In a lot of ways, the story that Pandora had written had started with one bear running — Sean Jackson, professional runner, running away from his future.

But, now, just as it had begun, it was ending, with a bear running, but this time, it was Pandora, running toward her future.

“Stop!” shouted Pandora, running through The Workshop. “Stop the ritual!”

Pandora ran and ran through The Workshop, glad she hadn’t changed out of her tactical Christmas outfit, the light sneakers carrying her through the familiar hallways of Santa ‘Santana’ Claus’ Workshop.

Even the sneakers weren’t enough to help Pandora reach Boreas in time.

Luckily, Pandora had more than just a pair of sneakers.

She had one heck of a shift.

Pandora’s human body couldn’t carry her through the halls of The Workshop fast enough, but her bear could. Her panda burst out of her skin. Although pandas, in the wild, were renowned for living a somewhat leisurely life, Pandora had trained herself to use her panda like a grizzly or a polar bear, as a hunter, and she used that training, to carry herself through the halls of The Workshop, her paws scratching and sliding on the smooth surface of the clean hallways.

Pandora had no time to think. She had to follow instinct, instinct carrying the black and white furry being through the maze-like halls of The Workshop, to the place deep below the libraries where the lists of Naughty and Nice were kept, below the tinkering workshops, between the air traffic controller deck, down, down deep, to the coldest place at The North Pole, located right below the true North Pole, marked by a giant frikkin’ candy cane.

The panda burst through the doors to the freezer. A man in a blue velvet suit was about to start reading an incantation. Ice elementals were all around him, but Pandora rolled through them like a bowling ball through pins at the local lanes, and she got a strike.

Pandora burst through the doors to the freezers where her true love was being kept…and the giant panda tackled Boreas.

“What are you doing, girl?” growled Boreas. “Don’t you know that I have to do this? With your interruption, it may already be too late!”

“Just listen to me!” said Pandora, shifting back into her human form to talk to Boreas. “Boreas, your calculations. You did them yourself?”

“Of course — as this was an important ritual,” said Boreas. “The magic is due to expire on Christmas Eve, right as the clock strikes midnight.”

“Where?” asked Pandora.

“Does it matter where?” asked Boreas. “Clocks strike in many places.”

“In what time zone?” asked Pandora, shaking Boreas. “North Pole or South Pole?”

“The South Pole, of course,” said Boreas. “Wait…of course. Stop!”

The ice elementals paused. One turned to face Boreas.

“Sir?” asked the ice elemental in a lab coat.

“Stop the ritual!” ordered Boreas. “There’s still time!”

“But sir — it’s midnight,” said the elemental.

“Not at The South Pole,” said Boreas. “My calculations…of course. They’re based on South Pole Time, while The North Pole is twelve hours ahead of The South Pole, meaning…”

“…Meaning there’s still twelve hours until it’s midnight on Christmas Eve at The South Pole,” finished Pandora. “We have twelve more hours, Boreas. If the ice magic isn’t restored, well, then, do what you have to do to save Jack, but…there’s twelve more hours left.”

“You’re right, girl,” said Boreas. “I always knew Jack had picked a smart one — and that may just be the smartest, luckiest thing my son’s ever done.”

“Come on,” said Pandora. “Come back down here later if you have to, but…you’re exhausted. You might as well come and get some food in your belly with the rest of us.” Pandora got up off of the ground.

As Boreas got up off the ground slowly, Pandora shot a look into the freezer area. There, in that glass coffin, was Jack, still wearing the same plain white shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers he’d been wearing when he was put in there. So much had happened at The North Pole since he’d been frozen, all for him. One day, he’d wake up, and would he be surrounded by friends and family, or, in a thousand years, would there be ice elementals at all? Heck, would Christmas magic disappear? Pandora couldn’t imagine a future without Christmas…but she was sure that similarly, there’d been a time when Boreas hadn’t been able to imagine a world without ice magic.

“You said something about food?” asked Boreas, breaking Pandora’s concentration.

“Oh, right,” said Pandora. “Yeah. Right. Come on.”

Pandora walked with Boreas back to the ballroom. It definitely beat sprinting, and the fact Avery showed up halfway with a golf cart didn’t hurt matters. Pandora sat on the back seat of the golf cart while Boreas sat up front with Avery. Pandora was seated on the very back of the golf cart, so as the vehicle went forward, Pandora wasn’t facing forward, but backward.

Pandora watched the familiar walls of The Workshop pass by her, but, viewing them as she went backward, they felt like different walls. For a split second, she felt like she was going back in time, as if this was a cheesy effect from some time-travel movie where a tape was merely rewound to give the impression that time was going backward.

Pandora remembered the time she’d spent at The Workshop with Jack, roaming these very halls, talking about their futures, and now, of all times, she was thinking about their past. In the end, the past had been the key to their future, the journals kept by Pandora the key to ensuring their future.

The question was, would that key fit the lock to the treasure that could stop Jack from fading away?

Pandora got off of the golf cart and followed Avery and Boreas back into the ballroom. She went upstairs to the lounge, piled herself underneath the blankets and on top of some pillows, and conked out.

‘Twas the morning of Christmas, and all through The Pole,

Every creature was stirring, except for a panda;

The books were delivered by Panda Claus with care,

In hopes that the magic soon would be there;

The readers were nestled all snug with their books,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in Pandora’s head…

Pandora drifted off to sleep after feeling the familiar jerk of her leg and seeing a flash of light. Soon, abstract colors and shapes gained form and feature.

Pandora saw eleven curvy gals dressed up in bright purple gowns with glittering crystals on the edge of their ballgowns – like sugar on plums. Each of them was dancing with a prince – their prince.

There was a woman with golden curly wig dancing with a man with a pair of bear’s ears – a version of Joy and Sean.

A woman with a red silk stole danced with a man with a wolf’s tail – Angelica and Ryan.

There was the woman in glass slippers, with the man with a crown on his head – Carol and Ethan.

A woman who radiated inner beauty was looking deep into the eyes of a man with feral eyes, but a poet’s soul – Candy and Cain, a couple as sweet as candy canes.

There was a BBW with lips as red as blood, hair as dark as ebony, and a heart as pure as snow, lips pressed against the man who’d given her her first kiss – Noel and Connor.

A curvy lady wearing an ugly Christmas beanie was dancing with a man wearing the exact same hat – Holly and Rowan.

A woman in a pair of sparkly dancing shoes – Stella — was dipped by a shifter who’d proved he could protect her from anything – Kevin.

A couple in old-fashioned Regency finery did a spin. It was Hope and Eamonn, whose love existed in its own little world.

A Christmas elf with pointy ears was dancing with a Christmas demon with horns that spiraled out of his head – Avery with Krampus.

A witch with a tiny toad on her shoulder was dancing with a man in a Santa hat – none other than Befana and Santana.

Finally, there was a woman encircled with flames, dancing with a man enrobed in ice – Ginny and Boreas.

There were eleven couples, with eleven fairy tale romances.

Joy and Sean had found the happily-ever-after to their Goldilocks story with the help of Dasher.

Angelica and Ryan had learned that sometimes, the Big Bad Bear can get a second chance, with the help of Dancer. That’s why their Little Red Riding Hood story had ended happily.

Carol and Ethan had a simple, classic Cinderella story, and Prancer had been there to guide them through it, every step of the way.

Candy and Cain were meant to be together, like candy canes and hot cocoa, like the Beauty and the Beast, and it was a surprise they’d needed Vixen’s help to figure that out at all.

Noel and Connor had learned that sometimes, you just need to believe in fairy tales – and Snow White doesn’t always end up with the seven hot hunks, but can end up with her prince. They’d needed Comet’s help to figure that out.

Stella and Kevin worked well together. They had built more than just gingerbread houses and cookie shoes together. They’d built a life together – and unlike the story The Elves and the Shoemaker, they only needed the help of one Christmas elf…and a Christmas demon, and Santana, and Donner…to get to their happily-ever-after.

Hope and Eamonn learned that during Christmas, just about anything can happen and that sometimes, Sleeping Beauty has to be the one to kiss herself awake. Of course, having some help from Blitzen didn’t hurt matters one bit.

Avery and Krampus had waited years to get together, but finally, after years together, they’d figured out they belonged together. Sure, Krampus had to ‘go Nutcracker’ on Lucifer for Avery, but, for his fated mate, he did it without a second thought.

Befana and Santana had learned about forgiveness and figured out that old loves didn’t have to be ghost stories like in A Christmas Carol.

Ginny and Boreas had looked for each other all their lives and not even known it. They were meant to be together, and like the couple in The Gift of the Magi, it wasn’t material things, but true love, that mattered to them.

One couple was missing from the dance floor.

As the couples danced around the floor of the vast floor, Pandora not only noticed that there was one empty space in the group.

She knew in her heart that it was a space she was meant to fill with Jack.

She realized they were dancing past numbers. The dance floor was the face of a clock, green lights illuminating the numbers. The light seemed to come from within the white marble of the dance floor. There were two red arrows – the hands of the clock, and with every tick, they came closer to meeting at the mark of twelve, at midnight.

Pandora realized she was running out of time to take her place on the dance floor with Jack. She looked around the opulent ballroom and saw Jack standing there, in the middle of the dance floor, in a suit of all black. In his hand, there was a box of matches, and along the ground, a pile of used matches.

“Jack!” called out Pandora. “Jack!”

She rushed toward Jack and realized that her movement was restricted by the giant purple dress she too was wearing. After all, she was one of the sugar plum ‘fairies.’ There was a random set of white wings on her back, and a big fluffy white halo floating over her head. That made her more of a Christmas angel.

A couple knocked into her and pushed her back. She tried to get toward Jack, again and again, another couple kept her away from Jack. Pandora pushed through the folks. She’d spent too many years worrying about other couples, about their happiness, when her true love was at stake.

“Jack!” Pandora called again. “Jack, I’m coming!”

Lightning cracked, and the candles in the ballroom went out. The hall was dark, lit only by the light of the glowing numbers and arrows beneath the white marble.

Pandora looked around. Everyone was gone – everyone but Jack. Pandora rushed forward to Jack, who was standing by himself in the center of the dance floor. Jack was holding up a match…but its flame was blue, not red.

“Jack,” said Pandora, pulling Jack close. “Jack…”

“Pandora, what are you doing here?” asked Jack.

“I’m…I’m here to save you,” said Pandora.

“It’s too late for that,” said Jack. “This was my last match, Pandora.” Pandora felt an icy chill come from the ‘flame’ of the match, like Milton’s ‘darkness visible’ in Paradise Lost.

“What do you mean it’s too – ahh!” screamed Pandora. Jack’s arm had turned to snow. “No, Jack! We still have time! I can fix this! I can get your father and –”

“There’s no use,” said Jack, putting his other hand on Pandora’s shoulder. “Pandora…there’s nobody that can help me.”

“Don’t’ say that,” said Pandora.

“I’m just glad that before I melt away, I can see my Christmas angel,” said Jack. “It’s just like that fairy tale…The Matchstick Girl. Guess I had the opposite problem after all. You know, for a second…I thought I could see people dancing, and a feast, and Christmas trees, just like the old times. Tell me, Pandora, could you see it?”

“I could see it, Jack, and so can you – just let me fix this,” said Pandora, trying to put Jack together, but the snow was turning to water beneath her touch.

The white marble floor started to crack along its gray and black and gold veins. The edges of the marble began to turn into snow and then, into slush, before disappearing into the void. Pandora nearly fell through the slush, into the void. She quickly hopped onto a floating piece of marble…but Jack was on another piece of marble.

“Jack!” called Pandora. “Jack! Take my hand!”

Pandora reached out, and Jack took her hand.

“Pandora,” murmured Jack. “That can’t really be you. It must be a Christmas angel. I guess the fairy tales were true. Things end – and not all endings are happy.”

“Jack! Please!” called Pandora, holding onto Jack’s hand with all her might. “Please! Tell me what to do!” Her piece of marble was floating away from the floating portion of marble Jack was standing on. Jack’s marble chunk was turning to slush, and so was the rest of Jack.

“Goodbye, Pandora,” said Jack, and Jack let go.

“Pandora! Wake up!” said a voice. Someone was shaking Pandora. Pandora’s eyelids fluttered open, and she saw that Avery had woken her up.

“Avery?” asked Pandora, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it? Shit, is it too late?”

“Calm down,” said Avery. “I just wanted to make sure you got some breakfast. You’ve been asleep for about five hours. It’s around six right now. If you want to go back to bed, you can…but you were calling out a name. I think you know which one…”

“No, no, I should be up,” said Pandora, sitting up and stretching. “Oh, gosh, praline waffles? Those are so good. Thanks, Avery.” Pandora dug into her waffles and coffee. She tried to forget about her dream, but she couldn’t. She swore she could still see Jack’s face at the back of her mind, but the nightmare might not have been to blame for that. It was what had been at the back of her mind and the front of her heart ever since…well, since the day they’d met, all those years ago.

“I brought you a change of clothes if you wanted to hit the showers,” said Avery with a wink. “You’ve been in your tactical gear all night.”

“Is that your nice way of telling me I smell?” asked Pandora, quirking a brow.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘nice,’” said Krampus, matching Pandora’s raised brow with two raised eyebrows of his own.

Pandora finished up her breakfast and went to the ‘pilot’s lounge’ to use the empty locker room to shower and change. She couldn’t believe that just around six hours ago, she’d landed on the tarmac just outside the lounge, having completed her first round of deliveries on her first ever Ride on Christmas Eve. Of course, it had been under circumstances that she hadn’t expected, and the one person she’d wanted to see when she landed…well, he wasn’t exactly able to give her a ‘warm’ welcome. She still couldn’t get the dream out of her head.

Pandora got changed into the clean, comfortable jeans, shirt, Christmas sweater, and sheepskin boots that Avery had tossed into a duffle bag. She stuffed her gross clothes in the duffle and left the duffle in the lounge to deal with later.

Pandora headed back to the main ballroom. The room was abuzz. Pandora moved to the base of the giant ‘magical thermometer’ and looked at the balls floating inside. The balls floating inside were even more glorious in person. She’d seen the magical balls when the ‘magical thermometer’ had been shrunk down, but she’d assumed they were just like Christmas ornaments. She pressed a hand to the glass and peered into the tube. The tube was filled with a liquid, but in that liquid, there were swirls of what looked like glitter, moving on their own in fluid currents, forming all sorts of shapes, from random curves and lines to faces and symbols she didn’t recognize. The various balls representing the schools of magic bobbed inside the tube, gently moving up and down as people believed in them…or lost their belief in them.

Toward the bottom were the balls representing the more obscure forms of magic — including the balls representing elemental magic. The ball representing fire magic was filled with flames, and Pandora swore she could feel the heat of that ball through the tube. That ball was floating just above a ball that reminded Pandora of a snow globe, filled with a living blizzard. Way above those balls were the balls representing other forms of magic, like witchcraft, containing a swirling cauldron, and demoncraft, containing emerald green eldritch magic and tentacles and waves. There was a big ball carrying what looked like a little frikkin’ bear that transformed back and forth between being a bear and being a naked dude — but at least it was a buff one. Above those, high in the tube, nearly at the top of the dang thing, was a gold and green and crimson ornament ball, representing Christmas magic.

Pandora went back up to the lounge area to see the whole tube from afar, leaning on the edge of the platform to look over the entire container, from base to tip. She saw the Christmas magic ball floating high in the tube and shook her head. Like love, she’d taken the power of Christmas magic for granted.

“Hey,” said Avery, coming up beside Pandora and giving her a light tap on the shoulder with her own soft shoulder. “You gotta be careful. Don’t want you to fall off this thing.”

“Is that your way of telling me to worry a little less?” asked Pandora.

“You know it, kiddo,” said Avery. “Come on. It’s nearly eight in the morning. You know what that means.”

“That we only have four hours,” said Pandora with a sigh.

“It means that people are just starting to wake up and unwrap their presents,” said Avery. “Come on.”

Avery led Pandora by the hand to the couch, where, of course, Avery had put out a ton of pastries and coffee service. Krampus was there, reading a book — a book of bath and body recipes by one Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed.

“Eat up,” said Avery. “No matter what happens, today’s going to be a long frikkin’ day. Krampus, that means you too. I brought you your favorite.”

Avery opened a sugar bowl on the tea service set. It wasn’t full of sugar cubes. Instead, she’d filled it with a red and white slurry with brown wrinkly things mixed into the lot.

“Mapo tofu with tree ears?” asked Krampus, closing his book. “Darling, you shouldn’t’ve!” Krampus took the bowl and the blue and white ceramic Chinese spoon and started scooping the hot and bitter food into his mouth. As he did so, his eyes began to glow bright green…and the metal tin full of mapo tofu started to glow bright red with heat.

“Uh…is he supposed to be doing that?” Pandora asked Avery.

“Nuh-uh,” said Avery, slack-jawed, before regaining her composure. “Uh, honey?”

“Yes?” asked Krampus, with a mouth full of red-hot tofu.

“Uh…your eyes are glowing, and you’re melting the sugar bowl,” said Avery, cringing.

“I what?” asked Krampus. He felt a hot plop hit the front of his pants. He looked down. A big glob of mapo tofu had fallen out of the side of the sugar bowl…and some red-hot molten metal fell on his pants seconds later.

Krampus put the bowl down on the ground and waved his hand to cause the bowl to reassemble itself, breaking the laws of physics (as demons, who violated all laws, were wont to do), and picked up the creamer. He looked at his reflection. His eyes were glowing bright green!

“I…have no idea what’s happening,” said Krampus. “I feel this strange…power in me.”

“It’s not that awful gas you get whenever you eat that stuff, is it?” asked Avery, quirking a brow.”

“No…it’s a much more powerful, well, power,” said Krampus. “Wait…”

Krampus looked over to the tube. So did Pandora and Avery. Inside the container, a ball was starting to snake its way up the machine — the ball that tracked the level of human belief in demons and demoncraft. As usual, there was a spike in belief in Christmas magic as well — this was normal and to be expected and had happened steadily since before The Ride even started. But, a belief in demons? That hadn’t been planned.

“Well…I’ll be,” said Pandora, crossing her arms.

“I don’t understand,” said Avery. “Why would the humans believe in demons on Christmas? What, did you and the Yuletide Lads leave coal in everyone’s frikkin’ stockings?”

“No, but only because of the record coal prices this year,” said Krampus with a frown.

“So what’s causing this?” asked Avery.

“I…I don’t know,” said Pandora.

“Good thing I do,” said a deep, booming voice. Pandora turned. Her father and her stepmother were behind the couch Pandora was perched on.

“Dad, what’s going on?” asked Pandora.

“Well, you wrote twelve books, didn’t you?” asked Santana. “Over the last few hours, across the world, people have started waking up and starting to open their presents…including those twelve books you wrote.”

“If they’re reading them, then why isn’t ice magic getting stronger?” asked Pandora.

“It is, dear — but slowly,” said Befana. “Look. It’s already happening.”

Pandora stood up and walked with the group to the edge of the lounge, to better see the tube. The ice magic ball had surpassed the fire magic ball. The levels of belief in both were still low, but, people were starting to believe in ice magic a little more.

“But…that doesn’t explain why belief in demoncraft is surging,” said Pandora.

“Well, you came up with twelve books with the elves. What were they?” asked Santana.

“That’s easy,” said Pandora. “Dasher Claws, Dancer Claws, Prancer Claws, Vixen Claws. Then, Comet Claws, Cupid Claws, Donner Claws, and Blitzen Claws. Those were about the eight bad boys from Nuthusk, the bears — you know the lot. Sean Jackson. Ryan Rex. Ethan McLean. Cain Pellichero. Connor Brian. Rowan Hooligan. Kevin Murphy. Eamonn Costello. Then, there’s the last four books — Demon Claws, about Krampus and Avery, and —”

“Well, if people are reading the books, what order are they reading them in?” asked Santana patiently.

“I don’t know,” said Pandora.

“In order,” explained Befana. “So, if belief in shifters and Christmas magic increased and now, belief in demoncraft is surging…”

“…Then that means that all the readers just started on Demon Claws,” said Pandora. “That means —”

Before Pandora could finish her sentence, Befana’s eyes started glowing.

“Ho…ly…candy canes,” whispered Avery.

“What? Not a good look for me?” asked Befana, holding her hands out. Magic was sparking from her hands, and tiny toads were popping into existence, out of thin air…and they were all wearing tiny witch’s hats and riding tiny brooms.

Pandora quickly looked at the tube. The witchcraft bubble was rising in the tube! It was climbing toward the top, toward the shifter bubble, which Pandora hadn’t been tracking. It made sense that the bear shifter bubble had risen up so high — after all, eight of her ‘stories’ had been about bear shifters!

“People are starting to believe in witches,” whispered Pandora. “That means they’re reading Daddy Claws, and…oh my gosh, we might just pull this off.”

“You’re pulling this off,” said Santana. “Your first ever Christmas Eve is going to be a rousing success. You’re a Claus. You’re Panda Claus. Of course, you’re going to pull this off.” He pulled his daughter in for a big hug.

Pandora looked at the tube, waiting to see if anything would happen to the ice magic ball, which was still just bobbing near the bottom of the tunnel. It had risen slowly but not by much.

The ice magic pulsed up.

Pandora was sure it was just a fluke at first. All the other balls had started to move slowly. But, the ice magic ball bounced up and only stayed at the higher level. The ice elementals around the tube consulted their clipboards to make sure the tube wasn’t broken.

But then, the ball kept going, slowly but surely, and it was tailed by the fire magic ball, fire chasing ice, ice leading fire.

The balls stopped – a foot below the line marked on the tube marked by Boreas, the line that would signify that the ice magic was strong enough to save Jack Frost.

“Fuck,” cursed Pandora.

“Give it time, love,” said Befana, her toads still whizzing around the ballroom on their brooms as Christmas elves with nets tried to catch them. “All that means is people are starting to read the book about Boreas and Ginny — Frosty Claws. Doesn’t mean they’re done yet.”

“So why isn’t the meter going up faster?” asked Pandora.

“Maybe people are eating breakfast, or have to use the bathroom, or are munching on all the delicious chocolate,” said Avery.

Pandora and the group stood on the edge of the platform for two hours, watching the meter, waiting as the balls moved slowly, slowly toward the threshold line, and then, they stopped moving entirely.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Pandora. Just as she was about to turn away, her father stopped her.

“Now, Pandora,” said Santana, with a twinkle in his eyes. “It isn’t like a Claus to lose Christmas spirit — especially on Christmas Day, the day on which our powers become the strongest. You’ve got time.”

“I’m an idiot,” said Pandora. “I should’ve just let Boreas freeze Jack before. All I did was waste everyone’s time.”

“You’ve still got time,” said Befana, turning Pandora around, so they were both facing the tube.

Pandora leaned on the side of the platform and sighed.

“And…you’ve still got one more book,” said Avery softly. “There’s still one more story. One more couple. And…I have a feeling I know what couple you wrote about.”

“Perchta and one of the Yuletide Lads? A reverse harem tale?” asked Krampus, to which Avery replied with a glare. “Sorry! Oh. Oh.”

“I had to make the ending up,” said Pandora. “But maybe that’s all that ending is meant to be — made up. It’s all just a silly girl’s fiction, a story she’s telling herself because…because she knows it’s a fairy tale.”

Pandora watched the tube.

“See? The fire magic is getting weaker,” said Pandora with a sigh.

“Uh…Pandora, it’s not,” said Krampus.

“It’s falling, and the ice magic ball will probably fall next,” said Pandora. “See? The distance between the two increased.”

“The fire magic isn’t getting weaker,” said Santana. “The ice magic ball is rising. The ice magic is getting stronger, Pandora. It’s working.”

“It-it is?” asked Pandora. “Holy fruitcake, Dad. You’re right.”

Pandora watched as the top of the ice ball reached the bottom of the marking on the tube…and then, the ice ball started to rise quickly through the tube. Pandora could barely see it through tears. Her legs began to turn to jelly.

“Go to him,” said Santana, getting down on his daughter’s level. “Here. The one with the racing stripes. You can’t miss it.” Santana pulled the keys to one of the golf carts out of his pocket.

“Thanks, Dad,” said Pandora, giving her father a quick squeeze, and then, bringing in everyone for one hug. “Thank you, everyone.”

Pandora broke the hug and shot down the stairs, nearly tripping, as she was wearing her boot slippers instead of her tactical delivery shoes. As she descended the stairs, she watched the tube. The ice ball and the Christmas ball were both rising, and, suddenly, the ice and Christmas balls shot up, breaking the top of the tube!

The ice forming the tube didn’t shatter. Instead, rivers of white and blue magic poured out of the palms of the ice elementals, magic pointed at the machine, as their eyes glowed with their renewed elemental powers. They formed a new taller tube of ice around the magical fluids, kept in place by none other than Boreas Winter, whose eyes and palms glowed brighter than anyone else’s.

Pandora found her dad’s golf cart in the mess of golf carts and other vehicles used at The Workshop. Of course, it was the one with the racing stripes on it, in red and green, with the words ‘Slay Belle’ on the side. Pandora put her key in the cart and started the engine, hoping the cart would have enough horsepower to push the other vehicles out of the way.

That question would go unanswered, as the cart didn’t move forward, at least, not at first.

It moved up.

Pandora put her hands on the wheels and directed the golf cart to the empty hallways of The Workshop. She traced the same familiar path that she’d traced over the last few days, revisiting Jack in his icy coffin. She flew down the halls faster than her feet could’ve carried her and landed right outside the freezer room.

Pandora opened the door to the freezer. She was a Claus, a bear shifter (technically a panda, but, it still counted for something), and it made her, of all people, shiver. She made her way to the glass box containing Jack, in his white shirt, his jeans, his sneakers, his eyes closed, a small smile on his face.

Pandora looked for a latch on the box and couldn’t find one.

“Of course,” muttered Pandora, turning away from the glassy coffin and looking for a tool to use to break open the ice. “Boreas must’ve made this himself…so he wouldn’t have needed to put a latch on it, given he can just melt this stuff at will. There has to be an ice pick around here somewhere…”

“Now, why would a nice girl like you need an ice pick?” asked a familiar voice, a voice she’d been worried she’d never hear again. “You trying to kill me for the insurance money or something? Because you know…”

Pandora turned around and put her hands to her face at what she saw.

Jack had stepped out of the ice coffin, the front of which had turned to slush. He wasn’t standing in front of her. No. He was on one knee, with a ring box propped out, containing an icy blue diamond cut into the shape of a heart.

“Jack,” said Pandora, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry, I was just trying to find a way to get you out, and —”

“I was kidding,” said Jack. “But, as I was saying…if you’re trying to kill me for the insurance bucks, you’d have to be married to me to get it, so, what do you say? Wanna do things in the right order and get hitched, sweet cheeks?”

Pandora kept crying. “You know…that’s not the proposal I imagined, but, I’ll take it. Yes, Jack. Yes…I’ll marry you.”

Jack slid the diamond ring onto Pandora’s finger and stood to kiss the tears off her cheeks.

“Why…why did you have a ring?” asked Pandora.

“Because I knew that come Hell or high water, I was going to propose to you by the end of Christmas Eve,” said Jack.

“It’s Christmas Day,” said Pandora.

“In what time zone?” asked Jack. “Because…it’s not yet midnight down at The South Pole.” Jack flashed his watches to Pandora. He had on two watches — one marked N, for ‘The North Pole,’ and one marked S, for ‘The South Pole.’ Both were ‘digital’ (really, magical) and used military time. The one for ‘The South Pole’ said it was still around eleven — at night.

“Jack, you always find a way to win, don’t you?” asked Pandora.

“This time, you did,” said Jack. “So…how did you do it, Pandora?”

“I…I just made people believe in ice magic again, so that you wouldn’t have to be frozen again,” said Pandora, walking out of the freezer room with Jack.

“Oh, you ‘just’ did that?” asked Jack. “And how exactly did you do that?”

“Remember those journals you gave me?” asked Pandora. “How, every year…you gave me a new one, to use for whatever I wanted? Well…I used them to record all the wild things that happened in my life, including the fun we had down at The Wreath, pairing up all those couples, and the drama that happened with everyone else — with Krampus, my dad, your dad, and…”

“And?” asked Jack.

“And…with us,” said Pandora. “The journals got turned into romance novels, and those were distributed around the world, and…well, all twelve books got read, by a bunch of people, so now, there are all these people out there that believe the elementals are real.”

“Twelve books?” asked Jack. “So…let me see. There were eight bad boys we helped matchmake. There were Krampus and Avery. There were your dad and Befana, my dad and Ginny. Who’s in book twelve?”

“Uh…me,” said Pandora shyly, leaning against the wall near where she’d parked the golf cart. “And…you.”

“And how exactly did that story end?” asked Jack.

“I’m so embarrassed,” said Pandora with a laugh. “You can find out later, after we, y’know, let everyone know you’re o-frikkin’-kay.”

“Everyone…starting with me, right?” asked a deep voice.

Pandora and Jack looked. Boreas and Santana were in a golf cart of their own.

“Dad!” said Jack.

“You know, you should keep that one,” said Boreas, getting out of the golf cart. He lumbered over to his son and squeezed him tight.

“You know…he kind of plans on it,” said Pandora, waggling her ring finger.

“Congrats, kids,” said Santana. “When’s the wedding?”

“Dad!” hissed Pandora. “I haven’t exactly had time to think about that!”

“Uh-huh, sure,” said Santana, winking at his daughter.

“Mind if I steal my son?” asked Boreas.

“All yours,” said Pandora.

Boreas and Jack walked to the golf cart that Santana and Boreas had ridden down to the freezers and got in and drove off.

Pandora got in the passenger seat of ‘Slay Belle’ next to her father.

“So…he finally proposed?” asked Santana, starting the cart.

“Yup,” said Pandora. “Can’t believe it happened.”

“Took him long enough to do it,” said Santana. “I gave him the dang ring back on the twelfth. Thought he would’ve popped the question that day.”

“Wait…you gave him the ring?” asked Pandora.

“‘Course I did,” said Santana, flying the cart down the still empty halls of the Workshop at an unholy speed.

“Wow,” said Pandora. “I don’t know if you remember, but…all those years back, I gave the eight bad boys from Nuthusk gifts to open, and each of the gifts they had contained an engagement ring. Guess it had to be chance, huh? My gift summoning powers only let me make what people need or want — or both — and every time, it was a ring.”

“Yeah, well, I pick what I give folks,” said Santana with a chuckle. “Trust me — I don’t want any ol’ guy proposing to my only kid, you know?”

“Dad, you’re really the best,” said Pandora. “Thanks, for everything — and especially for saving Jack.”

“I told you, hon — you got yourself to thank for that,” said Santana, stopping the car in front of a set of double doors.

“Aren’t we going to go meet the others?” asked Pandora, confused. “This isn’t the main ballroom — this is the real ballroom, the fancy one.”

“We are meeting the others,” said Santana, turning off the golf cart. He got up and took Pandora by the hand and walked to the double doors, which magically opened as he approached.

Pandora took a step into the ballroom and looked around, eyes wide. The ballroom space had been transformed into something out of a fairy tale…or out of a romance novel. There were garlands strung up around the room, with tulle details hanging down from the ceiling, soft candles lighting the space, being illuminated by none other than Ginny. There was a giant cake being topped with a ceramic wedding cake topper of a curvy gal and a hunk of a guy, placed on top of the cake by Avery, who was standing on a stepladder steadied by Krampus. At the front of the room, there were two familiar faces — Boreas, in a suit, standing behind his son, who was in a white tux with an ice blue tie.

“It’s just like…” started Pandora, eyes welling with tears. “It’s just like the ending of the last book, the ending of Miss Claws. It all ended with…a perfect wedding, just like this, with my friends, my loved ones, my family, my Jack…and they’re all here.”

“Oh, dear, here,” said Befana, coming up beside Pandora with a handkerchief. “You don’t want to get tears all over your nice dress.”

“My nice what?” asked Pandora. She looked down. Her pajamas had been transformed into a white silk dress with a sweetheart neckline, a green velvet sash, and red rose embroidery all along the cupcake-style skirt.

“Just like you wanted, right?” asked Befana, waving her hand and transforming Santana’s duds into a formal suit.

“So this isn’t a dream?” asked Pandora.

“I don’t think vows are legally binding if they’re in a dream,” said Santana, winking at his daughter. “Now, you wanna call this off, or…?”

“This is the best Christmas gift you could’ve ever given me,” said Pandora. “There’s no way I’m running away.” Pandora started walking down the white cream carpet that had been rolled down from the altar to the entrance of the ballroom. With every step, Pandora watched Jack’s face. They had a pair of twin smiles on their faces, big goofy grins, and finally, as Pandora reached the altar, and a Christmas elf officiant rang a set of jingle bells to silence the crowd, she looked deep into Jack’s icy blue orbs, reached out, and took his hands in hers.

“We’re gathered here today because…well, the love between these two is nearly immeasurable,” said the officiant. “They’ve waited long enough to get married…and we’ve all waited long enough to see them get married. Jack Frost. Do you take Pandora Claus to be your wife?”

“I do,” said Jack. “Pandora…every day I’m with you, I feel reborn, renewed, like a new man. When I first came to The North Pole with my dad, he said he wanted me to learn the true meaning of Christmas. I didn’t get why – after all, it’s not like he liked Santana. But…every year, you and I helped people learn the meaning of Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas, was different each year, but that the one thing that stayed the same was love. That’s the true meaning of Christmas. Being with you, it’s like every day is Christmas Day.”

“Pandora Claus, do you take Jack Frost to be your husband?” asked the officiant.

“I do,” said Pandora. “Jack…I’ve known I’ve been in love with you for years, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Nothing has felt more natural than being with you, and nothing has felt more right. You’re the only person I could imagine sharing my life with — all the time and everywhere, not just during Christmas at The North Pole. I told you how I’d written a book about our romance, how I’d had to come up with our own ending…well, I thought it ended with a wedding, but now, I see that the wedding is really just the beginning of a happily ever after, with you.”

“Then I think you two know what comes next,” said the officiant. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now have a very Merry Christmas.”

The officiant pointed up to the ceiling. There was a huge kissing ball, made of holly, mistletoe, and ivy, hanging in midair.

Of course, Pandora wasn’t about to break tradition and not kiss Jack underneath the mistletoe.

Jack pulled Pandora close, his ice-cold hands on her warm, thick waist. He leaned down, and Pandora got on her tip-toes to reach Jack’s lips, brushing her lips against them…and then, without even trying, she floated up off of the ground so her head was level with Jack’s and she could smooch him more comfortably.

The crowd clapped, hooted, and hollered for the newlyweds.

She was flying like a frikkin’ sleigh! Jack tried to pull her back down to the ground, but it only caused him to float up next to her, the pair kissing in midair and softly spinning before coming down to touch the ground again. Jack’s shoes touched the ground, but Pandora’s heels didn’t. As they fell back toward the ground, Jack had moved Pandora so that she was nestled in his arms, so, when gravity kicked in again, Jack was carrying Pandora in his arms, walking her over the threshold of the present, from their past into their future.

“And where exactly are you taking me, Mr. Frost?” asked Pandora.

“To your happy ending,” said Jack, pulling Pandora in for another kiss.