Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. Any similarities to other fics are purely coincidental.


Huh? I've never noticed this place before Jack thought as he approached oasis from above. You see, being the Winter Spirit, Jack visits every inch of the globe...or at least every inch where snow doesn't melt as quickly as it's created. In all his three hundred years of existence, Jack had never seen this one place.

There was a waterfall, a rather small one, flowing endlessly into a lake. There were trees and lush vegetation surrounding a clearing for humans to enter. The whole place was surrounded by rock walls, preventing entrance other than a clearing in the trees and the sky. There was grass and flowers and rocks and more trees. If it had walking colourful eggs, this would pretty much be the Easter Kangaroo's..er...Bunny's warren.

And it was warm. So intensely warm. The sun beat down in massive waves. Jack wanted nothing more than to fly off to his lake to cool off. But there was something about this place and it's secrets that trapped Jack in a net of curiosity. So, he cast an ice dome, blocking off the sun and the sky and the heat, preventing entrance to this enclosure from the sky. Then, it started to snow, almost like a huge snow globe.

The waterfall froze instantly. The lake becoming an ice skating rink. Snow fell quickly upon the grass and flowers in little fluffs, soon covering the greenery in white. Tree branches were covered in the sparkling cold stuff, almost looking like marshmallows had grown on them. It was only then that Jack had noticed there were no animals in this part of the forest. How odd.

Much better Jack thought as he admired his handiwork. Frost, ice and snow covered the once hot and green haven. Every inch was freezing cold. Snow was falling like little bits of cotton candy. It was a winter wonderland. Now to explore.

Jack swooped down and began to explore. To be honest, now that the heat was gone, the place was rather...boring. It was a normal forest, like any other. Well, besides the frozen berries in the bush and the icy daisies that he had created. Jack sighed. The only reason why he had taken a break from creating a White Christmas for the children was because North had a task for him. Of course, the snarky old hoot wouldn't tell him exactly what the task was.

"You will know when it hit you. It is right here on my tattoo" and he showed Jack his tattoo with two fresh new words: White Christmas. Then he sent Jack off without another question being asked. Of course, Jack had intended to ignore North from the start. Where was the fun in going on a task with no clues? But slowly, as Jack created more snowy days, the challenge etched at the back of his mind and wouldn't let go.

Eventually, he gave in and went circling half the globe for this thing that will 'hit' him. So far, nothing.

Maybe North's delusional or something. I mean, what in the world could that mean? Something that will hit me? Will it hurt? And what's with that creepy tattoo...though-

His thoughts were immediately interrupted by a snowball to the back of his head. Well, snowball really wasn't the word for it. More like a pile of snow.

"Hey!" Jack yelled and whipped around in mid-air. He saw a girl of about twelve with brown, slightly wavy hair that reached over her shoulders. She had chocolate brown eyes and she lugged around a huge patched up sack. Judging by her expression, and the fact that she was about to throw another snowball, she was not happy.

"I don't care who or what you are. Get out of here!" she screamed and pelted another snowball at Jack.

"You call that a snowball?" he mocked. He created a perfectly round sphere that seemed to give off a bluish hue. "Now this is a snowball" Jack showed off, only to get another pile of snow in the face as a reply. The perfect snowball tumbled out of his hands.

"Oh it's on now" he wiped the snow off of his face and created a pile of snowballs with a wave of his staff. What happened next was a mass exchange of fun and snowballs. A little bit of Jack's magic got through to the girl and she stopped yelling. She participated in the war wholeheartedly instead.

Suddenly, the girl felt a drop of water on her nose. Then two drops, three. It was raining, at least she thought it was rain. Jack felt it too and looked up to see his glass dome melting, revealing a clear night sky. Streaks of brilliant golden sand floated about in the night sky. Sandy was working hard tonight.

"Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" the snow started to melt to water. The waterfall returning back to normal. Leaves and petals looked like they had drops of dew on them. Jack caught the back of the girl's jacket.

"Woah! Slow down there. There is no way I'm letting a girl your age run through the forest. What if you get hurt or attacked?" Jack asked with concern, though keeping the smile on his face the whole time.

"I'll be fine. I've been here and back countless times. Now let go already!" Jack let go of her red furry jacket but scooped the heavy sack from her hands.

"What's in this sack anyway?" he opened it up to see building blocks, fake plastic snowglobes, teddy bears, clothes...the list went on.

"None of your concern! Now give it back!" her cheeks were growing red now.

"How about I carry this for you?" the girl was about to say no, but then she thought about how heavy the sack was and how long the journey would be.

"Fine. But don't drop a thing!"

A half hour of trudging and flying later...

The girl led Jack to a white washed building with big red words on it. There were kids, so many of them crowded just outside the building. The kids were half clothed and probably freezing. The strangest thing was that they were all weak, pale and sickly. Had their parents not been taking care of them?

Jack had to resist the urge of creating snow, lest the children get frostbite, or worse. He handed the sack over to the girl and floated close by. As expected, no one saw him.

The girl then began distributing the toys and clothes until the sack was nothing but a piece of cloth. Much to Jack's amazement, she cut up the cloth and handed it to a very tiny girl to use as a quilt. The look on her face, the happiness that radiated from her smile...it melted hearts.

Jack wanted to play with the girl (and possibly the children) a little more but soon realised that she disappeared into the crowd. She didn't even leave a name for him. How rude. Oh well, guess I'll see her tomorrow.


Much to Jack's amazement (and amusement) the girl really did come back the next morning, and the morning after that.

Jack would mostly entertain her with tricks he could do in the snow. Create frost on trees, make each individual snowflake different right in front of her eyes and even draw on the ice on the lake. They even made a snowman together, complete with eyes and a mouth and a carrot nose.

For some reason or other, the girl refused to tell Jack her name, or why this place meant so much to her. "It's my secret!" she said proudly. He had resorted to calling her Anon, short for anonymous. Sure, it irked her every single time he called her that, but she didn't want to tell him her name. So that was that.

One time, Jack even thought a very reluctant Anon how to ice skate.

"Just move one foot in front of the other and glide across the ice" he said, holding her tiny hand.

"I'm scared! I don't want to do this anymore!" she whimpered. She was shivering, though it wasn't because of the cold.

"I'll make sure you don't fall ok? It'll be fun" he encouraged. Slowly but surely, Anon moved one foot in front of the other in shaky steps. She wobbled, unsteady on the thread thin ice skates, but she didn't fall, as Jack had promised.

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it Jack! Jack-" she froze, mid-skate. Jack had let go of her hand and was floating further away from her. She was absolutely terrified to be left alone on the ice on nothing but skates, but Jack deemed it as compulsory.

"Remember, one foot in front of the other and glide" he did a sort of gliding motion in mid-air.

"Easy for you to say! You can fly!" she accused in her high squeaky voice.

"Aww c'mon! We can stop once you skate back to the edge of the lake alright?" unbeknownst to Anon, she had skated all the way to the middle of the lake. She was even sliding to the frozen waterfall. She took a deep breath and...

Craaack

Anon looked down at the ice. Her eyes widened so much that you could see the whites in them. "Jack.." she called out, but it only came out as a whisper.

"You can do it!" Jack called out, unable to see the crack from the height he was at.

"Jack!" she called louder, frantic. It was only then that he realised something wasn't right. He dived down closer.

"Jac-" she called a third time, but it was too late. The ice around her cracked and gave way, plummeting the small girl into the freezing water. Not only did buckets of water fill her lungs painfully, the freezing water shot through every nerve like a knife. Jack swooped down and scooped her up, placing her on a dry patch of snow. She immediately coughed and spluttered out all the water, but lay tired on the snow.

"Cold..." she muttered through chapped lips. Jack wanted to hug her and share his warmth, but then he remembered, what warmth? He was a walking ice cube. The best bet of her survival right now was to bring her out of here and to some place warm.

Jack knew what he had to do, but he wouldn't like it one bit. He made all the snow melt into water, took off the ice dome so that sunlight and warmth could enter the oasis.

The moments all the frost was gone and heat reached her, her whole face relaxed. Her breathing returned to normal. Jack smiled slightly and flew away. She would wake up and...Jack would just be another dream to her.

Or, another nightmare.


"What the bloody hell were you thinking mate?!" Bunnymund shouted while stabbing Jack's chest with the other end of his paint brush.

"You put a child's life in danger" said Tooth, stating the obvious. Sandy just shook his head in disappointment. And the accusations continued. I saved her didn't I? Where were you guys when she was drowning...

"QUIET!" North shouted. The guardians stopped at once. "You are all dismissed from the North pole" North eyed Jack "except you". Too afraid (or in Bunny's case, too busy and irritated) to anger their leader further, they left the workshop.

"So...What's up gramps?" Jack asked sheepishly.

"What's up? What is up?! You nearly caused a little girl her life and you ask me what is up?" North blurted out, enraged. Jack just winced at this, getting ready for the train of accusations coming his way.

North pinched the bridge of his nose before he said the next few words. "At least you are doing your task right" North mumbled under his breath.

"Wait...what?" Jack looked up, puzzled.

"You still have no clue about your task now do you Jack?" said person shook his head. "You were supposed to bring her snow. As much as possible."

"But...why?" Jack furrowed his eyebrows.

"Go to her Jack. Apologise. And bring snow. Christmas is in only a few hours so you must hurry Jack! Go!" and with that, North sent the flustered Jack out of his workshop.

X

When Jack arrived at the oasis, he found out that Anon wasn't there. He also found the lake full of algae, the waterfall blocked up. A thin stream of water trickles through the thick algae. The trees were bare. The flowers, dead. The grass was yellow and brittle.

It was as if death itself had visited this place, this sanctuary, and wrecked it completely. Jack didn't like it. Not one bit. He had to find Anon, fast. There had to be a clue or a note or something. He searched the place high and low but to no avail. Everything was dead.

In a fit of anger, Jack literally exploded, sending sharp icicles all over. Jagged-edged shards of ice shot out of his staff, his hands, his feet, everywhere. It took so much energy out of him that he knelt to the ground and panted, hard.

...

When he opened his eyes, it was the first time he was horrified by his own work. Icicles broke trees in half. They stuck even on the rock walls. They were deadly, and were probably killing the oasis even more than death itself. He screwed his eyes shut, refusing to see the damage he had caused.

I...I did this...I made it snow too early and...everything didn't get a chance to grow...Jack lay on his back on the yellow, brittle grass. He put a hand over his eyes, not even sure of what he was doing anymore. Maybe I wasn't meant to be a guardian...he thought.

Squeak!

Jack's eyes snapped open at the sudden noise. Squeak! There it was again, the protest. He sat up and scanned the area, but was greeted by a familiar winged sprite instead.

"Baby Tooth! Have you been hiding in my hoodie the whole time?" the colourful sprite nodded. Then, she flew to Jack's sleeve and pulled on as hard as she could. At first, Jack didn't understand. Then, his eyes widened and a smile returned to his face.

He stood up, and flew off with baby tooth leading the way. I'm coming Anon.

Eventually, with baby tooth's help, Jack managed to locate Anon. She was in huge square block of a building with white washed walls. The skies were dark, past sunset. On the front of the building were words Jack couldn't understand. They were huge, in big letters and red. Jack shrugged and flew from window to window until he saw a familiar face. What he saw shook him completely.

There she was, pale and bony. Hooked up with tubes and wires to various machines. It was clear that she had a nightmare, sweat accumulated on her brow. Her breathing was slow and laboured. Every time her chest rose up ever so slightly and dropped back down, an arrow of pain through Jack's chest. Children should not be hooked up to mass machinery. They should be outside having fun, not necessarily on a snow day.

Jack pushed the window open, leaving some frost where he touched it. Upon closer inspection, Anon was breathing through some sort of device. Oh no...what...what have I done? Jack mummured. Baby Tooth tried to comfort him but it was useless. Jack could only stare at the figure half his size, lying almost lifeless on the bed.

"Jack..." it was a whisper. A puff of air, inaudible to the human ear. "Jack" more solid this time, an actual word. Jack snapped out of his trance and looked up at Anon, shocked.

"Make it snow...?" puffs of air. All works of labour. Jack couldn't believe it. After all that happened...She just wanted more snow. How did she even know that he was here in the same room? That was when he realied her half-lidded brown eyes.

Jack waved his staff and made it snow gently, making sure the temperature didn't drop any further than it had to. In all his life, Jack had never seen a child die right in front of him before. In fact, none of the guardians have been through this before. Sure, Sandy's death meant something but...it was different. Sandy was a guardian, an immortal. This child had the rest of her life to live...but...she was leaving so quickly.

Jack couldn't help but just stare. So many thought swam through his mind. Why did she forgive me? I did this didn't I? Why is she in here? Just what was she hiding something from me? How much was she hiding from me...

"Jack...I knew it was you..." a deep breath "I knew you existed..." a faint smile, a choked laugh "I knew you would protect me..." Jack couldn't help but hold on to her hand. It was almost as cold as his own.

"Anon-"

"That place...last place Grandpa took me to...many many years ago..." she smiled at the sweet memory "He said...he promised he would give me snow..." she paused for a moment "a white christmas..." she smiled again, closing her eyes this time.

A loud beep echoed through the room. Her hand went limp, lifeless. Her face paled over. Snow kept piling. A wave of doctors rushed in, passing through Jack like thin air. The snow on her immediately vanished, like it was never there. Jack couldn't say a word, couldn't move a muscle. Just gape, eyes wide as possible, at the scene that just took place.

Baby tooth pulled on his sleeve again, breaking Jack from his daze. "Let's go" words that never left his throat. He flew out the window and wiped invisible tears from his eyes.

Why am I crying? a silent, bitter laugh. Truth be told, Jack was still having trouble registering what on earth just took place. "Take me away, wind" he said, allowing the wind to bring him wherever it wished, leaving a blizzard in it's wake...

.

.

.

"Hello, Jack Frost" a girl about age twelve said, with a sweet smile.

North's workshop?

She had brown, slightly wavy hair that reached over her shoulders. Her skin was slightly tanned but glowing. She had brown eyes and a brilliant smile. She wore a plain white dress with lace at the end. She hid snow white, feathery wings, but could not hide the halo floating right above her head.

"Jack, meet my grand daughter" North said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mm? Jack? You're crying" she reached up and wiped the tears rolling down his cheeks. Jack didn't even notice the tears until she wiped them away. He smiled at her and crouched down to her height.

"Well you know my name, what's yours?"

"Ariel, angel of nature" she said proudly.

"Ariel huh? Well how about a snowball fight? But be warned, I make a fantastic snowballs."


Author's note: Ok so another Jack/Oc fic whoopdeedoo right?
Well I hope you don't mind it. I tried as hard as I could to write this!
I really enjoyed the plot twist at the end though. I never imagined the girl to be North's granddaughter.
I would love to hear your comments, reviews and constructive criticism about this fic.

Thank you so much for reading this ^^ I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

UPDATE: Ok so I just realised the 300 year time gap between North and his grand daughter. Well to make it slightly clearer, North visited her as a young child who obviously believes in Santa. Yes they are related by blood but are probably great great great...grandfather and grand daughter.

I hope this clears things up a little :x