A/N Another Christmas Chapter! Hope you enjoy this.


7 years old

"Merry Christmas Winter Sprite," Momma said handing Jackie a gift. Beside her, Papa smiled and wrapped an arm around Momma. Momma leaned against Papa's shoulder and smiled softly. Surrounding their little family where all the other Guardians. North was arguing with Bunny, Tooth was flittering around speaking quietly to her fairies while Sandy floated around playing with his dream sand.

Jackie stared at the beautifully wrapped gift before tearing off the wrapping paper eager to see what they had gotten her. Slowly she opened the box to find a photo album. Slowly she opened the book and found moving pictures of Momma, Papa and herself hanging out as a family. Pictures of Papa skating with her on the pond, of all three of them, watching movies together, Papa making it snow in the living room while Momma lightly scolded him, the three of them visiting the Guardians, even Uncle Jamie made an appearance.

The Photo Album was filled with little moments of mom and dad together and happy. Jackie closed the book and hugged it close to her chest.

"I love it!" Jackie said giving her parents kisses on their cheeks. "Thank you!"

"We're glad you like it," Momma said kissing her forehead.

"We love you, Snowflake," Papa said, kissing her nose.

Jackie's eyes opened from the dream the smile slipping from her face as she did so. She looked out of her window to see the snow gently falling from the sky. She smiled slightly before the photograph of The Guardians with her mom she reached over and grabbed the photograph.

Slowly she traced the outline of her Father. She'd memorized everything about the photo already, but it always helped to just stare at the photo. One of the few photographs that existed of her father and the only one that she knew of that had her mother and uncle with the entire rest of the guardians. She stared at the photograph staring intently at the picture of Jack. One hand was holding his staff loosely while the other was wrapped around Uncle Jamie's shoulders. 16-year-old Uncle Jamie was loosely clasping her mother's shoulders, her mother all of nine was grinning wildly while holding onto the Easter Bunny's hand Easter Bunny was smirking at the camera, floating just above and behind Bunny was the Tooth Fairy who smiled demurely, beside her was North standing tall with his arms crossed, the Naughty and Nice tattoos featured predominately his head thrown back mid-laugh. Rounding out the group was Sandman floating beside Uncle Jamie smiling his hands raised as he controlled the sand to take the photo.

Jackie kissed the image of Jack "Wish you were here." She said softly wiping the tears away she slowly got out of bed and made her way downstairs.

"Hey, Winter Sprite." Jackie turned to see Sophie was already seated on the couch in the living room, a mug of coffee already in her hands. Jackie wondered if momma had been up late again last night.

"Hey, Momma," Jackie said turning to look at the tree and tried not to be too sad when she noticed that the number of presents hadn't increased from the night before. Though there were already a lot of presents under the tree for just too many people.

"Hey," Sophie said. "Since it's only been four days since your birthday, why don't you pick breakfast for today? It can be anything you want."

Jackie smiled. "Anything?"

"Anything," Sophie said with a smile.

"Ice Cream?"

"Very well," Sophie said standing up. "Ice cream it is. Chocolate or Vanilla?"

"Chocolate!" Jackie said. "Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate."

Sophie laughed. "Ok, Ok, Sprite. Chocolate."

Jackie smiled and followed Sophie into the kitchen where she pulled out two bowls from the Cupboard and then turned to the fridge and pulled out the carton of chocolate ice cream.

Jackie grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the counter and climbed onto it. "Can we have syrup and sprinkles and all the other candies?"

Sophie chuckled reached into the cupboard and pulled all the candies and syrup and sprinkles down. "Go nuts." She told Jackie after scooping the third scoop of ice cream into Jackie's bowl.

Jackie laughed as she poured as much chocolate syrup, and sprinkles, and chocolate bars and marshmallows, and the other types of candies as she could into the bowl. When she was done, she licked her lips as she jumped off the chair. Sophie handed her the bowl and Jackie ran into her room. "Thank you, Momma." She said walking to the kitchen table.

Sophie smiled and placed her bowl in front of Jackie. "So, after breakfast, do you want to open presents?"

"Mmmhmm!" Jackie said with her mouth full of ice cream, she swallowed her food. "When are we gonna go to Auntie Lissa's?" She asked.

"We have to be at grandma's be three o'clock because Uncle Jamie's giving us a ride there."

"So, after presents can we go visit Sarah?" She asked.

Sophie sighed. "I'll have to call first if they say it's fine." Sophie said with a soft smile, "then yes, we can go to the Jessup's house."

Jackie clapped her hands. "Yay!" She said with a giggle. "I have a gift that I forgot to give her yesterday."

"Well then, it's super important we go there then isn't it?" Sophie said.

Jackie sat on the floor beside her mom handing over the first gift to her mother. A drawing of her mother and Jack frost that she had made with Jackie herself standing in the middle holding on to both Jack and Sophie's hand. The drawing looked as though a seven-year-old had drawn it, which was just as well considering Jackie had just turned seven. It was framed in a cheap store-bought frame that had paper and felt snowflakes glued all over it.

Looking at the picture hit her in a way Sophie could not describe. Staring at the picture filled Sophie with longing, the desire that Jack should be there, celebrating Christmas with them. His family, his flesh and blood, his little girl, whether he even knew it or not. She wondered if Jackie had heard her crying in the middle of the night, as she missed Jack, and wished that he was there. She'd tried to keep her cries as low volume as possible, but maybe she had failed.

"Do you like it?" Jackie asked sounding so young.

Sophie took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry before she smiled and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I love it so much little one."

Jackie smiled hesitantly. "You're welcome, Momma."

Sophie carefully placed it on the coffee table and turned back to all the other gifts. "Now how about we open all of your gifts?"

Jackie looked up at Sophie her eyes wide and smiled. "Yes, momma!" She spoke.

After opening so many gifts from Momma, Books, and toys, and some new pencil crayons and school supplies, Sophie hugged her tightly before she pulled out her cellphone and made the phone call she promised to make.

"Hey, Jessica. Jackie was wondering if it would be possible if she and I could come by for a couple of hours." Sophie said. "She has a gift she wants to give to Sarah."

Sophie listened for a moment or two before she smiled. "Great. See you in about an hour." She turned off her cell and turned to Jackie. "Go get changed."

Jackie jumped up and gave her mother a huge hug. "Thanks, momma!" She said before hurrying upstairs.

"Hey, Jackie!" Sarah said hugging her best friend tightly as Sophie and Jackie made their way inside.

Jackie smiled and handed her present to Sarah. "I got this for you." She said. While Sophie spoke quietly to Jessica and Nicholas.

"I got you a present too," Sarah said. "Mom was gonna take me to your house to drop it off later, but you're here now so I don't have to," Sarah said. "Grandma is here. Do you want to see her?"

Jackie's eyes widened and she nodded hesitantly. "Yes, please." She said.

"Granny Kathy!" Sarah called as she pulled Jackie into the house. "Jackie and Miss Bennett are here!"

Katherine hadn't changed much, though maybe looking a tad younger than she did last Christmas.

"Hi. Miss Shalazar." Jackie said quietly. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to meet you," Sophie said holding out her hand.

Katherine smiled and shook both Bennetts' hands. "Met your little one last year, with your brother."

"Jamie told me about that," Sophie said. "He was so excited to meet you."

Katherine chuckled. "I could tell." Katherine said before bending down so she was at Jackie's eye level, "Sarah tells me you enjoy hearing stories about the guardians?"

"Did you know Jack Frost?" Jackie asked. "He's my dad."

Sophie noticed that something seemed to flicker behind Katherine's eyes. Something almost sad.

"No," Katherine said with a sigh. "I never knew the boy who called himself Jack Frost, unfortunately. I wish I had."

Jackie's hunched in on herself. "Oh. Ok."

"But I knew the other guardians," Katherine said with a smile. "I even knew a small boy named Nightlight, who started as the guardian of the Man in the Moon, before he became a guardian of childhood. Do you want me to tell you that story?"

Jackie stared at Katherine's eyes widened. "The Man in the Moon had a Guardian?"

Sophie stepped forward curious.

Katherine nodded. "Yes. He did. Manny was once a child who needed protection. Just like you."

Jackie's eyes widened. "Woah."

"So why don't you kids go get Jonathan for storytime and we'll sit down and I'll tell you the story of Nightlight?"

Sarah and Jackie turned to each other before they booked up the stairs to go get the eldest Jessup child.

"Jon-a-than!" Sarah called. "Grandma's about to start telling stories. She wants you downstairs."

Jonathan turned to his sister. "I'm busy."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Come on! Grandma wants to spend time with us all."

"I've heard them all before," Jonathan said.

"So?" Sarah said. "It's Nightlight, your namesake."

"Really?" Jackie asked. "I thought his name was Jonathan?"

Sarah nodded. "It is. Nightlight is his middle name."

Jackie covered her mouth as she chuckled. "Really?"

"Alright!" Jonathan said standing. "Alright, if you all would stop laughing about my middle name, I'll come downstairs."

"I think it's cute," Jackie said.

Jonathan hmphed. "It's the name of the guardian of the Man in the Moon. I can't think of anything less cute."

Jackie and Sarah turned to look at each other before they began laughing again. Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up. If your gonna be so mean, I'm gonna stay up here."

Jackie's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I'm sorry." She said. "It is a good name."

Jonathan turned to Jackie and sniffed. "Well… I suppose I could come downstairs. For a little while anyway."

Jackie's face split into a huge grin. "Thank you, Jonathan."

Jonathan looked flustered for a moment. "Y-your welcome." He said.

Once all the grownups and children were seated Katherine started her story. "Once upon a time, there was an immortal boy, named Nightlight. A being who appeared to be almost made of light. His entire being easily able to shine brightly in any darkness, and sparkle in the sunlight. Before he became a guardian of childhood, he started as the guardian to only one child: The young Man in the Moon. The Prince Lunar and child of Tzar and Tzarina Lunar."

"Nightlight adored the young Lunar child. He often played and sang to the young child and made sure that the young child never had any bad dreams. Nightlight loved his young charge, and the young Lunar child loved him in turn."

Katherine's eyes turned sad as she continued. "However, the happy times were not to last, for Pitch heard of the young child who never had a nightmare, and so, in a desire to make that child his own Darkling Prince he attacked the Moon Clipper, a great ship that could turn into a moon at night. When Pitch attacked the ship, he was instructed by the child's parents to take him into a hidden nursery deep inside the ship.

"Hidden deep within the nursery the child cried and a tear fell down the young child's face. Nightlight caught the tear and it turned into a dagger. Determined to protect the child with his last breath. With a determined stance, Nightlight whispered goodbye to his young charge and leapt into the fray. Pitch by this point had captured Tzar and Tzarina Nightlight did not stop to think and flew straight at Pitch with his dagger and stabbed in the heart, creating an explosion that was brighter than twenty sons. Pitch fell from the Ship and onto Earth. Nightlight, the great guardian of Prince Lunar, the Man in the Moon was trapped within that dagger that was plunged deep into Pitch's heart."

"Did he ever get free?" Jackie asked.

Katherine smiled sadly. "He did, but not for many, many, many years, but that my dear young Winter Sprite, is a story for another day."

Jackie pouted.

"Ah ah little one your mother and you have a limited amount of time here before you have to be at your grandmother's house and neither you nor Sarah have opened your gifts from each other."

"Grandma's right," Sarah said. "Come on, I want to see you open the gift we got you," Sarah said.

"We?" Jackie said. "But I only got you a gift, Sarah."

"That's ok," Jessica said with a smile. "We got you a gift because we wanted to not because we expected a gift in return."

Jackie frowned. "Ok."

"If they say it's ok, Jackie, it's ok," Sophie said rubbing her back. "If you want next year, we can get gifts for all the Jessups."

Jackie nodded smiling a bit. "Ok."

Jackie stared at the scrapbook reminded vividly of the dream she had had that night. She flipped through the pages were pictures and drawing of the guardians. Of Jack Frost and Nightlight, and Santa, and Sandman, and The Tooth Fairy, and little things were written about all the guardians under most of the pictures. Bits and pieces of their history

Jackie closed the book as tears fell from her eyes and frost appeared on her hands. She took a deep breath just as Mr. Jessup had taught her and thought of her happiest memory. Her mother making her ice cream that morning filled, and she smiled and the frost receded.

"Thank you," Jackie said softly. "All of you."

"You did say you wished you knew more about the guardians," Sarah said. "My family may not know everything about the recent exploits of the guardians. But we do know a bit about their past."

Jackie opened the scrapbook to a picture of Jack Frost. Underneath it, she read a small little blurb "Young Jack Frost spent most of his early causing as much trouble as he could. Anything from starting snowball fights to freezing tongues to metal poles can be attributed to him." Jackie laughed.

"Thank you." She said softly holding it tightly to her chest. "I'll treasure it always."

"I love mine too," Sarah said holding up her wrist to show a braided bracelet that Jackie had spent all weak perfecting. Purple and green yarn twisted together around Sarah's wrist. "Thank you."

Jackie leaned forward to hug Sarah.

"We have to go now, sweetie," Sophie said. "Grandmother and uncle Jamie are expecting us."

Jackie pouted. She didn't want to leave, she liked it here, where they knew who the guardians were, and she didn't have to pretend she wasn't who she was.

"Do we have to?"

Sophie knelt by Jackie. "I know it's hard, but we already gave our word that we would go. Besides Uncle Jamie will be there. You like Uncle Jamie."

Jackie nodded a little. "I do, he tells me stories about his friendship with dad."

"Maybe he can tell you stories you can add to your scrapbook," Sophie said. "And you can put that picture in it if you want. The one with your uncle and I surrounded by the guardians."

"That would be fun," Jackie said.

"That would be wise," Katherine said. "Jamie and Sophie would know Jack more than anyone here since they met him. A story is always better told when you have first-hand knowledge about it."

"I know the scrapbook can't replace the fact that the Guardians aren't here. That your father isn't here." Sophie said. "But maybe it can lessen the sting. Just a little? Knowing more about them?"

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, a little." She said.

Sophie smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Now say goodbye to everyone."

Jackie turned to the Jessups and Katherine "Bye everyone!" She said.

"Bye." They all said in unison.

"Do you think dad would have liked Sarah?" Jackie asked as they walked from the Jessup household to Jackie's grandmother's house. The scrapbook was hidden safely inside Sophie's purse.

"Yes," Sophie said, did not even have to think about it. "Yes, he would have."

"Even though she's on the naughty list with Santa?"

"Oh, especially cause she's on the naughty list with Santa. Your father held the record for the number of Christmases a person can be on the naughty list."

Jackie's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yep," Sophie said. "Y'know your father once told me that he spent a lot of time trying to bust into Santa's Workshop, but he could never quite make it past the yetis."

"Was he ever allowed inside?"

"Yep. The year Pitch became an issue, North had his yetis stuffed inside a sack and thrown through one of North's magic portal."

Jackie chuckled. "Funny."

"Yep. Your father told me that, while the two of us were having hot chocolate." Sophie frowned. "Ok, I was having hot chocolate. Your father was having cold chocolate milk."

They turned to walk up the steps of grandmother's house and Sophie rang the doorbell.

"Were you happy with him?"

"We had our problems, the same as every other couple," Sophie said honestly. "But yes. I was. You know he danced with me at one of my school dances?"

"Really?"

Sophie smiled and nodded but before she could continue the conversation. Sally opened the door and the conversation, unfortunately, had to end.


A/N Yeah Jackie never truly gets over the fact that because of her half-spirit status she SHOULD have contact with the guardians - with her father, because of things outside her control she doesn't. Knowing Katherine and the Jessups and the stories help but it's not the same as having them there with you.

The Reason, why Katherine doesn't tell the guardians about Jackie, is because she's on the outs with them. The Guardians (Sans Jack, who didn't know Katherine and was off in Burgess playing with Jamie) basically ejected her after the events of the movie cause she never showed. (When in reality she never showed because Nicholas was badly ill).