Chapter 1: North
Jack stared in wonder at the marvels all around him as he glided through the workshop. Things have really changed for me now that I'm a Guardian, he thought to himself. He'd tried to break in to the buildings at the North Pole hundreds of times before but was never successful, and now they just let him in whenever he wanted, even when it was only two days before Christmas. He'd always wanted to be part of the hustle and bustle and joy of a real North Pole Christmas, and this was his chance. A flock of toy planes flew past him, nearly clipping his shoulder; as he swerved in reaction he nearly knocked into a giant pile of teddy bears. Deciding air travel was too dangerous, Jack gently landed on the second floor walkway. From that vantage point Jack paused to watch the giant globe in the center of the room, thousands of tiny lights on every continent twinkled, each representing a child who believed. The globe was glowing brighter than he'd ever seen it, as the number of believers grew in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. He wondered how many of them believed in him too. Probably lots, he told himself, Jack too finding it easier to have hope this time of year.
Rows of elves and yetis hustled through the halls all working together to try and corral the mountains of toys into a loading dock, preparing for the big day. Jack saw that getting everything down the stairs was slowing the whole process down, as a yeti carrying a huge armful of robots was tripped by a wayward elf and stumbled down the last few steps, dropping robots everywhere in the process. In a flash Jack came up with a plan. I can help everyone out by creating a nice smooth ice ramp on the staircase; the toys will slide right down. His hand tightened on his staff which glowed blue with frost as he prepared to put the plan into action, when from behind him a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around, a loud voice booming, "What are you doing?"
"North!" Jack cried in surprise as he looked up at the imposing figure dressed in red towering over him. "I was going to make some ice to help out," he explained.
"Helping?" North replied skeptically, "No time for mischief now!" He was a little grumpy since he had spent the entire morning rechecking the naughty and nice list.
"Really! I don't want to mess anything up, this is my first Christmas."
"First Christmas as a Guardian," North echoed, trying to remember if he had finished the M's or just the Mc's.
"No, my first Christmas," he corrected quietly, staring down at his bare feet. "I don't remember any I celebrated as a human, and all those years I was on my own, I didn't have any one to celebrate with"
"First Christmas? First Christmas!" North shouted, face changing from a scowl to a smile as he scooped the winter spirit into a big bear hug, lifting him up off the ground.
"First Christmas is my specialty!" he said as he set Jack down, "but you can't stay here now; you'll be in the elves' and yetis' way." Sensing the sad disappointment from Jack, North added, "Come back on Christmas morning. We have tradition, big party after all the presents are delivered. Now go, make a white Christmas for the world!"
"I promise it will be the whitest Christmas ever, with blankets of snow and frost everywhere!" Jack replied, relieved to have something he could contribute. Then he leaned into a gust of wind and lifted up and out a nearby open window.
North watched with a twinkle in his eye as the younger guardian flew off, thinking about how he could make this Christmas a special one.
Jack returned to the North Pole early on the morning of the twenty fifth, exhausted but happy. In the last day and a half he had traveled around the world twice, first creating a downy white blanket of snow on every roof, tree branch, and lawn that his winter magic could reach. He smiled as he thought about the children who would wake up and see the piles of snow he made as an opportunity to play outside making snowmen, sledding and maybe even having a snowball fight. They would have so much fun. On his second pass, he focused on frost, reaching areas where the snow wouldn't go making delicate swirls and twirls and flowers of ice on all the windows. Jack was always proud of his work, but this time he had really out done himself. He wanted to keep his promise to North and make a perfect Christmas.
He felt like he might never stop smiling as he walked through the workshop, now lavishly decorated for the party and looking even more Christmas-y than before, if that were even possible. Bunny and Sandy were putting up the last of the garland, the former able to reach the ceiling hooks with ease from the ground while the latter floated the garland up by dream sand.
"You're just time mate," Bunny greeted him, "We're expecting North back any minute."
Tooth flew over from the table she was dressing and gave him a warm hug, "Merry Christmas, Jack."
"Hey guys, the place looks great!" said Jack.
"We always decorate a little while North is out," Tooth replied. But to Jack it didn't look like a little, it looked like maybe they had been working there all night getting ready for the party. A small knot formed in his stomach; he hated feeling left out.
"Did you finish up early tonight Sandy?" Jack asked.
The silent guardian replied with a sand image of candied fruit, followed by a snowy scene.
"Yeah, I guess if everyone is dreaming of sugar plums or a white Christmas that speeds things along."
The knot in Jack's stomach grew; if he had known he would have worked faster and finished early too. He excused himself from the party room and took a walk down the hallway to calm his nerves. The place really did look great, there were evergreen boughs, holly, and gold and silver garland draping from every railing, sill, and light. Where there used to be piles of toys, Jack now found a glorious tree, the tallest he had ever seen, covered in lights and sparkling ornaments in every color, and at the bottom, a mound of perfectly wrapped presents.
The beauty of the tree made Jack feel a little calmer, until his eyes swept over all the gifts found underneath. His mouth ran dry as his heart sank. The presents! How could I forget something so important! I didn't get anything for anyone. They won't include me in Christmas at all next year after a screw up like this. His mind raced trying to think of last minute gift ideas, but it was way, way too late to get anything now. Jack decided it would be easier to quietly slip away rather than face the other Guardians and tell them what he did. He could tell them later that he had been too tired to party. As he walked out into the snow, he could feel tears of shame stinging in his eyes, threatening to spill over. The gentle snow that had been falling turned into sharp icy sleet as the wind picked up, matching Jack's dark mood. Great, he thought, North is going to have to land in this mess, I managed to ruin that too. How do I always manage to turn everything for the worse? Jack angrily kicked at a snow bank, not believing he was really about to fly away from the thing he'd been so looking forward to for weeks. Too late, he realized he missed the opportunity for a quick getaway. A portal had opened and North's sleigh was coming in for a landing twenty feet from where he stood.
North bounded out of the sleigh on a post-delivery high, shouting to the approaching yetis, "Mission accomplished! Clear the sleigh! Spike the eggnog! Let's get this party started!" He ran over to Jack and his smile quickly turned to a look of concern when he saw the reddened eyes and sorrow filled frown.
"Jack, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Flying out from the workshop, Tooth called, "Jack, when did you get out here? We were looking for y—." She stopped mid-sentence as she also saw how sad he looked.
The other Guardians had come out to welcome North, so now Jack was faced with four matching looks of concern and confusion, each pretending to not be bothered by the biting, stinging snow. He took a deep breath, preparing to face the music.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I ruined Christmas. It turns out I'm just not good at these kinds of things. I didn't help decorate at all, and I didn't bring any presents…"
"Ho Ho Ho" Jack's apology was cut short by North's iconic laugh. "Bring present for me? You make me laugh. Children don't give gifts to Santa, I bring gifts for them!"
North pulled Jack closer with one arm and gestured to the others to go back inside, he could handle this one.
"But I saw the tree inside, with all the boxes"
"All from me: new hats for the elves and socks for the yetis. They work hard all year, I don't want them to feel unappreciated. We Guardians stopped exchanging gifts years ago, I should have told you"
"Oh" Jack said quietly, starting to realize he may have blown things out of proportion.
"This year is different though. I made an exception for you, for your first Christmas. Go look in the sleigh."
Feeling a small smile creep back onto his face, Jack agilely hopped into the back of the sleigh to find the toy sack empty, and a large book bound in red cracked leather on the seat.
"It's a book… Thanks!" said Jack, doing his best to sound sincere.
"Not just any book. I'll show you." North picked up the old tome flipping with ease to the correct page. "Look there, what do you see?"
"My name? Is this…?" Jack's smile spread wider as he realized what he was seeing.
"It is Jack. This is your name on the nice list. This year, you defeated Pitch, rekindled children's belief in all of us, and joined the Guardians, of course you are on the nice list. Not to mention, all the work you did yesterday bringing snow and frost for Christmas. I saw it on my ride, it was breathtaking. So no more talk of not helping or ruining Christmas."
Jack grinned ear to ear as he took in the kind words. He'd needed the recognition more than he realized. In fact Jack was so happy he couldn't help but spiral into the sky like a rocket in the wind.
"WOO HOO! BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" his shouts could be heard clearly from down below. The merriest of snows began to fall over the Pole with large fluffy flakes.
"Come down and join the party Jack!" North shouted toward the sky, "It isn't Christmas without you"
This is my first RotG fic, I hope you enjoyed it. I've got 6 chapters planned in total, as Jack sorts out his relationships with each of the other characters. They're not really connected. This one is 4th or 5th chronologically, but it was begging to be written first so here you go.