A/N: this was written in about twenty minutes for a fic-off between a few girls and I. It is not the best, and once the competition is over, I'll fix it. I intend to add more chapters was well. As part of the competition, please review or favorite if you liked it. If not, it's okay. Enjoy!
Jamie remembered the dreams he had as a kid. At least, his parents said they were dreams. In these dreams, Jamie would be visited by a figure in a blue sweatshirt. This figured was named Jack. More specifically, it was Jack Frost, the silver-haired spirit; a guardian of children everywhere.
Jamie remembered dreaming of a battle. It wasn't a battle that he was a major part in, but he was there. He was there when the guardians needed him, the last child who believed. Even now, years later, Jamie still remembers it all. Pitch Black, the Nightmares, everything. But most of all, he remembers Jack.
Jack had shown him magic, kept his beliefs alive. Jack was there through fun times, such as sledding down the freeway, and the hard times, like when Jamie needed a little reassuring, a reminder that great things do happen in a world of nightmares. Even more importantly, he remembers Jack, ancient, immortal, magical Jack, holding him close to shelter him from the cold, jumping towards the medicine cabinet at each sneeze. If only Jack could be there to watch over him now.
The pair only had a few solitary moments after the Pitch ordeal, and Jack was soon called away. Maybe it was selfish of Jamie to think that they could remain together, but he wanted it. He wanted it so bad. But alas, there were other kids who needed Jack more. They needed his free-spirited, easy-going attitude, and they needed relief from the fear caused by the Boogyman.
Jamie would remind himself of this every night as he sat, waiting for the night Jack would return. Days turned to months, which turned to years, and still there was no sign of him.
That was years ago. Jamie had long since given up on seeing Jack again, and started to believe what the adults had told him. It was all just a dream. Besides, as an eighteen-year-old, it was frowned upon to have imaginary friends.
.o0o.
"Jamie! You're going to miss the bus! Again!"
"Coming mom!" Jamie replied, grabbing his backpack from the floor on his mad dash out the door. Tripping over his untied shoelaces, Jamie sprinted towards the end of the driveway. The sound of the bus engines encouraged him to run faster. Jamie barely made it to the corner of the street when the bus arrived.
"Sleep in late again?" The bus driver, Mr. Roberts asked as Jamie jumped onto the bus, panting. When Jamie nodded, Mr. Roberts continued, "You really need to get to bed earlier. I hate to say it, but don't stay up so late studying."
Studying. Jamie almost laughed at that. He was up late, but it had nothing to do with complex algorithms or shifting verb tenses. In reality, he was sitting up all night, like he's done for the past eight years, waiting for his "imaginary friend." He would never admit it, though. People would laugh, and he gets enough crap about other things already.
In the eight years since Jack had left, Jamie had taken up writing. He kept a journal about the events that occurred that winter, and after showing it to one of his friends, he became the laughing stock of the whole school. Add that to his photography classes and being the president of the school's increasingly small journalism club, he was easily labeled as the nerdy kid who had no social life.
Not, that Jamie minded, though. It gave him more time to write, and more time to convince himself that Jack, and the rest of the guard, was real. His journal was full of every little detail, every memory of his childhood. Recently, more and more of his entries were devoted to Jack, the way his eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement, the way his hands were warm, even though they appeared to be covered in ice, and how, no matter what, he was always there. At least, he used to be. Jamie just hoped that Jack was okay.
.o0o.
The snow was cold, even against Jack's skin. The thick sleeves of his hoodie weren't enough to keep the biting pain out. Even in the extreme cold, he was sweating though. He was tired, far to tired to go on. After loosing Bunnymund, the fight was lost. It was too late, and it was all his fault. If he had just stuck to the plan, maybe it wouldn't have happened.
"Giving up already? I thought you would be a bit more of a challenge, considering you took out my brother, Pitch." It took all of Jack's strength to drag himself to his feet. 'I will do this,' he thought, 'if not for Bunny, then for Jamie, wherever he his.'
"Oh, good! Finally some action!" His rival sneered, baring her teeth. This new force was Pitch's... Sister. She was stunning, and used it to her advantage. She could toy with you, get you to reveal or do anything. She went by Noir. Noir Black. When the Guard had first arrived at her dwelling, Jack had jested about how redundant and stupid that sounded. That seemed to piss her off.
Bunnymund had been the first to attack, before she could swipe an angry fist at him. Little did Jack and the others know that she had nearby security. A swarm of minuscule wasps flew in, and promptly started in on Bunnymund. There was nothing the rest could do, as when they thought they had cleared away some of the insects, more came back. It was then when Jack got stung.
The wasps must have had some sort of poison in their stingers, as he soon felt his system collapsing. Falling to his knees, he heard the final, gasping breath of E. Aster Bunnymund. It was all he could take, but the fall of an old friend seemed to put the rest of the gang out of it. Tooth was soon overtaken, Sandy disappeared, and their jolly Russian leader was taken somewhere to be interrogated. That left Jack.
All Jack wanted to do was defeat this newfound enemy so he could get back to Jamie. The guardians had spent years tracking Noir down, and he was anxious to see Jamie again. Jack just hoped that Jamie still remembered him, or even still wanted to see him.
His worrying about Jamie had distracted him, and slowed his attacks. He needed to get his head in the game and focus on defeating Noir, otherwise he would be dead, and never get to see Jamie again. He needed to win this fight, needed to be victorious.
Jack lunged at Noir with a new speed, a higher energy. He raised his staff and his blow landed. He had knocked her down, and she was slowly backing into a corner. Jack had never heard about wild animals being most dangerous when cornered, but it seemed that humans were the same way. Noir swatted a hand at his ankles, catching him by the leg and tripping him. Jack fell to the ground with a large crash, and his world went black.
.o0o.
The bell signaling the end of class finally rang. Jamie's history class was normally boring, but today it was worse. Illness. Jamie felt lightheaded, and a bit out of it. Nauseous, he made his way to where the busses were waiting at the front entrance to the school.
The last time he had gotten sick had ended up with him missing a full week of school, lying in bed with his mom practically spoon-feeding him soup. This time, Jamie would just save himself the embarrassment and not tell his mother. It was probably just a slight cold, anyway.
Cold. That got him thinking about Jack, his face, his smile, how he seemed to jump with joy at any mention of the word snow. He thought back to that day years ago, when he hadn't known Jack, but even so, Jack was watching over him, creating crazy sledding tracks, and knocking out one of his teeth. Jamie imagined that if that had never happened, he wouldn't have met the love of his life. That would have killed him. He would have grown up loosing faith in miracles, and become just another mindless, non-imaginative students at his high school.
Jamie shuddered at the thought of that, though it may have been from the cold. He imagined Jack there, with him, even though he knew he was probably miles away. Jamie missed him, more than anything.