Chapter Four: There's a lack of colour here

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

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

Despite knowing that this was a new Santa coming to the Pole for the first time, most of the elves did not seem to care too much. They continued on their way, smiling cheerfully, and only casting the odd curious glance towards the lowering platform.

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

"Well, you didn't exactly give me a map," she replied, crossing her arms. "I got lost," she admitted a moment later.

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

Molly hopped up to sit on the gate beside him and shook her head. "Not a thing."

Then, with the biggest of goofy, lopsided grins, she turned her gaze to the descending sleigh, ready for a front seat viewing of one of her favourite movies.

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

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

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

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

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

The admission caused Bernard to give her a curious look, momentarily drawing his attention away from the man demanding to see a grownup. Molly hardly noticed his intense stare as she continued watching the scene with glee.

It wasn't until an argument erupted between Scott and another elf that Bernard suddenly remembered he had a job to do. He sighed in frustration and stormed over to the two making a scene.

Bernard cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

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

Both Scott and the elf immediately accused one another.

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

Molly didn't need to remain watching; she knew the movie by heart and it wasn't really that interesting a discussion. Instead, she found herself jumping back down from the gate and walking towards the sleigh. She knew she should follow her original plan of not getting involved, but didn't feel right leaving the kid to wait around on someone else to talk to.

"Hey, I'm guessing you're Charlie?" she said as she approached the sleigh, smiling at the boy.

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

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

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

Molly crinkled her nose for a moment. She had at least ten years on the kid, but she didn't look that old. "Neither. My name is Molly, and I'm a regular human, just like you."

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

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

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

When they reached the head elf and new Santa, Bernard was ignoring Scott's protests and demanding questions with an exasperation almost as intense as it had been with Molly the night before.

"Bernard, this is Charlie," Molly interrupted the one-sided argument, ignoring Scott's protests about his son staying in the sleigh. "Scott's son. Cute, isn't he?"

Charlie beamed, and Scott mimicked her mockingly.

"Heya sport," Bernard greeted with a grin.

Molly's heart melted at the sight of the elf's familiar, goofy grin, the same grin that had left her smitten many Christmases over. Realizing she was staring, probably with a dopey look, she contemplated smacking herself in the forehead. This was no time for being a fan girl!

After the elf gave Charlie the snow globe, Molly left with him and Larry, despite Bernard's pleading glance for her to stay. She had taken one look at Scott, who was now standing arms crossed and staring grumpily at the workshop, and told him he was on his own.

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

Charlie nodded. "Yes, please!"

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

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

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

"I know EXACTLY what he means."

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

"Nah… it's too sweet for me."

Charlie looked thoughtful. "Weeeiiirrrd."

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

"Wow, that was quick." Molly was impressed. It didn't look like the elf had made her instant coffee. She smelled it. It sure didn't smell like instant coffee either. She sipped at it and immediately felt her shoulders relax, smiling as that familiar, dopamine inducing flavour, hit her lips. That was the stuff.

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

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

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

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

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

"Nice. So no need for microwaves?"

"Never."

"Hmm. Impressive." She glanced at Charlie, who was shoveling the food down a bit too fast. "Whoa, slow down there buddy, you're going to make yourself sick."

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

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

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

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

Molly crunched her nose. Being called a kid by someone who looked much younger than her was weird. "Thanks… I think?"

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

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

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

All the tables, chairs, counters and cupboards were hand made, with exquisite etchings from woodburning tools and other things to add some life to them.

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

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

She took one more look around the beautiful kitchen and headed back towards the workshop.

By the time she reached the workshop, Bernard and Scott were in the middle of yet another argument. It had all seemed to happen over a short period of time in the movie, and Molly had not anticipated just how drawn out it all would be. She walked towards them, amazed at how well the elves were pretending not to be eavesdropping on the argument that could probably be heard on the other side of Elfsburg.

"What if I don't buy into this whole Santa 'Clause' thing? What if I choose NOT to believe it?" Scott was finishing shouting.

A hush fell over the room. That was too horrible a statement for the elves to pretend like they weren't paying attention anymore. Bernard looked mortified and Charlie looked as though he was about to cry. Instinctively, Molly pulled Charlie over protectively, glaring at his father.

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

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

Scott looked at the elf dumbfounded. He hadn't actually thought that far into it. For a moment, his demeanour softened, followed by an expression of defeat spreading across his face. Bernard saw the opportunity to take charge again, ordering the new Santa to his room to get some sleep.

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

"You too!"

The elves had all returned to work at this point, acting as if Scott's little outburst had never happened. Molly approached Bernard and placed a hand gently on his arm.

It was easy to see that one thing the movies didn't show was just how much the events of the evening took out of Bernard.

"You okay?"

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

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

She jogged after him and slid her arm through his.

"Come on, you need a chance to relax and let off some steam."

Bernard looked down at the strange girl who was grinning up at him, wondering how after all that she could be so cheerful. She seemed oddly at home in the North Pole, almost as though the story she had told him were true. It seemed odd to even consider that, but there was an affection she seemed to have towards him, Charlie, and even Judy, that could not be explained in any other way.

A smile itched at the corner of his mouth, though Molly missed it. "Good luck with that," he said, wondering just what she had in mind. For the moment at least, Bernard felt just a little bit lighter.