A/N: Hello my lovelies! Here's the aftermath of the memory retrieval! Only a few more chapters and then a small break so I can put the final pieces together for the sequel. Also, I have a super busy weekend ahead of me, so the next chapter may be a little late. I'm going to see Jurassic World tonight, no matter what the critics say. I'm a lover of dinosaurs and Jurassic Park was one of my favorite movies when I was little. Plus, I'm a sucker for theatrics. :P Then work, a night out for dinner, and my sister's high school graduation on Sunday!

Also, you'll notice that although they are out of the memory chapters, the POV isn't stabilized to one person only. This is done intentionally. ;)

Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :)

Chapter 32 - Fear's First Kiss

Jack's vision faded out as the colors and diamonds shifted into reality. The air around him was cozily warm. The tooth case was lying on his stomach, his right hand still holding the cover. The case's glow had dimmed, telling him that the memories were over. His other hand was continuing to firmly hold Cinder's. She was facing away from him, feet off the bed, and heaving her shoulders. How much longer had she been out of the memory retrieval?

Then he realized she was crying. Not the silent, mournful tears he'd seen on her before, but painful, heart-wrenching, lung-racking sobs that must have torn at her throat. She might have quieted down a little at Jack's stirring, but how much so he couldn't tell. Her hair was a mess─ fairly normal, actually─ and her body looked smaller than before. Jack wanted to say something, but she didn't look like she wanted to be interrupted. He didn't know what he would do anyway. Her hand in his had grown cold─ probably thanks to his own temperature─ and her nails dug into his skin. It was supposed to hurt, but Jack was concerned with other details. What was he supposed to make of those memories? Cinder was clearly still alive, or the memories would have stopped recording. Her body was hardly her own. Jack couldn't get over the grotesque truth: Cinder's surface was a trick. She was nothing but burned remains kept alive by Pitch's fearlings. And the fearlings were using her burned body as fuel for themselves, thus her powers of fire. The last exhibition of them, the volcano erupting, took almost everything human from her. Did Cinder know this? Should he tell her?

And what about that Lykos/Lucas/Shepherd's Boy guy? Jack had never heard of this spirit─ if indeed he was a spirit─ and he certainly didn't look familiar in the slightest. But clearly Cinder hadn't wanted to view those memories again. She had severed the connection unsuccessfully and left Jack to view the entirety of Cinder's three hundred years. Of course, the drinking and partying didn't surprise Jack much─ the habit still lingered. And yet, would Cinder be able to drink now, seeing as her drunken father had been her downfall? The thought intrigued Jack, but Lykos got onto his nerves way more than he would have liked to admit. Lykos had taken care of Cinder, sure, but he'd also used her. Jack was in complete agreement with Cinder's decision to leave.

More importantly, could Jack still call her Cinder? The name had been given to her by Pitch─ who had been such a fatherly figure to Cinder that Jack found it surprisingly disgusting─ and it wasn't her own. But she had never remembered being Verity. The worst part was that Jack hadn't remembered her being Verity either. That hit Jack like a punch to the stomach─ a phenomenon that had occurred plenty of times to Verity. He should have remembered her; she had apparently meant so much to him. It was a weird sensation that didn't completely feel like his. They'd been friends for seven long years, and Jack had known none of it for three hundred years. All of the feelings crawled back into his cold being as each touch of their hands, each hug, each adventure and trick washed over him anew. But what killed him inside was the grave that Verity had made for him. The spot had been his little hiding place, secret from view, where he knew she would be safe. He remembered wanting so desperately to pull her into his embrace in that little sand bar, to tuck her head under his and listen to her heartbeat as the pond lapped their feet. Each time, however, Jack didn't try to attempt it. He knew he was her only friend, and he didn't want to risk that. But the feelings only grew and Jack was unprepared to deal with them. He wanted to have fun times and all of these conflicting emotions made his feet heavier. A slow burn churned in his stomach as Jack debated what to do in the current moment.

"Verity...?" he whispered gently, as if afraid to let her hear him.

The redhead's breath hitched and her shoulders stiffened. Rubbing her nose and eyes hastily, she turned to look at the white-haired boy. Her eyes─ one still yellow─ were bloodshot and brimmed with defeat. Then it dawned on her and she cleared her throat. "You saw everything, didn't you?" Her eyes glanced at his momentarily, an uneasy question lingering there.

Jack lowered his gaze and nodded. There was no denying it. He'd seen everything. "But that doesn't change what I think─"

The girl ripped her hand from his, breaking something between them as well. "Like hell it doesn't! Admit it, I'm rotten. I'm a fluke," she stood up and stomped over to the window, angry more at herself than anything else. "Even when I was alive, I still made shitty choices. And those choices were meant to kill me. I wasn't supposed to exist after that fire. The Man in the Moon didn't even want a reject like me. I was a weak─"

During her rant, Jack had gotten up from the bed and run to her side, pulling her into a long-awaited embrace. There were no words to express what he felt he couldn't say. There was an apology, there was care, there was regret, and there was a longing, all tied together and thrown into the mix of other emotions as he hugged her tighter. His arms were wrapped around the middle of her back and his hands held the opposite sides of her frail frame. Her arms were still stuck to her sides in shock. She had ceased speaking and stood there. It was much like the first time they'd hugged, when Jack had found out that she didn't remember her childhood. But this time, instead of remaining stoic, Cinder wormed her arms out of his grasp and wrapped them around his shoulders. In a last-stitch effort to reciprocate her gratitude, Cinder cried into his shoulder, her tears frozen on his sweatshirt. Jack began to rock side to side, imperceptibly at first, then into a gentle and more noticeable pace. He'd done the same for his sister when she had a bad dream, but this was different. The girl in his arms was the girl he'd always wanted to hold close, but never quite had the chance. Now, even though the past was haunting and the future was uncertain, the pieces were falling into place. Jack put his lips to the top of her head and rested them there. They were content to stay there forever. He didn't care if it had taken him this long; she was here now and he would do everything he could to keep her safe.

Jack failed to protect Verity once. He wouldn't do it again. After all, he was a Guardian, wasn't he?

As Jack's lips left the entanglement that was her orange locks, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. The last time they had been like this, his eyes and hair had been a rich brown color with warmth exuding from their details. Now, the cold blue eyes sparked a fire so hot Jack could feel his body melting. But he didn't care. He didn't care that Cinder had immeasurable scars, from her visible broken eye to her hidden, bandaged soul. She was still Verity, even if physically she was little more than an embodiment of fear. It was a tragic existence, but his eyes held no pity. They held something far, far more understanding. They had both been alone in their lives, in different ways. Jack's eyes searched hers, knowing that she had similar thoughts.

Cinder wasn't sure if what happened next was done by Cinder or by Verity, but before she could think it through, she leaned into Jack's body. Closer than before, she lifted her head more and glanced at his lips. Biting her own, she waited for his response. Jack, with his heartbeat crashing through the roof, complied and leaned into her lips lightly, only to back away in trepidation. It had occurred almost by instinct, and that fact scared him. This wasn't a good idea. Cinder noticed the motion and decided for him, brushing her lips onto his. Jack was startled but didn't pull away. His hand rose from the small of her back to the back of her head, already ensnaring his fingers in her fiery hair. Nothing could take her away from him.

Jack had never kissed before. The warm softness that pressed against his cold thin lips felt foreign and tantalizingly addictive. And yet, there was nothing entirely sexual about the arrangement. He kept his head close to hers and let her lips lead him through this new adventure. His lips pressed onto hers a little more, attempting to show her the conflicting emotions he felt. He wanted her to know that he wanted to save her. That he should have grabbed her hand and taken her out of the house that last night. But he also wanted her to know that she was not to blame. That she should have had a better life than she did but that she had done the best she could with the cards she had been dealt. Even if those three hundred years had been filled with deals and fears and drinking and fires and many other bad decisions, she had to know it wasn't her fault. Her lips pushed back faintly. With his eyes closed, Jack couldn't be sure if she was still in pain, in shock, or anything at all. He waited for her to say something more convincing without speaking at all.

Cinder's chest was heated with uneasiness. She had promised herself never to let herself get so close to anyone, not even an immortal. Lykos had broken that stipulation. She winced at the thought of him and pushed it away. She felt Jack's lips push against her and she returned the action, knowing that Jack was different. They had been a part of each other's lives when it counted. And despite everything that was wrong with her, despite the despicable life she'd led, Jack had found his way back. It was true, they were both very different. From each other and from themselves. But within that difference there was a space they inhabited, shelled away from Pitch, from the Guardians, from everything that kept them apart. Cinder's hands left Jack's shoulders and traced their way up his cold neck. She wanted─ desired─ to bring him even closer to her. Taking one of her hands off his face, she tugged at his sweatshirt strings in an effort to pull him in. Jack stiffened from the sudden movement but went along with it, bringing his body into complete contact with hers─ their clothing being the only obstacle left.

Neither of their lips had moved apart, or moved at all. It was as if both were fearful of losing the other should they separate. If they were to leave this delicate balance, the other would dissolve in front of their eyes. Cinder wasn't sure where the boundaries were, or what they consisted of, but testing them had always been her specialty. She parted her lips and pressed further still. Jack didn't move at first. He was afraid to. What was going to come from this? He'd unfortunately seen what a more experienced person could do for her and there was no way he could ever perform on that level. Or at all, come to think of it. He was a spirit, right? Those things─ down there─ shouldn't work anymore, right? And yet, he knew he was blushing crazily. Jack didn't get it. This wasn't like him. He'd never been interested in anything like this. He'd hugged Jamie and Sophie, he'd hugged Tooth (although Tooth usually initiated them), but he'd never gotten a massive influx of feelings like this before. What was he going to do?

Panicking with indecision, Jack pulled his lips away from hers regretfully. He didn't go far; his forehead was touching hers and their noses still brushed. His hair, beaded with embarrassing sweat, was still caught up in her curls. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to. The space that was between them was shared by their labored breathing. Jack had forgotten how to breathe and Cinder was left with an overwhelming sensation that she'd done something wrong. Their hands didn't move from their positions, stuck with trepidation. His arms were still hooked around her waist and in her hair, while her hands were still on his jaw line and chest. Their bodies were touching wherever they found space, leaving no room for even a slip of paper to wedge between them.

Jack blinked, looking into Cinder's eyes when they opened again. Her eyes were already on him. The yellow eye was judging but the green eye was... asking something. Without a direct answer, she began to lean in again. Jack was trying to figure out what to do when a certain detail popped into his mind.

"Uh," was Jack's first utterance: a brilliant start. Cinder halted her advance and Jack felt her eyebrow rise against his forehead. "Where's Tooth and Bunny? They said they'd stay here with us."

As if not understanding that Jack had said anything, Cinder kept close to him for a few moments before taking her hands off and shoving him away. He let go without a fight, but not willingly. Already, Jack's ice was creeping its way around his body, claiming the spots where Cinder's heated body had been. Meanwhile, Cinder had walked over to the door. Pausing before continuing, she spoke over her shoulder and avoided his gaze. "Something must've happened. Let's go," she turned around and sprinted out of the room and down the hall.

Jack immediately regretted saying anything.

He ran over to the nightstand beside the bed and picked up his staff. Glancing at the bed, he noticed that Cinder's side had been wildly disrupted. She must have been thrashing around a lot. But his side was as straight and solid as ice. Jack didn't dwell on it for much longer because Cinder was already yelling his name from down the hall. Jack turned and sprinted out the door to catch up.

Cinder was pulling at a pair of oversized door knockers. The large doors that led to the main hall with the Globe were shut and locked, by the looks of it. There was a giant padlock, deep black, that held the two doors shut. Jack shot some ice at one of the locks, close to Cinder's fingers.

"Hey! Watch where you're shooting that thing," Cinder let go of the rings and kicked at the frozen lock. It didn't budge. She kicked at it again. Nothing. Sucking in a large breath, she spun around and kicked it with all of her momentum pushing onto it. There was barely a crack. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

"You want some help there?" Jack walked up.

"I can do it myself!" Cinder snapped at him and proceeded to kick at the ball of metal and ice one, two, three more times. On the final kick, the closure snapped and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Cinder huffed at it triumphantly and smirked at Jack. "Told you so."

Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the door knockers. Before opening it, however, he paused. There was something of which he had to make sure. "Hey, Verity?"

Cinder's smirk disappeared and she deadpanned. "Cinder."

Jack was miffed. "Wh─ what?"

"I'm not Verity," she stated, "she died in that fire." The finality in the statement was baffling. How could she just ignore a part of herself? Ignore what just happened between them? "Call me Cinder."

"But that's Pitch's─" Jack started.

"Yes," Cinder interrupted Jack with exasperation leaking into her voice. "Yes it is Pitch's name for me. You think I don't know that? But it's the only name I've known for three hundred years. As far as I know, I was only Verity for seventeen, maybe eighteen years. By majority rules, I'd say Cinder wins out," her snarky comment ended on a sour note. "It's not that I don't like the name Verity, I just don't think the name applies to me anymore."

Jack let go of the doorknob and tried to reach for Cinder's hand. When she slapped him away, Jack rushed in and grabbed her arm. It wasn't forceful, but it was enough to make Cinder listen to him. "You're Verity to me. And I'm sorry," there was a pained emphasis on the apology, "I didn't remember you. Had I'd known you existed I would've looked all over for you. I─ I would have done something─"

"But you didn't," Cinder hissed at him, just as close as before, but with very different emotions flooding between them, "and that's for the best. You wouldn't be Jack Frost if you spent all your time looking for me. Like I said, I'm a waste of─"

Without time to think of a better plan, Jack pushed his lips onto hers in an attempt to stop her from saying those words. It shouldn't matter if he remembered her or not, Jack didn't want to hear her belittle herself again. He remembered her now, and that should blow everything else to the side. Cinder's eyes were wide, hardly expecting this turn of events. His lips were already used to hers, knowing their curves and lines near perfectly. It was like Las Vegas all over again. She couldn't let that happen. Her heartbeat escalated for a moment before shoving him away.

"You really think that was going to work twice?" Cinder spat, wiping her mouth. The hurt look on Jack's face told her she'd hit a sore spot. "God, go back to being the frozen idiot, please and thank you. He was more tolerable."

"Do you want me to freeze you to this spot and go on without you?" Jack was incredulous. She was scared and frightened─ a shell of her human self─ just a moment ago and now she was itching to fight?

"Then go on without me! I wouldn't be much help, anyway. If you hadn't noticed when watching those memories, I don't have my fire powers anymore!"

Jack hated arguing. He had to tell her. "Only because the fearlings consumed what was left of you! If you used them anymore, you'd be dead! Whatever Pitch is planning, he clearly doesn't want you dead! And I don't... either," Jack's voice faltered as he saw Cinder's face fall to pieces on the floor. She slumped downward, landing carelessly.

"You saw that far?" Cinder's words were broken and laden with uneasiness. What she had meant to say was: how did you know that? This was stuff that she didn't even know about herself. Was she really nothing more than a drone for Pitch? Piloted by fearlings that had eaten what was left of her physical body? She glanced down at the skin on her legs. It was sheer, fair, and smooth. No sign of ever being harmed in the slightest. Pressing a finger into the flesh, she wondered if it could be true. That even her skin wasn't hers. Nor her eyes, her hair, her mind...? Was any thought her own? Was Pitch making these fearlings think these things? Was there no fate left to be decided? Cinder wanted to hurl, but then again, that might be Pitch's wish after all. She'd do it if he meant her to. The cycling thoughts made her head swim.

"Of course," Jack sat beside her, "I saw everything. We've been over this," Jack went to touch her shoulder but rescinded it, not knowing if she'd swat at him again.

Cinder rolled her eyes, which were already starting to brim with tears. "Right, sorry." The empty hall was filled with silence. That's when Cinder noticed. "Hey, if North and the others are here... wouldn't we hear the yetis in the workshop or something?"

Jack perked up. He knew something felt unnatural about the place. The lock had been more than a dead giveaway. Grabbing the door's handle and pulling with all of his might, he slowly opened the door and ran inside. He hadn't gone more than a few paces before he halted completely. Shock jolted through his body. The Globe room was in disrepair. Chairs and tables were overturned, bookshelves were tossed about with scattered books, scrolls, and pages everywhere, and the Globe had a hole in one of the oceans. Not to mention the giant hole in the glass ceiling, sending frigid winds into the once cozy atmosphere.

How long had they been gone?

After hours of searching, the other Guardians, yetis, and mini fairies were nowhere to be found. They couldn't figure out why the others had left. Bunny and Tooth, along with her slew of mini fairies, had promised to keep watch over them. If they had left the room for any amount of time, they'd have been back by now. Regardless, Jack and Cinder took turns waiting in the Memory Room, as they had deemed it, while the other searched. The place was big, so perhaps the other Guardians could have been easily missed. But hours went by and there wasn't the slightest sound besides the pair's footsteps. They'd ceased talking to each other since opening the doors. All communication occurred through nods, waves, and glances. Even then, their eyes never met for long. Knowing each others' pasts didn't settle the tension between them. It just built up more. The unsaid agreement was that they would find the others and take care of Pitch first. After that... they could settle whatever it was that set them off.

Cinder left the room before Jack could come back. She hadn't seen him in over an hour and she wanted to be looking. With so much on her mind, her feet carried her subconsciously to the Globe room. Jack knew something that she didn't. But did he know that she didn't know? Cinder kept trying to piece it together but to no avail. Could memories reveal things about yourself that you didn't actually know before? Cinder had no idea where her powers came from and hardly questioned it. What Jack said make sense, but how could her memories reveal that? Peering at the Globe, Cinder noticed that the lights had dimmed considerably. Frowning, she knew it wasn't good. Perhaps the Guardians had a run in with Pitch while they were out? But that didn't make sense, either, because wouldn't Pitch have come for her? But then again, Pitch had given Jack her case. Cinder's eyes paused on a brighter light. Why would Pitch have given Jack her case without a fight? As far as Cinder knew, Pitch had ordered her to give him her memory case so that she wouldn't have her memories. It had been a fair trade for Jamie─ far more than a fair trade, Cinder now believed─ and she'd done it to get Jamie back.

But getting Jamie back meant bringing him back with a fearling inside of him. Both she and Jack had seen it themselves. Jamie had acted strangely, but he obeyed to Cinder's orders that night. That didn't make sense either. Jamie, when Cinder had first arrived at the Bennett house, never listened to Cinder. He'd slammed the door on her and argued with her. But then, all of a sudden, he just listened on command? It was understandable, since she'd saved him just hours earlier, but not completely believable. It would make sense, since she was practically a fearling entity, that the fearling inside Jamie would work at Cinder's command. And she'd seen that Pitch could control Jamie as well, although the Nightmare King had made no attempt to force Jamie to do anything. That had been a simple show of dominance, but it was eerie. Both Jack and Cinder knew that. So the only thing Jack would have seen in her memory case would have been her side of things. That didn't leave a whole lot of new information at his disposal. So how did Jack know there were fearlings in─

"JACK!"

Cinder couldn't believe how much of an idiot she'd been. How could she have let him view her case? How could she have asked Jack to get her case? Why did she let Tooth and Bunny and that damned sweetheart made of ice talk her into retrieving her memories? Cinder ran out of the Globe room and dashed down the hall, making like a bandit for the Memory Room. He had to be there waiting for her. Cinder was desperately hoping with whatever was left of her real heart that Jack would be in that room, worried sick about where she'd run off to. He would probably reprimand her with one of the few serious faces Jack ever owned, but Cinder wouldn't care. As long as he was still Jack Frost, she'd kiss him again.

Well, Cinder was probably getting ahead of herself on that one.

Cinder nearly ran past the room, clasping onto the doorframe and spinning her body back into the room. Darting her head everywhere and running farther into the room, the pit in her stomach widened. Jack wasn't here. Her case lay on the floor, the flat top shattered to glittering pieces across the wood floors, teeth scattered everywhere. Even if Jack wasn't here now, he had been here recently.

"JACK!" Cinder's voice crackled, growing more fearful. She sprinted back into the Globe room. "Jack!" She was out of breath, heaving with whatever energy she had left to call out his name. "Jack, I'm in the Globe room! Jack! Jack..." Cinder's knees buckled. Was she at the North Pole all alone?

"Hello, Cinder," a different voice called from atop the Globe. Cinder spun on her heels once more and arched her neck back to see the figure standing on the Globe. To her despair, there were two. But the truly sickening reality was that both figures now had glowing yellow eyes.

Pitch had Jack practically under his thumb. And the worst part was that Jack was smiling. Not the same kind of smile he'd give when he'd thrown a snowball at someone's face, or tripped someone with his ice, or tried to cheer someone up, or when he was having fun.

This smile could kill.

A/N: I'M SORRY I KEEP ENDING ON CLIFFHANGERS! I don't know how else to end chapters. :(

Just so you know, keeping Jack from being OOC in this chapter was the hardest thing I've ever done. This is why I have a hard time doing pairings with OCs, and why I'm not labeling this fic with a pairing. Jack doesn't seem to have a single pinch of romanticism in his bones, except the innocent kind. I hope I've done well!

On the other hand, this story is nearing it's finale. Then I'll start posting the sequel within this thread/archive/story link/whatever it's called. I'm pretty excited about it, and I promise all will have a happy-ish ending! 'Til next time! :)