A/N : Omg, over 600 reviews! You guys are awesome! :D
A chilly autumn wind blew through the forest, causing Jack to question his decision to wander around barefoot. In the cold season he had to give in to rationality and wear shoes but he stalled it as long as he could endure the low temperatures. On his search for firewood he had gotten lost in daydreams and suddenly realized that he had walked deeper into the forest than he had planned. With two arms full of branches it was time to head back to the village anyway.
Just as he turned around he heard it. Screams. From a child. No further thoughts were wasted, the firewood thrown to the ground and within seconds of running he had discovered the source of the panicked voice. 10 year old Thomas Travers was cowering on the lowest branch of a tree, obviously not being able to climb any higher, and watching in horror as a pack of five wolves was trying to get closer to him. The bottom of the trunk was already covered in scratches, claws continuing to dig into it but failing to reach their prey.
"Heeeelp! Please, someone help me!" the young boy cried to no one in particular and held onto the branch for dear life.
He hadn't discovered Jack yet, who had hidden behind another tree to not get noticed by the predators right away. Time to ponder about a plan, that's what he needed, but the faint cracking of wood alerted him. The branch Thomas was crouching on slowly gave in to his humble weight and threatened to break off any moment. Even more fear radiated from the child's face and green eyes widened in panic as he saw his impending fate coming closer at fast speed.
There wasn't anymore time left. Several stones were thrown at the wolves and their attention was immediately averted from the small human in the tree and drawn to the older one who was standing in sight distance.
"Jack!"
For a moment the canids appeared to be indecisive whether to stay and continue to reach their original prey or go after the new one. Until another stone hit one of them on the head. With a snarl it lunged towards the taller boy and the rest of the pack followed right away.
"Tommy, run back to the village, QUICKLY!" Jack shouted and ran into the opposite direction, deeper into the forest to lure the predators away from the scared child.
As soon as he and the wolves had dissappeared, the branch under the 10-year-old broke off, causing him to land on the earthy ground with a loud thud. Ignoring the pain in his behind he quickly got on his feet and stumbled back, desperately craving for the safety of the settlement.
Damn, those wolves were fast! The sole reason they hadn't caught up to Jack yet was because he had lead them astray by running in a zigzag and jumping up and down trees. But they were dangerously close by now and he felt himself becoming slower. When he was sure Thomas had had enough time to get out of harm's way he climbed on the nearest tree, as high as he could and watched the canines gathering at the base of the trunk and repeating the behaviour they had shown earlier already. Snarls and the scratching sounds of claws against bark filled the forest.
Only then did Jack wonder how he should ever get out of this situation himself. What should he do now? Wait until Thomas had alerted the villagers and sent some hunters for help? The woods were huge, he doubted they would find him before the night descended. So he dearly hoped the wolves would get fed up with waiting for him to come down, because he certainly wouldn't do them the favour and serve himself as their dinner. Even if he hated to admit it, he had no idea what to do anymore. Until his nervous gaze fell upon the pine cones in the branches which were surrounding him. Déjà vu. And he had nothing to lose. So he grabbed as many of them as he could reach and threw them down with as much force as he could muster. Several animalistic whines reached his ears after he had succeeded at hitting his targets but still, they stayed. With increasing annoyance and worry about the predators' stubbornness Jack climbed higher to get his hands on more pine cones and aimed them at the wolves again.
"GO AWAY DAMMIT! Are you deaf? SHOO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs to sound intimidating enough for them to cease from him.
It could have been minutes or an hour, he had completely lost track of the time but finally, when his throat hurt from yelling so much and after countless pine cones had landed on the carnivores' heads, they turned their backs on him and retreated into the depths of the forest.
Jack heaved a sigh of relief but didn't dare to believe he was completely out of danger yet. They could have come back in a heartbeat, so he rather waited for a while longer until he was convinced they were really gone and it was safe enough to put his feet back on firm ground.
The sun had almost set and given in to the night when Jack arrived at the village. Just in time to not get lost in the darkness. Right then he wanted nothing more than fall into his bed and get a well-deserved snatch of sleep. But the commotion among the settlers already alerted him that he wouldn't be allowed any kind of rest before explaining what had happened. He just hoped that Thomas had managed to find the way back home safe and sound.
With tired and heavy limbs he walked towards a group of men who were holding torches and talking about something feverishly, just like the women surrounding them. They were so focused on their discussion that they didn't even notice him until he was standing right behind them.
"Uhm, excuse me?" Jack muttered feebly.
As soon as the words had left his mouth about a dozend pairs of eyes were set on him. Out of the crowd a petite woman appeared and rushed to him, followed by a small brunette girl.
"Jack! Thank God you're alright! Thomas told us about the wolves and-and, oh I was so worried about you!" Mrs. Overland exclaimed in relief as she hugged her son with all her might.
"Sorry about that, but hey, I'm alright." the 18-year-old smiled and returned the embrace, his gaze wandering to his younger sibling who was standing next to them with watery eyes.
"Hey, wha-"
As soon as his mother had let go of him Becky lunged herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Don't you ever do that again! I thought the wolves had eaten you!" she cried and pressed her tear-streaked face into his stomach.
After a moment of being taken aback by his sister's upset reaction, Jack knelt down to be on eye-level with her and put gentle hands on her shoulders.
"Hey, don't cry. It takes more than a few rabid dogs to get rid of me. You should have seen how I tricked them." he grinned to lift the mood but besides a short weak chuckle there wasn't any improvement in the little girl's expression.
He couldn't stand to see her like this. And he hated to be the cause for her agitation. Only when he clasped her in his arms and held her close to him did she calm down and relax against him.
"I don't want you to leave us like father did…."
Jack felt a lump in his throat as he heard the quiet mumble, probably too quiet for anyone else to hear.
"I won't." he whispered and rubbed her back soothingly.
"Jack…" one of the men said and waited for the teen to stand up.
"Thomas told us that you saved his life."
"Is he fine?"
"Yes, he only has a few bruises from stumbling over tree roots and a slightly sprained ankle. That's why his way back to the village took longer than it should have. He only arrived here recently and we immediately prepared to look for you. But it seems like you handled the situation pretty well on your own." the dark-haired man stated with a respectful smile.
"Well, I had to improvise." Jack shrugged and rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"By the way, where is Tommy now?"
"He's resting." a female voice answered and he looked at the woman who stepped towards him.
"Thank you so much, Jack. You saved my son. I…I don't dare to imagine what would have happened to him if you didn't come to his aid." Mrs. Travers said and had a hard time fighting back the tears in her eyes.
"That foolish boy, I told him so often to stay close to the village but nooo, he had to wander off into the forest. He'll be grounded till his marriage."
The statement of Thomas' mother was so blunt that no one could prevent themselves from snorting. Though she seemed rather serious about the threat and didn't know what was so funny about it.
"Let's tell the others that everything is alright." another man suggested and the rest of the group nodded.
"The others?" Jack inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, the whole village knows what happened."
For some reason the young Overland felt rather uneasy about it. He had been the subject of gossips far too often for his liking already and didn't want everyone to talk about him even more than usual.
"Oh…."
"No need to be shy, my boy!" a grey-haired man yelled and gave him a hearty pat on the back.
"You saved lil' Travers' life, and everyone should know that!"
The rest of the group nodded approvingly, causing Jack to blush at this unfamiliar praise coming from so many people all at once. He wasn't used to it and it felt weird. Good, but weird.
A knock on the wooden door interrupted Jack telling a funny story to Becky while their mother was cooking lunch.
"Just a moment, I'll be right back." he assured his little sister and stood up and headed towards the door.
When he opened it he was faced with Mrs. Travers, who held a plain brown tow sack in her hand.
"Hello, Jack. I don't intend to disturb you for long, but it's been a few weeks since you saved Tommy and my husband and me kept pondering about how we could show you our gratitude." the woman started to explain.
"Oh, don't worry about that, really, I'm just glad that things turned out all right." Jack played it down, still thinking that everyone blew the incident up far too much.
"Don't be so humble, you saved a life and my family and me want to give you something in return. We don't have much and I know it doesn't even come close to compensate for what you did, but…winter is approaching and I once heard you and Rebecca talking about wanting to try ice-skating someday. Well…." she spoke and set the bag down on the ground to untie it and reveal two pairs of ice-skates.
"These belong to my sons, they don't use them anymore and they're still in good shape so I hope you accept these as a small thankyou."
The teenager was speechless and simply stared at the gift for a moment. Just when he opened his mouth to reply, Becky showed up next to him.
"Wow, are they really for us? Jack, we finally can go ice-skating!" she cheered in excitement and pulled on his arm.
"Hehe, yeah, but first we have to wait until the lake is frozen." he chuckled and winked at his younger sibling before turning back to the adult woman.
"Thank you very much, it really means a lot to us."
With that he took the tow sack which was handed to him and smiled as Mrs. Travers thanked him once more and bid them goodbye. Closing the door behind them Jack carried his new property to his mother to show her what he had just gotten.
"Oh dear, that's very nice of the Travers. You wanted ice-skates for a while already, didn't you?"
"Yes, and I can't believe we finally got them!" Becky grinned and grabbed the smaller pair to examine them further.
Jack shared her cheeriness and ruffled her hair.
"I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun with them."
"Jack, don't dawdle so much!" an impatient Becky ordered her big brother.
All she got was an amused chuckle while he leisurely looked for his cloak and eventually put it on with agonizing slowness.
"Hold your horses, the lake won't run away."
"But we waited for so long, I want to skate. Now!" the brunette girl urged.
"Listen to your brother, you have all the time in the world." Mrs. Overland assured her, a loving expression evident on her face.
"Okay, ready when you are." the 18-year-old announced and grabbed his ice-skates.
"Finally!" Becky shouted in relief and grabbed his hand, literally dragging him out of the cottage.
"Be careful!" their mother called after them when they stepped through the door.
Jack turned around and smiled at her.
"We will."
The toothbox dropped to the ground. Out of reflex he had let go of it and literally pushed it away from him. His chest heaved up and down as he took in sharp breaths of air. He couldn't cope with seeing the memory which was about to follow a second time. Especially not after all he had just witnessed.
His emotional state was a mess. He had experienced happiness, sadness and fun, had to deal with tragic events, gossip, supporting his mother and sister and went through self doubt, grief, hope and danger. The mental image of his family made him want to whoop with joy but the very next moment the sudden death of his father and eventually his own was like a kick in the guts. Or rather a stab into the heart.
He had saved his sister's, Becky's, life. But at what costs? It wasn't that he regretted sacrificing himself, it had been the only way to protect her. No, he would definitely do it again. And yet, he broke the promise he had given to her and his mother so often. That he would always be there for them and not leave them like his father did. How had they managed to cope with losing him as well? What was their life like after he was gone? How long did it take them to get over the grief? To be happy again? Even if he saved his sister, the guilt about leaving her threatened to tear him apart.
Grabbing his head with both hands he tried in vain to clear his thoughts. It was useless to mourn about the past, what happened happened and there was no way he could ever change it. But then, amongst all the emotions he had up to now, a new one suddenly forced its way out and pushed everything else aside. Anger. Directed at the Man in Moon.
Why hadn't he let him keep his memory? After becoming Jack Frost he could have gone back to his village and made Becky believe in him. Even if everyone else walked right through him, he wouldn't have given up until she had been able to seen him. She was his sister, he knew her better than anyone else. He would have found a way. And then maybe even his mother would have realized he still existed. He could have been there for them, invisible to the world or not, it wouldn't have been of importance as long as they had each other.
"Why have you done this!?" he shouted out loud and glared at the glowing orb in the dark starry sky.
"I-I could have…if you only made me remember then I…"
Tears ran down his cheeks and all he could do was grasping his white hair and pulling his legs to his chest. Watching all of his memories at once definitely had been too much for him. But he had wanted, no, needed to know about his past life. He had waited 300 years and enough was enough.
As usual there was no noticeable reaction from the moon, all it did was watching and shining down on him and the rest of the world with blunt disinterest. At least that's what it felt like to Jack.
He sat there for a while, trying to focus on the silence, to ignore the sad truth about his past and the pain he had inflicted on his family. He had failed them. And yet, he dearly hoped they had forgiven him.
Whether minutes or hours had passed, he had no idea. It didn't matter. But eventually the depressing thoughts were swallowed by the happy memories. The birth of his sister. Them playing together and with the other children of the village. Him saving Thomas and getting the recognition he had secretly longed for so long. And him saving Becky once more. Because of him she had been given the chance to reach adulthood, to get married and start a family herself. She had been a strong girl and there was no doubt had also become a great mother.
Still, he would have loved to see her grow up and-
A sudden buzzing sound caught his attention and ripped him away from his inner turmoil. Tired cerulean eyes glanced at the little hummingbird-like being which was darting towards him with an excited expression that turned into evident worry when she saw the semi-dried tears in the young spirit's face.
"Hey, Baby Tooth." Jack greeted her weakly.
The small fairy landed on his knee and chirped something which sounded like a question. But a reply wasn't necessary as she noticed the toothbox lying on the ground near him and immediately figured out what had happened. Moments like this made her wish she was human-sized so she could give him a proper hug, the comfort he obviously needed so much. Instead she could only jump on his shoulder, wrap her tiny arms around his neck and snuggle her head against his cheek.
"It's okay, I'm fine." he mumbled soothingly, though not nearly as convincing as he had intended to sound.
So it was no surprise that Tooth's little helper shot him a look which clearly stated :
"Stop lying, I can see right through you."
Absent-mindedly he stroke her delicate head, all the while staring at the frozen lake in front of him. Baby Tooth had no clue what he had seen, but judging from his current condition it must have been something quite stirring. She remembered when he had watched his memories for the first time not that long ago. Unlike right now he had been so happy and excited afterwards. So what had he witnessed to turn him upset like this? She wished he would tell her, but her instinct told her that he wasn't in the mood to talk about it yet. Without a doubt it was difficult enough for him to accept his past life himself.
But there was something she knew. He shouldn't be here alone. He should have fun, fly somewhere, preferably seek one of the guardians to keep him company. She couldn't stand to see him sad. With determination she left her spot on his shoulder and whirred into his line of vision, pointed at him and then in a random direction.
"I'd rather stay here for a little longer..." he spoke tiredly but the fairy refused to accept this answer.
Tiny hands pulled on his hoodie to emphasize how serious she was and that it hadn't been a mere suggestion but more like an express request. Their eyes met and a soft sigh left Jack's lips before the faintest of smiles formed on his face.
"You won't give up, will you?"
Baby Tooth nodded confidently and crossed her arms in a sort of silent challenge. The winter spirit had to chuckle at the stubborness of the small feathery being but realized she did have a point. Sitting here and sinking further into depression wouldn't do him any good. A chirp of triumph rang through the forest as he finally got up and grabbed his staff which had been resting on the rock next to him. As soon as his feet touched the ground the hummingbird fairy rushed to the toothbox and drew his attention to it by tweeting urgently.
"Nah, I won't leave it here, how could I?" he reassured her.
The moment his pale fingers touched the golden item, several shreds of his only recently discovered memories flashed through his mind again.
"Hey, Jack. Meet your little sister."
"You're her first word."
"I'm proud of you, Jack, I've always been..."
"Thank you. I love you two."
"You're funny, Jack!"
"You're the best storyteller ever!"
"Of course he is, he's my brother!"
"He'll stay like this forever, the way he is now is just fine!"
"You'll be proud of me someday."
"I already am proud of you."
When they stopped, Jack let out a startled gasp before taking deep breaths of air to calm himself down. He had to come to terms with the repeating images of his past. And what he had just heard for the second time that day suddenly lifted his spirits. Among the countless memories he had focused too much on the negative aspects. He had been loved. He had been a big brother. A son. A friend. His family had been proud of him. He had protected them. That's what mattered. He had to convince himself of that. Even if it still hurt.
Only then did he notice Baby Tooth, who was floating right in front of him and staring into his eyes with renewed concern. As he looked back at her he realized, for the first time consciously, that the little fairy had the same beauty spot as his sister.
She didn't know what had been going on, and didn't know what been the reason for the unexpected and sincere smile on the white-haired teen's face. But she was relieved and happy to see such a positive expression.
After stowing the toothbox away into the pocket of his hoodie Jack called upon the wind and turned towards his hummingbird friend with his typical half-crooked grin.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
A/N : It's finally over! This arc seriously wasn't supposed to turn out so long, but eh...it happened. Hope you enjoyed it and as usual, don't forget to review! :)
