A/N Wow! I had over 100 emails from everyone that Favored and Followed this story and me. You guys amaze me! I'm so glad you all enjoyed this story; I hope I can keep that going with this one as well.

Thousands of Years Later

The cold January wind whips by me as I fly through the air. It's almost midnight and my work for the week is done. I've been bringing joy to mortals all week without rest, and now it's time for a few hours of shut eye before I start again. Even a Spirit needs some down time.

The freezing temperatures don't bother me, my skin is always warm, but I do long for the warmth of the spring. I miss the wonderful smell of flowers blooming and the sound of laughter and joy. The winter, as beautiful as it is, is harsh and cold, sucking joy out of people and things.

I look forward to the day that spring will start to appear around the globe. Some places are never touched by my hand, they stay cold year-round, and some are always warm and never need my help. The other places, the ones that have both winter and spring, are kept on a tight schedule that I follow to make sure spring always appears when it's supposed to.

I have been around for thousands of years; bringing joy and warmth to the mortals who live on the Earth. My job never ends; there is always someone to cheer up or a spring to create. The Man in the Moon hasn't talked to me since the first time but I don't mind. I understand my mission; I know why I'm here.

The wind has brought me to the mountain jungles of Thailand, one of my favorite places to be. It lifts me high into the air, giving me a gorgeous view of the jungle in the light of the moon. Everything looks enchanted in the silver light and my heart feels lighter, responding to the beauty all around me.

I'm dropped off in the middle of the air, my feet coming down to rest on glass that has been suspended hundreds of feet up in nothing. Resting on the glass is a bed, a dresser, and a shower. This is my home, the place I can rest. It isn't much, but then I don't spend much time here.

The platform moves constantly, always finding new warmer places to be. The furniture is always changing too, reflecting the style of the cultures I hover over. Today it has a modern Thai flair with red and blue being the color schemes. The scent of Ratchaphruek, the national flower of Thailand, fills the air with its sweet smell.

It's good to be back.

I don't waste any time walking over to the shower where I strip down and step in. I turn on the hot water and relax almost instantly when the water hits my skin. I undo my braid and allow the water to soak through my hair. It feels absolutely wonderful to be able to completely wash away all the dirt and grime of my week of work.

I grab the rose scented shampoo I got at a mortal store and start to work into my hair. I'm so thankful for modern soaps because what they had for the thousands of years before was awful. This stuff is smooth, smells wonderful, and actually works unlike the nasty gunk everyone had to use only a hundred years ago.

Sometimes modern inventions even help out Spirits like me.

I quickly scrub my body down with body wash of the same scent before rinsing off all the colorful bubbles. I reach out and grab my clothes, leaving the belt behind, and pull them into the shower where I wash them off then hang them on the outside to dry in the air.

I now grab a towel that was hanging next to the wet clothes and dry myself off before wrapping it around me. I step out of the shower and make my way over to the dresser where I pull out a soft green cotton nightgown and tug it on. I set the towel on top of the dresser then crawl into bed.

The sheets are satin and the pillow is made from goose feathers, everything is soft, warm, and comfortable. But I can't sleep. I lay there quietly, staring up at the dark sky, all the little white stars, and the huge white moon.

A prickle I've felt a hundred times starts up in my chest. Loneliness. I've been alone since I was made; I haven't talked to someone who could actually hear me in thousands of years. The Caladium, my puppy-like helpers, don't talk and they're always gone giving joy to people.

I wish I could go hang out with the other Spirits. I know they're out there, I've heard about them and sometimes I catch a glimpse of one. The only thing that keeps me from meeting them is…fear. They are so different from me that I'm worried they won't accept me.

There are six that I know for sure are out there. Sandman, the Spirit of Dreams, Tooth, the Spirit of Memories, North, the Spirit of Wonder, Bunnymund, the Spirit of Hope, and Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter.

The first four were all chosen by the Man in the Moon to be Guardians, Spirits' who devote themselves to protecting the mortal children of the world. All of them, actually, focus on children. That's one way we differ, I focus on everybody, I bring joy to every mortal whether they are adults or kids.

Another thing that's different is that each and every one of them used to be a mortal. They all once had lives, families, people that cared about them. I never did. I was created a Spirit, I never got to know what a family was like and that's one of the things I crave with all my heart.

And lastly, people believe in them. Mortals can see all the other Spirits because they believe they exist. No mortal has ever, or will ever, see me. Joy isn't something that's believed in; it's something that's always there and just isn't noticed anymore. I would love to be seen by a mortal, just once have someone believe I was really there.

I'm just so tired of being lonely.

The practical side of my reasoning comes back in a flash. Even if I was brave enough to meet another Spirit, I still wouldn't have time. I barely have time to take three hour naps every week and that's something that is necessary. I don't have time to sit and chat with other Spirits, Joy has to be spread!

Modern mortals just aren't that into Joy anymore, and that makes my job so much harder. They'd rather just have Pleasure and not Joy. Pleasure and Joy are very different things; Pleasure lasts for the moment and is easily forgotten. Joy lasts forever and it's always remembered.

Joy is when someone who was sick gets better, Joy is a parent holding their child for the first time, Joy is the feeling deep down when a boy and girl exchange their first kiss. It's a Pure, Sweet, and Innocent feeling that makes life worth living.

I don't understand why mortals would give up Joy for Pleasure. Pleasure is cheap and easy to come by but it never makes them a better person. Joy does. It makes my heart hurt to think that I'm slowly being cut out of the world and one day I might not be needed at all.

A single tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek and lands on my pillow. The Spirit of Joy crying? What a joke. I'm supposed to be happy, joyful, all the time. What's wrong with me? Why can't I just be happy and not worry about what's wrong with my life? Why can't I be like all the other Spirits?

I curl up in a tight ball and close my eyes. I push all my fears and worries away because I have to get some sleep. Mortals need my help whether they want it or not and I can't spend my precious rest hours fretting over things I can't change.

I have a job to do.

I'm sry this chapter was so wordy, I was trying to set up Bliss's feelings about who she is in order to set up the stage for what's to come. Did it bore you guys out of your minds? Well, review and let me know. Reviews help me write faster!

~Sunshine