It's Dark; It's Cold; It's Winter

Rise of the Guardians fanfiction

Pitch/Jack/Pitch, eventually

Disclaimers: I am sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I've been pretty sick for the past week, and for me, trying to write while sick is just asking for trouble. No, I haven't given up on it, but I just needed a bit of time to get better. Sorry for the wait, and here we go!

Chapter Three

"Hey, North. I want to talk to you. You busy?"

There was no response from the other side of the door. Jack frowned a little and shifted his weight, his knuckles hovering beside the heavy wood before he knocked again. "North?" he called, a bit more uncertainly than last time. He had been positive that the man would be in here, considering that he was going to be busy with preparations for Christmas pretty soon and he had to get everything in order. He had even heard the singing, though he was fairly positive there was another door into the room and he might have left or something. Honestly, if he wasn't here, Jack didn't have the slightest idea where to go about looking for him.

It's a sign, he thought to himself. This is a sign that I really shouldn't be talking to him about this. Seriously, what would I even say? I can't mention Pitch to him or to any of the other guardians, not like this...!

His brain had almost convinced him to turn around and walk off, be glad that North hadn't answered the door, when it swung open. The much larger male was dusting ice shavings from his hands as he looked down, first somewhere at the vicinity of Jack's knees, then up towards his face; clearly, he had been expecting an elf, not the other Winter spirit.

"Ah, Jack!" he said in that voice that always made Jack think he was glad to see him. It brought a smile to his lips in spite of himself, his head tilting to the side as he braced both hands on his crook. It was good, he thought, to be somewhere that everyone always seemed glad to run into him. "Come in, come in, I was just going to take break," North continued, waving Jack in as he turned around and headed back to his workbench.

Jack followed obediently, his eyes immediately drawn to what North had been making: a working Ferris wheel carved out of a large chunk of ice. The seats swung independently in their holders and the entire thing spun; if there had been little ice children in the seats, it would have been absolutely perfect. Sitting on the other side and studying the structure with wide eyes, he only half listened as the elder guardian summoned in an elf and got a mug of hot chocolate and cookies. Jack wasn't offended at not having any offered to him; after all, he would have either hurt himself on the drink or frozen it solid, and besides, considering that none of them strictly needed to eat, the cookies went ignored on his part. There was a moment of shuffling with the elves before North finally managed to usher them out and took a deep breath.

"So, Jack," he asked, and Jack blinked a few times, looking at him in the gaps of the ice structure that stood between them. "What is it that I can do for you? It is not like you to come to my door at this time, so I know it must be something important."

Jack nearly winced at those words and the subtle reminder that North really was too busy for interruptions right now. A more ignorant soul could make the claim that, considering the ice sculpture now on the table, it was clear he had time on his hands, but Jack knew better. That was what North did when he was thinking, and even though he tended to do the same thing every year, it always consisted of new and different elements. Considering how long North had been doing this, it was no surprise that he needed time to come up with something that had never been done before.

"No, yeah, I know," Jack said, his eyes darting to the side evasively. "I just... it... do you promise you won't mention this to Bunny? I mean, yeah, I know, you're busy, I can go, I just didn't... I don't know who else I can talk to, and it's been a few months, and..."

Holding up a large hand, North waved it at him, though Jack couldn't help feeling embarrassed at the spark of understanding that had lit in the other male's eyes. "All right, all right. I think I may know where you are heading. But continue. I promise, not a word will be said to any of the other guardians."

Despite his refreshed embarrassment, Jack took a deep breath and nodded. "But... but really, I mean, if you're super busy I can go, this isn't the most important-"

"Jack," North interrupted with a laugh. "It is obviously important to you, and this makes it important to me. As I said, I am on break, I do not mind taking a few moments to help."

Smiling a bit uncertainly, Jack cleared his throat and refocused on the sculpture, his hand moving out to spin it a little bit. There was a soft music that played as he did so and what looked like specks of colored light flashed from deep within the ice; he smiled a little bit wider, never failing to be a bit in awe of the Santa Claus Magic no matter how many times he had seen it. His expression turned more serious as he began speaking. "I, uh... about a year ago, I was talking to Bunny, right? And he told me that the memories that Tooth holds are... you know, all of the memories of youth. And he said that I could see more of my life if I went back there." When North nodded in agreement, Jack waved a hand. "I know, I went to Tooth and she basically told me the same thing, and so I was looking at my memories and... ehm..."

North looked at him patiently, but the knowing look that continued to grow in his eyes was setting Jack on edge more than just a little bit. Jack cleared his throat again, a little rougher than before, and shifted in his seat before continuing. "So, uh, over the past year, I've been looking at them, right? Just seeing... different things, and there was one with... with this..."

Jack stopped talking as North held up a hand, sighing. "I think I know what you would tell me, Jack, and if you would prefer not to say it out loud, that is understandable." The Winter spirit nearly went slack with relief at those words, but he caught the faint smile from under the larger guardian's beard. "You have been thinking about what you saw in the memory, correct?" When Jack nodded, North did as well. "It has been on your mind much, because it is not something of this life. You would ask me if thinking such things is... bad, or unnatural, or somehow makes you a worse person, yes?"

Jack reached up to rub the back of his neck, starting a bit when North stood up. He did as well, mostly because the height difference between them was great enough that he didn't want to put more of a gap between them, and turned to face the other male as he walked around the table and put two large hands on his narrow shoulders. "Jack, listen to me," North said quietly. "Yes, it is true; this is not normally part of a Guardian's life, or the life of any immortal."

"Except Cupid," Jack muttered under his breath, hoping to alleviate some of the heavy atmosphere in the room that had formed since he came in. To his relief, North laughed, shaking his head.

"There are many things that Cupid is an exception to, but it is not... wise to think of him as an example," North said, still amused. "The point, Jack, is that such things not being a usual part of an immortal's life does not make them any less natural. You are not human, yes?"

Jack shook his head, raising one eyebrow slowly.

"But you can still feel happiness, yes? Happiness, sadness, anger, many different emotions."

"Yes," Jack agreed, drawing the word out a bit.

"There you go. You feel many different emotions, and of these emotions, love is one. This is just a natural part of love."

"Love...?" Jack mumbled under his breath, a confused frown forming on his features. Surely not. That... that couldn't possibly be the reason.

Could it?

"Yes, love. There are many kinds of love, and you express love in many different kinds of ways for that reason. The love of family, the love of friends, and yes, even romantic love are all pure and beautiful things, Jack. Do not think otherwise."

"I... yeah, I guess that makes sense," Jack said, though his frown still hadn't left his face.

Laughing quietly, North shook his head. "Why do you not go flying for a while? It is good weather for it around here, and I am sure we could use a little extra snow to help the yetis get into their work."

Finally smiling, Jack nodded his head. "Yeah. I think I'll do that. Thanks, North."

"You are welcome any time, Jack."

That had been a very good idea that North had given him.

Well, a good idea in theory.

Burgess saw an early snowfall that year as Jack returned to the first place he remembered as Jack Frost, as well as the place he knew Jackson Overland to have been born. Perching on a tree near the lake, which was not frozen like it had been most every time he had seen it, Jack leaned back against the trunk and let out a heavy sigh. What was he doing here? Looking for some comfort in what probably equated as his old memories? Theoretically, he could go hang out with Jamie (it was surprising that the boy still believed in him, considering he was in junior high now), but... he didn't think that would make him feel any better, right now.

Muttering under his breath, he smacked himself repeatedly in the forehead with the crook of his staff. He had hoped talking to North would put things in perspective, but... it hadn't. He was more confused now than he had been before, if that was even possible, and his brain was providing him with a simple solution that really wasn't all that simple, when you really thought about it.

And that was why he was here, by this lake, wasn't it? Because this was the last place that he had seen Pitch so long ago. Sure, technically five years wasn't that long in the grand scheme of things, not with how long he personally had been alive, but there was just something about it that felt long.

"What am I doing..." Jack muttered under his breath, the question more of a reprimand as he took a deep breath and let his eyes slide shut. Hanging his head slowly, he sat like that for a long moment before slowly looking down towards the lake, his eyes scanning around the perimeter of the shore until he found it.

A hole. There was no bed over it, not anymore, but the hole was there as if it had never been forced closed. He wondered, sometimes, what had happened to Pitch. There would always be fear, just as he had said, and he didn't doubt that. If there would always be fear, there would always be Pitch. Besides, he was an immortal just like the rest of them. He didn't think getting rid of him would be as easy as all that. Still, the question of what had happened to him when his nightmares had pulled him down into the earth, and how the hole had been reopened... He had seen nightmares around very rarely, but there had been no sign of their master and for that reason there had been no cause for worry.

But did their reappearance, and the reopening of the hole into the dark caverns, mean that Pitch was getting ready to rise again?

Jack didn't know how he felt about that, and not knowing made him more than a little nervous. After all, Pitch was his enemy. He was not supposed to be uncertain about his return. It was supposed to make him angry, ready to fight, ready to beat him back... but he wasn't. It was a strange feeling, because the thought that Pitch was around didn't exactly make him happy, either, nor did it make him relieved or fearful. It was simply... something he acknowledged.

They were enemies. It wasn't supposed to work that way.

Jumping down from the tree he was in, Jack walked across the lake, freezing it as he went and listening to the ice crack off the path he was forming behind him in the warmish September water. The snow that was falling was light, just keeping the air cool enough that it was pleasant for him and probably very confusing for the townsfolk nearby. He smiled very faintly at that thought, shaking his head a little before he stopped next to the small hole that yawned open into the darkness below.

There was no one with him this time, no one to act as his voice of reason and tell him that this was probably a terrible idea and he needed to turn back right now. Taking a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes and repeated an internal mantra to himself: I'm not afraid. I just want to know.

With that, he stepped off the edge of the hole and disappeared quickly into the darkness below.

Not seeing Pitch immediately was a very welcome thing. Not that he had expected the Nightmare King to be hanging around beneath one of probably countless exits to his lair, of course; still, the thought that he could have run into Pitch before he was fully ready to had crossed his mind and then stuck there to turn into a big enough worry that he felt relief in seeing he was just being paranoid. Not particularly wanting to get lost, he placed the end of his staff next to him and, as quietly and carefully as he could, let it drag alongside him to leave a thin, clear line of ice that would be simple enough to follow and wouldn't melt without his making it do so.

Finding the huge central room that housed the black globe and had once contained both the teeth and each little baby tooth in cages was simple enough, but it looked so much more cavernous and empty with neither golden tubes nor cages everywhere. Dreary, that was a good word for it. Looking around the place just made him depressed and he didn't know why but it also triggered something of a twinge of sympathy for the Nightmare King. He dismissed that feeling the next moment. After all, Pitch probably had his lair this way because that was how he liked it. There was no sense in feeling badly for him, since Jack doubted it even crossed Pitch's mind to live in a place that wasn't dark and oppressive.

Just like him, actually.

He was on edge enough that he could almost hear the shadows moving behind him, and for that, he didn't jump when he heard the voice.

"Jack Frost, is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Jack turned around, but he didn't back up like he had in his dreams. He kept his hands on his staff and instead leaned against it, tipping his head. "Hey, Pitch. I see you're up and active."

"No thanks to you," Pitch said slowly, raising one eyebrow at the Winter spirit's manner and clearly treating it with more suspicion than reception. "What brings you down here? The desire for an epic battle, the thought you may be able to vanquish me once and for all...?" He trailed off slowly, folding his hands behind his back as he started walking slowly around Jack in a very wide circle, so wide it took a moment for Jack to realize that he was circling him. Like a shark scenting blood in the water, he thought to himself as he moved to keep Pitch in his gaze at all times.

"No," Jack said with a shrug. "I just happened to notice that the hole was open and I came to investigate. You know me, I can't leave anything alone."

"That's true enough," Pitch said without amusement, though his tone did suggest that he agreed. The lack of aggression the Nightmare King was showing was a bit confusing, and for now, Jack pushed aside his own problems to frown a little at him.

"Not gonna attack me?" he asked slowly. "I mean, I thought you had this whole... Destroy the Guardians thing going on, and considering that I am one now, shouldn't you be after my blood?"

"Oh, Jack, don't be stupid," Pitch said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not an idiot. I have barely enough power to do my work with my fearlings, I am not going to attempt to take on the Guardians without a good deal more preparation than I had last time, and that took me from the Dark Ages to five years ago to prepare. No, you can have your little... holidays, and snow flurries, and whatever else it is you do."

Jack frowned a little. "...wait, you're telling me that you don't have any power?"

"Didn't I just tell you not to be stupid?" Pitch asked with a raised eyebrow. "You will find out anyway, and I'm not so full of bravado that I think I can bluff, even with someone like you. But don't think that I believe that this is the only reason that you've come. You would not make this trip just to see how I'm doing, or even with the intention of trying to discover my plans. So what is it that you want, Jack Frost? Simply because I have all the time in the world does not mean that I possess any more patience than I used to."

Snorting softly, Jack rolled his eyes and fought the urge to shake his head. Yeah, that much was painfully obvious. "I wanted to ask you something."

"You already have, Jack."

"No, something... unrelated," he said, waving his hand a little as he finally managed to look away from Pitch. The movement seemed not to go unnoticed, as Pitch stopped his circling to focus on him. "So, as the King of Nightmares, you know what scares people. Right?"

"I've told you that, Jack."

"Right. So you can see into people's nightmares."

"It wouldn't do much good if I couldn't," Pitch said, clearly beginning to lose what little patience he possessed with this conversation.

Holding one hand up, Jack preempted him a bit. "Calm down. So if you can see people's nightmares, then you can see their dreams, right?"

"Nightmares and dreams are basically the same thing." Jack rolled his eyes at Pitch's tone, which was one that a person would use when talking to a particularly slow small child. "They simply evoke different reactions."

"Can you see dreams that people have already had?"

"To a degree, yes."

"Then you should know why I'm here, Pitch."

"Jack, just get to the-..." Slowly trailing off, Pitch raised one eyebrow at Jack. His expression gradually changed into one of suspicion, then surprise, then something a bit more malicious that Jack didn't particularly want to name. His own gaze dropped quickly to the floor before back up, focusing somewhere in the vicinity of Pitch's collar bone to keep from actually having to look him in the eye. The next words that left the Nightmare King's lips sent too many emotions to name coursing through him.

"Are you quite serious, Jack Frost...?"

And we'll finally get to what is technically known in slash fiction as The Interesting Part next chapter. Again, I'm sorry this one took so long, and I hope no one gave up on it. Chapter Four will not take so long to be released, I promise! Keep up with those reviews, I love reading them and I actually do get ideas from them (like I did with this chapter, thank you very much BoredomIsAnUnderstatement, that hadn't even occurred to me until you said it and I stared at that review for a moment before shouting "BRILLIANT!" like an 1800's inventor).