O' Christmas Tree

Chapter 7- The Hall of Letters

"We're really close!" Kate said excitedly.

"It's gotta be here!" I agreed.

"Look!"

Kate pointed to a tree, where the bag of toys was stuck in its branches. I smiled, looking at Teddy with a wild look in my eyes. We ran toward it, looking at it while wondering how we were going to get it down.

"Now we just need to get back to Santa," Kate said.

"Be careful, Ted," I said while he climbed a tree.

"Don't fall," Kate muttered.

Teddy threw the sack of toys to the ground. Kate and I ran toward it, peering inside. "Hello? Elves? We're with Santa and we need your help! Hello? Anybody in there?" Kate climbed into the bag.

"What are you doing?" Teddy and I questioned.

"I'm just looking. (Y/n), help me," Kate said.

We shimmied into the bag and were surrounded by a green light. I ignored it, looking around for any sign of life. "Hello? Teddy, this is incredible! Elves! Anyone there?"

There was a little giggle from in front of us. I saw a short creature that had long ears. Those differed from human elves. "Hey! Come back! Where'd you go? Come back!"

"Please help us. We're trying to find Santa," I said.

"What'd you just say, (Y/n)?" Kate asked.

"It's an old language, I can't remember which. Mom said that Dad talked to her in it for a couple of years," I explained.

Kate pushed on a wall of presents and screamed. I fell through the hole with her. It was almost similar to Alice going down the rabbit hole, only with presents and not furniture pinned against the wall.

We fell down into a pile of presents, Kate screaming for help. We rolled onto the floor, Kate barreling into me.

"Kate! Are you okay?" I asked worriedly, helping us both sit upright.

"Better than okay," Kate breathed. "Whoa. That is so cool."

"What did we get ourselves into?" I asked as we walked into another room.

"I think we're in the North Pole." Kate smiled.

Kate and I looked around a desk. It had maps and a control on top of it all. Kate pushed a button, and we saw video letters made for Santa. Kate smiled at her own video. We listened to all the languages of the world telling Santa what they want for Christmas.

"Woah," I said, looking at the wall. I went over to the first letter of my last name and saw they were organized alphabetically. "(L/n)," I breathed, finding my last name in one drawer. I sifted through it, finally finding some of my letters.

December 1st, 2012.

Dear Santa (if that is really who is reading this),

I wanted you to know that I no longer believed in you. My mother told me last year that you didn't exist. And I believe everything Mom says, because she's always right. So, don't waste your time on me this year.

I don't believe in anything anymore.

Mom, if this is you, I listen to you. I know you don't think it, ever since I used to believe that Dad was just on vacation and not dead, but I believe you now. Ever since you showed me his gravestone.

Goodbye Santa.

Love,

(Y/n) (M/n) (L/n)

"It's funny," I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I used to write my middle name with everything. This was the last letter I wrote with my middle name included in the signature."

"(Y/n), look!" Kate said excitedly.

I regained composure as the balcony took me down to the ground. Kate started recording again when we saw an elf running around frantically.

"Hello," Kate said.

"He-llo?" the elf stammered, obviously not familiar with the language.

"I'm Kate, and this is (Y/n). What's your name?" Kate introduced us.

"Lars," the elf said shyly.

Voices became louder behind us, and we turned. An entire army of elves was staring at me and Kate.

"Hey, guys. I'm Kate Pierce. And this is (Y/n) (L/n). Santa sent us," Kate explained.

The elves looked like they were about to attack. I put my hands up in defense. "Please, don't hurt us! Santa sent us!" I yelled.

The elves looked around at each other, confused. They looked back at me. "Santa sent us. He's in trouble. He needs help. And we need help getting home."

"You can understand us," an elf said.

"Yes. I don't know how, but yes, I can understand you." I smiled, nodding.

An elf touched my arm and gasped. "She has elf blood!"

The elves looked at me in disbelief. "What? No, I'm human," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not an elf."

"You have elf blood running through your veins. You're at least part elf," the elf reasoned.

"Ask them if they could help us," Kate said nervously.

"Can you help us?" I asked softly.

The elf thought about it for a moment. "Come with me."

He led us to a book. It looked old, by the way it smelled like dust and a thousand books. True Believers.

"I don't think you'll find me in there. I stopped believing ever since my mother told me Santa isn't real. Obviously, that was a lie, since we're here now, but..." I trailed off.

"(L/n)," the elf in red said.

The book opened, revealing a family tree of my last name. And wow, there were many people. My name was in there, in perfect cursive. I looked at it in confusion.

"I don't understand," I said.

"Deep down in your heart, you must've still had some belief that Santa was real," the elf reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I smiled.

"Pierce," the elf said next.

The book flipped a couple pages until it landed on the last name Pierce. Every single space was filled... except one. Teddy.

"I guess he really shut out Santa." I frowned.

"But wow, I come from a long line of True Believers," Kate said admiringly.

The elves cheered, some of them dancing. "What's going on, (Y/n)?"

"I'm part elf," I said with a smile. "And I think everything's coming together for us."