Apologies for the long wait. There has been a lot going on for me.

Jack brought in snow and ice as he walked through the town. Despite his lowered spirits he did still find it fun to see the children run to the windows at the first signs of snow and hear them get excited about soon being able to make snowmen and have snow ball fights. He froze puddles and watched even adults have fun cracking the hard ice.

As he turned a corner a girl, in her late teens he supposed, slipped on the ice. He acted on reflex to catch her, it was only when he had his arms out that he realized she would just fall through him.

Only, she didn't.

To his shock he caught her in his arms and was able to help her upright. She was small, no more than 5'3" he would guess with her hair covered by a thick wooly hat complete with ear flaps. She seemed to have been prepared for the cold, more so than others he had seen that morning, she wore a handmade maroon scarf and a thick green sweater decorated in yellow flowers.

"Thanks," she told him with a smile. "Ice just came out of nowhere." She waved and continued on her way, skirting around any patches of ice she came across. He watched her go, frozen in shock. She had seen him. Looked him in the eye and spoke to him. How could she do that? Was that part of being believed in? Tooth mentioned sometimes parents would catch a glimpse of them. Perhaps Jamie and his friends believing in him had led to more people believing in him. Maybe that girl was younger than she looked?

In any case, it didn't matter. He had a promise to keep, and hopefully some leftover Halloween candy to cash in on.

xxx

Jamie was playing fetch with Abby in the yard when Jack landed on the fence.

"Hey buddy, how'd your visit with your aunt go?"

The boy's face lit up instantly at the sight of him. "Hi Jack. Great Aunt Rapunzel couldn't make it, she's getting older and her doctor didn't want her traveling so far. She sent her granddaughter instead. She's still here, inside playing with Sophie."

"Not jealous about being left out are you?" the Guardian asked, concerned.

Jamie shrugged. "Not really. My cousin is really cool and she has millions of stories that she shares. She's a teenager, but she doesn't think I'm crazy or anything for believing in you and everyone. She said she believes in you guys too. And Sophie loves her, I think they're playing doctor right now so she's probably covered in Band-Aids and stuff."

"She sounds like a cool kid."

"Yeah, she kinda reminds me of you. I think she's heading home in a few days though, she seems sad sometimes. Mom says it's homesickness."

"Well I hope her last few days in town and good for her, for now though how about we get the gang together and have a snowball fight?" Jack waved his staff creating piles of perfect snowballs. "I've got plenty of ammo to go around."

Jamie nodded and ran off to gather his friends, curious Jack peered into Sophie's bedroom. Sure enough there was a girl with short brown hair siting on the floor. She had a Hello Kitty Band-Aid on each cheek and was patiently waiting for Sophie to finish listening to her heartbeat.

The girl turned to look at him, her warm green eyes locked right on his. She smiled softly before turning back to pay attention to Sophie's diagnosis.

Even without the heavy sweater and hat Jack recognized her face.

It was the girl who had slipped earlier, and she really believed in him and the others.

He knew then that he would have to find some way to talk to her.

Reviews = Karma