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!]

22. Chapter 21: Jacqueline's Cat

Chapter 21: Jacqueline's Cat (Two Weeks Later)

"Welp, these are a bust," Jack said, nudging open the door to the library at Frost Manor with his toe. It was a spacious room, with neat little stacks of books lining the shelves. Smaller tomes were stacked on top of the short rows, bits of papers and things crammed between the books and their pages. Weird odds and ends sat on the shelves in some places—a forgotten hair tie, a wrapped mint. Abandoned pencils and scraps of paper rattled and fluttered in the breeze that stirred when someone walked by. The far wall was almost entirely windows, the noon sun casting a warm glow into the room, illuminating the brown floors and yellow toned walls.

A few comfy chairs and a large desk sat near the windows. Blaise leant against the side of the desk with his arms crossed, one hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his fiery head simmering low. Winter sat on the edge of the desk beside Blaise, watching him consider the messy notes the pair had made on the chalkboard that had been rolled into the library from lady knew where for their little research project. Careful not to squash his mother's hand, Jack placed his book stack just behind his father.

"I'll cross them off the list, dear," Winter said, sliding off the desk and putting a big line through CURSED OBJECT(S) and SUBSTANCES (LEGAL).

Blaise sighed, rubbing his forehead and sitting on the edge of the desk. "This is not going well at all."

"You said so yourself, Dad. There's a lot of different mediums to go through."

"And we've made good progress eliminating things these past few weeks," Winter added, chipper, laying a comforting hand on his thigh.

"And there's all sorts of casters capable of doing something like this, so it's no wonder we've—sorry, Mom. Did you say weeks?"

"I did indeed."

"We've been at this for weeks!?"

"Two whole weeks," Blaise finally said, arms dropping down to the desk. He yawned. "And still not much in the way of answers."

"That depends on your perspective," Winter said. "We know what it isn't, and that's just as much of an answer as knowing what it is."

"Ever the optimist, my love," Blaise said, kissing the top of her head. "What would I do without you?"

"Perish," Winter said, with such conviction and positivity that Jack couldn't help but laugh.

The door slammed open, then, hitting the doorstop with a thwack and a boing-oing, both the door and the spring shuddering for a moment as Fiera burst into the library.

"Hello Mother. Father. Regular brother."

"Regular? As opposed to?"

"Twin brother."

"Ah."

"I have a message from one Fino S. Frost? He's a bit indisposed right now," Fiera said, hands pressed together, "But wanted me to tell you guys that you may want to start looking at illegal potions, which I noticed weren't on your board," Fiera finished, pointing with her hands still flat against each other at the board.

"Well, yes. That's because they are, in fact, illegal," Blaise said, Jack and Winter sharing a look and an eyeroll.

"I see," Fiera said, clocking it. "So, and this is Fiera now, not Fino, but uh. What makes you think someone trying to control Jacqueline wouldn't be using illegal substances?"

"I—" Blaise started, finger up in the air. He searched for words, found none, and dropped his finger, resigned, hair going out. "Alright. You two were right."

"I told you so," Jack said, Winter humming politely in agreement.

"I know, I know. I concede. That's 5 against 1. We'll add that to the list and start digging in," Blaise said, grabbing the chalk from Winter and making some changes.

"Was that the only reason?" Fiera asked.

"Well, yes, but also, no," Blaise said, fists on his hips as he looked at the chalkboard. "Illegal substances, whether it be potions or liquids or dust or whatever, have been illegal for centuries. They were one of the first things I tackled post-monarchy," Blaise's brow furrowed as he tapping the chalk thoughtfully against his nose. "A hassle to do, dealing with all the various casters and what they considered okay and not okay. It was a rough five decades. It did get done though!" Placing down the chalk, he turned to face the fam. "But since it was so long ago, most if not all of the materials needed to make some of them are very rare, extremely hard to get, or just extinct. Not a lot of people these days could do it, so I didn't include it," he finished with a shrug.

"Oh, cool! I gotta tell Fino that one! When he's not. Indisposed," Fiera said. She glanced out the library doors, head tilted. Off in the distance there was a crash. "I GOTTA GO," she yelled abruptly, zooming out of the library and sliding down the hall.

"Should we be concerned?" Jack asked.

"Looks like Fino has incurred the wrath of Jacqueline," Winter said, licking her thumb and wiping the chalk dust off of Blaise's nose. "It'll work itself out."

"Don't implicate yourself," Blaise warned. "Your sister gets angry."

"Oh, I am WELL aware of that," Jack said, clearing his throat. "I'll try to stay out of it, and in the meantime, I guess get started on the next topic? Let's see, let's see," Jack ran his finger down the list, loudly humming as he read. "What've we got. Ou! Blood magic!"

"Blood magic? Really, Blaise?"

"I'm covering all of our bases," he answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his greying head.

"Well that sounds fun and so very unlikely, that I've just got to take it," Jack decided, grinning when his father's face grew flushed, Winter laughing at her husband's slight embarrassment.

---

On his way back up the stairs moments later (dutifully ignoring Jacqueline angrily slamming the door to the main bedroom shut and stomping towards the gallery), Jack found himself lost in thought.

Two weeks? Had it really already been two weeks?

Where had the time gone?

He nudged open the door to his bedroom, kicking it shut behind him and looking around.

Two weeks. A lot had happened in those two weeks. His room was testament enough for that. It looked lived in now.

The desk was covered in paper scraps and threads. He had his own smaller list of the options he and Blaise were exploring to figure out what was causing Jacqueline's blackouts, with notes and ideas written beside what they had started with. They were using the resources they had at home to the best of their ability, and in his free time at work, Blaise was poking around city archives to see what he could dig up, too.

It had been a tiring search for them, both; Blaise especially, for reasons he hadn't shared (at least, not with Jack). His age was showing, Jack had joked, scurrying away before Blaise had a chance to roast him back. But alas, Blaise was one of, if not the loudest of the Frosts and the takes a geezer to know a geezer reached Jack's ears anyway, much to his delight, funnily enough. Jack found he was growing fond of their banter, something he never imagined he'd find himself saying.

He was growing fond of being home in general, which he never thought would happen. Not in his wildest dreams! Well, maybe wildest, once he started nearing his forty hundreds. But to actually be home? Seeing it full of life with all six of them? Noticing the small pictures that had snuck their way into his room, tacked on the wall or tucked into frames (courtesy of Winter), of him and his siblings? It was different.

And he loved it.

Enough to have apparently completely lost track of time! Two weeks!

He placed his new book stack on his desk, dusting off some scraps and fluffs. All eight of Jacqueline's older dresses lay over the backrest of his desk chair; gently, he picked them up and placed them on his bed. He had just finished the last of the pockets; he'd have to drop them off with her later, when she wasn't on the warpath looking for—

"Fino?"

"Shh!" his brother said, pressed up against Jack's bedroom door, hair extinguished.

"You weren't there a moment ago."

"No I was not."

"The door's locked."

"It sure as soot is!"

"And you got in?"

Fino nodded proudly, his chest heaving as he caught his breath.

"You can teleport, then?"

"Yep, but I haven't told anyone yet. I'll explain later, I just need a place to hide," he said, with a sheepish smile.

"Oh no, I am NOT implicating myself in whatever crime you've committed against Jacqueline," Jack said. "Her anger is legendary. I would know. Being that I am Legendary."

"And also caught in her wrath a bunch, I'll bet."

Jack frowned. "You're not helping your case, Fino."

"Please? Please? C'mon. C'mon man. Brother to brother solidarity!"

Jack looked thoughtful; Fino looked nervous. He hummed and hawed, Fino looking a bit sweaty. Jack chuckled.

"Alright, fine. Quickly, quickly now! Under here," he said, lifting the bed skirt and gesturing underneath the bed.

"Thank you," Fino whispered, sliding under in a nick of time as seconds later, Jacqueline burst through the door.

"Do I have to teach you to knock? Like, is that something you just don't know how to do? Honestly Jacqueline, you're out of control."

"I DO what I WANT," she said with a huff. "Have you seen Fino?"

"Fino?"

"Yes, Fino! Our brother! He's our only brother, Jack. Don't play dumb with me," she said, shifting her weight and crossing her arms.

"Why on earth would that little firecracker be here?" Jack asked, sitting in his desk chair and pushing off the floor, rolling back to the desk and throwing his feet up. "It's much too cold for either of them up here."

"That's exactly why," Jacqueline snapped.

"Wow," Jack said, chuckling. "What did he do?! I haven't seen you this angry since the Pole!"

Jacqueline sighed, gently shutting the door behind her. "Well," making her way in, she plopped down on an ottoman. "You've been working really hard with Dad to try and figure out the blackouts. I felt a bit bad, because we haven't really made much progress on the core thing? So I thought, you know, maybe I should give you the journals with all the core stuff in them. Maybe it'd be more helpful and, y'know, a nice change of pace from the present research," she grimaced, glancing at his desk. "Hold up," shooting up suddenly, she frowned. "Is that a book on blood magic?"

"Yep," Jack said, popping the "P".

"Well that sounds fun, but really very unlikely."

"Oh, you haven't dabbled in blood magic recently? Angered a necromancer? Made a blood pact?"

"Of course not!"

Jack chuckled. "I thought as much. That's actually why I grabbed it today. Figured I could make short work of it and get it off of dad's unnecessarily long list before dinner."

"Sorry this has been such a. Thing," Jacqueline sighed, shoving her hands in her front pocket.

"Jacqueline. It's not your fault. You know that, right?" Jack asked, throwing his feet off the desk, looking at his sister with concern.

"I mean, I guess? But it's hard to know that for sure when you don't know anything about the blackouts you've been experiencing," she shrugged, helpless.

"Well, all signs point to not your fault," Jack said, getting up. "So stop worrying, alright? I said I'd help you with this, and I mean it. But you really must stop doubting yourself. Dad and I aren't, so, you know, you shouldn't be, either."

"I'll start trying to convince myself not to."

"Good." Jack eyed his sister. She looked a little down, her fiery anger replaced with self-doubt and anxiousness. It was coming off of her in waves, he realized. "Chin up, little flurry," he said, hand on her shoulder. "We convinced Dad to add illegal substances to the board, so maybe we'll get a little bit further!"

Jacqueline perked up. "That'd be nice," she said, boot scuffing the floor.

"Watch the hardwood, would you?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Almost scuffing her boot again, she caught herself just in time to shrug in response to Jack's raised eyebrow.

"Hmm. You know what you need?"

"Answers? A tinfoil hat, maybe? A vacation?"

"All good ideas, but I was thinking something with more ah, instant gratification. I've got just the thing, in fact! It'll really, and I mean really, cheer you up."

Jacqueline raised an eyebrow, doubtful. "Really?"

"Truly! Take a look for yourself," he said, gesturing towards the bed. She glanced over, noticing her dresses laid out in a neat little pile, freshly frozen. "Is that—did you—the POCKETS?!"

"The pockets," Jack confirmed with a flourish, presenting the pile of dresses on the duvet. "Ta-da! Dresses are finished! And I have outdone myself. Go on, go check them out! Stick your hand down those bad boys."

Jacqueline rushed towards the bed, looking at the dresses. Carefully selecting the topmost one, she gently slid her hand into one of the pockets. "No," she said, disbelieving as her hand disappeared, and then her arm, all the way up to her elbow. "Holy sleet! I can fit like, five wallets in here!"

"Eight if they're the short ones that fold over," Jack said.

"Ah, this is amazing! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Jacqueline said, charging forward.

Jack let out a whoosh of air as his sister nearly tackled him with a hug he did not expect. You'd think he'd be used to it by now. It'd been almost a month of near constant interaction with her! He was beginning to miss when she was much shorter than him and didn't almost plow him over with every hug.

"Easy there, little flurry," he said, hugging her back.

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot you were frail and creaky."

"Ou, that was below the ice. And after I fixed your pockets for you! Unbelievable!"

Jacqueline laughed, breaking the hug. "Alright, calm down snow diva. I'm only teasing. Seriously though, thank you for this. I really appreciate it. It'll be super handy to have this much pocket space down South today."

"Ou, Summer's domain, eh? What brings you down there today? The beach? Nightlife? Restaurants? Shopping?"

"The Familiar Emporium," Jacqueline said dryly, checking out the pockets on the other dresses.

"…since when do you have a familiar?"

"Since I found a frostbitten cat in my room!"

"A cat?"

"Yeah! Like I was saying," she said, still checking out the pockets. "I felt bad about the lack of core-developments, and thought hey, let me give Jack the journals because maybe he'll find something in there that I missed, given your…" she rolled he wrist, trying to find the best word.

"Ownership of the material? Experience? Knowledge, technical know-how—"

"Age," Jacqueline said, grinning when Jack growled, his smile dropping. "Sorry, sorry, that was two in a row. That was bad. Anyway, you're the one who found them and yes, you probably," she grit her teeth, "know them better than I do."

Jack smirked. "I think that's what experience means, Jacqueline."

Now it was her turn to make a face, complete with a disgruntled grumble. "ANYWAY, I went to grab the books and found them not where I left them! Searched the whole place, turned my room, the library, and your library all upside down, and found nothing. So then I did that thing, you know, where you go back go back go back to where you were last?"

"It's easier to say retracing your steps, you know."

"But it's more fun to say go back go back go back to where you were," she said, slightly sing-songy as she carefully picked up her dresses, draping them over her arms. "So I did that, and searched under my blankets and stuff, and behind the bed, and what do I find back there?"

"A cat?"

"A CAT! With a little hoard of my STUFF! You'd think he was a dragon with the pile back there! And I caught the little dust bunny red-handed with the journals in his lil' TEETHS."

"His lil teeths?"

"YES! Have you ever seen cat teeth? They're so tiny. Except for the fangs. So this cat has been secretly living in my room for lady knows how long. And I think to myself, the frost. Where did this cat come from? AND THEN I REMEMBERED MOM'S LETTER! In it she said that Fino had brought home a BUNCH of stray cats!"

"So now you're on the warpath searching for him, because of a cat."

"YES!"

"A cat with little teeth-sies?"

"It's not funny! It's a long-haired cat and cats shed worse than me! And I shed a lot!"

"Well we can't have that."

"Gee, Jack! Your support is so wonderful and welcoming. What would I do without you."

"Oh, well, I try," Jack said, with a nonchalant shrug.

"It shows," Jacqueline huffed. "Anyway. I can't find Fino ANYWHERE. Little flame man probably booked it out a window when I wasn't looking, so I give up. I guess I have a CAT now. And hey! Maybe Fino's hanging out in the South with Aunt Summer! The day is still young, plenty of time to run an errand and destroy my little brother," she sniffed disdainfully. "Anyway, I'll bring the journals over in just a second." Turning on the heel of her fuzzy sock, Jacqueline breezed out of the room.

Jack waited a beat. Down the hall, her doors opened, then closed. He turned to the bed, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "You let a cat into her room?"

"Not on purpose," Fino said, peeking out from under the bed skirt, the blue material sitting on the tips of his tiny little orange spikes. "Earlier this month, I found a bunch of stray cats and it was really cold so I let them in, they asked very politely and everything. Mom and Dad were both fine with it, and I couldn't just leave them outside to freeze! But, um. One may have slipped away and taken a liking to Jacqueline's room. She really didn't want one there and the cat, he really likes it in there. I was trying to get him out but then you guys got back so I've been hoping she wouldn't notice and trying to coax him out with Fiera when Jacqueline wasn't around, and it was going okay until today. You know, his timing is really bad."

Down the hall, the door clicked open. The swishing of skirts grew closer.

"I'd get back under there if I were you."

"Eep!" Fino said, sliding right back under just in time as Jacqueline re-entered the room, journals in hand.

"Here you go! Fresh from the Dust Bunny's hoard. And uh, these as well," she said, placing the journals down with two book shaped boxes. "The stuff about the power-merge, from the Dream Spire. In case you wanted to look at that too," she said with a kind smile, shoving her hands into her new pockets.

"Thanks, Jacqueline. I'll take a look at them later, see what I can find."

Jacqueline nodded. "Anyway, I should head out if I wanna beat the lunchtime rush."

"Right, for your new ah, familiar," Jack teased.

"Pet," Jacqueline corrected. "Familiar Emporium also functions as a regular old pet store. And since he seems comfortable in there, I may as well make sure I have all the uh. Kitty supplies I'll need."

"Oh," Jack caught on. "Where did he, ah…"

"Out on the balcony, thankfully. No cat poops behind the bed. Just small books, my phone charger, hair ties, Doritos, and Lego bricks."

"Lego bricks?"

"I don't know man! Ask the cat! I am going to turn that brother of ours into a PILE of ASHES."

"Easy now, Jacqueline."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have a secret cat in your room!" She inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. "Right. I am chill. I am so chill."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will," Jacqueline said, jabbing the air with her finger. "If I say it enough, I'm sure I'll convince myself. Anyway, thanks again for the dresses, Jack. I really appreciate it. And the touch up on the frost! That was a sparkly surprise after throwing it on!"

"It was nothing, really," Jack said with a smile. "The freeze job on those dresses was phenomenal, actually."

Jacqueline brightened. "Really?"

"Truly! And the one with the icicle bodice? Seeing it up close, wow, STUNNING job!"

Jacqueline grinned. "Thank you! That one's really hard to do but frost, the aesthetic!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Jack said, gesturing to his own outfit and heading towards the door. "You go on now, break in those pockets! I've got things to do here and you're an awful distraction," he finished, shooing her out the door.

"Awh, thank you! That's so sweet of you to say," Jacqueline joked, dripping sarcasm as she was shoved out of the room.

"I am nothing but kind," Jack said, choosing to ignore Jacqueline's disagreeable snort of laughter. He shut the door gently, breathing a sigh of relief.

Only to hear more laughter under the bed.

"Care to share, Fino?"

"You're very funny," Fino said, peeking out of the bottom of the bed with a grin, chin resting on his folded hands. "I think that you're as mean as Fiera is, and she can be mean. Like If I were to put all of us on a scale of mean Frost to nice Frost, you'd be way more on the mean side."

"I can call her back real fast, Fino. Real fast."

"Alright, alright! I'll stop," he said, sliding out fully and hopping onto Jack's bed, bouncing once before settling in cross-legged. "And thanks for proving my point! Research going slowly then?" he asked, his hair lighting up with a poof.

"Painfully slow," Jack replied, plopping back down on his desk chair and rolling back towards it.

"Glad Dad finally folded on the illegal things. He was being really silly about it," Fino said, throwing himself back on the bed.

"Unbelievably so! That man just refuses to NOT see the good in everyone. It's astonishing. I bet he's the nicest on your scale, eh?"

"Right on top! And don't worry Jack. Mom's actually the meanest."

Jack laughed. "That is so true. You should see her on the job."

"I've seen her with Aunt Spring in March, I know exactly what you're talking about," he said, squirming deeper into the duvet. "This is comfy. And poofy."

"It's goose feather. Try not to singe it, will you? It's older than you, probably."

"Don't worry! Your duvet is safe. Mom and Dad fireproofed literally everything after 1666."

"After 1666?"

"Yeah. There was an… incident that Fiera and I may have started when visiting Jacqueline ages ago."

Jack ran through his mental list of fiery disasters. 1666… "The Great Fire of London?! Do you mean to tell me that you started the fire?"

"Me and Fiera. Maybe. Might've been one of us, Might've been both of us. Hard to say. It was an accident, though! Probably. But after that whole thing we got really good at keeping our sparks to ourselves."

"Speaking of sparks, teleporting, eh?"

"Yeah! Been trying to do it for decades and finally got it earlier this year! But don't tell anyone, okay? I haven't yet. Especially don't tell Fiera."

"You haven't told her yet?"

"Of course not! I don't want her to be sad about it."

"Why would she—oh, she can't yet, can she?"

"Not that I know of. Either that or she also knows how but doesn't wanna upset me. But I think it's the former."

"What makes you say that?"

"If she knew how to teleport she'd never stop talking about it. She'd do it for the silliest things!"

"That's a good way to lose particles."

"That's a THING?!"

"Very rare, but yes. More often than not, you're off your mark a couple of times."

"Did you ever lose particles?"

Jack scoffed. "Please. I'm a pro."

"That sounds like something that someone who has maybe lost particles would say."

"I thought you were the nice twin!" Jack said, playfully aghast.

Fino laughed. "I get to be mean sometimes too! Especially to my older brother that I've BARELY gotten to spend time with. I've got twelve hundred years to make up for, you know."

"Better watch your back, spitfire, because I also have twelve hundred years to make up for, and triple the experience."

Fino laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he fell back on the bed again. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"Not really, no. I think you cut off a spiral before it even started."

"You're welcome!"

"Is that the only reason you haven't mentioned the teleporting thing to Fiera?"

"Hmm?" he said, sitting back up.

"You don't want to hurt her feelings?"

"Of course! I think she'd be sad she didn't get it first, and I don't want to make her sad. She's my twin! If Jacqueline was your twin, wouldn't you do the same?"

"HA! Absolutely NOT. I'd lord it over her like you wouldn't believe."

"I can see why you're so familiar with her anger."

"Ou, someone's getting nippy."

Fino giggled, sliding off the bed. "So, spiraling, huh? Is it the core stuff? The blackout stuff? Other stuff I don't know about?"

"No, no. I mean, that's all a lot of. You know. Everything. But no, no. Fino, I've been home for two weeks already, can you believe that?"

"Yes."

"They flew by! Feels like it's been AGES," Jack spun around in his chair, staring at his desk. The pens, pencils, quills…scrap paper. Some old letterhead. Envelopes. His official Legendary seal. "We've come along in leaps and bounds since coming home…but I think we're a bit stuck," Jack admitted. "I've been thinking of ways to narrow down Jacqueline's symptoms, but even after she explained everything to us there's still not a lot to go on," Jack said, holding his cheek in his hand and frowning, elbow crushing some parchment on his desk.

"Well, when you guys were at the North Pole, wasn't there a medical professional?" Fino asked, crooking his hip and stretching his arm above his head.

"Yeah."

"And did you take her there after they happened?" He asked, switching arms.

"More like dragged her there while she shoved snow down my back."

"So they'd probably have some records, right?"

"Ou, now we're thinking, Fino," Jack straightened, grabbing a pen and looking for a nice piece of stationary.

"You mean I am," Fino taunted with a grin, stretching his lower back now.

"You are just feeling all kinds of spicy today, huh Fino?"

"I'm riding high from avoiding Jacqueline all afternoon. I didn't think I'd manage!" he said brightly, joining Jack by his desk. He peered over it, lifting his heels for a better view. "But my siblings were in my corner. Thanks for hiding me, by the way."

"Oh, it was nothing," Jack said, smoothing out the sheet he had found and writing the date in the top corner. "Twelve hundred years of catch up includes stuff like that too, you know."

Fino gasped. "Oh! It does! That's exciting. What're you doing now?"

"Well, if we want Jacqueline's medical records, we'll have to ask for them. And the best way to ask for something from the North Pole is—"

"A letter to Santa! You haven't written yours yet? You should've done that AGES ago."

"Oh, please. I have a direct line to the big guy! He was down the hall from me most of the year," Jack said with a shrug, writing his note. "And I'm overdue for a Dome check-in, anyway."

"Do the letters actually go directly to Santa?"

"If you know the right words they do."

"And if you don't?"

"The elves down in the mailroom collect them. They sort them based on request, you know, what the toy is and who wants it, off it goes to the proper department, forward the baby requests to the stork, yada yada yada. The important ones they set aside for Santa, though. And he reads them with four o'clock cocoa on the dot daily."

"Neat! How do you know all that?"

"It was one of the, ah, many things I had to help with while staying up North this year. Not my favourite. Too much time with the old fat man for my liking."

"What was your favourite?"

"Wrapping. And hospitality, of course. I can make a mean drink."

"I believe that! I've really liked the ones you've made for us since you got home."

"Thank you, Fino," Jack said, earnestly. "That's nice of you to say."

"Nice twin," he said with a grin and jazz hands. "So, is your letter gonna be sorted? Or do you know the right words?"

Jack glanced up with a smirk. "I know the right words."

"Sick. Are you gonna send it like Dad does? Like POOF," Fino said, snapping his fingers, a few stray sparks floating about, "and then it's gone!"

Jack stopped writing, looking thoughtful at Fino. "You know, I've known Blaise for over four thousand years, and I have yet to figure out how he does that trick. I'll give it to the mail magibean, I suppose."

"The mailfae doesn't come up this far," Fino clambered onto the back of Jack's chair, reading the letter over his shoulder.

"Then how on Earth do you send your mail?"

"Dad does the thing," Fino said, snapping again. "Or we go down to the post office in town!"

"Then I guess I'm going into town today."

"I can go into town with you, if you want! Fiera and I haven't sent off our letters to Santa yet, and the farther I am from the house the better. I don't want to be a pile of ashes, I'm not even thirteen hundred yet."

Jack snorted. "Sure. You can tag along if you'd like."

"I think you'd like, to be honest."

"And what gave you that idea?"

Fino hopped off the chair, serving Jack with a know it all smile, hands on his hips. "Do you even know where the post office is?"

"Maybe." Jack was silent for a moment, thinking. He shrugged. "You got me there."

Fino grinned, his hair burning a bit taller. "I know I do! I'll meet you by the gates in an hour. Is that okay? Is it okay if I tag along? I know I did kind of invite myself."

"Of course it is," Jack said, earnest. "I think inviting yourself on outings with me falls under the, ah, twelve hundred years of brotherly bonding to catch up on. And bothering, too."

"SICK!" Fino said, plopping down from his tiptoes and heading to the door, a spring in his step. "Gates in an hour! Be there or be square!"

"I'll be around. Oh and Fino?"

"Yeah?" he replied, hand on the doorhandle.

"I'd poof if I were you. Jacqueline's still home."

"Oh! Right! Good call," he said, tapping his forehead and disappearing in a shower of red sparks.

"Smart kid. Good kid," Jack decided, turning his attention back to the letter, his elbow resting on the pile of books Jacqueline had left for him.

---

An hour later, Jack found himself having a very strange out of body experience as he knocked on the door to the spitfire's rooms, a letter to Santa of all people, from him, Jack Frostbitten Frost, clutched tightly in his hand.

"Who is it?" Fiera called out, singsong.

"It's Jack. I have plans with one ah, Fino S. Frost?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but Fino S. Frost is a little bit indisposed right now."

"I'm aware," Jack said. "But we did make plans. He's my 2 o'clock."

"One moment please," Fiera said sweetly, scurrying away from the door. There were some whispers in the next room over. Jack sighed. He looked down. Tapped his foot. Perked back up when he heard Fiera scurry back to the door.

"How do I know that you're not also in cahoots with one Jacqueline W. Frost, sir?!"

Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or be exasperated. It was a bit of both, if he was being honest.

"Fiera, I literally helped him avoid her an hour ago. Potentially putting myself in the flurry's warpath and in extreme danger! Why on Earth would I double-cross him?"

"To avoid the wrath of one Miss Jacqueline W. Frost!"

Jack sighed, leaning on the doorframe. "I can tell you with the utmost certainty, Fiera, that Jacqueline isn't in the house. She left half an hour ago."

"How do you know?"

"Twin telepathy."

The door flung open, Fiera squinting up at Jack. "You guys don't have that! You're not even twins!"

Fino poked out beside her. "They have something like it, because of the Legate-Legend thing."

"Oh soot, really?!"

"Really really," Jack said.

"How does that work?!"

"Same as yours and Fino's, but with extra perks, like, y'know, sharing thoughts and feelings and memories, and powers too, apparently. We just learnt that. That's-it's. It's a new thing."

"Cool," Fiera said, the ends of her hair crackling. "Do you think that's a Legate thing? Or do you think we could do that?"

"I dunno! But it'd be cool to look into. Talk to like, telepathy experts. Maybe a sorcerer would know? Those guys know all sorts of crazy stuff," Fino mused, chipper, stepping out and into the hallway.

"Here you go," Fiera said, stepping out behind him and handing him two letters. She closed the door behind her, and grinned up at Jack. "Y'know Jack, you're not that bad of a guy."

"Well thanks Fiera. You're okay too."

"All set then, Jack?" Fino asked, heading towards the stairs.

Jack's obviously died in his throat as he watched Fiera, perplexed. The sprite looked around wearily, throwing herself in front of Fino and stopping him in her tracks. She looked around, diving behind pots and vases, making their trip downstairs a lot longer than you'd expect. She tumbled out from behind a planter, stopping both brothers in their tracks before they could even touch the railing.

"What are you doing."

"I'm making sure the coast is clear! Jacqueline could be watching! Waiting! Lurking," Fiera squinted, poking at a section of the banister. She glanced at them over her shoulder. "Don't move." Practically leaving a cloud of smoke behind her, Fiera dashed down the stairs, humming.

"Is she humming the mission impossible theme?"

"Is that what it's called?!"

Jack blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"Oh! We just call it spy theme."

Well, he's not wrong, Jack thought.

"Alright, we're clear! GO GO GO," Fiera shouted, waving them down the stairs so fast her hand was nearly a blur.

Fino took the stairs two at a time, ramming right into Fiera and knocking her over. She squealed; Jack chuckled, leisurely heading down the stairs and watching the pile of fiery limbs scramble about. He could almost picture the cartoon dust cloud around them as they play fought, complete with fire.

Jack stepped off the final stair, placing his hands on his hips as the twins rolled to a stop, laughing over each other in a heap on the floor.

"All done?"

"We're good!" Fiera said, hopping up first and rushing to the coat rack. "I'm still in the lead!"

"Six to five," Fino popped up, dusting himself off. "That's barely a lead!" he insisted, grabbing his jacket from Fiera.

"I'm going to regret asking this, but I'm doing it anyway. Is that just today, or—"

"Just today!" they both replied, chipper.

"Right. I ah, figured as much. So, little flame monster! Coming with us on our excursion today?"

Fiera cackled at the nickname. "No. I've got hot girl soot to do."

Fino jammed her earmuffs over her head, Fiera briefly ducking down and adjusting them. "You're going to town?"

"Yep!" Fino said, throwing on boots as Fiera tossed a scarf right around his neck. "Post office, then I think maybe we'll stick around and do some exploring. I'm not safe from Jacqueline yet and Jack, you could probably use a break."

"I've been taking breaks!"

Fino and Fiera shared a doubty look.

"Sounds like something someone who hasn't been taking breaks would say," Fiera said, Fino snickering.

"I have been!"

"Yeah, right! Going to work isn't a break," Fino replied, skeptical.

"Yes it is! A brisk evening walk to bring frosty cheer to the world is like, the definition of a break!"

"That's a good attitude to have towards work," Fiera said. "I think if I had a job that I had to look at as a job I'd die on the spot. Me? In an OFFICE JOB? AH!" Fiera finished with a little shout, throwing open the front door. "Oh! Idea! You guys should go to the viewpoint!"

"Ou, yes! We should!" Fino brightened.

"The viewpoint?"

"Yeah! It's in the mountains! Fiera and I discovered it ages ago. You get a great view of most of the country, and especially the city. And it's pretty clear today! And if the mist levels at the Springs are low today, ou, you're gonna love it, Jack. Great idea, Fiera!"

"I'm full of them!" she smiled, skipping down the path. "Have fun guys! I'm off to do the aforementioned hot girl soot," she said, flouncing off towards the west.

"Nice word!" Fino shouted after her.

"THANK YOU! IT'S A NEW ONE!" Fiera properly shouted back from the gate, with a chipper little wave before heading out.

"Fino."

"Yeeees?"

"What exactly is hot girl soot?"

"Depends on the day. Viewpoint's this way," Fino said unhelpfully, hopping down the steps and heading down the path. "Come on!" he shouted over his shoulder, waving Jack over.

Closing the door gently behind him, Jack caught up to Fino, the pair making their way out the gates and turning left, heading towards the mountains that bordered the northernmost edge of the Northern Province.

---

The pair had decided to walk to the viewpoint, Jack declining Fino's, ah, generous offer to poof them there and then back and then right to the post office. It was a bit of a long walk, but a nice one, and gave Jack a good opportunity to teach Fino why it was bad to poof into a heavily populated place, multiple times in a row, especially when you were a novice with the technique.

"I guess I can see why they made teleportation points everywhere," Fino mused. "That must've been chaotic when magibeans came home in big groups and more and more of them stuck around here. Could you imagine like, bonking into someone mid teleport and then you just become like, five hands or something?"

"Well I can now," Jack said regrettably as they rounded the corner, careful to give the pair of giants heading down a decent berth and a respectful nod.

"How would you even fix that? Would you have to teleport again? Do you think the springs has a pool for that sort of thing?"

"They definitely have one for small teleportation mishaps, but I don't know how effective it'd be for, uh, becoming five hands."

"I should ask someone! Maybe I'll go by the Springs and talk to a healer or something," Fino said, thoughtfully. "Oh look! We're here!"

Taking a sharp right, Fino rushed through a sprite-sized crack in the mountain wall. Carefully, Jack followed him in. It was a little tight; Jack had to press himself flat against the wall and carefully sidestep some of the way, while Fino had no problem plowing forward all the way to the opening. A trail of snow-covered ivy tickled his shoulders as he stepped out after Fino, squinting briefly when the light hit his face.

"Ta-da!" Fino said, gesturing out at the view.

It was phenomenal.

They stood upon a rocky crag, and though it was maybe halfway up the mountain, the view stretched on and on and on. The mists from the springs twirled in the air, sunlight sparkling in the droplets that drifted by. Below them, the path up the mountains wound and twisted, surrounded by a thicket of evergreens covered in snow. Beyond that, the tips of the buildings of the small villages and towns scattered this far North poked up, cozy little skylines among the snowy landscape.

The crown jewel though, was, of course, the city of Crystal Springs. It sprung up in the distance, vibrant, bright, and bustling. There was an astonishingly clear view of the square behind city hall, where the market had been set up. It was busy as ever, the colourful canopies waving in the breeze. The city sprawled out in a sort of swirly star shape, the buildings so vastly different from one another and almost completely unrecognizable to Jack.

"It's changed so much," Jack voiced, carefully making his way to the very edge of the crag and sitting down, admiring the city from his new perch.

"Oh yeah?" Fino asked, taking a seat beside him. Their legs dangled off the edge, Fino swinging one foot back and forth. "How?"

"City Hall, for one, looks like it's got a new addition. And it already had one or two back when I was around. The Courtyard is much bigger! I mean, look at all those stalls! Maybe half of those could have fit there when I was Jacqueline's age."

"Fiera and I come here every year to watch them set up for the Market," Fino said with a soft smile. "To get the good spots in the square, magibeans literally duke it out. Fiera's a fan of the fights! I like watching the techniques. There's just so many different kinda magibeans, and they all have different styles of magic, and you can learn a lot just by watching!"

Jack chuckled. "I'm glad you and your twin get along."

"I couldn't imagine not getting along with her. She's my twin! What else has changed since you've been here?"

So full of questions, this one, Jack thought with a fond smile. "Well, there's a lot of pointier buildings over there," he said, gesturing to the east. "And that flowery one in the West is new, too."

"There's a ton of magic schools now!" Fino pipped up. "The pointy one is where the witches train! The flowery one over there is the Castor School. It's much bigger than it looks, and it's where all of the different casters go to start out! I think I'd like to go there one day."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! We've got warlocks in the family, and I think I could maybe be the next really good one," he shrugged. "That's why I like watching people so much! It's just, there's like. So much to learn and Warlocks can do it all."

"Not a fan of the firepower then?"

"I love the firepower." With a very Fiera grin, Fino lifted his palm and summoned a happy little flame. "Fiera and I are going to master it together! She catches on to it a lot faster than I do, but she always helps me get it in the end. And I do the same for her, with magical theory stuff. And some magic stuff. But once I finish learning the fire power, what's next, right? There's lots to do and we live very, very, very long lives." He looked a little jarred at the prospect. "so I'm gonna live mine to the max."

Jack smiled. "Take it easy though, eh? You don't want to get caught up in magical burnout."

"Tons of time to stop and smell the roses. But thank you for reminding me, Jack. You should take your own advice," Fino said, gently swaying into Jack's side.

The Legend smiled, bonking his brother back. "I'm not experiencing magical burnout. It's just a bit of freezer burn. HUGE difference."

"What do you think's going to bring it all back?"

"I genuinely have no idea," Jack sighed, leaning back and admiring the river that flowed through the south of the city. It sparkled in the sunlight, making for an interesting contrast with the glaciers that drifted by out in the distant sea. "I don't even have a guess, admittedly."

"Really? Wow!"

"I was hoping I'd figure it out after coming home. I was thinking, you know," Jack paused, leaning forward and folding his hands together in his lap. "Maybe making up with everyone would do the trick, you know? And it's gotten easier, since. Ether aside, of course. I'm sure they're coming back. I just haven't had the aha! Moment."

"I'm sorry you haven't yet," Fino said, mirroring his brother's pose. "Seems like it sucks. I couldn't imagine how I'd be dealing with it all, were I in your shoes," he frowned down at his hands, pressing his fingers together. "But, I do know that I wouldn't do anything different from you. If it was Fiera, I'd be working my butt off to help her!"

"Well thanks, Fino. It's good to know that the nice twin thinks I'm doing the right thing. Very reassuring."

"I can't tell if you're joking with me or not."

"I'm serious. Mostly," he teased.

Fino threw his torso back, letting out a solid laugh. "Good to know!" Swinging his legs, he grinned up at his brother. "You'll figure it all out, Jack. I'm sure you will. You and Jacqueline. She's very good at figuring stuff out. And she always said she learnt from the best, and I'm pretty sure she learnt almost everything from you, so, I think you guys are in good shape. You'll get unstuck and figure things out! And you also have me and Fiera and Mom and Dad to help, too. I was actually thinking," Fino hesitated. He frowned back down at his hands, pressing his fingers together thoughtfully. "Since we got Dad to cave and add illegal things to the list, I was thinking that maybe we should scrounge up some materials while we were out, you know?"

"Fino, are you suggesting felonies? Criminal offences? Indictable offences?"

"What? No! Of course not! I don't think it's illegal to look into contraband!" he leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "There's a couple of book dealers sprinkled around town, and they have all sorts of stuff about everything! Including contraband," he waggled his eyebrows, a sly grin on his face. "Maybe we'll find something that'll help Jacqueline. Could we check it out, after the post office?"

Jack smiled, oddly...warmed. "Sure we can. If you'd like."

"I most definitely would! Would you? We can go shopping in general, too. Maybe go through the market and get some red poinsettias? Mom never gets the red ones. Oh! I can give you a tour of the city!"

"If we run these, ah, nefarious errands of yours, Fino. Doesn't it go against your break policy?"

"What? Of COURSE not! Sure we've got some research errands sprinkled in there, but bookshops are like the BEST place for breaks. AND! We've got other not research related ones in the mix! And we're out in the fresh magical air!" he spread his hands out in front of him, gesturing at the magical skyline below them.

"Well then, Fino. What are we waiting for? Time's a wasting and we are burning daylight!" Hopping up, Jack placed his hand above his eyes, glancing off into the distance much too exuberantly. He smiled to himself when he heard Fino laugh beside him. "Where's the Post Office?!"

"It's that bright blue building right there," Fino said, pointing to an angular blue roof just east of city hall.

"Well then," Jack said, dropping his hand and tapping his foot. Ice swirled out from below him, a slide forming right down the side of the mountain. "Off we go!"

And, with a push, Jack sent Fino sliding down the ramp, the boy screaming gleefully, sparks trailing behind him. Jack slid down the ramp, shooing away a few errant sparks and overtaking Fino. He slid to a stop right at the bottom, straightening his jacket as Fino caught air, landing right into the snowbank Jack had nudged forwards. The ramp cracked behind him, the ice breaking off into snow and flurrying away merrily. Jack dusted off his jacket, watching the snow pile until Fino popped out of it, cackling like a madman as the snow melted around him.

"That was. AWESOME," he said, hands in the air. "You've gotta do that to Fiera. She'll love it. I don't know why we never thought of making it a slide!"

"I used to do that all the time with Jacqueline," Jack said, starting forward. Fino caught up to him fairly fast, looking up at him with a grin. "She loved it. Her favourite part was being thrown into the snow. Said it was a very satisfying poof."

"It totally was!" Fino looked absolutely jolly, his cheeks flushed. "I bet the two of you had a lot of fun together."

"Did we ever!" Jack said grandly, as the pair made their way towards the nearest teleportation point. "She had a lot of energy. A lot more than kids usually have. She'd tucker Mom and Dad out very fast throughout the day, and since I work nights anyway, for the most part, I'd take over for them until she passed out in a snowbank somewhere."

"She still does that! Some nights when Mom gets home, if Jacqueline's been helping her, she'll wake Dad to carry her back home," he snickered, trying to hide his laugh behind his hand.

"Some things never change," Jack pointed out fondly as they neared the teleportation point on the hill down the street from their house.

"Can I do the honours?" Fino asked.

"No," Jack said almost immediately. "MAYBE on the way back, but I'm not about to lose particles at this age. I think Mom and Dad would kill me if you became a weird, what was it again?"

"Five handed creature?"

"Yeah, that," Jack said, as they stopped at the top of the hill. "Hang on tight." He offered his arm, a little surprised when instead he felt a very warm hand slide into his chillier one. Jack glanced down at their clasped hands, arching an eyebrow.

"So you don't get lost," Fino explained, shrugging as though it were obvious.

"So I don't get lost?"

"When was the last time you were in town? And going with Mom to the Market doesn't count," Fino looked up at his brother, intense.

Jack had to bite back a laugh. It wasn't that Fino's face didn't look intense. It was just a very funny upturned glare, made funnier by how round Fino's face was. He and his twin still had baby fat, after all.

"Alright, alright," Jack relented. "I'll hang on tight too," he said, poofing them out of the North and into the City proper.

They appeared just off to the side of the square that had the other ends of the direct-to-city teleports from each of the provinces. The square wasn't as busy as it had been when Jack had been by with Winter. He could easily walk through the streets without bumping into other magibeans today.

That is, if Fino hand't immediately lunged forward at a run, practically dragging him down past City Hall and around the corner.

For the magibeans in town that day, it was a strange sight, but certainly not unusual. The Frosts were known to frequent the area, none of them having any qualms about interrupting the Governor during a workday, (and quite frankly, nor did he. Any interruption from his kids and/or, even better, his wife, was a welcome one in his books).

And word had spread far and wide that Jack Frost was back with his family, of course; by now almost the entire country had seen the shenanigans Winter and Jack had gotten up to on the opening day of the market! So to see one of the fiery young ones running down the streets, dragging Legendary Figure Jack Frost behind him, sparks floating in their wake as Jack tried helplessly to not rumple his outfit and crash into people at the same time, was quite the treat.

Especially since Fino looked no older than perhaps an eleven-year-old child; maybe twelve.

It was quite the funny sight, the Legend's one free hand flailing behind him as he tried to keep his footing, almost bowling over a group of healers headed back towards the hospital after their lunch. He shouted a sorry over his shoulders, relieved when finally Fino skidded to a stop in front of the bright blue building they had seen from a distance.

Jack took a moment to catch his breath. "You can run," he said.

"Oh! Sorry! I'm just excited," he said, letting go of Jack's hand and patting himself down, looking for the letters. "Welcome to the Post Office!"

"That's one hell of a line," Jack frowned, vowing to figure out how the heck Blaise insta-mailed people.

"Tis the season and such," Fino said. "But don't worry! We won't need to wait in line. Come over here," letters in hand, he grabbed Jack's hand once more and dragged him forward yet again (at a much smoother pace, thankfully).

The Post Office was a short, stout building, the blue paint bright, but faded. People entered and exited the building laden in boxes and parcels, the little bell above the door in constantly jingling. Beside it, magibeans trickled out of the opposite door, unburdened from their gift piles and letters, exchanging pleasant thank yous and your welcomes as they held the door open for those coming out behind them.

Like every other building on the street, this one was decorated for Christmas. Trimmed to a T, garland and holy decked the windows, the doors wreathed, the dangling sign with an envelope carved onto it bearing the weight of a snow covered garland as well. In the middle most window stood that little replica of the Springs that Jack had been seeing everywhere, a tiny tree beside it decorated with mini-ornaments and topped with the purple diamond customary to some parts of Crystal Springs.

The post office was situated on a sort of parkette. A cobblestone courtyard led up to it, lined with colourful mailboxes. Lamps were sprinkled about, a bench or two on either side of the building, where magibeans waited for their friends who had gone in, nodding at the people walking by.

Fino pulled him over to the right side of the courtyard. "Because it gets so busy, CSP decided to install these like, a century or two ago! Each of the mailboxes is a direct line to a designated spot. See these ones here?" Fino said, gesturing to the set of five in front of them. "They're for the entire continent. The middle red one is for the city; the other four correspond to the different provinces. It's not that hard to tell which is which."

There was a blue one with snowflakes and little white streaks, simulating winds, Jack imagined. That was obviously the Northern Province, always snowy and windy. There was a brown one painted with vivid oranges and yellows and reds that were vaguely leaf shaped, travelling on winds as well. The East, then, where it was always autumn. There was a green one covered in flowers, and beside that one, a mailbox that was painted to resemble the beach, seashells and fruits splashed all over the box.

"That's one way to speed things up."

"Yeah! And during the Market, they have that one there," Fino said, pointing behind Jack.

He turned on his heel, the red and green striped mailbox with gold trim assaulting his eyes. "Direct to Santa, then?"

"Yep!" Fino skipped over to the box, sliding the letters into it. "There we go! Right, what's next? We got a lot to do, Jack! C'mon! you;re burning daylight," he teased, hopping out of the way as Jack moved to send his letter.

"Yeah, yeah, cool your jets, Fino. We've got time. Jacqueline and I aren't going anywhere any time soon," Jack mused. He slid the letter into the box, laughing to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"I never in a million years would've thought I'd find myself in front of a mailbox, sending a letter to Santa. You know, I used to mess up his mailroom on purpose, just to cause him a bit of trouble. Now I'm sending him a letter? With a request? If I went back to even a YEAR ago and told myself what we were doing today, I'd have laughed and laughed and told myself, THAT'LL BE THE DAY!" Jack shouted the last bit, Fino laughing as a few magibeans jumped, startled.

"Well, we all do crazy things for the people we care about," Fino said with a wise little nod.

"That we do," Jack agreed. "That we do."

---

"Deliveries, sir!" one of the postal elves said, scurrying into Santa's office, completely dwarfed by the large bag of mail thrown over his shoulder.

"Oh, that's a lot of letters. Whew!"

"Not this one, Santa! We've still gotta go through this one in the mailroom," he said, patting the bag happily. "This pile is for you! A couple of sweet ones from kids that'll benefit from a personalized reply. You've got some stuff from your family, both you and Mrs. Claus, sir!"

"Phew," Santa said, relieved. He took the small pile from the elf. "Thanks, Moe. What's this one on top?"

"A very interesting one that came from the magibean post less than half an hour ago, sir! I think you'll be real surprised about that one. I know we were. It's authentic, by the way! We cross checked the writing and confirmed the seal is legit," Moe said, his tone very I know something you don't know. "Tell me how it goes, Santa! We're all kinda curious about that one down in postal."

"Thanks Moe!" Santa shouted down the corridor as the elf scurried off.

"What've we got?" Carol asked, looking up from her lesson plans. She was curled up on the couch across from Santa, warm cocoa in hand.

"Looks like we have some letters from the family. This one's from your parents."

Carol smiled and got up, grabbing the letter from her husband. "I'll take care of this one."

"Thanks, sweetheart," Scott said, handing the letter off to Carol. "It's thick."

"Oh, I'm sure there's at least a page of local gossip," Carol laughed, curling back up on the couch. "And they'll both want to know everything that's been going on with Buddy." She glanced down at the toddler. He sat in his playpen, focusing very hard on his shape sorter.

"Then this one is from Lucy, of course—huh. It's a little thicker than usual."

"Maybe Laura or Neil also sent a letter in there," Carol suggested, slicing open the envelope with her pen.

"Neil sending Santa a letter? That'd be the day."

Carol snorted, nearly shooting cocoa our of her nose. In the playpen beside her, Buddy stood up, staring. "Oh don't worry, everything's okay Buddy. Daddy just thinks he's funny."

"I am funny!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Scott dear," Carol teased, readjusting as she started reading her letter. Assured that his Mom was okay, Buddy bounced up and down, plopping back down in the playpen with his pile of soft shapes."So the interesting one isn't from anyone in the family?"

"Doesn't look like it," Santa frowned, stroking his beard thoughtfully. The envelope was a gradient; it started blue, slowly turning white at the bottom in a way Santa would describe as snowy. He flipped the envelope. The back had an official seal, all right. It was a snowflake—and it looked very real. The seal of the envelope was white as well, also looking snowy; the return address had Santa raising an eyebrow. "Well that's odd."

"What is?"

"The return address. No postal code. Just, Frost Manor, 1 Evergreen Street, NP, Crystal Springs. NP…that's not here."

"Crystal Springs? Isn't that where Jack is from?"

Santa's eyes grew wide. "I think you're right! Silver bells, did Jack send me a letter?" The thought made him laugh as he reread the address. "NP...North Pole?"

"The letter came from inside the house," Carol said, her voice low as she attempted to imitate horror movie ads.

Santa chuckled, glancing up at Carol. She smiled back at him very sweetly and much too innocently. She straightened up suddenly. "Jacqueline mentioned something about provinces. Maybe NP is one of them?"

"It is written in the right field for that," Santa mused. "Well, may as well crack it open. Hope he didn't uh, booby-trap it, if it is from Jack."

Carol laughed. "I don't think he would this time given the circumstances. But I certainly wouldn't put it past him on a good day."

Santa chuckled. He gave the snowflake a little poke. It dissipated, blue sparks floating down to his desk and disappearing, the letter springing open. "Yep. Official Legendary stationary. I didn't even know he had this!" Santa leaned back in his seat and settled in, the sheet magically unfolding in front of him. He caught it before it could fall on the desk, pressed up his reading glasses and let out a low whistle. The letter was fairly long, with a few scratched out words here and there. Wriggling in his chair briefly, Santa settled in and began to read.

Santa.

I must confess, this is by far one of the strangest things I've done since getting home. And that's saying something! Being home is very strange. If you thought I was too much, you should meet my parents! And my other siblings! It's been very strange, but…nice. Really, very nice. I can't believe I'm writing this, but you were onto something with the ah, coming home. It's done wonders for me! It's been very enjoyable, and time has flown by. I had no idea how long it had been until earlier this afternoon!

Things went well, obviously, since I didn't immediately appear back up North within minutes of leaving. My father was outside waiting. He's aged! Looks ANCIENT. Both my parents have, admittedly. But they welcomed me home, happily. And you know, it was a bit awkward with my mother for a bit, but we had a lovely time at the market the other day and things between us have gotten much better since!

My younger siblings, the twins, are a riot! Absolutely enamoured with me, of course. (Or at least I like to think). I thought Jacqueline was energetic when she was younger, but the twins? They have thrice as much energy as she did when she was small. Frost Manor is very lively these days, and I'm glad I'm a part of it again. Literally everyone was right about coming home, as Jacqueline is so keen to remind me at least once a day. I forgot how annoying siblings could be.

IT'S BEEN BUSY, is what I'm trying to say, hence the silence. The Dome's been fine on our end here. Rest assured if it acts up we'll be there post haste! On the double! Pronto! But please keep in mind that our fix is not permanent. Couldn't tell you how I know—I just know. Comes with the territory, I suppose.

The thing Jacqueline and I did before we left, we figured it out recently. It's a technique Legates and their Legends can apparently do, that lets us share power if need be, boost one another, or double our output, I believe. Had my powers been ship-shape, top form, whatever turn of phrase you'd like to use, it would've been a solid, long lasting fix. But since they weren't, and we only semi-enacted the Legate Law, it'll HOLD, but not permanently.

Fret not though, Santa! We'll find a way to make the temporary fix permanent and get me back on my feet! I'm not going to let your home disappear. After all, I have a reputation to uphold, and I'd like to keep that reputation ah, Deliquesce free. Always have, and I always will.

Truth be told, we've come along in leaps and bounds since getting home, Jacqueline and I. It wasn't even a day when we figured out why my powers had stopped working. It's…hard to explain, but I'll do my best to do so here, as I'm sure your missus will be very interested in the magibean biology.

Every magibean has a core, of course. Our cores are where we summon our powers from. Cores are powered by our essences, the sort of manifestation of our powers, if that makes any sense at all. Our essences are what makes us, us! It's how we keep our cores alive and well, and our magic strong. It's like our drive, if you will. Mojo, perhaps. That sort of thing. When I thawed, the things I used to power my powers—the feelings and emotions and such, changed. The more I got along with everyone, the more acceptance I got and the nicer I was in return, the more the old drive went away. Bitterness, jealousy, loneliness, and all that jazz. But since that's how I used my powers for CENTURIES, as those feelings disappeared, so did my powers.

Things are very odd right now, and I'm not entirely sure of myself. There's so much change happening, I'm finding it hard to stay on solid ground. I'm sure I will, of course, in time. I'm Jack Frost! I don't slip.

The good news, though, is that in the meantime, while I figure out this unsure essence thing, Jacqueline and I have found a workaround. I'm drawing from the ether, the blanket of magic that covers the world, while I try to find my drive again. It's easy here at home. We're surrounded by winter magic here! Unfortunately, not so much up your way.

The winter magic at the Pole is in the Dome. Were I to draw from the ether there, I would be pulling what little magic is left keeping the Dome together. And though I've been feeling my own personal magic a bit more these past few weeks, after making up with the parents and getting closer with these siblings of mine, they're still not entirely back. We're a bit stuck, unfortunately. BUT! The Dome is steady and rest assured, Santa, there is hope!

Jacqueline found a proper chronicle of one of the winter sprites of old who had the same problem I'm presently dealing with. I've yet to read the entirety of the chronicle, but Jacqueline dropped it off with me this morning and I'm hoping to skim through it before work tonight. We'll see if I have the time—my brother and I are heading into town, to send this letter off and run a couple of other errands. I think he's giving me a tour. It'll be exciting to see how that goes!

Anyway, seeing as how we're a little stuck with the freezer burn thing, my father and I have been looking into what happened to Jacqueline while she was up there. My Dad's an accomplished warlock. Not the best; he didn't study past the final advanced levels. I've never asked why, and he seems to get by just fine with what he knows, and what he's taught me has been perfectly useful. I kinda get why he didn't advance further. I don't see the need, really. But anyway, warlocks are magic masters. They have this intense connection to the source that lets them master all sorts of spell casting. They can do it all, and tend to know a LOT about magical curses, aliments, etcetera, and this is a very roundabout way to say that my dad's made this EXHAUSTIVE list of things that could've caused Jacqueline's blackouts. The two of us have been slowly working through all the possibilities, with Mom helping when she can. She's in full swing right about now, so her presence around the manor is a little sporadic, but she pitches in when she can. She's been great at convincing Dad to look at more ah, questionable causes for Jacqueline's. Condition.

My Dad's a nice guy. He chooses to see the good in everyone. He's got a lot of hope, and I will admit it's nice to have someone that hopeful around.

BUT ANYWAY. I had a reason for writing you in the first place. My brother actually suggested I reach out to see about Jacqueline's stays at the Elfirmiry while we were there. We thought that, you know, if such a thing even exists, it'd be handy to have the medical records associated with her stays, if you'd be so kind. I'm not sure how helpful it would be, but maybe Dad can figure something out that we may have missed, what with the amounts of arcane knowledge he has.

I think that about covers everything. And then some! Thanks for the help, Santa. And I don't just mean, you know, sourcing those medical records or reading this letter. I mean for everything you've done for me this past year. Thank you for yet another chance. For listening when I spilt my deepest darkest secret. For sticking up for me with the other Legendaries. And thank the Missus for me, for kick starting that intervention. I needed it. You've both been so helpful, and kind, and I really appreciate it. A lot.

Anyway if you ever tell anybody I said any of that, I'll freeze you solid on the spot and this is both a promise AND a threat. Keep this on the DL, Claus. I mean it!

Hope all is well. And ah, Merry Christmas, I suppose.

Jack Frost.

"It's sweet how much he loves his family," Carol said, once Santa finished reading. She had made her way over to his side, peering over his shoulder to read the letter for herself (and taking mental notes on the magical tidbits. They'd make for a great lecture at the school!)

"He talked a lot about them, didn't he?"

Carol nodded. "I'm glad things are going well for him. His family sounds—"

"Crazy. Unhinged. Insane."

"I mean, so is ours, when you think about it," Carol pointed out with a soft smile, throwing herself back down on the sofa. "I mean, you call your ex-wife and her husband's kid your niece. That's a little unconventional, as my mother likes to remind us frequently," Carol rolled her eyes.

Scott chuckled. "Lucy's a good kid."

"Oh, she's an absolute sweetheart! She called me Aunt Carol a few letters ago. I kind of liked it."

"Right? It's kind of nice," Scott agreed, enthusiastic. "I wonder what she had to say." Picking up the next envelope, Santa sliced it open. Two letters popped out: one from Lucy, and one from Laura. It was shorter than Lucy's—an easy read. He shook open the single fold.

Hi Scott,

That date works perfectly! Lucy finishes her semester the day before, which will give us plenty of time to make sure we're ready for our stay. Neil's already started making a list of what to pack. He won't admit it but he's very excited. We all are! How's Carol? How's Buddy? Can he say Aunty Laura yet? Will Carol's parents be joining us this year? They're…you know, they mean well, in their own special way.

Charlie's heading to Whistler this year with Danielle and his friends. He says thanks again for saying he could go. He's been very excited about the trip, and wanted me to ask you if you could pick him up during your rounds on Christmas Eve. I figured that'd be easier than finding the time to grab him beforehand, and you know how much he loves heading out with you. Lucy's been asking when she can have a turn, too. Don't worry, I haven't told her she could at all yet. Neil and I figured it'd be best to see how you felt about that before we made any promises.

Let us know when you'll be here to grab us! We'll make sure to be ready to go, and Neil says he'll make a fresh plate of gingerbread for your arrival. Lucy's already picked out the cookie cutters!

Santa chuckled. Of course she had! He skimmed through the rest of the letter. Laura had a bit of her own local gossip to share, as well as an offer to pick up groceries or anything they may need before the three of them headed up. She wouldn't need to, but Scott was sure that one of them would end up getting some groceries anyway. Probably Neil. Santa could already hear him prattling on about how support goes a long way, and even Santa needs groceries, and it's okay to ask for help and blah, blah, blah.

He was glad Charlie would be getting a breather from Laura and Neil before the holidays. Scott was all for Charlie heading out and experiencing life. He didn't want to stifle him too much, especially with senior year on the horizon. The kid would be stressed enough. And he always spent Christmas with the family, even when he said he'd be going somewhere with Danielle or a group of friends. Picking Charlie up while out and about wouldn't be a problem.

A few more lines and a see you soon. The Millers were set to arrive, and according to Jack, the Dome was mostly fine.

"Hmm," Santa said, grabbing Lucy's letter.

Dear Uncle Scott,

Wow! I can't wait to ask Jack about all of that! That's so strange, his powers being gone. But a FAMILY?! A SISTER?! I want to know EVERYTHING about his family. I bet they're really fun! Do you think they're all like Jack? Maybe they have other powers? Maybe they have NO powers! I hope he pops by when we're up! I have GOT to know EVERYTHING!

That was really sweet of you and Aunt Carol to get him to open up like that. And I'm glad the other Legendary Figures were nice about it, too :D! I think he just needs a little love and kindness, you know? It goes a long way. Like remember how I was telling you about Kat, the mean girl in my class? I was very nice to her all year and eventually, she stopped being as mean! She still has her moments, but at least she's not making kids cry anymore :)

I am SO EXCITED to go up North this year! It'll be nice to see Bernard again, and Elle! I can't wait to hear all about their vacation and how the year has gone for them. And Curtis! I hope he's doing well, too! I know he was really stressed last year, and I hope that whatever he's up to now is way less stressful and he's having fun with it! He's got so many ideas, I don't know how he doesn't explode!

And the other elves! I cant wait to see them! And Buddy! I bet he's real big now! I'm gonna teach him to say Lucy this Christmas, just you wait and see!

I am DYING to decorate the house, but Mom says it's too early. Have you decorated yet? I hope not! I wanna help! I love putting up the tree and I bet you have the best ornaments, Uncle Scott :D!

I knew being extra good this year would pay off! I can't wait to show you this year's snow globe. It's nothing like the one you gave me last year, which is still my absolute favourite. But this year's has a LLAMA in it! Charlie thinks it might be an alpaca, but I'm pretty sure it's a llama. And I bet I'm right.

I hope we can see you soon! Tell everyone I say hi! I'm warming up hugs as we write!

Lots of love!

Lucy :D

"The Millers are rearing and ready to go," Santa said with a chuckle, pulling out two fresh sheets of paper and starting his replies to them. "How're things with your parents?"

"Good! They're good! Dad's been helping out at the local high school. Mom has a whole entire page of neighbourhood gossip. Her book club seems to be going well."

"Is she still feuding with Nancy?"

Carol laughed. "Seems like it! Dad's also packing some tools. Seems like he has it in his head that you'll need his help on the floor and around the house."

"He knows we have all sorts of things here," Santa scoffed.

"He's just trying to help, Scott," Carol said. "Anyway, they've said yes to coming down for the holidays again this year, if that wasn't obvious already."

"Let your Dad know that he can leave the kitchen sink behind, ours is working just fine."

Carol laughed. "I'll put that down first thing," she joked back. "Oh, Scott, aren't you excited? Everyone coming to visit for the holidays? Knowing everything about what we're doing up here? This is going to be an amazing Christmas, I'm calling it now."

"Compared to last year? Anything is better."

Carol laughed, trailing off with a sigh. "Things seem to be ready to go on both sides. And the Dome is still in one piece." she straightened up, scrutinizing Santa. "Do you think…"

"Let's ask," Santa said, reaching under his desk and pushing a button.

---

"…so I had a hands-off approach to the diplomatic bits. You think Aunt Spring is bad in March, you should see how she is during the lead up! And technically I'm not the season; I just have the entirety of the season at my fingertips. So seasonal councils and the like? It's not really part of the job description. I got a ton of other sleet to do as a Legendary Figure. Living up to the legend I created, guarding magic, that sort of thing."

"But you basically are a season, right? So why is it that you became best known for frost and chills and stuff?"

"I got spotted quite a bit doing the hands-on detail work. It's my favourite part of the job, if I'm being honest. That and making things slippery. There's something so satisfying about watching people slip and slide. The best part is how long it takes them to try not to fall."

"The slapstick of it all!"

"Exactly!"

"So when you left home, did you and Mom run into each other on the job?"

"Nah. I was good at avoiding the storms I knew she'd be heading. And admittedly, I kinda did my own thing."

"Is that allowed?"

"Not at all!" Jack said, chipper. "But that was kinda the point. It bothered Mother Nature and usually inconvenienced Santa and both of those things were just fine by me."

"What about Jacqueline?"

"I think she mostly does flurries. That's her favourite. Always has been."

"No, I mean, did you ever run into her on the job?"

Jack shook his head. "No. After everything I went well out of my way to avoid her. But she does and did what I used to do for the most part. Give Mom a hand. Which I suppose I'm back to doing now, but we've been dividing and conquering, you know, picking out where nature's doing its thing for us to do our thing. Like this week, for instance, Jacqueline and I have spent the evenings laying the groundwork for a huge blizzard in the northeast. That means bringing the colder air where it needs to go, getting conditions ready for the storm Mom's been brewing all week, and so on. Of course, she does have Legate responsibilities, too. No idea what those entail, but I get some perks to having a Legate," he said with a devious little grin. "I'd duck if I were you, by the way."

"You'd what now?"

There was a nasty thwack; Fino's head flew forward, a hiss as something cold and wet landed on his hair, rapidly melting down his back.

"ACK!"

"FINO SERAFINO FROST!"

The colour drained out of Fino's face. "I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO LET THE CAT IN THERE IT JUST. IT REALLY LIKED IT, DON'T TURN ME INTO A PILE OF ASHES!" He scrambled around Jack, hiding behind his back.

"You're lucky I've had the day to cool off," Jacqueline said with a huff, dodging the six red poinsettias floating behind her brothers as she caught up to them. "More flowers?"

"We went downtown. Made a day about it. Picked up some more since Fino felt that there wasn't enough fiery holiday décor."

"You've been harbouring this fugitive all day?!" Jacqueline sounded appalled.

"What is it you say?" Jack said, feigning forgetfulness. "Oh, yes! That's it. I do what I want, Jacqueline. Besides, it was mutually beneficial. I needed a tour guide."

"And I delivered," Fino said proudly, the three siblings turning the corner onto Evergreen Lane. "I am sorry about the cat, Jacqueline. I've been trying to coax him out all month but he's very stubborn."

"What's his deal?!" she asked, cradling a litter box full of cat related toys and things in her arms.

"He likes the cold but doesn't like the outside. Your room is like, his preferred climate. I was trying to strike a deal with him, that if he left your room I'd take him to Aunt Spring's, because I think the chilly spring weather may be nice for him, but he was adamant on staying put."

"You were trying to strike a deal with a cat?" Jack asked, perplexed.

"I can talk to animals," Fino said proudly.

"Did I know that?" Jack asked.

Jacqueline shrugged. "I dunno. Can't remember mentioning it. Or it coming up. This month's been a blur. Does the cat have a name?"

"I've been calling him Catto."

"Catto?"

"Catto!"

"I hope he isn't attached to it because that sure as sleet isn't sticking."

"I don't think he is. I figured if he did get stuck there when you came, you could name him! I know you're not too fond of cats but you'll like him. He's a big sweetheart! And he's cuddly."

"And sharp and pointy, so we'll have to take baby steps before cuddles." Jacqueline said. "And we'll need to work on him stealing my stuff! Speaking of which, Jack, did you manage to—"

A battle cry rang out from the forest alongside them, cutting Jacqueline off. The siblings stopped, watching as a sooty child tumbled out of the forest, beelining for Jacqueline.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE HIM ALIVE!" the soot monster screamed, rushing for Jacqueline's knees.

With an eyeroll, she stepped to the side. The soot monster ran right past her, Jacqueline's slight tap of her foot going unnoticed by everyone but Jack.

The soot monster slipped, squealing, and slid, finally falling over. A snowbank met them halfway, the snow poofing up with some soot, the monster laughing delightedly now.

"Hot girl soot went well today, then?" Fino asked, grinning down at the sooty child.

"Heck yeah it did!" she replied, wiping her face off to reveal a very flushed Fiera. "I think I've almost got hovering with firepower totally down."

"Without exploding us?"

"That's still like a non zero chance," she replied, stepping out of the snowbank (carefully) and dusting off her mantle coat. "But I'm CLOSE!"

"Fiera, that's not going to come off like that," Jacqueline said, planting a hand on her hip.

"I'm making a dent!"

"Here, allow me," Jack said. "Stop squirming for a sec."

"Oh dear," Fiera said. "I will DO my BEST!" And, taking a deep breath in and holding it, cheeks puffed up, she stopped squirming.

Jack raised an eyebrow, snapping his fingers. The soot and dirt poofed right off of Fiera's jacket, leaving it spick and span.

"Oh that's COOL!" Fiera yelled, letting out the breath she had been holding. "Is that a warlock thing?"

"Yep," Jack said, snapping his fingers again. The flowers resumed their float, Jack starting forward once more. The gates to the house grew closer and closer, and there was only a couple of hours before he had to head out for work. His stomach growled. He frowned. They hadn't even had dinner yet, and he still wanted to find some time before heading out to peruse the texts Jacqueline had left with him. He sped up a touch, keeping an ear out for his siblings as they trailed behind him.

"Cool," Fiera said with a grin. "I'm glad you didn't get melted, by the way, Fins."

"Me too," Fino said, relieved.

"You're still on thin ice," Jacqueline shot back.

"You do ANYTHING to him and I will get you, Jacqueline."

"Get me like you just did back there?" she teased.

"Why I NEVER," Fiera said, indignant.

They fell into step behind Jack, jumping between bickering and chattering as they neared the gates. Jack kept forward, smiling to himself as he listened in on the conversation, doing his part when they roped him in. He felt like a duck, with a flock of ducklings behind him. Very overpowered, partially explosive ducklings. The realization settled over him suddenly, but softly.

He'd grown very fond of his siblings.

He'd always been fond of Jacqueline, of course. Prior to this month though, the last time Jack had seen her (alternate timelines aside), she'd been so much smaller and so different. He had had to get to know her all over again as a young adult; somehow managing to grow even fonder of her. And the little firecrackers had warmed their way right into his formerly icy heart. Wormed as well, but for the sake of the pun, (for him and him alone), they had wormed themselves all up in there, quite warmly.

He'd do anything to keep them safe. Anything, he realized, with a ferocity that shocked him right down to his very core. Goddess forgive him for what he would do to anyone who so much as looked at the three of them the wrong way.

How long have we been out? Jacqueline asked him, mentally. Jack frowned, thinking for a moment. He glanced up at the sky. Sun was just about setting.

Four hours or so, he replied.

It's what, 6 o'clock?

Thereabouts, yes.

So mom and dad have been home alone for like, a couple of hours now.

…I don't see what that has to do with—OH, Jack realized. He grimaced. That's a thing you look out for?!

YES. I'm not having THAT conversation with these two, she thought back, glancing down at the twins in front of her.

With a sigh, Jack took one for the team and strained his ears as they headed up the pathway. He heard singing; the sizzle of a grill. Some clattering in the kitchen. Dinner sounds.

I think we're safe, Jack thought back.

Thank goodness, Jacqueline said, sighing in relief.

Let me just make sure we're totally in the clear, he thought back, smirking when her head shot up and she narrowed her eyes, glaring right at him.

What are you doing?

He grabbed the handle, pushing down the latch and opening the door.

"MOM! DAD! WE'RE HO-OME!" He called out. "PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!"

"JACK!" Jacqueline shouted, the colour draining from her face, as both parents burst into laughter.

"Our clothes were off?" Blaise shouted back from the somewhere near the kitchen table. "I had no idea!"

"Blaise, you should've told me we were stripping down! I would've put the skillet down," Winter tutted.

Jacqueline was so embarrassed. It was goddamn hilarious. Jack found himself laughing far too hard to egg his parents on more, like he had planned.

"You are my WORST brother!" Jacqueline shouted, pelting the Legend with snowballs all the way into the kitchen. "ABSOLUTE WORST!"

"Oh thank the GODDESS," Fino whispered to his twin, the pair bent down, unlacing their boots. "I'm finally off the hook."

"We can thank Jack later," Fiera said with a giggle. "I think he's in for a loooooooooooong night."

---

Five minutes or so passed before Elle and Bernard knocked on the door to Santa's office.

"Hey guys!" Santa said, gleefully. "C'mon in!"

"Someone's chipper," Elle remarked, closing the door behind them.

"I'll say. This close to Christmas? That's concerning," Bernard said. "What's up, Santa?"

"I got a letter from Jack today," he began.

"A letter? From Jack? What, is he dying?" Bernard asked.

Elle snorted; Carol choked on her cocoa, recovering just in time to gently admonish the head elf. "Bernard!"

"It's an honest question, Mrs. C. Is he?"

"You know, I had the same thought," Santa said with a chuckle.

"Oh honey, don't encourage him."

"Please do," Elle said, still laughing. "Is Jacqueline okay?"

"Yes, Jacqueline's fine, according to her brother," Santa answered. "He actually had a request, if you wouldn't mind doing me a favour, Elle."

"Sure! What is it?"

"He wanted to know if there were any records done by Dr. Hismus when Jacqueline was in the Elfirmiry. Would either of you happen to know off hand if there were?"

"In theory, there should be. In practice, hard to say," Bernard said with a small shrug, hands still clasped behind his back.

"She was really stubborn about going. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave Hismus a hard time with inpatient forms." Elle mused. "I can look into it, Santa. I've got some odds and ends to take care of in that direction anyway. I can head over now and grab those for you if you'd like?"

"That'd be excellent, thanks Elle!"

"No problem," Elle said, heading back out.

"Glad the kid's doing okay," Bernard said with a small smile.

"And according to Jack, so is the Dome…" Santa said, trailing off and leaning forward in Bernard's general direction.

"Let me guess. Family sent a letter too?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Both sides," Carol confirmed, whooshing spilt cocoa off of her lesson plans with a little bit of magic and a triumphant smile.

"And they're ready and rearing to come on down for Christmas!" Santa said excitedly. "Here, you can read Jack's letter yourself," he said, sliding it over to Bernard. The elf picked it up and skimmed through it, frowning.

"It is only temporary, though," Bernard pointed out, placing the letter back on the desk.

"Yeah, but! It isn't falling apart any time soon, according to Jack. And he is the Dome expert," Santa added.

"Regrettably," Bernard said.

"And! They've made progress! He's not totally powerless anymore!"

"But if anything happens to the Dome and he tries to fix it, it may not work. Or worse, it may get worse."

"But it isn't falling apart."

"Alright Santa," Bernard said, shuffling and standing up straighter. "What do you want?"

"Well, it has been two weeks since we talked. And you agreed that if the Dome stayed solid in that time, we'd have the all clear to bring up the family!" Santa said, he and Carol sharing an excited look.

Bernard inhaled deeply, exhaling loudly. He looked thoughtful.

"C'mon Bernard. You promised!"

"I know, but…are you sure it's a good idea, Santa? To bring them all up? Given the fiasco last year, and this year's minor setback…"

"Alright, well, what's the scoop from the Dome Team?"

"No signs of melting. Everything's holding up. Seems more or less fine," Bernard replied, shifting his weight over to his other foot. "Doesn't the fact that it could start again at any moment bother you at all?"

"Of course it does! But Jack did say he would come up the moment he felt something happen, and I know everyone disagrees with me, but I trust him."

"No, it's a good call," Bernard said. "He's always taken care of the Dome. That's why we've never actually had to deal with the Deliquesce. He's always been very on top of it."

"That's genuinely surprising, given his prior disposition and what destroying the Dome could do to the entire North Pole, let alone the world," Carol said, eyes not looking up from her page.

Santa looked shocked. "Boy am I glad you're not in charge of the Dome! I'd have gotten us blown to smithereens ages ago," he chortled.

Carol smiled. "Ha, ha. You know, sweetheart, it's okay to be jealous that I'd be a better villain than you."

"What? I'm not—oh ho ho. Spicy today, aren't we?"

Carol laughed. "I always come armed for a battle of wits, you know that. But, um, Bernard."

"Yeah?"

"It will be safe for everyone, right? I'd hate to see something bad happen to the Millers, and you know how my parents can be."

"Bud would probably benefit from an ice chunk to the head."

"Scott!" Carol said, trying to be offended but unable to stop herself from laughing. "He'd probably climb the Dome himself to try and fix it!"

"I'd pay to see that."

"If Jack says it's fine, it's fine," Bernard said. "He'll know right away the moment the Dome so much as thinks about splitting a hairline fracture."

"Right away?" Carol asked.

"Instantaneously," Bernard confirmed.

"How?"

"Headache, usually," Bernard said.

"Huh," Carol said, tilting her head, bewildered.

"So," Scott said with a clap. "Barring Jack getting a headache, what'd'you say, Bernard? Are we all clear to bring up the family?"

Bernard looked thoughtful for a moment. Both Scott and Carol leaned forward in anticipation, waiting, excitedly.

"Well?!" Santa asked.

Bernard smiled, softening. "Eh, sure, Santa. I did promise, after all."

"Yes!" said Santa, with a little fist pump.

"Oh, yay!" Carol said, excited. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, Bernard! I know it's busy season, so I'm more than happy to pitch in where I can."

"I'll keep the offer in mind, Carol, but I think Housekeeping has it under control. What date should we have things ready for?"

"Is the seventeenth too soon?"

"We can make it work," Bernard said. "Anything else, Santa? Mrs. Claus?"

The couple looked at each other. Santa shrugged; Carol shook her head.

"I think we're good here," Santa said. "I'll let ya get back to it, Bernard."

Bernard nodded, promptly heading out of the office and back to the floor. He was already making a mental list of things to do to prepare for the arrival of Santa's family. He was sure it wouldn't be as bad as last year…but he couldn't shake the feeling that it could somehow be worse. If they entered full Deliquesce, explaining that to all of Santa's family members would be...hard. Really hard. And he'd hate to be the guy who had to do it.

Good thing he wasn't! That was solidly a Santa problem, and Bernard was more than happy to keep it that way.

---

A/N-Happy New Year! Edited and posted on January 21st, 2023 (and edited again October 26th, 2023 :).

Good GOD. I started rewriting this in 2020. What a time to be alive. COVID really went FUCK CREATIVITY, huh? Anyway, changed things up a bit! Some fun sibling shenanigans! Fino making the animal crossing INTENSE face at Jack, haha. This chapter is 15k now! Sorry not sorry for the length. I actually had a time with this one, because it seemed like I didn't actually really NEED this chapter, for plot purposes, you feel? Like it would've been on the chopping block were this an IRL novel, I think. But it is presently fanfic so I let it live, especially since the Jack and Fino bits are kinda fun! Fino's very curious, I have learnt while writing this.

Anyway, enjoy! And if you do, hit me up! I love hearing the feedback, it makes me very heart eyes. Coming up next: BLAISE TRAUMA! WOO! New stuff that I am excited to share with you all! I've gotta start bringing together the threads for the last five chapters, after all :)