VELVETEEN PRESENTS JACQUELINE CLAUS vs. The Lost and the Found #4
“Well, he’s a pretty cool dude.” Action Dude looked at her sympathetically. “I don’t know what any of that stuff you were saying before was about, but I’ll listen, if you want me to.”
“No, that’s—” Jack stopped. She’d been talking to Jackie’s friends since she’d woken up tucked into a bed that shouldn’t exist, in a world that shouldn’t have been hers.
She’d been trying to cope with the internal clash between two sets of memories, one that felt lived and one that felt like a story about a woman she wished she could have been.
She knew she should have been. “I don’t know where to start. ”
“What do you mean, you broke the rules?”
Jack looked down at her hands. “The Seasons…we’re not as nice to the people who work for us as we are to guests, and when Vel came to Winter, Papa wasn’t in charge of her trials.
” But he hadn’t been Papa then, had he? He had still been Santa, the Big Man, blessedly distant from the frozen home she’d shared with her parents.
The dissonance between memory and what she felt she should remember burned.
“The person who was, she wanted to be absolutely sure that Vel was strong enough to do what Winter needed. She didn’t pull any punches.
She didn’t take her time. Vel was going to die.
She was going to freeze to death and die, and it was going to be Winter’s fault, and… ”
And there would have been no more visits to the Calendar Country for Jackie, not until enough time had passed to put all Velveteen’s friends and allies in the ground, because they would never have forgiven her for letting Vel freeze.
That was a selfish motivation. Maybe if that had been what moved her, she would have been okay.
Maybe if she’d thought to cling to that, her hands would still have been cold, her heart would still have been frozen, and she would have still moved in a comforting spray of snow.
But Vel had been Jackie’s friend. Vel had been important to her. In the end, she had acted selflessly, against the wishes of Winter, to save her friend, and it had killed her.
Jack sighed. “It doesn’t matter, I guess,” she said. “I live here now.”
Action Dude frowned. “I have, like, no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure you just told me that you saved Vel’s life. Did you save her life?”
“I guess.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “Whatever you need from me, ever, you’ve got. For the rest of our lives.”
“What?” Jack stared at him. “I didn’t do it because I wanted a reward.”
“I have two ex-girlfriends. They’ll both tell you that having me offer to be your errand boy is less a reward and more a cosmic punishment of some kind. But I’m still offering. Thank you. For saving her. Even if I don’t quite get how.”
“Jack?”
They both turned toward the sound of the Princess’s voice. She was standing at the top of the tower stairs, a solemn expression on her face.
“Vel’s awake, and she’s asking for you,” she said.
* * *
The Night Shift was good at her job—all her jobs.
She could have run a hospital emergency room without anyone’s help, and had, under extreme circumstances.
When Jack and Action Dude followed the Princess back into the recovery room, Velveteen was sitting up in her bed, the sheet still wrapped firmly around her, exhaustion in her eyes.
She blinked at the sight of Action Dude, looking nonplussed. Then her attention moved to Jack, who tensed, waiting for the yelling to begin.
Instead, Velveteen smiled. “Jack,” she said. “Hey.”
“Hey,” said Jack, stepping around the Princess and starting for the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just lived three years in less than a week, and did most of it without a pulse.” Velveteen’s smile turned wry. “I think I scared the Night Shift.”
“Sometimes nurses need a good scare,” said Jack.
Velveteen nodded. “I guess so,” she said. “Jack…”
Here it comes, thought Jack, tensing.
“You saved me,” said Vel. “I wouldn’t have made it out of Winter without you. Come here.”
Jack went to her, and if the people watching assumed that her tears were joy and relief, well, that wasn’t her fault. Telling them that they were wrong wouldn’t have changed anything, and so she didn’t say anything at all.
* * *
It was three days before Velveteen was strong enough for mirror travel.
Jack wasn’t the only one who accompanied her to the North Pole.
The Princess was there as well, and three instances of the Night Shift, and Polychrome, Victory Anna, and Action Dude, all of whom glared at anyone who suggested that they might be unnecessary.
The Seasons had stolen Vel away from them once.
They weren’t going to let it happen again.
Velveteen leaned heavily on Jack and the Princess as she walked, with the Night Shift following close behind, clucking about how she shouldn’t be out of bed.
Together, the group walked to the Hall of Mirrors.
The doors were closed. The steps were full.
Santa Claus and the Snow Queen; Hailey Ween and Scaredy Cat; the Persephone and Lady Moon.
All of them looked to Velveteen, waiting to hear what she would say.
“None of you,” she said, in a voice as worn-out and weary as the rest of her. “I choose none of you. I’m going home.”
Santa Claus smiled. Persephone nodded. Hailey Ween scowled.
“Then you’re free to go,” said Santa Claus. “The Seasons thank you for your service.”
“Fuck you all,” said Velveteen. She turned to go, and Jacqueline Claus, daughter of Santa, heir to the North Pole, was there to help her home.
At least one of them was going home.