One step for aching, and two steps for breaking
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
One step for sighing and two steps for crying
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
- Richard Thompson, Waltzing's for Dreamers
watch?v=W9-lAOdQrGo

Jack whooped as he spun through the air, spinning and dropping, letting the wind catch him, deliberately pushing the limits. Once he went up so high he started to see spots in front of his eyes. Having believers was awesome, even if it did mean his formerly mostly dead body was starting to come to life again and demand little things like air.

Deliberately he let himself go, falling towards the ground with the air screaming past him, faster and faster in utter freefall, only letting the wind grab him when he was inches from disaster. Laughing, he spun as he gained more height, skimming over the trees and frosting the last of the leaves.

Just inside his hood, clinging tightly to his hair, Baby Tooth squeaked and squealed, the closest she could come to his joyful whoops. He'd worried about the amount of time Baby Tooth was spending with him, but so long as Tooth said it was okay...she could ride in his hood as much as she wanted as far as he was concerned.

The air was turning crisp over this part of the world, autumn settling in firmly, and Jack had just finished frosting and changing the leaves in the forest, taking a few minutes to play before he moved on.

He was about to fly to the next area demanding his attention when a sparkle of water caught his eye. Usually he'd just keep going, but he thought recognized that particular sparkle – not just the sun hitting the water, but magic meant to lure someone in.

Frowning, he shot toward the forest, the wind dropping him a few feet above the ground. He scored a tidy three point landing, mentally awarding himself ten points as he looked around cautiously.

The trees in this part of the forest were menacing, the normal bird calls muted and distorted. The leaves that had already fallen scuttled along the ground like insects, subtly disturbing, and the shadows were a little too cold, a trifle too menacing for Jack to just leave without finding out what was going on.

Now, to see just what it was he was dealing with here, and see if he could deal with it alone, or if he needed the other Guardians.

Something shuddered in his hood, and Jack nearly jumped until he remembered Baby Tooth. She glanced around the woods nervously before ducking back into his hood, burrowing down between skin and cotton.

"It's gonna be okay," he said reassuringly, but his voice echoed oddly in the woods, and for a moment he wasn't sure if he was reassuring her or himself. "We're just gonna see what it is."

He heard Baby Tooth muttering in his hood, something about under beds, and he winced and chuckled. "Fine, you go get help if you think we need it, deal?" he offered, starting down the path. She chirped, and he got the feeling that she might just get help whether he thought they needed it or not.

The pond came into view, crystal clear and a mixture of ethereal beauty and shadowy menace, filled with plants to drag down the unsuspecting and little silver fish to strip them to the bone.

Nearly everything cried out rusalka to Jack, and he wasn't sure what to feel about that. If she was a water spirit, then there wasn't going to be anything to her but hatred of young men – including him. If she was a ghost, created by a young woman drowning herself in despair, he might be able to reach and talk to her. It was a mixed bag just what that might accomplish, but talking things out was good, right?

It usually confused them enough that they listened, at least. Apparently winter spirits – or dark spirits – weren't known for talking their problems out.

Still…he might want to send Baby Tooth out of here. According to the others, he couldn't be killed by something like drowning (again) but he didn't want to give it a go anyway.

"Who are you, who lingers by the water's edge?" a voice sang from behind him, sweetness overlaying cold darkness that a human wouldn't hear until it was too late, a sweetness like the tingling of a water-glass that gave Jack shivers down his spine.

Jack spun, his staff coming up defensively to point at the woman standing behind him, the two eying each other. She was deceptively small, in white garments embroidered with blue and silver, her hair hanging loose down her back and crowned with a wreath of water weeds.

Humans wouldn't notice the fact that her hair was wet and never dried until it was too late, another hint of her true nature.

Her eyes widened and she started, hands coming up to cover her mouth. "You!" she gasped, all cold sweetness gone from her voice and manner as she stared at Jack.

Baby Tooth chirped and disappeared, flying for backup as Jack backed up a step, eyes going wide. Conversations starting with 'you!' never seemed to go well.

"I'm…sorry, I don't think we've met," Jack said, trying to buy time. Giggling, she near flew up to Jack, hands clasped under her chin as she looked up at him starry-eyed.

"Oh, I've heard of you, Jack Frost," she said flirtatiously. "What brings you to my pond?"

"…you're not going to try and drown me?" he asked hesitantly as she batted her eyes. He'd met rusalka before, and this one wasn't acting like a usual seductive, drown-the-young-man spirit of water that most rusalka did. Flirting, yes, but...all the darkness had gone from her for the moment.

"Only if you try and drive me from my home," she answered, eyes going dark as she perched on a boulder by her pond, obviously bracing for a fight.

"You can't go around drowning people," he said, sighing. "Especially not kids. If you do, then we're going to have a problem."

She frowned at that before brightening, sliding back down off her rock. "I'll negotiate," she offered, holding out her hand "if you'll dance with me."

Jack blinked in surprise and the rusalka giggled and tilted her head, looking up at him through her lashes. "Promise not to try and drown you, Jack Frost. I don't get bragging rights for that."

Laughing, Jack accepted her hand. He had no clue what she meant by 'bragging rights, but... "Well, how can I resist that? Do you have a preference, my lady?"

"A waltz," she said immediately. He smiled and spun, swinging into the dance as her laughter rang out across the lake.

They were just finishing their dance, though Jack hadn't gotten to kiss her hand, when the sleigh suddenly passed overhead, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy launching themselves from the moving vehicle to land or hover in the small clearing.

Grinning sheepishly, Jack moved between the rusalka, who squeaked and dove into her pond, and the other Guardians. "Hey guys," he said, gripping his staff tightly and leaning on it to look up at them through his bangs. "Um…everything's under control?"

A/N: Could it be...a multi-parter? Or the beginnings of plot? OH MY.