Author's Note: Woo, chapter fifteen! Man, it feels like just yesterday when I posted this story, and I can't believe it's already almost done. Time really flies, huh? =)

Here's chapter fifteen of "That Time of Year!" I hope you guys enjoy it! =D


Chapter Fifteen: Lists and Chases

December Fifteen

When it came to Jack Frost and the Naughty List, he was always on top. Every single year since he had risen from his lake, Jack was always on top of the list of naughty kids, even when he tried to be good. The winter spirit had gotten into trouble with several other spirits and immortals, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. North remembered the days he would check through the Naughty List and how he always knew that Jack was on top. He didn't even have to look at it to know that Jack Frost, the mischievous teen of winter, had come in first place for naughtiness.

Jack couldn't be described as a "naughty" person. A more fitting word, North deemed, was mischievous. Jack never got into trouble on purpose, and even when he did, it was in a lighthearted and playful manner, but the Naughty List didn't seem to know the difference between a "naughty" child and a "mischievous" one. Of course, Jack still did a couple of naughty things in the past, he knew that the winter spirit was trying his best to be good. North had seen it himself. Jack was always helping out in the Workshop even on the days he was supposed to be spreading his winter. He visited North every single day, helping him out with ice sculpting or organizing children's letters in the Mail Room. The winter spirit even put up with the elves when they got in the way, and he distracted them by using either his frost creations or a hot plate of Christmas cookies.

North was proud of Jack. Even though he never said it out loud, North could tell that he was really trying to get on the Nice List. At first, Jack didn't seem fazed at all when North had said that he held the record for being on the Naught List. But ever since Jack became the Guardian of Fun, the ex-Cossack could tell that he was trying his best to break that record, although the winter spirit still felt somewhat proud of his 300 yearlong Naughty List streak.

Still, North could tell that Jack wanted to be on the Nice List this year, and he was proud to say that Jack indeed was on the Nice List. Helping the Guardians defeat Pitch Black in battle, taking time to help North with things in the Workshop, and even spending time with the children as much as he could. Jack deserved to be on the Nice List, and he had finally earned his place on it.

North folded the Nice list and Naughty List and placed them into the special compartment that they were kept in. The two lists were extremely important and needed to be protected from the elves' shenanigans or even Pitch, so North had constructed a special drawer in his desk that contained a complicated lock system that only he and a few of the yetis knew how to figure out. North closed the drawer shut and locked it; he looked up when he saw Jack walk into the room.

"Hey, North!" Jack greeted with a smile. "I just stopped by to see if—"

North chuckled. "I know vhy you're here, moy mal'chik, but today iz very busy. Don't you vant to rest after a long day of spreading zima?"

Jack shrugged. "I'd rather help you out before getting any rest. Besides, I like working in the Workshop."

North smiled. "Okay, Jack. The yetis may need some help moving things in Vorkshop. So, you could—"

"On it!" said Jack. Then, he flew out of the study with a flurry of snowflakes. North grinned. He and Jack had been working in the Workshop together for so long, the winter teen already knew what to do. North picked up a list of toys and followed Jack out of his study and to the Workshop, ready for a long day of toy production.

Things were a whirlwind in the Workshop. The yetis moved a lot faster since Christmas was only a few days away, and Jack found it a little difficult to keep up with the speedy hustling. Jack bumped into a yeti who was carrying a completed dollhouse and nearly knocked over a can of paint. The winter spirit ducked when an airplane whizzed by his head, and continued to make his way over to North, who was debating between two shades of pink for a doll's dress. The yeti holding up the two samples said something.

"I know, they both look great," said North. "But vhich one is better?"

The yeti grumbled something in response.

"The one on left does look more appealing," agreed North, then he turned his head to face the second one. "But I like the look of this one too. It looks more elegant."

The yeti sighed. North and the yeti would have been there all day if Jack hadn't stepped in.

"What's going on?" asked Jack.

"Ve are trying to pick between these two shades of pink for princess doll," said North. "One on right looks elegant while one on left looks more appealing. Vhich one should ve use?"

Jack looked back and forth between the two pieces of sample fabric. If North had asked him to choose between two shades of blue, he wouldn't have had any trouble. But when it came to the two shades of pink, the Guardian of Fun found himself a little stumped.

"I do like the one on the right," Jack said. But then he turned to the other one. "But the one on the left looks just as nice."

"Exactly!" exclaimed North. "Iz impossible to choose between the two!"

The yeti garbled impatiently.

Jack tapped his chin as he examined the two colors. The winter spirit finally pointed to the one on the left.

"Do that one," said Jack. The yeti nodded and then carried the chosen color off to give to the other yetis to make into doll dresses.

North was impressed. "Vhy did you pick that one?" he asked.

"Sophie," said Jack with a small smile. "She's an expert in pink."

North nodded. Sophie had recently sent him a list asking for the pinkest dress that he could make. The little girl loved the color pink.

"Anything else we have to do around here?" asked Jack. "I got the elves out of the robot parts, the yetis are finished with the last of the dollhouses, and I made sure that the wrapping paper got restocked."

North smiled. "That seems like everything," he said. "Ve can start vrapping things up in here and then ve can head to study."

Jack nodded and cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Work time is over, guys! You can start wrapping things up!"

Several yetis cheered while the elves ran off to raid the kitchen of its cookies. The winter spirit flew off to help with the clean up as well, and North couldn't help but watch proudly. Jack had come a long way from the Naughty List, and the ex-Cossack was proud of him. Jack had been adjusting well, and North knew that he probably wouldn't find him on the Naughty List again for a long time.

"North! The yetis need help moving these rocket ships!" called Jack from the other side of the Workshop. North then walked over to give the yetis and Jack a hand.

After things were finished in the Workshop, Jack and North headed to the study to do some extra ice sculpting before tomorrow. Jack used the ice pick that North had given him in his stocking, and North noticed how much Jack had improved since the first ice sculpture that he made.

"That iz very good, Jack," complimented North. Jack smiled as he turned the mini figure of a car in his hand.

"Thanks, North," he said. "Although, I think it would look cooler with wings and a rocket booster."

North laughed. "I have been thinking of adding rocket to sleigh. Vhat do you think Bunny vill say?"

"'Heck no!'" said Jack. And the two laughed again. Jack didn't think that he'd ever understand why Bunny didn't like the sleigh so much. For a Pooka who was six foot one, master of Tai Chi, it made no sense that a Pookan warrior like him would be scared of flying in Santa's sleigh.

Well, there's something strange about everyone, thought Jack. The winter spirit placed the ice car to the side and was about to create another block of ice when he noticed how late it was.

"Whoa, it's night already?" exclaimed Jack.

North nodded. "I think iz best if ve call it night and then finish tomorrow, da?"

Jack stood up. "Okay but let me make just one more sculpture. I had this idea for a rollercoaster with jets."

"Jets, you say?" North asked inquisitively.

The winter spirit nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, we probably wouldn't be able to make it into a real toy for the kids, but I thought it would be fun to create it anyway."

"Sounds like great idea!" said North as he patted Jack on the back. The Guardian of Fun smiled. "Stay as long as you vant, but try not to get into trouble."

Jack smirked. "You know I can't promise that." But deep down, Jack was going to try and stay out of trouble the best he could.

North gave the winter teen one last pat on the shoulder and then left the study. "I'll vill see you in morning, Jack!"

"Goodnight, North!" said Jack. Then he sat back down and got started on his sculpture. It was a quiet night, and Jack didn't think that anything could go wrong as he conjured up an ice block and began to peck away. As Jack chipped at the ice, he thought about the upcoming party, which was only a few days away. It seemed as if December had started just yesterday.

Wow, time really flies, huh? remarked Jack. He blew leftover ice shards off of the partially finished sculpture and continued to pick at it. The winter spirit was planning on going, but the run in with the Autumn sprites still had him on edge. It was clear that they had been invited to the party (and Jack wished he could grab the guest list and cross their names out, but he knew that he would get on the Naughty List for that), and Jack didn't know why he was so worried. Besides, the party was only a couple of hours; he would spend most of his time with the Guardians and maybe have a little talk about extending winter with Mother Nature and try to avoid the Autumn sprites the best he could.

Jack sighed and held up the finished ice sculpture of a roller coaster cart with jet wings and a booster. It looked cool, Jack deemed, so he set the sculpture aside and cleaned up the desk. Once he was done, Jack slipped his ice pick into his pocket and exited the study. Santoff Claussen was peaceful at night, and Jack liked walking through the empty hallways of the Workshop on his way to his bedroom. The pale light from the Moon guided him until he reached the bedrooms. Jack arrived at his bedroom door and was about to go inside when he heard the sound of something crashing to the floor. Jack turned his head toward the room where all of the wrapped gifts and presents were kept. Jack flew over to the large room and opened the doors to find the elves digging through the presents. The winter spirit frowned.

"Hey!" said Jack. The elves turned to him. "What are you doing?"

The elves squeaked and began pointing at each other. Jack held a hand up and they silenced.

"You guys aren't supposed to be messing around in here," said Jack. "You need to leave."

The group of elves hung their heads and began to file out of the present filled room. Jack stepped to the side to give them room to leave and made sure that there weren't any elves left inside. When he saw none, Jack shut the doors. He turned to the elves in front of him and said, "Don't let me catch you causing trouble in there again, or I'll tell North."

The elves nodded and walked away to their sleeping quarters. Jack was about to head back to his room when he noticed that one of the elves was carrying a wrapped present from the present room.

"Hey, you!" called Jack. The elves turned around and Jack pointed to the one carrying a red wrapped present. "Drop the present!"

The elf smiled mischievously and bolted. The other elves followed it and Jack huffed. A nighttime chase wasn't what he was planning on doing for the night, but things didn't always go according to plan when it came to him and schedules. Jack called on the Wind and he flew after the elves. They were trying to play keep away. The smallish elf who had snagged the present from the storage room tossed it to the closest one, who ran down the stairs out of Jack's grip.

"Bring that back!" hissed Jack. How did North live with the elves? They couldn't seem to stay out of mischief for thirty seconds! Jack dived toward the elf who was carrying the present and almost grabbed the large present when the elf tossed it to an elf with a very tall aht who was waiting on top of a table. The tall-hat elf caught the gift with ease and blew a raspberry in Jack's direction, then he continued to run with it, the other elves in tow.

Jack grumbled as he shot toward the direction of the elves again. They even started tossing random items in his direction to slow him down. Jack swerved and dodged around old teddy bears, half-eaten Christmas cookies, and even the elves themselves!

"They're throwing each other?!" Jack exclaimed as he dodged another elf. The winter spirit increased his speed and the WInd pushed him toward the group of elves that were still scampering away with the present. Jack shot an ice shard at the group, but they split in two directions. Jack didn't see which had the elf that had the present, so he veered left toward the group that ran down the stairs. Jack smirked as he caught up with the group, but one of the elves managed to throw a teddy bear at his face and Jack wasn't able to dodge fast enough. The winter spirit yelped as the bear hit his face. Jack tumbled to the ground and looked up to see that peering down from the balcony was the elf that held the present. It giggled and ran off once again.

"Get back here!" Jack shouted as quietly as he could. The winter spirit took to the air once again and followed the elf into the Workshop. The little elf ducked under tables, which made it harder for Jack to catch it. The elf emerged from under a table and continued to run, and Jack concentrated all of his focus on the elf that was just a few feet ahead of him. Jack stretched out his arm to grab the present, but the elf ducked under a table before he could grab it. Jack's eyes widened as the edge of a table came into view.

"Up, up, UP!" cried Jack. The Wind responded a little too suddenly, and she pushed Jack so high in the air and he hit the ceiling. Jack was so dazed that he forgot to tell the Wind to keep him up and he crashed into a tower of stuffed animals. The plush toys all toppled to the ground and Jack popped his white-haired head out and looked at the mess.

"Great…" grumbled Jack. The elves were standing in front of him; just a few feet away, laughing at him. Jack frowned.

"Are you guys going to give the present back or what?" asked Jack indignantly. The elves shook their heads.

"I think you should," said a Russian accented voice from the elevator. Jack turned to his right and saw North walking off of the lift and toward him and the elves. The ex-Cossack crossed his arms and looked down at the elves, who gulped nervously.

"Hand over the present," said North firmly. The lead elf handed North the gift and the man in red took it.

"No cookies for any of you tomorrow," said North. The elves were about to complain, but North's look told them that he would make the punishment worse if they argued. The elves sighed and ran off before North would make them clean the reindeer stables. North then turned to Jack and helped him out of the stuffed animal mess.

"Thanks," said Jack as he picked up his staff. He turned toward the direction of the elves. "Seriously, I don't know how you live with them."

North shrugged. "They can be useful vhen they vant to. Are you okay?"

"I got hit in the face with a teddy bear, nearly crashed into a table, and hit my head on the ceiling. Yeah, I'm great," replied Jack.

North chuckled at Jack's sarcasm. "Okay, moy mal'chik, but ve're going to have to clean this mess up."

Jack faltered at the word "mess." He hadn't noticed that during the chase, all of the items that the elves threw had been scattered on the floor. And then there was the tower of stuffed animals that had fallen and now there were teddy bears, plush dogs, and more lying on the ground in a heap.

Jack shifted on his feet and asked, "I'm…I'm not going on the Naughty List for this, am I?"

North shook his head and laid a hand on Jack's shoulder. "No, my boy. You vere only trying to get present from elves. This isn't naughtiness."

Jack nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. "Thanks, North."

North smiled. "No problem, Jack. Now, vhy don't ve start cleaning?"

And so, the two cleaned up the mess left after the elves, and Jack made a mental note to freeze the elves the next time he saw them.