My uncle actually brought the pendrive to me here in Barnoldswick, on his way to the Lake District! How awesome is he?! So I can post again. Enjoy, my pretties!
Also, sorry about the sad chapter, didn't mean to make you all depressed
She'd wanted to stay, wanted to reach out to them and tell them she was still here, make them see her and they could in some way still be a family. But they were blind to her presence, deaf to her words, and it was breaking her heart. She couldn't watch them cut her cake and talk about their favourite memories of her. Standing shakily, she turned and made for the door, stumbling out, tripping and landing on the floor in a heap, not bothering to move because nobody would see her anyway. She lay there crying, clutching her staff close to her for some kind of comfort, and she resolved not to move because everything just seemed too difficult. It was only when two very large arms scooped her up did she realise someone had indeed been watching her, and then there was the sensation of being sucked through a straw... her body seemed to twist and thin out to almost nothing, and then there was normality again, she felt proportionate, but also incredibly nauseous. Whoever had picked her up from the ground and carried her was now placing her down on a soft armchair, throwing a blanket over her and a cup of hot chocolate was pressed into her hands.
"I knew you would go there," North said tenderly, and his normally booming voice seemed unnaturally quiet for him. "I deliver gifts to Alice every year... I also know they hate Christmas now, because is around when you died... no matter. Are you okay?"
She looked up and her golden-brown eyes met his brilliant blue ones, and she felt her lower lip tremble, and she shook her head and burst into tears.
"No!" she cried, and North took the hot drink from her shaking hands and leaned forward, hugging her. "I-I don't want to be like this, I wa- want to be back with my family," she was sobbing now, clutching onto the older man and trembling. She'd seen them grieving for her, seen them celebrating her life and remembering her, and as much as she'd longed to reach out for them she'd not been able to. She'd been sat right in front of them and nobody had so much as turned their head her way. It broke her heart and after everything she'd had to get used to this past month, she couldn't cope with this one thing. It was the straw that broke the camels back, and she had to relieve herself of all these emotions now before they consumed her.
"I know," North said gently, soothingly, stroking her hair gently with the back of his hand and hushing her like a small child, "I understand."
She cried into his arms and he held her like a protective parent while she did so, not saying a word, because there was nothing could be said to ease her pain and loss, or convince her it would get better. The truth of it was that it would get better, you eventually learned to move on and cope with your past. All of the spirits had done, and the Guardians' too.
Her tears subsided to hiccups, and she sat still while he cradled her silently. After a moment she composed herself, sniffing slightly before wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and shifting herself, moving away from the Russian and smiling slightly up at him, her eyes still watery but the tears were held back.
"Thank you," she said weakly, taking the hot chocolate back from him gratefully and accepting a cookie from one of the elves who so selflessly had refrained from eating it. "I'm... sorry about that."
"No worries!" North laughed out loud, sounding more like his normal self again with his voice loud and reverberating around the room, a smile gracing his face and making his blue eyes crinkle in the corners. She couldn't help but smile wider at the man, feeling warmer and happier inside suddenly. She guessed it was the magic of the place, like in the Warren she'd feel such hope for life, here she couldn't help but feel joy even in her hardest times. "We all have many bad times, and we all understand. If you need to talk, you know I am here, yes?" he asked, and his eyes twinkled and he smiled at her with such care etched into his features.
"I know," she said quietly, letting him clasp her free hand between his, "I just... it's getting used to things I suppose."
He nodded knowingly, squeezing her hand gently before heaving himself up with a sigh and walking out of the room without another word, kicking a stray elf out of the way – to her amusement – to give her some privacy to think things over. Slowly she reclined in the chair, looking about the room she'd spent her evening in exactly twelve years ago today. She remembered her fifteenth birthday well, as it was the night she met all of the Guardians' in the North Pole. She'd sat in exactly this seat, been given the dress she was wearing now, and had a fantastic evening dancing lightly on her toes with Tooth, trying to keep up with the fast paced dance North tried to teach her to all of their amusements and she'd finished by being whisked away home on a cloud made of sand, slipped into her room through her window and she fell into one of the most blissful sleeps she'd ever had. Now she was here again, but under much different circumstances. It was strange, like the oddest sense of deja vu, but it couldn't be helped she thought with a shrug, and she went about drinking her chocolate when she felt something tugging on the blanket draped over her legs, and she looked down to see one of the elves holding another cookie up to her. Grinning, she reached out and broke half off, leaving him with half, and together they dipped their bits of biscuit into her drink, and he sat on the chair arm nattering in his language and she understood not a word of it.
"Nora?" came a voice from the door, and she turned her head to see Aster stood there looking relieved. "Bloody hell, I was worrying myself silly looking for you," he cried, bounding over in a few hops and crouching beside her seat.
"Why are rabbits always so nervous?" she asked him quietly, with a hint of a smile, and he tisked at her.
"Why'd you go running off like that?" he shot back, "you could have waited until you'd calmed down a bit and then we could've gone together."
"I didn't want to wait Aster," she explained, sighing and handing what was left of the chocolate to the elf, who ran off with it quickly, making sure she couldn't change her mind. "I just wanted to see my family..."
"How did you manage to find them?" he asked, leaning his arms on the chair arm and resting his head upon them.
"I asked Martin, and he told me," she said, not even thinking about what kind of reaction it may cause.
"Wha- wait, who? The brumbie you didn't get on with? How did... what did you do? How did you manage that?" Aster asked, jumping up suddenly and looking surprised. "I mean, I just thought people couldn't... see you."
"They can't, but he could feel me like I could always feel Jack Frost, I managed to influence his writing and I told him I wanted to see my family and he told me where to find them. I think that's the end of it though to be honest, I think it scared him a little and I want him to get on with his life now."
There was silence, and without thinking Aster leaned forward slightly, pressing his nose against her forehead. He froze instantly, stomach knotting as he realised what he was doing and that familiar sense of guilt began clenching at him. The Pooka tried to calm himself, console himself in the fact that this was just to comfort her, it was innocent. Except that something in him stirred, was urging him to wrap his arms about her... press his lips to hers... he held back.
"I know what you're feeling sunflower... I've gone through it myself," he said quietly, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he said anything else, but he didn't, he just stayed quiet, and she understood he might not want to go into it, understanding it could be a painful memory. It struck her momentarily that he – as a Pooka – could have had a mate who he has lost, and perhaps that was why he didn't want to talk about it. She didn't really know though, and preferred not to assume what might have been long before she was even thought about.
"I'll manage," she said with a smile, standing and brushing past him slowly, her fingers grazing over his and she smiled slightly, grabbing her staff from the floor before walking out into the main workshop, looking up at the globe, around at the yetis and the toys and breathing deeply, inhaling the magic. Aster stood right behind her, and she turned to look at him. "I have two more months before Autumn comes... will I get to meet that spirit?" she asked him, and he nodded with a smile on his face.
"Oh yeah, you need to know Tommy, she'll love getting to know you too. You kind of have to... pass the seasonal baton to her, sort of thing."
"The seasonal baton?" Eleanor laughed, brushing her fingers through her short hair.
"Well yeah, I give Spring over to you to turn into Summer, you give Summer to Tommy to turn into Autumn, she gives it to Frost to turn into Winter, and then I have to beat it out of the little dipstick."
"You really don't like Jack do you?" she asked, a frown tugging at her lips. "He helped me a lot really... I'm sure he must have done something good for you?"
Aster felt his thoughts flicker briefly to the night of Eleanor's death, where he'd made to race into the collapsed heap when he'd regained his senses and Jack had done his damnedest to hold him back and stop him cooking himself, how he had stayed with him afterwards to keep an eye on him, although not a word was spoken and nothing was done. How he'd lain a comforting hand on his shoulder, but couldn't bring himself to do much more because he was fond of the girl too, and what they had witnessed was just... it was just horrific.
"He's all right I suppose," the bunny muttered, rolling his eyes, "but he can be a pain, he's not serious enough about his season."
"Winter is meant to be fun," Eleanor reasoned, "if he has fun, he's doing it right, isn't he?"
"Whatever, as long as he doesn't mess with my egg hunts."
There was a silence hang between them then, and she wanted to laugh at the sullen expression on the rabbit's face, but she knew it would only put him in a foul mood, and she couldn't bring herself to do it, even though it was tremendously funny. She decided to change the subject and find out who she would be working with instead come Summers' end.
"So who is Tommy?" she asked, leaning against the railings and watching the yeti bustle about making toys and decorating.
"Tommy? Ah, well we call her Tommy, but her name is Autumn. Always has been, as long as we've known her. She's nice enough really, bit of a ditz though. She kind of just floats around and tweaks a few things here and there and then before you know it, Autumn has arrived. Not a lot you need to do with her... just remember, if things start dying, don't bring them back to life. She hates having to do things twice."
"She a bit lazy?" Eleanor chuckled, and Aster nodded grimly. If there was one thing he hated it was laziness. He was such a hard worker, it was just natural to him to get on with the task at hand, and he obviously took his season and his duty very seriously.
There was another gap in the conversation, and Eleanor squirmed a little under the piercing green gaze Aster was giving her. It felt uncomfortable at first, but then the rabbit smile a little, and she eased up, watching him, interested as he moved his hand slowly towards his belt. He reached into one of his pouched and retrieved something incredibly small. She looked at him a little more curiously, as he shifter back and away from her, a decent arms length and a half before extending his arm to her, and she reached out her arm to take it off him.
Aster dropped the item into Eleanor's hand, and she held it on her palm, looking at it carefully before her mouth fell open. It was a small silver moon, delicate and beautiful, glinting in the light the most beautiful shades of blue and purple, which would contrast amazingly to the golds and oranges that glimmered off the sun pendant on her necklace.
"Happy birthday sunflower," Aster said quietly, but his voice was cheerful. His smile was growing a little as the wonder shone in her eyes, and she could barely stop looking at the beautiful silver charm in her hand. "I, ah, figured it'd look nice..." he added, stepping away again, only a little and so discreetly she didn't notice.
"Aster... it's wonderful, thank you," she said ever so quietly, her voice soft and barely above a whisper, and she looked up at him with bright eyes that made his heart squeeze a little.
"No problem."
