The fire was warm as the little girl sat with content, a hand stretched out in greeting to the welcoming flames.

          The wood crackled and popped as it grew bigger and bigger, the bright orange tainting the cold snow an interesting color. The little girl didn't know if it was because of the fire, or the other red liquid that seeped from beneath the rubble.

          "Please. . ." She raises a brow at the sounds of an aching voice, the body clawing their way through dirt and snow. "Please. . . help me. . ."

          . . .

          Despicable.

          She only stares with that cold glare of hers, young yet angry and understandably so. They burn down the forest with so little care, yet they dare ask for aid when the same is done to them?

          "Where were you when I needed it?" Her voice was crisp through the cold air as the body gasped for one last desperate attempt to breathe, turning her attention away as they collapse a final time on the snow.

          She stands and leaves after a good while, her torn clothes following behind as she walks away from what little ash remained of where her village once stood.

• • •

        "Go fish."

          "I don't even know how this bloody game works!"

          You cackle maniacally in victory as Bunny throws his remaining cards on the table, kicking off the chair he sat on in the process before storming off like the big baby that he was. And as soon as he was out of sight the baby tooth under the table giggled, the cards she held barely still in her grip slipping and falling onto the floor in small heaps.

          "Good job." You praised her quietly with a small laugh of your own, taking the cards and arranging them properly before she flew off to go tell Tooth what she helped you do.

          "You know, one of these days you're gonna regret making him so angry," North laughed in that accent of his, fashioning an unnecessarily sharp candy cane in one hand while the other held the small knife that helped shape it, "He's a man with many grudges, Y/N."

          "And I'm a woman with many enemies," You snickered, a part of your hand dissipating into the beautiful leaves of autumn to carry off the box of cards. Where your limb detached remained the gathering of the rest of nature, looking like a cut off tree stump as you let the flowing sleeves of your attire cover it.

          "Now are we going or what? I have a thing or two to say to Mr. Frosty the Snowman." North raises a thick brow, amusement playing on his face, "You do know that he isn't the cause of winter, right? At least I don't think."

          "Well he's the personification of it and it's the closest thing I can get to having revenge," You answer with just as much snark, extending your tree stump-like cut-off to attach the rest of the orange and brown leaves, before they morphed back to form your hand. "Stupid winter with it's stupid need to kill off my trees."

          "You know trees do that themselves, yes? I thought it was to conserve their energy." You laugh again, this time more dry and with not a single trace of humor, "They wouldn't have to if it didn't snow," You shake your head, "Seriously I don't know why we're arguing about this, North, I'm still going to win."

          "And it seems you are right, dorogaya." The conversation left at that, groaning as you felt your joints pop in satisfaction. It was weird, really, you thought that maybe after you died you wouldn't have to deal with such mortal problems like backpain and your knees feeling like literal glass. But alas, it seems that a hundred years of being dead buried under a mountain can give someone a mean case of arthritis. 

          . . .yes maybe a part of such sufferings were due to the horrible weather and it's effects on your plants, but you didn't want to address that, you just wanted to complain about your bones feeling like they belonged to your grandma. Rest in peace, four hundred years ago. . .you think.

          "You good there, bud?" You hummed to the two yetis, watching the oversized fur-balls garble in that language you still didn't understand. One held a sizeable sack in one hand, while the other was carelessly waving around a snow-globe as though it wasn't some mystical item capable of cutting through time and space itself. Oh my bad, was it because it didn't label itself as 'fragile, handle with care'? How careless! 

          . . .

          All this stress about winter is taking a toll on your mental health.

          You turned your attention back to the two when one gestured to the small ball, throwing it and letting a portal pop itself to life. It looked to be some random alley, and you grimaced at the thought. North's form of transportation was absolutely horrid, it felt like being sucked into a black hole and feeling like you've ascended time and space before coming out of the other side completely unharmed. In a way it kind of was a black hole, but the main reason you were so bothered by it was because North had the audacity to laugh about your sickened state after. "No thanks, I'll meet you guys there." 

          Before they could convince you, you were already gone in a puff. What was left in where you once stood was a vaguely humanoid shaped figure of autumnal leaves, the negative effects of this dreaded season giving you very little to work with so you had to resort to turning parts of yourself into a fucking branch.

          As much as you loved your powers, the side effects and rules it had were a crime.

          Everyone who was ever chosen as a Guardian has their own form of fast travel. Bunny through his rabbit holes, Tooth through her wings (or some other way of transport that you weren't aware of, who knew), and North through his chimneys and weird little glass balls of death.

          You, on the other hand, can transform your entire body in whatever you could get from nature at any given moment.

          You were the embodiment of the way the breeze flows through the crowns of trees, the fresh air people get from them and the life you provided. You liked being the Crazy Plant Aunt Lady with powers, you particularly enjoy just disappearing into a pile of leaves and letting the wind carry you wherever. 

          . . .which gave you even more reasons to hate winter. 

          All it did was kill all the hard work your children—you called them that, you don't know how or when, but you do—did making the leaves, even forced all the little furred friends to go into hibernation because of it. Yes, you knew that it wasn't all that bad, and that it had it's perks too, but God damn was it annoying to have to resort to turning parts of yourself into a stick to travel faster. (It was either that or a cabbage because it could surprisingly stand the cold, but you weren't about to give Bunny the satisfaction of that.)

          You bumped into a window repeatedly for a few moments, the stick tapping into it annoyingly before North finally gave in and opened it for you. The pile that was left of you almost looked like it nodded to him in thanks, before you flew off with the wind; your deep oranges and brown a clear contrast to the icy blue of the North Pole. 

          You spent a good few minutes in that form, your mind blank with nothing but satisfaction as you watched scenery after scenery go by below you. You even blew past a plane, making sure to hit one of the windows with the stick part of yourself as you passed by because you could.

          Eventually you arrived at the little town, North's instructions as to where Jack was leading you here.

          Your foot formed first from the settling leaves, letting your body render itself that way with each step that you took.

          And almost immediately you slipped on ice.

          You cursed as you collapsed into a pile—literally—before your humanoid form could take the brunt of the fall, head popping out with an annoyed huff to the sky as though that would somehow help your problems. This whole evening just wasn't it, and you would like a damn refund for the sole reason that it's pissed you off so much already.

          Deciding that walking wasn't going to be much of an option, you settled with your more dramatic sub-form of travelling; floating on a bed of flowers.

           If you weren't in such a bad mood you could've appreciated the aesthetic of it, flying through white-painted streets in a dazzling display of all matters of blue and brown. 

          And so you went, humming quietly to yourself as you tried your best to give as much as you could to whatever plant life you came across. A little more energy here, food for the vegan heart there—man you were awesome at your job. You could've praised yourself more too, but the small remnants of golden dust that floated peacefully around you made you look up with a small smile, the works of your dear old friend warming your heart.

          There were dozens of the lined gold, slipping quietly into windows of children—that sentence not a good one without context—while you tried your best to find the source and maybe say hi. 

          But no matter how much you tried, you couldn't, so you went on.

          After about a few more minutes you finally spot the man of the hour on a telephone line, his back to you while carrying that ridiculous stick of his as he messed around with Sandy's. . .sand. It had just started to dissipate, and you decided that this was a good enough time to kidnap him.

          Letting your hand turn into the small pile again you let it float with the evening breeze, dancing gracefully before it bitch-slapped Jack Frost and wisped away.

          As expected he follows it, hollering some sort of complaint that you couldn't quite catch. It was funny, really, how he was basically going out of his way to chase after your decapitated hand. He jumped from roof to roof, even set off car alarms in the process, and all while you kept a safe distance, quietly snickering to yourself each time the wind teased him and smacked him again with the stick part. 

          Honestly some part of you couldn't believe you were actually slapping the embodiment of winter. But damn, was it bad to say it was kind of fun?

          Deciding you've had your fun your whole body soon followed suit, flying with the whistling wind in a small bundle of leaves and sticks. The flowers you used as a means of travel planted themselves back onto the ground quite easily, so you needn't worry about them.

          Backing up into the corner you remembered seeing in the snow-globe's portal, you made an effort to bump into an empty trash bin before the white-haired fuck could arrive.

          Jack huffed as he whips back around again, his staff only hitting what looked to be either petals or a leaf before he was back to being confused. His cheek still had a slight sting from the piece of fly-away wood that hit him earlier, and he wouldn't have minded it had the pile not formed a hand for the shortest of moments before going off again. It was quick enough to almost not notice it, but he doesn't doubt what he saw with his own two eyes.

          "Show yourself, coward!" He calls out into the cold night, weapon still clutched tightly as the small bundle of leaves teased him in small circles around his body. He started to panic, although, when they multiplied—forming some sort of whirlwind around him as the once gentle breeze picked up. "My, always the rude one, aren't you?"

          The voice sounded like it came from both everywhere and nowhere, the urge to growl out a big one but he managed to just click his tongue, "Seriously? I'm somehow rude for getting slapped?"

          A laugh that. . . if he had to explain it, almost sounded blurry. Like it was there, but also wasn't—like a distant memory coming back to haunt him.

          But soon enough it cleared, the source from behind as he whipped around with the intent to hurt.

          "Oi, don't freeze me too, twink," You snorted, holding up two hands in mock surrender, "Don't you think you've done enough of that to my trees?"

          There was a brief moment of confusion, before recognition crosses his face and he also laughs. God it sounded annoying, yet some shitty part of you wanted to hear more of it. 

          . . .wait no pull yourself together! 

          "Long time, hasn't it? It was the. . ." You pretended to recall the date with great thought, but the number has been stuck inside your head and simmering under your skin for the past. . . almost half a century! Half a century, you've hold onto this grudge. Forty-nine years! "Blizzard of '63, I think," Your amusement morphs into a visible scowl, barely held back by a forced grin, "Biggest tree planting event of that year."

          "Damn, didn't think you'd still be mad about that," He dares laugh while leaning on his sheep-herding, oversized stick, a boyish smile on his face as he tilts his head, "Are you?"

          A twitch of your eye and soon you found yourself right in front of him, floating about a feet off the ground just for the sake of looming over him, "Very." 

          His skin was deathly pale, little curving, snowflake-shaped frost lightly coating them. It gave even more to his downright ethereal glow, piercing blue eyes staring right back into yours with nothing but a look of mischief and his constant need to act like a pain in the ass. There was red on his nose and cheeks from no doubt the eternal cold he must feel on a daily basis, dark brows raised in an amused look. Honestly with this close of a view you could kind of understand where Tooth was getting her crush from, but you'd rather burn down a forest with your own hands than ever admit to that. 

          There was a different look on his face alongside it, but you didn't care enough to figure out what it was.

          With a sigh upon realizing you couldn't kill him you lowered your hand before you could grab the sickle that rested on your hip, backing away and giving the man his proper personal space. "But this is about something else so I'll let you live for now." You snapped your fingers, and almost on cue the two yetis you were just waiting on arrived and made quick work of him.

          He thrashed around as he was thrown into the large red burlap sack, muffled screams somehow getting drowned out as the portal to the North Pole opens. The yeti gestures to it with a welcoming look, but you kindly turned down the offer with a humorless chuckle, "Nah, makes me queasy. I'll see you guys in a bit." And with that you were once again nothing but a humanoid shaped pile of leaves, getting carried off by the wind and hopefully towards the North Pole.

• • •

          "You're all hard work and. . . deadlines! And I'm, snowballs and fun times."

          Perhaps you should've accepted the yeti's invitations and maybe you would've arrived a little earlier, feeling a little embarrassed by just floating down and reforming beside Sandman like nothing had happened. Which, honestly you couldn't blame yourself much for. You travelled as quick as you could! North was to blame for somehow starting the ceremonies without you.

          A ceremony, cut short by Jack's obvious refusal. "I'm not a guardian."

          "Heh, that's exactly what me and the Lorax said!" Now it was Bunny's turn to get slapped by the stick, a look of quiet surprise on his face when he hadn't noticed you arriving. "Jack, I don't think you understand what it is we do," Some random feeling surged through your chest and deep within your stomach when you saw Tooth so casually go up to him and touch his shoulder, but you held it back. Because one, Tooth has been your friend for almost all your two hundred years of your awakening as a guardian, and two, that would admit that Jack had something that made you mad, which, other than his dick-ish personality, you absolutely refused to admit.

          "We, protect them." You zoned back in a few seconds later, looking in horrified disgust as your friend continues to embarrass herself by quite literally sticking her fingers into Jack's mouth in inspection of his teeth like a crazed dentist. "Tooth, dignity."

          "Oh, sorry," She giggles, flying away, "They're beautiful. . !"

          Yeah, that dignity was long gone.

          You watched in boredom as they continued to try and convince the childish white-head to agree, the image of teeth somehow making you feel the need to try and see if there was anything stuck in your own. There probably wasn't, but Tooth and her line of work always made you awfully self-aware of your own hygiene despite not needing to as a literal all-powerful personification of nature.

          "You were chosen, like we were all chosen!" North's booming voice and the fairy tugging you forward to form some sort of line snapped you out of your daze, raising a brow, "By man on moon."

          "Last night, Jack," She smiles, head gesturing to the open view of the celestial body, "He chose you."

          "Maybe." You shared a quiet high-five with the Australian behind the fairy's back.

          They share a few more lines you could care less about, leaning back to raise a brow at Bunny. "What would happen if you throw your boomerang as soon as ice-cream head agrees?"

          "I think it'd be brilliant, but I'm not about to risk getting criminalized alongside you." Your face crinkles in disgust, somehow not believing that he could be that tall and know how to read. "Ew, you actually learned book words?"

          "I'm a rabbit of many talents, Y/N."

          "Or so I've heard differently." 

          A last scowl with little to no ill intent and you were back facing forward, just in time to see him still ranting. Bunny seemed to be better caught up, despite being distracted like you were. "That is not for me!" He pauses, turning to your little group, "No offense."

          And like the good Samaritan that he is, Bunny gets offended. "How-how, how is that not offensive?!" He laughs bitterly—even if he probably didn't hear much of Jack's rant because you were messing with him—cocking a brow to look at him condescendingly, "Y'know what I think I-I think we just dodged a bullet, like—what's this clown know about bringing joy to children anyway?" You grimaced as the tall, foreboding presence of your frenemy bends down to scratch his cheeks with his large foot like the literal animal that he was, trying not to pay attention to the loose fur absolutely getting the whole floor bothered. Even you had questions with nature every once in a while.

          "Uh, you ever hear of a snow day?"

          "Far too many of them exist, to be honest," You quipped, but either he chose to ignore you or didn't hear. North did though, and he gestured threateningly to the 'Naughty' tattoo on his forearm. 

          "I know it's no, hard-boiled egg but kids like, what I do." Dangerously, Bunny rises to his full height, tilting his head back to look down on Frost, "But none of them believe in you, do they? You see—you're invisible, mate, it's like you don't even exist."

          . . .

          As much of a grudge you held against the man, that little comment of his didn't settle that right with you. "Oi, Bunny, that's a whole foot out of line now, bud."

          Jack quickly shakes his