A/N: Hello my beautiful friends! Sorry for the delay with this one, but do you realize how hard it is to end a story? It's like really, really fucking hard!

So...when I got to about the 6,000 word mark, I thought...hmm, maybe I'd better end this soon...but then I got to 8,000 words and realized, shit...this is too much, I think...so, I had to split it up...so uh...this ain't the last chapter, but I will tell you this...I will post the next chapter on Friday:)

So it's probably possible, maybe that there could be two more chapters, but you guys don't mind that...do ya?

All typos/grammatical errors are mine;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Skins...which is a shame...

Chapter 6: If You Were Mine

Emily felt an anxiousness the further they walked, she didn't know who to trust besides the group of Naomi's friends, this elf could be leading them into a trap for all she knew. And her thoughts were constantly on Naomi. Was she hurt? Why would she use all her magic on that damn locket? More questions raced through her mind and she knew she wouldn't get any answers until they found Naomi.

"It's through here." Thalmus pointed to a door at the end of the hallway they were walking down. He opened the door a little and peeked into the room, making sure the coast was clear before ushering everyone else inside.

"Mate, this is Naomi's private quarters. If she were here, we would've known it!" Cook looked down at the elf, distrust clear in his eyes.

Thalmus sighed. "Look, I know you guys don't have any reason to trust a single elf at this point, but I love Naomi as Santa, okay? She makes being an elf fun, unlike the last one we had, who looked down on us and used us as slaves." He took a breath, calming down. "We don't all think like Hamish, alright, so please...trust me?"

"So where is this closet?" Emily stepped forward, wanting to believe the little guy, as she smiled at Cook and Freddie as she walked past them, following Thalmus.

"It's back here."

Cook and Freddie were still a little unsure, but they followed everyone else, as Thalmus opened another door that had been hidden into the woodwork of the wall. They walked down a long hallway, coming to stop just before another door.

"Has this been here this whole time?" Kieran asked, surprised.

"No, Naomi had us build it the second year she was here. She wanted a place that was hers alone, where she could store away all the comforts of home and other things." Thalmus explained, proudly. "The problem is, is that Alaric also helped build it, so he knows it's here."

Cook smiled at him. "So if you wanna hide something or someone at the North Pole, what better place than a room no one knows about!"

"Exactly!" Thalmus smiled back at them. "I'm almost certain she's here, so...," he reached out and was about to grab the the door knob when Emily stopped him.

"Let me, please?" She indicated the door. Thalmus instantly understood and stepped back allowing Emily to slowly open the door. "Naomi?" She whispered, expecting her to be right there. But as the door swung open the rest of they way, she saw nothing and her heart dropped.

Emily looked back at Thalmus, a questioning look on her face and he smiled at her.

"Keep going." He stated simply, urging her on. "It's a very big closet." He reached inside and flicked a switch on the wall, filling the closet with light.

"Holy shite! This isn't a closet, this is a small house!" Freddie exclaimed, taking in all the shelves holding all kinds of goodies from home.

Kieran, Gina, Thomo and Panda all gasped at the size of the room and the contents. There was a whole set of shelves filled with Garibaldis biscuits and Twinings tea.

Gina snorted out a laugh at that. "Only my daughter, right?" She shook her head as they glanced at the other shelves. Trinkets, toys, letters, hand made cards.

It looked as if the shelves were labeled with names, so Emily went to one labeled with the name Tabitha, picked up a card that was clearly made by a child and read it.

Dear Santa,

Mummy said I have to thank you for the presnts you brot me last year, so thanks

I made you soom cookies and lefted them by the tree

I hop you like them.

Thank you for bein Santa Claus

I luv you

Tabitha

"She kept everything!" Emily said, breathlessly, as she grabbed a couple more cards and scanned them over. "Everything she's ever received from a child, she's kept it!"

Thalmus smiled again. "That's what makes her better than any other Santa we've ever had! She cares and she's not afraid to show it!"

"Wow, mate. I'm sorry I doubted you, yeah?" Cook stated as he reached for a pack of his favourite beer, feeling touched that she would have that here.

"Yeah, yeah...come on. Let's find her and get this over with." Thalmus stated, blushing slightly.

The group split up and started searching through the rows of shelves.

It took Naomi more than a few minutes to realise that the lights were on. She thought about calling out, but didn't want Hamish or Alaric near her.

She had finished crying a while ago, resigned to her fate, both as Santa and with Emily. Maybe she could go back home and start a new life...maybe go back to Uni. Maybe, and this was a big maybe, try again with Emily.

As Naomi drifted through thoughts of the red head, she felt as if she was going insane, because she swore she heard Emily's voice. She smiled at the thought, sure that it was only in her head, until she heard it again, calling out her name.

"Emily?" She called out quietly, her voice hoarse from the lack of use and all the crying she'd done. Naomi took a moment to clear her throat and then tried again. "Emily!"

"Naomi?" Sure enough, Emily's voice floated through the shelving units, a bit louder this time.

"Emily! I'm over here!"

"Guys, she's here!" Emily called out to someone, Naomi didn't care who else was there, all she could concentrate on was the fact that Emily was at the North Pole. "Somewhere around here. Naomi?"

"I'm back here." Naomi directed her.

"Keep talking, yeah? I'll follow the sound of your voice."

"I'm sorry Emily. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to be close to you and...and...I'm sorry if you think I lied to you on purpose...I never meant to do that and if you were mine, I'd spend every day making it up to you," Naomi rambled on, saying everything she had thought about while she'd been locked up, "I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose...because it kills me when you're hurt...and I think...no, that's not right...I know that I love you, an-,"

Emily cut her off suddenly by covering Naomi's mouth with her own, as she wrapped her arms around the blonde and straddled her lap.

The kiss was fierce and held a passion that Naomi had never experienced before. And it seemed to last for hours, when in reality it was only a minute or two.

Neither one of them noticed when the rest of the group found them, as Emily pulled away from Naomi, smiling down at her.

"I love you too, you daft twat!" Emily stated with affection. "How 'bout we get you untied, unless you like to play rough and then I could be persuaded to...," She watched Naomi turn bright red as a few coughs sounded behind them, reminding Emily that they were, in fact, not alone.

"Hello, love." Gina piped up, trying to clear the tension in the room. "Got yourself into a bit of a pickle I see."

"Yes, thank you for noticing, mum." Naomi stated dryly, still embarrassed, as Emily gingerly got up off of her lap. "Would someone like to get me out of these ropes."

Freddie and Cook rushed over and quickly untied the magical rope holding her.

"There you go, Blondie." Cook smiled at her. "Didn't I tell you to stay put?"

"Sorry, Cookie. You know I hate to follow orders." Naomi rubbed her wrists, trying to relieve the pain in them. "How did you guys find me?"

"I did. I figured they still didn't know about the room, so I brought them." Thalmus stepped forward to explain.

Naomi felt relief rush through her as she saw the elf. "Thank you, Thalmus. So...what now?"

Kieran stepped forward to answer that question. "Now we deal with Hamish and his lackeys." He turned and strode out of the room, a legendary figure on a mission, leaving the rest to follow him.

"Whatdya think is gonna happen to him?" Katie asked again quietly, indicating toward the door with her head.

"I'm more than positive that Kieran has already got that planned out, we just have to make sure that Hamish doesn't find out that we're looking for Naomi. Something's gonna happen soon though, it's actually almost Christmas Eve."

"What does that mean? What happens then?" Katie asked, feeling a panic come over her.

"It just means that, Naomi would normally have had everything ready and would've been gone by now, ya know? She always liked to get a decent head start on the night, that way she wasn't rushing." Effy explained, while still listening to Hamish and Alaric on the other side of the door.

She was about to say more, but the sight of Kieran storming down the hallway followed by Naomi and everyone else made her stop.

"Out of my way, lass!"

"Kieran, thin-," Effy stood in front of the door, trying to calm him down.

"Now!"

"You'd better do as he says dear, he's a tad bit grumpy at the moment."

Gina stated it so calmly, that Emily was beginning to wonder if anything shook this woman up.

"Nothing does." Naomi leaned over to whisper in her ear.

Emily jumped a bit. "What?"

"You wondered if anything bothered my mum." Naomi smirked at her, losing herself in the way Emily's eyes twinkled.

"Did you read my mind?" Emily realised what had happened, more than a bit disturbed by that thought.

"I didn't mean to, and before you even ask, no...I've never done it before. I couldn't do it before." Naomi stated firmly. She didn't want to hide anything else from her and she was determined to tell her the truth from now on if Emily was willing to give her a second chance.

Emily quickly glanced at everyone else, before turning back to Naomi. "Why?" she wondered.

"Why what?"

"Why couldn't you do it before?" Emily clarified her question.

Naomi looked deep into her chocolate coloured eyes and smiled. "Because you didn't believe in me before, Ems."

Emily felt her heart flutter as she stared back into Naomi's clear blue eyes. She was about to say something else or reach out and kiss her or possibly drag her through one of the million doors they'd been passing on the way to wherever they were going, but a shout grabbed her attention.

She turned in time to see the older guy, Kieran raise his arms.

"I'm telling you for the last time, get out of my way, Effy!"

Emily didn't think she'd ever seen anyone that mad before, his face was all red and a large vein had popped out on his forehead.

Effy really had no choice but to do as she was told. Kieran was the higher power after all, so she shrugged and stepped aside and watched as he threw his arms out toward the door, causing it to blow off its hinges and splinter into a million pieces.

The noise and explosion inside the room startled Hamish, Alaric and the few elves that were inside the room.

"YOU!" Kieran stepped inside Naomi's office and stormed over to where Hamish was standing behind the desk. Kieran once again threw his arm out and clenched his fingers as if he was grabbing ahold of something.

Emily watched as a burly looking elf was suddenly lifted off the floor and floated through the air, coming closer to them.

"HOW DARE YOU? What the bloody hell did you think you would accomplish?" Kieran had never been so angry in his entire existence, and he had been around a long, long time. He wanted to choke the life out of this elf. "I'm giving you one chance to explain yourself and it'd better be good!"

Naomi and Effy came to stand with Kieran as Hamish sneered at the blonde.

"She shouldn't be Santa Claus! It's not right, a human, a female human at that. It goes against everything we stand for here at the Pole!" Hamish spat out as he hovered in the air still.

"And you make the rules now, do you?" Effy questioned with a deadly calm about her, never one to shout, unlike Kieran. "She fulfilled the clause, Hamish, that's all that matters. Naomi does her job."

"But she's a human!" He spit out.

"SO WHAT? There is nothing stating that only an immortal can be a legendary figure!" Kieran was losing what little patience he had left, and was about to end this all.

"What have I ever done to you to deserve this?" Naomi asked, pleading with the elf, wanting to know.

Hamish sneered again before answering. "You're undisciplined, you never take anything seriously and you're a woman. And have I mentioned you're hum-,"

"Yes, human...I get it, but I do my job, Hamish and I love my job." Naomi was practically begging him to understand.

Hamish did his best to shrug off her response. "Are we forgetting about the Mrs Clause?" He pointed out with a smirk. "You'll never pull that off. I've heard Sandman and Cupid talk enough to know that you've got no experience with women whatsoever, so...," he let the implication hang in the air, watching as Freddie and Cook squirmed.

"We never said no such thing, mate!" Cook replied.

Naomi turned to smile at her friends, giving them a look telling them she wasn't mad. "It's alright, Cook." She turned back to Hamish. "You're right, I've not ever had a girlfriend, never dated, hell I barely figured out I was gay when I became Santa, so you tell me how I'm supposed to get experience when all I've done for the last thirty years is build toys and play with elves?" The calm that had descended over her when Emily showed up was disappearing, to be replaced by the anger at having been tied up.

"That doesn't change the fact that you'll never find and marry someone before the stroke of Christmas Eve."

Murmurs rippled through the small crowd of people, as they all realised that Hamish was right, it was close to time for Santa to be off. Emily had silently watched everything, until Hamish's words finally hit her.

"Um...Marry? What's he talking about?" Emily asked nervously, watching as Naomi blushed and everyone else looked sheepishly around, avoiding her eyes. "Someone wanna fill me in here?"

Effy swallowed as she realised that they never actually told her about the Mrs Clause. "Well...um, that's why Naomi was in Bristol...she has to...," she didn't know how to explain.

"I have to get married in order to keep being Santa." Naomi said, looking at the red head as she shifted from foot to foot.

Emily thought about it and honestly couldn't find anything wrong with that. She could see herself settled down with Naomi. "Oh...well, I'm sure in a few years we'll get there, right?"

Naomi watched as a smile graced Emily's features, before shaking her head sadly. "By Christmas Eve, Ems."

Emily still wasn't catching on as she nodded along with Naomi's declaration. "Right, yeah...a christmas wedding...that sounds love-,"

"She means in two hours, you daft cow!" Katie piped up, rolling her eyes at her sister.

The fear shot throughout Emily's body as she finally understood. "Oh." One word, said simply, but meaning so much.

"Yeah." Naomi knew it was too much for Emily to handle.

"See? I told you and now everything will be ruined!" Hamish spoke up, watching everything in disgust.

"I've had it with you." Kieran said, forcing Hamish closer to him. "You've never known when to keep your mouth shut and it's going to cost you."

Kieran started toward the door as Freddie, Cook and Thomo drug the rest of the elves along behind him.

"Effy! Meet me in the main room when this is done." Kieran told her as he left the room, leaving her, Naomi and Emily, along with Panda, Katie and Gina.

Naomi closed her eyes, trying to block out the look of fear on Emily's face, and sighed deeply.

"Is what he said true?" Emily asked.

"What?" Naomi's eyes opened quickly at the sound of her husky voice.

"What Hamish said about your...uh, your inexperience...,"

Naomi felt her face heat up, knowing that this was always bound to be an issue. "Yes."

"And just exactly what was your grand plan, Nai?" Katie asked, finding this a touch too funny. "Hoping to pick up some random chick and drag her back here?"

Despite being totally embarrassed by the situation, Naomi heard the amusement in Katie's voice and couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "I hadn't really thought that part through, Katie. To be honest, I was instantly distracted when I met your sister."

Katie and Effy laughed, followed by Panda and Gina, but Emily couldn't stop the blush that worked its way across her face. Naomi watched her intently, trying to gauge her reaction to everything.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Ems. I knows it's a lot to take in, and quite frankly, the thought of marriage wasn't the first thing on my mind when I met you." Naomi said quietly.

"What was?" Emily grinned at her.

"Oh...well...there were a number of fantasies, involving you and me and a can of caramel sauce," Naomi loved making the red head blush, "but really, once we started hanging out, I just wanted to get to know you better."

Emily nodded her head, still thinking about the whole idea of marriage...marriage to Naomi, no...marriage to Santa Claus. "What happens if you don't get married? Let's just say I don't want to get married, but I still want to be with you, what happens?" She asked because she needed to know.

Naomi's face fell, the small hope that she was harbouring dissipated. "If I don't fulfill the clause and if no one steps in as Santa, Christmas disappears, children will stop believing in Legendary Figures, and we all lose our jobs, well most of us will."

"Whoa...so no pressure or anything, right?" Emily felt as if all the air in the room had been suck out, leaving it hard to breathe.

"No, Emily...there is no pressure at all. I don't want you to think I'm trying to push you into something you don't wanna do, okay?" Naomi tried to reassure her. "I know it's a lot to take in. And it may be something that you've never thought about, so...,"

Emily loved it when Naomi rambled on. She found it adorable, but Naomi was right. It was a lot to take it and she was having trouble wrapping her head around it, even though her heart had already decided, if the way it was beating was anything to go by.

"How about we go and see what Kieran has planned for Hamish and Alaric?" Effy needed to do something to break the tension that settled around the two girls.

Naomi broke her gaze from Emily, and the red head smiled slightly at the distraction. "Yeah...uh, sounds good Effy." Naomi replied, as she started toward the main room, leaving everyone standing there. She needed a minute to think, to get her bearings back, a minute to not be embarrassed.

Emily watched her walk away and suddenly felt guilty again, just like she did for the way she treated Naomi the night of her Christmas party. She saw the look of hurt in Naomi's eyes but didn't know how to make it go away.

Well, actually that wasn't true. She did know how to make it go away, but this was the hugest decision she'd ever been faced with and she just wished she'd had time to think it through properly. She waited until Katie, Effy and Panda followed Naomi, not realising that that left her with Gina.

"You're scared."

The sound of her voice startled Emily, making her jump a bit, before she turned to look at the older woman.

"Excuse me?"

Gina chuckled, noticing the way she tried to deflect from the question at hand. "You're scared, of what this all really means, who Naomi is and who you'll become if you agree."

"You're not reading my mind too, are you?" Emily asked with a certain amount of trepidation.

Gina laughed at the question. "No, love...I'm reading your face. But I wish I was able to read minds. That would have come in handy when Naomi was a teenager." She laughed again, quickly putting Emily at ease.

"So how do you handle all of this?"

"With a thankfulness beyond belief." Gina told her and then smiled as Emily looked more confused. "She was missing for a year. That first year she was Santa, I thought she had been kidnapped, but then I remembered how snarky and mardy she can be, any kidnapper would have returned her just to get some peace! So then I started thinking the worst."

"Oh." Emily said quietly, thinking about this mother fearing her child was dead.

"So when Effy had come to me and brought me here? Seeing Naomi for the first time in a year?" Gina pointed out the obvious, smiling when she saw Emily catch on.

"Thankfulness."

"Exactly! It didn't take me long at all to settle into my new life up here, and I go back on occasions to visit friends...or well, I did do, until they all started kicking the bucket on me." Gina winked at her, making Emily laugh. "So I get that you're scared, having just found out that the girl you like is Santa Claus...that's more than a bit daunting."

Emily laughed at her choice of words, shaking her head. "Just a little bit, yeah. But if I do this, if I say yes, I'll be giving up everything. And is that something I want to do at my age? Give up the life I've built? The job I've worked so hard for? My family and friends?" She started pacing in front of the older woman, unsure thoughts filling her mind.

"Emily?" Gina watched as the young woman wound herself tighter than a dime store watch. "Emily?" The girl was now muttering to herself, so Gina grasped her by the shoulders, bring her to a stop in front of her. "Emily! Calm down, love. Getting worked up won't solve anything."

Emily swallowed nervously, before nodding at Gina's words. "No, you're right...,"

"What do you think would be expected of you if you said yes? Do you think you'll be expected to just sit here and do nothing?" Gina had a way of sorting out the simple things and pointing out the obvious. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a teacher."

"Oh how lovely, dear. Well done, you!" Gina smiled at the young girl. "You know, we have a school here at the Pole."

Emily blinked in surprise at Gina, not expecting to hear that, but before Emily could say anything, Gina shook her head and stepped closer to Emily.

"Let's go and see what's happening, shall we?" Gina linked her arm through Emily's and led her to the main room. "I love watching Kieran get all Father Time on everyone...he's kinda hot when he goes all out Legendary Figure on me."

Gina laughed as Emily cringed at the imagine of the older woman hot and bothered by the Father Time.

Thanks to everyone who has sticking with me on this one:)

Love to you all,

marci