Again, she walked through him as if he was nothing. Why didn't she just believe, it was as if she were blocking him out. Everything she heard and saw pointed to his existence, yet she refused to see him. Even with other humans, she kept them at arms' length. This reeked of Pitch, even if he had been gone for a little more than a year.

Jack couldn't stay any longer; he had other places to be. He had also promised Jamie a short visit. Taking up his crook, the winter spirit bid farewell to Una. "I'll be back soon."

In a blast of ice, Jack had taken to the skies. Slowly, Una turned, her eyes sweeping the streets. A whispered plea passed her lips, going unheeded. "Don't go."

She had heard his farewell, clearing a bloody bell that's for sure. Una wanted so badly to see him, whoever it was. Returning her attention to the sidewalk, she kicked a ball or dirt ridden snow across the pavement. He said he would be back, the question was did she want him pestering her again? Though in some of the words she caught, Una felt a certain curiosity and kindness in them. Perhaps he didn't want to hurt her, maybe he was like some of the voices she'd heard in the past. The ones that made her feel happy and hopeful not like that voice that coiled around in her head while she slept, the voice that she hadn't heard in a little over a year.

Glancing up at the skies, Una took a guess as to what time it was. She had promised her Mom that she would cook something wonderful for dinner. A careful smile formed on her ice chewed lips, Una loved to cook and bake. Perhaps tonight, to apologize for the smashed phone, she would make chicken scaloppini, a very rich dish of angel hair pasta, chicken, artichokes, cream, lemon juice, mushrooms and cappers. Yes, that sounded amazing right now, she'd have to go to the store though. Perfect, she could take care of the shopping. This in mind, Una raced home. Of course, she would have to take the bus to get to the store and back, there was a line that ran by the house almost every thirty minutes.

Within the span of fifteen minutes, Una was riding the city bus further into town. Shopping list folded neatly in a worn messenger bag that served as her purse. Seeing her destination in sight, she leaned back and pulled the metallic cord and watched as the digital lettering at the front of bus flashed 'stop requested.' Hopping off the bus, Una walked through the parking lot of the grocery store, breathing a sigh of relief when she went through the automatic doors.

Snagging a red basket from the entrance, she ventured forth into the store, making for the aisles that held the ingredients she needed for dinner. Extracting her shopping list, she scanned it. Right now, Una was in the veggie section, inspecting a small tub of fresh mushrooms, Every once in a while, she would pick them up, give them an examination and perhaps a sniff to check for mold. Finding a carton that was suitable to her liking, she tossed it into her basket, carrying on into the fruit section. After a good few minutes of glaring at bananas, she found a decent bunch and added them to the basket.

The shopping trip took a good hour and a half. In that hour and a half, Una had found some sense of peace. She had been busy with picking out top notch food that all thoughts of that voice had been given a honorary spot in the back of her mind. After getting the rest of the groceries, Una was waiting in the checkout lane, flipping through a tabloid. At last, it was her turn to pay. Setting her basket on the counter, she began to unload her shopping to be scanned. "Well, well, hello Uno."

Her head shot up, looking into a pair of slate grey eyes. "It's Una, Carrie, it's always been Una."


Author's Note: Oh dear, it would seem that we have met Carrie. What will happen?! You'll find out in the next chapter. Anyway, so I'd like to take a moment and thank you, my dearest readers for your reviews, messages, alerts, and favorites in this story. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be this popular. I seriously thought it was very...Uncreative because it felt like a lot of people were doing this kind of story... But I guess it's different enough to achieve such a huge audience.

Also, again I wanted to put out there that I have another Rise of the Guardians fic going with another OC by the name of Fable. Who is a knowledge spirit that came to be in the 1700's. I have a very interesting story in mind for that fic, including Fable's past life story. So give that a look, and tell me what you think of it so far.

Thank you for reading, and all that, keep reviewing!