This waking nightmare lingers...

This had to be a nightmare. This could not be happening... The sky was dark with clouds, reflecting how much of a nightmare this was for the frost spirit who stood on the branch of a tree that was on the outskirts of the cemetery. He couldn't be dead. This had to be some cruel joke of Pitch's, but the Boogeyman hadn't been seen since his defeat a scant ten years before... Jack wanted to cry. He wanted to sob out, to do anything... something as he watched his friends and his best friend... his lover's mother hug each other as the casket was lowered into the ground. He couldn't breathe. Jamie couldn't be dead. His first believer... not now... he was too young... far too young. Jack felt like he was going to suffocate. With a harsh, near soundless cry. The winter spirit leapt into the air and was whisked away by a brutal wind, the same wind that had whipped away the words of the priest who had spoken over the coffin while friends and family had wept. Jack couldn't bear to see it any longer, the red eyes of Jamie's surviving friends who believed in him... Pippa, Cupcake, Caleb, Claude... even Mark, from college. Jack wanted to believe he was caught in an illusion, something from Pitch... at least that would be bearable... He could deal with it being a nightmare, but no... It was a waking nightmare, he couldn't escape it. He flew as far and fast as he could.

1 year later...

Winter, for the southern parts, was a rather mild one and many people wondered about it. One individual, however, wondered more than others when the winds of October were cool, but not as cold as they normally were. Her dark green eyes, that many mistook for brown, searched out a good place to sit on a park bench. Her chestnut brown hair was tugged lightly by the wind, but it wasn't that which she was paying attention to as she saw something seem to fall from the sky. Without a sound or hesitation she was on her feet and sprinting towards the fallen... was that a person?! Did the temperature just suddenly take a nose dive? She ignored all this though as she skidded next to the prone being who just lay there, she stared at the white haired teen who seemed to be wearing only a blue hoodie and tan trousers that were definitely not from this age. Her eyes were wide with wonder and disbelief, she bent down and lightly touched Jack's shoulder.

"Jack?" Her voice was soft, but the boy didn't stir. With great care she rolled him over, she recognized him from the movie that had come out about the Guardians ... what was it... ten years ago? Something like that, she shook the thought away, having instantly recognized Jack for who he was. She watched as brilliant blue eyes stared up at her, they were dull with pain, but not physical pain. That much she knew, Jack was immortal after all. There was a faint spark of disbelief and surprise in those eyes as well. Though those two faded quickly enough. The woman glanced around, she had just turned 20 that year; a college student, no one was going to believe that Jack Frost had crashed at this small park in a city that wasn't even on the state map. Without a second's thought, though she would be grateful later that the tiny park was empty of anyone other than herself and Jack, she scooped him up. Picked up his staff and went off to the red chevy that was parked along the side of the road. This particular park was small because it was meant for neighborhood kids and was right next to an apartment complex, the only apartment complex in the entire town. Jack didn't protest when she put him in the car and he could only stare at how she managed this without dropping him or his staff; she seemed to handle the thing with a sort of reverence that was lost on Jack at the moment. The winter spirit's frost crept along the seat and the nearby window but she didn't complain as she settled into the driver's seat and buckled herself up. In a matter of a few minutes she'd arrived at the white house that was in a country-like setting though it was too close to two different cities to really be called a proper country area. Jack wondered, if only briefly, if this was part of his nightmare... and if it was how was this bad? This woman, who seemed to know him, but he didn't have a clue who she was, had no trouble in taking him home and setting him on a bed with a thin red cover. She'd set his staff nearby, against the wall and had left him alone when his eyes had closed. He wanted this to be over, to wake up next to Jamie. To tell the boy how silly this dream was before stealing a kiss and flying off to spread more snow.

When Jack opened his eyes again, he found that he wasn't where he'd hoped. He felt heavy, like he was being weighed down by something. Even his eyelids felt heavy. The woman came in when he groaned in pure pain. This wasn't happening... Why couldn't he wake up from this nightmare? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was the wind dropping him over some park... The woman settled at the foot of the bed, he looked up at her as he sat up on his elbows, his eyes went wide when he realized that the woman was looking RIGHT at him instead of through him and suddenly he realized she'd brought him here... wherever here was...

"Um..." Jack muttered, not sure what to say.

"Are you feeling better?" There was genuine concern in the eyes that made him flinch because it reminded him so much of Jamie. He looked down at the covers he was lying on.

"I... yeah..."

"It's happened... hasn't it?" There was a quietness in her tone and when Jack glanced towards her he saw that there was something of understanding sympathy in her eyes. She just seemed to know. He didn't have to mention it, he didn't have to confirm his greatest fear and pain... That Jamie was... He nodded slowly. Unable, unwilling to put to words what had come about. He wasn't sure if he was grateful or pained that she moved to wrap her arms around him, pulling him into a sitting position against her. Jack closed his eyes, she was so like... He felt pain lance through him and a sob rose in his throat. The woman just held him until he stopped shaking, until he all but exhausted himself and all his tears. He had wanted so badly to cry it all out and somehow being with this gentle soul who had taken him into her home had made it possible.

"I'm sorry... for the mess." He murmured once he finally had stopped.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I am only sorry that it had to be this way. That it came before it should have." Jack pulled back, a puzzled look on his features; his eyes were still dulled by the pain but now curiosity seemed to rise.

"H-how... who are you?"

"My name is Kari. I'm not what you'd call your average person. That's how I've been able to see you, how I could bring you here. I'm a believer Jack." Jack did a good impression of a fish. An adult believer? What were the odds?