What is Jack even short for? Sure the given name would be Jacob or even Jacqueline but there were so many other possible names. James, John, Jackson, Johnny, Jake, Jay. The list could go on, and the Guardians were curious. The thought had originally started when Tooth and Sandy were having a silent conversation about their full names and their pasts before becoming Guardians, when it occurred to the two that they didn't know Jack's full name. Of course it didn't really matter, but it was a question that was eating at the Guardians. They had asked North and Bunny if they knew the answer, but to no avail. Then that lead to the four of them walking up to Jack's designated room in North's workshop. North knocked on the door to give Jack a heads up, but he got no answer. North quickly opened the door, fearing that the boy had snuck out. Again.
But he hadn't, he was in the middle of sneaking out. "Oh. Hehe, he guys. What's up?" Jack asked, giving a nervous chuckle. "Jack, what are you doing?" Tooth asked, fluttering forward towards Jack and his slightly open window. "Ii was just, ah, ya know. Heading out for some fresh air." Jack answered. "Jack, you know you do not have to sneak out. This is not prison, you can leave whenever you like." North replied. "Yeah, I-I know" Jack responded, placing his staff to the side of him. "So...why are you all here?" Jack asked, trying to divert the subject off of him. Sandy eagerly raised his hand and started making sand symbols that net by a little too quickly for Jack to decipher. "Um, thanks Sandy." Jack smiled, looking up at the remaining three for a more simple answer.
"What's your name?" Bunny blurted out. "What? What's my-my name?" Jack asked, no quite sure if he had heard the rabbit correctly. "Yes, tell us your name!" North repeated. "Jack Frost?" Jack answered, obviously confused. Why would the Guardians be asking what his name was? "No, Sweet Tooth. We mean your full name." Tooth slightly giggled. "Jack Frost" Jack answered again, a small smirk creeping onto his lips. "Your full, real name." Bunny said, getting slightly annoyed. The confused look on Jack's face encouraged Bunny to continue. "What's Jack short for?" Bunny added. "Oh, why didn't you must ask that in the first place?" Jack asked. "Just answer the question" Bunny sighed. "Jackson" Jack said, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.
"Your name is Jackson Frost?" North asked. "Not my original name. My first name was actually Jackson Overland, but when I became a spirit it changed to Jack Frost." Jack explained, his smile faltering a bit. Sandy made a couple quick images consisting of a sand version of Jack alone, then the moon and another Jack with the Guardians. "Um, I-I don't remember" Jack answered quietly. It was just his luck that a simple conversation about names would turn into an interrogation about how he became a spirit. "You don't remember becoming a spirit?" Tooth asked with a sad but almost concerned look. Her face brightened as she thought of an idea." I can go to my palace and get you your memories, then you can watch them!" Tooth said, smiling.
Jack's eyes widened as he rushed to block Tooth's path. "No, no, no. You don't have to do that. Please don't" Jack begged. "Don't you want to remember?" Tooth asked, a little bit of hurt leaking into her voice. "I remember when I became a spirit. I was outside walking through the backwoods of my childhood home when I heard a little boy crying. He told me that his cousin had died of Leukemia and that he would never see her again. I asked him to tell me his favorite memories of her, and afterwards is when I became a spirit, and later a Guardian." Tooth said, smiling at the memory she had shared. Jack lowered his hands in amazement. He knew that the Man in the Moon was picky when choosing spirits, especially Guardians. So to hear Tooth's story was a rare treat. "Wow. Really?" Jack asked. "Yeah. I do miss it though. My home and my parents and grandmother. But now I have another family. This family doesn't replace my old one, it just adds to it." Tooth smiled.
Sandy lifted himself up so that everyone could see him and he quickly made a scene with himself and a sleeping child next to him. Music notes floated above the two and the scene ended. "You can sing?" jack asked. Sandy nodded his head, but then shrugged. "Oh, well. I bet when you could still talk, you were a great singer" Jack smiled. "I remember my home and how my family had been so scared when they found out there was a war going on. I remember talking to them and telling them to never give up hope." Bunny quickly explained. "A war?" Jack asked, concern filling his eyes. Bunny chuckled. Jack looked like a little kid eager to listen to a scary fairy tale. Jack dropped his guard all the way and took a few steps forward. Maybe telling their stories to him would help him warm up to them. "Yeah, lets just say my kind wasn't the most popular." Bunny said, giving a half smile.
"My memories are of when my wife was sick, and I would tell her stories of how we would travel the world and see new things. Meet new people and taste new foods. The wonder and curiosity in her eyes is what filled my hear with joy" North smiled fondly. Then his smile disappeared. "You really do not remember?" He asked again. Jack looked at his bare feet. Of course he didn't remember, he had died. But he had watched his memories, he knew what happened. Maybe he should tell them, it definitely beat getting caught in his lie about not remembering. But what he didn't want was a pity party. he didn't want the Guardians to treat him any different because he was the only one out of the five of them that had died. Jack let out a sigh as he made his decision. "No. That was a lie. I know how I became a spirit, but I don't know if I should tell you" Jack said honestly.
"You can tell us anything, Jack. We'll always be here for you. But if you really don't want to tell us, we won't push it" Tooth encouraged, giving a side glance to the other three. "Yeah, even if ya can be an annoying little frostbite." Bunny added. Jack smiled and took a breath in. "When I was still human, I had a little sister and I took her out of a frozen lake to skate. I was so stupid not to check to see if the ice was thick enough and she fell and her skate cracked the ice." Jack stared, furrowing his brows. "I know she would never get out safely if she was panicking, so I distracted her with a game of hopscotch so I could help her out. But when I did, I used my own momentum to throw her out of harm's way, but I ended up throwing myself back in her place. When I stood up to see if she was alright, the ice broke and-and I fell in." Jack stopped. He knew this was a bad idea.
He knew they were going to judge him for dying. For being different, an outcast. But that's not what happened. What happened was a skinny pair of arms wrapped themselves around his neck and held him close. Not seconds later another pair of furry arms was added. Big, heavy arms then little, short golden arms. The Guardians hadn't known how Jack became a spirit, but now they did. And they would never forget it Jack had died for his sister and had somehow let her have fun along with it. The Guardians would never understand how jack did half of the things he did, but they wouldn't change it for the world.