Find me now...

Before I lose it all...

I'm crying out

Rescue me

Show me who I am

'Cause I can't believe

This is how the story ends...

Jack landed on the roof, it felt like it had been forever since he'd visited Kari. She was a woman now and the roof he was landing on wasn't the same one he'd landed on three years ago. She'd moved in with her boyfriend and he'd been happy for her. Still, try as he might to find Jamie he hadn't had any luck. Although he'd seen her just a week or so ago, it might as well have been years. Several years had actually gone by since Jack had become friends with the young woman. She was 29 now and although he hadn't a chance before, Jack was going to keep his promise. He breezed in with another tenant of the apartment, not wanting to open the door since there'd be no explaining that; there were cameras after all that watched the doors after all. It was a nice neighborhood and although Kari hadn't formally introduced the two of them, since Alex wasn't a believer, Jack knew all about him. He liked the teenager who seemed to have captured his friend's heart and reminded Jack a little of Jamie in how the boy was always doing the unexpected just to make her laugh. Seeing her happy made Jack happy, even if it didn't last once he was away from her. Today though she wasn't working so Jack, who'd spied her work schedule last week, had made a point to come and visit her today. Kari was sitting on the couch, laptop on her lap as she worked on a story about Jack and Jamie; she had gotten the story first hand from Jack and was putting it together as she wanted to share it with as many people as possible though she knew good and well she couldn't publish it outside of on a few websites that allowed for "fan fiction" although this wasn't what she was writing.

Aside from children, who in their right mind would believe that Jack Frost was real or that the story she was writing was all about the frost spirit and his love for his first believer? It wasn't easy getting it down, but it helped plenty that someone else had the imagination to have gotten very close to the truth of what had happened without actually having met Jack. The winter Guardian had been surprised when she'd showed him the comic on the site she'd found it on called Deviant Art. Jack had to admit that while the artist's renderings weren't entirely accurate, they had certainly come very close and the story had come even closer. Kari had only shrugged it aside, saying it was coincidence really and that since most people who visited the site had good imaginations it was only a matter of time that one of them would create something that would be close to the truth without even really knowing it. The knock at her door surprised her and so she set the laptop on her seat before going to see who it was. Seeing it was Jack, she grinned a little and opened the door, she didn't say anything until the door closed though; wouldn't do for anyone to think she was crazy.

"Hey Jack! How's everything?"

"Hey Kari, it's okay I guess."

"Still no sign of Jamie huh?" Jack shook his head, his smile only wavering a moment.

"Anyway, I thought you might like to join me on a special trip."

"A special trip?" Jack stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a snow globe.

"I always keep my promises." Kari's eyebrows raised and Jack shook the snow globe, almost whispering "North Pole" to the globe before tossing it to the floor; a swirling portal appearing and before Kari could think to even open her mouth, as her eyes widened in surprise, Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the portal. The change of scenery was a stark contrast to the apartment in that what had been a small, cramped and quiet place the workshop was big, noisy and there was plenty of room to move around... if one didn't take into account the numerous elves that were constantly under foot. Kari gaped at the colorful place around her, Jack floated nearby with a grin plastered on his face as he watched the woman in front of him dissolve into a child again. Her eyes gleamed with wonder and awe, a quiet giggle escaping as an elf rammed into another and the two began to bicker over what was essentially nothing; several elves crowded around her ankles, staring up at her in wonder with their wide eyes, as if they'd never seen a human before.

With an agility that Jack had seen a few times, Kari weaved away from the elves without once stepping on one.

"Come on! The others are waiting!" Jack did a loop in the air, earning a laugh as she followed the winter spirit from the hallway.

"I thought elves made the toys, not yetis." Jack laughed a little.

"Yeah, I think everyone thought that. North just lets them believe it." The last part was said in a hushed whisper so the elves at her feet didn't hear and Kari just giggled. Jack couldn't help but grin at the fact that she seemed to take amusement in the elves almost as much as he did. He led her to the fireplace that was off in the alcove away from the globe of belief. Kari had gaped a little when she'd seen the giant globe but she hadn't stared for long as she'd heard North's booming voice.

"There he is! Jack! And visitor! Good to see you Kari!" She smiled a little shyly when she caught sight of North, but there was still wonder gleaming in her dark green eyes as she took in the huge man that was North, whom she'd known all her life as Santa Claus.

"You must be North. It's good to finally meet you!"

"Is good meeting you." North said with a beaming smile.

"Hey mate." Bunny said with a smile and Kari smiled back.

"Oh gosh! It's so good to finally meet you! How are your teeth?" Tooth asked and didn't give Kari a chance to answer as Tooth closed the distance, thrusting her fingers into the woman's mouth.

"Ah well... I see you don't have any new cavities... and you still have that brace... well, you at least do a good job of keeping them clean now."

"Tooth." North said and Tooth's hands dropped back to her side, the colorful fairy looking embarrassed.

"Sorry." Kari laughed.

"I knew you liked teeth, Tooth, but I didn't expect you to be that obsessed with them." Tooth tried to smooth down her feathers, flushing a little.

"It's nice to meet you though." Kari turned from the flustered fairy to the golden man who was floating next to North. Kari moved over to him and knelt to his height, startling the shorter Guardian who was used to floating up to meet the gaze of others, but Kari just smiled.

"You must be Sandy." Sandy grinned suddenly, nodding as several pictures floated overhead. Kari chuckled.

"Slow down a little please, I'm not that good at charades." Sandy seemed a little embarrassed for a moment before repeating the symbols over his head a little slower than before. Kari beamed as she seemed to quickly get the meaning of each.

"It's nice meeting you too." Sandy beamed, seeming overjoyed and happy with himself that she seemed to understand him.

"You understand Sandy?" Jack asked, rather surprised; the other Guardians seemed just as surprised at this but Kari didn't notice as she shrugged, glancing at the frost Guardian.

"I've done some studying in my time that has had to do with pictures in place of words so I get most of what he says. I am going to guess that you don't have a clue." Jack shook his head.

"Even after all the time I've spent with him I still have trouble with it. I hadn't any idea the first several times we met before I became a Guardian. I'm still learning how to understand him."

"Well, I don't think it's that hard... at least not in a general sense. I'm just used to filling in the blanks. I had one friend who I spoke with constantly who didn't speak a word of English and the translator on the email jumbled up everything he said because of course English and Spanish don't translate well though they are pretty close. I had to unscramble everything in my head when I read his emails and fill in some blanks that the translator just couldn't puzzle out. Sandy's symbols aren't really that hard to get, although I guess I haven't seen all the symbols he uses so I wouldn't say I'm more than maybe a novice at it." Sandy seemed to agree, flashing a few symbols that included an image of himself, a plus sign, an image of Kari and a smiley face.

"Yeah... I'm not sure I got that at all..." Jack said apologetically.

"He's just agreeing with me." Kari said and Sandy nodded.

"Geez, I could definitely use your help at meetings then, I don't understand half of what he says." This made the others laugh a little, including Kari.

"Yeah, well... I can't say how long I'd be useful or how well." Jack winced a little, but didn't let it get him down as he shrugged to hide the wince.

"Even so, better than nothing." Kari nodded and her eyes went wide as she suddenly stumbled as if she had no balance. Jack was right there to catch her.

"You okay?"

"Er... yeah... I donno what that was all about." It passed and no one thought anything more of it as the group talked adamantly about the past and Kari even helped build and paint a few toys with the yetis while snagging cups of eggnog from elves who were carrying trays about. She laughed when Jack froze the floor, sending a few elves with cookies sliding across the floor into yetis. Jack loved the sound of her laughter, he wished he could do this more, but he still had to find Jamie too. For the moment, spending time with her let him forget that not everything in the world for him was okay; let him forget that he'd spent nine years looking for his love and best friend without finding even a trace that the other was indeed a spirit... that he was following hints of a dream from one friend to find another.