"Father..." I rolled over in my bed as I heard Bram's voice near me, but last night left me with a hangover, and I really didn't want to talk to anyone. The light was stinging my eyes, and even though his voice was amused and soft, it was like pots clanging against my head.

"No..." I groaned out as I moved the covers over my head.

I then felt the side of my bed dip and knew Bram had decided to get on the bed. I soon felt his hand on my shoulder. "Father, you need to get up. It's two in the afternoon, and you're worrying Mother."

"Yes, well...it's Nimbus's fault that he challenged me to a drinking competition."

"That you won."

"And now I'm paying for it! I don't want to get up! Sound hurts! Light hurts!"

"Oh-ho! You have a hangover!" He laughed and I turned over under the covers just enough to glare at him. "Let me go mark it on the Calendar shall I? January 1st, 1732...Jack Frost, General of Winter, secret Father to nine spirits...has a hangover!"

"And you're not exactly helping, Bram." I laughed out as I sat up in my bed, and allowed the covers to fall off of me. "Alright, I'm up..." I groaned as I held my head. "Oh..." I looked at him, and noticed he had a glass of some sort of liquid purple and yellow. "Nimbus said you might have a hangover, and I already had to give him his. This should help almost instantly."

"Hmm...the drink was Nimbus's idea?"

"Yes." He chuckled out as I took the glass from his hand.

"Then he can live." I laughed out dryly before downing the entire glass. It took about two minutes and he was right. My headache was gone so fast it was almost as if it wasn't there in the first place. "What's in that?"

"You don't want to know, trust me."

"Alright...now, may I ask why you've woken me up?"

"It's two in the afternoon, Father. You never sleep in this late, and Mother asked me to go check on you since everyone else is out. Well...Autumn and Flora are here, but they're sparring in the training yard."

I looked down at the covers and then noticed that I was shirtless. I lifted the covers quickly and was glad to see I was still wearing undershorts. "Um...who undressed me?"

"Well...you and Nimbus decided to have a wrestling match after you won the drinking competition, and both of you tore off a good amount of clothes."

I groaned as I pinched the bridge of my nose with a wry smile. "Well, if that isn't the most embarrassing thing I've heard...who else saw?"

"Mother saw. She helped Nimbus to his room, and grabbed his clothes that you tore off in the wrestling match, and I did the same for you. It was quite entertaining."

I let out a frustrated sigh and shook my head slowly. "Well, at least it's nothing none of you haven't seen before. Especially with how many times I've ended up in the medical wing for making even the strangest of spirits pissed off."

"True...very true. So...are you going to get dressed?"

"Yeah...I'll get dressed, but you have to leave my room and tell Mother Nature that I'm up and getting dressed."

"As long as you do actually get up."

"Well, my hangover is gone, so I don't see why not."

"Fine then."

"Hey...where's my staff?" I asked as I looked to the left side of my bed, and all too quickly noticed the lack of presence of my wooden companion.

"Mother confiscated it from you before your wrestling match." He got up and started moving towards the door. "She still has it." He said as he opened and closed the door behind him.

I got up from my nest of blankets and moved towards my dresser, feeling the cool grass beneath my feet. I don't know what it is about the grass, but it always calms me, but wakes me up at the same time, and I haven't seen this kind of grass anywhere in the world. Once I made it to the dresser, I pulled out clean undershorts and quickly put them on. Then, I decided that I would go for a look I haven't worn for a while. I grabbed one of the futuristic shirts that had long sleeves and a strange collar that folds down onto the base of my neck, touching the nape of it. The one I pulled out was plain white, but the buttons were silver colored. I looked for a vest with matching buttons, and I was glad to see a sapphire blue vest with white swirls and frost looking patterns sewn into the fabric, and it had the matching silver buttons. I then pulled out the usual pair of pants that I usually wear, but this one was a sapphire color as well, and the leather straps were a beautiful mixture of silver and white. "Alright, this should be good." I quickly got dressed and made my way out the door.

Once I was out of my room, I quickly noticed that Mother Nature was waiting to the side of my door with my staff. She was wearing a medium length light blue dress with a sash in the middle that draped in front of her, and it had short sleeves. I looked down and noticed she wasn't wearing any shoes. I took my staff from her and smiled up at her. "You look beautiful." I told her and as the blush quickly appeared on her face and her eyes widened, my expression mimicked her's. 'Why had I said that!? It's true...but why had I said it!?'

"Thank you. You're looking rather handsome yourself."

'And why does that make my heart and face feel warm!?' I nodded my head and remembered what Bram had said and immediately face palmed myself. "Sorry about the...um...wrestling match last night..."

"Oh, don't be." She smiled. "I found it very entertaining."

"I'm sure you did." I rolled my eyes with a slight smile. "So uh...any chance you can tell me who won the wrestling match?"

"Nimbus did...well...if the removing of clothes was the object of the match, but as far as pinning down goes, you won. I was rooting for Nimbus while Bram was rooting for you. We both won and lost."

"Yeah, and I ended up drinking some kind of liquid that got rid of my hangover in two minutes. What was in it?"

"You don't want to know."

"That's what Bram said." I shook my head. "Can't you just tell me?"

"You sure you want to know?"

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have asked."

"You drank beet and pineapple juice."

"UGH!" I shuddered violently at the thought that I drank anything with beets in it. "I HATE BEETS! I think I preferred having a hangover."

"We know, and that's why we told you that you wouldn't want to know." She started giggling lightly at my disgusted reaction, but it soon turned into full laughter. "Your face was amazing though!"

"And the drink...was Nimbus's idea." She nodded her head as she calmed her laughing. "I've changed my mind...I'm gonna kill him."

"Well, although I won't let you kill him, you can certainly spar with him...after we help Bram."

"What does he need help with?" I asked curiously as I clutched my staff, still recovering from the fact that I drank beet juice.

"Well, as you know, Bram is a bird animal spirit. Apparently some spirits have agitated the Swallow birds in Ireland, and they're not acting they're usual self. We're supposed to go see what's wrong, help him with situation, and then he's going to talk to the Swallows and tell them that the coast is clear."

"A spirit...has been harassing...Swallows?"

"That's what Bram says." She answered with a shrug as we made our way down the stairs. "As a bird animal spirit it's his job to make sure they are safe, happy, and well...he senses these things as I'm sure he's told you."

"Yes, he's told me." I sighed out, and noticed that we were nearing the end of the stairs. "How are we already almost at the end of the stairs?"

"Well, you were quiet for quite some time before answering me."

"Huh...I hadn't realized."

She rolled her eyes with a half smile as she shook her head. "Obviously."

"Do we know what type of spirit it is?" I questioned cautiously as we walked out the front door of the castle. However, before she answered, I looked to my left and got sight of Nimbus returning to the castle grounds. "Nimbus!" I growled in what my 'children' have come to call my scolding tone.

"Oh..." He chuckled nervously and started trying to tip toe around Mother Nature and eye in order to get to the door of the castle. "I um...see you're all better, Jack."

"Beets. You made Bram give me beets!"

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" He lifted his hands up in a defensive way, but that only seemed to tick me off even more.

"Sparring match as soon as I get back."

"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded his head. "...that's fair."

"Good." I smiled at him, which caused him to smile briefly before running towards the castle.

"You know..." Mother Nature giggled lightly as she looked at the door of her castle with a soft and warm smile. "...I swear, you scold them just like I do, if not better."

"I don't like beets. He knew that. He told Bram to give me beets. It wasn't fair."

"However...it did work, didn't it?"

I let out a sigh and nodded my head. "Yes, it worked. Now come on...we have to go help Bram, and you didn't answer my question earlier."

"Bram thinks it's Wendigo."

"Wendigo? Why would they be targeting Swallows? More over...why would they be out and about and in that area!?"

"They might not be Wendigo. They might be just what's agitating them, but either way, we have to deal with them. As for why they're there...that's a good question that we'll likely never get the answer to...and either way, he needs our help."

"You're right." I gave a short nod and watched as she activated the portal we needed to go through. Once we were through we were in a thickly forested area, and the sun was setting. "Where's Bram?"

"I'm right here!" He shouted right above us. I turned around to face where his voice was coming from and noticed that he was in a Swallow form. "I was right! There's three Wendigo."

"Great!" I shouted as I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Do you know where they...are?" As I finished my sentence I heard dangerous growls come up behind me.

"Get ready, Jack!" Mother Nature shouted, and we both immediately started going after the three Wendigo with our own powers.

I shot electric ice at the Wendigo I was facing, and Mother Nature was using her vine whips against her's but then there was one that went after Bram, and Bram was having a difficult time getting away. With a pure protective instinct that I have come to realize I only feel towards the nine spirits that I consider to be my children, I flew up above the Wendigo I was fighting and I slammed the but of my staff down on his head, and then quickly created ice shards beneath my staff, killing the Wendigo faster than I have ever done before, and I rushed to Bram's side to attack the Wendigo that was after him. "Leave him alone!" I growled out as I repeated the action on his Wendigo and then froze him solid before using my staff to smash him to pieces.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, can you turn into a hawk? We need to help Mother Nature."

"Of course I can turn into a hawk!" He scoffed out as he transformed, and once he turned into a hawk he immediately went after the Wendigo and started clawing at his ears and nose to make him go deaf and to disorient his sense of smell. Meanwhile I ran to Mother Nature's side and she gave me a brief glance before taking away her whips and started using lightning at her opponent, but this one was bigger than the others.

"Mother Nature, I think we may need to combine our powers."

"Oh? And how do you...propose...we do...that!?" She asked between lightning throws, and a storm was beginning to brew overhead. "Nimbus?" She asked, and sure enough she was right, because he came rushing in and called lightning to strike down on the Wendigo, but he missed.

The wind began to pick up to dangerous levels, but nothing birds couldn't handle, just something that would force them to go for cover. "Good idea, Nimbus!" Bram shouted with a proud tone.

"Yeah! Figured you would want the birds to go for cover, and I overheard Mother say the word Wendigo, and I wasn't about to let you guys have all the fun!"

"Nimbus, make it rain! If they it can't smell us, we'll have an even bigger advantage!"

"You got it, Jack!" He laughed out and the rain instantly started to downpour.

As the snow fell, I focused my energy and turned the raindrops on the Wendigo into ice until he was completely covered in ice droplets, and his limbs started slowing down. "Mother Nature, summon your vine whips!"

Without questioning me, she did as I asked, and I touched my staff to the vine, and I created icy thorns all along the vines. "Remarkable, Jack!" She laughed out and started whipping at the Wendigo, and because at this point he couldn't go anywhere, we finished him no time, and thanks to Nimbus, the clouds cleared to reveal a beautiful night sky.

Bram left briefly to let the Swallows know that it was okay now, and that they were safe and asked for them to spread the word to the other birds. He was gone for about fifteen minutes, but when he finally landed next to the three of us and transformed into a human form, we started hearing music. There were flutes, drums, clapping, and stringed instruments playing. "Who would be playing in the middle of the night?"

"Druids!" Mother Nature squealed in delight.

"What are druids?"

"They're spiritual beings that can cross planes. They're mostly of the spiritual plane and have been since the early to mid 1500's, but sometimes they can cross into the human plane. Right now, we're on both, but mostly on the spiritual plane because we just face Wendigo. So, at the moment, they're fellow spirits. C'mon!" She laughed out freely as she pulled my hand and we rushed towards the sound.

"Why do you like the druids so much?"

"Because, they're people of Nature and magic! And they're always so lively. Perhaps we can ask them why they've decided to play music."

I looked back at Bram and Nimbus who were wearing sympathetic expressions as they ran after us. Once we stopped, I looked in front of us, and was amazed by the sight. There were so man colors of ribbons, cloth, banners, and tents. There was a large fire, and there were children as well as adults dancing to the music that was being played. Mother Nature started walking towards them, and a few of the children looked at her and rushed towards her. "Mother Nature joins us!" A child shouted in delight and the music stopped. Then, the people around the camp started bowing.

"Thank you, but you may stand. I was brought here by the sound of your music. Will you please play some more?"

An older gentleman came forward with a broad smile, and he seemed to be wearing blue silk robes with a hood on the back. "It would be our pleasure, but could you introduce us to your friends?"

"Ah, this is Jack Frost." She motioned to me and my eyes widened.

"They can see me?"

"Of course I can see you, spirit." The man laughed and shook his head.

"Right, and this is Bram, he's a..."

"He's an animal spirit, and Jack here is a spirit of winter." The man commented with a sly grin.

"Exactly, and this is Nimbus, he's one of my storm spirits."

"We witnessed your heroic battle. The Wendigo have harmed many of our people, and have even begun to agitate the animals in the area. We play to celebrate their demise. Won't you join us in the celebrations?"

"I would love to!"

As we walked further into the camp I noticed the man that approached us was looking at me. "Are you alright?" He asked me, and I nodded my head. "You don't fool me."

"It's just...you all look very human..."

"And so do you." He commented with his thick Irish accent.

"Right...but Mother Nature said that you're spirits...but you can cross planes..."

"Ah, that is very true. We are spirits and it is why we can see you, but we are also mortals as well. We can cross both planes and live in both planes. We are not what you would call believers, because we are born of the spiritual and magical plane rather than born on the mortal plane. I am sorry if this upsets you."

"It was confusing before, but I think you just cleared it up."

"Glad to be of help, and I must say, the way you were fighting by Mother Nature's side...you two are truly a force to be reckoned with when together."

"Yes, so I've heard." I laughed out.

"Come, join the celebrations with us and your friends."

I followed him closer into the camp and listened to the music. It was joyful, upbeat, and practically filled with laughter. "Bram! Dance with me!" Mother Nature cried out with a wide smile as the music picked up pace.

"No, sorry, I was going to ask Nimbus. Nimbus...would you like to dance?"

"Don't mind if I do, dear brother!" He laughed out joyously and I watched as Bram and Nimbus linked arms and danced in their own way.

Seeing the disappointed but understanding look on her face, I moved forward and tapped her on the shoulder. Once I got her attention, I bowed low with my hand across my chest. "May I have this dance, my lady?" I asked as I leaned back up and extended my left hand as I put my right behind my back.

"Y-You may." She answered and took my hand while clutching her dress with her other hand. I placed a hand on her hip, and started dancing to the upbeat music, and I was extremely grateful that there was more than enough room, because we ended up jumping and spinning around to the fast paced beat of the drums. As we danced I watched her expression and my heart sang. I knew she was beautiful before, but she was absolutely stunning under the full moon and starlight. As she laughed, I remembered every time I've heard it and how much I've always wanted to hear it even more. As she held my hand I was reminded how my heart felt when she would be kind or when we would spar with one another. She was beautiful in both looks and personality...she was always magnificent, fierce in battle and with words, kind to an alarming degree, strict with her rules and with her love of her children but not overly so. She was loving of all plants and animals, but especially her children, and when she opened her eyes to me during the dance, she became a thief that stole my heart. As the song came to a close, my heart was pounding and I realized, that I had more than likely been in love with her since the beginning, but with one joyful, laughing, dancing, look from her beautiful eyes, the only thing that remained of my heart in my chest was its steady beat, because she now owned it.

Once the song played its last note, she let go of me and gave a polite curtsy, and I gave her a slight bow, feeling breathless from more than just the dance. "Thank you for such a wonderful dance, Jack!"

"It was my pleasure, my lady."

"R-Right..." She giggled out with a soft and breathless smile. "...we should um...get going. You have a sparring match with Nimbus to attend."

"That's right!" I whispered out mischievously as I glanced at Nimbus who then glared at Mother Nature.

"You had to remind him, didn't you."

"Oh, but I did." She laughed out, and that sound alone made my chest feel warm and joyful. She then turned to the man who spoke with me earlier. "Thank you for allowing us to dance, but we cannot stay."

"I understand. Thank you for honoring us with your presence."

She gave them a nod of her head, and summoned the portal. We walked through without hesitation. First it was Bram, then Nimbus, then me, and then Mother Nature. I turned around to face Mother Nature and she was holding a hand to her heart and was smiling widely. "Is everything alright, Mother Nature?"

"Hmm?" She asked as she quickly looked up at me with new kind of light in her eyes that I couldn't name, because I hadn't seen it before, but then she quickly shook her head. "Yes, it's just been a very long time since I've danced with anyone. I'm really glad you asked me to dance. Now, if the three of you don't mind, I'm going to try and get some rest before I go to the Rain Forest tomorrow. I'm supposed to help Abungu with creating more plants in some areas." She summoned a smaller portal and this one was blue. We all knew it was a portal she only used if she was really tired or if she wanted to get to her room as quick as possible.

Once she was through and the portal was gone, I felt a hand on both my shoulders. On my right was Bram and on my left was Nimbus. "I think we should postpone our little sparring match, and have a talk."

"I agree with Nimbus." Bram stated with a sly smile.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Once we were in my room, and we were all sitting on what Bram calls my nest. It was just the three of us and I was sitting at the middle of the head of the nest, Nimbus was sitting on the left foot of the bed, and Bram was sitting at the bottom right foot of the bed. "Okay, what is it?"

"Oh, this is too good. He really doesn't know." Nimbus chuckled out and I was getting more agitated.

"Nimbus!" Bram scolded lightly, before turning back to face me. "Father, we saw how you looked at Mother while you danced with her, and we saw you were after. We had our suspicions for quite some time, but..."

"The dance..." I interrupted with a smile as I held a hand to my heart. "...wait, what...what suspicions have you had?"

"That you're in love with Mother, and were just too blind to see it." Bram answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders, accompanied with a slight smirk.

"I...well...you're not wrong." I beamed at them. "During the dance...I found out that I've more than likely been in love with her for a long time...but I haven't noticed. Then, when she looked at me...she stole my heart in that second."

"YES!" Nimbus shouted as he jumped off the bed. "YES! YES! YES!" He continued to shout as he jumped about the room. Once he made it back to the bed with an overjoyed expression he tried to catch his breath, but seemed almost too excited. "I knew...I mean I suspected...but the others...they too..."

"What Nimbus is trying to say, is that he's known since he met you on the stairs...or rather...that he had a sneaky suspicion that you would never see Mother as we saw her, and then we all kind of collectively knew when you two first sparred, and the way you spoke to her. However, nothing will be quite as obvious as when the two of you danced together. You should have seen yourself, Father. There was a brief look of realization, and then you danced with her with a look of pure love in your eyes."

"Oh..." Nimbus sighed out with a content expression that also held relief for some reason. "...and the way the two of you danced...you both were having fun and the two of you looked so free as you jumped and spun about to the drums. If I'm going to be honest...I've never seen Mother so happy."

"That's true..." Bram nodded at him and then turned his gaze back to me. "...and we've never seen you so happy either."

"S-So..." I stuttered out in a stunned sort of daze, because if I didn't know any better, they've been wanting me to admit it for a long time. "...you all knew since the sparring match?"

"Oh yes!" Bram chuckled low. "Especially when Mother asked you what you saw when you looked at her, and you came up behind her and said, 'A woman' and pushed her to the ground, gaining your point. There was also the fact that you said everything you saw in her when she fights and when she doesn't and you had only known her what...sixteen hours? That had to be love at first sight."

"I...I think you may be right." I smiled at them.

"So...what are you going to do about it?" Nimbus asked excitedly as he bounced up and down on my bed while he was still sitting.

"I have no idea, but can I ask something?"

"Sure!" They chorused together.

"If I...If I do ever confess...then if anyone asks...I didn't admit it until then."

"So...you do plan on confessing to Mother Nature?" Bram questioned with an amused smirk.

"Yeah, no pressure." I laughed out. "But...yeah, eventually."

"So...if your story someday gets told...how you met all of us and Mother Nature...you want us to say that you admitted your feelings...when you confessed to her?"

"Yes, and there's a reason for that. I promise."

"It's because you don't want her knowing that you told someone else before her, isn't it?" Nimbus questioned with a curious expression.

"That's exactly it."

"What about Abungu, Isla, Flora, Mesi, Adara, Autumn, and Summer?"

"They can know, but let me talk to them. It will be the same for them. If I ever do confess..."

"What are you going to do if Mother reciprocates your feelings?" Nimbus asked carefully.

"HA! Now that's funny! There's no way someone as wonderful as her could ever love me."

"Y-You don't really think that...do you?" Bram asked with a dismayed expression.

"Bram..." I told him as I sat up straight in the bed with my staff laying across my crossed legs. "...look at me. I'm physically fourteen...forever. Not only that, but I'm childish. I play pranks, I make jokes, I'm troublesome, and..."

"And what if she likes those things about you?" Nimbus inquired with the same expression Bram held.

"Hmm...do you remember the three times I pranked her while she was cooking? I highly doubt it. The point is...I'll look like this forever...and she deserves...well...a man...not a teenager."

"You're mentally and emotionally twenty...and since when have you cared about physical age!?" Nimbus pouted as he crossed his arms.

"I don't, but..."

"...but you want her to be happy." Bram nodded his head, but then he gave me a questioning look. "...and you don't think you can do that?"

"She deserves far more than I can give."

"Oh man..." Nimbus chuckled out while still wearing a saddened expression, but now it was mixed with pity. "...you're to the moon with how far gone you are."

"I know!" I groaned out as I flopped back on my many pillows.

"So can I throw a hypothetical situation at you?" Bram questioned, and there was curiosity as well as amusement in his voice.

"Sure." I breathed out in defeat as I looked up at my sky light.

"Say...you confess to her one day. She also confesses to you on the same day. You two become a couple. She finds out we knew, but is perfectly fine with the fact that we knew and even finds it sweet and amusing...now...I wanna ask three questions for this. One, do we keep the relationship a secret from other spirits? Two, do we still tell other spirits that you two danced around each other until you actually danced and then neither of you would admit it was love until you both confessed? Three, would you want to marry Mother?"

"U-Um..." I stuttered out with a shaky breath from his last question, and I slowly brought myself up to stare at the two men on my bed, who both held patient but amused looks in their eyes. "One, it might be best, that way everyone stays safe and no one gets gotten after to get to the other. Two, I like the way that's phrased...so yes...that. Th-Three...I um...w-would...m-marry? I...I would like that v-very much...but that would be impossible..."

"Alright...so with all of that...my scenario is...perhaps...the two of you were meant to be."

"It would be nice to think that...but I can't see how she would feel the same for me. I know I'm her closest friend aside from Sandy...she's told me as much, but I don't think that would be an accurate scenario."

"Would you still confess anyway?" Nimbus asked with a slight smile on his face and hopeful eyes.

"I will...someday." I told them both with an honest smile. "I think I'll have to eventually, but as it stands...that won't be anytime soon."

"Can we be there when you do confess?"

"We'll talk about that day when it comes. Now...I'm getting tired..."

"Alright, alright." Bram laughed. "We know when we're being kicked out of Father's room. We'll keep our word, and wait for you to tell the others, and we'll act like none of us know...we've been doing that since the beginning anyway." I smirked and threw a pillow at him, causing him to erupt into laughter.

"C'mon..." Nimbus chuckled out. "...let's let Father rest before we start a pillow fight."

"You're right." Bram nodded at Nimbus. "Sleep well, Father."

"Sweet dreams to both of you. Goodnight." I told them and put myself under the covers without changing my clothes. I was too tired to.