Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything take away

What's standing in front of me

Every breath

Every hour has come to this

One step closer

North paused in his speech as a small knocking sound made itself known. The Guardians all looked towards the door to see a preteen girl peeking in.

"Snegurochka? What are you doing here, внучка?" North asked, walking to the door and pulling the girl into a hug.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, papa, but I really must speak to Jack," the girl said once the Guardian of Wonder had returned her to the floor, her soft voice ringing with the faintest hint of a Russian accent.

"What's wrong, Snow?" Jack said, standing up and looking over the girl. The girl's windswept, white-blonde hair fell over her face, obscuring mossy green eyes and a face as pale as snow covered in freckles. The ends of her hair brushed against the silver belt that wrapped around her waist over her navy-blue sundress. A pair of silver leggings showed beneath the knee-length dress and ended just above bare feet.

The girl brushed her hair out of her face and said, "Can we talk in private?"

Jack started to nod and move away from the table the Guardians had been sitting at as they held their meeting, but before he could, Bunny grabbed his arm and pulled him back in his seat.

"Come on, Sheila, whatever you've gotta say to Frostbite, you can say in front of the rest of us. I promise we won't make fun of you. Frosty on the other hand... Although I do have to question your taste in boys-"

"Ew."

"Gross Bunny," Jack said, shoving the pooka's arm away. "Let's go Snow, we can talk -"

"Come now Jack, we are in meeting. I'm sure flirting with внучка can wait."

"Again, ew! Look, I really just need to give him Manny's message -"

"Message from Manny, then you must tell us! Come now!"

"I - I don't - I mean..." Snegurochka trailed off, glancing between North, Jack, and Bunny before focusing on Jack, who looked at the others before nodding. "Okay then. Manny said to tell you that, uh, he found Toothless."

Four of the Guardians frowned in confusion. Sandy glanced towards Jack, only to shoot up an exclamation point when he realized the winter sprite's chair was empty.

"Was Manny looking for something? Why hadn't he asked us for help?"

"Toothless? Wha' does that even mean? Hey Frostbite, do ya know what she's talkin' 'bout?" Bunny said, before noticing what Sandy was trying to bring their attention to. "Oi, where'd Jackie go?"

Tooth and North looked over at the sprite's chair. "Da, where did boy go?" North turned to the snow maiden, who was smiling towards the open window the boy had used. "What is going on внучка?"

Snegurochka just said, "I'll let him explain when he gets back."

-.-

Jack felt like his heart was trying to beat it's way out of his chest. It had been just under two hundred years since he had returned from the past and he could still hear Father time's words echoing in his head.

After leaving the past, Father Time and Jack had appeared on the bank of Jack's lake.

The winter sprite had promptly fallen to the ground, tears filling feminine eyes. "Why? Why did I have to leave? Couldn't you have given me a few more years?"

"All giving you more time would have done is tear the boy away from his destiny and make it even harder on you both when you'd have to leave," Father Time said. He stared down at the sniffling spirit for a moment before taking pity on the boy-turned-girl. "As it is, you've already detoured the boy from reaching his paradise."

"What?" the sprite asked, horror filling him. Hiccup hadn't gone to Valhalla? Why? Were the pastors in the churches near his home right that laying with a man sent you to hell, or Hel in Hiccup's case. Jack opened his mouth to ask, but was stopped by Father Time raising his hand.

"Nothing as terrible as that. Tell me Jack, do you remember the red haired girl that always used to visit your lake when you first came around?"

"Sure, she would visit every fall because her fiancé had fallen in and drowned in the lake sometime before I had awakened. She even visited after she got married to some other guy. What about her?"

"Well, I thought it would interest you to know her name was Halle and she was descended from a long line of vikings, most notably a Mrs. Astrid Haddock who was one of the first Vikings to ever ride a dragon alongside her husband."

"Hiccup," Jack breathed. "But what does that have to do with Hiccup not going to Valhalla?"

"What it has to do with it is that young Halle was your Hiccup, at least in spirit. It seems the boy does not let go easy. He has been appearing every few generations in his descendants, looking for you."

"He's been looking for me?" Jack said, a smile coming to his face for only a second before the frown returned. "But she never saw me."

"Because although his spirit has been passed down, his memories have not. The girl was longing for something, but she did not know you so she pinned that longing on her lost love. As you are aware, humans need belief to see a spirit, and she did not believe."

"But nobody believes in me! How am I supposed to be with Hiccup again if he doesn't believe in me, or even remember what we were!"

"He will. His memories are tied to the one person who's had the biggest impact in his life and when he's reunited with them, his memories will be released."

Jack frowned, racking his mind, before the answer came to him. "Toothless!"

Father Time smiled and nodded. "The dragon has also been reincarnated a few times, but as you know, dragons are few and far between. Humans rarely make contact with them nowadays."

"So all I have to do is find Toothless and bring him to Hiccup, then -"

"No," Father Time said, cutting him off. "You must not interfere. The boy must find his dragon on his own, or he very well may never retrieve his memories."

"But how long will it take for Hiccup to find Toothless on his own?"

"That, I cannot reveal to you."

"But he will, right?" the sprite pleaded. He couldn't stand to find out Hiccup was so close, yet he would never be able to reach him.

Father Time smiled and set his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Of course child. If all goes as it should. Now stand, I do believe you remember sweet Halle's great-grandson, the stubborn little boy who's always sneaking off to help injured animals. Sounds quite familiar, don't you think?"

Jack felt his heart fill with hope and quickly jumped to his feet, but before he could get far, a bony hand grabbed his arm.

"A word of caution though, child. Your Hiccup finding his dragon will be the sign that his memories will be revealed, but it will also be the sign of his last life."

"Y-you mean -"

"Yes, he will not be reincarnated into his family or any others when he dies. His life as a human will end."

Jack smiled as he flew a little faster. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that he would one day lose Hiccup and he would be sad when the time came, of course, but he wouldn't be him if he let an unavoidable moment darken his outlook on life. He also knew Hiccup wouldn't want him to spend his (very long) life in mourning.

Besides, today was a happy day. Hiccup had found Toothless! He was going to remember everything! Jack felt himself speed up a little more.

He was heading towards Burgess of course. That was where the home of Henrik Bennett, a younger cousin to Jamie who had been born a little over a year after Jack had become a guardian, was. Admittedly, Jack had thought Jamie had been Hiccup at first, even without the usual indication of green eyes. The boy had just had a sort of spark about him. Sophie had been next on the list, with her eyes looking so much like Hiccup's and that same spark Jamie carried. However, Jack had learned quickly that that was just the Bennett kids themselves and it had helped during the battle with Pitch.

Henrik was positively Hiccup though. If not for the fact that the young teen looked almost exactly like Hiccup had at seventeen, then for the way he was always drawing blueprints and building little contraptions. The way he volunteered at the animal shelter. The way he was clumsy, yet determined, and stubborn, yet caring.

Jack dropped as he let gravity take over. The wind caught him just before he could hit the roof of Henrik's house and he swerved to land on the fence. He frowned as he saw both cars and Henrik's bike were missing.

The winter spirit lifted into the air and floated off to the bookstore a couple streets over. Landing on the balcony of the linked apartment, he rapping his knuckles against the sliding glass door. He watched the frost the action created melt in the summer heat until a young, auburn haired woman in a robe pushed open the curtains.

"Jack?" she asked, opening the door.

"Hey Pippa, Jamie," Jack said, nodding to the young man that was standing in the hallway, pajama pants hanging low on his hips. "Am I interrupting?" The sprite laughed at the flustered looks on the couples faces before saying, "Never mind. Do you guys know where Henrik is?"

"I think Jamie's aunt said something about him going camping with friends."

"Yeah, Aunt Viv said they were going up to Crest Peak for the weekend so he couldn't work at the bookstore."

"Great, thanks guys. Oh, and the others said they should all be able to make the ceremony, but Tooth and Sandy don't think they'll be able to stay for the reception. They're looking forward to the after party at North's though. So I guess I'll just leave you to your business then."

Jack gave the pair a wink that had them blushing again before shooting into the air and towards the forest. It figured Toothless was in the mountains. If he was anywhere near the valley, Jack was sure he would at least have run into the dragon's family if not the dragon himself. They weren't exactly the most subtle creatures.

Jack swerved through trees until he reached the Crest Peak camping ground, only to hit the trails when he saw that the tents were empty. He finally tracked down the group outside of a cave.

"But where's Henrik?" He asked searching the group for the boy.

"Come on Henry! It's getting dark!" a girl yelled into the cave.

"I'm telling you, you're seeing things. There's nothing in there shorty," her boyfriend called, only for her to smack him on the arm.

"Just a second, I swear I saw something!"

Jack smiled as Henrik's voice echoed out of the cave. He dropped onto the ground and walked towards the entrance. None of the teens believed in him anymore so he passed the group unnoticed. Jack slipped into the cave and drifted down the short tunnel.

"Oh my - guys you won't believe this!"

Jack turned a corner and was greeted by the sight of a seventeen-year-old boy staring up at a large black dragon. Jack smiled and made to step forward.

Jack choked as he felt something tighten around his neck. The thing pulled, dragging him backwards before dropping him at the entrance to the cave. Coughing, Jack got to his hands and knees and looked up.

Pitch Black stood before him, a black sand rope in hand connecting to the matching noose that wrapped around Jack's neck.

"Pitch," Jack growled, freezing off the noose. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised the kinds of things one can learn about their enemies when one can see their worst fears," Pitch said and sent a blast of sand at the sprite.

The winter spirit dodged the first blast, but the second caught him, sending out of the cave and slamming him against a tree. Jack jumped to his feet, staff at the ready, but Pitch just smiled before disappearing into the shadows. He frowned, not understanding why the Nightmare King would just disappear, until he heard the rumbling.

"Cave in!" the boy from earlier called.

"Henry!" his girlfriend screamed as Jack yelled "Hiccup!" Both ran for the cave entrance, but while the girl was stopped by her boyfriend, Jack was only stopped when a falling wall of rocks nearly took his head off.

"No. Nononono!" Jack yelled, clawing at the rocks that separated him from his love, only managing to make it worse as they froze together. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not yet. "Hiccup!"

Jack swung around, ready to start yelling at the teens, no matter if they couldn't see or hear him, but the girls were already on the phone with emergency services and their parents and the guys were starting to move the smaller rocks. Reluctantly, Jack floated away and settled on a tree branch.

It was hours later that the rescue crew was able to clear the rocks enough for them to move into the cave. For the first time in his life, Jack was glad that he was invisible as he flew straight through the group and into the cave. "Hiccup, Hiccup!" he called as he settled next to the boy's prone form. "Come on Henrik, look at me! Toothless, hey bud, please!" Jack tried shaking both, but it was obvious neither were waking up.

"I found him!" someone called and Jack backed away as men started crowding around the boy.

"I lost him."

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

внучка = Granddaughter

My headcanon is that Jamie grew up to be a writer and owned a small bookstore. I also ship him and Pippa, in case that wasn't obvious. Henrik worked at the bookstore during the summer to make some extra money.