Chapter 4: Small Talk

"It's definitely a lot to take in," Carol said. "But I think it'll be okay, Jacqueline. Even if it does take a bit of time. And doesn't seem okay right now. It will be."

"Here's hoping," Jacqueline said.

Mrs. Claus really was a nice person to talk to. Jacqueline couldn't help but think that magibean school would've been a lot easier if there were more instructors like her. She had listened to Jacqueline's run on thoughts carefully, nodding at all the right moments as she bounced Buddy on her leg. And hearing someone tell her it would be okay, even if it didn't feel like it? That was nice! Sometimes that was all you needed to hear, even if it only helped the tiniest bit.

Because that's the thing. It had only helped the tiniest bit. And as she sat and waited and thought about seeing her brother again, Jacqueline found herself—like she had guessed—getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment. Her leg was bouncing up and down. Waiting was awful.

Buddy was getting fussy now, tugging on Carol's collar. "I think someone needs a nap," she said, hoisting the baby into her arms and getting up. "I better get going. You'll be okay, Jacqueline. You have a good head on your shoulders; if half my students were as introspective as you, things would have been a lot easier," Carol said with a wry smile, adjusting Buddy as he got cozy in the crook of her neck.

"Well, I've had centuries to get to know myself," Jacqueline replied, getting up as well. "Thanks for the chat, Mrs. Claus. I appreciate it," she said, tucking the lizard softly under Buddy's curled up hand.

"Please, call me Carol. And you're very welcome, Jacqueline! Good luck."

"Thanks, Carol."

"Take care, Mother Nature!"

"You too Mrs. Claus."

"Carol, please. There's no need for formality, really," she said again.

Mother Nature smiled warmly. "Thank you for hosting us, Carol. And for calling us together. I know that both Jack and Jacqueline will appreciate it in the long run."

"Of course!"

"We'll see about that," Jacqueline said quietly with a pained smile.

"Oh yes we will," Carol said, the surety in her voice almost convincing Jacqueline. Almost.

The moment Mrs. Claus turned the corner towards Buddy's room, Jacqueline let out a big sigh, plunking herself back down in the chair, leg once more bouncing.

Mother Nature sighed, plunking down as well on Carol's recently vacated seat.

"Not how you imagined your day going?"

"Nope."

"Me neither," Jacqueline said, crossing and recrossing her legs. The bouncing resumed.

"Admittedly, I wasn't sure what was going to happen today once the meeting started. But it certainly wasn't this."

"Absolutely powerless, huh?"

Mother Nature nodded. "Seemingly. Not all gone, but not all there," she tapped her chin, looking thoughtful

Jacqueline huffed. "I have no idea how to even approach...ANY of this."

"Well," Mother Nature said, leaning forward. "Let's focus on the first problem. The Dome. I'm surprised you haven't asked about it yet all things considered. Especially being that this is the first time, to my knowledge, that you'd be minding it."

Jacqueline chose her next words carefully. "I would've, if it hadn't been for the crash course I took that was erased from time. Probably knew more then, but that's not what's standing out from that timeline right now." She sighed and got up, leaning against one of the windows, staring down at the courtyard.

"The Escape Clause incident?" Mother Nature ventured.

"I call it Frostmas but yes, the Escape Clause incident."

"Jack became Santa, which left his space empty. That would have fallen on your shoulders, of course."

"Yup."

Mother Nature got up, joining Jacqueline by the window.

"Please don't tell me to keep calm. I don't think I'll be able to."

"I wasn't going to say that," Mother Nature said, with a knowing smile. Gently, she reached out for Jacqueline's hands, holding them tightly in hers. "It's okay to feel angry. If you have to yell at him, do it. Throw a few snowballs maybe, for good measure."

Jacqueline turned away from the window, glancing down at their entwined hands with a soft smile and a laugh. "I wasn't expecting that from you," she said.

"It's better than keeping all of that anger inside," she replied, placing a hand on Jacqueline's shoulder. "Normally I'd advise releasing the anger in a healthy way. But between you and me, Jack could use a couple snowballs upside the head, I think."

Jacqueline laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I can't even begin to fathom how you must be feeling right now, Jacqueline. Your brother leaving all those years ago, and not once talking to you the entire time he was gone. What he did to you, to your parents...combine that with everything that happened in the Escape Clause timeline..." she sighed. "I know it's hard right now."

"Yeah, no kidding. I appreciate the support, Grandmother...but I think for now, I just gotta focus on fixing the Dome."

"Alright then," Mother Nature replied. She could take a hint. Especially when it was staring up at her looking all sorts of afraid, and perturbed, and angry...but she could sense a small little bit of hope, too. Good. "Let's talk dome then," she said, pulling Jacqueline down on the window seat with her. "What do you know about it?"

"When the Kringles moved out here, they wanted to protect the settlement and the magic they found within it. They reached out to Winter herself. She created the Dome for them to do just that, and now the North Pole is safe from most things, and temperate, thanks to the Dome. When Kris Kringle struck his deal with St. Nick, and the North Pole became the North Pole, Winter passed the duty to mind the Dome down to Jack."

"And that's an A plus in history for you," Mother Nature said, Jacqueline laughing. "Gold stars all around! Now for the applied part," she joked. "Do you know what happens if the Dome isn't properly taken care of? If it doesn't have someone keeping it sound?"

"I know that it's called the Deliquesce and that apparently, everything explodes if it happens. Just learnt that today, actually."

"It's a bit more technical than that. You were right when you said that Winter created the Dome to keep the magic safe. It does this by conducting the Christmas magic through the walls and out into the world, safely. Had Winter not created the Dome, we'd have had a very bad situation on our hands. And if the Dome were to crack, break, fissure, melt...the magic would be free to run wild throughout the ether, upsetting the balance everywhere and maybe leading to magibeans..."

"Exploding?"

"Sort of, yes. A sudden influx of magic would upset everyone's cores, at the very least."

Jacqueline's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Winter magic works as a conductor for the Christmas magic, and helps ease it out in small quantities, spiking during the holiday season."

"That is news to me. At least, I think, it is." she frowned, squinting. "Though the more I think about it, I'm pretty sure Winter may have told me about it during Frostmas…"

"Either way, you know now. So, with Jack's powers shorting, the Dome isn't being maintained. Which causes the Christmas magic to get a bit rowdy, which causes the dome to fissure—"

"—and causes the melting to begin. The Deliquesce."

"Precisely."

"How come Winter can't do it? I know she passed the ability down to Jack but…she's the literal season, she can do everything both of us can do and more!"

"Because it's a special ability that is passed down, and once she passes it down she loses the ability. She may be able to tweak certain design features, but that ability to constantly maintain it, and make sure it stays in one piece? That is what she can no longer do. It's like…when someone passes guardianship over to someone else. They can't do anything anymore as they aren't the guardian; only the person who is the guardian can do something to the person or object they are guarding."

"And why does everyone think I can fix it?"

"Because you are Jack's Legate. Since it is the duty of Jack Frost to take care of the Dome, our hope is that by semi-enacting the Legate Law—by which we mean, a near full enactment of it, short of Jack stepping down and you stepping up officially—you will be able to at the very least, mend it. The way we've chosen to enact the Legate Law is more of a shared duty, at present, if that makes sense."

"Sort of. So I'll get all the perks of being a Legendary Figure?"

"Just about, aside from the official title. Your bother's powers are still there, just...not as strong as they used to be. And we both know he won't be retiring any time soon," she said with a little chuckle.

Jacqueline smiled a bit. "Goddess forbid he gets showed up by his little sister," she joked.

Mother Nature laughed. "There you are," she said, squeezing the sprite's hands and letting go.

"Just one more thing," Jacqueline said, sticking up a finger.

"Of course."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How do I fix it?"

"You don't know?"

"Ah...not really, no. I kind of just guessed during the escape hatch incident."

"Escape Clause."

"Right. That. During Frostmas, or the Escape Clause, or whatever we want to call it. It just sorta happened. I don't think I could just do it again like that, especially since Jack is still himself. Just less frosty, I guess. And the Legate Law is only semi enacted, and what if I can't do it right? What if it's like the permafrost thing? What if I—"

"Jacqueline. Deep breaths. You're spiralling, dear. There are many ways to do it and I'm fairly certain each technique is easy enough to perform."

"I'd even say that the one we'll need to use is one of the easier ones," said a new voice.

Well...not quite. A new old voice.

A familiar voice.

Jacqueline shot up, whirling around and coming face to face with Jack.

"It's called ice whispering," he continued. "It's fairly simple. I'll show you how to do it."

"Jack," Jacqueline said, breathlessly.

She covered her mouth, eyes wide as she stared at her brother. For a moment, all of her feelings just stopped. She stood staring at him in shock. He had definitely changed, she noted. His features looked a lot more weathered than she remembered, more like their Dad than she cared to admit. What she would admit was how strange Jack looked thawed. His hair was brown and messy, like he had tried to get his spikes back and had failed miserably. His suit was white as snow, a faint warm blush staining his cheeks.

One like she had always had.

"Hi, Jacqueline," Jack replied, doing a far better job at keeping himself composed than Jacqueline was. But boy, was it hard to keep up.

Jacqueline had changed. A lot. Of course, he knew she wouldn't have been the tiny kid she was when they last spoke. And obviously he couldn't really use Frostmas as a frame of reference. That timeline had done a lot of bad to the both of them. He had had no idea what to expect when he saw her; he had been having the hardest time trying to reconcile the tiny goofball he once knew to the vengeful spirit he dealt with throughout the entirety of the other timeline.

But, he was glad to see that he was at least right about her age—she was definitely in her early nineteen-hundreds. She was just about a full-grown sprite. She looked average in height, but shorter than him (yes!) even if it was by one or two inches (if he had to guess, he'd place her at right about five foot five or so). At some point in time, she had learned how to freeze-dry; when she was little, Jack remembered her hair being very thick and very straight. It still looked very thick, but was now frozen into loose curls, closer to waves but not quite wavy. She was dressed very elegantly—it seemed as if the Middle Ages had been her heyday, as it were, though it appeared she had taken many creative liberties. There was some Victorian influence, for sure. And maybe a dash of renaissance? Her boots were definitely a mix of Victorian and modern.

So much time had passed since he had last seen her. She was a walking reminder of it all. Everything he had missed. The milestones, the stories...she had grown up.

And Jack had missed all of it.

Trying very hard to not make any awkward silence filling noises, Santa sidestepped the sprites, making his way to Mother Nature's side.

"Are they okay?" Santa whispered to her, as the two sprites stared at one another, unblinkingly. They continued to do so, both dead silent and very, very shocked.

"Santa, it's been fourteen hundred years since they've seen each other. To assume they're okay at all is silly. Give them some time."

"I know, I know! They've got a lot to unpack, I get it. It's just. This is weird. Look at them! They're as still as ice!"

"Pun intended?" Mother Nature asked, eyebrow raised.

"Heh, no, not quite. It was just the first thing that popped into my head."

"Ah."

"Do we just sit here and let this play out? It's just, with the Dome and everything..."

"I hear you, Santa," Mother Nature said, sitting up and clearing her throat. "Jack? Jacqueline?"

Both sprites whirled around, staring at her like a pair of deer in headlights.

"Everything okay?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh! Yes, perfectly. Fine," Jack said.

"Totally," Jacqueline replied. "It's cool. I'm cool."

"I'm chill. It's fine. We're good," Jack said, clearing his throat and glancing over at Jacqueline. She scuffed at the floor, looking down at her boots.

Mother Nature frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Well alright, then. If you're both sure."

"Yes! Of course!"

"Absolutely. Totally. It's fine. Cool as beans." Jacqueline cringed; Jack looked away, biting his tongue.

"Well then kids, if you're both alright, there's work to be done."

"Kids?!" Jack asked, taken aback.

"She's like ten thousand years old. Compare that to four thousand..." Jacqueline mused quietly. "Unless you'd rather we call you old man?"

"Ouch."

"Okay!" Santa said, arms swinging back and forth a couple of times, before his hands clapped together loudly. "We have a Dome to fix! Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Indeed," Mother Nature said. "I'll be to the point then, since I have much to do and between the four of us, I am exhausted and could use a soak in the Springs before my next appointment. Jack. You know how the Dome works; you know how to mend it. Jacqueline, you do not. Help each other out, alright?"

Both sprites nodded.

"Good. Now, I know this is a rough time for the both of you. Please, if you need anything, let me know right away. I'll come check in in few days time if I don't hear from you before then, alright?"

"Sure."

"Sounds good."

"We'll be fine, though, really."

Jacqueline looked like she disagreed.

"And Santa. I already thanked Carol, but once more, on behalf of the entire Council, thank you for bringing us together and hosting this meeting."

"No problemo," Santa replied. "It's always a pleasure, Mother Nature. We love having ya! And I think the elves like seeing the Council around, too. Gives them a little pep in their step!" He gestured Mother Nature closer. She leaned in as Santa spoke, as quiet as could be. "I'm just glad we figured something out," he said, looking around Mother Nature at the two sprites who were once more eyeing one another carefully, albeit, secretly. "Let's hope it works."

"They may get off to a rocky start, but things will balance themselves out," Mother Nature said, looking over at the pair fondly. "You know, when they were both younger they were quite the sight. He adored his little sister, and she him." She turned back to Santa now, with a reassuring smile. "They'll have some dirty laundry to air, sure, but once they get that out of the way...you'll have quite the storm on your hands," she finished, affectionately. Mother Nature straightened up, clearing her throat. "I trust you'll be okay with these two?"

"Yes?"

Mother Nature gave him a worried look.

"Don't worry Mother Nature, I'm sure it'll be fine! We'll take good care of them for you," he said.

"Thank you, Santa. Now, if you need anything, feel free to shout as well. Sure you two will be okay?" Mother Nature asked one last time, both winter sprites snapping to attention.

"Goddess willing," Jacqueline said.

"Your enthusiasm is contagious," Jack replied.

"I am a force of positivity to be reckoned with," Jacqueline shot back.

Santa looked at Mother Nature, worried.

"Siblings," Mother Nature said with a smile. "Their Mother and Aunts were just like this on good days. Now then," Mother Nature said, arranging her skirts and heading towards the door. "I'll be off. Let me know how it goes, okay? And if the three of you need anything at all, call me," she said, miming a phone with her hand. "Good luck!"

And with one last reassuring smile and a small wave, Mother Nature disappeared in a very bright flash of golden light.

"I hate when she does that," Jack murmured, shielding himself from the light.

"It's the worst in small spaces," Jacqueline agreed, her eyes covered as well.

"Son of a nutcracker!"

"You okay Santa?" Jack asked.

"You know when you take a picture, and stare right at the flash?"

"Yeah?"

"And then you see the little light in your eyes for a while after?"

"Yeah?"

"It's like that, but way bigger. Whew! I did not see that coming!"

"Have you never seen Mother Nature poof before?" Jacqueline asked.

"I think the real question is, will I ever see her poof anywhere again!"

"Just blink it out," Jack said, patting Santa's back. "Blink it out, big guy."

It took a moment, but Santa recovered soon enough. Once he could see again, the trio made their way out to the Workshop.

"Okay, so. I've got some rounds to do, then it's four o'clock cocoa time with the missus," Santa said with a grin. "You don't need me to bring you up to the Dome or anything, do you?"

Jacqueline looked over at Jack; he shook his head. "No need to worry, Santa. I know the way up! I'll get us there in one piece."

"Excellent. Jacqueline, it was a pleasure to meet you."

The young woman brightened. "Oh! Thank you, Santa. You as well, yet again."

"And hopefully this time, I remember you!"

"Well you know what they say! Third time's the charm. And look on the bright side! If you do forget me again, it just means I make more money off of B-Man."

Santa chortled, heading down to the Workshop with a wave, his hearty ho, ho, ho's trailing behind him.

"B-Man?" Jack questioned. "I never knew you and the head grump were on an, ah, nick name basis there."

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me," Jacqueline said with a sniff. "Obviously."

Jack flinched.

"Now then. We have work to do, yeah?"

"Yes! Right. The Dome. Melting. Ah. After you?"

Jacqueline looked at him like he had grown a second head that had personally insulted her. "After me? I don't know where we're going!"

"Right. Right. In that case," Jack said, turning on his heel and pointing towards the trails into the outskirts. "After me."

Half an hour later, Jack was beginning to think that it would've been a lot better if they had just teleported up.

It's not like he couldn't teleport anymore! That was basic magic he still had access to, thank the springs. They could've already made their way up, fixed the dome, and been back down in time for cocoa o'clock. But no, he had chosen instead to walk. And the walk up? It was shaping up to be really, really awkward. They had been quiet all the way up, the silence thick enough to break the knife you'd try to cut it with.

The anger was radiating off of Jacqueline in waves. She was looking anywhere but him, scowling most of the way up. Several times he had heard her inhale, as if to start speaking; each time, she had simply exhaled angrily, closing her mouth and looking away once more.

He should say something. He knew he should. But he also knew this side of Jacqueline fairly well. It was, after all, the only side of her he had seen recently, even if that timeline no longer existed. He knew that no matter what he said, she'd probably explode. And she had every right to, really. Like Jack had told the Council, top of the list—and it wasn't unwarranted. He couldn't even put into words how he felt, what he wanted to say; he had no idea to start with reconciling. But he knew that he had to. that he wanted to. She was his only hope right now, and they couldn't keep up like this the entire time they were working together.

And oh, he had missed her. And missed so much of her life! He would've loved to have been there to tease her about her first crush, to scare away her first serious partner. It would've been fun to teach her how to freeze dry, and all of the extra knowledge he had picked up himself. He had been very excited to share all of that with her, and more. But he had thrown it all away with a slip of his hand. A very disastrous slip of the hand. He sighed.

His thoughts returned to the several things he had thought of to start off conversation. None of them had felt right. But he was beginning to think that no matter what he said, he'd be faced with Jacqueline's icy cold wrath on sight. May as well bite the proverbial fireball, Jack thought, bracing himself as he said the first thing that popped into his head.

"So. B-Man, huh? How'd that come about?"

Jacqueline finally looked at him, terribly confused. "What?"

"Bernard. You're friends with him. How'd that come about?"

"Oh! You see, when my older brother went ahead and nearly STABBED ME TO DEATH—"

Jack made a low growl, deep in his throat.

"What? It's TRUE. He took it upon himself to be there for me, which is more than we can say for you, and along the way it turned into friendship. Are you for real, right now, Jack?"

"Am I for real right now? Me? Look at yourself!"

Now it was Jacqueline's turn to grumble. She sped up, catching up to Jack and cutting in front of him, looking him dead in the eye. "Fourteen HUNDRED years of silence, and the first thing you decide to say isn't 'hey, how have you been! Glad to see I didn't kill you!' Nor is it 'sorry for leaving you, that was awful of me', it's 'hey, what the frost is up with you and Bernard!?' You've been thawed for a YEAR, Jack," she said, jabbing his chest now. "A YEAR! Why didn't you say anything to me?!" she finished, throwing her arms back angrily.

"I—"

"Actually, no! No, I don't think I want to hear it, because actually, now that I am thinking about it, I have a quick question for you. SMALL TALK?!"

"Well everything ELSE I tried to say just didn't want to come out right! I figured that no matter what I said, you'd react. Well. Like this!"

"Oh, because you just know me soOOOOOooooOOOOOO WELL, huh Jack?"

Jack crossed his arms. "That's a low blow, Jacqueline."

"Am I wrong?"

"No," Jack said sadly, arms dropping. "You're not."

The anger fell from Jacqueline's face. She flushed, turning around and heading up the hill.

"Where are you going?"

"Up! To fix the stupid Dome! The only reason I've gotten to see you, since you didn't have the decency to drop a frostbitten line DESPITE bleeding all over our mindscape!"

Jack exhaled, rubbing his temples before slowly catching up to Jacqueline. She glanced at him once he caught up, and snorted.

"What's so funny?"

"You had a hard time catching up," she said with a smirk.

"That'd be because I stopped for a moment before chasing after you."

"Whatever you say, old man."

"You're one to talk," Jack said, a little frustrated.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I may be an old man, but you're no freshly formed pile of snow yourself, you know."

Jacqueline looked aghast. "ExcUSE me?"

"Technically, you're up there in age too. By human standards, at least."

"Do you even know how old I am?"

"I'm probably around forty-four hundred. Which would place you around nineteen-hundred. And twelve, if we're being exact. That's a whole four digits, Jacqueline."

Jacqueline looked even angrier, somehow. She glared down at the ground, the snow around her growing icier as she marched up the incline.

Jack threw his head back and groaned. His poor knees. "Could you at least wait up?"

"Why?!" she demanded, spinning around and glaring down at him. "We're here, are we not? Or are these big, colourful, icy walls not the Dome we're looking for." She turned back around, stopping mid-stomp when her eyes fell on the icy walls before her. The anger melted. Her shoulders dropped; her whole body seemed to sag, her eyes widening in shock. "Oh no," she said, as Jack reached the top of the hill.

He inhaled sharply. Oh no was a kind way of putting it. He'd have said son of a snow queen, himself. Or maybe just a good old-fashioned frostbite. It was warranted, after all; and maybe he'd be able to actually swear, because this situation? Yeah, it was bad. The walls looked awful. There wasn't a single reassuring feature on them! They lacked their usual lustre and looked a bit runny. The ground around them was slushy as ever, mud dirtying nearly every surface. In the distance, Jack could hear running water. Parts of the slush were exceptionally dirty.

"My skirt is getting all gross," Jacqueline said with a pout.

"Well we can't have that."

She glared at him. "At least I'm not wearing white," she said, pointing down at his pant hems. He glanced down. Sure enough, the white was fast becoming beige.

"Awh, and this is my favourite suit," Jack said, rolling up his hems, trying not to think about the scrub his shoes would need.

"Well we can't have that."

Now it was Jack's turn to glare as he got up. Hands on his hips, he stared at Jacqueline, an eyebrow raised. She mirrored him with a devious smirk, looking much too smug for Jack's liking. With a roll of his eyes, he turned around in his slush pile, surveying the other walls of the Dome. It was the same all around: less shiny, a little watery...and thinner.

"This is really very bad," Jack said, marching towards the Dome. He placed his own hands on the wall. Yup, far thinner than they should be. And wet. Yuck, he thought, wiping the liquid off on his pant leg.

"I never would have guessed."

"Is sarcasm the only language you speak? Honestly Jacqueline, I think I preferred the yelling."

"I'll let management know," she replied.

He could hear her coming towards him. Quickly, before she stopped beside him, Jack closed his eyes and tried very hard to listen to what the ice was saying, willing the cracks to glow so he could fix them...but nothing happened. Of course not. He knew nothing would and so did the walls but goddess above, he had to try something! Even if it didn't work, he thought with a sigh, his hands sliding off the wall as Jacqueline stopped beside him, worry etched on her face.

"How did you let it get this bad?"

"Do you think I asked for this to happen, Jacqueline?" Jack said angrily, hands back on his hips. "Do you think I wanted any of this to happen?" he asked gesturing at large to the icy walls around them. "Did you ever stop and wonder why, if destroying this Dome would destroy the North Pole, I didn't once actually do it?"

"You don't want to know what I think," she replied, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Yes I do! Of course I do! Why do you think I've kept an open mind all year, hmm? And really, it would be better than the horrible silence that followed us all the way up here!"

"Horrible silence? Horrible silence?!" Jacqueline demanded, ripping her hands off of her hips. "Try fourteen hundred YEARS of horrible silence!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

She had forgotten how close to the Dome the two of them were.

Her right hand went up, the palm smacking against the Dome. There was a deep thunk; the walls shuddered. Jack flinched, hissing in pain.

This did not go unheard by Jacqueline. She glanced over at Jack, panicked when she saw him clutching his side. She looked back to the Dome, trying to pull her hand off—but it would not budge.

"Ah! I'm-it's-I'm stuck? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—what did I do? What did I do?!"

"Calm down! It's fine! It's a lot worse than it looks, really—" A loud crack cut him off. Both siblings looked up to see a chunk of ice falling down very fast. They sprung out of the way just in time as it landed between the two of them, Jack still clutching his side.

"Oh my goddess," Jacqueline said, held back from her full jump thanks to being, uh, STUCK to the DOME. "This is really very bad!"

"No no no It's fine! It could be worse, like I said! Just. Take a breather Jacqueline, okay?"

And for the first time since they had reunited, Jacqueline listened.

"Okay," she said. She closed her eyes and inhaled for a few seconds, exhaling gently.

"Better?" Jack asked, making his way towards her.

She nodded.

"Okay. Good. You didn't break the Dome, and I'm fine."

"I wasn't worried about you."

"Yeah, okay, sure. I saw that look. You're not slick in the slightest."

Jacqueline flushed, turning away.

"It's just a little side effect of the Deliquesce," Jack said, trying very hard to reassure her, while still clutching his side. "I'll be okay. Now, the reason you're stuck isn't the reason it's breaking. It knows you can fix it and it's making sure you stay put to do that."

"That's so rude of it."

"I mean, can you blame it?" Jack asked, gesturing up at the slimy, dull, walls.

"No," Jacqueline said, with a glance up at the wall, filled with hurt for it. "What do I do next? To fix it?"

"We'll go step by step," Jack said. "First step: put your other hand on the wall. Yes, good, just like that. Palms flat, fingers spread out wide. There you go!"

"Oh I do not like this feeling at all."

"It's okay, it's just going to be for a little moment, alright Jacqueline?" He waited for her nod before continuing. "Alright. Now comes the fun part. The ice whispering," Jack said with a smile, and little jazz hands.

Jacqueline giggled in spite of it all. Jack smiled; there was the goofball he once knew.

"Jazz hands? Really?"

"Used to work all the time when you were little. Some things never change, eh?"

Jacqueline snorted. "Shut up," she said, though she was smiling. "What's next?"

"Shh," Jack said, finger to his lips, "and listen. Frost up those hands, and focus. Focus on the ice, on the walls, on the Dome. Give it a moment, and the ice will tell you where it needs to be patched up."

"And when it tells me, I just refreeze it?"

"Ah, yep. In theory, yes."

"I'm sorry. Hold on. In THEORY?!"

"In my defence, I don't usually use this method!"

"Then WHY are we USING IT?"

"Because it's like the BIG ERASER for BIG MISTAKES, Jacqueline. When the Dome gets this bad, this is the technique you want to use. Not my usual one, and not the one you used when I was—"

"Do NOT finish that thought I WILL flip out if you mention that whole thing one more time, and that is a promise, not a threat."

"Oh, that's when you'll flip out? Then what was all that before you got stuck?!"

"It was an APPETIZER to my feast of FURY!"

"Oh. That's good. I like that," Jack mused, annoyance dropping.

"THANK you, you can compliment it later when dessert is served and when I am NOT glued to walls that are melting as we speak and apparently also hurting YOU at the same time? Holy frost. What if this doesn't work? What if I can't do this?"

"You can, Jacqueline. And it will work. This is literally the situation ice whispering is used for! Just. Listen to the ice, okay?"

And with a very deep breath, Jacqueline closed her eyes, pressed down on the Dome, and listened.

Her hands began to glow light blue. He remembered ages ago, her little hands glowing the same shade as she frosted her first tree. Off in the distance, the rushing water slowed; Jack glanced around. He could see the Dome beginning to glow, the littlest bit. It was working! She was doing it! Of course she was doing it, Jack thought, as the patch of ice under Jacqueline's palms began to glow a brilliant light blue. That was his Legate! His sister! He never doubted for a second that she couldn't do it.

She gasped, her eyes snapping open. Below her, the glow began to spread. The glow on the Dome intensified, as the glow from Jacqueline's wintry magic spread out, until the entire dome glowed the same light blue. Jacqueline watched in awe. "Whoa," she said. "Is that always how it looks? For you?"

"Darker blue, but yes. Usually." He thought fondly to the first time he had done the technique, ages ago. He had been just as awe-inspired, and had asked Winter the same thing. "Yes, but usually it's white as snow," she had replied fondly, gazing up at the opening in much the same way Jack was doing now. "Told you you could do it," Jack said, his turn to be smug now. "The ice should start whispering now—"

"It is. So if you'd kindly shut up for real so I can hear it, that'd be great, thanks," she said, closing her eyes. She pressed her ear right up against the ice, concentrating.

"Oof," Jack said, crossing his arms. Nippy, he thought.

"Wow. Intuitive," she said out loud. Eyes still closed, Jacqueline lifted her hands off of the dome, very briefly, before slamming them back down.

Frosty blue magic shot out from her palms, fingers frosting over and ice following the blue trails, swirling all the way up. Above them, lines all over the dome started to glow brightly. Cracks and crevices were revealed, and slowly the magic began to freeze them over once more.

The cracking of the ice freezing over echoed around them. Jacqueline was covered in the magic, glowing light blue as the Dome pulled itself back together, quite literally. Jack had to hop to the side as the piece that had fallen between them floated back up, placing itself back onto the wall seamlessly.

With one last snap, the colours returned to the dome. The borealis reappeared, though the colours were still a bit dim. The rushing water sound had all but slowed down, now a mere drip. Jack could feel the magic leaking out still, but it was a far slower pace, a mere trickle now. It almost felt like the seasonal norm. Almost.

She had done it. The dome had been fixed. Temporarily, of course, but this was the strongest it had been all year. Jack sighed, relieved, as the magic arced through the Dome, making its way up and up until it burst at the top. The light blue sparkles floated down from the opening gently, turning into snow as they fluttered to the ground.

Jack turned back to Jacqueline, ready to celebrate with her the way they used to. His arms were nearly outstretched when she finally took her hands off of the Dome and turned to him, opening her eyes.

The hurt he saw in them stopped him short and hurt his heart.

"Why?" she whispered, quietly.

"Why what?"

"Why did you do it?"

"I'm sorry, Jacqueline. You'll have to be a bit more specific," Jack said, sheepish.

Jacqueline looked indignant. "Why did you leave us? Why did you leave…" she shut her eyes tight, clenching her fists. "Why did you leave me?"

"I—" he tried to speak; he tried to cough up all of the things he had been thinking. He tried to recall his reasons, but they weren't as good as he thought they were pre-thaw. They were stupid. He tried to tell her that, but before he could even make a sound, Jacqueline spoke up again.

"It's still the same reasons, isn't it?" she asked, her voice heavy with emotion. "Of course it is," she snapped, wiping her eyes and disappearing on the spot.

"No, no, wait! Jacqueline! Careful!" He shouted, disappearing as well, trying to follow her trail. He reappeared in the village square, seconds after Jacqueline.

"Careful? Careful of what? I've been teleporting for years!" she shouted, hands up in the air once again. "What, did you think I'd lose particles? Gods Jack, I'm nineteen HUNDRED! I don't lose particles and I never have, thank you very much. I'm not the little sprite you used to know fourteen hundred years ago, so stop acting like I am!"

"I know that! I just." I don't want to lose you. Not again. Not before I have a chance to get you back.

The connection was blocked. Of course it was. Why wouldn't it be? She was upset. He'd do the same if he were in her shoes (he had done the same, all those years ago, when he was the one angry and loosing control).

He thought back to the Day of Darkness; the heightened emotions, the blowouts, the fire and the ice and the loss of control that had almost made him lose her for forever.

He wasn't going to let that happen again.

"You just what?" Jacqueline demanded, throwing her hands out. The snow on either side of her thrust forward. The ripple knocked over a table, two elves jumping up with their cocoa. The other one knocked a cart of toys off balance, the wagon overturning. "You missed so much, and I let myself believe it was all my fault," her voice cracked on the final word. Furiously, she wiped the tears off of her face.

"Jacqueline, I'm sorry," Jack said, unsure how to even begin to unpack everything.

"That's all you have to say?" she demanded, her voice heavy.

"What else can I say? I could try to justify the reasons I did what I did all those years ago, but they're stupid! I don't even believe them anymore!"

"Well you could've fooled me!" Jacqueline snapped, throwing her arms back down. Behind her, the snow cracked and snapped, freezing on the spot. "You know, I couldn't even begin to understand why you had left and done what you did to all of us in the process. I never could. And when I learnt what you did after I woke up? To Mom, and Dad, and me? That you were the reason everything hurt so much? Mom and Dad looked at me, and it felt the way that I felt. It hurt. And all I could think was that it must've been my fault."

"Jacqueline, no! It wasn't, it was never your fault! My choices were my own. Not yours," he tried.

"Oh, I learnt that eventually, thanks," she said, with a bit of a scary smile. The winds were picking up; it was beginning to snow. Jack moved closer, carefully. Non-threateningly. Shooing elves out of the way as gently as possible as the snow below Jacqueline began to shake. "You know, I spent the rest of my childhood trying to understand what had happened, and I never could! I never could figure it out and our parents looked so upset that I couldn't bring myself to ask them. Something had changed that night, and I didn't know what. I knew you were gone, and that I wasn't gone, and I was just like you. So it—it had to be me, I thought."

"It was never you," Jack said, trying again. "And you are nothing like me," he said, with all the surety in the world, his arm slicing through the air. "You never would've done what I did!"

"It took me a good eight hundred years to figure that one out, no thanks to you!" she said with a shout, her hands balling into fists. The snow below her followed her unintentional command, the shaking stopping abruptly as they balled up into snowballs, hovering in a ring just below her.

That was the final straw for the elves. Abandoning their loads, they rushed away from the square, seeking shelter from the fast escalating conflict. Nothing bad had happened as of yet, but from the way the snow had begun and picked up? The snowballs hovering just around Jacqueline's skirt? Jack trying to shoo the elves away, while watching his sister wearily? Yeah, no. They weren't stupid; they could tell when a sprite fight was about to go down, and they rushed to seek shelter and hopefully get help before it got too bad.

Jack was at a loss for words. After all, what could he say? There was nothing that could change what he had done to his family. To his sister.

"I was living in your shadow, and you weren't even there!" Jacqueline shouted, hand slicing through the air. One of the snowballs went flying, Jack only just managing to dodge it.

Jacqueline looked appalled for the briefest of moments. But he could see the thoughts running through her head plain as day on her face. He had had the same reaction, after all, all those years ago. The shock at having lashed out elementally at an elder. The brief panic; and, though he had hoped it wouldn't happen, the steely look when she decided that she'd just go with it. Just like he had once long before.

"Did you ever even stop to think about what you had done?" Another hand wave, another snowball. This one hit. "And how it affected us? As you constantly ruined the-the balance of nature and-and plotted and schemed to reclaim your reputation or whatever you thought you needed to take back, did you ever stop to think about what that day did to all of us?"

Boom. Ten more snowballs flew his way, shooting forward with every gesture Jacqueline made. Most of them hit their mark. And with each word, each snowball that flew his way was icier and icier. His face stung; his shoulders were sodden. Snow dripped down his back as he got as close to her as the winds would let him.

"What it did to you?" Jack asked, quietly.

Her eyes widened briefly, the winds slowing.

"I did," he admitted. "Of course I did. Not often, but often enough."

"And even then? Even then, you didn't bother to check in or drop a line or pop on by or ANYTHING? Did you even CARE to know what had happened to everyone after you left? If I was even still ALIVE?!"

Jack sighed, shaking his head. "I couldn't bring myself to face up to what I'd done."

The anger settled back onto her face. "You left me alone!" She said, her fists glowing threateningly. "All of my life I was alone! I waited," she said, throwing her arms back. Two icy blasts went flying, one blowing out a few panes of glass in a nearby window, the other freezing a swath of snow solid. "Did you know that? I waited every day to see if you'd come back. Every day. And then you DIDN'T!" she shouted, the snow once again shooting out from below her. An umbrella went flying out of the stand, the stand toppling over; the other snow drift plunked against the door to the tailor's, freezing it shut. "And then the same! Thing! Happened! This! Year! You thawed a year ago, and I waited, Jack! I hoped you'd come, which was like, SOO stupid because you didn't the first time, so why would this time be any DIFFERENT?"

Her hand sliced angrily through the air, glowing brightly.

But this time, it was icicles.

They went flying; but Jack had been anticipating this. He had seen the pattern; he had lived it, ages ago. He was ready. He ducked the first one. He slid to the side, the second one just passing him. He whipped around to the other side, the third one just grazing the bottom of his unbuttoned suit jacket as he slid out of the way in a nick of time.

He looked over at Jacqueline. Her eyes sparkled with tears, horror on her face as she watched the trio of icicles sail past Jack. Very quickly, she stuck her hand out. The icicles stopped their flight, dropping into the snow just behind Jack with three dull thunks as Jacqueline brought her fist down. She was speechless.

"It's okay!" Jack said, trying to reassure. "You missed," he added.

"But you DIDN'T," Jacqueline shot back, the anger replacing the horrors. "You didn't miss! And I paid the price for it my entire life. And when you thawed, instead of coming back home, which is the LEAST you could've done, you stayed put right here, doing Lady knows what-"

"Doing everything I could to make up for the things I did to hurt the people here," Jack said, gesturing around them at the shops and buildings, the Workshop looming in the distance.

"But what about the people here!" Jacqueline said, gesturing to herself. "What about me? What about Mom, and Dad? The fallout you caused after you left was so hard—" her voice cracked; she hiccuped, turning away quickly and wiping her eyes. "Dad was so upset. And then he was gone for months fixing the damage you caused! And Mom? She froze herself, Jack. Willingly! And what could I do? Nothing! I could do NOTHING to help them!" Jacqueline finished, the snow still mirroring her movements.

Behind her, packages went flying. Snow was turning into ice, fast, falling on the surfaces as loud as the most ferocious of rainstorms. Between the winds and Jacqueline's expressive movements whipping the snow about, elves that had holed up in the buildings around them were fast becoming snowed in.

"Mom froze?"

"Yeah, she did! And it SUCKED so BAD! She was so sad, all the time. Nothing we did would help. It was a rarity when we got a laugh, or an earnest smile. And nothing got better! Not until the Twins came around."

"The Twins," Jack remembered, as the winds whipped past them

"Yeah, our two younger siblings that you don't even KNOW!" she said, stomping her foot. Below her, the snow rippled dangerously. "And how do you think their early childhood has been with all this fallout, hmm? Mom and Dad chose not to tell them about you. They don't know why Mom is so sad all the time; they have no clue why Dad was so upset! They don't even know the real-hic, the real reason why their older sister, who was there for them the entire time they were little, suddenly spent eight hundred years away from home, with periodic visits here and there! I left for eight hundred years, Jack, because being at home was so..." she fell to her knees, trying very hard to hold back tears. "It sucked! And I was afraid," she began, looking up. "Afraid of me."

She was so distraught; it hurt to see. Jack was certain that had he been frozen, the pain on her face would have been enough to thaw him in the most painful of ways.

"Afraid that I'd turn out just like you," she admitted, choking back a sob. "And instead of talking about all of this, and unpacking it, and explaining yourself...you chose to make small talk. As if none of this ever happened."

The winds ceased; the ice stopped, suspended in the air.

"You may have been able to forget it all," Jacqueline said, as the ice pellets started falling to the ground with gentle tinks. "But I haven't forgotten any of it."

She balled her hands into fists, thrusting them down and looking away, ashamed. She saw the broken glass; the frozen spots of ground. The icicles sunk into the ground behind Jack. A small sob escaped; she hugged herself tightly, giving Jack one last forlorn look, before disappearing in a flurry of blue sparks and snowflakes.

A/N: ehehehehehehe I 100 percent rewrote this (November 22nd, 2022) with intent to harm you guys. I hope you like pain! :D Because I sure did enjoy inflicting it upon readers here! (And don't worry, it hurt me to write. But it hurt SO GOOD :). The PARALLELS! HELL YEAH! I hope Chapter 5 still holds up, yeesh. I'll give myself a few days before I check on that so I don't stay up as late as I did yesterday fixing the next chapter. Though really, these early chapters haven't need much fixing as I relook them in 2022; just a little bit of snipping and expanding to make way for all the things that explode in the climax!

Anywho, This chapter originally went up on the first official Crystal Springs Monday, which I almost forgot it was. Ana was helpful enough to remind me that it was Monday and I was due to update, ha. This chapter went through a LOT of changes! Like, a lot. I made the anger more logical (in my humble opinion) and have finally fixed the info dump these three chapters were, so that the info was dumped once and not again and again (if that makes sense). Next chapter is the last of the angst pile, then the PLOT THICKENS. Oh what a time editing this old thing is turning out to be!

Please leave reviews! I enjoy screaming about my stories into the void. It would be a lot more fun to scream about them with another human being!