Hello guys, sorry for the delay but in these days life got me very busy. And this was supposed to be posted a few days ago, but like I said before I'm so sorry. This chapter I have been writing it in my lunchtime in school. I think the next update is going to be in two weeks more, so please be patient with me. Enjoy the reading!

PS: Thanks to all the persons who are favoriting/following this story and the ones who posted reviews are amazing. Reviews are really appreciated it (like always)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from "Rise of the Guardians"


Update 01/10/17: This chapter was beta-read done by Salty Candy.


Previously:

"No!" The lost boy shouted and looked up at the huge man. He took deep breaths and steeled himself. "My name is Jack." He proclaimed, suddenly full of security, "Jack Frost." He spoke out loud the full name that the moon had given him, and for once in the whole course of his life, he remembered. It felt good.


Jack was afraid. He felt terror all throughout his body as he stood opposite to this strangely dressed giant man. Time seemed to have stopped as he reminisced on how exactly did he got himself on this situation.

This started when he heard a sound that carries great intensity in the distance. It was like a thing that crashed with something heavier. His cerulean eyes shot open. His body automatically followed through with a sudden jump. He instinctively put a hand on the staff. In one jump from the heights of the tree, he fell down quicker. Quicker than even he would expect. He would've fallen on his face if not for his knees and hands cushioning his fall. So, he stayed on his crouched position, commanding more alertness from his senses. He wanted to know what exactly was happening.

He stayed like that for a few more minutes until he heard another sound that seemed suspicious; the hard rustling of branches. He assumed that it was because someone walked, treading near him. Curiosity told Jack to stand up from the snow and find the culprit. He started to walk in the direction where all the disturbing sound was coming from.

He was fast on his feet. The only thing that guided him through the dark was the lingering sound through the woods. He suddenly stopped on his tracks the moment some species of reindeer enter his line of sight. He looked at them confused yet shifted his eyes on a more amazing feat. A giant sled, sitting under a tree. He gaped at how different it was from the ones kids use to slide on mountains. Even with the obvious damage, it was still marvelous to look at. He was utterly impressed at the unusual sight. This didn't last too long though, for his blue orbs caught sight of an old man wearing weird clothes, observing the same thing that appealed his eyes, albeit more closely.

The man didn't saw him at first. He was hidden behind a tree trunk before the larger man turned around. Jack put both of his arms around his staff, keeping it close to his chest. He didn't know what to do.

He spent half a minute wavering whether to move and face the guy or to stay silent and leave. It was a fight or flight situation and it was his first one. He concluded that the old man could not see him since he was still preoccupied. He slowly peeked on one side of the tree to know where that man was now. Jack saw him reviewing something on the sleigh and decided that was the perfect time to go. But he was still hesitating. He took a few deep breaths and tightened his grip on his staff. He didn't move. He wasn't sure why he was so anxious about this suddenly. Maybe his subconscious was warning him. But he didn't listen to it; he didn't care because, at the same time, he was enthusiastic. Indeed, he was determined. He came out of the place where he was hiding. He walked oh so carefully as to not alert the man of his presence. He figured that the other person somehow heard him. Jack didn't have time to blink. In just a few seconds, the old man had swords in both his hands. He was terrified. Jack felt scared not because of the weapons the man had, but because he could see him.

The feeling was overwhelming for Jack. No one had ever seen him before, except for well. animals. To his grimace, they usually try to eat or kill him. And now, there's this man who could not only see him but was also talking to him. Talking to him. He froze. The only person - creature, intelligent being, or the like - that had ever said something to him was the moon.

Jack felt that he was going to explode from happiness, tears formed in his eyes. Yet he pushed them away, it couldn't be possible. He felt like it was only just a dream or his mind was playing tricks with his head. So many years of loneliness filled him with doubts. The old man kept talking and Jack found himself unable to answer for a while. He decided to finally word his thoughts for the first question, followed by another silence.

Jack shivered uncomfortably but it wasn't because of the cold breeze.

"Are you cold?" His company asked worriedly.

Jack replied with a frown. He was used to be around that breeze. The breeze that was actually strong enough to kill many people, but not him. For some reason, he was able to withstand it without effort. And, now, for the first time in his life, someone actually asked him if he was cold. He could only shake his head at the unusual question. Jack Frost should never be cold.

"I'm fine," he muttered between teeth. After a few seconds, Jack looked into the eyes of the old man. "But... who are you?" he asked concerned.

A loud laugh filled the air with joy, Jack felt embarrassed because the old man kept laughing and he didn't even say a joke. He was, in fact, very serious.

The old man stopped and took breaths. "It's Santa Claus, but you can call me North." The man, now known as North, answered with a huge smile. But his gaze quickly changed to a serious one. It was so serious that the young snow-haired was intimidated, in spite himself. "Where are your parents or family? I can help you reach your home."

The tone in his voice was still the same. It was as if he knew that if he made it any more serious than it already was, Jack might run away. But that question made him doubt himself again. The word parents or anything related to family never made him feel good. In all those years, he never questioned where his true home was. But after thinking about it, he bit his lower lip. "You can't take me home" he mumbled out.

North looked at the younger form suspiciously. "Why?" he didn't want to force questions on the child but he wanted to help him. Jack only remained in silence for a few minutes with his gaze down.

Jack just realized that he lost grip on his staff. He suddenly felt defenseless in front of North. Jack only raised his head up to meet North's bright blue eyes. For a moment, he was amused. He thought he was imagining things. For a second, he thought he saw North's worried face mixed with other emotions.

"Why iz that?" North repeated his question, his Russian-accent more obvious than before. He had a feeling that the boy didn't have a family but he wanted to be sure before doing anything that he might regret. He needed to help the boy more than anything else. But Jack didn't want to talk, so North put both of his immense hands on Jack's shoulders. They were slimmer so his hands covered the whole area. "Jack, please." He begged and kept his gaze on the boy's face.

Jack didn't think that North was a bad man. On the contrary, in the few minutes that he had known him, he thought that North was someone with heart of gold. Though the huge man was the first person who was able to talk to him in all the time around he had been here, there was a possibility of trust in him. Jack knew that North wanted to help him. But he didn't even know how to express his feelings to other people because of the lack of communication over these years. The only person that had been listening to all his complaints was the man in the moon and he wasn't even sure if he was really paying attention or not. He shifted uncomfortably at the touch of North in his shoulders. It was weird. He never felt real contact before. Everyone just ignored him, passing through his body. They couldn't even see him. Just like, he was a ghost or something related to that.

Jack sighed and answered. "I don't know" he felt a lump in his throat, his mouth dry.

He saw North about to speak but he stopped him by raising his index finger and continued speaking, "Let me finish." Jack muttered and looked at him seriously. The older man just closed his mouth and nodded silently. "I don't remember where I am from or where I came from." He took deep breaths. "It sounds weird and I know it, but the only thing I know is my name." Jack walked a few steps away from North and started to walk from one corner to another as he talks. "I don't know if I have a family or if I ever had a family." He stopped his tracks for a moment to look at North that was looking at him with compassion, Jack rubbed his temples and closed his eyes with anger. "In my whole life, no one ever cared for me. The only place that is the closest to call home is here." Jack raised his arms higher on his sides. He then turned around to make emphasis, "And even here is not safe, it's like the world is making fun of me." He felt tears stinging his eyes but still, he gave a small laugh full of sarcasm and stood in front of North. "But you don't understand." Jack shook his head and lowered his head to see the white snow on the ground. "Nobody ever did." Jack put his arms at his sides and clenched his fists. "You see, North.." He dragged his words and he found his voice breaking, yet he was trying so hard to maintain his composure. "My life is full of..." He took a few breathes before he continued. "Pain." Jack put his right hand on his heart. "And I don't know any other feeling than pain." His voice finally cracked and Jack could feel one tear sliding down his face. Suddenly, a sob came out of his mouth and he couldn't stop it, he felt like he was falling apart. Finally, after all this time he could say the truth out loud and it felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

North was in silence, this boy was crying hard in front of him and for the first time in a while he was speechless. He didn't know what to say to calm him down.

For some reason, North was there standing, watching Jack cry for several minutes. All of a sudden, Jack was having a panic attack. At that moment, North reached out to him. He put him close and hugged him tightly. He felt pity for the pint-sized white-haired boy. He just wanted to hug him in his arms forever.

Jack gasped when he felt North's arms around him, at first he was going to divide the strong arms around him but then, Jack returned the hug. He snuggled back into the warm comfort with an urgent need to forget all those years of isolation.

They stayed like that for several minutes. North felt the boy finally having regular breathing, he was relaxed now. He couldn't let Jack be by himself again anymore. There was something special about this kid. He thought of an idea.