Riding the winds Jack flew furiously; the currents breaking scientific barriers. He didn't care in the slightest.
The mop of brown and sparkling eyes could be recognized halfway across the globe – did his mind deceive him? Was his psyche so demented from the pain of the loss that he configured a false Jamie to deal with the trauma?
Part of him, a small inkling stored in a crevice in his brain, hoped that was true, but it was soon scattered like a snowflake in the wind.
What he wouldn't give to see him once again – bubbling and gleeful in his youth.
As fast as he was flying, it was no surprise when he stumbled across North's domain in next to no time.
Thoughts of courtesy aside, and possibly a simpler entrance, Jack promptly crashed through a window, sending iridescent shards throughout the workshop. Elves scattered and bumped into each other in haste to avoid the shower of shards. Yetis merely glanced upward as the sharp glass bounced off their firm skin.
Jack landed with a firm thump on his feet – a slight insanity fevered his eyes. He was drugged with the thought of Jamie.
"What in the name of Christmas is goin' on here?!" Thundered a deep voice as North marched in the room, he paused in his steps at the sight of the shattered window – his eyes grew even wider at the sight of Jack. "Jack Frost just what is it that you think you're doing?"
Never one to beat around the bush, Jack breathed deeply before asking, "Jamie- was that him?" His voice was bitter and cold as a snow drift.
North paused a second before answering, "You'd better come with me boy." He gestured with a flick of his wrist, and walked out of the room without another word.
Jack, angry at the lack of response, marched afterward. "Hey! I asked you a question and I better get an answer!" Jack was furious – he never insulted North. After the incident with Pitch he had gained a slight reverence for the elder, but anger often hazed the minds of ones already quivering on the edge of a cliff fall.
North abruptly halted, Jack thumped into his back at the sudden stop in motion. "Now listen here," North said, his voice uncharacteristically low, "you've worked your way off the naughty list, but you're just about to make it back on, boy. Now do as I say and follow me."
Jack huffed indignantly, but followed behind, stewing in his frustration.
North led them in silence through corridors – the tension was nearly palpable.
Suddenly they came upon the heart of the workshop – the epicenter of the world. Jack looked up at the glowing lights on the rotating globe. If he weren't so frustrated, he would have smiled lightly. It always caused him to smile whenever he saw a child that believed.
Raised on a platform was a pillar illuminated by the moonlight. Omniscient and silent, the Man in the Moon sat above, bathing the room in his glow.
North led them up the stairs to stand beside the pillar and stared at Jack expectantly – calculating and analytical.
"What?" Jack asked, wondering what it was he was missing.
"Look at the figure, Jack. Who is it that you see?"
Jack's pewter-blue eyes took in the human figure – oh how familiar that figure was. Even in a form of a hologram, the earthy eyes sparkled. "Is that…but…why?"
North breathed deeply, not tearing his gaze away from the illusion of Jamie. "Yes, Jack, that is Jamie. The Man in the Moon has chosen him. There is a new Guardian."
Jack blinked once, then twice, and then he began to laugh. North's eyes widened in shock. Jack struggled to keep himself upright as bubbles of laughter spilled over his lips. Tears began to pool in his eyes from the force. "Oh man…" Jack struggled to say. "That is one sick joke you guys are playing on me."
North could only stare as Jack crumbled under insanity. "Jack, I assure you this is no joke. The initiation ceremony has already taken place. We sent Bunny to come get you for it, but you were gone."
Jack wiped away a stray tear as the bubbles subdued to small chuckles.
"Do you want to see him?" North asked a redundant question.
Jack let out a bark of laughter – one single burst. "Sure, I'll play along for now." And he followed North, who was giving him a wary glance, down another hallway.
Jack's actions confused him. Just moments ago he was so sure, even through the haze of confusion, that Jamie was alive. He had seen the evidence, seen the breath he exhaled fog the air. And there was North, one of his most trusted comrades, saying from his lips that Jamie was alive – a Guardian even.
So why, with the hope and evidence weighing his mind, could he not believe it?
"Tooth, Bunymund, and Sandy have all left. I thought it would be best if you had this meeting to yourselves." North had led them to the door of his office. Jack glanced over it warily. He breathed resolutely, pushed past North, and opened the door to his office with a bang.
Two tiny elves scuttled around the floor, a tray of cookies dispersed between them. They chatted animatedly as if not sensing the mood.
Sitting at North's desk with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes was a boy of around fifteen years of age. His shining eyes watched as the elves scurried around one another, attempting to see who could stuff their cheeks with the most cookies.
Jack found his eyes glued to the boy – it was the same one that had been stuffed into the sack. The face was mostly devoid of baby fat and the hair a little longer and scruffier, but there was no denying he resembled the boy who believed.
"Is that…are you…" Jack failed to find words.
The boy behind his desk glanced up in shock – he had been too entranced by the little elves to notice the door slamming open.
When earth met ice, time stopped. The boy behind the desk, having no memories, felt a sudden tug at his subconscious at the sight.
"I'll leave you two to be," mumbled North, glaring at the elves who promptly scurried out the door. It closed with a small click behind him.
Jack felt he could drink in the sight like water. The boy before him radiated youth and health – innocence and purity. "Jamie?" He asked warily, "Is that you?"
The one proclaimed to be Jamie waited a beat before replying, allowing his scattered thoughts to form together in somewhat coherence. "I don't know who I am," he replied.
Jack furrowed his brows together in confusion. "If you're a Guardian, then the Man in the Moon should have told you your name. That's what he told me…that's all he ever told me." He moved to sit cross legged on the desk.
Jamie found he couldn't tear his gaze away from Jack. "I heard from the moon when I woke up."
"What did he say?" Jack asked eagerly.
"He told me…" Jamie seemed lost in thought. "You are innocence."
"You are innocence…" Jack repeated to himself. "No name? No clue as to who you are?"
Jamie shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "I don't know anything about myself…"
Jack felt sympathetic for the boy – he knew all too well how that felt. "I know how you feel. For three hundred years I didn't know who I was, but the Man in the Moon at least told me my name."
"You didn't remember?" Jamie asked, "How did you figure it out?"
"I used my old teeth to…my teeth…that's it!" Jack hopped up off the table. "If you really are Jamie then we'll know by your teeth!"
"I…what?"Jamie asked incredulously, knitting his eyebrows together.
Jack reached over the desk and clasped Jamie's hand in his own. With a violent yank Jamie was sent flying over the desk and in tow behind Jack. "We're getting your memories!" Jack's eyes were warm once again. His cheeks, though pale as the snow, held a slight flush of color that only appeared in certain situations. He had hope.
Jamie had no choice but to follow as Jack whisked them through the workshop, past dazed elves and a stunned North. The elder's cries echoed behind them, but Jack cared little. In a swift bound Jack sent them through the broken window and soaring to the skies.
And in that moment, they were free.
The wind lapped at their cheeks and the snow swirled past them in a blur, but despite the frigid temperature, neither felt the bite. They were warm – they were safe.
Jack couldn't help but smirk as a tinkling laugh filled the air. He glanced behind to see Jamie's eyes widened in unprecedented glee and elation. The little bubbles of laughter that slipped past his lips was like a symphony. Then, Jack knew. He hadn't been lied to, his eyes didn't deceive him. It was Jamie's hand he was holding. It was Jamie's warmth that radiated into him. Jamie was there, alive. The Man in the Moon had saved him.
All too soon they were at Jack's frozen pond overlooking the quaint little town. "Do you recognize this place?"Jack asked as they stepped barefoot into the snow.
Jamie glanced over the hills. "I came here earlier today, and I feel like I should know it."
"This is where you lived your entire life," explained Jack. "This is where we met."
Jamie's gaze turned to Jack. "We knew each other before?"
Jack smiled in remembrance. "We did. You were the first person to see me – one of my first real friends."
"Friends?" Jamie questioned, and then his face broke into a smile. He liked the sound of that. "But how-"
"Your teeth," Jack interrupted. He was growing impatient. The process would expedite with them.
"Oh, right," Jamie caught himself. "You have them?"
Jack nodded and explained everything about memories and the Tooth Fairy. Jamie drank in every word as if it were a glass of ice water on a blistering summer's day.
"I left them somewhere around here…" Jack said to himself as his eyes scanned over the pond. He dug through snow and checked underneath bushes to try to find the golden cartridge. It shouldn't have been that difficult. It was a fleck of gold in pristine white – it should have beckoned to them like a siren.
Eventually Jack grew so frustrated he was forced to resort to unearthing shrubbery. Jamie was about to raise a hand to stop him before Jack released a frustrated cry.
"Jack, what is it?" Jamie asked.
"They're-" Jack glanced around in disbelief. "They're gone."
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