Outside North's Workshop, Lea was shuffling her feet through the snowy ground that was up to her knees. Her hood was already up covering her ears and her one curl moving through the harsh winds blowing in her face. She had her warms wrapped around her arms and shivering violently, her breath showing up in the atmosphere constantly.

"This was all a mistake," Lea said to herself in sadness, not carrying if she'll freeze to death. "I never should have agreed to meet the other Guardians. I not only made things worse for them, but also myself,"

She looked up to see the sky dark and cloudy. Winds were beginning to pick up hard. An unexpected storm was definitely brewing. This looked much worse than the other one Lea experienced in New York when getting her paper drawing back.

The wind soon became strong enough to knock Lea down, faceplanting on the snow that made her groan.

Meanwhile, Jack Frost and Bunnymund continued their search for Lea.

"Come on, let's move!" Bunny said, plowing over the snowy hills.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Jack remarked already flying into higher grounds to look around for the blonde teen. "Come on, Lea, where are you?" he asked himself.

Just then, he noticed a moving bump of snow that wasn't too far from him.

"Bunny! I think I found her! To your west!" Jack hollered, pointing at the direction to where Lea was.

Bunny slide into a turn, as he soon came upon the moving snow. "Lea!"

Hearing a voice call her, Lea slowly sat up on her soaked knees and turned her head to see a familiar blur coming up.

"B-B-Bunny?" Lea questioned with her teeth chattering, not sure if she's seeing correctly. "W-wh-what are you d-doing here? It's t-t-too cold out here f-f-f-for you,"

"It's colder out here for you. Come on, climb on! We need to get you warmed up," Bunny said, getting down low for her.

Although she would have said no, Lea knew that her endless walk would lead nowhere. So, sighing in defeat, Lea hopped on top of Bunny, holding her cold hands into his warm fur.

"Oh, darling, you're freezing. Hang on! We'll have you warmed up in no time!" Bunny said, before running back to North's palace.

Jack immediately flew by Bunny's side and went into the palace abruptly to see some yetis near the entrance.

"We found Lea! Get some warm blankets!" Jack exclaimed, pointing at the shivering teen on Bunny's back.

Nodding, the yetis quickly moved to get the right necessities to help the freezing girl.

While that was happening, Jack helped carry Lea off Bunny's back bridal style and moved to a nearby room with its own fireplace. It was neatly structured as the palace, had a good window view, a big fluffy bed, and, most of all, a fireplace where Lea was gently brought down by Jack.

The Guardian of Fun even helped take Lea's backpack off and put it away on the side of the room.

"Come on, little one, in front of the fire. We'll have you warm in no time," Bunny said, before stepping back and shaking out his fur.

Lea just nodded her head, still keeping her arms around herself and moved near the fire to sit down with her legs crossed.

Jack went close to the teen and bent his knees low until he was around her height.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"...S-sort of," Lea shivered, sniffling a little with a small runny nose.

Bunny looked up, as the yetis came in the room. They brought large blankets and warm drinks, along with a fresh pair of thicker clothing for Lea on top of the bed.

"You'll be warm soon," Bunny said, grabbing the blankets and wrapping them around Lea.

"T-thank you, Bunny," Lea replied, wrapping herself more in these warm blankets. "...Why did you go out and look for me? I thought you didn't want anything to do with a grown-up like me," she questioned, looking down in sadness.

"Darlin, I owe you an apology. I shoulda given yah the chance to get know yah before I jumped to conclusions. After I saw your toy and heard about its history, I knew I made a mistake. Will you forgive me and give me a second chance?" Bunny asked calmly.

Lea looked at Bunny, before giving a small smile. "Of course. And, to be honest, I wasn't mad at you or Jack about what happened. You were just trying to protect your family while Jack was trying to introduce you to a new friend that believes in you. Arguing and having disagreements is part of life,"

"Then, why did you leave outside in the middle of nowhere?" Jack asked, a bit confused on that subject.

"Because I was too embarrassed and upset on everything that happened. My first greet with the Guardians of Childhood was a disaster from the start," Lea admitted to Jack, tugging the blanket around her more, blushingly. "I whacked you back with a snowball when I thought you were some random school bully, I threatened North with my hockey stick after he popped up and scared me, I spilled hot chocolate over Bunny, got knocked out by the Sandman, and got my teeth cleaned by the Tooth Fairy and her helpers while I was still asleep,"

"Well, if anything, it just shows you're a little scrapper who can take care of herself," Bunny supplied.

"And not all meets have to be perfect. You should have seen how I first got here," Jack added, chuckling from that memory. "I ended up getting shoved in a sack and thrown into a magic portal to meet the rest of the Big Four."

Lea looked at Jack in surprise, lowering the blankets. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, and guess whose bright idea was it for that one?"

"I don't know, who?" Lea asked.

Jack smirked. "North's."

Lea held back a laugh, covering her mouth with both hands. "No way."

"Oh, yah. See, Mister Frosty Britches here had a way of being hard to keep in one place," Bunny said, with a chuckle.

"Sounds familiar..." Lea muttered while smirking, remembering how she first saw Jack Frost weeks ago.

"What can I say? It's boring to stay in one spot," Jack shrugged. "I actually had fun helping Tooth collect teeth almost as much as making some mischief around the world."

"Yeah, like wild sled rides through town," Bunny added.

Lea chuckled. "That definitely sounds like Jack Frost, all right,"

Jack smirked, playfully using his staff to lightly hit her side to make another chilly hit that made Lea jump in Bunny's arms.

"At least I'm not always jumpy, like a certain rabbit I know," Jack joked, laughing a bit.

"Oi! that's Easter Bunny to you!" Bunny said, before looking at Lea. "Out of curiosity, why are you so jumpy, kiddo?"

"It's not that I'm jumpy all the time," Lea began, slowly getting out of Bunny arms to stand on her own feet. "I live in a big city where you don't know what to expect. Whether night or day, New York can be full of thieves, muggers, and other bad people. It's best to try to be prepared for anything."

"Huh. Why not find a safer place? Somewhere a bit calmer?" Bunny asked. "Being on your toes can't be good for your nerves."

"I know, but it's hard to move somewhere else when you've already lived in a place you've been born and raised," Lea admitted, rubbing her arm anxiously. "Sometimes...change can be hard. Whether it's going to a new country or losing people that's been close to you your whole life."

Jack looked at Lea, seeing the sadness in her face. "Is that why you still believe in us?"

Lea slowly nodded her head. "My grandparents were the ones who got me into loving Winter, along with the other myths and legends. I thought if I forget all of you, I'd..." she didn't know how to finish her sentence.

"You would forget your grandparents," Jack deduced gently.

Lea just nodded again, her eyes having tears in them.

Bunny stepped forward and wiped her eyes. "You'll never forget them or us. We'll always be there for yah."

Lea looked up to see Bunny's emerald eyes, smiling before giving him a hug. While doing that, she stretched her left arm to reach for Jack and pull him in for the hug, too.

"That's it, darlin. You'll never be alone. Not ever," Bunny said with a smile, gently patting on her back.

"We're here for you, Lea. And, as Guardians, we protect children and young adults," Jack added, smiling as well.

Lea finished the hug and grinned at the two Guardians. "Thank you. Thank you both for everything."

"No need to thank us. Now, how about we get you dry and warmed up? Then, we'll see what the others are doing?" Bunny said, setting her down in front of the fire again.

"Sounds good to me," Lea replied.

"Then we'll give you some space to change," Bunny said, moving away with Jack so Lea could change.

"See you around, Lea," Jack waved a hand before closing the door behind him.

"Okay, thanks!" Lea called, already standing up, moving over to the bed, grabbed her folded clothes, and began changing.

Moments later, Lea had on a red sleeved sweatshirt with white snowflakes on it, black sweat pants, stripped socks, and short light brown fur boots. She even brought a white scrunchie from her bag to hold back her hair in a low pony tail.

She went to a nearby ice wall to see her reflection better.

"Huh. Not bad," Lea admitted, admiring what she was wearing by doing a few poses.

Just then, Lea's nose picked up a wonderful scent. It smelled like magic being baked into an oven. Using her nose, Lea got out of her room and followed the smell into the kitchen, where Roy the elf was taking out a batch of gingerbread cookies. He smiled, taking a big whiff of his confectionery masterpiece.

"Wow, that smells delicious!" Lea spoke up, already walking up towards the elf.

Roy nearly dropped his cookies. "Sheesh, kid! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He set the tray down.

"See? You are good at something, Roy!"

"Please, any nimrod can make cookies," He hopped off his stool. "I'm out."

Lea sighed. She sure wished she could help the elf feel good about himself.

Just then, Lea noticed that Roy left his baked cookies to cool down.

"Hmmm," the young teen smirked, placing a thumb and index finger under her chin in a thoughtful way.

She, then, grabbed a nearby plate and, once it was safe to grab the tray being cooled down, carefully moved half of the dozen gingerbread cookies on the plate.

"If Roy wants to feel useful around North's Workshop, then I know just the perfect push to help him," Lea declared happily, already leaving the kitchen with a plate of cookies in her hands.

Just as she was heading back to her guest room, Lea saw Bunny and North by the fire at what looked like the Guardian of Wonder's workshop office. An office filled with books on shelves, toys hanging from the ceiling, and ice sculptures. Lots and lots of ice sculptures. They looked like models of toys that were yet to become real for little kids. Some of them were not quite done while others were still blocks of ice, waiting to be used. The ceiling appeared to be ice that matched the side walls. Two designed wood structures seemed to stable up top and have a dozen or so candles brightening the place. Even the iced side walls had some candles.

She even noticed the jolly man himself making a few adjustments to a hidden project he was working. Although Lea couldn't tell what it was, she assumed it must be something for a young child.

It didn't take long for Bunny to notice Lea by the door and smiled.

"Hey, Little Nipper. Feeling better?" Bunny asked with a chuckle.

Lea smiled. "Yeah, I'm doing a lot better. By the way, a new batch of gingerbread cookies were just done fresh out of the oven and thought I'd help hand over some for you, North, and the rest of the Guardians," she replied, bringing up the plate of cookies.

"Thanks, darling," Bunny said, grabbing a cookie. "So, any questions you got for me?"

"Well, I do have a few. When you make Easter, do you do it all by yourself or do you get help from someone? Only ask because making thousands of eggs in one day sounds like a lot of work," Lea replied.

"I mostly do it myself, but, every once in a while, I'll ask for some help," Bunny said, already munching on the cookie.

"From who? Also, where's Jack, Sandy, and Tooth?" Lea asked, seeing that the other three aren't in the room.

"Well, the Warren is always raring to go with the work. As for everyone else, they're here somewhere. Want to go look for them?" Bunny asked, finishing his cookie.

"Sure. I'll just leave this plate of cookies here for North and go. Since he looks busy with...whatever he's doing," Lea said, trying not to ruin his focus.

Bunny smiled. "I'm sure he'll show you, when he's done," he assured.

"Don't worry about me, my dear. I'll catch up in a bit," North called out, still focused on his project.

"All right. Hope you get finished soon," Lea replied, already finding herself out with Bunny following. "Oh! And tell me what you think of the cookies. I need to hear your opinion on them,"

Bunny chuckled, as he led the way through the Russian Palace. They even took a giant sphered elevator to go down and walk pass a few busy yetis. With Christmas nearly a month away, the yetis had to work extra hard before the big delivery.

"So, how's it feel to be friends with the Guardians?" Bunny asked, helping the young girl avoid getting trampled.

"Pretty neat," Lea admitted, ducking from two yetis carrying a toy castle by going underneath it. "I was worried on meeting you all, at first, but now, after knowing everyone, I don't."

"Glad to hear it, Sheila," Bunny said, now walking past the elves that were doing their own thing.

"Yeah. To think, it all started when Jack flew past me weeks ago and got so curious on who or what it was that I ended up meeting a girl named Katherine that's into the same interests as me," Lea replied. "And then, a few days ago, I decided to make a 'thank you' gift for Jack Frost because I felt that he's done as much hard work as everyone from making winter."

"Oh, is that where the Frost Walker got that sash? Looks good on him," Bunny said with a grin.

Lea blushes a bit, taking a step over from kicking and or stepping on a moving elf "Thanks. It took me a while to figure out what to give Jack. Kate even gave me advice that as long as I make it from my heart, he would love it no matter what. Honestly, I actually like making handmade gifts for people. My grandparents were so thoughtful and great at it, that I wanted to follow their example, ever since."

"Seems you did well. It's a very nice and well thought out gift," Bunny said, now making a left with Lea still following.

"It was also still a challenge. I don't think I'd do this without...Nightlight," Lea sighed sadly, remembering about the small incident.

"I'm sorry about your precious gift. It was beautifully crafted," Bunny told the young teen, sincerely.

"I know. I can't remember a time without him," Lea smiled thoughtfully to herself, still a bit sad. "I still recall the times I played with Nightlight a lot, during my childhood. I always imagine myself battling pirates with Nightlight as my partner and protector. When we had to camp somewhere, he would never sleep. Nightlight would stay awake and always be watchful in case someone tried to attack or kidnap me."

"Who says your adventures are going to end?" Bunny questioned with a grin.

"Nobody, really. I'm already living the adventure of my life right now," Lea admitted with a chuckle.

Bunny smiled before looking forward and halting. "Oh, there's Tooth."

Lea looked up and jumped in startlement before stopping to see the Tooth Fairy show up close to her face, nearly falling on her behind again.

"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to startle you, Lea," Tooth apologized, already flying up with her tooth fairies around her.

"It's okay. I'm still getting used to surprises like this," Lea assured, placing a hand on her heart.

Bunny chuckled. "Well, you keep jumping like that and people will begin to believe you took my job."

Lea blushed a bit. "Yeah, I don't think I can pull off being a female Easter Bunny. I'm more of a hockey girl."

"It's true! She happens to be very good at it and ice skating!" Tooth chimed with excitement. "When she was six, Lea lost a central incisor on the day she tried to make a complicated jump on the ice, only because she wanted to be like those other famous figure skaters on television!"

Lea, along with Bunny, became astonished at her detailed knowledge of Lea's past day of losing a specific tooth.

Wow. No wonder she's called 'The Guardian of Memories', Lea thought to herself. She must remember and hold every child's past memories through their lost teeth. Amazing!

Just then, one of the fairies fluttered inches to Lea's face inquisitively. the young girl couldn't help but do the same for the fairy, as well. She could see a distinct beauty mark next to the side, underneath her right eye–which was pink with the left blue. In Lea's opinion, they were a perfect contrast. The fairy even had a golden feather on top of her forehead.

"Oh! Hello, there," Lea smiled. "What's your name?"

The little fairy chirped, unable to specifically say her name.

Bunny couldn't help but let out another chuckle. "Most of the time, we all just call her Sweet Pea,"

"Her name is Baby Tooth," the Guardian of Memories replied. "The others call her Sweet Pea as a nickname."

Lea let out a small chuckle while keeping her gaze on the little fairy. "She's very cute and beautiful as you and the other little fairies, Tooth,"

"Awww! Thank you!" Tooth chirped from that compliment, spinning around in mid-air happily.

Curious, Lea reached out a small finger to feel Baby Tooth's head gently. It was very soft and the little fairy seemed to like it. Smirking, she then moved her finger to Baby Tooth's little tummy and lightly wiggled it. This caused the fairy to chirp in laughter and moved back a bit.

"Oh, so you like giving tickles, huh?" Bunny asked with interest.

"Only when I'm curious to new creatures I see up close," Lea admitted. "Especially the cute and feathery kind."

"Hmmm. And are you ticklish yourself?" Bunny asked, as he wiggled his fingers in her ribs.

"Eeeek! Heeheeheeheeheehahaha, hey! Stop that!" Lea giggled, gently trying to push his pawed fingers from touching her.

"Nope. We need more happy memories, hope, wonder, and fun," Bunny said, as he began a tickle torture with one hand while using his other hand to secure around Lea's waist from escaping.

"Agreed!" Tooth smiled, whistling her fairies to help out Bunny.

Nodding, the Mini-Fairies, along with Baby Tooth, flew down and began tickling Lea in any spot that would make her laugh: Her neck, behind her ears, even around her stomach by having a few fairies fly underneath her shirt.

Then, for fun, Tooth joined in by restraining Lea's arms with her left hand to raise them up by grabbing her wrists and used the other hand to tickle her sides and underarms.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! CUHUHUHUHUHUT IT OUT!" Lea laughed uncontrollably, unable to stand all the furry, feathery, and smooth touches on her skin.

"Just need a little more, Little One," Bunny said, now tickling her stomach. "Coochie, coochie, coo."

Lea laughed harder from the teasing. She hadn't been in a situation like this in such a long time. It's been ages since her last friendly tickle torture from her family as a small child. And, deep down, Lea kind of missed this kind of experience.

"Hey! What's going on?" a familiar voice spoke up.

It was Jack Frost and Sandy flying in the room to see Lea being tickle tortured.

"I thought I heard someone having fun," Jack grinned playfully.

Sandy nodded his head, smiling at this scene, too.

Bunny, Tooth, and the Mini-Fairies eventually stopped tickling to give Lea a breather. "Just bringing out each of our centers," he explained, already letting the blonde girl go.

"I can see that," Jack replied, walking over to the exhausted teen that was catching her breath. "Let me guess...tickled one of Tooth's fairies?"

Lea nodded her head, still giggling a bit. Turns out, Baby Tooth was the one giving Lea a few more tickles while trying to get out of her shirt by going up the neck hole.

"Yep. This one," Lea pointed at the tiny culprit.

Baby Tooth chirped with happiness, as she flew to the Winter Spirit. Even though she could never understand what Baby Tooth was saying, Lea can only assume that she missed seeing Jack.

"I'm guessing you know her?" Lea asked, smirking while placing a hand on her hip.

"Baby Tooth? Yeah, we go way back," Jack answered, smiling gratefully at the mini-fairy hovering around his face. "Been a long while since we last saw each other. How are you?"

Baby Tooth chirped on her answer, as if saying she was doing good but things haven't been the same without him...At least, that's what Lea thinks.

Just then, Sandy tapped on Jack Frost's shoulder and showed some symbols of a snowflake, a present, a check mark, and a hockey stick. Now, normally, Lea would figure out what Sandy is trying to say, but this was beyond her understanding.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Sandy," Jack said to the Guardian of Dreams before looking at the Teen Believer, flashing another one of his dashing smiles. "Lea, there's something we want to show you at the Globe Room."

"Um, okay. What is it?" the blonde teen asked.

"Ah, ah, ah. It's a surprise," Jack smirked, waving an index finger. "You have to go there and see what it is."

Being curious, Lea looked at Jack with uncertainty before looking at the others, seeing what they think. Turn out, they were smiling and giving her signs to go with Jack.

"Well...all right. Let's go," Lea finally accepted.

Seeing he got the greenlight from Lea, Jack grabbed her hand and started flying across the palace. The young teen just laughed and enjoyed herself, leaving the rest of the Guardians following behind and grinning at each other. For they exactly knew what was instore there.