Three short chapters smashed into one.

You can consider 1) and 2) or 2) and 3) from the same What if AU – or all of them separate. Up to you.

ROTG

1. Coming home

(Jack is 127 years old – he gets hit in the middle of a fight or something and remembers his old life. This is right before he was supposed to meet Finn and Lia.)

This is it.

Jack gazed at the willow tree whose leaves are covering one of the main entrances to the Warren.

He's going home. He's going home to his family.

His heart is pounding loudly in his ears and he tightens the grip on his staff until his fingers turn white. His other hand itches hesitantly to swipe away the leaves...

And the entrance isn't there.

Jack lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. His fingers are brushing against the cold stone, but the usual frost designs don't appear.

That's... weird...

There's a bitter taste in his mouth as he shakes his head.

There are other entrances. This one is just closed today...

He tried not to think about the fact that he couldn't remember this particular entrance ever being closed before. But his memories were still fuzzy at best anyway.

There are other entrances...

Except they're closed, too.

The ones in Miami and Spain and Portugal... and Italy, Romania, Russia, India and about three other countries. Jack almost had a panic attack when all the tunnels from Australia ended up closed too.

Seven hours later he's trying to get his breathing under control, frost spreading under his touch over the tip of the Eifel Tower when in hits him.

Greenland.

Not a main entrance, but an old tunnel his dad kept forgetting to close.

He trips when he lands. Seeing the old path suddenly turned his legs to jelly. Doubts and fears he acquired over the past 127 years started whispering in his ears as he walked, making him falter.

It's been more than a century.

... but his dad will still be happy to see him, right? He was always happy to see Jack...

Except when he reminded him of Mom...

The ground started looking greener the farther he walked.

Dad used to get angry when he wandered off – would he be angry now?

That night at the lake – he didn't remember – he just left –

New memories resurface – icy cold and fear and water and – and – and he can't breathe ...

Something moved in front of him and he flinched backwards taking a breath out of instinct.

An egg sentinel stepped in front of him, an angry scowl carved onto the stone. Jack's heart dropped. The sentinels didn't even use to move much if they were around him. His dad got it in his head years ago that a magic stone warrior on two feet and a hyperactive small kid was not a good mix.

Jack certainly never saw this side of a sentinel before. The side that usually deals with unwanted spirits and demons.

But I'm not unwanted... The Warren is home...

Is it? This is Spring. And you are Winter now. The lake has been home for over a century. There's nothing in there that needs to be frozen. And it looks like the sentinel knows it too. He doesn't want you making a mess out of his home.

Frost started spreading around his feet. Jack was well known for his babbling in the worst situations, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

What if his dad didn't want him back home?

He had what? 10 years of memories with Jack? Was 127 enough to forget someone?

Why were all the entrances closed?

Before he could spiral further into unwanted thoughts, the sentinel turned, switching to a happy face, and moved to the side.

Jack didn't move – didn't breathe until a few moments afterwards when a gust of wind suddenly hit him straight in the face. It smelled like fresh grass and flowers and chocolate and home.

He took a shaky breath and walked forward.

Warm light washed over him as he stepped into the Warren. It seemed even bigger than he remembered.

Something tickled his ear, startling a giggle out of him as he turned. The wall to his right was covered in Vylle-Remary, a rare magical plant that had a thing for petting and tickling travelers with her long leaves. Jack discovered this particular tunnel when he got curious about this plant.

A bigger leaf rushed to tickle him under his chin and he could stop a laugh from escaping his lips. Jack took a few more steps walking backwards, giggling as he tried and failed to keep the plant from petting his hair and teasing at his nose.

Vylle-Remary got another win when she managed to tickle him on the scruff of his neck making him jump laughing.

The laughter died in his throat as he felt his back bump into somebody and he couldn't stop himself from flinching as he turned around.

His dad was gapping at him, frozen, looking like he just saw a ghost.

Jack wasn't much better. Except his jaw was clenched tight and he had nervousness and panic instead of shock and disbelief.

"Snowflake?" Aster whispered and something in Jack's chest loosened.

"I – I was... "

Arms wrapped around him, making him drop his staff. Everything suddenly turned warm and familiar and safe as the hands gripped at his hoodie, pulling him closer.

"Jack." His dad breathed, arms shaking around the kid as he pulled him back to look at him. At the newly white hair and blue eyes that were blinking back at him.

His eyes had tears running down his cheeks. They weren't the only ones.

Aster pulled Jack back into his lap. His nose started sniffing his hair, taking in the familiar scent that had now a hint of snow and pine trees in it.

"D-Daddy – "

The arms around him tightened, still shaking.

Jack didn't think he got this many hugs in the last century. His voice was shaking.

The arms that were rubbing his back and petting his hair moved to hold his face, gently wiping away the tears.

His dad's eyes still had disbelief in them, but now there was also joy and hope.

"I got you. It's okay..."

Their foreheads touched and Jack could feel his shoulders relaxing. There was warmth now where there used to be a hole in him.

Aster kissed the crown of his head and Jack hurried back into another hug, startling a shaky laugh out of his dad as he snuggled closer.

ROTG

2. Painful illusions

1810

Aster cursed for the hundredth time today as he stumbled upon another dead end.

"'m gonna skin that drongo alive even if it's the last thing ah do..."

The Guardians got called in to deal with some trickster demon who apparently got a kick out of terrifying the seasonals. Aster remembered hearing something about memories and scary illusions, but the sprites that came to complain were hysterical to the point of uselessness. The only thing they had been good at was explaining where to find said demon – and even that ended with Bunny lost in some underground labyrinth in Moscow.

If it wasn't for the moving walls and the annoying chuckling coming from the shadows, Aster would've thought he got the wrong place.

Another crazed laughter echoed on the walls, this time louder than usual.

"Alright, that's it – if you don't come her' in the next five seconds amma turn you into fresh paint!"

"Dad?" echoed through the tunnel, making him freeze.

The word felt like a punch to the gut. The voice made his heart stop.

Not possible... There's no way –

"Daddy?"

Same voice. How could it be the same voice?

"Daddy, where are you?"

Jack.

"Where are you?"

His mind flashed back a hundred years. At that cursed day. The hole through the ice. The chill in the air.

"...Dad?" it was hesitant now. Scared.

His heart clenched. Alarms blared in his head.

"Jack?" Aster whispered.

This time there was silence.

Something in him cracked further. The air was thinner.

The stupid chuckle was back again, making Aster's blood boil.

"Looks like I found something important!" he heard the demon laugh.

Aster growled, too high on anger and pain to form words.

That thing used his son's voice. And Aster was going to rip him apart for it.

"You broke into my home –" the demon continued, voice coming from all directions at once. "How would you feel if I were to... break... something of yours?"

The silence stretched again, save for Aster's growls.

But then screams came from the other end of the tunnel and blind panic took over the Guardian. Past or present, real or illusion – everything flew out the window the second Jack's screams reached him.

He had to get to him. His kit was hurt. He had to get to him.

His legs were burning and his heart was pounding in his ears as he ran along the tunnels yelling Jack's name.

"Dad! Dad, help me! Please!"

Closer.

He was getting closer.

Then the screams stopped. And Aster's heart stopped with them.

He took another right turn and abruptly froze.

Jack was trembling, looking down at the cracks forming under his feet. A couple of tears fell down his cheeks onto the ice below.

Aster walked a few steps forward carefully, freezing when a bigger crack formed under Jack, making him whimper.

"Jack – Snowflake, look at me. It's going to be okay –"

"Where were you?" Jack suddenly cried, and the betrayed look in his eyes almost made Aster collapse.

"I – I was –" he couldn't find his words. Couldn't look away.

"Y-you weren't there –" the hurt in his voice felt like a stab to the heart. There was a hole in him now, somewhere where there should have been warmth.

Another crack.

Jack flinched.

Aster itched forward, keeping an eye on the ice, heart clenching with every tear that fell to the ground.

A louder crack made him stop and Jack whimper.

"Okay, Jack – kit – you have to reach forward. Step towards me."

"You weren't there."

Aster needed another minute to make his mouth work again.

"Snowflake, I promise – I promise I'm right here. I'll catch you. I swear-"

Another crack.

"Now, please – please, walk forward, now."

He thrusted a hand forward, letting all of his sincerity show in his eyes.

Jack gulped and itched a hand forward, then snatched it back as another crack formed under him.

Aster opened his mouth to urge him again.

"I'm scared!"

Numbness spread inside of him, making him lightheaded.

Was this how it happened that day? Did his child die scared and alone right after he realized his dad wasn't coming to save him?

Tears running down his cheeks, cold nipping at his skin – hopeless – hopeless was the last thing his son felt?

Jack yelped as another crack appeared, this time water slipping in.

The sound brought Aster back into the moment.

"I won't let you fall. Jack – look at me. I won't let you fall." This time his voice was calm.

He took a step forward, making the ice crack under him too. He didn't look away from Jack.

"Three steps. That's all." He said, hand reaching out to his son.

Jack took a shaky breath and stepped forward.

The ice cracked making both of them hold their breath.

The second step was soundless. Jack exhaled.

Aster's hand was shaking.

Close. So close.

Third step. Aster heard the crack, but didn't see anything.

Jack reached forward and their fingers almost brushed when the ice gave out. The kid gasped, eyes widening as he fell in the cold water.

"NO!" Aster yelled as he jumped forward, hitting the cold ground of the tunnel.

His hands gripped the earth that swallowed Jack. The silence now filled with harsh breaths instead of scared whimpers.

He couldn't get the images out of his head. Couldn't not hear his son.

'Where were you?'

'I'm scared!'

'You weren't there!'

The betrayed look in his eyes. The hopelessness.

Hours later, after the rest of the Guardians defeated the demon, the Warren was on lockdown.

ROTG

3. A curse or a blessing

Lucky shot.

It was the only thing that went through Aster's head as the magic beam was about to hit him.

He could hear North and Tooth fighting behind him, too far away to help, and he could see Sandy with the corner of his eye, battling to get to the hole in the wall Jack got blasted through. And it looked like he was about to get blasted the same way too.

Damn.

North is never going to let me live this down.

The blast hit him and everything went black.

ROTG

Aster woke up underwater.

His lungs were burning, muscles aching as blood was freezing in his veins from the cold.

Arms grabbed his shoulders and he panicked, lashing out until he realized they were trying to pull him towards the surface. He gasped when the cold air hit him, bracing himself on his now human hands as he started spitting the water out.

"I am sorry, my friend." North said mournfully, placing a hand on his shoulder.

For some reason it felt less like it was there for comfort and more like it was there to stop Aster from bolting.

He coughed the last bits of water from his throat and looked up.

The first thing he saw was Tooth sobbing. North didn't look that far behind.

"Wh-what a-" another couching fit interrupted.

He had a headache. What in Moon's name happened? He hasn't seen Tooth this distraught since –

He froze as he caught sight of the jacket he was wearing. Peter's jacket.

Which was wrong because he burned that jacket the day Jack –

He drew a breath in and forgot how to exhale. Panic sized him from inside out and he scrambled to his feet away from his friends. From the tears and the pain and the hopelessness, because no – this wasn't happening.

Sandy stopped Tooth when it looked like she was about to fly towards him, and she collapsed into another round of crying.

Aster didn't notice. Too busy staring at a skyline that had too many stars and no buildings.

His breath came back, but it turned short and fast as he spun around shaking his head at the too many trees. At the lack of benches...

"Bunny – " North tried again and he flinched, turning around with wide eyes and catching sight of the hole in the lake.

Where the rest of the Guardians fished him from, when he jumped in after Jack –

"Jack – Where's Jack?!"

This time North flinched.

"Jack?!" Aster called out again.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening –

It wasn't real. He had Jack.

And they were going back to the Warren, together, the moment the kid jumped out of wherever he's climbed onto.

The rest of the Guardians didn't say anything.

He didn't hear Jack either.

He called out again, this time towards the trees, trying to avoid looking at the ice.

He had Jack back.

He couldn't have imagined the last few years together. Couldn't have made up 300 years of loneliness.

He turned back towards the Guardians looking for reassurance, only to be met with grief, sadness and desperation.

His ears were ringing as his vision started turning blurry around the edges until his eyes caught sight of a familiar frost design on a couple of trees nearby. A little less detailed than the ones in the Warren.

Something sparked in his chest.

I didn't remember anything. I – I woke up in the lake, discovered my powers and ended up flying to town. Didn't stay long, though. Not being able to be seen or heard freaked me out, even when I couldn't remember how not normal that was. I spent a few more hours near the lake, then I'm pretty sure I left... I think I came back to the lake right after you left. I thought I heard yelling...

A curse or a blessing.

"Jack!" Aster yelled again this time hurrying towards the woods, looking the trees up and down. He ignored his friends yelling for him, until Sandy threw a sand rope around his middle to stop him in place.

"Bunny –" whatever North was going to say, he didn't look like he wanted to say it and Aster was convinced he didn't want to hear it.

"Don't follow me, you drongo! Split up and go look for Jack!"

Sandy's eyes widened and North flinched again.

Tooth took a deep breath.

"Honey, Jack is – is –"

"No!" he snapped, making the others stare. "He's here somewhere. He – He has to be here."

A blessing or a curse.

The others exchanged glances, but didn't move as Aster shook the sand off.

He couldn't explain how he knew that. Couldn't form the words that small voice inside his head kept insisting were a lie.

A blessing or a curse.

"Go look for him!" his voice was higher now, closer to hysterics.

His friends finally moved to do as he told them to, not wanting to crush the hope of the Easter Guardian yet.

Aster took a deep breath and started calling for Jack again.

He wasn't leaving without his son again. Never again.

Not like this.

His panic was growing with each unanswered call, making him trip over his own feet, desperation being the only thing keeping him from falling all the way.

The cold water he was drenched in started freezing over his clothes and skin and hair, and cold started settling into his bones, and the only thing he could think of was what he wouldn't give for Jack to freeze his legs to the floor and laugh as he steals some chocolate from his hand.

There's a nod in his throat now that stops him from yelling. He speeds up through the trees.

I'll let you freeze anything you want.

The whole Warren –

The Workshop –

I'll let you play elf bowling.

Or – or – or paint all the eggs blue and white – or Christmassy – or whatever you want –

Or some other game –

Anything –

Everything.

Please.

He can see the light from the village now. Leaves and branches gripping at his clothes as he rushes forward.

Just – just be there.

He can't stop hyperventilating.

Please. Please. Please. Please.

He crashes into something and his legs give out.

But then that something huffs on his right and his head turns so fast he almost got a whiplash.

Wide blue eyes stare back at him from behind snow white hair making his entire being freeze.

His mind goes blank as Jack stares at him startled and he can see confusion and shock in his eyes and relief and uncertainty in his tentative smile.

"H-Hi?" the kit stutters in the smallest voice Aster ever heard from him.

It shocks him back into action.

"Jack."

The blue eyes widen even further.

"You know me?"

Aster can't help the smile on his face as he kneels next to his son.

"I do."

ROTG

AN

I am honestly considering writing a sequel for 'A blessing or a curse', but with what happened when Jack was blasted.

Any ideas? Reviews?

Till next time

Frostbite out