.:16:.

Christmas was only a few weeks away, and Sophie was eager to finish up her gifts early. As soon as school was out that day, she said goodbye to her friends and headed off down the street to the nearest antique shop. She'd never had much success with store bought gifts. Even Jamie preferred when she would give him something she'd made. Last year she had tried to save herself the effort and bought things for everyone, and she had wound up feeling like she'd wasted a lot of money. This year she was determined to do things right.

The antique shop just down the road from her high school was surprisingly large, and she knew they had some old picture frames that would be perfect for the photos she had chosen to give out. She smiled when she remembered how Jack had said he'd help her pick them out, only to have Tooth beat him to it. She had been so happy to see Tooth again, but she knew Jack had been uncomfortable. He's relaxed a bit more the longer he'd been around the tooth fairy, but she hadn't seen him since that night.

It wasn't unusual for him to take off for a couple of days, but she couldn't help but worry when she knew he was struggling with something. Sophie suspected that he was worried of what the other Guardians would think of him because of their sudden romantic interest in each other. She silently hoped that wherever he was, he was regaining some self-confidence and would come back as fun and playful as ever. She had waited so long, hoping and wishing that maybe someday he would see her as more than his best friend's little sister. Now that she had finally taken a chance and gotten his attention, she wasn't sure she could take his rejection if he changed his mind.

Sophie sighed wistfully to herself and knotted her hands around the strap of her messenger bag. A slight feeling of guilt rose up in her as she remembered the day she'd finally realized she had fallen in love with Jack Frost. It had been a dream that made her realize it. At ten years old, she had awoken from a vivid dream and everything had made sense. She had suddenly known exactly why being around him made her so happy, and why she blushed when he smiled at her, and why she was sad when he left.

She had also understood that he was a teenager, and she had just been a little girl, and she would always just be a little girl to him. After that, it had hurt to see him. And so she had done the only thing she could think of; she had turned her back on him. It had hurt at first, but as time went on the pain of ignoring him was numbed. She knew it had upset him, and several times she had almost broken down and admitted that she was only pretending she didn't believe in him. But she just couldn't bring herself to reignite their friendship, and after a while he had forgotten about her.

For five years, she had managed to avoid him and pretend everything was fine and normal. School and friends had kept her busy, and when she did happen across him it was as simple as not looking at him or reacting when he spoke. He was so used to being invisible, he'd never thought twice about it. Everything was going fine until the night she'd found him in that tree.

She wasn't sure how, but she just knew he'd been waiting there, specifically for her. Part of her had whispered darkly that she should keep going, she was so close to being normal and happy without him in her life. The rest of her had screamed to stop and talk and give it a try. The worst that could happen would be that he'd reject her, and even then she'd at least have closure.

Looking up in surprise, Sophie found that she'd already arrived at the antique shop. She'd been so lost in thought, she'd forgotten she was even headed there. Ducking inside the door, a tiny bell jingled to announce her arrival. She waved hello to an old woman behind the counter, then wandered slowly down the aisles toward the shelves where she'd seen the old picture frames.

Her fingers traced idly over some of the items she passed, and she smiled slightly in amusement when she thought of how Jack was so much older than nearly everything in the shop. She made a mental note to bring him here sometime. He'd get a kick out of seeing some antiques, and she was curious for him to tell her what life was like when some of these things were new.

Hurrying along, she picked out perhaps too many picture frames, then headed to the counter to pay for them. She wanted to be home in time to finish Jack's present, since she had a feeling he was going to be busy this Christmas. The old woman thanked her with a kindly smile, and Sophie clutched the bag of carefully wrapped picture frames to her chest as she headed back out the door.

There was a cold breeze blowing along the streets as she stepped outside. Looking up, she noticed the sky was still a light blue, with only a few clouds in sight. It was a clear, beautiful winter day. Feeling a little disappointed, Sophie turned and headed home. It wasn't far to her house, and after a few turns she was heading down a neighborhood street with a few trees hanging over the sidewalk and kids playing in snow-covered yards.

"Sophie!"

A voice caught her attention, and she paused and turned to see a boy from her school emerging from a garage nearby. He'd apparently been cleaning something, and wiped his hands self-consciously on his pants as he approached her. He avoided her eyes at first, and she didn't miss the light blush that colored his cheeks.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while." He said softly.

"Hi, Jason. I've been pretty busy lately." Sophie said politely. She wasn't sure what to say, but didn't want to be rude and leave, so she waited patiently for him to say something. He fidgeted a little under her gaze, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I was wondering, if you weren't too busy, maybe-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as a generous amount of snow was dumped on him from the tree branches overhead.

Sophie's hand flew to her mouth to hide the shocked smile, and she glanced up to see Jack Frost himself lounging casually in the branches overhead.

Jason let out a curse, flailing a little to try and rid himself of the snow. It slid down the back of his shirt and he cried out in unpleasant surprise. Sophie could hear laughter from the garage he'd emerged from, and she looked over to see two teenage boys had been watching them. The young man blushed in embarrassment, and Sophie tried to look concerned as he turned and stomped towards his house.

"I'll see you later…" He mumbled miserably, and Sophie turned away and glared playfully up at Jack as he chuckled.

She continued walking, not looking over when Jack landed softly on the sidewalk next to her. He rested his staff on his shoulder, looking rather smug. When they were far enough away, Sophie opened her mouth to chastise Jack, but wound up letting out a small giggle instead.

Jack waited until they were safely in Sophie's backyard before he wound her into a hug, pressing her bag of picture frames between them. She moved to set it on the porch, then turned back and wrapped her arms up around his shoulders. He rested his hands on her waist and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes sliding closed as he enjoyed her presence for a moment. After a few long, tender seconds of affection, Sophie leaned up to kiss him lightly and he happily returned it.

"I was starting to think maybe Tooth scared you off." Sophie said quietly.

Laughter rumbled in his chest as he kissed her again.

"Nah, I don't scare that easy." He said in amusement.

"Ah, I see. You just had some urgent snowball fights to start." Sophie teased lightly.

"You know, it means a lot to me that you understand." Jack said with mock sincerity. Sophie stuck her tongue out at him and stepped away to pick up her bag.

Jack let out a sharp yelp of surprise as he was yanked from his feet, and Sophie spun to see none other than Bunnymund holding him in the air by the back of his hoodie.

"Bunny!" She blurted out, half in disapproval and half in joy.

"We'll catch up later, love." He said sweetly, giving her a wink before turning his gaze on the teenager struggling in his grasp.

"As for you, Frostbite, you're comin' with me." Bunnymund's voice was low and dripping with venom.

Jack stilled a little at his words and set his jaw in determination. He'd known this would come sooner or later, and he gripped his staff to his chest as he readied himself.

"All right, Cottontail. Let's do this." He said in a bored tone, smirking a little as he saw the Pooka bristle angrily.

Bunnymund stomped his foot, then unceremoniously dropped Jack in the hole the moment it appeared. He stepped in right behind him, and Sophie was left clutching her hands to her chest and staring uncertainly as the hole closed and a delicate pink flower sprouted from the snow.

A/n: There ya go, Bunnymund knows. I hope it was surprising, I really wanted to hit you guys in the face with it! I've never tried writing an accent before, but I'll do my best not to make it awful. One of you asked to get more into Sophie's head, so I thought this would be the perfect chapter to give you some of her thoughts on things. And don't worry, Jamie gets a chapter, too!