Nate made a point to visit everyday, Ena was home more often now that winter was close and the resort didn't get as many people during this season due to the extreme cold and plenty of snow storms. She was surprised that even without her 'calming' magic 'Snow', as Nate called the her, wasn't showing any signs of panicking so long as there wasn't too many people in the same 'space' the moment it was Nate, Ena and Blaze, she would start fidgeting the same went when it was just Nate and William, so whenever William came along with Nate to 'visit' he would sit in different room, out of sight since the more people the more her 'fear' started to take control. He didn't mind, in fact he took the time to study, a true 'nerd' - a fitting personality for the future Gamma.

Snow sat at the one end of the room while Nate at the opposite - always rearranging the furniture so that they didn't have to stand. Nate just kept the silence after he was done telling her about 'someone' in the Pack, hoping to let her get to know at least one new person by word-of-mouth until one day she got the courage to go meet them in person and so she would know what to expect of the others in his Pack. He started telling her about everyone after one day when he told her he couldn't wait for her to come live with them. Until he mentioned it, no one had yet told her that she was a 'werewolf' or that she was supposed to go live with her 'adopted' family - the Alpha's family... Nate being her 'brother'...

She had refused to talk with anyone for three days, clearly upset, thinking that Ena and Blaze didn't 'want' her around anymore.

It was Ena, and will always be Ena that is able to get the girl to 'see' reason. She explained to her that they were only ever supposed to care for her until she woke up since they were healers.

"Missy... Whether you are the Alpha's adopted daughter or not, you are always welcome here, in fact I would be all too pleased if you wanted to stay with us." These words, quickly had her open the door, one look at the hopeful red-haired witch was enough to tell 'Snow' that they really didn't feel like she was a nuisance.

When she went down stairs she found out Nate never stopped visiting in those three days she was acting like a stubborn brat. She quickly wrote for the first time on the notepad, quickly telling Nate that she had no intention of 'leaving' Ena and Blaze, but she would still like to one day go 'visit' him at his home. It was enough to make the boy grin from ear-to-ear.

It was with a new goal in mind that 'Snow' wanted to try going outside.

Each day she would hold the door knob, turn it only to halt... standing by the door for a few minutes at first and now a few hours, they didn't try to interfere, they were just happy that she was 'trying'.

Gale was there watching Snow while Blaze was out with Ena, an emergency at the resort. Snow was already very much at ease with Ena's brother, he was 'warm', his flames' magic danced through the house. To think he just had to use his magic to get closer to her. The storming winds howled outside, the both of them sat in front of the hearth that Gale got burning. Grilling marshmallows, it was Gale's plan since he wasn't much of a 'cook' and Snow didn't like his sandwiches at all. But the true reason mainly was because he was too lazy to try making something else.

She kept eyeing him, he did seem 'scary', not that he was 'big' like the Alpha, but he just seemed 'dangerous'... it was the way his eyes would spark with mischieve or how he smiled, hiding some kind of secret in that brief moments of 'kindness', spite seeing all these tell-tales Snow still couldn't understand why she had this sense of 'safety' being around him.

"What is it? Are you feeling uncomfortable? Should I move?" He asked, she shook her head.

"Do I look scary to you too?" He asked she raised her hand; her thump and index finger slightly apart - 'a bit', she told him.

"All the kids say the same, but you don't seem scared of me now at least." She shook her head and pointed to the fireplace.

"I feel warm?" He asked grinning knowingly and she nodded.

"I'm glad you finally realized it." He teased and she didn't like it one bit. 

"You know it's alright to be scared, you have every right to be. But being able to trust your own 'feelings' is the only way you'll ever be able to get out of this house and experience the world. I'm not going to lie, the proof is on you that there are a lot of bad things out there, but there are just as much good if you look hard enough." He said and she pointed to him questioningly.

"Do you think I'm good?" She nodded.

"That is the kind of trust you need in yourself, never doubt it, I can't say I am all good, but I can promise that I'd never hurt you or let any harm come to you while I'm around." She let her eyes take in the blazing flames, they danced with such grace and beauty, it's light had drawn a moth closer and in split second the moth's wings caught fire, falling into charmed flames. Since the heat was magically controlled, it was bearable and held a certain allure to it, denying its own volatile nature.

"Like a moth to a flame; drawn in by the light it can feel the warmth but lacks understanding, its instincts telling it to go to the light, towards the warmth... You have good instincts and better judgment than a moth, it is unable to reason, while you can. Take what you feel, what you see and what you hear, and place it into categories, you can add a 'weight' to it and then compare it to the 'limit' you set yourself to 'trust' or 'not to trust'. And at the same time as you get more 'familiar with something your 'weightages' might change for curtains 'things'. You can do this for people, places you want to go to, things you want to do, stuff that you want, just about anything can be 'weighed', but be careful not to go digging for something that isn't there. If you feel something is dangerous, something you want very much, like a moth that want's to be close to the 'warmth' of the fire, don't try to twist things around to suit your 'preferences, because the fire isn't going to change its character just because you 'willed' it to." 

She looked at him, and back at the fire, then moved to her notepad writing something on it - But you can change the fire so it doesn't burn, just like before when the heat was too much and burned my legs.

"True, I can control it to a point, but I can't make it less dangerous than it is. I can cool the flames to feel cold to the touch, but it will still burn you. When you let the flames touch you... in fact it is even more dangerous, because all the properties that tell you 'you are too close' are now gone, but in exchange to minimize the 'heat' it gives off, the flames that are visible become more 'solid'... tangible... and it is no longer the 'heat' that is dangerous... the flame becomes more 'combustible', able to spread instantly and nearly impossible to extinguish - watch..."

He took out a match and lit it, without doing anything he held it against a marshmallow and it charred a small part of the soft sweet before it burned out, the stickiness too moist for the small little flame. The second match he used his magic to cool it down drastically, he allowed Snow to 'feel' that it gave off no heat before holding the same marshmallow up now with a BBQ skewer they were using to grill the sweets. This time the Marshmallow caught fire and the fire consumed the sweet, burning it to ash in seconds, the fire even turned the metal of the skewer red hot, if not for Gale using his magic to 'control' it so it didn't spread too far, if he didn't know how to quench the thirsting fire, as the ash that was still alit fell to the floor, they would have been in huge trouble!

 "No matter what, I can't change the fact that fire 'consumes'. My Magic is 'fire', it won't harm me as long as I am in control, but even I can lose control if I don't keep my head securely screwed on. Any kind of emotion I don't reign in can affect my magic, and allow even my own flames to 'consume' me. This account to everyone, with magic or without - emotions are a force that can destroy you or make you stronger, all depending on how you let it influence your mind, body and... heart..." He reached out and pointed to where Snow's 'heart' was.

"Of course a my magic, even though it is 'fire' attributed, if I don't use it to start actual fires, with a little bit more control than I have it can be used to 'heal' as well, just like how Blaze's magic. Did you know his natural element is fire as well?" Snow shook her head.

"But the luck guy also as an equal affinity for water and plants that balances out his fire attribute, making it truly suitable for healing." Gale's defeated sigh brought out the first real joyful smile from Snow.

"I like it, just like that I want you to learn to smile more!" She nodded, feeling 'brave'. His words and had made her think, think of a way to get what she wanted without trying to 'force' herself. She needed a 'reason' - a 'need' more than a 'want' - to want to go outside.

She had to 'control' her fear, not get rid of it, because as Gale said, there was a reason she was so scared of everything! Fear was as much a part of her as her 'want' to go outside and her 'want' to want to trust Nate, and Will... These were all she 'wanted' at that very moment. She had Ena and Blaze, she had Gale too... It took some time to be able to get 'close' to them, but that was the proof she needed to know that she couldn't force' herself, there was a 'reason' there that she started 'trusting' them, and just like that day she finally took the last step down the stairs, it was the first step to start 'trusting' one more person to enter her 'life'.