Quick thank you to my editor/cheerleader/support group for this story emmanemmssa. You rock, friend!
Disclaimer- I am not fortunate enough to own Rise of the Guardians, or anything Dreamworks. Wouldn't that be nice though?
"Ah, Bunny, but do people start singing of your holiday the previous month?"
"Look here North, Christmas music is ovah played while Easter music is…"
The Guardians of Childhood had gathered for their monthly meeting to discuss their various tasks. Now that the business part of the meeting was over, they were all sitting and chatting in the Globe Room. Well, if by chatting you mean North and Bunny were arguing over whose holiday was better, and Tooth was excitedly telling Sandy (who was nodding tiredly while yawning) about a "perfectly flossed left central incisor" one of her fairies found, then yes, they were chatting. Jack was floating around the Globe, studying the lights with an intense gaze, a curious look occasionally crossing his face.
"And- eh, Jack, whatcha doin' there?" Bunny broke off from his tirade to look at Jack, staring absorbedly at the lights. This caught the attention of the rest of the Big Four, and they stopped to listen to the response.
"Mmm? What? Oh, I'm just trying to figure out if Joe, Luke, and Logan are inside the mountain this time, or just out in Joe's grandma's backyard. They live right by the mountain, so it's a little hard to tell," Jack explained distractedly, still focused on the lights. Then the sudden silence from the Guardians prompted him to look over at them.
They were staring at him, North with his thick eyebrows furrowed, Bunny with his eyebrows raised, Sandy with wide eyes, and Tooth with her head tilted.
"What?" Jack questioned with a slightly sharp and defensive tone.
"Da, um… Jack, are you naming the lights?" North's tone was a mixture of curiosity and slight amusement.
"Ah, no, no I'm not. These are Joe, Luke, and Logan's lights. I'm trying to figure out where they are in the mountain. I mean, they spend a lot of time in there, like IN the mountain, and… " Jack trailed off with an uncertain look at the shocked Guardians. "Guys, explain the looks, you're freaking me out."
Tooth flew over by Jack and looked at the multitude of lights that flickered on the globe. "Jack, you can tell which light is which child?" She glanced at him.
He cocked his head. "Yeah. Can't you guys?"
The response involved shaking heads and a golden floating X from Sandy, who joined Tooth in the air to study the lights. North and Bunny just exchanged looks. Tooth pointed at a certain light in Louisiana. "So you can tell who this light belongs to?"
"Sure," Jack promptly responded with a smile. "Mary Katherine, she's a big believer, which is why her light is so bright."
North called out from the balcony where he was still standing with Bunny "Sandy, I can't tell from here, is that light brighter?" Sandy leaned in and double checked before giving two thumbs up.
"Weird," Bunny muttered under his breath. But Jack still managed to catch it and sent him an insulted look.
"Hey, Kangaroo, just because you can't do it isn't a reason to say that," he said with a pout.
"OI! I am NOT a kangaroo!"
Jack crossed his legs in the air sitting Indian style and smirked. "Hey, I call 'em as I see 'em." Then his smirk turned to a contemplative look while Bunny grumbled at the hated nickname. Jack sat still for a few moments, then a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. "Ah."
"What's that Sweet Tooth?" Sandy echoed Tooth's inquiry with a question mark and a smile.
"I think I just figured out why you guys don't know the lights." Jack smirked a little at the sudden stillness of his friends.
"Well? Don't leave us hangin' mate!" Bunny said impatiently. "What's the secret?"
"Wow, pushy much, Bunny?" Jack chuckled. "Maybe I'll just keep it to myself then," he said, milking the moment. It wasn't often he knew something his older and more experienced friends didn't. Immediately Tooth flew over to the balcony to tackle Bunny, putting a hand over his mouth. Sandy followed with an exclamation mark, ready to knock him out with dream sand. Bunny lifted up his hands in surrender from the floor, wide eyed at the force that was their fairy friend.
Laughter rang through the rafters. "Nice tackle there, Tooth! Great form! Okay, I guess I'll tell you. Guys, you really just need to get out more. I'm out playing with kids all the time, I get to know them pretty well. But all you guys do is work in your lairs, it's no wonder you can't tell them apart."
"Lairs…?" North muttered quietly, afraid of setting Tooth off, who was now glaring at him after letting Bunny up.
Sandy waved a flag to catch Jack's attention, then pointed to himself before making sand images of sleeping children and waves of dreamsand. "Okay, so you get out more too, Sandy, sorry. I'm not sure why you don't connect them then..."
"Now hold on a second mate, we go out into the field," Bunny interrupted, crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the floor.
"Yeah, like once a year," Jack countered, spinning to face Bunny. "Let's see, how did you phrase it North, 'we are too busy bringing to joy to children, we don't have time for children' " he said in a bad Russian accent. North had the decency to look abashed while Sandy sent Jack a question mark. "Oh, it was a comment North made when Sophie almost crashed Easter that one year you were MIA." A shadow crossed Jack's face at the thought.
Sandy shook his head at the other Guardians in disbelief. They all looked at the ground with a small amount of shame and sadness, recalling that Easter and everything that had happened.
Jack shook off the cloud of depression and laughed at their reactions. "Anyway, it was a helpful talent to have when there was this one light left somewhere in North America. I don't know if you noticed, but there are a lot of lights in that particular continent, so being able to know it was Jamie helped me get there in time."
"In time for what, Jack?" Tooth questioned, glad to have a change in subject. But it was Jack's turn to look away. "It's nothing Tooth, just managed to make it there before you guys did."
Bunny however sensed something more to the story, and wouldn't let it go. "Come on mate, I have a rabbit's sensitive nose, and I'm smelling a lie."
Jack glared at him. "I'm not lying Bunny. I don't do that."
"Fine, but you aren't telling the whole story," Bunny said matter-of-factly. "And don't try to get weasel out of it," he warned when he saw Jack open his mouth with an indignant face. Jack made a face, then sighed, realizing that Bunny wasn't going to drop the subject. He would have preferred to keep this story to himself, but it probably would have came out eventually.
"Guys, it's really not a big deal." Bunny gave him a look that had him rolling his eyes before looking down at his staff. "But… you know when you showed up on the sleigh and Jamie came out?" Everyone but Sandy nodded. "Well, just before that, I got there in time to hear Jamie talking to his stuffed bunny. He was asking for a sign that the Easter Bunny was real." Jack faltered, giving a look to Bunny, who wilted, realizing that a stuffed animal wouldn't be able to reassure a flickering belief. "He said any sort of sign would work, he just needed to know seeing you guys wasn't a dream. He waited a second, then… he dropped the bunny." The Guardians all gaped at this, how close they came to losing the last light.
Tooth blinked at the revelation, then looked sharply up at Jack. "Wait- but he believes now. He has one of the strongest beliefs of any child. How did he go from not believing to that?"
Jack blushed a light shade of purple. "Um… I may or may not have drawn pictures in the frost on his window." The rest of the Guardians stared at him with a bit of confusion. Sandy formed a question mark from his sand, wanting to know more about what happened while he was out of the picture.
"Well, I made this Easter egg on the window, and this Bunny, then the bunny came to life and started hopping around and then it burst into snow," Jack started rambling from his nervousness but slowed at this part. "And then… Jamie said my name. He said my name and he heard me and he SAW me," he said quietly, with wonder in his voice and a light in his eyes. A telling wetness glimmered in the corners of his eyes at the memory.
The rest of the Guardians could only wonder at how this must have affected Jack. 300 years of not being seen, of total loneliness, then the last light of the world, who had just stopped believing in the biggest legends of all, began believing in Jack Frost.
"Jack…" Bunny murmured quietly, not wanting to break the spell that circled the room at the story. Then Jack grinned and shook his head, shattering the moment. "Like I said, not a big deal now. Jamie believes, and so do other kids, and Pitch is in hiding, and everything is great."
"Not a big deal? Jack! Is very big deal! You saved us, you kept Jamie believing!" North exclaimed loudly, throwing his hands up in the air. Tooth joined in the vocal protest, with Sandy offering a silent support.
Bunny was quieter with his protest. "Jack, you did that… after everything that we did? After everything that I did?"
Jack gave Bunny a soft quirk of his mouth. "It was the right thing to do. I know what it's like to be walked through; you shouldn't have had to deal with that." His eyes glimmered for another moment. Then his grin widened to and he threw his arms out to the sides. "Anyway, guys, I have some snow to deliver in Burgess, I'll see you later." He darted out an open window, leaving the awkwardness behind with the stunned others. He quickly wiped the traitorous tears from his eyes. "No, Wind, I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's just go see Jamie." Wind knew better, but carried him there anyway. Jamie would make him smile again.
Inside the Globe Room, Sandy turned to his fellow legends, a serious look on his face. The others immediately knew what he wanted. It was time for a LONG discussion on the virtues of being out with the kids, as well as a detailed report of EXACTLY what Sandy had missed that Easter.
They all dreaded it.
A/N: Hello, and thank you ever so much for your reading of my story. I appreciate it a large amount, you wonderful person, you! I would be even MORE appreciative if you left me a review telling me how you think I did. I welcome constructive criticism and adore positive reviews. However, I ask that you be courteous and polite with your reviews. Writing is hard, publishing is harder, but taking out the rude people who dare try to burn up what little confidence we can work up would be a pleasure. Seriously, think to yourself, "Would I like it if someone wrote this about my story?"
Anyway, sorry about that. I love you for reading this! REVIEW!