Hi there, guys! *ducks flying pots and pans* Alright, I have no excuse for the lateness of this chapter. Well, I do, but I feel like starting every chapter with an excuse is a bad habit that reflects poorly on my character as a writer...I mean, if these Author's notes are the only time you hear what I say, it's kinda an impression of who I am, and I don't want it to be so...whiny. Ah, well. :)

Many, many thanks to all you glorious folks who've read/reviewed/Favorited this story, and for sticking with a procrastinating author!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS. I OWN ONLY MY PLOT AND INDIVIDUAL OC CHARACTERS.

Enjoy!

Two months after that same Halloween, a group of very exhausted Guardians once again convened. They looked haggard in general: North had dark framing eyes that no longer sparkled, Tooth sat heavily in one of the room's tall stools, too tired to even hover, feathers out of place and mussed, small hands trembling. Bunny looked the worst of all—the Pooka's fur was scruffy, ears and whiskers drooping limply as he stared at the floor blankly. Sandy sat atop a bookcase, eyes anguished, mouth set in a tight line. All around them the mini-fairies lay sprawled on every available surface: North's hat in the corner, the shelf above Sandy, atop the Globe, on a stack of books, the mantelpiece, a stuffed animal—chirruping weakly to one another in soft tones.

Shifting, North regarded the rom through glassy wyes. He stood up, leaning heavily on his sword, and began to speak in flat and defeated tones. "You all know why we are here. Ever since Jack—"

Here his voice broke as memories overtook him.

Defeating Pitch—how glorious it had been! All around him, North could hear the shouts and laughter of the children, the rejoicing of the other Guardians. Finally, after so long, they had done it…and the y owed so much of it to their newest member, Jack Frost. A wave of affection for the new Guardian swelled in his chest. Now that everything was behind them, he saw how foolish his doubts about Jack had been, how wrong—the boy was a perfect Guardian, one he looked forward to adding to the family he and the others had become. He began calculating how he'd make Jack's room that the boy could stay in during gatherings. What was his food? Color?

Blue probably, he mused, before turning, beaming, to get Jack's opinion—boy wasn't there.

"—We have not been able to find him…"

Tooth's violet eyes, large and tear-filled. The broken whisper, "But where would he go?"

Bunny's face, shocked and irritated. "Bloody show pony. He's probably just off playing with the kids. He'll show up."

But he wasn't just playing with the kids—and he never showed up. By the time they had checked in with all of the children the next morning and, realizing something was wrong, begun searching for him, it was too late. He was nowhere to be found. Tooth and her fairies had flown about the entire Earth looking for Jack. A guilty looking Bunny had sworn he'd taken his tunnels everywhere, and North had looked in vain for the boy as well. Sandy had taken to flying about at night looking for Jack's dreams.

The boy was nowhere to be found.

In desperation, they had even whispered into the dark places of the earth, asking Pitch if he had taken Jack, done something to him. When the reply they got amounted to a sneering, pain-filled denial of "having done anything to your precious Frost," they were left with one conclusion: Jack had left by himself. But why? The last thing Pitch had said to them echoed in their minds: "…didn't seem like you much wanted him anyway…"

A few days later they had figured it out, and Sandy was no longer talking to them. The normally mellow sleep-time Guardian had taken to ignoring them and leaving whenever he saw them, spending his time instead scouring the night time for hints of Jack. As far as he was concerned, the others were to blame for Jack's departure—he had been told all that had passed while he was…dead, technically, and found himself furious. Perhaps, he reasoned to himself, Jack might come out for him, if not the others, and the two of them would have no need to contact the other Guardians for quite some time.

Out of all of the others, Bunny was particularly guilt-ridden—he felt it was entirely his fault that Jack had left. If only he hadn't said all that he had on that terrible Easter, hadn't let his anger and sorrow overpower him….But it was too late. Jack was gone, and no amount of self-shame would make that right. His only chance was to find the winter spirit and apologize. Unfortunately, Jack seemed to have almost dropped from existence.

Now, after the time had passed, Sandy had reluctantly rejoined the other Guardians—but only to add to their efforts, he had emphasized stiffly.

"—Does anyone have any more ideas?" North finished desperately. When there was no reply, he shook his head sadly. "I do not know what we should do," he said softly, almost as if he were talking to himself. "I can only hope that Jack is okay...wherever he is, and is finding the happiness that he could not find with-with us."

Far away in Halloween Town, Jack was having the best time he could ever remember having. He was currently hiding behind one of the frozen pinnacles surrounding his tower, biting his lip to keep from laughing aloud as he watched other denizens of Halloween Town try to hide in the same icy forest. They were currently engaged in a massive game of hide-and-seek, which normally would have been easy for the lot of them—but Jack's abode was new, unknown territory, and they were all hampered by the fact that their reflections were distorted and replicated by the mirror-like pinnacles. Oft-times the seeker would jump out at what they thought was another player in the game, only to touch icy surfaces instead of the hidden participant, resulting in much laughter.

One of the things Jack had noticed with Skeleton Jack that first day—the other's inability to feel cold, resulting in a longer snowball fight—had, much to his shock and delight, proved true for the other inhabitants of Halloween Town. Due to some part of their nature, he mused, they simply did not feel cold. At first, jack had been startled. After all, everybody got cold and went inside, right?

Not these folks.

Nobody here went inside and left him alone because of how cold the air was—instead, snow-play went on far longer than he was used to0—days, even. The outcome was unexpected, yet so…satisfying for Jack. Finally, he had people surrounding him who could keep up with him, who wanted to. Here, he wasn't shunned, or ignored, or invisible—Instead, he was viewed with friendliness, curiosity, and a little bit of awe. He was important here. He had friends. For the first time in far too long, he had begun to relax, more and more as each day passed with nobody betraying him or telling him to leave. In fact, it was the opposite—he felt that he had gained so much more than he'd ever had since…since he had fallen through the ice on that fateful day so long ago.

He had gained a family, a family that didn't care that he loved pranks, who weren't angry at him for wanting to paly, who didn't tell each other he was not real. In short…he was accepted, utterly and fully.

Of course, the Guardians he had left behind crossed his mind every now and again, accompanied by a slowly lessening feeling of despair. They had not wanted him, that was true enough—but now he had people who did want him, who thought that he was something special. He didn't need their family…he had one of him own.

Later, he met some of the most fascinating children. There were three of them, dressed up as though for trick'o'treating, and though they could be a bit…odd, at times, Jack found their presence to be rather…fun. He had first met them when they had trundled up to him from some undisclosed location in a bathtub, of all things, to ask if he would fill it with snow. After that incident (which left him baffled for a while), the trio (Lock, Shock, and Barrel, as they called themselves) showed up more and more often. He noticed that they always seemed to have some sort of prank idea—and that drew him in just as much as the fact that they were children,

Before long, he had made yet another three friends. Soon, his memory of the Guardians began to fade a little as his life grew more and more wonderful—When he did think of them, he still retained some of the hurt that they had inflicted on him through their rejection, but it happened less and less. After all, he had people to play with, snow to make, and Jaimie to entertain. The boy came several times a week, using his Halloween charm as a transporter. With so many things going on, he found his past life to be of little importance—What he had here, now, was all that mattered.

All right, all right-Did anyone see that coming?! What the Guardians' perspective is?

See you all soon (hopefully), and thanks for reading!

~PhantomBowtie