[You may murder me now. I'M SORRY! :( Life got in the way and I abandoned you guys. Oh, and to the Chinese, Happy New Year!]

It was dare. Really, it was! It was dangerous, and stupid, and he never should have accepted it. But the thing was, that with a bunch of boys, still with the centre of children, let's not forget, they tend to do stupid and reckless things.

Jamie wasn't a daredevil. He was afraid of heights, and he believed in everything he read or saw. One more thing: he absolutely hated being called chicken, because he wasn't. He was just very careful. He usually thought things through before doing them, but Monty calling him a 'sissy-baby- chicken' was the last straw. He accepted the dare.

Which was why, he, Jamie Bennett, was wearing his ice skates, standing in the slushy snow by Jack's lake: the one that was currently covered in a couple thin layers of ice. The dare was this – during springtime, right now, skate to the middle of the pond and come back. Simple.

Staring at the ice that did not look sturdy, Jamie considered backing out. He glanced at the close huddle of his friends and steeled his resolve. He was doing the dare, because he was no quitter. Nor chicken.

He took a cautious step on to the ice, wincing. The ice did not crack. He took another step, and then another. The ice stayed firm. Thank god, he thought, and took another step. He pushed himself off, his skates making bright white lines on the blue ice.

He beamed; it didn't look as if he was going to fall. He could finish the dare, safely, and without any parental figure knowing about it. He made the last stride and got to the middle of the pond.

"I did it!" He yelled to his friends on the shore triumphantly, bringing a skate down onto the ice in victory.

The ice shifted.

Cracks spider-webbed from the guilty skate, spreading like the plague, water seeping from the fissures. Jamie gasped, the elation gone, and cold, plain fear replacing it. He could hear the ice groan beneath his weight, the water spilling out even faster than before.

"Jamie!" Pippa cried. He squeezed his eyes shut; he wouldn't die now, couldn't die now. If he died today, it would be him to blame, for accepting the dare, for foolishly thinking that the ice would never crack, because he was the winter spirit's best friend, first believer. He tried to stop the tears from forming – because what was there to cry about? – but they formed anyway, gathering at the corner of his brown eyes.

All of them knew what the lake was capable of. Heck, they'd heard Jack's story more times than they could count, knew that he had drowned in this lake – at this very spot. Knew that drowning, dying was how he had become Jack Frost. Dying.

He could hear the buzz of voices but ignored them, trying to go through his memories, see how Jack had made him laugh in the toughest of times, the darkest, bleakest times.

A whisper of cool wind kissed his cheeks, and Jamie dared to hope.

"Easy, now, Jamie," an all-too-familiar voice said.

Jamie nearly sobbed in relief. He opened his eyes, taking in the sight of his best fried, feet spread out on the ice and staff held at the ready. "Jack?"

"You got that right, kiddo." Jack's voice just barely concealed all his hidden emotions, but to Jamie it was as if he were back on the sidewalk, trying to nail Jack with a snowball and calling him the winter spirit, and how was he supposed to win then, if Jack had the power of snow, ice and wind?

"Okay, now," Jack forced a smile onto his face. Trying to look casual and unconcerned. But inside, he was freaking out. Would he save Jamie? Could he save Jamie? What if he didn't? "Do you trust me?"

"Uh, no."

"Smart boy. Let me rephrase that. Do you believe in me?"

"Always."

"Good. Now, how about we play a game? Uh, hopscotch!" Jack's breath burned in his throat, leaving searing, scaring memories in its wake, but he simply forced himself to smile wider, even as his mind screamed for him to get off the ice, and couldn't he see that this was nearly exactly how he had died?

Jack knew, from experience, that attempting to use North Wind to save Jamie's life wouldn't work – he'd tried to get North Wind to dangle Bunny from the ceiling, but it didn't work at all. Jamie was no immortal, and even trying with an immortal didn't work – it wouldn't work with Jamie either, because North Wind seemed incapable of carrying anyone else besides Jack himself. Jack supposed he could freeze the ice, but he would only be able to freeze the ice around Jamie, and probably Jamie's feet to a giant ice cube. Besides, that would be going against Spring; a light snow was tolerable and expected, but a frozen lake? No way.

Hopscotch it was.

"Right Jamie, this will be easy. Just take three hops forwards, like this." He took a very tiny step forwards, then a much larger one, pretending to slip on the ice, succeeding in making Jamie laugh. He took the last step closer to Jamie, and held his staff out just a little more. "Your turn."
Jamie took a hesitant step forwards, glancing up at Jack fearfully.

"It'll be okay," Jack reassured him.

Jamie took a deep breath, and let it out. Okay, he told himself. Believe believe believe.

Jamie took another step forward, and then the last. Jack's staff hooked around his waist, and Jamie was flung into shallow waters. Spluttering, and sat up, waist deep in muddy, ice-cold water, completely soaked through, but so very much alive.

Jack floated towards him, riding on the winds, smirking. He landed on the ground a few feet away from Jamie, balancing his staff between his shoulder blades, both hands on either side of the wood.

"You going to tell me how you ended up like that?"

Jamie stood up, legs still shaking slightly, and attempted to wring out his soaked clothes. He was saved from answering when his friends finally made it to their side of the lake, panting and out of breath.

"Oh my god Jamie!" Pippa splashed into the water and enveloped Jamie in a hug so tight he almost couldn't breath. "Never do that again! That was the most stupid thing you've ever done!"

Monty nodded. 'Yeah. Everyone knows I'm an idiot, so don't you ever listen to me again."

"We were all so worried," Claude interrupted. "Thank goodness Jack was here."

At this, all eyes turned to the winter spirit. "What?" Jack blinked, and rubbed the back of his head in an 'aw, shucks' kind of gesture, smiling sheepishly. "It's my job to protect the children of the world, anyway, so…"

"It's getting late," Caleb observed.

"I hate to leave you here," Claude continued apologetically.

"But we gotta go." Caleb finished.

"Same here," Monty added. Pippa nodded in agreement.

"We can walk you back," Pippa suggested. She shot a glance at Jack, which did not go unnoticed by the boy.

"Naw, give me a few moments. I can get back myself." Jamie answered, helping himself and Pippa out of the water. With a few goodbyes, and see you tomorrows, the group parted. Once they had gone, there shadows no longer there, Jamie turned to Jack.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Jack honestly sounded surprised, like he had no idea why him saving a life was such a big deal.

"For saving me, that's what!" Jamie took a step towards Jack, hesitated, and then crossed the remaining steps and flung his arms around the teen.

"Woah!" Jack laughed, stumbling backwards a step. "It's my job, you know."

"I know. But this is just," Jamie stopped and stared up at his idol, the one whom he admired so much, now even more so. "This is just for being there."

"As long as you believe," was the reply.

[I got lost and circled back around near the end.]