A/N: hey hey! so I know I have another story on the go - sorry about the slow update there - but I just have a lot of just general guardian feelings that need to be let out. combine that with christmas music, and viola! this oneshot! I hope you guys enjoy! :)
O' CHRISTMAS TREE
The North wind was a familiar feeling against his lean frame as Jack coasted past the barren landscape of glaciers and pillars of thick ice. Above him the Northern Lights snaked to the right in a woven pattern of shimmering colours, a beacon that lit up the snow. The newest Guardian felt a twist of involuntary pride as he followed it; this was the first time he had been called as a Guardian to the Pole. In fact, it was the first call for the Guardians since Pitch, and here he was, Jack Frost, abiding by his new title as the Guardian of Fun.
Jack couldn't help but let a small grin slip at that thought.
When the Pole came into view, Jack gave a whoop of laughter as he shot down towards a pair of large wooden doors, heavily concealed under the eaves of snow. The bittersweet memories of his attempts to gain access into the Pole no longer shadowed his thoughts, as the large doors were now always unlocked, a welcoming gesture to the winter spirit they had once long ago kept out. The ease in which the doors flew open by the touch of wind at his back was a testament to the amount of times Jack had visited the Pole, a feeling that he would continue to milk for many decades to come. And although he knew that whatever North had called them to must be important and probably serious – he'd pretend this Guardian business was all second nature to him – it didn't stop the mischievous grin he shot one of the Yetis as he gracefully touched ground.
"Phil," Jack nodded at the Yetis with a teasing grin, all too aware of the blast of snow and winter's chill that carried in from the wide open doors behind him. The Yetis, now used to Jack's frequent coming and goings, still harbored an impatient attitude towards the youngest Guardian – he had been the end of Jack's playful break-in attempts over the past centuries – and only huffed in response. Jack's laughter echoed off the walls as he took off once more, this time in the direction of the towering globe. "See ya around, big fella!"
The globe, aglow with lights that twinkled like small stars, rose up before him as he circled round. Hm, looked perfectly all right to him – so that ruled out that emergency. Jack turned gracefully in air, his brow furrowed. The balcony in front of the globe held many elves – many of which were engaged in some sort of cookie-eating contest – and a few Yetis busily lumbering to and fro with gifts. In fact, the whole Pole was abuzz with activity and the amount of inventory crammed into the corners and crevices of the building was astounding. He shouldn't be surprised, it was so close to Christmas it would be worrisome otherwise.
And yet, he didn't see North himself, or any of the other Guardians for that matter. Was this revenge for the harmless – perhaps not so innocent – prank on the Guardians Sandy and himself had pulled back in October? But even so, he was fairly sure that was using the Northern Lights unjustly. Especially since it was his first official "Guardian call".
Jack's toes gripped onto the railing as he landed, his hand firmly set on his staff. The elves, which now noticed the white haired boy, pointed to him excitedly, their arms wrapped in strings of Christmas lights. Perhaps his conceptions of official Guardian business featured a bit more fanfare and man-in-moon-mysticism – hey he didn't have much to really go on – but this was a bit ridiculous. He had had his eyes set on giving Southern Ontario a devilishly white Christmas and Sweden was just begging for a rockin' blizzard, he could have been elsewhere.
"Jack, my boy, you are here!" North's voice boomed across the Pole as he emerged from a large engraved door. Whatever Jack had been expecting, he hadn't been expecting this.
In his hands he carried three stacked boxes, each one filled and overflowing with tinsel and garland. Fairies buzzed up and around him, hauling trailing ribbons, bright bulbs and strings upon strings of popcorn tethered rope. They chirped gleefully when they caught sight of Jack, their tiny bodies shooting from the shadows of North's frame to where Jack balanced. In a few seconds he was covered in the traditionally old-fashioned popcorn covered rope and one – in which he was fairly sure he caught the glinting eyes of Baby Tooth – shoved a Christmas star on his head. North's laughter rumbled amidst the cooing of fairies.
Baby Tooth moved away with a smug and self accomplished expression on her face, and zipped off with the rest of the fairies, disappearing into the boxes North had just settled down. Jack, taken off guard, looked up at North with an expression of unmasked confusion. "North, what-"
Just then the rest of the Guardians piled into view; Bunny first, dragging the biggest and fattest evergreen Jack had ever seen, Sandy who was bouncing up and down as a batch of fairies picked ornaments from his hands, and lastly Tooth, who was carrying a load of Christmas lights. She was in mid sentence when she spotted Jack, a grin spreading over her colourful features as they rested on his head.
"Ah, Jack, there you are! Oh girls, what have you done to him?" She giggled, her violet eyes alight. Bunny stopped long enough to shoot Jack a mocking grin, the winter spirit unable to stop his wide-eyed expression, unhappily decorated in Christmas 'cheer'.
"Would you look at that, we don't even need half this stuff North! We could just hang Frostbite up on the tree."
Jack recovered from his lapse of dumbfounded silence and shook his head, the star slipping downwards on his forehead. "I don't understand," He started, his eyes running from the Guardians to North himself. "The Northern Lights, did you not call..." He trailed off as the Guardians exchanged glances. Tooth bit on her lip to keep from smiling. Jack frowned - it looked more like a childish pout.
"Jack!" North gripped his belly with a resounding laugh. "We are here on Guardian business. Guardian tree decorating!"
The white haired boy blinked at him. Unable to hide his expression of mild aversion, he wrinkled his nose. "Guardian tree decorating?" He repeated, his eyes drifting to Bunny as if for him to validate it; no way would the pooka agree to something such as this. Bunny only returned the look with a mixed expression of smugness and amusement. "You already have about a million trees decorated!" Jack's eyes flashed back to North who was now happily opening a box full of candy canes. It was true – the Pole was always covered in Christmas decor.
With a serious expression, North half turned to Jack, "Not Guardian tree." He emphasized. Jack resisted the 300-year old habit of rolling his eyes, and settled on trying to keep his dignity in tact – he was wearing popcorn after all. He poked at it with a finger and watched as a fairy gave him a withering look.
"I think that's improper use of the Northern Lights." He muttered, jumping off from his perch on the railing. "You all knew about this?" He asked, his blue eyes catching hold of Tooth's. She smiled warmly up at him as she pulled out a tooth shaped ornament from North's box.
"Of course! It's our tradition – and now yours too!" She grinned up at him, unaware of the weight of her words on Jack. In fact, none of the Guardians realized that this would be Jack's first Christmas not alone, as Jack Frost at least. As someone who had spent the holidays alone for three hundred years – albeit the company of the North and Eastern Wind on his back – there was a feeling of apprehension that curled up within him. He had been prepared for some sort of battle plan, not this onslaught of ... Jack swallowed thickly, his gaze settling on the Guardians as they helped Bunny heave the tree into a upwards position, the needles brushing the beams on the roof.
"Right," He answered feebly, although his voice was lost in the sea of noise. The balcony was suddenly a swirl of activity with Guardians and fairies racing about, the elves dancing at their feet. He even caught sight of Phil make his way to the balcony, his eyes latching onto Jack for a moment. It wasn't long before he heard a loud thump and then the crackling voice of Frank Sinatra coming from some hidden source. Bunny groaned and gave North a pointed look.
Suddenly Baby Tooth and Tooth was at his side, their wings vibrating softly against his shoulder. It was clear in Tooth's eyes she had noticed his quietness and she bit her lip, her eyes trailing up to his head. With a laugh, he shook himself free of his thoughts. As much as he wanted to pretend he wasn't interested in any of their Christmas antics or play off their invitation to join them, he pushed against three hundred years worth of defensive nature and allowed himself to relax.
"Looking for this?" He eased back into a playful tone and plucked the star from his head, his hair more ruffled than usual. Baby Tooth made a noise, obviously sad that he no longer carried the star on his head. He chuckled, "Hey, it's for the tree, not me." In response she settled into the crook of his sweater with a chirp.
Jack handed over the glistening star to Tooth with a smile, in which she accepted it with open hands, her eyes searching his for a moment. Before she could dig up his thoughts, however, he spoke. "So next time I should keep in mind that North doesn't always call us for emergencies, especially in December."
North's voice made the two of them turn in his direction, where he was standing effortlessly on a ladder. "This is important!" Jack smirked with affection at the white bearded man while Tooth laughed.
"Come on you two, this tree isn't going to decorate itself!" Bunny called at the two of them, while Sandy floated around the tree, pinning his own sparkly decorations here and there.
Jack, with more dignity than thought possible for someone covered in strings of popcorn, strode over to the tree where the pooka stood. "Oh don't worry cotton-tail, we wouldn't want to leave it all to you – next thing you know, tiny legged eggs would be straddling the branches." He spoke with feigned seriousness, a smirk curling up at the corner of his lips. He shot Jack a look.
Before Bunny could retort that they were indeed adorable and he didn't have to be so rude, North waved Jack up alongside him. "Jack, up here!" With a shrug at the others, Jack shot smoothly up into the air to where North perched on his ladder. He hardly seemed concerned with the drop, while the ladder shuddered uneasily under his weight.
"Will you do honors?" He asked, his eyes twinkling in such a way Jack knew the man was up to something.
"Do what?" Jack asked hesitantly. "Look, North, I haven't had much experience- " He started before North cut him off with a swift hand gesture.
"The honor," He said cryptically before showing him the star Jack had given to Tooth moments earlier. How had he gotten it so quickly? Baby Tooth probably.
"Oh, um, alright." Jack took the star from him, eying the older man as he rose higher towards the top. The tree sparkled from his angle above, and in less time than he had thought, it looked to be covered in both traditional and new décor. He smiled to himself.
He hesitated before he placed the star on top – Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, the fairies, elves and Yetis' all looked so small and happy from his place above. They were all chattering with flushed expressions – mind Sandy and the Yetis - and he swore he saw an elf nibbling at Sandy's cookie. There was a swell in the Christmas music, and although admittedly cheesy, Jack found himself on the verge of... it wasn't sadness. No after years upon years of loneliness, he knew what it meant to be isolated in his own misery. No, the tears pricking his eyes – thank god he was too far up for those below to notice – were.. happy tears. Happiness. He didn't think he'd ever experienced such a thing.
With a breathy laugh, he brought the star down on top of the tree, a feeling mixed with giddiness rushing over him. With a mischievous grin, the star's glow turned from a warm colour to a white light, and intricate frost designs spilled over the tree, coating everything in a shimmering coat of frost.
Everyone's attention snapped to the tree and gasps were heard from below. He saw Tooth look up at him with a smile, and even Bunny looked impressed. North, on his wibbly-wobbly ladder caught his glance and gave a gruff nod of approval, a knowing smile on his lips. Finally Jack leaned away from the tree, the frost reaching the bottom with a wintry finish.
Jack dropped down to the floor after a slow decent, only to be surrounded by his fellow Guardians. Light flitted in through the skylight and lit up the tree like a star, the reds, blues, greens and gold twinkling with the introduction of silver.
"It's so beautiful," Tooth murmured, reaching absently for Jack's shoulder.
Sandy gave Jack a thumbs up and Jack couldn't help but laugh. "Uh, thanks guys."
"New tradition. I like." North appeared behind Jack, his hands placed on his hips triumphantly. Something tugged deep within Jack, a sense of pride and belonging so strong it made his throat tight. He looked up at North to see him wink.
No matter what reason North called for the Guardians, he'd never doubt their importance again. Or tree decorating, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.