Author's Note: Chapter Thirteen, December thirteen! =D I cannot wait until Christmas break; I'm so close! I just have to survive a couple more days...I don't think I'm going to make it. XD

Here's chapter thirteen! I hope you guys enjoy it! =D


Chapter Thirteen: Stuffed Stockings

December Thirteen

Stockings. They were strange things. Oversized socks hanging over a fireplace or on a child's bedside, waiting to be filled with goodies from Santa Claus himself. Jack had always wondered where the idea of a stocking had come from, but the winter spirit never figured it out. He didn't mind, though. Jack didn't have anything against stockings. In fact, they were one of his favorite things about Christmas. The thought of having Santa place multiple gifts inside of one's stocking made Jack feel excited. Once the winter spirit heard of this strange, but popular tradition, he would hang up a handcrafted stocking on his tree branch on Christmas Eve. Jack had tried many things to get noticed by immortals; he noticed that every child who hung up a stocking woke up the next morning to find it filled with presents, so Jack decided to try it out himself.

Unfortunately, Jack woke up every single Christmas to find absolutely nothing in his stocking. Not even a lump of coal. This left Jack really disappointed, and he eventually stopped hanging up his stocking and spent his time alone at his lake during Christmas time. Sometimes, he would make a little snowmen family so he wouldn't feel lonely, but he still felt companionless. Desolated. Solitary. No one had paid him any attention in his 300 years of loneliness, but now that Jack was a Guardian, he wasn't lonely anymore. He had friends. He had a family.

As strange as stockings were, Jack felt compelled to carry the tradition on with his new friends. First, Jack checked to see if the Guardians even hung stockings. Jack found that North hung several over the many fireplaces in Santoff Claussen. One for each elf and yeti. Jack didn't find a stocking with North's name on it. The winter spirit guessed that since North was the one who filled the stockings, it wouldn't make much sense for him to have a stocking for himself. Still, Jack managed to find an extra red stocking in the storage room and decided that he would find a place to hang it where North would see it when it was filled.

Jack's next stop was the Tooth Palace. Tooth greeted him cheerfully and told him that she was busy, but he could hang around for a while if he wanted to. Jack smiled and proceeded to look around Punjam Hy Loo for any stockings. The young spirit found none, though. Maybe Tooth was just too busy to hang multiple stockings up for each and every mini fairy. Baby Tooth chirped from his side and Jack was pulled out of his thoughts. He greeted the little fairy with a smile.

"Hey, Baby Tooth," said Jack. "It's been a while, huh?"

Baby Tooth nodded. Jack and Baby Tooth hadn't seen each other much during the month of December. Children lost a lot of teeth during the holiday season due to the overconsumption of Christmas cookies, fruit cake, peppermint sticks, and more Christmas treats. Most teeth were already loose when children bit into one of the harder treats and popped right out of their mouths. Others fell out simply due to too many sweets. Either way, Tooth and her entire army of tooth fairies were darting here and there, placing teeth in their tooth boxes and flying out of the Tooth Palace to collect teeth.

Jack had had his fair share of busyness as well. It was winter, meaning that Jack had to spend a lot of his time keeping unwanted blizzards and hailstorms under control. Spreading winter seemed like an easy task, but it really wasn't. It was a lot harder than it looked, and the winter spirit often crashed on his couch after a long day of creating snowfalls and stirring dangerous blizzards away from large cities and towns where they could hurt people. Jack managed to get everything done though, and he felt good afterward knowing that he helped a lot of people and children alike.

Baby Tooth twittered a questioning chirp. She seemed to be asking why Jack had stopped by.

"Oh, I was wondering if you guys had any stockings lying around," replied Jack. "I couldn't find any, though."

Baby Tooth chirped again, asking why Jack was looking for stockings.

"Well, I want to surprise the others by filling up a stocking and giving it to them," said Jack. "I thought it would be nice. But don't tell Tooth. It's a surprise," he added with a wink.

Baby Tooth made a zipping motion across her lips. Jack didn't understand the language of fairies, but he did know that Baby Tooth was promising to keep Jack's little surprise a secret. The winter spirit smiled.

"Thanks, Baby Tooth," he said. He gave the small fairy a pat on the head. "You should probably get back to work now. "The others seem like they need you."

Baby Tooth nodded and fluttered off to join her sisters in collecting and organizing teeth. Jack called on the Wind to take him to his next stop: the Warren. Jack flew down the tunnel that served as the entrance and entered the spring landscape with a few snowflakes trailing behind him. Jack landed on his feet and looked around. Bunny didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

"I wonder what Kangaroo is up to," Jack thought out loud. He began making his way to Bunny's cottage which was tucked away deeper in the Warren. People's perspective of the Easter Bunny wasn't entirely incorrect. Bunny did live in a cottage, just not a cutesy one like people thought it was. It was built by Bunny himself and it was somewhat oval shaped with a chimney sticking out of the dark oak roof. Jack didn't ever use the fireplace since it was usually warm in the Warren. The winter spirit was glad that the Pooka had a fireplace. Now he had a place where he could hang the Pooka's stocking.

Jack left the Warren before Bunny returned and soared across the ocean, searching for Sandy's Island of Dreams. It drifted across the waters and never stayed in one place. One day it was in the Indian Ocean and the next it was in the Pacific. No one knew the whereabouts of the place except for a few immortals, spirits, and, of course, the Guardians of Childhood. Jack spotted the golden island down below and dived toward it. Jack hadn't been to Sandy's island in a long time, so seeing it after so long made Jack gaze at it in awe. Golden sand weaved into swirly shapes across the water, and when Jack's bare feet touched the ground, the sands felt like a cloud. Jack walked toward Sandy's small castle of dreamsand and looked inside. The winter spirit decided that he would place Sandy's stocking somewhere in his bedroom since it was most likely that he would find it there.

Jack left Sandy's island and headed back toward Santoff Claussen. The Wind gently placed him down in the middle of the Globe Room and Jack began his hunt for stockings. The winter spirit once again headed to the storage room and pulled out three more stockings, which had the classic red and white color. The winter spirit decided to keep one of the red stockings for North, but color the other stockings for Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy.

"But how do I color these?" asked Jack to himself as he held up the three other stockings. He could make entirely new stockings for Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny, but sewing would mean he would have to work with a needle again. A sharp, pointy needle. Jack sighed.

"Well, these are going to be for the Guardians, so the sewing will be worth it in the end," said Jack. The winter spirit found pink, yellow, and green fabric, then moved on to find a sewing needle and some thread, which didn't take Jack very long. He left the storage room and headed to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him once he stepped inside. Jack placed all of his materials on his desk including the stockings and picked up the needle and red thread. Jack decided to start with the premade stocking that he had and sew in North's name on the white, fuzzy part of it. Jack poked the red string of thread through the needle and began to sew. Jack recalled all of the times he watched his mother sew in the rocking chair and tried to replicate what he had seen her do when she sewed.

Jack held up the finished stocking sometime later, deciding that it didn't look too bad. North's name was slightly lopsided, but the winter spirit knew that North wouldn't mind. Jack cut the thread and set the finished stocking aside.

"Now for Tooth's stocking," said Jack as he picked up the light pink fabric. Jack would have to make Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy's stockings from scratch, which he knew would take a while. The winter spirit used North's stocking to help him sew out and shape Tooth's. After poking his fingers more times than he could count, various grunts of frustration, and intense concentration, Jack held up Tooth's finished stocking. The large sock was rather small, but large enough to hold a couple of gifts. Jack sewed In Tooth's name on the white and then set it aside with North's and started on Bunny's stocking.

Jack decided to have a little fun with Bunny's stocking; he made it egg shaped instead of sock shaped. Jack did his very best to sew the oval shaped stocking together, and he was proud with the turn out. Jack was about to sew in Bunny's name with green thread, but then he got an idea. An impish smile spread across Jack's face as he sewed in Bunny's name, but under the Pooka's name in small, threaded lettering was "Kangaroo." Jack smiled and let out a laugh.

"Bunny's really gonna love this," said Jack. The winter spirit set the stocking aside and began to work on Sandy's. The Sandman's stocking was a golden yellow, just like his dreamsand. Jack sewed up the stocking and threaded Sandy's name with golden thread on the white. Jack laid the finished stockings on top of his desk and wondered what he could add onto them to give them a special touch. Something that didn't involve poking himself with a sewing needle.

Jack tucked the stockings under his arm and left his room, once again heading back to the storage room. The winter spirit rummaged around and found a holly, some golden glitter that looked like dreamsand, a yellow feather that looked like Tooth's, and an egg-shaped button. Jack headed back into his room and glued the holly to North's stocking, glued the feather to Tooth's stocking, pinned the egg button to Bunny's stocking, and sprinkled some of the golden glitter onto Sandy's stocking. Jack examined the stockings that he had created for the Guardians and smiled in satisfaction. They were perfect.

Now I just need to find stuff to fill them with, thought Jack as he left his room. The winter spirit brought the stockings with him to his tree in Burgess. He walked inside and began to search through his many collectables and items that he had amassed over his 300 years of immortality. Jack pulled out a couple of things that he thought the Guardians would like and placed them into their stockings. Jack added a little note to each of the stockings as well. By the time Jack finished, it was night.

"What do you think Wind?" asked Jack to his oldest friend. The Wind swirled around Jack and ruffled his hair. The winter spirit laughed. "Yeah, I think the Guardians will like these too."

The winter spirit collected the stockings and held them close. Jack flew through the night to each and every Guardians' homes. Jack placed Tooth's stocking in the heart of the Tooth Palace, he placed Sandy's stocking on his bed, he placed Bunny's stocking on the doorknob of his cottage door, and lastly, he placed North's stocking on his desk in his study. Jack walked out of North's office and headed back for his bedroom, winded after doing so much in one day. The winter spirit yawned, and he shut his bedroom door, taking off his Christmas hat as he made his way toward his bed. Jack flopped onto the mattress and didn't even bother moving into a more comfortable position. The winter spirit fell asleep after just a few seconds.

Tooth fluttered into her Tooth Palace. She had just finished collecting teeth along with her other fairies and she quickly flew to the tooth box holding area and placed the last of the teeth that she had collected inside of their designated boxes. Tooth smiled and turned to her fairies. "That's all for tonight, girls! Great job today!"

The mini fairies all let out small cheers while some let out sighs of relief. Collecting teeth all night long was a wearying task, but fun. Although, the extensions of Tooth did look forward to when the night was over so they could rest and get ready for the next night of teeth collecting. Mini fairies placed the last of their teeth in their tooth boxes and fluttered off to their separate nests to rest. One fairy still remained. Baby Tooth. She chirped to Tooth and gestured for her queen to follow her.

"What is it, Baby Tooth?" asked Tooth as she followed the little fairy. Baby Tooth flew into the heart of the Tooth Palace where Tooth usually directed the fairies and assigned them places to go and pointed to something that sat on the ground where Tooth would have easily found it if she had gone to the area herself.

"What's this?" asked Tooth as she fluttered down to the item. The Tooth Fairy discovered that it was a light pink stocking with her name sewn into it. A yellow feather protruded from the top and Tooth found that it was filled with different goodies. The Fairy Queen smiled when she pulled out her favorite tube of mint toothpaste.

"Oh my moon!" Tooth exclaimed as she looked over the tube. "I thought these were gone!" Tooth's favorite mint toothpaste was an extremely rare type that wasn't easy to find. Not even in stores. North usually kept a couple in Santoff Claussen, but he had recently run out because the elves had used them all in a toothpaste squirt war.

"Did North manage to find some more?" wondered Tooth out loud. Baby Tooth chirped and pointed to the stocking once again. A white note was sticking out from the inside. Tooth pulled it out and smiled softly when she saw the familiar handwriting of Jack Frost on it.

Hey, Tooth! I wanted to give you a little something for being so nice and friendly to me (and keeping me from eating too many cookies) over these past few months. If it weren't for you, I probably would have so many cavities and constantly forget to brush my teeth!

Thanks for being so amazing!

Sincerely,

Jack Frost

"Oh, Jack," cooed Tooth. "This is so nice of him!" She looked around to see if there was any sign of the winter spirit, but there wasn't. Tooth turned to Baby Tooth.

"We have to do something for him in return," said Tooth. Baby Tooth nodded and the two made a mental note to stop by Santoff Claussen tomorrow to see if the other's received stockings as well.

Bunny dragged himself out of bed and made a quick salad for breakfast before stepping out of his cottage and breathing in the fresh, spring air of his Warren. Bunny didn't have much to do, but he still liked getting up early to get started on his day. The Pooka shut the door to his cottage and was about to head off to start painting some eggs when his impeccable hearing picked up the sound of something dropping to the ground right behind him. Bunny turned around and saw an oval shaped stocking lying in the grass in front of the door to his cottage. The Pooka picked it up and immediately spotted the nickname that Jack had given him all those months ago. Bunny rolled his eyes, but a smile still spread across his face.

"So, Jackie can sew, huh? What is is new?" Bunny said as he looked inside of the stocking. There were some flower seeds and some new paint brushes. Bunny pulled out the small note that Jack had left inside of the stocking for him and read it over with a small smile.

Hi, Kangaroo! It's Jack. Yes, I did make this stocking; I have the needle poke marks to prove it. I wanted to give you something since it is the Christmas season and you're super awesome. Absolutely egg-cellent (ha ha ha ha!).

Anyway, I hope you like the stuff I put in here for you. I also purposefully made the stocking egg-shaped since you like eggs so much (you're welcome!). Thanks for being egg-trememly amazing!

Sincerely,

Jack Frost

(P.S. How did you like my egg puns? They weren't hare-able, were they? Hahahaha!)

Bunny couldn't keep himself from chuckling. Jack's puns, as terrible as they were, did make Bunny laugh, and the Pooka was touched that the young winter spirit had handmade a stocking and gave him some gifts. Bunny tucked his stocking under his arm and tapped his foot against the ground. A tunnel appeared and Bunny hopped into it, heading for Santoff Claussen. He knew that Jack probably gave something to each and every one of the Guardians, and Bunny wanted to give something for the winter spirit in return.

When Sandy finishes spreading dreams for the night, he heads back to his Island of Dreams to take a long, well-deserved nap. The golden little man yawned as he landed at the doors to his castle of dreamsand. Sandy pushed open the doors and floated to his bedroom. He was about to crash into his pile of pillows that served as his bed when he noticed a golden stocking sitting in the center of where he rested. Sandy picked up the stocking and noticed the golden glitter that was scattered across it to make it look somewhat like dreamsand. Sandy peeked inside of the stocking and saw an eggnog recipe, a mug, and a blanket. How it managed to fit inside of the stocking, Sandy didn't know. He pulled out a note and Sandy immediately recognized Jack's handwriting. The Sandman read over the note, smiling as he did so.

Hey, Sandy! I wanted to give you something to say thanks for being so nice, patient, and kind. And I know it must be really hard to be patient when it comes to a person like me.

I hope you like the stocking! I tried using glitter to make it look like dreamsand, but, of course, actual dreamsand is better. Anyway, thanks for everything you've done for me (and sorry about that eggnog prank that North and I pulled on you earlier!).

Sincerely,

Jack Frost

Sandy placed the gifts that Jack had given to him in their proper places and carried the stocking to Santoff Claussen. Like the rest of the Guardians, he wanted to give Jack something in return, and knowing that the other Guardians probably received stockings as well, the Sandman decided that they could all come up with something to give the winter spirit, who worked so hard to make something for each and every one of them.

North was busy. Christmas was just around the corner, which meant that work time had doubled. Yetis and elves ran around in the Workshop, making sure not to run into each other and cause a mess that would cost them time. North wove his way through the hustle and bustle and made his way to his study. He needed to make a couple of ice sculptures for the yetis since a couple of them were accidentally knocked over.

North pushed open the door and walked over to his desk, getting ready to pull out his ice sculpting tools when he noticed a stuffed red stocking with a holly plant stuck onto it. The ex-Cossack gingerly picked up the stocking, recognizing almost instantly Jack's handiwork. The stocking contained a snow globe, a wooden figure of a sleigh, and his favorite ice pick. North wondered how it got inside of the stocking when he noticed the white note that was wedged between the gifts. North pulled it out and read it. He smiled warmly after finishing it.

Hey, North! I know it's a little strange to receive a stuffed stocking since you're the one who usually fills them up, but I thought it would be nice to give you one anyway. I did make the stocking myself (which you could probably tell already), and I found the elves messing with your favorite ice pick a while ago, so I tossed it in here with the rest of the gifts (seriously, how do you live with them?).

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks through this stocking for being so awesome. If it wasn't for you, I probably would never have found my center, learned how to ice sculpt, and a bunch of other cool stuff you taught me. Thank you for everything!

Sincerely,

Jack Frost

Once North finished the letter, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy burst into the study, each of them holding the stockings that they received from Jack. North turned around and smiled.

"I see that Jack gave you stockings too," he said.

Tooth nodded, her smile ever so bright. "This is really sweet of him! And he decorated and made the stockings all by himself!"

"I gotta say, for a beginner, he isn't that bad," said Bunny as he looked over his stocking again.

Sandy conjured up the Guardians, handing Jack a gift. "We have to give him something in return."

"I agree with Sandy," said Tooth. "Jack spent a lot of time working on these, he deserves something in return."

North nodded. "I already have idea on vhat to give Jack," the ex-Cossack beckoned the other Guardians over to his desk, telling the three about his idea.

Jack rolled over and peeled his eyes open. The winter spirit rubbed the remains of sleep out of his eyes and yawned. It had been a while since Jack had gotten a good night's sleep, but he knew that it was time to start his day by creating some snowfalls and blizzards. Jack slipped out of bed and was about to leave when he noticed something sitting at the foot of his bed. Jack turned around and stumbled back in surprise when he noticed the large stocking sitting next to his bed. The winter spirit peeked inside and saw several different things from each of the Guardians. A couple of hand painted eggs and a box of chocolates from Bunny, a bag of dreamsand and a soft pillow from Sandy, a deep blue sapphire and a blue toothbrush from Tooth, and an ice pick with a blue handle and a box of peppermints from North. Jack pulled out the card, which was sprinkled with some of Sandy's dreamsand for decoration, sat in the center of the gifts and opened it, reading it over with a smile on his face.

Jack,

Thank you so much for the wonderful stockings that you gave us! We wanted to give you something in return, so we filled up the biggest stocking we could find with a bunch of gifts and presents for you. You're a really kind, amazing winter spirit and there isn't any other person who's more fitting for the role of the Guardian of Fun than you. We hope you like the gifts!

Love, the Guardians

(PS from Tooth: Make sure to brush your teeth after eating the peppermint stick that North gave you!)

(PPS from North: Eat as many peppermint sticks as you vant, Jack!)

(PPPS from Bunny: Don't listen to them, mate. Just eat the chocolate; it's better!)

(PPPPS from North: The chocolate is too eggy. Eat the peppermint sticks!)

(PPPPPs from Tooth: Both of those are too unhealthy, Jack! Don't eat them! They'll wreck your teeth!)

(PPPPPPS from Bunny: Don't listen ta either of them. Chocolate is healthy; peppermint sticks aren't.)

(PPPPPPPS from North: Bunny iz lying! Peppermint sticks are healthier!)

(PPPPPPPPS from Tooth: You BOTH are wrong. They both contain sugar and could damage Jack's teeth!)

(PPPPPPPPPS from Sandy: Sorry, Jack. I managed to get the card away before the others started fighting over it. We hope you like your gifts!)

Jack chuckled as he placed the card on his desk and dug into the presents that he had received. The Guardians were an odd bunch, but Jack loved them, even though he never admitted it out loud.

And it was nice to know that they loved him too.