A/N: Thank you so much for your support! I can't believe there are only five days left! (Well, four now.) :D

December 20th

Baking

The North Pole's kitchens were always busy. Yetis bustled around, aprons and hats on, yelling to each other, and taking care of their own goods. Elves were herded off to a corner where they made their fruitcake, and weren't allowed in the actual cooking area.

There were a total of twelve kitchens in all, each located in different areas, and some rarely used.

Jack loved the busy ones that he would barely get a glimpse of when he broke in , but it was in the abandoned ones he could mess around. None of the yetis really minded - except for maybe Phil - and so he learned to cook at the Pole. Santa didn't even know Jack broke into the Workshop, and he for certain didn't know the winter spirit used his kitchens.

At first Jack had just used it to snack off of, but then he uncovered some cookbooks in the pantry. It took a long time, getting used to putting things in a hot oven, and a lot of errors, (There was still syrup on the ceiling from one such incident.) but soon he could cook at least as well as the elves.

It didn't really change after his entrance into Guardianship, though he had to be more discreet about it, since North knew he was there.

He wasn't really sure how it happened, though he figured that the yetis did it on purpose. Earlier that day he'd made his special no-bake cookies and left them to cool in the fridge. After that he left so as not to be late to the monthly meeting. And lo and behold, suddenly the elves were serving up the chocolate goodness to North's guests. Jack hadn't noticed until Sandy started waving his around, exclamation points surrounding his head.

"What is it Sandy?" North asked.

The Dreamweaver happily pointed toward the cookie in his hand before popping it in his mouth. Curiousity piked, North picked one up himself, observing the odd little ball. Crunching into the cookie, a muffled "rimsky-korsakov!" was heard.

Bunny, wanting in on the action, ate one of his own, eyebrows raising at the taste. With Sandy grabbing even more, Tooth carefully took one, not biting into it.

"Tooth! Try the cookie! Is delicious!"

"But- but my teeth-"

"Bah! Is special circumstance. Try it!"

Flinching as she bit a tiny corner off of it, Tooth's eyes widened.

That left Jack as the last one, and North shoved the platter to him. Swallowing, he shook his head. North tried to get him to have one, but he didn't feel like it right then. Who could have done this to him?

"North, which yeti made these?"

"I do not know! Jingle, who made the cookies?"

Grinning hugely, the elf in question raced over to Jack, pointing an accusing finger at the teen. The winter spirit shrank away from the elf, pressing himself up against the wall.

Cocking his head, the Cossack asked, "Jack made the cookies?"

Jingle nodded enthusiastically.

Looking at the boy in question, North questioned, "Jack, is this true?!"

'Uhm. . ." He trailed off before muttering, ". . .yes?. . ."

Laughing, North hugged the boy to his chest.

"You must teach yetis recipe! Is delicious!"

"Guess it wasn' bad - for ya' Frostbite." Bunny sighed.

Tooth stayed silent, warring with herself about the taste and the whiteness of her teeth.

Sandy was still scarfing down more as another exclamation point appeared over his head.

And so, that was where the Guardian's tradition of eating Jack's special no-bake cookies every time they met. They were always especially requested around Christmas, for the chocolate taste. Jack never really got rid of his reputation as a chef, and Bunny only teased him about it every year.