3 - Crazy but Not Insane

Despite your predicament, the memory of Pitch's defeat at your hand made you smile. You, a mere human, had beaten back the most feared creature that had ever lived on this planet and you had done it without help. You sorely wished though that you had the dream catcher with you now. Any attempt to sleep here only led to Nightmares and you couldn't fight them all off. It exhausted you to fight so many of them and in Pitch's lair there was a never ending supply. After fighting off one horde another would invade and it would continue until you could fight no more and then you were at the mercy of whatever nightmare Pitch designed. Your breath was shaky at best, you recalled the last nightmare that had overtaken you. As always, it had to do with Jack and always... always... you were left on your own, that Jack didn't care, that the trickster of winter had been lying to you all this time as some big joke. There had always been different elements woven in each dream, each was designed to break you, but so far Pitch had failed. You knew they were just dreams and he had yet to break you with them; your belief didn't waver and Pitch couldn't touch the necklace you wore unless your belief disappeared. It was the only light in the darkness, Pitch had tried to yank it off one time only to hiss when it had burned a pattern into his hand. A snowflake pattern... You smiled as your mind drifted to a new memory, one a little more recent.

~~~~~~~~~~

"For those of you still in bed, be advised that Christmas Day is going to be a white one. Snow enough to cover miles of streets and yards." You reached for your alarm clock, wanting to shut it off.
"It's a cold one out folks so don't forget to wrap yourselfs up warm and -" You opened your eyes. Since when did your alarm clock have a radio? You saw Jack was crouching on the side of your bed. You grabbed a pillow and smacked Jack with it. Jack let out a yelp, caught off guard and despite it all you chuckled as you propped yourself up on your elbows.
"Serves you right for waking me up so early." Jack sat up, a grin on his face.
"You can't sleep all day. Especially not on Christmas." You smiled ruefully because you knew he was right. Although he probably hadn't seen that little gift you'd left under the tree last night, well, at least not yet. You made a shooing motion at him, when he gave you a questioning look you crossed your arms and didn't budge from the bed.
"Oh... right." He got the hint now and floated out of the room, closing the door behind him. You quickly dressed then hurried downstairs. Jack seemed content to sit on the couch and watch as you came down, he seemed as excited as a child as you saw the gifts beneath the tree. You glanced towards him, but he smiled, content to watch as you tore through the gifts you knew could only have come from North. Each one marked "from Santa" on them, at least you thought they all were until you noticed that there were still two gifts under the tree instead of just the one. You carefully picked up the blue wrapped gift, your eyes wide when you read the tag. It was from Jack. You looked at him curiously. He grinned.
"Go on, open it."
"Where did you get wrapping paper?" You asked. He shrugged a little.
"North let me have a little after I helped him wrap all the others. He's good like that." You grinned a little, it was hard to imagine Jack actually doing anything that was like work especially with Bunny around. Jack had explained that they supported each other's holidays and had since the fiasco that had ruined Easter. Jack had spent a lot of time the following year making it up to Bunny and subsequent years as well which then became a thing for them all to help. You turned back to the gift and slowly unwrapped it, you let out a small gasp as the light from the room caused the necklace inside to glisten with the colors of the rainbow. It was made of ice, you knew before you even touched its cold surface in wonder. Jack smiled as you stared in wonder at the large snowflake, as big as your hand, that was strung on a string of ice with smaller snowflakes intermittently strung along the rest of the necklace.

"Jack... it's so beautiful." You say.
"Want to wear it?" He asks and you nod, handing him the necklace before shifting your hair a little, watching as his arms come around you to hook it around your neck.
"I had hoped you would like it, snow for my Snowflake." He said softly. You felt a blush creep along your cheeks, lightly fingering the larger snowflake.
"It won't ever melt, so long as you believe in me." He said, you turned your head to look at him over your shoulder. Your eyes meeting and you both stilled. You could feel his chilly breath scatter on your skin you were so close. Just a little bit of space seemed to separate the two of you. Before either of you could think, you'd shifted and closed the gap, your lips lightly fluttering against his. He stiffened in shock before relaxing against the feel of your lips. You were pleasantly surprised at how soft his lips were against your own, but you weren't surprised by the coolness of it. He tasted like winter snow and you couldn't help the jolt that seemed to go through you. Shock at this had you drawing back suddenly, blushing furiously. Jack watched you, touching his lips lightly as if unsure about what had just happened. You moved back over to the tree then, blindly reaching for the gift that you'd left beneath the tree last night. Taking a deep breath, trying to regain your composure, you turn back to Jack to see that he's staring at you. You're not sure what it is you see in his eyes, the snow white blush dusting his cheeks. You feel a little better, even if you aren't sure what his reaction really is.
"I... this is for you." You manage weakly, holding out the gift to him. He blinked in confusion before taking the box from you. He stared at it a moment like he'd never received a gift, and suddenly you wondered if he had ever gotten one since becoming Jack Frost. The way his eyes lit up though told you that he probably hadn't and you almost shook your head in admonishment to the absent North for not thinking to give Jack a gift on his own holiday. After a long moment's hesitation he tore into it like a child, his eyes wide as he lifted out the tiny dream catcher you had carefully crafted a month ago and strung on a solid leather string for him.
"It's... t-thank you _." You smile as he loops it over his head immediately.
"I thought that it would protect you... just in case." He smiled.
"I never would have expected two gifts from you today."
"T-two?" You flush suddenly, realizing what he had to mean. He shifted to kneel next to you, ignoring the mess around the two of you as he lightly cupped your cheek with one hand, the cold feel of it making you shiver, but you didn't shiver because it was cold. You didn't have a single thought on what this could mean before he leaned forward to capture your lips with his. Your arms wound around his neck as a soft gasp rose in your throat, but you weren't going to let him pull away; the gasp being from your shock, not because he was cold. No, you found you wanted this cold that was Jack.

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer as he timidly tried to deepen the kiss, uncertain; you found his hesitation sweet, but you didn't hesitate to allow him to deepen the kiss. To return it as you pressed against him. Never had you ever wanted anything like you wanted his kisses. Neither of you would ever be sure who had made the soft groan that had you parting, both panting a little. Though he didn't need breath, you knew he'd been human once so he likely still acted human even if he wasn't anymore. Your eyes met. There was no doubt about it. No matter how impossible it was, how unlikely. You had fallen head over heels for Jack Frost, and by the look he was giving you just then, you were pretty sure he felt the same. It made you smile then laugh. How crazy would your parents think you were when you mentioned you had a boyfriend that they couldn't see because they didn't believe in him? He grinned back. You didn't care what your parents thought, you were in love with Jack Frost and that was all that mattered.

~~~~~~~~~~

You felt your heart swell at the thought of your first kisses. You could feel the warmth provided by the snowflake beneath the (favorite color) sweater you wore. You had been here for days and you had no doubt that you looked a sight. After all the Boogeyman could care less if you started to smell. You didn't smell... well, at least not to yourself yet. You hoped it didn't come to that, it wasn't very lady like... let alone sanitary and you were just a mortal after all. You hoped that the Boogeyman would at least have the decency to let you wash yourself before you became sick. After all, hadn't it been he who'd said you were no good to him dead? Well, when you saw him next that was going to be your argument. You listened for any sounds of the shade, but for now all was quiet except for the occasional whinny of a Nightmare below you. Finally irritated, you called out.
"PITCH!" You were surprised that you didn't have to call out again, the shade appearing in front of you. You felt uneasy that he didn't seem bothered by you calling out to him. His calm demeanor was less reassuring than his scowl.
"I want a bath." There it was, the disdain. You felt better.
"Why should I grant you anything?"
"You want to keep me alive, yes? If I get sick I won't be any use to you and a bath will help keep me from getting sick." The shade frowned, but seemed to ponder your words.
"Very well." You yelped when a shadow appeared beneath you and you found yourself in a pit with a pool of clear water. You had no where to go otherwise. You didn't like the idea of having to bathe with Pitch around, but the shade had no interest in watching you; you weren't sure you were relieved at that actually or not. You noticed a Nightmare was standing next to him.
"When you are done, this Nightmare will take you back." He disappeared back into the shadows. Only once you felt alone, besides the Nightmare, did you strip and step into the pool of water. It was warmer than you'd expected and felt good against your skin. There wasn't any soap, but at least you could use your nails to scrape as much dirt from your skin, just like you imagined that those in the nineteenth century and before might have done before the invention of soap or anything like it. When you emerged you wrang out your hair as best as you could, combing your fingers through it before slipping back into your underwear. You weren't going to get back into your other clothes until you were dry, but you weren't about to face Pitch bare either if the shade decided you were taking too long and came to fetch you himself. You settled your back against the nearest rock away from the Nightmare. You stared at it, the creature stared back. It didn't seem so bad as you looked at it. Well as long as it wasn't running after you or anything, in fact it almost seemed docile, like any horse.

You knew differently though, there was no way a Nightmare was like a normal horse. At a silent command from its master it could create unspeakable terror to rise in any victim. Though as you look at it and the Nightmare dips her head, you're reminded more and more of a normal horse. Out of curiosity you rise to your feet, the Nightmare nickers softly at you, but otherwise seems uninterested. You slowly approach her, remembering that approaching a horse at too fast of a speed spooked them, whether or not this applied to a Nightmare you didn't know nor did you want to find out the hard way. The Nightmare snorted when you stopped near her, you place your hand out tentatively almost recoiling when the Nightmare snorted, but this time it pushed its nose into your outstretched hand; as if it could read your... of course it could sense your fear, but it wasn't a kind of fear these creatures fed off. The Nightmare felt like beach sand when the sand didn't give way after you initially stuck your hands it in. The Nightmare didn't seem too bothered and you felt something tingle through you, you thought it was fear but it was so faint that you didn't feel bothered by it. Lightly you stroked its head before moving to its neck, the Nightmare stood still and complacent the whole time; so much so that you almost forgot how intimidating this black beast could be. You found yourself content to stroke the beast until you realized you were dry enough to pull your clothes back on. With a sigh you moved back to the beast.

"I'm ready now." You braced yourself, as if expecting to fall through the shadows, but it didn't happen. Instead the Nightmare kneeled and when you realized what it was doing you got on its back. It turned its head towards you to make sure you had a good grip before shooting off quickly into the dark cavern. For the first time since you'd arrived in Pitch's lair your heart wasn't pounding because of fear, this time it was the thrill of the ride. How many people could say they'd ridden a Nightmare, literally? You felt excitement fill you for a while, despite that it was taking you back to your cage; only once it was close to the cage did it move towards the shadows. You swore it had let you enjoy the ride instead of instantly traveling through the shadows like it could have. You wondered at this even as the two of you slipped through the shadows and you found yourself back in the cage, the iron shackles once more around your legs.
"Thank you." You whisper to the Nightmare, she tossed her head, as if saying "you're welcome" before slipping through the bars of your cage. You marvel at what had just happened, was that Nightmare being... friendly or were you just imagining it?