Hooray for fast updates! Another short one, which I apologise for, but I just couldn't seem to make it any longer without rambling off on a tangent. The beginning of this is a bit more introspective (I'm not sure if that's quite the right word, but I'm going with it) than usual, but hopefully that's not a problem.
Read, enjoy, and please review!
"Okay, look: you and I are obviously at what they call a crossroads. So, here's what's gonna happen: if it wasn't a dream, and if you are real, then you have to prove it. Like, right now."
The winter spirit peered in the window at the young boy sprawled across the bed, who was staring at his stuffed rabbit with a desperate earnestness. Jack's heart sank as he realised that Jamie was asking for the one thing he couldn't give: solid, tangible proof. He had been trying for the last three hundred years, and had never managed to convince anyone that he was real. He didn't know how the others had done it- perhaps Mim had given them some help? Regardless, there was nothing he could do except watch Jamie's belief dwindle and fade.
"I've believed in you for a long time, okay? Like, my whole life in fact. So you kind of owe me now; you don't have to do much. Just a little sign so I know. Anything; anything at all."
The small, spiteful part of Jack that he'd always tried to ignore was having a field day right then. The niggling voice that reminded him that he was useless, that no one believed in him, that he was nothing more than a punching bag for the other spirits, was crowing in victory. It reminded him of how North ignored him, how Bunny treated him, how even Sandy never had time for him. Pointed out Tooth had had his memories all along, and had never bothered to find them, to give them to him. Told him that, with the guardians gone, there would be a nice little niche of belief that a certain winter spirit could fill quite comfortably.
But then the other part of him spoke up; this was the part that had looked into his sister's eyes and had known that, no matter what, he had to save her. The part that had tried to help Baby Tooth keep warm even when his very soul ached from the snapping of his staff. The good part of him, which remembered the goodness in the other guardians.
When someone needs to remember what's important... we help them.
There will be springtime in every continent, and I'm bringing hope with me!
This wonder is what I put into the world.
And yes, they had mistreated him, but yes, he had messed up. Just like he had messed up that day on the ice, when he hadn't checked to make sure it was thick enough. Then, he had found a way to make things right, even though it meant sacrificing himself.
"I knew it," Jamie muttered, dropping the rabbit toy. Jack hesitated, before slipping into the room. The expression on the young boy's face was heart wrenching, and no matter what that little devil in his mind screamed, he knew, right through to his very core, right to his centre, that the guardians did not deserve to die. It was his fault they were in this mess, and he'd be damned if he didn't do his best to fix it!
He was Jack Frost- not even a myth, he was nothing more than an expression. He didn't bring kids hope, wonder, dreams, help them remember what really mattered. He was nobody. They weren't. They brought joy to children. They were legends for a reason. And it would be a lot easier to convince Jamie that a legend existed than a nobody. With that in mind, Jack leaned forward and frosted up the window.
Jack had never been to kindergarten, and so had never become adept at that oh-so-important skill known as 'finger painting.' Nevertheless, his crudely drawn Easter egg and cartoon rabbit seemed enough for Jamie.
"They're real," he murmured, face lighting up in amazement and joy. However, the winter spirit wasn't done yet.
He had never told anyone about his ability to bring the frost to life. He hardly ever used it- though pretty, the projections were fleeting, and no better company than his collection of sculptures in Antarctica. The idea of showing it to a mortal had never even occurred to him, but now he laughed as Jamie delightedly chased it around the room. Laughed, because Pitch was wrong: he may mess up sometimes, but he could fix it. He could make it right, and it didn't matter that no one believed in him, because he had saved the guardians, and in the end that was what mattered.
Then the rabbit exploded in a cloud of snow, and Jack froze as still as one of his sculptures when he heard Jamie wonderingly whisper
"Snow? Jack Frost."
"Hey, mate... Tooth just wanted- ow! Okay, okay, I just wanted to say... well... uh... thanks. For, yeh know, getting Jamie to believe in us and everything." Jack grinned.
"I'm sorry, Kangaroo, I didn't quite catch that: what did you just say?"
"Ah, rack off yeh show pony! Yeh know damned well what I just said!"
"Bunny!"
"But, Tooth, he-"
"Hush, Bunnymund." Shockingly, Bunny shut his mouth, and Tooth turned to Jack, fingers twitching eagerly at the sight of his teeth. "How did you do it? How did you get Jamie to see you?"
The winter spirit found himself telling them about how Jamie had asked for a sign, and how he had created the frost rabbit to hop around his room. Bunny chuckled when he mentioned the snowflake that 'nipped' at Jamie's nose, but the immortal child wasn't even slightly annoyed, still too elated at the memories.
"It was strange," Jack mused; "For a moment, before he saw what I was doing, it looked like he really had given up. But he must have held on to his belief, otherwise you guys wouldn't be here!" Tooth smothered him in a massive hug.
"Oh, Jack! If it wasn't for you we wouldn't be here. You saved us! And you got your first believer! I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks, Tooth," he replied, patting her awkwardly on the back. Bunny frowned to himself- the kid was completely unused to physical contact, something they would have to rectify. And by they he meant Tooth, North and Sandy. No way was he going to start giving out hugs. No chance.
"Bunny, come join the hug!"
"No way, Tooth, ah-"
"E. Aster Bunnymund!" Bunny groaned, and grudgingly draped one paw over Tooth's shoulder. The fairy responded by grabbing his fur and pulling him round so that somehow her tiny arms were wrapped around both of them, squeezing them to death. Jack was crushed in the middle, and he and Bunny shared bug-eyed expressions of helplessness generally caused by the near breakage of ribs.
"Uh, Tooth, we can't brea-"
"Savour it, Bunny."
That bloody show pony of a winter spirit had the nerve to laugh.
