…

"Are you ready?" North tucked in his swords to his person and set his hat on his head. He pat Jack's back with laugh and walked to the sleigh that held a large red bag.

Jack smiled and held tight to his staff. "I'm ready to prove the kangaroo wrong." His smiled turned into a smirk.

"Put this on." North threw a large red coat at him.

"Why?" Jack was swallowed by the heavy thing.

"You're going to be santa, no? You've got to dress like him to." The jolly man chuckled and hopped into the sleigh, "Care to join?"

With a nod, he joined North in the sleigh and grabbed the reigns. Jack rolled up the sleeves of the coat and tied the belt around his small waist.

"Just like I taught you… Remember to take charge. If they start to get rowdy, don't be afraid, just remember to keep her hands down and gently pull the reign back a bit." North commented. He sat next to the bag that was full with gifts for the little boys and girls of the world.

With a nod, Jack readied himself, "Alright… Here we GO!" He whipped the reigns and they were off.

"WOOOOHOOOO!" Jack whooped.

"YEEEHAWW!" North joined him.

…

Here they were… The first house of the long night ahead. It was a two story home made of brick and covered in snow.

"Be very quiet." North said in a hushed tone. He looked over to the bag, "Now, you've got to get this little girls present from the bag. Don't worry, once you pull a gift from the bag, it will automatically form into one of the gifts I've made. So it doesn't matter which box you grab." He added.

Jack opened the bag and pulled a box from it. Once he did, it became very heavy and he had to hold it with two hands. "What in the world…?" He walked over to the chimney and took a look inside, "What now? Do I just hop in?"

North gestured to the chimney and folded his arms with a big smile on his face.

With a deep breath, Jack leaped in and slowly floated down. The fireplace grew bigger to Jack could fit through with the present. Looking into the room, there he could see room was lit with the colors of the tree. Under it were presents form relatives and such. He carefully made his way over to it and smiled.

The tree was beautiful. The angel on top glowed with a golden color and the ornaments reflected the glow on the walls of the room. Gently, he set the present down.

This wasn't so bad for the first house.

Squeeeeeee….

Jack froze and slowly turned around. There stood the little girl with her thumb in her mouth and a blanket in her arms. She looked straight at Jack.

"Where's Santa?" She asked him.

"He's on the roof." Jack answered.

"Why? Shouldn't he be the one to drop of the presents?" She got closer to Jack and picked up the long coat around Jack.

"Yeah. You're not wrong. It's just the easter and I were arguing and I told him I could do one better. So I decided to take over Christmas."

"Is it hard?" She pulled the brown hair away from her face and brushed it back behind her ear.

"Not so far. I mean, this is the first house." He squatted to her height and smiled, "How come you can see me?"

"My grandma said she saw you once and you gave her this," The little girl went to the couch and pulled a small box from under it. She went back over to Jack and gave it to him, "Open it."

Jack sat down and opened the box. There lay a snowflake with a blue jewel in the middle. His heart warmed at this, "I remember that…" He smiled, "Did she give this to you?"

"Not yet… It was wrapped up for tomorrow morning but grandma wasn't feeling too good yesterday so she told me to open it up and told me all about you before going to sleep."

"Aw," He stood, "I'll come back for a visit in the morning then when I finish being Santa for the night. Tell your grandma I'll be back." He picked her up and hugged her.

"Okie dokie!" She hugged back. When she was set down, she ran over to the milk and cookies, "Don't forget to take these."

She gave them to him, "Thanks, Amanda."

She gasped, "You know my name?"

"Of course! You've been extra nice this year." Jack chuckled and went back to the chimney, "I'm filling in for Santa too. Gotta know everyone's names right?" He rustled her hair and floated back up the chimney, "Later 'Manda!"

"Bye Jackie!"

North awaited the boy's return, "What took so long?"

"Amanda.. Lets get to the next house!" With a big smile, Jack hopped back in the sleigh and pulled on the reigns.

This was gonna be a good night.

…

Jack groaned, "How many more houses do we have?"

North put his large hand on Jack's shoulder, "Just a few hundred more." He laughed.

Jack sighed and whipped the reigns. He shrugged, "Well.. that doesn't sound too bad… No offense North.. This was fun to begin with but now its… gotten to feel like a chore."

"Land the sleigh."

"What?"

"Land the sleigh."

Jack did so, "What now?" He looked around to find they were in the middle of nowhere.

"Listen, Jack… I do this every year. All night. Do you know how I keep it interesting?"

"How?" His blue eyes looked into North's.

"I remind myself that there are over a million children out there counting on me. They believe in me, Jack. They are all sleeping with sugar plums dancing in their heads, ready for the next morning when they POP out of bed and run to the tree. There they see presents all over the tree and get all happy and giggly and their parents come in trying to calm them down as they begin to read their Christmas story. And even then, each family is different… I remember when you celebrated Christmas with your family."

Jack perked up and listened, "Really? That was such a long time ago… I don't even remember." He looked to the ground.

"You got a pair of ice skates when you were younger. Because you lived near the lake, it was only fitting. Especially when you wouldn't stop asking for them. So I worked hard to create a pair that you would like. When I got it done, I was off. I stopped by your home last so I could watch your expression when you opened you gift." North chuckled.

"I loved though ice skates! I'm glad you gave them to me… Everything that's happened have definitely happened for a reason…" He paused and took the reign in his hands, "Ready?"

North smiled big, "LET'S GO!"

…

Later at the workshop, North and Jack arrived back home having a successful Christmas this year.

Jack, even though he was tired, rushed back to Amanda's house to see her and her grandmother.

When he arrived, he was just in time to see the little girl unwrap her gift. He wondered what it was since it made itself in the box.

She tore the paper to find a large sweater this a 'G' embroidered on it. Amanda gasped and hopped up and down. Then she ran over to the couch.

Jack moved to watch where she was going. Amanda was giving the sweater to her grandmother who lay on the couch. The older woman smiled and took the sweater to lay on her while pulling her in to shower her in kisses.

Jack chuckled as the window started to freeze over with frost. He wrote on it saying, "Hi." And flew to the roof to wait.

Amanda smiled as her eyes made their way to the window.

…

"How was being Santa?" Amanda asked from her opened window. Jack flew over with a smirk, "I think I'll leave it to Santa himself."

"Hey, you won the bet though right?" Amanda shrugged.

"Yeah." He shrugged, "You're one smart kid, you know that?"

"I tell her that all the time."

The two looked further into the room to find the grandmother. "Grandma!" Amanda ran over and hugged her, "You're wearing the sweater!"

Grandma smiled warmly and nodded. She looked up and looked at Jack. "Long time no see, Jackie."

Jack smiled, "Well, becoming a guardian is pretty time consuming don't you know, Frost?"

Ms. Frost chuckled, "Finally up with the big boys? What are you doing taking over Christmas?"

Jack stood in front of her, "I made a bet with Bunny. That kangaroo thought he'd win, but who's the one who made it through Christmas Eve?" He crossed his arms.

The woman chuckled, "Its good to see you again, Jack."

Jack Frost smiled big and hugged her, "You too, Jaclyn."

…