Hi everyone and Happy Holidays to wherever you celebrate. I hope you all love this one-shot BlackIce story. This is a gift-fic for my cousin, who is the creator of Painter Kitty and several other artwork. Hope you like it!

The gentle winter breeze gently caressed his face as he exited the shadow of a tree he had been resting within just moments ago, watching as the sun slowly disappeared.

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse..."

It had been a while since he'd seen the sun disappear beyond the horizon, seeing the colors changing from blue, to orange and to pink before darkness settled the night sky. It was beautiful, he silently thought as he continued to gaze at the night sky, lost in his thoughts.

The Nightmare King would never admit to his lover, but he still felt guilty for all the pain he caused him. For centuries, all he wanted was to be believed in, to be acknowledged for what he did. But no, he was written off as a dream, a nightmare...and the Guardians made sure he stayed that way. The Guardians created a deep rage within him. They never bothered to understand him, nor bothered to stop and think what their Wonder, Hope, Memories, or Dreams were doing to him. They could never understand his pain. It was a deep soul-ridden pain. One that would course throughout his body, sucking the very life out of him until he was weak and practically starving for fears. The Guardians would never understand that pain.

But Jack did. The thought lingered in his mind a tad too long, creating a wave of guilt in its wake. Many of the other Fae Folk and Ancient Spirits knew bits and pieces of his and Jack's complicated relationship. It had all started almost three centuries ago when a certain boy fell through the ice. Pitch had always been rather curious about the Overland siblings. They had the strongest belief in that time, being able to see many old and new Spirits. And as surprising as it was, it had been their belief that awoken him from his forced slumber.

Pitch remembered the day he met the siblings. It had been the day before Christmas Eve when he saw Jackson Overland reading to his sister about the Guardians and, surprisingly, him. Pitch had been surprised that the boy had called him the "unofficial Guardian of Courage" in addition to being called the Boogeyman and the Nightmare King.

Pitch also hadn't expected the children to see him when he exited the shadows. And he also hadn't expected them to squeal with interest and joy upon seeing him. Pitch had never expected to have two unfearful believers.

But like all things, he should have known it would never last. The Guardians had somehow caught wind of him being in the village and had attacked him just before morning arose on Christmas Day. It had been because of them that he had not been there to help his believers when they needed him the most.

Pitch remembered hearings their fears as the ice broke. He remembered hearing little Flee's thoughts as her brother saved her from her watery grave. And he also remembered hearing Jackson's final thoughts-mixed fears before he died.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there..."

Pitch never thought having his believers suddenly taken away from him would be so painful. But it had and only got worse when little Lunar decided to reanimate his fallen believer. Pitch had been there to see his believer's innocent joy. It had brought warmth to his cold heart that he was not dead anymore. However, Pitch would never forgive Lunar for not returning Jack Frost's memories. He didn't even bother to have one of the Guardians to come and greet the new Spirit and explain to him what he was and what he was meant to do.

It had been disconcerting at how little they cared. They were so out of touch with the world they lived in. Pitch shook his head at that. He was just glad he had been there to explain things to Frost, reconnecting with him in a way and starting the beginning of their complicated relationship.

Over the next three centuries, he and Frost would run into each other on and off. Pitch had learned very quickly that Frost was a Winter Spirit and as free as the wind. The boy loved to play pranks and bring joy to the world. That was what Pitch loved about the boy. The innocent joy he brought seemed to soothe the pain in his heart caused by Jackson's death and the Guardians' constant reminder of how much they wanted him gone.

It wasn't until '68 when that rage and pain came back in full force. The damn Pooka had attacked Jack for creating a blizzard that Emily Jane told him to create. It didn't help that the Pooka had threatened him and then proceeded to beat the Spirit to almost an inch to his life. It also didn't help that Pitch had not been there to help him. And it also didn't help that Jack had to go into an early hibernation, forcing the Snow Queen and Emily Jane to take up his job until he was fully recovered.

Pitch hated seeing Jack looking so small and helpless. He hated seeing Jack so hurt. Jack had always believed in him and trusted him with all his been. And what had he done? He'd pushed him away for almost half a century, thinking that he was protecting the innocent soul from his darkness and rage.

Pitch rested his head on the cold bark of the tree, realizing how stupid he was for his actions five years ago. He had almost lost everything...including Jack.

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap..."

Pitch snorted softly as he continued to listen to a mother read to her two children. The old oak tree that Pitch was leaning against was located right outside a small house on the outskirts of a small poor village. Pitch gazed into the small bedroom. The bedroom was small compared to the ones in Europe and America, but it was very well decorated for the lack of money and resources the small family seemed to have. But it didn't seem to matter to the family that they couldn't afford a TV or radio or any of the technology that many kids had these days. Pitch noticed that the two twin redhead girls were engrossed in the story, just as they were the year before when their mother read to them one of the many stories that had been written about that damn Guardian of Wonder.

The Nightmare King gave the Humans a small glance before he entered the shadows and made his way to another town, north of America.

Frost is definitely here. It hadn't been that long since he last seen the Winter Spirit. The Winter Spirit had left his permanent home at the lair to attend to his winter duties. He was supposed to be returning today. Pitch smiled softly as he spotted the Winter Teen before he did.

Pitch never knew how much he loved the overly hyper Winter Spirit until he almost lost him. Jack had visited him every Christmas and stole one of the Pooka's eggs for him for Easter. The brat would spend his offseason at his lair and would spend as much time as he could making Pitch less angry and more happy.

Pitch had always wondered why Jack never accepted the offer to live with the Snow Queen. Certainly, the Snow Queen's ice palace would have appealed to his liking more than this cold, dark lair. But Jack had insisted on staying with him during his offseason, considering he was always traveling to different countries and regions to deliver snow and ice. It made him wonder why he never considered asking Jack to live permanently in his lair until the whole world domination thing.

Now that he thought about it. Jack had always mentioned how he loved the cold lair and how he just refused to leave Pitch alone more the necessary.

Pitch was truly a fool for not seeing Jack's feelings for what they were. Had he really been so blinded by revenge to not see? To not see that Jack wanted to be with him? That his believer, his Jack cared for him on a level that surpassed friendship?

Pitch honestly felt guilty for not seeing it sooner. It could have spared the years of pain he'd inflicted on Jack due to all the lies and deception. Pitch truly should have realized that Jack adored him just as much as he adored the children he protected and the snow and frost he created.

Jack truly was a wonderful, kind-hearted person. An angel he did not deserve.

Thank the gods that the Guardians were so out of touch with the rest of the world. Pitch wasn't sure if he wanted a confrontation with those fools anytime soon. He was not that strong yet.

Then again, maybe he should if it meant getting the fools to stop harassing Jack for every little thing he did. It was bad enough that the Pooka continues to talk bad about Jack, it was another thing that the Toothiana and North only interacted with him when his angel was at the meeting or seen on one of the few rare encounters throughout the year. But it was another thing altogether when they would gang up on him (minus Sanderson) whenever they assumed Jack was at fault whenever a child died in one of his scheduled or unexpected snow storms or blizzards.

"You should have been more careful," the Fairy had said.

"The ankle-biters are dead because of your recklessness," the Pooka had said.

"You can't create blizzards like that," the Cossack had said, "you are only hurting the children!"

The argument had been bad, so bad that Jack had almost frozen the entire workshop where it stood, yell all the pent-up anger he held within from the 300 years they've ignored him to the year he had spent being a Guardian after that horrible Easter.

Pitch winced, remembering the fear and anger Jack released at the Guardians like a raging blizzard as the events of what happened during Easter were revealed, along with several other things.

The Guardians had not known the Winter Spirit all if they thought accusing and then apologizing would solve anything. Jack had made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with them and their little group.

Pitch couldn't help but scowl at that, though. It was very typical of the Guardians to mourn over children they do not interact with and to blame others when things don't go their way. However, it infatuated him how they believed that they had the right to lecture Jack on how he was to do his job. He was just glad that Jack made the choice to sever his ties with them while he was ahead. It would not have been wise to get Mother Nature involved, knowing that she was very busy breathing life somewhere in the world, or destroying in most cases.

However, Pitch truly hated seeing Jack upset. There had only been a few times Pitch had seen the eternal Winter Teen upset. Noted, he had been partly the cause for most of it, but he was making up for it. Now the Guardians were a different matter altogether. The fools never did take the time to get to know him, now had they?

Pitch soon found himself thinking back to five years ago after his defeat. Despite how horrible he had been, he had hoped Jack knew he was still welcomed at the lair. It was his home after all. But Jack had not returned to the lair when he went into an early hibernation. Pitch knew it was his fault that Jack felt he was no longer welcomed at Pitch's home.

It had taken Pitch two weeks to gather enough strength to go and search for the Winter Spirit. Pitch knew the moment he found Jack sleeping in a cave somewhere in the Himalayas that he had slipped into an early hibernation after overusing his powers. Jack had not been happy when he awoke in the bedroom he had in the lair a month later.

Pitch shook himself out of that memory. It still hurt, knowing that he had been so close to losing Jack. He didn't deserve Jack's trust and love after breaking into little pieces of glass, but he was so glad he had it back.

Why had it taken almost losing him to realize that Jack was all he ever needed?

"PIIIITTTTCCCCHHHH!" Pitch found himself smiling as Jack finally spotted him. Pitch smiled as Jack's cheerful joyed filled the wintery air as he propellered into him. Pitch, unable to hold his balance from the sheer force of his boyfriend, ended up landed on the soft covered snow back behind him just as familiar cold lips pressed against his. Pitch's smile never wavered as his ears caught a familiar female laugh.

"Jack, don't crush the poor man." Jack had the decency to blush as he pulled away slightly, wiping away the snow that landed on Pitch's face and hair.

"Woops. Sorry."

Pitch laughed. Why he so missed his little angel. Who would have thought he would be so attached to the little Winter Spirit? "It's fine, Jack. I missed you too." Jack smiled sweetly at him, earning him another soft kiss before he finally decided to pull away and help him up.

As they brushed the snow out of their clothes and hair, the Spirit of Art took that moment to hug him. "Hello, Pitch. It is so nice to see you again."

Pitch smiled as he hugged the other Spirit. "It is so nice to see you too, Painter Kitty." As they pulled away, Pitch gazed at the young Spirit with a smile. The young Spirit was about the same height as Jack and age (give or take a decade or two). Painter Kitty was a slim woman with fair skin, short brown hair, and brown eyes. The woman had short cat ears with patches of red located near the top of her head and a tail. Pitch had always found himself in awe of the bits of red he always saw within those brown orbs. It was very unique. Today, the Spirit of Art was wearing black boots, long black fleece leggings, purple gloves and earmuffs, and a purple-pinkish winter coat. Perfect for the cold Canadian weather.

Painter Kitty smiled as they parted. "Jack was just telling me about this Winter Carnival."

"Aw," Pitch said as Jack's eyes immediate lit up with excitement. "That explains why we are in Canada for our date."

"Jamie mentioned to me a couple of months about this carnival in Quebec City."

"Apparently, Humans have been celebrating winter with all these winter actives. I believe they have been doing these activities since the 1900s. If I'm not mistaken," Painter Kitty added, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, like the snow bath!" Jack exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet

"And night parades."

"And snow slides!"

"And the snow sculptures."

"The snow sculptures?" Jack looked puzzled for a moment as if he had forgotten something very important. "The snow sculptures competition!" Jack finally gasped, causing the wind to whirl around them in worry, his eyes going wide as he gripped his boyfriend's arm. "It's going to start soon! We got to hurry before we miss it!"

Pitch didn't even have time to along the information of what the two were talking about to sink in or to even comment on these winter activities or Quebec City in general before he was whisked away by the two very excited, children-like Spirits. The Nightmare King found himself baffled as he was dragged into the air and towards the winter activities in the distance. After a moment of seeing the excitement on both of the other two Spirits' faces did Pitch finally relax and join in on the fun.

The three of them spent all night at the carnival, laughing and having fun, with the occasional prank or two. The fact that it was Christmas and that the Guardians where out and about never even crossed their minds. They were all having too much fun.

And as the night became morning, forcing them all to depart to their homes, Pitch realized he could not stop his smile from growing as he pulled a tired Jack Frost through the shadows. And as they stumbled into their bedroom and cuddled together in their bed, Pitch closed his eyes (following Jack in slumber) with a content smile on his facing, wondering what he had done to deserve such a perfect boyfriend and an equally perfect Christmas.