A/N

Hi everyone! I'm back with the next chapter! Whoop!

Okay, so this one follows directly after Finding Proof and Reality. I really want to establish another motherly bond for Jack with Mrs. Bennett, so this is, basically, an intro into that eventual relationship.

Thanks for the support! On to the Chapter~

Talking

Jack laid on his back, staring up at the sheet that made up the roof to the fort he and Jamie had constructed. It was currently just past midnight, and the two Bennett children had fallen asleep curled up next to him in their barricade. Staying up late was quite the challenge for them, even if they were super hyped about Jack staying with them. They were young, and it was amazing that they had made it as long as they had. Sophie was the first to fall out, just before eleven o'clock, and Jamie followed about forty-five minutes later.

Jack, however, was wide awake. He didn't need to sleep much and, therefore, didn't get tired very often. So, for the last twenty minutes or so, he had laid still, letting his mind wander and listening to the soft snores of his younger siblings. He was quite at peace with his current situation.

A few moments later, Jack saw light shoot across the room, telling him that the door was opened and the hallway light was filling the room. A shadow came in, making its way across the room. Soon, Mrs. Bennett had come around the bed and smiled at the sight before her. Her two children were curled up close to the winter spirit, occupying both of his sides. They seemed very content in their places.

She looked at Jack, realizing he was awake. He lifted one of his hands from Sophie's back and gave a small wave.

Mrs. Bennett breathed a quite laugh, waving back.

Jack smiled and held up one finger, signaling for her wait a moment. She nodded, showing she understood, and watched as his gaze drifted to the window. Curious, she turned to the window as well and waited patiently for whatever it was the frost teen was waiting for.

A few minutes past, but she was not disappointed when she finally saw what they were looking for.

Two long, golden strands of dream sand came into view outside of the window. Mrs. Bennett allowed her mouth to drop open as the golden sand was able to slowly slip beneath the sill in the window one grain at a time, and make its way to her children, sprinkling itself above their heads. Soon, small images of snowflakes and bunnies appeared over their sleeping forms, each child smiling at their apparent pleasant dream.

Carefully, Jack wiggled his way free from his sandwiched positioned between the two children and stood up. He smiled down at them as they readjusted, curling up to some pillows. Mrs. Bennett watched as he bent back down, covering them with their own blanket and ruffling their hair a bit. She smiled in awe as she heard him quietly wish them sweet dreams.

He stood back up and looked at her.

"Thought Sandy would never come." He whispered, a mischievous smile stretching across his face. "Getting a little bored just lying there." It was a lie. He could've laid next to his sleeping siblings all night, completely happy with where he was, watching their dreams and listening to their snores. But, he wanted to break the silence between him and the women before him.

Mrs. Bennett smiled. In truth, she was happy that she came up here to see Jack was still awake. Ever since she had regained her belief in the Guardians, and found belief in Jack, she had been wanting to talk to him. Her children had dragged him off to play, however, and she hadn't had the time to ask him to talk with her. Luckily though, her re-awakened belief had woken her in more than one way. She wasn't tired at all, and had decided to wait until she heard the noise form her son's room die down to check if Jack would still be awake.

He was, and Jack had to admit it wasn't just because he didn't need to sleep so often. He was excited about Mrs. Bennett's re-awakening as well, and had been wanting to speak with her too.

"Would you like to come downstairs Jack?" She whispered to him.

Jack nodded, having to leave his staff behind due to its integral structural purposes for the roof of the fort. Feeling a little empty handed, he followed Mrs. Bennett out of the room, and waited as she silently shut the door. She smiled at him, and led the way down the stairs.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked, making her way to the kitchen but gesturing Jack into the living room. "Or eat? I have ice cream."

Jack stood with his hands in his hoodie pocket, ready to decline her offer for a drink…but the ice cream caught his attention.

"What kind of ice cream?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Gelato's cookies and cream." She said, pulling it out of the freezer. "It's for adults you know, but Jamie mentioned you were over three hundred, so I guess you can have some, despite your attitude and appearance."

Jack smiled brightly at her joke, feeling less nervous.

"Yeah, I hide my age pretty well." He joked back. "I would love some."

Mrs. Bennett pulled out two bowls, preparing the snacks as Jack explored the living room.

When she was done, she joined him, both sitting on opposite ends of the long couch. For a while, they silently ate their desserts, until Mrs. Bennett broke the silence with the first of her questions.

"Jack." She said, and he raised his gaze to signal he was listening. "Earlier in the kitchen, when I told you 'you aren't nobody' and you said something about nipping at peoples noses?" He nodded, knowing what she was referring to. "Well, were you there? The day I said you were nobody to Jamie? Because I had said the 'nipping at noses' thing to him then, and it was like you were referring to that."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I was there that day."

"I'm sorry." She said again. "Really. I…didn't know."

"It's alright. It doesn't matter now. And just as you said, you didn't know." He smiled reassuringly at her.

She nodded, and they resumed silence for a moment until another question popped into her head.

"Why were you there that day?"

"Oh." Jack said, briefly startled at the sudden question. "Well Mrs. Bennett, I had-"

"Carol." She corrected, interrupting the winter spirit. "Or Ms. Carol, if you must persist with the formality, but Carol is just fine."

"Alright Ms. Carol." Jack continued, smiling once again. "I had been in the area. Jamie was at the lake, and I saw how he and his friends were so pumped about the snow day I had made, so I followed them, hoping I could stir up some fun."

"But of all the places in the world you could've been, why Burgess?"

"It's my home. I was born here as Jack Frost. I was born from the lake, actually, which is what I'm referring to when I say home."

"You were born from the lake?" Carol asked, confused.

"Yeah." Jack cleared his throat, not expecting to breach the topic of his death and life so soon. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her, so he decided to keep it simple. "It was the last place I had been when I was human. So, it was the first place I woke up at as Jack Frost."

"Well, you still look pretty human." Carol commented, sensing the briefness and hesitation in his explanation, and not wanting to push him, changed the topic.

Jack laughed out of humor and relief. "Physically, yes, but, as you could guess, I'm an immortal. I don't age, and will live forever to spread fun and snow and protect the children of Earth." All was said in a voice that mocked something like a royal announcer proudly, and over-dramatically listing the greatest aspects of a prince. They both laughed.

"So, what was your human name?" Carol asked, sensing it was different by the way he referred to 'waking up as Jack Frost.'

"Jackson Overland, but everyone still called me Jack."

Carol nodded and jumped into her next question. "Are you a Guardian?"

"Yep." Jack said, nodding. "The youngest and most recent. It's only been just over a year now."

"What are you the Guardian of? I remember my Mom telling me that all of the Guardians protected something in children, like wonder, hopes, and dreams. Is that true?"

"Yes. North, or Santa, is the Guardian of Wonder, the Sandman, or Sandy, is the Guardian of Dreams, Bunny, the Easter Bunny, is the Guardian of Hope, and Tooth, the Tooth Fairy, she's the Guardian of Memories. Me, I'm the Guardian of Fun."

"Wow." Carol breathed out. "This is so amazing."

"What is?" Jack asked.

Carol laughed in astonishment. "I'm sitting in my living room at one in the morning, talking to Jack Frost, who is an immortal teenager that controls winter, and who I use to believe was an imaginary friend of my son's, and I'm listening to him tell me about all of my childhood characters, who are real people!" She took a breath. "Amazing…"

"Yeah." Jack piqued in. "Funny where life can dump you, huh?"

She laughed. "Yes, but a good funny."

Silence again for a beat as they sat their empty bowls on the coffee table.

"So what did you do before you were a Guardian?" Carol continued. "Did you know the others before you were a Guardian?"

"Oh…Um…" Jack didn't really want to talk about his life before the Guardians. Sure, there were a lot of good times, but a lot of it was just plain loneliness and he hated to dampen the mood.

Carol honed in on his hesitation. He had averted his gaze and seemed to be pondering on some great inner turmoil. She leaned in close and touched his hand.

"You don't have to talk about it." She reassured him. "I didn't mean to bring up a touchy subject."

"No, no!" Jack said, meeting her gaze. "It's just that…well." He scratched the back of his neck. "It wasn't always snowballs and fun times. People couldn't see me, and I wasn't all that chummy with the other Guardians. In fact, most spirits wrote me off as a troublemaker…Not everything from my life before the Guardians was good. I had been on my own for centuries." He sighed and locked gazes with her, a small smile quirking his lips. "It's a real mood killer."

Carol's mouth was parted slightly in shock and sadness. Jack had been alone for centuries!? But, he was just a child…or acted like one, forever stuck at an age that was sweet, a bit immature and naïve, but loving all the same. Why had no one reached out to him?

"It's alright!" Jack said, as if reading her thoughts. "The Guardians are making up for it now. They're like family to me. I mean…some of the memories hurt, of course, but I had some good times. It wasn't all bad."

Carol felt like she wanted to cry. Centuries of loneliness and being written off as a troublemaker, and he said it was 'alright'? She felt her motherly instincts taking control, and she reached out and pulled him into a hug.

Jack was utterly shocked.

"I don't know what it is that you've done for or with my children." Carol said, unfaltering in her embrace. "But whatever it was, I know it came from a truly caring heart. It came out of love. I see how much they adore you, and how much they adored you before I could see you. To them…it's like you're a big brother. And to suffer centuries of loneliness Jack…" She said, pulling out of the embrace to look him in his eyes, which were watching her with such anticipation and intensity. "How did you keep your sanity? How did you keep that love and care?"

Jack looked down. There had been times he had asked those same question of himself. It had amazed him sometimes how he had never desired to drown in depression, and seek attention in the way Pitch Black had. When he thought about it, it was simple. The same simple answer, excuse, and refusal he had given in Antarctica not so long ago.

"I don't want to be feared." He said, and continued explaining at her confused look. "If I had let my sanity run away from me, and become consumed with depression or a dark, desperate need to be acknowledged…then I may have done some horrible things to get attention. Things that would scare, or even hurt people, and I don't want that." He smiled at her. "Plus, there are some great things in this world to find beauty and fun in! You just have to squint or tilt your head just right, but there's always something good to find. Always some light to pull you out of dark times. You just have to look for it."

Carol shook her head and smiled in awe at how beautiful of a person Jack was. He must have been through so much in his solitary centuries, but somehow, he had managed to continue to move forward.

She decided that Jack Frost was exactly the person she wanted her children to look up to…and one she was beginning to feel very maternal instincts towards.