07 | A FEW MONTHS LATER

LIFE did not pass by easily after that day. The months came and went: the brittleness of autumn turned to a snow-filled winter and winter eventually restored into a bright and green spring buzzing with life. Over the days, Winter desperately tried to forget any lingering recollection of Harry Hook, but it was not as easy as she naively hoped.

Formerly she believed that once she found out if she was soulmates with Harry Hook then things would get easier in terms of forgetting about him. This was not true.

She was unable to stop thinking about him. He invaded her dreams every night and during the days she felt like some starry-eyed teenage girl. People noticed too, especially the people who were closer to her.

Jonah, of course, took note of it and made it his life mission to find out who had caught Winter's seemingly frozen heart. Lonnie smiled knowingly as she remembered just how that pirate had been all over Winter. Carlos and Jay, remained mostly the same, though they would throw subtle glances at her every now and then.

But Evie and Mal were by far the worst. Evie was determined to somehow get Harry over here so that she could set the two up together. Mal, on the other hand, continuously pestered her about the whole soulmate ordeal when they were alone.

Thankfully, Mal stuck by her word and did not tell anyone about the soulmate thing, but she still made sure to tease Winter about it constantly.

Above that, Winter's actions about including herself improved just slightly. It was now normal for her to hang out in Mal and Evie's room, or even go to the coffee shop with them and Lonnie. It may have not been much, but it was a step in the right direction.

There had even been one time during March where Mal, Ben, Evie, and Winter went horseback riding through a small portion of the forests. Mal and Evie had never been on a horse prior, so it was extremely exciting for them, and as Winter and Ben had been raised with riding horses, it was fun to watch the two VKs reactions.

However, now it was the last day of May and summer break would be starting the next day. Finals were finished two days ago, all of which Winter aced.

Summer lasted three months for the Auradon kids, school resumed every year on the third of September. This summer, everyone had their own plans. Some kids would remain on campus doing summer schooling while others went home.

Lonnie was to be going home. Evie had just bought her own home and fashion boutique where she would be living for the summer. She intended to start up her business during break.

Carlos and Jay were to be staying back at the school in the dorms as they had no intention of returning to the Isle.

Mal was going to be staying with Ben in his family castle, helping him with the responsibilities of being King. However, all four of the VKs had one important goal this summer and that was picking the next four VKs who would be attending Auradon Prep next year.

Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay were finally able to start up the VK program and would be bringing kids over to the school from the Isle. It was a lot of work that would take a good portion of the summer, and it was toward the end of summer where they would actually go to the Isle and pick up the new VKs.

Evie, in particular, had taken a huge role in acting as a voice for the children of the Isle. She was determined to make sure that every child got their chance in Auradon and were not stuck suffering for the crimes of their parents.

Not to mention, she had been relentless in teasing Winter that she would be making sure Harry Hook came at some point. Yeah, Winter was quite flustered every time she brought it up.

Along with all of that, Mal also had the pressure of watching for any sign of Uma since her disappearance to the sea. So far, there was no sign of her at all.

Winter; however, would not be staying in Auradon over summer. Evie and Mal had tried convincing her to stay, pointing out that she would miss Jane's birthday party later in the summer. Mal had even said she could stay in the castle with her and Ben, but Winter missed her family.

She had not seen them since Christmas.

Evie and Mal, though they wanted her to stay, understood where she was coming from. They may have not had the best parents, but they knew Winter did. Mal nor Evie had ever met Queen Elsa or Jack Frost but based on the stories, they sounded like awesome people.

Winter would be leaving first thing in the early morning. Her stuff was already packed and she was ready to go. She bounced just thinking of home and how she would no longer be forced to conceal herself.

No more worrying.

Well, unless she was worrying about her apparent soulmate, but that a different issue altogether.

The thing about it was that her home was not the easiest to get to. Traveling by the wind would be the simplest way to get there, but seeing as Winter had quite a few bags, she was forced to take the scenic route. She didn't like traveling that far by wind with so many stuff.

She would take an SUV to a small private airport just on the outskirts of Auradon, and from there she would take the Arendellian family jet to the closest airport to Arendale. Unfortunately, Arendelle was not as up-to-date with the times as Auradon, so the kingdom still ran mostly on the old ways and magic.

In other words, the airport was not that close to Arendelle. From the airport, she had to take a freight sailboat through a small portion of the ocean where she would then finally arrive in Arendelle.

However, that was the funny part, she technically did not live in Arendelle. Yes, her Aunt Anna did as she was Queen of Arendelle, but not her parents. Arendelle was not too far from her home though.

Once she arrived in Arendelle, she would spend some time there with her cousins before she would go to her actual home.

That was when she could use the wind to travel across the Ahtohallan river where she would finally come to the small Ahtohallan ice-island that she called her home. There on the land of snowy forests, frozen lakes, and ice caves was where her home was.

Protected by miles of isolation, as no one other than Elsa, Jack, or Winter was capable of crossing the Ahtohallan river better known as the dark sea, hidden by the snow, ice, and fog stands a proud castle.

Built with ice and stone, kept alive by magic, was the Castle of Ahtohallan. It was the home of the Winter King and Snow Queen and was also the place Winter grew up.

"Yoohoo, Winter!" Winter jumped out of her thoughts by Evie waving a hand in her face.

"Yes, I'm listening!" Winter smiled nervously as Evie shook her head playfully.

"You were so zoning out, a certain pirate on your mind?" Winter smiled because, for the first time in a while, she actually was not thinking of Harry.

She was thinking of home instead. Auradon was a warm place other than in the winter season, and while Winter liked that, she also missed the snowiness of Ahtohallan.

Winter was currently sitting in the desk chair of Evie's, herself, Mal, and Evie all lounging in the two VKs dorm room. Mal and Evie were packed as well, as both of them were to be heading off tomorrow.

Evie's new home was not that far from the school and neither was Ben's castle, luckily. They would not be forced to travel an entire day as Winter was.

Winter tapped her gloved hands on the desk, giving the two girls a nervous smile. The sunset was shining brightly through the blinds basking the sky in an orange and pink glow.

"Nope, just thinking about the flight tomorrow," Winter sighed, spinning on the spinny chair.

Mal was laying on her stomach in her bed while reading a book. Evie had been cutting through some fabrics while ranting to both of them about how she and Doug had yet to use "L" or word. A.K.A, she nor he had told each other they loved the other yet.

Winter did not understand why since they both clearly were heavily in love.

Evie opened her mouth with a smirk, most likely to say something about Harry that would no doubt get Winter flustered.

"Besides," Winter was quick to say, not wanting the subject of Harry Hook to come up yet again, "why don't you just say it? Come on, Evie, you guys are one of the most in-love couples at Auradon Prep!"

"I know, but it is so much harder than it seems, okay!" Evie wailed, falling back onto her bed with a dramatic puff. "Like what if he doesn't say it back, what if he's like 'this is moving way too fast', what if... what if..."

"Evie," Mal slammed her book shut, looking to her with a light smile, "you're giving me anxiety, and it's not even my relationship."

"I could tell him for you?" Winter suggested with a shrug causing Evie to give her a horrified look.

Winter would no doubt be dry about it, she would probably just walk up and randomly blurt it out as though she was saying any other random fact before leaving. It was something Evie definitely did not want to happen.

"Uhm, no, please do not!" Evie scoffed, shaking her head.

"Booo, then what is taking you so long, just freaking say it!" Mal exclaimed. "He is going to be living with you and everything!"

"I know," Evie groaned, running a hand down her face.

Yep, Doug was to be moving in with Evie this summer and both had still did not have the courage to tell the other they loved them.

Winter snorted quietly, amused by the fact. When she first learned Evie and Doug would be living together, she was slightly nervous about Evie popping out a kid just a few years too early, but she reassured herself when she was reminded that Evie, surprisingly, was not that bad with those sorts of... activities.

No, it was actually Mal and Ben who were worse, so bad that Winter was actually concerned Mal seriously might end up pregnant. But then again, Mal was magical so she probably had a better chance of not getting pregnant unless she wanted to.

There was this time that Winter had sat with Evie and Mal at dinner, but Evie was scolding Mal because apparently the previous night, Evie had woken up only to find Mal and Ben in a rather compromising position on the bed next to hers.

Yeah, Mal was embarrassed, especially after Jay proceeded to run around campus screaming about how Mal and Ben were doing it. Jay ended up with green hair for a solid week after that.

"Moving on," Mal turned to Winter. "Winter," Winter rose a brow at Mal, "I'm assuming your hair is going back to white before you go home?"

"Yeah," Winter shrugged, "I don't really need to dye it back or anything though, all I need is to focus hard enough and the dye will freeze away."

It was true, the hair dye would always run out after less than a week, but it only took a simple thought and Winter could make the hair dye go away in a split second.

"What? And you weren't planning on showing us?" Evie gasped as though she was insulted.

"Nope," Winter smiled causing both of them to groan.

"Oh, come on!" Mal buried her face in her arms. "Please, mostly everyone left campus earlier and no one will—"

"Ugh, fine!"

Mal and Evie were not the only ones shocked by how easily Winter gave in. Winter was shocked by herself too, but she only agreed because mostly everyone had left campus already and her dorm was just on the other side of the hall, so there would probably be no one to see her.

Not only that, but the SUV was meant to be picking her up before even the sun rose tomorrow, so no one would be awake to see her white hair.

Cracking her neck, Winter willed her hair to frost over, the hair dye immediately melting away. Evie and Mal gaped as they watched the once brunette locks change to pure white before their very eyes.

Winter, while she still looked like herself, also looked like an entirely different person. Such cold hair with such warm eyes. Winter always looked beautiful, but with her hair such a rare shade of white, it seemed to only increase her looks tenfold.

Mal and Evie could not stop staring causing Winter to get self-conscious.

"I know, it's bad..." she sighed, while her family may have been used to seeing her natural hair color, everyone else was not.

"Not it is not, it is gorgeous!" Evie firmly said while standing from the bed. "I love that color a lot more than brown, why don't you embrace your natural color?" Evie was serious, her face contorted into one of confusion.

Mal looked the same way, and as Winter looked back and forth between the two she could not help but shrink.

"Because it's weird, brown is more natural and does not draw as many eyes," Winter stated, also reminding herself why she could not keep her hair white throughout the year.

Mal and Evie frowned, they both knew Winter did not like too much attention on herself. Around large groups of people, Winter was rather shy and quiet. At first, they thought it was her personality, but then they slowly realized it was something much deeper.

It was not as though she was shy but rather scared, and not scared of the other people but more so herself.

"What does your family say about you dying your hair brown?" Mal questioned.

"Oh, they don't know," Winter shrugged causing both girls to gape and shake their heads at Winter.

"Okay, moving on before I actually pass out, what is Arendelle like anyway?" Evie questioned.

Mal nodded, "Yeah, the furthest Ben and I went was to Aladdin and Jasmine's home. I don't think even Ben has met your parents or your aunt and uncle yet..."

"No, he hasn't, Arendelle is pretty far away. Plus, it's kind of isolated and way more old-fashioned than most places in Auradon. It's beautiful though, and it's honestly indescribable, you need to see it with your own eyes. That's how most places are up in the North," Winter explained as Mal tilted her head.

"North?"

"Ben hasn't told you guys about the North?" Winter asked curiously causing both girls to shake their heads.

"Oh well, Arendelle is the last main kingdom before you start hitting smaller villages and different peoples of the North. Of course, Arendelle is still a part of Auradon, but it's also so far away that it's more of a trading partner than anything. Because of that, Arendelle is normally the ones to deal with the people and villages of the North, like the Northuldra..."

"The Northuldra?" Evie was sitting.

"Yeah, a tribe of people that inhabit the Enchanted Forest by Arendelle. They don't really have any contact with King Ben, but they sure are involved with my Aunt and Arendelle quite a bit. My Mom is their protector along with the rest of the Enchanted Forest, well... I guess I'm sort of a protector too when I'm home..."

"Wow," Evie breathed her eyes big, "it sounds wonderful, Mal you need to take me whenever you and Ben visit, please..."

"Of course I'll take you, Evie," Mal laughed.

"I would invite you guys to come this summer, but seeing as you two are busy with all the VK stuff and Uma, this summer probably—"

"—Is not the best, yeah, we get it," Mal smiled as Winter stood up, looking at the now darkened skies from the window.

"I should get going, I need to get up early tomorrow and all that..." Winter awkwardly rubbed her gloved hands down her arm.

"Oh, okay, well..." Evie pulled Winter into a large hug causing her to let out a sound of surprise, "we'll see you next school year, have a great summer."

Winter was pulled into Mal's arms after. "Yeah, don't forget to call, we need to tell you who is for sure getting picked for the new VKs..."

"Alright," Winter hugged Mal back, before pulling away from her and giving both her and Evie a smile. "Well, you guys have a fun summer too and stay safe... with everything... please!" She stressed the last word while leaving the room.

Mal and Evie laughed when they realized just what Winter was actually talking about.

"We will, and have fun with your thoughts on Harry Hook!" Winter squealed at Evie's words while shutting the door behind her.

Shaking her head, Winter began the track to her room. She had told Jonah goodbye earlier as he left that day to go back home to the city. He was supposed to be spending a lot of time with his father in the game TRON.

He had promised Winter to take her with him one day into the game. It was an entirely different world as he had said, like nothing anyone in Auradon had ever seen. Then again, Winter had never been to the city either.

When Winter got back her dorm room, she sighed while taking off her gloves. She had two backpacks and one suitcase filled to the brim with her things that she would be taking home. At the school, one stayed in the same dorm throughout all years, so Winter was able to keep the things she did not want to bring home in her dorm.

The only time she would truly need to empty her dorm room was once she graduated.

Her outfit for tomorrow had already been picked out, lying over her desk chair. It was a simple knee-length dress, one that was decorated blue and had long sleeves. She would also pull half her hair back with a blue ribbon and wear her black flats like always.

Her gloves would, of course, be on. Well, at least until she got to Arendelle, then she could ditch them for the summer.

Yawning, Winter quickly changed into her pajamas before looking at herself in the mirror. She delicately touched her frosty hair, smiling at the sight. She hated to admit it, but she loved her hair blonde. It was way better than brown, both her parents had snow-like hair after all. When she herself had the same hair color as them it made her feel even closer to Jack and Elsa.

Brushing out her hair, Winter hummed. It had grown since the beginning of the year, her hair now just stopping below her breasts. Her hair had always been pin-straight naturally, though she loved to curl it during summers in Arendelle.

Humming at her reflection, Winter turned around and shut off her lights. Navigating through her room, she quickly found her bed and lied down.

She thought about how different this school year had been. When she first started she never in a million years dreamed she would have taken a trip to the Isle of all places. She never would have dreamed to see someone like Harry Hook, and she definitely did not think she would have a destined true love.

It hurt to think that he still did not even know her name, but she shook it off for she knew the chances of her and him ever happening were zero to none. Even if he did manage to get off the Isle, she was not sure she could manage herself to grow close to him.

With a deep breath, Winter was pulled into a land of dreams that, like nearly every night this year, involved him.