'Wait up, wait up!' a little boy cried out, racing to keep up with some children in front of him. His hair was brown and his eyes, too, and he laughed as he ran through the dusty earth. It was a warm day, but humid.

'Is that…' Bunny trailed off, staring at the child.

'Shh!' Tooth ordered, not taking an eye off the memory.

They all watched as the children ran off, then started to follow, knowing if they stayed here the scenery would start disappearing. They were in a row of houses, all made of wood and quite tattered, but hardy little things. Some smoke billowed out of one of the chimneys and they were surprised that a fire had been lit in this weather, but then realised it was probably for cooking. It was the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century- they could tell from the architecture, having lived through the period themselves. It was America, definitely, a mountainous area with great pine forests and snowy climbs. But currently it was summer, and the heat was a shock to their senses after the coldness of Jack's other memories- he was the embodiment of ice, after all. The Guardians sped along, until a voice stopped them.

'Jack?' a man called out, and they turned to the sound. There at the edge of a forest that loomed up above the houses stood a medium built man, his hands on his hips. He wore a thin and dirty green shirt and brown workers' trousers and boots. 'Jackson?' he called out once more into the trees, then started to walk into them.

'Don't call me Jackson!' a little voice echoed through the trees, but was then muffled by their cover.

'Alright, alright!' the man laughed. 'I won't! I promise, Jack! I saw you run in there, now come out!'

There was silence for a minute. 'No!' the boy called out again, and the man sighed.

'Look, I know you were running away from those kids, so come out! You know I won't do anything or tell anyone!' the man begged, and there was yet more silence.

'Keep it down, or you'll have told everyone by accident!' the boy sounded irritated. 'I'll come out if you promise not to tell ma and pa!'

'I promise!' the man shouted, then started walking down the forest path in search for Jackson. He listened carefully for any rustling, and flicked his head when a few birds fluttered their wings and flew away.

'You don't sound too sure!' the boy still didn't reveal himself. 'I can see you, by the way! Turn back and wait outside, where you were before, then maybe I'll come out!'

'You sure don't make negotiating easy!' the man chuckled as he walked back to where he came from and turned on his heels when he was there. 'Alright, I'm back! Will you come out now?'

There was silence for a few minutes, then leaves and twigs snapping could be heard from a little way away. The noise reverberated around the place, and a few gunshots could be heard in the distance. The boy was still not in sight.

'Jack!' the man cried out, with a more anxious tone this time. 'Jack you know they go hunting today! It's not safe! Please come out!' he rubbed his dirty blonde hair in his fingers, filling his cheeks up with air and sighing.

Everyone had been watching in the distance, and they hadn't noticed that the boy was now at the man's feet, just behind him. He walked slowly up to the legs in front of him and clung to them as tightly as he could, and the man and the Guardians jumped. 'Oh Jack! There we are!' he said softly, obviously relieved.

All the four could see was the boy's back- he had deep chestnut hair cut short, and he wore a little brown overcoat. He couldn't have been more than five years old. The man twisted himself around and pulled the boy up into his arms, who didn't refuse the safety of his hold. He hugged him tightly and held his little head to his shoulder, then broke the embrace by putting him back on the ground. He knelt down to the boy's height, and it was only now that the Guardians could see his face. They simultaneously gasped, and they knew instantly that this was their Jack.

His eyes were brown, shining warm orange in the sun, and his skin was tanned and smooth, dotted with a few freckles every so often. His fringe fell in little spiked clumps loosely over his forehead, and his face shone with youth. He looked so similar, yet so different.

'That's him.' Bunny said quietly, almost in shock. 'That's really him.'

'He's so... cute!' Tooth shrugged her shoulders up. 'I could just eat him all up! And look- he even had perfect teeth when he was little!'

'This is... a little strange.' North's face scrunched as he pulled a thinking face.

Sandy clapped his hands excitedly and lay his head on them, obviously fond of the memory.

'Jack!' the man said in concern and reached out a hand. 'Did they do this? Is that why you ran away?'

Jack looked down in shame, hiding his tears, and it was only then that the Guardians noticed a big bruise on his left cheek, along with a graze where whatever had hit him had broken his skin, too.

'Jack.' the man angled his head upwards so that he could look in Jack's eyes. 'You can tell me the truth.'

Jack simply nodded in return, and a single tear dropped onto the ground. 'They don't like me all that much, Rodge.'

'Hey!' Rodge said, attracting Jack's attention and smiling fondly. 'It doesn't matter! They look stupid anyway. Now, let's get you home and I'm sure your mother will patch you up!'

'No!' Jack shook his head and anchored himself to the ground. 'You said you wouldn't tell ma and pa!'

'I won't, I won't!' Rodge chuckled. 'We'll say... Uh... That you fell over! Hit your cheek on a rock! Walked into a tree! Got attacked by an eagle! Taken forty years into the future, where you had to wrestle your older self to get back here!'

Jack laughed out loud, and was obviously cheered up by the silliness. He took Rodge's hand and they started to walk back through the houses, heading for the centre of town.

'Little Lily'll be waiting for you!' Rodge said with excitement.

'Yeah, well. We're not on such great terms at the moment.' Jack sighed in annoyance.

'Jack, she's two months old.' Rodge replied. 'How can you be on bad terms?'

'Well, for a start, she sucked my blanket.' Jack started, and Rodge laughed. 'Then she was sick on mother.'

'Oh yeah?' Rodge tried to stop himself from laughing at how serious the little boy was, but it was more difficult than it looked.

'Yeah!' Jack peered up with an angry expression. 'And she's stealing all the attention of mother and father! They never play with me anymore. I haven't played with either of them since she was born. Not once!' Jack sighed heavily, trudging through the dust, kicking up a cloud in front of him.

'Well, I don't think that's quite true.' Rodge pricked up an eyebrow. 'I saw you out with your pa just the other day! And besides, all babies are like that for a while- don't worry. You'll be mother and father's favourite again before you know it!'

'I will?!' Jack beamed with joy. 'Well, what I want for my birthday this year is some friends! I'm going to wish as hard as I can the night before.'

'That's right- it's your birthday in a few weeks, isn't it?' Rodge said and gripped Jack's hand a bit tighter. He knew that the little boy wasn't going to be getting anything special- the Frost family wasn't exactly gaining a lot of income recently, and what with a new baby to feed and provide for, it was much more difficult to find spare money. At least his wish was for something that couldn't be bought- but in the end, that could end up being more difficult. 'Well, I'm sure you'll get some friends soon. Who wouldn't want to be friends with Jackson Frost?'

'Hey!' Jack replied. 'I said not to call me that! But I think most people don't want to be friends with Jackson Frost.'

'Oh, so it's alright if you call yourself it?' Rodge grinned down at the boy who wandered along tipsily.

'Obviously.' Jack scoffed, but it just sounded funny in his young voice. 'I can call myself whatever I like. Hello, my name's Timmy! George! Sarah!'

'A girl's name?' Rodge leant down to do up a button on the boy's overcoat that had come undone.

'Yeah!' Jack bounced in happiness. 'Whatever I like!'

Rodge laughed heartily at the funny little boy he was escorting home, then realised they were nearly there. They'd just passed all the shops in the main square, all prettily decorated as usual. Some people were sat around on barrels and benches, chatting and relaxing. It was getting late, and most had finished work now.

'We forgot again!' Bunny said out loud, hating having to break the mood of the lovely memory.

'Ack!' North sighed. 'It might be back there where we can't get it anymore!'

Sandy pulled out the knife from the bag, a look imprinted on his face that said "I remembered". He reassured them that it was it- it had only been by their feet when they were walking, and he had picked it up on the way. He didn't think he'd interrupt the memory while everyone was so engrossed in it. He promptly put it back in the dream sand bag and destroyed it in the same way as before, sighing as he continued to follow little Jack.

They stopped when they reached a little house quite far outside of the main town. It was much like the others- made of wood planks, with a tiled roof and a sweet little porch where there were two wooden chairs. Rodge and Jack started to walk up the path to the house, as it was pushed back so that it was slightly away from the road. It had been a long walk for the small boy, and he looked slightly unsteady on his feet- they had crossed from one side of the town to the other, a trek that would have taken more than an hour if bits hadn't been skipped or forgotten in Jack's memory. They climbed the steps to the front door, which flung open wide.

A woman, dressed in white and brown with chocolate hair tied up in a messy bun stared wide eyed at the little Jack in front of her, not breaking her gaze to meet with Rodge's eyeline.

'His mother?' North asked, directing his question towards Tooth.

'I presume.' she beamed. 'They look a lot alike, don't they?'

It was then that the other three Guardians noticed her eyes- they were deep brown, much deeper than Jack's, but they had the same nose and few freckles. She looked worried, yet relieved.

'Oh Jack!' his mother cried out with emotion filling her voice and ran towards the little boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. 'Never run out like that again Jack! Please! Oh thank God you're safe... Darling Jack, we were worried sick...' she cradled his head in her hand and squeezed him tight, a few tears falling down her face.

'I found him in the woods on the west side of town, by my hut.' Rodge began to explain, and the woman pulled Jack up into her arms while he spoke. 'He tripped and hit his cheek, but it should be alright. He's a tough kid.'

'Thank you.' she smiled weakly. 'Thank you, Roger, always. I would give you something, but...' she hung her head and drifted off.

'No, no, you owe me nothing.' Roger shook his head and his hands, understanding how generous she could be. She would give up everything she had as gifts for people if she didn't have some shred of realisation that she would end up with nothing. Still, she was overly kind. 'Really, Emma, it was my pleasure. We had lots of fun, didn't we Jack?'

Jack nodded tiredly, and everything around them started to fuzz and blur.

'He'll need a rest after the walk, I'm sure- and it's getting late. I'll be home then!' Roger said, but the Guardians heard his voice in muffled tones.

'Thank you again, Roger!' Emma said as he left the porch, and she watched him walk away.

'Oh, say hello to Andrew for me! I hope he feels better!' Roger said, but it was getting more difficult to understand the words with every second that passed.

'He's falling asleep.' Tooth laughed through her nose softly, and everything went black and quiet, then quickly changed to white.

'Sleep well, sweetie.' a different man's deep voice was the last echo of the memory, and the Guardians smiled, realising who it was.

Ah, sorry this is a day late! I had to visit family :)

Still, I hope you enjoyed this extremely fluffy chapter- our first glimpse at a time none of us are aware of. AWW LITTLE JACKSON :3 How cute! This is where we start to delve deeper and deeper into Jack's past. It's going to be a bumpy ride, shall we say.

Remember that I respond to all of your reviews (guest or not) on the REVIEWS PAGE (chapter 30), so keep an eye out for your name! :D

Hopefully I'll be able to resist leaving notes for the next few chapters, but you'd probably have to give me a medal if I got through it.

Keep reading, reviewing, following and favouriting, and I'll love you forever ;)

Emily! xxx