I'm a bad person. I made you guys wait way too long again. I'm sorry!

Chapter Ten

Burgess was still completely covered in snow and Effie'd had just about enough of it. That white stuff was everywhere and she just couldn't get it to melt! Earth wouldn't let her raise the temperature so she could melt the snow, and it certainly wasn't helping that she couldn't even focus long enough because her mind would continuously wander towards thoughts of the snowy haired teen; the devil reincarnate! The hours had ticked by and she had accomplished nothing!

The red-head groaned in frustration as she kicked and clawed at the snow, gaining very little satisfaction from it. She had spent her whole day here when she could have gone somewhere else to help the plant growth and animals there. Being stuck here had done no good what-so-ever. She was tired, she was sore, and she was grumpy. She just wanted to give up and say screw it, but no. If she did that, all the work she'd put into this city would have been for naught (though technically it had been for naught the moment Jack made it snow).

Damn you, Jack Frost!

She was going to kill him the next time she saw him, in the most slow and agonizingly painful way possible. She would wrap her fingers around his slender neck and she would enjoy watching the light leave his beautiful blue eyes…and his soft pale lips that hid his beautiful white teeth would become even paler – could they get paler? Would they get warmer or colder? Were they as soft as they looked…did they taste like fresh snow…?

The nature spirit shook herself out of her daze, glazed eyes coming back to life as her face darkened with her blush. Her thoughts were going down a dangerous road again (they had been the entire day); she refused to let herself think about kissing him, no matter how nice his smile was or how amazing his eyes were…no! Those thoughts were not allowed, not ever!

Then again, what was the harm in a little daydreaming…? The blush reappeared and her heart raced with just the contemplation of daydreaming about running her hands through his soft, white hair... Cue the paranoia, the stupid and unrealistic paranoia that he could and would somehow read her mind and figure out just what was going through her head. If he knew he would hold it over her forever! She would never hear the end of it and she would never be able to look him in the eye again.

Effie knelt and shoved her hands into a snow drift, hoping the cold would clear her head. It did nothing of the sort. Instead, it seemed to send electric shocks up her arms and down her spine, making her shiver in a strange way. She broke into a cold sweat as her blush deepened and her thoughts centered back on the annoying white haired boy, on his hair, on his eyes, his smile…

GAH!

She pushed herself head first into the snow (which still wasn't melting), squeezing her eyes shut and trying to block out all thoughts of Jack. She laid there, head buried in the snow, refusing to let herself believe what she knew. She really wouldn't be able to look him in the eye ever again if she faced the truth, and she just couldn't give up those beautiful eyes...

No. No. No. NO! She couldn't think that way, she couldn't get attached. It would only put him in danger and get her hurt. Admitting his attractiveness was one thing, admitting that she was attracted was completely different.

The nature spirit let out a sigh as she rolled over onto her back, staring up at the darkening sky. This was annoying. Constantly having to keep herself at a distance to protect both herself and others; it used to just be herself that she was worried about, she didn't want to be hurt again by being abandoned and forgotten. Then the shadows started lurking about. She felt the need to protect the others around her from them, and her desire to protect was the only thing that kept her going anymore.

It didn't stop her, though, from wishing that she could get to know the guardians…get to know Jack. She was curious; what made them tick? What were their pet peeves? What were they like before they were, well, them? She wanted to know.

A snap of a twig broke her from her reverie as she shot up. Looking around she saw a small rabbit darting across the snowy field as an adult quickly shuffled across the park, probably having been the one to step on the twig. It was then that the red-head noticed just how dark it was getting. She needed to find shelter soon. She had just recently recovered from the last attack; she couldn't face another one just yet. She knew she needed to get a move on, but the cool caress of the snow felt amazing and she was tired. She didn't want to move anymore. Besides, they wouldn't really attack her again so soon, would they?

What the hell was she thinking? Of course they would.

Effie pushed herself up slowly, enjoying the last traces of light before the sun would disappear completely behind the horizon. She wriggled her toes under the snow as she brushed the stuff from her green sundress (she still hadn't gotten around to mending her tunic and leggings). Looking at the sky she decided she had about five minutes to get herself to her home. It was plenty of time.

"Efthalia"

She had less time than she thought. The whisper curled around her as her heart beat sped up in pace. They had made sure to come at a time where no one would be able to come help her; it was too early for Sandy to show up with his dream sand and too early for the tooth fairies to show up for teeth collecting. She was alone here.

The nature spirit scanned over the surrounding area but she couldn't see anything. She noticed the long shadows the snowdrifts were casting across the white landscape. The once inviting looking piles of snow now looked threatening in their offer of hiding places for the shadows. The shadows could be hiding anywhere in the dark castings or anywhere under the snow. Thanks Jack, she thought bitterly. She had no idea which direction they were coming from. Her stomach churned as her green eyes landed on the closest tree. It was a good 20 feet away; she might be able to make it if she knew where the shadows were.

"Oh, Efthalia," the shadows cooed. Their voices were getting closer but she still couldn't tell where they were. Her eyes flickered quickly from left to right, trying to find them, but it was still to no avail. Her heart rate was breaking records again and she was breaking into a sweat as she trained her sights back on the tree. She was gonna make a run for it.

"You can't run from us, flower."

They were right behind her and coming up fast. Effie pushed herself to go faster, but the snow underfoot kept shifting. She kept slipping and stumbling but not once did she stop moving. The distance between her and the tree was shrinking, just a few more feet and she'd reach safety (assuming the shadows wouldn't somehow find a way into her Sanctuary again).

The shadows casted by the trees seemed to stretch and loom towards her, providing no sense of safety. The trees that were once her friends now seemed like enemies, but still, she pushed on. It wasn't the trees that were dangerous, she reminded herself, it was their shadows. She just had to get passed the shadows.

"You're a coward for running! We will catch you!"

The red-head grunted as one of them slithered right by her foot. "Not this time you won't," she said defiantly. The tree was just within reach now. She leapt for it just as the nearest shadow made to grab for her. It missed by less than an inch as she fazed into the tree and away from the city of Burgess.

She felt confined and out of control as she traveled through the many intertwined roots. It was a disconcerting feeling, like someone else was controlling her movement. She pushed and felt around with whatever power she could muster, but there was no one else with her. She tried chalking it up to paranoia and tried to ignore it until she was unexpectedly shot out of a tree.

The nature spirit came out of the tree back first, stumbling with the awkward arrival. There was a step down in the uneven ground and her eyes widened as she lost her footing. She fell backwards and landed rather painfully on the hard ground, the back of her head making contact with a very hard rock. Effie laid there dazed and sore as she stared blankly up at a stone ceiling. This was just not her week.

Slowly her mental processes started coming back to her. She let out a pained groan and blinked a few times to clear her eye sight. She shifted a little, trying to sit herself up, only to fall back again and give another pained groan. She was getting really tired of constantly getting injured. The idea of having a bodyguard was becoming very tempting…maybe she should take up North's offer of help. Maybe he would make Jack her bodyguard…

She blinked again as she noticed she was staring at a stone ceiling. "Where the hell am I? This is not my Sanctuary…"

She reached up rubbed her head as she shifted her gaze to the small tree that she had just basically sling-shotted out of. She knew it wasn't the tree's fault for her painful fall, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of resentment towards the plant anyhow.

There was a bit of movement from the corner of her eye, drawing her gaze away from the tree. Green eyes made contact with shocked icy blue ones. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting to see him here…wherever she was. Was this his home? It was rather green and warm for a winter spirit; she'd expected his place to be covered in ice and snow or something, but hey. Who was she to decide what a winter spirit's home should look like?

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

Effie broke the eye contact and rested her gaze on the high ceiling again. She would have shrugged if every little movement didn't feel like liquid fire. "That's a great question, Ice-cube. I'd put my money on this being a bad dream, but seeing as this whole experience has been so painful, I'm gonna say that I'm awake and completely lost." She took a moment to admire her response. Pretty darn coherent and, dare she say, witty for her current state.

Jack just continued to stare at her. She looked much better than she had yesterday; he couldn't find any traces of the bruises or cuts, though she did look like she was still in pain. That could have something do with her current position though…should he be getting her help? Probably.

"Where am I, by the way?" the red-head asked.

The winter spirit blinked. "You're in Bunny's Warren."

The nature spirit gave a bemused laugh and an ironic smile; of course that would be where she landed. Her first visit to the magnificent land of Easter and she's too incapacitated to explore. Just her luck.

Silence settled around them again and Jack was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. Effie was sprawled out on the ground and the hem of her dress was hiked up a little high for comfort. He was trying to be a gentleman and keep his eyes on her face, but it was proving to be very difficult. Her legs from the mid-thigh down were exposed, and without the cuts and bruises marring the skin, they were rather attractive.

From her position on the ground, the red-head shifted her gaze back to the snowy haired teen, enjoying the view that she got from this angle (she was too out of it to notice that he was looking at her too). She could see just a sliver of his pale skin of his stomach; if he moved just a little bit closer she would be able to fully look up his hoodie…

Jack's voice broke her out of her silent reverie (she wasn't there enough still to actually blush though) and her gaze met with his again. "So…you don't know why you're here?"

"Not one clue. Moon Man probably has something to do with it, though," A short pause, "Can you, I dunno, help me up? I sort of hit my head and can't move real well." Speaking of which, a few of her extremities were beginning to go numb. She was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing.

Jack gave a stiff nod and stepped forward to help her up. He held his hand out for her, which she weakly lifted her own to take, and he pulled her up. She stumbled forward and fell into his chest. He instantly stilled, barely breathing as she righted herself. Even with his shallow, nearly non-existent breaths, the scent of spring wafted into his nose. She truly did smell breathtaking. It was the scent of life renewing, the smell of his snow melting away to make way for growing flowers. To put it simply, he loved the smell because he could never contain it himself. Spring smelled like life and winter…did not.

"Thank-you" Effie mumbled, brushing herself off. It had been brief, but she had gotten a whiff of his natural scent. He smelled like freshly fallen snow, crisp and clean. She usually loved the smell but she had spent the entire day trying to get it to go away. The scent was irritating her more than anything at the moment. Which reminded her…

The winter spirit let out a grunt as he was jabbed in the chest. What the hell? He thought as he rubbed the now tender spot. What did he do to deserve that?

"I'm not happy with you!"

No, really? He hadn't noticed. Jack narrowed his eyes, waiting for her to continue. Did he not help her up in just the right way? Was she seriously going to be that shrill?

"I have half a mind to beat you with your own stick!"

"Staff, it's a staff," he corrected. She just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever! I just spent the entire day in Burgess trying to clean up your mess," oh…well that explains her displeasure with him… "And it looks like I haven't done anything! That stupid snowy mess is still there."

The snowy haired teen was trying really hard not to smirk and wisely kept his mouth shut. He hadn't done anything to keep the snow from melting, but it amused him to know that she was having so much trouble getting rid of his snowy masterpiece (truly, he was mischievous to the very end). He wondered briefly if Jamie had played in the snow today as well.

"And don't you dare pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about [not that he was]." She said, pushing hair out of her face as she paced back and forth in irritation (she was starting to feel back to normal again, even if her head did still hurt a little). "Who would have even thought snow drifts could cast such long shadows?!"

Jack quirked an eyebrow, unsure of where she was going with that last statement. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts now as she continued her pacing. What was going through her head?

"You provided them with so many hiding places, it isn't even funny! I couldn't see them, didn't know where they were coming from. They were under the snow, hiding in the shadows of the snow drifts, and no doubt hiding in the shadows of the trees."

Now he was really lost. "What are you talking about?"

Effie snapped around in neck-breaking speed, staring him down with wide eyes. He could swear he saw fear in them. Fear wasn't something that he was accustomed to seeing there…

"The shadows, you nimrod! They were about to attack me again!"

Jack's mouth went dry. "W-what?"

"They showed up before night fall, which shouldn't have surprised me, and were going to attack me again. Gods, I can't take another attack like the last one. And I almost didn't get away," She jabbed him in the chest again, "because of your stupid snow storm yesterday. I was slipping and tripping all over your wintery mess trying to get away from them!"

The winter spirit was stunned. So he had been right about the shadow. He had been right in thinking that it had attacked her. Something inside him roared to life, it growled with anger at the notion that those shadows had tried to hurt her again.

Effie pulled at her hair and crouched down. Jack didn't quite know what to do. He wanted to comfort her, but he also wanted to tear those shadows to pieces. He'd never seen her this way before and he certainly hadn't expected her to come clean about the attacks. This was what he wanted, he wanted her to admit that there was something going on, but now that she actually had, he was lost. He felt useless, almost as useless as when Sandy was killed. What had even prompted her to spill all of this out in the first place?

"I can't do this anymore. I'm stupid for thinking I ever could. I don't have the strength to fight them anymore. I…I need help."

"All ya had to do was ask, Sheila. We're more than willin' to help."

Jack jumped at the sound of Bunny's voice. He hadn't noticed the pooka come up beside him. The rabbit crouched down next to the red-head, placing a comforting paw on her knee. "We'll keep ya safe."

Effie was huddled in a corner cursing herself silently as the guardians discussed her. What had she been doing trying to keep them at a distance for? Oh yeah, that's right, she didn't want them involved! And now they were collected together, discussing what they were going to do with her, and completely and utterly involved. All because of a silly moment of weakness.

And there was no going back now. They were involved whether she liked it or not.

She pushed her hair out of her face, keeping her eyes trained on the guardians. She didn't like how they were talking like she wasn't there, only including her in the conversation when they were confirming something that she had already told them. It was uncomfortable sitting there silently, waiting for them to finally figure out what they were going to do with her.

"You are entirely sure you don't know vhat zey vant vith you?" North asked again, stroking his beard as he turned to the nature spirit.

"Yes. I have no idea what they want from me!" She stated again. "But I'm sure, through process of elimination, you'll be able to figure it out. Let me start. I'm pretty sure they don't want me to have their children."

The snide remark wasn't necessary, she knew that, but she was rather irate at the moment and she really didn't give a damn. She seemed to have a tendency to lash out when she was uncomfortable.

"Don't ya get snippy with us, Sheila! Yer the one who asked for help!" Bunnymund snipped back.

The red-head rolled her eyes and turned her head away, resting it on her arms. Some help this turned out to be. She just wanted to leave; it was stupid of her to have asked for help. She had places she needed to be, like Burgess. She still needed to clean up Frost's mess!

North continued talking like her remark had been serious. "Yea, I suppose ve can assume zey don't vant you to have zere children. Hmm…" He stroked his beard and paced around the room.

"What could they possibly want with her, North? They've been after her for a hundred years now; she's got to have something that they really want. But what? She's not a guardian, she has no direct contact with humans and her powers have severely faded in the last 400 years. What could she have that they want?" Tooth inquired, more so trying to organize the information out loud than form an actual question.

Thanks, Miss Toothfairy, Effie thought bitterly, why don't you go ahead and call me completely worthless while you're at it?

"Maybe zey are not after children or humans at all."

Sandy tilted his head and a question mark formed over his head.

"Are ya implying that perhaps they want to use her against us? She ain't exactly close to us, either. I don't see why they would want her." Bunny chipped in.

This felt completely degrading. Just because she wasn't in direct contact with anyone didn't mean that she was useless, and even though her powers have severely faded due to lack of belief, it wasn't like they weren't there at all. She was still powerful enough to hold her own against the shadows this long. It wasn't like they were purposefully taking shots at her ego, but still, couldn't they at least find one useful aspect about her? There had to be plenty usefulness in her.

The temperature around her dropped about ten degrees, signaling the approach of a certain guardian. She lifted her gaze from the floor, meeting his icy blue gaze as he offered her an awkward smile. She assumed it was supposed to be comforting, and it sort of worked since she thought it was cute.

Jack leaned his staff up against the wall and sat next to her. He could tell she wasn't feeling very comfortable, and he couldn't blame her. The other four guardians weren't exactly making this easier for her. They were more focused on what the shadows wanted with her rather trying to figure out how they were going to protect her. In his opinion, they should be figuring out how to protect her first, and then they could figure out why they wanted her and what they were going to do about that.

"You have any special abilities that we don't know of?" He asked. The other guardians were too absorbed in their conversation to notice that he had moved and was talking to her; it was very important that they kept reiterating how useless she was after all.

"Well, aside from making plants grow, having a bond with animals and having minimal control over the weather, no, I don't have any special abilities." The nature spirit replied sarcastically.

Her tone was full of bitterness. Honestly, he would be bitter in her position too.

"You forgot about your incredible sense of sarcasm."

Effie cracked a smile at that. "I don't think the shadows would find much use in that."

"No, probably not, but it got you to smile."

A small blush crept over her cheeks as she broke eye contact. She hadn't heard something that sweet in a very long time, if ever. "I forgot I was talking to the Guardian of Fun."

"I would've started a snow ball fight to break the tension in here, but the last time I did that North didn't let me back in for a month."

Her eyes widened with mock surprise. "Really? I can't see why. You poor, poor Ice-cube."

He smirked and quirked an eyebrow. "Your sympathy overwhelms me."

Their attention was drawn to the other four guardians as Bunny spoke a little louder. "I have an idea! Sheila can control the weather, right? Perhaps that's why they want her. They could use her to bring in clouds since they use the dark to move around."

It was a fairly decent theory. The only problem was that, as she had stated before, she only had minimal control over the weather. She could only really hold control of it for about 15 to 30 minutes at a time. This was the perfect time to speak up and tell them so, but she felt like that would admit just how useless she really was and then they would spend another half hour trying to find something useful about her. Better to just keep it to herself at this point.

"Zat is very good theory! Now ve must decide how to protect her."

Effie was seriously starting to get the feeling that they never explicitly acted as bodyguards for someone before because they hadn't even asked her if the theory was viable and they had spent way too long getting to the actual part where they decide how to protect her. She was going to have to bring some serious organization to these people when…if she joined. She still didn't think she was fit for the job; her current job didn't really deal with children.

"Do you think we should take turns guarding her? She could spend a week with me, and then a week with Bunny and so on." Tooth suggested.

That wasn't going to work, and the nature spirit was about to say so, but it seemed that Sandy got to it first because Tooth sighed and nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right. Her job is too important for us to have her neglect it. You could watch over her, couldn't you Bunny?"

"I wish I could, but I need to prepare the Warren for next Easter," answered the Pooka.

"You have plenty time for Easter, zis be more important matter."

The giant rabbit flared up, glaring daggers at the Russian man. "What part of perishables do ya never understand? Tha egg flowers will wilt if I don't put them in this week. How 'bout you watch the sheila? Ya've got plenty of time before Christmas!"

North chuckled as if Bunny's comment was some sort of joke. "Christmas is no Easter; Christmas requires much more work." (Their holiday rivalry was still going strong).

"Why you bloody—"

"Boys! You're getting off topic!" Tooth interjected.

"He started it!" The pooka cried defensively.

Effie let out a quiet sigh as she watched them debate further on what they were going to do with her. This was doing wonders for her self-esteem. It seemed that no one wanted to take time out of their busy schedules to protect her unless they could do it while also doing their own jobs, which meant that she couldn't do her own. If she wasn't regretting asking for help before, she was certainly regretting it now. They were never going to come to a conclusion. Perhaps she should just tell them that she didn't need the help after all.

Jack watched her hunch over a little bit more from the corner of his eye. He loved his fellow guardians, but sometimes they were really dense. In the three hours they had been sitting here, not only had they made Mother Nature feel completely useless, they had managed to make her feel like a burden as well, when they were the ones to offer up helping her in the first place. It was like the Sophie incident all over again.

With one last glance at her, he made his decision. This was the perfect moment to redeem how useless he was earlier.

"I can do it."

The guardians became quiet and all eyes landed on the white haired spirit, including Effie's. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm in a neutral season so I have time to follow her around."

The guardians muttered their approval while North declared that Jack was to be her bodyguard until they could formulate a plan to take care of the shadows, but the red-head stayed crouched in the corner, her skeptical gaze still trained on the winter spirit. He noticed and gave her a grin. Her heart skipped a beat but she refused to avert her gaze; she was still paranoid that he would catch on to what was going through her head. Casting that aside, she thought over his reason for offering to help. She knew for a fact that several places in the world were still getting snow at this time of the year…

"What? I promise it'll be fun!"

I am so sorry in how long this took me to write. I wanted to get this out a lot sooner, but I hit this really back rut in which I had absolutely no inspiration to write anything, not even my school papers! On the plus side, I have less than a month before I get out for the summer! Updates should be more often then. I haven't been completely idle though. In my spare time between papers and classes, I have been editing the previous chapters, filling in plot holes and grammar mistakes and such (mostly trying to fix things in hope of gaining inspiration to write this chapter). Well, I'm done babbling. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Tell me what you think!

~CeeCee-chi