Hello! I'm back again, it has been so long... I missed this so much. Sorry for the long wait, but don't worry the next chapter is going to be in the next week, so please be patient.

To all the people that leave reviews; I want to thank them because inspires me to keep writing. And who favorited/followed this story you don't know how happy you make me. Also, I'm trying to do Jack an innocent youth if you haven't realized yet. So he doesn't know anything from the other spirits this far, since he not been too many time around with them, like in the movie.

PS: All the grammatical errors are the only mine due to English is not my native language. So sorry if this is bad but I'm trying my best.

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

Let me know if you like it or hate it.


Update 01/10/17: Beta-reader: Salty Candy.


Sometimes Jack would have panic attacks all alone.

Those panic attacks started when he figured out that no one could really see him. In the beginning, he didn't know what was happening to him. He would cry then air would leave him, making him shake and take uncontrollably large heaps of breath that would often do no good. There were not as many as he has now. There used to be just twice a week and he could deal with it perfectly. Then, it began to be irregular. There wasn't a single day without having an attack. It was like living in a nightmare. He would calm down in seconds, taking deep breaths. He couldn't learn how to get used to them even after years of dealing with the situation. At first, he would ask the man from the moon for help, he wasn't even sure why he waited for an answer for there never was a time when one came. But now, it didn't matter anymore.

Something was happening and it was bad, he could feel it. It was the same sensation that he would always feel before he would break down to the floor, trying to calm himself down. He was crying hard uncontrollably and his breath was going faster and faster until he lost air, once again. He felt a lump in his throat and he tried to breathe slowly, but he couldn't. He was panicking more and he would admit that it was worse than the other times.

Everything was turning black when he felt a strong grip around him. In a few seconds, he was against something warm. He was at the height of North's chest and he knew it. Jack covered his face on the jacket. Breathing the smell of North in the process. It was sweet. He did not recognize that smell, but it relaxed him.

The big man with the red jacket was still holding the slim kid in his arms tightly. It made Jack looked so tiny. They took advantage of the mutual warmth they provided themselves. Though Jack was a winter spirit, he wasn't uncomfortable with the feeling of close contact that another person provides him. On the contrary, this made a solid new sense of feeling that he didn't know existed, for a person like him.

At the same time, he would have it with mixed feelings, where there were not too many positive ones. There were only sadness, despair, emptiness, and some more. But the one that was on top of it all was hate. Not hate for the others, but for himself. It lingered deep in his heart. He knew well that part of himself was caused by the man of the moon. Jack knew well that he had something to do with his existence. He knew why he was there. He knew why he wasn't seen by most people. He knew all that is unknown to Jack yet he wouldn't answer. He just put him out in this world without explanation. He just talked to him once, called his name, and then there was nothing. It was like he didn't even care about him. If anyone, even North, knew that he talks with the moon, they would probably think he was crazy, almost lunatic.

Jack had no notion of time because he was so focused on being in North's strong grip. He felt safe from all the things around them that could harm him. He could stay there all day long but then, his extremities were screaming for the heat that this was causing. Evidently, this was happening to him for being the spirit of winter.

"You can come with me."

All of sudden, Jack froze. He started to feel very uncomfortable and tried to move out from the tight hug. North didn't miss this and finally released him. He broke free too precipitous so he staggered back and almost fell down to the ground, but he held his ground.

"What?" Jack asked with a puzzled look.

"I think.." The odd man put one hand on his white beard and stared at him deeply as if he was analyzing the situation. "It's for the better that you stick with me. I can keep you safe." He finished his sentence. North's heart was rushing for the answer but he stayed with a little smile looking directly at Jack's eyes.

"I-I don't know," Jack whispered and looked to the other side, avoiding eye contact.

"I have all the things that can keep you alive. Do you eat well here on the outside?" North didn't think so. What he was seeing in front of his eyes was a pale kid with bad nutrition, he concluded at first glance that Jack didn't have food for a while. He was really worried about the kid.

Jack shook his head. "Sometimes." He kept his voice low, he was indeed ashamed. He started to play with the edges of his shirt.

North noticed and gave him a comprehensive smile. "Jack, look. I'm not calling you out, because it's not your fault." The large man barely sees the boy calm down. Jack thought that the horrible condition of the place where he was now was a punishment for his actions. He continued talking with as much as a serene voice he could produce. "If you come with me, I guarantee you a place pleasant enough to keep you asleep for a whole day. Just think about it for a moment. Please." North begged due to the kid acting like how he was at the beginning when he hid his emotions with an empty expression.

Jack was fighting with himself internally, again. Deep in his heart, he knew the right answer. He turned around and looked at the place where he came from, where he had lived all those years. It wasn't much but it was the only place that had to welcome him, it was like a real home.

"If you wish, I can show you where it is and if you like it, you can choose whether to stay or not," North added. He saw Jack looking around like he was thinking about leaving. The red-jacketed man felt enthusiastic about it. He knew the child was considering the offer.

Only seconds passed but North felt them like minutes. Then, Jack finally answered. "Alright, I'm going with you." He replied resigned. "But." Jack lifted one of his fingers and pointed it at North. "If I don't like it, you have to bring me back here, deal?"

North gave him the happiest smile he could muster and closed his eyes sincerely. "Deal," he said whilst lifting his arm and stretching it, he opened his hand in front of Jack.

The skinny male frowned. He still had his doubts but then he lifted his head and saw North smiling with a peaceful look, that gave him confidence. He put his hand, that looked tiny compared to North's, on the gentle man's hand and closed it. Unlike the winter spirit, North can close his fingers around Jack's counterpart. The both of them shook it with a strong handgrip.

The deal was made.

They separated their hands from each other and North clapped his. The sound was so loud that it was heard all around them. "Perfect." He chimed. He turned around and Jack watched him walk towards where he left his swords. He grabbed them and put them on his waist. Jack didn't notice he has a belt on his person before. The giant kept going forward until he was situated in front of the sleigh. He took the reins, dispersed the little bit of the snow left and climbed the sled to sit himself down.

Jack was still in the same place, his cerulean orbs following his actions like he was hypnotized by all the things North was doing. He was also still amazed by the sleigh and the reindeers considering, he never really saw something close to that before.

He was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, he stared to the place where it was coming from and looked at the same man he was talking to just a while ago.

North looked at him curiously. "What are you waiting for? Let's go, boy!" He exclaimed in an enthusiastic voice, waking the boy from his trance. With his right arm, he patted the space at his side appointing him to sit down there.

Jack picked up his wooden staff from the ground and his foot moved forward through the snow. He was about to sit down when his body suddenly stopped before his other leg even reached the sleigh. He looked back and glanced at the place. Everything flashes through his eyes. The memories were bitter but at the same time, that place was special for him. It was the only place he could run off to. It was.. home.

But now, a strange man was suddenly giving him a place to stay. He didn't think twice about it. He knew he had to move on to a better future. He lifted himself, with a little help from North grabbing him by the elbow, and he was finally sitting beside him.

He settled down by his side and looked at the driver. The tips of his lips rose up and for the first time in a while, made a huge smile. His teeth that were as white as snow flashed. "I'm ready." He said with new-found hope, making North only reply by nodding with his head.

Jack has nothing to lose, he was going to give it a shot.

His fingertips were paler than usual and the nails were almost encrusted on the edge of the sleigh, leaving a few marks of scratches where his hand tried hard to settle firmly. The reason for it? North's driving.

It was amazing and awful at the same time. The former due to how quickly they managed to get there, the latter because North tried to show off his skills to him, which Jack noted as a really terrible idea. At first, he agreed just to see how Santa does his thing, but he regrets it on the instant he said it.

North started with a gentle spin on the air and then another, followed by five consecutive formidable ones. The worst part was that the enthusiastic driver thought this was a fun way to travel since he was laughing the whole time, enjoying the ride. As for Jack, he felt like the sled wasn't the only thing that was spinning, his not-so-big breakfast was ready to go out of him, heading north. In the end, he just closed his eyes until he felt it stop. He took a deep breath and finally opened them again.

The first thing he saw was a bunch of small little creatures wearing red pointy hats with small jingle bells at the tip of them making tingling sounds as they move. Covering their bodies all the way to their legs, clothed in all shades of red.

The walls, floor and mostly everything around him was covered in ice. At first, he was stunned. He had never seen that coming. He then looked at his side where North was supposed to be, but he wasn't there anymore. He frowned and started to look everywhere, searching for the old man.

"Jack, over here." An intense voice resounded on the place and Jack could have sworn that a few pieces of ice hanging around fell down. He looked at the direction where it came from and see North waving his hand. Jack jumped from the sleigh and gone towards him, he had to go on a zigzag just to avoid stepping on the small creatures.

"Great you made it, I thought you couldn't with all the elves on the way." North joked right after the snow-haired kid reached him.

Jack shook his head in amusement, a smirk traveled on his face. "Is it always like this here?" He said pointing at the elves that were running all around the place, carrying things on their arms like they were late for something.

North nodded and smiled at him in approval. "Most of the time. You'll get used to it." he patted Jack's back and guided him through the corridor. He looked around like the child that he was and he allowed to be at the moment. He was impressed at the place even though it was only a hallway covered with ice.

They stopped their tracks in front of a big pair of wooden doors. North left Jack's side and proceeded to move forward a few steps. He put both of his arms on the door and glanced behind him where the younger one was standing. "You're going to love this." He inserted before completely opening the giant door.

There revealed before an awestruck Jack was a gigantic magical place made of smooth wood. There were a lot of colorful decorations around the place; bright colors hang from the out-of-reach ceiling and perfectly made toys flew all over the place. There were also elves here too but they were distracted playing with the toys made for children. Along with the elves were more creatures, but Jack was so focused on the toys catching his attention that he didn't even saw the other creatures looking at him.

North crossed his arms grinning widely like a proud father. He felt his heart warmed a lot with Jack's expression, his appreciation of his work.

They stayed like that: Jack on the frame with both of his hands supporting him, holding his weight to not fall, while he was staring where the elves were working; and North keeping an eye on him. That lasted a few minutes until North put his hand on the kid's shoulder. Jack jumped a little backward but North's kept him in balance. He raised his head and looked at the tall form curiously.

"Why are they working so hard?" Jack asked him with a puzzled look on his face as North guided him around with his arm.

"Because they are trying to bring happiness to all the kids in the world." He replied with his gaze on the front, accompanied by seriousness.

"How do they do that?" Jack continued on with his questions. North opened his mouth to answer but he realized the kid still have another, so he closed it. "Is that even possible?" Before he made out another question, the white long-bearded male stopped him on his tracks. Jack didn't even realize that they were next to a table filled with toys.

North grabbed one of the tiny soldiers "Open your hand." Jack was about to talk but the older man answered first, "Trust me." And looked at him sincerely.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and thought about it first. After a few seconds, he put it down again and opened it in front of North. He watched as Santa started putting the tiny soldier on his hand.

He was at a lost for a few seconds. He then raised his head to stare directly at a pair of blue eyes "You bring happiness with toys?" Jack dragged his words perplexed.

"Exactly," he exclaimed, his Russian-accent echoing at the place like he was proud that Jack finally understood.

"But how you do it?" Jack was looking interested in the new information.

"I delivered them in one night," North said as if it were the simplest thing in the world and the blue-jacketed young man opened his eyes widely amazed. "With the help of the reindeers and the sleigh, of course," he affirmed.

"Oh." Jack let out a little gasp and the giant nodded as he achieved his goal. North put one hand on his long beard, his fingers passed through it downward with a serious look. "And that's one reason why they called it Christmas, the day that I deliver toys." Then, he started to move again without his company noticing. Jack just stood there looking at the toys on the table and how the elves were making a mess.

"North, wait!" Jack screamed and began to step forward quickly when the huge man suddenly disappeared. He handed him the tiny toy "You forgot this." And they continued walking.

"Did I?" North asked as if he was not surprised at all, bright blue eyes followed Jack's form. He smirked a bit when he met his gaze. "Keep it, we make hundreds of them." He winked at him and kept walking.

Jack stared down at the tiny toy on his hand and then back to North, trying to assimilate everything. They passed through a few tables while he was still engrossed by the object and that's when he started connecting the dots.

He had heard about Christmas before and saw kids carrying around toys to show off to others. Once or twice he would hear them thanked a man called 'Santa Claus' that lived in the North Pole for the gift. At that moment, everything made sense to him. He wanted to slap his own face for how stupid he had been. How couldn't have he realized earlier? He was standing at the North Pole. This man even told him specifically that he was the Santa Claus. He blamed it all on his feelings of delight and fright at that time.

Jack was so distracted that he didn't catch sight of the massive thing in front of him. He hit something and fell to the ground with a thud. In a matter of seconds, North was on his knees trying to help the poor kid rise up again. "Jack, are you okay?"

He rested his elbows on the cold ground and rose his head to look at North. "I'm fine." He mumbled out and he saw North sigh relieved. Jack moved his head to see what hit him and what he saw freaked him out. It was large and standing on its feet. It was something he never saw before. Its whole body was covered with hair. The upper body was covered with brown except for its eyebrow and mustache - as what it would seem to be - that was as white as snow. It seemed to have ponytailed the hair it had on top of its head with a blue band. The rest of its body was in a dirty-white color minus its hands and feet which were pink. His instincts suddenly kicked in, making him crawl quickly backward to keep the distance between him and the creature.

North looked at both Jack and the Yeti. He immediately comprehended what was happening. He stood up and goes to the frightened boy and offered him a hand. Jack accepted cordially, bouncing to North's back the moment he got up. He rested his hand on the tall man, remaining on his arm and squeezing tight. He peeked his head a little on the same side, his hair and eyes in sight, to look at the equally weighted creature.

"Hello, Phil. It had been a long time since we have seen each other." North greeted the creature cheerfully.

Jack could see that the creature named "Phil" was indeed tall. He was taller than Jack or an average man, but he was at the same height as North. To Jack's eyes, it resembled some sort of animal.

The yeti answered with a growl and moved its hand to point at Jack's direction.

"We will talk about that later." North simply answered. Jack was utterly impressed at how he understood what the creature said. "This is Jack." He moved to one side but Jack was holding his arm so he was dragged in the same direction. North sighed and tried to push him. "And Jack, this is Phil."

The yeti let out a growl and a started talking in his own language. When he saw Jack, he waved his hand joyfully, greeting him as warmly as he could muster. That only made Jack hide again, to his grimace. He pushed his head to North's back.

North laughed a little bit uncomfortable. "So sorry, Phil." He continued and started to move forward into the hallway. "Jack is a shy kid, I hope you understand." It was an apology for Jack's behavior and Phil just nodded and moved forward like he was searching for something but he forgot where it was.

Jack looked behind them as North guided him to another room, he still couldn't believe that the creature could walk like a man. He just gulped and moved from North's back to one side of him. He knew he had prepared himself emotionally for everything that came, yet he was still surprised at most of the tour. He mustered a determined look and concluded one thing: this place.. was weird.