At the request of Shamangirl1, more (friendly) mermaids!

Disclaaaaaimed

...

Whale of a Time

...

Upon reflection, it really should have come as no surprise that Jamie and Sophie would check in their Christmas present to see the Guardians' homes, Jack mused as he tightened his grip on Sophie. Jamie, who clung to him like a backpack, marvelled at the sight of the countless cities soaring beneath them. Sophie had her head buried in Jack's shoulder, not comfortable with the height.

"This is amazing!" Jamie cried, struggling to be heard over the rushing wind around them.

Jack grinned at his enthusiasm. "How's your grip?" he called back.

"I'm good!"

The last thing Jack wanted was Jamie slipping and plummeting however many kilometres up they were (they'd had to fly pretty high to avoid the kids being spotted by the people below. It probably would have been a bit hard to explain why two kids were magically soaring through the sky).

The landing was just as smooth as always, even with the added weight. As soon as Jack's feet touched down on the Island of the Sleepy Sands, Jamie flung himself off. Sophie required a little more coaxing.

"So this is where the Sandman lives?" Jamie asked, turning on the spot to take in the sight.

The island was both spectacular and rather plain. It was reminiscent of an octopus with the way tendrils swirled out from the centre and settled in the surrounding ocean, but there was very little to see except sand, sand, and more sand, heaped up in dunes that stretched as far as the eye could see. Jack vaguely remembered someone telling him it was a shooting star or something.

"Yup," he nodded, starting to walk along one of the dunes. The kids hurried to keep up with him. "But I doubt Sandy's here; he has a lot of dreams to deliver and all that."

Jamie hesitated. "Is it okay for us to be here, then?"

Jack waved a hand at him flippantly as he scooped up Sophie, who squealed excitedly, and swung her up onto his shoulders. "He won't mind," he reassured. "Besides, there's not really much here. There is one thing I wanted to show you guys, though."

"What?" Jamie asked. But Jack refused to answer beyond telling him it was a 'surprise', much to the boy's frustration. As they walked, he continued trying to guess what the surprise was, with Sophie throwing in a few comments here and there, progressively getting weirder and more outlandish as time went by.

"Why would there be a ski slope on Sandy's island?" Jack raised a brow at Jamie's latest suggestion. "The place is literally called the 'Island of the Sleepy Sands."

Jamie shrugged like that cleared everything up.

"Well, we're here," Jack stopped abruptly.

The three of them stared out at a small cove shaped by one of the tendrils. The water here was a much lighter blue than elsewhere, hinting to its shallower depth, but they still couldn't see the ocean floor.

Jamie and Sophie gazed around, but there was nothing to see that they hadn't seen on the journey there.

"So what's the surprise?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion as he looked up at Jack.

Jack merely grinned and poked the surface of the water with the butt of his staff. Instantly a line of frost shot out from the contact, probing further out to sea before a wave broke over it and split it into tiny fractals. Barely a moment passed – the kids were still staring at him like he was a few flakes short of a snow day – before the heads of three women broke the surface.

"Well, well," the dark haired woman in the middle smiled. "The infamous Jack Frost finally deems us worthy of a visit."

"Yeah, sorry," Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Just been busy, I guess."

The woman on the right, whose hair looked almost like seaweed, 'hmph'ed. "Too busy to spare a few minutes to say hello? But never mind that," her eyes locked onto Jamie and Sophie. "Who are these adorable little ones?"

"They can see you!" the one on the left, her hair cut short and decorated with seashells, beamed at him. "Look, look," she jostled the middle woman, "the girl is touching him!"

"When did this happen?" the middle one asked.

"About a year ago," Jamie answered, eyes wide. Jack had a feeling he'd figured out who, or rather what, they were.

"Jamie and Sophie," Jack broke in before he could be lectured, "meet Coralline, Marina, and Pearl. Ladies, meet Jamie and Sophie."

Coralline, Marina, and Pearl 'aww'ed at the two of them. Jack breathed a silent sigh of relief. He'd been spared. For now.

"It's such a lovely day," Coralline gushed. "Would you like to come for a swim with us?"

"Oh, um, we didn't bring a change of clothes," Jack said awkwardly.

"Oh, pish posh," Marina rolled her eyes. "You can just freeze it off, and these two cuties will dry in the sun."

"Besides," Pearl added, flipping onto her back and lifting up her tail so the kids could see it, "how often do you get to swim with mermaids?"

There was a sharp intake of air from above him and suddenly Jack found Sophie practically draped over his head. With a grunt he grabbed her around the waist and pried her off, plopping her down onto the sand beside her brother.

"See? Sophie wants to," Coralline said smugly.

"Can we?!" Sophie, armed with the biggest, saddest puppy-eyes Jack had ever seen, begged.

Jack knew he would be no match for that face. "Fine," he sighed. "But not for too long; we still have to get to the North Pole and then back to Burgess by sundown."

Sophie squealed a cheer and raced for the water where she was immediately fangirled over by the mermaids. Jamie, who was far more sensible, took a moment to remove his shirt and shoes before joining her.

"Are you coming?" the boy asked, looking back over his shoulder when he noticed Jack was still standing on the shore.

Marina placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Sweetie, Jack isn't much of a fan of swimming," she told him quietly, sparing the winter spirit a glance.

"Actually," Jack cut in, tugging off his hoodie, "I think I will. I need to make sure you don't kidnap my favourite believers. And don't even try to pretend you wouldn't."

The three mermaids stared at him in obvious surprise. "Are you sure?" they asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. He'd come a long way since the last time they'd seen him – he didn't even falter when he immediately sank to chest-height. At their questioning (and impressed, he noted smugly) expressions, he added, "Let's just say all I needed was a little courage and a lot of hope."

He wasn't sure if they understood, but they didn't press. Jamie was plainly confused. Sophie was so absorbed in staring at Marina that he doubted she'd heard a word.

"Alright, cutie-pies," Pearl announced. "If we're gonna take you on the best marine tour on Earth, you're going to need these," she held up a couple of pearlescent scales. "Just pop them in your mouth and they'll let you breathe underwater."

"But don't swallow them," Coralline hastily added. "We wouldn't want you to choke."

Being able to breathe underwater certainly helped with Jack's anxieties. That, and the utter joy rolling off the two kids in waves. The three mermaids showed them their grove, a nearby reef, and even started a game with a passing pod of dolphins (which Jack particularly enjoyed).

When it was time for them to dry off, Jack almost had to drag them out of the water. Sophie, especially, didn't want to leave and, in the end, he'd had to promise to bring her back one day just to get her to let go of Marina. (Pearl telling them they could keep the scales probably helped, too).

When they were finally dry enough that Jack thought they wouldn't catch a cold, they started the journey to the Pole, where the kids would undoubtedly go on a sugar high, stir up the yetis, and likely conk-out on the journey home. He'd probably have to sneak them into their beds. Tooth was going to kill him. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it; he could just give her a disarming smile or something. That ought to do it.

"Hold on tight, kiddos," he told them, making sure his Jamie-backpack was secure and Sophie was braced for take-off. "Next stop: North's Workshop!"