**I got another chapter done, sorry this isn't quite as long, but it is some revelations, and stuffs! I hope that it is going ok, and you guys are enjoying the story! You are all so amazing reviewing, reading, favoriting, and following this story! I seriously don't deserve all this support, but I am so unbelievably grateful to all of you, especially with my absence! I hope that these last few updates make up for that! Hope this chapter does not disappoint. Love you all! Thanks again!**
Chapter 10
Jack was exhausted from giving everyone snow-rides, and he wanted to take a deep breathe, but his attention was quickly grabbed. Jack looked down to see the small boy from the room earlier standing there and grabbing his shirt.
Jack's heart lept in both joy and despair.
Without saying a word, the little boy grabbed Jack's hand, his hand feeling cold to Jack. The boy stopped in front of a little jungle gym, but behind a pillar. Jack got down to his level, and smiled at him.
"Hello, what is your name?" Jack asked happily, and genuinely interested.
"Victor." replied the little boy, he smiled, and Jack could now see the excitement in his eyes. Probably from talking to 'Jack Frost.'
"Well, Victor it is very nice to meet, you. You know, I am very jealous of your hair style, you pull that look off way better than I ever could.
Victor reached ontop his bald head, as if he forgot that his hair was gone.
Victor laughed, "It is not something everyone can pull off," Victor jokingly placed sympathetic hand on Jack's shoulder, "Don't take it personally, we can't all be this good looking." Jack couldn't help but laugh, and Victor joined right in, getting a kick out of himself.
Both were still giggling, when Jack asked, "So, how old are you Victor?"
"Four."
Jack was genuinely surprised, not that Victor didn't look five, but something about him, his humor maybe, reminded him of someone much older. Someone wiser.
"Well, Victor, what can I help you with?" Jack was still smiling brightly.
Victor's smile faded, and Jack suddenly wished he could take those words, not meant to harm, back.
Victor held up his basket, and Jack peeked inside. There were four little eggs inside, a blue, purple, pink, and red.
Jack pointed to the basket, "What would you like me to do with these? Or were you looking for more?"
Victor shook his head. "No...I was wondering if you could deliver these to my little sister."
Jack tilted his head, "Where is your little sister?"
"She is on the third floor. She broke her leg the other day, so she wasn't able to get down here. I feel really bad, so I gathered all her favorite colors."
Jack's eyes grew wide. He had to fight the urge to break into tears.
Jack looked at Victor's shaking arms, that could barely hold the tiny basket, his eyes drooping from exhaustion for a battle he might not be able to win, and the gray tone of his skin. But here was a child, who was concerned not for himself, for his little sister who had a broken leg upstairs.
Jack simply nodded at Victor, "I will take them to her."
Victor smiled again, he obviously was happy with the answer, "Make sure no one takes even one egg, okay? They are only for her, her name is Rebecca Trust."
Jack nodded. Then he shifted a bit, feeling the golden egg, roll slightly in his pocket. Jack had forgotten about the egg, until this moment. Without breaking eye contact with Victor, Jack reached into his hoodie and pulled out the tiny golden egg.
Jack held it out in front of him, and Victor looked at it in awe.
"This is for you, okay?" Jack smiled as Victor took the little egg into his own hands.
Victor looked at Jack, excitement, uncertainty, and wonder in his little brown eyes.
Victor turned his attention back to his egg, and popped it open.
Instantly, Victor started crying, and when Jack laid his eyes on the contents of the egg, he too could not hold back the tears from streaming down his face.
A single snowflake, held between two rectangular pieces of glass, with the words "You're a snowflake. " engraved into the glass, was now being held in Victor's trembling hand.
Jack instinctively wrapped his arms around the little boy's shoulders. He felt Victor bury his face into Jack's hooide, and his free hand grabbed onto the cloth. Both of them embraced the moment, and each other, Jack silently cried, while he could feel the sobs being buried into his hooide.
Jack was not sure how long they had been there when Victor finally quieted his sobs down to little hiccups, and broke the embrace.
Both of them wiped their eyes, looked at each other's red eyes, and chuckled.
"Oh goodness, I can't believe I cried," Vitor said, trying to regain his composure. Both of them took a deep breathe, which caused them to laugh again.
"Alright, everyone, grab the last few eggs you see, and gather at the front," Peter's voice boomed, breaking the moment.
"Well, I guess you have to go," Jack said picking up the Easter Basket for Rebecca, "and don't worry, I will get these to Rebecca."
Victor smiled softly, "She likes to be called Becky. Can you tell her that they are from Peter Pan? She will know what that means."
Jack was a little confused, but nodded in agreement.
Victor was about to turn and leave, before he looked at Jack again, "One-One more thing if it is ok?"
"Anything!" Jack said smiling.
Victor leaned in really close to Jack's ear, and whispered, "Can you make it snow on my birthday? That way my sister knows that I am watching over her?"
Jack fought back releasing more tears. He wasn't sure if that was because of the selflessness of the request, or that fact that Victor had said 'watching over her', as if he believed he would not be able to make it to his fifth birthday..
Jack swallowed a lump in his throat before asking with the best smile he could muster, "When's your birthday, champ?"
"January 18."
Jack's eyes got wide, and his smile became more genuine. "THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" He said, very excitedly.
Victor's eyes got wide in awe, and his smile, too, grew.
They both laughed about the coincidence for a little while, before Jack responded, "I will have to double check with Mother Nature that it is ok for it to snow then, but I will do my best." Jack said with a wink.
Victor smiled at Jack, and quickly wrapped him into another hug, before Peter's 'last call' forced him to leave. Jack stood, smiling and waving after Victor and all the little children.
"Thank you Mr. Frost and Mr. Bunny!" screamed the children in unison. Jack walked to Aster's side, and waved to the children, until they were all out of sight.
Jack felt Aster lightly jab him in the side. When Jack looked up he blushed thanks to the warm and thankful smile on Aster's lips.
"Thanks, Frostbite, ye were terrific." Aster smiled, ruffling Jack's hair before turning and going around the room, collecting the few eggs that the children missed. Jack's heart fluttered, he went to reach for his head, when he felt the tiny basket in his hand, remembering his number one priority.
"Hey, we have to get to the third floor at some point." Jack stated, going over to the boxes of extra eggs, and throwing them into one box, and breaking down the other box.
"Well, that was the plan anyway, but why ya gotta get there mate?" Aster looked at Jack questioningly.
"I have to deliver this to Rebecca Trust." he held up the little basket. Jack noticed Aster's puzzled look, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask a question, but decided against it and just shrugged at Jack.
"Alright. We will be sure to go to the third floor and see Rebecca."
Jack smiled, then grabbed his staff, the basket, and handed the box of eggs to Aster, as Peter came back into the room, and offered to lead them to the rooms with children who couldn't move.
Jack noticed that he was going to walk by Victor's room, and he was pleased when the door was opened, because as he walked by, Victor looked up, the IV once again in his arm, and smiled. Jack pointed to the basket and winked, which caused Victor to smile brightly, before Jack walked out of Victor's line of vision.
Jack and Aster played the role of Jack Frost and Easter Bunny when they visited all the bed-ridden children, and for each one Aster managed to magically make a different egg appear, before handing it to the child. Jack would then allow them to touch his hand, if they could, or hold his staff. All of them were very excited, and Jack felt honored to be able to make children smile. After leaving each room, Jack felt happier and happier. By the time they had gotten to the third, and top, floor, Jack felt like his heart might explode.
As they rounded the corner, Jack was excited to peek inside all of the rooms, like he had been the entire time. While the sight was not always uplifting, Jack was sure to stop for children who seemed to b struggling, or in a tough spot, and gave them a wink, a smile, and possibly a silly dance, if he felt they needed it. As they rounded the corner, Jack was getting ready to peek inside the first door.
When the sign read "Room 300" Jack found himself stopping in his tracks.
Jack wasn't sure why, or what had caused him to stop, but he stopped, in the middle of the hallway, now staring at the open door to Room 300. Jack tightened his grip on the basket, as if to make sure that even though he couldn't walk away, he still held onto his mission.
It was weird, he felt the same familiar feeling he had when he entered the playroom.
Jack felt like he was being pulled into the room, that he needed to enter.
He didn't mean to, but slowly he walked to the archway of the room, he peered around the corner at the two empty beds. This room was currently not occupied, or the occupants were elsewhere.
Jack took a step inside and looked around.
Without knowing why, Jack started crying.
Aster had been enjoying his time with the kids, and with Jack, and he was a little disappointed that this was the final floor.
Aster turned to talk to Jack, "Hey, Thanks Frost-" But then Aster noticed Jack was no longer at his side.
He looked to his other side, and then completely turned around, just in time to see Jack enter a room. Aster quickly walked back to the room that Jack had just enter. Aster got to the door and looked in, Jack's back was to him.
"Oi, Frostbite, what are ye doing, there are no kids in here." Aster stated the hint of an annoyed tone in his voice.
However, when Jack turned around, Aster immediately softened his look.
Tears were streaming down Jack's face, "Oi, Frostbite, what's wrong?"
Jack breathed out, in between sobs, "I've- I've been here. This room. I was in this room." Jack's eyes were wide, he had the same lost look on him that he had when they were back in his loft. He was desperate to find answers.
Jack looked back up at bunny, and his eyes got wider, if that was possible.
"I-I know you." Jack said, and he took a slight step forward.
"O' course you know me, Frostbite." Aster said, he gave him a little smirk, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.
"No...No, I mean...We've met, before." Jack stumbled out, he was no longer sobbing, but tears raced down his face vigorously, and Aster wanted anything to make him stop. Aster didn't like seeing Jack like this, it broke his heart.
"Mate, What do ya-" but Jack cut Aster off.
"You...You came to visit me. I was in this room. Somehow... Somehow this is related to my hair."
Jack reached the top of his head, as if he was hoping his hair would give him the answers.
Aster was now slightly confused. True, he had done the Easter Egg Hunt a few times before, but there was never a child with white hair.
"You're the Easter Bunny...and I'm Jack! You...You have the same eyes as the paint, I mixed the paint to match both our eyes!" Aster wasn't sure if Jack was either trying to convince himself or Aster that this happened.
Aster felt he had to react, and so, doing the only thing he could think of doing, he rushed to Jack's side and held him.
Jack grabbed onto Aster's shirt, Jack was mumbling different things into Aster's shirt, and while Aster couldn't make them out, he figured they were important to Jack.
Easter Bunny. Light Blue and Light Green. Eyes. Leaf. Hair. Those were the only words that Aster could make out in Jack's ramble.
After a little while Aster finally felt Jack's grip lessen, and he was no longer chatting into his chest. Jack's arms then fell to his sides, and broke from Aster's grip. Jack wiped away the few tear marks from his face, his eyes were still puffy.
"Sorry," Jack said cracking a smile. "I promised not to do anything but smile."
"It's alright, Jack, It's alright." Aster said, placing a firm and comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack looked up at Aster and smiled.
"Come on Mr. Easter Bunny! We have lots of children to see still!"
Jack grabbed the basket he had obviously dropped on the floor in his utter desperation to recover his memory. Aster knew, that he would have to find out all the details, help Jack later figure out his memories, especially since he was involved. Yet, for Jack's sake now, he had to make sure that Jack got that basket to Rebecca Trust.
If he cared about Jack at all, he would make sure that happened.
