Ice Cubes

Summary: Because Valentine's isn't just a day for couples. It's a day for families too.

Valentine's Day

Jack swung his staff as he froze dew drops hanging off the leaves of plants and trees. The sun was rising and the winter spirit stopped to admire the great big ball of fire and in the process, maybe even feel the warmth of the sun rays touching his forever pale skin.

"Oh it's so pretty!" A woman's voice made the young guardian turn abruptly. Blue eyes widened when he spotted a couple below him. They were bundled up because of the cold morning air and holding hands as they gazed up at the spectacle of the rising sun.

"The icicles make the sunrise even better." The man chuckled as he looked at the woman. "I guess we have to thank Jack Frost for that." He said jokingly as he leaned towards his companion. The girl smiled at the other's statement.

Jack looked away pointedly as the two's lips met, a small but sad smile on his face.

Visitors like these were usually uncommon if it was any other time of the year. But then again, today was Valentine's, so Jack had better be prepared for another corny set of couples when he goes to do his rounds around the world.

Waving his staff once more, the young spirit decided to bless this couple's love with a small snowfall that emphasized every unique snowflake he had ever designed. He softly murmured to the wind to take him away just as he heard the couple's exclamations of happiness and surprise at Jack's gift.

"Valentine's, huh?" Jack thought out loud as he gazed blankly at the expanse of sky before him.

If he had been like anything he was a few years ago, he would've done everything he could to mess up the season of love. He was bitter and frustrated, and so very very lonely, that he somewhat felt comforted at the indignant yells and protests of every couple he messed with.

But now…

Now, he just felt sad.

An echoing sadness, emptiness, and loneliness in his very being, his very core.

The white-haired spirit sighed as the wind finally let him down on top of a sturdy branch. The youngest guardian shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable.

He was going to be hiding out for awhile and he had to keep a constant move if he didn't want any of the guardians finding him.

But then you might wonder, why was he avoiding them? And on the day of love for that matter?

Well- Jack pursed his lips in frustration- it was his fault for having high hopes in the first place.

Jack had spent the night at North's for once, a rare occurrence that made the old man jolly. His reaction to Jack's slightly shy request on spending the night was so heartwarming that Jack began to hope a little…

To hope that he would spend Valentine's day with someone for a change. To smile and joke, and comment on how corny couples get during that particular day. To laugh out loud without hearing the harsh echoes of his own voice as he is surrounded by trees and people that don't see him.

To give gifts that symbolized appreciation…

… and love.

Jack had prepared gifts of course.

He couldn't make chocolates since no one had ever taught him to do it. And spring flowers were out of the question since they'd freeze when he touched them, and Jack doubted that Bunny would be happy in seeing a frozen flower as a gift.

But winter flowers were a different case.

Valentine's, after all, was the holiday of chocolates and flowers.

Christmas cacti for North, with beautiful colorful Christmas flowers he thought suited the jolly man that was the very being of the holiday. Jack had been frosting over one of the coldest desserts (at night) when he found the plant growing under the shade of a rock.

African Violets for Tooth, Jack had thought of her eyes when he saw these eye-catching violets in the African forests during their coldest months.

Winter Aconites for Bunny, they looked like spring flowers to Jack when he first saw them in Europe. The bright yellow colors made the winter spirit smile as he thought of hope and life.

And finally, Primula or primerose flowers for the ever patient Sandman. Their gentle coloring reminded Jack of the oldest and most silent of the guardians. He had found these gentle flowers in good old Britain as he tried to make the haughty people relax a bit during winter.

These flowers were special. They didn't freeze or die in Jack's touch, but rather their colors sharpened and came out brighter when he held them, as though his touch was giving them life. He had carefully pruned them ever since he found these different species of winter blossoms.

He had wrapped them as bouquets with fancy wrapping and fragile paper he saw people use when making bouquets. And he used blue ribbons instead of red to tie them up because he felt like Valentine's needed more blue than red that year.

And in each bouquet for his friends, he placed a galanthus in the middle. A snowdrop flower he found growing in Ireland in one of his exploits. They were as white as freshly fallen snow and the way the flowers or bulbs faced the ground, reminded Jack of himself before he met the guardians.

One way or another, the little troublemaker had somehow managed to sneak his small gifts inside North's workshop without being seen.

And so, in the morning of Valentine's, Jack had happily glided towards the globe room with his presents and staff behind his back. He had heard from Phil that the three other guardians were there with North, and it never crossed Jack's mind as to why he wasn't invited into the guardians' private meeting.

He was too happy at the thought that he'd get to spend Valentine's with North and the others, to notice.

"Hey guys!" Jack laughed airily as the wind blew open the door, shocking the people inside the room. Jack was gliding about, a beatific smile on his face, full of glee as pure and simple happiness radiated from him.

"O-Oh, Jack!" Tooth was the first to state his name. There was shock and uncertainty in her voice but Jack didn't notice. He was too busy looking at the others with blue eyes alight at seeing them together. "W-What brings you here?"

"Hm, well I heard you guys were here for some reason and I came to see what you were up to!" Jack laughed as he neared the four guardians who stepped back at his sudden approach.

This time, Jack did notice their reluctance and he landed softly on the floor to give them a curious look.

"Guys?" He asked in a careful voice and Sandy threw his arms up trying to make an excuse for their behaviors.

He flashed a sign of an arrow that pointed to the door. And Jack's eyebrows rose and his eyes dimmed as he got what the sandman meant. Jack's grip on the gifts behind him slackened.

"Y-You want me to leave?" He said in a soft tone and if the guardians weren't so frantic they would've noticed the hurt in his tone.

"Ah, we are not trying to get rid of you, my boy! Oh no!" North said with a hesitant laugh that made Jack flinch. "But yes, it is better if you leave… for now. W-We have so many things to discuss and all!"

Jack shifted in his stance, uncomfortable that he was on the ground, but with his mixed emotions he couldn't lift himself into the air and pretend nonchalance. "Erm, you're busy? Even though it's Valentine's?" Jack asked and the four guardians froze.

"Easter is a month from now." Bunny intervened in a gruff tone. "These guys are gonna help me get more believers."

Sandy nodded enthusiastically as he showed illustrations of Bunny shrinking into a cuter and smaller version and an 'X' sign made of sand. There was an annoyed grunt from the Pooka as he remembered last year's events.

Jack's happiness deflated in a few seconds as he hung his head in defeat. The others were exchanging looks of worry at Jack's sudden switch of moods. "And I can't help? At all? I mean, I'm a guardian too."

Tooth flew to Jack's side in worry, "Oh Jack, that's not-"

"We don't need yer help, mate." Bunnymund said as he crossed his arms. "Ya' can just go and do whatever it is you do every Valentine's day and leave us to our work."

And those words seemed to be the last straw as some sort of invisible string of patience was cut off.

Jack felt his heart plummet and his grip on the small but beautiful bouquets behind his back completely slackened and his gifts fell to the ground. The guardians jumped in surprise as beautiful and colorful petals spread across the floor at the impact. However, before they could come closer to look at what that was or ask Jack what he had been carrying, a strong wind suddenly blew in the globe room, slamming the windows open.

Jack clutched his staff closer to his chest as though it would help ease the pain and disappointment welling inside him. He curled onto himself as the wind picked him up and carried him out of the room, away from the guardians, far from Santoff Claussen and into the cold February air filled with promises of solitude and sadness.

He should've known, he should've known.

They didn't care and didn't see him as family. He had been driven into wishful thinking again and he had carelessly flung himself into the path of inevitable hurt.

He had celebrated Valentine's alone for the last three hundred and eighteen years and that fact would never ever change, and yet he hoped it would when he met and befriended the guardians.

He had hoped, and hoped…

And then he had his heart crushed.

Stupid, stupid…

Stupid Valentine's, stupid Cupid, stupid couples, stupid family…

But most of all, stupid Jack for thinking that anyone, especially the guardians, would want to spend Valentine's with him.

Jack ran a pale hand through his snow white hair, blue eyes dimming in sadness as he calculated the time by the length of the shadows of the trees surrounding him.

Eighteen more hours until Valentine's was over. Looks like he should go and annoy Cupid again this year.

"I just saw him, this way!" Ah, speaking of Cupid, that was his voice just now. Jumping up and stretching his numb body, Jack readied a mask of mischief onto his face.

He'll annoy the hell out of the guardian of love today before going to retreat to the South Pole to sleep off his depression for several months. He'll probably have to bury himself in snow just to avoid the other guardians.

However, when Jack caught sight of the angel of love, chick flicks, and other cheesy stuff out there, a triumphant look passed Cupid's face.

"Gotcha!" Cupid said and before Jack knew what was going on, the little cherub shouted, "Get him, boys!" to some white things behind him.

A familiar sack was dumped over the guardian of Fun, as he realized a moment too late what had happened.

North's yetis had successfully captured him by enlisting the help of another of Jack's greatest archenemies in history.

Oh no! He was going back to North's workshop!

And just as the winter sprite processed this growing dread, the yetis had already shoved him into the familiar portal that led to the globe room, where the guardians were waiting.

This was awkward.

Jack hadn't prepared himself to see the guardians. He had thought he at least had a few months of preparation before he faced the big four again.

But apparently he was wrong.

Someone up there really just loved it when Jack was wrong. (Probably Manny)

"Jack." North began in an awkward tone of voice that made the teen glare at the floor. Jack could escape, he could run and never look back, that was always an option… but for some reason he just couldn't do it. There was a feeling in his stomach that told him to stay put and shut up.

That and the fact that he was tied up to a chair with a gag on his mouth complicated the whole escaping thing.

Hey, the yetis just wanted to be sure that the small sprite wouldn't escape again before he heard the guardians' side of the story, that's all. Looking for an overzealous sprite that could travel via winds was never an easy job for the poor creatures.

"Okay, wait a sec mate. Before you say anythin' else…" Bunny interrupted as he walked up to North. "Can ya tell yer yetis to let Frostbite go? I feel gnarly just lookin' at him!"

"I agree, North. We can't see his perfect white teeth if he's gagged!" Tooth said in a depressed and frantic tone.

Sandy nodded his approval.

"Yes, yes of course. I agree. As long as Jack promises not to leave while we are talking, yes?" North said with a raised eyebrow. Jack bit his lip but nodded. At that, the yetis slowly began to untie the winter spirit.

When he was free, Jack stood up straight, dusting at his clothes self-consciously. He felt one of the childhood guardians approach him and looked up to see Sandy handing him his staff. The winter spirit blinked before he smiled uncertainly at the other.

Jack was thankful as he placed his hands on the familiar tool. He didn't know what was about to happen next but having something familiar in his hands would help him keep himself grounded and in control.

"Jack…" Tooth said in a soothing voice and the white-haired teen turned to look at her as she hovered nearer to him. "The flowers from earlier, you know the ones you dropped…" She said in hesitation. "They were beautiful. Were you planning to give them to someone?"

Jack shifted in his place as he looked sideways, trying to avoid everyone's stare. "They were for you guys." The silence was deafening and before Jack knew it, he was spouting words to cover up the tension in the air. "I-I mean, it's Valentine's and everything and I thought, 'hey! Why not give some flowers to you guys since you've really been accommodating and-'" Jack swallowed thickly as he kept talking. "I mean, they're winter flowers, so when I hold them they don't freeze o-or die and Bunny wouldn't like frozen spring flowers so-"

But before Jack could finish his words, North suddenly stepped up and hugged him.

The young Frost froze as he felt the warmth emanating from the other. He felt the other guardians approach, Tooth's hand was on his shoulder, Sandy was giving him a thumbs up as Jack peeked over North's shoulder and he heard Bunny calm him a 'gumby'.

"Spasibo Jack Frost." North said in his thick Russian accent. "Beautiful flowers from beautiful boy."

Jack choked, "Beautiful?"

"They were really pretty! And it was very thoughtful of you!" Tooth said and Jack could see from the way her feather's shined that she really was grateful and not just putting up a show. When North had let go of him, Tooth jumped in to hug him, holding him close to her and running her hands through his hair in comfort and thanks. "The African Violets were my favorite and I assume those were for me right?"

Jack nodded numbly into the hug. "They were the color of your eyes."

Tooth froze and relaxed. Bunny and Sandy saw the softening of her expression as she let Jack go. Toothiana decided that the discussion about the flowers could wait… Right now, the youngest among them needed to hear their apologies. "We're really sorry about what happened earlier, we didn't mean to make you misunderstand out intentions."

"Misunderstand?" Jack asked his blue eyes a little bit hopeful, but it looked like he was trying to crush that hope back. Bunny huffed in annoyance.

"We lied about the whole 'Easter' thing." Bunny said as he hopped closer. "We were actually plannin' a surprise present for ya' but before we could finish, ya' suddenly came into the room, and we had to act fast and make a story."

Sandy nodded as he showed sand illustrations of the guardians hiding something behind their backs like Jack was doing before.

"P-Present?" Jack said, blue eyes wide and unbelieving. "For me? O-On Valentine's?"

"Yes, of course!" North said in a loud voice. "Valentine's isn't only for couples! It is for family too! To show love and appreciation!"

Sandy nodded and Tooth added in a soft voice. "We love you Jack, and if it's okay with you, we'd like to spend this Valentine's day with you." The fairy nodded at Sandy who stepped up with a treasure chest made of golden sand.

Jack was speechless and shocked as Sandy opened the lid of the treasure box. A silver tray with intricate designs and patterns floated out of it and onto Jack's hands, on top of the tray were four chocolate figures.

Valentine's, after all, was the holiday of chocolates and flowers.

"One from each of us." Tooth said quietly as she looked at Jack's expression.

Jack could guess which chocolate figure was from whom.

On the uttermost left side of the tray was a chocolate egg with complicated swirling patterns, colored by food dye and expertly created by strong paws with hundreds of years of experience. Undoubtedly, this one was Bunny's gift to him.

Next to Bunny's was a snowflake chocolate, colored with dark brown and gold, this was often the symbol Sandy used when referring to him. The winter spirit only hoped that the gold coloring wasn't because Sandy's sand was mixed into the chocolate.

After Sandy's came a chocolate figure of a tooth, colored pristine white.

"It's a wisdom tooth!" Jack heard Tooth whisper beside him in excitement. Of course, this chocolate was obviously from her.

And last, but not the least was a chocolate matryoshka. It was simple and purely dark chocolate with no fancy coloring. But Jack knew that if he opened the doll, there'd be another chocolate doll inside of it, which was probably the tricky part in creating it.

So Jack stood there, with the tray in hand, his blue eyes unbelieving and wide but the guardians could see the genuine happiness in them at the thought that he received a gift.

The young teen reached out a hand to grab the egg-shaped chocolate, staring at it in awe before staring at Bunny as though to ask permission.

The rabbit smirked as he inclined his head. "Go ahead, ya' drongo." He said, but the insult behind the words was lost in the affectionate tone used as he said them.

Jack swallowed and nodded as he leaned in and took a bite from one of his chocolate presents. Everyone held in bated breaths as Jack chewed thoughtfully. Even Bunny, who had trained in making chocolates for hundreds of years, looked nervous.

There was silence as Jack turned to them, blue eyes staring at their faces in wonder.

And then, Jack laughed.

It was a loud laugh filled with relief and so much more emotion than just love, shocking the four guardians in the room effectively. He gave a wide grin at the guardians as he heard Tooth's indignant yelp at the chocolate stuck on the front of his teeth.

It was like a spell was broken when Tooth went after the winter sprite, and the tension in the room dissolved as North and Sandy laughed at the youngest's antics.

"Jack, come back here!"

Jack playfully flew out of Tooth's reach as he gleefully ate the chocolate in his hand while the fairies exclaimed indignantly about the dark chocolate marring his beautiful pearly whites. He heard Bunny shouting at him to get down and North's booming laugh. He saw Sandy's sand at the corner of his eyes, trying to help Tooth in catching him. Golden sand curving around his small and thin frame.

And as Tooth finally caught him, small hands surprisingly strong on his shoulders, the young winter sprite laughed again.

He laughed for all those Valentine's days he was bitter and alone.

He laughed at the times he had made Cupid and some couples angry by ruining their Valentine's celebrations.

He laughed for all those years that he thought family was nothing more than a word.

He laughed at himself for being so wrong.

And he laughed because he couldn't help but feel relieved that he was wrong.

And as Jack was subjected to Tooth's constant prattle about teeth hygiene while Sandy hovered nearby and North talked about how Christmas chocolate was better than Easter… Jack hoped that none of the guardians noticed how he hiccupped in the end as he laughed, as though he was fighting off a sob. He hoped none of those concerned eyes saw the tears forming at the corner of his wide blue eyes while they bantered, and scolded, and loved.

And if any of the guardians did notice any of these small things, they said nothing about it and just continued to smile at Jack like he meant something to them.

And maybe, maybe he did.

Because Jack was more than ready to believe that.

*gnarly can mean excellent, but it can also mean awkward, and I was obviously referring to awkward.

Title: It's called 'Valentine's day' because I'm sick and couldn't be creative.

Notes: I know I said that the 'Rain' chapter would be next but I couldn't but make a Valentine's day fic! I mean it's VALENTINE'S day. I find making a fic for this holiday amusing, And it turns out, this drabble was longer than what I expected. I was preparing for only four pages, but it doubled in length and that shocked me. I bet this was boring to read through.

I was fighting with myself whether to post this in Ice Cubes or not. And since it is a family fic, I decided to post it here as one of the drabbles, although it's a bit long for my taste.

I'm a bit disappointed that the flower galanthus wasn't more starring in this fic, so I'm gonna make a chapter just for it soon. Now my chapter ideas went up to 35! Hooray!

So, I was gonna update sooner but school happened and right now I'm sick. And even though I was sick, I still went to school and everything, without telling anyone I was sick, and yeah it backfired on me.

So here's your update guys, hopefully I can get better soon and update Ice Prince tomorrow :D

Btw, if I make another rotg fic, I'm gonna name it 'Icicles''cause it sounds great.

So yes, that's all. Please read and review if you have time *bows*