September
Phil found himself, once again, getting a hold of the mischievous winter spirit Jack Frost. He seemed more inclined to try and break in during his off seasons, which didn't really make sense to Phil since there was always somewhere in the world that was winter. It seemed Jack based his normal calender off of the states, especially in his home Burgess. His dates were based off that area, and he always kept track of whether it was day or night there. Any other place and he could figure it out quickly enough, it just wasn't off the top of his head.
They were both walking down a hall chatting. Phil had recently caught the boy trying in vain to get into the workshop, but as usual, Jack shrugged it off and smirked at his lose.
At the last turn they had before they reached the entrance, the one question that seemed to always come up sooner or later came from the boys lips.
"Why haven't you told North about me and all the mischief I cause?"
Well... Phil was glad that Jack at least recognized that he caused the yetis some trouble, he just didn't do anything about it...
The yeti was silent as he thought about it, but Jack took that as a sign that his question wouldn't be answered.
"Okay, how about this one. Why don't the yetis that hate me tell North?
Phil really didn't have an answer for that one. He had been wondering the same thing.
Why hadn't any of the other yetis told North about Jack?
Was it for the same reasons he didn't?
That seemed unlikely as most of them didn't like the winter spirit, or could just barely tolerated his presence.
Hmm... maybe they didn't want to bring it up to North because he was often so busy, and couldn't be bothered by the 'unimportant matters that were left to his diligently hard workers to handle'.
Oh, how many times as he heard other yetis say that Jack and his games were just a bother that North shouldn't have to deal with.
He continued to dwell on the matter, not realizing that he was mumbling some of his thoughts out loud.
The quiet footfalls behind him suddenly stopped, and there was a silence for a moment. The only sound was the last echo of the yeti's footsteps. The temperature seemed to fall about 30 degrees, and Phil had to suppressed a shiver at the drastic change.
He turned with a curious growl back towards Jack. His eyes widened in worry and shock at what he saw.
The winter spirit had put his hood up, and from past experiences, the yeti knew that that was never a good sign. Jack would always cover his face when he was upset, angry, frustrated... any of those similar feelings. He would hide behind his hoodie and his false smiles and laughs.
His smile... Jack was smirking now, though it was obviously a fake one. Ever since Phil had first seen the boy smile, for real, he'd always been able to tell the difference between Jack being really happy, and the other times when he was just putting it on for show. The yeti had always loved seeing Jack smile, but now he'd do anything to get Jack to stop. It wasn't genuine, it wasn't happy.. It wasn't him.
Jack Frost was an easy-going happy spirit, ready to have fun anytime, anywhere, yet the air that surrounded him now was harsh and cold, There was nothing inviting and playful about it. In fact... the air was still. Unmoving.
It was his first companion, and sometimes his only one. It was always playing around the boy, always seemed to be in motion...
With its stillness, Phil felt a pressure come upon him.
When ever Jack had come to the workshop with this same look, Phil would always take time to help the boy come out of it. Phil would always try to cheer him up. He has never seen Jack look at him this way.
The worse thing that the yeti noticed were his eyes. They were barely peeking out from under the shadow of Jack's hoodie, yet Phil could easily see into the deep blue eyes of the Spirit of Winter. His eyes were showing what his hood and smirk tried to hide. They held pain, they held sadness, they held anger, and they held the last thing Phil ever wanted to see on Jack's face, especially when looking at him.
They held betrayal.
It was in that moment when Phil realized what he said, realized how it could have sounded, and realized what he had done.
No!
It was all just a misunderstanding, he hadn't meant it like that. It just slipped out. Those weren't his words.
Phil took a step towards the boy to try and explain, but the single word that escaped Jack's lips seemed to freeze him to the ground
"Oh."
Jack's tone held disappointment... like he had seen it coming. He had been expecting Phil to do this to him. All this time, he'd been waiting for it to come.
"You know... I actually have to go, there's this... uh, big cold front that's due in Canada. I'll let you get back to work."
If anyone else had heard what Jack said, they would think he was fine. He had laughed a bit at the end, and did a friendly shooing gesture at Phil while he turned to go.
Phil knew better. His thoughts went wild in his head as he tried to figure out what he could do to fix this whole mess. He tried to stop Jack from leaving and placed a furry paw on the boy's shoulder.
Almost immediately, the winter spirit flinched and shrugged the paw away. He then had the winds swirl around him, bringing him into the air.
He was down the hall and out into the cold wind of the North before Phil could move again.
He never got the chance to explain why... to explain his reasons...
Phil feared that when North knew about Jack breaking in, he would tell the yetis to keep him out. After all, North had shone the boy no sign that he cared at all for him.
Jack once mentioned that during a Christmas run, North hadn't even spared a moment for pleasant greetings. He always just brushed the boy away as he continued on his trip.
Phil knew for a fact that the schedule wasn't that tight that North couldn't waste a second saying hello.
If North gave the order to keep Jack out, Phil would have to listen to it, even if he didn't want to.
Right now... since North didn't know, sure, it was a major bending of the rules, but they weren't being broken. After all, they were told to keep out intruders... and by the definition of 'Intruder'
To come in rudely or inappropriately; enter as an improper or unwanted element:
Jack was no intruder... he was not unwanted at the pole, by Phil at least.
He did come in rudely... but then again, so did North when he enters the workshop, what, with yelling about with joy, his loud bellowing voice calling out that he has completed yet another prototype toy. It was all very distracting, especially since North only needed to tell Phil so he could find a free yeti to start working on it... The whole workshop didn't need to know every time.
But, back to the point... the yetis' aren't going to keep North out of his own workshop for being an 'intruder'. They just have to interpret the rules as they see fit...
He sighed as he thoughts returned to Jack and what he needed to do to fix this whole mess. In the end he decided to give Jack some time to let out some anger. If he went now, he would only enrage the boy more.
:::
October
Phil had gone to Jack's lake to see if he could talk to the boy. It was still a bit early in the season, but Jack would always come here early, seeing as Burgess was as close to a home that the boy had.
His fur was ruffled by a harsh wind, and if it were later in the season, Phil knew he would have been pelted with an even harder snow.
There was no sign of Jack, but Phil was almost certain he was here watching, yet too hurt to go talk to him.
The best the yeti could do right now was leave a package he had prepared. It held a note that he hoped would explain what had happened earlier, and maybe get Jack to talk to him. He would have rather told him in person but this was better than nothing.
The other thing that the small gift held was something of Phil's own making. It was his secret eclairs that he had given to Jack before. They were his favorite treat when ever he came to the pole, but Phil often didn't make them. He thought now would be a good time to give the winter spirit some more...
:::
November
He came back again. He still hadn't seen a single sign from Jack, but he wouldn't stop till he got a chance to talk to him.
This time, Phil knew for a fact that the winter spirit was not here, but the wind was. It would carry Phil's message to Jack... he hoped.
He sat down near the edge of the lake and just talked. Talked about the fun times he'd had with Jack. He mentioned how he was before Jack came. He mentioned how the workshop seemed empty without him...
It was almost midnight by the time Phil got up to leave. He left another package there, with almost the same contents. He made a different treat instead of the eclairs. The note just held some of their more favorite moments, as well as some pictures he'd taken that maybe Jack didn't know about.
:::
December
Jack wasn't there again. Phil was beginning to think he was purposely staying away from his lake on the day he knew Phil would come. The yeti tried to keep it the same so that in case Jack wanted to talk, he could wait for Phil to come to him.
More words were mentioned, and another package was left.
:::
January
No sign of Jack. He had hoped that with the new year, he would get a chance to talk, but it looks like he will have to wait a bit longer.
:::
February
Another evening was spent talking to the wind. He felt certain that Jack was listening to him this time.
:::
March
It was nearing spring now, and that thought made Phil a bit disappointed. Would he have to wait even more months till winter came around again? Would Jack stick around here even in the warmer seasons?
:::
April
He now needed to go later and later in the night, and stay for a less amount of time. With the nights getting shorter and the days getting longer, it wouldn't do to have any humans find him there.
He kept at it though.
As more and more time passed, he felt that he didn't even need to say much. Just a little something to get Jack's trust back. To show that was a friend that he could rely on.
The package sat on the frozen lake as Phil trudged home.
:::
May
It was a bit chilly for an evening in May, but when Phil reached the lake, he found out why.
A small figure stood in the middle. His head was bowed as he faced Phil. They were both silent as the night continued around them.
Phil had started walking up to Jack, but had paused on the edge of the lake. He waited for the other to start. the winter spirit seemed to want to, but was unsure how to begin. If he was rushed... well, Phil had all night to wait for him.
Jack slowly looked up from underneath his hood. His eyes were wet with unshed tears as he looked at the yeti in front of him. He was biting his lower lip in nervousness as he tried to collect his words. At first he had been worried that Phil wouldn't show, even though he hadn't missed any of these past few months. It still could have happened. Phil could have given up on him... but he didn't.
He just had one question... one thing that he needed to ask Phil, yet it didn't seem to want to come out.
He wanted to go back to the pole. He wanted to play games with the elves. He wanted to annoy the other yeti who really bugged him. He wanted to try and get into that stupid room that he was never allowed to see. He wanted to have fun with Phil.
He wanted to spend time with his friend.
Phil, after receiving a gentle push from the wind, walked onto the lake and embraced the smaller boy. He then got a hug in return. The two of them silently agreed that they didn't need words right now.
Neither of them were offered forgiveness, neither of them needed it. It was all just a misunderstanding that they needed to get over. Every friendship went through them... Some were bigger, some were smaller. When the problem was over with, it made the bond stronger.
Jack felt that maybe there hug had gone on long enough, so he gently pushed away. A small smile came to his as he looked up at Phil. His eyes caught sight of another package near where the yeti had stopped earlier.
"Wanna hand me that box there? I might even share some of your homemade treats with you." His voice, although quiet, was light and happy, and as Phil turned to retrieve the gift, the yeti smiled. IT felt like it had been forever since he last heard that child's voice.
While they were each enjoying the treats,(They were just simple mint chocolate chip cookies, but anything is good when made by yetis.) Jack spoke up."You better have enjoyed your 'Jack-free' months, Phil, because next time I come, I am going to get into the workshop."
Phil rolled his eyes at the younger spirit and playfully shoved him over. This action brought Jack to the ground with an 'thud'. After a moments hesitation, it was followed by a quick smirk and a flash of blue.
The yeti soon found himself joining Jack on the ground as the ice beneath him suddenly got a whole lot more slicker.
They both laughed and began catching up on lost time.
Just as the dawn's rays would soon come up, they both headed back to the North Pole, agreeing to share one last cup of hot (in Jack's case, cold) chocolate before Phil had to return to work.
:::
:::
The yetis glanced over at Phil as he passed by with, what could almost be called a 'cheery skip' in his step. He was overjoyed that Jack had come back... They were less then pleased..
They were happy that they got the old Phil back. During those long months he was always so depressed, and it made him a pain to work with. They want to say that he was only working halfheartedly, but that wasn't really true. The only time he seemed to be himself was when he was completely immersed in his job.
Some of the yetis, after four or five months, wanted to go out and drag Jack in by force to snap Phil out of what ever he was going through. They finally got a chance to work uninterrupted, without and trouble causing them to lag behind, or any random pranks pulled on them... nothing what so ever... and Phil was moping around!
...
It was actually quite boring, a few of them admitted to themselves.
Huh.. its true... the saying that you don't know what you've got till you've lost it...
Although the actually moments when Jack caused mischief were no fun to deal with... the memories of looking back on them were great.
There were quite a few yetis who really did not like Jack, but they realized that Phil loved the kid. It would break his heart to see Jack get banned from the Pole. They didn't tell North because Phil didn't tell North. He was obviously worried about really going against North's orders. They cared for Phil, and Phil cares for the boy... That was enough for them to keep their friendship a secret. Unless things got really out of hand, which they never did with Phil keeping an eye on the troublesome winter spirit, then they would keep quite.
Three of them turned quickly at the sound of Jack's ringing laughter coming from down the hall. A few little elves were running with glee away from the winter boy as he made a trail of ice behind them. They seemed to be playing tag... with ice...
When Jack passed the three yetis, he smirked at them and froze their feet to the ground. He was gone before any of them could let out an angry growl.
They just sighed and glanced at each other.
If Phil wanted to hang out with this kid so bad, they would help out a bit.
After all... What was a few cold feet compared to a lasting friendship with their favorite head yeti?
A/N: So, my original plan for this latest chapter was to have it during the movie and from Phil's point of view, but as I wrote that one sentence in the previous chapter,
Phil didn't see Jack for 8 months...
This came to mind and wouldn't leave. I hope you all enjoyed it.
