Jack was smiling at the children as they rolled around in the snow, when movement from the trees caught his eye. He swiveled his head around to refocus his gaze, but he couldn't see anything apart from the leaves and branches covered with snow.

"Jack!" one of the children called, regaining his attention.

"Yeah?"

"We have to go home now, but promise you'll come play again soon?" the kid's face was full of hope and excitement, emotions that were mirrored on the faces of the other children, too. Jack chuckled, ruffling the kid's hair fondly.

"Sure, I promise."

He waved as they trudged back into town, each child heading to their own house. Glancing to the sky, Jack sighed.

"Again...?" he huffed, grasping his staff and floating high in the air as the wind carried him closer to the Northern lights.

She paused at the base of the frost-covered willow tree. Sitting with her knees pulled up and her head down was a little girl. She had messy brown hair that was pulled back into pigtails and her jeans were splashed with mud.

The child's shoulders shook gently with muffled sobs.

This was one of the times she was thankful for being an exceptional spirit. She'd never really fit in with the other spirits for a reason.

She could be seen.

All the other spirits dreamed of being noticed and having a mortal see them, but she didn't. She could be seen, when and by whom she wished.

It was just one of the many traits the Man in the Moon had given her that made her special.

"Are you alright?" the spirit asked in a soft voice. As she became visible, solid, the spirit's clothes changed from the dress and cape to jeans and a jacket. Trading in her moccasins for boots, she kept the scarf on, as always.

The little girl looked up, a trail of tears sliding down each cheek. Bright green eyes looked at her as the spirit gasped. This was the same girl whose mother had told her about willow trees two years ago. This very willow tree, in fact.

"What's your name?" the spirit asked with a small smile, as she recovered.

"I'm Maggie," the little girl sniffed, "Wh-who're you?"

"My name is Willow," she answered, taking a seat beside the girl on the ground. She used her index finger to brush the tears from the child's cheek, her skin distinctly darker than the little girl's. "Why do you cry, Maggie?"

The girl looked at Willow, her eyes looking glassy. "My step-bro-brother was being mean."

"Oh?" Willow asked, rubbing Maggie's back in slow circles.

Maggie's muscles relaxed as Willow began to sooth her. Maggie had been frightened of the older girl at first. She wasn't used to talking to teenagers; she was only seven herself. But Willow had a calm presence and seemed friendly so far.

"Yeah. He-... he said that Santa wasn't r-real. He said that Sant-ta never came with presents, and that the East-ster Bunny didn't deliver the eggs-s. He said I was a bab-by for-... for believing."

Maggie had the hiccups, so it took her a minute or two between sneezing, sniffling and hiccuping to finish her explanation. Willow didn't once pause in rubbing Maggie's back as she listened.

"Hey," Willow said, gently taking Maggie's chin her hand and facing her, "Believing doesn't make you a baby, Maggie." Lowering her voice, she added, "Want to know a secret?"

Maggie opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was a hiccup. Instead, she simply nodded her head, pigtails bobbing up and down.

"I've seen Santa before."

Maggie's eyes widened as she looked at Willow. All the teenagers she knew had told her Santa wasn't real, but here was Willow, a teenager claiming to have seen the big man himself.

"Really? You've seen him?"

"Mmm-hmm," Willow smiled, running her hand though Maggie's pigtailed hair as the girl stared off into space for a moment. "I saw Santa because I never once stopped believing in him. And guess what?"

"What?"

"I still believe in him, as well as the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, too."

"Don't forget Sandman and Jack Frost!" Maggie added in, her eyes now sparkling in a happy way.

Willow chuckled. "You're right. We shouldn't forget them either."

Maggie stared at Willow. Willow was the strangest teenager she'd ever met. None of the other teenage girls even looked twice at her, and surely they wouldn't have cared if she were crying.

For the slightest of moments Maggie wondered if Willow had claimed to believe simply to make Maggie happy. But looking in her honest silver eyes, Maggie knew Willow wouldn't lie to her like that. Willow was telling the truth.

She believed.

"Willow?"

"Yes, Maggie?"

Maggie looked out at the tree branches that brushed against the frozen ground. "I had a friend once; she was Stacey. She looked kind of like you, with dark skin and light eyes. But she moved away. Will you be my friend?"

"Of course, Maggie." Willow cooed, as the girl hugged her arm, "I'll be your friend."

Willow smiled, not the half smile Maggie had seen before or the soft smile she'd seen when they first met. Willow smiled a full, genuine smile. Maggie stared at her in awe. Willow was already prettier than the other teenage girls Maggie knew. But when Willow smiled, Maggie thought of her mother.

To Maggie, her mother and Willow were the two most beautiful people in the whole wide world.

Maggie hid her face in Willow's sleeve when she thought of her mother. It had been two years since her mother had first taken Maggie to a willow tree and nearly two years since she'd first run to one.

"My mother told me that willow trees were places of comfort."

Maggie nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard that. Those were nearly the exact same words she was going to say. But Willow had beaten her to it.

"That was a long time ago."

"...my mom said the same," Maggie whispered looking at Willow's face. "That was before she died."

Willow stared as Maggie looked to the ground, kicking her feet out from under her.

"I'm sorry to hear that. My mother passed away, also."

Maggie nodded softly, enjoying the presence of her new friend. She felt safe sitting beside Willow under the snow-laden branches.

"Maggie!" a masculine voice called, bringing her attention forward.

"That's my dad," Maggie sighed, standing up and turning to Willow who stood with her. "Will I see you again?"

Willow took one glance at the hopeful look in Maggie's eyes and knew they'd meet again.

"Let me tell you something, Maggie," she said bending down to the little girl's height. "Whenever you want to see me, come to this tree. Do you know what this type of tree is called?"

Maggie nodded. "A willow tree," she said, proud of herself for knowing the name. She gasped. "Just like your name! Willow!"

Willow smiled, "Yes, Maggie. A willow tree. When you need me, come to this willow tree and I'll come to you. Okay?"

"Okay! Bye, Willow!" Maggie giggled, running out from beneath the drooping branches and into the waiting arms of her father. Willow looked after them as the two walked away. She could hear them laughing and see the little girl smiling.

"Goodbye, Maggie."

"Ah, Jack!" a deep voice with a heavy Russian accent boomed as the spirit of winter stepped further into the toy work-shop. "You finally arrive! Just in time, too."

"Hey, North. What's going on?"

"Man in Moon has announcement, big announcement. I feel it in my belly," the big man said, clutching his stomach and jiggling the excess weight ever so slightly.

"Awesome," Jack quipped, perched on top of his staff as two long ears poked in through the doorway.

"Tooth's here now, mate," the over-grown hare said, glancing at Jack and opening the door for the last two members to come in.

"Hey, Kangaroo."

"Yeah, hello to you, too, Frostbite."

After Tooth checks to make sure Jack's teeth continue to "sparkle like the freshly fallen snow" and after she is scolded to keep her hands to herself by North, the moon shines brightly through the square in the ceiling, lighting up a design on the wooden floors of Santa's work-shop.

"What is this?" North says, looking at Sandman who writes a question mark with the sand above his head.

Slowly two shadows appear, one of a child, the other of a very familiar looking profile.

"Pitch," Jack sneers, "I thought we got rid of him."

"Apparently he survived, that's him alright; but who's the child?" Tooth chattered, a few of her fairies buzzing around her also.

"Magdaline Jacobs," the wind whispered as the moon's voice carried to where the five spirits were meeting.

"Alright, Magdaline," North muttered, "always on nice list, I remember."

"But why is she a shadow?" Jack asked. The others shrugged as slowly a white-blue crystal rose from beneath the floor-boards.

"Oh no," Bunnymund whined, burring his whiskered face in his paws, "not another!"

"Another?" Frost asked. He'd never seen this before.

"Another Guardian," the Easter Bunny elaborated, as slowly a holographic image appeared above the crystal.

But the silhouette that appeared was not familiar to any of the current Guardians.

The image was a girl in a long dress, a scarf wrapped securely around her neck. Her jewelry dangled with tear-shaped beads and the figure of a distinct tree grew beside her.

"A willow tree?" Bunny asked and Sandy shrugged, but Tooth nodded.

"Yes, yes, a willow tree! But not just a willow tree!" she exclaimed pointing to the girl beside it. "That's Weeping Willow!"