Disclaimer: I do not own the Santa Clause trilogy, nor do I own any ideas, characters, or places from this trilogy. The only character I have claim to is that of Crystal. Otherwise, I own nothing while writing this story.

A/N: Okay, so I wanted to write a story that is kind of 'Christmassy'. In that way, this is my second Christmas-like fanfic (the first one I did was for House M.D., check it out!). Actually, this is the first time I am writing for this trilogy. Still, I hope I do a good job and perhaps the readers can review afterwards and tell me what they think of my story. Beyond that, enjoy the story (and Merry—early—Christmas!).

"The Crystal Clause"

Chapter One: Christmas Trouble

"Crystal, you have to leave. I can't take much more of this…this…tomfoolery anymore." Crys Miller stood with her arms crossed and a clear look of disbelief written on her face. She was standing near the top of the staircase while her mother, Laura Miller, stood angrily at the bottom. Neither one noticed Lucy, who had recently crouched at the top of the staircase to eavesdrop on the bitter conversation. Every now and then, Lucy's eyes would wander to the window where the white winter snow could be seen falling from the dark night sky. Crys and Laura did not notice the white snow; they were busy shooting darts out of their eyes, even though Crys broke eye contact with her mother to roll her eyes dramatically. She couldn't help the smirk that quickly slid over her normally attractive features.

"Tomfoolery? That's the best you can come up with? I'm sure I've done more damage than that and the only word you can think of is tomfoolery?" Laura ceased Crys's ranting with a furious expression. Crys's face returned to its previous defiant look before Laura continued.

"Whatever it is that you do. Either way, I don't want it in my house. I don't want you in my house. In fact, I'm going to make sure that you're gone from this house by tomorrow."

Earlier that evening…

Crys trudged through the white, powdery snow next to her best friend, Rachelle. The two—as usual—were up to no good, and now they were sneaking through the night into the main part of the town. Rachelle led the way—this was her plan, after all—and Crys eagerly followed closely behind her. It had sounded like a good idea at the time, at least up until the time Crys got caught. Still, the two made their way quietly through the darkened streets towards the gigantic tree that was placed in the center of the town and never stopped glowing brightly, even at midnight. In fact, it was the only exceptionally bright object in the town at that point. There were few cars going around that late at night, and all the shops were closed down and completely barren. It was almost a joke to keep sneaking around, especially since there really wasn't anyone to catch the two anyway.

Rachelle stopped next to the towering tree, with all its golden lights and holly. Crys immediately dropped the heavy bag she was carrying over her shoulder. Rachelle gazed up at the tree and then turned to Crys with a mischievous smile spreading over her face. Crys couldn't help but to grin back at her, the details of their secret plan still spinning in her head. You see, Crys was the popularly known mischief maker in the town and, more than that, she wasn't exactly fond of Christmas. Neither was Rachelle. Now, the two faced the decorated tree and felt ready to carry out their plan.

"Ready? This is going to be the best thing we've ever done." Crys nodded enthusiastically before opening the bag. She took out two metal saws, ones that were said to be extremely powerful. Rachelle had stolen them from her father's tool shed earlier that day. Rachelle gently took one from Crys and walked around the tree until she was on the other side. Crys found the other saw and zipped the bag again. Looking back up at the tree, she figured someone must have put a lot of effort into decorating. In truth, Crys and Rachelle would get into heaps of trouble if they were ever caught. Crys felt her stomach drop a bit and she chose to voice her concerns instead of swallow them foolishly.

"Are you sure we should be doing this, Rach? I mean, if we get caught doing this, there's always the option of jail." Rachelle peeked around the large tree and, to Crys, she appeared annoyed by the sudden worrying.

"What, is the infamous troublemaker scared this time? Plus, you won't get caught. Especially if you use your fast escape route. You know, the one that cops don't know about? Well, most of them anyway. We won't get caught." Crys felt the twisting in her stomach fade a little. A slow smile reached her face as she approached the other side of the tree trunk.

"So…you found out about my escape route, huh? How much has Lucy actually told you?" Rachelle started digging her saw deep into the wood while Crys was still preparing to do the same thing. It was only after she began cutting into the tough wood that Rachelle answered in her light voice.

"Well…the only surprising thing she told me was that you 'jump on rooftops at night'. Supposedly, I'm the first one that she's told." Crys sighed and felt a spark of irritation hit her. She was going to have to convince her little sister to keep her mouth shut from now on, even though that was pretty much impossible for a young girl such as Lucy. Crys couldn't help the note of anger in her own voice as she responded to Rachelle's words.

"Yeah, well let's try to keep it that way. It won't look good for me if my little sister is babbling about how I 'jump on rooftops'. Though I have to admit, she is pretty smart if she hasn't told my mother yet." Rachelle's high-pitched laugh was heard from the other side of the tree, followed with the uneven sound of their saws chopping away at the tree. After a half hour, Crys could feel uncomfortable blisters forming on her palms and the weight of the saw was getting to her. It was a relief when Crys felt the saws reach the midpoint of the tree. She took another long glance at the top of the tree and again noticed how high it really was.

"Rach, which way do you think this tree is going to come down? I don't really feel like getting caught underneath it." Rachelle's face came around the tree again and she scowled loudly.

"Will you just stop worrying for once? Trust me; we'll be out of here before it even crashes to the ground." Crys nodded even though Rachelle had disappeared behind the tree again. A new thought came to her mind.

"Hey, Rach, you know that popular philosophy question? 'If a tree falls and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?' Do you think anyone's going to hear this tree falling?" Rachelle didn't bother stopping the process of cutting this time; they were coming so close to getting their task over with. Her voice came from behind the tree after a moment, and Crys imagined she was pondering over that same question.

"Well, we'll just see, won't we? Of course, we'll hear it perfectly. Let's just hope no one else does." At that instant, Crys watched as the tree swayed a little to the right, then to the left. They were almost done and this thing was going to fall hard. Crys felt her saw digging deeper into the wood and, finally, Rachelle stopped and stood back from the tree. She studied the Christmas tree as it slowly swayed back and forth. The tree leaned farther to the right and Crys was sure it would topple right then and there. Instead, it stayed tilted for a minute, but Crys could still see it moving inch by inch towards the blanketed, snowy ground. She stared at Rachelle with a suspicious look crossing her face, wondering what Rachelle was thinking about doing now.

"Now…?" Rachelle reluctantly turned to Crys with a look that suggested that Crys was brainless for not figuring this out already. She grabbed up her saw and threw it into the bag before kicking it back to Crys.

"Now, we run like hell." Rachelle spun around and darted off without checking back on Crys. The tree kept leaning and Crys knew it was time to go. She wrapped her hands around her saw and tugged, but the saw refused to come away from the wood of the tree. Crys felt her heart start to pound as she struggled with the saw again. She couldn't leave it there; she would get caught for sure. Still, that tree was coming close…Crys moaned and hurriedly swiped up the heavy bag, forgetting all about the saw that was still protruding from the huge Christmas tree. Behind her, she heard a deafening crash and she knew the tree had finally met the ground. Now that she thought about it, someone would definitely notice that sound, especially since it was dead quiet tonight. Even so, she shook the realization off and ran as fast as her legs would allow. She headed for one of the dark stores and slipped behind it cautiously. Time for her escape plan.

Her escape route was really an excellent one. Only a few people knew about it, and those people included Crys, Lucy, and now Rachelle. Not even the police had figured this one out. How did they think she was pulling this stuff off at night? Usually, people wouldn't even realize this route was possible for escape unless you already knew about it. It was even more difficult to attempt in the dark. Luckily, Crys had used it countless times. Now, she stood near a thin space that was located between two of the empty stores. She carefully squeezed through the space, which led to a larger section behind the two stores. High above on one of the walls of the stores was a metal ladder. Crys aimed for it and grabbed onto the ladder's rungs, but she ended up dropping the large bag. Looking down at it, she knew there was precious time to waste in going back down for it. Shaking her head, she lifted herself onto the roof of the store.

It was easy for her to maneuver across the roof of the store. Once at the edge of the roof, Crys fearlessly leaped over the gap between the next two stores. Her plan had always been to use this route, especially since—after a few minutes of jumping—she would land a street away from where her house was located. Crys landed the last few jumps over the stores and found another small space in between the last two buildings. She dropped down to the concrete below and, like the original entryway, was forced to squeeze through a thin space that led to the open street. All she had to do was run across this one street and she would be home, safe from any policemen and the fear of getting caught for her Christmas crimes. It was such a good plan…until Crys got caught coming out of the small space, where she bumped into two waiting policemen.

Crys's mother had no choice but to bail her out; unless she wanted it known that her oldest daughter would be going to jail. Crys was dragged back to her house by her furious mother, earning a discouraging lecture on the way home. Crys later found out that Rachelle had set her up to get caught, her excuse being that she was doing everyone a favor by catching the 'troublesome girl that was creating havoc in the town'. Crys had forgotten that the only thing besides Christmas that Rachelle despised was to be away from the spotlight; she always needed the attention and would not sacrifice it for anyone else, including her best friend. So, with her mother angrily starting an argument with her, it was settled that Crys would inevitably be leaving.

"Your attitude causes nothing but catastrophe in this house! I have given you another chance by bringing you back into this house, but now it is time for you to leave, Crystal. I just can't take any more of this behavior!" Laura glared at her oldest daughter, now feeling nothing except contempt for her. She had tried to establish a family relationship with her again, overlooking the last time she had lived in the house and shown a rebellious attitude, and this was the last she could take. Clearly, bringing Crys back into the house did not make any difference to her. Crys stepped down a bit and put on an even more gruesome look, but she refused to say anything. Laura continued, throwing her arms up in annoyance. "I swear, you were born as the rebel child and Lucy was born the innocent child. I don't even get you half the time, Crystal." Now it was Crys's turn to act offended towards her mother, still oblivious to the fact that her sister was listening.

"That's because you literally place a halo over Lucy's head! Every single time she does the littlest thing and it's 'Oh, look at Lucy!' and 'Why can't you be as sweet as Lucy?' You know what? She's completely childish! For God's sake, she still believes that the North Pole actually exists and that Santa will make everything better by bringing her gifts! Guess what? That doesn't ever make anything better! Nothing could make this situation better!" Crys turned to start up the stairs and she caught sight of Lucy, who was now tremulous and appeared about ready to cry. Crys watched as Lucy ran for her room with one arm over her eyes and could almost feel the scorn coming from her mother's eyes. She stormed into her own bedroom and slammed the door hard enough for her mother to flinch. Still standing in the same angry position, Laura came up with an idea about what to do with Crys. Even though Crys was unaware of it, she was going to be taking a lot trip to the North soon. Maybe that would take a toll on her personality. Laura could only hope as the clock struck half past midnight and the snow continued to fall harder than ever.