Hey, everyone! Sorry that it's taken me so. Darn. Long. To update this story. My muse ran off for the summer. Literally. *snickers* I'll try to keep on top of this story better now though. I have a fair amount of inspiration, and the writer's block I've suffered from for the past few years is finally going away. My writing is off and on, but I haven't been truly blocked in a while, thank goodness. You should be able to expect more updates from me from now on.
You may have noticed that I changed the title from Dabba Dabba Dove to Lullabies in the Frost. This is due to people not liking my old title, even though I personally prefer my old title. Still, the title needs to be what people understand and appreciate, so Lullabies in the Frost it is, unless I suddenly get a bunch of requests that state otherwise, haha.
One more point: I realize that in William Joyce's newest book, that he finally named Mother Nature Emily Jane. This fanfic was started before that release though, so her name is staying Seraphina. I like the name Seraphina better anyway... ;)
Disclaimer: Me no own nuttin'. Definitely not no ROTG.
It didn't take Jack long to rehash the story to Seraphina or how he'd frozen his younger self into a block of ice in order to keep him from destroying the town, but with the telling of the story came a myriad of questions from his boss, many of which he didn't particularly feel like answering, knowing how Seraphina would react.
"Why in heaven's name would Time send you back here to your time of birth? Surely he knows the potential hazards that could be unlocked by such an act."
Jack raised his eyebrows at the statement. Potential hazards? He'd never encountered any before when he'd been booted back in time. Other than running into his double this time around, which he knew he would forget by the time he reached the future, what was the difference between all the other times and this time?
"Well," said Jack, "he said it was because I've been unable to move on. To let go of the past. I guess he's giving me a chance to tie up loose ends."
At this, Mother Nature shrieked so loud that Jack had to cover his ears to avoid having them burst. He knew from all the years working with her that nothing good ever came from her shrieking like that. She only did it when she was extremely upset, and there would be hell to pay.
"He has given you a chance to die, Jack! He is making an attempt to wipe you out of existence by sending you to such a crucial time in your life!"
Jack blinked and stared uncomprehendingly at his superior. Why would Father Time wish him dead? He hadn't annoyed the guy that much, had he? He had never thought he could annoy anyone that much, except maybe Pitch himself. But Pitch wasn't involved in this. It was just between Father Time and Jack.
Seraphina fretted as she paced back and forth, kicking up little storm clouds with every footstep which would boom with a tiny clap of thunder and then die just as quickly. Jack was used to this behavior of hers, but it had been a while since he'd seen her fussing over him like this. Other than the showdown with Pitch and the other Guardians, he hadn't been in trouble in a long time.
"You are not safe in this time, Jack. Only your younger self belongs here, and I will take him under my wing and guide him as soon as we get you to safety." She stopped pacing briefly, then ran her fingers through her hair, finally settling on twirling one of her long locks between her fingers. "We must return you to your own time, but how is not quite certain to me. Father Time will surely not cooperate, and there are not many other time travelers in the world." She sighed, and Jack remained silent, completely unsure of how to contribute to a conversation like this. He certainly knew of no other time travelers.
Seraphina started pacing again. "Ombric the Atlantean would likely cooperate willingly, but his time travel skill pales in comparison to those of Father Time. I've never heard whether he has successfully sent another person besides himself elsewhere in time. No, no, he will not do." She crossed her arms in a frump and turned away from Jack.
"I-Isn't there anyone else you can think of? Even one person?" said Jack.
"Oh, my dear Jack," said Seraphina as she turned to gaze upon Jack once more. "There is indeed one, but he belongs to such an elite group of fae that even I do not possess the power of arresting his attention."
"Really?" said Jack, quirking his eyebrow at this. How elite could this guy be that even Mother Nature herself couldn't talk to him? Nevertheless, he figured it was worth a try. There was no group too elite in the future for Jack to think twice about crashing their parties and making a general nuisance of himself. "What is this..." Jack exaggeratedly waved his hands in sync with his speech, "...'fantasically elite' group who think they're so high and mighty so as not to hear the words of a lowly little winter sprite such as myself?"
Seraphina regarded him seriously for a couple minutes as though trying to decide what to do with him, and it gradually turned into her trying to stifle a series of chuckles before she lost control of her composure and gave up trying to pretend to look dignified. When she finally calmed down and regained control of herself, she said, "Are you always this irreverent, or am I the recipient of special treatment?"
Jack chuckled. He liked her. "The only 'special' thing you're receiving about my treatment is that I'm not being irreverent toward you." He winked at her, eliciting a gentle smile that attempted to conceal great amusement, then asked, "So who are the bigots who won't talk to the likes of us?"
"The Guardians," said Seraphina. "They're much too preoccupied with protecting the human race to acknowledge fae troubles."
"The-The Guardians?!" Jack fell off his seat, laughing as he rolled around on the ground in complete agony from not being able to stop. "The Guardians... elite... bigots..." He gasped for breath, and upon finally catching it, looked up at Seraphina. "So which of them knows something about time travel?"
"E. Aster. Bunnymund," said Seraphina.
That was it, Jack knew he was done for as he launched into another tirade of laughter that he couldn't control. This one was even worse than the last, and Jack kept slapping the floor in the hopes that the action would somehow get him able to breathe. "Time... hopping... kangaroo..." That mental image didn't help matters, and neither did slapping the floor, and before Jack knew it, tears were leaking out of his eyes and freezing all over his face.
"Calm yourself, Jack!" She picked up the still laughing Jack Frost and placed her hand on his chest, directing some magic into him in an attempt to calm him before he died of laughter. Within a couple minutes, he started breathing again, and she sighed with relief. "I gather you have met the Guardians by the time you come from."
Jack began to chuckle again, but at a raised eyebrow from Seraphina, remembered to keep control of himself this time. "You won't hate me, will you?"
"Hate you for what?" She gestured toward him. "You're my new winter sprite. I doubt there's anything you could do to make me hate you."
Jack smirked. "You're probably right." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "How do I put this? In the future, I've... sort of become a Guardian."
"What?!" shrieked Seraphina, and Jack cringed from the sound. This was not a good thing to have her flipping out over. He couldn't change what he had already done. Nor would he even want to. The past few months of his life since becoming a Guardian had been some of the best. He wouldn't give that up for anything.
Seraphina wasn't buying it, however, and had returned to pacing the floor, burning tracks into the wood. Jack cringed again. She was really upset if she was burning up her own house. He had better not touch her until she calmed down. "How could you do that, Jack? You were given the sacred duty of shepherding winter, a job that I cannot do half so well as a dedicated winter sprite. How could you hang me out to dry like that?"
"Shh, Seraphina, calm down," said Jack, instinctively reaching for her to try and console her, but thankfully remembering not to touch her just in time. She was still smoking up the place. "I did not give up my winter duties in the slightest." He shrugged. "I actually use winter to fulfill my role as a Guardian. It makes it more fun."
Seraphina stopped pacing and looked directly at Jack, really looking at him for the first time since he'd shown up. "Do you mean to tell me that you have two sacred jobs?" Jack shrugged and nodded, and Seraphina sighed. "Oh, Jack, that is too much work. What would possess you to do that?"
"The Man in the Moon told me to," said Jack. "And he's never led me wrong before, Seraphina." He eyed her meaningfully. "Ever."
"Do you mean to tell me that you are handling both tasks with ease?"
Jack shrugged again. "I wouldn't call it ease. It's a lot of hard work. But my life has never been more fulfilling."
This news put Seraphina in silent thought for several long minutes. Jack twitched impatiently, wondering what she was thinking about. He knew she wouldn't end up hating him since he knew her in the future, and she had to have remembered this encounter, but he'd never known how she had reacted to the news initially. She likely hadn't discussed it with him so he would be safe until after this interaction with Father Time. It amazed him that she'd managed to keep a secret like that all this time.
At last, she turned to face him, a resigned look on her face. "If this path is what the Man in the Moon has deemed best for you, then I will not question it. But this makes you a most unusual nature spirit. I will do my utmost to train you in preparation for taking on the role of Guardian in addition to the role of Spirit of Winter. But it will involve an unfair amount of work for you."
Jack slapped his forehead and then pointed at Seraphina excitedly. "That explains why you always worked me so much harder than the other seasonals! I always thought your excuse that winter was just more difficult than any other season seemed fishy."
Seraphina smiled at the boy. "It is encouraging to know that my training has paid off. Or will have." She cleared her throat. "Aside from that, we have another matter to address."
"Which is?" said Jack.
"You have to get home," said Seraphina. "You may not be a Guardian during this time, but surely you know of some way to earn their attention?"
Jack nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can manage that."
"Good," she said. "See that you do. And do not take any further risks until you are safely back in your own time. My heart could not bear losing you so soon after finally having you come to me."
Jack stood up and threw his arms around the worried mother figure in order to get her to hopefully stop fretting so much. "I'll do that," he said."Don't you worry about me. Just make sure you go and get young Jack out of the way so there's no chance of my running into him again."
"I will," she said, and she gently placed a kiss on his forehead. "Be safe, my little winter sprite.
Jack chuckled awkwardly and staggered to the door. "I will." He then opened the door and flew off, onto his next mission.
Being in the air on the way to speak to the Guardians felt normal again for Jack, normal enough that he could almost forget that he was trapped in the past and that his life was somehow in danger. Seraphina hadn't explained why this time was so bad as compared to the other times he'd traveled through time, but it seemed she knew something about it he didn't. Then again, she was older than him. Much older. She may have been able to pick up on a few things about time travel during her life.
As for Jack, he was going to have to beat it out of Bunny somehow. If his life was in danger here, then he needed to know who or what his enemy was in order to avoid them long enough to get back home to the time he belonged in.
He sighed. Should he have told Tannie what he was up to? He had promised her that he could stay with her through her entire life, and now it seemed that he wouldn't be able to do that. Part of him felt bad for not talking to her about it first, but then he remembered that she would have been in bed by now, and time was of the essence. He just hoped he'd be able to explain things to her before he had to go back. She deserved at least that much.
The North Pole finally came into view, and soon after that, the workshop. Jack smiled. It hadn't changed much over the years, though he was pretty sure that a lot of the yetis would be different in this time, not to mention all the different styles of toys. No child played with plastic or electric toys this far back in history. It would be interesting to see how they handled that, supposing that his plan worked and he successfully got himself into the workshop to see North. He took a deep breath for courage and shot out of the air to land right at the front door of the workshop, startling the guard yeti in the process.
Jack took a good look at the yeti, trying to see if he could recognize him, but failed to make a connection. This wasn't Phil. He thought Phil was alive in this day and age, but maybe he was too young to be put on guard duty as of yet.
The yeti bristled himself as big as he could make himself look and loomed over Jack while yelling at him in threatening Yetish. Jack chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. "Easy, big fella. I'm not here to cause trouble." Jack looked around. "Tell me, does Phil work here yet?"
The yeti looked shocked at Jack's words and started babbling faster than Jack could translate. He could understand the yeti language on occasion if they spoke slowly, but not if they blurted it all out like that. Still, he had a pretty good idea what the yeti was reacting to.
"Uh..." Jack scratched the back of his neck. "Long story short, I'm a time traveler. You guys don't know me yet, but I know you. Well, some of you." He gave an apologetic chuckle to the yeti in front of him. "I can't get back to my own time, and my life is in danger. I need to talk to North."
The yeti listened to all of this and nodded while stroking his yeti mustache in thought. Then he crossed his arms and glared at Jack, uttering another challenge to Jack in yetish. Jack shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Mind repeating it? Slowly?" The yeti sighed and slowly enunciated each and every word. Jack then nodded and said, "Oh, I gotcha. You want me to prove I'm a friend from the future and not an enemy."
The yeti nodded, satisfied that his message got through, and waited on Jack to provide the necessary information to be granted entry. Jack understood the reason behind such a question, but it was an awfully hard question to answer. He couldn't just blurt out that he was going to become a Guardian to everyone he met. With him being still trapped in the past, that could be dangerous information if the wrong person overheard it. Who there could be around here to overhear it besides the yeti, Jack couldn't say, but he knew he should be cautious about this anyway. The yeti probably wouldn't believe him anyway.
"Well," said Jack, still unsure of himself. "I know that North always carries a snow globe and a key to his office in his pockets. I know that he likes a pinch of nutmeg and a shot of spiced rum in his eggnog. I know that he has a particular fondness for those pecan-filled cookies-whatever those are called." Jack paused. The yeti looked like he was thinking, but like he wasn't fully convinced yet. Jack needed to come up with something that only a friend would know.
"Hmm..." Jack tapped his chin for a moment, then snapped his fingers as a thought hit him. "The Book of Guardians! I know where he keeps it!" Now Jack had the yeti's full attention, and Jack smiled, realizing that if he got this right, the yeti would totally believe his story. "It's in his personal study, behind a locked door in his desk, hidden in a secret compartment. He did that to ensure that only the Guardians and their closest friends and associates would ever have access to the book."
The yeti's face froze in a look of surprise that Jack had been able to reveal that much. It hadn't been necessary for Jack to prove he was that close to the Guardians, but the yeti had no doubt now and ushered him in, hastily beating a path to North's office while Jack trailed behind, struggling to keep up. Even with flying powers, the yeti was still more familiar with this place than Jack was, Guardian or no Guardian.
The yeti hastily knocked at North's office door, and the door swung open to reveal a rather perturbed North. Jack stifled a chuckle. The guy was younger than he remembered, which made sense, but he hadn't thought about it before. There was more gray in North's hair and beard, not to mention that he hadn't grown out either one as long as he kept them in the future.
"Why you disturb my work? Cannot you see I am busy? Is almost Christmas!"
Jack kicked himself for forgetting about the timeframe he was operating in and not thinking about North's schedule. Jack had fallen through the ice in December, just after being given a pair of ice skates for his birthday, and just before St. Lucia day. Of course Christmas wasn't far off. He hoped North would still be reasonable enough to help him, despite being busy.
The yeti quickly explained the situation to North, and the old man finally looked up and saw Jack standing there. He blinked in surprise. "What you standing around for?" said North. "Come in! Is time for break anyway." Jack laughed and shook his head bemusedly, following North's gesturing hands into his office. Even back in this time, there was no one as quirky as North.
As soon as they were in the office, North flicked his fingers and magically bolted and locked the door behind him, then turned to Jack and regarded him with all seriousness. "You get past yetis. Is no easy feat. I do not know who you are, but I feel there is more you must to be saying to me without prying ears of yetis."
Jack laughed at North's choice of verbiage, and then nodded and floated to a sitting position atop the nearest table. "I do have more to say... I'm just not sure how to say it."
"Speak, friend!" shouted North. "We not have all day. I must be checking list for second time."
"Right, right," said Jack. "I know you're busy this time of year. I'm sorry I came to you first, but thought you would listen the best out of all the Guardians."
"I am listening." North seated himself in a large chair and turned to face Jack. "Now get to point. Who are you, and what can Guardians do for you?"
Jack laughed uneasily. This was going to be so hard to explain, but he had to try. And it would be so much better than trying to explain it to Bunny. "My name is Jack Frost. I'm the spirit of winter."
North's eyebrows shot up. "We have spirit of winter now?"
"Um, yes," said Jack. "In this timeline, I was just born. But I, personally," Jack pointed to himself, "come from two hundred years in the future. I don't know what happened exactly." Jack toyed with a random piece of ice on the floor by flicking at it with his staff. "Somehow I really got on Father Time's nasty side, and he sent me back to the time I was born in this form."
North stroked his beard. "This sounds serious. What would you wish me to do?"
Jack dropped all pretense of joviality and eyed North with all seriousness. "I need you to contact Bunny for me, and make him listen. I'm told that he has some skill in time travel."
"That he does," said North, "but Bunny is strange person. He will not trust random person. Even stranger from future who can get past yetis." North leaned forward and gave a hard stare at Jack. "To convince Bunny, you must prove how you know us."
Ouch. Jack winced. That was going to be hard. It was easy enough to prove his identity as a friend to the yeti by talking about the Guardian book, but now he had to prove he was more than that. He had to prove he was an ally, but how was he to do that? Maybe if he'd had a little time to know what was going to happen before he'd been catapulted back in time, he could have grabbed some key trinkets that would be meaningful to North or Bunny in the past.
Wait, key trinkets? Key? North had a firm rule that all Guardians had their own copy of the key that would unlock the place where the Guardian book was. That meant that even Jack had one, and since he was new and still memorizing the book, he hung it from a cord around his neck at all times.
"What about this?" Jack scuffled a bit with his hoodie as he liberated the cord from beneath it, and then proudly held the key out to North for his inspection.
North's eyes went wide in wonder as he beheld what Jack presented before him, and he swiped it out of Jack's hand to get a better look and make sure it was what he thought it was. As he ran his finger along the large, golden "G" embossed on the key, he turned back to look up at Jack. "Where you get this?"
"You gave it to me," said Jack. "On the same day you swore me in. You told me to protect it with my life."
North eyed the key reverently, and then handed it back to Jack with a sense of awe. "So you are next Guardian."
"Yes."
"If you are born now, then you are youngest Guardian yet."
"Heh," Jack rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah..."
North paused a moment to look between Jack and the key once again as Jack slipped the key back over his head and tucked it under his hoodie once again. Then North rubbed his eyebrows in deep concentration. "Jack Frost, you are Spirit of Winter, correct?"
"Correct," said Jack.
"And you are Guardian."
"Yes."
"So you say you work for both Man in Moon and Mother Nature?"
"I do," said Jack. "And believe me, it's a lot of work."
North went silent again, and Jack hopped down off of the table he was sitting on and went to stand next to North in the hopes of figuring out what was troubling the big guy so much. "Did-Did I say something wrong?"
North lifted his eyes and looked up at Jack. "There has never been spirit with two sacred tasks such as these. Is too much work. Why would Man in Moon do this?"
Jack bowed his head and nodded reverently. "You know, Seraphina from this time asked me the same question."
"And what you say to her?"
Jack didn't know how to respond to that question properly other than with a shrug, which he did. "I had no good answer. I really don't know why he did it. But she believes me. She seems to think there's something special I have to do."
North then stood up and came to stand beside Jack, placing his hand on Jack's shoulder. "You are special, Jack. I see it in your eyes. Whether your story is true, I do not know. But if it is, and you are Guardian, then by time I reach your time, I will regret not helping you now."
He hadn't realized how tense he'd been until he released his breath in relief. North may not know for sure what to believe about his story, which Jack admitted seemed a little strange now that he thought about it, but at least he wasn't going to let that stop him from acting like a Guardian about the whole thing. "So, you'll help me?"
"I will talk to Bunny," he said. "You stay close to place of birth, and he will find you when ready. But be careful of newborn self. Bunny always says no paradoxes."
"Right," said Jack, choosing not to tell North that he'd already run into his double once. "I already got Seraphina to agree to keep him out of my way until I'm out of here, so I'm good."
"Very good." North patted Jack on the back, then walked over to the door and conjured it open. "I think we done here. But if you need me again..."
"I understand." Jack nodded and smiled. "Thank you ever so much for your help."
"Is just duty as Guardian."
North ushered Jack out the door and led him back down the hall to escort him outside once again. He met the yeti who had graciously allowed him inside in the first place, and the two shared an understanding nod between them.
"Farewell, Jack," said North. "Be safe!"
"I will," said Jack, only to spin around and look at North again. "Oh, and just a tip: when the Man in the Moon tells you he needs me... I won't be so keen on being a Guardian by then, so I won't come here willingly. You might want to plan around that."
North laughed. "Shall I kidnap you in sack, then?"
Jack winced. "Must you?" North just laughed at this reaction, and Jack just shook his head and turned to face the yeti. "Thanks for your help today. Over the next couple hundred years, I'm going to give you guys a lot of trouble since I won't have matured yet. I apologize for myself." Jack laughed self consciously. "I never could get past Phil though."
The yeti gave Jack a thumbs up and said "thank you" in Yetish, then Jack turned and said one last goodbye to the two of them and flew off into the night. He'd be able to get home soon now, he was sure. Now off to explain things to Tannie.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it. I'd love some reviews, but whether or not you review, I'll make sure to update soon. Reviews just make me happy, hehe.
Anyway, see you next time!