She felt a light chill touch her face, bringing her out of her sweet slumber. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw when she opened her eyes. A boy around her age was actually floating over her, and he was touching her face. His ice-blue eyes flew open in surprise when she gasped, and flew out the window. She rushed to the window, just in time to watch him disappear into the clouds.

The next day, she told her family of her encounter with the pale boy. "I know it was Jack Frost, mother, it couldn't have been anyone else!" she said for the umpteenth time since she began her story. "There's no one else I know who can be as cold to the touch as him!"

Her father harrumphed, "Well Rapunzel, if you ever see him again, tell him to stay away from you and your siblings. I don't want my children frozen to death."

"Father, I don't think he'll freeze us, he didn't last night," giggled Rapunzel.

"I would like to meet him," piped up Rapunzel's younger brother, Jaime.

"Me too, me too!" giggled little Sophie, the youngest of the family.

Their parents glanced at each other, and their mother nodded. "Very well then, as long as he doesn't let it get too cold," their father sighed.

"Father, it's not like he's a wild dog, and I really don't think he'll freeze us. Remember, I said that hee didn't last night," remarked Rapunzel.

"That's true, but that would be my only condition, even if it is one that he already abides by," came the reply.

"Yes, Father," the children chorused.

"Alright then, there's still a lot that needs to be done to be ready in time for Christmas, so we'd better get started on things. Rapunzel, get started on that knitting. Jaime, you'll help out your father with the presents and the cards."
Sophie interrupted, "What about me, mommy, what about me?"
Her mother picked her up for a hug, "You'll be helping me with the grocery shopping today, Sophie."
"Yippee!"

Everyone laughed. "Also, after dinner, we'll do some more painting, alright, Rapunzel?" Her mother smiled knowingly.
Rapunzel returned the smile, "Sounds great, mother!" The family then separated to tend to their assignments. Later that evening, Jaime and Sophie were tucked into bed, while Rapunzel finished on her painting in her room. Her mother noticed that it was of a boy she had never met, and figured it was the spirit of winter, Jack Frost.

"Is that what he looks like?" she asked Rapunzel.

Without looking up, Rapunzel replied, "Yes, or well, as close as I can get, I saw him at night so the colors won't be accurate."

"It looks good nonetheless, Rapunzel. And from your painting, he looks like a nice fellow, rather handsome too, if I do say so myself," her mother grinned, which got wider as she noticed the slight blush in Rapunzel's cheeks.

"I guess he is handsome, I hadn't really thought about it before," muttered Rapunzel.

Her mother chuckled, "Well, as soon as you finish this, it's off to bed, alright? Remember, you'll need all the rest you can get, we still have a lot to do in preparation for Christmas."
"Alright, I'm almost done anyway, so it won't take long. Goodnight mother," Rapunzel hugged her.
"Goodnight dear, sweet dreams." Her mother gave her another hug before leaving her to finish the painting. Rapunzel spent some more time on the painting before sitting back, pleased with the end result. She placed the picture next to a glass cage, from which she took out a lizard.

"Well Pascal, what do you think?" she asked, showing off her new piece to her little friend.

"I think it looks really good." She gasped and swirled to see the owner of the voice. There he was, perched on her window-sill, the palest boy she had ever seen. He jumped into her room and approached her. "Considering there was no light in the room, you did a pretty good job." He grinned at her.

"Uh, thanks. Um, Father says that we may talk as long as you don't bring the temperature down too low," she began.
"Really?" he raised his eyebrow.

"My father doesn't want us frozen to death," she replied, rather meekly, not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings. But he only burst out laughing.

"I won't freeze you, I didn't last night, but I shall respect your father's wishes. I'll stay by the window if he's so worried about it." Still chuckling, he flew back to his perch on her windowsill. His face then became gloomy, "I just hope I can still do it from here."

"Do what, and why were you in my room last night, anyway?" she asked.

"To answer both of your questions, I was chasing away nightmares. I'm a Guardian, and that's what we do," he replied.
"Oh, really? Well, thanks. We? Who are the other Guardians?"

"You know them already, Santa Claus, the Man in the Moon, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman, and Mother Goose. We're the Guardians of Childhood, we protect children from bad guys like the Nightmare King and his minions."

"Really? All of them are Guardians too?" she asked in amazement.

He nodded, "Yup."
"Wow, amazing! Who's the Summer Spirit?"

He blinked, "Say what?"
"You're the spirit of autumn and winter, isn't there a spirit for spring and summer?"

He shrugged, "The only one I can think of is Mother Nature."
"But she's in charge of all the seasons, you have only autumn and winter."

"That's true. Huh, now that you mention it, I don't think there is a specific spirit for spring and summer like me, Mother Nature just took care of all of that. So, I guess you could say that Mother Nature is the spirit of spring and summer."

"But she's not one of the Guardians?"

"No, I don't think she's gotten back to Man in the Moon and Santa Claus about that. I'm sure they've asked her, but they haven't heard anything from her."

"You know the Man in the Moon and Santa Claus?" exclaimed a voice from behind Rapunzel. Jack and Rapunzel looked at her doorway, there stood her younger siblings in their pajamas.

Jack chuckled, "Yes, I do, as well as the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, Mother Goose, and the Tooth Fairy. May I ask, who are you?"

"Oh, these are my younger siblings, Jaime and Sophie. Jaime, Sophie, meet Jack Frost," said Rapunzel.

"Cool," said the two.

"We'll be visited by Santa Claus on Christmas, Jaime and I want to stay up and see him," stated Sophie.

"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea, it could slow Santa down. And it wouldn't be as big of a surprise then, now would it?" Jack grinned at them.

Jaime groaned, "But I want to see Santa. I want to meet all of them."
"You know, we could, if you wanted," began Jack.

Rapunzel glanced at warily, "What are you getting at, Jack?"

"Santa called for a meeting of the Guardians tonight, why don't you come with me and meet them? I'll have you back here before your parents know you were even gone. What do you think?"

"Yes! But, how are we getting there? We can't fly!" said Jaime.

"Jaime! We need to ask our parents before we go anywhere! They need to know that we'll be alright!" exclaimed Rapunzel.

"We can leave them a note, besides, Jack said that he could have us back here before they wake up. Please Rapunzel, I don't want Jack to be late to his meeting, and this is too good a chance to pass up!" pleaded Jaime.
"Please Rapunzel," added Sophie, the two grabbing onto her hands.

Rapunzel sighed, "Alright, fine, but you two should get dressed. I'll write the note while you do that."
"Yay! Thanks Rapunzel!" The two took off towards their rooms while Rapunzel got a sheet of paper and wrote on it.

"You know, this will probably get us all into trouble," remarked Rapunzel.

Jack chuckled, "Well, I am a Guardian, it's my job to keep the children happy, so, if meeting the rest of the Guardians will make their day, then that's what I'll do. I'll take the blame, so don't worry about a thing." He smiled at her, then glanced out the window.

"Fine then. By the way, you didn't answer Jaime's question, how are we getting to the North Pole? What are you looking for?" She had noticed he was looking out the window.

He glanced back, "Our ride." By then, Jaime and Sophie came into the room, all ready to go. Jack then motioned for them to come closer. "I'll take you down to the ground, one at a time. And you shall have to do as I say, no questions asked, and no noise, alright?" They nodded in agreement. "OK, Jaime, I'll carry you down first, then Sophie, and finally Rapunzel. I want you to stay where you are until we're all together, alright?"

"OK," they said in unison. He then picked up Jaime, and flew down with him to the ground. He came back quickly and scooped up Sophie, who gave a little giggle as he took her down. While she waited for him to come back, Rapunzel finished up the note and placed it in a spot where her parents were sure to see it. She then slipped on her shoes and grabbed her favorite jacket, Pascal crawling into one of the pockets. She was back by the window when Jack came back for her.
"You ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. He nodded, and picked her up. She was surprised at the flight, it was short but fun and a bit exhilarating. His feet had no sooner touched the ground than they heard some grumblings.

"Ah, they're here, be ready," whispered Jack. The three crouched behind one of the lawn decorations that Jack was standing next to. Then two large furry creatures came out of the shadows opposite of where Jack was standing. "Oh, hey Phil, what's up? Do we really have to do the whole bag thing again?" Jack groaned. One of the creatures made the same noise that they heard before, it sounded unintelligible but Jack seemed to understand that it was saying something. "Oh fine, but this better be the last time. I'm a Guardian, I shouldn't have to be treated like I'm some newbie to some secret society or something. Wait, is that a Nightmare?" The two creatures looked behind them, ready for action. Jack seized the moment and helped the sibling get into the bag. Rapunzel managed to pull Sophie in just in time as the creatures seemed to have turned around as they sounded angry at Jack. Rapunzel grew worried, had the creatures figured out Jack's ruse? "Sorry, but you can never be sure with the shadows. Fine, fine, I'm getting in, I'm getting in." He crawled into the bag with the three, at whom he grinned and winked. Then the bag was picked up, and tossed right back onto the ground, the children spilling out.

"Ow!"
"Hey! Let go of my hair!"

"Sophie, you're sitting on my arm!"

"Get off of me!"
"What's the meaning of this?" bellowed a voice. It quieted the children long enough to look up and see who was talking.