Alaia Skyhawk: Double update! Here's the next one, which happens to include the line I specifically chose this cameo for the, express purpose of being able to include it.

One clue... Olaf says it :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 128: Siblings Past, Present, & New

Jack stood out in the stillness of the evening, with night having fallen during the party in the ballroom. The winds circled him, too new to the presence of immortals to have developed the 'personalities' that his winds had, but still they seemed to want and try and comfort him.

He cradled those winds against him, grateful even as he remained conflicted. When he'd agreed to come here and mentor the new Spirit of Winter, he'd never expected this. But he still had a job to do, and personal feelings couldn't come into it. He'd just have to set them aside and get on with it.

"Are you all right?"

Jack flinched at the female voice, grimacing as he shook his head. Of all the people, why did Elsa have to come out here now?

"I'm fine."

Elsa came over, hesitant. She might have been in her late thirties, but at present she seemed more like someone much younger.

"You don't look 'fine'." She tilted her head. "I have experience with bottling up emotions, so I can recognise it when I see it. I haven't upset you somehow, have I?"

Jack winced again, suddenly aware that his own 'problem' was undermining her confidence, when her confidence was what he was here to bolster.

He turned and faced her, sighing.

"No, you've not done anything. It's just... memories."

She relaxed and came over to stand beside him, gazing up at the sky much as he'd been doing.

"Would you mind if I asked what they were memories of?"

Jack hesitated, but in the end decided to answer. There was little point in hiding something that was such ancient history.

"...My little sister." He glanced at her, remembered sorrow in his gaze. "I became immortal when she was eight years old, and stayed in her life right until the very end... It was hard. I've never regretted it, but at the same time nothing has ever hurt me more than watching her grow old and die." He looked at the sky once more. "All the doubts and everything else in between, about being 'left behind' or 'losing' the little time I'd have with her, meant there were more than a few occasions when it was emotional hell."

Jack's expression remained solemn. "Seeing you with your sister, and seeing the obvious bond you share, made me remember those bad days. I suppose you could say I'm worried for you, since I know you'll probably suffer the same way."

Elsa looked as though he'd struck her with a forceful blow, her surprise then changing to an expression of doubt and hurt.

It was her turn to flinch, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

"I've wondered about that myself... Worried about that." She sighed and looked at her hands. "But there's no going back now. I'm already an immortal, so there's no going back. I thought about the same things. In the time after I accepted the request to be the Spirit of Winter, and now... All I can do is cherish the time I'll have with her. Though I have two friends at least who I know will always be with me."

Jack raises his eyebrows, curious about that statement.

"Hmm?"

Elsa, realising he had no clue who she meant, started to fluster a little.

"Oh, one of them isn't here. He's at the ice castle I made twenty years ago, which is likely where I'll make my home from now on. The other one, I told in no uncertain terms to keep out of the way today. He watched the ceremony through the window, but he has a bad habit of literally getting under people's feet at parties. After I had several guests injure themselves tripping over him or slipping in puddles of melted snow in the past, I had to resort to holding private parties for him now and then to make up for not allowing him to attend the large ones."

She turned and indicated he should follow her, leading him around the back of the castle to a small building located in the corner of the gardens. It was surrounded by out-of-season snow, and had its own small snow-cloud hovering low over it keeping everything cold.

She knocked on the door, giving him a single humoured glance in warning before it was opened by a smallish snowman with a carrot nose. A snowman that exclaimed happily when he saw her.

"Elsa! Is it time for our party now?" He stopped and blinked, staring at the white-haired figure of Jack. "Who's the old guy?"

Elsa, hands on hips, regarded him disapprovingly.

"Olaf, he is a guest, and he's not-" She paused and turned to Jack. "How old are you?"

Jack smiled wryly, aware that the situation had slipped from her control and into that of the snowman in front of them. "Three-hundred and fifty-eight. By any conventional standards, I'm old."

The snowman, Olaf, proceeded to look rather proud of himself.

"See? I know these things." His smile vanished and he pointed bluntly at Jack with a stick-arm. "Now who is he?"

Jack chuckled as Elsa flushed in embarrassment at her friends lack of manners, and she answered.

"He's Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter for Planet Earth. He's here to help me get started with the same job here."

Olaf started to nod in understanding-that-was-not-understanding. He still clearly didn't have a clue.

"Oohhhh, gotcha."

Jack was now peering at Olaf in curiosity.

"You are one curious little fellow. I sense you're almost completely made of snow, but you have your own personality and everything. You're even independently getting the power to exist from the Ether frequencies of cold and moisture around you. You're completely self-sustained."

Elsa watched him, unsure what he meant since her knowledge of the Ether was limited, but understanding the gist.

"He also melts if he goes near anything hot, or walks around in warm weather without the protection of the personal snow-cloud I made for him. We've obviously never tested it, but I believe he'd cease to exist if he ever melted completely."

Jack glanced at her.

"Did you make him?"

Elsa nodded.

"When I was a child, I used to conjure snow inside the castle at night, and Anna and I would play in it and build snowmen. One we always built was called Olaf, and he 'liked warm hugs'. When a time came that my powers were unexpectedly revealed to the people, I panicked and ran away. In my terror, I unknowingly plunged this entire region into winter despite it being the middle of summer. Up in the mountains, believing myself to be free to be who I was and not hide anymore, I revelled in my magic. That was when I created Olaf, by accident. I built him as he was in my memories, and unwittingly imprinted onto him the imaginary friend from those memories. I created a second snowman, as a protector for myself, on purpose after learning I had made Olaf. Both of them continue to exist separately from me and my power."

Jack was now circling Olaf as though inspecting him, and the snowman was getting a bit tense.

He started edging away from Jack.

"Ahem, have you never heard of 'personal space'? Quit circling me like that, it's enough to make a guy nervous."

Jack stopped circling, but remained thoughtful.

"I've been making ice and frost golems for years, but I have to maintain them. They have no personalities, and once I stop, they crumble. But it seems to me with this guy, your belief in him as a person and personality made him independent. I wonder..."

Jack used his staff to whisk up a snowman of similar appearance to Olaf, albeit a bit more rotund, with sticks for arms and a convenient long and narrow pine-cone for the nose. He then held his hand out towards it, calling to mind the character of a fun-loving but somewhat shy snowman from one of Katherine's stories. He then flicked his power out.

A wash of blue flowed over the snowman, seemingly nothing coming of it as the power seeped in. But then rather suddenly the whole thing tipped forward... and put out stick hands and arms in front as though to try and prevent the face-plant.

The new snowman flailed at the snow for a few moments, before succeeding in pushing itself upright again. It then blinked its eyes at the three individuals watching it, before a cry of joy erupted from Olaf.

He stood there gaping in stunned amazement.

"Oh... my... gosh! You made me a brother!" He bounced with glee and rushed over to hug the bewildered 'newborn' "I have a brother!" There was a sudden pause as he looked at new snowman. "Uh, what's your name?"

Jack, looking rather cheered by his success, chuckled and answered.

"His name is Gustav. He likes to have fun, but is a bit shy. He's your little brother now, so you have to look after him."

Olaf pulled Gustav into another hug.

"I'll be the BEST big brother EVER!"

Elsa came over to stand beside Jack, the pair of them watching as Olaf burst into explaining all about loads of things to Gustav, who listened eagerly and intently. She then murmured to her fellow immortal.

"Imaginary friend from your own childhood?"

Jack, with a smile, shook his head.

"Nah, character from one of Katherine's stories. There this one with a lonely little snowman called Gustav in it, but he's only lonely because he's too shy to make friends. But then one day a group of children build more snowmen, which their wishes bring to life, and he ends up with a family." He shrugged. "I figured he would be a perfect fit, and now you have someone to keep Olaf busy for you."

He paused, thinking. "I might have been tempted to create more like him once I go home, but then I already have loads of companions. I have my Senior Lieutenants, who have become like family to me, and then I have the Bennett Family, who are descended from my sister. Creating 'life' for the sake of it, wouldn't be right. I only tried it this time, because I knew Gustav would have a place and family with your Olaf."

Elsa smiled softly and with understanding.

"Family is a big thing for you, isn't it."

Jack, still watching the two snowmen, nodded.

"My family, from the past and present, are what made me the person I am. They define me, just as your family will define you if you chose to stay in contact with them. Just remember... Seeing them die of old age will hurt, far more than it would if you just cut contact with them now. It's up to you to decide if you want to face that or not."

Elsa averted her gaze as he faced her, but her expression was now determined.

"I ran away once before, but never again. My sister is everything to me, and I don't intend to waste the time I'll have with her."

Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, starting to feel more assured himself. He could face this, and he would.

"And that's exactly what I decided when I became a Spirit of Winter." He glanced up at the sky. "Well, seeing as the party is just about over, how about your first lesson on being a Spirit of Winter?"

Elsa started to look intrigued.

"And what would that be?"

Jack grabbed her by the wrist and hauled her up into the air on a gust of wind. Grinning wickedly as she yelped in surprise.

"Flight."

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Alaia Skyhawk: Olaf got a brother! Mueeheeheeheehee! Best line ever for a cameo (at least in my fics) if I do say so myself :D