When we arrived, everyone was waiting for us. Scott greeted the others while we just smiled and waved at everyone.

"Merry Christmas again." Scott says, "Good to see everyone here. Do you really think it's necessary to call an emergency council meeting? I'm ready to ride the sleigh, if you know what I mean."

"Santa, we thought you should see this." Mother Nature says as she turns a standee around to reveal a man in a winter themed suit wearing a sash that said 'Merry Frostmas.'

"Silver bells!" Scott exclaims. I also kinda had to agree. What in the actual heck was this?

"I found 270 of them at shopping malls scattered across the Northwest." Mother Nature explains as Scott sits down. "I hereby call this special session of the Council of Legendary Figures to order." She then slammed her gavel on the table to wake up the Sandman and scolded the Easter Bunny for making some comment at Cupid while Scott muttered something under his breath. "Our first and only order of business," She continues, "is the disciplinary action to be taken against council member Jack Frost."

"Now that's what I'm talking about." A voice says, and I turn to see the same man entering the room.

'Oh no.' I thought to myself, 'nononononono please tell me this isn't who I think it is. That can't be him.'

Apparently my shock was noticeable, as I felt my husband's arm wrap around me.

"You alright, hon?" Bernard asks quietly, "What's up?"

"I'll tell you later." I respond.

Frost stopped and stood by Scott before taking his sunglasses off. "You love it. Am I right?" He says, "You guys finally woke up and are giving me my own holiday. Frostmas, of course, is just a placeholder. I'm wide open. Frostgiving, the Frost of July, Frosthog Day, I mean the possibilities are endless."

"Jack, you are hereby charged with 273 counts of attempted upstaging of Santa Claus." Mother Nature tells him. "You froze a volcano in Hawaii, you made it snow in the Amazon, and you frosted Mexico, sending all of the geese north for the winter. You have violated the Legendary Figures code of conduct in a manner that is both willful and malicious."

"Excuse me, did you just accuse me of being skillful and delicious?" Frost asks all snarky. "Guilty as charged."

'Oh end me now,' I thought, 'my human life has been a lie.'

"Frost, you herald the season." Father Time says, "You're not a holiday."

"You're the best friend, you're not the leading man." Tooth Fairy adds.

"And you kill fruit." Easter Bunny adds.

"All in favor of suspending Jack Frost from the Legendary Council," Father Time starts as everyone raises their hands, "please say-"

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Frost says, cutting him off, "Father time, wait a minute. You gotta understand, I-I have enormous untapped potential."

'Understatement.' I thought, keeping a sarcastic laugh to myself, 'If only you knew what people like me used to think of you.'

"But all I am, year after year, is an opening act." Frost continues, "A setup man for Mr. Big."

"Jack, why don't you let that go...?" Scott says.

The two then got into an argument about how Scott has it so easy while I took the time to speak again.

"Is this guy seriously the Spirit of Winter I used to believe in as a child?" I asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, yes." Bernard responds.

"I'm so disappointed." I say before Scott suddenly stands, slamming his hands on the table.

"You know, Jack," He starts, "it's no picnic being me. Because of our production problems an entire continent might go without toys this year. That's right. And on top of that, I've got to protect the Secret of Santa this year because the in-laws, oh boy the in-laws... Mr. and Mrs. In A Bad Mood Every Time I Turn Around, are coming up to the North Pole, they're not supposed to be coming up to the North Pole so I gotta come up with some solution for that. And on top of that, I'm a tad bit worried about being a father again because I wasn't all that good at it the first time."

There was a stunned silence after his rant as he sat back down. The silence was short as Mother Nature spoke.

"Oh, Santa. We had no idea." She says sympathetically.

"Oh, Santa. I'm sorry." Frost says in a way that made me feel suspicious.

"You know, if it were me in the red suit, I'd probably go right to the Escape Clause." Cupid says.

"Oh no, the Escape Clause." Scott says, "Way too extreme. Really."

I had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn't like the sound of it. Probably best I don't know.

"Escape Clause?" Frost asks mischievously, "What's up with that?"

"Maybe if you'd attend a meeting once in a while you'd know." Father Time says.

"You can manipulate time, but you can't grow hair." Frost roasts, "Legendary? I don't think so."

"Look, I'm not evoking the Escape Clause." Scott says, "I made a commitment. I'll handle the toys, and I'll be there when my wife delivers that baby."

"Let me help." Frost says quickly, a little too quickly.

"You've done quite enough." Father Time says.

"No, no, no." Frost says, "Instead of a suspension, how about community service? What if... what if I tutor myself at the elbow of the master? Huh? I could lend a hand. Make some toys, wrap a few presents. And if I don't make it with the hefty man here, then he says the word and you suspend me. Please, Santa. I know I don't deserve another chance, but I'm asking you for one. I want to make things right."

"All right." Scott says after a moment. "You don't want to get suspended? I'll give you one more chance. But you have to be a Jack Frost-of-all-trades. You also have to listen to the elves. Alice is your boss. And I mean it. If there's one, one icicle out of place, you are gone."

"I will not let you down." Frost replies.

Everyone then turned to Mother Nature for her say on this, and she seemed satisfied.

"Motion carried." Says, slamming her gavel and ending the meeting.

As everyone was leaving, Frost turned to face me.

"So, Alice," He starts, "Alice Lennox, I almost didn't recognize you after all these years. What a surprise to see you here. I haven't heard from you in a while. Miss me?"

"Don't you even start." I respond. "I'm not some old friend of yours, so don't talk to me like one. You let me sit around and wait every winter for someone who I never saw, I believed in you that much. Now, get to work. I'll be with you in a few. Curtis, keep an eye on him for me."

"Come on, let's go." Curtis says, escorting Frost out of the room.

"Whoa." Bernard says, not used to seeing me this fired up. "You alright, Alice? What was that about?"

"Sorry," I reply, "It's just... when I was a little girl, I had always loved the winter season. My friends and classmates used to tell stories about him, and he was always put in a bad light, like he was a bad guy. I thought they were being too harsh, and strongly believed that he was actually good. That he was this fun loving winter spirit that loved seeing how excited we would get whenever he came, bringing the snow with him. While others imagined him as some sort of monster, or some old ice wizard, or something like that, I always saw him as this young boy, probably in his teens, with white hair, blue eyes, and a blue hoodie. I waited day and night to see him, but I never did. I thought it was because I never believed enough, now I know it's because my ideas were wrong."

"Alice, that's..."

"It's fine. I eventually gave up on the idea once I started high school."

Mother Nature then approached us. "Excuse me, could I talk to you for a moment?" She asks.

"Sure," We say, "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if one of you could go and get the rest of these for me." She says, referring to the standees.

"I would love to, but I'm stuck playing Winter's Babysitter." I say.

"Well, I can do it." Bernard says.

"Thank you. Just bring them here." Mother Nature says, handing him a paper with wherever he needed to take them before she left.

"Barnard, please don't leave me with him." I beg.

"Don't worry, I won't be long." He assures me, "Besides, you have Curtis to help you out until I get back. I promise I'll be back before you know it. Alright?"

"Fine. I'll do my best."

"That's my girl. Love you."

"Love you."

We shared a quick kiss after that before he left and I went to go find Curtis and Frost.

A/N: Surprise triple update! Thought I'd give you guys a little bonus today. Also, if anyone catches the reference in this chapter, +20 respect points for you.

Until Next Time!

~Sarah_Renai