"Lucia?" Jack cried into the frigid air.
"Child! Control yourself!" a voice familiar to Jack bellowed into the wind.
"Yuki-omba! Yuki anesa!" Jack smiled as he flew down lower. Beneath the frozen cherry trees were two girls, one far older than Jack while the other was only a year or so older in her looks. They could easily be mistaken as cousins with their pale almost translucent skin color that easily blend in with the snow. The only real difference was their dark as coal hair color that grew down their backs and their Kimono's showing royalty and elegance while his torn garments showed little care for them.
"Greetings Jack," the younger greeted bowing slightly.
"And to you," he said returning the bow. He quickly stood tall once again, "Have either of you seen Lucia? She wasn't with the Kings. And she wasn't in Scandinavia."
"Lucia is probably resting. Those Kings are a needy group of men. Always telling her to do chores and the like," Yuki-omba complained.
"Yeah but it's Epiphany. And she hasn't opened her gifts yet," he complained crossing his arms. Yuki-omba gave a sweet and strangely warm smile while Yuki anesa giggled.
"Tell me Jack, are the guardians partaking in the holiday?"
Jack blinked for a moment before his eyes grew misty, "No. I mean, North's tired from Christmas, Sandy and Tooth are always busy and Bunny is getting ready for Easter so there really isn't any time."
"So you didn't get them anything?" Yuki anesa questioned. Jack sent an indignant look her way.
"What? Of course I did!"
In fact at that moment at the Pole…
North was sculpting ice in his workshop when he noticed a small, neatly wrapped gift, on the corner of his desk. The paper was a brilliant scarlet with a light blue bow. He reached over and picked the package up, wondering who he had forgotten to deliver it to. He read the tag carefully to discover his own name.
"To North
-Jack"
North blinked before opening the package. He let out a warm hearty laugh as he pulled out a small toy. It was little doll in a bag. With it, there was a note.
Tell the doll your worries and place it under your pillow. Tomorrow they'll be gone. Trust the Guatemalan Worry Doll.
In hind sight, the toy reminded North of Tooth. But she wouldn't dream of anything under the pillow but a quarter or a tooth. But the toy itself made north wonder, why today? Was there something special about today?
"Phil! I am going out! You're in charge," he yelled. He heard the Yeti groan about having to watch the idiotic elves but knew he was more than capable. And North had a Spirit of Winter to find. Little did he know, there was a smiling face outside his window at that declaration. A soft sigh escaped a small mouth. Candles flickered as the person disappeared.
…at the Warren…
"Umf!" Bunny cried out. He lifted his head from the grass he had just flopped onto after somehow tripping. How he tripped when he hopped everywhere and knew the Warren like the back of his hand was beyond him. Grunting, he turned his head around to see what had happened to see a giant pastel colored box in various shades of pinks and blues with a blue ribbon on top along with an envelope. The bow was almost as big as Bunny himself. His eyes narrowed and his ears flattened on his head.
"Christmas has already passed," he growled. Walking up to the package. He plucked the envelope from the box and ripped it open.
'Bunny… ENJOY!
-Jack'
"Crikey," he said. His eyes narrowed on the package. He lifted his ears to listen for Jack. If it was a prank, then he was sure that Jack would stick around. But all he heard was his little Googies. He pulled the ribbon carefully and slowly, still listening for Jack. Once the ribbon was undone, the box fell open causing Bunny to jump back. His eyes widened seeing the contents. His mouth watered as he saw the largest cake he had ever seen. And by the smell, it was a fresh carrot cake.
"It's not my birthday," he muttered. His ears went flat again. What did Jack do? He wouldn't suck up to him unless something happened. But then, he normally waited to apologize till after the person found out, so what was this for? He stood up and tapped the ground to search for Jack. He'd have time for the cake later. If he had perhaps had really been listening, he would have heard the quiet snickering of a royal hiding along the cliff side.
…at the Tooth Palace…
Surprisingly enough it was a quiet day. Sure children were losing teeth all the same but it wasn't like the usual rush of teeth coming in at all hours. She actually had time to sit for a moment. She wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth though. She took her time to sit down and drink some herbal tea. She sighed softly thinking about what the other guardians were doing.
It wasn't until one of her little helpers, Baby Tooth as Jack had named her, zipped up to her with a package in hand. Tooth blinked before taking hold of the small bag. It was a light blue bag with a tooth crudely drawn on the side. She zipped through opening the bag when she came across a charm bracelet. One that had a toothbrush and tooth dangling from it. And with the bracelet was a small ring that was labeled for Baby Tooth who quickly slipped it over her neck like a necklace.
"Who sent this?" she wondered aloud. Baby Tooth chirped pulling a note from the bag.
'Yes I am Brushing
-Jack'
Tooth's feathers ruffled slightly.
"Come on girls! We need to go thank Jack!" she said zipping away with a few fairies including Baby Tooth. None of the fairies noticed an "innocent" whistling of a "passerby" dressed in regal garb.
…and Sandy's little hideaway.
Sandy smiled as an older man stepped into upon his golden sand ship. Both remained silent. The stranger pointed toward the back of the deck where an open box lay. Sandy nodded. Symbols flashed above his head quickly. The man nodded in understanding. He gestured to Sandman. Sandman pulled out an hourglass filled with rainbow sand two golden dolphins engraved on the outer wood. The royal smiled. A look came to his face as if to say "Say hi for me".
Sandy nodded as the gentleman left, as quietly as he came. Both understood what Jack had done. Both were a mix of surprised, pleased and happy.
While all this was happening Jack had started a snowball fight between himself, the two snow woman, and a group of children who happened to be running around. That is to say that life was pretty good for the Spirit of Winter, Guardian of Fun. Until he heard the sleigh bells. This was not something he would normally worry about but with the Yuki's giving him rather sadistic smiles, he was pretty sure he did not want North meeting them yet.
"Oh. Someone's in trouble!"
"Heh heh, No I'm not," he said nervously before zipping out of the area to avoid the Yukis and North. If he stuck around with one the other was bound to find him so… "But just in case… LATER!"
With that he took to the skies.
Yuki-omba means snow granny or snow nanny. Yuki anesa means snow sister. These are variations of Yuki Onna or the Japanese Snow Woman.
And Yes, Three King's Day is Epiphany. I just couldn't think of what it was called and my Spanish class had called it both so…