Snowdrop

by UVNight

Loneliness can drive a person insane. They find any means to alleviate it. Some have friends and family. Others create them. First Ch a short drabble; it will expand as the chapters progress.

9. Endless Lessons and

A/N: Okay, before we get in to Chapter 9, I need to clear something up: Pitch's daughter's name IS NOT KATHERINE. Sorry for the false information, dearlings. Kaylessa, thanks for pointing that out for me! I'm actually well aware of this fact. However, I was writing the last bits of information for Chapter 8 at 2am, after being up since 6am the previous day. I was half asleep, but I really wanted to get that chapter out. Hence the horrific information flub. So sorry, everyone! So, to recap, Pitch's daughter is not named Katherine. That's another character in the Guardians of Childhood series. Pitch's daughter hasn't been named yet. Well, she sort of has, but I won't tell you. That's a spoiler. And Kaylessa hates when I spoil things! Even though she knows the answer. But I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you who may or may not decide to purchase William Joyce's Guardians of Childhood series and read it, keeping in mind that the series isn't complete yet, Jack Frost hasn't made an appearance in the series yet, and the next book isn't due to come out until, I believe, September 2013. Still…you should read it, dearlings. It's a children's book series, but it's absolutely wonderful!

All that being said, let's move on to Chapter 9, shall we?

Ch. 9 – Endless Lessons and…

No matter how much Jack told her, Snowdrop always had new questions for him. She was as eager as any child to learn, and nothing seemed to bore her.

The morning after Jack had told her about Santa Claus, Snowdrop awoke him up by rolling him off their snowdrift bed. Now lying flat on the frozen floor on his stomach, he attempted to push himself up, only to be halted as she slid off the bed and planted herself on his back.

"Oof!" The air rushed from his lungs as she seated herself on his lower back, then shifted so that she was lying on her back on top of him, her feet hanging over his shoulders and her head balanced on his calves. Snowflake hair tickled his legs and he propped himself up just enough that he could turn his head and look at Snowdrop over the delicate curve of her left foot. "Is there a reason you've decided I'm a much more comfortable bed than, say, the bed?"

She giggled at him and folded her hands over her stomach. "I've questions for you, Frostie Toes," Jack groaned and she giggled again before becoming solemn and tapping his thigh, "I'm serious, Jack. I've questions and you're the only one to answer them. Are you ready, Father Friend?"

Jack folded his arms and rested his head on them, focusing his eyes on the toes of her right foot as they flexed and clicked. He had made her toes like his, a little longer than what was common in most humans; not all, but most. Consequentially, she had the same ability as he did to walk and climb with the speed and agility of a monkey, their longer-than-average toes acting almost like fingers and allowing for surer grips. "I'm ready, Daughter Friend." Her toes wriggled for a few more moments before stilling.

"Alright then. Last night, you said North brings gifts to nice children, and coal to naughty children, right?" He nodded, his cheek rubbing against the bottom of her foot as he did. "And you said North himself had told you you're on the Naughty List," He could hear the derision in her voice, clearly displeased with Santa's view of her friend, "so that meant no gifts, correct?" Again he nodded, smiling as her foot twitched above his cheek this time, almost as if she were ticklish. "And," her tone changed a bit, so Jack new she was reaching her point, "You said he never gave you anything, right?" His nod came again, though more hesitant that the first two. Her left leg shifted, and he felt her long toes weaving through his hair and massaging his scalp, likely having sensed his trepidation. "So, Jack, I have to ask: If you're on the Naughty List, why haven't you ever been given coal?"

A bark of laughter slipped from his lips; a harsh, humorless sound that made Snowdrop flinch atop him, causing her to nearly fall from her perch. The icicle toes in his hair flexed and pulled the strands roughly once before returning to the calming massage of before. Her hands slipped up his legs and gripped his feet, thumbs pressed to the bottoms while the other fingers wrapped around the top of his feet. Jack was about to ask her what she was doing when those frozen thumbs pressed hard into the arches.

Jack yelped in surprise and pain, then hissed in a pleased breath of air as those same thumbs started massaging the soles of his feet, easing the pain caused and working through various tense knots in the muscles that he hadn't realized existed. That, Jack had learned in the few weeks of Snowdrop's life, was how she dealt with stressful or otherwise unhappy situations: she settled herself in and started giving him a massage. Before, she had only focused on his head. It seemed, however, that she would focus on any portion of his body she could reach.

An appreciative groan drifted through the cavern as icy digits dug into the balls of his feet. Her toes, too, continued to massage. Jack felt as if he was slowly melting under her ministrations.

Once he was relaxed again, Snowdrop brought him back to her question. "Jack?" He gave a sleepy hum in response. Her thumb dug a little harder into his foot to wake him up. "Oh Frostie Toes," She sing-songed, "Wake up, now, I'm questioning you." He lifted one hand and made a gesture for her to continue. "Have you never received coal from Santa? Or did you mean he never gave you a gift?"

Snowflake blue eyes flickered halfway open, having closed in bliss as he enjoyed the massage. He sighed heavily, his whole form seeming to deflate. Snowdrop sat up on his back, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning on them. "Jack?" The worry in her voice pulled at his heart. He didn't want her to worry about him, but it seemed like he gave her reason to more often than not.

Pressing his hands against the floor he pushed himself up just enough to encourage Snowdrop to rise up on her knees. The additional space allowed him to turn over onto his back. Once he was settled Snowdrop moved back and sat cross-legged on his thighs. Jack propped himself up on his elbows. Blue eyes locked on to Not-Quite-Blue and he said, a sad frown pulling at his lips, "North's never given me anything, Snowdrop. Not a gift, not a lump of coal. He's never even told me what I've done to put me on the Naughty List, or what I can do to be taken off it." He sat up further, placing one hand flat behind him on the icy floor while the other rubbed at the back of his head, "I don't know why he never gave me coal. Maybe he didn't want to waste it on someone who wouldn't use it. I've seen kids use to coal for fires, to warm their homes, which I would never do. But…but some broke it into smaller pieces and used it to draw. I've even seen children use it to blacken their faces and hands for games. I don't…" Another sigh was released as he flopped back down onto the floor and stared forlornly at the ceiling. "Maybe I've done something so bad that North didn't even want to give me something potentially fun…"

A hard fist was firmly, yet gently, planted in his stomach. There was just enough force behind it to cause a surprised exhalation, but not enough to hurt. Shocked eyes focused on the partially transparent being above him. Almost-Blue eyes glared back.

Snowdrop scowled as she leaned over him, putting a bit of her body weight on his stomach. The rest of her weight was transferred to her other hand which had taken up residence on Jack's right shoulder. She continued to scowl as she pressed her face almost nose-to-nose with his. Jack was effectively pinned, both by her body and by her ire.

"Nothing short of mass murder should cause that man to give you nothing for the entirety of your life." Her voice was like a thin layer of ice over a pond that was cracking, threatening and holding the promise of danger to any who denied her words. "If Santa Claus," She practically spat the name, "is so sure that you're so naughty that you don't deserve anything, not even coal, then he can take his Lists and –"

The Wind blew fiercely through the cave, taking her words away so, even as close as they were, Jack didn't hear them. He got the idea, though. Nicholas St. North, Santa Claus, one of the Big Four, a Guardian of Children, was on Snowdrop's List. And, Jack decided as she climbed to her feet and stomped off to the tunnels, her cloak billowing behind her like the white-hot anger she was feeling, that was not a good place to be.

For several minutes the Winter Spirit stayed on the floor. The Wind fluttered around him, tugging at his hair and clothing in an effort to rouse him. The click-click of her feet had long faded into silence by the time he did get up. Rubbing the back of his neck, Jack scooped up his staff and, on the Wind's back, flew through the tunnels in search of his upset Daughter/Friend.

*********The Greatest Friends Will Cry The Tears You Can't*********

He found her in one of the largest, and most dangerous, caverns. The ground- and ceiling-icicles were numerous and ranged from thicker than the two Winter Children put together and to as thin as the frost threads that Jack had sewn Snowdrop's clothes together with. Several pieces of ice were shattered along the floor from past excursions in to the cavern, before they decided that playing was not something to do in a room where the slightest sound could send spears of frozen death falling from the ceiling, and the wrong step could leave a foot impaled with several tiny yet sharp icicles. It was a place where silence prevailed. It was not a place children ought to be, especially when one of them was in a temper.

But Snowdrop wasn't stomping around the room. She wasn't shouting her rage or kicking and punching the ice. She was sitting quietly against a pillar of ice near the center of the cavern. The slimmest part of the pillar was too wide for Jack and Snowdrop to circle with just their fingertip touching. The bases were so massive that they provided relatively comfortable seating and a sort of canopy on the ceiling, making it the only truly safe place in the room, as no other spires had grown at either base. Back in his lonelier days, Jack had come to this cavern and wondered if that single pillar held the ceiling up. Once, on a particularly bad day, he had contemplated trying to break it, to see if the cavern would cave in…with him inside.

Snowdrop, it seemed, just found it a good place to sit. Her knees were pulled to her chest, arms balanced atop them and head pillowed on her arms, hair creating a curtain of white that blended in with her cloak. From his position at the cavern entrance, she looked like a collection of ice spires with a frosting of snow over it, not like his Big Sister/Friend/Daughter.

With the Wind's help the Winter Spirit silently flew the expanse of the room and hovered at her side. The Wind ruffled through her hair and beneath her cloak, dispelling the illusion Jack had seen and revealing the girl beneath. One pale hand reached out and touched her face, further dissolving the mirage until once again his Ice Friend was looking at him with almost-blue eyes.

"Snowdrop?" She had that look on her face again. That trembly-lipped, dull-eyed look that told Jack she wanted to cry. "Oh, Snowdrop," he whispered as he pulled the frozen being into his arms. She clung to him tightly, the hardness of her fingertips bruising his ribs and shoulder as she wrapped him in her cloak. The quiet plink-plink of his hailstone tears as they landed first on Snowdrop's back, then rolled and fell to the floor, was the only sound for several minutes as the friends just held and comforted one another. Finally, she broke the silence.

"I don't want them to hurt you anymore, Jack," The cold press of her cheek against his own was as hard and unforgiving as her anger towards 'them.' Frozen digits pressed against the base of his skull as she pulled back enough to place her forehead against his, "Those so-called Guardians of Children…I don't want them to hurt you anymore. I won't let them hurt you anymore. I promise." A quick kiss was pressed to the tip of his nose before Snowdrop pushed him back and stood. Jack hardly moved as he hovered next to her, the conviction behind her words warming his heart.

A silly smile spread across his lips as the last of his tears fell and bounced off her feet. Taking her hand Jack led them out through the maze of ice spires and into the safer tunnels, eventually making their way back into the main cave. He moved them to the entrance where the light of the Moon poured through. Standing in that light, Snowdrop seemed to glow as the beams caught and bounce off and under her frozen skin, refracting endlessly on and beneath the smooth surface. Against the white glow, the blue of her snowflake-heart pulsed a steady beat beneath her shirt. Her eyes flickered in time with her heart, the mix of blue and white light making them sparkle like sunlight on the ocean. Her gaze turned to the glistening snow, to the black and white birds they slid down slopes with, to the shoreline where the cute creatures they couldn't go near lived. She resolutely kept her eyes off the Moon, off the Not-Father of her Father. Jack's smile took on a distinctly paternal nature as he cupped her cheek in his palm. "Snowdrop," She looked at him briefly before turning her attention back to the shoreline. Jack laughed and shifted his hand to her chin, using it to turn her face back to his own. Her eyes followed the motion as she allowed him to return her gaze to his. He continued smiling even as she gave him a disgruntled look, not pleased that he was trying to dispel her ire. "Snowdrop, you are the best Friend, the greatest Daughter, I could ever have wished for." He paused, and she pouted at him.

"What, I'm not a great Big Sister?"

He laughed again and pulled her into a hug. "Santa couldn't give me a better a better Big Sister. But Snowdrop, listen to me: Anything North, or Bunnymund, or any other spirit, sprite, ghoul, and so on, has done to me, I don't want you to go seeking revenge for me. I don't want you to – gupknfht."

It was not easy talking with someone's hand over one's mouth. Jack blinked. "Sumfrng?" Even harder, Jack thought, when that hand was solid ice instead of flesh and blood. The glare was back, though, colder even than the ice she was made of.

"I have no intention of seeking revenge, Frostie Toes. I do, however, intend to be here for you when you need me. I intend to protect you, Jack, from every hurt I can. And I have every intention of picking you back up when the world forces you to your knees, Jack Frost. But," She pulled her hand away and yanked his head to hers, "I will always, always, always, teach anyone who hurts you a lesson about common decency towards your fellows," She smiled, clear teeth glinting, pearlescent with the Moonlight that bounced around in her body, "if I ever get to meet them, of course." She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose.

Their laughter mingled with the Wind and was carried around the world.

*********Preparations in Secret and a Lesson Centuries Before Its Time********

The next week was spent dividing their time between games, sleep, and Snowdrop running off into the tunnels, laughter coloring her words as she shouted "Don't follow me, Frostie Toes!" Jack would be left for a few hours a day alone, time which he spent flying to North's Workshop to see Phil. For the first time in his life, Jack had someone to spend Christmas with, and he knew just what he wanted to get her for her first Christmas.

The Yeti, after Jack's first visit in which he explained what he needed and why, met the Winter Spirit each day the week before Christmas with a different item or items wrapped in brightly colored cloth. His mustached lips would twitch in a smile every time Jack unwrapped the parcel and whooped in joy at what was inside. Christmas Eve, despite the frantic pace of the Workshop as Yetis, Elves, and North made sure everything was ready for the big night, Phil still managed to sneak out and pass the last parcel off to Jack. The boy was so thrilled with the acquisition that he threw his arms around the furry creature in a hug before flying away so fast a flurry of snow was caught up in his departure and followed him half a mile before drifting gently back to the ground.

Jack returned to the cave just in time to catch Snowdrop placing a package at the foot of their bed. It was wrapped in what he recognized as her favored cloak, the snowflake-and-ice material lumpy and misshapen around whatever it housed. Snowdrop smiled at him and folded her arms behind her back. "Helloooooo, Frostie Toes!"

Jack laughed and flew over to her, setting his own package down before hovering around her shoulders and teasing her hair. "Hello, Snowdrop. Finished with your project?"

She smiled brightly at him and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him down and shifting his form so he was floating belly up about chest height. She then folded her arms over his stomach and leaned ever so lightly on him. "Yes sir, I am. And it's the bestest of projects I've ever completed."

A full belly laugh escaped him, jostling Snowdrop. "It's the only project you've taken up, dear...also, I don't think 'bestest' is a word."

A pout tugged at her lips, warring with the smile already in place before giving up the fight. She grinned toothily at him. He smiled broadly in response. She lifted one finger and tapped his teeth. Jack tipped his head back and cocked one dark eyebrow at her in query. "Um…those are my teeth. Yours are in your mouth. Tap those. Not mine. They're…they're mine. No tapping at Jack's teeth."

She laughed so hard she had to wrap both arms around Jack's middle and use him to hold herself up. Her mirth spilled over into him and soon they were both rolling around on the floor, clutching their sides as they howled in glee, the Wind weaving around them in amusement.

Eventually they managed to calm themselves. Settled with Jack's head on Snowdrop's stomach and her fingers rubbing through his hair, they laid on the floor next to their bed. "Tomorrow's Merry Christmas, right?"

He chortled at her words. "It's called Christmas. 'Merry Christmas' is what you say in regards to it. You're wishing someone a happy holiday when you say it."

A thoughtful hum answered him then silence reigned for several minutes.

"Why don't people just say 'Happy Holidays', then?"

He waved his hand in the air, "Because we're specifically wishing others a nice Christmas. Saying 'Happy Holidays' includes every holiday there is, and I'm not wishing anyone a Happy Easter. That's Spring time stuff. You and me, we're Winter."

The hand in his hair faltered. "We can't celebrate other holidays?"

Jack groaned, both at the question and at her tone of voice. It was so…so…her tone was so questiony sounding that Jack could picture the question mark above her head. And that thought didn't even make sense in his own head. Being a Father, a Teacher, was exhausting.

Her fingers had taken up the massage again before Jack answered. "We can celebrate other holidays, Snowdrop. We will celebrate them." He left it at that, certain that he had covered the question sufficiently.

And then his Daughter/Friend did as all children do: She questioned again. "So why can't we say 'Happy Holidays', Frostie Toes?"

He wanted to knock his head against a wall. "We can't." Why did it make so much sense to Jack, but not to her? He thought hard, his fingers drumming against his staff that was balanced across his stomach. "We…we're celebrating one holiday. So we wish pleasantries, good tidings, for that one holiday. A week after Christmas, we'll celebrate the coming of the New Year. We'll shout and dance and do everything that the mortals frown upon. We'll wish each other a happy year to come and banish the hardships of the year we leave behind. Understand?"

She hummed in thought and Jack listened to the snow-softened click of the fingers of her free hand against the floor. "I think so," she eventual started, "Each holiday gets its own well-wishing, and they should be respected for their own symbolism and celebrations. Each one is unique, like a snowflake, and should be admired for its own beauty, not snowballed together. To do so would take away from the specialness of the greetings and well-wishes and undermine the rights of those who celebrate one holiday but not another by forcing them to acknowledge all holidays at once. Right?"

"Uhhhh…yup. That about sums it up." Out of the corner of his eye he could see the pulsing light of her snowflake-heart speed up as she laughed in pleasure. Obviously she was pleased with her interpretation. Jack decided he wouldn't tell her that he hadn't meant any of that at all, had only meant that it was easier to use each individual holiday's greeting for the sake of order. It was simpler to wish a Merry Christmas, then a Happy New Year, later a Happy Easter, because it made it easier to keep track of the year and the seasons…

…He like her interpretation, though. It was thoughtful, considerate. It showed him that Snowdrop took other people's feeling in to account and that she cared about how they would construe something. She was as much a Big Sister to him, teaching and protecting, as he was a Father to her.

That thought firmly in mind, Jack fell asleep. Snowdrop followed him into slumber soon after, the gentle motions of her fingers stilling in his hair.

******************Merry Christmas********************

Morning, or what passed for morning to two Winter Children in a world of perpetual night (meaning when they finally decided to wake up), found Jack and Snowdrop curled around each other on the floor like a couple of kittens, Jack's head pillowed on Snowdrop's calves and vice versa. His staff was clasped carefully between them, the Sheppard's Crook at Jack's head, both flesh and ice fingers gripping the wood protectively. Snowflake-chain hair tickling his feet is what woke him, eyes blinking sleepily for several minutes before the significance of the day settled itself into Jack's sleep-fogged brain.

He sat up so fast that his staff skidded out of her fingers and jabbed the Ice Being hard in the throat. A noise that sounded something like "Yigralpifst!" reached Jack's ears as she rolled away from the offensive wake-up. Rubbing at the unblemished ice of her throat, she threw an affronted scowl at him. "Was that for pushing you out of bed yesterday?" The pout the pulled at her lips beneath the scowl brought a chuckle from Jack's own.

He shook his head, still smiling, and responded with "Merry Christmas, Snowdrop."

The scowling pout dissolved under her answering smile and she threw herself at Jack. They wrapped one another securely in their arms, Snowdrop's answering "Merry Christmas, Jack." dancing in the air around them. The Wind ruffle their hair and clothes, causing the pair to laugh and each draw back one arm, holding their embrace open for their timeless friend. A swirl of cold air spun between them, almost a solid mass was spinning snowflakes and air, that they folded their arms over in as close a hug as anyone could give the Wind. "Merry Christmas, Wind!" Their voices mingled and echoed, flowing and twirling in the Wind, drifting around the world wherever the Wind's infinite body touched. Laughter colored the whole of the planet, and no one, mortal or immortal, was sure if the echoes were from their own joy or some playful sprite.

The Wind caressed the faces of the Frost and Ice Children before unwinding from them and moving to tease the cloak-wrapped gift at the foot of the bed.

Snowdrop pulled out of the hug and tripped over her own feet as she rushed across the cave, barely regaining her balance in time to save herself from crashing to the floor. "Hey!" She gathered the gift into her arms, the cloak slipping almost enough to uncover the present before she managed to catch the material, "That's Jack's, you nosey nose-less nosey-body!"

A sudden stab of pain struck Jack. They hadn't gotten the Wind a Christmas present. He hadn't gotten the Wind a gift. Not this year, or any year previous. All the years Jack had bemoaned not receiving anything, and he hadn't even thought about the Wind, whose very intangible nature likely stopped it from having ever received a gift, too. He was about to apologize, about to promise his oldest companion the greatest Christmas present ever come next year, but Snowdrop, it seemed, hadn't forgotten.

"Your present is down there," She pointed towards the tunnels, "but you can't have it until Jack's had his. Then we'll take you down there so you get yours." Another smile nearly split her face. "I think you'll like it, my whispery friend." She winked, the gesture meant for the Wind if the fact that her face was turned away from Jack was any indication. It wasn't easy, of course, to wink at a being that was invisible, but she managed it alright.

Jack sidled up quietly beside her, embarrassment plain on his face as he stared at the floor. "You made something for Wind?"

She gave a confirming hum and elbowed him in the ribs. "I figured you never thought about giving Wind anything. Not, of course, because you don't care about Wind, but more because no one ever thinks about things they can't see. I've never seen the sun, or green, or trees, or even other people, so I don't think about them. We can feel Wind, though. We know Wind is with us, and that Wind cares about us. So I made Wind a Christmas present, to say thanks for being our friend."

Again, Jack felt that stab of pain. And again, she planted her elbow in his side. "You, Frostie Toes, think in terms of what can be touched, and what can't be. The Wind can touch us, but we can't touch it, not like we can touch each other, so what could we give the Wind that it can hold?" Her eyes focused on him, waiting for an answer. He shrugged, confused. A mischievous smile adorned her face as a secretive twinkle took up residence in her almost-blue eyes. "Well, you'll just have to wait and see, then, won't you? Now open!"

The lumpy package was thrust into Jack's arms. Whatever it was, it was heavy. He sat down on the ground, Snowdrop following, and gently placed the gift in his lap. Carefully, he pulled back the folds of the cloak until the contents were revealed.

It was one of the long cute animals they couldn't go near, completely carved of a solid piece of ice. At least, he thought it was. It was obviously hand-made by someone with little to no skill at carving ice. Jack picked the roughly hewn ice creature up, turning it over in his hands so he could see it from all angles. It was crudely done, the eyes lopsided, the body full of pits and scratches, the ice dirty with bits of dirt and small rocks that had frozen in it. The shape was less the smooth oblong with fins, and more a sort of knotted log with square and triangular appendages. It only resembled the cute animals in the general shape of it and the fact that it looked even less like any of the other animals that they shared the frozen tundra with. Aesthetically, it was an eyesore, so ugly and offensively misshapen that it was mentally painful.

It was the most wonderfully perfect thing Jack had ever seen and he loved it.

Pulling Snowdrop against him, he pressed his face into her hair and breathed in the pure scent of Winter. "Thank you," The whispered words were almost lost, muffled as they were by Snowdrop's hair, but she heard them.

Her own arms wrapped tight around him as she cuddled into his side. "You're very much welcomed a lot, Jack. Very much indeed you are, sweet Father Brother Friend."

Jack chuckled and nuzzled her hair. "We've got to work on your grammar. I don't understand how you can talk just fine one minute, then so poorly the next. You're very much strange a lot, Snowdrop. Very much indeed you are." She knocked her head lightly against his chin as they laughed.

They didn't move for several minutes, just leaning against one another and running their fingers over the ice creature, before a bit of purple caught Jack's eye. Grinning, he set his gift on the snowdrift bed and gently pushed his friend upright. "Stay here. I've got to get your present. You stay, too, Wind. And don't," He warned sternly with a smile, "touch that." His finger pointed to the parcel Phil had given him last night, wrapped carefully in a bright purple clothe. Then he was on his feet and in the tunnels before any sort of protest or acquiesce could be made.

He ran as fast as his feet could carry him until he reached a cave with several groves in the floor, making the surface look similar to waves at a beach. One such 'wave' was frozen into a tube almost wide enough for Jack to crawl in, but not quite. It was in that tube that he stuck his arm, reaching for the six other brightly wrapped parcels he had hidden there over the week. Blue, yellow, red, orange, white, and green wrapped bundles were pulled out. The green one, largest of the lot, was held with particular care.

Jack fingered the finely made muslin clothe and eyed the color. He had a lot to teach Snowdrop. Color, it seemed, would have to be one of them, and sooner rather than later, especially with Jack's plans.

Nodding to himself, he gathered each package up and hurriedly made his way back to the main cave. Snowdrop hadn't moved aside from shifting Jack's present off her cloak and wrapping the snow-and-ice material around her shoulders. The ice animal was balanced on the edge of their bed, lopsided eyes seemingly focused on Jack as he came back into the room.

Settling back on the floor, he lined the seven parcels up and sat back on his heels, waiting for Snowdrop to open them. Instead, her hands sat demurely folded in her lap as she stayed sitting on her knees. A perplexed, somewhat sad frown marred her face for just a moment before she looked up from the brilliant array of colors at Jack. Then, her face morphed into that can't-cry look.

Jack reached over and cupped her cheek. "What's wrong?"

The trembling of her lip halted as she spoke. "I only got you one present. I didn't know I was supposed to get you several. I'm sorry, Jack, I'm so sorry."

Immediately he rushed to reassure her. "No! No, no, no! Snowdrop, that's…I love your gift. And you made it, so that makes it even better. It's worth ten, twenty, no, fifty of what I got you. Yours took time to make. All I had to do was pick mine up. But…" He paused and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a hopeful smile on his face, "But I hope that you'll like them, and that we'll be able to make many more things, together. So cheer up, and open your gifts!"

She gave him a small smile, doubt still clear in her eyes over whether she had done wrong or not, and reached for the nearest parcel. The contents rattled and shifted against one another as she set it in her lap, brushing her fingers over the red material reverently. "What's this, Jack?"

Jack smiled at the curiosity in her question. She had felt muslin before, several piece of clothing in the closet-cave made of it. Jack had explained different materials to her, had shown her the difference between fine silks and coarse linens. He knew, then, that her question was towards the color. There were purples and blues, even yellows, in their closet, but no reds or greens.

There had once been a red scrap of clothe in his possession, the remnants of a berry-dyed scarf that Jack's Sweet Girl had worn many, many years ago. He had found the scarf tangled in the broken remains of a cabin, had recognized it and taken it with him, but years of traveling the world, twisting and tumbling in the arms of the Wind, had worn the scarf to a scrap. And time…time had faded the once beautiful color to a splotchy pink, then to a pale, almost sickly pink and beige, before finally all the color had been washed out and it became a dingy grey scrap that bore no resemblance to the scarf it once was. The sight of it had begun depressing Jack, and just days before he had discovered the vast frozen land he and Snowdrop lived on, Jack had dropped the tattered clothe into the ocean, allowing the bottomless body of water to swallow the pain of his past.

Now, with Snowdrop questioning the color, Jack remembered that scarf, and the girl who had worn it, fondly. He ran his own fingers over the soft fabric as he answered. "It's red, a color. See?" He grabbed the edge of her cloak and tugged the snow-and-ice material over half the red wrapped gift, then shifted so his leg was pressed against the two colors, "Your cloak is white, and my pants are brown. Understand? Colors. They're different colors."

Her eyes darted between the three colors as she took the lesson in. Her gaze drifted over the other five gifts. Jack listened as she whispered "…blue…white…yellow…" as her eyes passed over the colors she knew. Her curious almost-blue eyes focused on him as she pulled the two unknown colors closer, waiting for him to tell her what they were.

Jack laughed and pushed them back. "Open the one you have, Snowdrop. We'll do lessons later, alright?" She pouted for barely a second before smiling brightly and working at the folds in the cloth. Jack had to give Phil credit; the Yeti had wrapped the gifts in such a way that the bundles were loose, but not so loose as to not allow the contents to move about a little, and the cloth was folded and tucked into itself so as not to require any knots or strings to hold it closed. The wrapping itself was a masterpiece. The Winter Spirit made a mental note to learn how to accomplish it.

At last, red material was pulled away, revealing five small chisels. Metal, with wooden resin treated handles and metal pommels, they were exact duplicates of the ones Jack had acquired several years ago. There were two with square heads, one thicker than the other, one with a pointed head, another with a head sort of like a spoon, if a spoon had a more pyramid-esque shape than a rounded concave shape, and the final had a curve cut out of the top, allowing for ice to be carved in more rounded shapes more easily.

Snowdrop carefully lifted one of the square chisels and twisted it her fingers, examining it from all angles. She tapped the metal and wood, listening with interest to the 'ting' of her ice-fingers against the metal and the 'thud' of those same digits to the wood. The tools fascinated her, that much was obvious, and if Jack had let her, she would have spent the whole of the day doing nothing more than tapping and investigating each crevice of each chisel. But he wasn't about to let her do that. They had a full day ahead of them.

Slowly, being careful not to cut her frozen skin with the sharp metal, Jack retrieved the chisel from her grasp and set it amongst its fellows. "You've got more gifts, Snowdrop. And the Wind's getting impatient for its own gift." She laughed and reached for the next package. The blue one was longer and more heavily padded that the others, roughly the length of Jack's arm from shoulder to fingertips. Unwrapping it revealed that the material was actually a quilt. The blue muslin was the underside, and when they had spread it out, the top was covered in snowflake patterns, white against the blue backdrop. The stitching was intricate, far more detailed and finely done than anything Jack had managed. The pair were so enthralled in the patterns that neither noticed the saws laying in the center until Jack almost planted his hand on the blade of one. The Wind blew a gust of cold air beneath his hand, causing Jack to pause and look down, curious as to what had caught his invisible friend's sudden action.

The sight of the three saws brought Jack back to the task at hand. He nudged Snowdrop and gestured to the center of the quilt. Her eyes went wide when she noticed the three blades. Jack wondered if she was astounded they had both missed them, the silvery sheen of the metal and deep brown of the wood a clear contrast to the blue and white of the quilt. He knew he was.

One saw was short and thin with teeth so small they were almost indistinguishable from one another. Another was about a foot long with a wicked serrated blade, the curved handle fitting snuggled in her grip as she examined it. The final blade was the length of Jack's arm with a wooden handle on each end, obviously to be used by two people to cut a large piece of ice into smaller pieces.

Jack allowed her a few minutes to examine the saws before pushing the orange gift towards her. They settled themselves on the quilt, the other tools lined up on the floor to the side to prevent any from accidentally damaging the blanket. Snowdrop lifted the orange cloth, again fingering the material as she had the red one, mouthing "orange" as she uncovered the contents.

A hammer. A simple hammer with a stone top and wooden handle. Nothing else, and aside from the vibrant color, the orange muslin didn't bare any secrets, either. She quickly set it aside and reached for the white bundle. Again, the muslin held no special significant. Inside were five picks, ranging in diameter from about a inch to barely a few centimeters. Again, each was observed before being set aside with the others.

The yellow and green packages were pulled over together. They were about the same size, about a foot and a half long, half a foot wide, and a few inches thick. As she began to pull the yellow covering away, something white fell to the floor, odd black lines curling on one side of it. It fluttered to the floor, almost invisible against the snow that dusted the groud. Snowdrop paused as Jack picked it up, flipping the square item over so the black lines face him. His eyes widened at what he saw as tears pooled in his eyes.

Immediately Snowdrop was at his side, thoughts of Christmas and presents forgotten in the face of her Father/Friend/Brother's tears. "What's wrong? Jack, what's the matter?" Hailstones were brushed from his cheeks to the floor, "Why are you crying? You shouldn't be crying, Frostie Toes, it's Christmas! We're happy today, remember? Happy, happy, happy! Please don't cry. Please, please, please don't cr – why are you laughing? Ohhhh, Frostie Toes, why are you crying and laughing!? Are you okay? Should I get help? What's – what are – I'm confused very much right now, sir, stop laughing and tell me why you cry now please!"

He couldn't help it. Hearing her panic, listening to her grammar become progressively worse as she panic, was too much. Jack flopped over onto his back, curled up on his side, and clutched his stomach, laughing so loudly that some of the icicles in the cave shook with the reverberations.

Now thoroughly confused, Snowdrop sat back on her heels and clicked her fingers together rapidly. Wide almost-blue eyes were trained on the Frost Child, worry swimming in the frozen depths. The Wind fluttered through her hair in an effort to reassure her, to tell her that her Father/Friend was alright, that he was just a strange boy with an even stranger sense of humor, but without words, all the Wind was able to do was let her know it was there.

Finally, after the Wind had woven through each strand of snowflake-chain hair, and the clicks of her fingers had grown so rapid that they were almost indistinguishable from one another, Jack managed to bring himself under control. He sat up, still smiling brightly, and placed his hands on Snowdrop's shoulders. Snowflake blue locked with translucent almost-blue. Anxiety was still visible in the iced depths of her eyes. Jack's smile softened as he pulled his friend to his chest.

"I'm alright, Snowdrop. Everything is fine. Those were happy tears. Do you understand? Happy." He picked up the small piece of paper and showed it to her. It was as purely white as freshly fallen snow, except for thin graceful curves of black that stretched across the center. Snowdrop stared at it in confusion for several moments before taking the thing from Jack.

She brought it close to her eyes, turning it every which-way as she observed it. The flatness seemed to baffle her more than anything. Several times her own thin fingers lost their purchase on the item and it fluttered to the floor. The way it waved and drifted its way to the ground delighted her.

"Look, Frostie Toes! It's like a great big snowflake!" She climbed to her feet with the thing in hand, raised it as high into the air as she could, and let it fall again. The Wind caught it and flew it around the cave. Snowdrop laughed and gave chase. Jack watched, bemused, before letting out a whoop of joy and joining in the chase. Every time one of their hands came close to reclaiming the "big snowflake" the Wind would lift it high above their heads, carrying it and their laughter around the frozen homestead.

Finally Jack caught hold of it by leaping onto the Wind's back and grasping the item just as it fluttered out of Snowdrop's reach. "Ha!" As his finger pinched the thin white item into his grip, Jack jumped back to the ground. Snowdrop threw her arms around his neck, laughing. The Wind spinning around them in joy, they danced around the cavern happily, the very air seeming to sing in amusement at the antics of the Wind and Winter Children.

Pulling, Snowdrop toppled herself and Jack onto their snowdrift bed, presents momentarily forgotten. She plucked the "big snowflake" from Jack's hand and returned to her previous activity of twisting the item between her own fingers.

Jack smiled and just watched, marveling at how the black lines magnified and warped when viewed through the ice of her fingers and hand. "It's not a big snowflake, you know." He murmured.

Snowdrop shifted onto her side and propped herself up on her arm, smiling down at him. "I know that, Frostie Toes. I said it's like a big snowflake, not that it was one. You should better listen."

Jack chuckled and tapped her nose. "And you need to learn to speak properly. It's 'listen better' not 'better listen.'"

She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. "Then you'd better get on with the lessons, Frostie Toes. You're lucky I know how to talk at all," Jack made a questioning sound as she brushed his hair back from his forehead, "Oh yes, I could have woken up unable to talk or walk or do much of anything, just like those little baby animals out there," One arm waved towards the entrance to their cave, "So be glad, Mister I-Can-Talk-Properly, that you don't have to teach me how to walk about and talk."

Another smile lit his face as the Winter Child pulled his Sister Friend to his chest, nuzzling her snowflake-chain hair and inhaling the clean, crisp scent of Winter. "I am grateful. I'm grateful every day that you came to me, Snowdrop. Every minute of every day, for the rest of my life and more, I'll be grateful that you're here, and we're friends."

Hard frozen arms wrapped around him. "Friends and Family, Jack. We are Friends and Family." They could have stayed where they were, once more wrapped in one another's arms and enjoying the novelty of Family, but the Wind, the endless, eternal, older-than-Time Wind...was impatient.

It ruffled through their clothes and hair, pulling and tugging at them until, giggling, they rose and returned to the colorful pile of gifts on the floor. Jack picked up the partially unwrapped yellow package and passed the green one to Snowdrop. He waved the 'big snowflake' before her confused eyes. "This is a card. It's used to mark an item for a specific person," He pointed to the black lines, "And this…these are letters. They spell my name, see? J-A-C-K. Jack. When you write a person's name on a card and stick it on a present, you're saying that particular gift is for that one particular person. Understand?"

She took the card from his hands and traced over the letters, repeating them as Jack had. "Card. And…and letters. Used to mark something as a gift for one particular person. So…so that one is for you," she pointed to the yellow gift, "and this one is for me?" She asked, lifting the green one to Jack's eye level.

He nodded, blue eyes sparkling. Snowdrop held the gift in one hand, the card in the other, and traced the letters with her eyes. Eventually, she pursed her lips and gave a determined nod, passing the card back to Jack. "You will teach me letters, Father Friend, so that I can make a card for you and for Wind."

Jack laughed and took the card, leaning over so he could place a kiss on the tip of her nose. "I will. Promise. Now let's open these!" Snowdrop grinned and they unfolded the packages together.

Aside from color, the two items were identical. The outside material was the same soft muslin that all the others had been with two long pieces dangling in the center of one edge, while the inside was a rougher burlap that pulled away, only connected to the item by one edge. Beneath the flap was more burlap. Carefully stitched into the burlap were several pockets of varying widths and depths. It took Jack just a few seconds to realize what they were. Giving a shout of joy, he gathered up all of Snowdrop's new ice carving tools, excluding the longest saw, and began tucking them into the pockets of hers. Snowdrop caught on, and together they fitted each chisel, hammer, and saw into its individual slot. When finished, Jack pulled the burlap cover down so it covered the tools and proceeded to roll the whole kit up into a tight bundle. Then he grabbed the dangling strips on the edge, wrapped them twice each around the roll, and tied them.

Together, they marveled at the rolled up green material that now safely held her gifts. Snowdrop picked it up and shook it. Not a single tool so much as jostled against another. Giving another whoop of joy, Jack ran from the main cave and disappeared into the tunnels. Snowdrop waited, untying her kit and pulling back the flap so she could more fully examine her gifts. The Wind wove itself between her fingers and through her hair as they waited for Jack to return, patient again now that the mysterious brightly colored packages has all been opened.

The clinking of metals and the uncharacteristically heavy footfalls heralded Jack's return. Balanced precariously in his arms were what Snowdrop recognized as the same sort of tools she had just been given. Kneeling, he deposited his load between them and pulled his own yellow case over. Again, they worked together to place each item in its own pocket. Snowdrop took the time to note the differences between her tools and Jacks. While they had essentially the same ones, Jack's bore the marks of use, and heavily at that. Where hers were new, the metal sharp and gleaming, the wooden handles dark and smooth, Jack's were battered. The chisels were dull, both in blade and in luster, the blades chipped and ragged. The saws were missing teeth, or else the teeth were so heavily worn they were almost nonexistent. The hammer heads were pitted from repeated strikes. And the wood was splintered and cracked on all of them. In Snowdrop's opinion, it wouldn't take much to shatter the wood and metal alike.

Her eyes shifted to Jack's staff, leaning innocently against their bed. Beneath the frost that always covered it in spirals and whorls, the wood was a dark and strong as her own tools. Not a single splinter or crack was visible, nor was there a spot along the staff that was worn smooth from constant handling. From the way Jack handled it, never letting it far from him at any given point, always taking it with him when he left the cave, she knew it was important to her Brother/Father/Friend. How long he had it, she didn't know, but she suspected it was a long time. Maybe as long as his life. Why, then, did his tools look battered, and his staff look as new as freshly fallen snow?

She wanted to ask, but Jack was so excited about his own gift, given by the strange being who had undoubtedly help him gather up her own, that she didn't want to. Sometimes, the strangest things sparked sadness in her Little Brother Friend, and she didn't want him to cry anymore on Christmas. From what he had told her, Christmas was a time of joy and fun. Enough tears had been shed already.

Besides, she could always ask him another day.

They set their tool kits side by side on top of the larger saw at the foot of their bed. The blanket –

- "It's called a quilt. Each square of clothe, each pattern, is hand-stitched to the others. It's a labor of love, something…something you do for someone you care about…" Tears pooled in his eyes. Snowdrop threw the quilt blanket over his head and tackled his covered form to their snowdrift bed. They laughed, and by the time Jack managed to untangle himself from the blue and white material, his tears had dried up –

- was smoothed out over their bed, the red and white clothes folded at the head of the bed where, usually, Snowdrop and Jack's heads rested when they slept. The orange cloth was spread at the center of the quilt, and Jack's ice-carved baby animal was placed at the center of it, lopsided eyes smiling at them as the orange coloring highlighted its own ice white and grey shades. Once their bed was made to their liking, then and only then, did Snowdrop call to their ancient friend.

"Hey, Wind?" The incorporeal being swirled around them in question. Snowdrop smiled, and Jack grinned along with her. "Are you ready for your gift?" The Wind buffeted them back and forth in its excitement and they laughed, spinning in the Wind's embrace. "Come on, then. It's this way!"

Snowdrop broke free and ran into the tunnels. Jack's grin widened and he took up his staff. "Let's go!" He called to his first friend. Jumping on the Winds back, they flew together after Snowdrop, following the echo of her clicking footsteps and tinkling laughter until they caught up to her. Together, the trio ran and flew through several tunnels and interconnecting caves before Snowdrop stopped abruptly at a bend in the tunnel.

She smiled gently as Jack landed beside her, eyes turned to where the Wind spun and swirled in excitement behind them. "Through there is yet another cavern," she began, gesturing around the sharp bend to the cave they couldn't see, "and in there is your present, Wind. I wanted a way for you to…to talk to us. A way to make your voice heard, to offer your opinion, your joy or your sadness, to share with us as you allow us to share with you. So, I came up with this."

Again, she gestured around the tunnel, except this time she moved out of the way, telling the Wind without words to go first. The ancient being nearly knocked them over in its excitement. The Winter Children hurried after it as a musical tinkling began to fill the silence.

Jack stopped short when he saw the cavern. Hanging from the icicles in the ceiling was more ice, broken or carved into long, short, fat, and thin shards and strung together with…

"I'm sorry," Snowdrop said, clicking her thumb and index fingers together slowly, "I hope you don't mind, but to make Wind's present, I had to tear up a few of the shirts you made. But we never wore them, anyway, and I thought they'd do better for Wind's gift but…but if you're mad…"

As she spoke she began clicking all of her fingers, more and more rapidly. Jack turned and took her hands in his own, stopping the clicks abruptly. "It's fine," He rushed to assure her, "Like you said, we didn't wear them, so using them for this was fine."

As they spoke, the Wind was discovering the key feature of its gift. As it brushed past the shards of ice, they knocked against others nearby, producing chimes of varying tones and pitches. Large pieces produced a deeper note, almost a clacking, while smaller ones pinged with a resonation so high it almost couldn't be heard. Some were hollow tubes with a deeper sound that reverberated inside the tube before flowing out to echo around the cavern, and others were thin flat shards that released a short lived ting. Some clusters hung in a circle from a plate of ice with a ball of ice suspended in the center of them, another smaller plate hanging beneath the ball; the Wind touched the smaller plate, shifting the ball above and striking the cluster all at once. Other sets were in a staggered line, small rods that bounced off one another and produced a continued series of chimes that held no music, but were musical nonetheless.

As the almost chaotic music filled the cavern and the tunnel beyond, Jack turned his attention back to the gift Snowdrop had made.

"You made wind chimes." He murmured.

Snowdrop nodded. "Yeah, I made the Wind chimes. So Wind could communicate with noise."

Jack shook his head at her misconception. There was so much to teach her. "No, wind chimes. That's what those are called: wind chimes. You made the Wind wind chimes."

She cocked her head to the side and looked around. "Oh. Is that what they're called? Yes," she nodded her head, "Yes, that makes sense. They are chimes, and they're for the Wind, so they are Wind's Chimes."

He laughed again. "No, Snowdrop. Not 'Wind's Chimes.' Just wind chimes. Wind. Not Wind's."

The look she gave him clearly stated that she thought that was stupid. "No. The chimes are for the Wind, so they are Wind's Chimes."

He wanted to argue, wanted to tell her that that wasn't how it worked, but she was right. Wind chimes were made so the Wind could breeze by them and create sound. So, in a way, they were Wind's Chimes. "Alright, fine, you're right. They are Wind's Chimes." Snowdrop nodded as the Wind wove through as many chimes as possible in agreement.

All in all, it was by far the best Christmas Jack had ever had. He had a friend in the Wind, who had always been there with him, but not in the way that a child needed, and a Friend, a Big Sister, a Daughter, in Snowdrop. Someone to play with and talk to, someone who was there for him and he for her, someone who loved him unconditionally. After more than 100 years alone, Jack Frost had a Family.

********Family Means Always Having Somewhere to Call Home************

As they settled in for bed, three of the Wind's Chimes hung in the main cave, Jack's ice-animal resting snuggly between the two Winter Children as they curled up together beneath the quilt, Snowdrop decided it was time to ask Jack the one question that had been plaguing her since he started telling her about the other Spirits.

"Frostie Toes?" Jack hummed in response as he ran his fingers over the head of the sculpture. Snowdrop took his hand in her own. "Jack, what do you do?"

Dark eyebrows rose and vanished beneath the pure white of his hair. "What do you mean?"

She pursed her lips in thought for a moment before responding. "Well…North does Christmas, and Bunnymund takes care of Easter. The Sandman brings Dreams, Akitu brings Spring, Miochin brings Summer. The Muses inspire, Atlas holds up the sky, and Tommy Rawhead…well, he's a jerk that eats children and needs a good knock on his raw head…What do you do, Jack?"

The eyebrows returned, plunging low over his eyes as he thought. "I…I bring Winter. Snow, frost, ice, that sort of thing. I'm the Winter Spirit, like Akitu is Spring and Miochin is Summer. Why?"

The fingers of her free hand began to click rapidly from where it rested behind her head. "You've been here for 5 years, right?" He nodded, "And…well…If you've been here, who brought Winter to the rest of the world?"

Her question stunned him. Jack hadn't thought about the rest of the world, not since he found this frozen land barren of humans and other spirits; not he had begun creating Snowdrop one limb at a time. He had been out, of course, but he hadn't really focused on bringing Winter. Winter, though, had still come, but if Jack was honest with himself, he knew that the Winter that had visited the rest of the world was not his Winter. It was a colder, darker Winter. It was a Winter in which children were forced to find fun instead of fun finding them. It was a Winter where death came and there was little relief from the pain of it.

Winter had come to the world while Jack had taken himself out of it, but Winter had become as empty of Life as the deepest, coldest points of Jack's frozen tundra.

Horror flickered in his eyes as he told Snowdrop this. It was reflected in her own before her features hardened and she seemed to come to a decision.

"If Winter has become empty without you, then you need to go back to it." A cold hand slapped over his mouth before Jack could even shout his protest. He didn't want to leave. He had thought that he and Snowdrop, and the Wind, were happy together. But here she was, telling him to go. His muffled protests were ended as he focused on Snowdrop's eyes.

A deep well of love and compassion stared back at him, mixed with amusement and just a little bit of exasperation. "You are a silly boy, Frostie Toes. Winter needs you, or else it becomes something that no one likes, not even the children. I'm not telling you to leave and never come back, I'm telling you that you need to do your job, then come home and relax."

Home. That was what they had made. In less than a month of life, Snowdrop had created a home with Jack, his Sister/Daughter/Friend. And as much as Jack wanted to never leave Home again, he knew that she was right. The Moon, his Father, had given him life for a reason. Jack didn't know exactly what that reason was, but he figured it had something to do with Winter. Jack was a Winter Child, and like all children, Jack wanted to play. And if Winter's Child wanted to have fun, then Winter would be fun.

Snowdrop was right. He had a job to do. It was a fun job, but a job nonetheless. For a month, Jack had done little more than have fun with his Friend in the snow, something he used to watch human children do when he brought Winter to their own homes. It was time for him to bring that joy, that fun, back to the world.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. Winter is supposed to be fun, but if it's not…then more creatures like Pitch and Tommy might show up." He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against Snowdrops, "Next week, at the start of the New Year, I'll go back out and make Winter fun again. You'll – "

She cut him off. "I'll stay right here and wait for you to come home. I'll practice carving ice, and I'll think of new games for us to play. When you come home, you'll teach me lessons on grammar and letters and colors and the world, and we'll play, and we'll sleep, and we'll always be there for one another. Deal?"

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, which she reciprocated. "Deal."

*****Friends Are Just the Family You Make For Yourself, Dear Ones******

A/N:

Well…well….well…..I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself. This chapter, while by far the longest one, also took far too long to get out. My sincerest apologies, dearlings. I'm a horrid person for keeping you waiting so long. School and work took a lot of my time, and some rather serious familial issues cropped up that took up my mind so I couldn't focus. But as a sort of appeasement, I would like you all to know that this chapter was OVER 10,000 words! So no angry words, understand?

That being said, this chapter was a sort of end of an arc. Jack and Snowdrop's happy time together, just them and the Wind, has come to a conclusion. Jack has to get back to Winter, something which Snowdrop has known had to happen for a while. Snowdrop, meanwhile, is going to learn to use her new tools, so that she can be a master ice carver, just like her Father!

The following chapters are going to have references to what's happened from this point on to just before the film. That's right, dearlings, hopefully in the next few chapters we'll have the Movie settled into this plot! Yay! Also, and a rare few of you are aware of how this story is going to pan out, because I've chattered with you about it before this story was even written up for , the story is going to diverge into two or three different versions, which shall be noted with each update as "CHAPTER NAME A" "CHAPTER NAME B" and "CHAPTER NAME C" (if there is a C. I'm still debating that one.) This won't happen until AFTER the movie has been inserted, but I wanted you all to be prepared for it. One version will be Happy, one Angsty, and the third Super Angsty. Sort of like a "Pick your own adventure" thing.

And now that THAT'S out of the way, onto the Notes for this chapter:

First and foremost, that bit where Snowdrop was telling Jack just what North could do with his list: I leave what she said up to you all. We can leave it innocent and childlike, and say she said something along the lines of "He can stick his Lists in the trash where they belong!" (Special thanks to my nieces, who said that when I explained to them that since Jack was on North's Naughty List, he didn't get presents), or you lot can decide she went for a salty response (salty here referring to Sailor Language/Cursing.) Personally, I kind of like the childish response, as she and Jack are still very much children. But she is also a big sister, and I've seen/heard some rather disturbing things from the mouth of one of my nieces (who's not yet seven) directed towards someone who was being mean to her little sister. Some of those threats, guys, *wipes tears from eyes* makes me know just how much they take after their auntie. I mean, not everyone can pull off threatening with a single salty word in the mix. Not even a "darn" or "meanie." ^_^

Snowdrop "glowing" due to the Moon light: Light refraction. Moon Beams. Science or Magic, take your pick. I choose Magic, as the Beams are living and playful, much like children, but also have a job to do on Earth. They're sent to the surface to search for signs of Pitch Black or other forms of Darkness, so that they can take the information back to the Moon and relay what they have or have not found to Manny, and/or shine a light in the darkness to scare away the Creeper. ANYway…see, I've had this image in my head the entire time I've been writing this, of Snowdrop "glowing" every time she comes under the light of the Moon. But suddenly, I realized that I hadn't actually written that into the story. I always saw her that way, but you guys…my goodness, dearlings, I've gotten messages of saying how gorgeous you all think Snowdrop is, and yet you've not been able to "see" her as I've "seen" her. She glows, my dearlings. Under the light of the Moon our sweet Snowdrop glows. And this is not just silly imagination, either. Ice sculptures under lights have a faint glow to them, but they are solid. The hollow of Snowdrop's structure allows the light to bounce around more and, thus, allow her to take on the appearance that she is glowing. I just wanted you guys to "see" her as I "see" her.

The frowning on celebrating New Year's: Particularly in more religiously oriented areas (for purpose of this story, we're going with American Colonies and Great Britain), the typical celebration of New Year's Day, that is, the drinking and dancing and just all around merry-making, was frowned upon. It wasn't seen as something that was proper or pleasing in God's eyes; it was closer to the Devil's domain, the willful drunkenness and idleness such a celebration would have invoked (not to mention everyone's favorite Hung-Over Hurlday (XD I made a funny; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays, Friday, Hurlday, Saturday. I amuse me.)) Anyway, Jack and Snowdrop won't be partaking of the grape, but they will dance around, laugh, and just have all sorts of fun…pretty much how they do every day.

Happy Holidays VS Merry Christmas: If you want to say "Happy Holidays" then have at it; politically it's correct and we're told to do it so we don't offend anyone who may not celebrate Christmas. We're told to say it to encompass all holidays and thus not offend anyone. BUT I celebrate Christmas, and I will always say Merry Christmas. I'm not saying you have to celebrate it when I wish you good tidings, I'm just wishing you good tidings; you can get uppity with me, or you can wish me good tidings for your own personal holiday. We are celebrating our individuality and wishing others to join in our merriment, even if it's only through our wishes that others will enjoy an upcoming holiday or a season. I shall continue to wish people a Merry Christmas. Just like I'll continue to wear some sort of Christmas-oriented bauble on my person when I work because it's MY HOLIDAY and MY CELEBRATION and you and your politically offended self can shove it. I refuse to bow to the oppression of others! *rant done*

CONTEST!

The line near the end, about children wanting to play: That was inspired (some may say stolen, but it was totally inspired) by...does anyone know? Kaylessa, you're not allowed to guess! Because you know. I want to know who's read one of the most amazing on-going RotG fics out there! First person to get it right...I don't know...you get a RotG drabble, plotted up and written with your specifications in mind!

And now, for the real reason you all read this: The RECOGNITION!

My Sweet Favs: AquaNerd, Balrog Roike, Crazy-insane-original-person45, Crystal-Rose-Lover, DannysaysRAWR, Dark Miko, Death-Sama01, Denri, Destala, Effugere, EldritchFire, Elwyn, EpicDetour9, Fireena, Gelado Pocket-mouse, GibottoShipper7, Himeko14X, Hunter-Re, Idolon, ImagineMusic, Liberty-Chan-123, Lonemachine, MisteryMaiden, Mistress of the Words, Motaku1235, Naokikiri, Nothing but Nargles, ObitoUchiha130, Panthea.x, Powerfox, RinzlerIsTron123, Rose O' Sharon, Sailingseas, Sakon76, SethBlackwolf, SiriuslyScarredforLife, Star Fata, The Prophet Neviah, Vampireotaku, Whirling, Whisper119, Wragziez, aimlessNovelist, darkryubaby, deadwithoutyou, britachisbride, ebonjadethorn, elise-hale913, fallout-boy97, harrylover101, ieatlorriesforbreakfast, knightlygirl, ladyofsixvillages, livingwithbooks, lncross1of7, lurkerlaine, xXIchigoAngelXx, , and naien543

My Dear Followers: Balrog Roike, Chikouu, Crystal-Rose-Lover, DannysaysRAWR, Death-Sama01, Drexan, Effugere, Elwyn, EpicDetour9, Eternal She-Wolf, Fumi-chan, Gelado Pocket-mouse, GibottoShipper7, Hareyakana-Furizuz, Haruhibunny, Hashi-Hashi, Himeko14X, Hunter-Re, Idoloni, ImagineMusic, Insanity Moonshine, JenWinstheQuidditch, Kae Marshal, Kailyssia, Kangarooney, Kaylessa, Lonemachine, Masked Void, Miss Megz, MisteryMaiden, Mistress of the Words, MoeLovegiR, My Golden Wings, Noitalapsi, ObSeSsEd WiTh ROXAS, ObitoUchiha130, Peanut Butter Rules, PepperLovey, Powerfox, Qwerty124, Rose O' Sharon, SarahRB2-10, SethBlackwolf, SiriuslyScarredforLife, Sorida, Squigglytext, TheNineTailedKitsume, The RandomOne StaringAtYou, The Sapphire Dolphin, TriplePivotTurn, Undead Artist, UrticaDioica, Vampireotaku, Whirling, Wonkie, Wragziez, Yami Ryo, , britachisbride, calitana, crazigirl1011, deadwithoutyou, doglover11, elise-hale913,harrylover101, ieatlorriesforbreakfast, inferno of darkness, jueru2003, , ladyofsixvillages, livingwithbooks, Incross1of7, naien543, and xXIchigoAngelXx

My Wonderful Reviewers: Galimatias, Mistress of the Words, elise-hale913, darkryubaby, Guest, Effugere, Motaku1235, Catflower Queen, MysteryPerson, AquaNerd, Elwyn, PepperLovey, lncross1of7, SethBlackwolf, Eternal She-Wolf, Kaylessa, Rose O' Sharon, Em, WordsMusic, The Sapphire Dolphin, Me, Snowsnowice, Motaku1235, Himeko14X, MisteryMaiden, naien543, Hannah, nightmare13, Star Fata, 21SidraCire, prankmasterKat, and Death-Sama01

And a special heartfelt love/thanks to my "Author Followers" : Elwyn, GibottoShipper7, Hunter-Re, ImagineMusic, , lncross1of7, Lonemachine, and Kaylessa. If I could fill a tub with your Author Follows, I would bathe in them….well, not really. I don't like baths. Nothing squicks me out more than the idea of sitting in a soup of your own filth or the day. *shudders*

Response to Reviews:

Star Fata: Thanks for dropping by! The other story was "Protect" by Galimatias. It's fantastic, still being updated, and definitely worth a read!

21SidraCire: Well, thank you very much, dearling! *hugs*

MisteryMaiden: As with any who have enjoyed "Snowdrop" thus far, I'm glad you like it! Few things cheer a writer more than when someone expresses joy at something they've written. I will be writing the film in, soon, as you may or may not have read in the earlier A/N. Updates will be as frequent as I can manage, I promise!

Mistress of the Words: Soon, possibly in the next chapter, you'll know what Snowdrop is gathering the hailstone tears for. SPOILER ALERT: it's going to be bitterly sweet. Also, SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to read anything bad happening to anyone, I'd stick to *thinks* Version A, I think, of the story when the chapters start getting marked with A, B, or C. Definitely stick to A.

Catflower Queen: I hope this answered your question about the coal! But then, maybe it didn't, because this is just Jack's speculation, and there's chance he's wrong. Did North really not want to give a child something that had any potential for being fun? Or did he actually get coal, but being a Winter Child, his form covered the lumps in snow and/or frost, disguising them as nothing more than irregular mounds of snow? Or is there another reason all together? Perhaps one that was hinted at in a previous chapter? *nudge nudge* And Yes, the "pebbles" were the hailstone tears. I don't really intend for the Guardians to find a hidden stash of them; there's another purpose to them, although the Guardians, when they learn of the tears and what they shall soon become, will be hit with guilt. It's going to be a right Guilt-Fest! And the Moon…well, I could make up a reason as to why MiM doesn't talk to Jack, which I may do *grins* or I could take some privileges and make the Moon talk to Jack at some point, but I really don't want to do that, because it's such a pull from the film that just the thought of it irks me. So I shan't! Everything shall be revealed in time, my dearling!

naien543: I love the pic, too! It's on my desktop as we "speak!" Currently, "Snowdrop" is more lighthearted. In the coming chapters, though…perhaps it won't be, anymore. There's so much yet to be said.

Motaku1235: *cries* How could so few believe in Jack Frost! It makes me sad. I'm absolutely thrilled that my nieces adore him as much as I do. Every time there's frost on the ground, or the possibility of snow (no actual snow; it doesn't happen much in our area), they jump for joy and start crying "Jack Frost! Jack Frost! Look, auntie! Jack Frost came!" And I'm like " ^_^ Yes, yes, mon petites, he did."

Kaylessa: Since the Greek and Roman gods are basically the same people, I don't feel bad about plopping them in with one another, as long as I acknowledge that I'm doing it. I figure, it's like this: Cupid's name is Eros Cupid Surname, and he's going by Cupid here. Much like my name is Aaaa Bbbb Surname, and most of my life I went by Aaaa, but now, in new circles, I go by Bbbb. See, like that. And I fixed the "Katherine" thing. STILL annoyed with myself for doing that!

nightmre13: Look, I posted another chapter!

Right, well, I think that's it. Many apologizes if I didn't respond to someone's review! Just hit me up in this chapter, and I'll catch it next!

*waves enthusiastically*