~Aster~

It took a couple weeks, but one of Toothianna's fairies managed to track Jack's magic down. Turns out the idiot bloke took to barricading himself in the icy caves behind North's workshop. Would have been ace to know that before North sent us out parading through his usual haunts all across the globe. However, he couldn't stop me from trying to tunnel my way through that thick skull of his, as well as into his hideout.

I hopped out of the recently dug hole and reached back in to pull out the sack North had given me as well. Straightening up, I saw I had tunneled into a shockingly large and very icy cavern. The darkness of winter had, thankfully, started ebbing away in the frigid north and we were finally experiencing the first light of spring. It trickled through an icy ceiling, rising high above and splashing colorful rays across the walls to my left, bringing to my mind images of the Northern lights. I had to admit...it was stunning.

Slinging the bag over a shoulder and taking careful steps, I padded across the icy ground, the air chilling through my fur and I shivered. It was noticeably colder in the cave than outside..and that was saying something considering this was the North Pole. Frigid place. Quiet. Very much lacking the thrumming magic of life I was used to feeling in my rabbit hole. The lively green sprigs of reborn grass and buzzing of insects as they thawed from the winter freeze. It never would have been my first choice to set up base in this barren place if it weren't for the northern lights.

I sniffed in search of his scent, the air freezing my sinuses and making the task much more difficult. Instead I trod forward and listened carefully for any movement of a living creature, finding none. Jack wasn't alive in the same way the grass and insects were alive. I couldn't feel his energy, I had no choice but to go off of my tracking skills.

Scanning the ground, I searched for any sign of footprints or disturbance on the cave floor. Much to my expectations, I didn't find anything. Jack tended to float around and make himself weightless. So I dropped that strategy right quick.

"What are you doing here?" a voice sounded from above, canceling all my attempts at a search.

Looking in the direction of voice, I saw Jack sitting cross-legged atop an alcove, his expression oddly vacant.

Dropping the sack, I answered plainly, "Looking for you, mate. We've been so worried, we were searching half the globe."

"I'm fine," the clearly not-fine dickhead said as he shifted uncomfortably to lean against the cave wall, propping one knee up as if to erect a wall between himself and me.

"Yes, well, then perhaps you could bring your 'fine' self back to the North Pole so we can regroup," I suggested bluntly. Goading the wayward snow sprite into a challenge was generally enough to light a fire under his ass. And it wasn't a lie. We needed Jack. Only he could give us the answers we needed to know about what happened to Jamie.

But Jack simply avoided eye contact with me and turned blank eyes on the cavern lights dancing across the walls.

"Jamie was looking for you," I added in an attempt to encourage him. "Had some questions on how you fly and whatnot. Seems like he can too, but is having a right time trying to figure it out."

"That's not Jamie."

That...gave me pause.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded as my brow furrowed in confusion. "Of course it's still Jamie. Did you-"

"How can you say that's Jamie when HE doesn't even know who JAMIE IS?!" he screamed at me, an explosion of icicles bursting out of the alcove underneath him. He gripped his staff tightly in both hands, turning to face me, and glaring at me like I was the one who had murdered the kid.

It took several moments before I realized my mouth was hanging slack as I stared back at him completely at a loss for words. The fur on the back of my neck stood up as I instinctively felt a distinct amount of threat emanating from the winter spirit. Watching him more closely, I could see his body shaking...except it didn't appear to be from anger. It looked like he was in pain.

Finally able to form a question, I asked, "Are...are you saying that you're not you before you became Jack Frost? You're still who you are, Jack."

Jack continued to glare at me, lips held in a tight line, and I could tell he was giving his absolute everything to repress his magic right now. The air hummed dangerously with it.

"I'm not." he answered stiffly.

"Jack...mate…" my words fell off. How could he think that? He found his memories after all this time. He found his center...why would he think otherwise?

"You're still you," I continued gently, "Who you were before is still what makes up who you are now. You know that-"

"The human-me risked his life to save his sister. The spirit-me killed her." he replied stiffly.

I took several deep breaths. "You don't know that…" I murmured.

He smiled sardonically and rolled his eyes at me instead of responding. I knew he had been the cause of many a winter storm and surge when he was a fledgling...But he was still assuming something he had no way of knowing for sure.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone," I said with as much sincerity as I could. "But things don't have to be the same for Jamie that they were for you. You can help him through this. We didn't know you existed for decades, but Jamie's here now . He's right here and he needs us. Maybe…if we work with him. Train him and help him find his center sooner…Maybe we can show him his memories and-"

"No. " Jack practically growled through his teeth. "He can never see his memories. Not ever."

The silence rang between us for several long minutes. Jack had returned his gaze to a fixed point on the far wall and sat immobile.

He didn't want Jamie to remember…That must have meant there was a risk Jamie would turn.

"He still needs his Guardian, Jack," I pleaded one more time.

"Get out." he demanded, his voice strained. His shoulders slumped. I could tell he had expended too much energy in his still weakened state.

"Sure," I uttered gently, acknowledging my retreat. I turned and dropped the sack on the icy floor with a soft thump. "These are for you. From North." I left him behind and started walking away. When I reached the edge of the cave, I turned to glance over my shoulder and add, "Anything you need, we're here for you, mate."

And I let him be.

~Light~

Thwump

Cold encapsulated my face and torso as I collided once again into a mound of snow. Luckily there was no boulder there to stop me this time. My head was still throbbing from that impact earlier today…

I popped myself out of the snow pile and shook it off. I just had to keep trying…

Even though I had been attempting for several weeks to fly after I had accidentally accomplished it once before, I had no idea how I had managed it the first time. The only thing I could recall was seeing one of the elves start to fall off the banister after electrocuting himself, and the next thing I knew, I was across the atrium and holding the little guy in my arms. Everyone around said I flew there, but I to this day had no idea what I did. Toothiana tried to teach me how she flew, but she used her wings. I didn't appear to have any as far as I could tell.

So far, my practice attempts have resulted in me "flying" face-first into snow and the ground. It's been great.

But I just had to stay positive. Maybe the fiftieth try was the charm

I concentrated on a snow mound a distance across from me while summoning what energy I could to my limbs. I figured it had to be my limbs. I had no wings, right?

My body thrummed with energy, I could feel it better this time. I just needed the right amount. To control how far I went.

Thwump.

"What are you doing?"

I popped out of the snow expecting to see Aster or North coming to critique me again, but instead, I was surprised to see the injured frost spirit I had met weeks back.

"Oh, hi," I exclaimed, brushing the snow off of me once again. "Are you feeling any better?" I asked since I remembered the last time I saw him, he could hardly stand. He was also so incoherent to the point where the other Guardians appeared gravely concerned.

He didn't answer at first. He appeared to be studying me. Worried that I was exceptionally disheveled and covered with snow, I awkwardly brushed myself off some more.

"Where did you get those clothes?" he asked, curiously raising an eyebrow.

I looked down as if expecting my clothes to have suddenly changed, but all I saw was the same black leather armor I had been wearing. Either way, what did it matter to him? Perhaps he was still getting his memories back too and was trying to figure out where he was.

"North gave them to me," I answered simply while crossing my arms. "To help in my training."

"You call this training?" he asked with a snort; however, his goading tone was starting to irritate me.

"I'm trying to figure out how to fly," I stiffly replied, growing impatient with his questions.

"Doesn't flying require you to go up in the air?"

Urgh, now I knew he was mocking me.

"Yes, I just don't feel like shooting myself into space is all." I marched several paces away from him and started to prepare myself to practice again. This time I had to get it right just out of spite.

"Where are you trying to fly to?"

"Would you stop asking me questions and just let me focus?!" I spun angrily around to yell at him just to see him smiling gleefully at me.

"I'm sorry," he finally apologized as came over to me. However, I noticed that he didn't leave any imprints in the snow, practically floated on it. "I'm just trying to help. If you're trying to fly somewhere, it helps to have a clear marker. Snow is difficult to judge exactly how far away something is."

"How do you fly then?" I asked.

"I summon the wind," he answered simply. "Or simply use it when it's around. Either way, I'm not specifically creating it, just using what power is already out there."

Hm…that's fairly interesting.

"Was I flying on the wind too?"

Jack thoughtfully bit his lip and clarified, "No…but I am trying to figure out what causes you to fly." He walked a distance away from us, still visibly favoring his good leg, and stuck his staff in the snow. "Here," he said, "Focus on this and try to grab it."

"Alright," I replied as I settled into my stance. I summoned what energy I could muster into my limbs but focused my attention on his staff.

A full minute passed and I still hadn't moved. The pressure was on this time because I didn't want to bungle my attempt again with an audience. I couldn't quite make out his expression from a distance, but his arms were crossed and I couldn't help but feel judgment coming from him. But no matter. I needed to focus.

I switched my attention back to the staff and concentrated. I could feel the thrum of energy pulsating through my body, but I still didn't know how to make it move. It was like trying to flex muscles I didn't even know I had. And knowing the frost spirit was there wasn't helping me at all since I couldn't stop glancing over at him standing there and watching me. Nope. Gotta focus on the stupid staff. My brow furrowed and I twisted my face up trying to concentrate even harder.

"Hey Light!"

Huh?

Glancing to the right of the staff, I saw two sharp projectiles flying directly towards me. I gasped and lunged.

"Took you long enough," Jack remarked, except his voice was coming from right beside me.

As my shock wore off, I realized I was holding his staff.

"I did it?" I gasped while staring at the gnarled branch in my hand. It too thrummed with a cool, yet vibrant energy.

"Sure did," he said while reaching out to take his staff from me. I noticed he was leaning part of his weight on it. "Although," he added thoughtfully, "it looks like you need both a goal and a purpose."

"What do you mean?" I prompted.

"Why do you want to fly so bad?" he asked.

"I dunno," I replied honestly. "I did it once and it was cool? So I wanted to do it again?"

"That's not a purpose," he dismissed with a small wave of his hand. "You had the ability to fly to grab my staff, but you only were able to do it once you needed to dodge my icicles."

"You threw icicles at me?!" I shouted. "You could have impaled me!"

"But I didn't," he retorted smartly.

That infuriated me. Balling my hands into fists I turned without a word and stomped my way back through the snow.

"Didn't the Guardians tell you why you're training?" the frost spirit called from behind.

Cocking my head to the side to see him, I paused to hear him explain more.

"You mean, they haven't told you?" he asked, the concern nearly tangible in his voice.

...

Jack hauled me into North's atrium with a surprising amount of strength despite his short and weakened state. His mood had turned very rapidly from amused to enraged, but at what specifically I wasn't certain. I was being kept in the dark by the Guardians, and that really seemed to tick him off. Knowing that there was something big I didn't know about was starting to scare me, however.

"North!" he shouted once we had blasted past the Yetis in a slick of ice. Unnecessary, I thought, since he could have just waited for them to move aside.

The tinkering of the workshop quieted some in response to the disruption; although, most seemed to quickly disregard the frost spirit and resume their original activities.

"North!" he shouted once again, his fingers burning with cold as he continued to grasp my forearm. The cold didn't bother me any, but it was definitely something I took note of.

"Oh good, you're wake!" North bellowed out as he climbed the spiral staircase to the balcony we were on. As he approached us, he seemed to take in Jack's general demeanor and ascertain what we were there for. "I'll gather the others. Is time to talk."

Very shortly everyone gathered in the large meeting room with the adjoined atrium of windows and platform to the moon. Even a few other spirits were there who I had yet to meet. A tall spirit with silvery hair and a short spirit with a reddish beard.

"I'm sorry to wait so much time," North began as he sat at the other side of the oval table. "We know you needed time to heal and we wanted to make sure Light wanted to stay."

"I've been fine," Jack replied tersely which caused me to glance sideways at him. He was clearly not fine considering he was still limping. I also noticed Aster rolling his eyes in response to Jack.

"Well a lot has happened that we needed you for," North said more seriously to Jack and I saw his gaze flicker over to me as well.

"Just fill him in about what's currently happening," Jack insisted.

"Alright," North began as he straightened up. "We are preparing for war."

"War?!" I burst out. I knew something serious was going on, but war? "Against who?" I fumbled, complete sentences proving to be difficult.

Sandy suddenly started gesticulating as golden symbols rapidly appeared above his head. "To restore the balance," Jack interpreted lowly, almost as if he were in a trance. "We are spirits coexisting in a world inhabited by humans, connected to them but separate all the same. Humans can embody many things, as can we, for better or for worse. The spirits you see here strive to protect and guard humanity. The Guardians have vowed to protect and guard children above all else." Sandy pointed to himself, "Dreams." He then pointed to the other spirits. "Wonder. Hope. Memories. Fun." Jack continued to reiterate what Sandy was signing. "We are the Guardians of Childhood. We decided long ago that the safety and protection of children would ensure the safety and protection of everyone."

Then Sandy slowed down, growing solemn. "For a while, our strategy worked. Humanity thrived. Flourishing in their creation and beauty. However, as the human population and power have grown, so have others. Just as humans can do wondrous things like create and love, they have the equal power to harm and destroy. Spirits whose centers embody these traits have also grown stronger. It is those we battle against in order to save humankind."

A pall fell on the group as Sandy quieted down and Jack stopped speaking. A palpable anxiety hummed throughout the room. I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't know who the other dangerous spirits were or what we were even fighting against.

"What about me then? And the other spirits?" I said motioning to the other two unnamed spirits in the room. "What must we do?"

" We," said the tall silvery-haired spirit, "are here to help. We may not be Guardians of Childhood; however, we do care about the future of humankind. As the spirit of love and the spirit of luck, we figured they could use our help."

"What am I the spirit of?" I asked uncertainly. Everyone else seemed to be so sure of themselves and their purpose. I couldn't even fly .

You need both a goal anda purpose. The echoes of Jack's words from earlier sounding in the back of my mind.

"That is for you to figure out," North answered. "Only you can find your center. But you also don't have to do it alone," he added with a twinkle in his eye as he glanced over at Jack, who leaned gruffly on his elbow.

"Come on, love," the tall spirit said, standing up and promoting me to follow. "Let's get to know one another and I'll give you some homework on how to find your center."

~Frost~

I watched as Light walked out of the room with Cue. No one objected, so I assumed that Cue's unique talents in this particular case were welcomed. No one else knew Light's center yet either, and until we could confirm that his center wasn't corrupted during his transformation…everyone was walking on eggshells around the kid.

It's also why they all had been wanting to talk to me.

"Jack…" North began carefully, knowing he was treading into potentially triggering territory for me.

"He can't ever see his memories," I stated firmly while keeping my gaze fixed firmly on the dark wood of the table in front of me.

"The sooner he understands himself, the sooner we can ensure he is on our side," North pushed. "It took you centuries to find yourself, Jack. I am not sure Light has that much time."

"I told you, he can't."

"Tell us why then," Aster interjected. "What happened in the mountains, mate?"

I grasped my staff firmly with both hands and attempted to breathe deeply to calm myself down. I knew logically there was no use in convincing them if I lost control. But the prospect of reliving what happened so soon was terrifying to me.

I started to relay what happened slowly and in detail, pausing here and there to calm myself. A winter storm raged outside, but that was the least of my worries. They all listened intently and managed to respect my need to pause. In spite of everything that had happened, they didn't seem to be angry with me.

"So after you saw Jamie being taken by the darkness, what happened?" Aster asked as I had finished my tale.

"Nothing. I don't know," I murmured. "I woke up here."

They all looked sideways at one another, a silent exchange of words that they were annoyingly keeping from me.

" What? " I asked, irritated.

"You said you were in a cave?" Toothiana asked, drawing my attention over to her.

"Yes," I confirmed. "A deep one in the mountainside."

She pursed her lips and looked imploringly at the other Guardians.

"What's going on?" I asked again, growing even more irritated.

"When we found you, mate…" Astrid started while scratching behind his ear, "You weren't in a cave. You were laying on top of a bunch of rocks."

"...What do you mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Toothiana jumped in to explain. "Sandy came here and put everyone on alert to look for you. My fairies eventually discovered Jamie's location from a new missing tooth, which coincides with your story."

"So it wasn't just a dream then…" I muttered in reference to his memory of the darkness engulfing Jamie. He actually did knock his own tooth out. But that didn't explain the strange, dark setting Jack was in and why Jaime couldn't otherwise hear him.

"No, that really happened," Toothiana confirmed. "We even found the tooth."

The tooth…

"And you kept it?" I asked.

"I did, yes. I wasn't sure if the memories would be helpful or not." I must have made an unpleasant face for she reiterated, "He doesn't have to see them if you think that's what's best, Jack. But it could shed light on what Pitch was really trying to accomplish-"

"He tortured him , were none of you listening?!"

"Ok. Ok." Toothiana held her hands in front of her in surrender. "We won't show him his memories. But that still doesn't explain how the cave must have collapsed and why you two were relatively unharmed."

I snorted at her use of 'relatively'. I had never been so injured in my entire lifetime and I hated every moment of it. It had been months and I still wasn't back to even my fledgling amount of strength.

"You're saying you remember nothing other than a white light?" Aster pressed.

"No," I answered tiredly. "A white light and…and I guess I felt pressure."

"Describe this pressure," North asked me, his voice unusually gentle.

"Like everything was crushing me," I answered. "But that might have been from the cave collapsing as you said."

"Perhaps…" North replied thoughtfully, stroking his mustache. "Either way, it revealed Jamie to Manny, who saved him as he once saved you, no?"

I bit my tongue and refused to respond to that. How could he see this as Jamie being saved? Jamie died. He died because of me .

"Well, our best bet is for you to train him," North said while standing from his chair.

"Say what now?" I asked.

"You know him best," North shrugged. "If anyone can help him discover his center without his memory, is you."

~Light~

The spirit named Cue led me up the spiral staircase around the central atrium and down a fancy hallway separating the workshop area from what appeared a wing opposite from the meeting room we were just in.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The guest quarters," ze responded in a sing-song voice. Ze had already introduced zimself to me and I think I understood where ze was coming from. As a shapeshifter, ze never really felt linked to any particular definition of gender. Ze even said pronouns didn't really exist in zer first language to begin with and ze preferred it that way.

Ze turned to unlock a door that opened to a large room with a few beds and other furniture inside. Ze ushered me inside and closed the door behind us before walking over to lean against a wardrobe opposite the beds.

"So," ze started. "What do you know about yourself?"

"Uh…" I paused before following zer into the room and taking a seat on one of the beds. "Not much, I suppose? I tried flying today and figured out I can if I have a goal and purpose."

"Right, so you may have the ability of flight. Anything else?"

"I'm…relatively good at hand-to-hand combat?" I continued. I started training with Aster pretty much after waking up at the North Pole and he told me I was a natural. Very quickly worked up to actually becoming a challenge for him. "Other than that, I don't seem to have any abilities like the rest of you."

"Oh I'm sure you do," Cue continued with one hand on zer hip and crossing one foot over the other. "Sometimes these things take time to discover. And sometimes things happen at random."

"Well, how did you discover your center?" I asked.

"Unlike the others, I'm not convinced any of us really 'discover' anything. I think to an extent we end up 'choosing' our center," ze explained.

"Well, how did you choose yours?" I repeated with slightly different phrasing. I noticed right away that ze was not in the habit of giving straightforward answers.

"Oh," ze said waving a hand, "It took me centuries to figure out mine. As did many of the others here."

"Centuries?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah…quite the empty existence for a while," ze pondered while stroking zer chin. "Most of us here took centuries. I honestly think Jack found his out the soonest, but even then it took him around 300 years."

"Wha-" I gasped lost for words. Centuries? "How old are you all?" I asked, perplexed.

"Most of us predate the written word," Cue replied casually as if picking out wallpaper. "The youngest though are Jack, North, Patrick, and now you. North and Patrick are around the same age, but Jack is over a thousand years younger than both of them."

"Patrick?" I asked, my brain struggling to process this information.

"The little guy," Cue answered. "The Spirit of Luck."

So based on what ze was saying…Jack was at least 300 years old, but probably a little over that. North and Patrick were around 2000 years old. And the rest of them were practically ancient. So…where did that leave me?

"Actually, it's not that surprising that Manny created you so soon after all," Cue continued thoughtfully. "Manny usually tends to create spirits in pairs. His first in a millennia being Jack. And now, you."

"Manny?" I asked, still struggling to keep up.

"The Man In The Moon," Cue replied. "You know…that deep voice who told you your name."

The Man In The…that's right. I vaguely remembered someone telling me my name.

"But that's probably the last you'll hear of him," Cue continued. "He's old and slow to respond to anything. Usually only the Sandman can pick up on what he wants."

"But how does this help me at all then?" I blurted out. "If everyone else took hundreds and hundreds of years to figure out their centers, how am I supposed to do it when we're on the verge of war ?"

Cue simply shrugged and restated what North had already told me, "It's ultimately up to you."

I sighed and fell backwards to lay flat on the bed.

"However…" ze added. "If you allow me to connect with you, I could maybe lead you down the right path."

"What are you talking about?" I asked again, quickly growing tired of zer not getting directly to the point.

"As the Spirit of Love, I'm able to see what's in your heart, which can give you clues to your center," ze explained enthusiastically. "If you allow me to, that is."

"Well, I allow you to then," I responded sitting back up.

"Fantastic," ze said with a smirk before gliding over to sit next to me. "Close your eyes," ze murmured and I obliged. I felt as ze placed two fingers on my forehead and then two above my heart. I felt myself growing anxious, unsure of what was supposed to happen.

"You have to relax," Cue encouraged gently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Taking a breath, I willed myself to relax.

But I felt strange all of a sudden. Like I was someplace I shouldn't be. Like I was in a dream. Floating.

"Keep your eyes closed," Cue breathed gently in front of me.

I heard sounds all around me. Things that shouldn't have been there. Voices. Talking.

But I kept my eyes closed.

"Your hair wasn't always white, was it?"

"We're best friends. I promise. Whatever you say you're going through, I'll believe you."

Voices that sounded familiar and yet so far away.

"When you're numb for hundreds of years…pain is still better than nothing."

"You're like fire…"

And then screaming.

" JAIME!"

Cue raised zer hands and quickly backed away from me. I opened my eyes and looked up at zim, just then realizing how heavily I was breathing.

"What was that?" I asked, trembling.

My fear wasn't lessened any by the unsettled look on Cue's face. "My suspicions were somewhat accurate," ze replied, also catching zer breath.

" About what?" I demanded. "Would you please just get on with it?" I was beyond tired of Cue withholding information from me.

"That Manny created you and Jack so soon after each other for a reason," ze replied. "He can help you find your center."

...

After my encounter with Cue, I decided it best to go find the frost spirit. Even if the tall spirit was untrustworthy, I was at least making progress on how to fly with Jack. At the very least, I could master what few abilities I knew I had.

However, he was proving to be fairly difficult to find. I walked back to the meeting room to see everyone had already left. After that I searched the atrium, outside where I was previously practicing flying, and then even walked around the perimeter of headquarters. The storm had thankfully let up to reveal the beginnings of the eternal summer sun. The expanse around headquarters was vast and white. What was land and what was ice was difficult to determine, but it was beautiful all the same. The sun's light sparkled brilliantly off of everything and the sky shone gradients of blue and yellow.

As I searched, I pondered over what Cue had said. If Manny created spirits in pairs, what was the purpose of that? Who were the other pairs? Cue inferred that North and Patrick were created closely together, but they didn't seem to work together or even interact that much. So why would Jack be of any help to me ?

Well…he did presumably take the least amount of time of them all to find his center. So perhaps whatever he did could help me as well.

I was about to give up when I heard a faint ringing to my left. I turned and followed the sound into the ice caves.

Hm…not at all the most unfitting place for a winter spirit to hide.

Following the sound as best as I could, I wriggled my way through a tight fit into a large cavern. After twisting my boot loose from the ice wall I looked up with a gasp.

The cavern was tall and vast. The midnight sun streamed through holes in the ceiling to refract iridescent colors across the opposite ice wall. I walked forward in awe of it all, nearly forgetting the reason I was there.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice sounded from a ledge above me.

"Looking for you," I replied while crossing my arms. "Cue recommended that you could help me find my center."

The frost spirit surfed down from his ledge on a rail of ice he had presumably conjured on the wall before landing gingerly in front of me, still favoring his good leg.

"What makes Cue think I can help you with that?"

I bit my lip uncertain how to explain. I didn't want to go over what Cue had done as I could hardly explain it myself. Although, the look on his face made me think he already knew something I didn't. His brow furrowed slightly over his strikingly blue yet questioning eyes and…the colors from the midnight sun shone brilliantly on his hair as well.

"Your hair wasn't always white, was it?"

Blinking and shaking the intrusive thought out of my mind, I answered him. "Cue said it took you the least amount of time of all the spirits to figure out your center."

"It still took me nearly 300 years."

I shrugged, "Well, help me beat your record then."

~Frost~

I had been training the kid for weeks now and he wasn't any closer to finding his center nor was I any closer to feeling fully healed. My leg still wasn't back to normal and my magic still felt stunted. I couldn't figure out why and it irritated me to no end.

Although, over the course of the past few weeks, I was able to mentally separate Jamie with the bratty spirit standing before me. They were obviously similar both physically and emotionally, but without his memories, he was still a different person. Unlike the old one, this one didn't respect me nearly enough.

"Again." I demanded from atop the roof of headquarters while tapping my foot impatiently.

"Urgh!" a disgruntled groan sounded from below as Light popped out of a snow pile. "I've done this a hundred times already!"

"And you should keep doing it until you stop crashing so much," I ordered smugly. If the kid was expecting to help us fight, then he should at the very least master the one power he's got.

"It's NOT WORKING!"

I sighed and dropped to float gently down alongside the kid as he stood up brushing snow off of him. Unlike some of the others, he didn't seem affected much by temperature. He could withstand the cold at least reasonably well.

"We've been at this every day for weeks now. How is me crashing into snow helping me find my center?!" he demanded in a huff and I scowled as he moved closer to loom over me. Hated whenever he did that.

"You did it once perfectly before," I insisted.

"And you're the one who said I needed a purpose," he pushed back. "If my center is my purpose, then what did you do to find that?"

I felt my jaw clenching as I steeled myself. I couldn't tell him that he was the one who helped me find my center. That he was the kid who first believed in me.

"Maybe we have to bring you around other humans," I stated finally.

That seemed to throw the kid off for a minute. He took a step back and looked at me expectantly, the idea obviously intriguing to him.

"How will that help me?" he asked, his silver eyes sharp.

"Because our center is connected to humanity. Understanding how you interact with other people can help you connect with yourself."

And for the first time since I'd met him, I actually saw Light genuinely smile.

I'm sorry for abandoning this story for a few years. That's my worse ever record and I'm so disappointed in myself. D:

However, I saw some people leave some comments and it reminded me that people are still finding and reading this. I had so many ideas for where to go that I didn't want to give up on it.

If you're still here for some reason and you were looking forward to an update, let me know! I love hearing your feedback.

Much love and good health to you all xx