A/N: This has been bouncing around in my head for the last three-ish years. Hope you find it interesting too.

It was a wonderful morning Samuel decided. The sun was rising, casting a golden glow upon all the earth. A layer of snow covered the ground, though that didn't seem to deter the deer grazing just outside.

"…Will bring balance…"

Samuel paused for moment; his coffee held just in front of his mouth. Shrugging to himself, he took another sip of coffee and sunk further into his recliner. This was one of the most peaceful mornings he had experienced in years. Closing his eyes, he basked in the warmth of the gas fireplace placed on the wall adjacent from the windows.

"Snoooow!" Just like that, the moment of serenity was broken. Samuel listened with a keen ear as a steady rhythm of thumps heralded the approach of the only other resident within the house. Moments later, just as expected, four feet and ten inches of pure energy came barreling down the stairs. Hair black as night flying wildly in her excitement, and a smile bright as the sun was all he saw before his daughter stood before him. She was literally bouncing on her feet, blue eyes crinkled by her radiant smile.

"Dad it snowed! It snowed!" As if screaming the fact wasn't enough, she began pointing out the window with one hand while the other was using his leg to keep herself steady as she jumped around.

"Woah! Calm it! Autumn, I'm gonna spill my coffee!" Thankfully, he was able to hold the cup of coffee away from his daughter before any of the still steaming liquid was lost.

"Can you play in the snow with me! pleasssssse!" Finally calmed down, somewhat, she switched to giving him her best puppy dog eyes. For most people, her sad blue eyes and accompanying pout were more than enough incentive to give her what she wanted. Samuel, of course, was not most people.

"I don't know… It's awfully cold out…" Samuel had seen the puppy eyes before. No longer did they sway him! However, Autumn wasn't deterred. Instead, a sly smile replaced her pout.

"I'll make you hot chocolate!" Bingo! But maybe he should let her sweat it out?

"Well… I'm not really feeling it today." Was it mean that he found her look of horror so hilarious?

"But Daddy! You love hot chocolate!" She couldn't seem to comprehend that he may not want said beverage. Fortunately for her, he couldn't keep up the charade any longer. With a chuckle, he downed the last sip of his coffee and stood up.

"I'll play with you. But first, you need to get dressed and eat breakfast." He chuckled once more as she let out a shout of joy and ran back up the stairs. Briefly he wondered if he was as excitable when he was her age.

"…it must be her!"

Samuel glanced towards the hallway leading to his bedroom. He must have left the TV on. Deciding to leave it be for now he made his way to the kitchen. Shuffling to a stop at the fireplace, he took only a moment to gaze at the photo settled on the center of the mantle. Unlike the other pictures, this one had a third person in it. The moment past, just as it had many times before. Samuel didn't feel the same pain that the photo once brought. Instead, it had become something of a happy memory. A time when everything was sunny and bright.

Humming to himself, he began the tedious process of making breakfast. Something that he had taken up after Sabrina was no longer around. More out of necessity really. Still, even if he didn't quite enjoy it, Autumn sure loved it. She had always tried to help ever since the first time she had stirred some seasonings in when she was five. He never let here do anything beyond her capabilities obviously. But it felt nice to see his own daughter so willing to help. Even with something as mundane as cooking.

However, he was planning a special breakfast for her today! It's the first day of winter break and as their tradition had it, they always made a special breakfast on the first day of winter break. As Samuel started to whisk the eggs, he recalled when said tradition first started. Sabrina, had made enough food to feed a small army. He had never let her forget about it.

By the time Autumn had made her way back down Breakfast was nearly done. He set her plate down first, which in hindsight was a bad idea. Once he had put his plate together and sat down Autumn had already finished.

"Come on Dad! The snow's all gonna melt!" Truly, there is no rest for the weary. Finishing his own meal, Samuel hurried to join his daughter outside. Standing on the patio, he couldn't help but to start laughing.

"Help me!" it had snowed at least six inches last night. Autumn in her rush to play had walked off the patio and promptly sunk into a snow drift. It had piled up beside the house reaching close to three feet.

"Stop laughing!" He laughed harder. A moment later he was in the snow with her pulling her out of the quickly melting powder.

"Hop on!" With his daughter on his back and laughter in the air Samuel could only feel happy. Sure, he had past regrets and many mistakes. But right now? He felt like his life couldn't be better.

It was to good to be true.

"Daddy!" Her shriek had his attention immediately. They had parted ways to have a snowball fight. She was only a few short feet away from him on the other side of the snowbank she had trudged through. He waded through the snowbank as well. Rushing just a little because of that ever bothersome parental worry.

Cresting the snowbank, he felt his heart drop into his stomach. It was as if the world fell away before him. not metaphorically, literally. Twenty feet below the snowbank, was sandy ground. Not a trace of snow, and even the shadows were positioned differently. It was another place entirely. And if it wasn't for the shimmering outline where the snow suddenly was replaced with a twenty foot drop and sand, then he wouldn't have been able to guess what he was seeing.

But there, on the edge of the shimmer twenty foot drop, was his daughter. Barely managing to keep herself from slipping into the portal. Because, his mind supplied to him belatedly. It was, in fact, a portal.

Like any father would, he moved to grab his daughter. His hand reach for hers. at the same moment, her hand lost its grip, and she fell. Her shriek pierced his ear, and without hesitation he allowed himself to fall with her. Grabbing her and pulling her close.

For a brief moment as his body flipped head over heels, he saw the other side of the portal. Shimmering on this side just as it had on the other side.

"…Another disturbance, there has been."

Twenty feet was far enough to cause injury. But not far enough to really think about it. All in all, the fall was over in just a few moments.

"… too much is at stake!"

As a blackness seemed to creep into his vision, he felt something push against his chest.

"Daddy!"

"More than Prophecy, perhaps this is?"

The voices seemed to mix. Though he felt both sets were of great importance. But he couldn't remember why…

"Daddy! Dad!"

"I will discover the truth."