A/N : Thanks for the new reviews / favourites / follows! ^_^


*Set right after the movie*

This had been the best day Jack Frost had ever experienced.

He had gained his first believers, had helped saving the Guardians and the children of the world by defeating Pitch and had officially become a guardian himself.

Some hours ago he had been outcast, lonely and hurt. Never would he have thought it to be possible that things could change for the better so quickly.

The excited glomp from Tooth, the hearty kiss-on-the-cheeks from North and the hug from Jamie. In mere minutes he had gotten more physical affection than in his past 300 years of living.

And he seriously could get used to it.

As soon as the sleigh landed back in Santoff Clausen North belowed the yetis and elves to prepare food and drinks. It was time for the biggest party the North Pole had ever seen.

They had a victory to celebrate.

Everyone was exhausted from the battle but the adrenaline of the last days' events kept them going. No way would they fall asleep before having a chance to bath in their own triumph over their arch enemy.

Not much time later they were all sitting at a big elongate table and gazing at the delicacies in front of them. Plum and chocolate pudding, several kinds of fruit pies, cookies in many different flavours, grilled chicken, meat loaf, sweet potatoes and a lot more.

Jack swallowed the drool building up in his mouth. Never had he seen such incredible amounts of food in one place.

For the first time in decades he realized how much he had longed for a nice tasty meal.

Being an immortal had its advantages. You didn't need to eat in order to survive, but it surely was a good feeling to actually do it once in a while. For spirits food in general was like candy for humans. Not essential but it felt damn good to have it.

The smell of freshly prepared meat and baked goods filled his nose and he closed his eyes to fully enjoy this sensation.

Suddenly North's loud voice diverted his attention back to the people around him.

"A toast to the children of the world for believing in us again! And big toast to Jack, without him we would not have defeated boogeyman!"

Said winter spirit noticed himself blushing and rubbed his neck awkwardly.

Hearty laughter filled the air as the Guardian of Wonder raised his glass with eggnog once more.

"You are now one of us and we couldn't have asked for better new guardian."

Tooth, Sandy and even Bunny nodded their heads in agreement, everyone smiling contently at their youngest comrade.

This didn't help much from getting rid of the purple shade on his cheeks. But there was no way he would complain about it.

"Thanks, guys." the white-haired boy replied with a huge grin on his face.

He couldn't think of anything else to say but it had to do for now.

"So, what are you waiting for, my dear friends? Enjoy meal!" the Russian cheered.

Noone had to be told twice. They lunged towards the food like they had been starving and the moment they tasted the first bites delighted moans echoed through the room.

For sure the yetis knew how to cook like professionals.

Hours passed, hours of laughter, happy talks and old stories being told. Jack enjoyed every moment with his new friends and listened to every one of their words. He wanted to know more about their past, what he had all missed in those many, many years.

Countless refills of eggnog and fruit punch later the party slowly headed towards an end.

It got more quiet and everyone just seemed to be satisfied with sitting at the table and enjoying the athmosphere before they had to leave.

Bunny was the first to eventually break the silence.

"Well, sorry mates, but I gotta go. There's a bunch of smashed eggs in my tunnels and that mess ain't cleaning up itself."

Jack winced inwardly, immediately being reminded how that mess was his fault.

"Yes, I should go back to my palace as well." Tooth agreed. "My fairies need help with bringing all those tooth boxes back to their destined storing places."

The sandman nodded and made a sand image of a sleeping child with swirls forming into a unicorn and then soccer playing above their head.

"I know, Sandy, children need good dreams more than ever now." North translated in case anyone hadn't understood.

"Much work to be done, yetis said Pitch destroyed some of the toys, not many but still enough to push us behind schedule."

For a moment the good mood left the big Russian's face and was replaced with mild hatred directed at the boogeyman himself.

That bastard better hid in his lair for the next centuries if he valued his immortal life.

The Guardians of Hope and Dreams bid their farewells before they vanished in a hole in the floor or floated out of the window. Toothiana flew towards Jack with a gentle smile and gave him another hug before she left as well.

Soon the frost boy was sitting there alone with Father Christmas as yetis came to collect the used dishes and leftovers from the table and started to clean up.

He didn't need more hints to convince him that it was time to say goodbye.

"Uh, thanks for everything North but I should go. Blizzards and snowfalls don't create themselves."

The reason sounded stupid to his own ears. Everyone had to deal with the consequences of the Nightmare King's attacks and what was he going to do? Spread coldness and storms. Yeah, that surely was just as important.

Once more he rubbed his neck in an awkward way.

A part of him didn't want to leave, to be alone again. He glanced up at North who smiled at him warmly.

"Is true, Jack. Just be sure to not end up on Naughty List again."

The spirit of winter replied to the smirk on old Santa's face with his famous crooked grin.

"I'll try but I can't promise anything."

North laughed and gave him a soft pat on the back before he walked away to start looking for the actual damage caused by the boogeyman.

Before he could prepare himself for it Jack was left standing alone in the big empty globe room. The yetis also had vanished and the elves were hurrying after them to get a hold of the remainders of the food.

Stupid as it might have sounded, but all of a sudden he feared that his life would turn back to how it had been only days ago.

What had he expected anyway? That the guardians and him would hang out together and have fun 24/7? Of course each of them had their own personal duties and wouldn't keep him company whenever he pleased.

Letting out a worried sigh the winter teen headed for the open window and halted for a moment to enjoy the cold breeze embracing him.

"Wind, take me home!" he called, but it was less enthusiastic than usual.


Night had fallen over Burgess by the time Jack arrived. The wind, his oldest and until a few days prior only friend, gently dropped him on his favourite tree. How many nights had he spent up there alone…he had stopped counting long ago. And he had gotten used to it, even enjoyed the silence sometimes. Though more often than not it seemed to mock him with the lack of sound, the lack of any other living being around, the sheer void encircling him.

Still, he had learned to deal with that.

So why was it suddenly bothering him with such new force now? What was going on with him?

Jack rubbed his temples and leaned back against the rough bark of the tree which had already been there the night he had risen from that frozen lake.

His eyes automatically wandered up towards the sky, gazing at the millions of sparkling stars before they landed on the moon whose light brightened up the darkness around it.

"So, what now?" he hesitantly asked after a while, so quiet that he doubted the Man in the Moon could actually hear him.

Not that it mattered, the entitiy wouldn't reply anyway. He had tried countless times to get an answer out of him, to no avail. And yet he continued.

"I'm a guardian now, but will that change anything?"

It was a fact that North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy hadn't gathered for meetings regularly, unless a threat was looming over the world. From what Jack had heard they hadn't even seen each other for many decades at least.

Certainly this was what would happen again.

They'd go their own separate ways until the next battle was calling to be fought. Were they his friends? Maybe, he wasn't sure yet. How could he be, he never did have any friends, so he was quite new to this. Well, except the wind, but he was no breathing living person, so that was something completely different. He liked the guardians, a lot if he admitted, but he also was scared. Scared of them abandoning him now that Pitch was defeated. Scared of them only minding their own business again. Scared of them ignoring him like they did for so many centuries.

Being left behind by people he cared for would hurt so much more than he was willing to imagine.

A sarcastic chuckle left his mouth.

"There I go, got everything I ever wanted, my memories, believers, 'friends'…and still I sit here brooding all night."

He wasn't talking to Manny or anyone in particular. Loneliness and despair had caused him to talk to himself a lot, especially when the silence became too much to bear. The only person who would ever truly listen to him was indeed himself. As sad as it was, it was the truth.

"I just….I'm done with being lonely. 300 years were more than enough. But I also don't wanna strain their nerves too much. What if they get annoyed of me and don't want me around anymore? I don't wanna get all clingy but I-I…"

A single cold tear ran down his cheek.

"I really don't wanna be alone anymore…"