The ice skaters ignored the lights coming from the forest. "Come on, you little monsters. Just one little 'romp' into the woods." The girl, who appeared to be only a few years older than the children on the ice, kept snapping her fingers from the high branches of the tree. With every snap, the lights dancing in the trees disappeared for a second or so before reappearing deeper into the woods.
"Don't you little brats have any sense of adventure anymore?" She was so focused on her attempts that she almost fell from her perch when a voice above her spoke.
"Give it up, Lanie. They're too excited for tomorrow. Talking about what the big man's going to bring them."
Willow glared up at the white haired spirit above her. "That's not my name, numb-brains. After 60 years, I would have thought even you would have caught on."
"And I would have thought you would have come up with a more original name than Willow. 'Will o' the wisp'? Really? The original guy actually was named Will. What's your excuse?"
"Not all of us were handed our names the moment we woke up." The girl cartwheeled down the branch of the spruce tree, grabbing onto the end of it and lowering herself down onto a snow drift. Instead of sinking into the snow however, the young woman's feet, clad in a simple pair of black flats, lay lightly across the ice, not leaving any footprints as she walked down the icy slope.
The boy leapt down in a much more direct way, landing besides her with a burst of wind.
"Aw, leave the kids alone. Just for tonight. They don't need to be scared on the night before Christmas."
"How about instead you mind your own business, Jack?" The two approached the frozen lake, Jack stepping onto it and sliding past a game of hockey. Willow raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you part of the Dream Team now? Shouldn't they be jumping over themselves now that Jack Frost finally came to town?"
"Probably. But I came here to talk to you today." He glided quickly to the edge where the girl was standing.
"And why was that exactly? Rubbing in the fact that Pitch is gone now, thanks to you and the other goody two shoes?"
"I still don't understand what you saw in that creep. Lights and darkness, how was that supposed to work out?"
Willow flushed slightly. "There wasn't anything to work out. He was a friend. A better friend than anyone else ever was to me." She started to walk away. Before she got more than a few steps away though, Jack grabbed her wrist.
"Only because you never let me try. I would have made a great friend. AND I never smelled like a stable." He started pulling her onto the ice, sliding them backwards onto the lake, away from the children.
He didn't smell like a stable at all. In fact, he smelled rather nice. Like the pine trees they had just been in, and maybe a hint of mint.
He slid her closet to himself, brushing a stray bit of hair over her ear. "Lanie, I-" Suddenly a boy rushing towards the puck skated through Willow, and she vanished into a puff of purple smoke before re materializing again with a gasp. The moment broken, she stepped backwards, pushing him away.
"That's not my name, Jack. You may have the luxury of being able to disappear and reappear at will, but some of us are still struggling just to be believed in a tiny bit." She walked towards the middle of the lake, before looking over her shoulder at him one last time. "And don't try to act so serious. It doesn't suit you." Again she disappeared, this time with a small popping noise and no smoke, and didn't reappear.
