Ice Cubes

Summary: Because, even if he was scared, he just wanted to see them again.

Trauma

Set after Aquaphobia

His teeth were chattering, his blue eyes were wide, and his hood was up as he swung up into the globe room of the North Pole. Thankfully, none of the guardians were there yet, so they did not see Jack collapse unto the floor, hugging himself as he shivered and panted.

He was so scared, he was so scared!

It was dark, and it was cold- he thought he was going to die again.

A choked sob escaped Jack's raw throat as he buried his cold face against his arms. The water had already frozen into his clothes, decorating them with more frost patterns than usual as he hiccupped and rubbed at his eyes.

It was an old, silly fear. Jack was an immortal now, he couldn't die and he could get out of any frozen pond, lake, or ocean thanks to his powers-

-but that still did not stop him from pounding his fists against the solidifying ice when he went under.

The young guardian was distracted from his thoughts, however, when a yeti suddenly came into the room. Jack's head snapped up and blue eyes met with brown ones as the winter spirit recognized the yeti he endearingly called 'Phil'.

"Phil!" Jack said automatically jumping up as he held up his hands defensively. His voice cracked as he spoke, "I can ex-" He was hardly able to finish his sentence when suddenly he was grabbed by the arm and thrown over massive shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

He protested, weakly, as he slammed his fists against the other's back. He pulled his hood lower when he they passed by yetis and elves who stared at them unashamed.

"Where are you taking me?" Jack asked in a quiet tone that shook a bit at the end. Phil just grunted as he turned left and went down a flight of stairs that led to a room that smelled heavenly.

When Jack was finally placed down- or rather thrown into a very comfy chair- he looked up and realized that he was in North's kitchen. A few elves ran here and there, dragging ingredient, others trying to steal cookies while one female yeti did the cooking.

Suddenly something slightly warm touched Jack's cheek and he jumped and almost fell off the chair. The young sprite looked up to see Phil rolling his eyes at his reaction. The guardian of Fun glared at the other as he accepted the slightly warm hot chocolate, balancing his staff in his lap.

Phil went away when Jack took the cup and the female yeti in the room placed a cold plate of cookies in front of Jack who hesitated for a few seconds before finally taking one.

The guardian was chewing thoughtfully on the sweet treat when he was suddenly surprised again by a warm weight on his shoulders. Placing a hand on his shoulders, he realized that Phil had placed a blanket over his slightly shivering form.

He watched with wide blue eyes as the security yeti grunted and sat himself in front of Jack, in an armchair opposite his, before looking into slightly dim blue eyes.

"What?" Jack said suspiciously as he bit on his cookie with a frown.

Phil frowned and grunted again as he gestured with his hands at the coco, cookies, and blanket.

"Oh." Jack said, finally understanding as he looked at his barefoot. He folded his legs under him as he said, "Well they're okay. Thanks." He muttered and Phil grunted in approval as he sat back and took the warm plate of cookies the female yeti offered him.

There was silence as the two ate.

"I guess, you want to know what happened, huh?" Jack finally said in a small tone. Phil said nothing as he looked at the boy who was still looking at the floor with a determined glare. "It's why you're so nice to me right?"

Phil made an incredulous noise that made Jack's frown deepen as he swallowed against the lump in his throat, his eyes were burning again like the time he was under the ice-

Jack began shaking as he pursed his lips and fought back against the wretched sobs that tore through his body. He gripped the blanket and held tight to the blanket, trying to be strong-

-when a warm paw was placed against his shoulder, stunning him enough that he looked up.

Phil was making a gentle croon in his low voice as he patted Jack on the head. The boy couldn't understand the other, but he knew that the yeti was comforting him in his own way and that- that was what made Jack curl onto himself, hugging his knees to his chest meaningless words escaping his mouth.

He had saved his sister, his sweet adorable sister. He had saved her.

But he had drowned. He had drowned and died, and then he had woken up alone and had stayed alone for three hundred years.

He had no family, he had no home… He had no memories and there was only cold and dark- dark and cold.

And then he remembered! He had his memory box and remembered!

He had a home and a sister and a mother-

He remembered what he had.

And now he just remembered what he had lost.

"I don't know what happened…" Jack said as he inhaled through his nose and his shoulders shook as Phil continued to comfort him. "The ice cracked and I was drowning again and I- I- remembered-"

Wide blue eyes stared at concerned brown ones. "I remembered what they looked like." He said in awe as he sniffed and continued to shiver. "I remembered how we used to play hopscotch everyday and the- the wreath of flowers I made for my sister when it was Spring- I-"

Jack let out a breath as he rubbed at his eyes and tried to speak in a steady voice, "I was scared, I was alone and it was so cold even for me, but I don't know-" He mumbled, blue eyes distant, "Being like that- in the dark and in the cold- it somehow helped me remember and I-"

Phil looked at the other in alarm and worry, he did not know what the boy was thinking but he didn't like the look in the other's eyes. He had to somehow stop him, talk some sense into him before-

"Phil?" Came North's deep voice before the old Santa entered. Jack jumped from under Phil's grip, dropping he mug, spilling the already cold chocolate onto the floor, as the blanket dropped to the ground as well.

"Jack!" North said in surprise when the guardian of Fun smiled at the Cossack hesitantly, floating as he hugged his staff to his chest. "I did not know you were here! Guardian meeting started ten minutes ago! Bunny was getting cranky because you are late! Oh I can't wait to see his face when he sees you are earlier than him!" The Santa boomed in laughter and Jack joined uncertainly.

"Yeah, I was- Phil and I were just talking about something. Sorry." The other said quickly before he slipped into a familiar mischievous smile. "So, what are you doing here anyway old man?"

"Just came to see why cookies are taking so long." North said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. He turned his blue eyes at Phil. "I see Phil was flirting with Olga again."

Phil and the female cook yeti both blushed under their fur as they began to grumble at the same time, making Jack laugh and a few elves wolf-whistle.

"Aw, Phil, I didn't know!" Jack said with a grin. "When's the wedding? I'm your best man right?"

Phil glared at Jack as the other zoomed out of the yeti's reach, laughing. "Anyway North, go grab your cookies and let's get back. Don't want Cottontail losing his fur with all his worrying."

"I do not get why he will lose fur from worrying." North scratched his beard as he picked up the plate of warm cookies that was set for Phil. They yeti let out a protest that went unheard as North waved at him. "Have Olga make you new plate of cookies. Bonding time, yes?" North called out as he led the way out.

Jack laughed again as he followed the other. Blue eyes glanced back anxiously at Phil before the winter spirit smiled uncertainly and waved before flying after the guardian of Wonder.

Phil only sighed as he ran a big paw down his face as he faced Olga who shook her head as though saying, Humans, I'll never understand them.

Phil nodded in agreement, but still he could not help but look at Jack's back in worry as he disappeared.

The guardians had noticed his strange behavior, but for once Jack did not care. His aim was just to get out of there as soon as he could.

He pretended not to notice Tooth's worried glances as he remained silent for most of the time. He pretended not to hear Bunny's taunts and his frustrations when he didn't respond. He pretended to smile and be fine when Sandy directed silent questions his way. He pretended to laugh at North's jokes even when they grew more and more desperate and strained with every forced chuckle Jack let out.

And finally, when the old Cossack dismissed them, Jack was up and about in no time, jumping through the window, ignoring the calls behind him as he flew towards the only place he had been thinking of in his mind.

When his feet felt the familiar cold and smooth surface of his lake, Jack let out a sigh he did not know he was holding as he looked down at the frozen body of water. His breath came out frosty as snow began to fall gently from the sky, the boy's blue eyes staring down onto the ice.

Involuntarily, Jack began to shiver as he closed his eyes and remembered how he had di- drowned in this place. It was filled with so many happy memories- he didn't know if he should be thankful or horrified that he had died in such a way in such an important place.

Crouching down, the young Frost placed a hand on the surface. It cracked at his touch, or rather at his will, as though it felt what he had wanted to do from the beginning.

The ice fell away from his touch and Jack sucked in a breath when he saw the dark depths of cold water beneath the ice. He almost took a step back, his hands shaking at the thought of going under again but-

"Jack!" A voice stopped him in his tracks. He began to pant as he remembered the blurry smiling face of his sister. There was a fond laugh, "Come on, let's play!"

Jack's eyes began to burn again, the familiar pressure of sadness pushed at his heart. "You're."

"Come on, just jump! You'll be fine." His sister laughed, and he remembered these words. They were the words his sister used when they played hopscotch for the first time. He remembered laughing at her comment, because his sister wasn't any good at hopscotch at all at the time.

"You promise?" His past and his current self's voice overlapped as Jack took a step forward, towards the crack.

Brown eyes looked up at him earnestly, the same way they did when he gave his life up for her, a smile brighter than the sun was turned his way. "I promise."

"Okay." Jack said as he hovered his feet over the cold waters. Everything was silent as Jack closed his eyes and whispered. "I trust you, Pippa."

And just like that, Jack dropped like a stone into the cold, unforgiving waters.

The young winter spirit knew, as the cold surrounded him and enfolded his prone figure into its embrace, that if he managed to get out of his solidifying ice once more, this won't be the last time he'd be jumping into his freezing lake chasing the shadows of people he loved.

A smiling sister, a loving mother, and a warm home greeted him as he smiled despite the cold biting at his skin.

Pale lips formed words he had long wanted to say as Jack's form began to slowly freeze.

"I'm home." He whispered longingly into the empty void he had created for himself, when he jumped in after people he would never see again.

Important Notes: The order of this arc is like this: Aquaphobia - TRAUMA - Sleeping Beneath Ice - ? ? ? - Weird Habits - ? ? ?

Yes, Jack eventually got out of the lake but then he kept coming back and freezing himself under the lake. Until one day, he lost track of time and froze himself longer than necessary and yeah- Sleeping Beneath Ice happened.

Author's notes: It's been awhile since I updated this arc. Thanks for your patience and understanding! I love you all for being so understanding T^T

To FrostFan Don't give up on this story, I'm still alive! I was just busy D:

To Bookfangirl T^T You're amazing for still reviewing this (and everyone else is amazing too!), give me a little more time and I swear I'll have your fic up! *Determined*

So, thanks again guys! I have to go and study, my exams starts this week and next week! WISH ME LUCK :D