Her head popped back into the room a minute Later and she gave him a radiant smile.

“Oh, and your suit is here! It's hung up out here in the office.

Everyone's downstairs when you're ready. I'd also take that mistletoe down now if I were you, or enterprising elves might decide to try and take advantage of you!" With a wink that made that last statement more of a promise, Elina swished out of the room again and disappeared.

Santa Claus finished his breakfast, and then went to suit up.

KOK OK OK OK

The suit had been tailored to his build and was quite possibly the most comfortable thing he'd ever worn. As he adorned himself with the familiar garments, he felt the magic start to crackle through him Like thunder. He laughed when he saw the green underpants with miniature, cartoonish images of his reindeer patterned across the green cotton.

After slipping them into place and finding them pleasantly warm and snug, he went about pulling on his socks. They matched the colour scheme of the underpants, but carried images of holly rather than reindeer. A pair of large, red pants were pulled over his strong legs soon thereafter, cuffed at the end of each leg with fresh white fur and soon held aloft with a pair of red suspenders. He pulled a green silk shirt over his muscular chest and buttoned it up, enjoying the sleek sensation of the material on his skin. After tucking in the shirt, he reached down to lift a heavy pair of black boots from beside the fireplace and set one on each foot. Once he was steady on his feet again in the toasty warm boots, he pulled the suspenders over his broad shoulders and turned to where his overcoat hung upon the door frame. It was an enormous, floor length garment made with red velvet and carried larger tufts of soft, white fur along the Lining. The inside was Lined with a slightly darker shade of green silk than his shirt, and as he settled it across his shoulders it fit perfectly. A thick, black leather belt was wrapped around his waist to keep the overcoat in place, and he clasped the golden belt buckle before reaching for the final piece of the outfit. The red hat settled atop his head to keep the tops of his ears warm with its soft, white, fur brim. It was so long that it fell down across his left shoulder, Leaving a fluffy white tuft at the tip to settle over his heart. A couple of holly leaves were placed on the side of the hat, just for added effect.

His time at the north pole had changed him in many ways, but the heart of his power laid in the belief of the symbol he represented. In putting his suit on for the first time, he took on the image of Santa

Claus that people across the world knew and loved. There was great power in that. By the time he left his office that morning he felt Like he could have moved a mountain with a mere suggestion.

When he walked out of his grotto and across the snow covered stone platform to look out over the factory he saw the conveyor belts had been halted and there were no elves to be seen. Even from there he could hear the rumble of noise coming from the stables. Two elves had been left to tend to him if he needed anything, and awaited his arrival at the top of the stairs. When he stepped before them, he greeted each one with a large, festive smile.

“Looking great, sir!" one of them said, giving him two thumbs up.

“Spot on!" the other agreed, adding two more thumbs to his approval rating.

“Ho, ho, ho! Thank you both very much! Now, let's get to it, shall we?"

They both nodded and hopped to it, Leading him down the stairs toward the stables. Upon entering he saw why the room needed to be as enormous as it was. On Christmas Eve it seemed to house almost every elf in the north pole. Each of them passing along presents to the familiar, gleaming red sleigh settled in the centre.

He looked up to see Callie standing on top of the sleigh, balancing herself gracefully on the back of the seat. She was overseeing each brightly coloured gift carefully placed inside the large sack that which took up much of the rear compartment. She wagged her finger at a slightly wobbly Line of elves and they quickly straightened up.

Then, as one by one the elves saw that their boss had arrived on the scene, the entire room fell to such silence that a snowflake could have been heard landing. He didn't say anything right then, but continued to smile at them all before stepping forward towards the sleigh. The elves made way for him, many of them returning his smile with a giddy eagerness whilst others remained reverently respectful.

Upon the sleigh, Callie nearly fell into the seemingly bottomless sack of gifts when she saw him. He didn't look at all Like the big oaf she'd been in service of for over a century. In fact, she didn't think it was possible for two individuals to be so alike in their style and yet so utterly different in appearance.

Now standing at least 6 and a half feet tall, he towered over the surrounding array of pointed hats. His fluffy, white beard descended almost to his belt, and his long hair passed down to stroke against the fur collar of his coat. Still, she could see his bright blue eyes shining with a light all of their own, and looking upon her with such mirth that she immediately broke out into a somewhat goofy and adorable smile.

When he reached the base of the sleigh, he looked up to her and then down over himself.

“What do you think?" he asked.