Mark of Snow 4
by K. Stonham
first released 1st February 2013
The Guardians, Jamie thought, ensconced in a corner of the Workshop with his sketchbook on his knees and his pencils by his side, were really powerful. Jack, with his control of winter, was the most obvious, but the others weren't sneeze-worthy either. Particularly not Sandman. You wouldn't think dreams would be so powerful, but Jamie had seen the way Sandy could shape his sand into, quite literally, anything he could imagine. Tooth, North, and Bunny were different; their powers were subtler, their magic giving them command of vast resources. But none of the five could be described as a lackluster warrior.
Jamie selected a new pencil and continued his shading.
The thing was, though, they had a collective weakness. If enough kids stopped believing in them, they lost all that. Even, presumably, Jack, who'd been fine the last time it had happened. But then, he hadn't formally been a Guardian during that battle against Pitch Black.
Jamie glanced up, double-checking his perspective, then went back to work.
So the Guardians were supported by human belief. Specifically by children's belief. But at twenty, Jamie didn't really qualify as a child anymore. Yet Jack had flown him up atop the huge globe to show him the glowing golden light that was himself, a currently lonely speck in the middle of the otherwise unlit Arctic circle.
"I don't think you can stop seeing us," Jack had confided, unusually serious. His gaze had flickered briefly to Jamie's chest, then back to his face. "I think that bit of magic -" He stopped, then started again. "I think I screwed up your life," he said softly, "and I'm sorry."
Jamie took a moment to sort through the sudden tangle of confused thought. Was he supposed to be hurt that Jack thought Jamie should grow up and stop seeing him? Or angry that Jack had done something like this to him? Was he supposed to mourn for the sudden realization of I'm never going to be normal?
But I don't actually want any of that, Jamie knew. I never did.
Jamie drew a long, slow breath, trying to, heh, find his center.
"Did you try to screw up my life on purpose?" he asked.
"No!"
"Then what are you being sorry for?"
That stymied Jack. Jamie dredged up a smile. It felt thin, but also honest. "I know normal people," he said. "And they're great, some of them. But you know the kind of books I read, Jack. The kind of research I do. I never wanted a boring world. I never wanted a nine-to-five. So maybe it's not going to be as easy as if I was like everyone else. But if being normal means losing my belief in magic? If it means losing my best friend?" Jamie shook his head. "I'm not interested." And that was truth.
Still, though, finding that Jack's unconscious gift had changed the course of his life that much... Jamie was still trying to work through it.
I'm never going to stop believing.
I don't want to stop believing. So why is this a problem?
Jamie sighed and lowered his pencil, looking out into the bustling Workshop. Watching without seeing.
What do I want to do with this? What do I want to do with my life?
Jack wanted to spend his life having fun, and sharing that with others. That was his center. North wanted to spend his life filling the world with wonder. That was his center. Sandy wanted to inspire dreams, Bunny wanted to give hope, Tooth wanted to protect precious memories...
Those were all their centers. What they wanted to spend their lives doing.
What was Jamie's?
I want to help the Guardians. Magic in him or not, Jamie didn't think he qualified to actually be a Guardian. Though, he supposed, neither had all of them, once upon a time... Anyhow, it was a moot point. Either the Moon would choose him someday, or he wouldn't. It was nothing Jamie could control or influence. But in lieu of that childhood desire, what did he want to do?
I want to get more people to believe. And he could do that. He had done it, not just once, but several times.
I want to protect the Guardians.
Well, it wasn't much to go on. But it was a start at finding his center. Jamie picked up his pencil, decided he needed another color, and rummaged through his cup for the right blue.
"What's he doing?" Jack asked quietly, looking across the way to where Jamie sat against the wall, his sketchbook propped on his bent legs.
"Having existential crisis, I think," North replied quietly.
Jack stared at the older Guardian. "Having a what?"
"'Who am I?'" North said dramatically. "'Why am I here? What is my purpose?'" He looked at Jack. "Finding center involves turning self upside down, rummaging around like through luggage, looking for last pair of clean socks."
"I know that," Jack reminded him. "But why's it so different for him than it was for me? I mean, he's got time. There's no emergency going on."
North shrugged. "Jamie is different person than you. And this week, we have completely changed his view of who he is. What he is! He needs to sort things through for himself."
"Changed...?" Jack asked. "He's known about that mark for years."
"Known about, yes. Known what it is?" North shook his head. "There are words for humans with magic, Jack. They have not been used seriously for long time."
"Words?"
Blue eyes met blue. "Sorceror. Wizard. Magician."
Jack laughed. "You mean like Merlin?"
North's eyes widened, his fingers absently stroking his beard. "Now there is thought, to train Jamie... no, no," he decided. "Emrys is sleeping under Britain, along with rest of Camelot. He will not wake, even for this."
Jack stared. "Wait, you mean Merlin and Arthur and them are real?"
"Very real, Jack."
"Wow..."
The Tooth Fairy descended upon the North Pole like a multi-colored iridescent force of nature. Within minutes of her arrival she was checking all the yetis' teeth, commenting on the adorableness of the newest dollhouse design, and batting her lashes shamelessly for a copy of the plans. Her fairies delightedly investigated the house, which was, indeed, perfectly scaled to them.
Jack bit back a snicker.
"Jack!" She made for him like a shot. Knowing the routine, he opened his mouth for her. She sparkled and glitter and fluttered as she checked his snowy teeth. "You've been flossing!" she said delightedly.
He grinned. "Not a once."
Tooth looked even more delighted at this admission.
"Tooth Fairy!" North boomed. "What brings you to my home?"
"Teeth," Toothiana demanded first, staring at his mouth.
North rolled his eyes good-naturedly and patiently underwent the inspection. When it was done, Tooth glared at him. "Less sweets," she demanded of him, "and more mouthwash."
"Yes, yes," North dismissed, as he always did. "Now, what can I do for you?"
Tooth, it turned out, had come to beg North to put some kind of toothpaste in children's stockings. "Something minty, or glittery, to get them brushing!" she explained. "There's a rash of plaque going across North America," she wailed, "and cavities are up thirty-three percent in Europe this year alone!"
North patted her on the shoulder. "There, there, Toothy. You let me take thought on this. Will be something we can do to turn this around." He handed her a mug of sugar-free hot chocolate. "Meanwhile, you sit, relax a little. Mini Tooth Fairies can handle collection for a few hours. Besides, Jamie Bennett is visiting, and he will love to see you." North winked. "Probably sketch you too, if way he has been glued to notebook and pencils is any indication."
Tooth straightened up as North left. "Jamie's here?" she asked Jack. "Why?"
Jack sighed, rubbed the back of his head. "It's complicated..."
"Jack."
"I accidentally stuck a piece of my magic in him, years ago, and it's had some weird effects. North thought he could maybe be some help, so I dragged Jamie up here." Jack grinned briefly. "Not that Jamie really objected, mind you..."
"Jack, he's twenty!"
Jack sighed and flopped into an armchair. "Yeah, that's one of the side effects. He's never going to stop believing."
Tooth paused. "I would have thought that would make you happy, not losing him."
Jack looked at her. "The magic's growing, Tooth, changing. Changing him. I can feel it. And no one knows what it's going to grow into. That kinda worries me."
"The Guardian of Fun, worried?" she teased. But then her expression sobered. "You should have faith, Jack," she told him. "Jamie's a pure soul. He always has been. Whatever the magic grows into... it will be a force for good."
"I hope you're right."
Jamie didn't expect to get tackle-glomped by a fairy, but then he was at the North Pole. Normal expectations went right out the window.
"Teeth!" the Tooth Fairy demanded, her fingers hovering in front of Jamie's mouth.
Beyond her, Jack snickered. "It's easiest just to give in."
"I feel like a horse," Jamie complained, but obliged, opening wide.
Toothiana's small fingers gave a brief but thorough exploration of his mouth. She beamed up at him. "You've been flossing!"
"Daily. I live in fear of your retribution," Jamie joked.
Toothiana blinked, then burst out giggling. She hugged him again. "It's so good to see you, Jamie!" She led him to the set of armchairs all positioned together in front of the fireplace.
Jamie had nearly filled his sketchbook, and at Tooth's demand, shared its contents with them. Pages were filled with drawings of the globe, the elves eating cookies, the yetis hard at work, the sleigh, the nearly feral reindeer that pulled it, North's private workroom, and, of course, drawings of North and Jack themselves.
"Pretty good," Jack said, around the oatmeal-raisin cookie in his mouth. He took it out and angled the sketchbook toward North. "What do you think?"
North beamed with pride. "Is excellent picture of Phil! You got his eyes just right." His own eyes slid to Jamie. "This, is talent."
"That," Jamie countered, "is years of art classes."
"Takes talent too," North replied. "So. You have plans for these?"
"Plans?" Jamie asked blankly.
"Talent shouldn't be hidden!" Tooth expounded. "It should be shared with the world! Otherwise, what is it for? Like Jack and trouble," she said slyly. Jamie laughed.
"Hey!" the winter sprite objected.
Still chuckling, Jamie smiled. "Emily Dickinson."
Tooth stopped, looked blank. "Who?"
Jamie sighed. "An American writer of the 1800s. She wrote her poetry for herself, and only became famous when her notebooks were published posthumously. She's considered one of the premiere American poets."
Jack looked carefully neutral. North looked aghast. "You do not intend to share your art with the world?"
Jamie took his sketchbook back. "Maybe. My point is, art can exist for its own sake. For what it changes in me, rather than what it changes in the world."
Jack straightened up, leaned forward. "Is that really what you want to do with that?" His fingers flickered toward the book.
Jamie flipped a page, ended up looking at Jack taunting a trio of elves. He'd been floating midair, dangling a chocolate chip cookie just out of their reach. Jamie thought he'd captured his friend's smirk perfectly.
He wanted the world to know who Jack was. Who all the Guardians were. So that they would never be in danger of being forgotten again.
What better way, something in Jamie whispered, than to show the world who they really were?
"You know," he heard himself say, and was surprised to realize he meant it, "Maybe I could make a book out of these."
The Tooth Fairy beamed.
Author's Note: At this point, I've read all the books. And concluded the movie universe is just different enough that I feel they can't be the same. So please, no one scream at me about North being a wizard, or about Ombric, or about anything. I'll be taking elements of what a magician is from the books, but just that: elements.