Crystal Springs

by SafyreSky

It's been nearly a year since the Thaw and things are looking...not so great. Jack's powers are seemingly gone and the Dome covering the North Pole is melting. The solution? Enacting the Legate Law, bringing Jack and the sister he hurt so many years ago together again. With his powers gone and his sister on the fritz, saving everyone just got a little more complicated. [Rewritten!]

17. Chapter 16: It's Dinner Time

Chapter 16: It's Dinner Time

The grill sizzled in the quiet night; the sounds of idle chit chat and laughter floating up, up, up into the air, getting lost in the winter winds above the snowy backyard. It was remarkable how nice the backyard looked that evening, considering how much damage the shenanigans that morning had caused. You couldn't even tell that just hours before, a legendary snowball fight had taken place. Snow once again covered the lot, sparkling in the moonlight, the puddles long frozen over and the scorch marks buried under the snow. Ice coated the trees, the branches tinkling against each other softly as the winter winds floated through.

It had been the first decision that day to serve dinner out back. The kitchen table was in a well sized nook for six, but for nine it would be a little tight. Jack had wanted to use the dining room. It was big enough for at least thirty people, given that it was just off of the ballroom and as such, designed for large parties. Winter had disagreed.

"Cleaning it tomorrow will be a nightmare," she had said during breakfast. "Especially with your younger siblings and their aptitude for food sports."

A breakfast sausage had gone flying the moment she had said it, only proving her point.

"Everything in there is white," she had continued. "Looks lovely, but very hard to clean. Not my greatest design choice in terms of functionality. Aesthetically though? It's quite lovely."

Out back, they were able to use the well sized picnic table that sat on the deck, giving everyone enough space for moving, grooving, and the food fights that seemed to follow the twins with every meal they shared. So, with the decision made, they had doubled down to make sure that the backyard looked just as amazing as the fancy dining room. And now, hanging out on the deck while the table was set, the spatula scratching the grill as Blaise flipped the steaks, idle chit chat and laughter surrounding them, the deck suprisingly warm for a November night in the North Province?

Jack couldn't imagine this dinner taking place anywhere else.

Blaise was at the barbecue, apron still tight on his chest. He was whistling a tune as he grilled all sorts of delicious food. Shish-kabobs, a few steaks, vegetables—you name it, it was on there. Summer was beside him, proudly wearing the "Chop It Like It's Hot" apron while she prepped her fruit salad on the counters beside Blaise.

Jack was a bit envious of the grill set up on the deck. It was a complete outdoor kitchen; the barbecue was big, stainless steel, tucked between stone countertops at the base of a u-shape. He'd never be able to have something like this at the condo! There were a couple of steel doors within the countertops, one of which Winter propped open with her hip while she pulled out the tablecloth, dishes, napkins, cutlery, and glasses. Autumn was helping her pass out the table settings, while Spring and Jacqueline prepped the table. The Twins were running cold hors d'oeuvre out from the kitchen, the sliding door wide open as they ran back and forth with platters and trays and drinks, placing them down on the picnic table or passing them to Summer and Blaise for cooking as the two summer sprites worked the grill.

The deck was very toasty compared to the picturesque winter scene that was the backyard, Jack thought, as he passed dishes back and forth and helped where he could. Despite the dark night sky, the deck was very well lit. Blaise had managed to trap little balls of flame within icicles, creating literal icicle lights that were strung along the railings of the deck. Jack had helped with it. He had, in fact, made the icicles for his father. And yet, he had no idea how the flame stayed in the ice without melting it, and Blaise refused to tell! Trade secret, he had said with an infuriating wink.

Perplexity aside, the icicle lights lined the deck in a cool glow. On the posts of the deck's railing were enclosed torches, casting a warm glow all along the railing at even intervals. Taller torches burnt brightly around the grill, illuminating the entire prep station. The light from the kitchen spilled out from the screen door, pooling around the entrance to the house. As the last few dishes were placed on the table, Jack found himself placing candles between the trivets as the Twins went behind him, lighting them up.

By the time everything was lit and the table set, there wasn't a spot of darkness to be found on the deck.

"Grub's on!" Blaise said with a grin as he placed a large platter of shish-kabobs in the centre of the table.

"Come and get it while it's hot! Or nice and cool, in this case," Summer said, placing the fruit salad down on one side, the steaks and veggies on the other.

Jack felt a flutter of panic. Everyone was heading to the table to take their seats. He hadn't even thought about where he'd sit—should he make for an easy escape? An edge would be the safest bet, he thought, but what would the aunts think about that? He could already hear Spring calling him out for his emergency exit. He could take a centre seat, instead. Maybe it'd show them that he was willing to be more inclusive? Or maybe they'd think he was being self centred, sticking himself right in the middle! What if he—

Jack nearly yelped as his arm was yanked down forcefully enough to knock him off balance. He caught himself on the bench, turning to glare at his sister as she claimed the edge for herself and the off-centre seat beside her for him.

"There you go."

"Couldn't you have at least given me the edge?" Jack asked, spinning around and tucking his legs under the table.

"Trust me, you don't want the edge seat," Jacqueline said, as Summer sat down on Jack's other side. He let out a sigh of relief.

Summer chuckled. "I don't think you're in the clear just yet," she said, staring across the table with a small smile as Spring plunked herself down directly across from Jack, glaring daggers at the Legend.

Oh boy, Jack thought.

But look who's sitting beside her, Jacqueline thought back, hiding a grin behind the fruit salad bowl and gesturing with her head, ever so slightly, towards Spring's right side. Winter had made herself comfortable beside her flowery sister, with her own icy glare trained on the tiny redhead.

"Spicy," Summer said with a nudge and a wink, as Jacqueline passed the bowl over to her. Jack leaned back briefly, smirking as the bowl passed him by.

"Oh, I forgot the tongs," Blaise said as he sat down beside Winter. The Twins sat across from him, playing swords with the empty shish-kabob sticks (fixings already dumped on their plate), Fino protecting Summer from errant thrusts with decent parries.

"I got it," Jacqueline said, sliding off the edge with ease to grab the servers from the grill top. And that's why you don't want the end seat, she thought at Jack, as Autumn took the seat across from Jacqueline, giving Jack a reassuring smile.

"Bon Appétit!" Blaise said with a grin, as Jacqueline handed out the servers and everyone began filling up their plates in earnest.

Murmurs of pass the this, and would you like the that, and where's the wine? And juice for us, please, thanks! And anything fizzy floating around? Took up the first few minutes of table chatter. Finally, when the chatter turned into the scraping and clicking of cutlery on plates and cups against dishes, the real conversation began in earnest.

"So. Jack." Spring began, staring directly at him as she nibbled on some fruit. "Why don't you tell us about the this year you've had? It certainly seems like it's been—"

"CRAZY!" Summer interrupted. "A thaw? Reuniting with your sister? And then your family? FRIENDS with SANTA?"

"How do you know all that?" Spring demanded, looking a mite bit offended.

"Oh please, you think Mom only talks to you, Spring? She's got three other kids, you know."

Spring huffed, angrily cutting a watermelon slice in half. "Oh, I am painfully aware of that. It's just. You know, given the Legate status and all, I thought I was the one who visited the most."

"And what, that suddenly makes you all knowing?" Winter demanded, stabbing a piece of meat a little too hard with her fork. "Please. We all know that's Autumn."

"It is not! No offence, Autumn."

"Is so! And how can Autumn not take that offensively, Spring?"

"Easily," Autumn replied. "I know better. Now, don't make me sit between you two."

Both seasons looked indignantly at Autumn; Blaise laughed. "Now that is offensive," he said, with one last chuckle.

"ANYWAY," Summer interrupted, rolling her eyes as loud as she had shouted. "Talk to us, Jack! Take it from the top. When you were thawed."

"Is there any ice?" Fiera interrupted.

"Pass it over here, Fiera," Jack said, reaching for her glass. He happily froze it up a bit, passing it back down. The cool layer of ice that sat on the glass immediately began to evaporate the moment Fiera touched it.

Jacqueline sighed. "I'll get the ice tray," she said, getting up and popping inside.

Jack chewed thoughtfully, mulling over the entire year as he finished chomping up a piece of beef. "Well," he began, playing with the fixings on his plate. "I don't know if you, uh, if you heard about what had happened prior to the...well, everything."

"Oh, I heard alright," Spring said with a sniff, crossing her arms and glaring. "Mother Nature wouldn't let me help fix it, but I sure heard about it."

"No need to be so salty, Spring dear," Winter piped up, pouring herself some wine. "Mother simply thought that I'd be better suited to help with that particular incident. And Blaise and the kids, as well. Wine?"

Spring inhaled deeply. "No, thank you, Winter."

Winter hummed, pouring her glass until it was full to the top before passing the wine over to Blaise.

"Well," Jack began, as Jacqueline came back, passing a freshly made tray of ice his way. "After all of that...nonsense, I was sentenced to community service hours at the Pole. Which is why I was there in the first place." The ice tray crossing in front of him, he grabbed it, passing it to Summer. "I played a couple of nasty tricks on Santa, got him to his lowest low, and convinced him to use this clause that let him reset the timeline, so to speak. So that he'd never become Santa at all. And then I took his place as Santa."

There were a couple of gasps.

"You didn't," Summer said, taking the ice.

"Oh, but I did."

"You overthrew Santa?" Fiera asked, a cherry tomato flying through her hair and splattering on the deck.

"Yep," Jack said, not very proudly.

"Cool!" Fiera said.

"It really wasn't," Jack replied.

"The planning that must've taken," Fino mused, as he placed the ice down in front of him and his twin.

"I was winging it."

"That's even MORE impressive!" Fiera said.

"Yeah, very impressive, but not a good thing," Jack added. "But thank you, I appreciate you recognizing my genius," he said with a grin.

"Takes one to know one," Fiera grinned back.

"You? A genius?" Fino said, dumbfounded. "We both know I have the brain cell," he added, pulling his fork back and flinging mashed potatoes at his twin.

"Hey!" she said, cackling as they splattered on her nose.

"We're going to need serviettes down here," Blaise said as Jacqueline sighed, once again getting up to grab the serviette holder from the counter.

Jack turned back to his aunts. Summer had leaned in closer—an astonishing feat since she was already right beside him. Autumn watched, head on her linked hands, elbows on the table. Spring still sat with one leg over the other, arms crossed, glaring at Jack...but her eyebrow gave a little twitch. Interesting, Jack thought over a spoonful of mash.

"Anyway, it didn't last, of course. Santa managed to come back and reverse trick me. We got back to the proper timeline, and I was almost immediately apprehended by the Elfficers for...other things, funnily enough."

"Not the overthrowing thing?" Summer asked.

"He froze a couple of people and locked them in a closet with their not-frozen kid," Jacqueline offered.

"Shut. Up!" Summer exclaimed.

Thanks Jacqueline.

"Did you not know that, Summer?" Spring asked, a little too innocently.

Sorry, were you not going to say that bit?

"No! I didn't! Oh my gosh…then what happened?" Summer asked, shifting in her seat so that she now sat cross-legged, her chin in her hand as she leaned on the table, fully enraptured with Jack's tale.

I was going to sugar coat it.

You know Spring would've come back with the salt, Jack.

Jack had to take a quick sip of his own drink to hide his laughter. "Well," he said, "Now we get to the good part. So, there I was! Two little elf men on either side, shoving me into the Workshop, and they bring me right before Santa. Bernard's temp had discovered Lucy and her parents in the closet, the parents frozen solid courtesy of yours truly. He and Lucy tell the big guy, who already knows all about the whole stealing Christmas thing, of course, as we were SURROUNDED by the Council, so the odds were already stacked against me!"

"I can't believe I'm rooting for you right now," Autumn said.

"I get that a lot," Jack joked. Autumn and Summer laughed; Jacqueline rolled her eyes, smiling, nonetheless.

"Maybe you're rooting for him because you know how it ends, Aunt Autumn," Jacqueline mused, pulling her hair over her shoulder thoughtfully.

"REDEMPTION ARC!" Fiera shouted down the table.

Even Spring let a little smile escape, very briefly. She seemed to have loosened up a little bit, though she still sat rigid, watching Jack as intently as Winter watched her.

"Spoilers, Fiera! Please!"

"Sorry!"

"Yeah Fiera, spoilers," Fino said, flinging more mashed potatoes at her. She dodged it in time, the potatoes beelining for Blaise. Lightning fast, Blaise smacked his spoon on the table, sending it up in the air; it deflected the mash and the pile fell with a plop onto the candle in front of them, extinguishing the flame.

"You were saying?" Autumn asked, as the candle hissed.

"Yeah, keep going!" Summer added.

"The odds are stacked against me as I'm surrounded by the elves, and Santa, and his in-laws, not to mention the temp, and the Council, too! Santa demands that I unfreeze them right that second. Of course," he paused leaning back. "I couldn't unfreeze them without unfreezing myself, which I already knew was something I couldn't do. And at the time, didn't want to do. But this Santa, if you ever meet him, is the most stubbornly determined Santa I have ever met, and that wasn't going to do for him. Thanks to yours truly, he had once again remembered what it meant to have his loved ones with him and how important they were to him."

"Oh?" Spring spoke, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"He told me so himself, after everything. He and the Missus were expecting and he had a hard time with his first kid, and he was all stressed about the second one, it was a whole. Thing. So if you look at it, really, I was doing Santa a favour!"

Spring raised an eyebrow. "That's definitely a…way of looking at it."

"A little bit of sugar coating, of course. Makes the story a little bit sweeter. Easier to recount well after the fact. You know."

"Of course," Spring replied.

"Do continue, Jack dear," Winter added, still watching Spring.

"Santa was discouraged, but he wasn't giving up just yet! He had just gotten his family back, after all. He wanted to keep it that way. He tried to get Mother Nature to do something, but she couldn't because of the whole "our powers don't work on other legends" thing," Jack said, air quotes included, "and so Santa turned to Lucy and they had this whole, conversation without talking specifics. Very irritating. Very confusing. So, this little girl, she starts walking towards me. Very slowly, absolutely terrified! It was very strange, really. He must've been desperate. I mean, what was a little girl gonna do? Cute me to death? Ask nicely if I could please change my ways? Adorabilize me? Turns out it was none of those. She just. Hugged me."

"Aww," Jacqueline and Autumn said, once again.

"I don't know what it was about that hug, but it was some hug. I was shocked! I wasn't expecting that. I had no idea how to respond, or what to do, or anything!" he paused for effect, everyone hanging on to his every word—Winter had even stopped glaring at Spring to watch Jack now, as he got into the story. Spring was leaning forward a bit more than she had been before. "And that's when I felt it."

"What was it?" Summer asked.

"This, this warmth that started right in my chest. It grew and grew, and warmed me up from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. Next thing I knew, I was…thawed. Just like that," he finished, snapping his fingers.

"Like that?" Jacqueline teased, snapping her fingers.

Jack laughed. "Like that," he replied, snapping once again while Jacqueline cackled.

Spring seemed to warm up to this, watching the siblings share their inside joke. Winter glanced over at Spring, loosening up a tad.

So far, so good, Jack thought.

"That's fascinating," Autumn said, breaking the silence. "A hug?"

"Yep. Just a hug. A warm one, admittedly. Lucy called it a magical hug."

"It must've been to have done that to you," Jacqueline said. "D'you know, that that hug was so strong, I felt you thaw from all the way over here?"

"Really?"

"Totally! I woke up and…" she frowned, looking conflicted. "Well. I woke up disoriented and warmer than usual and in the mood for some nachos, and I knew for a fact that they were not my feelings. So I headed to the North Pole to try and figure out what had happened to Jack. Ran into B-Man—uh, Bernard—told him my suspicions and, well, the rest is history.

"You ran into Bernard? Oh! That was you that told him it was, you know. You know?"

"Yeah!" Jacqueline replied with a grin. "Why, did it save your ass later?"

"SPOILERS!" both Twins shouted up the table.

"Alright, alright, standing down!" Jacqueline said laughingly, turning her attention back to her plate. "Basically, it was one heck of a hug."

"Such a simple act of love to break such a powerful curse," Autumn said out loud.

"Curse?" Fiera asked, her hair extinguishing.

"It may not have been a curse," Blaise said, stiffening. "All sprites can have a hardened heart. It happens to the best of us."

There was a brief beat of silence; the table tensed all around.

"Well yeah," Summer said, breaking the silence. "But Jack's case was a little extreme, Blaise, wouldn't you say?"

"Summer," Winter cautioned.

"We all heard it," Spring said. "Well, most of us did."

"Spring!" Winter cautioned yet again, looking up at Blaise now. He had gone very tense, Jack noted; his knuckles were white around his fork.

Blaise huffed; his hair briefly glowing brighter as he placed his spoon down. "I'm gonna go take a walk, make sure the grill's off." With that, Blaise got up and headed over to do just what he said, frowning heavily…and sadly, Jack noticed as his Dad walked past.

"What's up with that?" Jack asked.

"Your father doesn't like to talk about the curse," Winter said, a hand on her heart as she looked sadly at her husband's retreating figure.

"I will say it again," Fiera said, clearing her throat. "But louder. Ahem. A CURSE?"

"Curses are crazy powerful!" Fino nearly shouted, his hair brightening. "Were we cursed?"

"WERE WE?" Fiera demanded, climbing the table.

"Well, not all of us," Winter replied quietly. "Definitely not you two. It was during the war. The War of Succession, not the Fae War."

"Also called the millennia war, because even though it didn't last for a thousand years, it sure did last long enough to feel like it!"

"Nerd," Fiera said, sticking her tongue out at her twin.

"What?" Fino said with a lopsided grin. "History's neat! But how does a curse factor into all of this?"

"I spent decades trying to reason with him," Blaise said dejected, sitting back down beside Winter. She immediately slid closer to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder and rubbing his arm with a soft smile. "He was—is—my brother. I thought if I could just talk to him, maybe he'd see reason. See that he was being silly, you know, all of that," Blaise said, leaving the sentence hanging with a wave, sighing.

"You don't have to talk about it dear," Winter said, squeezing his shoulder. "I know it makes you uncomfortable."

"The kids should know," Blaise said. "How can we try to be more open when every time someone brings up the curse I walk away? Besides, I think the Twins have spent more than enough years not knowing things."

"Yeah, I'll say," Fiera huffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

Jack watched carefully, taking the moment to have some more food. What's Fiera on about? He asked Jacqueline.

Remember how I mentioned the night in the Gazebo earlier? She thought back, crunching on some peppers.

Jack nodded.

Well, Fiera was especially upset. She thought it was unfair that the two of them grew up not understanding a lot of everything because of Mom and Dad's decisions. Now she's making sure it doesn't happen again. She's a little resentful about it but working through it in her own Fiera way.

Ah.

"I've maintained that it was more of a story all our life together," Blaise said, hooking an arm around Winter and bringing her in close. "But it wasn't a story. It was a thing that happened. We were all there. We all heard it. I just…didn't want to believe it. You see, kids, for a warlock to cast a curse—or any caster to cast a curse, really—you have to have hate. A whole lot of it, too. There can't be a single shred of doubt, affection or anything to counter that hate."

"Your Father couldn't fathom his own brother hating him to that extent," Winter said, her sisters nodding in agreement.

"Most of us believed it though," Summer said. "All of us, really. I think Blaise was the only one in denial."

"Gee, thanks Summer."

"Any time, oh brother-in-law of mine."

"I think he sometimes still is in denial."

"E tu, Spring?"

"She has a point," Autumn said.

"Well now I'm wounded."

"It's alright dear, I'm sure your pride will recover."

"That's easy for you to say! You didn't just get triple backstabbed!"

"Well, you know Blaise darling—"

"Shhh," he placed a finger on Winter's lips, cutting her off. "Don't make it quadruple please, darling. I can handle your sisters, but coming from my own wife? The love of my life?! Ugh!" he said, dramatically, holding his chest. "I'd never recover. And you two, don't say a word," Blaise added sternly, pointing in the direction of Jack and Jacqueline.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Jacqueline said.

"I'm just having my kabob," Jack said, "Although I am more than happy to blame a curse for the extra formerly unthawable frozen heart."

Jacqueline snickered.

"I am Caesar and this table is the senate on the Ides of March," Blaise declareed, clutching his chest.

"You are too much, Blaise dear," Winter said, squirming her way out from under Blaise's arm with a reassuring squeeze and a little peck on the cheek.

"Tell us the story!" Fiera said, jumping up on the bench.

"Please," Fino added, gently pulling his sister back down onto the bench.

"I'm always down for a good war story," Summer said, turning to the other side of the table. "What do you two sunbeams know about the Succession War?"

"A lot!" Fino said.

"Nerd," Fiera repeated.

"Pffft," Fino replied, blowing a raspberry.

Fiera laughed. "Well, we both know that Dad and Uncle Pyros were Twins, born at the same time with lotsa confusion so nobody knew for sure who came first. Which meant that in terms of succession, it was a big fat iunno for which kid would be the next king," Fiera said with a shrug.

"Both had great leadership qualities and knew the ropes," Fino interjected. "But in school, they told us that Blaise was favoured—he was nicer and made the time to mingle with the people. He knew the entire kingdom! Pyros focused more on his studies. He was one of the greatest warlocks!"

"He could work spells and enchantments like it was nobody's business," Blaise said. "And he was great with potions. Really sucked at the fire biz, but that's where I excelled. I offered to help him plenty of times, but he always looked at the heat and fire manipulation like it was dirty," Blaise said, making a small fireball in his hand. "His loss," he finally said with a shrug, flipping his hand over, the fireball extinguishing. "He never thought I took things seriously. I did! Just not as serious as he did. Warlocking was fine, but there was more to our background than just that, and more to being King than just power."

"And that's why everyone was sure that when the two princes came of age, Blaise would be announced as the heir," Fino finished.

"This did not fly with Pyros, no sirree! He was furious at the rumours, even though they were just rumours and nobody knew what the King and Queen had decided. Maybe they hadn't even decided! We'll never know now," Fiera paused for a breath, "because they are dead. Anyway, he went crazy and started a war because he wasn't going to be King."

"He didn't go crazy!" Blaise snapped.

"Yes he did," almost everyone replied.

"He has a very long laundry list, Blaise," Summer said.

"Took control of the guards," Spring began, tapping her fingers as she listed everything. "Started attacking the regions that were strong in support for you. Revealed us to the mortals. Attacked you countless times. Killed both ordibeings and magibeans as a result of his decisions. Took the seasons hostage as a final bartering chip to try and get his way."

"He made bad decisions all around," Blaise said. "But I don't think he went crazy. I think he was a product of our upbringing, you know? But instead of breaking the cycle, he both repeated and accelerated it."

"Why do you keep defending him?" Jack asked. "He's more of a villain than I was! And that's saying something, you should see some of the things I did. Nothing murderous, of course, but still. Not great things."

"I'll say," Spring said. Winter glared at her. "What! Jack said it, I know we're all thinking it!"

"I know that talking about the curse makes you uncomfortable, Dad. But as the person who got the full brunt of it? It's more uncomfortable that you don't acknowledge it, and what it did to me. To all of us, really," Jack added glancing around the table. Jacqueline frowned, looking down at her midsection. All the seasons looked to be somewhere far, far away. Fino was covering Fiera's mouth, Fiera trying to fight him off.

"You're right, Jack. I know," Blaise said, sighing in defeat. "It's just…he's my brother. It's…hard. But that's not an excuse. I'm sorry."

Blaise looked off to the side; Jack sighed, looking away as well.

"Acknowledging it and talking about it is the first step towards acceptance," Autumn said.

"And I appreciate you doing that, Dad," Jack said, looking back up.

"STORY!" Fiera finally shouted, Fino shaking his hand with a grimace of pain. "You promised us a story, not a quiz! That we aced," she added, sticking out her fist. Fino fist bumped her back (you don't leave your Twin hanging, even if she did just bite you to shout through a very tense moment), the pair of them blowing it up. Literally. Little balls of flame popped right out of their palms, rushing up and up through their wiggly fingers with a tiny roar until they dissipated.

"We did, didn't we?" Summer said with a grin. "So! Pyros outs us to the mortals. He and his armies reign terror down on them, and Blaise comes behind him, restoring order and cleaning up shop along with your lovely aunties," Summer said, with sunlit finger guns. "And your Grandmother! And your mom, of course. And many other magibeans! The rebellion got the upper hand, and Pyros was not happy about that. So, like your aunt Spring mentioned, he kidnapped the four of us, hoping to use us as bartering chips in a last-ditch effort to end the war on his terms."

"And that was the biggest mistake he could've made," Blaise added. "Mother Nature was livid; I was livid. A lot of people were very angry, but Mother Nature—oh man, she was scary! She immediately broke through his defences and managed to get your Aunts back, but he was ready when she tried to save your Mother."

"It was powerful magic," Autumn said. "The likes of which was only seen by the warlocks of old, the ones who were sent away with the call. It took out Mother Nature and the Grand Witches, who were assisting her."

"We were no help at all, I'm afraid," Spring said with a pout. "The three of us weren't in good shape."

"Don't become a prisoner. Zero out of ten, do not recommend," Summer joked. "Most uncomfortable beds ever and dungeons are so dark and dreary, not nearly enough sunlight."

"You can't even photosynthesize," Spring said.

"But what happened to Mom?"

"Your Father did," Winter said with a loving smile. "He had had a plan B, you see."

"I infiltrated my brother's ranks. A bunch of rebels and I had, actually. The Kringle Elves, specifically. It seemed that taking the seasons and throwing the world into all sorts of chaos and unbalance had been the last straw for them. Other elf factions were trying to stabilize the world. The Kringles and I stayed behind, slowly infiltrating Pyros's forces in the hopes of finally defeating him while he was distracted with the others. So, I walked in, got the keys, freed your mother, and we walked right out!"

"Well, not quite," Winter said with a smirk.

"No, no, that's how it went."

"I seem to recall someone forgetting his papers, and almost getting us skewered until I saved the day."

"I vaguely recall that too, yes."

"Near skewering aside, Blaise and I ended up discovering something amazing during that fight."

"Our love for each other?" Blaise asked.

"What? No. That was when you went ahead and abolished the monarchy—"

"Really? Huh. For me it was watching you absolutely terrorize those guards and get us out of the prison safely."

"Oh! Really? It was the abdication for me," Winter said, blushing.

"Are you two for real? I thought it was the roses!" Spring said, annoyed.

"The roses were important," Winter said with a soft smile.

"Oh," Jack said, realization dawning. "Is that why the roses on the walkway are always blooming?"

"Yes!" both Winter and Spring replied.

"It was my wedding gift to them," Spring added with a flourish, a few stray petals sailing off on the breeze.

"Hey! Let's focus on the story here!" Fiera said, fist pounding the table.

"Yeah! What did you guys discover?!" Fino asked, putting the conversation back on track.

"They found a way to defeat Pyros," Summer replied. "A way to seal him away."

"It didn't last long, of course. Your father didn't want it to be permanent, otherwise the four of us would've made sure it was. But it was something and at that point, we just needed to stop him."

"So we mounted an offensive," Summer said, standing up now, one leg on the bench. "We pushed him and his forces all the way back to Crystal Springs, until they fell back to Frost Castle. But then, BAM! They were ambushed from the inside thanks to Blaise and the Kringles! And so, the final battle had BEGUN! Wham! Bam! Sunbeams! Flowers! Petals! Snow! Ice! Leaves! Decay! Magic! And fire, lots and lots of fire. Your parents were no match for Pyros when they worked together, and in a matter of seconds, he was defeated and sealed away."

"But not before he uttered one last little incantation," Spring said. "The Curse of the Hardened Heart. And he tailored it, too. He specified that it was a frozen heart. What was it he said again?"

"Well loosely translated what he said was something akin to "beware the frozen heart, for nothing would thaw it; unyielding to warmth and unfeeling, it would bring about your downfall". Again, loosely translated. I'm no expert in dead languages. Could've been a downfall instead of your downfall."

"You're right on the nose there, Autumn." Blaise said, frowning. "See kids, the thing about curses is that they're very powerful. Not just any warlock could do it; like I was saying, it would have to be a warlock who has nearly been consumed by negative emotions. Hate. Grief. Jealousy. Whatever. And I just couldn't believe that Pyros had enough hate for me—for us, to do something like that. Curses are strong, and powerful, and you don't want to mess with them."

"Despite it all, you still loved your brother," Jacqueline piped up. "And you couldn't imagine him not feeling the same way. That's heartbreaking, Dad. Damn."

"You really didn't think he was powerful enough to lay down a curse?" Jack asked.

"I knew he could do it. He was definitely that powerful. I just didn't think he had it in him to do it to me." Blaise sighed.

"So when I was literally born with a frozen heart, you didn't think it was odd? At all?"

"Well it wasn't noticeable right away; not until you grew up. I thought it was a coincidence, as your frozen antics ramped up. A nasty one."

"I mean, if I was dear old Uncle Pyros and that hell bent to rule the world, I would probably be able to find enough rage to fuel a curse," Jack added. "Easily."

"That's what everyone kept saying," Blaise said with a helpless shrug. "And for those who heard Pyros utter the curse with his last breath, well, it added up."

"Those words were the reason nobody thought you could be thawed," Summer said, sitting back down. "Especially when your little sister came around. She was attached to your hip! Her mere existence put a slight pause on all of your shenanigans. But even with all that love, you were still frozen. That confirmed it for most if not all of us," she added with a shrug, head in her hands again.

"And now look," Autumn said, hoping to steer into safer waters. "Thousands of years later and the curse is broken. Here you are! All thawed out!"

"All because of a hug," Spring said thoughtfully. "This Lucy, she's an ordibeing?"

"As far as I know, yes," Jack said. "Though she is related to a magihuman. Well, half related. And the families hang out all the time."

"Maybe a little magic has rubbed off on her?" Autumn said.

"Maybe," Spring said.

"Maybe she herself is a magihuman. They're not unheard of outside of magical families."

"No they are not. But that's a discussion for another day. You were saying, Jack?"

"Magical hugs," Jacqueline reminded him.

"Ah yes. Right. Are we sure I'm good to continue—"

"Yes." Spring said, dismissing any thoughts Jack had been about to voice. "Go on, if you please."

She's being polite. That's probably good, right?

Jacqueline nodded enthusiastically. Absolutely. And you thought she was going to kill you.

The night is still young, Jack thought back.

Goddess above, Jacqueline thought back with a groan.

"Right! Magical hugs! So! There I was, being hugged by this little girl, feeling all warm inside and suddenly, there was a crack! And another! Multiple cracks! And I stood in a pile of ice! Her hug had worked. I was thawed. I couldn't believe it. I even said so out loud, you know, I said, they told me it couldn't be done, and do you know what Lucy said?"

"Something about magical hugs?" Jacqueline teased.

"Yes!" Jack said, excitable, the tease going right over his head. "That they didn't know about magical hugs!"

"She's got us there," Spring mused. "I don't think any of us thought of hugs, let alone magical ones."

"Right. So. Here I am! Thawed! And once I thawed, Lucy's parents did, too. Everything was alright! The day was saved, I was thawed, Santa's family started a group hug, and smack centre in this giant group hug, Mrs. Claus goes into labour."

"Oh my god. This all happened in a day?"

"Not even a day, a couple of hours, maybe. Right before Santa had to leave for delivery duty!"

"You know, I can see why he was so stressed," Autumn noted.

"I'd probably try to run too," Summer said. "Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Boy. They named him Buddy, after his grandpa, I believe. At least his grandpa has a normal name that doesn't sound so cantankerous."

Jacqueline snorted. "Canicus, cantankerous…they really do sound the same! Hey Dad, was gramps known to be cantankerous?"

"On occasion, yes," Blaise said. "Usually on an empty stomach."

Jacqueline laughed. "I can't believe gramps was prone to hanger."

"I can," Jack said, glancing at Jacqueline. "You got it from somewhere and I don't think Mom or Dad have ever been hangry."

"Oh, I've had my moments," Winter said.

"She has," Blaise agreed.

"Speaking of hanger. Seconds, anyone?" Autumn asked. "Or should we bring out the desserts?"

"I'm going in for seconds," Summer said. "Shish-kabobs, anyone?"

"I'll take the plate!" Jacqueline replied, Jack once more leaning back as food was passed in front of him.

"So," Jack continued, unabashed, "one chaotic day, two deliveries, and Christmas festivities later, it's Boxing Day. The Pole is in recovery mode, and the Council has gathered to discuss my new condition. Santa didn't believe it was permanent. Mother Nature insisted! They bickered, as us Legends usually do, until Bernard barged in. He had heard about what happened prior to the thaw, and had a run in with someone who had told him about said thaw. That someone being Jacqueline, as we have just learnt."

Everyone turned to Jacqueline, whose mouth was stuffed full of mashed potatoes. She gulped them down, clearing her throat. "Bernard had already gotten wind of what had happened. I told him about the other details, and about the strange morning I was having and about my suspicions."

"Your suspicions being?" Spring asked.

"That something had somehow thawed Jack. That was the only logical conclusion I could come to, after the morning I had had. In a moment of crazy confidence, I decided to go to the Pole and try to figure it out myself. I chickened out almost immediately. I'm glad B-Man was there, though. He said he'd keep what I said in mind and let me know what had happened as soon as he had figured it out."

"I'm glad he was there, too," Jack said, helping himself to seconds. "He really saved my butt."

"All thanks to me. So, you know, you're welcome," Jacqueline said, pushing the fixings off of her skewer.

"Well thank you, Jacqueline. You probably helped save my frosty behind from being expelled."

"Thank goodness for that, because I was not ready to take the title again so soon."

"Again? So soon?" Autumn asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Um," Jacqueline said, paling. "I'm just. I mean. Uh, like—"

"Mom had her sub in while Jack was doing his original community service," Spring said. "I assume that's what you're talking about?" she asked Jacqueline, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Totally. I mean, Mom helped too but yeah. That's. That's what I'm talking about. Definitely," she finished, digging into the kebob pile on her plate.

Jack sighed, trying very hard not to grimace. He knew exactly what she had been talking about, and was more than happy to not bring that up for a good long while. He could do without a second snowball ambush, thank you very much. He cleared his throat.

"If I could get on with my story? Unless anyone else would be so rude as to interrupt?"

"Do continue, Jack," Spring said, listening again.

"With Bernard's timely arrival, my fate was sealed! I was to stay at the North Pole and do the community service I was originally supposed to do before Christmas, and then some. And I doubled down! I was a one-legend army! I did all sorts of odds and ends that Santa or Bernard or Elle needed me to do. I was a whiz in wrapping, and I heard that my cookies and cocoa mixes were to die for. It's amazing what a little bit of cinnamon and vanilla and a dab of citrus can do to a drink," Jack said, pausing to take a sip of his. "Mother Nature checked in every so often. Started off twice a week, then weekly, then I think it was every other week, then eventually, the check ins slowed to a near stop. I made an excellent elf, if I do say so myself. Even better than some of the actual yes-men!"

"And your powers," Autumn asked. "They were working then?"

Jack's heart dropped a bit. "Y-yes. They worked well enough through January. They got weak in February, and by March I was getting concerned. In April the Pole began to warm and by June, the Deliquesce had all but begun. It's interesting, really. The better my relationships with the Claus family and the elves got, the worse my powers got," he added, staring at his hands.

He remembered the start of the Deliquesce very well. He was with Santa doing some rounds around the shop floor when a few elves came rushing in from the outskirts, talking about puddles and melting and warm temperatures. Santa had looked at Jack, concerned; Jack himself had gone up to the Dome to see what was happening, Bernard close behind.

Sure enough, there had been puddles. Jack couldn't explain why—and so they had monitored it. It was all they could have done, really, since Jack himself was at a loss.

"What happened in June?" Summer asked.

"Puddles," Jack said, snapping back to the present. "At the time, I wasn't sure what was happening…so they watched it. By October, the ice began to fall."

"And your powers were completely gone, I assume?" Spring asked.

"All but. I…I didn't want to tell them why it was happening. It was embarrassing—who was I without my powers? Even more so that I had no idea why they were dwindling down to near nothing. I'm a bit ashamed to admit, I spent September and October trying my best to avoid the subject at meetings, and when I was with certain people…but by November, Santa had had it. He called an emergency meeting, and cornered me. He called it an intervention," Jack said, frowning.

"And this is the meeting that happened last week, correct?"

Jack nodded. "Yep. Santa was really nice about it. Too nice, really. That's the other thing about him! He's willing to give you all these chances and it's like come on dude, you gotta draw the line somewhere, you know? But with the state of the Dome and people starting to think that I wasn't as thawed as I appeared to be, I realized that I couldn't go on any longer hiding the truth. So, I spilled the beans. Told everyone what was happening and that I didn't know why and. Well. I needed help. I just didn't want to admit it," he said with a shrug. "The Council decided that the best course of action would be to enact the Legate Law. And, well, that passed no problem. And enter Jacqueline!"

Everyone turned to look at Jacqueline, who had her mouth very full of vegetables now. "Mmm!" she tried to speak, unsuccessfully. With a grumble, she swallowed the veggies in one large gulp, coughing briefly and taking a long drink before she spoke. "Partially," she said, hoarsely. She cleared her throat, had another sip, and then spoke again. "They partially enacted the Legate Law. Mother Nature couldn't do much to give Jack his powers, of course, because that's not something anyone can do, really. You can't just give powers, and you definitely can't just strip someone of their powers."

"Right," Spring said.

"Of course," Autumn said.

"I don't know why anyone would think that you could do that," Summer said with a head shake.

"By semi-enacting the Legate Law, the Council hopped that I could fill in the wintry gaps while I helped Jack figure out his freezer burn."

"Freezer burn? Is that what we're calling it?" Spring said with a smirk.

Jacqueline was cackling now. "Yeah it is!"

"Jacqueline is calling it that. I never agreed to it!"

"I thought it was funny."

"It is! And clever."

"Thank you, Aunt Autumn," Jacqueline said, inhaling deeply.

"Yeah, thanks Aunt Autumn," Jack scoffed. His aunt merely laughed in return.

"Woo," Jacqueline said, her laughter winding down. "Yeah, so off I went to help Jack with the freezer burn," she said, with one last errant snicker, "And we meet up finally for the first time in like fourteen centuries. And, you know, after a bit of a stormy start, we got to work!"

"Stormy? Understatement of the year!"

"No it's not."

"My face is still stinging and that was a week ago, Jacqueline."

She laughed. "See? I told you you couldn't handle a little ruined pride."

Jack made an indignant sound, looking furiously over-the-top. "That is. So rude!" he said, amidst the laughter that ran up the table. "So rude!"

"Is that why you came home? Did little Jack get embarrassed in front of the entire North Pole and have to run home to lick his wounds?" Spring asked, saccharine.

"Speaking from experience, Aunt Spring?" Jack shot back before he could stop himself, and immediately paled.

What had been errant giggles at Spring's jab erupted into even uproarious laughter as Spring flushed darker than the fresh tomatoes Summer had brought over. Jack frowned. He had expected everyone to go silent; any moment then, the killing blow would come his way, and he'd be IMPALED on a thorny vine sword, or a bed of sharp rocks. But instead, he got laughter?!

He sat up a bit straighter, watching everyone laugh. Where was the vine sword? No murderous plants? No, just laughter. Lots of it. So much so that Fiera was giving Fino the Heimlich he had laughed so hard. Winter looked very, very proud, and Jack was sure if he could hear his mother's thoughts, they'd sound something like Nice one, Jack dear or maybe Eat sleet, Spring. He tried to ignore the pang of regret he felt at that sentiment.

"That's my boy!" Blaise yelled at the end of the table, with a very big grin, doing a double take when he noticed Fino choking.

"Haha, so funny, you are all just such comedians, aren't you?" Spring said, pouting.

"Well, he had to get it from somewhere, Spring," Winter replied, watching the twins with concern as Fino finally started coughing up whatever he had choked on.

"That's—you're so—ou, puddles!"

Winter leaned to the side with a satisfied smirk, just missing the pineapple chunk that Fino shot out as Fiera gently patted his back. "There ya go, Fino."

"Thanks sis," he said, hoarsely, very carefully taking his glass and sipping. "That was a good one."

"So funny you almost died," Fiera said.

The pineapple safely out of Fino's throat, Blaise sat down, relieved; Winter settled back, leaning on Blaise's side, relieved as well. "Let's try not to die, okay?"

"Yeah, I didn't come home to add accidental manslaughter to my repertoire."

"Then why did you?" Spring asked, still a little flushed. "What finally spurred you to come back home, after all these years AND, not to mention, a whole year POST thaw. Why not sooner? Why not come home the moment you thawed?"

"Aunt Spring, he—"

Jack held out a hand, cutting Jacqueline off before she could finish her thought. "For starters, I was a bit busy with the whole. Crime and punishment thing. I doubt anyone would've let me leave right away, after everything that had happened."

"Really? That's it?" Spring said, eyebrow raised.

"Also, I was a bit...hesitant. It had been a very long time since I had been home or seen my sister or mom and dad; you said so yourself, Aunt Spring. And I'd never even met the twins. And after everything that happened when I was younger, who's to say they'd even know me? How would everyone react? I wasn't about to rush into things, and had a lot of making up to do up North before I could even begin to entertain the idea of coming home."

"Can confirm. I almost had to drag him home which would've been hard given that we're like, almost the same size."

"It didn't feel like right away was the way to do things," Jack added. "Call it fate, if you will. But I think that it was better that coming back home happened like this," he finished, gesturing around him.

"Well, fate or not, it seems to be working out," Spring said, finally, finally loosening up. "You're home at last, eh Jack?"

"And about time too," Summer added, elbowing him.

"It makes much more sense to be in Crystal Springs, given the situation. Sure, the Pole is old, but Crystal Springs is ancient. Eons of magical knowledge is kept safe here, not to mention, the source of all magic itself resides on the continent. Is that why the sudden push to come home?"

"Well," Jacqueline began, stirring her drink. "It was a couple of things. That was definitely one of them. Um. It's also crowded up North, and busy time right now. We didn't want to be too in the way. Or cause trouble," she added, rubbing the back of her neck and looking a little embarrassed.

"You should've seen it," Jack said, sensing the growing unease coming from his sister. Resisting the urge to think look who's leaking now, Jack put on his best "getting my butt handed to me by my little sister was very funny" face and continued. "Our first day of work, we drew in a huge crowd! Stopped the workshop over all three lunches! We can't help it if we look that cool doing our jobs," Jack finished, elbowing his sister.

She smiled a bit, collecting herself quickly before looking back up. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. We spent the whole morning trying to see what was left of Jack's powers, to see if that was a decent starting point. But we were so distracting that both ourselves and the elves were getting nothing done!"

"So, Jacqueline thought that maybe it'd be best if we headed home."

"And there were kinda these little hints that helped further the case," Jacqueline added.

"Little hints?"

"Mhmm! Jack's powers made a special guest appearance whenever we talked about home, or working together, and that was kind of the final push. I sent a letter to Mom and Dad, explained everything, they replied and said come home ASAP, and well. Here we are," Jacqueline finished, shrugging as she slurped her drink.

"Here you are indeed," Spring said, folding her arms on the table and smiling—actually smiling—at Jack.

"And did coming home help?" Autumn asked.

"We figured out what was going on almost immediately," Jacqueline said.

"Literally this morning," Jack added.

"Well, last night, really. We figured out it was a problem with Jack's essence."

"It seems to be having a bit of stage fright, what with the whole rebranding," Jack said, gesturing to himself.

"But you look a little frosty, still," Spring said. "Did you figure out how to fix it?"

"You can't just fix an essence," Autumn said. "It's your drive. It's what makes your magic your magic. It powers your abilities."

"Aha! You're pulling from the ether!" Summer realized.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" Jack said, presenting Summer to the table with his arms open wide.

"Thank you, thank you," Summer said, standing up and bowing. "I will accept my prize, ah, most graciously."

"No you won't," Winter teased.

"You're right, I won't. Instead, I am going to demand it!" She said, slamming her hands down on the table. "Bring on dessert!"

---

One speedy fast table clear and reset later, everyone sat eating slices of pie topped with ice cream with their after-dinner drinks, chatting away like nothing had interrupted them.

"So pulling from the ether has given you temporary use of your powers," Summer said, between bites. "But you weren't doing that when Jacqueline fixed the Dome?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope. I was just being supportive, you know, cheering her on, shoulder pat, that sort of thing."

"Shoulder stick. Shoulder sticky? Shoulder glue," Jacqueline mused.

"I'm sorry, how much have you had?" Jack asked, glancing at the colourful liquid in his sister's cup.

"Not enough to warrant that reaction from you," Jacqueline replied. "I'm no lightweight."

"So then, if the Legate Law was semi-enacted, and you weren't using the ether...how did you guys do that?" Spring asked.

"I think it's a Legate thing," Jacqueline said. "It must be something to do with the Legate-Legend connection. It was like a weird power merge, or something. We haven't tried to recreate it—we've got other things going on—but I think Xander may be able to help me there. I figured that Sandman would be our best bet to figure it out, since they had already had a sort of Legate thing going on well before it was implemented and their historical records are like, wow. They go way back! I was gonna pop by sometime in the next few days."

"Xander?" Jack asked.

"Sandman's Legate," Jacqueline supplied.

"His son," Spring added. "Lovely man. Photographic memory."

"Never sleeps," Jacqueline added.

"Now that's the weirdest thing I've heard all day. Next thing you're gonna tell me is that Cupid's Legate is never grumpy."

"She isn't!" Jacqueline said, a little too fast. "She's very lovely and sweet and her wings are very soft."

"Really now?"

"Yep. She gives really nice hugs," Jacqueline said, oblivious to Jack's tone. He looked over at Spring as Jacqueline happily ate the pie filling, quirking up an eyebrow. Spring rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"You'll see whenever our next Summit is," Spring said. "It'll be nice to have it start on time since you both know you'll both be there!"

"The shade," Summer said, passing the serviettes down the table; the Twins giggled.

I think we'll need some ice for that burn, Jack thought at his sister, as the conversation trailed off.

We'll just make sure to show up on time. And maybe bring snacks. Thanks, by the way, she replied, scooping ice cream into her glass.

For what?

For not bringing up the blackouts. I appreciate it.

Oh! Right. Not a problem! For once, you were the leaky faucet. How the tables have turned.

Jacqueline rolled her eyes, pouring a soft liquor onto the ice cream. Enjoy it while you can, old man, she replied with a smirk, passing the tub of ice cream across the table.

Takes one to know one, Jack replied, sipping his own drink

Jacqueline turned to glare at him, crossing her arms with a huff. He smirked back with a wink, chuckling into his cup as she rolled her eyes and began stabbing the ice cream into her drink with a spoon.

You haven't looked into those at all yet, have you?

Jacqueline sighed, ceasing the stabbing and looking at her brother. She looked very tired, all of a sudden; very downtrodden. No. I don't even know where to start. I can't remember shit, so, y'know. She shrugged, almost helplessly.

Would it help if I started looking into that for you?

Jacqueline nodded. Yeah. Maybe a bit.

I think we should also talk to Mom and Dad about them. They may have more of an idea—

NO! Jacqueline's thoughts screamed; her spoon clattered on the dish as she slammed her hands on the table. The chatter stopped; everyone looked at the sprite.

"Sorry! Sorry, just had some condensation on my fingers," she said with a smile. "Don't mind me!"

With shrugs and nods, the attention was soon off of her. Jacqueline sighed, shoulders sagging in relief.

Sorry, she thought, quietly now. I know we should; you're right. I'm just a little apprehensive about it, is all.

Well, Jack replied, cutting himself another slice of pie. Whenever you're ready, let me know. We'll talk to Mom and Dad about it together. Okay?

Okay.

---

The rest of dinner went by uneventfully. Jack had successfully won over his aunts, and by the time dessert was finished, he found himself relatively at ease. Since his excellent jab at Spring didn't result in his murder, Jack let himself take a couple of other cheap shots here and there, to much laughter and return fire.

The Twin's sword fight had intensified; worried about seasons being stabbed, Winter had shooed them out to the yard, with a futile reminder to keep the backyard clean, if they'd please. She stood at the railing, supervising the pair with Jacqueline. She was chatting Winter's ear off, the season nodding when needed while keeping her eyes on the youngest two.

Spring and Summer still sat at the table with Jack, asking him for the nitty gritty details of his year at the Pole. So many questions about the Claus's, and the baby, and the dynamic, and Jack's stay…it was all rather fascinating, Autumn thought, as she cleared the table, bringing in the dirty dishes for her sister. And as fascinating as Jack's year abroad was, there was something else entierly that she hadn't stopped thinking about since arriving at Frost Manor. She had bigger colours to change.

Stepping out of the kitchen and onto the porch, Autumn gently closed the sliding door behind her. She turned left, away from the table, towards the barbecue. Blaise was whistling behind the counter, taking out all sorts of alcoholic beverages and cups. He had a metal tumbler in his hands, and was giving it a big old ice-filled shake when Autumn quietly stopped behind the barbecue, watching her brother-in-law's flashy bartending.

She cleared her throat quietly, Blaise doing a double take.

"Autumn! You snuck up on me!"

"It's my specialty. Do you have a mo?"

"Sure," Blaise said, tapping the counter. "Have a seat! This one's specially made for you," he said, shaking the tumbler up again.

Autumn laughed. "Thanks, Blaise."

"Anytime," he said, grabbing a glass and popping open the tumbler, pouring a very autumn looking liquid into the cup and giving it to her.

Autumn took a sip. "Mmm! Pumpkin spice! With a little extra spice."

"I thought you'd like it," Blaise said with a grin. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"I've been watching Winter and Jack all night," Autumn began.

Blaise's whistling stopped. So did his mixing. He placed the tumbler down, giving Autumn his full attention. "So you've noticed it then."

Autumn nodded. "I was hoping you could offer some insight."

Blaise chose his words carefully. "Potentially," he decided, leaning forward on the counter. "I guess that depends on if your it is the same as my it."

"It's interesting," Autumn began, thoughtfully. "They're both present and interacting with each other, but it seems...not fake, but very surface level. Like there's lots they have to say but can't say it. Which doesn't surprise me, given Winter's..." the season trailed off, trying to find the word she was thinking of.

"She's the awkward sibling, I know," Blaise said. "No need to soften the blow. I won't tell her," He added with a wink.

Autumn laughed, sipping her drink. "Ou! Is there orange in this?"

"Freshly squeezed," Blaise said with a grin, pointing lazily at the pile of peeled, squeezed, and sliced fruit on the large cutting board behind him.

"Yum. Does everyone know she's the awkward sibling?"

"Everyone but her," Blaise said. "And I thought Jacqueline got her obliviousness from my side of the family."

Autumn laughed. "You don't think you were the awkward sibling?"

"Definitely not," Blaise said, very sure of himself. "But that's a whole other fire to burn some other day."

"You did good today, you know," Autumn said. "It was very brave of you to openly talk about the curse."

Blaise sighed. "We're trying to be better about being honest with each other. And with Jack back now, well. There's certainly no slacking there! I'll have to talk to him about it soon enough. Seems we still have a few things to work through. Well, more so me, I suppose."

"Nobody gets it right on the first try," Autumn offered. "Which is why I'm wondering. Has Winter even tried talking to Jack about what happened?"

Blaise stood up straighter in his lean, looking thoughtful. "A couple of times. She's getting frustrated. It was easy for Jack and I to talk about it all. Sure, we're not done yet, but we didn't have a hard time starting. The Twins were excited to meet him, so that went well enough. Fino had a list of questions as long as I am tall," Blaise said with a laugh.

"and Fiera?"

"Slapped him silly."

"Ouch! Not the first or last time, I expect."

"That was the general consensus."

"And Jacqueline?"

"Jacqueline opened up easily enough. Maybe a bit, ah, ferociously from what I've been told, but I think out of all of us, she deserves to be a little angry."

Autumn hummed in agreememnt. "It hasn't been easy for Winter, then?"

"Not in the slightest!" Blaise said, rolling his shoulders and coming around the counter, joining Autumn on the stool beside her with a sigh. "She's tried a handful of times, but something always comes up. Her confidence runs dry. She gets interrupted by other matters." His shoulders lifted, a lazy little shrug and a sort of it is what it is look.

"We really did bring Spring down a peg, I promise."

"I believe you," Blaise said with a smile, pouring himself some of the autumn mix he had made.

Autumn let him take a sip before she continued. "So, do the its match?"

Blaise nodded. "The two of them just aren't connecting, you know?"

"More than you think," Autumn said, catching his meaning.

"Did Winter tell you?"

"No, Jack did."

Blaise looked confused for a moment, before understanding lit up his features. "Oh! Oh, well that explains a lot. Jack did it too?"

"Winter did it too?"

"Yes."

"Yes!"

"This is so on brand for Winter," Autumn said with a fond smile. "The two of them are having the exact same problem for the exact same reasons, and neither have been able to act on it."

Blaise laughed. "Well, when you phrase it like that it seems simple enough. Where do you start with all of that, when you have so much to say but can't connect? Literally?" Blaise finished his drink, the cup hitting the counter with a slam as he chuckled. "I love her so much. She's really been trying, you know. They both have, really."

"I could tell. Winter was ready to kill Spring."

"Dinner and a show," Blaise said, topping up Autumn's cup with a smile. "I'm not sure what to do. It's not like I could force them to talk. I'd rather they did it on their own terms when they were both ready."

Autumn hummed in agreement, deep in thought. Blaise let her ponder for a bit, refilling his cup while he waited.

"One of them needs to tell the other, and if they won't do it, I think I will."

"Are you sure? I could—"

"You're very sweet, Blaise, but I think it may be better coming from her sister. No offence to you at all! I just think that an outside perspective may give her a bit of a wake up call."

"Oh, none taken," Blaise replied, looking thoughtful before nodding in agreement. "It could be just what Winter needs. Just don't rush them, okay? Like I said. I want them both to feel ready."

"I do too," Autumn said. "Trust me, Blaise. I won't pressure either of them, I promise." She hopped off of the stool, smiling up at the fiery man. "I hope you don't mind if I cut this conversation short. I need to go talk to my sister. Thanks for the advice!"

"You're very welcome," Blaise said, a little perplexed as to exactly what advice he had given her.

---

"So it seems like they're all adjusting well," Jacqueline finished, her eyes peeled on the Twins now, too.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Winter replied. "I'm glad those two took some vacation time."

"Me too!" Jacqueline glanced over her shoulder. Autumn had joined Blaise at the grill. The table was clear, save for Jack and Summer, who sat with their feet up, drinks in hand, chatting away. Spring had gotten up, stretching her back.

"Table's clear," Jacqueline said. "I can go take care of the dishes if you want. Make it easier to just go to bed when everyone leaves?"

"Oh no, I'll go do them. I could use the break. Keep an eye on your siblings; there's been a surprising lack of fire, so I expect we'll be seeing some soon. I'll be back shortly," Winter said, lifting her heels just enough to kiss the top of Jacqueline's head.

"Sure thing," Jacqueline said, fixing the hair Winter had mussed.

With a satisfied nod, Winter headed towards the sliding door, watching Blaise fondly as he bent over the counter, deep in conversation with Autumn. She slid it open, stepping into the kitchen.

She took a deep breath in, marvelling in the silence. It was a very welcome reprieve from the chatter and noise out back. A moment away—it was just what she needed. She slid the door closed behind her, making her way to the sink. Just her and the dishes. A nice moment to recharge and not worry about Jack or her sisters or—

"Winter! Winter! Hey," Spring hopped into the house, sliding the door closed behind her.

Winter sighed. "Indoor voice, please, Spring."

"Of course. Sorry," she said, softer. "May I help with the dishes?"

"Certainly," Winter said, making her way around the kitchen table to the sink. "It's the least you can do, since you went ahead and invited yourself over today," Winter said with a sniff.

Spring sighed, taking up position by the drying rack. She grabbed a cloth, watching quietly as Winter filled the sink with soapy water, rolled back her sleeves, and got to work scrubbing.

"I'm really sorry about that," Spring said, sighing. "Honest. I can see that I hit a bit of a nerve. You've mentioned it at least three times already."

"A bit?" Winter snapped, one of the plates clattering a little too loudly into the sink as she turned to glare at her sister. "They hadn't even been home for a day, Spring! A day! And you barged over right away!"

"I was worried!" Spring said, her voice rising. She sighed. "Sorry. Quiet time." She took a deep breath in, and then exhaled slowly. "I was worried. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I mean, it's Jack, Winter. In your HOUSE."

"He lived here too you know. It's as much his home as it is mine or Blaise's or Jacqueline's. And imagine yourself in his shoes. You come home to see your parents for the first time in a long time and not even a DAY later you're dealing with nosy aunty Spring who just had to see for herself if Jack really was thawed and home or whatever," Winter said with a huff, furiously scrubbing dinner plates.

"That wasn't it!"

"Then what was?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, okay? I just." She exhaled, drying the dish Winter had just scrubbed half to death very gently. "You've been through so much, and I wanted to help. I didn't know what to expect from Jack. Every time I've seen him it's always because he's done some fresh nonsense and frozen something that shouldn't have been frozen or moved a cold front into the south in the middle of July, and knowing he was here? I couldn't stop thinking about how that could go for you."

"And not how it would or did."

"No," Spring replied, drying the last dinner plate. "And then, seeing him do all those little nice things at the table? Freezing Fiera's glass, answering Fino's questions, inside jokes with Jacqueline of all people!"

"Well, the two of them do have a week on the rest of us."

"Right," Spring said, gathering the cutlery up and dropping it into the sink with a splash. Winter stepping back in a nick of time. "I just worry. About you. A lot."

"I've noticed," Winter said, with a grandiose wave of her arm at the very tippy tops of the cupboards around the kitchen. The plants growing over their pots and gently cascading down the sides of the cupboards or up the wall seemed almost blue or purple in the dark, the colourful blooms looking much more pastel as the moonlight from the windows hit them.

"I'm not very good at being reasonably worried, admittedly. I know I can be a bit overbearing."

"Especially this time around," Winter said, draining the sink enough that she could make out the sharper pieces of cutlery. "Maybe instead of putting yourself in Jack's shoes, you should put yourself in mine. Imagine this: you have a child who has returned after centuries away. The last time the two of you saw one another, you fought. But they're here, now, and they've grown and changed so much," Winter said, glancing out the window above the sink. Jack was at the railing now, looking perplexed as Fiera chased Fino around the yard, completely on fire. She smiled fondly. "Their face isn't as smooth as you remember; but neither is yours. They're certainly not as young as they once were. The two of you have a lot to talk about, and work through, together. But not even a day after they've come home, your overbearing sister Winter calls you up and demands to come over for dinner, and won't take no for an answer, preventing ANY early attempts at reconciling."

Spring sighed. "Yeah, I'd be mad, too." She blew a stray lock of hair away with a huff. "Ah, puddles. I messed up decently, didn't I?"

"Yes. You did. I understand that you want to be there for me. Really, I do. And I appreciate it," Winter said, placing the forks in the kitchen towel Spring had spread across her palms. "But I need you to tone it down a notch, Spring. Why do you worry so much about me? I'm not some frail and delicate helpless little princess, sitting pretty in a glass palace. I have frozen entire cities and knocked out major roadways for days on end! I'm a force of nature and I can very well handle myself!"

"You are absolutely terrifying and I appreciate you reminding me about that tonight. I won't forget it. I'll try to balance the worry with care and not be as overbearing." Spring sighed, placing the dried forks in the cutlery drawer. "Mom is so much better at this sort of thing than I am. I can't seem to get it right," she said with a sad smile.

"That's because she's a mother," Winter replied. "She knows how to do it. And while yes, there is the whole balance thing too, she has plenty of experience with the four of us."

Winter placed the sponge down, quickly drying her hands and turning to look at her sister. "You may be her Legate, Spring, but that's not all you are, you know. You're Spring. You're also, quite literally, a force to be reckoned with," she said with a fond smile, gently placing her hand on Spring's cheek. "Stop trying so hard to be something you're not. Just be you. I like you better as my tiny, bubbly, springy sister than as Mother's shadow," she said, rubbing Spring's cheek with her thumb.

"You're so good at this," Spring said, placing her hand under Winter's and laying her head on it, squeezing the season's cool, pale hand between her palm and her cheek.

"That's because I, too, am a mother," Winter said, as the twins screamed in the background, the light from a fire briefly lighting up the space around them. "And my kids are insane," she added, letting go as they faintly heard Jacqueline cheering in the distance, Jack piping up shortly after.

Spring laughed, turning back to the dish rack and drying the spoons as Winter got to work on the knives. "This whole family is a little bit insane, don't you think?"

"And quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way," Winter said, with the confidence and surety that only a Frost could have.

---

With the last piece of the puzzle in her hands, Autumn headed towards the railing to complete the picture...only to find that Winter had disappeared.

"Jacqueline?"

The sprite jumped. "You startled me, Aunt Autumn."

"Two in one night," Autumn replied with a michiveious smile. "Where's your mom?"

"She went in to do the dishes. Thanks for clearing the table, by the way."

"Of course! It's the least we can do, given the circumstances."

"AUNT SUMMER!" Fiera yelled, bounding towards the base of the stairs, Fino in tow.

"Maybe I'll go give her a hand," Autumn mused.

"I'd give it a moment," Summer said, approaching the railing with Jack following closely behind. "Spring went to go help."

Jacqueline made a face; Jack made a low noise to match it.

"I'd hate to be in Spring's shoes right now," he said, as Fiera climbed up the steps four-legged beast style and stopped on the floor.

"I bet it'd be fun to watch though," Jacqueline replied.

"Ou, you're bad," Jack said.

"You were thinking it too!" Jacqueline said accusingly, as Fino plonked on top of Fiera. She briefly deflated, Fino laughing at her dramatics.

"Because it would be," Jack replied, the Twins settling down and staring at Summer, smiles much too wide and mischief in their eyes.

"What's up with you two?" Summer asked, eyebrow raised, trying very hard to hide her smile. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew what was going to happen next.

"Come play fire tag with us!" Fiera asked without asking.

"Fire what now?" Jack asked properly.

"Fire tag," Summer replied. "It's their favourite game. One of mine, too."

"I personally like it a LOT better than hide and explode," Jacqueline said.

"Hide and—don't tell me," Jack realized, resigned. "Fire tag is literal, isn't it?"

"Yep!" Fino said cheerily, pushing off of his Twin. "You light yourself on fire, like this," he said, immediately bursting into flames. "And then you play tag! And the person you tag..." he said, touching Fiera and extinguishing.

"...Is it!" Fiera said, hopping up and igniting the moment Fino poked her.

"You two know I don't really play with fire," Summer said with a grin.

"You like a little heat, though. And we are little heats!" Fiera said, smacking Summer's hand. "You're it!"

"Welp, them's the rules," Summer said with a shrug. "Guess I'm IT!"

And in seconds, the season was lit up, her fire looking a little sunnier than the Twin's flames had. They both squealed, nearly tripping over each other down the stairs in an effort to run away from Summer.

"Not on the deck!" Blaise shouted from the grill, shaking up a new drink.

"You got it, boss!" Summer said, saluting and hopping over the railing, chasing the Twins deep into the backyard as they squealed in delight.

Jack watched over the railing, perplexed. "How on earth do you play this with them?"

"It takes so. Much. Ice. But still better than being exploded when your hiding spot is found," Jacqueline said with a shrug, turning her attention to the game. "GET EM, AUNT SUMMER!"

Jack laughed and decided, you know, what the heck. Might as well enjoy it, right? At least he wasn't on fire. "YEAH! CRUSH THOSE LITTLE HOT HEADS!"

Autumn saw her opportunity. Quick as a breeze, she headed towards the back door.

---

The knives had barely been placed in the drying rack when the sound of the screen door rolling on the tracks had both seasons looking up curiously. Autumn poked her head in with a little wave. "Hey ladies."

"Autumn."

"Everything okay?"

"The Twins are playing fire tag with Summer. I think we'll be needing a little bit of rain soon enough!"

Spring smiled. "Duty calls! Can you take over for me?"

"Of course. That's why I came in," Autumn said, grabbing a fresh dish towel.

"Thank you!" Spring said cheerily. "Oh! Almost forgot," and, turning back around she gave Winter a great big hug. "Thanks, sis."

Winter smiled, patting her back. "Of course. Don't forget what I said," she said, chipper.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Spring replied and, with a jaunty little two fingered salute, ran outside, the screen door sliding shut behind her.

"That went well, then?" Autumn asked, immediately taking up drying duty.

"She apologized," Winter said. "And promised to try and be a bit less of a worrier."

"Good. She does that too much."

"And I'm quite tired of getting the brunt of it." Winter said. Autumn hummed in agreement.

The seasons washed in silence, the dessert plates slowly being washed, dried, and stacked as they enjoyed the quiet. Shouts came from the distance, muffled. The flames from the summer sprites and their game of tag lit up the distant night. The dishes clinked, the water running, the two seasons enjoying the silence together.

"How are you doing, Winter?" Autumn finally asked.

"I've no idea. I haven't had a moment to think about that since Jack and Jacqueline got home."

"How about now?"

"Hmm?"

"Here, let's switch. I'll do the scrubbing, you do the drying, and take this moment to see where you're at. If anyone comes in I'll blow them right back out."

Winter laughed. "Thanks, Autumn," she said, placing the soapy dish back into the sink and exchanging the sponge for Autumn's dish towel.

"Of course. So, where're we at?"

Winter took a deep breath in, holding it a bit before exhaling. "I've so much I want to say to him," she said, getting right to it. "And every time I've tried to say it—before you tell me to just say it—it's turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I keep getting hung up on our lack of connection."

"You think the two of you just need to reconnect?"

"Sort of," Winter said, biting her lip. "I mean. Literally though," she clarified, clearing her throat and trying her best to inconspicuously tap the side of her head as she put away the forks. "Why on Earth did I do it?" She said, a bit loudly, as she slammed the cutlery drawer shut.

"Hindsight's 20/20, they say. At the time, it felt like the right thing to do."

"But it was so wrong."

"But how were you supposed to know that then? You had just watched your husband and son physically fight. You had to split them up, Winter. And then, with what happened to Jacqueline after? I can't even imagine what that must've been like."

"It was a blur, really. I focused on nothing but Jacqueline in the moments after. Sealing the wounds as best as we could, given that we were iced in without access to the springs or the hospital. I didn't think of anything else. I fell asleep on the floor beside her bed, and woke up a week later in my own bed, and our connection was there. But seeing it so strong while the one beside it was looking a little dim? Thinking about it hurt. A lot. And so, I. Well. You know what I did," she said quietly, with a heavy sigh. "And now, it feels so weak, if it's even still there at all. It's practically in tatters! It got worse a little bit after I. You know. Did it."

Autumn nodded. "Did you ever stop to wonder why it had weakened so much, after you cut it?"

That seemed to give Winter pause. She stood up straighter, looking off thoughtfully, her hands flat on the counter. She drummed her fingers as she thought. "I don't think I ever did, actually. It hurt too much to think on it more than I had to. He had been doing so well, you know, and he was just as good at training Jacqueline as I thought he'd be. To see it all go so wrong after it seemed to be going right—" Winter sighed, shutting her eyes and exhaling. She opened one. "You think there was a reason it worsened? It's all but gone now."

Autumn passed the last plate to her sister with a knowing look.

"Ah. You know. Do I get a hint?"

Autumn shook her head with a small smile. "It's right there. You just need to squint, I think. What would make something so weak so suddenly?"

"A fault. A breakage, or a cut—oh. Oh! Oh. Oh, really? Really? Are you serious right now?"

"As serious as I can possibly be, Winter."

"Good heavens," Winter said, angrily. "How did I not realize? Gah, of course he would've. I would've done the same thing too—I did do the same thing! But goodness, had I been the one seeing my parents help each other, and then my younger sibling, but not me? Oh, the poor dear. He probably felt so alone," Winter said, her hand on her heart.

"Maybe. But he isn't now," Autumn said, gesturing out the window over the sink.

Winter looked outside. Jack and Jacqueline were both practically hanging off of the railing, cheering and whooping. Blaise seemed to have joined the field now, too, the four summer sprites locked in a ferocious battle of fire tag. Spring lagged behind, a large rain cloud floating behind her very threateningly. She stopped focusing on the group outside when she noticed her reflection in the window.

"No, he's not," she said with a smile, cracking the window open. Their reflections disappeared; now it was a clear view to the outside through the net, the muffled shouts and cheers mingled with laughter drifting in politely, along with the sound of intermittent rain. "I don't think he ever was. Blaise and I may not have been as supportive as we could've been—but we can most definitely change that now," she said with a determined smile.

"That's the spirit," Autumn said with a smile. "So what're you going to do about it?"

"Fix it, of course! If that can even be done."

"I don't see why it couldn't be done. In real life you can mend connections—so why wouldn't you be able to do that with the literal ones in your mindscape?"

"I suppose. But I've never heard of it being done before. I feel as though were we to ask someone, it'd be a very "it can't be done" situation."

"They said the same thing about Jack thawing," Autumn said, gesturing outside with her chin as she fished the cups out of the soapy water. "And look what happened! I know it's scary—"

"I'm not afraid."

"She said, like a liar."

Winter gasped, a bit dramatically. "You're my nicest sister! How could you!"

"I am also the sister who knows everything. So I know I'm right."

"I regret saying that now."

Autumn laughed. "No you don't. It knocked Spring down a peg and you love doing that. And Winter, I am a bit of a fear expert."

"Fine, fine, you caught me. Guilty as charged, on both counts. Crimes against Spring, and being a bit afraid. It's just—what if Jack refuses to? What if he agrees, but then it doesn't work?"

"You won't know until you try."

"Then I guess I'm going to have to try," Winter said, taking a deep breath in. "The question is, how?"

"Why not do something together? With just the two of you. That way neither of you have to worry about anyone else."

Winter thought for a moment, her face lighting up fairly fast with a grin almost as feral as Jacqueline's. "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"Saturday?"

"Yes, but the date."

"Not off the top of my head, no."

"Tomorrow is December first. The Crystal Springs Winter and Christmas Market will be opening up for the season, bright and early. Shopping galore, and lots of bartering. Jack used to love that! I'd wager that he still does. I usually take one of the kids with me for some fearsome bartering. And general, you know, fearsomeness."

"I bet it's terrifying when you take Fino and Fiera."

Winter laughed. "A little bit, yes. Hopefully it won't be too much, you know, seeing as how this will be the first time he's been in the city in…a very long time. It'll at least be a good opportunity to nip the rumours right in the bud, just before they start. Do you think it'll work, Autumn?"

"Do you?"

"I've no idea," Winter began, looking outside with a smile. "But I hope it does." She watched fondly as Jack laughed with his sister out on the deck, the rest of the family a flaming blur behind them. "I may not have been there for him when he was younger, but I sure as sleet can do that now!" She placed the final dish on the rack, her face determined. "I think that it's about high time I got my baby boy back."

"My work here is done," Autumn said, triumphant.

---

A/N-The source really went "fuck it. it's the entire Frost clan AND the seasons. they can swear on occasion tonight, as a treat".

Edited for the FINAL TIME (god willing) August 1st, 2022 (And then again in August of 2023, lol. I mean it this time tho it's the final edit!)

Idk why Winter/Jack reconciling has always been so hard! I think I've got it this time, though! :) I am actually in LOVE with this chapter now, and I may have a new favourite chapter (though this STILL doesn't top the Blinter in chapter 11. I love those two!) Anyway, I hope you all loved it! R and R and such, let me know what worked and please tell me if you spot any errors I may have missed-ya girl Dani did a lot of cutting and pasting phrases all over the place . Hope your Summers (or Winters!) have been treating you all well! :)