Remade

Bernard whistled a tune as he walked across the snow laden ground. It had been four months, four glorious joy filled months since he had finally told Sanya his feelings for her. It was getting closer to Christmas so his workload was becoming heavier, and it seemed yet again like Christmas was going to be a disaster. It wasn't that there was any crisis with the Claus family; it was just the usual behind schedule, toy malfunction, new reindeer, yadda yadda yadda.

But the fact of the matter was he wasn't spending as much "quality" time with Sanya as he had hoped for. Sure he saw her every day, and she even pitched in around the workshop a lot, but still he seemed to be even busier than normal.

"Bernard." Sanya said walking up to him.

"Yes?" he said as he wrapped his arm lightly around her waist pulling her close and placing a chaste but sweet kiss on her lips.

"How late are you going to be working tonight?"

"Don't know probably pretty late, Curtis and me have some things we need to go over about improvements to the workshop."

"Okay, just thought I'd ask." Sanya said her face crestfallen. She loved him dearly and wouldn't leave him for the world, but lately it had been hard to be close to each other as things around the pole went into overdrive.

"Hey," he said lifting her chin, "I'll make it up to you I promise; this season has just been more hectic than usual. But come Christmas Eve I'm all yours."

Sanya smiled and kissed him on the lips, "I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will." He whispered back, "I'll see you later."

Sanya nodded, kissed him one more time before walking away. She had taken a short break and had to get back to work. Bernard watched her walk away and smiled, did he have a Christmas Eve planned or what. He just hoped she didn't figure out what he was planning. And as long as Curtis and Santa managed to keep their mouths shut, as he had asked for their help and opinions.

--

Christmas Eve came quickly, and for once nothing seemed to be going awry. Bernard leaned back in his chair running his hand through his hair. His job was done, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

It was two hours before Santa would be leaving for his yearly ride around the world, and he wanted to head back to his place for a few minutes before he headed out to see him off. He rose 

and grabbed his hat and pulled it tightly down over his head, as the snow started to fall lightly through the air. He smiled as he heard the sounds of Christmas Canon Rock echoing through the streets. The North Pole had gotten a bit of a musical update from Sanya, and one of the main ones was the influx of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

He walked in to find everything set. Fire place all but lit, candles ready, table set, and food ready to be warmed. Bernard wasn't going to fool himself; he knew he was a lousy cook, so he had Judy make something. He changed quickly and began making his way back to the workshop.

"Bernard!"

"Yes Curtis?" He said, as he scanned the room.

"Good luck."

Bernard looked down at Curtis. The kid had been at times the most annoying foolhardy elf he knew, but when it came down to it he was a good guy.

"Thanks." He said with a smile.

He continued looking around and finally spotted her over talking with Santa and Mrs. Clause.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Never." Santa said laughing.

Bernard placed his arm gently around Sanya as he gave her a small smile, before turning back to the conversation. A few minutes passed before Sanya was called away by a few friends.

"Have you told her yet?" Santa asked as they watched her across the room.

"No."

"And you think it wise for her to hear it along with everyone else for the first time?"

"That's the way it has to go. If I told her in person it would instantly lead to questions, and it would ruin the whole plan."

"If you say so, but I'm not going to take any fall out if this goes wrong."

Bernard just gave him an amused smile, as the clock signaled ten minutes till Santa had to leave.

"Here we go." Santa as he, Bernard, and Curtis made their way to the front near the sled.

"May I have your attention please!" Santa bellowed as he stood on the sled. Every one turned not really accustomed to having him really say anything before he left.

"I want to thank everyone here for all the wonderful work that you've done this year. I have to say this is probably one of the best Christmas's we've ever had." At that all the elves started cheering and he held up his hands to quiet them back down

"Yes, it is something you all should be very proud of. But I would also like to take this time to specially thank my number one elf Bernard. Without whom I think I would have been lost these past years, and quite possibly would have been the person to ruin Christmas forever." There were scattered laughs and clapping but most were a little confused as to where he was going with his whole speech thing.

"Unfortunately I will have to do without his guidance from here on out. Our dear Bernard has decided to step down as head elf, and he would like to say a few words."

You would have thought the world had ended; the entire place had gone deathly still as many had shocked expressions on their faces, none more so than Sanya. Bernard looked at her and flashed a small smile as he took a stand on the sled. He hated doing speeches and hoped this one in particular would be over soon.

"Thank you Santa for those kind words." He said looking over; Santa gave him thumbs up, which boosted his courage a little.

"I'm sorry to say that I will be stepping down. I cannot begin to explain how much of an honor it has been to work with all of you. I just feel that it is time I move on to other things. Now I won't be gone for good, I'll still be around to help out but I believe it's time for someone else who has been long deserving of the position. Curtis will be stepping up into my position, and I believe the number two position will be going to Wilbur, wherever he is." Bernard paused looking for the young elf and waved when he spotted him near the back. "Again thank you, and Merry Christmas!"

Every one cheered as Bernard stepped down, right as the clock began to ring out midnight. Santa geared up, as Bernard disappeared back into the crowd. He received a few pats on the backs and we're going to miss yous, but for the most part he managed to keep to himself.

He felt Sanya come up behind him, "When were you going to tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He whispered as he pulled her around in front of him wrapping his arms around her waist as they watched the sleigh begin to take off.

Sanya leaned back, as the sleigh disappeared out of sight.

"You want to get out of here, or stick around for some of the party?" Bernard asked as they kicked of their yearly Christmas bash.

"I think we can head out."

Bernard teleported them right outside his door.

"You know you could have teleported us inside, it is your place."

He shrugged, "I don't want other people teleporting in so it feels weird for me to do it to."

Sanya laughed as he opened the door and ushered her in. Immediately speechless when she saw the place set up for a romantic dinner. Bernard immediately went over and lit the fire and candles, giving the room a soft glow.

"Let me take that," he said helping her out of her light coat.

"And what exactly do you have planned?" Sanya said raising an eyebrow as she walked over to the table.

"A nice romantic evening with the one I love."

She smiled as she gently touched the single red rose in the vase. A few minutes later he appeared with a plate of food and they settled into a companionable silence as they ate.

--

"When did you decide to step down?" Sanya asked sitting down on the sofa beside him.

"A few months ago I guess. I talked to Santa about it and we started to make the arrangements."

"And you couldn't talk to me about it?"

"I told you I wanted it to be a surprise."

"We've been together for a while now; I just would have thought I would be included in something as important as that."

"I know I'm sorry."

Bernard looked down; it had been hard for him not to tell her. She saw it in his eyes and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.

"Don't worry I forgive you."

"Good." He said as he kissed her back.

"Though," she said pulling back, "I would like to know why."

He looked at her intensely, "I did it for you."

"But you love your job I would never take you away from that."

"And I love you, my job kept me away from you and that's not how I want it to be."

Bernard slowly moved off of the couch and began to pull something out of his pocket, as he got down on one knee in front of Sanya.

"I want to be with you every moment, from now on until the end of time. I love you and never wish to be parted from you. Will you marry me?" he said taking her hand as he showed her the ring.

She nodded a lone tear running down her face, "Yes."

Bernard smiled as he slipped he ring on her finger and Sanya pulled him up into a passionate kiss.

--

Sanya smiled as she looked down at her ring, a torrent of happy memories running rampant through her mind. Her train of thought was quickly interrupted.

"Mommy!"

"What is it dear?" Sanya said as her daughter jumped up into her lap. Two dark brown eyes poked out from under a mess of curls.

"Aiden is being mean to me." She said pointing across the snow covered ground toward her twin brother.

"And what exactly did he do?" Sanya asked looking back down at Katie.

"He dumped snow down the back of my coat, and it's really cold." She said shivering to emphasize her point.

"Then we'll just have to teach him a lesson." Sanya said winking at her. Katie smiled as she dropped down and gathered up a handful of snow, Sanya followed suit and they made their way over to where Bernard was watching Aiden; and laughed when she all out attacked him with the snow.

"Hey that isn't fair." Bernard said stepping over, only to get a loosely packed snowball in the face. He turned to Sanya a look of shock on his face.

"What you let him dump snow on her…ergo you deserved it." She said an innocent smile on her face.

Bernard smiled back and bent down.

"Oh no, you don't" Sanya said backing up.

But it was too late, and an all out snowball fight broke out between the small family. About half an hour later they all collapsed on the ground out of breath and soaking wet.

(later that night)

"They're asleep." Bernard said walking into the kitchen, where Sanya was sipping on some hot chocolate.

"It's amazing how fast seven years has gone by." She said as he poured another cup for himself.

"Yeah, it has flown by, but I've enjoyed every second."

"No regrets?" Sanya asked.

"No regrets." He said with a smile as they looked out through the falling snow over the North Pole.

A/N

Ok officially the end!! Thank you to everyone!!