Frosted Memories

Okay

Jack stared at the bloody handkerchief in his hands. He didn't know what was going on right now. Its as if this was all some distant dream. Jamie, where had Jamie gone?

And North? Where did he go? Jack looked around the room, his eyes passing over the large man easily, not registering him at all for the moment. Jack blinked and looked at Tooth, who apparently was talking to him.

"What?" He asked, not catching on to her words. "I said you need to come to my palace, you're unwell." She looked him over anxiously. "No." Jack practically spat. Why would he want to go there?

"Mate-" Bunny knelt next to him and rubbed his back instinctively. "No." Jack shook his head, trying to stand. "Dad will be worried if I'm gone too long-" then he stopped, his eyes locking with Norths as the man stood back by the door.

North was in shock and taking a moment to gather his bearings. "Son-" North barely got the word out, unsure of what he wanted to say. Even if he had said more, Jack wouldn't have processed it.

As soon as the word left North's mouth his mind finally caught up with him. He looked around confused. "Wait-" he took a deep breath, he was there. Fully there now. Tooth gave a hesitant yet relieved smile, even Bunny.

The change in his demeanor was crystal clear, he was with them. "What the hell-" the spirit rubbed his temples as a headache persisted. Jack remembered what had happened and how it all felt now.

He remembered calling out to Jamie- "Jamie!" Jack ran for the door, too quick to be stopped. Once he was in the hallway he turned his head so fast it looked as if his neck might snap.

There, to the right and down the hall a bit, Jamie sat against the wall with his head in his hands. "Jamie!" Jack bolted to him. The teen snapped his head up in surprise upon hearing the unexpected voice.

Jamie wiped his eyes quickly as Jack approached, the Guardians watching from a distance. "J-Jack I-" the spirit sat on his knees in front of his dearest friend, cutting off his sentence.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked worriedly. The puffy eyed teen stared at the spirit before him as if he'd asked what the number for 911 is. "What?" Jamie asked in disbelief. Why on Earth was Jack asking if he was okay?

"Are you okay?" Jack asked again, getting a bit worried now. Jamie stayed silent for a moment. He should be asking Jack that, not the other way around, was the boy insane?

"Are you crazy?!" Jamie suddenly shouted, making Jack tense up in surprise. "W-what?" Jack asked, confused. He didn't quite catch on to why Jamie was upset.

"Am I okay? What about you?!" Jamie shouted, Jack finally realizing why the teen was upset. "Wh- I-" Jack stumbled over his words, unsure of what to really say. He finally noticed how puffy and red his friend's eyes were as well. He'd been crying.

Jack sighed, sitting down fully onto the floor. "I.. I'm supposed to be the one to protect you," he paused, staring at his hands in his lap. "I remember the way I called out for you." Jack seemed to obtain a look of shame on his features, Jamie's expression softened a bit into somewhat surprise.

"You shouldn't have been put in that position. You shouldn't have seen me like that. That's why I asked if you were okay- clearly you're not. I'm so sorry-" Jack's sentence was cut short as his shoulder was punched quite roughly.

He looked up in shock at the teen, who looked like he might cry once more. "I-I'm not a little kid anymore, Jack." Jamie whispered. That was the sad truth that none of them wanted to face. Jamie, as well as the other teens, were just that. Teens.

They were no longer children anymore. They should have stopped believing years ago, but they had a special childhood. Jack's expression grew unreadable. "I know." He said back to Jamie.

"But my memories of you are older. You were young. You'll-" Jack's brows furrowed. He wasn't sure how they met exactly, but he had a vague idea. "You'll always be that little boy I met so long ago." He paused as Jamie looked at him with what he could only describe as sadness.

"My first believer." Jack finished, not quite sure of that statement since he couldn't quite remember, but confident that it was true. A tear fell down Jamie's cheek at that, so Jack continued. "I'll always want to protect you, and I always will." He told the teen.

Jamie covered his face with his hands again, releasing a shaky sigh as he did, wiping his tears and looking at Jack once again. "When Pitch attacked us the first time," he looked at the Guardians and then back to Jack.

He knew if he told this story, it might trigger a memory, but it was important. "We almost lost. The Guardians protect the children, but who protects the Guardians?" Jamie asked. It had been a question he'd asked when they helped bring the Sandman back.

Jack's eyes widened. "We can protect you, too. We're older, we still believe." Jamie stated. The thing was, only children believe in them, not teens or adults. But if anyone other than children believe, it's special.

Childrens' belief holds great power, but the older someone is, the more power the belief provides. Jack, knew this. Even without much memory, he knew it somehow. Jack sighed, bowing his head.

"Okay." He relented. He knew Jamie was right. He knew he couldn't argue. "Now, are you okay?" Jamie asked again, helping Jack stand from the floor. The spirit nodded slowly, "I think so." He replied, looking back at North as they began to walk over to the others.

"I'm okay." He told his worried father. "I promise, I'm okay." And before he knew it, he was in his father's embrace. He wanted North to speak but the man just needed his son right now. He needed to know that he was there and that he was safe.

"You should still go with Tooth, mate." Bunny spoke from the side. If he could, he'd be hugging Jack like that as well, but North wasn't sharing. Jack peeked at the Pooka, unsure.

"He is right." North spoke grimly. Jack looked up at him, not wanting to be away from the Pole, from North. It sounded like they wanted to send him away. "We will talk more of it tomorrow. We'll have dinner and rest." North commanded rather than asked.

Jack didn't protest, however, he made sure to keep Jamie as close to him as possible while he stayed as close to his father as possible. North also made sure Jack stayed as close as possible too.

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Hello Snowflakes,

I hope you liked this chapter, and yey! Jack's okay! For now. But he's being sent to stay with Tooth for medical observation, so we'll see how that turns out.

*Jack Frost*