May 2014

What better way to start my series of follow-ups to "Vanishing Winter" than by writing what happens immediately after the end?

Jack swept on the wind to Jamie's window, landing easily on the eaves before it. The room was empty; Jamie must still be downstairs. He tested the window and found it gave easily. He slid off the sill onto the hardwood floor, stepping lightly around the bed. Through the wall, he could just hear Sophie playing Tea Party with her stuffed animals.

As he had done nights ago during the Epic Tooth Hunt (North's words), Jack knelt in front of Jamie's picture of his sled ride through the streets of Burgess – the moment he spent airborne over his friends before crash-landing in front of the Colonel's statue. Jack reached his hand to the drawing, not really paying attention until after a moment of lost thought he realized that his fingertip had landed on Jamie's illustration of Pippa. He stilled. His brows drew together, mouth a tight line. And in the center of him he felt a little bit sad.

Ever since these children were born, the ones in this drawing… Jamie had always been Jack's favorite starting long before any of them believed in him. Knowing who Pippa was – that she was Violet's daughter... did that change anything?

The troubling sadness in him suggested that something was not the same anymore.

Jack thought of Pippa differently, now. Of course he did. She was a believer and her mother's daughter and could he look at her without seeing Violet instead?

Abby barked and Jamie's voice drifted up the stairwell. Face snapping into a grin, Jack splayed frost ferns over the window panes and drew a different animal in each one. Then he hid above the frame of Jamie's door. As soon as the knob turned he cast his magic into the rabbit, the bird, the horse. Jamie gasped in surprise and delight at the sight of the ice crystal menagerie cavorting around his room. Jack laughed out loud and Jamie looked up, his smile broadening.

"Jack!" he exclaimed, and the new Guardian of Fun dropped down to the floor in front of him. The child's arms flew around his waist and Jack stooped to return the embrace.

"Hey, Jamie."

"I didn't think I'd see you again so soon," Jamie wondered aloud. Jack grinned again and squeezed briefly before pulling away.

"You didn't think a little spring thaw was going to stop me, did you?" he teased. Jamie shook his head, bashful. "How was school?"

"We dissected a frog!" Jamie said eagerly. Jack grimaced – the ice frog just happened to jump through the air between them. Jamie had the grace to look apologetic as he watched it go. "These ones are lasting longer, aren't they?"

"I practiced a bit. That night was the first time I did that."

Jamie looked amazed. "So you tried to do that to make me believe again, and you didn't even know if it would work?"

Jack shrugged a shoulder. "Desperate times." Jamie laughed again, clearly still sheepish that he had nearly lost belief. One after another the ice animals burst into snowflakes that cascaded to the floor. Jamie brushed some off his sleeves.

"I wanna show you something," he said, dumping his backpack on his bed and rifling through it. Jack settled more comfortably on the floor, staff resting against the crook of his neck. He couldn't tamp down the anxious energy rising in him. He had received all of two gifts since he became Jack Frost – the little carved nesting doll from North, and in an abstract way, the belief of children. And now so soon after meeting officially, Jamie already considered him a friend and wanted to surprise him with something.

Jamie pulled a pocket folder out of his backpack and flipped through the papers inside it. "Ah," he murmured when he found what he was looking for. Jack perked forward. And before him was an illustration of Jack's induction as the newest Guardian of Childhood. North with the tome, Bunny and his egg golems and "googies," Tooth and her fairies, Sandy and swirls of golden dream sand. Jack in the middle. And all the kids backing him up. Jamie had even included North's sleigh in the sky, about to land on the frozen lake.

"Wow," Jack breathed, "That's really good." Jamie beamed. "How long did that take you?'

"I started last night. I finished it at school."

Jack frowned. "What about your assignments?"

"Finished 'em, too. Do you want a snack?"

Momentarily thrown by the offer, Jack nodded mutely and followed Jamie downstairs. Assured that his mother was elsewhere, Jamie began searching the fridge and cupboards. "What do you like?"

Jack thought of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

"Is cheese and crackers okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Jack agreed, snapping back to the present. Jamie pulled out two plates and arranged Ritz crackers in a circle on each. His mother must have prepped cheese for her young children; Jamie tipped some cheddar cubes out of a Ziploc tub into the center of the cracker circles. He handed Jack a plate and led the way back to his room.

Jack picked up the drawing. His eyes kept wandering to Pippa, denoted by her hat and red hair.

"You okay?" Jamie asked from his perch on his bed, a cracker halfway to his mouth. Jack started, and quickly nodded. The boy looked skeptical. Jack forced his best reassuring smile and turned to the wall with Jamie's other drawing taped upon it. As an experiment, Jack held the new drawing up beside it.

"I should add you to the other one, huh?" Jamie said around a cheese cube. Jack chuckled.

"I think it looks great like this, Jamie."

"Then I'll draw another copy, with you in it." Jack believed he might start glowing.

"I'd like that a lot." He pulled his eyes from the pictures and lifted his plate from where he'd set it on the floor. Jamie launched into a narrative about an adventure during recess, where he'd climbed to the highest point of the playground without the aides spotting him.

"They're always so worried we'll fall. Obviously I'm being careful," Jamie said, rolling his eyes. Even though caution was not one of Jack's strong suits, he would have admitted he'd be concerned to see Jamie so far off the ground without something to catch him. He knew the Wind was always there for him, at least.

"They don't know that, though," Jack felt he had to say something along the lines of Responsible. Jamie paused and considered, temporarily sobered. Jack had the sudden worry he'd broken something. But Jamie quickly brightened again and continued on to another story. A breath rushed out that Jack had held since he spoke.

"How long can you stay?" Jamie asked eventually.

"As long as I want, theoretically." He shrugged. "I can't come around as much once it's too warm, though. It's almost winter in the southern hemisphere."

"Not even to visit?" Jamie looked crestfallen. Jack frowned sympathetically.

"I know, the timing kinda sucks. But you remember what I told you?" And Jamie puffed himself up – because he knew he was like a Guardian, himself. "Of course. I'll never stop believing!" he asserted, fist clasped over his heart. A pang that felt like Violet's eyes passing over him grabbed at Jack's heart. He hid his choke in laughter and swept the boy up into another hug.

"I know you won't." He held on longer before breaking away and Jamie looked at him with concern.

"Jack, are you sure you feel okay?" A small hand pressed against Jack's forehead.

"I'm never warm," Jack commented mildly when Jamie drew back at his icy skin. "Really, Jamie, I'm fine." but he knew his misgivings were all too clear on his face now, and Jamie's brow furrowed.

"You know I'm here for you if you need to talk, right? Jack," he put a hand on his shoulder, "I feel like you've been sad for a long time. You don't need to be sad anymore, okay?" Lost for words, Jack nodded and stood.

"I'm not used to talking about things," he admitted, shuffling his feet.

"That's okay. If you don't want to talk, you can still visit, if it's not too warm for you."

Jack beamed appreciatively. "Thanks, Jamie. That means a lot to me."

The truth was that Jack didn't know how to talk about Violet (and Pippa) with Jamie. Jamie was his first believer, in a sense. Pippa was Violet's daughter, but she was not Violet. And how could he get anyone to understand the conflict he felt about all of it, much less someone so young and starry-eyed?

But he forced a last smile for the boy in front of him, who so quickly was completely devoted. It niggled at his mind, that things were progressing so similarly to before. Jack tried to convince himself that things would be different this time. He knew better, now. It was hard. He wanted to believe, though. He needed to believe in Jamie.

Believing in someone was the hardest thing he had ever done...

Sometimes I fear I can't write as well as I did in high school, or even as well as last year. And then I get over myself and write, and I find my propensity for Wham Lines rather astonishes me.

Thanks for reading (and for waiting on this if you've been with "Vanishing Winter" since the posting period)!

I have other ideas floating around in the noggin, of course, but I'm not certain when the next one will even be started. My creative energies are flowing all over the place this summer.

Take care!