A snort left the young man as he dusted himself off, brushing off the dry autumn leaves brought by the wind that had cowardly struck him in the back, causing him to tumble through the air.

It was the same story every year; it had been the same way for as long as he could remember. There he was, trying to speed things up a bit, yet this... Thing kept getting in his way. Who liked autumn anyway? It was fine with a week of it, but it couldn't even compare to the joy and beauty of winter. What was better than waking up to realize that the bleak and dull world of autumn had been turned into a fantastic winter wonderland?

"I just don't get it, North. Why would someone stop me from bringing winter? Even if it is a bit early." Jack huffed with a displeased look on his face, seated on the banisters of North's office balcony. The doors were wide open, and it was a mild day, even for the North Pole. A bellowing laugh left the large old man as he stepped out onto the balcony, his wide palm patting Jack's back far too hard, almost causing him to lose his balance and fall off the edge.

"You are guardian now, still you not see the parts we all play?" Looking down at the younger guardian, his bushy eyebrows were raised in curiosity of the others' answer. Jack rolled his eyes, swinging his legs over the edge of the balcony to face the office and North instead.

"Of course I do!" He spoke with a motion of his arm, throwing it up before it slumped back down into his lap, timed perfectly with the sigh that he let out. It was not a sigh of sadness, but of frustration.

"Fun, Wonder, Hope, all of those things, I get it!" He wasn't able to say any more as North simply shook his head.

"No no no no... No. That is not what I mean!" Gesturing towards the wide icy landscape of the north pole, Jack wasn't entirely sure what his fellow guardian was doing.

"Not just guardians, Jack." Putting his large hand on the banisters, he leaned most of his weight on them, and his arms.

"They are all out there, must like you were." Jack snorted with a smirk, rolling his eyes.

"You mean hated by Bunny and unseen by all?" That lured another thundering laugh out of the man and he stood straight to drum his hands against his belly.

"Very good!" Jack smirked slightly.

"But no." North put his hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, his blue eyes watching the others' closely.

"I mean spirits, Jack. You, the spirit of winter, you thought there was only you?" Frowning, Jack glanced up at the man before raising an eyebrow.

"No, I guess not. I mean, I've never really thought about it. I knew you guys existed, so I suppose I sort of... Assumed that there were others like me, who weren't... You?" Now it felt as though he was confusing himself, pointing a hesitant finger at North. North grinned widely and threw out his arms, seemingly overjoyed at the others' answer.

"And you were correct!" Yet again, he stroked his arm along the horizon.

"They are there, in the world, doing their duties. They-"

"Like, other seasons or something?" North's mouth thinned out to a slim line as he lowered his arms, harshly turning his head to look down at Jack with scolding eyes. The young man raised his hands, mouthing the word sorry before circling his hand, as a sign for the other to continue. Bowing his head, North smiled and looked out towards the horizon.

"Not only the other seasons, Jack. Holidays other than Easter and Christmas are out there. Americans with their Halloween, Scandinavians with their Midsummer's Eve, there are spirits for all holidays!" He threw out his arms in what seemed like sheer joy, before turning to Jack with his body lowered, a finger held up.

"But not only that. There are spirits for everything! Everything anyone has ever believed in. Everything that humans gave name, it exists!" Grinning widely, he straightened up, his fists pressed against the sides of his belly in a proud pose.

"Man in Moon chose them, gave them destinies." Jack's nose scrunched up slightly in a frown as he looked out over the ice for a few moments, only to turn his attention back to North.

"So who keeps messing with my winter?"

"Aaaaah.." North seemed to search for the words while taking a deep breath, leaning on the banisters, which creaked in protest of his weight.

"That, would have to be Nature. Mother Nature. The younger." Giving a firm nod, he turned to head back into his study, his heavy steps causing the shards of ice on the floor to jump and tremble. Jack flung himself off the banisters and into the room, the wind he caused closing the balcony doors.

"Hey! Hang on!" North stopped, looking back at Jack with a quite obviously fake surprise.

"What is it? Something else? Hm?" The way that his otherwise low rumble of a voice had gone rather high-pitched told Jack that there was more to this.

"What do you mean, the younger Mother Nature? Is there another one?" Narrowing his eyes on his fellow guardian, a strange sensation of suspicion rose in his chest, stirring like the restless waves of a stormy ocean. North barked out a laugh, his hands on his belly.

"Another one! Another Mother Nature, good one!"

"Come on Santa, tell me." Leaning on his staff, he watched the uneasy man with a small smirk. It was enjoyable and amusing to watch this otherwise sturdy man squirm in order to avoid a subject.

"Well... Yes. There is another one. But! We shall not speak of her, bad luck." Raising en eyebrow, he had more curiosity than what North would satisfy, however, he let it slide.

"Alright then, I won't talk about the... Old one, which is what I assume we should call her?"

"I don't know if old is the right word but... Bah! Let's move on!" With those words, North practically kicked the doors of his study open, walking out of the room, with Jack following him.

"So who's this... Young Mother Nature person? Is she like, one of you guys?"

"Hah! One of us!" Realizing how rude he had sounded, despite the laugh in his voice, North cleared his throat in order to calm himself.

"No, she is not, one of us. She is like you! Or, how you were." Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Oh so Bunny does hate her and she's unseen by all?" Chuckling lowly, North put a hand on Jack's back, shaking his head.

"No, and yes. Bunny does not hate her, but yes, like you, no one sees her. It seems that nature is not something many believe in. Not in that sense, at least." Snorting lightly, Jack glanced to the side as though offended.

"So she messes with my winter but not with Bunny, and that's why she doesn't hate her." Glancing up at North, Jack was clearly looking for verification, something that he did not get. Instead he got an arm wrapped around his shoulders, crushing him into North's body, the man laughing.

"No no! You jump to conclusion, Jack." The man loosened his grip, causing Jack to gasp for air, a hand gripping his hooded sweater around the area of his heart.

"Easy! I'm immortal, not unbreakable."

"Sorry, Jack. But anyway, no, Mother Nature does not take sides. She balances the seasons, nurtures the plants, guards the animals and insects. If winter comes too early or stays too late, she will do something about it. It is the same with the other seasons. She helps them start, or forces them to end, to keep balance between them." Jack let out an amused laugh.

"If that's the case, I've snuck one by her once!" The triumph in his voice was evident as he flew up on top of the globe of belief. North smiled as he glanced up at Jack, having a feeling of what this victory had been about.

"Let me guess; Easter of 68?" Jack sat down on his heels with a mischievous grin, staff in hand.

"Easter of 68."

The story of this spirit of nature had intrigued him. There was still much for him to learn as a guardian, and while it was mostly a bother when Bunnymund felt the need to lecture him about things he simply did not care for, this was the sort of thing he could enjoy.

Detective work.

Naturally, he had no clue of where this Mother Nature person resided. In fact, all that he knew about her was that she liked to whip winds of autumn or spring at him when he was either too early, or overdue. Thus, that was the way he was going to lure her out. He was going to cause a very early snowstorm without compare, in the middle of October. Looking down at the innocent city he had randomly chosen, he gripped his staff. Only three days had passed since his last encounter with the scolding winds of Mother Nature, so surely she wouldn't sit still if he stirred up the snow now.

"Here we go!" Letting the wind drop him, he dove towards the city, only for the sharp wind to catch him a split second before he hit the ground, steering him through the streets. The winds were brimming with swirling snow, pulling dark clouds with them to cover the skies. Scraping his staff along the pavement and concrete of buildings, frost formed and spread like wildfire, causing people to slip and cars to dance like ballerinas down the streets. Laughing amusedly, he ducked under a truck, flowing over the cars behind them, frost attacking every surface it could cling to.

"Yeeeeehoooo!" People of the city were running inside or clutching their caps and hats to their heads, wrapping their scarves more tightly around their necks as the blizzard tore through the many streets. Jack's fun was cut short as a sudden, vigorous wind flung him in a spiral up into the air as it collided with his own, causing a small hurricane. Startled, he gripped his staff tightly, his eyes flickering, head snapping back and forth as he turns around in search for the culprit. Already was his newly fallen snow beginning to melt, and he clenched his teeth. He wasn't going to give up that easily, he was going to see this Mother Nature. It was one of his fix ideas, he was curious and he wished to satisfy that curiosity, and until that had been accomplished, Jack was not going to rest. Sending a bolt of frost, then another, and another one, up into the dark clouds, the snowfall became thicker and more violent, resisting the warmer winds of autumn.

"Winter's coming early!" He grinned, seeing it all as a contest, a simple game where the most tenacious one won. Diving once again, he didn't get far until another gust threw him straight back up, dispersing the dark clouds to allow the sun through. It was more difficult than he had expected it to be, figuring out the origin of those winds. The fact that there were plenty of places to hide in a city like this didn't exactly help him. Was Mother Nature a coward, or was he just that bad at finding her? The trees seemed to simply shake of the snow, or at least it seemed that way with how his precious snow was sliding off every single branch, melting as it touched the ground. Gripping his staff with both hands, he let out a shout of frustration as he swung it, a violent wind tearing its way through the city before it was stopped by a large gust, the snow and autumn leaves causing another large twister in a collision of seasons.

"I told you not even a week ago that winter's not bound for at least another month!" Jack's head snapped to the side before he turned around, had she seriously found him first? Not that he had made any attempt to hide, but it still stung. However, once he laid eyes on her... His shoulders slumped and he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. She wasn't even facing his way!

"Even for you, this is a bit much!" A huff left her as she put a hand on her hip, looking around. He was good at hiding, she had to give him that. There was even a brief smile before Jack spoke.

"Talking to me?" Her body jolted with surprise and she almost dropped her staff, and as a reaction she hugged it to her chest, turning around abruptly to stare at the male. Jack grinned teasingly as he glided over on his frigid wind, floating right past her on his back, arms behind his head.

"What is it, cat got your tongue?" Feeling superior only due to the fact that he had spotted her before she had spotted him, there was a victorious twinkle in his eye. He had won the contest, hands down.

"What?" her eyes followed the young man, who looked nothing like how she had imagined the spirit of winter to look. She had imagined someone much more regal, someone older, a child, a white steed or buck, but winter was... This guy?

"You're winter?" There was disbelief in her breathless voice; clearly the surprise had knocked the air out of her, or something along those lines. Running a slow hand through the chestnut curls of her hair, she watched him closely.

"Yep, that's me. Jack Frost's the name."

"But you look so normal!" He froze mid-air, the suave expression replaced by one of astonishment at her sudden remark. Frowning, he pointed at her with his staff.

"Says the most normal looking one out of the two!" Inhaling sharply, she gasped before looking down at herself, only to let out a light laugh.

"You're, actually right about that." Jack blinked as she admitted to being wrong, only to frown a second later. Was she for real?

"What had you expected me to look like?" Rolling her shoulders in a quick shrug, she innocently glanced around.

"Oh, you know, an ancient being of grace and poise with a childlike attitude towards deadlines. Or a deer." Raising an eyebrow, he kept watching her. She was, sadly, for real.

"A white one." She added, nodding her head with her arms crossed over her chest. Chuckling lowly, Jack leaned back in the air, grinning slightly.

"You've had a while to think 'bout this, I assume?"

"Way too long, really." She felt as though she should be scolding him for causing such chaos when he wasn't due for such a long time, but this was the first time in surely over 400 years that she had gotten to have an actual conversation with another person. Him not being a deer or horse was probably to prefer.

"So, uh..." She stumbled over her own words, unsure of what to do. How did one carry on a two-way conversation? She had only ever spoken to the wind, the moon, humans and animals that were never to hear her voice.

"What brings you here, with your blizzard..?" Be nice, she thought to herself. This is your one shot at having an actual acquaintance. Managing to smile, she looked over at the guardian, rubbing at her arm lightly.

"Actually, I wanted to know who's messing with my winter, so, I decided to lure you out once North told me it's you." A short gasp sounded before she puffed out her cheeks with a displeased look on her face.

"I do not mess with your winter, you mess with autumn! Autumn may be slow and steady, but, that doesn't mean you can run over it like this..!" Raising his hands in a peaceful pose, he let out a laugh.

"Easy, easy! I get it, it's cool, it's you job, I get it." Grinning, he fell a few meters before floating over to a rooftop, landing on it. Compelled to follow, she landed on it as well, algae-like moss sprouting from underneath her feet to spread across the roof. Never before had she been this nervous, this anxious. It was on the edge of impossible to rein in her powers. It didn't matter who had stood before her, a toddler would have been just as intimidating as this youngster. I suppose it's not fair to call him youngster, he looks older than me... Holding her staff with both hands, she was putting more of her weight on it than she realized, her knees feeling a tad weak from the overwhelming experience. Jack noticed that she didn't seem quite up to par with her flushed cheeks and stubborn expression, as though she had a difficult time accepting that this was actually happening.

"So, what's your name?"

"Lucy." It slipped out of her before she could even react. Perhaps it wasn't correct but it was what the darling twins had called her for so many years, and she had become fond of the name.

"Is that it?" Blinking, she looked at him, caught unawares by the extra inquiry.

"Do I need more than that..? I suppose my name is Mother Nature, on top of that, does that count?" Jack smiled in an attempt to put her at easy. Was this a high-strung girl or what.

"Sure, I suppose that counts." Breathing a sigh of relief, her lips curved in an honest smile.

"I'm still going to call you Lucy though."