Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Stronger Than Fear

Stronger than Fear

...

Jack stared at the lake in front of him. Winter was coming to an end and that meant the ice was melting. By the end of the week there would only be a few pieces of ice still bobbing along in the water and he would have moved on to either Antarctica or the Arctic to wait out the season. But there was still time.

In a few weeks it would have been exactly a year since their first Guardian/family vacation. Jack fully expected them to plan another one, but with the way the last one had gone, he couldn't say he was all that thrilled. It was, after all, his fault (but mostly Bunny's) that everything had gone to Hell in a hand-basket.

What if they wanted to go some place with water again? What if they wanted him to join in whatever water activity they were doing? What if someone more twisted than Pitch tried to take advantage of his fear? He didn't want to let the Guardians down. Not again. There was only one thing for it, then.

He had to overcome his fear of drowning.

Jack gently leaned his staff against a tree before pulling off his hoodie. Then, staff in hand (like hell he was going to try anything without it), he took his first tentative steps towards the partially-melted pond.

The water was freezing, not that he particularly cared, as it lapped over his bare feet. He forced himself deeper and deeper until the waves caressed his knees. Then, with a deep breath, he sat down.

"Okay, Jack, you can do this," he told himself, his grip on his staff tight in case he suddenly needed to escape. "It's just a little water; you command ice and snow, why should you be afraid of a little water?"

The wind ruffled his hair in a silent show of support.

"Thanks, wind," he murmured. "Okay, here we go."

Ever so slowly, Jack leaned backwards, allowing the frigid water to soak into his shirt until only his head and shoulders were above the water. This was the easy bit, though, he knew. The fear wouldn't fully kick in until he was completely submerged.

Shoulders under.

"You know what?" Jack sat back upright like a wound spring. "Maybe I should do this where the mermaids are or… or tomorrow when there's less ice…"

The wind billowed around him, scolding.

"Ugh, I know. You're right," Jack sighed. "No excuses."

Shoulders back under.

He stayed like that for a good few minutes, trying to work up the nerve to let his head fall back.

"Gotta do it quick. Just like a bandaid."

Jack sucked in a lungful of air and plunged himself completely under the water, the surface a mere few millimetres from the tip of his nose.

It was like someone had flipped a switch. The mild fear that had been clinging to him from the moment he'd started thinking about the water contorted into an all-consuming terror that pulsed through his veins and froze his limbs. He'd barely been under for more than a few seconds before he shot out of the water like a rocket, hovering above the lake in the wind's gentle embrace.