Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, or any media I may refer to in future chapters. They belong to their rightful owners, I am just using them for entertainment.

Underneath

First Frosts

-Dream Sequence-

Unlike most people who dream of anything your imagination can come up with, or what Sandy decides to give you. We immortals dream of our memories. It's like watching TV, but having no control of the remote. We see things that have happened while we have been reborn.

It was the sights, sounds and the goldfish look on Jamie's face, that told me that this was a memory of the first Christmas after becoming a Guardian. Jamie is now 11. He was in school when I saw myself going to Burgess, after making a quick stop by my lake to freeze it over then went on my search for the boy. When I did find him, he was in the school yard, building forts with his friends. I remember thinking this it would be the perfect opportunity to re-enact our first meeting, not that he really knew. I gathered enough snow in my hand to form a perfect snowball, lightly blowing a bit of magic on it. Just when he wasn't looking, the ball went soaring through the air, hitting him in the back of the head. It caused him to lose his balance and land head first in a snow bank. Now how did that get there? When he got up, he went to yell at one of his classmates until his eyes met mine. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, seeing Jamie again. After he just stood there staring at me, I waved.

"Jack! You came!" Jamie came running at me, kids around him, looking at him in confusion. Jamie tackled me to the ground, snow flying everywhere. Then it was like, one by one, each child around us began to see me. It was always Jamie to show everyone that I was real, that I was able to be seen. We ended up having a massive snowball fight, all the children vs. me. Jamie was so ecstatic when he was the only one to land a hit on me. I must confess, I was impressed.
When the school bell rang I promised Jamie I would see him again at Christmas. His eyes lit up in happiness and he had the biggest smile I ever saw on him.

Returning to Burgess, just as the clock struck midnight on Christmas, I was running late due to North's request of wanting a white Christmas everywhere. Not easy task making a light dusting of snow in Australia.

When I arrived at Jamie's place I noticed North already delivered his presents and that everyone was already asleep. Quietly I opened Jamie's window and entered his room. Walking over to his bed and crouching so I was eye level.

"Jamie, Jamie wake up" I lightly shook him awake.

"Jack?" Slowly his eyes opened to peer at me in the darkness of his room.

"Hey Kiddo, Merry Christmas! Sorry I am so late." I felt bad for almost breaking a promise.

"I knew you would be here Jack. Merry Christm- OH!" He got up quickly from his bed to his desk. I can hear him muttering to himself.

"Where did I put-Ah! There!" He comes back with a small rectangular gift and holds it out to me.

"Merry Christmas Jack" I was shocked, I've never been given a gift since I've been reborn. I just stood there, starting at it.

"Well, are you going to open it? I know it isn't much but I made it" That seemed to have snapped me back into reality, and I began tearing at the wrapping to find a canvas. It's a painting of me. I'm holding my staff, surrounded by snowflakes. The kid has obviously got better in the several months we haven't seen each other. I felt him move beside me, with his hands clenched together near his chest. A sign that I noticed he did when he was nervous or afraid. Snapping out of my shock.

"Jamie, this is amazing! Thank you!" I lowered down to my knees to give him a small embrace of thanks, I felt him relax after hearing that I enjoyed his gift.

" Oh, before I forget" I reached into my pocket to pull out a small cube of a gift and placed it in Jamie's hand. He looked at me with curiosity and looked back to the gift. He took the ribbon off the top and opened the small box. The look of awe on his face, as he pulled out the fragile chain that had a very intricate pendant dangling.

"Jack, I-It's so cool!" He jumped up excitedly in my arms.

"This is a very special gift Jamie." I picked him up and sat him on the bed beside me.

"You see here?" I said pointing to the material that was shaped to the exact image of my staff.

"This is a mineral called Onyx."

"Like the Pokemon?"

"Poke-what?" I laughed after realizing what he said.

"No, they have the same name but this Onyx, it's said that it will protect the person that carries it. Now look at the snowflake that dangles in the curve of my staff. That is Crystal, it is said that it will purify any evil that comes to the person that carries it. Inside that snowflake has a bit of my magic in it. That way, no matter what, a part of me will always be with you. It's just something so you can remember me"

I saw him hold it up to get a closer look. It glittered in the light shining from the moon outside his window. It was a beautiful gift, Phil outdid himself. I'm just glad I got the materials he needed in time to make it.
Jamie turned to face me, holding the necklace out.

"Thank you Jack! Can you help me put it on?"

"Sure." I took the necklace from him and motioned for him to turn around. I lifted it above his head and clasped it securely around his neck. He turned to look at me again.

"I'm never going to it off!" Just looking at how happy he was, I started to see his image shift.

He looked a bit older and his sister was in the room.

"Jack! I can't believe it! We get to see Santa's Shop!" I get it now, this is a year later, Jamie is now 12, Sophie has just turned 7.

The kid managed to con me into taking him and Sophie to North's Shop over a card game of 'Go Fish'. I may be the king of Fun and Snow times, but I got my butt handed to me by these two in this game. Note to self, don't gamble with kids when Santa's Shop is on the line.

Luckily it was still a month before Christmas, or else I think I would have been in huge trouble. We ended up using one of North's snow globes. I didn't think it would be very smart to try and fly on the winds with two kids. When we arrive, Sophie was the first to disappear to search for Bunny. I started to tell Jamie all about the shop, when I realized he too, was gone to explore.

"Ankle biter! How? What? JACK!" Looks like Sophie found Bunny, and judging on the amount of paint on him, he must have been painting some new egg designs.

Phil walked afterwards with Jamie hanging by his ankle upside down in Phil's strong grip. He wasn't harmed, if his laugh was any indication, he was having a blast. I flew over to Jamie, just in time for Phil to drop him in my arms. By then Tooth, Sandy and North showed up to find out what all the commotion was.
I got an ear full from everyone for bringing kids to the shop.

"But if it wasn't for Jamie, none of us would even be here. So can you really tell me that bringing them to visit for a short bit is a really bad thing?" I pleaded to them.

I could see them all exchange looks in understanding. North then ordered hot chocolate and cookies for everyone. We played games, told stories and generally had a good time. By the time it was time to go back, Sophie was already asleep in Bunny's arms and Jamie was fighting to stay awake. Bunny offered to help bring them back. Though you could tell he wasn't quite ready yet to let go of Sophie. Gathering Jamie in my arms, we used one of North's snow globe to bring them home. I carefully got Jamie into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Jack?" I felt a tug on my hoody, looking down I saw that he had the hem in his grasp.

"Jamie" I sat on the side of his bed, using my hand to ruffle his hair. Noticing a shift, blinking away the mesh of colors.

Looking down at Jamie again, his hair was longer and his eyes were blurry.
Hearing a haggard cough, I noticed that it was coming from Jamie. Footsteps were heard in the hallway, I felt myself freeze in anticipation. His mom entered the room, she didn't see me sitting on her son's bed.

"Jamie? How are you feeling?" She asked going to window to close it, then coming to the other side of the bed that I wasn't on. Placing a hand on his forehead.
Her only response was coughing. She then grabbed a thermometer and asked Jamie to place it in him mouth. After a few moments, it beeped, signalling it was done.
From the look on her face, she was worried and scared. She sighed.

"We need to break this fever, or else I'll have to bring you to the Hospital. I'll go get you a cold face cloth and an ice pack. Be back in a moment, sweetie." She stated as she was leaving the room.

Within moments, she returned with the items, placing the ice pack wrapped in a towel by his feet, and the cloth on his forehead.

"Call if you need anything, in the meantime get some rest, I'll check on you again soon."
I stayed with Jamie all night. He woke up briefly, he looked so frail. It hurt to see him so sick.

"Jack, I don't want to go to the Hospital." He tried to talk more but his coughing didn't allow him to. I checked on the cloth on his head to find it warm. Just like his mom said, we had to cool him down. I lifted the blanket he was under and crawled in beside him. Within seconds, he was curled beside me in my arms. He was hot to the touch, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I never felt so comfortable and as strange as it may be, safe.

"Jack" His eyes gazing into my own.

"Shh, I'm here, just get some sleep." I rested my forehead against his. I could hear the roughness in his breathing even out, telling me that he finally fell asleep.
By morning he was all better, no fever and his cough died down. His mom was happy to see that he was doing better. When his mom left the room, I found myself with an armful of Jamie.

"Thank you Jack!" His voice was still raspy but his laughter was still contagious.

"Anytime Kiddo. You know I would never let anything happen to you." Placing his feet back onto the floor.

"Is it because I was the last light?" Shock was the only feeling, I was feeling.

"No Jamie, it's because you saved me." I sat on the bed and patted the spot beside me. With some coaxing, he sat down and faced me. Curiosity, written all over his face.

"What do you mean Jack? How could I have saved you?"

"You saved me from solitude, and you saved me from myself. Jamie, before I met you, I wasn't always a happy guy. A lot of the time I was angry and destructive. I didn't know who I was besides Jack Frost, or why I was put here."

"Jack I-" I interrupted him by telling him that I will tell him more of my story another day, when he wasn't still so sick. I was tucking him back into bed when everything began to shift again.

"What's wrong Jamie?" Jamie, was sitting on the steps outside his house, sniffling.

"Jack! What are you doing here?" He quickly moved his arm to wipe his eyes. Trying to hide the tears.

"No way, I asked first. Why are you crying?"

"Found out my grandfather died. Mom just told us." Not knowing what else to do, I pulled Jamie close and let him cry.

"Tell me about him, Jamie." And with that he began to tell me stories on how his dad and grandpa would always argue on which instrument Jamie would like more. The piano like his dad, or the guitar like his grandpa. Jamie said that since he didn't like watching them fight over something so silly, he told them that he was going to learn both.

" Jamie! That was- wow! I can't even express what you did just there!" Hearing my own voice, we shifted again, the memories are starting to speed up.

This time I was visiting Jamie, before I headed North for some Canadian winter. As I arrived to his home, I found him at the family piano in the living room. He was pressing away at the keys in this incredible melody. At that moment, I realized how at awe I was with this boy. He must have sensed me, because he stopped playing, and looked directly at me. Rushing for the window, he opened it wide enough to let me in.

"Where did you learn to play that Jamie?" Must have been the lighting, because I swore I saw him blush.

"I've been taking piano lessons since I was 5, it was my dad's idea, before he died. He loved music, so I keep up with it. It makes it seem like he is there playing it with me."
Something about those words warmed me, I enjoyed listening to stories Jamie told me about his family and adventures.

"What song were you playing? I've never heard anything like it before." I moved closer to the piano to see this instrument for myself. Jamie moved to sit at the bench again and motioned for me to do the same. Side by side we sat there.

"It was called Pieces by a band called Red. It has a lot of guitar in it after the piano, but I'm trying to master this part, since I already know the guitar part." Intrigued, I asked him to show me.

Getting up from the bench, he went to grab the guitar from the stand in the corner beside the piano. Placing the strap over his head, my sight caught the glitter of the pendant I got him. All I did was smile. He sat on the couch across from me and began to play. After a few cords, he began to sing.

I'm here again
A thousand miles away from you
A broken mess, just scattered pieces of who I am
I tried so hard
Thought I could do this on my own
I've lost so much along the way

Then I see your face
I know I'm finally yours
I find everything I thought I lost before
You call my name
I come to you in pieces
So you can make me whole

I was frozen, just listening to him sing and the words, the words spoke volumes. I couldn't help but to relate to them on all levels. Jamie...He understood me, better then I knew myself. Jamie...

Jack woke up to see an elf staring at him.
"So you finally thawed out. If you don't leave me alone, you'll find yourself frozen again." Just like that, all elves in hearing range were gone. Jack grabs his book, opening it to where he left off to write about the dream of memories he had. Once he is done, he closes it again, takes the hood off of his head, and runs a hand through his hair. He sighs in remembrance.
"That was all before everything changed."

-To Be Continued in Chapter 2- No Apologies. Release Date: April 27th-