Long time reader, first time writer (for this fandom). I likely make a mess of the lore since I haven't read the books, only seen the movie. And a ton of this shit is just stuff I read in other fics, so it may or may not be canon or someone's creation.

(Also, did an update with song quote; had perfect ones for future chapters, but seemed weird not to have one for this chapter too. This one is not necessarily perfect. XP)

(-)

Winter has come too late,

too close beside me.

How can I chase away

all these fears deep inside?

Exile- Enya

Jack had been helping Aster to put the Warren to rights after that disastrous Easter where Aster had nearly disappeared. He knew Jack felt guilty, especially after what Aster had said to him. And while Aster had told the truth, his words were given more force after he had felt a child walk right through him, had felt what it was to be invisible, not believed in.

It was terrifying. It was true that the Guardians had a more rigid requirement of believers, but all spirits needed someone to believe in them, see them, if they wanted to last long term.

Jack Frost was an anomaly. Spirits of Winter and the other seasons had solid belief if for no other reason than their manifestations being completely accepted by the human world. You'd have to be living in a closet by yourself your whole life not to believe there's a Winter or a Summer.

But all the Spirits of Winter had made it clear that Jack Frost wasn't one of them, no matter what powers he had. Jack was something else, something strange. His name had made it into a saying, but no one believed in him. He should have faded within a decade or two.

Jack made it three hundred years without one wisp of belief, running around exerting influence and power without a care. Most spirits were actually frightened of him, because who could have that much power when no one believed he could?

His relationship with the North Wind was also strange. It responded to no summons, no request. Jack called it and rode along it so naturally it was usually confused with his own powers.

The funniest thing was Jack didn't boast about it. He didn't flaunt his power other than his regular cheeky tricks. It was one of the few things Aster had liked about him for those first three hundred years. At least, until that Blizzard. Then Aster hated the little spirit for daring to mess with his holiday.

And it wasn't until after Aster himself had felt disbelieved, invisible, only after he started to get to know Jack, that he understood that disastrous Blizzard on Easter Sunday in '68. Jack was acting out for attention, like any lonely child would.

Even at the time, Aster could tell that Jack meant no real harm, that he thought it was funny and he was playing with the Spirit of Hope. But Aster had been so furious that the ensuing shouting match and brief physical altercation (that Aster won) had ensured that Jack made sure to steer clear of the Easter Bunny until the Pitch Crisis had forced Aster to seek Jack out. Oh, Jack had played some mild pranks on or around Easter, but never anything significant, and Aster could never find Jack afterwards to confront him.

So when Jack showed up as Aster was standing and staring at the ruins of the Warren, Aster's knee-jerk reaction was to demand what he wanted, only just refraining from shouting. They'd mended some fences, but when Aster was feeling his own hope flagging looking at what Jack's irresponsibility had done to him, he was feeling less than friendly.

And Jack flinched, uncharacteristically timid, and said he wanted to help. He asked Aster what he wanted Jack to do.

It knocked Aster back that Jack wanted to help repair the mess he'd made. That Jack could be something other than a mischievous child. It made the bunny wonder what else he didn't know about Jack Frost.

After two weeks of working with Jack, he had to admit the little spirit was growing on him. He also had to admit that Jack Frost wasn't just the persona he presented. He knew North had shown Jack his little Russian nesting doll (North had made one for each of the Guardians) and he knew North had given Jack the center of Jack's own doll. Next Christmas Jack would get another layer.

Aster thought that the outermost shell of Jack would mirror what lay deepest within him. Like a sandwich, the truest parts of Jack hid the darker, more tasty bits between them. Aster scoffed at his own metaphor. Jack Frost was in no way tasty.

A sudden jerk in his peripheral vision made him cast a glance at Jack. The spirit was shaking, mouth opening and closing, terror etched on his face. Aster had never seen anything like it, not even during the Pitch Crisis.

Jack dashed off without a word, diving into the nearest tunnel to the surface. The North Wind couldn't reach him here, so he was heading to where it could. But where was he going? What had scared him like that?

Aster meant to find out, and he followed Jack through the tunnel to the surface. Jack had quickly gotten some proficiency and understanding of how the Warren worked, which had initially alarmed Aster, until he realized the boy meant no harm, just wanted the mobility that Aster prized.

Aster realized that Jack was taking his most-used path: the one that went to the town near his pond. Aster created an even quicker route, but apparently not even a direct route to the pond beat the frenzy Jack had whipped the North Wind into to get there first.

"Jamie!" Jack shouted as he touched down at the edge.

And Aster saw that the ice had broken through in the middle. Right about where Jack had fallen through the ice and died. No wonder Jack was losing it. His first believer dying the same way he did. Jack had bonded strongly with Jamie, more than they were supposed to, really, but The Last Light could be treated as special. He had guarded the Guardians in their most dire hour.

The problem was, as Jack moved towards Jamie, the ice around the hole started to close up, a thin layer covering the hole entirely. Jack's new influx of power was disproportionate to the small number of believers he'd gained, and he hadn't been doing well to compensate. Aster had yelled at him a few times for accidentally freezing things while they worked. It should have taken some substantial effort to freeze anything in the Warren, but Jack Frost was nothing if not full of surprises.

"Back off, mate!" Aster leapt to the hole and smashed through the ice, groping to find the kid. Jack's pond was surprisingly deep, and Jamie had sunk beyond easy reach. Aster took a breath and dove in headfirst.

Now, Aster had fur to help protect him from the cold. And even surrounded by winter, he was the Guardian of Hope, and a powerful Spirit of Spring in his own right. He could heat the water around him and summon a bit of light.

And he saw Jamie sinking, almost at the bottom. Aster was a powerful swimmer, and it took very little time and effort to grab the boy and get him to the surface. Of course, Jack, the little idiot, had moved to look down the hole, giving it an even thicker layer of ice. Aster somewhat panickily bashed at the thinnest part, knowing he was running out of air. A small beam of heat and light gave him the opening to push through.

Aster climbed onto the ice, hauling Jamie with him. At least Jack's presence had reinforced the ice around the hole too. He coughed a bit and said, "Keep your distance, Jack. Much as you love him, you'll only make him colder."

Jack just made an anxious sound in the background but moved further back. Aster started pushing on Jamie's chest, since trying to breathe into him would be awkward, sloppy, and probably not work, given the bunny's physiology.

Only a few breathless moments later, Jamie stirred, coughing up water and further choking until Aster turned him on his side. "Bunny?" Jamie sputtered his name in disbelief. "Where's Jack?"

A whine behind him drew Jamie's attention, and Aster moved to let him see where Jack was wrapping his arms around himself, looking distraught. For his part, Aster hauled Jamie onto solid ground where Aster could start warming him, heating the air and revitalizing the earth, making a little pocket of springtime.

Jamie didn't notice that. He was focused on Jack's tears. "Don't cry, Jack. I'm sorry to bother you. I just come out here whenever I miss you. This pond always freezes solid; no one's ever even managed to crack the surface, so I didn't think there was any danger."

Jack just sobbed. "This is all my fault! I'm the one who makes it solid, who makes sure that no one else will fall through and die! And I got distracted and haven't been back often enough. It's my fault…you nearly…" Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry. I failed you."

And without waiting for a reply, Jack flew off, leaving a very confused child in Aster's care. "What's he talking about, Bunny? It isn't his fault."

Aster was realizing, more and more, why Jack had always been a Guardian. He'd protected the joy and laughter and fun of childhood, and he had apparently been protecting the children of Burgess from sharing his watery grave.

Not sure it was his place, Aster still said, "Jack died here, Jamie. Fell through the ice and drowned before he was raised back up as Jack Frost. I guess no one ever broke the ice in this pond because Jack made sure of it. He's been helping me the past few weeks, and I guess when he left the Warren, he didn't come back here."

Jamie's eyes were wide as his violent shivering started to calm. "Jack…died? That's…really sad. And he stays right where he died to be sure no one else does…he's really amazing."

Jack certainly was. And he was certainly far more damaged than Aster realized. He knew the boy was lonely, but he didn't realize how much trauma he had endured.

Aster knew it definitely wasn't his place, but he wanted to be sure Jack's first believer knew enough about Jack to never hurt him, even accidentally. "Jamie, Jack's been alone for three hundred years since he died. The rest of us spirits wanted nothing to do with the little troublemaker, and not one person had ever seen him until you. Being invisible and unbelieved-in is…horrifying. Had a brush with it myself that Easter when we met, and I never realized what it must have been like for Jack. Not only do people not see you, they walk right through you. It's not that you don't matter to them, you don't exist to them. You are incredibly special and important to Jack. To all of us, really."

Aster's ear twitched as he heard a sniff. He felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Jack needs your belief, Jamie. More than anyone else in the whole world. The fact that it's you that nearly drowned is what's really wrecking him."

Jamie was finally calming, tremors dying away and proper color returning to his skin. He just looked tired now. "I'll always believe in Jack. How could I not? Remind me to give him a huge hug when I haven't just been unfrozen."

Aster laughed. "Should I take you home? You need rest."

Jamie shook his head, sitting up slowly and clambering to his feet. "I can make it. You're right, I just feel really tired…and my throat and nose are sore. But I can make it home."

As the boy hugged Aster and turned to go, Aster said, "If you need help, just say my name. I've got the ears of a rabbit; I'll hear ya."

Jamie nodded and left. The pocket of springtime cooled back into winter, making Aster sigh in relief. It took a lot of energy to disrupt the natural flow of the seasons like that. Moments later, Aster's ears picked up light footsteps.

"I'm sorry, Bunny. It's my fault he was hurt, my fault you nearly died trying to save him. Pi-I make a mess wherever I go."

The rewording caught Aster's attention, but when he turned to Jack, he forgot to ask. Jack looked like a kicked puppy, tear-streaked face and timid trepidation. He was waiting for Aster to yell at him.

It still hurt when Jack flinched when Aster reached for him. But the bunny just ruffled the boy's already unruly hair. "Don't be dumb, Frostbite. You cause a ruckus, sure, but it's never boring with you around." Jack smiled tentatively at that. Aster said, "Besides, even when you do make a mess, you help clean it up, so you're not bad. Speaking of, why don'tcha give this pond a good freezing so we can go back to the Warren. When we're done I'll even bake some carrot cake." It might have been over-compensating, but Aster wanted nothing more than to have that face wear its trademark mischievous grin.

A smile did creep across Jack's lips. "I must look pretty pathetic if the big, bad Easter Bunny is willing to make me cake."

"Buck up, ya sad sack of snow. Misery doesn't suit your pretty little face." Well, where the hell did that come from? Certainly not from Aster. Jack Frost wasn't pretty. Okay, as a painter he could admire the boy's lithe grace and delicate features, but pretty was over the line. More like…sylvan or ethereal, and, nope, none of that.

Jack grinned at that. "Aw, you do care."

More than Aster would like to admit. As much as he appreciated the help with the Warren, so much time with Jack was obviously driving him mad. There was no other description for some of the thoughts and feelings arising in Aster.

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Good, bad? Let me know. Again, not well-versed in this fandom. If I never make another chapter, this is totally intended to be a one-shot. (I have a second chapter started. Not actually a one-shot.) Also wasn't sure if Aster would think of himself as "Bunny" so I didn't use it. If you have an opinion on that, I'd love to hear it.