This takes place after Once Upon A Time.
"Jamie, when is Jack going to come back? I want to go ice skating."
"I don't know, Soph. Bunny said he needed to rest."
"But... he's going to visit when he's better, right? The Easter Bunny said he wasn't scared of us anymore."
"I'm sure he will, but give him time, okay?"
Sophie sighed and went back to her room, leaving Jamie to pretend he was doing homework. His little sister had been eager for the Guardian to return ever since they had learn that he had been cured of whatever madness was afflicting him. She had all but forgotten what happened when they last saw him. Sophie was not one to dwell on things once she decided to push them out of her mind.
Jamie just hoped that Jack could take a page out of his sister's book and push this all behind. He doubted it would be that easy, though. He would most likely feel bad about what he did for a long time and want to apologize even if it wasn't really his fault. It's what Jamie would do, in his place.
A flash of white from the window caught his attention. He whipped his head around, a huge smile stretching his lips when he saw the falling snow. It didn't necessarily mean that Jack Frost was in town, but it was still November and it looked like Jack's kind of snow from here. He was getting familiar with that.
He stood up to run out of his room and get Sophie, only to get the door slammed into his face when the blonde girl entered in a hurry. Jamie stumbled backward, rubbing his nose and glaring at his sister.
"Oops. Sorry, Jamie. But it's snowing! We need to go look for Jack!"
She grabbed his wrist before he could protest, dragging him to get their coats and pushing him out before he had time to zip it up. Once he saw the snow up close, he became even more certain that it was Jack's doing. It was the kind of sticky snow that was perfect to make snowballs or build a snowman. Sophie kept dragging him away from the house until they heard someone clear their throat behind them.
Jack stood in a corner of the front yard, holding his staff behind his back and staring down at his feet. He kicked lightly at the snow with a bare foot before glancing at them. He averted his eyes after making brief eye contact.
"Hey... how's it going?"
Jamie wanted to run up to him and hug him until he started to smile, but Sophie beat him to it. She threw her arms around the Guardian and buried her nose in his stomach, ignoring the way he tensed before chuckling and hugging her back. He threw a hesitant smile Jamie's way. He smiled back, joining them.
"How are you feeling?"
"I think I asked first. But I'm fine. All better, now."
"That's good to know! We're doing great, too. We were worried, but now you're here."
That brought him a startled look. Sophie nodded emphatically, giving him a huge grin. He smiled at them both, that shy little smile he had seen a lot years ago and that he had not recognized for what it was then. It was the smile of someone not really used to receiving affection and who didn't know how to properly respond to it. He hadn't seen that smile often, lately.
The smile was gone after a moment as Jack averted his eyes once more. He took a step back, out of Sophie's grip and bit his lip.
"Look, guys... I'm sorry... for what I did on Halloween. I-I can't believe I hurt you two and—"
"Jack, it's alright. It wasn't your fault. It was... Pitch, right?"
Jack winced. The Guardians all seemed bothered that he had remembered that name. It had faded from his memory in the years since they had defeated the Boogeyman, but recent events had helped him remember. Jack shook his head.
"It doesn't matter what Pitch did. I'm a Guardian and my one job as a Guardian is to protect the children. And I failed. I hurt you instead. There's no excuses for that."
It was Jamie's turn to bite his lip. He knew that this was something really important to Jack. He took his job as a Guardian very seriously. He would not let them just dismiss the whole thing. Sophie looked at him, her big green eyes pleading him to fix this so they could go have fun. He sighed.
"Alright. We accept your apology. If you want to make it up to us, you can freeze the lake so we can go ice skating."
"Oh, yes! Please! Can we go ice skating right now?"
Jack blinked at them both before a large and very real smile broke on his face. He laughed, half relieved, half amused, and rubbed the back of his head.
"Alright. Deal. Go grab your skates and join me at the lake, it'll be ready."
He turned to leave, but Sophie grabbed his sleeve. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Can I have a snowflake, now? A real one?"
Jack's eyes widened and he hesitated a moment before nodding. With a slightly shaky smile, he sent one of his special snowflakes her way, letting it land on her nose. Sophie's expression brightened to one of pure joy as the magic took effect. Jamie started to believe that maybe things could go back to normal when he saw her expression be mirrored on Jack's face.
That's the last thing I had planned for this arc, but I might possibly add to it later.
