Hi! I can't tell you how happy I am that you like my story so much. It really isn't what I expected when I started it, so I thank you yet again, guys. This is more than what I could have ever asked for. Here we go with chapter three! Enjoy!
Chapter Three
Jack woke up welcomed by the sunlight. It had already been three days since he woke up in his home and he never felt so good. His body was regaining its former strength, although he still used the staff as support. Pippa managed to spread the news of his brother recover quicker than the wind, and that was saying something. Soon, everyone in the village wanted to meet him and see the "miracle" for themselves. His long forgotten friends had also come to see him, and he felt so good that they remembered him. He still was getting used to the idea that three hundred years never really happen, but he still felt the loneliness as a physical thing. To feel loved like that was the most amazing thing for him; he had already forgotten what it was like.
The most valuable moment for him was when his father finally saw him awake. His strong arms wrapped around Jack's thin frame in bone crushing hug, most like North's, but better, warmer and stronger. His father was, after all, a hunter. And in the winter he also cut trees and brought wood to light the fireplace. His dad even shed a few tears of joy. Jack couldn't help but hug him back and tight. He had never felt happier.
That day he was going to go outside for the first time in three days, and he couldn't hold his excitement back. It was contagious. His father had gone earlier in the morning to hunt; then he would return earlier to take Jack to the market with him, where he would sell the prey that wasn't needed at home. He paced and walked around the house excitedly, helping his mom with chores and playing a bit with his sister. The snow he loved so much was melting, giving in to welcome the spring.
Jack decided to wait until Easter and then he'd try to talk to Bunnymund, until then he would relax and enjoy. Two things he knew very well how to do. To his mother was strange that he was so willing to do chores but she didn't complain. Something had happened while he was asleep, something had changed him, and she was going to figure out what when the time came.
Pippa too seemed to be happier and calmer. She had tortured herself thinking it had been all her fault to begin with, and had been gloomy ever since, but now that her brother was back she felt happy again. His enthusiasm was contagious, and everyone in the house was a little bit more alive than before. How they had missed him.
When the sun was almost in the middle of the sky, around eleven o' clock, Jack's father arrived back home. Jack went to greet him, hopping and jumping all around in excitement. Well, as well as he could with his staff and body still a bit weak. Still, his mood wouldn't be ruined by his limitations. He lived with them before, he could now. He just wanted to stay with his family for as long as he could. His father just laughed at his excitement. He too felt relieved and happy around Jack; after all, he had his son back.
"Ready to go son?" he asked with that powerful voice of him.
"Yeah" replied an overexcited Jack. He grabbed a new cloak his mother made for him after the other one ruined with the cold water and put it on. It fitted him perfect and he loved it. Then he grabbed his staff again and he followed his father out of the house.
"Be safe" his mother yelled at them, just like the day Jack died… almost died… whatever.
"Of course mom!" he replied. His mother flinched at the memory of that fateful day, when Jack had replied exactly the same thing and got back to the house in the arms of a stranger soaking wet and barely breathing. It had been a hard day for everyone, especially Pippa, who watched it all from the beginning to the end. She pushed the feeling aside, fearing that those dark thought might cause another incident, and closed the door after waving her husband and son goodbye.
Meanwhile, Jack walked amazed through the town. It was buzzing with activity and it remembered to him an older version of what a mall looked like when there were sales. Many people stared at him wide eyed, but recovered quickly and waved at him. Jack knew most of the faces for it was a small town, but most of the names he didn't. It felt so nostalgic to be there walking with his dad. In the way they chatted. His dad tried to talk him into hunting and following up the family business. Jack remembered how he had rejected that idea so many times before, wanting to explore the world and getting out of that small town. Now that he had explored the world in every possible way and had fun until he could no more, he decided it wasn't such a bad idea to be like his dad. He smiled at that possibility, because after all this years he had learned to look up to his dad. He had missed him so much.
They arrived at the market, and Jack caught a glimpse of his friends playing a bit further away. They saw him too and came rushing, smiling, at him. "Jack! Welcome back!" one of them said. "Are you on your tracks again? That's great!" another added. "Now we can have a real snowball fight with the little snow that's left!" said another one. Just nodded and talked in between their words because everyone was talking at the same time. Suddenly, his father put a hand on his shoulder and looked at the children in front of him. He looked at him saying: If you want to go and play, go and play! You're still young and they missed you. Just go.
Jack just nodded happily and followed his friends to a near clearing filled with snow. He was amazed. Immediately he grabbed a fistful of snow and threw it to his nearest friend. "Oh, you're on!" the other teen replied and made a snowball of his own and aimed at Jack. However, he shielded himself behind another of his friends and the snowball hit that teen straight in the face. Then it began an all-out war of snow between the teens. When they were panting and collapsing on the ground they finally stopped. Jack's legs could barely support him and he felt that the staff could break if he supported too much of his weight on it. Then his dad appeared in the entrance of the clearing. "Come on Jack, time to go home. Your mom is waiting for us," called his dad out for him. Jack finally stood up after some struggling with his feet and his staff. When he reached out for his dad he hugged him by the shoulders, acting as an extra support for him. Jack waved his friends goodbye and leaned against his father.
"Had a fun day?" he asked his son.
"You have no idea, dad. It was awesome!" Jack told his dad, who just laughed in response. He notices his son was behaving… different. He said some things and acted different than most teenagers that time. He wondered why, not even suspecting that Jack's behavior was most influenced by the twenty first century. They arrived home at sundown and were greeted by Pippa and Mom. They hugged and when they got in the house jack plumped down in a chair. He fell so hard that his staff too fell to the ground. Pippa and his mother chuckled. "Tired much?" she asked him jokingly.
"Yes. We had a snowball fight, the guys and I. I hadn't had much fun since Jamie and…" Ups, Jack thought, they know nothing about Jamie. He doesn't even exist yet! "…never mind. The point is that we had the funniest and most intense snowball fight of all times and I got really tired," he tried to cover up, but his family didn't fell for it.
"Who's this Jamie you mentioned? No one in the village is called like that," Pippa asked him. Jack felt a lump forming in his throat. How could he explain his family he had died and waited three centuries to meet his first believer called Jamie? And that he was like a little brother to him? Jack thought for a while before coming up with the best excuse he could think up.
"It's someone I met in a dream, I think. You know, when I was asleep…" and so, he started to tell the story of Jack Frost to his family, who listened with great interested as they ate their dinner. He told it in the form of a dream, as if it had never happened, and his family seemed very interested in it. "And so, I fell asleep in top of a tree near the lake and woke up here," he finished his tale. His family was awestruck and couldn't believe such a story had come up from their son.
"It sure is some story, son. Where did you hear it?" his father asked him.
"I didn't. I dreamt about it; me being Jack Frost," Jack explained and he saw how his parents exchanged a worried look between them. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was replaced by smiley faces and laughter.
"Well, you have a very vivid imagination" his mother told him while picking up the dished to wash them.
"Yes, you should tell it the bonfire we're holding the night before Easter. You know the one where we sleep in the clearing so that we wake up and start the egg hunt as fast as possible," Pippa told him. For a while he considered the option, telling everyone his own story, without knowing it was his own. Finally, he nodded and his family cheered.
"I just have to adjust some details so that it doesn't seem like a dream and then it'll be done;" Jack smiled and stood up. His knees failed him and he almost fell face down to the floor, but Pippa caught him just in time. She helped him to his room and left so that he could sleep.
Jack laid down on the bed preparing to sleep and his hand unconsciously flew to his chest. There he felt something. He reached for it inside his shirt and he saw the necklace Tooth had given him. What? He thought. In three days he hadn't even noticed it was there, how come he only felt it now? He had almost forgotten about it. If Jack Frost never existed, why do I still have this? Why do I have Tooth's gift if I haven't met her yet?
Jack went to sleep thinking precisely about the last night he spent in the twenty first century. The party celebrating his first year as a guardian, joining Tooth on her way home, Tooth giving him the gift, falling asleep on that tree; and strangely enough, that was the only things he thought about before falling asleep in his warm and cozy bed.
This is it for chapter three, I hope you all liked it. Please Review! Thank you all again, the readers, the followers, the favorites, the reviewers, everyone! Until next chapter, I'll upload as soon as I can! I think this chapter is a little shorter than the last, for that I apologize, and to make up for it the next chapter will be longer than the previous.