Snowflakes And Shadow Crowns

Old wounds and Bright Ideas

It wasn't the near rejection that hurt the most. It wasn't the critical glares that he could feel on the back of his neck, and it wasn't the way that Pitch had pushed him away so abruptly.

It was the sudden realisation that he was alone that had ripped out his heart. It was the lingering feeling of Pitch's warm lips and the feeling of the other's breath that was nothing more than a memory.

Jack was alone. He'd always been alone and he was a fool to ever think otherwise.

And now all there was left to do was stare at the emptiness.

Why? Why had it ended up like this? If he were someone else, a girl perhaps, would it have turned out differently? If he wasn't a Guardian? If he wasn't Jack Frost? He'd thought that maybe Pitch would have accepted him. He thought that Pitch understood him. He didn't know what to think anymore, and it was all his fault. He chose to come. He chose to lie to the Guardians about their friendship, and now he was paying the price.

But that was okay. He deserved it, after all, and he knew that Pitch felt the same.

Bunnymund was shouting some nonsense that Jack didn't care to hear. It was about him and how he was a traitor or something of the like, no doubt. North wasn't saying much except for trying to calm Bunny down, and Sandy never spoke anyway, so when Tooth suddenly flew next to him and grabbed his shoulder softly, Jack was a bit surprised. He said nothing.

"Jack," She began, and he rather wished that he wasn't there at all, "Jack, let's go." He could feel the awkwardness in her voice and a part of him hoped that Bunny would just kill him. End this ridiculous crush and these petty, unimportant squabbles between them that always seemed to somehow revolve around Jack's stupidity. Never in all of his life had he felt so pathetic.

He kept his head hung low as Tooth led him out, not really paying attention to where and not noticing how the others got deathly quiet as he walked passed. He suddenly found himself in the sleigh, and before he realised it, they were all in the air, headed towards North's workshop.

---

Months had passed. A long, long time. Seemed like years but, no, it was only months.

The others thought he was over it by now. Oh, but how they were wrong. Not over but rather wrapped up and tangled in between only, this time, he wasn't going to whine. He planned on fixing this. He was tired of the darkness--which in no way whatsoever included Pitch--and so he planned on remedying it, and he was going to do it the only way he knew how. With a change of attitude, an almost genuine uplift in his point of view and a somewhat happy smile to mask the pain.

Perfection. Or as good as it was getting anyway.

Like an interminable loop, the weather was inching back to cold. Slowly but surely dropping in temperature and bringing with it all that Jack called himself. Plaid scarfs, thick coats, a single pair of mittens for two, steaming cups of cocoa, Christmas carols--oh what fun! But Jack had other things to do rather than take rides in a one horse open sleigh. He had a plan. Or, not really a plan as much as an idea, but he was busy searching for his saving grace: An excuse, and a Christmas present fit for a king.

It was almost diabolical! Of course, in a joyful, nonthreatening way whatsoever...

Nevertheless, it needed to be perfect. The only problem being, Jack was about as far from perfect minded as you could get. He was happy with the simple things, and besides, his tastes were totally different from Pitch's. In all honesty, getting him a Christmas present wasn't the smartest idea that Jack's had flutter though his mind over the past months, but it was the one with the highest chance of possible success. If you count probably getting killed for a second time and reopening old, deep, retched, infected wounds, and this time, without even achieving your initial goal as a high chance of success, then yes, he was definitely going to come out on top this time. But this was the only chance he could get to really patch things up. And not just between him, but between all of them.