A/N: Right, so Burgess was founded in 1798, after Thaddeus Burgess, whose family built a cabin there before the harsh winter of 1795. For purpose of this fic, Justin…died…in Spring 1799, March 21, three days before Easter Sunday, March 24. I did say it took Jack a while to collect all the tools he needed…Moving on:

Ch. 6 – Hollow Victory

Justin's death broke something in Jack. Broke something, poured out whatever had been encased in it, and filled the emptiness with a new determination. He gathered up the chunks of ice that had been his friend, taking great care to retrieve every piece before it all melted and soaked into the ground, and placed them all in the lake. Justin had been born of the lake just as Jack had been. The lake was their mother. It was only right that Jack's brother be return to their mother.

Task complete, the snowy haired child moved to a rock to tend to his ankle. Jack had never had a broken bone, not that he could recall, in his hundred years of life. He prodded the injury and hissed in pain as it throbbed in time with his heartbeat. He'd never broken anything, but he had see humans, young and old, break bones. He had watched fathers, mothers, doctors poke the injury and make comments. Jack didn't understand what most of the comments meant, but he did know that a bone that didn't break through the skin would usually heal, while one that did often caused death from infection. He knew that as long as the bone wasn't misaligned, it could be bound with a splint and possibly heal without lasting damage.

So he poked and prodded, feeling the broken bones shift and trying to decide if it was safe to splint it or if he should seek out another spirit for help. The Sandman, or possibly Phil the Yeti. Eventually, though, Jack decided his ankle would be okay, and formed a cast of ice around it. It was uncomfortable, feeling too much like a shoe, but the cold ice soothed the throbbing burn of pain, so he decided it would do.

Once he was satisfied, he sat back and thought. His legs were crossed, the cast making the position mildly uncomfortable, but not too much. He rested his staff across his knees and grasped the frosted wood lightly, snowflake blue eyes focused on the gently rippling water of Mother and Brother.

He watched the water all day, all night, and over again. The sun set, rose, set, and rose again. Jack removed the cast and checked his ankle, satisfied that the limb was recovered and thanked his speedy healing. He returned to his previous position and watched the sun set once more, deep in thought. The Moon rose, but Jack ignored him, just as he ignored Jack. The sky was just turning from navy to the grey of predawn when Jack moved again, and that was only because someone else had arrived.

"Oi!"

Jack blinked at the voice and shifted, stiff muscles protesting the movement as he turned from the lake and looked towards the trees. A figure stalked out of the lengthening shadows created by the setting Moon. Jack blinked again when the Easter Bunny, E. Aster Bunnymund, emerged from the darkness. The taller spirit held a basket of brightly colored eggs in the crook of his right arm, a boomerang pointed threateningly at Jack in his left.

"Look, ya drongo," The massive rabbit glared at Jack, "I told ya las' time that ya betta have shoved off by Eastah. You've ruined one, I ain't lettin' ya ruin another. Now get." He waved his boomerang towards the sky. Jack's brow furrowed as if he didn't understand before he turned back to the lake. The dismissal of the Easter Bunny and his demands was clear.

It was the growling, more than anything, that alerted Jack. Before he had time to move the other spirit had grabbed the boy by his tattered cloak and yanked him from his rock. Jack dangled from the Pooka's paw and the other shook him. "I said leave, mate. I'll force ya if I have ta." He dropped the boy on the grass beneath them.

The Wind pulled Jack to his feet, then lifted him so he was eye-level with the other. "I'm not leaving! This is my home. I can stay right here if I want, and you can't force me to leave!" He shoved the crook of his staff under the rabbit's chin and scowled, "I'll freeze you solid if you try."

Threat delivered, Jack spun in the Wind's embrace and reseated himself on his rock. His eyes refocused on the lake –

- Mother, his mind urged, Brother –

-as his mind returned to his previous thoughts. He half expected the rabbit to start yelling at him again, maybe even try to knock him around. What he didn't expect was a warm paw to settle gently on his shoulder. Nor did he anticipate his own reaction to the touch.

It was as if he could feel every crease in the paw pad and every hair. The heat coming off the limb almost seemed to scorch Jack, even through his cloak and shirt. He was hyper-aware of the touch. He didn't like it.

His entire body went rigid as he gasp in shock, then quicker than even a bunny, he shot out from under the touch and launched himself into (Mother/Brother) the water. The chill lake became colder and chunks of ice formed, floating to and breaking the surface before Jack himself came back up. His eyes scoured the shore until he found the Easter Bunny again. The other hadn't moved, paw still outstretched and hovering over where Jack had been sitting moments before. Spring green eyes were wide with surprise as he watched the child-spirit bob in the slowly freezing water.

"Easy, mate," Bunnymund lifted his hands in a mollifying gesture, "Wasn't gunna hurt ya." Jack continued to stare. The older spirit dropped his basket-bearing arm so he could prop his fist on his hip and rubbed the back of his head with the other. "Look, I jus'…what do ya mean this is ya home? Ya can't live here, this isn't a home. This is…" He looked away from the boy and gestured around in frustration, "This is a lake. Water, mate. Home is a roof ova ya head and people who care about ya. This isn't a home. This…" His voice trailed off as he ears caught the sound of whimpers. His nose twitched as he took a few quick breathes. The faintest trace of salt reached him. His eyes narrowed as he refocused on the Winter Spirit. "Aw, kid…" Ears drooping, the Easter Bunny deflated at the sight before him.

Jack was nearly fully submerged in the water, his nose just barely above the liquid. Hailstone tears rolled down his cheeks and plopped in the water with soft splashes that were almost covered by the soft whimpers escaping the child's throat.

Bunnymund took a few tentative steps towards the lake's edge, but a violent burst from the Wind pulled him up short. Instead he sat back on his haunches. "Hey, hey, ya lil' ankle bitah, it's alright. C'mon, mate, look up and tell ol' Bunny what's the mattah." The boy lifted his eyes and locked on the rabbit. The sorrow in that gaze hit Aster like a sucker punch to the face.

"This is my home," The anguish in those words broke the older spirit's heart, "I was born right here, and you're telling me…you're telling me it's not. And I can't stay here. Where else am I supposed to go, Bunny?" More hailstones fell into the water.

The Pooka swallowed. "I didn't…I don't…" He had nothing to say to Jack's question. Where did a spirit go when he had nowhere to go? Akitu, the Spirit of Spring, and her brother Miochin, the Spirit of Summer, called Hawaii home for the warm weather and ever-blooming plant life. The Nymphs tended to stick close to Greece, and when tired would return to their elaborate hidden gardens for rest and relaxation with other Greek gods of old. Bunnymund went to his Warren, Toothiana to stayed in her palace, and North had his home in the North Pole. Even the Sandman had his own place, a hidden isle of Dreamsand that no one but the Moon knew the location of. Every spirit had a home.

Apparently, Jack Frost only had the lake.

"Where do you usually go, mate? When winter's up?"

He watched the pale spirit shrug. "The Wind and I follow Winter. When I'm tired, I come back here. I come home. But you said this isn't home, so I…where's home, if not here?" Aster wanted to beat himself for the pain he had placed in Jack's eyes.

He rubbed the back of his head again and shrugged. "Home…home's wherever your family is. Wherever you feel safe and comfortable. Where's that, Snowflake?"

Jack blinked once more, his eyes as wide as North's when the Christmas Spirit had perfected a new toy design. For just a moment, the Easter Bunny saw, not a century old Winter Spirit, but a child, full of wonder, hope, dreams, and memories. Full of those things Bunny and the other Guardians protected in children, and something else. Something he couldn't name, but saw a spark of, deep in those blue eyes.

Then Jack closed his eyes and silently called the Wind to lift him from the water. He was placed on back on his rock, water freezing and flaking off as he returned to the same position he had held before Bunnymund had arrived. A world weary sigh escaped him and the image of a child vanished. In its place was a powerful spirit who looked as determined and focused on a goal as Bunny himself when he was preparing for Easter. "Here," the not-child murmured, "If home is where I am safe and comfortable, then home is here."

The Guardian of Hope rose to his full height and shook his head almost violently. He opened his mouth, ready to deny the other spirit's assessment, but Jack cut him off without looking at the Pooka. "Leave. I'm thinking."

The abrupt dismissal caused the Easter Spirit's earlier ire to return. "Fine, ya whacker! I'm off. But if I catch ya messin' with my holiday again, I'll break yer neck!" Tapping his foot on the ground, E. Aster Bunnymund left. Jack smiled bitterly for a moment before wiping all expression from his face and returning to his thoughts.

How could he build a friend who was both strong and light?

******Children Learn by Watching, Dear Child; So Watch and Find Your Answer******

When Jack found the solution to his problem, he could have kicked himself. It was such a simple answer that he actually fell from his perch on the crook of his staff in shock at his own obliviousness.

He had been watching a young man carve utensils for his family from wood for several days. Many of the tools and techniques were similar to what Jack had done when he made Justin, and he hoped the human would show him some technique that he didn't already know.

Sunlight filtered through the leafy canopy above them, creating cooling shade and dappling the ground the emerald tinted light. Jack was balanced on his staff, giving him a high enough vantage point to see every careful tap of hammer to chisel or swipe of a blade along piece after piece of wood. In the man's hands dead wood became forks, spoons, and knives. Jack watched as circles cut from a log became plates. And then…and then, he found his answer.

The man cut another large portion from a downed tree, about half as thick as his forearm was long. He stripped away the bark before gathering up his hammer and chisel. With quick strikes he began carving into the center of the wood. Jack watched, curious, as curls of wood-shavings piled around the human's feet. He watched until, with a burst of realization like a snowball to the face, Jack saw.

The man was making a bowl. Jack slipped off his staff and landed on his back on the packed dirt and grass. Before the dust had even settled he had crawled over and nearly pressed his nose to the work-in-progress. "That's it," He breathed. Frost ghosted over the wood, startling the man, but Jack had already called the Wind and leapt into its embrace. "Hurry, HURRY! South, Wind, take me south! I know what to do now, I KNOW! It has to be hollow! Why didn't I think of that before? Hurry, hurry! This time, Wind, this time it will work!" Elated, laughter bubbled past his lips and into the summer air, cheering the world with his joy.

As the human stared in wonder at the melting layer of frost, he swore he could hear a child's laughter carried away on the Wind, sounding so elated that the man couldn't help but smile and laugh himself in joy he didn't understand.

***********Congratulations, You Silly Boy. It Must Be Hollow to Bring Joy******

A/N:

*huffs* I feel like I've lied again. Well, at least this is a happier chapter…it ended happier…oh, hush. It didn't end with poor Frostie Toes crying. It just started that way…LOOK, over 2,000 words this chapter!

Akitu, the Spirit of Sping, and Miochin, the Spirit of Summer: I couldn't find an actual name for a Spring Spirit (seasonal), but I was able to find celebrations for the season. "Akitu" was a spring festival held from ancient Mesopotamia. I like it. So it is the Spring Spirit's name. Better than freaking April Showers or May Flowers. I get it, that's perfectly acceptable as a name. To each their own, and all that jazz. But I don't like it. It's not for me. It feels like lazy writing to me, to not try and find a unique name for the spirits and such. Let me be perfectly clear: I'm not knocking anyone on the head if they use April, May, etc, or don't even name the random spirits. I'm not. I'm knocking myself, because as soon as I wrote "The Spirits of Spring and Summer called Hawaii home for the warm weather and ever-blooming plant life…" I immediately got torqued off with myself and started scouring the internet and my books for NAMES. Thus came Akitu. Miochin is the Spirit of Summer according to an Acoma legend (Acoma are Native Americans) who fought Shakok, the Spirit of Winter, for the hand of a woman named Co-chin-ne-no-ko. Eventually Miochin won, and he and Shakok agreed to split the year, half warm and half cold. There you go, bit of history for you.

Head-Cannon: Jack won't melt just because he's chilling (no pun intended, dearlings) in the summer sun. If heat could melt/kill/severely harm him, he wouldn't have been able to help out Bunnymund and the other Guardians in the Warren, or listen to Toothiana at her palace as she explained why she and her Mini-Tooths collected teeth. He prefers the cold, yes, but he doesn't mind the warmth of spring or summer. He likes the beach, after all…even if it is just to freeze the waves. I'd go to the beach if I could freeze waves. Mostly so I could walk through tunnels of frozen water and marvel at the way the sun glistens off the ice…

And now for the part you all really read this for: RECOGNITION!

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My Wonderful Reviewers: Eternal She-Wolf, Kaylessa, Rose O' Sharon, Em, WordsMusic, The Sapphire Dolphin, Me, Elwyn, elise-hale913, PepperLovey, MysteryPerson (You're driving me crazy with the Mystery Person! I want to know who you are sooooooo much!), lncross1of7, Guest, and SethBlackwolf

And a special heartfelt love/thanks to my "Author Followers" : Elwyn, lncross1of7, Lonemachine, and Kaylessa. Seriously, you four, I'm BAAAAAAAAASKING in your follows.

Responses to some Reviews:

Elwyn: You just HAVE to go see RotG! I don't think it's in theatres anymore, but…it's supposed to be out on DVD/Blu-Ray between February and April, last I checked, so you can always go buy/rent it and fall in love with it! Also, yes, Snow People, the poor dears are so misunderstood. Also also…whoever said that Jack's creations aren't real? Or perhaps they aren't. Oh dear, is Frostie Toes crazy, or is he actually breathing life into each of these creations!? You'll know soon enough!

elise-hale913: As I already said: You've given me such an evil idea, sweetling.

Too Several Reviewers: While I feel a bit bad that I've made you cry, I also take pride in it. That you are crying means the story is doing its job. Happy Psycho.

PepperLovey: *chuckles* "neato" I love that. "Neato." You're neato, dearling.

MysteryPerson: What happens when we hear a quote for almost the entirety of our lives? We forget that it's a famous quote, and are so shocked to have it pointed out that we've quoted Batman that we blink rapidly and then facepalm. True story. I facepalmed when you pointed that out. I'm so embarrassed that I forgot that was a Batman quote. I love Batman! From the originals to the new ones! *shakes head dejectedly* How could I have forgotten that….?

Too The Reviewers Who Asked For Longer Chapters: Look, over 2000 words of chapter (not A/Ns)!

I think that's all, but if I've forgotten someone or not otherwise replied via another medium, please let me know! Until next time, my dearlings!
*waves enthusiastically*