So, I made another one! My second ever fanfic! This one was a bit tougher at times to write, but I think it's because I was a bit sleep deprived during part of it. Sleep deprivation normally helps me some with art, but apparently writing is another story. I had to get up early on Sunday to teach the kiddos, and early does not do good things to me. I'm kinda nocturnal.
Oh, and thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I need to answer all the reviews still. I'm still trying to figure out how to get that bit to work because I'm new to this site. But thank you to everyone! The reviews encouraged me to keep this up for you guys. Special thanks to Aussie1 for the tips on how to improve Bunny's lines. I'm going to go implement you suggested changes now! Your suggestions were great!
But anyways, this story is heavily inspired by Regina Spektor's song Blue Lips. It's a wonderful song and I recommend giving it a listen.
"Blue lips, blue veins, blue
the color of our planet from far far away.
Blue lips, blue veins, blue
the color of our planet from far far away.
Blue
the most human color."
Regina Spektor, Blue Lips
Sometimes Jack missed the simplest things. Now that he could remember bits and pieces of his past life, he remembered some of the simple things that came along with being human. And he missed them. Often in the dead of night, when he felt like he was the last thing in the world awake, he would miss them so desperately that his chest would ache and his eyes would sting.
Not that his immortal life was all bad. Flight was amazing, a high of sensation. Frost's blood ran cold, like the night air itself was coursing through his veins. And when he was in the air, it wasn't as simple as being engulfed in night sky. It was like he was a part of the night sky, belonging to the winds every bit as much as one of his snowflakes.
But then again, humanity had such wonderful perks. Sometimes all he wanted was to be inside one of the little homes who's windows leaked heartwarming light. He wanted to sleep in a bed knowing that there was someone else in the next room. Some of the lonely nights spent drifting on the wind chilled his heart until it nearly cracked.
But most of all, he longed to simply feel human again. To touch his own skin and feel warmth underneath it. To look into his lake's reflective waters and not see a pale, dead face with nearly blue lips staring back.
Before, his complexion had always reminded him of snow and ice. It had made perfect sense. But now that he remembered his own demise, it brought to mind the mask of death itself. The face of one who had died with no air in his blood and no warmth in his bones. And it had begun to horrify him a bit.
xXx
It was spring in Burgess. The time of year Jack Frost dreaded the most. He had to leave his beloved home for another few seasons and wander the globe, calling a new frigid part of it home everyday. It was very annoying. He wanted to be in his home, not crashing in some random bit of tundra in Russia.
Then a thought occurred. Why not just stay? After all, he wanted so badly to be more human. To have the pink complexion and warm skin of a human. Maybe, just maybe, if he bore the warmth for a bit, the ice in his veins would melt. Maybe some of the pink would return to his cheeks and he could throw off the face he had worn since his death.
So Jack stayed in Burgess that year, leaving it, of course, on trips to other parts of the globe that needed snow days and snowball fights. He continued to call the town home, returning there for the little bits of sleep he required. And things went alright for a very short while.
But one day Jack awoke from the ground of the forest surrounding the town. He couldn't remember having gone to sleep there. And worse still, the sun glared down on him through a gap in the tree branches above, feeling as though it was going to burn off his very skin.
He groaned and rolled from his side onto his back. He could tell by the heat in the air that it was very late spring, if not already the beginning of summer. What he couldn't tell was how long he had been asleep, though when he tried to move, he swore it must have been days. His whole body ached with disuse and... with something else, too. He felt like he had come out on the wrong side of a fight with Bunnymund. He breathed a low moan and let the wind lift him to his feet. But the wind was much more sluggish in responding.
When he landed on his feet he yelped. They were raw, as was the rest of his skin. But, then again, his skin looked just a fraction pinker. He had done it! He had returned a bit of life and warmth to the chalk white mask. Sure, it hurt like crazy, and he felt a bit like his insides were on fire, but at least he felt warmth. At least he felt something besides the serene cold he had been reborn into.
But when he tried to fly, everything went wrong. He couldn't follow the wind's currents like he was used to. He absolutely couldn't stand how hot it was as it brushed against him. He tumbled to the ground, hard, somersaulting until coming to rest with his legs over his head. The fall knocked the air out of him, and he couldn't seem to get it back. He coughed and the heat of the air scalded his throat.
He tried to fly again and made it over the rooftops of Burgess. He knew he was in deep trouble now. He could barely breathe and every inch of him hurt. He had to get to Santoff Clausen. Had to get out of this heat. He had to find his new friends because he knew they would help him and...
Jack lost his grip on the wind and fell, a building's rooftop rushing up to greet him. Before it struck, he felt panic clench up his throat. He remembered that dying was also a very human thing. That he knew from experience.
xXx
"What the... Jack?!".
A soft female voice cut through the fog of pain. He felt small hands grabbing his shoulders to shake him awake. He winced. His skin was still raw, and even her slight touch felt like a million pinpricks.
"Jack, what's happened to you? You look awful!" it was Tooth. Her chirpy voice was pretty easy to place. He couldn't open his eyes to look at her, but he tried to respond to her question.
"I... I did something stupid, Tooth." he muttered. He heard her gasp.
"You're burning up! Even by normal standards, you feel hot." she laid a hand across his forehead, every inch a worried mother.
"I'm warm?" despite everything, he couldn't help but rejoice a bit.
"Yes, and your skin is so flushed! Jack, we have to get you out of here. It's much too warm for you here." Tooth fussed over him, fanning him with something. She held his head in her lap and brushed his hair, which was somehow wet, out of his face. "I'm going to fly you to Santoff Clausen, okay?".
"But Tooth, I can't leave my home." Jack felt his grip on reality slipping.
"Santoff Clausen is your home now, too. Besides, that doesn't matter. We've got to get you out of this heat. The North Pole is the best place for you." and though he felt her shiver at the prospect of the extreme cold, she draped one of his arms across her shoulders and took to the sky.
xXx
"Hang on, Jack, almost there!" Tooth grabbed for a better grip on his hoodie as he began to slip. He had been mostly unconscious for the whole trip, muttering in his sleep every so often. She glanced down at him, trying to reassure herself that he would make it to the pole. The unnatural heat seeping out of his skin had her extremely concerned. How had this happened? Jack should have moved on from Burgess a month or two ago. Surely he knew how dangerous it was for him to hang around.
They reached the window to North's office. It was closed and latched, but thankfully the large man slept in his chair on the other side, having nodded off while reviewing his list, no doubt. She rapped frantically on the glass until North awoke with a start and sprung from the desk chair. He glared around the room, as though expecting to be attacked, until he spotted Tooth and Jack at the window. He undid the latch and Tooth flung herself into the room before he would open the window. Her foot caught on the sill, however, and she and Jack both fell forward, spilling onto the carpet.
"What... What is going on?" North yelled in surprise.
"Jack's sick!" Tooth sprung up almost as soon as she hit the floor, flipping Jack onto his back to check for any more damage.
"Sick? Nonsense, guardians do not get sick." North laughed.
"Well, this one has issues with heat. He's not like us, North." she grabbed North by one massive shoulder and began pushing him over to Jack, insisting he take a look.
"This is very bad." North muttered. Tooth rolled her eyes. That was what she had been trying to tell him since entering the room. "We must get him cold again." he went to the door and called for the yetis, yelling something about a tub full of snow.
"Hang on, we're gonna get you some help." Tooth picked Jack back up from the rug and shuffled after North.
xXx
Jack moaned his way awake. He felt drugged and beaten. Breathing even hurt. But at least he was cold again. That was one small blessing. The very air around him was cool now, not nearly so fiery and hostile.
Then he realized he was laying in a tub of icy slush. He sighed in defeat. So this was where he truly belonged? Icy water was his new birthplace, and the only thing that had saved him in the end. He loved ice, truly. But humans couldn't thrive in ice. Life didn't thrive in ice. Only death called ice it's true home.
He finally concluded he was in Santoff Clausen. He remembered Tooth vaguely from the rooftop he had collapsed on, and he surmised that she must have brought him here. All of the windows in the room he found himself in were open, the strong wind of the North Pole rushing in to greet him. The wind lapped against his face, pushing his hair about, fretting over him just as Tooth had.
He really didn't want to leave the cool water, but he forced his way out of the tub anyway, his limbs almost audibly creaking. He stood and stumbled, grabbing the side of the tub for support. He wanted to find North, but maybe it might not be so easy.
He wandered through Santoff Clausen, leaning on his staff and narrowly dodging Yetis and elves lost in their work. He stumbled into Phil and was nearly crushed.
"Oh, hey Phil. Can you show me where North is?" he asked. Phil gave him a concerned glance, probably noting how down he seemed, but then proceeded to lead him to North. He was in his private room, the one filled with magnificent ice sculptures.
Jack gave a low, appreciative whistle as he entered the room. This was his favorite place in all of Santoff Clausen, the beautiful structures all formed from the one thing he was most familiar with. Even feeling as pensive as he currently did, the room stirred a small bit of wonder in him.
"Ah, Jack! Come! Have seat." North turned from his latest creation, an ice replica of Sandy himself, and offered Jack a chair made from ice. He himself took a seat in a normal chair. Jack sat just about as much as he ever did, meaning he perched nervously on the edge of the seat. Even sick, Jack Frost didn't sit and be still much.
"Now, Jack, I have to ask you something. Why stay in Burgess for Spring and Summer? If Tooth had not been collecting teeth there you might have been lost." North gazed at him with the sort of eyes that demanded a proper answer. Jack shifted uncomfortably on the edge of his chair.
"Um, first, do you have a mirror?" Jack asked, remembering something he had forgotten.
"Yeeees." North said slowly, giving him a confused scowl. He rose from his chair and brought Jack a beautiful mirror framed in an ice setting. Jack brought it before his face, then sighed. His features were once again pale, his lips tinted a slight blue.
"What is wrong? You do not look nearly so sick now. Cheer up!" the smile North was giving him didn't lift his spirits in the slightest.
"Nothing, it's stupid." he replied. North looked at him hard once again, and he finally caved. "It's just... I'm so pale. I look... like... like a corpse." he struggled with the last bit, having never admitted it out loud before, "I just wanted to look human again.".
"Is that why you stayed in Burgess?" North asked.
"Yeah, I just thought if I got warm enough I might come back to life a little. I just wanted to see something besides pale skin and blue lips, you know?" he put his head in his hands, shaking it mournfully, "It really was stupid. I'm dead. I just need to accept it.".
Then he felt something warm and heavy and soft on his shoulder. He looked up to find North's rather large hand trying to ground him. The Russian gave him a smile. Literally gave him a smile, smiles from North being better than any other gift the man gave.
"Jack, you died, yes. But you came back. You came back as new and wonderful thing in world. You should not be ashamed of your own face." North's hand moved to his head and ruffled white hair. "You died a hero. Your death was rare and beautiful thing. A death that saved another's life. Yes, your face is face of your death. But is also face of your rebirth. Face of a legend and hero to children across globe, and hero to little sister. You should wear face of your death with pride, like a badge. Is face of so much more." North laughed softly, then looked away, as Jack felt himself tearing up a bit. He glanced back in the mirror and was not nearly so distressed by what he found there.
"North?" he asked.
"Yes?" North looked back up.
"Am I still human, then?".
North thought for moment. "Yes, you are still human. But so much more, too. You are a Guardian. You have been since death.".
Jack had to think for a moment as well, his mind clicking around everything North had said. Then he grinned up at the Russian, "You know what? I don't think I'll ever regret what happened that day again. After all, I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't died. And you're one of the best friends anyone could ask for.".
It was North's turn to look a bit touched, and he obliged.
xXx
Later that night, Jack rested in a tub full of fresh snow. Every window to the outside was still thrown open. The wind drifted into the room and brushed against him gleefully, happy to see a smile back on his face. He fell asleep, content in knowing that one of his best friends was just a few rooms over.
This story was so much more serious than the first. I really had to work to keep myself from going into super melodrama mode. But it was fun. Thank you for reading! I welcome all reviews, especially constructive criticism.