Disclaimer: I don't own SC 1 or 2...If I did, it would have turned into a television show! I own Maigri, April, and Sarah.

Chapter 2: Bitter Returns

On the last day of his trip, Bernard spent most of the morning packing. Of course, he didn't have much to pack, but he always liked to pick up souvenirs for the friends back home. He found some coconuts for the reindeer (watching them try to eat the treats provided days of entertainment), he bottled some white beach sand for the Calvins, and he procured an irridescent shell for Curtis. For himself...Well, he had a new slave-girl. Fun... She'd taken so long to recover that he wondered if she would ever get well. Indeed, she still slept in his bed...He had the ground and a few palm leaves. He wasn't about to complain, but oh boy did he miss his feather bed back home.

As he packed, he felt the April's eyes on him. "What do want now? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"They're all dead, aren't they?" She whispered.

He turned to meet her gaze. "Who's dead?"

"My family...My mom, my dad...My brother...We went sailing together, but when the storm hit and the boat sank...They're all gone, I can feel it!" She burried her face in her hands and drew in a deep breath, but refused to cry. "I don't know why I survived...And I wish I hadn't!"

Bernard rolled his eyes and managed not to groan. Finally, he sat next to her on the bed. "I know it won't make you feel any better, but I have something for you."

He gave her a thin, silver bracelet. She took it, and examined it carefully. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I...um, well, want you to have it. I know this material thing won't make up for what you've lost...But..." He motioned for her to put it on.

She smiled weakly and slipped her hand through. "Thank you, Bernard. You've been so nice to me."

"Don't thank me yet," he pulled out a remote control.

"What's-" He pressed a button and a little red light lit up on the braclet, locking it to her wrist. Her eyes went wide. "What the-?"

He took a deep breath and recited dully, "That bracelet, the 'Enforcer' binds you to me. You are now my slave, and you will come back with me to my home. If you try to resist or run away... Of course, you shouldn't be able to run away, because it acts as an invisible leash...But in case you do manage to break out of it, this bracelet will give you a pretty nasty shock."

"What, is this some sort of joke?" She pryed at the thing, but it wouldn't budge. She clawed and bit at it, but nothing happened, except her wrist became sore. Panic bubbled up inside of her. "Why? Why are you doing this? I thought you were my friend."

He looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

At that, she ran out of the hut, tears blinding her vision...Of course, she didn't get far, but smacked into and invisible wall. She ran one direction, then the next, but couldn't get more than fifty feet away from Bernard. Frustrated and upset, she sat down in the sand and lost it with a high pitched wail, "Oh, why couldn't I just have died?!"

He chuckled. "That would have made things better for everyone, wouldn't it?" She turned to see him leaning casually in the doorway. Suddenly, her hopelessness turned to rage and she lept at his throat. He smiled and snapped his fingers, sending a wave of pain up her arm. She stopped short and sank away, seething and craddling her hand. He just laughed. "Now, why don't you calm down and cooperate? It would make things easier for the both of us."

He held out his hand.

She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Come on, don't be like that. I want to go home, and I'm about to leave you here." He stood directly over her, trying his best to look imposing. "Alone."

"Well, w-what if I just want to be alone?"

"Okay, I've had enough of you, you stubborn little girl. We're going..." He grabbed her free hand. "NOW!"

After a wild ride in a rush of wind and color, she suddenly found herself on the floor of a vast room with tall stain glass windows. She looked around in awe at the toys on the tables, but more so at the children working on the toys. She whirled around to Bernard and demanded, "Where are we? What just happened?"

"Would you believe me if I told you this is the North Pole?"

"NO!" She grabbed the nearest person she could find. "Hey, kid, what is this place?"

That kid looked at her bracelet and scrunched up his face. "Unhand me, Non-Believer. You heard him! And don't call me a kid...I'm older than your great-great-great-grandparents, thank you very much."

She stared after him as he walked away, her mouth open in disbelief. "Now I'm completely confused."

"As if I didn't explain enough," Bernard mumbled to himself. Only then did he notice the incredible quiet filling the Workshop. "Woah, what's wrong here?" The elves worked silently, unhappiness etched on their faces.

One kid looked up from her work and spotted him for the first time. Her eyes lit up and she yelped, "Hey, everyone, Bernard's back!" Then she tackled him in a huge bear hug. Before he could even say a word, about ten other elves burried him in a dog pile, yelling things like, "You have no idea how much we missed you!" and "He just about worked us to death!" and-

Suddenly, a sharp whistle blast cut through the air. All the little people quickly ran back to their posts in the blink of an eye. A short, slightly pudgy older elf in an Elizabethan collar approached him, smiled extremely fakely and tapped on his clipboard. "Good to have you back, Bernard. Have a nice vacation?"

Bernard stood up and pretended to survey the situation, then clasped his hands together and dared to match his tone. "You know that little thing called a conscience that tells you when to stop the grindstone, Maigri? You obviously don't have one!"

April started to run circles around him like a dog tied to a tree. He tried his best to ignore her.

However, Maigri didn't. "Who's this?"

He grabbed her shirt collar as she ran by. "Meet my new slave. April."

"Slave? Excuse me? I did't agree to this!" She twisted out of his grip, looking about as mad as a wet cat. "I want to go home! NOW!"

Everyone within hearing distance began cracking up.

Bernard put on his best innocent voice. "What do you mean? This IS your home now."

She growled and tried to storm off, but didn't get very far. The invisible leash yanked her back, causing her to loose her balance and topple over. Again, the Workshop became alive with laughter.

Maigri whiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, what a riot, that one... She's kinda fiesty, isn't she? I'm sure you'll enjoy breaking her."

"Say," Bernard turned back to Maigri. "Why are you running the show here? Where's Curtis?"

Maigri just smirked in responce and sauntered off.

After he'd left the room, Curtis bounced in from the other side. "BERNARD! I am so glad you're back...I-"

Bernard held out his hand, causing Curtis to come to a screeching halt. "Hold on there, partner. Slow down. Take a deep breath...Now, what's going on?"

He sucked in a deep lungful of air and barked, "Maigri's been promoted ABOVE ME! I'm no longer Number Two, I'm...I'm..." He growled in frustration.

"Number Three?" Bernard finished with a look of pain at the thought of Maigri being his second in command. "How did that happen?"

"He claimed I was being too leinent with the workers! Can you believe that? He said 'Their effeicency continues to slip drastically...' Blah blah blah, until the end of time...." He flailed his arms around helplessly. "A-and he baked five HUNDRED freaking cookies for Santa!"

"Five hundred, huh?" The Head Elf rubbed his forehead and stated in a totally not surprised voice, "Wow, that must be a new record."

Curtis clinched his fists. "Sometimes, I...I...I just wanna smack him!"

"Don't we all?" One of the elves asked quietly as he passed by. Several others turned their laughing into coughing, just in case Maigri could somehow magically hear them.

Bernard sighed. "Doesn't he know that happy elves make better toys than unhappy elves?"

The other elf crossed his arms and attempted unsuccessfully to calm down. "Apparently not."

"Boy, he sounds like a jerk," April commented, then smiled. "Even worse than you, Bernard!"

"That's my brother, ya gotta love him," Curtis mumbled, but quickly changed thought-tracks as he noticed April. He pointed at her. "Who's the girl?"

Bernard sighed. "I found her...She's my new, uh-"

Curtis exhaled loudly. "Slave? Bernard, don't you already have one?"

"You want her?"

April gasped. "You're giving me away, just like that? I can't believe you! You're so-" They ignored her, causing her to throw up her hands and turn away from them.

Curtis climbed up onto his little figurative soap box. "No way, in case you've forgotton, I'm kinda against slavery. It's so eighteen-hundreds, ya know? Besides, I don't think anyone has the right to claim that they are above anyone else. That goes against everything we stand for as Christmas elves."

Bernard leaned forward and whispered in a know-it-all tone, "We're not true Christmas elves, Curtis. Slavery of humans is perfectly legal in our tribe-"

"Both of us have renounced our tribe. Or should I say, what's left of it. I don't know about you, but as far as I'm conserned they never existed. They were all a bunch of closed minded jerks...Kinda like Maigri, only a lot worse. Remember?"

He snorted, trying very hard not to remember, and quickly changed the subject. "I figured Sarah could use some company. She's been a bit depressed lately."

Curtis tried not to grin. "Well, rumor has it, it's 'cause you won't let her see her boyfriend in Packaging."

Bernard pointed at the boy's nose. "Now you just cut that out. She does NOT have a boyfriend, especially not one who's an elf. That's just plain wrong!"

"Whatever. *giggle* They say denile is more than just a big river in Egypt."

Bernard rolled his eyes and playfully bopped Curtis on the head. "Come on, April. I want to introduce you to your new roomate."

"Sarah, I'm back!" Bernard threw his bag on the over-stuffed couch by the door and looked around his spacious yet sparcely decorated appartment. Home.

"So soon, Master?" A dull looking ten year-old girl with waist-length french braided hair waltzed out of the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron. She smiled warmly.

He put on a mock-hurt face. "'So soon?' What kind of greeting is that?" His eyes narrowed. "And why did you call me Master? I haven't heard you do that in over fifty years." April's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

The girl looked around, desprate for an answer. She randomly moved her mouth (which resulted in guilty squeaky noises) and finally caught sight of April pouting in the doorway. "Whoooo's this?"

"The name's April." She scrunched up her nose. "I'm his hostiage."

Sarah raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Bernard winced. "I accidentally slipped to her that I'm an elf...So you'll be having a new roomate for a while."

"Good, I was going out of my mind with boredom. You know, because I never have anything to do." She winked playfully at him and wandered back into the kitchen.

"Say, are those cookies?" He grinned and quickly followed after her. "'Cause when you've eaten nothing but raw fish for two weeks, cookies sound like simply a dream."

April found herself alone in the middle of the living room. She threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, fine. Just forget all about me!"

"Believe me," He answered from the next room, the sound muted by a mouthful of cookies. "I wish I could."

April snorted and flopped down on the couch. She listened to the two catching up until the soft sofa rushed her off into dreamland.

Chapter 3
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