Winter Dream (Bernard the Elf x Reader)

Chapter 40- Faded

(Yn) could hear the muffled sound of music starting as she snuck through the sectioned-off portion of the workshop, a spot where nobody, not even her, was allowed to visit. Luckily, since Jack's show was beginning, everyone would be preoccupied and no one would know (Yn) was breaking one of the biggest rules of the North Pole. She had always wondered when her husband never allowed her back here. After all, she was his wife wasn't she? What could he possibly not want her to find?

She couldn't seem to get what her father had told her out of her head. "This isn't love, (yn). I know you know that you deserve better. If you want to understand what true love really is, go to the E.L.F.S. headquarters. There's someone in the cell you need to meet. I know I don't deserve it, but please trust me. Just this once."

(Yn)'s mind was abuzz. What did her father mean when he said that her marriage with Jack 'Wasn't love?' Of course, it was love. Jack said he loved her, which is more than anyone else had ever told her. "Why do I even care what Dad says?" She asked herself. "This is the first time in years that he's bothered to talk to me and it's only to tell me that my husband, the man I've been with for over five years, doesn't love me?" She scoffed. "Like he has room to talk."

But then again, if she truly didn't care about what her father had told her, why was she still walking towards the E.L.F.S. room? Whether she wanted to admit it or not, deep down, there was a part of (Yn) that wanted to believe that love was something more than what she had been told all her life...she wanted to believe that there was someone who would love her regardless of whether or not she wore sexy dresses, or curled her hair, or was completely submissive no matter what. There had to be.

As (Yn) reached the E.L.F.S. room, she stared at the doorknob with worried eyes. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on the knob, slowly turned it, and opened the door. (Yn) peeked her head into the room, and glanced around. The room was much smaller than she was expecting, and it was covered in dust from years of not being used. Besides a single desk, a few jetpacks mounted on the walls, and a couple of chairs, the room was barren. It was like nobody had been in there in over a decade. (Yn) slowly walked into the room, glancing around, looking for the person her dad had told her about. She then noticed a cell in the corner of the room and approached it.

A gasp escaped her lips as she noticed an elf was inside the cell, slumped up against the brick wall. There was something different about him. He was taller than the other elves and looked to be a bit older too. He seemed like he was the age of a teenager. He was wearing a green beret over top of his small black dreadlocks. He was covered in dirt, and he looked frail...as though he hadn't been eating very much and hardly went outside. The elf's body was flickering, and small bits of glitter emitted from his body as it did so. (Yn)'s (ec) eyes widened in horror as she realized what was happening...he was fading. Once an elf faded away, there was no known way to bring them back. She had seen it happen to elves who had lost their Christmas spirit, and she wasn't about to let it happen again.

Without hesitation, (Yn) kneeled in front of the cell, and reached her hand inside towards the elf. "Take my hand." She pleaded. "Please."

The elf stared at her for a moment. She stared at him. His brown eyes were dull and emotionless. "Why should I?" He weakly asked.

(Yn)'s face filled with desperation. "I don't want you to disappear."

The slightest glimmer of hope flashed across his eyes. "Y-You care?"

"Of course I do." (Yn) gave him a teeny smile. "Nobody should have to suffer."

The elf slowly stretched his hand out to her, and she gently took it. As their fingers intertwined, the elf stared at her, the smallest hint of a grin spreading across his face. Suddenly, his body stopped flickering. (Yn) breathed a sigh of relief, and she glanced back at their intertwined fingers. She couldn't quite place it, but there was something about his hand that felt...right. "I feel like I've met you before...do I know you?"