"He'll be back," Tooth sighs, "when he's stronger."
"Stop being a kill-joy," Bunny snaps.
"The Easter Kangaroo is right. We should be celebrating!" Jack shouts, doing a back flip in midair.
"That's it!" Bunny cries, jumping for Jack.
Jack cackles, flying higher.
"Don't hurt him, Jack," Tooth warns, fists on her feather-covered hips.
Cassandra watches from the staircase, Baby Teeth pinning her hair up and elves dancing around her feet. She scoops one up and kiss its red nose. When she places him back on the ground, he faints and another elf catches him.
A Baby Tooth ear giggles sweetly.
"Another round of cocoa!" North demands. "Great idea, Sandy. Music, this party needs music!"
The sounds of holiday tunes carry up from the center of the workshop. Cassandra half-expects the Tooth Fairy to fly up and turn herself into a disco ball. Now that would be awesome.
She glances down at her outfit.
"Are you sure this isn't too much?" she ask one of Tooth's assistants.
She sighs and claps her hands together, shooing Cassandra down the stairs. The girl laughs and does as she's told.
Cassandra's hair is pinned back in loose chocolate waves, cascading over her bare shoulders. The strapless blue dress sparkles and shines like ice and swishes around her knees as she walks. White ballet slippers cover her feet and tie around her slim ankles. They have no soles, more like socks than shoes. Tooth wouldn't let her wear makeup; not that Cassandra had any on hand.
Bunny sees her first and nods approvingly at Tooth's handy work.
"You clean up nice," he comments. Cassandra leans up on her toes and kisses his furry cheek.
"Thanks. Blame Tooth," she murmurs as Tooth slips an arm around the girl.
"Oh, you love it! And I think someone else will, too," Tooth says conspiratorially.
Sandy waddles to their side, a golden snowflake appearing above his head. Cassandra nods absently, then realizing what she has done, shakes her head.
Bunny laughs loudly.
"She's got it bad, eh?" he chuckles.
Tooth waves them both away. "It's sweet. I'm glad he's finally found someone…"
Cassandra watches the way Tooth's violet eyes fall on Bunnymund. She smiles, ever so slightly. Cassandra was wrong to be jealous of Tooth; she may think Jack's cute, but he isn't the one who has her heart.
The girls both turn and watch as Jack somersaults in the air, twirling to Jingle Bell Rock.
North leans on a workbench, a steaming mug in his hands.
"I've never seen him this happy," North murmurs, unaware that Cassandra can hear him.
He turns and winks deliberately at her and she retracts her last thought.
"Ja-ack!" Cassandra sings.
Jack, his eyes closed as he completes another mid-air flip, grins. He loves when she says his name like that. Like it is something she cherishes. The youngest Guardian swoops down and lands in front of the mortal, only to take a step back, the grin dissipating from his face.
"You look…"
"I know, I know. Blame Tooth," Cassandra repeats, glancing at her feet. Her cheeks turn crimson.
"Thanks, Tooth!" Jack exclaims, taking Cassandra by the hand.
"Any time, sweetheart," Tooth giggles, leaning on Bunny.
Jack winds his other arm around her waist and they are airborne. The song changes, something slower and sweeter, and Cassandra leans her head against his solid chest. A content sigh escapes her lips. After dancing some more, they rejoin the Guardians. The cocoa and eggnog flows heavily as stories of adventure and triumph are regaled.
Cassandra learns of the time, last Easter, when Jack joined the Guardians.
"You should have seen him, Cassie," Tooth enthuses. "So brave!"
"You're one of them," Cassandra murmurs in awe, reaching up to trace Jack's jaw line. "A Guardian."
"The Guardian of Fun," Jack admits. His grin is sheepish. "But enough about me… did Bunnymund tell you he turned into a baby bunny?"
The Easter Spirit's face darkens. "Whoa, now…"
"He was adorable!" Tooth giggles. Bunnymund grins at her.
"Adorable, eh? Is that what I am?"
The sky is dark by the time the festivities die down. Another day away from home come and gone. Cassandra yawns and eyes Sandy, whose Dreamsand creeps dangerously close to his companions.
"Time for beauty rest, no?" North suggests. "After all, big night tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?" Cassandra inquires as Jack hands her another steaming mug of cocoa.
"Christmas Eve, of course!" North exclaims.
The human almost drops her mug. Jack slips an arm around her shoulders and watches her expression fall.
"Already?" she whispers. "Jack, I've been gone for two weeks."
Jack smiles sadly. "You'll be home soon enough."
North grins broadly, oblivious to the pair's mood.
"I shall deliver you on Christmas, as your sister has asked," he explains.
"I've missed my birthday," Cassandra says with a half-smile.
Jack frowns. "When was it?"
"The twenty-first."
"Ah, a fine day." North strokes his beard. "The Winter Solstice."
North, oblivious to the girl's shock, pulls her close for a quick embrace. He is warm, like sitting close to a fireplace, and smells of cookies and peppermint. Cassandra says goodnight to the others. Jack kisses her cheek lightly and turns to North. The two Guardians talk in low tones. She slips away, off to the guest room in North's palace she has claimed as her own.
Cassandra tosses the unclasped hair pins onto the bathroom sink, then leans forward to spit out her toothpaste. After thoroughly scrubbing her face and running a comb through her hair, she changes out of the beautiful dress. The flexible blue leggings and fuzzy red socks are far warmer. She slips a white tank top over her head, noting with mild surprise that the lace on the v-neck and straps resemble Jack's snowflake pattern.
For the second time in as many nights, she cannot sleep.
A knock sounds at her door and Cassandra tenses. Cautiously, she tip-toes to the door and creaks it open just a crack. Jack's mischievous grin greets her and he grabs her hand.
"Wh-?" she begins but is shushed.
They steal through the dark workshop, past snoring yetis and trying not to step of snoozing elves. Jack yanks her into the snowstorm that surrounds North's palace.
"I'm going to freeze," she complains. Jack simply laughs and takes the girl into his arms. She curls into him, bracing against the onslaught of cold wind and biting snow.
Jack waves his staff, directing the wind around them as they glide over the blank landscape. He comes to a halt above a squat, wooden barn.
"The yetis should be asleep by now," Jack muses.
He emphasizes 'should' a bit too much for Cassandra's liking. Hand-in-hand, they creep inside, closing the heavy door behind them.
It's silent and warm inside the stables, the smell equine and strong. One of the magnificent reindeer snorts in Cassandra's direction. She approaches his stall and gently pet his neck. He's huge, at least six and a half feet tall of solid muscle. His antlers are thick, strong. He's tender, though, nuzzling into her hand.
"Easy, Vixen," Jack warns. "No flirting with my human."
"So that's all I am to you?" Cassandra tries to joke but her words catch slightly.
Vixen takes a step back, his massive head swinging between the human and the Winter Spirit . Vixen's dark brown eyes are intelligent enough to know drama is about to unfold.
Cassandra glances over her shoulder.
Jack leans against his staff, twenty feet in the air. She is being…silly. Like most females. Jack's blue eyes shine with amusement.
"Well, you are human…" he chuckles.
Cassandra blinks in shock. He doesn't know what Pitch said; that she may be like Jack. Winter Spirit.
Jack misinterprets her silence and lands before her with a soft thud of his bare feet.
"And you're awfully pretty," he continues, playing idly with a strand of her dark hair.
She waves his hand away and sticks out her tongue, suddenly playful. Jack wonders if he can get whiplash trying to keep up with her moods.
"I bet you say that to all your humans." Her words come out flirtatious. Her brown eyes are flat.
"The only ones who can see me are usually too young for that to be appropriate," Jack laughs and Vixen stomps nervously. Cassandra reaches out and runs his silky mane through her fingers.
"What about Tooth?"
Jack tilts his head to the side, his brow creasing. "What about her?"
"Are you two…a thing?" she asks, a bit helpless to find the proper word.
Jack laughs again.
"We've never been a 'thing.' Cass, just spit it out."
"What am I to you? And if you say human, I swear on the moon I will shove an icicle down your throat."
He clutches his throat and murmurs, "Yikes."
They stand in tense silence for a long time. Cassandra finally sighs as disappointment rushes through her. She should have known. What would the mythical, magical, gorgeous Jack Frost want with a simple human girl like Cassandra?
She turns and moves to the next stall. A golden plate on the front of the wood proclaims the reindeer as Comet.
Jack is at a loss for words. He's never had to explain how he feels before, and his feelings for Cassandra are both foreign and dangerous. He moves behind her and encircles her wrist with his fingers, gently dragging her away from the reindeer.
The two stand in the glow of oil lamps. They hang from the stalls and the rafters of the stable, so high only the eight-foot tall yetis could light them.
"I've never cared about a girl this much before. I mean, yeah my sister, but that was a long time ago and completely different," Jack stutters. Cassandra almost smiles. He's so cute when he's flustered.
Jack takes a deep breath. He was able to face down the things Nightmares are made of, yet he can't look a pretty girl in the eye and speak his mind. He says, "I think you're beautiful and funny and brave. You don't take crap from anyone, especially me." His blue eyes shine with sincerity. "When Pitch took you, I thought you were gone for good. A piece of me died a bit, just imagining not being able to see your smile again."
Just for that, Cassandra smiles ever so slightly.
"Will you come visit me, when North takes me home?" she asks, reaching up to run a finger tip along his jaw line.
He swallows hard. "Every chance I get."
"Then stop worrying." Jack knows she is saying it to assure herself, not him. "It'll all work out."
"In the mean time, there's something I can't stop thinking about," he murmurs, his eyes flickering to her slightly parted lips.
Jack moves closer, tilting his head down. She can smell the mint on his breath. Where North was mild peppermint, Jack is sharp spearmint. They come together slowly this time, savoring each second.
It's a soft, sweet kiss. Jack's arms wrap around Cassandra, gathering her against his chest. She can feel his heart thundering beneath the palm of her hand. Her fingers tangle in the silvery hair at the nape of his neck and he makes a sound deep in his throat. Comet and Vixen begin to whine and Jack jerks away.
"Yetis," he grumbles, taking Cassandra's hand and suddenly they are back in the cold tundra. "They sure know how to ruin a moment."
The next day is a whirlwind. Wrapping paper is everywhere and the workshop is a cacophony so loud no one can hear themselves think.
North frantically reads over a tiny notebook, tiny glasses perched on his nose.
"That's the list?" Cassandra whispers to Bunnymund.
"Teeny print. Beats me how he can read it twice each year," Bunny grumbles, continuing to tape bows to boxes.
Jack and Cassandra work together most of the day, sharing quick brushes of fingers and light kisses when they think no one is watching. Sandy grins at Cassandra after Jack leaves the room and she puts a finger to her lips in the universal sign not to tell. He zips and locks his lips, winking. Cassandra pats the golden Dream Spirit on the head and hands him a toy train to wrap.
The hour finally comes as North shouts for the yetis to hitch his sleigh.
Cassandra and Jack rush to see the sleigh. It is a beautiful contraption, classic yet edgy. Not wooden, nor ancient as Cassandra had imagines. In her head, she dubs it the Northmobile.
"Want to go for a joy ride?" she asks Toothiana when North isn't nearby.
"Bunny, hop in!" she giggles. They both shake their heads and step back as Cassandra climbs into the back seat.
North approaches, watching as Cassandra takes her seat. She is clearly awestruck, her brown eyes wide and a grin on her lips.
"North, there are no seatbelts," she says as she feels the white leather seats. North takes his place at the reins and grins.
"That is true."
"This is going to be great!" Cassandra squeals.
"Everyone loves the sleigh," North chuckles, winking at Jack.
Jack slides onto the seat beside her and casually slings an arm around her.
"Don't wait up," he tells the others, mock saluting.
North bellows a laugh, and Cassandra grins. It is the perfect 'ho, ho, ho' she had been waiting for.
The reindeer rear up and Bunnymund waves goodbye, jumping away from the sleigh.
They take off like the start of a rollercoaster and an excited scream rips from her lips. She clutches onto Jack and he laughs, having the time of his life.
The teenagers are put in charge of the sleigh as Santa Clause pops down chimney after chimney. After a while, Cassandra is comfortable enough to lean over the side and gaze at the cities below. Tokyo, Rome, Paris, and London; all beautiful and glowing beneath her.
All too soon, they land on Cassandra's home. North ushers Jack and Cassandra down the chimney with him. It's dusty and they try not to inhale until they are a safe distance from the unlit fireplace.
"He said not a word but went straight to his work," as Clemet C. Moore wrote.
North moves to the stockings first, then the plate of cookies.
Jack takes Cassandra by the hand, leading her up the stairs. It's odd having them both here. Her normal life meets her strange encounters.
Up the stairs, Jack opens her bedroom door and leads her inside. She finds herself blushing at the fact that she has a boy in her bedroom. An extremely attractive one at that. Those silly thought leave her mind as soon as she sees the small figure curled in her bed.
Julie's blonde hair spills over the pillow and a black ball of fuzz is tucked against her tiny body. Manhattan lifts his head, blinks at Cassandra twice, the goes back to sleep.
"Glad you missed me," she whispers to the feline, petting his velvet ears.
"She's slept in here every night that you've been gone," Jack says. He leans around the brunette and tenderly traces Julie's shoulder with his finger.
"Take good care of her. You only have one sister," he breathes, his voice filled with longing.
"You mentioned in the barn that you have a sister…what happened to her?" Cassandra inquires. From the look in his blue eyes, she already knows. "We'll talk later, yeah?"
He smiles thankfully. "Yeah. I'll be back when you need the snow."
She moves closer, weaving her arms around his narrow waist. Cassandra coyly smiles up at him.
"I'll always need the snow," she whispers.
Jack leans down and kisses her gently. Warmth invades his body at the simple touch. He hasn't felt warm in centuries. With a grin, he nips her nose lightly with his teeth and darts to the window.
Cassandra is struck by the image of Wendy standing in the nursery as Peter Pan flies back to Neverland.
"When will I see you again?" she asks. He unlatches the window and balances on the ledge.
"Hopefully very soon. I have to send a blizzard to Montana, but I should be back in a few weeks. Don't fear, Cass," he winks a glittering blue eye. "I'll always come back for you."
She latches onto the collar of his blue sweater, the fabric soft and worn beneath her fingers.
"You better, Jack Frost," she says.
Boldly, Jack replies, "I will, Cass. Because I love you."
Her eyes widen and he kisses her as passionately as he can muster. He takes a step back and hovers over the front lawn, just in front of her window. Jack places two fingers to his pale lips and smiles, extending them to Cassandra.
"Cassie?"
Cassandra whirls around to find her sister sitting up. She rubs at her baby blue eyes and yawns.
A cold wind carries through the open window with the sound of sleigh bells.
"Come here," she tells the small girl, picking Julie up into her arms. She links her arms tightly around Cassandra's neck. The older girl take her to the window and they watch as North's sleigh comes into view.
"Santa!" Julie gasps, waving. North smiles and waves back.
"He's big," Julie giggles.
The sleigh turns around and Cassandra sees Jack. He crouches on the back of the sleigh, his staff in hand.
"Who's that?" Julie whispers.
"Jack Frost," Cassandra breathes. The boy grins and blows a kiss, flipping his staff over and over in his right hand.
Intricate ice begins to form on the window pane, but Cassandra doesn't tear her gaze away from Jack until he is completely out of sight.
Julie is ecstatic, pointing at the glass.
A small heart decorates one of the panes.
I promise this is not the last chapter! I have a few more in the works right now. I just saw Rise of the Guardians again yesterday and, well, this chapter kind of wrote itself. I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think :)