*In Xemnas' voice* Good tidings, friends. Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that MTGBIS IS OFFICIALLY 2 YEARS OLD! Happy birthday to this monster of a fic! In addition to this, welcome to chapter 100! (For those of you who didn't check my profile page, can you see now why I waited to update?)

Yep, I decided it would be awesome to have chapter 100 coincide with the fic's birthday, so here we are! Thank you all for your patience. I'd like to take this time, too, to thank each and every one of you for your continued support - whether you're a silent reader or a reviewer. It means a lot to me, and this fic would be absolutely nothing without you guys. So thank you! And here's to many more chapters to come!

I do not own Rise of the Guardians, but I do own my heart and it is full to the brim of happiness :333

...

Celebration

...

Jack rose before the sun, flying through Burgess with as much enthusiasm as ever. He was determined that this day would be a snow day; he would save the Burgess kids from that prison they called school and instead they could enjoy a complete Jack Frost style winter bonanza, including but not limited to snowball fights, sledding, building snowmen (or snowbunnies, in Sophie's case), and making snow angels. It was the perfect plan...

Except for one minor detail.

He couldn't find his favourite group of believers.

He'd spent hours decorating the town in a blanket of white, and as soon as he'd finished he'd gone off in search of them. But they were nowhere to be found. He'd checked everywhere he could think of, including the school on the off-chance the teachers were more demonic than he'd given them credit for and hadn't cancelled school at all. But despite his best efforts, his search was fruitless. It was like the kids had simply vanished.

Jack frowned, scanning the town laid out around him from the powerlines he was perched on. Had there been some sort of school camp or mass vacation he hadn't been made aware of? Surely not; there were other kids around that were the same age as Jamie and his friends, and Mrs Bennett and the other parents were still around.

So where had they gone?

Jack idly wondered if he should be worried, but no one else seemed particularly concerned about their disappearance. Maybe they'd taken a day trip somewhere and had just forgotten to let him know.

Well, if they had, it wasn't like he was going to be able to do anything about it now. With a disappointed shrug and a mental note to check back later and see if they'd turned up, Jack accepted that his perfect day had been ruined before it had even begun and took to the skies.

He wandered aimlessly for a while, starting light snowfalls here and there while he decided what he was going to do now. He was no longer in the mood for his usual shenanigans, but that didn't mean he was out of options. His mind drifted to the Tooth Palace. There were always fairies there taking a break that he was sure wouldn't mind if he lavished them with attention.

A smile worked its way onto Jack's face. Yes, that was a great idea. It took barely a thought to switch trajectory, and in no time at all he was well on his way to Punjam Hy Loo. The fairies weren't big fans of cold, but there were other games they could play (assuming they weren't too busy fangirling over his teeth).

It wasn't long before the mountainous cavern that contained the Palace appeared on the horizon, and Jack didn't hesitate at all to swoop in like he did every time he visited. As usual, there were fairies swarming left right and centre, coming and going in masses. For a moment, all Jack could do was stare at the organised chaos going on around him; he was used to seeing them busy, but not this busy. Maybe it had been a sugary season or something.

Jack made his way up to the central spire to the platform Tooth preferred when she played her role as air-traffic control. It would be rude not to say hello. He didn't even make it halfway before the fairies finally took note of his presence, and a particularly large group cut off his path.

"Hey, girls," Jack grinned at them. A few swooned at the sight of his teeth. "Is Tooth home?"

He tried to get around them, but they quickly blocked his way again, shaking their little heads. They seemed almost... nervous.

"Is everything okay?"

They nodded fervently.

"Jack?!"

Jack tilted his head back to see the platform high above him. Tooth's head was peaking over the edge. "Hey, Tooth!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked, slightly flustered as she dropped down to join them.

"I thought I'd come say hi; maybe play with the fairies," he shrugged.

Tooth bit her lip, suddenly looking extremely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Jack. Now's not a good time. The girls and I are very busy... um... we have a lot to do." At Jack's crestfallen expression, she hastily added, "But you can come back later! Just a few hours is all I ask."

"No, no, it's fine," Jack reassured her. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll get out of your... uh, feathers."

"Again, I'm really sorry, Sweet Tooth."

"It's fine," Jack forced a smile, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in his chest. "I'll see you later!" He didn't stick around to wait for a response; he didn't want to delay her more than he already had.

Besides, it wasn't like it was just against him personally, right? They were really busy and he'd probably just get in the way. It just meant he'd have to find some other way to occupy his time. Bunny was probably bored being holed up alone between one Easter and the next. Maybe he'd give the poor over-grown rabbit something to do.

This, of course, meant he'd have to fly through summer, but if he stayed up high, it probably wouldn't be too bad.

...

...

He was within five minutes flying distance of the Warren when he nearly collided with a certain summer seasonal. Jack pulled up in a hurry, sure he would have skidded on air if it had been possible. Lleu, face betraying his shock, did much the same, throwing himself sideways slightly to avoid an unfortunate accident.

The two nature spirits stared at each other for a moment. Jack absently noted Lleu had a backpack slung across his back.

"Where's the fire?" Jack quirked a brow.

"Only in my heart, Snow Cone," Lleu professed, pressing a hand to his chest. He paused for a second, fidgeting with one of the bag's straps, then, "What're you doing so far south?" His tone sounded oddly nervous.

"I was going to go annoy Bunny."

"No!"

Jack started at the vehemence of Lleu's sudden vocal intervention.

"Uh, I mean... that's probably not a good idea," Lleu hastily back-tracked. "Bunny's probably busy with... rabbit things. Yeah. And it's quite hot in Australia! Cause... you know... summer, and... yeah. You should probably keep your distance. In fact, you should go back north and drop snow on people."

Jack wasn't sure how to react to that. He eyed the older spirit suspiciously, trying to figure out why he was acting so strangely. Lleu shifted under the scrutiny.

"Don't you have work to do?"

"Don't you?" Jack countered, more confused than anything.

Lleu's eyes widened as if he'd just remembered that, no, he couldn't just float above the ocean all day. "Ack! I'm late!" he took off northwards like a bat out of hell, a hasty "Stay out of summer! I'll see you later!" tossed carelessly over his shoulder.

Jack stared after him for a long moment. Lleu was a bit of a weirdo at the best of times, but that was strange, even for him. Eventually, he shrugged it off as one of the summer seasonal's quirks and continued on. He wasn't far from the Warren now. Besides, Lleu was overreacting.

Although, that didn't change the fact that he'd earned himself a thin sheen of sweat by the time he found and jumped down the tunnel entrance to Bunny's Warren.

Upon sliding to a halt in the meadow at the bottom, Jack was considerably surprised to find himself face-to-face with several egg sentinels, all with their angry faces on and stepping menacingly towards him.

"Oh, come on," Jack groaned. "Hasn't Bunny told you guys to lay-off yet?"

The golems, of course, didn't reply. Not that he'd expected them to. Jack flew the short distance to the top of a tree, just out of the golems' reach. Judging from the way they all turned and marched towards him, they really didn't want him here. Hmm.

"Bunny, call off your eggs!" he shouted.

The tree shook beneath him as one of the sentinels slammed its weight into the trunk. Jack stared down at it in shock. Since when did 'defend the Warren from Jack' allow for destruction of plants? He tried to think back to anything heinous he might have done recently to deserve this sort of treatment but could come up with nothing. But, then, when had Bunny ever needed an excuse to be grouchy?

Jack jumped to a branch on a different tree when his current perch started creaking. The egg sentinels were quick to follow, hounding him as they continued their efforts to make him leave. But Jack was nothing if not persistent.

"Bunny!" he called again. You'd think with ears like his, Bunny would be able to hear him from a mile away. Unless this was selective hearing. That'd be just like the stupid overgrown rabbit.

"What're ya doin' here, Frostbite?!"

Jack's attention darted to the figure loping up behind his assailants. Bunny looked less than pleased to see him and made no attempt to call off his goons. "A little help, please?" Jack gestured largely at the eggs.

Bunny rolled his eyes but acquiesced, tapping a foot lightly on the ground. Immediately the eggs stopped trying to bulldoze him out of the tree, but they remained close and kept their angry expressions.

"Answer the question, kid," Bunny said.

"I just thought I'd drop in and say hi," Jack defended. "I wasn't expecting your welcome committee."

"I'm busy," Bunny snapped, turning away. "Come back later."

Jack swooped down, landing in front of him and blocking his exit. "What could you possibly be doing? Easter's not for months."

"None of ya business."

The egg golems turned and stalked menacingly towards them. Jack eyed them warily.

"Now shoo," Bunny continued, "before I have ya forcibly removed."

Jack frowned. He was used to being brushed off by Bunny, but it was usually in a pseudo-irritated manner and Jack had always been allowed to stay (so long as he behaved himself). He wasn't accustomed to the blatant hostility he was now on the receiving end of – well, not since before he'd become a Guardian, at least.

"Alright, I can take a hint," Jack raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Bye." He let the wind curl around him and together they shot off through one of Bunny's tunnels.

First Tooth, now Bunny... was something going on that he wasn't aware of? Frowning to himself, he switched trajectories and headed northwards. North had never brushed him off; even at his busiest time. If nothing else, he could lend the guy a hand by keeping the elves out of the way. It was a good plan.

...

...

Someone is foiling my plans today, Jack concluded as he was caught and bodily hauled back out into the snow for the fifth time.

"Oh, come on, Phil!" he whined. "I thought we'd gotten past this!"

Phil scowled at him, wagging his finger in a reprimanding way.

"I know North is busy," Jack rolled his eyes. In truth, he had no idea what the yeti was trying to say, but he gave it his best guess. "I promise I won't get in the way!"

Phil crossed his arms and shook his head.

"What if this was an emergency?"

Phil raised a brow, as if asking if it was, in fact, an emergency.

"Okay, it's not but what if it was? You can't just throw me out! I'm a Guardian!"

Phil retreated into the Workshop, shutting the door behind him with an air of finality.

Okay, so maybe he could just throw him out. Jack kicked at the snow in frustrated disappointment. He briefly contemplated looking for Sandy, but the little man was hard enough to find when you knew where to look. He could have been anywhere.

Jack paused. Why was he so upset about this? Yeah, it seemed like no one wanted anything to do with him today (for whatever reasons, he really didn't know), but so what? He'd gone three hundred years without anyone. He certainly didn't need them now.

He knew what the problem was: he was being greedy. He'd gotten a taste of what it was like to be one of them, to be seen, and now he was addicted. He couldn't get enough attention, enough social interaction. Well, enough was enough. He couldn't expect them to play along with his neediness all the time. Just because he enjoyed it, didn't mean they did.

"Come on, wind," he muttered. "We have work to do."

Jack sat in the snow on one of the peaks of the Himalayas. A snowstorm raged around him, though he wasn't sure if it was a result of his own turbulent emotions or because of the storm system he'd created on his way through. Either way, he didn't mind the way it formed a curtain around him, blocking out the world.

He sensed Frostwind's approach before he saw him. The ice dragon landed beside him and lovingly butted his head against Jack's shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," Jack smiled, petting him. "At least someone's glad to see me."

Frostwind plopped down onto the snow, wriggling a little to get comfortable before staring at Jack expectantly.

"What?"

Frostwind made a huffy sort of noise. It was far from a word, but the sentiment was clear enough.

"I'm fine," Jack reassured him. Frostwind wasn't buying it. Jack sighed, "Guess I just realised I'm too clingy."

Frostwind nudged him lovingly.

"I dunno," Jack stared out at the white surrounding them. "I'm probably over-thinking things. They're all really busy at the best of times."

He had no reason to be brooding. He was busy sometimes, too, even if his 'busy' was different from theirs. Determined not to let it get him down, Jack jumped to his feet. Frostwind copied him.

"But just because they're busy doesn't mean we can't do something fun, right?" he grinned down at his dragon. "What do you say? Wanna go teach some kids how to ski?"

Frostwind jumped in excitement, leaving claw marks in the snow as he ran around.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jack laughed. "Race you!"

He was off like a shot, but Frostwind was hot (err, cold?) on his tail. For a creature made entirely of ice, he could certainly move. But, then, Jack had the wind on his side. In the end, it was no real competition, but Frostwind got his revenge when, shortly after they'd landed on a ski slope in Canada, he knocked Jack onto a stray toboggan and sent him careening down the mountain.

Although, in Jack's opinion, it was far too fun to be considered revenge. And it reminded him of something, causing a new, far better idea to come to mind.

"Hey, Frostwind! Change of plans!"

...

...

It was to a torrent of excitement and squawking that Jack and Frostwind arrived in Antarctica. Jack's penguin colony raced over to them as fast as their little legs could carry them, all demanding his attention and refusing to take no for an answer. Frostwind, a little startled, backed off and watched from a distance.

"Yes, yes, hello," Jack chuckled, allowing himself to be smothered by penguin bodies. "How are things? You guys doing alright?"

A particularly chubby penguin forced its way forward.

"Ah, George, just the penguin I wanted to see," Jack grinned. "Report, General!"

George flapped his wings and released a string of sounds, the meaning of which was entirely lost on Jack. Nevertheless, he saluted the little guy and said, "Excellent, General. Keep up the good work."

Realising he was short one ice dragon, Jack scanned the immediate area until he spotted Frostwind camouflaged against the white of their surroundings. He waved the dragon over, but Frostwind refused to budge.

"Don't tell me you're scared of a few little penguins," Jack raised a brow, resolutely ignoring that, in this case, 'a few' was closer to a few hundred (which was admittedly small, all things considered) and that these 'little' penguins were almost as tall as Frostwind.

Frostwind glared as well as a dragon with ice for a face could at the insinuation but made no move to get closer.

"I promise they won't bite. Will you, guys?"

The penguins chirped. Jack hoped it was an affirmative.

Frostwind still didn't move.

"They're lots of fun," Jack enticed.

Still nothing.

"Fine," Jack crossed his arms and turned to his feathered friends. "Hey, guys." They all looked up at him. "I think Frostwind over there could use a hug, don't you think?"

Frostwind looked affronted and started trying to slink away. Jack was sure the birds hadn't a clue what he'd told them, but Frostwind had sealed his own fate; they took one look at the hastily retreating ice sculpture and charged.

"Make sure you don't break him!" Jack called after them, laughing as the penguins switched to sliding in order to catch up. He waited a moment before hurrying after them.

Frostwind had apparently forgotten he could fly, because Jack found him surrounded on all sides by curious penguins. The poor dragon looked traumatised.

"Oh, relax, you big baby," Jack chuckled, manoeuvring his way through the mass of bodies. "They just want to look at you." He stooped down to pick up one of the babies and held it up to Frostwind's face. "How can you say no to this face?"

The baby penguin, as if knowing exactly what Jack was doing, flapped its wings and chirped cutely.

It seemed that had been enough to melt Frostwind's icy heart, because within half an hour, the dragon had become the latest attraction, giving the penguins rides (both in the air and on the ground), racing them down slopes, and, much to Jack's amusement, starting to imitate the noises the birds made.

He was so caught up in playing with his avian family, Jack quickly forgot all about the events of that morning, and didn't even notice when Sandy floated silently onto the scene until the older spirit was literally right beside him.

"Sandy!" Jack gasped, startled. "You scared me."

Sandy smiled apologetically.

"What are you doing here?"

An image of a snowflake drifting to what was unmistakably North's Workshop appeared over Sandy's head.

"I've already been to the Workshop," Jack replied, returning his attention to where Frostwind was still playing with the penguins, both parties oblivious. "I got kicked out."

Sandy regained his attention with a light tap on the shoulder and made 'come' gestures.

"What for?"

More gestures were his only response.

"Fine," Jack sighed. "Hey! I'm going to head up to the Workshop. You guys can keep playing if you want."

Frostwind looked up, indicating that he understood. The penguins took advantage of the distraction and started hounding him. Jack shook his head in fond amusement.

"I'll see you guys later!" With that, he took to the air. "Alright, Sandy, lead the way."

...

...

The Workshop was dark when Jack and Sandy arrived. Unlike a few hours previously, there were no yetis to throw him out this time, and the two of them walked in through the front door unhindered. Jack gazed around, straining his eyes to see through the darkness and confused as to why all the lights were out in the first place. At least Sandy put off enough of a glow that they didn't get hopelessly lost in the dim.

"What's going on here?" Jack muttered as he followed Sandy into the Globe room. So far the place was deserted; there weren't even any elves running around.

Sandy stopped in the doorway, a suspicious smile on his face. Jack decided to ignore him for now, meandering further into the room. There had to be a light switch around somewhere.

As if on cue, the overhead lights flared to life, temporarily blinding Jack, who hadn't managed to bring his hand up in time to shield himself. This was promptly followed by a crowd of people jumping out of nowhere shouting 'surprise!' at the top of their lungs.

Needless to say, the whole experience was unexpected enough that Jack jumped a good few feet into the air and stayed there.

It took a moment for his racing heart to calm and for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting, but when it did, Jack finally got a good view of what was going on.

The Globe room had undergone a massive redecorating since last he'd visited. All the Christmas decorations were nowhere in sight, replaced instead by streamers, balloons, a professionally hand-painted banner hanging from the ceiling, a massive table holding a mountain of food, and an assortment of what appeared to be party games scattered about.

His gaze drifted to the room's occupants. Everyone was there: the Guardians, the Burgess kids (who Jack was relieved to note were completely fine), the seasonals, and even Mother Nature. In fact, the only one missing was Pitch Black, not that Jack was overly surprised by this.

After processing the scene for a while, Jack forced his tongue to move and asked, "What's the occasion?"

The assembled spirits and children looked at him with an expression that clearly told Jack that they thought he'd lost his mind.

"What?"

"Sweet Tooth, it's your birthday," Tooth hedged.

Jack frowned, "No it isn't."

"Yes it is," Jamie countered. He pulled a school diary out of his bag, marched over to Jack, flipped to today's date, and thrust it in his face. The date was circled several times in red marker with 'Jack's birthday' scrawled underneath it. "Same day as last year."

Jack blinked. Was that really the date? "Huh," he said. "I guess it is my birthday." It was weird to think he was now 302 years old (or 316 if he counted his time as a human).

"This is the part where you get really excited," Lleu stage whispered.

Jack turned to him, letting himself drift back to the floor as he finally properly processed just what was going on. They'd thrown a surprise party for him. They'd taken time out of their busy schedules and put in all this effort. For him. It certainly explained their earlier behaviour. They hadn't wanted him to find out. He was touched. But he also felt incredibly guilty.

"Thanks, you guys," he said, smiling. "This means a lot, but I don't really celebrate my birthday."

There were several shocked faces and indignant outcries of 'why not?!' at this.

Jack merely shrugged. He'd celebrated once, back when he'd first become a spirit, although at that point he'd considered them to be anniversaries more than anything. But the novelty had worn off after the first few years. All they did was remind him that, even though another year had passed, he was still alone, with no idea why he was there or what he was expected to do. Sure, now he had the answers to those questions and he was far from alone, but it wasn't easy to kick three hundred years' worth of negativity. "What's the point?"

"Have you ever had a birthday party before?" Cupcake asked.

"Uh, no." Not that he knew of, anyway.

Lleu nodded, as if he'd expected this response. "Okay, wait right here. I'll be right back, and then we're going to show you exactly what the point is."

Jack watched him march out of the room with mild unease. No one else looked the least bit concerned. In fact, they were all beaming at him. Jamie forcefully dragged him over to everyone, where he was promptly swept up into a bone-crushing hug by North while Sandy drifted over to a stereo and put on some music.

"I can't believe you've never had a birthday party!" Claude shook his head.

Upon being released, Jack barely had a second to catch his breath before Cupcake grabbed him and pinned a badge to his hoodie. It had 'I'm 3!' printed on it in bright pink letters, but someone had added a zero and a two after it in black marker so that it now read 'I'm 3 02!' Jack was too bemused to question it.

Lleu announced his return to the room in the form of a full-body slam into Jack's side. Thankfully, he'd disappeared to put on the heat-proof suit, which was padded. "Don't worry, Snow Cone," he said gravelly. "We'll rectify this ghastly detriment to your life. Starting with pin the tail on the donkey because that game is the best."

"Lleu, he's suffocating," May intervened. "And shouldn't Jack be the one to pick the first game? He is the birthday boy."

Jack heaved great gulps of air as he was released, incredibly thankful for May's stating the obvious but too out of breath to say anything.

"May, May, May," Lleu shook his head. "How can you expect this poor, uneducated soul–" he accentuated his words by pulling Jack into a firm side-hug "–to pick a party game when he doesn't even know what party games are?"

Jack's protest that he did know what party games were – he had himself witnessed several parties in the past – went ignored.

"Besides," Lleu continued, "there is no better game than pin the tail on the donkey."

"I beg to differ," Mother Nature cut in, tugging Jack free from the summer seasonal's grip to hug him herself. "I think you'll find Twister is far more enjoyable."

Lleu gaped at her and whispered, "I don't even know you anymore."

"We set up pin the tail over there," Pippa pointed to the far wall, where a large piece of paper with a texta-likeness of Bunny drawn on it hung. Jack suspected the kids had worked on it together, because he spotted several patches that had Sophie written all over them. "Sophie suggested pin the tail on the Bunny would be more appropriate."

The little girl in question squealed in excitement, chanting, "Bunny! Hop, hop, hop!"

Jack had to laugh, if not because of the idea, then because of the expression on Bunny's face. The poor rabbit couldn't say anything without hurting Sophie's feelings, though.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Bunny grumbled. "But we'll see who laughs when we get to the mummy game."

"The... mummy game?" Jack echoed.

"We're gonna wrap you in toilet paper," Ceres grinned.

"But first pin the tail on the Bunny!" Lleu crowed, dragging Jack over. "Trust me, Snow Cone, you're gonna love it."

Okay, so you have three choices: I can either do another chapter continuing this, or I can try my hand at drawing snapshots of the party instead, or I could just leave it as is and continue on with requests. Either way, you might have to wait a while (uni is in full swing and it's already bogging me down). So let me know if you have a preference :3

Guest Review Responses:

FantasyForger: Yep, you were right! XD Well done! Not many people mentioned their theories, actually. So kudos to you :P Thank you!

lyn: Hahaha wonderful advice XD Probably would've worked, too haha

XMENEVO: Thank you!

Guest: Thanks! :D

Noellesmells1: Naw thank you! I'm proud, too. But I know I never would have made it this far without you guys :3 I do quite enjoy writing it :P

Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind words =^w^=

Shttrd Glas: There are so many! Thank you!

Icypoolthewarrio: Thank you! Let me check the request list... Yep, there should be some seasonal fluff on the way ^w^ (I'm really glad you like them!)

Guest: (Ch.6:) Woo! Doughnut! *nom* (Ch.11:) I've also seen Mary used, which I don't mind. But, yeah, she seems like an Emma to me :P (Ch.65:) I'm not sure whether I should feel smug or apologetic tbh XD I've only ever seen humorous playthroughs of the game, so most of my knowledge was heavily from wiki sites. (yeah, don't play it at night if you ever do...)

YOLOing all day: In that case I think you'll enjoy this particularly long one XD Happy (very belated) New Year to you, too!

Dingbat: Thank you! It feels like such a huge achievement even though it's really not a huge deal :P I'll leave that up to your imagination ;) The kids meeting the seasonals was actually another request, but I figured it'd work well in the arc :3 Thank you!

XIcyRacoonX: Are you aware that you have PMs turned off? I tried to respond to your request but couldn't :O Thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying the series. Unfortunately, requests are still closed at this time due to an influx and a lack of writing time, but be sure to send it to me again when I reopen them! :3

Luv-life-luv-leo: Yes! PJO is such a great series! You're allowed to brag haha ;3

Pancakesformeeee: Never fear, Lleu will be back again and again. I think at this point I'd have to beat him off with a stick to get him to stay away haha WOO more doughnuts! Are you guys trying to make me fat? XD

Dolphin: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it :3

Guest reviews asking for me to update: FOR FUTURE REFERENCE TO ALL READERS: I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to these and explain to you why it's been such a long time since the last update (but I guess that's just the way FFN treats guest reviewers). In future, if I haven't updated for a while and you want to know what's going on, there should be an explanation and a probable update ETA on my profile page. My biggest writing blocker is uni, so it'll usually be assignments or exams keeping me swamped, but in some cases (like this one) there is a legit reason :)

Holy crap you guys that's a lot of reviews! Thank you all! xx