A/N: As usual, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and followers again! :D

This was a oneshot originally but I'm kind of slow at writing lately so I decided to split it into two parts so I have something to upload until I finish the new story ( a christmas oneshot ) I'm working on. ;)

*Set 5 years after the movie*

Jack was sitting on one of the big rocks which surrounded his lake in the forest of Burgess, staring at nowhere in particular as his mind was focused on the events of the last months and years and above all, his latest encounter with his first believer.

Children losing belief in the guardians once they grew up was nothing out of the ordinary and North as well as the others had tried to prepare him for it. But if there was something Jack didn't want to think about then it was the prospect of being invisible again so he just shrugged it off, secretly hoping it would never happen. Monty, Caleb and Co. had actually seen him and played with him numerous times, that should have been enough to prevent them from suddenly thinking he didn't exist. And yet, as they slowly hit puperty one after the other started to change their hobbies and priorities. Shopping, going out with their friends, the opposite gender, popularity at school and other things of the likes were suddenly more important than having snowball fights and sleigh rides. They were still nice kids, no, teenagers, but after outgrowing childish pastimes like those they slowly began to forget the winter spirit and eventually stopped believing in him. Even if it broke Jack's heart and he couldn't understand how they were able to turn their backs on him, it was simply how things went. After all, it would be tricky being an adult and insisting on the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy to actually exist. And yet, he would never manage to get rid of the feeling of his first believers suddenly walking right through him. That moment the shock had almost made him forget how to breathe.

It was still very difficult to gain new believers. Most children, no matter where they lived or which religion they followed, had at least heard about Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman or the Tooth Fairy. But seasonal spirits like him didn't share that popularity. The myth of Jack Frost was mainly established in the USA and if people from other countries had heard of him then it was mainly because of a few movies. Jack didn't like them at all. Either he was portrayed as the bad guy who wanted to steal Santa's job or as a snowman or other inappropriate depictions. So either they had never heard of him or thought he was just a Hollywood-creation. Trying to make those people see him was doomed to fail right from the start. Sandy had spread dreams involving the winter spirit but for many children it was just a funny dream once the woke up. Dreaming of dragons or unicorns also didn't convince them that those creatures were real.

Still, there was a very small number of children who actually could see him. They mainly lived in Burgess and were told by Jamie and his friends.

Speaking of Jamie, by now he and Sophie were the only ones of the original group who still believed in the Guardian of Fun. Due to Jack's observations he had found out that children usually stopped believing in the guardians once they reached the age of 12 or 13. Sophie had turned 8 a short time ago and was still far from letting go of her belief but Jamie was 15 already and his next birthday wasn't very far away. Whenever Jack visited he couldn't ignore the blatant fact of his best friend growing up but he kept trying to push it aside. The boy was still shorter than the frost teen but that wouldn't last for long since only about two inches separated them right now. His room decoration had also changed, he had gotten rid of the brightly coloured posters displaying mythical creatures, children's games and cartoons and replaced them with posters of movies and popular bands. There were no plush toys anymore, just a few miniature cars and action figures and a whole lot of books.

Jamie still liked it when he visited him but it wasn't the same anymore. When the boy had been younger and Jack had shown up at his window he had always been excited and usually greeted him with a stormy hug but now he more often than not only gave him a faint smile, a nonchalant "Hi." and didn't even bother interrupting whatever he was doing. Sometimes Jack felt like he was just another one of those friends who constantly dropped by and whose presence was appreciated but nothing special. The older Jamie got the less he was interested in playing outside in the snow so whenever the winter spirit visited him they mainly just sat together talking for a while. The topics of their discussions weren't on the same page either. While Jack was still getting excited about causing blizzards, snowdays and playing with children no matter if he was invisible to them or not, Jamie prefered to tell him about which bands and movies were currently hip, what was going on at school and his interest in girls also seemed to increase lately. To sum it up, they were at cross purposes.

The Guardian of Fun missed the old times but he also knew that he couldn't prevent children from growing up, no matter how much he wished he could stop the march of time.

After Jamie's 13th birthday Jack's fear about losing him reached new heights and instead of spending the hot summer months away from his home he kept coming back to Burgess only to make sure the boy could still see him. The young Bennett was smart enough to look right through his best friend and assured him that he wouldn't stop believing in him anytime soon and that it wasn't necessary to check on him every other week. And yet, the constant worry wasn't something Jack could simply switch off.

Today, it was in early September when temperatures were slowly starting to drop to reasonable levels again and five weeks after the frost teen's last visit. He wasn't able to take it any longer and needed to calm down the nagging concern which was stubbornly keeping his mind busy. From the North Pole he flew to Burgess, as fast as the wind could carry him and straight to the Bennett's house. At first he was relieved when he entered Jamie's room through the window, which he always left ajar out of habit, and was greeted with a casual "Hey." while he was busy looking through some clothes. But the dissappointment followed right away when the brunette teenager told him that he had no time to hang out with him because he had a date with a girl from school.

"Oh...okay, see you later then...I guess." Jack muttered and headed back to the window, looking back one more time to see if there was any reaction but the 15-year-old was too focused on picking out the perfect outfit that he didn't even pay attention to his friend leaving.

And now here he was, sitting at his lake and brooding.

For the first time during their friendship Jack felt like his first believer didn't want him around anymore. That he had been replaced by other people and hobbies and even the fact he could still see him didn't make the situation much better. It was only a matter of time until his belief faded and something deep inside him assured him it would happen soon. Too soon. He wasn't ready for this. Losing his other original believers had been hard enough but the mere thought of Jamie walking right through him caused his heart to convulse. Never had he expected that letting go would be that painful. He still had Sophie and a few other children to play with but Jamie was someone special, the first human ever who was able to see him and that when the winter spirit had secretly already given up hope.

No, he definitely didn't want to let go, he just couldn't. But what could he do against it? He had already tried whatever he could but nothing worked out. They were growing apart and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

Thought after thought was running through his head, he didn't even notice the dark shadow creeping out from the trees behind him until he heard a familiar yet more than unwelcome voice.

"What a pleasure to see you like this, Frost."

Jack was immediately ripped out of his ponderings and turned around hastily, staring at the black figure with wide eyes for a short moment before standing up and aiming his staff at him.

"Pitch! What do you want?" he snarled, totally not in the mood for dealing with him right now.

The boogeyman just stood there seemingly unimpressed by the frost teen's antics and eyed him with an almost bored look.

"I see you're still as precipitous as usual. But calm down, I won't attack you. As a matter of fact I can't even though I'd love to take revenge for the humiliation you caused me five years ago."

It was Jack's turn to muster his opponent now, noticing that he looked a little paler than during their last encounter and his general appearance, even though he couldn't pinpoint why, was less intimidating as well. Hesitantly he lowered his staff but remained cautious in case it was one of Pitch's tricks.

"Well, you deserved it." the winter spirit stated bluntly. "Still recovering from your epic defeat, I guess?"

The Nightmare King glared daggers at the white-haired boy but didn't move a muscle otherwise. The brat definitely was as irritating as he remembered him.

"Not that it is any of business but I'm not in the condition for a battle. At least not yet."

"Then why the heck are you here? Don't you have to, I don't know, lurk under some bed or sculpt little sand horses for your collection?"

The question was provocating and sounded blatantly annoyed but Jack didn't give a damn. If there was something he could do without right now it was the boogeyman's presence. And he knew very well that his powers surpassed those of Pitch by far so he saw no reason to retain himself or bother to hide his sour mood.

"My, my...you really are ill-tempered, aren't you? Trouble with your believers, I assume?" the tall man remarked in a disturbingly sweet tone.

Jack's face literally fell, he felt like the dark spirit was seeing right through him. Needless to say he didn't like this at all. But he couldn't allow to show how this hit a nerve, he had to regain his composure. Shaking his head he tried to attempt nonchalance and act like nothing happened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe the years all alone in your depressing hideout caused hallucinations?"

"Mock me as much as you want, Frost, but I told you once, if there's something I know it's people's fears. And your fear is so strong it lured me out of my lair. As you should be aware of I live in, or to be more precise under, this forest as well. So don't go bleeding in the ocean and then complain because a shark comes your way." Pitch explained calmly but it was apparent that he loved every moment of confronting the younger immortal.

Crap. That was all Jack could think that moment. Denial would be futile but he also didn't want to give his adversary the satisfaction of seeing him upset. Which was pretty unavoidable because he was upset and had never been very good at hiding his true emotions. Double crap.

Sensing the younger spirit's discomfort the Nightmare King continued his little speech.

"Losing your believers really hit you hard, I see. Concerning the fact you never had many must have made it even worse. What a shame, all that effort you put into it, all that fun you gave those children and how do they thank you for it? They dump you without even looking back and go on with their lives as if you never existed. Brings back old memories, doesn't it, Jack? And that kid, what was his name...Jamie Bennett. He'll be next."

"SHUT UP!" Jack screamed and fired a blast of ice at the boogeyman which he only managed to dogde at the very last moment.

Pitch brushed the frost off his sleeve where it had grazed him. That was close. But it proved that he had hit a nerve and this alone gave him a pleasant feeling of triumph. Looking at the youth did the rest, behind all that anger and hatred he could also see hurt and fear, oh, it was delicious.

"Oh my dear boy, why don't you finally accept it? No matter what you do, in the end people will always forget you and sooner or later you will be on your own again. Like it has always been and how it will always be. This now is just a short phase but as I see it it's over sooner than you expected, isn't it?"

Trembling pale fingers grabbed the magical shepherd's crook even tighter. Teeth clenched and eyebrows narrowed, glaring into the void because he couldn't bring himself to look his opponent in the eye. His heart was racing, breath hitching. Should he attack? Should he try to shrug the accusations off? Should he simply turn his back on him and run away? His mind was raging and he still had no idea how to deal with the situation at hand.

"So quiet all of a sudden? Or don't you want to say anything because you know I am speaking the truth? I must say I'm a little dissappointed for I expected far more discussion from you." Pitch mused, obviously still enjoying the winter teen's inner turmoil.

Jack however finally snapped out of it since he had enough of the dark man's antics.

"Well, boohoo for you. I won't discuss anything with you because it's none of your freaking business! I still have believers, new ones, and Jamie won't stop believing in me." he blurted out but the last sentence sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Pitch.

"Then would you care to explain why I smelled your fear about losing him from all the way down my lair? You can fool yourself, Jack, but you can't fool me. You are afraid and it's eating you up from the inside out. You know how it was to be invisible, to not be believed in and you're scared of it happening again."

With every spoken word he could see the teen's wall of anger crumbling and revealing the blatant hurt and terror as he considered the truth of the Nightmare King's statements. As much as he hated to admit it but the bastard was right. He couldn't think about anything else than the upcoming day when he would visit his first believer and have him walk right through him. It was frightening him but the scene kept repeating in his mind, over and over again.

"The Bennett brat will stop believing in you eventually and you know what? He won't even miss you because everything you two did, all the fun you had, he won't remember. He will forget you."

"No, I won't."

Both immortals turned around, blue and golden eyes scanning their surroundings for the source of the sudden voice and landed on a brunette teenage boy standing not far away from them.

A/N : After 36 chapters I thought it's time for Pitch making a guest appearance. :P