Okay, I'm warning you guys now, this is going to be a long one... A very long one...
Most likely the longest one yet, and making this fic worthy of the 1000-6000 words that I reported it as having.
And yes, this timeline has gone quickly... It seems like only a few weeks ago that the guardians were celebrating Christmas- Oh wait, it was.
*sheepish grin, and shrug*

Okay, and as per some requests, this chappie will have a little bit of dance jack and arty jack, as they seem to be particular faves, as well as a new side of Jack, which I hope you all approve of :D
Oh, and thanks so much for the really detailed reviews over the last couple of chapters! You guys know who you are!
And thanks to TheRandomlyFandom for the fave!

*hugs* to everyone, and hope you enjoy!

North threw his hands up and cried out in frustration.
"It will not work, Phil! In time for tonight? Not a chance on Moon."
The Yeti grunted, not quite sure how to comfort the guardian, and North threw the oily rag to the floor, storming off to find the original plans.
He didn't notice the youngest guardian drop from the ceiling, and didn't hear as Phil explained what was wrong-namely that something was wrong with the sleigh and it wouldn't fly, possibly due to previously unnoticed damage from a run in with Pitch- or see Jack frowning, leaning in over the various mechanisms.
Then the winter spirit grinned.
Had he never told the others that he was actually a pretty good mechanic?
He tugged his hoody off, rolling his eyes and sighing at the fact that his t-shirt was white, and flexed his fingers, grabbing for North's tool box, before getting to work.

Bunnymund, Tooth and Sandy were worried. Nope, that was an understatement. They were downright panicked as to how they would deliver all the presents without the sleigh.
And if North couldn't fix it?
North had been avidly staring at the plans for the engine since they had arrived, and Bunny sighed, eventually grabbing both North and the plans and dragging him towards the sleigh hangar.
"No good worrying about it 'ere mate."
They all blinked as they heard someone talking to Phil, combined with the sounds of various clanks of metal, and North peered around the door to see Jack, leaning over the engine, taking a wrench that Phil was handing him.
His first thought, to find out just what the hell was going on, was disregarded as he decided to see what the boy was doing.
Trying to fix the sleigh obviously...
Then he blinked, as Jack gave a satisfied sigh, and gestured for Phil to test it.
The guardians all stared as the engine came to life without a hitch, causing Jack to grin, before he caught sight of them.
He gave a sheepish grin as he wiped his hands on a cloth.
"Sorry North... I've just seen similar engines in plane hangar bays before... Wasn't hard to see how you've connected it all together and such."
North simply blinked.
"You... you fixed it?"

Jack gave a shrug, as if to say 'yeah... why's that so strange?'
"Yeah. Just a few problems with the combustion valve and the two separate parts of the engines seemed to have been forced together, probably by a quite strong impact. Bit of Nightmare sand too, which didn't help matters. Overall, ya just needed to give it a full work over and I changed some things so it would be more stable, yet would go faster and... What?"
This was in response to the guardians shocked expressions, and Jack blinked.
"Err... Guys?"
"You fixed my sleigh?"
"Um... Yeah?"
Jack choked as he was caught up in a bear hug by North, before the huge guardian went skipping off to investigate.

Jack stared, bemused, as North ranted on about how the modifications would make his trips much easier, and why had he never thought of them, and why had Jack failed to inform him he was capable of practically building an engine that would be perfect for a fighter plane.
Bunny shook his head as Jack sent him a questioning look.
"Don't look at me, Frostbite. I'm as shocked as he is. Where'd ya learn ta become a first rate mechanic, eh?"
Jack gave him his 'Really? Did you seriously just say that?' look, and rolled his eyes.
"I've told you I had to find ways to fill 300 years. It's an awfully long time, Kangaroo. As soon as they invented cars, I was out learning all about the engines. Then upgraded to planes, which were so much more interesting. Then the fighter jets? Don't get me started... Oh, and when I caught sight of the sleigh? I've been wanting to have a look at it for ages..."
Tooth giggled at the gleeful look on Jack's face.
"Hey, Sweet Tooth? I don't mean to interrupt, but unless you want a very cheerful North on you, I'd run."
Jack blinked, then looked to North.
"I'll err... See you guys later. I... err, ya know. Snow and all that."
"Well, don't be too long! You're going to want to be back before North gets back tonight."
Jack rolled his eyes, but nodded.
"Sure thing."
He flew out, taking the shortcut down the tunnel, and North gave a disappointed look as he realised he wasn't there.
"Oh. Is shame, I wanted to talk about how he made engine capable of speeds of fifteen percent faster than before...I had thought it impossible, but I appear to be wrong."
Tooth shared a look with the other two, that was very clear and had them both giving her indignant looks.
Men...
_

Jack grinned as he landed in Jamie's room, and gave the boy a hug, before being pounced on by Sophie, who was now fully recovered from her dip in the lake a couple of weeks ago.
"Hey Guys, how ya doing?"
"Good..." Jamie replied, as Sophie started giggling when Jack covered her in snowflakes. "Is North all set for Christmas?"
Jack nodded.
"Yup. How about you guys?"
Jamie grinned.
"All done. Do we get a white Christmas?" Jamie was grinning, and Jack laughed as he rolled his eyes.
"You already know the answer to that. Don't I always?"
"Yeah. Hey, what are you doing for Christmas?"
Jack shrugged.
"Going to be at the Pole with the others. And maybe gonna be seeing some old friends. But I'll come and see you tomorrow, okay? We do need to get the others back for that snowball defeat... And what better way than beating them on Christmas Day?"
Jamie laughed.
"Must be the first time you've ever lost a snowball fight."
"I was... distracted. It doesn't count." Jack said, hiding his smile, and Jamie rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Hey, do you reckon Bunny can visit Sophie?"
Sophie blinked at that, and pounced on Jack.
"Yeah! Can Bunny visit? I haven't seen him in ages..."
She gave him huge puppy eyes, and Jack grinned.
"Won't work on me, little missy. I taught them to you, remember? The kangaroo might be defenseless against them, but I'm not-"
"But Uncle Jackie..." she said, pouting but smiling slyly.
Jack blinked, then sighed.
Not only Jackie, but Uncle Jackie? How could he say no to that?
"Alright, I'll drag him over here. And hey, that makes me sound old!"
"You are old!"
Sophie began squealing as Jack tickled her, and Jamie quickly escaped to the far side of the room, laughing, so that he wouldn't be dragged into it.
Jack left about an hour later, making it snow on his way out, and was still grinning as he arrived back at the workshop several hours later, having done his usual rounds, and having made a quick detour to the orphanage to give it a quick snow-shower.

He landed in his art room, which had now been transferred to a larger room, thanks to the rest of the guardians ignoring his protests that it really wasn't necessary.
Ten minutes later, and he was working on finishing his gifts off.
Namely the one he had made for Tooth, most of the others having already been completed. He finished painting on the delicate patterns, and gently sprinkled glitter on various surfaces.
He span the brush away with a flourish, grinning at the finished product, and threw it, with uncanny accuracy, into the brush pot before wrapping the gift.
There. Done...
Now he just had to finish off the ones for his other friends.
Sure, they had never really made much of Christmas, but he was determined that this year would be different. He grinned as he got to work on finishing off Iceman and Clover's gift.
He had gone for more of a jokey kind of present, but he was sure they would appreciate it none-the-less.
Flow, the fall spirit, had been a little easier, as he already knew what he could give her, but Gale, another spirit who was a friend of his, and Shady had been rather difficult... As had Lily, another spring spirit that he was friends-well, it had got that he was more like an older brother figure whenever he saw her- but he had eventually managed to think of something.
It took him another hour before he was satisfied, and he finished wrapping them. Grabbing a bag, he placed them all inside, pausing as he flew back out to roll his eyes and assure Tooth that he would be back in time later that night, and flew off.
Shady was first.

Jack blinked as he was dragged inside, and laughed as he got pinned down by Iceman.
Well, this made things easier.
"Hey! Woah, watch the bag..." He said, laughing as he got up, and gave Clover a hug. "You guys getting into the Christmas spirit?"
Iceman shrugged.
"We figured if you would head anywhere today, it would be here. No doubt you're gonna be busy at the Pole tonight, and with spreading around white Christmas' tomorrow so-"
"Actually," Jack said, with a grin, "I was planning on going around to say hi to you two as well. Though I have to admit, this way is easier..."
He grabbed one of the wrapped gifts from his bag, handing it to the two of the, before doing the same with Shady, shrugging at the looks the three of them gave him.
"What? Hanging around with North creates bad habits..."
"I think it's a good habit." Clover butted in, grinning, before she handed him a package of her own.
"This one's from me and Icey."
Jack blinked, then looked at Iceman suspiciously.
"You forgave me for that storm... right?"
Iceman laughed, wrapping his arm around Clover.
"Don't worry, it isn't going to explode...Clo made sure of that."
Shady laughed with Jack at that, before handing him another wrapped box.
"I was kinda at a loss as to what to get you, but when I saw what these two managed to find... get... The decision was kinda made for me."
Jack raised an eyebrow as he took it.
"... Okay then... Should I be worried?"
"Nah. Clover would have strung me up if I used this as a chance for payback."
"You mean you're going to attempt to get payback?"
Shady shook his head.
"Nope. I'm not insane..."
"Debatable."
"Oi!"
Jack laughed as he ducked the half hearted swipe.
"Not bad, you nearly got me that time! And anyway, what's with the sudden interest in Christmas?"
Clover rolled her eyes.
"More like a sudden interest in a Jack Frost who would actually be willing to enjoy Christmas."
"Okay, fair point... And what are you after?"
"Just a decent chat, we haven't had one in a while. What's all this we hear about you scaring Haze?"
"Hey!" Jack protested, "I only... looked at him. And it was ages ago!"
Apparently, Clover wasn't going to take no for an answer, however, and Jack and rolled his eyes as he was dragged into the small kitchen area to eat and chat for the next hour or so.
Eventually, he realised it was getting late, and he still had a few visits to make.
Promising to see them soon, he eventually managed to escape, and head for Gale's home.

The summer spirit was surprised to see Jack, and even more shocked when he gave her a wrapped present, a quick hug, then promised to stop by for a proper talk sometime soon before flying off again.
Gale smiled as she set the gift aside for the following day.
Guardianship really had changed Jack for the better...
Flow was next, and Jack was happy to see that Lily was with her.
He was roped into staying for a while, after he had give them the presents, and rolled his eyes when they started feeling guilty, assuring them that he really didn't mind.
Then Flow had gasped, whispered to Lily, and taken off, returning half an hour later with a wrapped box.
Jack had blinked, then rolled his eyes and accepted it, giving them both a hug, before noticing how late it was, and realising he would have to leave.
Deciding to just take a shortcut, he used one of the orbs he always kept on him, and arrived back at the Pole just in time to have to dive aside to avoid a panicked Yeti.
He sighed.
Christmas rush... What could you do, eh?

A few hours later, the rush had died down, North had left, and all of the elves and yeti's had crashed into their beds, exhausted.
The four of them spent a few hours playing various games as they waited for North to get back, and he finally traipsed in, a few hours after midnight.
Tooth blinked.
"That was faster than usual?"
North shrugged, collapsing onto the sofa, as Jack dove out of the way.
"Sleigh went faster due to the modifications. Was excellent job Jack!"
"No Problem..." Jack replied, migrating over to slouch down in front of the sofa that Tooth and Bunny were on.
"Does that mean I can fly it sometime?"
North hesitated for a few seconds, then sighed.
"You know what? I see no problem with that. Which is worrying..."
"Aww, come on, if I can fly a fighter jet... theoretically, anyway, then I can fly a sleigh..."
"... I am saying nothing."
"Really? I silenced you on Christmas day? Wow, miracles really can happen!"
"Gah!" North sank down onto the sofa, face palming.
"Is too early for this..."
"Au contraire, this has only just begun-"
Bunny sighed as Jack grinned, and as he spotted North trying to stifle his own smirk which only made the youngest guardian grin even more.
Looks like this Christmas was going to be as interesting as last year...

The first to give out the gifts was Tooth.
Much laughter ensued when they opened them to find a variety of dissolvable toothbrushes in different flavours, and Jack laughed even harder when he realised that one of them was cookie, adapted from one of his own recipe's.
Of course, this naturally led onto Bunny, whom everyone assumed was going with the usual variety of chocolate-which Tooth, though she would never admit it, thought was well worth the extra flossing- had they were surprised when they realised it wasn't.

Instead, they were left in stitches, with tears of laughter running down their cheeks, as the tiny eggs, clearly small machines, walked backwards and forwards, slinging miniature boomerangs at each other.
"Mechanics and magic," Bunny said, grinning, "Worked better than I had thought."

When they had finally recovered, North led them all to a nearby room, where he revealed what he had created for them all.
A huge train track was wrapped around the room, crisscrossing through a full, downscaled model of the entire warren, the Tooth palace, fields of small snow sculptures and castles that Jack realised were ones he had built, various miniature re-stagings of different events, such as the final battle in the Prank war, where Jack and Sandy had teamed up, months ago, and even small cannons that sent out tiny trails of golden sparks every now and then.
They spent quite a while looking at the various things, following around the tiny trains on their individual, criss-crossing tracks as they ran around the room, before North eventually lured everyone away with eggnog.

Sandy came next, and he spent half an hour sending twirling streams of sand into the charm orbs that he had given them last year, filling them with the protective dream sand and dreams that he had been working on since the previous Christmas.
Then, before Jack could give out his, Baby Tooth flew in, clearly having been struggling with her burden, and dropped a neatly wrapped present in Jack's lap, before sinking down onto his shoulder, exhausted.

Jack laughed as he took off his hoody, so that she could make herself comfortable in it, and opened the present, grinning as he took in the framed picture, and delicate handwriting that covered the frame, saying 'To Peter Pan, From Tinkerbell' and that must have taken Baby Tooth hours to do.
It was a photo of him and her, dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, from where she had finally convinced him to do a quick photo shoot a couple of months ago.
He was still grinning as the guardians all laughed at his expense, as they passed the picture around, and gave Baby Tooth a small kiss on her forehead, before handing her a tiny wrapped package.
It had taken ages to make, but the look of joy on her tiny face as she un-wrapped and discovered the tiny blue hoody, in the same shade as Jack's and with small spaces for her wings in the back, made it all worth it.
She eagerly tugged it on, and they were all left laughing and grinning as she flew around, excitedly, and started chirping to Tooth.
Jack grinned. At least now she wouldn't freeze every time she flew in colder climates, seeing as the tiny hoody was made from a thermal fabric. The trickiness that came with making the tiny stitches...
Ah well, it was all worth it...

Then he grinned, and grabbed another gift, handing it to North, with a serious and solemn air.
"This is something I have never bestowed on another... Use it wisely..."
North looked completely bemused until he unwrapped it, opened the small wooden box and pulled out a very official and dramatic looking scroll.
He raised an eyebrow as he unfurled it, then gasped.
"Is... Is this... It is... The Secret Cookie Formula!"
The other guardians, including Jack, all burst out laughing at the reverent look on North's face as he held the recipe for Jack's best cookies, which the youngest guardian had always protected with the utmost care-as many of the elves, and one or two of the yeti's, had found out- and carefully rolled it back up before putting it in the box.
Jack sighed, still grinning.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret that?"
Bunny rolled his eyes.
"Probably because he'll be on a sugar rush for the next decade, mate."
Jack sighed, then grinned, shrugging.
"Ah well, I won't regret it as much as this one..."
Bunny and Sandy both raised an eyebrow as Jack handed them identical gifts, and unwrapped them, before gasping in unison and handling them with as much care as North had handled the recipe.
Bunny shook his head as he read the title of the book,
"One Hundred Original and Vengeance Assuring Pranks, written by Jack Frost..."
It was a book of Jack's best pranks, and they were all handwritten and put in step by step instructions by Jack himself...
"Frostbite, ya know what this means right?"
He nodded, rolling his eyes.
"I'm gonna have to up my senses ad be on alert for the next decade."
"... Well, that too. But now we'll be prepared for your pranks!"
Jack grinned, slyly.
"Hey, that's only volume one... There are still several volumes to go..."
Sandy was in a silent laughing fit as he flipped through the book, before stopping on a specific page, scanning it, and grinning evilly at Jack, who blinked.
"Yup... Definitely gonna regret this more than the recipe... But I don't think I'll regret this one."
He handed Tooth the last of the gifts, and she opened it, carefully, before gasping and laughing as she looked at the outside of the intricately decorated box.
The entire surface was covered in scenes of fairies and swirling dust and glitter, painted in bright, yet delicate colours, and with fine strokes of paint and small grooves and carvings into the wood.
It was beautiful, and she was quick to tell Jack that.
The winter spirit simply grinned, rolling his eyes.
"Well, I'm glad you think it's pretty, but that isn't its sole purpose."
Tooth blinked and Jack leapt over the arm of the sofa to sit next to her.
"Ya know you said you would make some modifications to your favourite song? Ya know, for dancing the waltz?"
She nodded, wondering where he was going with this, and Jack grinned.
"Well... I experimented. This was the result..."
He flipped a small catch-hidden amongst the paint and glitter- and lifted the lid of the box.
Two small fairies, individually carved, rose up and started spinning in intricate patterns, clearly due to some hidden mechanisms, and music started playing.
Tooth gasped in delight, as she recognised her favourite song, but with some twists and newer combinations of some of the notes that made it something a little more... well, perfect.
"You made this?"
"Yeah... Took a while to figure out the right combination for the song, so I hope it's-"
Jack was cut off as he was pulled into a hug, which left him gasping a few seconds later.
"Oh Jack, it's perfect!"
"G-glad you... think so..."
He said, still trying to take in air, and he eventually grinned, as he watched Tooth desperately trying to take in all the minute changes to the song.
"And to think I managed to keep the fact that I could carve from you guys..."
North nodded.
"Da, but you shall not keep more from us for long Jack. We shall discover your talents!"
"But then where would the fun be?"
He blinked as he was dragged to his feet, before laughing as he realised that Tooth was eagerly wanting to dance.
He rolled his eyes, as the song began its second rendition, and gave her an elaborate bow, holding out his hand.
She accepted it, and they quickly morphed into their own version of the waltz, which they had created the last time they had danced, and which fit the music perfectly.
After that song had finished, Jack whispered to Tooth, who grinned before grabbing Sandy and twirling him in for another go.
The guardian of dreams glared a Jack as he tried to avoid looking ridiculous- a feat which he was failing at- and the winter spirit grinned.
"Hey, if you're going to prank me, I at least want there to be a reason for it!"
Sandy rolled his eyes, then smirked.
The message was clear.

An hour later, as the sky started to lighten, Jack realised that he had better leave if he wanted to make his last stop.
He said a quick goodbye, before flying off, and leaving the others to wonder about where he had been heading off to, until Baby Tooth chirped up, still snuggled in her hoody, and Tooth translated.
"She says he had to head off to Burgess... He has something for Jamie and Sophie... and he promised them a snowball fight."
Thy all grinned at that, and Bunny smirked.
"Anyone feel like joining him?"
The others shared looks, then grinned.
One snowball fight, coming up...
_

Shady grinned as he unwrapped his present from Jack to reveal something he had been after for years. A small dagger, the hilt made of ebony wood, and wrapped with black leather in an elegantly carved black sheath. The silver of the blade was s stark contrast, and reflected the light from the small fire.
He recalled the first time he had seen Jack training, near the monastery, and how the young spirit had let him join in, both of them discovering Shady's affinity with knife throwing.
It fast became a joke with them, and Shady had grown attached to one of Jack's favourite daggers, more precisely, the one he held right now.
He knew he would never really use it, aside for practicing, but the obvious thought that had gone behind the gift was touching, and he really appreciated it.
It was also ironic, considering what he, Iceman and Clover had gotten for him...
Iceman and Clover, who had decided to keep him company this Christmas, both rolled their eyes, but grinned at the gift, before opening their own.
Clover gave a small giggle of delight, as Iceman laughed.
A detailed ice carving of a small clearing, the two of them sitting next to each other, holding hands, with small patches of snow and a few new spring leaves budding of the trees...
They both recognised the place, and realised that Jack must have see them there...
Iceman grinned.
"Damn, Frost can be sneaky when he wants to be..."
"Yeah, but where would the fun be otherwise?" Clover said, likewise with a huge grin on her face.
Shady laughed.
"Somewhere far more manageable and far less tiring."
"So true..." the other two said in unison, and they all laughed.

Gale laughed as she opened her gift to find a small ice picture, an image carved inside the small slab of ice. It was of her, inside a small swirl of wind, individual leaves and rays of sunlight curving and spinning round her. Clearly from the first time Jack had seen her using her power, and she smiled.
He always did have a talent with drawing and carving... and an unsurprising affinity with ice.
Whereas the obvious thought and effort that had gone into the gift was surprising, it was a good surprise, as was the recent changes in her friend.
She really had to be sure to meet up properly soon...

Lily and Flow opened their gifts at the same time.
Lily smiled, giggling a little as she took out the small, perfectly painted, wooden carving of a deer, more specifically, a small baby faun, with a pattern of snowflakes down it's shoulder.
Trust Jack to think of something like this... She did love deer after all...
Flow gasped as she un-wrapped hers to reveal a small model of a glade.
But not just any glade... It was one of her favourite places, and Jack had got it down to the last detail.
Delicately painted trees surrounded the clearing, perfect down to the last detail, but the small fountain at the centre of the glade drew her eye.
Yes, it was a miniature fountain, in the shape of the small bubbling brook and stream, but instead of water, it was filled with tiny leaves, of all different autumn colours. Clearly some magic went into this, but it was magic well used. It was beautiful...
They would really have to give him a proper gift next year...
_

Jack grinned as he knocked on Jamie's window, just as Dawn broke, and the sleepy twelve year old let him in.
"Hey Jack... What are you-" he stifled a yawn, "-you doing here so early?"
"Just came to give you your presents, before you head downstairs."
"You got us presents?"
"Of course I did! Honestly... Here you go..."
Jack had taken a while to decide on the right gift for Jamie, but after hearing him talking one day, he finally decided on the perfect one.
"Tickets? Oh, these... Oh, no way..." A huge grin started to spread across his face, and Jack grinned.
"Well, you remember you wanted to go see that band? And your mother said it cost too much? Well, you'll have to say you entered a competition or something, but there you go. Four tickets, in case your dad can visit, to go see them live next mon-"
For the second time that day, Jack felt the air getting squeezed out of him as Jamie hugged him, before letting go and doing a silent jig around the room, delighted.
Then he blinked.
"But hang on, how the heck did you manage to-"
"Meh, don't worry about it. Just go and have fun, yeah?"
As to how he managed getting them...? Well, he might as well use his various money stashes for something aside from his regular contributions to charity. And this new online shopping thing made his life so much easier...
Jamie grinned, hugging him again, before the door opened and Sophie poked her head in, grinning as she caught sight of Jack, before running and letting him lift her up into a hug.
"Hey missy, Happy Christmas!"
"You too Jackie! You said you would be coming later?"
"Well, I had to give you your presents didn't I?"
He pulled a small box from his hoody pocket, wrapped in gold paper, and put Sophie down as he handed it to her.
"Here ya go."
She eagerly unwrapped it and opened the small box, gasping as she caught sight of the contents.
A small, delicate silver bracelet, with tiny silver snowflake charms, some sprinkled with silver and gold sparkles, dangling at regular intervals around it.
She was jumping eagerly, as she made Jack put it on, then she danced around again, jingling it.
"It's so pretty!"
Then she blinked, as they heard footsteps, and Jack grinned.
"Right, I'll send a few of my fun flakes, so she won't think anything of the presents or the excuses, and I'll see you guys later, okay? Be at the field at ten!"
They both nodded, grinning, as their mother pushed the door open, and, as soon as one of Jack's flakes dissolved on the end of her nose, she simply smiled, accepting the excited excuses Jamie and Sophie gave about their presents, and laughing as she followed them downstairs.
Jack grinned.
It felt good to have a proper family Christmas again after so long...

Then he blinked as Tooth appeared next to him.
"Hey Sweet Tooth, the others wanted me to let you know there is no way we'll be missing this snowball fight..."
Jack grinned.
"Great. I was going to ask Bunny to come and see Sophie anyway..."
A few minutes later, Tooth used an orb to head back to the Pole, as Jack flew off in the opposite direction.
Right... Time to spread some white winter cheer...
_

It was about three in the afternoon when they finally returned to the pole, cold and covered in snow, but laughing.
Jack split off from the rest of them, and head to his room, his curiosity having been re-peaked as to what his friends had gotten for him.
He opened Flow and Lily's first, and grinned as he flipped through the photo album, clearly full of pictures from Iceman and Clover's wedding.
He spent the next half an hour looking through them all, grinning at the small captions Flow had slotted in, before he put it in the small draw and picked up Iceman and Clovers.
He raised an eyebrow when he felt a small pull towards whatever was inside, and was rendered speechless as he unwrapped it to find something he had never thought he'd see again.
A very familiar dagger, trails of frost snaking up the ebony wood of the hilt and bleeding onto the pale, whitish blue blade.
This had been the first dagger he had ever owned, and it had been the easiest to meld his powers with. He had had it for decades, until the monastery he had been frequently visiting was subject to a bout of bad luck, and had been buried in an avalanche.
He'd lost the blade, which had come to be almost as much a part of him as the staff was, as he tried to hold back the majority of the avalanche, allowing the men to escape to safer ground, and had never considered being able to find it.
Clearly, however, Iceman had put a lot of effort into doing just that...
On a whim, he opened Shady's gift, and grinned as the belt and sheath fell into his hand.
Frost marked, just like the blade that had resided in it, it had used to be a permanent fixture at his side...
He was still grinning as he wrapped the belt around his waist, and tossed the knife in the air, catching it by the hilt as it fell back down again, and slotted it into the sheath.
He hadn't realised how much he had missed it... But there was no way he was going anywhere without it now...
If just for the long lost, yet familiar comfort of having the slight weight at his waist.
Great... Just how on moon was he going to make this up to them?

Of course, walking back into the main room, and the rest of the guardians noticing the addition, led to the entire story being told, and as Jack told it, he realised that he kinda missed the old place...
Just how hard would it be to find it and dig it out of the snow? He wasn't sure, but he was going to find out.
It was one of his homes after all...

Over 5500 words? Definitely the longest yet...
Aaaanywaaayyyssss...

What did you all think of this Christmas?
The gifts?
(They were a nightmare to think of, especially as I wanted to make them different and unique and special and whatnot... Seriously, a nightmare...
Oi! Pitch! Get out of here! Honestly... Not my fault you haven't been in the fic a lot lately. Go beat up Ice Black or something!
*jabs with pitchfork and Pitch vanishes, grumbling*)

Ahem, right... Anyways, the visits to friends? Jack is a mechanic? Jack does online shopping? (Oh, come on, It makes sense!?)
I know, only a few weeks since I uploaded the last Christmas chapter, but this series' timeline seems to be going quickly :D
I'm definitely going to put more in on Jack's friends, and we'll be having a proper introduction sometime soon, so let me know whether you're looking forward to it!

-IMPORTANT SHIZZLE-

Who want's Jack to visit the old monastery and try and clear it out? He does need a home of his own after all... I mean, Sure, he considers the Pole home, but he needs somewhere of his own, seeing as all of the other guardians have homes...(Honestly, this idea did not occur to me until writing the last few lines of this chapter, so please let me know?)

-END OF IMPORTANT SHIZZLE-

Hope you all enjoyed!
Raven xx
_

Oh, and Lily is the OC of Mae2551 (regular reader and reviewer, and great buddy), who requested that I bring her in. I tried to fit the character with my own story line, so hope you thought it was okay Mae? Don't worry, she will be returning with the rest of Jack's friends in a couple of chapters time :D