Five days. He was running out of time. He had spent the last two days trying to figure out a way to convince Jadis that their happiness would never end. It could never melt in the North Pole. And he cursed because he knew he should have told her the truth before, during that prank even. Maybe that would have made all the difference, when she was curious and wanting to hear about his magic. Now she would block anything and everything out.

Fear. How could he soothe her fear? Jack hadn't the slightest idea.

Jack Frost wouldn't…not really…but Santa Claus would. Shouldn't he know because of that? He sighed as he sat in the park. What would the previous irksome Santa do? Yes, he was that desperate to muse on that.

Comfort. Reassure. But how?

Another night passed. Then another. He was running out of time. Three days. Every idea came to a dead end. Every thought ended shortly after it started.

On the second day, the day before Christmas Eve, he was walking through Central Park. It wasn't uncommon as of late. Suddenly it started to snow. It was slow, soft, and gentle. He stopped and looked up. Snow…

Snowflakes…her eyes…

He frowned as he looked straight ahead. An idea came to mind. Maybe…did she…perhaps there was something she had asked for way back when, as a child, that Santa could never have made. She was, after all, quite adoring of Jack Frost so wouldn't it make sense that she would have asked the previous Santa for something only Frost could create?

Hope filled him, startling him.

He looked around. No one was around. He called forth a history book of sorts of previous wishes – ding! Three. His watch read three left. He opened the book and skimmed it for her name. It took only a few minutes before he located it.

Jack stared with an open jaw. From age six to about nineteen, her wish had been the same. Jadis wanted a snowflake that never melted.


Knock, knock, knock! "Jadis!" He shouted, "Jadis, open up!" He tried to open the door but, like before, nothing. He scowled. "Jadis!" He looked around. Could he slip in through the window? Use the 'frozen' line again? No, she'd be furious.

Just as he made to knock again, a voice shouted from behind him. "Jack? What are you doing here?" It was Jadis! She walked through the quiet snowfall from the woods, wrapped in her white outfit once more to blend in. Strands of black escaped from her hat though, standing out against the scene. In her hand was another rabbit.

He found himself smiling at this sight. "Jadis…I need to talk to you."

"No, you don't. And evidently you don't care about me either." She paused at the door. "Leave, I won't have you bullying your way into my house again."

The blue man studied her for a moment. "I have something for you. I need to tell you something that you'll want to hear." When she started to protest and even look as though she was getting her bow ready, he added quickly, "If you cared about me, you would let me tell you what I've been trying to the past two visits!"

Low, but it worked. She scowled before opening the door and setting her bow aside. She placed the rabbit in the kitchen before returning, crossing her arms. "Well?" Snow fell from her shoulders and melted almost instantly so close to the fire. Good, he thought.

"Jadis…" he hesitated, cursing inwardly. He hadn't thought this far ahead, not entirely. Well, naturally he knew he'd tell her he was Santa Claus…but looking at her, he didn't want to. Much to his surprise, he wanted to tell her that he was Jack Frost. Why? It would only complicate the next bit further, that he needed to marry a Mrs. Claus in order to keep his Claus position. Yet he felt like it was appropriate. "Do you recall that dance, the prank?"

"Yes." She fought to keep her tone short, clipped, and brief. She didn't want to encourage him further.

"And the drinks and cups?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember how I explained them both?"

She paused. "Magic." She forced the word out, tensing.

"Correct…and do you know how I have magic?"

"Because you bought some cheap 'how to be a magician' kit at the mall?" She said sarcastically.

He frowned. "No," he huffed slightly, "because I'm Jack Frost."

Jadis stared at him for a long moment. She finally gave into a bark of laughter. "Right, and evidently a mental patient who escaped." Well, he thought, at least she didn't think he was mocking her.

"Funny, but no. I'm being serious…well…in a way." He hesitated. "I used to be Jack Frost, but now I'm Santa Claus."

Now she stared blankly at him. "…you're making no sense. The two can't be the same, they're spirit and p- why am I even discussing this?! I don't know what you're on, but you're clearly off your rocker."

He wanted to react with a scowl, but resisted. "This used to be true!" He announced, "But not since I took the red coat off the previous Santa. Tragic accident, but hey, his loss, my gain." When she didn't respond, he sighed sharply. "I am now Santa Claus…and part of that…contract…has a clause where I must have a…" he paused. No, that was too much, too soon. He switched. "Jadis, allow me to prove it to you."

"Okay," she said with suspicion, "go ahead."

He stepped forward. She didn't step away. Progress. "One of the perks of being Santa," aside from the fame and money, "is that I can check what people wished for even when they were kids." Her eyes darkened. He stepped forward once more. "So I looked for your name…for thirteen years, you asked Santa for a snowflake that never melted." Her lips parted in shock, her eyes widening. "Each year, you never received one. You probably wondered why, were you bad? Was Santa not real after all?" Jack raised his hand, his fingertips brushing over her tattoos, "The truth is, Jadis, you never received it because Santa couldn't do what only Jack Frost was capable of."

No sound or word left Jadis. She stared up at him as though frozen. Her mind was still reeling when he dug something out of his pocket. "But I…I'm both." It was easier to state it like that. "And Jadis…you said before that happiness will go away eventually, like a snowflake melting. Well…"

He placed a small black box in her hand. She made a soft noise. It certainly looked like a wedding ring box – and in a sense doubled as such. Jadis gave him a look before opening it with a shaky hand. A gasp left her when she saw what was inside.

Inside sat a two inch long snowflake, complex and stunning as though under a microscope. She stared for a minute before raising her other hand, brushing her fingertips over it. Surely it was plastic, surely he spent a stupid amount of money on it. When she felt how cold it was, she jumped. "It's…"

"Real." Jack finished with a smile. "And," he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "will never melt."

She looked up at him in disbelief before she carefully placed the snowflake in her hand. It was cold, yes, but after a moment it did not melt. She held her hand out towards the fireplace until her hand was uncomfortably warm, palm sweating even. Still, the nicely sized and detailed snowflake didn't melt!

"How?" She managed to speak as she looked at him.

Jack offered a knowing smile as he took the box from her hand, pulling out a dark blue velvet strand. "Magic." He said as he took the snowflake. He ran his hand over the two items. When he pulled away, a small silver circle wrapped around the top of the snowflake and attached to the half inch strip of fabric. A choker necklace, as it were.

Ding.

He knew what number it was on. When he made the snowflake, it went down to two. Now with that little bit, it was to one.

"Part of being Santa Claus…requires a Mrs. Claus." He looked up at her, his smile growing when her eyes remained on the necklace he made. He paused to gather the words, the energy. "Jadis…would you like to be…Mrs. Frost?"

Her eyes snapped up from the gift to him. She swallowed thickly, her eyes bright and wet with tears that had gathered. "Y-you're…" she seemed to be fully grasping it all, "…Jack Frost." And Santa Claus, but for the first time to Jack, this didn't matter. "Mrs. Frost?" She gave a watery laugh, her heart racing. "Yes. Gods yes!" She kissed him, her arms around him.

He held onto the necklace as he returned the affections. One day, one left on the watch. He had done it. He found a wife.


A/N: We're close to being done, but this isn't the last chapter! I'd say one to two more. Please review.