~Addicted. Warning: A little angst mixed in the flashback. More angst after that.
In Jack's hands, laid a box of memories with a picture of a brown-haired girl's face. She had hazel eyes, and her name was Pippa Overland Frost.
He was currently staying in one of santa workshop's spare rooms, since he had no real home. Santa had generously offered him a room (temporarily or permanently, didn't matter to Santa) and Jack had no choice but to accept.
The teenager grasped the memories firmly. He had them. He had her sister's memories. But Jack knew he shouldn't have them in the first place, but in all fairness he found it on the floor all alone in Pitch's lair while searching for one of Tooth's fairies. But he begins to wonder why it was left behind in the first place.
Had it been a sign from the MiM? No, it couldn't be. But what if it was?
The new guardian's eyes lit up at the face of his sister. It had been SO long since he saw her face, heard her voice, made her laugh. He fingered the golden box carefully, seeing the small crystals spark.
He took a deep breath, feeling that familiar tinge run up his back. The same sensation he had when he had taken a peek into his own memories.
Flashbacks flipped by, some showing her laughing with Jack, others showing her with her friends. A memory quickly flashed by Jack showing him Pippa playing fondly with a snowflake. Another showed his sister riding a sled carefully down a steep hill, her jacket flowing in the wind along with her brown hair.
He caught sight of the one showed him dying from the perspective of Pippa.. that was a devastating day for everyone. "Jack!" She screeched before the memory faded quickly.
Finally, one memory slowed down. This was it. Wait.. was this the last memory of childhood or did she die early? It had to be the first right?
It showed his sister, about 11 or 10 (maybe younger or older) exactly like she was when he died. She wore brown pajamas. She wore no shoes.
Pippa sat with the soft covers halfway on her body. She slowly laid down on the bed, trying to relax but knowing she couldn't. It was close to Christmas, but she just wasn't feeling it. After all, her brother did just die a few months ago. Pippa never got over it.
She felt like a bucket of cold ice water fell on her every time she thought about Jack. She still remembered the whole scene as it vividly played over in her head.
It was her fault. She shouldn't have listened to Jack or should have drowned instead of him. She just wanted him alive...
The small girl was now sniffling, the sad depressing thoughts drowning her in guilt. Why? Why did her brother have to die?
She began to have tears flow down on her cheek, its path and direction curved. Jack's sister began to climb down the bunk bed, using the small wooden ladder on the side. Her heart ached more at the sight of the empty bed on the bottom of her's.
Sounds of her footsteps were head. Her bare feet touched the warm wooden floor and walked over across the room.
Pippa opened the window, feeling the chill sudden rush of the night. She let it freeze her face for a moment before leaning in more feeling more wind brush her hair. She smiled at the feeling.
The brown-haired girl's eyes darted to the neighbouring house and smiled.
"Frost." She watched carefully as a small snowflake slowly fell down on her nose. Her brown eyes stared at it playfully.
Pippa climbed out the window, though still in her cute pajamas. She ignored the cold and stared at the full moon and all its glory. Pippa didn't know what she did to deserve this. Her brother was her guardian practically and died saving her. She didn't have fun. Not at all.
Tears began to flow down again. Her smiled wavered into a deep frown. She closed her eyes and shuffled her feet more through the rough snow. Small tiny footprints could be made out in the snow. Pippa closed her eyes, she absolutely hated this.
She now stood (vulnerable) in the middle of the village, where it was dead silence surrounding her and smoke of the put out fires. She shivered uncontrollably and began to hug herself, attempting to shield her little body from the cold freezing temperatures. The full moon shone bright above her, lighting a small reflection. She didn't hear a small bell noise.
She had no idea what she was doing. Pippa felt alone, she really just wanted life to go back the way it is. But that will never happen. Not with Jackson Overland Frost gone.
Suddenly she hears a jingling noise. Slowly turning around, her widened eyes alert to a golden sand trail in a far distance that soared through the sky. She saw something coming fast-!
Pippa gasped. It was coming faster. Faster and closer.
She had to get away. The girl tried to back away, but her face was stuck in an expression of shock and fear, it was too late to react..
She screamed and tried to duck, but-
BAM!
The thing hit her as fast as a comet on hit her, including on her head. She was bleeding. A lot.
Before she could faint from the concussion her head had conducted, she vaguely recalled what she saw before she was hit by the- the SLEIGH. There was a man in a red coat, a large bunny with boomerangs, a feathered woman, and a yellow little flying man. They all appeared to be arguing, not steering the reindeer or the sleigh at all.
She blacked out, falling over while clutching her head. The memory ended, marking that she died while unconscious..
"No!" Jack's eyes popped out, and he instinctively threw the box on the other side of the room. He backed away from it, feeling a hard stable wall behind him. He felt himself, to make sure he wasn't looking at a memory.
The white-haired immortal's breathing was deep, heavy, he held his chest while his heart was pounding in his ears. No..no no no.. wa-was it possible?
Did Pippa Frost die only a few months after he did? And was it because of his fellow guardians that she died?
This was a trick. It had to be. He found it in Pitch's lair when searching for a lost fairy, Pitch probably left it on purpose. To play tricks on his mind. To make him think that he guardians killed his sister.
The winter spirit tried to tell himself this. After an hour (which merely seemed like seconds) he finally calmed himself down. Taking one last deep breath he stared at the golden box. It LOOKED real. It FELT real.
It was real.
A terrible feeling crashed down on Jack. His icy blue eyes that were usually playful and happy were now in sad disbelief. He went over to pick up the golden box, seeing his sister's face again implanted on it. Shaking his head, the guardian simply reached for his staff and headed towards the tooth palace through flight.
"Jack? What are you doing here?" Tooth quickly flew towards Jack at the sight of him. Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He implanted a fake smile on his face and handed his sister's golden box to the feathered guardian.
"Did you find her?" Jack shook his head, to Tooth's dissappointment.
"You uh... forgot this.." He handed out the box of Pippa Frost to Tooth, who stared at it thoughtfully. She smiled and her wings fluttered happily signifying her gratefulness.
"Thank you Jack. Pippa Frost, she had the cutest little teeth and the shiniest next to yours.. heh.. Pippa Frost.." Tooth smiled and let two small fairies who carried it away to where it belonged.
"So.. uh.. I probably got to go.." The guardian of fun's grin starting to falter a little when saying that sentence.. Tooth nodded, and she stared at her working fairies again. She didn't notice Jack's gloomy atmosphere.
"Yeah, well you know me..tooth fairy.. gotta go!" She flew towards, directing more little fairies to where they should go. Jack sighed, letting go of his facade.
Jack didn't know what to do anymore. He just couldn't bear the thought of the guardians being the ones responsible for his sister's death.
He gripped on his staff before flying away.
He never came back.
And it took everyone a week to notice.
It's a two-shot. This isn't over.