"Jaime! Wake up! Wake up!"

Jamie mumbled and hid his head in the pillow. He didn't know what time it was, but it was too bright and he wasn't ready to open his eyes yet. Sophie pulled his blanket off. Jamie groaned.

"Do I have to? Am I late for school?"

"No school. Snow day!"

That got his attention. He sat up in his bed, looked outside, blinked several times until his eyes adjusted to the bright morning light reflecting on pristine white snow, and finally jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Sophie was right, there had been quite a snowstorm during the night. And Jamie had thought that Jack was gone for the year, after the snow had mostly melted and he hadn't see the Guardian in a few weeks. But it looked like Jack had decided to give them one more snow day this year.

"Soph, you coming to the lake with me?"

"We go see Jack Frost?"

"Yeah, we're going to see him. Go get dressed all right?"

With a shout of delight, Sophie ran out of the room. Jamie hastily picked some clothes, threw on an extra pair of sock to be safe and ran out of the room to get his coat. Sophie joined him soon, still trying to shove her arm through the sleeve of her shirt. Jamie helped her with that, handed her her boots and pulled on his own, something made harder by the little girl using his shoulder for balance while trying to fit her foot in a boot that wouldn't stay in place. Jamie held it still for her and helped her in her coat. They were almost out of the door before their mother caught up to them.

"I made toasts, since you two seemed intent on running off without breakfast." She held up a plate with two toasts on it, a slightly exasperated smile on her face.

"Thanks mom, you're the best!" Jamie grabbed the toasts, giving one to Sophie and shoving the other in his mouth.

"Don't forget your hat!"

They ran to the lake, still munching on their toast. Jamie had to slow down to wait for Sophie, who had trouble doing two things at the same time without falling on her face. At least the lake wasn't far. But he couldn't see Jack anywhere and it wasn't snowing anymore. Jamie was afraid that maybe he just gave them a storm while passing through, that he wasn't actually there. They searched the entire area, calling out the Guardian's name, without luck.

"I think he's not there, Soph. He must have gone south already."

"Gone?"

Sophie looked up at him, looking almost as disappointed as he felt. He should just be thankful that Jack had given them a last snow day, but he wished he could have seen his friend one more time. He sighed. At least he could try to cheer up Sophie.

"Yeah, gone. Jack goes to see the Easter Bunny in summer."

"Easter Bunny hop, hop, hop!"

"How about we go back home and have a snow fight? How does that sound?"

Sophie smiled, clapped her hands and ran back in the direction of their home. Even if Jack Frost wasn't there, they could still have some fun. They ran back to the yard and Jamie picked a handful of snow, started to pack it in his hand, then froze when he spotted something blue and covered in a thin layer of snow. A snowball sailed past his legs.

"Wait, Soph, time out."

He cautiously approached what he recognized as the Guardian of Fun's blue hoodie. Once he was aware of it, it wasn't too hard to spot the Guardian's form lying in the snow in a corner of the yard. Jamie panicked, thinking something had happened to the Jack. He ran to him and shook his shoulder.

"Jack! Jack, wake up!"

Jack's eyes flew open. He sat up and looked around frantically for some source of trouble before turning his attention to Jamie.

"What's wrong? What's happening? Why are we panicking?"

The Guardian looked confused and that was confusing Jamie. They blinked at each other for a full minute while Sophie stood by, looking at them in turn, just as lost.

"You... you were just lying there, not moving."

"Well, you were just lying in your bed, not moving, when I came to check on you. What's the big deal?"

"You were... sleeping?"

"Just took a nap. I considered shaking you and screaming your name, but I decided that would be rude," Jack said, rolling his eyes. Jamie felt his ears redden.

"Don't you have a bed?"

"No. Well, yeah, but not here."

"So you just sleep in the snow?"

"Why not? "Jack shrugged. "It soft and cold and everything I like about a place to sleep."

"Oh."

Jamie felt stupid. But at least Jack was there. He hadn't left without saying goodbye. Now that explanation time was over, Sophie threw her arms around Jack's neck, conveniently at her height now that he was sitting in the snow, with a cheerful cry. He grinned and hugged her back.

"Hey there, little ankle-biter," he said in a bad imitation of the Easter Bunny. Sophie laughed. "Jamie, is that a snowball I see?"

Jamie looked down at the forgotten ball of snow he was still holding. He jumped to his feet and threw the snowball at Jack with a grin. At this range, there was no way he'd miss, especially with Sophie sitting in Jack's lap. It connected with the Guardian's shoulder, making Sophie shriek and Jamie cheer. It was the first time he ever manage to get him. The Guardian's eyes narrowed and his grin turned rather sinister. He made a snowball of his own, blew his magic on it and handed it to Sophie.

"I think that was a declaration of war. What do you say, Soph?"

"Snow fight!"


Hopefully after today things will go back to normal here and I'll be able to return to my neglected story arcs. And some requests that I haven't gotten around to yet. (And maybe I'll get started on this AU I've been meaning to write for a long time in which Jack joined Pitch to defeat him, but I'm not talking about that. You didn't read anything, all right?)