"Okay, you all know questions I'm going to ask."

"Right...you've asked the same thing every year ever since we all became Guardians and you started doin' Christmas. So, ask away. Let's get this over with." Bunny stated with mild irritation. He didn't like the question, and like it even less that North had somehow found out how to lace magic into the question.

"Wait, what's going on?" Jack questioned as he walked out of the library and towards the other Guardians who stood around the Guardian symbol in the floor in front of the globe.

"North has asked us every year since he started doing Christmas...what we want for Christmas." Tooth said in a fond manner, but if Bunny's reaction was anything to go by, Jack knew that the furry Guardian felt just about anything and everything BUT fond about it.

"So, what has your fur fluffed, Cottontail?"

"Because...about a century ago, North here learned how to lace Truth magic into the question. I don't know how he managed to do it, but now...if North asks the question, 'What would you like for Christmas?'...we tell him the truth. I don't like it, and I personally feel it's an invasion of privacy."

"Really, Bunny, it's not that bad." Tooth said as she crossed her arms while she hovered in mid-air.

"I still don't like it."

"Well, you can not like it all you want, old friend, but I will ask question either way."

"I know..." Bunny let out a sigh and Jack found himself slowly backing away.

"Wait...no matter what you tell him what you want?"

"That's kind of the basis for a question laced with a truth spell, Jacky. Ya answered it with the complete and honest truth no matter how embarrassing it might be. Even if it's something he can't grant...you answer it honestly."

"Huh..." Jack said as he started clutching his staff tighter as the feeling in his chest also started becoming impossibly tighter. He felt a wave of anxiety rush like a summer breeze through his whole body, and considering the fact he was a winter spirit, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Good, now that we have that established. Toothy...what would you like for Christmas?" North questioned with a satisfied smirk as Tooth's eyes widened and a childlike grin appeared on her face.

"Oh! I would a new dental kit!" She squealed with delight and the childlike grin disappeared to be replaced by a normal smile and she bowed her head slightly. "Please?" She asked in a normal voice.

North bellowed out a laugh and nodded his head. "I will see what I can do, Toothy." He told her and she spun around in the air, and left the room, likely to return to her Guardian duties.

"Now you, Sandy. What would you like for Christmas?"

A symbol quickly appeared as Sandy also had a childlike grin appear on his face, but usually there was one there regardless, so Jack didn't pay the expression any mind as he continued to watch with a sinking feeling in his gut. "I want a bell! That way when you and Bunny are arguing I don't have to shake one of your elves!"

"Should be no problem." North said with a soft chuckle. "I will see what I can do, Sandy. Now go on, children wait for sweet dreams." Sandy nodded with the grin still plastered on his face as he floated up to give North a quick hug before flying away. "Now, Bunny...your turn."

Jack stood there skeptically wondering if perhaps the childlike expression would appear on Bunny's face like it did to Tooth, and he found his question answered quicker than expected. "Just get on with it." Bunny said, and North nodded.

"Very well. Bunny, what would you like for Christmas?"

The childlike expression did in fact appear on Bunny's face and the furry Guardian's ears shot up in excitement and he stood tall slightly bouncing on his haunches. "I would like a new set of painting tools along with some new paints! Maybe some oil based paints!" Once he was done with his request, Jack knew immediately that Bunny was telling the truth. It did cause you to tell the truth, and even made you act truthfully excited and hopeful with wonder. Knowing he would be next, he had to get out of there, and thankfully he was already tired as it was.

Without wasting another moment, Jack flew out of the North Pole and headed for his favorite tree in Burgess. The one that his staff was carved out of, and the one that was closest to the pond's frozen surface.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Well, hello to you too, North." Jack sighed out in frustration as he heard a snow globe be activated behind him as he was just starting to rest in his tree for the night, and was beginning to put the question laced with truth behind him.

"Jack?"

"That's my name, don't where it out." He chimed as he gracefully lifted himself out of the tree, and effortlessly landed on the ever frozen ice. Once he landed he let out a soft chuckle before looking up at North, who most certainly wasn't chuckling. "What's wrong?"

"I have asked other Guardians what they wanted for Christmas, but when I turn around to ask you, you are not there. Will you tell me why that is? Also, why I had to use special snow globe to find you?"

Jack's eyebrows rose at his last question, and his shock was evident in his eyes. "What do you mean a special snow globe?"

"I make one for all Guardians. It is in case I need to get to them, and they won't leave their home. Sometimes I use it on Bunny to check on him."

"Huh...interesting."

"Not as interesting as you not being there when I go to ask you what you want for Christmas. You know that is big day for me, yes?" North questioned with a patient sigh as he crossed his arms as he stood on the ice.

"Yes, North, I am well aware it is a big day for you." Jack stated as he rolled his eyes, leaning up against his staff. "How could I not with the way you and Bunny argue about who's holiday is better?" He chuckled out, but on the inside, not the North could see, he felt no amusement on the subject.

"If you know this, why avoid me?"

"I just don't want to be asked." He said simply and...honestly. "North...did you...!? You did didn't you!? You laced that question with truth magic!?"

"I had to Jack, you weren't going to tell me." North said in a low and hurt voice as if Jack was the one that had done wrong.

"North...three hundred years!"

"What?" North asked dumbfounded at what three centuries has to do with anything in their conversation.

"Oh my God..." Jack trailed off as his jaw dropped at the look of shock on North's face. "...You really don't know do you?"

"Know what, Jack? What would three centuries matter in this conversation."

Jack brought a hand to his head and let it slide down his face as he let out a groan of frustration. "Do you not know how long I've been a spirit?"

"Of course I do! You been a spirit for forty-four years!"

"Forty...you think I've been a spirit since 1968!?"

"Is first time anyone saw you."

"Actually both things are false!" Jack shouted as a warm stinging feeling made it's way into the middle of his chest. His breathing was heavy, and he wanted to scream, but he knew that wouldn't help anything.

"How can both be false? Bunny said..."

"Well..." Jack threw his hands up in the air. "...then that must mean it's true!" He spat at North who was only growing more concerned by the second. He had never seen Jack act like this. At least since he's met him at the North Pole because of Pitch. Then, he thinks back to when the music was playing and he didn't want to be a Guardian. "North..." Jack said in a bitter yet calmer tone, catching the larger Guardian's attention. "...I've been a spirit for three hundred years."

"You...but that can't be...I thought you were only exaggerating when you were angry with Manny..."

"No...I was telling the truth." Jack sighed out, slowly understanding that it wasn't North's fault he didn't know, but that didn't make it any less hurtful or irritating. "North...how old do you think I am physically?"

"Physically?"

"Yes, before I stopped aging." He told him while mentally thinking, 'Even though I technically never aged past this point to begin with.'

"I would guess...seventeen or eighteen."

Jack's eyes widened and he laughed a bit. "No, although, I'll take the compliment."

"You cannot be any older."

"Physically, no...I'm not any older." Jack answered honestly, and then quickly noticed North's face pale quite a bit.

Suddenly putting two and two together he swallowed a lump in his throat before asking his question carefully, because if Jack was younger than seventeen he was still a child when he was made into a spirit, and that left a bad feeling in his belly. "Jack...how old are you physically?"

"Physically, I'm fourteen years old." Jack told him as he allowed his staff to rest in the crook of his arm while he stuffed his hands in his sweater pockets. He waited for a response from North. Anything, even just a sound, but when he looked back up after about five minutes, what he saw made his breath catch in his throat. North looked every bit as defeated as he was when Jamie was the last light. "North?" Jack asked as he took hold of his staff, worried that perhaps he had said the wrong thing by telling North the truth.

"You are child?"

"Technically speaking...yes." Jack told him with a shrug. "Have been for three hundred years. I have never aged a day older than this."

"I promise not to use truth magic...but...could you tell me how you became...Jack Frost?"

"Well..." He chuckled out as he looked up to the stars that shined brightly and peacefully in the night sky. He was searching for answers, and they seemed to give them, because even though he hadn't planned to tell anyone, he just had this feeling that perhaps North was the one to tell it to. He looked at North who still looked a bit defeated. "First...let's see if you know something."

"If I know something?" North questioned with a small curious smile.

"Yes...what do you think this pond is to me?"

"Is place where you like to visit." North answered as he crossed his arms. He didn't understand the question that had such a simple answer, but when Jack shook his head no, his arms immediately dropped in confusion. "What do you mean no?"

"I mean you're wrong. This place isn't a place that I visit. You remember how you asked where I lived and I never actually answered." North gave a nod, and then his eyes widened as he frantically looked around. "I think you can guess it now. Welcome to my home, North. The pond of Burgess."

"This can't be...you...there is no roof...no walls...no doors...you have nothing to sleep in...nothing to cover you...no kitchen..." The more North said, the weaker he felt, and the more his heart ached.

"Nah really? I hadn't noticed." Jack laughed out, but North wasn't finding any of this funny. Not even remotely. The only wonder he felt was the wonder at how Jack was able to stay sane, joyful, optimistic, but above all of that, North found wonder at how it was possible for anyone to be so lighthearted after three hundred years with nothing.

Then, a question popped into his head. "What does your...home...have to do with becoming a spirit?"

"Because...this is also where I became a spirit. For three hundred years, I had no memory of who I was before being a spirit. My original name was Jackson Overland Frost. However, I didn't know that until I looked at my memory box back in Antarctica...but that's another story...anyway, I...when I woke up...It was dark, it was cold, and I was scared...but then I saw the moon. It was so big and so bright. It seemed...to chase the darkness away...and when it did...I wasn't scared anymore. Why I was there or what I was meant to do...I thought I would never know. That's because all Manny told me was my name...and then nothing for three hundred years."

"No, that can't be right. He should've spoken to you more...told you more..."

Jack let out a dismissive sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "Should've, but didn't."

"Wait...I still...You haven't told me how you became a spirit."

"Well...you may not like the story."

"Hmm...Can we speak in my office?" North questioned cautiously.

"It might be best for you...so yeah."

North took out a snow globe, activated it, and threw it against a tree. Once they walked through they were directly in North's office, and North went to go sit in his chair. "Alright...if you don't mind...can you tell me how you became Jack Frost? Remember...you do not have to tell me such things...I am not going to use truth magic on you for this conversation."

"Okay..." Jack agreed as he nodded his head. 'I might as well tell someone, and if it's going to be anyone...might as well be him I suppose.' He took in a deep breath and let out a sigh as he began. "Well...it started on my human birthday...which is also Christmas."

"I like story already!" North bellowed out in laughter.

"You won't though...just wait and let me tell it." North gave an agreeing nod, so Jack continued. "My little sister came into my room shouting a combination of Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday...I think she finally settled on Happy Birthmas...anyway, when she woke me up, I got dressed and we sat down with out mother and father like we did every Christmas to open gifts, and we both got a pair of skates..."

"What was your little sister's name?" North asked with a worried expression, then he remembered what Jack had said his original name was. "Wait...your original name was Jackson Overland Frost...you said three hundred years ago...I gifted the skates to the both of you, and your little sister's name was...Sarah Olympia Frost...wasn't it?"

Jack blinked a few times at North in shock and then in slight awe. "How could you remember that far back?"

"I remember every gift I give and the names I gave them to...Jackson wasn't there the following year..." North said as he suddenly got a horrible painful feeling in his belly that Jack was right...he wasn't going to like this particular Christmas story at all.

"No...I wasn't..." Jack told him with a saddened smile. He knew by the look on his face, that North had gotten a bad feeling in his belly. "After we finished opening presents...Sarah was so excited about her knew skates she practically dragged me out of the house...My mother told us to be careful...I told her, 'We will' and I was laughing at how excited Sarah was...but then she went out on the ice right after I tied her last skate, and she skated to the center without me checking it first and the ice started cracking underneath her. She stopped instantly and became scared. I panicked a bit myself, but I wasn't going to let her see it...I went out to meet her when a small piece of the ice on my end cracked under my foot. You would've had to look really closely at first to see it, but it made me stop. I took the skates off my shoulder and I lost my balance briefly...making my staff go to the side quite a bit."

"You've had the staff this whole time?"

"Yup...my father gave it to me when he decided I was old enough to look after the sheep. Anyway, she said she was scared and I told her I knew that...and that she was going to be fine. I distracted her with a game of hopscotch as I went to go get my staff on the ice. Then, I had her do the same...but I knew that if she took the third step she wasn't going to last. So on the third step I hooked her with the staff and traded places with her...I thought I was fine by some miracle, but then I fell through the water. I...the last thing I heard was my sister's voice desperately calling my name. I drowned in the pond. I died at the age of fourteen, and later that night, Manny brought me back...but I didn't know any of that until I looked into my memory box."

"You...you died?" North asked with a heaviness in his voice that not even he expected to hear. However, he also couldn't blame himself as the news was quite staggering. He had wondered why the following Christmases were difficult for Sarah and her family, and he wondered where the older boy was. Now that he got his answer, he had to admit he felt a bit sick. 'This joyful, kind, fun loving, caring, mischievous, intelligent, selfless, and wonderful boy in front of me...died?' The thought alone made North nauseous. He couldn't picture Jack's lifeless body, he was barely able to stomach when he was shot out of the sky by his own blast when he knocked Pitch out of the sky. The feeling of relief he felt when Jack was able to answer Tooth was alarming at best, but now he learns that the boy in front of him had not only been alive for more than forty plus years, but three hundred years...and that he died at the young age of fourteen. He couldn't fathom it, and more importantly, he didn't want to.

"Yes, North...I died, and that's how I became Jack Frost. I saved my sister, died, Manny brought me back, gave me my powers, and I've been this way ever since. It's just the memories are new."

"How?"

"What do you mean how?" Jack asked as he leaned next to the fireplace. Contrary to popular belief he actually like the warmth, and heat. Craved it most days, because his body was always so naturally cold it was almost painful, and the only warmth he would normally get would be from the wind, and how he moved his body in and out, to and fro, up and down, and every other way you could think of. That was when he got warmth, and only recently he had started to feel warmth from his believers and it was great, but he still didn't have that many.

North cleared his throat and rested his chin on the back of his hands that were clasped together as his elbows rested on his large desk. He took in a deep breath to regain what little composure he could after that startling revelation. "How had you stayed...you?"

"I don't follow." He told North with a confused grin.

"How did you stay so lighthearted?"

"It wasn't easy, but I had some help. I also almost couldn't help myself if I felt someone having fun. It was hard not to smile or laugh or be...giddy at the feeling of someone's Joy...I guess I should've been able to figure out my center a long time ago...but that's just another thing my memories helped with. I remember...vaguely...even though she called my name in panic...the last expression that was on her face was Joy."

"Jack...that's very impressive." It was all North could say. He wanted to say that he was astounded, shocked, bewildered, heartbroken, concerned, guilt ridden, but all he could tell him was that it was impressive, and to him, it very much so was.

"Thanks?" Jack questioned with a small smirk. "I think..."

"JACK FROST!" A shrill and high pitched voice called out.

"Wards have been broken! Come Jack! We must hurry to intruder and get rid of them!"

"Should we activate the Northern lights?" Jack quickly asked as he chased North down the corridors and to the Guardian symbol where you could see the globe perfectly.

"No, not yet." He answered in a whisper while holding onto his sabers. "Who is here!?" North shouted

"Out of the way, North!" The woman spirit shouted as she came closer. It was the spirit of youth.

"First tell me why you have issue with Guardian?"

"Guardian? HA! That boy is a menace! Where is he!? I'm going to turn him into such a young little thing he won't even be able to waddle!"

"What has he done to you?"

"What has he done? Oh, what has he done!? He called me old! I am the spirit of youth! Imagine if someone called you boring or said that you have no sense of wonder! I'm going to get that little...!"

"I think you need to leave." North grumbled low, and Jack, who was discreetly hiding behind North, had never thought he would hear such viciousness come from North.

"After I deal with him!"

"You will not be dealing with him. Your reasons for such drastic measures are vain and horrible, and I do not want something like that in workshop! Now leave, before I make you." He warned in a low and threatening voice that made even Jack want to heed his warning. 'Why is he acting so protective? Is it because of everything I told him? Probably.' Jack thought to himself as stayed behind North who made his stance wider as if to make sure the spirit of youth couldn't see him.

"He's...he's behind your back isn't it!? Give him to me!"

"No! Leave!"

Jack ducked out from behind North to try and help him get rid of the spirit, but then a vicious chase began between the two spirits. In her violent and unnecessary rage she had accidentally turned at least three yetis into baby yetis. Seeing this, North knew he had to do something, and realized that her accuracy was getting better yet at the same time so was Jack's. Jack landed next to him breathing heavily with his staff shooting another wave of ice at her, effectively knocking her out of a window, but before she flew out the window she let out a final blast that was heading straight for Jack, and North wouldn't let that happen. So, he jumped in front of it, and suddenly there was a large puff of green and red smoke.