Holiday Crisis
A fic for Disney's classic(s): The Santa Clause 1 & 2
By: Shmeilia Rockie


A/N: Please excuse this incredibly long intro. This is an AU, just so you know. The elves keep non-believers as slaves, and hate almost all human adults. The elf age ratio isn't 1 to 100, it's 1 to 200. So Curtis is 1,800 instead of 900, and Bernard is about 3,200. Well, in the first movie he did say he was VERY old... Why not older than Christmas itself? And Judy said the perfect coco recepie took her 1,200 years to get right, and she looked the same age as Curtis, so it works out. I have many things planned, not all of which might be really great. I've been thinking of this since the first movie (a honkin' eight years ago), so it might turn out to be a bit of a Mary Sue. I hope not though, and I'll make every effort to keep it away from that. And it possibly could turn into a crossover with the Disney made-for-tv-movie Halloweentown (and its sequel), but I'm still considering it. Unfortunately, if I don't do it, this story will have very little plot. Here's a weird AU thing: Bernard is half human, but keeps it a secret because that's incredibly taboo. As a kid he was abused and sold into slavery by his step-father. He also practices alchemy as a hobby. And as a final note, they say things like "holiday" instead of oh, say "hell". And the like...So if you see something like "Bells and wrapping paper!" You can substitute that with whatever cussing your mind may prefer. Oh, and I dun't own SC 1 or 2, but I DO own Maigri and April. You kinda need to have seen both movies to get this fic.


* * * *

Chapter 1: Vacations

"Please, please don't go now, Bernard. I beg you!" Curtis fell to his knees and crawled after the Head Elf, finally grabbing on to his shoe and accidentally yanking it off.

Bernard snatched it back and stared at the 1,800 year-old kid with a mixture of pity and imaptience. "I'm sorry, Curtis, but that was an order straight from the Big Guy. I gotta go. Believe me, I would rather not. Now get up, you're embarrassing me."

Curtis complied, and straightened out his glasses, which had gone terribly askew. "But my brother's coming back mid-way through YOUR vacation. He'll...He'll...Well, you know Maigri."

He nodded thoughtfully and put his shoe back on. "Try to take my job, no doubt. But there's no way a guy that takes one hundred year vacations will ever become Head Elf. No matter how many cookies he bakes. It's all about responsiblity."

"I'm not worried about your job, Bernard. I'm worried about my face. The old wounds just completely healed!" He pointed to a scar near his left eye. "See?"

Bernard squinted at it, then rolled his eyes. "Chet gave you that, not Maigri. I know, I was there. Nice try."

"Well...Still!"

"Now I'm sorry, but I really must go. I'm leaving you in charge." He teleported a in puff of glitter, leaving Curtis standing alone in the middle of the workshop.

"I guess one hundred years of peace was just too good to last." He sighed. "Man, I need a drink."

* * * *

Curtis plopped down on a stool at the bar of Judy's hot chocolate café in the town square. "Give me a Choco-Moo on the rocks."

Judy smiled sweetly at him and poured him a glass of chocolate milk. She slid it to him and rested her chin on her delicately folded hands. "Bad day?"

He took a large gulp and whiped his mouth on his jacket sleeve before answering gruffly, "Kinda. Bernard left on his first vacation in over three hundred years, and Maigri'll be back in four days. I'm already dreading the reuinion."

She winced. "Oh, I bet. Your brother is such a jerk! I don't know what his problem is."

"Nobody knows for sure, but I suspect it has something to do with humans."

She occupied herself with cleaning the already spotless countertop, the topic making her a bit uneasy. "Well, I say if you don't love humans why be in the Toy business?"

Curtis drained the rest of his 'Choco-Moo' and slammed the glass down with satisfaction. "My thoughts exactly. He just doesn't get it. Bernard too, for that matter, but not nearly to the same degree. He at least likes Charlie. Maigri would cringe at the thought of us hanging out with him."

"How old is Charlie now anyway?"

"Almost eighteen."

"Wow, and just the other day he was my size!"

Curtis removed his cap and ruffled his hair. "Yeah, he's moving down here perminantly after he graduates in May."

"Then I feel sorry for him with Maigri lurking by."

He laughed bitterly. "Holiday, with Maigri around I feel sorry for us all!"

* * * *

Bernard inhaled the sweet Caribbean air and flopped onto the warm sand. Only a few more days and he could go home to his only love: his job. He hated taking vacations because it always gave him way too much time to think. Working kept him focused, kept him from thinking about his past. But dispite all attempts to not think about it, after five days of doing practically nothing he couldn't help it anymore. He was bored out of his mind, and that only led to painful flashbacks. He stared up at the gathering clouds, his mind drifting back to one of the ugliest chapters in his life.

*Flash*

A gray horizon bounced nausiatingly as he dangled at the edge of a horse-drawn cart. He stared at the world with glazed-over eyes, too sick to really take anything in. He had nothing left anymore. No family. No friends. No pride. No hope. He felt numb. Completely numb...

Something surprisingly cold snaped him out of that terrible reverie. Blinking, he sat up and gazed into the sky. Dark, angry clouds loomed overhead. "No, not now!"

The skies opened up so quickly, he could barely reach shelter in time. He stood in the doorway, drenched and panting, shocked by the incredible rate the storm developed. He had anticipated it, of course, so the hut he built might as well been made of steel.

Oh, boy, if the sunshine had been depressing...

* * * *

The storm blew over by morning, leaving in it's wake a shoreline littered with debris. He welcomed it, figuring the work would take his mind off things. He began collecting the driftwood and stacking it in a pile to take back home with him, figuring the elves would find some clever uses for it.

After about of hour of cleaning his little island, he came across a sight that made him literally drop his work. A teenage girl lay in the damp sand, copper-colored hair sprawled around her in a hailo. He stared for a solid minute at her limp form, not thinking a thing. What a shame that her life would be snuffed out so early. Ignoring the fact that she was human, he bent down and gently took her into his arms. To his surprise, she felt warm.

Having been moved, she stirred and coughed up salt water. Then she opened her glassy eyes and stared at him for a long time. Finally she touched his face to make sure he was real. This startled him, but he continued to hold her, entranced by her gaze. "Are you an angel?" She asked in a dazed, scratchy whisper.

He laughed, responding without thinking, "Hardly. I'm an elf."

She snorted and attempted to laugh. It failed miserably, turning into a hacking cough.

As soon as he had said it, he regretted it. The rule book clearly stated that if a non-believer found out the idenity of an elf (with a few exceptions...Anyone who would become Santa, for example), that elf must take that human as their slave. Now he had to take this girl home with him. He already had one slave, he didn't need another one. He sighed and lifted her off the ground. "Let's get you somewhere dry."

She groaned, but feeling oddly safe in the stranger's arms, made no resistance.

At the hut, he laid her on his bed and wrapped her in a quilt. She smiled weakly at him, making him feel extremely uneasy. "So, Ophelia, what's your name?"

"April *cough*."

Okay...

He sat on the edge of the bed and folded his hands behind his head, feeling unusually self-conscious. "I'm Bernard. I think you'll get to know me all too well before long."

He glanced at her, only to discover she'd fallen asleep. He watched her breathe and suddenly caught himself smiling. Disgusted, he returned to the open air to finish his work.

* * * *

A/N: So, did it grab your attention? It's not as Mary Sue-ish as I had originally planned, lemme tell ya. You'll be hearing a lot more of this "Maigri" guy in the next chapter, when Bernard goes home. And more from April. (She will start to develope a personality in the next chapter, I promise.) Aren't you glad Judy is gonna be in this? I missed her in the second movie. And the Abby chick is her cousin in my story, but you won't hear too much from her. I know this was short, I'll try to make the next chapter longer. In posting this, I'm making myself write this story so it can stop bugging me to write it! Does that make any sense?

I'm sorry if the slave thing bothers you, just don't flame me for it. Or for my abuse of poor Bernard. Like with my Digimon fic, Longing For Paradise, this story started off as a dream. And in dreams, weird stuff like this is always happening. And as with poor Davis, Bernard gets knocked around a bit. But don't worry, he doesn't get beat up nearly as bad as Davis does. Oh, and I'm working on Paradise, really I am. I'm kinda stuck on it right now, though. And school is crushing me to death...Speaking of school, I need to go write a three page paper on Hamlet. (Hence Bernard calling April Ophelia.) AND study for an Art History test about late Roman and early Christian art. Oy. Wish me luck.


Chapter 2
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