The rest of the Winter Olympics passed in a blur, and Jamie couldn't care much, but he had particularly enjoyed watching Jack mess around with the athletes. Extra ice patches, more snow and the occasional breeze. When Jamie tried to point this out to Pippa, however, she merely shot him a stern look and remarked, "Oh, so if an accident occurs, we'll know just who's responsible."
Jamie glanced down at the steep slope, eyeing the smooth snow. He had gone skiing before, but that was a long time ago. His ears picked up on a slight disturbance in the air and smiled upwards. Jack landed lightly next to him. "Ready?"
The gulp that followed startled the winter spirit. "I don't know, Jack," Jamie spoke. The rest of them had been talking about skiing earlier, and Emily's words echoed in his mind: for a skier to hit a rock or any other obstacle at these speeds would spell disaster. As much as he missed the adrenaline rush and having Jack steer him, it was a huge risk.
"Maybe you should sit this one out, Jack. I'm sorry," said Jamie, slowly, after a long pause. Jack's grin vanished as he took a step back. Jamie, not wanting to look the spirit in the eye, had a staring competition with his feet.
"Alright," Jack finally conceded.
#
The memory was still crystal clear in his mind; the first time Jamie had set eyes on the birth certificate, he had instantly turned to Sophie with a raised eyebrow and "Seriously? Ethan Aster? E. Aster? What are you playing at Sophie?"
For the first time in a long time, the Bennett siblings exchanged huge, warm grins. "Oh, come on. You know who..." Sophie's reply had been cut short by the appearance of her perpetually-dishevelled husband. Jamie had thrown him a dirty look which he didn't notice (though Sophie did) and scuttled out of the ward, uttering a quick "I have to go, goodbye" on the way out.
"Uncle Jamie!" the kid's shriek shattered the tranquility of the lakeside. A five-year old, full of energy, leaped from his mother's car as soon as the door was opened and bounded into his uncle's outstretched arms. Though his ruffled blonde hair was unruly like his father's, Jamie was secretly glad he inherited his mother's green eyes.
"How's little Easter?" Jamie asked, as he swung the kid around, eliciting joyful screams from the latter. Despite Sophie's slight dissent, he had been using that nickname ever since that day in the hospital. Ethan, however, seemed to like it.
"Ethan! Come here!" Sophie called. The child ran towards her, hugged her legs before grabbing hold of her finger and dragging her towards Jamie.
"Come play with us, mama!" he grinned widely up at her. Sophie got onto her knees, smoothed back his hair (which immediately stood straight back up) and kissed his forehead. "I can't, kiddo, sorry. Put on your best behaviour and have a great time with Uncle Jamie, alright? I have a feeling you'll have a blast." Sophie looked up at Jamie, who towered over both of them, and winked. "I'll be along in the evening." She stood up and turned to her brother. For a moment, they both just stared at each other; Sophie, trying to say something and Jamie, just waiting for it. Ethan clutched at the hem of his uncle's shirt and looked from his mother to his uncle and back again.
"Is this the part where you grant me permission to 'fill his head with fantasies'?" Jamie finally spoke, after Sophie had gone silent for far too long. "Pippa's words, by the way, not mine."
Though slightly annoyed by the air quotes Jamie had enacted with his fingers, she sighed before nodding. "Well, we did have a healthy dose from mom, too, right?" she said. "I just don't know if his father will approve."
"Oh, don't worry about it." Jamie waved her worries away. "I'll be sure to tell him about a limit, but... you know how kids are." Before Sophie could respond, he took a few steps backwards and quickly added, "Run along to work now, you don't want to be late. There's a good girl." Sophie shot him a glare, but hurried off anyway, after bidding Ethan goodbye one more time.
As Jamie walked back towards the cabin, Ethan hurried along backwards, facing his uncle. "What are we gonna do first, Uncle Jamie?"
Jamie hesitated. The boy was right; what were they going to do? In all five years of his life, this was the first time Ethan was put into Jamie's care. The adult was just glad John had something up and Sophie had to go to the studio and Ethan's babysitter was ill.
Instinctively, Jamie looked upwards at the sky, half-expecting to see a familiar face circling him, but all he saw was a vast blue sky dotted with the topmost branches of trees around them, and wisps of clouds drifting lazily by. His mind flashed back to a past memory, his previous meeting with Jack. Wasn't it three years back, during the reunion with his friends? He had dismissed the spirit for fear of his own safety. He didn't see Jack at the end of trip. And ever since then, he hadn't seen him.
Jamie's heart rate accelerated for a minute. For the past three years, he had been too wrapped up in his work and hadn't given much thought to the Guardians. Besides the lake, there wasn't much to remind him of them, anyway. Jack hardly dropped by, though whenever he did, he would only stay for a very short period of time before sensing that Jamie just did not have the time and taking off. Had he decided to leave for good? Looking down at Ethan's wide eyes filled with anticipation, Jamie was suddenly overcome by an urge to smack himself as guilt creeped through him.
"Is something wrong?" Ethan's voice snapped Jamie out of his reverie.
"Everything's fine, kiddo." Jamie forced a smile. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"
They were only halfway out of the area, Ethan talking nineteen to the dozen about Christmas and the plans Sophie were already making when a voice interrupted him. "Having fun without me? Now I'm offended."
Jamie halted in his tracks immediately, and whirled around only to see the familiar face he had been seeking, equipped with its signature smirk. "Hey, Jack," was all he could manage. He looked down at Ethan, but the boy was looking up at his uncle with a strange expression.
"Uncle Jamie? Why did you stop?"
Jack inched towards the boy just as the latter sneezed. "It's getting chilly, uncle, let's go somewhere warmer," he implored, tugging at Jamie's shirt. Jack got on his knees and peered at the five-year old, who only looked through him.
"Jamie, is this...?"
"Bunny never told you?"
"Who are you talking to?" Ethan sounded scared, and was starting to inch away from his uncle.
"Bunny stopped paying her visits ever since the wedding. I suppose she never told him, either." There was a note of disappointment in Jack's voice.
Jamie was on his knees in a second and held Ethan by the shoulders, his brown eyes wide and staring directly into the boy's green ones. Slightly startled, Ethan looked as though he was about to cry, but Jamie quickly hushed him. "Hey, kid, has your mom ever told you about the Easter Bunny? The Sandman?"
"S-she reads stories to me," Ethan stuttered, clearly thinking this outing with his uncle was not as fun as he had expected. He sniffed. "But papa says they're... rubbish."
"Of course he would say that," Jamie muttered to himself, before turning back to the boy. "But do you believe in them?"
Ethan hesitated. "I've never seen them," was all he said.
"Because you don't believe in them," Jamie didn't sound disappointed, but on the contrary, excited.
The boy finally shrugged. "Maybe not."
"Okay, but listen to me," Jamie spoke, his voice suddenly dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "All those stories you hear from your mom, about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman... all of them, are real. Even Santa Claus."
Ethan merely gaped at his uncle. "But... But it's dad who dresses up as Santa every year."
At the topic of John dressing up as Santa, Jamie remembered his mother. "Granny tells you these stories, too, doesn't she? Believe every word she says."
A strange look crossed the boy's face. He suddenly seemed rather uncomfortable. "She told me... she told me stories, but I heard her telling mama that she doesn't want me to become like you, Uncle Jamie."
Jamie's smile faded in an instant. "What?" he heard himself asking. But he didn't need an answer. When was the last time he had paid his mother a visit and not have her questioning his current marital status and his frequent trips to the lake? The way he still talked about the Guardians from time to time? "She's disappointed with me," he muttered to himself, as the realisation slapped him in the face.
"Jamie." Ethan sneezed again as Jack got closer.
The adult shook his head, trying to shake the thought away. He turned back to Ethan with a pained smile. "That's okay, kid. But can you do your Uncle Jamie a favour?"
#
"Is that Jack Frost?"
Ethan curled up in the rocking-chair, cradling Rise of the Guardians, fingering the illustrations and trying to read. He held up the book and pointed at a picture of the white-haired spirit.
"Yes, yes, that's him!" Jamie beamed, though underneath, resentment towards a rather large community of people was building up. His mother was reluctant to tell her grandson stories she had once told them for fear that the boy might grow up to be like his uncle, a dreamer. An adult who still believed. Sophie was just being submissive as her husband dismissed all of it as fairy tales. Pippa and the others were too busy with their own lives to give much thought.
"Mama told me he had white hair, but she never really drew a picture of him," Ethan said.
"How ironic, since she is the artist of that picture," Jamie muttered to himself. He glanced out of the window at the winter spirit who was perched by the lake, staring into its depths. Not wanting Jack to summon up any bad memories, Jamie hurriedly turned back to his nephew. "Kiddo, here's the favour," he spoke, his voice gentle but urgent. "I want you to believe in Jack Frost."
"Huh?"
"This boy..." Jamie eased the book out of the kid's hands and pointed at the illustrated Jack flying through the streets of St. Petersburg. "... is as real as you and me. Well, not completely real, but almost real. He can't be seen by some people, but if you believe in him, you can see him." Judging by the look on the boy's face, Jamie's explanation had only served to confuse him more. "Okay, come with me." They exited the cabin and went outdoors. Jack looked up as they approached, his expression slightly pained.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Jack waved the question away. Noticing that Ethan was still casting slightly worried looks around and not noticing him, he asked, "So, what is it that I have to do?"
Jamie gestured at a nearby tree. "Easterboy, look over there. At that tree. Yes, that one. It's still autumn, right? What if I were to tell you that Jack Frost is here, and in a few moments you will see patterns of ice swirling across the bark?" Jack crossed over to the tree, and raised his staff. He looked back at Jamie, waiting.
Ethan merely gave his uncle the same confused expression he had been doling out since the topic on the Guardians had been brought up.
"Just look," Jamie whispered. He nodded at Jack.
The boy's green eyes widened to the size of golf balls as frost appeared out of nowhere on the bark and swirled, spreading all over the tree. Jamie watched his nephew, keeping his fingers crossed behind his back, all the while expecting the boy to just turn and run away, screaming for Sophie.
A few moments passed. Ethan blinked several times before suddenly turning away from the tree, shutting his eyes and clasping his hands as though he was praying. "I believe, I believe, I believe," he muttered under his breath. "I believe in Jack Frost." He reopened his eyes and turned slowly as Jamie watched with bated breath. A heartbeat later, a huge grin stretched across the boy's face and he stared straight at Jack.
"Jack Frost! He's real!" Ethan sprinted towards Jack and have the spirit a very sudden hug, almost making him topple over. He broke away, still bouncing on the balls of his feet in glee.
"Kids..." Jamie mumbled, but he was beaming brighter than he had in years. He approached the child and the guardian. "Jack, meet Ethan Aster. E. Aster." Jack grinned. "Easterboy, meet Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun."
"Does this mean that the Easter Bunny is real, too?"
"Yes, yes!" Jamie enthused. "Every one of them is real."
"Can I meet them, too?" Ethan's eyes sparkled.
Jack and Jamie exchanged glances. The boy looked from one to the other, expectantly. "This calls for a field trip, then, I suppose," Jack finally spoke. "You might want to grab a coat, kid."
As Ethan ran indoors, an awkward silence reigned over Jamie and Jack. Both stood about four feet apart from each other, avoiding eye contact.
"I'm sorry," Jamie finally spoke. "For... dismissing you. I never stopped believing, but I..."
"Jamie." The adult looked up, noticing with a jolt, that he was taller than Jack. Jamie couldn't digest the fact that he was old enough to be the spirit's father had he not been forever frozen as a teenager. It somehow made him feel sick. "It's okay." He heaved an inaudible sigh of relief.
"Can we go now? Can we go now?" Ethan was back.
Sorry for the late update! There were tests and once that was over I was suddenly so preoccupied with my own story. Inspiration can sometimes be an annoying twit who constantly threatens to disappear if you don't acknowledge it. I apologise, again. And even more if this chapter was either a little too rushed or just plain boring and dumb.
So yeah, I don't really know what Bunnymund's first name is, but a friend said it was 'Ethan', so I'm just gonna go with it. And here, I made Sophie conveniently plagiarise it. ;-P And looks like there might be some falling-out among the Bennetts. And something bad was supposed to happen to Pippa in the first part, but in the end I decided not to incorporate it so I'm sorry if the first part sounds a little weird. :-P
Thanks for reading!