Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The characters belong to DreamWorks and Disney.

Chapter 24

Among all the things that Jack imagined him to be doing when he became a Guardian, being the Seasons Court's errand boy was not one of them. So what, if he had been just recently introduced into the Court as a new candidate to be the shepherd of Winter? It still wasn't official anyway because of his title as Guardian, but he could both shepherd the Winter Season and spread fun. He knew he was Mother Nature's likely choice. Yuki-hime wasn't too keen on leaving her mountain to usher the switching of the seasons. Besides, she had a reputation.

Still, he didn't like the fact that he was running errands for them. He hasn't been inducted as an official member of the Court, so they really had no right to boss him around. Even Manny didn't order him around (though that was to be expected since he was in one those of silent vigils again, emphasis on the silent by the way), and the other Guardians mostly let him do his thing. But he had a thought that this was some kind of test too. Mother Nature loved giving him tests.

He was considerably younger among all the other members and proven to be a bit reckless with his powers, despite receiving instruction from one of the older ice spirits*. You can't blame him when his powers were deeply rooted to his emotions. And other than he happened to be passing by the area, he understood that Mother Nature wanted to know if he was mature or ready enough to be able to handle a diplomatic matter. Jack had a guess the woman knew that he was not one to solve a situation through words. He had always been bad with words, but after being made a Guardian and gaining friends, he had improved through the years. That didn't mean he was already good at settling disagreements without some butt-kicking action though.

Jack snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a chirping sound near his ear and he smiled as he saw the once luminescent rainbow colored Baby Tooth, now a mixture of whites and icy blue shades, flying beside him. After hanging around Jack for too long, the winter spirit's magic had affected the fairy and had turned her into his own. Toothiana wasn't that bothered by the changing of Baby Tooth's master and was just happy that Jack had formed a unique bond with someone.

Baby Tooth chirped relaying to him that they were nearing their destination to where there was a reported disturbance. Something about Trolls and Pixies. Jack was never fond of the Faerie Folk, pixies in particular. They liked to play with children and though they could be harmless, their magic had caused some sort of damage to people who were exposed to them for too long, especially if they had no affinity towards magic. Children had a natural tolerance but they were also easily influenced and the effects of prolonged exposure to the magic of the Faerie Folk could be irreparable unless immediately treated. Some of the more hostile species had caused some alarming problems to the Guardians and other protectors going as far as to kidnapping children or using them as some sort of test subject.

Pixies were mischievous and had one of the strongest magic, adding their sizes and speed it was very hard to handle them. And as much as he wanted to send them back to their own territory, he knew he couldn't do much in a fight with them―more so if he was outnumbered.

So yeah, he really didn't like his chances handling one of the Faerie Folk.

In a few moments, the winter spirit landed in the forest, bare feet touching the dew covered grass slowly turning the water into ice. The mist that settled on the forest had also lessened the visibility and Jack cursed. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Baby Tooth flew close to him, wings beating rapidly, head darting almost in every direction as eyes searched for some sign of life, chirping furiously that Jack had a hard time keeping up―it seems he wasn't the only one anxious. She pointed somewhere and without much prompting Jack followed her lead. He was still bad when it came to sensing magic activity and he was thankful for having Baby Tooth with him. Upon reaching a clearing, Jack abruptly stopped and landed on his feet watching the scene before him.

He had thought he was going to see the love advising Trolls trying to be civil with Pixies who threw angry words at them. He had subconsciously wished he would come upon a heated argument between the two. But no, the scene unfolding in front of him was far from what he imagined. The pixies must've casted a strong cloaking spell to be able to conceal this much magic activity. The winter spirit was rendered immobile as his sky-blue eyes watched in horror. Screams penetrated the otherwise quiet air, the pixies' words drowned out as they casted explosive spells―attacking and terrorizing the peaceful trolls. Some of the trolls fought back valiantly, choosing to cast defensive and stunning spells to counter the pixies' attacks. (Troll magic wasn't considered strong, unless they were dealing with memories―it was their strong suit.) While others ushered the younger and weaker ones into a safer place, ducking and rolling out to dodge some of the pixies attacks.

He saw a group of trolls being backed into a corner by a pixie, its hand lifted with some sort of energy ball―a spell no doubt―and threw it at them. Fire formed on the ground and circled around them, trapping the rock-like beings in place. Jack gasped as he felt something poke him and saw Baby Tooth chirping nonstop at him gesturing to the battle transpiring in front of him and the winter child mentally slapped himself for wasting precious time at standing idly and watching. With his jaw set, the immortal called upon his power. He felt it coursing through his body and converging in a single spot. Once he knew he could no longer hold it in, he let out a mighty shout as he slammed his staff, releasing the power that built up inside of him and the magic spread―freezing the ground, trees and even the air, along with a strong gust of wind, buffeting the unknowing floating pixies, sending some of them to slam against the trees. Jack muttered a word he had learned from his teacher and slowly the pixies who had hit the trees were encased in ice, sealing their magic to prevent escape.

Baby Tooth zoomed here and there, chirping as she danced in her master's success. Jack smiled proud of himself to have performed such a feat. He then saw Baby Tooth stop and chirped alarmingly at him, but before Jack could make sense of what she was saying, he was suddenly struck and sent falling on his back. Jack clutched his chest tightly as a burning pain erupted from where he was hit. He heard a high pitched menacing cackle and he looked up to see one of the pixies fluttering above him, glowing yellow eyes glaring at him with blood-thirsty glee.

Wait, glowing yellow eyes?

Before he could entertain the thought, the pixie lifted its hand, glowing as it gathered energy readying for another attack spell. He had to get up and out of this pixie's attack range, but the searing pain induced by the spell he was hit with earlier prevented him from doing so. Moon, do I really hate pixies. Jack closed his eyes, blocking out the pain, concentrating to call on the wind and throw off the pixie's aim. He realized that he didn't need to do it as something whooshed pass them and he heard the shriek of the pixie that was about to blow him to smithereens. The Guardian opened his eyes, finding the pixie on the forest floor―bound by what looked like vines.

Jack groaned as he tried to sit up but the pain shot through his body and he stopped. Stupid, stunning spell, he muttered angrily. But quickly understood it wasn't a simple stunning spell. No stunning spell could hurt this bad. The winter child had a fair share of experience being hit with stunning spells and he had never felt anything like this before. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone crouch next to him―hands emitting a dim glow, roaming over him but not touching.

"M.K.! Need help here!" the person said and Jack easily recognized it as a male's voice, but not one that was familiar. A rustling of leaves and feet thudding on the ground came to the spirit's ears and he felt another presence near him.

"What's the matter?" a female said as she started to examine him.

"Not sure. One of the pixies hit him. Didn't seem like an ordinary stunning spell." The guy answered letting out a disappointed tsk-ed as he drew back his hands and the female took his place.

"Doesn't seem like a curse so he'll live." She relayed, hands hovering above the albino. They were shining with a warm light and slowly the pain started to fade away and Jack found it easier to breathe again. He coughed as he sat up, his own powers kicking in as they started to heal the damage. "Well, it wasn't a stunning spell, just one that momentarily blocked the flow of his powers."

Jack shook his head to clear his thoughts and he looked up at the pair who had saved him. The woman, no, a teenaged girl who had taken care of the spell casted on him by the pixie smiled at him. She had auburn hair tied back in a ponytail and she was dressed in what seemed like a sweater and jeans but upon closer inspection he realized it was clad in armor made of leaves or what looked like leaves. It was mostly hidden underneath the robe so he really wasn't sure.

His eyes drifted to her companion and saw that he was dressed in a similar fashion. From the moon's light, he could make out his shoulder pads that reminded him vaguely of an armadillo's outer shell and the breastplate a turtle's underside. His shin and arm guards were traced with a leaf-like pattern Jack had seen somewhere but couldn't quite recall. Jack took note of the small changes in the designs of the pair's armors, like they belonged in two different divisions of some-sort. The guy's was styled more into something that made it easier to move in combat and his face was mostly hidden by a leaf green helmet he wore. The girl's was one that seemed more used to ranged-attacks than frontal, like a support than one sent into the front-lines, but her attire did not hinder movements.

Jack watched as the guy stood regally, facing the direction where the fight was happening and his attention was drawn back to the clearing. He knew he had incapacitated most of the pixies from his initial attack but there were still a few attacking the innocent trolls. The guy pulled out his sword―was that a short-bladed katana?―but didn't remove the scabbard. He said something in a different language―one he had heard someone use in the Seasons Court but haven't learned―quickly tracing a pattern in the air with his katana and suddenly the remaining pixies shrieked in pain falling to the ground unconscious.

M.K. moved next stretching her arms forward and something bright shot out from them, wrapping around the pixies. Once the light subsided, Jack saw that the pixies were now bound in that same vine-like material. Jack pushed himself up, M.K. assisting him, and looked at the bound pixies. Without a word, the trio rounded them up, and by the time they were finished the pixies had regained their consciousness and were nervously muttering to one another in their tongue. They counted a total of ten and Jack simply couldn't believe it. They were only ten of them and they caused this much chaos?

It seems Lady Luck was on my side, he thought grimly.

Jack was wondering why he felt like there was something off in the pixies behavior. Why did they look so nervous? Surely, they should've expected something like this when they pulled that off right?

The winter spirit saw the male move to stand in front of them and he cleared his throat to get their attention. All at once the pixies faced the male, large tear-shaped black eyes staring at him. "You've violated not just one of the laws set by the Seasons Court but also the treaty between your species. You are therefore being detained in the Isle of Four Seasons and shall remain there until your case has been heard and your punishments decided." The male said in an authoritative voice.

A chorus of protests came from the bound pixies, shouting that they had no idea what the armored teen was saying or how they got here or why they were tied up. The pair, and so was Jack, found themselves confused. Pixies were not known to deny a claim unless they were caught red handed, and this case counted as one. If Jack's knowledge of the Faerie folk were right, the pixies should have been quiet and resigned themselves to their fate. It was some sort-of code for them―the pixies were bound to accept any punishment without protests when they were found guilty. Jack then noticed that one of them wasn't even moving and he recognized it as the one who had casted that blocking spell on him.

For some reason, Jack was curious to see the pixies eyes and he approached it. Baby Tooth tried to pull him back, obviously worried that he might be attacked again. He felt everyone's eyes on him—the trolls that remained have gathered around them—when he placed a finger under the pixie's chin and he raised it to face him. The immortal saw that its eyes were still that uncharacteristic glowing yellow. And slowly, the pixie smiled widely at him with the same evil glee glinting in its orbs. The fae laughed maniacally surprising all of them, even its companions and all of a sudden its eyes rolled back into its head and lost its consciousness. Jack saw movement from somewhere in the tree line and he looked up, just in time for him to see a familiar shadowy Mare staring at him with its glowing yellow eyes.

The winter child only stared as he watched it step back into the shadows and in just a blink, it vanished from his sight. Jack felt something heavy settle on the pit of his stomach and his heart beat rapidly against his rib cage. He knew he wasn't imagining what he saw. But how? They had defeated Pitch and the creep hasn't been seen ever since. He couldn't just be back all of a sudden! Or maybe it wasn't Pitch at all? What if it was someone who had figured out how to control those Fearlings? Maybe it was a new enemy. He couldn't be sure. What he did gather is having those Fearlings back in commission was not a good thing. It never will be.

He didn't realize that the pair had already settled the matter with the trolls and now had a portal propped up. He stood up straight and walked towards them, he still hasn't thanked them for saving him.

"Hey, thanks for helping me out," he said to them smiling. "And I don't even know you guys, I'm―"

"The infamous Jack Frost," the male said with a grin making the albino blink his eyes in surprise. "Word gets around the Isle, youngest candidate to be a part of the Seasons Court and you're the newest Guardian."

"Dude, the news of my Guardianship was years ago," Jack chuckled. "But it feels weird to be well-known. I still don't know who you are though."

The male teen extended his hand cordially, "Nod, Ronin's apprentice. The both of us are part of the Court's Knights or Leaf men as we're officially called." And the albino accepted it with a smile. So that's why their costume seemed familiar. He had seen a few members of the Leaf men in the Court's halls before but never really paid attention to them.

The girl stepped in and offered her hand to him. "I'm M.K. it's nice to meet you Jack," she introduced and Jack shook her hand.

"So you're part of that Elite Squad huh?" Jack inquired impressed waggling his brows and the three laughed.

"I wouldn't call it 'elite', per se," Nod replied rolling his eyes smiling. "The benefits don't do us justice."

Jack chuckled. "I feel 'ya man. Anyway, I don't want to keep you two from your jobs."

"Aren't you coming with us? I'm sure they'll need your account since you were the first one here," M.K. told him and Jack shook his head.

"I think Baby Tooth here could do that." Jack caressed the little fairy's head with his finger. "I have something I need to do first. Guardian business."

"Is that so," Nod said tipping his head in understanding. He must've guessed it had something to do with the pixie with the glowing yellow eyes. "See you around then, Jack. It was great meeting you, despite the lovely circumstance." Jack shook his head with a laugh.

"I leave her to you then. Take care of her." Baby Tooth saluted him and flew towards the waiting pair. Jack didn't wait to see them jump into the portal leading to the Isle of Four Seasons and shot off into the sky. He didn't know why but his gut told him to go see Jackson.

Honestly, upon learning the still remaining existence of the Fearlings, the most logical move was to tell the other Guardians immediately. Or go to Jamie and give him a heads up. But something inside of him told him to go to Jackson. It was as if the boy was calling to him. There must be a reason why his mind was pushing him to go to the teen and it told him that he should not, by any means, ignore this thought.

In record time, his journey from Europe to the States only took him less than half an hour. He didn't exactly know where Jackson lived, but his body seems to know where to take him and soon enough he burst into a window startling the boy who was lying on his bed.

"What the bloody 'ell Jack?" he heard the brunette teen hiss and he blinked at him in surprise. It wasn't the words that pooled out of the teen's mouth that surprised him but the accent. The first time they had met, Jackson spoke like Jamie, there was no hint of an accent or any clue that he had lived anywhere but in Burgess. He must have really freaked him out for the kid to let his British accent slip.

Slowly, he realized that he had blanketed the teen's room in a light sheet of snow. He quickly dispelled it and faced the teen, "Whoops, sorry about that," he said sheepishly.

"Do you always do that?" Jackson said tilting his head to the side as he eyed the albino. "Burst in with snow and all?"

"Force of habit," Jack shrugged. Suddenly a thought struck him as to why he had come here. "Anyway, I need to talk to you."

"Everyone seems to have the need to talk to me," the teen muttered, probably not wanting Jack to hear that, and shook his head to meet his sky-blue eyes. "Well, it's a good thing, there's something I wanted to ask you too."

Jack couldn't help the surprise slip into his face. He gets a feeling of being called by the teen and then said teen wanted to ask him something? That couldn't be a coincidence. "Really? What?" He floated and landed gently on Jackson's computer chair, folding his legs as he hugged his staff closer to him, teetering here and there as he played with the seat.

"You go first. I mean, it must be important to have you rushing in here," Jackson motioned for him to go on.

"All right, if you say so." The winter spirit nodded and voiced his question. "Have you noticed anything strange with Hiccup? Besides the usual you guys pointed out?"

The albino watched as the brunette placed a hand under his chin, he tapped his cheek as his thoughts mostly drifted to the events of his week. He frowned a bit and shook his head, as if dismissing something and Jack was suddenly curious. The winter child knew he made that same expression when he thought of something not being important, one he used when he wanted to keep something to himself because it was a personal matter. What could Jackson be thinking off? He was about to repeat the question when Jackson met his eyes.

"Well, he did have a slight panic attack a while ago in the cinema, but he was fine." Jackson reported to him.

"Any thoughts on how it got triggered?" Jack asked and the brunette shook his head in reply.

"I don't know what. He seemed like he was staring at something, but I didn't look to see what or who it was, because I was too worried for him and just wanted to calm him down. Besides, it was dark."

"It was dark…" Jack's voice trailed off as Jackson nodded to confirm his words. His thoughts were suddenly running a hundred miles per hour at the possible meaning of this. He saw a Fearling just a while ago and now he finds out that Hiccup had a panic attack inside a cinema which happened to be dark. No, this was not good. Not good at all. Jackson's observation about the auburn being jumpy when it became late weeks ago suddenly made sense and Jack didn't like where his thoughts were leading him.

He didn't like it one bit.

"Jack, what's on your mind?" Jackson's voice shook him out of his foreboding thoughts and he saw the boy's honey-brown orbs staring at him worriedly.

"It's nothing." Jack answered and he knew from the raised brow of his look-alike that the kid wasn't buying it. He groaned inwardly. If he could read into Jackson's behavior, the brunette could probably do the same to him. "Okay, maybe it's not," the albino frowned. "I'm not sure. But I still need to find out more. Until then, I can't tell. And hopefully I'm wrong." He hoped to Manny he was dead wrong.

"We're not going to like this discovery you made, are we?" the brunette inquired and he knew from the look on the Guardian's face that it was all the answer he needed.

"Nobody likes anything concerning the dark." Jack shook his head and decided to change the subject. "So, what did you want to ask about?"

"Oh," Jackson blinked. The albino saw how the teen contemplated in saying what he wanted to ask. Jack could feel that it wasn't something simple because the brunette had a hard time forming his words. He watched how Jackson's lips pulled down into a frown and let out a breath before blurting out, "Have you gotten into a fight? Or anything that would put you in any position to be hurt this past hour?"

Jack felt his jaw grow slack as he gaped at the boy asking, "How did you even know that? Do you have your own intelligence network or something? How could you possibly know the fight we had with the faes?"

"Unfortunately, we're more connected than we thought." Jackson answered making Jack's brow crease in confusion. "It seems meeting each other just woke up that sleeping link we had."

"What do you mean by that?" he questioned and letting out another sigh, the brunette teen shot into a story when he was a kid.

As the brunette continued to talk, Jack let the words sink into him and he felt like he was dunked underneath the frozen lake again. Everything in him was suddenly cold (and that's saying something when you're a spirit of winter), he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and the spot where the pixie had shot him was starting to ache again. Once Jackson had finished his tale, the winter child only said the words his mind could offer. "So you're saying that, whenever I get hurt… you feel it? Are you saying that we have an empathy link?" he inquired in a hoarse voice, straining the last words with emphasis. The brunette's eyes widened for a fraction and his mouth formed a small "o" before nodding, and that's when Jack shot out of his seat deciding for an impromptu freak out session.

How could this possibly happen without his knowledge? He shared an empathy link with someone and that wasn't the bothering part. It was the fact that they had shared it the moment Jackson was born. He had gotten himself into a lot of trouble and some of them had even caused him to gain injuries that took more than the normal time to heal because it was inflicted by magic. And now he finds out that in those moments of pain and vulnerability he had shared it with an unsuspecting child he didn't even know existed? He felt guilty beyond compare. Another thing he was freaking out about was that Jackson didn't tell him sooner. His mouth was rapidly firing, words pooling out of it, as he constructed scenario after scenario that would put himself in immortal danger. What if those things happened? How would Jackson's body take in the toll of his own pain? It was messed up! And it was just… just… It was frightening.

Jackson tried to calm him down telling him that he couldn't possibly die from the empathy link… or so he said. The fact that Jackson sensed that the link became stronger now that they were aware of it, didn't help soothe Jack's worries. He did tell Jackson that he would stop freaking out and he did. Now he had a reason not to be reckless as they said he was. If Jack's recklessness somehow caused Jackson's life to be on the line, he couldn't live with himself.

But really, how could they possibly form an empathy link when they had just met a few weeks ago? If his knowledge about it was right, you couldn't simply form an empathy link with someone. Especially, one where they weren't even aware of the other. And how come it was only Jackson who felt the connection? It didn't make sense that Jack wasn't able to sense his side while Jackson was perfectly in tune with it. The fact that he's been oblivious of the empathy link for years was beyond understanding at all. It was just strange and well, wrong. Hearing Jackson's theory though, made sense of their situation. But still, it didn't make sense.

Why the empathy link? Of all the time that Jackson Overland could be reborn, why now? But he couldn't agree more that they were still, in fact, missing pieces of this puzzle. They were on the same boat here. They're equally confused and clueless of the situation. Jack never knew he would need so many answers in his life more than this moment. He hated it. It reminded him of the time when he had just woken up. He had spent three hundred years being clueless of who he was or what was happening to him or why he was here. He despised of the idea of not knowing or simply being able to understand what was really going on.

He looked at Jackson and exhaled a deep sigh at the sight. "I'm sorry kiddo. Just got TMI-ed. But I'm still mad at you for not telling me at once. With this empathy link, I have to be careful. I don't want Jamie hating me when you feel too much pain." The albino crossed his arms over his chest leveling the brunette with a stern glare.

Jack understood that the connection was a risk, and now that he knew they had it… I am not going to make a mess out of this, he promised himself fiercely. I am sick of making a mess out of everything. He could not afford to endanger Jackson because of him.

"Don't worry. I already realized that only the strong feelings are the ones that you can channel through me. It's like… sharing the load you have to me so you could ease up the burden a bit." The brunette continued and offered him a smile but the winter child didn't return it. He saw how the realization of the brunette's words dawned into him and Jack probably guessed the kid wanted to smack himself.

Jackson's phrasing of their situation wasn't doing anything good to Jack too. Sharing that load and easing up the burden definitely gave him a good picture. Jackson mentioned one of the worst attacks being when he was eleven and Jack tried calculating the time, approximately landing on the moment of his life when he had thought Hiccup was gone. Jackson said he had started crying for no reason and now, Jack understood that it wasn't just physical pain that the Guardian had shared to the brunette, but also emotional. He suddenly wondered how Jackson had fended those years.

Jack had bottled up his emotions and was in a constant state of depression and self-loathing. It took him years to get passed the grief and heal. But seeing that Jackson was a jolly kid and seemed to be enjoying his life, far from the image of a depressed and suicidal teen, brought little comfort to him but comfort nonetheless.

Jackson tried to assure him that it was not his fault―none of them was aware of the empathy link―that he was not experiencing any physical pain but just feeling a little colder than usual, Jack didn't trust his words though, and that he had gotten used to it. He reminded him though that they both had to be careful now with the link stronger than before, to avoid tapping into the other's emotions unless necessary and not to tell the others. Jackson seemed to be stressing this matter and Jack had no problem with it. Getting your emotions read was the same as having a telepath poking into your mind. It was never a fun experience.

It wasn't a few minutes later that they heard Jackson's mom knocking on the door and Jack figure that it was time for him to leave. He made his way to the window's ledge and looked back to Jackson. Before he left he knew he needed to ask this of the teen.

"Hey, Jackson, can you promise me something?"

Jackson looked at him worriedly, undoubtedly trying to read the expression on his face before saying, "Sure, what is it?"

"Promise me you'll watch over Hiccup. Take care of him. Make sure nothing bad happens to him." Jack was still unsure if it really was Pitch pulling the strings behind everything. But it wouldn't hurt if someone could keep an eye out on the auburn. Jack wanted to be the one to protect Hiccup and to always stay by his side. But randomly being called to help by the Seasons Court and with trouble stirring, he wouldn't be able to keep a constant eye on him. Especially now with the Night-mares. Still, he couldn't conclude that it was that creep who was at fault here. He had no idea what happened to Hiccup the past six years. He knew nothing of his life and he wasn't there to watch him grow up like he had with Jamie.

He wanted Jackson to be there for Hiccup. He wanted him to do what he wasn't able to years ago. He could've asked Jamie to do this but it wasn't the same. It didn't feel quite right. With Jackson though, it felt like he was there with the auburn. Weird, right? But maybe it had to do something with the link. Plus, he had to investigate to find out the truth. If Pitch was really back, they had to be prepared. But the enemy hasn't made any big moves yet, and he knew unless he did, Manny wouldn't tell them.

(It never fails to piss him off how the Man in the Moon could stay so quiet with all these things happening.)

"You don't need to make me promise," Jackson said as he smiled at the Guardian. "I made that promise to myself without being aware."

Jack didn't know what the brunette meant by that but he smiled and punched him lightly on the shoulder, glad that he could count on his twin. "Thanks man."

"Don't mention it. And Jack, no telling the others about our empathy link," he repeated and Jack sighed.

"I promise, cross my heart," he did the action for emphasis and grinned at the teen making the brunette shake his head at the immortal's actions.

"And kiddo," he said as Jackson looked up meet his eyes, "I'll find a way to get rid of the empathy link so we could break it when we don't need it anymore. See 'ya around Jackson," he gave the teen a two finger salute and he took off into the sky not hearing the brunette's reply but he had guessed it was most likely a "Yeah, see ya".

There was still some place he needed to drop by before proceeding with his investigation.

The winter spirit landed softly on the window's ledge, willing his ice powers not to spread any frost on it. He had almost landed on the wrong window, thinking that the one with the lights still on was Hiccup's room. He remembered the kid had told him once that he has a habit of staying up way past his bed time but once he took a peak and saw a young man with raven hair working on his laptop, and was clearly not the freckled teen, he realized he had the wrong window and drifted to the one next to it.

You can't blame him for the mistake. He only sneaked into the boy's room once! And he wasn't one with a great memory. Hah, great memory, right. Like forgetting his past life wasn't a good reminder of that.

The immortal teen decided against entering the auburn's room when he saw that Hiccup was still obviously awake as he stared at his ceiling. Something must be bothering the freckled teen for him to be kept up this late. He watched him toss and turn, groaning and grumbling for who-knows-how long before the boy finally decided to get up. It took him a few more moments until the boy threw off his comforter. He saw him slip on his prosthesis, wincing a bit and walked to the door. Toothless turned to the window, looking at him directly, and Jack let out a squeak for being found out. He smiled sheepishly at the wolf and Toothless snorted in response, jumping off the bed and following his human.

Jack stayed at his perch for a bit. Thinking if he should follow where the pair where going or if he should just leave now. The decision was taken out of his hands though when he heard something slide open and he slid on the roof to find out what it was, only to see Hiccup sitting on the elevated wooden floor as he stared at their garden.

The Guardian wanted to come closer to Hiccup, sit beside him and keep him company, but he knew it would only hurt him knowing that the teen couldn't see him or even feel he was there. That incident back in Jamie's house was proof enough. It didn't stop the immortal though when he decided to drop a few feet away from where the boy sat. The expression on his face was worrisome. Hiccup looked tired but his eyes were wide awake. Jack wondered what the boy could be thinking of when he saw a small smile grace his lips. The winter spirit wanted to inch closer, to reach out and touch the boy but he was too afraid to do so.

All of a sudden, Jack heard someone speak and Hiccup was snapped out of his thoughts and the next thing the winter spirit knew, Hiccup was cursing. Jack was bug-eyed as he heard the words passing through the kid's lip. He had never even heard Jamie curse that much and here, sweet innocent looking Hiccup knew more in that department. He wanted to laugh when he saw a blush creeping up on the teen's cheeks as the newcomer reprimanded him. Jack recognized him as the raven haired man he saw upstairs. The raven, who learned was named Tadashi, started asking why Hiccup couldn't sleep.

Jack had a feeling that he should be leaving now, but his curiosity got ahead of him and he couldn't help but stay to find out what was keeping Hiccup awake this late at night. When he heard Tadashi, mention a "him", Jack soon understood that he shouldn't have stayed at all. The way Hiccup acted all defensive, Jack had a feeling that this "him" wasn't anyone ordinary.

When Hiccup started to say that Jackson wasn't being his usual self, the albino felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He realized that the link must've acted up when Jackson was with them and he put some distance to them so they wouldn't see that anything was wrong with him and not make them worry. But the longer Jack listened to their conversation, it seems that there was something deeper about this matter and it didn't have anything to do with the empathy link anymore.

He was shocked to see that Hiccup was crying as he spoke about Jackson. The Guardian didn't need to be a genius to know that the auburn teen was hurting. From what he's gathered from the conversation, Hiccup ignored Jackson because he didn't want this Merida or Hiro to tease him about the brunette―to which Jack didn't know why―and Jackson stayed distant from Hiccup, until the later part of the night. But somehow, Jackson seemed like he was avoiding Hiccup as he left immediately. At this point, Jack understood that the reason the brunette had left was because the empathy link had acted up. But Hiccup was blaming himself for that, that he was the reason Jackson had left. The Guardian didn't understand why the freckled teen was this affected by the other teen's change of behavior. But when he heard what the raven teen said next, it all made sense to him now.

"You really like him, don't you?"

From the way Tadashi had said it, it wasn't a question. There was no doubt in his voice; he was sure of what the auburn would answer. And when he saw Hiccup nod and confirm it with a small voice, there was something in Jack that broke. He didn't know what it was, but it felt like a part of him was chipped off from hearing Hiccup's answer.

Hiccup stayed quiet after that and Jack looked as Tadashi watched the auburn who was still hugging his legs close to him, hiding his tear-stricken face. "Jackson's a great guy and I'm sure he wouldn't blame you for anything," he started to say. "But if you think you did something wrong to him, if you need to apologize, then go and do it. I'm sure he'll forgive you. And Hiccup, I know you're scared. It's obvious since Jackson is the first ever person you've met who's like this. But take your time he'll understand. He'll wait for you. You're that special to him." He smiled and ruffled the boy's auburn hair. "He likes you very much; in fact I could see that his feelings for you are beyond that, even if he hasn't realized them himself yet."

When Hiccup asked why Tadashi was so sure about this, the raven's smile widened and stood up as he helped the younger teen to his feet. "I just am. And trust me, Jackson wouldn't hurt you even if he could."

He's got some certain attachment to Hiccup, Jamie's words rang in his mind.

And he was reminded of the brunette's face earlier when he had asked him to promise. I made that promise to myself without being aware.

Jack felt so stupid not to realize sooner what those cryptic words from the cousins meant. Jamie had clued him about it and it was so obvious the way Jackson behaved when they first met. The distrustful looks and a certain degree of hostility radiating off the brunette, he should've seen it that moment! Jackson had seen him as a competition, but once he found out about Jack's relationship with Hiccup and his predicament, the idea of Jack being a rival evaporated in an instant. He was glad that Jackson was eager to help him to make Hiccup remember him. But with their new knowledge, they both understood that this wasn't a simple matter of making Hiccup believe in him again. It certainly wasn't about that anymore.

Though Jack didn't get why it hurt to find out Hiccup liked Jackson in a more that friends way. Unless he actually… No, no. NO. The albino shook the thoughts out of his head immediately. He couldn't. He shouldn't. It would only complicate things if he started thinking that way. The Guardians had warned him about this―about being too attached to a child. But this, the thoughts his mind was plunging into, it was taboo.

He stayed there a few more seconds, watching the trio go back inside and retreat to their beds. The Guardian of Fun let his eyes wander up to the auburn's window and he screwed his eyes shut to drown out his thoughts.

There was only one thing that he wanted: For Hiccup to see him again. He wanted to make sense of the reason why Hiccup stopped believing in him. Of why he was able to touch him for a brief moment. Toothless could remember him, but why couldn't Hiccup? He wanted to know what happened to Hiccup those years before. He wanted to know what caused all of this.

And if Pitch, had anything to do with this… if he was really back… Jack would do anything to protect Hiccup.

He didn't care if Hiccup liked Jackson, and Jackson felt the same way.

He just wanted him to see him again. He just wanted to hear him say his name.

A/N: And DUN-DUN-DUN~ another, rather, dramatic end. So… the first part of chapter 23 finally made sense eh? *snickers* I just had to do that. I'm sorry. ^^;)

Anyhoo, I hope you guys enjoyed the update. I will work my best to make the next chapters as exciting as possible. Even if my brain seems to be in a mutinous phase. He's so uncooperative sometimes *coughs* always *coughs*. And, weird. My brain is male. XD It just sounds right rather than "she". Yup, need to shut up now.

*To be honest, I have no name for that ice spirit teacher for Jack. Any suggestions? Pfft. What if Katara went spirit mode here? XD But no. Can't use Katara. So any name or more like character suggestions?

Lastly, random shout out to Monodoof! Upupupupu~ :3

— REN