Winter Dream (Bernard the Elf x Reader)

Chapter 15- Ice Skating

After I officially moved to the North Pole, things changed for the better.

Dad for one seemed to finally be genuinely happy. He loved helping the elves in the workshop, flying with the reindeer, and frequently spending time with me. I hadn't seen him this joyful since before he and Mom got divorced.

The elves were also thriving. They all adored my Dad and me, and as always, they were ecstatic about building toys and getting ready for Christmas.

I also noticed a drastic change in Bernard. Over my years of living at the Pole, I began to see that Bernard was lightening up and bit, and he was way less stressed than he had been when we first arrived here. I believed that it was a mix of Dad being such a good Santa compared to the Santa before him, and me.

Bernard and I were still together, and we were deeply in love with one another. To our delight, Dad eventually approved of our relationship once he realized how much we cared about each other.

And me? I had never felt happier. I had a loving boyfriend, a caring father, and an entire community who accepted me as I was. Dad homeschooled me at the North Pole when we first moved here so I wouldn't have to go back to my old school and face my classmates again. After I graduated from my high school classes, I began to work full-time as the North Pole's Mage.

As I practiced and perfected my magical abilities with Bernard's help, we found that I had extremely strong elf magic-much stronger than the magic Bernard was even capable of using. It didn't take long for me to be appointed as an official mage by Santa. I would use my magic to help with various tasks around the workshop, protect the Pole from being discovered, and even heal injured elves. It was a job that had never been done before, but it was important all the same. I loved it.

I also tried to visit Mom, Charlie, Neal, and my new stepsister, Lucy, whenever I could. Charlie was growing up fast, and he'd often tease me saying that one day he'd be older than me since I stopped aging (another side effect of being an elf). Although they all treasured my visits, I could tell they missed my dad, too. His trips down south had been getting more and more infrequent, and I could tell Charlie was extremely upset by this fact.

Overall, life was amazing. Before I even knew it, eight years had flown by.

:-:-:-:-:

I giggled as Bernard guided me through the snow. "You'd better not let me run into anything."

"C'mon, Snowflake. You know I'd never let anything happen to you." Bernard's gloved hands firmly held my own.

Bernard had planned a date for the two of us, and he even convinced my dad to let him take the day off of work so we could spend the whole day together. Bernard wanted today's agenda to be a surprise, so he had me put on a blindfold so that I couldn't see where we were headed.

Finally, we reached wherever it was that Bernard was taking me because he let go of my hands. "You can look now." He gently spoke. I could hear the excitement in his voice.

I slowly removed the blindfold and gasped at what I saw. We were at a frozen pond, tucked away in snowy willow trees. The ice sparkled in the morning light, reflecting rays of sunshine onto the patches of pure white snow. My eyes glimmered from the beautiful scenery.

It was completely untouched. Nobody had ever been here.

"Oh, Bernard...it's stunning..."I gazed at the winter wonderland in awe. "How'd you find this place?"

Bernard winked at me. "I have my ways."

I chuckled. "How mysterious~"

The elf smiled, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He opened his satchel and pulled out two pairs of ice skates.