's eyes widened, as Emily cocked her head, really looking at her. "And I doubt Santa is a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, so who are you?"

Naomi decided to be truthful, because she was sure there was a reason that this girl, this child, could see her true form. "I am actually Santa, you're just not suppose to see anything but the jolly old fat man."

Emily measured Naomi's words, choosing to believe her for now. "Why?"

"I'm not sure, really. It's just how it's always been."

Emily decided to get to the heart of the matter. "So if you're Santa Claus, did you get my letter?" She questioned seriously.

Naomi looked away for a few seconds, before looking back at the girl sheepishly. "I did."

"And?"

Naomi moved closer to the girl, knowing that she had to step lightly, try and be as delicate as possible. "You don't know how much I wanted to make it happen, but...it's not up to me."

She saw a pained look on Emily's face. "But it's what I wanted. I love her." The young girl pleaded with her.

"I know you did...I know you do...and I tried, I really did, but the powers that be have other plans for her." Naomi explained as best as she could, as the girl let her tears fall.

"You know what? Fuck the powers that be and fuck you too!" Emily said forcefully, and Naomi was about to say something when a noise came from upstairs.

"Emsy! Mum and dad are gonna kill you for being out of be-," Katie stopped talking as she came downstairs and saw Naomi standing there with her sister. "Who the fuck are you? Did you break into our house?" She asked, stepping in front of Emily.

"No Katie, this woman is "Santa Claus"!" Emily sneered at the blonde, using air quotes.

"Alright Emily, if you've been sneaking into dads liquor cabinet again, he'll be mad." Katie hissed at her. "Seriously though, are you some freaky old man trying to kidnap my sister?"

"You see me?" Naomi asked Katie. "You see my beard? And I'm an old man?"

"Has everyone been drinking here but me?" Katie threw her hands up in the air. "Yes, I see a creepy fat man, dressed as Santa!"

Emily looked back and forth between them, and was about to tell Katie that she was crazy when a clatter came from the roof.

"What was that?" Katie asked suddenly afraid and Naomi knew she had to do something.

"Look, everything's going to be alright, okay. Just stay calm." She stepped closer to the two girls, digging into a pouch inside her coat. Just As Katie was about to scream, Naomi pulled out a handful of memory dust and gently blew it at them.

Katie was the first one to go down, and Naomi caught her, gently laying her on the floor, while Emily fought the effect of Kieran's dust.

"What was that?" Emily asked sounding high, as she tried to keep her eyes open.

"It won't hurt you, please trust me." Now Naomi was pleading with the girl, suddenly feeling very out of control of the situation, as if she'd ever been in control on the first place. "It'll help you forget tonight happened, that's all."

"Will help me forget you?"

Naomi blinked at the question. "No, I don't think so."

"That's a shame, because I want to." Emily said as she slipped into sleep, leaving Naomi standing there, hurting from Emily's words.

And Emily did forget, never asking her for anything after that night, erasing Santa from her mind and heart all together.

Naomi tossed and turned that night, not able to sleep properly thinking about Emily. She didn't realise, until she remembered everything, how much Emily's words still hurt.

Naomi and the gang went out every night after that, trying their best to sort Naomi out, but it was no use. She just couldn't seemed to connect with anyone that she met. If it wasn't so important, Naomi would just say fuck it and go home, but it wasn't just about her and she knew it.

She had walked to the café down the street from their house, one early morning to pick up coffee for everyone, muttering to herself and looking very disgruntled. As she walked back, she rounded the last corner and ran into someone.

Coffee went everywhere and the air turned blue.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" Naomi said as she took the napkins in her hand and started wiping the coffee off the woman, as it dripped from her coat which was open, so her shirt was drenched as well along with her pants.

"Excuse me! I can do that myself!" The indignant voice was husky and it made Naomi stand up straight to look at who she ran in to.

"Emily?"

"Um, do I know you?"

"I met you and your sister, Katie, at the club the other night." Naomi told her .

Emily groaned and her face flushed. "Really? I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?"

Naomi smiled as she remembered Emily trying to hit her. "No, nothing too mortifying. You were pretty sad most of the time."

"Fuck!" The red head muttered. "I bet I made a wonderful first impression!"

"It was okay, really." Naomi said looking down at the coffee stains on her shirt. "Look, why don't you come with me, you can get cleaned up? It's not far, just right over there."

Emily followed Naomi's hand as the blonde pointed out the house. "Yeah sure, why not?"

Naomi led her to where she and the rest of the group had been calling home for the last week. She got to the door and hesitated.

"I'm going to apologise, right off the bat, for anything anyone inside this house might say to you." Naomi stated sheepishly, not able to look into Emily's eyes.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, yeah?" Naomi looked up then and caught a twinkle of amusement, as Emily smiled. "Anyway, I need to get out of this shirt or else I'll freeze."

"Oh...right! C'mon in." Naomi opened the door and ushered the girl in.

Emily took a moment to look around the house. She always passed by it on her way to work and was curious about its owners. The first thing she saw was the Christmas lights, hung up throughout the hall and the rooms, and she bristled at the sight of the Christmas tree in the lounge.

"Is there something wrong?" Naomi asked, concerned.

"No...nothing's wrong." The red head answered. "Um...where can I dry off?" She asked a bit stiffly.

"Right this way." Naomi took her upstairs to her room, feeling her stomach flutter at the thought of having Emily in her room. "I'll get you a pair of sweats and a shirt, the en-suite is through there," Naomi pointed, "towels are in the cupboard."

"Thanks." Emily said with a shy smile.

Naomi shrugged. "It's the least I could do, right? I mean, I did douse you with coffee and a lot of it to boot."

"That was a lot of coffee...," Emily laughed as she headed into the en-suite. "I'll be right out."

Naomi smiled at her, listening to the sound of the voice she remembered. "Take your time, I'm going to be downstairs making coffee for everyone," her smile grew bigger, "so come find me when you're done."

"So, what's she like?" Freddie asked Naomi as soon as she reached the kitchen. He had seen her lead the girl in the house and heard most of their conversation.

"She's nice." Naomi pulled out the can of coffee and went to work making a pot. She also put on the kettle, in case Emily wanted a cup.

"That's it? She's...nice?" Freddie asked incredulously. "C'mon, Nai! You can do better than that."

Naomi sighed, she knew Freddie wouldn't let this go. But at least it wasn't Cook sitting there. "Alright, she's fucking beautiful, yeah? But...,"

"But what?"

"She hates Christmas." Effy stated casually, as she breezed into the kitchen, sitting next to Freddie.

"Bullshit! No one hates Christmas." Freddie scoffed.

"I'm afraid she right, Freds. I remembered her and her sister that night after the club." Naomi said sadly. "I'm the reason she hates Christmas."

Freddie and Effy stared wide eyed at her, so she quickly told them the story. When she was done, Effy looked confused.

"There was a reason she saw you, Nai."

"Yeah? And what would that reason be?" Naomi was frustrated at everything in general and having Effy spouting her cryptic words didn't help.

"I don't know, but I'll find out." Effy said as she stood from the table. "Do us all a favour, yeah?"

"What would that be?"

"Ask her out." Effy smirked and winked at the blonde while Freddie laughed as Naomi flipped her off.

By the time Emily came downstairs, everyone else was up and making breakfast, so she accepted Cooks offer to stay.

To say Emily got along with everyone was an understatement. Oddly enough, she had the same raunchy sense of humour that Cook had, while being rational and calm like Freddie. Naomi honestly thought she was perfect, except for that one little tiny fact that Emily hated Christmas.

The red head would change the subject when any of them brought it up. Freddie watched her carefully and agreed with Naomi and wondered what they could do to make it better.

As the morning turned into afternoon, Emily realised that she had to leave to meet with her family, so Naomi walked her to the door and sheepishly did as Effy requested and asked her out.

Naomi spent the rest of the day smiling, because Emily said yes.

A/N: okay, so I'm gonna leave them there for now...no fear, folks...I've already started chapter 3, so hopefully in the next day or so it will be posted...

As always, let me know what you think...liked it? loved it? Hated the shit out of it?

Remember folks, this is a sprint to marriage, so it might seem fast, but Naomi's running out of time! ;)

love ya's

Marci