AN: Originally I made this story take place five months before Christmas, but I changed it to a couples days before Halloween. I edited the first chapter already. And for those who wish to make fanart or videos based off Winter Wonderland, my policy for that is on my profile. If that applies, please check it out.

RECENT RE-EDITED (2/10/16)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Alice: Madness Returns.

You said, remember that life is
Not meant to be wasted
We can always be chasing the sun!
So fill up your lungs and just run
But always be chasing the sun!

Chasing the Sun ~ Sara Bareilles

~O~

"Now, keep your hand flat and fingers away from their biting teeth."

Alice did as instructed and offered the large reindeer the fresh carrot chunk that rested in her open palm. The tall, bulky animal leaned its massive head over the side of the wooden stall and lowered its snout down towards her hand. She held back a laugh when the reindeer's breath ghosted over her palm and tickled her skin as it sniffed the presented treat. After deciding that the woman was no threat, the reindeer accepted the carrot with a loud crunch.

North smiled and patted his beloved pet on the muzzle. He was glad that the skittish animal didn't try to snap at Alice's hand. His reindeer were usually nervous when unfamiliar faces approached them in their stalls, but they seemed to take a liking towards Alice. The last time Bunny was in the stalls, one of the reindeer nearly bucked him in the chest with one of its back hooves. North thought it was hilarious when Bunny had to awkwardly jumped backwards just to avoid getting his ribs cracked, but the pooka didn't seem to find it as funny. Needless to say, the reindeer were another reason why he hated the sleigh.

Once the reindeer stopped sniffing around for more carrots and retreated back into his stall, Alice moved down to the next one and beckoned its inhabitant with a click of her tongue. North lifted the small bucket of carrots in his hand, allowing her to take one and feed the animal.

"Is delivering goodies to the happy children of the world the only thing the reindeer are used for?" she asked while petting the reindeer's snout.

"Mostly, but the yeti sometime use them for hauling wood when they need to expand village. Reindeer are also commonly hunted for sport in human communities. Big game hunting."

"Do you hunt for sport?"

"Me? No, no," North laughed with a wave of his hand. "Perhaps I did once, very long time ago, out of necessity but never for sport. Every creature has purpose, whether big or small. Every living being has something to offer. Hunting to survive is one thing, but being wall ornament is no purpose."

Alice gave a single nod of agreement before turning back to pet the reindeer one last time, a fond smile finding its way on her usually stoic face. With each passing hour, the Christmas spirit seemed to succeed more in reminding Alice of her late father. The parallels she was able to recognize between them allowed a comforting warmth to settle in her chest, and not the usual searing pain of grief. She wasn't sure what to make of this new development, but so far it wasn't completely unpleasant, nor unwelcome.

Arthur Liddell had been a man ahead of his time. He placed his faith in science and literature, and had a passion for trains and photography. His belief that women were just as capable and important as men stemmed from marrying a woman with a stunning intellect, strong sense of independence, and love for learning. That belief only intensified after having two budding daughters, born with unlimited potential. Elizabeth with her unprecedented social and human skills and Alice's magnificent imagination and sharp, inquisitive mind, even for someone so young.

North seemed to be an old fashioned man. Not necessarily stuck in the past, but rather choosing to keep simpler morals and ideals. He was larger than life and would protect the ones he loved with every ounce of strength in his large body. She couldn't say he was a complete mirror image of her father, because unfortunately she couldn't remember her father that much. But their hearts of gold were one in the same.

Once the two finished feeding the reindeer, North led Alice back on to the main workshop floor to start his morning rounds. She trailed leisurely behind the older guardian while cataloging details of his magnificent workshop to memory for later contemplation. The workshop was in its usual state of controlled chaos as the yetis worked on the projects laid out in front of them while the very few elves that weren't following closely behind Alice, scurried around the area collecting pointless items and gnawing on anything they could get their hungry little hands on.

North strode proudly through his workshop, stopping occasionally to watch a yeti work. After inspecting a rather extravagant dollhouse, he gave the brown yeti a nod of approval before moving on to the next table where another yeti was building a fire truck. He was in the middle of inspecting the wheels when Alice spoke up.

"How do you decide which children are naughty and which are nice? Surely the human race has only expanded since I've been gone and it must be overwhelming keeping track of them all."

She observed the surrounding tables, but still followed when North moved on. It wasn't something that he was used to. Normally when Jack spent the day shadowing North, the active young man only stuck close until something else caught his eye and that usually happened about ten minutes after starting the rounds. After that, the Russian wouldn't see him again for hours, and if he did, the winter spirit was probably doing something he shouldn't.

"Tis true, it can be very tiring. Back when the world and I were younger, I would personally sort children's names to correct list, but that became too difficult to do. As times changed, so did world. And if I wished to not be left behind, I had to as well. All guardians have, but thankfully not by much. Our traditions are still very much same, just organization skills needed improvement."

"So how do you sort them now?" Alice asked, leaning against a workshop table, watching North pick up a toy and inspect it up close.

"Magic mostly. Children who are without doubt very naughty, or very nice are automatically placed on appropriate list, while 'in between' children are placed on separate list that I look over myself," North explained as he tested the durability of the toy in his hand by giving it a couple squeezes. When it didn't bend or break under the pressure, he placed it back on the table and continued on.

"In between children?"

"Dah, the children that aren't quite on either list. Children that might have done something naughty but had good intentions in doing so, or vice versa."

There was a short pause in the conversation. When he looked back at Alice she was still standing against the table with her arms crossed. Not in anger or annoyance, but in thought. North continued to multitask, signing paperwork without reading it and shooing away bothersome elves while the majority of his attention stayed on Alice.

"What about the naughty children that are only bad because they've never known anything else?" she finally asked, not taking her eyes off the floor.

North's bushy eyebrows knotted together in confusion at her change in behavior. Bunny warned him that she could be a bit moody sometimes, but North assumed he was only referring to Alice's temper. He didn't know what to think of this new mood change; distant and closed off. He briefly wondered if Alice was talking about herself, but from what he could remember off the top of his head about her childhood, he recalled Alice having a relatively happy one before the fire. It might have been a bit lonesome because she didn't make friends easy, but she had a loving family.

"They're on there too. It really depends on situation, Alice," North sighed, deciding that he didn't like the new turn in their conversation. "I've been doing this for long time and I know sometimes it isn't always entirely their fault, but they need to learn right from wrong some time."

"I know, and I don't disagree, but you do take note though, right?" She looked up at him and shifted her arms. "You don't just...overlook them, do you?"

North didn't know who Alice was referring to, if anybody, but he felt that he could answer her truthfully without making her upset.

"Of course not," he smiled after waving away another yeti with a clipboard. "What kind of guardian would I be if I turned blind eye to children?"

For a moment North could've sworn he saw Alice flinch, but when he looked at her again she remained unmoved.

"You wouldn't be a very good one, I suppose," she murmured to herself. After several seconds, she let out a heavy sigh, coming to some unspoken conclusion before uncrossing her arms and pushing away from the table. "How are the numbers looking this year? Nothing too terrible I hope."

North pushed back the feeling that he had said something wrong and smiled. "The Nice list is rather long this year. Certainly worthy of some record. But unfortunately, the Naughty list seems to get longer and longer each passing year."

"Why do you think that is?"

North crossed his arms and shrugged. "Bah! Children growing up too fast! Bad language, disrespectful to elders, and MiM knows what else. Doing adult stuff long before they should."

That was a big shame, but not very surprising for Alice. She did spend a good chunk of 1875 looking after emotionally traumatized orphans in the rotten underbelly of London. She knew that not all children were like that, but she also knew that given the appropriate environment and circumstances, children can be very nasty little beasts.

"I think I'll go look at the painting tables again if you don't mind, Mr. North."

He smiled at being called Mr. North again, but didn't say anything. Alice would drop the formalities when she was ready. She was always so mature for her age. Normally, North wouldn't think much of it since Alice's appearance didn't match her age, but even as a child she was always insightful and a bit wiser than other children. North expected nothing less from the child that managed to capture the grumpy Easter Bunny's attention.

"Be my guest," he said, giving her a nod. "After finishing my rounds, I will be in my office. Come find me if you need anything, and keep an eye out for Jack. He should be 'round here somewhere."

Alice tried to hold back a grimace and failed when North caught it anyways. His shoulders bounced as he chuckled to himself. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two immortal teens still weren't on good terms. North was certain it would pass though, and they would be good friends in no time. His belly told him so.

~O~

"What do you mean I'm doing it wrong? It looks exactly like yours!"

"BarglAgbal!"

The yeti snapped back at Jack before presenting his own green robot and setting it next to the one Jack was painting. The yeti grumbled in his language as he pointed out the different "flaws" on Jack's toy robot.

"That's not really helping your case because they clearly have the same designs," Jack insisted as he tried to take his robot back, but the robot painting yeti wasn't having any of it.

Jack let out frustrated huff as he sat cross-legged on a workshop table, helping a certain yeti re-paint the robots that he accidentally screwed up the previous day with the whole toy airplane incident. Everything Jack did, the yeti would snap at him for doing it wrong. He was obviously still mad at the winter spirit for toppling his precious robot pyramid. Jack tried to stay calm and just do what he was told, but the yeti was a perfectionist and Jack couldn't care less. It's not like the kids would notice if their robot didn't have fake circuits and buttons painted on its chest.

After another five minutes of being lectured in a language he could barely understand, Jack let out a sigh before tossing his paintbrush into a nearby tin of water. Baby Tooth looked up from her extremely small finger painting on the workshop table, sensing that Jack was about to be on the move again.

"Forget it! I'm going to go help with something else since I'm obviously not cut out to be a robot painter."

As Jack untwisted his long legs and hopped down from the table, the yeti snatched the abandoned robot and proceeded to paint over Jack's markings. The winter spirit picked up his staff and gave the disgruntled yeti a two-fingered salute before walking off. The yeti just grumbled and gave the boy a sharp, dismissive wave that said 'good riddance!'.

Jack just laughed at the callous brush-off before he started strolling along the workshop floor, stepping over wandering elves and watching the yetis work. Some of the yetis gave him watchful looks as he walked by, but he ignored them. He couldn't blame them for being suspicious. He could shamelessly admit that he was a troublemaker, took pride in that fact, even. So when Jack found himself unsupervised in the workshop, he often took full advantage of the situation, and that usually led to the occasional workshop mishap. And the yetis didn't appreciate mishaps.

Regardless, he still kept an eye out for chances to help. Not that he expected anybody to ask.

From the look of things, it was shaping up to be a typical day in the workshop. Although this morning, North sent out an order for the toy making pace to speed up. Halloween was just days away and to North the candy and costume holiday signified that there was only about fifty or so days left before Christmas. That may seem like a lot, especially to a kid, but time moved far too fast for North. He liked to call the days following Thanksgiving, the "Final Stretch". It was during the Fall and Winter seasons that Jack spent half of his time helping around the Workshop. The other half was spent in the town of Burgess, guiding his group of minions through the many pitfalls of childhood; also known as Jamie Bennett and his friends.

'Speaking of which,' Jack thought to himself. 'Jamie should be back from his trip by now.'

"Hey Baby Tooth, let's go give Jamie a call," Jack said, turning to look at his tiny companion.

The mini tooth fairy squeaked and nodded before she flew off Jack's shoulder and towards the workshop floor above them.

Gathering up as much wind as he could in the limited space around him, Jack effortlessly launched himself up after her. He accidentally knocked over a couple of nearby Lego castles, but since he already had his mind set on calling Jamie, he only laughed at the cursing yetis instead of stopping to help them.

They'll get over it.

From what Jack could tell, there was only one phone in North's entire domain and it was one of those really old-fashioned, bulky wall phones with a rotary dialer. It was a big, hulking eyesore, but he didn't care. It worked and that was all that really mattered. Surprisingly enough, Santa's Workshop wasn't exactly best known for its good phone reception.

After finally reaching the cozy sitting room where North kept his outdated telephone, Jack closed the door behind him and walked over to the farthest wall. He picked up the receiver and quickly dialed the only series of numbers he has ever bothered to memorize and waited as the phone dialed out.

For his twelfth birthday, Jamie's mom gave him a cellphone for "emergencies only" and being the good kid that he was, Jamie followed that rule almost religiously, with the obvious exception of the Spirit of Winter. Which didn't happen very often anyways because Jack preferred to see the boy in person, but sometimes even he had places to be and couldn't leave whenever he wanted.

"Hello?" Jamie's voice greeted him after the third ring.

"Hey kiddo, how's it going?"

"Jack!" Jamie's tone instantly brightened up. "Is that you? Where are you calling from?"

"Of course it's me! Who else would it be, Santa Claus? Who's phone I'm using by the way," Jack laughed. He heard Abby barking in the background and Sophie shouting Jack's name.

"Sophie, be quiet!" Jamie hushed his little sister. "If mom hears me on the phone, I won't be able to talk to Jack."

Jack waited and listened to the sounds on the other end. Jamie was probably ushering his five-year old sister out of his room with the promise of a cookie, or some other sugary treat that would make Tooth shudder.

While he waited, Jack walked over to a nearby lounge chair and plopped down with a content sigh. Thank MiM the telephone's cord was long enough to reach. Baby Tooth flew over and hovered right next to his ear so she could listen in on the conversation. The breeze that came off of her tiny wings tickled his neck, but he didn't do anything to make her stop. He was used to it by now.

"Sorry about that, Jack. Sophie slept most of the car ride back and now she's all hyper."

"No problem, it's not like I have any place to be," Jack assured him, idly twisting the cord around his finger. "How was your dad's house?"

"It was okay."

Jack could easily picture the boy shrugging his shoulders. Jamie was always excited to tell Jack about his visits to his dad's house. Due to his school schedule and the fact that his father lived in New York, Jamie and his sister could only visit him one weekend out of every month, so by the time weekend with dad rolled around, Jamie was bouncing with excitement. However, their most recent trip was different from the others for one specific reason.

"Did you meet your dad's new girlfriend?" Jack asked almost cautiously.

About a week before his trip, Jamie told Jack about the phone call he got from his dad. His dad had a new girlfriend that he wanted Jamie and Sophie to meet when they came to visit. The boy hadn't been too visibly upset about it, but Jack could tell that the news hit him hard. Even though his parents were now on relatively good terms with each other after their divorce was finalized, Jamie knew that there was no chance that they would ever get back together. But just like any other kid with divorced parents, he still silently hoped otherwise. Now that his dad had a girlfriend, the fact that his parents were divorced had never felt more real, not even when his dad moved out of the house. At least then Jamie could just pretend his dad was on a really long business trip.

Jack felt useless when Jamie talked to him about his parents. It was one of the few things that Jack has never had any experience with. Divorce had been an unheard of occurrence back when he was human, and even if that hadn't been the case, he seriously doubted his parents would have gotten one. He really hated feeling useless when it came to his favorite kid, and he knew the feeling would only increase as Jamie got older. The Guardian of Fun wasn't qualified to deal with all of the modern problems that Jamie would eventually go through. He could help Jamie with his history homework and freeze school bullies, but advice on girls? High school? The SAT's and College essays? Forget about it.

"Yeah, we met her," Jamie mumbled into the phone.

"And? Did you guys like her?"

"Sophie did, but then again she's five, she likes everybody. I thought she was okay...she's pretty good at computers like me, and she showed me how to get that virus off my laptop."

"See? I told you it wouldn't be so bad. You need to start having a little faith in me, kiddo."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jamie chuckled halfheartedly. "I suppose it's not so bad, you know? I just needed a little time to let it sink in."

"Now that's thinking like a champ," Jack said proudly. "Taking life one day at a time."

"So, why are you calling from North's workshop? The weather's pretty cool here in town, you could've stopped by."

"Nah, not really. I'm kinda stuck here until I fix everything I messed up in the shop yesterday."

"What did you do?"

"Took a jumbo sized toy plane for a joy ride then nearly decapitated Bunny with it," Jack smirked before quickly adding: "By accident!"

On the other end of the call Jamie laughed. Unlike his stick-in-the-mud teammates and cutthroat Alice, he knew Jamie would see the humor in the situation. He would always take his role model's side, no matter what. Even if it landed him on North's naughty list.

"No way! Did he beat you up afterwards?"

The Winter spirit snorted. "Pfft, as if! Bunny may know Tai Chi, but that doesn't mean crap if you can't catch your target. I'm too quick for him."

Jamie laughed for a few more moments before he finally sobered up. He started to talk about his visit again, how his dad took him to see the latest superhero movie and took them all out for lunch at a very upscale restaurant in the city, but stopped when he heard his mother call his name from downstairs.

"My mom's calling me for dinner. I've gotta go now, Jack."

"Sure, but can you do me favor?"

"Right now?"

"No, not right now. Just whenever you get a chance."

"Sure thing! What's the favor?"

"Look up any information you can find on 'Alice in Wonderland', the author, and the girl the books were based off, Alice Liddell."

"Umm, okay," Jamie replied, slightly confused. "I can do that, but why?"

Jack smirked while standing up from the plush chair. "I'll tell you when I stop by tomorrow. Bye!"

Before Jamie could ask anymore questions, he hung up the phone and strolled out of the room with Baby Tooth trailing close behind him. They made their way back to the workshop.

'Back into the fray,' he mused as he walked along the painting station tables.

Baby Tooth hovered around the dollhouses, sometimes entering one and pretending to cook in the kitchen or fluffing her feathers in front of a tiny vanity mirror in the bedroom. Jack chuckled at her shenanigans as he continued on his way, leaving her to explore. She would always catch up to him eventually. It was the same thing every time he visited the North Pole during the same time as Tooth. Even after her queen returned to her palace, Baby Tooth would stick around Jack for a couple of days before following. Tooth never seemed to mind that one of her helpers shirking her teeth collecting duties every now and again, as long as she was careful and stayed with Jack.

He certainly didn't mind the company, even if Baby Tooth could only communicate with high-pitched squeaks and gestures. She could listen, understand and somewhat respond back to what he had to say. That was more than enough for Jack, especially compared to what he had before; isolation. About three hundred years worth.

While gracefully sidestepping a couple of elves that ran across his path, Jack came to a painting table with a grey yeti crouching on the ground in front of it. The creature had one of his large arms wedged under the table with his face squinted up in concentration. He must have dropped something that rolled under the table. He was trying to fetch it, but the yeti was having trouble because of his size.

Jumping at the chance to help, Jack jogged over to the yeti and tapped his fuzzy shoulder.

"Hey big guy," he smiled at the yeti, trying to assure him that he wasn't there to cause trouble when the yeti gave him a wary look. "Don't worry, I'll get it for you. Just step back a bit."

The yeti still looked skeptical, but apparently decided to give the white-haired spirit the benefit of the doubt because he pulled himself up and stepped back, giving Jack room to kneel. His smile grew when he realized that for once one of yetis wasn't going to give him the cold shoulder. Not wanting the yeti to regret his decision, he lowered himself to the ground and looked under the table. It took less than a second for him to spot what the yeti was looking for; a half painted baton resting at the farthest end of the table. The space between the floor and table was narrow so he could see why the yeti was having trouble, but it was hardly a problem for someone like Jack. Scrawny with long limbs.

Placing his staff on the ground right next to him, Jack got on to his stomach and reach under the table to fish out the toy. Once he had his fingers wrapped around the baton's middle, he wiggled out from under the table and quickly maneuvered himself back into a kneeling position.

"Here you go," he said, placing the toy in the yeti's waiting hand.

The yeti nodded at Jack and grumbled something that he guessed was a "Thank You". He nodded in return and watched as the yeti bounded back to his painting station. Instinctively, his hand reached out to grab his staff only to tense up when his hand met nothing except stone ground. Panic pooled in his stomach when he looked over to find that his staff was gone. His blue eyes quickly scanned the floor around him, searching for his most prized possession while trying desperately not to flip out right there in the workshop. Perhaps a passing yeti accidentally kicked it under something, or maybe some of the elves got to it when he wasn't looking. He almost shuddered in horror at the very idea.

Jack's heart was pounding in his chest by the time he finally noticed something in his top peripheral vision. He looked up to see a black boot barely inches away from his face. Slowly, his gaze trailed up past the silver buckles of the boot, past black and white striped stockings, and nearly jumped back when it landed on the hem of a familiar blue dress.

It was like Alice had materialized from thin air. She was sitting so close to him and Jack didn't even notice her arrival. There was no shift in the air, nor the eruption of goosebumps along one's arm when someone stood over them undetected until the last second.

Quickly finding his composure, Jack pulled himself up on to his feet and looked at the woman sitting on top of a workshop table with one leg crossed over the other, her foot bouncing slightly to some unheard tune. Unsurprisingly, she didn't acknowledge his discovery of her sudden appearance. She was curiously examining Jack's staff which she currently had in her grasp. Jack was both relieved and terrified at the sight. Relieved because that meant the elves weren't trying to eat it, and terrified because it was in Alice's hands. He didn't really know what he expected her to do with it, but several different scenarios ran through his head and none of which were very pleasant. One involved Alice either breaking the aged wood in half over her knee, or somehow crafting it into some makeshift weapon and using it to stab him.

As it turned out, Alice didn't do either. She just raised the staff up towards her face for better inspection and ran her long fingers across its length. She tried looking for the intricate frost patterns that she noticed last night when it was in Jack's hand, but it was blank. Not easily put off, her hand continued with its exploration by tracing the crook of the staff.

"Why do you carry this trinket around all the time? What's its purpose?"

Jack reached over to grab his staff in a half-hearted attempt only to have Alice pull it out of reach. He didn't really like it when people touched his staff without his permission, but he wasn't desperate enough yet to try to wrestle it from her, especially since the table put her at a good height for a swift kick in the kidneys.

Unsure of what to do with his rarely empty hands, Jack crossed his arms and waited impatiently for her to hand over his staff. Alice nearly laughed at the irony. Just last night their roles were reversed where Jack was the one with staff, pretending to ignore her while she stood by with crossed arms.

"It helps me channel my powers. Plus, it makes me look cool, so give it back."

"Can you not use your powers without it?" she inquired.

"Kinda, but they're not as strong."

"That seems like an awful big inconvenience should you ever lose it."

Jack flinched at a couple choice memories that directly applied to Alice's statement, being thrown back into an arctic trench by the Nightmare King as one of the top few. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

"Did you know that you were kneeling in paint?" Alice asked, pointing at his pants. "Because it's all over your knee."

"Wha-?" Jack looked down to see a purple splotch staining his pants. "Oh come on! I just had these washed!"

Balancing quite comically on one foot, Jack grabbed the knee covered in paint and tried to rub away the offending substance, only to succeed in staining his hands as well.

"That's just great," he grumbled, rubbing his hands together. "Here I am, trying to do something nice and what do I get? Paint all over my pants!"

The sound of Alice laughing nearly threw him off-balance. His arms waved around in an attempt to keep his balance as his raised leg fell back to the ground. He must have looked like an idiot, hopping around on one leg with his arms flapping like he was a mentally challenged seagull. He turned to look at Alice with wide eyes. She looked back at him with an amused smile as she laid his staff across her lap, one of her slim eyebrows arched at his dumbfounded expression. He almost blushed, making the whole situation more awkward for him. If Alice didn't think he was a complete fool before, she would definitely think so now.

'Did I just hear her laugh or am I imagining things?' Jack thought to himself as he carefully regarded the spirit in front of him. He was pretty sure that he heard her laugh. In fact, she might have even giggled, but no that was impossible. Alice didn't look like the type of girl who giggled. Maybe laugh maniacally at other people's pain, but not giggle.

"Are you alright?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Jack straightened himself up, trying to tell himself that he didn't find Alice's current expression "kinda cute". He had seen teenage girls in Burgess use similar looks, but they usually used them to get free stuff from male store clerks. Although he seriously doubted that Alice was tying to act flirty with him.

"I'm fine," He insisted, brushing imaginary dust off his hoodie sleeve. "Can I have my staff back now?"

He felt the need to squirm under Alice's piercing gaze. She pursed her lips in thought and gave the Winter spirit a slow once-over. She was making him uncomfortable and she knew it. He realized that this must be her way of getting back at him for being so annoying last night. He was the small mouse and Alice was the misfortune-bringing black cat who had him trapped by his tail.

"Here," Alice said, tossing the staff to Jack. "It's unimpressive anyways, much like it's owner.

Okay, that was uncalled for.

Before Jack could even think of a witty comeback, Baby Tooth buzzed past his shoulder. The fairy stopped inches from Alice's face. She pointed a tiny finger at Alice accusingly while she squeaked furiously while Alice looked down the bridge of her nose at the lecturing fairy. She didn't seem all that affect by Baby Tooth's angry squeaks. Instead she cocked her head to the side once again and gave the small creature a curious smile.

"Well, hello there," she murmured softly. Despite Baby Tooth's frustrated expression, Alice reached out a finger and lightly poked her in the stomach. Baby Tooth angrily pushed Alice's finger away and crossed her arms with a huff. "What a beautiful creature you are."

Baby Tooth froze and her pout melted off her face. She blushed and started twiddling her thumbs shyly, her sour attitude towards Alice completely forgotten. Jack rolled his eyes as Baby Tooth drifted back to his shoulder all giggly and flattered.

"Traitor," Jack mumbled under his breath. He looked back at Alice to find her still looking at him. His hand flew up to rub the back of his neck, trying to pretend he wasn't bothered by her looks. "Where's your fluffy nanny?"

"He took his leave for the Tooth Palace this morning," she said, looking down at her white apron. "He said he'll return later this evening."

Jack nodded while idly twirling his staff with his fingers. "I'm surprised he didn't bail on Tooth. Usually when Bunny is uptight and overbearing about something, no one can drag his attention away. I've never seen him act this way over a person before. Not even Sophie."

Alice blinked. "Who?"

"Just a little girl who has Bunny wrapped around her tiny finger," Jack laughed, remembering all the extra visits Sophie Bennett receives from the pooka outside of Easter Sunday.

Jack's twirling hand stopped when he saw Alice's expression fall and her eyes darken. Before he could ask if he had said something wrong, she turned her head away from him. Her hands gripped the edge of the table and she shifted her weight on to her arms. Seeing that she was moving to get down from her perch, Jack's hand instinctively shot out to help her. Alice stopped moving when she noticed the offered hand. For several seconds she just looked at it with a blank face. Just when he thought she would smack his hand away or snap at him, he felt slim fingers lay themselves over his. Stifling his shock, the Winter spirit's hand tightened around hers and supported her weight as she hopped down from the table.

For someone with such a cold and jagged disposition, the skin of her palm was surprisingly soft and warm. It was then that Jack remembered that Alice was a living, breathing person, just like anyone else. In fact, out of all the Guardians, her and North were the only ones who could pass as completely human.

As soon as her feet were firmly planted on the stone ground, Alice slipped her hand out of Jack's and placed it behind her back with the other. It was no surprise to her that his skin was so cold. His appearance and winter powers made that a guarantee, but the sensation still made her skin prickle. And not just because of his below average body temperature. The skin to skin contact also had something to do with it. It has been a while since Alice experienced that, even if it felt like she had just dipped her hand in ice water.

They both stood there unmoving, lost in their own minds and not really understanding why the atmosphere around them suddenly felt thicker. They weren't staring into each other eyes or anything, just off to the side. Eventually, Alice gathered herself again and looked back at Jack.

She politely cleared her throat to gain his attention. "Thank you, Mr. Frost. For the assistance."

Jack almost rolled his eyes at the formality. "No problem, Alice."

If Alice had picked up on his obvious hint for her to use his first name, she didn't show it. She just straightened her back and lifted her head with confidence.

"Well, I'm sure you still have much to do," she said with another amused smile. "There's still a smoldering pile of wires and plastic laying somewhere on the main floor.

Jack lazily scratched his cheek, not looking forward to his next chore. "Oh yeah...I'll get right on that. Eventually."

She narrowed her eyes at him before shaking her head and walking past him. At first Jack didn't do anything to stop her, but after walking a few seconds he turned around.

"Hey, Alice!"

She turned and watched as the Winter spirit jogged over to her, skidding to a halt right in front of her.

"You know that girl I just mentioned? Sophie?"

"Yes?" She prompted with crossed arms.

"Well, She really, really loves the Wonderland books and her birthday just so happens to be coming up soon..." Jack trailed off as he looked at the girl in front of him, trying to gauge her reaction.

"And?"

"It would just blow her five-year old mind if she met you," he said, motioning a pale hand at her. "Her older brother wouldn't mind meeting you either."

For several moments, Alice didn't do anything. Her impatient expression didn't even change, but then she dismissively shook her head and turned away from Jack.

"They like the Alice in the story books," she said over her shoulder as she walked away. "Not me."

Any rational and considerate person would realize that the conversation was over and that her answer was no, but unfortunately she was dealing with Jack Frost. And Jack Frost wasn't so easily swayed.

Expertly manipulating the air around him, Jack jumped into the air and landed again in front of Alice. A very big mistake on his part.

Not only had he successfully blocked her path, but he also managed to startle her. Jack knew that suddenly landing in front of someone could scare them beyond belief, especially if that someone didn't know he was capable of independent flight, but he didn't think it would bring out such a violent reaction in Alice. He expected her to jump, gasp, or maybe even shriek, but he didn't expect to have the deadly point of a sharp blade inches from his face. She had moved so fast that Jack didn't even see the blade until it was right in front of him, the lighting of the workshop gleaming across its ornamented surface.

The young Guardian stumbled back and nearly collided was a passing yeti carrying a stack of colorfully wrapped gifts. The yeti stumbled but managed to keep his balance before angrily snapping at the clumsy spirit that almost knocked him over. Jack reached out a hand to help steady the yeti and flinched when the annoyed creature yanked his furry arm away and bounded off in another direction. Jack shouted out an apology before turning back towards Alice.

The blade was no longer raised, but she still held it tightly in her grasp. It hovered defensively at Alice's side, as if she was still expecting something to attack her. She looked ready to skin him alive and Jack couldn't do anything except stare at the weapon in her hand. The blade had some sort of blue aura raising from it like a flame and it added to the sense of danger that usually came off Alice in waves, making her look twice as deadly with her green eyes burning a new hole in his face.

"What do you think you are doing, you wicked thing!" she shouted furiously. "Surprising me like that! I could have easily sliced you in half!"

"Well, I didn't think you were going to pull a knife out on me!" he shouted back but immediately stopped when he noticed the attention they were attracting. He quickly tried to get Alice to lower her voice once he saw the nearby yetis staring at them. Any sort of workshop disturbance or commotion would inevitable draw a certain Christmas spirit to the scene, and Jack wouldn't even know where to begin explaining why Alice had a knife brandished at him.

"I'm sorry!" he said hoarsely, one of his hands raised in front of him. "I just need to talk to you. And please, can you keep your voice down? I'm in enough trouble as it is."

"What is there to talk about, Frost?"

"What we were talking about before. These kids would really like to meet you," he insisted, speaking the honest truth. Once Jamie found out that Alice is real, he would flip out in excitement. Jack once told him that more spirits existed other than the Guardians, but he has only managed to meet a handful of them personally so the opportunity for Jamie to meet more spirits has never come up before. And it went without saying that Sophie would be beyond happy.

"Are you still going on about this?" Alice shook her head in disbelief. "I said no-"

"They won't care if you're not the storybook Alice!" He knew he was probably getting on her nerves, but the Winter spirit was determined to show Alice Liddell that Jack Frost never backs down. Alice wasn't the only one with an unwavering sense of determination around here.

"Jamie knows that not every spirit is portrayed correctly, especially in modern times. He'll just be excited to met the real Alice. And Sophie is pretty smart for a five-year old, she'll know what's what."

Alice crossed her arms and pursed her lips tightly together as she reconsidered the white-haired spirits's offer. As Jack waited for a response, he noticed that her knife had disappeared, seemingly vanishing into thin air. There was no place that she could've stored it without it being noticeable. Unless it was up her dress, and if that was the case, Jack didn't really want to think too deeply on it.

Eventually, she let out a sigh as her arms fell back down at her sides.

"When is the girl's birthday?"

"The day after tomorrow," he replied, trying to hold down his excitement. "The day before Halloween."

There was another long pause before Alice slowly shook her head again. Jack's smile dropped at the sight and he dreaded that she was going to reject him again.

"Oh alright, I'll do it," she said, not believing her own words.

Jack didn't even try to hide his enthusiasm. He let out a triumphant whoop and fist pumped the air once, the whole knife fiasco already in the back of his mind. Alice just rolled her eyes at Jack's overdramatic reaction and turned to walk away. Jack immediately noticed her leaving and called out to her again.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm retiring to my room for the evening," she replied but didn't stop. "Please let Bunny know when he returns."

Grateful that she had agreed to his request, Jack only nodded. "Consider it done. But why so early?"

"No reason. I'm just very tired."

AN: I made a Winter Wonderland Tumblr account. The link is up on my profile. So for all you Tumblr dwellers out there, you can stalk me or ask me questions there.

Don't forget to review, please!

~Scorpiofreak~