"Jack!" She said into his shoulder, starting to cry.
He squeezed her back. "Oh, Emma, I'm so glad you can see me! I've been so lonely!"
"You've been lonely? I thought you were gone forever," she said wetly. She laughed again from sheer relief.
Jack picked her up and spun her around, the way he used to. He put her down and pressed her head to his chest. He wouldn't lose her again.
Eventually they broke apart. "How did this happen?" She asked him, wiping her eyes. "I mean, Jack Frost? How?"
Jack sobered a bit, and told her about the Moon and his new powers. "…And I don't understand why nobody could see me until now." He looked down at his hands. "The Guardians didn't explain that much."
Emma thought. "I think it has something to do with belief. Like, I just learned about Jack Frost. And I believed in him. Then I could see you. But nobody else seems to really believe. But plenty of kids believe in Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, right?" She looked at him.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, I know that they can be seen. By kids, at least."
"Exactly! So your problem is that nobody believes in you yet. Except me." She looked proud. "I'm the first."
He hugged her again. "You're the only one I need."
She beamed. "Give me just a second," she said, running inside the house. When she came back out she was in full winter gear, ready to have fun.
They spent the rest of the day happily. They did everything; they built snowmen, had a snowball fight, went sledding, and sometimes they just talked.
Jack felt better than he had since he had become Jack Frost. It was wonderful to talk to someone again, to feel that real connection. Near sundown they were digging a tunnel through a huge mound of snow Jack had conjured when their mom came out.
"Emma, you've been out here for hours! What-?" She paused as she saw the army of snowmen, the steep, enormous hill Jack had made for sledding, and the elaborate fort he and Emma had built together.
"Oh my goodness," She said in astonishment. "Emma, did you do all this?"
Emma emerged from the shallow cave she and Jack had been digging. "Not all by myself! Jack helped!" She said happily. Then she remembered that her mom could not see him.
"Jack helped you?" Her mom said with a sad smile, obviously thinking that Emma was carried away in her imagination.
Emma ran over to her. Jack followed, skimming over the snow behind her. "Mom, you're never going to believe it! Jack is still alive! Well, sort of. He turned into Jack Frost, and we've been playing all day, and he has magic powers, and I'm the first one who saw him!" Emma said excitedly.
Her mom looked down at her with a pitying smile. "Oh, Emma, I know it's still hard sometimes. But you can't keep pretending that he's here. We both need to move on."
"No, mom, really! He's standing right here!" She pointed to Jack, standing beside her, and looked at her mom with pleading eyes.
Jack sighed. "She's not going to see me, Em." He sat down beside her in the snow, looking sad.
"She has to!" Emma said in desperation.
"Who has to what?" Her mom asked, confused.
Emma looked back at her. "You have to see him! He's been waiting all this time, all alone, and now you won't even admit he's there!" She was almost shouting now, on the verge of tears.
"Emma, I think you've been out in the cold too long." Her mom said gently, though looking concerned. She took Emma's hand and started to tug her towards the house. "Come inside, now."
Emma yanked her hand away. "No! I want to stay with Jack!" She ran back, crouching behind him as though he would protect her.
"Emma, really, that's enough!" her mom said, her voice cracking just a bit. She stepped through Jack and grabbed Emma again, pulling her back towards the door. She held both her hands and knelt down to look straight into her face.
"Sweetie, Jack is gone. You need to accept that. I realize it's been hard, but there's nothing we can do. Now please, come inside where it's warm." She stood up and pulled Emma by one hand back to the house. Emma looked over her shoulder at where Jack was standing, a hand held to his chest where his mother had passed through him.
"Jack!" Emma cried out.
He ran over to her, calling out right before his mother closed the back door. "It's okay, I'm still here. I'll always be here."
Emma nodded as the door closed.