M'kay, well this is probably as good as a time as any to let y'all know… this is the last full chapter(though, there is an epilogue) of this story. This has been a lot of fun, and I think I really discovered to flow with this story. Obviously, I will still be writing RotG stories, so y'all should drop by my profile every once in a while to see if anything catches your eye. I have a WIP story right now that I haven't posted yet, that will tie into this universe(no, it's not the sequel to this). I ended up way more into the concept of the Creatures than I expected, and I might write a short fic over just them, to answer questions.
But, onto my lovely reviewers!
Alysiana- That's actually a great idea, I didn't think about that. I might show her some of my short stories I write in class when I'm bored. But I actually plan to be an Illustration Major(I recently found out that was an option, and I looked into it. I saw it was EXACTLY what I wanted to do.) and be a commissionable freelance artist.
ELLE55- Actually, I was thinking of doing something like that with that story I adopted, I Am Not The Same. I haven't actually updated it yet, but I have a hard enough time updating this one. I will finish it eventually, though.
MoonGirl1155- It makes me so happy to see people be so enthusiastic over my writing. That is exactly what I aim for when I write, for people to be able to feel it. And I do want to write, too, in addition to being an Illustrator, because I love to write, too. And no, that wasn't the last chapter. This is, if you don't count the epilogue. Hm, Jillow… I've never really been one for those pairing names, but you guys are welcome to create one, it just wouldn't be official or anything. Not unless it's one of those "Frozen Earth" or something like that.(but not that one, that one sucks…) If I like it, I may make in cannon.:) And, I guess I'm glad my story will be your last thought? I don't know, that's...different.
Rogue8496- Well thank you. Those are a couple of my favorite songs, so I'm l=glad you liked them.
sassysaw- Well, I wrote more, so I hope you like it!
Also, if anyone here has read the webcomic SHIFT on DeviantArt by LivingAliveCreator, you would know that it has come to its end.
Sort of.
With her permission, I am creating a sequel to it, with my own plot, because I'm not ready for this fandom to die out. I have already posted the cover and the first page will be out by the end of the week, with weekly updates. The Cold Insanity comic for this story is also on hiatus for this, but I may be able to sneak in a page here and there.
Well, that is it!
Willow examined the pattern on the skateboard on her lap, painting thin lines with the small brush in her hand. The design on the bottom depicted a guitar flying through a tagged brick wall, colorful bits of the broken brick flying everywhere. A rainbow of hues was smudged all over her hands, and far enough up her arms it nearly reached her elbows. Her gloves lay next to the water cup so she wouldn't get paint on them.
Jack meandered over to watch, and he raised an eyebrow when he saw the design.
"Hm, that's a bit different than what you normally draw." he commented above the commotion of the yetis as the bustled through the Christmas rush.
"I was helping North out a bit with the painting, since Christmas is in two days.." She picked up a piece of paper sitting next to her. "He gave me a list of what designs to paint of the boards."
"Why did you want to paint the skateboards this time? Can you ride?" he asked.
"I picked the skateboards, because it's a nice, flat surface to paint on and the different designs are really creative. It's a nice challenge." she picked a thicker brush, a dark red shadowing the body of the guitar. "And no, I can't. I tried to ride one once, and I couldn't even keep it going in a straight line."
Jack chuckled at her answer, glancing over the list of designs. "A dragon holding a hawk skull?"
"Jack, you have to remember most of these were asked for by adolescent boys. It could be a lot worse than a bird skull." she said, switching to a lighter color for the reflective highlights. "Though, now that you mention it, I might have to look up a reference for it. I don't actually know what a hawk skull looks like." she said, gesturing to the wafer thin laptop sitting on the table. Jack had not noticed it before, because the stack of blank skateboards, and the current image on the screen was of a black and white marbled version of the guitar on the board she was painting.
"I didn't know the North Pole got internet." he said.
"Neither did I, but when I made a comment I that I didn't know what some of the designs actually looked like, North handed me the laptop and told me I could look them up. It's actually kind of weird how light it is." she said. She swished her brush in a cup of water, setting it next to the others she had done. "Once these dry, I need to spray them with a sealant, then they should be good."
Jack was only half-listening, wanting to be interested, but unsuccessful. It was interesting to watch her paint, but not for hours, and she had a tendency to lose track of time and spend the entire day just painting, which had happened for the past two days. Now that they had been established, Jack wanted to spend time with his girlfriend.
"Come on, let's do something." he said, taking the brushes she was drying off and setting them on the table. "You've spent the last three days painting or at the Tooth Palace. I want to do something fun."
"Oh, so watching me paint doesn't qualify as Fun?" she teased.
"Well, no, I mean yes, but… Is there a real way to answer this?"
"Probably. You just haven't figured it out yet." she grinned.
"Hm, look who's getting cheeky." he smirked.
"Don't feel bad, I learned from the best." she replied. She planted a quick kiss on his lips, before quick stepping around him and walking towards the large oak door surrounded by lightly frosted glass.
The door swung inwards after a light rap on the wood. "Yes?"
"If things are running smoothly enough, I was going to head out for a little while." she told him.
"No problem. How many boards are finished?" North asked.
"Sixteen." she answered automatically.
He nodded. "Thank you for help. You paint very well." He commented, grateful for her help.
"Thank you. I love it, but Jack was getting antsy. I guess watching me paint for hours on end isn't all that exciting." she cracked a grin and North's jovial laughter boomed across the vast workspace.
"For person like him, I suppose not. Now, go have fun." he waved his hands at her in a shooing motion. "You work too hard for teenager."
Willow laughed, waving as she returned to where Jack stood. He was examining the boards she had already painted.
"Are we good?" he asked, turning away from the colorful designs.
"Yeah, I just figured I should let him know I'm taking off. I probably didn't need to, but old habits die hard and I always had to for work." she shrugged. She tried to wipe the paint from her hands and arms, but she quickly gave up, realizing it was a lost cause.
"Do you wanna fly?" Jack asked, but Willow shook her head.
"I don't think I can risk it yet. I can barely hold altitude for ten minutes, and I wobble so much I'm always half afraid I'm going to fall." she said, not telling him she actually did fall once. Fortunately, she was only five or so feet off the ground and walked away with only one bruise.
"You sure? You know I'd catch you." he said, still grinning, but his joking tone gone.
"Yes, I know. But if I actually did fall, would you ever let me live it down?" she asked wryly.
Jack laughed. "No, probably not."
"My point exactly." Jack slipped his arm around her waist in defeat. She slung her arms around his shoulders and they flew through the skylight in the roof.
Her jacket flapped in the icy wind, but the cold didn't bother her much anymore. In return for helping with the toys, one of the yetis altered her jacket to have slits in the back for her wings, so they weren't always constrained whenever she wore it. The crisp wind was refreshing against the translucent membrane.
"Willow, do you trust me?" he asked, and she gave him a wary look.
"The last time you asked me that, I was dropped out of the sky onto an ice roller coaster." Was her answer.
"I promise I'm not going to drop you. Actually, the point is so that you don't fall." he said, slowing down.
"What are you thinking?" she asked, still reluctant.
Jack didn't answer. Instead, he carefully unwound her arms from around his neck, then shifted his grip on his staff so he could hold her waist with both hands.
"Open your wings." he commanded, sliding his feet beneath Willow's to allow her some balance and stability.
"Jack, I told you I'm not ready!" she protested.
"What makes you think I'm planning on letting go?" he asked. "I'm going to make sure you don't fall, I promise."
"Okay." she said slowly, still not sure about the whole thing, but there wasn't much else she could say.
"On three." he said, tightening his grip. "One… two… three!"
He tipped her forward and her wings began to move, their tips a green and brown blur a few inches below his face.
"Whoa!" she gasped as she wobbled. "I've never been up this high before." she admitted, her arms slightly extended as the ice morphed to the smooth blue of the ocean.
Jack smiled at her euphoria, and, after a few minutes, he began slowly loosening his grip as she picked up her own speed, much like he did when she was skating on the pond. After a moment, she was flying entirely on her own without her even knowing it, though he stayed fairly close to her, just in case.
"Maybe this was a good idea!" she laughed into the wind.
"Think so?" he said, but he had drifted farther away, and she knew his voice wasn't as close as it should be.
Alarmed she glanced back at his to see he was no longer holding her up, and she immediately dropped about six feet, wobbling again.
"Jack, goddamnit, I thought you weren't letting go!" she shrieked, and she had to concentrate just to keep her arms from flailing like a moron.
"I said I would make sure you wouldn't fall." he said, dipping down and grasping her arm. Her flight steadied a bit. "Until you realized I wasn't holding on to you, you were flying pretty well all on you own. Part of flying is not being afraid of falling, because you end up holding yourself back and that doesn't turn out too well." he chuckled. "Take this from someone who has fallen out of the sky plenty of times."
Willow nodded, then, after a moment, closed her eyes and extended her arms, not thinking about how far away the freezing waters of the ocean were, and how much the impact would hurt if she did fall. Instead, she thought of when she was human and would fly with Jack.
He wasn't afraid of the sky, so she wasn't either. The tried to mimic that same confidence, both from when she was being carried, and when he held her waist when she was doing the flying.
She slowly opened her eyes and found herself soaring over the water once again.
"I can't believe that worked." she said.
"I told you so." Jack said from above her. Then, he shot forward like a bullet, leaving her in the clouds.
"Jack! I can't go that fast!" she shouted, wobbling a bit as his sudden speed burst threw her off.
"You weren't going fast to begin with!" he retorted in a sing-song voice. "I'm still not going all that fast, and you know it!"
"Well, my wings are small! I can't do this forever!" she told him, her shoulders tingling a bit. She knew if she kept going for a long time, they would be sore. Despite this, though, the tried to speed up and catch up to the taunting Winter Spirit.
"C'mon Willow, I know you've got more fight than that! Faster!" he called back to her.
Her eyes narrowed and she managed another small speed burst, but it was still weak in comparison to Jack's pace. A numb ache began slowly spreading across her shoulders, but she ignored it.
"Is that all you've got? We've barely gone four miles!" Willow made a mental note of how much he was enjoying her struggle. She would make sure it was compensated later.
"You've also spent the last three hundred and eight years flying!" Her shoulders had switched from the dull ache to a throbbing burn, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. She tried to mask her heavy breathing, but her energy was fading quickly.
It wasn't long, though, before Jack noticed her panting, anyways.
"Willow? Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine." was her reply, but her voice was a bit too winded for his liking. He slowed his own pace until she was next to him again. Now that he was closer, he could see the toll her flight was taking on her, and fatigue weighed her soft features heavily.
"Okay, maybe that is enough for one day." he admitted. His arm slid around her waist, careful not to touch her rapidly moving wings, because he had a feeling they were not as delicate as they looked. After all, Tooth's certainly weren't.
She looped her arms around his neck once again, her back burning like a hot iron as her wings stilled. Jack could feel heat radiating off of her body, even through the layers of her clothes, and her arms were a little too hot against his neck.
"Geez, how hard were you pushing yourself? You're burning up." he said, a bit concerned.
"I was pushing pretty hard, because I was not about to be shown up by my cocky boyfriend." she told him, the word boyfriend still sounding strange rolling off of her tongue.
"It's a shame you still were, even after all that effort." he said teasingly. Willow glared at him and smacked the back of his head.
"Watch it, Frost. I may be tired, but I just might be more prepared this time." she threatened.
Jack was suddenly very aware of the stone wrap bracelet pressing into the back of his neck through her jacket where it was curled around her arm.
"And with that very good point, we're almost to Burgess." he said, changing the topic.
"Burgess?" she questioned.
"Well, I haven't seen Jamie in a while, and I'm pretty sure he'd like to know what's going on. Besides, I've always kind of considered it my home, since at one point, it actually was." he answered.
"Fair enough. I'd kind of like to see Aly, too. I have to explain to her why… why I'm not coming back." she said quietly.
Jack looked down at her. "Can you explain that to me first?" he asked, confused.
"I'm a Creature now, which means pretty much no one but little kids, maybe, and other immortals can see me. I would rather that I cut my losses now, while I'll know she's going to be fine, than wait until I watch her grow up, grow old, and still look like this while I'm at her funeral." she said.
Jack stopped, and they hovered in the air. "Willow. Don't cut off a friendship now and wonder what would happen if you didn't. Cherish the time you have and make the best of it. I did the same thing a few years ago, with Jamie, because he had just turned fifteen and I was kind of afraid he would stop believing in me. North managed to to talk me out of it, and you have no idea how glad I am he did, because Jamie is an adult now, and one of my closest friends."
She studied his face for a long moment. "I think that is the most wisdom I have ever heard come out of your mouth at once. Your age is starting to show, old man."
Jack rolled his eyes. "The point is, don't leave her. I know time will pass, but wouldn't you rather it hurt when you know you made the best of you time together, then hurt without knowing what would've happened? Because it's going to hurt either way."
He was met with no answer, but he could tell she was putting a lot of consideration into his words. Well, sort of his. It was almost the exact same thing North had told him about five years ago, but he wasn't about to correct her thinking he hadn't spent three hundred and eight years doing nothing but throwing snow at people and freezing their car doors shut.
The dot at the center of the town was beginning to take some shape, morphing into the statue of T. Burgess and, presumably, his family. Kids skittered around the park, a heated snowball fight already in full blast as they giggled beneath the shower of cottony flakes.
Jack set them down near the treeline, and Willow carefully removed her jacket, still flushed from her flight. She winced as her wings tugged her her sore shoulder blades as they slid through the slits in her jacket.
"What I wouldn't give for an ibuprofen right now." she muttered, hanging her jacket in one of the many trees edging the park.
"A what?" asked Jack.
"An ibuprofen? It's a painkiller." she answered, rolling her shoulders. "Well, that's going to hurt in the morning."
"Sorry" Jack said, taking some of the guilt for pushing her so hard, but she waved him off.
"Don't apologize, it was my choice to keep going, knowing I wasn't very good at flying. I knew it would be sore, I just didn't expect it this much. My, rather stupid, choice." she gave a small shrug, but even that sent another flood of heat through her upper back.
"Well,I didn't have to taunt you, either, I-" he was cut off when a ball of snow flew into the back of his head, dusting his equally white hair with thick flakes. He turned to see Jamie with a book in his hands on a nearby bench, trying very hard not to laugh.
"Game on!"
(*)
Willow laughed as she shook copious amounts of snow from her hair, though there were still several dots of white ensnared in the thick tangle of waves.
"Well, I guess that's one way to meet someone." she grinned. After a couple of snowballs were exchanged between the friends, Jack introduced Willow to Jamie, who promptly threw a snowball at her, saying Jack Frost's girlfriend shouldn't have any objections to some snow, especially when her shirt didn't have any sleeves.
Well, she wasn't going to take that sitting down, and within a few minutes, almost the entire park was throwing the snow back and forth.
Scraping the thickening ice from her gloves that now covered the streaks of dried paint, she slipped her jacket back on. As the thick fabric settled against her skin, she noticed her shoulders weren't quite as sore from the constant assault of ice running over them.
"Yeah. Despite being twenty one, living on his own and going to college, Jamie is still a kid at heart." Jack said, fiddling with one of the knots in her hair. "Your hair seemed to rebel even the idea of being brushed." he commented.
"You have no idea." she said, rolling her eyes, attempting to finger-comb it for about three seconds, then giving up. Instead, she pulled out a hairband from her hip pocket and pulled it into a low ponytail. The shorter strands immediately fell into her face.
"Well, at least it's out of the way." she sighed, puffing on her hair.
Jack, however, wasn't paying much attention. His gaze was locked on the depths of the shadowed forest, despite the light of the day.
"What?" he said, lost.
"I said, what are you looking at?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, when I found Aly in the tree, there was some stuff on the ground inside. I was wondering if it was yours." he said.
"A wooden box and a sketchbook, right? Yes, those are mine, which I should probably get before someone finds them." she said, following his gaze into the forest.
They walked through the woods on foot, in no particular hurry as they made their way to the pond. Sunlight streamed through the trees, lighting up patches of snow like a dazzling blanket of diamonds.
A flash of red darted in front of them and a large cardinal landed on a skeletal branch of a bare ash tree.
"I thought cardinals went south for the winter." Willow commented idly.
"They do. I guess that one was a little behind. He'll be fine, though, he seems pretty big." Jack answered.
"He? What kind of sexist world have we fallen into?" Willow said melodramatically, though there was smirk pulling at the corners of her lips.
"Okay, she." Jack rectified, rolling his eyes again, though he was grinning, too.
Light was thrown in rainbows over the glistening surface of the pond, splashing subtle highlights of color across the snow in playful, erratic patterns.
Willow pushed the stringy weeds away from the small opening at the base of the tree, pulling out the natural wood box, shiny lacquer in stark contrast to the tarnished lock. She also removed the sketchbook, before releasing the weeds and allowing them to pop back into place.
Setting the box on the rock she sat on to draw, she lifted the cover of the sketchbook, which Jack could now see as hand-drawn, depicting a man with a laughing child in his arms that looked very familiar.
"This was my father's sketchbook." Willow said softly. "I kept it here so my mother wouldn't lock it away with everything else of his."
As she leafed through the pages, Jack soon realized it was almost like a timelike of Willow's youth, from when she was a baby up until she was six or so. In between the drawings of her, there were blueprints of the tree with notes around the edges on hollowing it out, as well as a few of, what seemed to be, Willow's mother. It took him a moment to realize it, though, because this version of her looked decades younger and actually quite beautiful. The loss of her husband had taken its toll on her.
"Marie?" he said, catching a glimpse of the writing on the back of one of the portraits.
Willow glanced up at him, a touch surprised until she saw where he was looking. "That was my mother's name. She used to be so beautiful, my dad was head over heels for her, even years after they were married." Her fingers traced the etchings lightly. "She didn't used to be all that bad. I mean, I knew she resented me, but the worst I ever got was a harsh word here and there. Nothing physical until after he died."
She sighed, closing the book and dropping it onto the stone and picking up the box. Her thumb ran over the dingy dials and, after a moment, the box opened.
He had been expecting pictures and random little mementos that would mean nothing to anyone but her. What he saw, was a box full of high quality oil paints and paintbrushes.
"My dad gave me these just before he left for Afghanistan. He told me to paint him a picture while he was gone, and he would be back before I was done." she smiled sadly, lifting the tubes and brushes out of the box and pulling on a small silk ribbon in its corner. The black velvet lifted away to reveal one small canvas, white as the snow.
"I've never used any of them. He died before I ever started, and after that, I couldn't ever bring myself to use them." she admitted. "But they're pretty much the most valuable thing I own, both literally and sentimentally, and I didn't want them destroyed either."
She replaced the false bottom and put the paint and brushes back into the box, the lid closing with a hollow click.
"Well, you have all the time in the world to decide exactly what you want to do." he said, taking her hand.
"True." she smiled, tucking the box under her other arm.
"C'mon, Aly's not getting any younger!" Jack said suddenly, tugging her arm.
"You go on ahead, I want to take care of something first." she said, a bit too vaguely. Jack, however, did not say anything, just nodding and taking off.
Then, looping around and watching quietly what she was doing.
Willow waited a few minutes, until she was sure he would be gone, then quickly unlatched the box again. Her hands swiftly moved the brushes and paint out once again, then pulled up the velvet bottom.
This time, though, she picked up the blank canvas from the box, and pulled out something that lay beneath it.
Jack's cerulean eyes widened when he saw the frayed burlap cover of what seemed to be a small sketchbook.
She flipped open the cover of the book, flipping through the pages so fast, he wondered how she could see what was on them. Though, he understood why she would not have wanted to look too closely.
She found what she was looking for after a few moments, and began carefully tearing out pages. She set the loose sheets on the rock, and he was able to see they were the drawings of he and Willow. She also pulled a page from the very back, but he never saw what was on it, only a flash of light. That one was folded and slipped into her pocket.
Once the pages had been pulled free of their binding, she pulled a small lighter he didn't know she had from her pocket and flicked it. She watched the tiny flame sway delicately in the scant breeze for a moment, then held it beneath one of the book's corners. The vicious tongues of flame licked at the aged pages, quickly devouring nine years of Willow's pain.
She dropped the book on the ground just before the fire reached her fingers, the heat melting the snow before the small blaze was put out.
Once it was only a pile of charred paper and ash, she picked up the wooden case once more, and her wings unfolded.
Jack turned and bolted from the area, the soft wind carrying him away with little sound before he could be caught snooping.
(*)
Snow crunched beneath her boots lightly as Willow dropped to the ground, ending her wobbly flight at the park.
She gazed up at the lightly clouded sky, then scanning over the ground in search of a certain white-haired immortal teenager. She saw him shuffling a ways away, talking to could hear the light mumble of their words, but nothing intelligible.
The older boy's brown hair was tucked under an eskimo style cap that looked like it would fall apart any minute, and had on a thick navy blue coat.A few of the younger children would wave at Jack every so often, as though he were just another person out enjoying the snow day. Well, one with white hair and no shoes.
A pair of taller figures caught her attention from the corner of her eye, and she turned to see a brunette woman and a blond male walking towards Jamie.
She expected them to just walk through Jack, making a mental note that she would eventually be faced with that same dilemma and it probably wouldn't be any more fun or her than it had been for Jack.
She was definitely a bit surprised, though, when they both greeted Jack warmly, exchanging hugs.
Curious, she walked over to them, hearing the last bit of the short conversation.
"...wanted to stop by and say hi before we left. It's always great to see you, Jack!" the woman said, her body tilted as she began to turn away.
"Yeah, it's great to know you guys can still see me!" His finally noticed Willow, and a grin lit his face as the pair walked towards her. "Oh, wait, there's someone I want you guys to meet!"
Willow, grinned, stepping around them and turning to face the visitors.
"Really? Who?" the blond man asked, and they walked back to Jack and Jamie.
Right through Willow.
She had heard about all the times people had walked through Jack, and how every time felt like a dagger through his chest, but not even that could have prepared her for the near overwhelming sense of loneliness and isolation that washed through her to accompany it. Her hands instinctively curled over her chest, and she gasped, trying to fight the urge to let her knees give out.
"Willow!" Jack seemed to materialize next to her in her haze, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, though, by this point, she didn't need it.
"Jack, who are you talking to?" the brunette asked, clearly confused. Jamie just stood awkwardly behind them, not entirely certain what to do.
"Sorry about that." he whispered quickly.
Yeah, I'm not going to get used to that. Ever. she thought as Jack walked back over to his human friends to explain exactly what was going on.
"Well that looked pleasant." Jamie said, standing beside her while Jack talked to the others.
"Not exactly. I don't even want to experience that again, I can't imagine having to live through that for three hundred years." she said, shuddering lightly and wrapping her arms around her torso. "Who are they?"
"The brunette is Pippa and the blond is Monty. I've known them since I was little. They're a few of my friends that were there when we helped take down Pitch. We've all stayed really close since then." he sighed running his fingers through his hair. "Maybe a little too close, because they got engaged last month. Honestly, everyone was really surprised, because they couldn't be more different. But they're good together all the same."
By now, the two, Monty and Pippa, stood in shocked silence, and Jack gestured with one hand in their direction.
They both glanced over, and this time, she knew they could see her, not through her. Pippa gave her a small wave, Monty just remained still.
"Don't just stand and gawk, say hi!" Pippa shoved his shoulder with her own. Monty cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses.
"Um, hi." he said.
"How original." Pppa rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm Pippa and this is Monty. It's so nice to meet you! Sorry about, y'know, walking through you and all that."
Willow shrugged. "It's alright. I mean, it's not like you did it on purpose."
"So, you're Jack's girlfriend?" she asked.
Willow's face immediately turned a bright carmine, and she shot a glare at Jack. He just shrugged, mouthing that he never told her that.
"Oh, sorry, I was just assuming. I didn't mean to embarrass you." she said at the sight of Willow's very red face.
"No no, it's fine, you're not wrong. I guess I just didn't realize how obvious I was." she stammered.
"You? You're not the obvious one. Jack turns into this little puppy when he gets really worked up over something, and the fact he was introducing up to a girl that happened to be the same age? It was the only thing I could think of." she explained.
"Oh." Willow pushed the snow with the tow of her boot, unsure what to say in the semi-awkward situation.
"Well, it was nice to meet you!" she said , holding out her hand. "I would stay, but Monty and I have a fitting appointment. Bye everyone!" She and Monty both waved, and Pippa promptly seized his wrist and began dragging them to the matte green car parked on the street.
There was another moment of quiet, before Jamie cleared his throat.
"Well, that certainly could have gone worse."
"Yeah, she's…"Willow trailed off.
"A handful? High strung? Hard to understand?" Jamie offered, cracking a grin.
"One of those."Willow agreed ruefully.
"I've known her for eight years, and I still only catch half of what she's saying." Jack sighed, glancing up at the darkening sky. "We still have time to see Aly, but it's almost eight o'clock, and she'll probably be in bed soon."
"How do you know what time it is just from the sky?" Willow asked, her small wings unfolding.
"Well, it was something we just knew back when I was human. I guess it just stuck around, since I can't wear a watch."
"Why not?" Willow asked, taking off, though slowly.
Jack raised an eyebrow, following her. "Well, as the Spirit of Winter, I tend to freeze things that aren't always warm on accident. I did try to wear one once, and the mechanisms in it froze in ten minutes. I decided I really didn't need it anyways." he shrugged.
Thier idle banter continued for the next few minutes, faltering briefly when Willow's flight wavered and Jack ultimately grabbed her arm so she didn't fall. He was also rather amused over the ordeal, but Willow's acid stare stood to reason that it was best he kept his mouth shut.
They arrived to the quaint little house to see a man rather intimidating in stature shoveling the snow off of one side of the driveway, whistling a tuneless melody.
"Who's that?" Jack asked as they landed in the middle of the front yard.
"Mia's husband, William Rouge. I think she met him when she went to visit family in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, or something like that. He's actually really nice, and isn't nearly as terrifying as he looks." She told him, seeing how he looked at the mountainous man. She half expected him to turn around, but she knew he wouldn't be able to see or hear them.
"Daddy! I found a frozen honeysuckle in the backyard!" A clear soprano called out, a green clad blur darting around from the back of the house.
"That's beautiful, Aly. You should go see if Mama can take a picture before it melts." he said, the deep brogue of his voice only furthering Jack's impression of him, but the man gave his daughter a warm smile and a moment of his full, undivided attention while she gushed over the tiny flower.
The snow made light grinding sounds as she ran off to find her mother, the honeysuckle blossom tucked carefully away in her cupped palms.
Willow began walking around to the back of the house, going the other way so her footprints would not be seen, because, despite being technically dead, she still left footprints. She figured the only reason Jack didn't was because he was a Winter Spirit.
I wonder if I would leave footprints on plain earth she thought as she rounded the corner. She saw Mia tucking her phone back into her pocket and Aly setting the flower down carefully on the small table by a wicker chair.
She turned, eyes lighting up when she saw Willow and Jack.
"Willow!" she squealed, taking off towards her, but Willow was more concerned over her mother's reaction.
"Aly?" Mia called, looking almost nervous. "Who are you talking to?"
"I'm talking to Willow!" she said, wrapping her arms around the older girl's waist and grinning.
"Aly, wait, I-" Willow was cut off.
A sadness seeped into Mia's eyes. "Aly, Willow isn't here anymore. You know what happened to her mother, and no one has seen her in almost three weeks. I'm sorry sweetie."
"But she's right here!" Aly protested, grabbing Willow's limp hand.
Mia sighed. "There isn't anyone there." she said softly.
"Willow, tell her you're here! Why can't she see you?" she asked, her enormous puppy eyes dampening.
"Because...because I'm not really here anymore." she finally said, not sure how else to answer.
"What do you mean? You're not a ghost, I can't see through you." She stepped back. "What happened?!"
"Aly, I think you should come inside." Mia called.
The girl's eyes narrowed. "Go around to my room. You have to explain what's going on, and why my mom can't see you." she said quietly, before turning away and quickly walking inside.
"Sometimes I wonder if she's really eight. It never seizes to amaze me how she can talk like a high school student when she really wants to." Willow sighed.
"Sounds to me she talks like that when you're in trouble." Jack commented, eyes focused on the ground to evade another of her acid glares.
"Yeah, well, better not keep her waiting. I do have a lot to explain." she said, mentally groaning.
How fun it must be to be victim to the wrath of a eight year old.
(*)
After a solid five minutes of silence, Aly finally spoke.
"So, you are technically dead, which is why Mama can't see you?"
"Yes."
"And you've been turned into some kind on immortal creature thingy, and you have powers over the earth?"
"I'm still trying to figure out how to use them… but yes."
"And you can't be around as much? Who's gonna tutor me?" Aly finished, the pieces falling into place.
"Well, when… um, whatever it was changed me, it gave me new responsibilities, too." Willow told her, though she wasn't entirely what those responsibilities were herself. "I'm not going away forever, but you won't see me as often."
Aly's chocolate eyes bored into Willow's bi-color ones. "But you're still coming back, right?"
"Of course."
"Then that's all that matters." she said, throwing her arms around Willow's neck.
Warmth spread through her as Willow hugged the little girl back.
"One more thing." Aly said, stepping back. "Can you show me your powers when you learn how to use them?"
"I can show you a little bit now." she said, pulling just her right arm from her jacket to reveal the stone bracelet.
"Ooh, pretty!" Aly cooed, the eight year old in her nudging away her maturity. She bounced with excitement.
"It's more that just pretty." Willow said, concentrating on the band of stone.
She heard Aly squeak quietly, which told her that her eyes had started glowing. After a moment, the bracelet began to ripple.
It moved down her arm and came to rest in her palm, but did not stop moving. Willow covered it for a brief moment with her hand, before pulling it away to reveal a butterfly resting on the soft gray material, gossamer wings moving slowly.
"Can I touch it?" Aly asked.
"Sure. I don't think I can make it fly, but I can make the wings move." she said, carefully setting the butterfly in her palms.
"I thought you could make them float?" Jack commented.
"And move the wings at the same time? I don't think I can do both." she said.
"It stopped moving." Aly said, looking at the insect curiously.
"Oops, I must have lost concentration." Willow said, pursing her lips at the still sculpture. "Oh well, I have all the time in the world to practice."
She took the stone from Aly's hands, and, after a moment, the butterfly seemed to liquify and the stone coiled back around her arm.
Aly giggled. "That's really cool. I wish I could do that."
Willow paused for a moment, an idea forming in her mind.
"Hold out your arm." she said, and Aly complied.
Willow grasped her wrist loosely, closing her eyes.
For several minutes, nothing happened. Then, the bracelet began to move again, this time seeming to give off a faint glow of its own. Willow's necklace also began to glow a faint green.
The stone moved to wrap around Aly's wrist, and, after another minute, a galaxy pattern complete with the full solar system rose up from the stone. The glow of the stone and her necklace faded.
"What just happened?" Aly asked, admiring the bracelet.
"It's a reminder that I'm not as far away as you think, no matter where I am. If you ever need me, as long as you're wearing this, I'll know and I will find you." Willow said, her voice slightly husky. Though it wasn't obvious, it had taken a lot of energy to link the stone to her crystal necklace, and she still wasn't entirely sure how she did it, or even if it was her that did it.
"Really?" Aly closed her eyes.
Willow felt a light tingling all over her body, and her necklace began to glow again, the soft green light almost indiscernible in the low light of the setting sun.
"See? Now, if you're ever in trouble, I can help you." Willow smiled.
"Cool, thanks!" Aly exclaimed, fidgeting with the band to see the rest of the designs.
"We better get going soon, so we don't have another search party after us." Jack interjected. "If we get back before midnight, we'll probably be fine."
"Okay." Willow turned back to Aly one last time. "I have to go for now, but I promise I'll come and visit you soon, okay?"
"Okay. And I hope you plan on fixing my window lock. Mama hasn't noticed it yet, but I don't know how I'm gonna explain… this." She pointed to the pile of broken metal, discreetly brushed into the corner.
"Hehe, oops…" Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Might be able to call in a favor, or four, with Phil." Willow smacked his arm.
Aly waved as they flew through the open window, a snowflake icing over the top pane of her window.
(*)
Earthen eyes peered over the top of a familiar spiral bound sketchbook, and the soft scratching of a pencil on paper filled the, otherwise quiet, clearing.
A frustrated sigh hissed between Willow's lips, and her eraser was grinding at her paper once again. She had just given up in trying to draw a whole scene, dedicating the entire page to just trying to draw the sunlit snow.
At this moment, what she had was a page full of smudge marks.
A pale hand reached over her shoulder to gently poke the page, tiny crystals of ice blossoming beneath his touch.
"Oh, stop rubbing it in." Willow gripped, flipping the book closed and pushing it back into her bag.
"Even when you're doing stuff you like, you get stressed out." he teased. "I'm almost wondering if it was a good idea North kicked you out."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault I was painting twelve solid hours!" she protested.
"How is it not?!"
"You know I lose track of time when I'm in my zone!" she said, sliding down from the tree branch, fluttering her wings for a moment so she didn't break her ankle or something.
"Yeah, and this 'zone' doesn't seem to include anything else in existence." he said, tugging her hand to pull her onto the frozen surface of the pond. "Though, to North's credit, you shouldn't spend your Christmas Eve working in the Shop. C'mon, don't you even take a break?"
"I march to my own beat." she smirked, spreading her wings to help her balance. She even attempted one of the spinning jumps figure skaters would do. She proceeded to almost fall on her face, the fact she was half-flying to stay airborne being the only thing that kept her from falling on her face.
"Hm, trying to get all fancy, are we?" Jack teased, then did the exact same thing she attempted… but flawlessly.
"See, this is you rubbing it in again." she grumbled, resuming her normal skating.
"Yep, it sure it." he sing songed.
Willow gave him a sideways glance, grinning mischievously as her eyes began to glow.
"Ow!" Jack whirled around to see a pebble clicking on the ice as it hit the surface. "Hey, that's not fair!"
"If that isn't fair, than this really isn't." she said, pointing above his head.
"Jack looked up just in time to see a cloud of gravel drop on his head.
"HEY!" His arms moved to block the shower, the rocks hitting the ice like rain.
Willow giggled as he spit a rock onto the frozen surface, several more falling from the folds in his jacket.
"Whoa!" she gasped as he raced up behind her and grasped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides.
"And now I got you." he whispered in her ear. His grip loosened, and he peered upward, a grin tugging at his lips.
Willow followed his gaze to see a small cluster of glistening ice blossom into a shimmering mistletoe.
"Merry Christmas, Willow."
And we have reached the end! I hope you all enjoyed it and I will see you all in the sequel!
…
YES, I SAID SEQUEL! It will be the next story I post, more than likely, because I want to fully finish the other one before I post anything, because I'm still iffy on it. But there will be a sequel to this, which is why I keep bringing up the epilogue. I'll probably also have a mentions page for all of my amazing followers/favers/reviweres, too.
So… yeah. That's it!