"We'll always be there, Jamie... and now, we'll always be here too; which kinda makes you a Guardian too." The words rang in his mind. He was pretty sure he'd never forget them, or the immortal, white haired teen, Jack Frost. Though the day following the one in which the winter spirit had said those very words, Jack hadn't shown up again. Nor had he any other day as the snow around Burgess had melted and given way to the heat of spring and summer. Jamie had conquered fear itself... or, well, the manifestation of fear, and it felt great. Did it mean he had nothing to fear? No, but he didn't feel so scared anymore when he thought about all that had happened to him. Jamie and his five friends had stopped the Boogeyman, considering that Pitch was the personification of fear... why did they need to be afraid really? Well, okay, some fear was just common sense like having the mild fear of being hit by a car if one didn't think to look both ways before crossing a street... but besides that, who cared? Jamie's friends seemed to all but forget about the Guardians as summer came. Jamie didn't. He couldn't, they talked occasionally about that night; in fact it was a favorite of theirs to play out and the used paper and a flashlight for Pitch & his nightmares when they did play it out. Every time they did, Jamie insisted on playing the part of Jack. After all, the winter spirit was his hero; when it had come down to the wire, Jack had been the only one among the Guardians who had been left standing with any power to fight with. The others had been crippled due to a lack of belief, but not Jack. The immortal prankster didn't need belief to be strong, even as a Guardian his powers really didn't rely on that like with the others; after all, even now he barely had a handful of believers around the world - despite the efforts of the six children to spread the story of Jack - but still Jack seemed as powerful as ever. At least that was what other believers had told him. Jamie had made a website dedicated to the Guardians and their believers in an attempt to gain more, so far... it hadn't really worked out as well as he'd hoped. Right now he was sitting next to the frozen pond, staring into space, his favorite book in his lap. It was his favorite because a yeti had actually signed it! Apparently the yeti in the picture was named Phil... Well, there was that and then there was the fact that Jamie knew the Guardians were real. Even if he hadn't seen any sign of them since he'd stood with his friends as Jack had taken the oath to be a Guardian. The memory made the now-nine-year-old boy smile. He wondered what the winter spirit was up to, knowing likely that Jack was just making it snow elsewhere. Still, the pond was as frozen as it had been in the winter; as it always was and it wasn't really until recently that Jamie had learned that the pond was special to Jack. He'd written to North about it actually, to see if the Guardian had known; he hadn't expected a quick answer, but North had gotten back to him almost the very next day with a reply that had been left on his window sill, explaining that the pond was Jack's but nothing beyond that. That had been enough of an answer at the time, but now as the young boy sat staring at it, longing to see its owner, he began to wonder. Jack had obviously been around a long while, though the spirit hadn't said how long and this pond had been always frozen as far as Jamie knew... which meant Jack had been around at least eight or nine years at the very least. So, what made this place special to Jack? Why keep a simple pond frozen over? He'd been so curious that he'd done a little research on it the other day, even enlisting Monty to help him out. All he'd really discovered was that - according to some ancient record - the pond had been around since the town's foundation and had been the site of a tragic accident that had stolen the life of a young shepherd boy one winter. Could that boy have been Jack? Jamie sighed a little, running one hand against the ice just to feel its biting coldness. It didn't feel quite as cold though as he remembered. Was it thinning? Jamie tested the weight, but not a single bit of the ice gave; not even a little crack, so why didn't it feel as cold to him as he thought it should? Oh well. Jamie slowly inched out along the ice, the coolness the ice offered felt so wonderful to him; Jamie let out a sigh of bliss. He couldn't wait for winter to come around again. Years before he'd looked forward to summer so he could be away from school, but then again years before he hadn't had a reason to want to look forward to winter except for Christmas. Now, however, it meant he might catch a glimpse of a certain winter spirit.

Jamie closed his eyes, unaware said winter spirit was sitting in a tree, watching the boy. He wanted to go down to Jamie, but North had reprimanded him about getting to close to any mortal. Mortal lives were short, a blink of an eye in comparison to the life of an immortal and even more so to a Guardian. Jack had become a Guardian because of Jamie... The boy had been his first believer and had shown him that he wanted to protect children all over the world. That what MiM had said was to be his destiny, really was and Jack didn't regret a moment of it. For the moment, however, he was watching his best believer enjoy the coolness of his ice. He'd stopped by just to make sure the ice was as thick as it always was; more than capable of holding the weight of a few elephants let alone that of the boy before him. He couldn't help the soft chuckle, but he was careful to hide the sound so that it didn't alert the boy below. He'd get flack for it if Jamie spotted him. With an inward sigh, Jack stood up from his spot and circled around the tree before taking off; Jamie didn't notice the melting frost he'd left behind. The boy below had no idea just how precious he was to the winter spirit who had been watching him long before he'd ever been seen. Jack didn't know why he had been drawn to Jamie and pondered on this even as he flew towards the south to deliver a new blanket of snow. Winter was just starting down there, but he wished sorely that it was ending so that it meant he could fly up north to see his best believer. Jamie had been his first and Jack would never forget him, no matter how much time would pass.

2 Years Later...

Jack swooped over the area, he was bringing the first snow to Burgess, the town he called home and was also home to his first believer. The first boy to see him. He wondered how much had changed since he'd last spoken to Jamie two years before. Jack had tried to stay away from the boy, but he really couldn't. Even if Jamie didn't see him, Jack was always there, watching out for him when he wasn't out spreading snow. Today was no exception as he dipped beneath the clouds; he landed on the same fence he'd landed on two years earlier, before Jamie had believed. Before anyone could see him and now at least half the town's kids would wave at him. Word sure had spread fast, according to North anyway and Jack had to admit that he had never felt stronger; the belief of those kids, few that they were, seemed to add to his power. Even if he would never be subject to the same problem of losing believers as the other Guardians were, that didn't make his believers any less important to him. In fact, he still felt the odd pull he'd always felt since seeing this boy in particular. There was no reason he should feel any sort of pull, but since he'd seen the boy toddling about years ago he'd felt almost connected to the Bennett family. Tragedy had stolen the father from them the same year that Jamie's mother had been pregnant with Sophie, the boy's sister. Still, Mrs. Bennett had managed to some how make enough to pay off everything that needed and other things had helped, insurance, family, friends... She never really wanted for anything. While she didn't make enough for her children to have everything their hearts wanted, Jamie was a trooper in that he made due with what little she could provide him with; his active imagination had him - according to her - talking to Jack Frost since he was eight and he'd crafted toys for himself and his sister from things that normally would have been thrown away like boxes or toilet paper rolls. The resourceful boy had even scrounged up enough money to buy the fairy wings his sister wore from a garage sale one summer. How he'd managed it without an allowance the woman still didn't know, but he had. He was such a good brother, she really couldn't ask for better children.

Jack searched the city, thinking he might be at school, but the school building was closed when he arrived. He ventured to the Bennett house, but the boy wasn't in his room either. He flew to each of the houses he knew held his believers but he didn't see Jamie though he did see Monty and a few of the others. Well... if they weren't out playing together in the snow... where was Jamie? Jack winced a little when he felt something zing through him, it wasn't painful really but it had surprised him. Something was going on at his pond. He raced there as fast as he could, finding Jamie would have to wait a little bit... or maybe it was... He nearly grinned when he realized he was right. A pebble sat on the ice of his pond, it had chipped only the tiniest bit of the surface. That was what he'd felt, Jamie had thrown a rock at his pond; the boy was staring up into the sky when Jack headed towards him, the hopeful look in the boy's eyes made his heart beat a little faster. Jamie was looking for him. No one had ever gone looking for him before... That time when Bunny had distracted him so the yetis could sneak up on him and toss him in a sack before he even knew he was to be a Guardian didn't really count.

"Hey kiddo!" He said as he landed a few feet away from Jamie. The boy spun around, a grin splitting his features.

"Jack!" He ran over and hugged the winter spirit, Jack hesitated only a fraction of a second before hugging the boy back. Would he ever get used to being able to be seen and hugged like this? He wasn't sure but he sure the heck hoped not as long as it meant that it was possible. He never wanted to go through a time again where people just walked through him, adults always would, of course but that was an exception and why he steered clear of them as much as possible. The ten year old pulled back.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in nearly two years..." Jamie trailed off.

"I'm here now aren't I?" He asked, ruffling the boy's hair to produce the smile he liked seeing on that face.

"Yeah... but were you really that busy that you couldn't visit?" Jack sighed, he couldn't lie to the boy.

"No... North is going to be mad I even stopped by today."

"Why?"

"Well... it's against the rules to get close to a child. To let myself be seen, though that makes no sense to me."

"Yeah, what's the point of us being able to see you if all you do is hide all the time."

"My thoughts exactly kiddo!"

"So... then won't you get in trouble?" Jack shrugged then grinned.

"Worth it to see you kiddo. Now how about we have some fun?" Jamie nodded and Jack tapped his staff to the pond just to make sure the ice was more than thick enough. As long as he lived he was going to make sure that no one ever fell through the ice like he did. It was a promise he'd made and kept since he'd learned two years ago who he'd been. Jack turned to his believer with a smile.

"Let's get to skating!"

"Um... Jack, I don't know how." Jack's grin became a small smile.

"Time you learned then. I'll teach you." Jack tapped the bottom of Jamie's shoes, blades of ice forming on the bottoms and Jamie wobbled a little as he tried to get used to standing on the blades. Jack caught him when he nearly toppled over.

"Easy there champ." When he'd righted the boy he let go again and Jamie wobbled but he managed to find his balance again. The winter spirit didn't laugh when Jamie walked onto the ice only to slip and land on his butt, instead Jack had helped him back up and helped him find his balance. The small smile never once leaving his face, it was funny seeing Jamie slip like that but he'd never laugh at his friend when he was trying to learn something new; plus he didn't want Jamie to feel bad about not being able to skate.

"Got your balance now?" Jack asked.

"I think so."

"Okay, put one foot in front of the other then, nice and slow. Watch me." Jack didn't need skates, being who he was, he slowly glided along the ice in front of Jamie, being sure to stay in sight of the boy as he used slow movements before he stopped and turned. Waiting for the boy to try. Try Jamie did, after a few uncertain stops and starts the boy was soon easily skating about the ice, if a little still wobbly and uncertain.

"Now you've got it!" Jamie laughed in pure joy as he and Jack skated around the pond. Racing about and Jack showing off a little by skating figure eights into the ice as well as a few tricks that Jamie was pretty sure shouldn't be possible for even a professional figure skater. He didn't dare try the aerial jumps Jack was making, but he did try to skate a figure eight and while it was sort of lopsided, he'd managed it just fine. It was only when Jamie felt tired that he headed for the bank and suddenly his eyes widened. He didn't know how to stop!

"Jaaaaaaccckkk! How do I sto- Omph!" Jamie crashed right into a snow bank. Jack chuckled as the boy picked himself up out of the snow.

"Heh... sorry about that... guess I shoulda taught you that next." The look on Jamie's face when Jack floated over clearly said "ya think?"

"Next time, promise." Jack said and Jamie ran his fingers over the ice blades, they didn't melt but Jack had figured he wanted to take them off now and waved his wand, the blades breaking off with a gentle crack.

"What do you want to do next?" Jack asked, Jamie looked around, thoughtful a moment before falling back into the snow and making a snow angel. Jack grinned and soon there were half a dozen snow angels all around his pond from both him and Jamie.

"Looks good kiddo!" Jack said with a grin when he floated up to admire all of their work. Jamie grinned back before running a little ways away from where they were and began rolling snow. Jack watched a moment before floating down nearby and the two of them began to build a snowman. Jack wasn't sure in the end if it was what Jamie had intended, but he couldn't help laughing at the resemblance.

"What's so funny?" Jamie asked, wondering if his snowman was that bad.

"It looks like North!" The boy stepped back to look at the snowman a minute before he grinned. Jack was right. It looked a LOT like a beardless North. Jamie joined Jack at laughing. Not so sure the Guardian of Wonder would appreciate that, but he didn't care too much. He was having too much fun with Jack and his laughter began to die when he realized the sun was starting to set.

"Man... I should probably get home now." Jamie's face fell, he wanted to spend more time with Jack.

"I'll walk you back." Jack replied, he had noticed that Jamie seemed unhappy, though he did perk up a little at Jack's words. So what if North was mad? He'd had a lot of fun today with his friend, something he'd never really had much of a chance to ever do before and the Guardians were always too busy to play with him. When Jamie had arrived at his house he'd turned to Jack.

"I had a lot of fun today Jack."

"Me too squirt. Hey... I'll meet you up in your room okay?" Jamie nodded, smiling. He turned and rushed inside while Jack floated up to the window and slipped into the room when he saw that it was open. He landed on the boy's bed, listening to the sounds downstairs and the muffled voice of Jamie's mother talking to the boy, he didn't really hear what was being said so much as just the sound of it. Soon enough Jamie walked through the door with a small smile and a plate of food. Jack raised an eyebrow and Jamie shrugged.

"Took some convincing, but she let me eat up here because it's a special night."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, because you're here... but for her, it's because I don't have school tomorrow or anything."

"Speaking of which, why weren't you there today?" Jamie sat on the floor, not wanting to get crumbs or anything on his bed.

"Some parent-teacher conference thing. I don't know, mom never explains it. She took Sophie with her and I told her I was going to stay at Pippa's for the day so she wouldn't call a babysitter." He made a face before taking a bite of his mashed potatoes.

"What's wrong with a babysitter?" Jack tilted his head, curious.

"Ugh... she'd have called old Mrs. Blanche... that woman smells bad and she treats me like I'm five. I hate it."

"Guess I can't blame you there."

"So, how long are you staying?" Jamie asked after he swallowed a mouthful of green peas, the other thing on his plate was a helping of mac and cheese. Jack considered the question as he watched Jamie eat his supper; not that he needed to eat, being immortal and all.

"Well, if you don't mind I'll spend the night with you kiddo. At least until bedtime." Jamie beamed at him and Jack knew it was the right choice to make. He pushed away any thoughts of the lecture he was sure to get from North or one of the other Guardians. North ALWAYS knew, but sometimes the others managed to find out and they said the same thing... more or less. Bunny wasn't as nice about it as North and Tooth... well, she was a bit more tactile... Sandy didn't so much as say anything as just shake his head at Jack and give him a concerned, if disapproving look. They didn't like it enough as it was that Jack constantly watched over Jamie, they were going to like it even less that he'd shown up to play with the boy. True to his word, Jack stayed with Jamie, going through every card game that Jamie and Jack knew of. Jamie talked adamantly about school and his friends, how they all still believed despite that it had been so long since they'd seen Jack or the others; a couple of them had heard from Tooth after losing a tooth in the last couple years. Jack had told him all about the places he'd visited to give snow days the last few days and the "trouble" he'd gotten into at North's workshop, which had made Jamie laugh. He'd also told the boy about the dreams he got from Sandy when he'd slept and the ideas for winter that had come from those dreams.