SUBTLETY

Mrs. Bennett strode back to the house, just remembering to check her stride enough to let Sophie keep up before she left her children behind in her mindless speed. She barely noticed the twiggy branches brushing by her legs, but the distant part of her mind that was easily distracted noted they needed to trim back the path again.

The main part of her mind, however, was occupied with whirling images; clips of visuals and sounds like choppy movie reels reminding her of all of the little moments she'd ignored and explained away the past year.

The dogs barking at the wind.

An ever-frigid prism.

The phrases in other languages that her kids learned out of the blue.

Sophie suspended on thin air.

Almost-heard laughs, flashes of white, unseasonal frost.

And, of course, the entire network of beautifully crafted ice structures making a castle in her back woods. Ice she'd touched; that she'd felt the cold smoothness of that should have melted in the day's soft warmth, if someone had been out there for the amount of time it would have taken to carve it.

Her kids said it was Jack Frost. And for a second, she'd almost believed she'd seen him.

Was she losing her mind?

I don't have it in me to deal with this tonight, she thought, her internal voice plaintive.

"-and she's so cute, Mommy, and her dress sparkles cuz Jack made it out of snow, and she's got shiny green feathers and a beak and wings!"

Mrs. Bennet tuned back in to Sophie's chatter with a moment of confusion. (But then, everything having to do with her kids' "Jack" had been one confusing thing after another, so she really shouldn't be surprised.) "That sounds pretty, sweetie," she answered automatically.

Out of the corner of her vision, she could see Jamie as she glanced down to smile woodenly at Sophie. He was chewing on his lip, so his bottom lip was slightly crooked in the cute, uncertain way she hadn't seen him do in months, as he grew more confident and more adult. She smiled slightly more authentically at him, but it didn't make him look less worried.

"Mom," he started.

Mrs. Bennett felt a flash of panic as she realized her son wanted to talk things out now. "Not tonight, Jamie," she cut him off, a tiny edge of desperation tinging her voice. "Just… why don't you head to bed a little early after we eat, okay sweetheart?" she suggested. "You can keep your light on a little late and read your new library book–about the clever kids in the big old house that you were telling me about."

Jamie wasn't chewing his lip anymore, but he still had an almost adult expression of loving concern and dagnabbit if she wasn't about to go all emotional about how much he'd grown up these past few months.

What was wrong with her? One supernatural moment and I'm an emotional basketcase?

Mrs. Bennett glanced down at her watch, briefly tempted to calculate just how quickly she could get the kids fed and tucked in.

"Jamie, set the table for spaghetti, okay?" She opened the slider door and helped the still chattering Sohpie over the bump of the rolling track, her daughter's clumsy little limbs made less coordinated by the thick snowclothes she had on. (Haphazardly put on, at that. Jamie must have helped her into them– the buttons were done up crookedly.)

You can do this, she told herself soothingly, tugging off Sophie's snowboots and Jamie unbundled quietly and started to gather the dishes. Dinner first, then bed, and then you can sort this all out. She just had to make it through dinner.

Spaghetti had never sounded like such an ordeal.

**0**

Sophie chattered the entire time they ate their food, filling in the space as Jamie ate quietly, flashing glances at Mrs. Bennett as she did her damnedest to keep a slight smile on her face.

"And he's big and fuzzy, Mom! He's the best, he's so funny!"

Mrs. Bennett's lips twitched minutely as she kept the smile on her face and nodded, but her mind was listening to her child's descriptions with a newly pointed focus. Was this Bunny real too? A six-foot-plus rabbit seemed even less likely than an ice-controlling boy hanging out with her kids.

Good grief, am I even contemplating this?

"Are you two both full?" Mrs. Bennett cut into Sohpie's stream of chatter, which had now moved on to a big loud red man and was making Jamie fidget uncomfortably, to point at her little girl's empty bowl. Finally, FINALLY, both her kids had finished their meals and she could almost cry from relief.

Jamie nodded and Sohpie looked at her empty bowl for a moment of contemplation before chirping, "Uh-huh!"

"Alright, put your dishes in the sink, then– I'll load them up while you get ready for bed." Normally she'd have them at least rinse them, but… not tonight. "Jamie, can you make sure Sopohie sets her timer for brushing her teeth?"

"Sure, Mom." Jamie nodded again and took Sophie's hand, tugging her away from the table as he whispered, "Get your bowl, Sophie."

Mrs. Bennett gathered the other dishes while they pattered through the kitchen, bowls clinking loudly. She exhaled when their little feet finally moved out of her vision as they tromped up the stairs, leaning against the table for a moment to steady herself.

Focus, she told her scattered brain. Bedtime tuck-ins, kisses, a very short story for Sophie, and then you can think for a moment.

Breathing deeply, she rinsed out the blue-patterned bowls and tucked them into the dishwasher without really paying attention. To her frustration, a few more minutes felt like an eternity to wait.

**0**

"Love you, Soph. Sleep well." Mrs. Bennett tucked the blanket up around her little girl's chin to block the chilled air that sent a small shiver down her spine.

"'Night, Mommy, love you!" Her daughter smiled her big, toothy grin that almost always made her mother's mood lighten, green eyes sparkling (and not at all sleepy).

Mrs. Bennett smiled slightly and kissed her forehead. "Stay in bed, you hear? I know it's a little early, so I'll leave your nightlight on, but I don't want to hear you up playing."

Sophie nodded over the top of the fluffy cover. "Okay!"

Mrs. Bennett smiled at her again, fondly smoothing her blond hair before crossing the carpet to leave. Breathing out slowly, she shut the door gently on the blue snowflakes the nightlight cast in rotating axes on the wall.

She'd already checked in on Jamie and seen him settled in with his thick new book. She would go back up in a half hour to remind him to turn off the light, but for now she crept down the stairs, socked feet soft and quiet on the carpet. She had the paranoid worry that if she made noise, one of her kids would hear it and remember they needed a drink, or another blanket, or to use the potty again, or something.

She stepped into the living room and a wave of relief flooded her. She dropped heavily onto the couch and flopped her forehead into her hands.

Brushing back her bangs and staring blankly at her lap, the cacophony of thoughts she'd worked to shove behind her mental closet door finally burgeoned and spilled out in full force again,

Her kids were imaginative kids. She loved that about them, especially when they were able to make up games that didn't require her to keep them entertained while also trying to do housework that had fallen behind.

But her kids were also honest. The last time Jamie had lied to her, he'd come back down the stairs not an hour later in full tears to confess and apologize. Her children didn't lie to her, and they also had always called games what they were in the past. Except this one.

But… Jack Frost? He was a saying, an imaginary character. Not even a full character, just a name and a chill, really.

He wasn't a real person.

Was he?

She was losing it.

Maybe she just needed more sleep– she'd been running pretty hard lately, and between her work drama and the other nurses quitting, well…

But her traitorous mind wouldn't accept that explanation for its unhinged nature.

Instead, it decided to dredge up all the odd little things she hadn't had time (or maybe hadn't given herself time) to think about. And unlike earlier, she had the moment to sort through them.

The dogs barked and jumped in excitement over thin air often these days. All the off-season frost her house and the rest of the street (but her house in particular) seemed to form in curling patterns that almost looked more like drawings than natural crystallization. Her kids' wild tales so often included the same characters. That day she'd pushed to the back of her brain from a month or so ago, when Sophie jumped up and hung off of thin air.

Even deeper it delved, reminding her of the faint voice and laughter she sometimes almost thought she heard and just brushed off as imagining things and needing to sleep more.

And, of course, there was the irrefutably solid, tangible ice palace now looming in her back woods. Unexplainable, except easily explained by her children.

That hadn't been fake or imagined. She'd felt its cold, biting smoothness and rough texture with her own hands.

Maybe she would go back out and check it again, just to reassure herself she wasn;t completely losing her mind. Yes, that's not a bad plan, it might help this make more sense.

She stood, glancing at the ceiling to listen and make sure her kids were still in bed and tucked her cardigan tighter around her waist against the chill of the draft the couch had previously blocked.

Is there a window open? She moved automatically to check the downstairs windows and doors. Finding them all securely closed, she padded softly back upstairs to check there.

She walked by Jamie's door to check her room first, but paused when she heard her son's voice whispering– loudly. (Children really underestimated their mothers' hearing, she had long since learned.

"What am I supposed to do?" His noisy little voice floated through the door. "I don't wanna lie to my mom, but she doesn't believe me when I tell her the truth."
Mrs. Bennett shivered again as another chill ran through her, and she could almost swear she heard another voice responding at the edge of her consciousness.

It could've been nothing. It was always nothing.

It was probably nothing.

But…

Jack frost?

Suddenly, a male voice that was not her son's came through the door loud and clear.

"- ry, Jamie. I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing yet." A sigh. "But, hey, you need to get to sleep. Don't worry, kiddo– we'll figure it out, okay?"

All her breath left her lungs in an abrupt rush.

What.

Was.

THAT.

Before she had the chance to think about it, Mrs. Bennett flung open the door.

Jamie, half out of bed, froze and stared at her, round-eyed.

Between him and the open window (well, there was the source of her draft), a barefoot, white-haried teenager with a staff did the same.

Mrs. Bennett wasn't really sure what she'd been expecting when she'd opened the door, honestly– it was an impulse decision, so she was winging it here. But there he was. Solid and real. Just like her kids had described him.

Jack Frost.

One thought managed to make itself clear in her frozen and overtaxed brain, so she made her eyes skim over the stranger in her house to focus on the window.

She did not want to process this in front of Jamie.

To that goal, she pulled on her rusty college theater experience to put on the best damn performance of her life.

"Jamie, why is the window open?" She was distantly proud of how normal her voice sounded– scolding with a hint of fondness. "It's almost winter and it's way too cold for that."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the white-haired teen shift slightly toward the window, gripping his stick (why did he have a stick inside?) and she moved forward without stopping to think about it.

She strode past both of the boys without looking at them to shut the window, propelled by the half-formed thought that she wanted to talk to this teen before he ran off, since he apparently spent so much time with her kids. He couldn't leave yet, but she also couldn't address him in front of Jamie, so she would block his immediate escape and bank on him following her downstairs.

She kept up her act and pretended not to notice Jamie's wide-eyed look of what-do-I-do that he cast at the strange teen– who, she was slightly amused to see, shrugged unhelpfully in her peripheral vision.

The amusement chilled when she shivered again, cold radiating through the room despite the running heater and newly-closed window.

Jamie opened and closed his mouth. "It.. was kinda hot up here?"

"Well, I'll turn down the heater a bit if you're hot, but the window stays closed, alright, young man?" she scolded in a warmly stern voice that sounded like her grandmother used to. I've gotten old. "It just ups our heating bill to heat the outdoors!"

Jamie nodded, but she could see the slightly stricken glance he shot past her as she passed close to the strange teen on her way to the bed. He gave a not-so subtle sigh of relief (matched by a small sigh that swirled another icy puff of air behind her) when she pretended not to see the boy she passed within a foot of and kissed her son on the forehead.

"Lights out, sweetie, it's time for bed," Mrs Bennett instructed, repressing a shiver.

Jamie nodded and glanced past her again.

"I'll follow her out," came the whisper from behind her, and Jamie nodded again with more certainty.

"Okay, goodnight mom."

Mrs. Bennett kissed his forehead again and padded out of the room, suppressing a shiver when the pale figure passed her with a wave of cold as she turned to slowly latch the door. Click.

She started down the stairs, the teen's footsteps disturbingly quiet behind her. If it weren't for his cold presence, she wouldn't have thought he was still there.

Reaching the living room, she stopped to stand by the couch, taking a moment to collect herself before turning around. She exhaled.

The quiet snick of the window opening behind her told her it was now or never.

"So. How long have you been sneaking in my son's bedroom window?"

Smack.

Mrs. Bennett turned around to see her house intruder holding his head, white tufts of hair ruffling between his fingers as he perched halfway through the open window, staring at her with blue eyes the size of snowballs.

Seeing someone in such a precarious position kicked her mom instincts into gear, and she moved forward automatically. "Last Easter, wasn't it? That's the first time I heard him mention you," she continued as she hauled the boy back inside before he could fall and break something. (She really, really didn't have the wherewithal for an ER run tonight).

His thin arm was icy cold, and he flinched sharply at her touch as she pulled him over to sit on the couch.

His blue eyes were still as wide as they'd been when she first spoke, and he didn't appear to really be breathing.

"Breathing is generally useful to life," she observed wryly. Having exhausted all its available shock reserves for the next six months, her brain seemed to have taken refuge in dry humor.

"You… you see me!" The boy exclaimed. "You believe in me?"

Mrs. Bennett nodded slowly, remembering all of Jamie's chatter about only believers being able to see Jack Frost. "I suppose so."

"Wh– How?"

Mrs. Bennett quirked her mouth in a half-smile. "Jamie. And there have been some instances that gave me reason to think about it," she said. "You're not particularly subtle once anyone is paying attention."

"I'm not used to having to be," he said dazedly, staring at the whorls of floral patterns in the carpet.

"So." Mrs. Bennett said slowly. She hadn't really thought this far ahead. "Jack Frost?"

"Y-yeah."

"From the frequency I hear your name from my kids, you must come around pretty often," she stated more than asked.
"I guess so," Jack said.

Mrs. Bennett could tell he also felt a sense of unreality surrounding the whole situation. Which decided to blame for flooding her brain as it failed to police her mouth. "You know climbing through the window into kids' bedrooms is a bit creepy, right?"

That surprised a laugh out of him, and she felt herself almost smile at the sound.

"Yeah, maybe. But don't worry– I protect kids, not scare them."

"What, is that your job?" Mrs. Bennett joked.

"Well, yeah, actually," Jack said, surprising her slightly. (Alright, so she hadn't fully exhausted her reserves.) "I'm a Guardian of Childhood– Guardian of Fun, specifically."

"Your job is to protect kids?" Mrs. Bennett asked. The teen looked like he couldn't be more than barely into legal adulthood, if that. "You're practically a kid yourself."

"In some ways, yeah," Jack said, his young face serious as he contemplated his hands wrapped around his stick. "Probably always will be. But it's still my job to protect them. And I'm happy to do it."

Mrs. Bennett nodded, her brain absorbing the situation, turning it over slowly. "And adults? Is there someone like you who protects us?"

"We protect them too," Jack nodded. "It's just less obviously. When all goes well, the protection we give to kids helps them grow up healthily, so they're equipped to live as adults with less of our direct help. It's harder sometimes, too, since most kids outgrow their belief, but there's still those pieces of childhood we try to guard so they aren't completely smothered by adult life. But, yeah. We're still watching out for you guys."
"We?" Mrs. Bennett voiced the word her attention latched onto.

"Me and the other guardians," Jack said, elaborating when she looked at him blankly. "Sandy, Tooth, North, and Bunny. Dreams, Memories, Wonder, and Hope. Then I've got Fun."

Mrs. Bennet sat back slightly as her mind supplied images of a fat, round-nosed old man, a tiny fairy, a fuzzy, big-toothed rabbit, and the comic book character Sandman. Then she thought back to the numerous descriptions her children had peppered her with, and her brow furrowed. "I feel like media may have left me ill-prepared with bad assumptions," she said aloud. "Unless…?"

Jack snorted, his eyes dancing with humor. "Yeah, no, Media is not accurate at all. Tooth is full-sized like you and talks like she's always high on coffee. She's a little tooth obsessed, but that makes sense with her job. Bunny is way more like a grumpy, cocky kangaroo than a cute fluffy rabbit." Jack broke off into a big-toothed grin at that, which Mrs. Bennett didn't understand. "Well, most of the time. North is loud and Russian and has tattoos, and he may be big but he's definitely not fat. And Sandy is all nice-and-friendly Mr. Good Dreams until you get on his bad side. Then he's forcing you into a nap every time he thinks you yawn." Jack made an exasperated face, then straightened. "Oh, and I definitely do not nip noses. That is just plain weird and I have no idea how it started."

Mrs. Bennett stared at him for a moment, processing slowly, before she dropped her face into her hands and started laughing. Maybe a bit hysterically, but really, she had every right to be. She was still functioning (for the most part) after this insanity of an evening, so she thought she was doing pretty good for herself!

Jack watched her a moment, a smile twitching into life before he laughed too, probably a little emotional himself. He didn't stop laughing when she kept going either, so it seemed like he felt the sheer absurdity of the situation too. They kept laughing until Mts. Bennett's sides ached, and she desperately tried to quash the giggles before she woke up the kids, but trying not to laugh always just made it funnier.

It was several minutes before either of them could breathe again.

Mrs. Bennett wiped tears from where they'd smeared her mascara from her eye smiles and sighed loudly. "Alright, Jack Frost, Guardian of Childhood. Allison Bennett. Pleasure to finally meet you," she said, offering him her hand.

His smile still dancing and his eyes alight with a glow she didn't quite understand, Jack tentatively took her hand. His skin was still cold, but it wasn't as disconcerting as the first time she'd touched him. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Bennett," he said, his voice softer than she expected. "You have very amazing kids."
"It's Allison, please," she said. "And… I do, don't I?" Her voice softened to match the smile on her face too.

They sat in silence for a moment, both thinking of the children asleep over their heads.

Mrs. Bennett was the one to break the quiet. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack looked at her, surprised. "For what?"

"From what Jamie says, you've been a good friend to him," she said. "He needs good role models like you, especially with his dad gone so much. Thank you for giving him that."

Jack smiled again, this one smaller than his smiles of mirth, but more brilliant. "It's my pleasure," he said, the words quiet but strong with conviction. "He's a good kid. And… he's someone I needed too."

Mrs. Bennett smiled.

They lapsed back into silence again, both worn out, but calm.

"Well, it's getting late," Jack finally said. "I should get back to the Pole– Bunny threatened to track me down and collar me with a trackable mini googie if I didn't check in more often. Plus, he's probably found the latest trap I set on his workshop by now, so I wouldn't want to miss out on his angry hollering."

He grabbed his frost-covered stick and floated off the couch. (Mrs. Bennett barely blinked, not even surprised anymore– why shouldn't he fly like some icy Peter Pan? It wasn't any stranger than the rest of this night.)

"Will you be back tomorrow?" she asked. She hoped he would. She already liked the kid a lot just from their conversation, and she wanted to get to know her childrens' hero better.

He looked back, already half out the window, and a tinge of surprised hope colored his pale face. "Is that okay?"

Mrs. Bennett smiled warmly. "Yeah, it is."

Jack's smile lit up his face in return. "Okay. Then, yeah." He gave a breathless little laugh, looking endearingly awkward compared to his general sense of assurance –she didn't count the very beginning of their acquaintance against either of them– and turned to go again.

"But, Jack," she called, making him pause again.

"Yeah?" he looked back questioningly.

"Maybe use the door next time?" she teased gently.

Jack glanced down at the window he perched in before glancing back at her, a bright grin splitting his face. "Sure thing, Mrs. B."

He hopped out the window and the curtains rustled in his wake. She walked over to them, smiling, laughter and a distant whoop floating back to her carried on the wind.

She shut the window and sat down on the couch again, still a bit numb despite her genuine smile.

It wasn't that late yet, but she was too tired to contemplate getting any cleaning done at this point.

Honestly, she might just go to bed.

Her eyelids drooped, and she tugged the blanket draped over the back of the couch around her shoulders, leaning her head against the spot it had covered.

Or… I might just stay here.
She curled up a bit more, her eyelids drooping. She almost thought she saw a golden glow before her eyes shut entirely, but she was so peacefully sleepy that she didn't care to open them to check. Instead, she drifted off, dreaming that she sat on a blanket watching her wonderful kids playing happily on a beach of snow.

A third child laughed with them, the coldly comforting wind swirling snowflakes through his hair as the three built castles in the snow.

Through her sleep, she smiled.

A/N: *Inhales and looks up shakily* It's been 84 years. BUT I'M BACK! *Laughs in immensely sheepish* Sorry for the incredibly long wait, I have ALL the excuses, but I'll just summarize with: finished my associates (Whoo!), had burnout recovery (as per after every semester), and then have had a very, very busy summer! Tons and tons of fun, but very little time spent on art or writing, so I FINALLY am fixing that this week! Hopefully the extra long chapter helps make up for it and the big reveal is worth the wait!

As always, this is unbeta'd and my body says it's almost 2 AM right now and that's too late for writing, so I likely missed some polish on my edits– if you see mistakes, let me know!

To those who favorited and followed while I was absent, thank you all so much! I can't believe both counts are over 100! And we topped 50 reviews! Seriously, thank y'all, so so much! I love hearing all your thoughts!

Nahau Moondust– Hm, I never thought of that, that's an interesting idea!

Snowy Monday– Aww, thank you! Asap was a very long time this chapter, ha, but hopefully this is also worth the (long) wait!

Guest– I'm so glad you like them! I absolutely adore fairy gardens and a lot of cottagecore, so I had a blast writing it! And thank you, you're so sweet! My six classes did go well, though they did make my winter semester hard (even with several fewer credits) because I was so worn out. But they were all such cool experiences and they got me to my first degree!

Aphrodite433– Thank YOU for reviewing! I'm so glad you enjoy my facet of the RotG universe, and best of luck to you as well! I don't know what you're doing in life, but do it confidently cuz you're awesome!

Love all of you amazing lovelies, and wishing you a fantastic rest of the summer! See you in the next chapter!

Elen out!