Hi! Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food!

And, hope you all are relaxing before school starts up again :(

Jack? We could reallyyyy use a snow day… like now… please?

Thanks to everybody who has made it this far in the story and has kept coming back each week for more! We made it over the first big hill, now buckle your seat belts as we carry onward!

Please review if you can! Even guests! I read and reply to everything!

DISCLAIMER: Jack Frost and the Guardians belong to DreamWorks

Jack

The ride back to the Pole was a short and silent one. When the sleigh finally slowed and landed, North re-pocketed his snow globe and handed off the reins to a yeti waiting by the side of the runway. I leapt off the sled easily and turned to help Lyra down. She smiled her thanks, and we followed North back inside the workshop. Lyra leaned on me for support, but it seemed her ankle wasn't hurting her as much as it had before. She could stand up, which was good, so her ankle must not have been broken.

Once we got inside, Bunny wasted no time in announcing his departure.

"Whatever you did out there Shelia, thanks," he said with a nod towards Lyra. She nodded back, blushing. He thumped his large foot on the ground and vanished.

But Bunny was right- What had Lyra done?

North led us through the halls and into the kitchen- a huge room with huge everything. There were dozens of tables on one side, and multiple ovens and stove countertops, refrigerators and cupboards on the other. Shelves covered every wall in every available space, and everything seemed to be (at least partially) red. I felt like I was in some crazy Christmas bakery.

Lyra and I collapsed onto red and green bar stools at one of the long countertops. North found cookies in one of the fully stocked cupboards and poured three cups of hot chocolate. He passed one to Lyra, who accepted it gratefully, and turned to hand me mine but paused.

"Do you even drink hot chocolate?" he asked me, as if the thought had just occurred to him for the first time.

I smiled weakly. "There's a first time for everything, right?" He chuckled and handed the mug over, sitting down as well.

I took a cautious sip before putting it aside. I never really was one for hot drinks. I guess heat and I just don't mix. Lyra seemed to be enjoying hers though. She definitely relaxed the moment she firmly pressed her hands to the warm mug, letting her whole body warm up from the heat of the single cup.

That kinda bothered me for some reason. All of a sudden I felt... sad? I shook my head. That made no sense. It was good she was warming up- there was nothing wrong with that... Maybe I had a concussion or something from the fight- could spirits even get concussions? I clearly wasn't thinking straight...

I tried to focus on something else. The question I wanted to ask popped into my head again.

"Lyra," I said finally, "How did you do… that? You know, the…" I tried to think a word to use. "…glowy-thing?"

She stared into her cup, slowly stirring her drink with a candy cane. I waited for her to answer.

She stared, gathering her thoughts, "I took a leap of faith."

North looked up. "What do you mean, 'leap of faith' ?"

She shrugged, looking over at him. "I remembered what you told me- about my belief having unpredictable effects, I mean- and... I don't know. I saw Jack needed help, and I wanted to help you guys so much... I guess I was thinking that if my belief in Pitch could make him so strong in such a short time, I thought I might be able to reverse it somehow, like refocus all my belief on you guys- Jack especially- and make you all... stronger."

No one spoke. North and I stared at her, stunned and impressed.

"But how... did you know that would work?" I asked her.

"I didn't. I just knew I had to do something, and that was the only thing I could think of."

"Is amazing," North said in awe, patting her tiny hands with his large ones. She grinned.

But then she cleared her throat, and looked up at North and I very seriously.

"I... I still want to do something. I've been thinking, and I want to help."

I suddenly realized where she was going with this, and I felt a strange tightening in my stomach.

"Lyra, no. You don't have to-"

"Yes I do, Jack. No matter how many times you say that I never should have been a part of this, it doesn't change the fact that I am. And after tonight, I don't want to sit around and watch."

I looked at her carefully, feeling somewhat defeated, and at the same time completely understanding why she wanted what she was about to ask. She looked over at North.

"I want to learn to fight Pitch. I want to help you win this war. You said yourself my belief is powerful, and you saw what happened tonight. Can you... will you train me? Will you train me to be a Guardian?"

North smiled gently.

"If you are willing, then perhaps that is not a bad idea. What harm could a few lessons do, hmm?"

"Thank you!" she cried happily and jumped up to give the jolly man a hug, before wincing when she put weight on her ankle.

"Ah, but it is late, and I think you need to rest, child." He stood up and walked over to another of the many cabinets. He poured something from a bottle into a tiny cup and placed it in front of Lyra. It was a clear golden color, and it somewhat fizzed. "Drink this," he said, patting her shoulder. "It will help ankle heal faster."

Lyra cautiously picked it up and swirled it around in the tiny glass before drinking it. She made a face as she swallowed. "I hate medicine," she mumbled.

...

North kept his promise. I stayed the night at the Pole as well, and by the time I woke up and went downstairs, both Lyra and North were already awake and getting to work. I found them in one of the older unused storage rooms of the workshop. Like everything else at the Pole, it was a huge room, and what little that had been in the room to begin with had either been pushed against the wall or dumped in the outside hallway. Lyra seemed to be walking around much easier, and although she now wore a brace around her injured ankle, she didn't seem at all in pain as she and North danced around the room in the middle of her first fencing lesson.

"And parry, good. Careful now, I'm coming at you from left- Block! Ok, try one more time, you had it before-"

I watched as Lyra tried to learn the basic maneuvers of sword fighting. They were only using wooden swords to start with, which was a good idea, because Lyra couldn't seem to grasp the concept of how to properly swing the weapon.

Although still not completely happy about it, I was glad Lyra was learning to defend herself. Or attempting to anyway. Occasionally I joined in the mock fights, helping Lyra adjust her stance and showing her how to spread her weight evenly between her feet. If anything, she was quick on her toes and seemed to have good reflexes, even if sword fighting was not her strong suit.

Then, at noon we broke for lunch.

"How are you doing?" I asked her, nodding to her foot as we sat down in the kitchen. "Better?"

"Yeah, loads. I guess it would probably be pointless to ask if that medicine North gave me was magical in some way?" she asked me, laughing.

"Probably," I grinned back.

"Lyra," North said as he joined us at the table with a plate of sandwiches, "You did well for first time try, but with so little time left for us, you must forgive me when I say perhaps we look elsewhere for means of training."

Lyra nodded her head in agreement. "No, its ok- I'm not really fond of sword fighting anyway."

North leaned back in his chair as he stroked his silver beard. "I wonder if maybe Bunny..." he trailed off.

I inwardly groaned. Bunny's and my relationship had vastly improved since before the Easter war, but that didn't mean it was an extremely friendly one now. We... tolerated each other, and trusted each other in battle, but that was about it. I knew he could probably help Lyra, but I really wasn't in the mood to see him again.

"Yes, I think that will be good," North continued. "Bunny will teach you, Lyra, and I can focus on Christmas. It is only six days away you know!" He called over his shoulder as he got up and left the kitchen to go call the Easter Bunny.

"And only two days till the solstice," Lyra said to me quietly. We both grimaced. Only two days...

...

It took awhile to convince Bunny to help out, but eventually he stopped by to the Pole later that day to see what he could teach Lyra. He taught her how to aim, and showed her how to use his egg bombs. They spent the afternoon racing each other on the various obstacle courses Bunny had created, him teaching her dodges and tumbles and all sorts of other things. I could tell she was determined, and it impressed me how much she picked up on in so short a time.

Lyra must have created a soft spot in Bunny for her, because he came back early the following day. And he wasn't the only one who came to work with Lyra. Sandy seemed to be interested in the whole thing as well. While neither of them seemed to want to test her "belief-aura-powers" further, Sandy seemed to believe that the fact she had any powers over belief at all might allow her to do things regular children could not.

He formed a ribbon of Dreamsand in his hands and twirled it around in the air, making Lyra laugh. Then out of curiosity, he then held it out for her to take. I understood what he was doing- while many kids who believed might be able to touch the sand, it usually burst upon their contact. He apparently wanted to know if Lyra could hold the ribbon and keep its shape intact.

Surprisingly, Lyra was able to take hold of and grasp the golden ribbon, and twirl it around like Sandy had done only moments before. She laughed as she danced around the room with it, trailing little streams of sand, like golden glitter, wherever she went. I smiled as I leaned against the wall, watching her. I couldn't stop thinking about how pretty she looked. Her smile, her laugh... and her determination to do something to help us... I wasn't stupid. I knew she had saved my life two nights ago. If she hadn't done what she did... I seemed to be looking at her in a whole different way since then, or maybe it was the same way, I just hadn't realized it before... I was feeling so confused.

After a few failed attempts, we learned that although she could hold them, Lyra couldn't morph the sand ribbons into different shapes like Sandy could. At her request, the Sandman fashioned the golden Dreamsand into a bow and a set of arrows, and using what Bunny taught her about aim, she managed to successfully hit the various targets he and Sandy set up around the room for her. When each arrow hit its mark, it exploded into a shimmering rainfall of gold specks, as if celebrating her tiny victories.

The day went by quickly with Bunny and Sandy teaching Lyra what they could, including more experiments with the Dreamsand. I stayed with her the whole time, occasionally throwing out any ideas or suggestions I could think of. Mostly I just wanted to spend time with Lyra- if you could call hard work, training and exercise "spending time". But the days were going quickly, and who knew how much time was left until... well you know.

Soon Sandy had to leave to resume bringing dreams to children, and Bunny left with him. It was late, and I walked alone with Lyra, wandering the many halls of the workshop, slowly meandering our way back to her bedroom. We talked about the events of the past two days, trying to stay lighthearted and upbeat despite what we both knew was at the front of each other's thoughts.

One more day.

We finally reached the door leading into her room.

"So... see you bright and early tomorrow then, I guess," she said to me, one hand resting lightly on the doorknob.

"Yeah, see you. Busy day tomorrow, before…" I trailed off.

"Yeah." She said, understanding. She gave me a quick hug before turning the doorknob and going into her room.

"Lyra, wait!" I called suddenly, and she stopped and turned around.

What are you doing?! I thought desperately to myself.

"Yes, Jack?" she asked.

"Uh... tomorrow night... you know after you're done... and all... I mean... since it's the last night before... the solstice..."

What. Are. You. Doing. I asked myself again, suddenly regretting opening up my mouth.

"Jack?" she asked me, obviously confused.

"I mean, I was just wondering... I guess... before everything gets crazy again... do you want to... I dunno... go somewhere... do something... just like, the two of us? Or, I mean..."

If I wasn't Jack Frost, I'm sure my face would've been fifty shades of red at this point. As it was, I was almost positive my cheeks weren't their normal color.

Stupid. Idiot. Stupid. Frost.

Lyra gave me an odd look, and I was afraid she might laugh at me or hit me or maybe both or do something else completely.

But then she smiled, a true warm smile, and squeezed my hand.

"Sure Jack. I'd like that very much."

I stared at her in stunned silence (I guess it was becoming a habit), before smiling kind of awkwardly back at her.

"Goodnight, Jack," she said, grinning and shutting the door.

"... 'Night... Lyra," I muttered, grinning like a crazy lunatic.

And I still wasn't sure why.

But for some reason, I was really happy.

So there we go… nice and easy chapter… sweet stuff sprinkled throughout and at the end especially :)

See you all next week!

-iceprincess

P.S.! Gonna go see Frozen tonight! So excited!