Well hey there. It has been far too long, but I do have a good excuse as to my reason for getting swept up in the Universe: this Thursday I am moving to Japan for a year, so things are starting to get a little hectic. All the more reason to get this story on the road! If I am not mistaken, this chapter is it (and then an epilogue of course), and I plan to have both of these out before I leave the country.

But I must take this moment to offer a quick thank you to Dominosowner and Alisdair Anhamirak for your wonderful reviews and encouragement!

Let's do this, shall we?

The Fall

Chapter Nine: More Than I Could Ever Ask For

Lex sat cross-legged in the middle of a bed with a polka dot comforter, staring at the swirly patterns of wallpaper across from her. Her bed. Her wallpaper. Her room.

This is…weird, she admitted to herself as she continued to look around the room, overwhelmed by the turn of events of the past two days. I can't accept that the resolution of all of this is to be unceremoniously returned to my parents—

She glanced towards the closed door of her bedroom, thinking of the man and woman downstairs: not to mention a younger sister and an older brother, away at college. My real parents… Lex mused to herself as she flopped back to lay on the bed, They seem kinda weird. She let out a little giggle, wondering what Jack would think if she told him that this father seemed to possess an extreme dislike towards mischief and shenanigans. At least those caused by her younger sister anyway. I'm sure I can get used to this…I think.

She sighed, looking at the window for any signs of winter, despite the mild Arizona-November air outside. Dad, you said you'd come for me…please hurry up, she thought to herself, rolling over to snuggle the pillow. I don't think I can face all of this by myself.

A feminine voice floated up the stairs. "Alex? Dinner is ready!"

Lex rolled her eyes. "Guess I'm gonna have to try," she muttered, steeling herself as she rolled off of the bed, "Starting with that name…" She opened her door and slowly moved down the stairs, still acquainting herself with the house she arrived at only this afternoon. She turned into the kitchen, seating herself down at the table next to her sister, who had blonde hair the same shade as her own, and her father, whose blue eyes matched hers but lacked warmth. His serious expression unnerved her, but her mother smiled tentatively at her as she put the finishing touches on the meal at the stove.

Lex felt a pang of guilt before she even said anything to the blonde-haired, green eyed stranger. "M-mom?" she asked, trying not to wince at how awkward the word sounded to her own ears. "W-Would it be okay if you called me Lex? That's the only thing I could remember for the past ten years, and it sounds really weird to be called something else…"

Her mother's smile faltered ever-so-slightly and she turned back towards the stove. "No problem dear," she said with a little grin, "If I recall correctly ten years ago that was how you would pronounce your name…" She picked up a covered bowl and carried it over to the table before sitting down.

"What are we having?" Lex said, smiling as her mother sat across from her, trying to strike up an easier conversation.

"Spaghetti," her mom said, uncovering the bowl and starting to pass it around the table. "It used to be your favorite…" she said with a slight blush.

Lex froze as the bowl was passed to her. She set it down next to her plate as her eyes suddenly stung with tears.

"Bring in some good tomatoes!"

"Lex?" Her mother asked tentatively, "Are you alright? If you don't like spaghetti, I can make you something else…"

"No!" Lex started, knocked out of her reverie. "I'm sorry, no, spaghetti is wonderful, it's fine, I…It's really hard to explain…"

"Don't worry dear," her mother said, reaching over the table to pat her hand, "I know that this is difficult. We just have to take it one step at a time—"

Lex's eyes widened a fraction. The parallels between her sets of parents seemed to be hitting her all at once. However, her attention was distracted abruptly when her father blurted out suddenly:

"It's our fault," he said, fiercely meeting her eyes. This had clearly been bothering him since she'd arrived. What happened to the smiling, laughing man she remembered only two days ago? "We didn't protect you, and—"

"No," Lex said forcefully, cutting him off, "No it wasn't your fault," she emphasized. However, she hesitated, trying to figure out a way to explain the truth. Her father cut her off.

"Yes it was," he continued, gripping his napkin tightly between his fingers, "You were only five at the time. We should've watched you better, and now as a result of this you grew up God-knows-where, having God-knows-what kinds of parents—"

"My parents are wonderful," Lex spat harshly, offended at the jibe against Jack and Claire. She immediately regretted it however; it was only for an instant, but Lex could see the hurt shadowed in her mother's eyes. "I'm sorry," Lex blurted out, not knowing what else to say. "This is really difficult…" she continued, brows knitting together in thought. She tried again, "There's something I need to explain to you, but I'm not sure how."

Her mother raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. Suddenly, a sharp breeze blew open the back door of the house that was in the corner of the kitchen; Lex's heart leapt into her throat as Jack and Claire rushed into the house, looking around for Lex. Lex's eyes met Claire's and she teared up all over again.

Her father for his part, inadvertently plowed between Jack and Claire in his haste to close the "broken back door;" Her mother, who had noticed her daughter's sudden change of expression, was about to ask what happened when Molly, her 10-year-old sister, spoke up for the first time:

"Mom, who's that?" she asked, pointing at the empty air by the door.

"Who?" her mother asked, turning to look at the back door. "No one's there dear."

"But there is!" Molly protested, "There's a man and a woman; they look a bit older than Lex!"

Just as her father was about to weigh in on the matter, Lex cut him off, "Actually, she's right," she said. It was all Lex could do to keep herself seated and not run into her mother's arms.

"….What?" her father asked, clearly confused.

Lex braced herself for the oncoming tempest. "My parents just walked in the door."

"What?" her father repeated.

"I was raised by Jack Frost and Claire Breeze," she explained, hoping that might help make some progress.

"What?"

"Who's Claire Breeze?"

"Wow!" Molly stood up from the table and walked over to Claire. "You're really Claire Breeze?"

Claire smiled at her. "You bet."

Molly's eyes widened a fraction. "Can you really control the wind?"

In response, Claire summoned a little breeze to ruffle Molly's blonde hair. "Wow!" She exclaimed, impressed.

"What's going on here?" Her mother said, panic growing slightly in her voice.

Lex stood to be near Molly and her parents. "You can't see them unless you believe in them," she explained. "Typically only children believe in silly notions such as Jack Frost and Claire Breeze," she continued, "But please," she said as she met eyes with her new mother and father, "You have to believe in them or you won't be able to see who saved my life."

It took a moment, but soon her mother gasped at the two people who seemingly materialized in her kitchen. "But…But they're teenagers!" She protested, in shock.

"I am turning 400 soon, thank you," Jack said with a grin. Lex took her hand and tugged; her mother stumbled out of her chair and came closer to stand in front of Claire.

"These are my other parents," she introduced, "Claire Breeze and Jack Frost."

Mrs. Martin shook their hand. "I…Call me Jill," she said immediately, as if polite mannerisms overrode her current shocked persona. She looked back at her husband, who was still sitting at the table, confused.

"Ken," she whispered, "This is real."

After a moment, Mr. Martin nearly fell out of the chair in shock at the appearance of two people in the kitchen.

"Well that's a good start," Jack said, stepping towards him to help prevent him from falling. Once he was balanced again, Jack smiled. "Might there be some place we could talk?"

-((Super family pow-wow))-

"….And so that's how she really fell," Jack finished, explaining in the simplest way possible who exactly was responsible for their daughter's near deadly fall as the group sat in the living room. "Once she had healed from her injuries, she had no idea who she was or where she had come from."

"She only remembered her first name," Claire said, nodding.

"Let me get this straight," Ken said, at this point having thrown skepticism out the window in order to understand his daughter's past. "You found her, saved her, but you didn't return her? You could have found us!"

"We tried," Claire said, cutting in before Jack could start to argue and make everything worse, "We managed to use the news to figure out where you lived. However, once we got there…"

"The house had been sold," Jack finished. "We had no other way of finding you. For the sake of Lex's safety, we did our best to raise her as our own."

"The man who the news says had her is my nephew," Claire explained, but offered no other explanation as to how that was possible.

"That is our fault that we moved so quickly," Jill said, giving her husband a look, "The house had so many memories…as soon as we got home it felt as if…as if-"

"We were living in a nightmare," Ken said darkly, staring at the floor and steepling his fingers in front of him. Jack and Claire shared a significant glance as Jill continued her husband's thought.

"We just couldn't stay for a minute longer, so we had to move quickly."

"We understand," Claire said placatingly, reaching out her hand to grip Jack's knee. Pitch really had thought of everything.

"You still could've found us," Ken muttered, but not very softly.

"Not when we're invisible," Jack said, temper going out the window. "We did what we could and raised our daughter—"

"Our daughter!" Ken said, standing.

"Stop it!" Lex yelled, jumping to her feet and striding to the middle of the room. Her father sat back down reluctantly. She turned to address them. "Listen, I know you're my parents, but…" she gestured at Claire and Jack, "They are my parents too, and always will be. I need you to accept them, or I can't stay here."

Her mother and father were silent for a moment before her mother smacked her father over the shoulder. He stood. "I'm sorry," he started, tentatively holding out his arms. "It's…been hard, but I'm willing to do anything—" he stopped, voice cracking, and Lex stepped into his arms, hugging him tightly. She let go before any group hug could possibly commence, and reached out for Jack and Claire's hands.

"Now you will always be my Mom and Dad," she said, squeezing their hands tightly. She let them go before turning to her mother and father.

"And you," she said, tentatively reaching for their hands, "will always be…" she paused, trying to think of a suitable variation. "Mama and Papa," she finished with a smile. "Now everyone will know who everyone is talking about."

Jack laughed before reaching out to pull Lex into a hug. "Oh Lex," he whispered, hugging her tightly, "I told you everything would be alright."

"You're right," Lex said, pulling away to pull Jill into a hug as well (she was looking a little left out), "It might take a while but…" she stepped back to address all of them,

"I have the best family I could ever ask for."

-((To Be Continued!))-

And things are finally wrapping up! Just have to dot a few I's and cross some T's and we're done!

Let me know what you think!

~freaky-hanyou