A/N: okay so a lot will be happening in the next chapters and i have another 3 day weekend so ill be doing my best to update. also, ITS SNOWING ASDFGHJKL but its a shame i have a cold and cant go outside to enjoy it :I.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters.

Chapter Thirty Eight

His name, was Jack Frost, and that was all he knew. The moon had told him so, and that was the last time the moon ever told him anything. Upon further investigation Jack had found out he could fly along the winds, create ice and snow, freeze water, and people could walk through him. Nobody ever saw or heard him. He was just a myth, a figure of speech. Even though nobody could hear him, Jack continued to explore this village called Burgess. It was currently Christmas day there and after water freezing some water, the nonexistent boy rode the winds back to the frozen lake. He had gotten tired of watching children babble on about what they received for Christmas. Everyone seemed to have gotten what they wanted, except him. He still had no idea who he was or what he was supposed to do.

As he walked on the ice he left complex footsteps that looked like frozen ferns on the surface. A light snow began to rain down as Jack looked up at the sky. It was in the evening, and everybody was celebrating Christmas in the village. Nobody was ice skating today, nobody seemed to come to the ice. Jack had seen people in the forest chop down trees but whenever they would come near the frozen lake they would just avoid it and there was a sad look on their faces, as if something had happened at the lake that Jack was unaware of.

A snowflake blew in the air and landed on Jack's nose. He playfully swatted it away but as he moved around, he noticed something. It was something new, it was a girl. She looked like she was about twelve years old and Jack had recognized her as one of the many people who had walked through him. He didn't know her name or who she was, but Jack's curiosity go the best of him. He hovered over to the girl walking through the snow.

"Hello?"

There was no response. Jack new his efforts were pointless but he waved his hand in the girl's face anyways. She only continued to walk past him until she reached the lake. Her head was tilted down as if she was upset or longing. The girl then placed a green plant on the ice that had these red berry looking objects in it. Then she looked as if she was about to cry when she saw how bare the ice was. Jack noticed this and got closer to her.

"Hey kid are you okay? You seem pretty down."

Taking a closer look, Jack saw tears in her brown eyes.

"Jack..."

A surge shot through Jack's entire body and he jumped back. That was his name, she said his name! Jack started to get excited. "C-can you see me?" he asked hopefully.

"Do you know who I-"

"Jack please come back! I'm so sorry but please come back don't leave me!"

The girl was shaking as tears flowed from her eyes like a waterfall.

"I-I'm sorry but please this isn't funny! Jack please!"

She was a wreck. The sobbing girl crumpled to the ground and began wiping away her tears. Jack could only stand there wand watch her. He couldn't call out or touch her or do anything. After a few minutes, the girl took in a deep breath and got up. Jack saw that her face was still wet and her eyes had become red and puffy from crying so much in the bitter cold. Her quiet breathes were seen in the brisk air as she calmed down and got up. Wiping her face one last time, the girl turned around.

"Hey wait!" Jack called out to her. He ran ahead of her and started asking her questions.

"W-Were you talking to me? Do you know who-"

He was cut off when she walked through him. Jack didn't even notice that the snow had started to come down heavier and faster. The clouds had turned grey and they covered the sky as more snow brutally came down. Following the girl to the village, Jack walked past all of the Christmas decorations and kept his eyes on her. She may not be able to see or hear him, but maybe she knows who he is?

"Pippa! What are you doing outside it looks like there's going to be a storm!" a middle aged woman said. She was standing in the doorway of a small home that looked like it was about to fall apart any second. She had long brown hair tied into a neat bun and had dark brown eyes. A long dress with an apron was on her small frame while a fireplace was homing a warm fire behind her.

"I-I'm sorry momma. I was at the lake-"

The woman pulled Pippa into a hug while tears streamed down her face as well.

"Baby I'm sorry but, that was so long ago. It's been three years."

"I know but, Jack wouldn't just leave right?"

A cold breeze blew past them and Pippa sniffled before sneezing.

"Come inside dear, I think you may be coming down with something."

Jack watched as the woman pulled Pippa into the house. Looking around, Jack saw that other people were shutting their doors as well until he was the only one left outside. The snow was now coming down in a flurry but Jack didn't notice as he peered through the window of the house Pippa was in. Who was she? How did she know his name? Why did she look so familiar?

Pippa and her mother sat down in on top of a bed. The fireplace was providing warmth but Pippa's nose was still runny. Her mother placed a hand on Pippa's forehead and sighed.

"Pippa you were already coming down with a fever and I think being out there so long just made it worse."

It was cold that night. Snow was piled up to the windows and it blocked out the door. Jack was frustrated, he was so close to finding out who he was yet he was still so far away. Pippa's mother looked out the window and past the snow. There was a full moon in the night sky, and the moonlight glistened over the white snow. It was still falling, and that worried her. Her daughter had caught a fever and the fire in the fireplace was beginning to die down. There was too much snow blocking the door to go out and she knew this small and dainty home would not protect them. Ever since her husband died in a hunting accident her son had been the man of the house.

Her son was supposed to repair the roof above their heads the day after he took his sister ice skating. Then he never came back and the widow had turned into a single parent with a single child. She had done her best to repair the roof herself but after three years, it was beginning to weaken again. It creaked as snow piled on top of it. Her last child, Pippa, was asleep in her bed. There were various blankets on her body as to keep her warm during the chilling night. The fire went out in the fireplace and all that was left was ashes.

Pippa's mother lit a candle. It was their last candle, and she placed it on the night stand next to Pippa's bed. The temperature had started to drop in the house. The only heat they had came from one measly candle that was slowly shrinking in size under the tiny flame. Pippa sneezed in her sleep before shivering. She felt so cold, so very cold. Just then the wind blew open the window letting snow fly in and causing the widow to yelp. She hastily closed the window as the snow that blew in gathered on the wooden floor. It was freezing now, as if the wind that caused the window to open also made her house's temperature drop ten degrees.

Jack inched closer to the sleeping child. He was worried about her so he came into her house. He wanted to know why she was so upset today yet there was a part of him that made him feel like it was his duty to protect her too. "So your name is Pippa huh?" he said while looking down at her. He could see where the tears had dried on her face but she was growing paler. Jack just assumed it was because of her fever. He suddenly winced as Pippa's mother walked through him and knelt down beside her sick daughter. She was shivering as well and her breath was now visible in the air. Pippa was also shivering under her thin blankets.

Noticing that he had made the situation worse, Jack looked around for a way out. The door was blocked by snow making the window his only means of escape. Silently inching the window open, Jack took one glance look at Pippa. Her mother was hugging her now. Jack didn't know whether it was to keep her warm or if it was out of love. He moved away from the window and took a step towards Pippa and her mother. Pippa's lips were tinted blue now.

"Hey miss, I think there's something wrong with her other than being sick." he said to Pippa's mother. "I think she needs some serious help."

Jack saw the thin blankets covering Pippa's body. Judging by how her house looked, Jack inferred that they were very poor. As time passed through the night, Jack noticed that Pippa was still in her mother's arms. He didn't see her chest rise and fall and he didn't see her mouth or nose move either. "Pippa?" he asked. It felt weird calling Pippa by her name.

There was no response.

Jack nudged her body with his staff and she slumped from her mother's grasp.

"Pippa!" shrieked her mother. The woman got down to the floor where her daughter was lying while Jack watched the seen unfold. He was anxious and his heart was beating faster and faster as he watched Pippa's mother.

"Pippa? Pippa wake up! Wake up!"

Scared, the widow checked her daughters pulse before gasping. Tears formed in her eyes as she hugged her daughter's body to her own.

"N-No! Not my daughter! Not my baby! Please don't take her she's only twelve!"

Pippa was the only thing left for her. Being a widow to two children was hard enough, losing her only son was torture, but losing her last child was unbearable. Jack watched in horror as the mother wailed. She was still holding Pippa's cold body. Tears began to stain the girl's clothes as she remained still. The tears that landed on the floor quickly turned to frost but that didn't matter.

She was gone.

The last member of her family was gone.

First her husband, then her son, and now her daughter.

It would soon be her turn to go soon. It was still freezing inside the house as the candle died out. Snow surrounded the weak house and there was nothing but darkness and despair on the inside.

/

The scenery changed yet again and Jack was back in the forest with Pippa. He stared into nothing as he sat down in the snow and pulled his legs to his chest. That was why that voice seemed to familiar, it belonged to the girl that had died that night. It belonged to his little sister. Pippa wrapped her arms around Jack.

How could he do this?

"Its okay, we're together now right?"

Pippa patted her brother's head trying to soothe him. Jack was silent. He was lost in guilt and in his own thoughts. If only he had known back then, that the cold could be dangerous. If only he'd known that an average of one thousand people would freeze to death each year. If only he'd learn how to control his powers back then.

"Jack?"

Pippa looked at him through blank white eyes. They were even now. Jack drowned because of Pippa and Pippa died because of Jack.

"You're not going to leave again right?"

"No, I promise."

He pulled his sister into a hug and she hugged him back. Something was till bothering Jack though. Why was Pippa acting so calm about this? Was it because she could finally see her brother again? But still, it was as if there was something she wasn't telling Jack.