Phew! Finally finished chapter three!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters.

Chapter 3

The days of winter seemed to hang around Burgess longer than usual this time of year. Christmas was on its way and the town seemed to throw itself into Christmas carols, hot chocolate and snowball fights. Jack Frost was a part of it all, too. He wasn't around as much as Addison thought he would be, but he still came around.

She and Jack had become friends, but Addison made sure to keep her distance when they were alone or to focus entirely on Gabriel when all three were hanging around. It was a good thing Jack was out at times because she wasn't use to being attracted to someone who could only be seen by children. She didn't know how to handle it, so she just acted normal, or tried to at least. Jack took Gabe sledding one day with the other kids. He had used the snow in making, what looked like, a skateboard park but it was for sledding. Addison couldn't believe it when she saw it. The kids got on their sled and Jack would take them for the ride of their lives. Addison watched, in horror, as Gabe went flying into the air and swerved along curves and did tricks with Jacks help. She was sure he was going to fall off and break his leg or something, but that trusting feeling over Jack and over the magical beings seemed to overpower her. She knew, in her heart, Jack would never let anything happen to Gabriel. He had such a child-like innocence about him, such a sweet nature and a caring personality. How could she not trust him?

Jack flew over and grinned as he landed next to her. The kids seemed to get the hang of it themselves and were riding happily.

"So, you want to have a turn?" Jack raised both eyebrows, acting like he was half-expecting her to deny his request on account of fear. A challenge, no doubt.

She blinked at him, first out of fear and then she saw the challenge, but she was used to being a coward at things like this. Her mother was the same way. She could recall her mother telling her that she never rode a roller coaster till she was twenty-two years old. Addison never even tried. The fear of falling and the fear of breaking any bone in her body seemed to overpower her. She wouldn't take the challenge, no matter how badly she wanted to impress Jack Frost.

"Um…I don't think so. Gabe is much more adventurous than I am." She shook her head, looking away from those blue eyes, a faint blush tainting her cheeks.

"Aw come on! First adult ever to believe in Jack Frost? This is your shining moment, Addy!" He grabbed her hand, and surprisingly, it wasn't as cold as she thought it would be. Considering he was Jack Frost, father winter, he should be cold, right? He also took notice of it and pulled his hand back, looking down at his hand. It was still a pale white but he stared at it, as if something had sparked between them.

"Your hand is really warm. That's never happened before…" He said, his mind lost to his own thoughts. She looked down at her own hand, not noticing anything different.

She brushed it off. "Must be because I don't have a cold heart like you." She grinned, teasing him. He chuckled and grabbed her hand again, not taking no for an answer this time.

"Your turn!"

Fear struck her but before she could protest or yell at him, she was flying. Wait, she was flying? Jack Frost was holding her hand, flying her around the track. "See? Nothing to be scared of. Just make sure you don't let go of my hand, no matter how cold it gets."

She was far too distracted by the scenery to even tell him that his hand wasn't cold to her. The kids took notice of them flying around and had stopped their sledding adventure to look and point at them. She could feel the fear leaving her as she got the grand view of the snow park. She laughed with delight. "This is…oh my goodness, it's amazing, Jack!"

He smiled at her, almost as if to say I told you so. "Now it's your turn. Better hang on and don't let go. Ready?"

"Uh.."

"GO!"

Addison couldn't think fast enough at what was happening. She was flying through the same sledding adventures that the other kids had except there was no sled, there was only her and Jack, flying along the grooves of the track, hitting high into the air and twisting and turning, as if she was on a skateboard or a bike at the X games. She was laughing half of the time, and wondering what Jack would do next. They turned and twisted, swirled and finally, they both landed in a huge pile of snow, laughing their heads off.

"Oh my word, that was so much fun!" She laughed, sitting up, the soft snow flakes lying in her brown hair. She sat up, looking at the kids who were running to meet them from across the way. Jack sat up, too, laughing. He turned to her, grinning. "See, I told you it was fun. Most kids , let alone adults, don't get to have those kinds of rides with ole Jack Frost here." He smirked.

She shook her head, smiling as she pulled her knees up, dusting the snow off. "Well, I have to say, if more adults got to do that, then I'm sure you'd have the whole world believing in you." She gave a warm smile and looked at Jack. That warm feeling overcame her, filling her heart and soul with the warmness that she had always known was there, yet only felt when Jack was around.

When she looked at Jack, she saw him looking at her. No smirk, no grin, just looking at her, as if it was the first time seeing her. "Addy," He spoke with such a soft whisper that she had to pause and really look at him. "Your eyes…they-"

Laughter filled her ears as the kids finally met up with them, Gabriel tackling Addison while the other kid hugged Jack. They were laughing and squealing with joy, hoping to have their turn now. As Jack and Addison got up and started following the kids back to the sledding fortress, she couldn't help but notice how Jack kept glancing over at her. Something was on his mind, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to find out. She had tried to avoid any alone time with him, afraid this attraction to him might just overtake her, and right before the kids came in, she was sure they were going to have some moment together. She couldn't afford to let that happen. She still was half-expecting this to be some sort of dream and she'll wake up in the morning and there was never a Jack Frost or Santa Clause or whatever.

Their little adventure ended and Addison took Gabriel home. She tried her best to keep Jack Frost off of her mind but it was tough. He had taken her for the greatest adventure of her life, how could she not think about that? It took everything inside of her to not tell her parents either. Gabe had no problem telling their parents but, as usual, they brushed it off. Gabe was pretty use to it. Addison put Gabriel to bed, tucking him in. She smiled as she sat on the edge of his bed, looking at him as he kept talking about all of the fun he had that day.

"Now it's going to be even better." He grinned, leaning over to his nightstand to turn off his light. He was anxious to go to sleep; this was new. He used to hate going to sleep.

"What's the rush, little man?" She asked, oddly curious.

"Sandy will come in and help me sleep tonight, and I'll have awesome dreams about today."

"Sandy?"

"Sand-man. We all call him Sandy. He doesn't say much but he's pretty cool. Maybe you can meet him next!"

She shook her head, trying to gather all of this information together and keep it in the back of her mind. Sandy was the sand man, Jack Frost was real and the rest of those magical creatures were real, too.

"Sounds like a plan, Gabe." She kissed his forehead. "Sleep well. Tell Sandy I said hi." She smiled and got up, walking out of his room. She couldn't help but grin and chuckle. So who else was real? Who would be popping out in front of her next? The ground hog? She wandered up to her room and got ready for bed. She brushed her teeth and changed into some warm and comfy pajamas. She took her brown hair down and brushed it out. Just as she was coming out of her bathroom, which was connected to her room, she saw something move. She quickly jumped as she saw Jack sitting at her desk. The window was open and snow was falling in her room.

"How do you play on this thing?" He said, pointing at the computer screen. He saw the changing of the pictures on her computer screen and tried to poke at it, wondering if it would do anything. She shook her head, "It doesn't work like that, Jack." She whispered, knowing her parents had gone to bed.

"So what does it do?"

"Jack, just…" She sighed. It was like dealing with a child! "Forget that, just, why are you here?"

He turned in the seat, letting it roll to face her. His eyes looked serious. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Her heart thumped and she looked away, trying to stay annoyed at him for startling her.

"What about?"

"Well, earlier I noticed something different about you, in your eyes."

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"What was different about them?"

"They seemed to…glow."

Thump Thump. Thump Thump. Thump Thump.

"Glow?"

"Yeah, like…" He stared at her, trying to put his thoughts into words. Addison's cheeks filled with a warm blush, and her heart wouldn't stop pounding. It raced inside of her chest and she felt that oh so familiar feeling overwhelm her again.

His face got serious again and he looked out to the night sky, the moons light seeming to grow brighter. He walked over to it and stared at it. He was so concentrated on the light, she wasn't so sure he was listening to something she couldn't possibly hear. He quickly turned and stared at her. "I gotta go."

"Wait, Jack!" She raced to the window, just as he had started to fly off. He stopped and turned, flying back closer to the window. "What's going on? Why are you acting so weird? I don't-"

"I don't know what's going on either. I'm just as confused as you are, but I do know this; I have to talk to the other guardians and find out what's going on with you. They might be able to help."

"Help? Is something wrong with me?"

"I don't know..I don't think so but…only guardians have eyes like those. It was almost like..you were one of us."

She blinked, unable to comprehend. Other guardians? One of them? That oh so familiar feeling overwhelmed her again, and she could feel it fill her body and soul, just as it had done sitting in the snow next to Jack Frost.

He saw it, too. She could see him look at her eyes the same way he had before. "I have to talk to them, and the man in the moon. When I find out something, I'll be back." He nodded and flew off, leaving Addison more confused than ever.

And yet, just as she felt before, she may have been confused, may have not understood everything as an adult, but in her heart, everything seemed to be falling into place, all of the familiar and understanding things just were there. She just…knew.

That thought that had struck her not too long ago, where she felt everything was right and whatever this was would be happening very soon…well, she couldn't help but wonder if this was what she had felt and she also wondered if this was the time for it to happen.

"Guess I'll find out soon." She said, remembering that Jack had said the exact same thing. She smiled and closed the window, her heart still glowing with the same warmth.

Well, guys I finished chapter two and three, I hope you enjoyed them! Let me know what you think!