Chapter Five: The Stranger

That night, Pippa dreamt of Jack. Actually, most of her nights were filled with Jack, usually nightmares of that fateful morning on the Pond. It tended to be the same every night; Jack would save her, only to have an invisible forced break through the ice and pull Jack downwards into the icy black water. One of his hands would reach out for help, but Pippa would be too slow to grab a hold of it.

That hand would be the last thing she saw before waking up in her warm bed. Pippa wouldn't move, too terrified and despondent over the scene she had witnessed. She would pull the blankets tighter over her small body, only to let out tearless, silent sobs for her brother.

But tonight was surprisingly different for Pippa. Despite a hard time falling asleep with her dead brother's laughter still ringing in her ears, Pippa found herself sound asleep with a dream starting to form. She was back on the Pond, frozen in place as she watched the hole from where her brother had been standing close up. It was as if it was reversing as the shattered ice mended back together perfectly.

Pippa expected Jack to pop out of the Pond, but there was no sign of him. Still unable to move her feet, she twisted around, looking for Jack or her Mother. She was all alone.

Then it started to snow. If was a very soft snow fall, reminding her of Christmas morning. The snowflakes fell slowly, wafting in the air playfully before landing softly onto of Pippa. Her long, brown hair was dotted with white, and her nose was red against the single snowflake that fell on it. The morning sun made the falling snow sparkle like stars, and Pippa couldn't help but smile and giggle at the beautiful sight.

However, her small giggle was covered up by roaring laughter. Pippa sucked in a small breath and twisted her body around to see Jack walking out of the woods towards the Pond. He was just how she last saw him, carrying his favorite stick in one hand and completely barefoot. Jack didn't look bothered walking on snow and ice without shoes, rather, he looked content.

Jack came towards Pippa until he was right in front of her. Before Pippa could say anything, Jack bent down to one knee and placed a finger on her slips, shushing her. She stared into his large brown eyes, feeling as if she was about to cry. Jack smiled softly at her before finally speaking to her.

His lips were moving, but no sound came out. Pippa's smile broke as she listened to silence. Jack was speaking, but she couldn't hear a word he was saying. Jack didn't notice that Pippa couldn't hear him, and continued. When he stopped, he gave her a smile before kissing her softly on the cheek.

And as quickly as Jack had come, he stood up and made his way back into the forest. The snow grew harsher, as if a blizzard was beginning. Jack walked into the wall of falling snow, disappearing from Pippa's sight. Finally, the invisible hold that had been keeping her in place was broken, and she ran after her brother.

Pippa entered the blizzard, blinded by the white fury. She only made it several feet in before she ran into something. Pippa looked up, only to see that she had finally caught up to her brother. Or rather, her brother's ghost. It was clearly Jack; he had his face, clothing, and favorite stick in one arm. But his skin was so pale and cold to the touch that Pippa let out a gasp. His face was hallow, eyes sunken in and hair a ratty white in color. He looked dead to her.

Pippa fought back the urge to scream, but lost. Just as she was about let out a scream, Jack took her into a hug and picked her up. Pippa felt Jack's freezing arms around her tighten, and he put his head next to hers, breathing in an audible breath.

Suddenly, Pippa heard her brother's voice.

"I've missed you."

And that was when Pippa woke up, shattering her dream. She woke up with a start, jumping into a sitting position. Pippa was breathing heavily, and she couldn't help but look outside the window to see if it was snowing. To her relief, it wasn't. Pippa kept her gaze outside as she thought of the Jack in her dream.

He had looked like a ghost, a terrifyingly white version of the brother that she loved and missed. It should have terrified her, and it mostly did. But the hug that he had given her made Pippa second guess the terror she felt when he saw her. And his words, 'I've missed you', implied more than she knew. Now instead of Jack's laughter, those words continued to echo in her mind.

Pippa shook her head, forcing herself to put away the strange dream and prepare for the day ahead. The small girl forced herself out of bed and took off her nightgown. She dressed for the cold day before stepping out of her room, finding her Mother on the sofa, already dressed and waiting for her by the fireside.

"Pippa? Come over here, I need to speak to you." Mother said as she stared into the dying fire. Pippa didn't hesitate to sit on the sofa near the fire by her Mother.

Pippa looked at her, wondering why her mother was already dressed for day in a winter coat and hat. Mother glanced at Pippa, her eyes sad, and then they were back focused on the fire. Pippa almost sucked in a sharp breath; her mother's eyes looked haunted, meaning that something had gone wrong.

"My darling daughter. A messenger came in the middle of the night on horseback. It was Matthew Anderson, one of your father's friends. Remember him from when you were a little babe?" Mother said, a forced smile appearing on her face. But that smile was quickly replaced with a saddened, tight frown. "There's been an accident at the mill, my Pippa."

A silence grew over the household. Pippa's eyes widened, and she looked at her mother, asking silent questions.

"Is Father?" Pippa finally spoke, her voice small.

Mother sniffed in a breath before answering. "He's survived, but has been sacked due to his injuries. Your father is being sent home, Pippa. I'm leaving to fetch him, and I won't be back until next week. Ms. Johnson and her son will keep an eye on you while I'm gone."

Ms. Johnson was the elderly lady who lived in the house nearest to theirs. When both Jack and Pippa were young, she and her son Sean would babysit the two whenever Father and Mother had to travel to the saw mill. Ever since Jack was old enough to take care of the two of them, their parents had felt comfortable enough to allow them to fend for themselves. But now that Jack was gone . . .

"Do I have to stay at her house?" Pippa asked quietly, frowning slightly at the thought of spending a whole week at a partially deaf old woman's house.

Mother shook her head. "No, but she will make sure that Sean will check up on you three or four times a day. They'll bring you food so you don't have to cook, and I've already paid them for their services."

As Mother spoke, she saw Pippa's miserable expression. Mother forced herself to stop with a sigh, and she took her only living child into a hug. Pippa hugged the woman back, happy for the badly needed affection. The small girl found herself beginning to cry. Mother heard her and began rocking the girl gently, despite the fact that she had already outgrown such comforts.

"I know that this had been a testing winter. Our Jackson gone and now Father without a job. But don't you worry, darling, we'll make it through." Mother said as she patted Pippa's head. "Come spring, we'll have a new beginning. I'm sure of it."

With that said, Mother put Pippa back down and stood up. She straightened herself out before heading to the door and opening it slightly, only pausing to look at Pippa one last time.

"Please be careful, my Pippa." Mother said softly.

Mother closed the door behind her, stopping the cool air from entering their small, log house. Pippa watched her Mother's figure slowly walk down the dirt road towards Burgess. She walked past the Pond, and then turned around the bend, finally out of Pippa's sight.

Pippa was left alone in silence. She looked around the house, sensing how lonely it suddenly felt. The house felt cold, and it wasn't because of the dying fire, but that she felt too alone. Her mother had been her only companion since Jack died, but now that she was off to bring her injured father home, she didn't even have that comfort.

Mindlessly, Pippa picked herself up from the couch and turned to stand in front of the fire. She stood there and warmed herself before putting on a small log on the embers. The fire slowly grew, and Pippa put her hands near it, feeling the warmth that came off of it. She sighed and then slowly pulled a strand of her brown hair behind one of her ears.

"I've missed you." Jack's voice suddenly called out to her.

Pippa looked up, surprised that the voice had been as clear as it had been in her dream. Her brown eyes immediately went to a window, staring at the Pond through it. The early morning light made the snow around it shine brightly, matching the gleam of the Pond's ice. It was a pretty sight, but Pippa felt nothing more than remorse as she stared at it.

"I miss you too, Jack." Pippa said softly to herself as she stared through the window.

Just then, Pippa saw some snow fall off of a tree next to the Pond, along with what looked like a old wooden stick. Pippa frowned, her eyebrows mashing together as she did so, and took the few steps until she was by the door. She opened the door and took a step outside, inspecting the snowfall. Just when she thought she was being unreasonable, Pippa let out a gasp as she witnessed someone fall out of the same tree.

The poor person hit the tree's other branches as they tumbled their way down to the ground. It looked rather painful to Pippa, and she ran towards the Pond without thinking. Whoever it was must have been seriously injured from such a fall. Without her coat on, Pippa started shivering in the cold, holding herself as she neared the Pond.

It wasn't long before Pippa spotted the poor man. She slowed down her pace as she neared the unmoving body lying face down in the dense, freezing snow. Pippa paused, noticing the rise and fall of the person's body, telling her that whoever it was was still alive. She gave out a small sigh as she saw the body move and she bent down over the body and pulled the man over to his other side.

She let out a small yelp and jumped backwards as she saw who it was.

"It can't be." Pippa muttered to herself as she tried to steady her heartbeat. She clawed at her shawl, trying to calm her heart. "I must be dreaming."

It looked like Jack; the resemblance was uncanny. But it looked more like Pippa's dream version of her brother. It couldn't have been her brother. He had snow white hair similar to her dream version's, not her brother's brown locks. His skin was so pale. Too pale. It looked as if his complexion had been bleached by the cold weather.

Pippa began backing away slowly, wondering if she was still dreaming, when the Jack look-alike let out a sick cough. The girl watched in amazement when the Jack look-alike coughed, his breath not visible to her.

Pippa wanted nothing more than to run, to hide from this dream version of her brother. But she had touched him, and he had felt real under her fingertips. And he was sick and in pain, that much Pippa could tell from the sound and the blackish blue colored bruises that were slowly forming on his visibly pale skin.

She had to help him; this was Jack, her brother.

Jack had never felt this horrible before in his life, or rather the life that he remembered. He never had been sick, so he never knew what it felt like to be sick. Never understood the instinctual wanting to sleep the sickness off. Never felt like he was sure that he was going to die by his body's own advances. Jack had never felt like that.

That is, until he fell asleep in the tree.

It was then that his body started to fight off whatever the time travel had done to him. It made him tired, it made him weak. It made him feel like he was going to die a painfully slow death. Jack suffered in his sleep, Baby Tooth not faring much better. His body temperature would fluctuate from his usual 23 degree Fahrenheit to above freezing and to what felt unbearably cold even to him. Jack was in a constant state of shivering or sweating, never finding a happy medium as he slept.

And his stomach felt off, which was strange since as an immortal being, he had no use for eating. Yes, he ate whenever it was offered or whenever he felt like it, but he didn't need to eat. And the last time Jack ate had been a few month ago, nowhere close enough for the food to remain inside his digestive track.

To say that Jack was ill would be an understatement.

When Jack was finally coming to, the first thing he noticed was that he was unbearably warm. It felt like he was standing right in front of an oven, which Jack usually tried to avoid doing. The heat was agonizing, making him let out a painfully sick groan. Jack felt a wet, sickly substance on his forehead, only to realize that he was sweating.

And Jack Frost never sweats.

He tried to wrestle away from the heat, only to realize that he was no longer up in a tree, but somewhere else covered in multiple blankets. That revelation made Jack stop wrestling and think for a second. Someone had found him, and then taken him away. This was not good.

The winter spirit was slow to open his eyes, wondering if whoever took him had bad intentions. Then he remembered that no one should believe in him in this time period, leaving only the Guardians and other immortal beings that could have taken him away from the safety of the tree. Jack almost let out a sigh of relief, but stopped when realizing that Pitch could have done it.

And in the state that he was in, Jack wasn't healthy enough to put up a fight with Pitch, his Fearlings, or any other malevolent beings.

However, when Jack opened his eyes slightly, he saw that he was in a log cabin. Just a normal log cabin. Jack moved his head slightly to see that he was resting on a sofa, blankets piled on top of him and a steady fire to his right. Well, now he knew where all the unbearable heat was coming from. One mystery was solved.

But why was he here?

Jack slowly and silently sat up, only to see the back of a girl's head sitting at a table. She looked like she was reading, or doing something else that had the girl focused. Jack slowed down his movements even more, not wanting to alert her.

With that in mind, Jack peeled off the many blankets to try and give his body some badly needed cool air. Jack cringed as the blankets ruffled loudly, but the girl didn't seem to notice. Either that, or Jack had been moving quite a lot in his sleep. But then he remembered, no one should be able to see or hear him.

He waited for a few seconds before shifting his legs down to the ground, the cold floorboards feeling wonderful to his bare feet.

He pushed himself upwards into a standing position, and almost lost his balance in the process. He still wasn't feeling too well, and had to focus on standing without getting lightheaded. Jack looked around for his staff, but seeing it nowhere. Jack frowned at that; without the staff, he couldn't channel his powers. He had to find it, but first he had to get out of here.

First testing if his body was capable of moving, Jack stepped forward. He still felt awful, but without his staff, he'd be more powerless and vulnerable than he already was. Jack took a hesitant step forward, being careful where he did step. Jack looked up at the girl and smiled when he saw that he didn't alert her. Now with more confidence, Jack took another step, only to step on a squeaky board.

Jack heard the girl let out a gasp and then saw her spin around in her chair. Jack's reaction was faster and he jumped backwards, landing on top of the couch's side as softly as a deftly falling snowflake. The girl watched in awe, her brown eyes trailing Jack as he jumped. That gave it away.

"Ca-can you see me?" Jack asked slowly as he got off of the couch's side, making an agonized face as his stomach shot a burst of pain through his body.

The girl let out another gasp, this one of astonishment. She stood up, out of the chair, and took a hesitant step towards Jack. Jack watched her, suddenly realizing how familiar she looked.

"It is you!" The girl whispered before she ran straight into Jack. She took his stomach into her arms and squeezed tightly. Affectionately. Jack was shocked, his brain working too slowly to remember who this little girl was. His sickness wasn't helping him. Suddenly, Jack felt warm tears seep into his blue hoodie. "I saw you in the snow and I thought it was you. I wasn't sure, but that's your voice!"

Then it hit Jack. This was his sister that was hugging him. This was Pippa.

"Pippa?" Jack asked, almost choking on his voice as he looked down at the child.

The girl squeezed him harder and let out a small sob as an answer, and Jack all but stopped breathing for a second. He couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say to his sister? He never thought that he'd ever see her in this lifetime. So Jack did the only thing he could do; act on brotherly instinct and bend down on one knee to hug Pippa back.

Jack savored the feeling of touching his sister. Never in his life did he think that he could do this again. The warmth that her body gave off didn't even bother him in his sickened state. In fact, he cherished the feeling, and maybe even started crying himself.

However, when Pippa started shivering from his cold body temperature, Jack was forced to let the girl go. Pippa unwillingly let Jack pry her off of him, but made sure that she grabbed a hold of one of his freezing pale hands.

Finally, Jack had to ask. "Pippa, how can you see me?"

Pippa looked up at his face, but looked down when the two made eye contact for some reason. She snuffed, stepping back a couple feet, taking her hand out of his. Jack looked down at her, and she glanced at his eyes again, only to look away again. Jack frowned at that.

"What do you mean?" Pippa asked, snuffling slightly. She finally caught on that something wasn't right here. "Of course I can see you."

"No, I mean . . ." Jack said as he took a step towards his sister. Pippa took another hesitant step backwards, so Jack froze. Jack made a pained expression; he was going to have to tell her. "Pippa? How long have I been dead?"

Pippa frowned as she stared right up into Jack's pale face. "But, but you're here?"

Jack shook his head, his voice ready to break at any second. "No Pippa. I— I died when I saved you. I drowned, Pippa. How long have I been dead?"

A/N: Please excuse this long delay. I had quite some trouble writing this, and it still isn't how I wanted it to be. It's good for now, but I'll most likely re-visit this in the near future.

Also, thank you for all this support! I was genuinely surprised at the number of people that have taken the time to read this. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It has seriously made the beginning of this December awesome for me.