Page 131 of Velveteen vs. The Consequences of Her Actions

“By coming home with us,” said Tag firmly.

Santa looked at them and sighed. “Is there anything I can say that keeps you from attacking me?” he asked.

“You can tell us where to find Aurora,” said Velveteen.

“Anything else?”

“No,” said Polychrome.

Santa was quiet for a long moment, looking at the gathered heroes. None of them had ever been on the Naughty List, despite various attempts by The Super Patriots, Inc. to put them there. They were good people, fighting consistently to make the world a better place. He could fight them, absolutely, but the boundaries of his own nature would limit how much damage he could do. They’d probably level half the village before someone was seriously hurt. If it was him, Christmas would be ruined. If it was one of them, he’d have violated the laws that governed his existence.

He took a deep breath and sagged. “Head to the north,” he said. “As far as you can go. Her mountain will be waiting for you there. You’ll make the journey faster if you take some of my reindeer: they’re in the stable behind the house. I don’t think you’ll bring her back to me. But if there’s a way to bring some version of her back to the world, well. Part of me is still enough of a father to think the world deserves her.”

“I’m her friend, not her father, and I think the same thing,” said Tag. “If we can bring her home, we will. You have my word.”

Velveteen’s snow bear snarled.

“That’s all I can ask,” said Santa. He went back inside, leaving them alone. After a moment of puzzled silence, they walked around the house to find the promised reindeer, leaving the picturesque street behind.

* * *

Getting the Princess in her ball gown onto a reindeer was surprisingly easier than doing the same with Torrey in her corset. But eventually, they were all mounted and following Velveteen to the north, leaving the village behind.

Her snow animals grew in size and number as they rode, her snow bear becoming part of a sloth, while a pack of wolves arose out of the white and paced alongside the unbothered reindeer. Tag looked at them anxiously, riding as close to Velveteen as he could manage.

“Uh, Vel, honey?” he said.

“Yes?”

“Why are you making snow beasts? How are you making snow beasts? Are they going to attack us?”

“Not unless you do something to provoke them,” said Velveteen calmly. “And as to how I’m making them, this version of the Winter is heavily influenced by children’s media. Which means that if you catch a handful of falling snow and look at the individual snowflakes, they have faces. Every single one of them. If it has a face, I can animate it. I’m just using my environment.”

“That’s…wow. This place was really made for you, wasn’t it? Toys and snowflakes with faces.”

“They thought I was made for them,” said Velveteen. She kept her eyes on the horizon. “They tried to woo me for my entire childhood, and when I finally agreed to give them a chance, they hurt me. They were going to make it so I could never wake you up. They…I can’t talk about a lot of what happened during my audition, but they weren’t kind to me, and they aren’t being kind to Jack, and they wouldn’t be kind to you. Don’t let them convince you otherwise.”

“I wasn’t gonna,” he said. “I was more concerned you’d change your mind. I’m not pledging eternal love or anything, but I thought we were going to give us a chance. Rescuing Jackie comes first, but after she’s home, I want to do ordinary couple stuff. See a movie, bake cookies, fight crime. You know, normal people things.”

Velveteen laughed. “Neither of us knows how to be normal, do we?”

“It’s okay. None of our friends know how, either. We’ll be fine.”

She smiled warmly in his direction. He smiled back, and they rode on that way until the mountain appeared in front of them. It came out of nowhere, literally appearing where there had been nothing a moment before. The reindeer seemed unsurprised, and continued plodding gamely on, surrounded by Velveteen’s army of snow creatures. The sky overhead was a tangled web made from ribbons of light, so bright that they were almost like daylight.

“This is us,” said Velveteen. She urged her reindeer forward, stopping and sliding down when she reached the base of the mountain. The others followed suit, and she turned to walk toward the mountain itself. “Over here.”

“She’s starting to frighten me,” said Victory Anna. “Is she starting to frighten anyone else, or am I the only one with the sense Epona gave the little white horses?”

“That second thing,” said Polychrome. “I love you, baby, but Epona hasn’t given me anything.”

“Untrue,” said Victory Anna. “She gave you me. I am more than sufficient godly gift for any one woman. To ask for more would be unreasonable, and the gods frown upon unreasonable demands.”

“I love you so much,” said Polychrome. “But you are ridiculous sometimes.”

“I am aware,” said Victory Anna chipperly. She slid off her reindeer, frowning as her booted feet sank into the snow, then offered her hands to Polychrome, who slid down to take them. Hand in hand, they turned to follow Velveteen and Tag.

The Princess, now momentarily, uncharacteristically alone, looked around at the frozen landscape, then down at her own manicured hands. “I wish I may, I wish I might,” she said, voice a sweet whisper against the winter wind. “Please, Jack. Be waiting in that mountain. I just want to bring you home.”