Disclaimer: Is the sky green? No. Is chocolate gross? Nope. Does sprinkles own RotG? Not in a million years.

Autumn Leaves

Jack loved the sleepy autumn weekends in Burgess. Everyone was suffering from the back-to-school blues as the weather turned just chilly enough to allow the winter spirit to visit. He danced around town, ecstatic to be back in town. It was too early for his frost to stick around, but he still enjoyed running and flying through the quiet city, making his own noise.

He laughed loudly, hoodie strings flapping uselessly as he spun through the air. Whoops of exhilaration vibrated through the woods as he sprang from place to place. Fallen leaves crackled cheerfully as he bounded over the ground.

Eventually, the people in the city had to wake. That they did, bringing cheerful noise with them.

That was something he loved - the sound of this busy little town in Pennsylvania. It was small enough for everyone to know each other, but big enough to give people space to live.

Jack coasted over Main Street, laughing when a brown-haired toddler started to run away from his mother, aiming for the woods.

"Jamie no!" The woman cried in exasperation.

The winter spirit coasted down to crouch on a fence as he watched the scene.

"Little ball of excitement you've got there," He said conversationally as the mom scooped up the little boy.

"No mama! Go 'plore!" The kid pleaded, struggling in his mother's hold.

The woman sighed, but a small grin crept onto her face, "You are just a little Indiana Jones, aren't you! Well, we can explore the woods later; right now you've got a playdate."

"Play! Play! Play!" The boy giggled, clapping his hands together, investigation forgotten for the moment.

Jack smiled, "And you kiddo, you're going to grow up and be an awesome person. I can tell. Believe me; I've seen enough kids to know."

With those words, his smile faded. The mom and toddler were gone before he even finished his first sentence.

The immortal teen shook his head, jumping off the fence. He looked up to the sky as he wandered through the trees.

"You know, it's not fun being invisible. You could do something. I know you could. But you don't. Because I'm not worth it, am I?" He spoke directly to the moon, even though he couldn't see it at the moment.

"Whatever. Just ignore me. Like always."

He trudged his way to the lake, trying to control his feelings. He was not in the mood for flying. The crisp leaves under his feet crunched, this time sounding judgmental instead of cheerful.

"TALking to YOURself aGAIN." They whispered, "The FROST boy thinks HIMself a smART one, but really, HE'S JUST loneLY."

The boy stumbled, bringing his hands to his ears, trying not to listen.

Jack raced onto his mostly frozen lake, trying to avoid the leaves. He dropped his staff, his emotions making the lake rock solid all the way through. Pale hands gripped his hair as he curled up.

"Not this again. No Jack, stay calm. Not again."

But nothing he whispered to himself worked. His breath grew fast, his eyes shut tight against the flow of tears.

The panic attacks had grown fewer and far apart as the years went by, but they still crept up on him. They weren't as bad as at first either. At least he had something to be grateful for.

His chest seized up, and he felt cold sweat (or was it just melted frost?) drip down his face. He shuddered.

Alone. Alone. All alone. Never seen. No one cares. Lonely. Lonely. Alone, alone, alone.

Now he was gasping for air, trying fruitlessly to even out his breathing.

He stayed like that for about five minutes. After that, he stood, collecting himself. He brushed the tears off his face, tossing his staff casually over his shoulder. He fixed a smile on his face and took to the skies.

Move on. Pretend like it never happened.

Just like he always did.

A/N: I seriously didn't know where I was going with this. It just happened. Angst. Ouch.

I just wrote this so that you would know that I'm alive. One word explanation: School. Testing is starting up, and it's quite stressful. You might not get another update for a while, fair warning (It will hopefully be less than a month this time).
I promise that requests are pretty much done. They should show up in the next few updates.

Thanks so much for your support, and big shout out to FireRanger101 whose review totally made my day. Thank you, so much.

-sprinkles