The entirety of the North Pole was in mourning.
A candlelit remembrance ceremony was held for Sandy, attended by North, Toothiana, and Aster, along with all the elves and yetis. They all quietly grieved their loss, their heads bowed under the new burden they carried. Throughout it all, the soft chime of bells from the elves' pointed hats played a sad melody, sending soft echoes to the two non-attending spirits.
Katherine had been restricted to the nursing bay immediately upon their return. The room was created specifically for times like these, a rare exception as spirits didn't get injured as mortals did.
Jack had refused to leave her side, holding her hand as he rested his head on the bed surface, letting her play with his hair.
They were both hurting and stricken with loss that they both felt they could have stopped.
"Are you alright?"
Jack turned his head, giving Katherine a blank look, "I should be asking you that."
Katherine gave him a sad smile, her eyes glinting with unshed tears, "I'm trying to be... I want to be alright."
Jack sat up, enveloping her in a hug, "Shhh... It's okay. Let it out."
She followed what he said and sobbed into his shoulder.
He held her as she cried, quietly whispering little phrases of reassurance and letting her grieve. It was a feeling so new to him, but this method of sharing their pain made it seem much easier to bear. It made him wonder why he never did this before when he had broken down in the past.
He knew why he didn't, but he still felt angry that he had let himself believe in his bad choices before now.
"I wish I could have done something," Jack murmured, his face downcast.
Katherine choked back her tears, wiping them away with her wrist as she sniffed, "Jack, you stood up to Pitch..." she managed to let out a sigh of amusement, "You saved us... you saved me..."
"But Sandy..."
"Would have been proud of what you did."
Jack grunted; whether in agreement or disagreement, Katherine couldn't tell, but she could feel the vibration from deep in his chest.
"Jack, I found something about your past," she revealed.
Jack gripped her by the shoulders, looking her dead in the eye, "What? How?" he blinked, "You're young again!"
Katherine looked down at her hand, noticing her skin was pliable and smooth once again, "Well, it's nice to no longer look like a prune."
Jack chuckled at her attempt at humor, "Well, you were a pretty cute prune..."
She cleared her throat, giving him a mock-serious look, "Another comment like that, and I may refuse to tell you what I found.
He raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry!"
It was all bravado. Neither felt like smiling at the moment, but neither of them could afford to wallow in their sorrow for too long. When the time came, they would mourn properly, but now wasn't the time for them.
Katherine reached for her book, pulling it onto her lap, "Considering the time you lived, there were no official records of birth and death," she began, "But a journal from the local parson in the town of Hawthorne mentions a Jack Overland. Considering the circumstances, I'm positive this could be about you."
Jack looked at her, breathless, "When did you find this?"
Katherine traced her fingers through the pages, treating each with care, "My library is an extension of my mind, Jack. I searched for what I could while we were gathering teeth."
This entire time?
Nervous, Jack swallowed, eyeing the strange language written down on the pages before him, "What does it say?"
This time, Katherine shook her head apologetically, "I'm afraid there isn't much."
"You did your best," he reassured her before taking a deep breath, "Can you show me?"
Katherine bowed her head, placing a finger on the page, causing the writing to glow. Almost like a constellation, the words popped out, glimmering around them in warm hues.
"A tragedy has befallen our village today..." to Jack's surprise, he could hear the voice of the old parson narrating his own work. A dry kindly voice that sounded almost familiar, "God has taken yet another young soul too early..."
Jack drew in a sharp breath, exchanging looks with Katherine as the voice continued.
"I feel sorry for the Overland family, losing such a bright young son. Jack was a good boy; mischievous, yes, but always so gentle and caring towards the children of the village. Even when his father died, we'd never see him without that infectious smile while running around with his sister," the old man's voice took a sad turn, "It was such a sad fate he had to meet. Our village will remember him fondly and watch over his family as we're sure he'd have wanted."
Katherine's eyes were focused on Jack as she watched his breathing struggle to keep up with his heart rate. With a calm touch on his hand, though, she grounded him, letting him listen to the final entry.
"It's strange... Ever since that day, that particular pond has remained frozen over. Even when summer turns our countryside green, that one spot remains in eternal winter. Some of the villagers think it's cursed, but I think that maybe this is God's way of showing us that even when we do not understand His plan in all things, He is always watching and caring for us. We've never had to fear another accident at the pond since that day."
The glow around the book faded as Jack stared into empty space, stuck in a shocked, trancelike state of mind.
Katherine left him alone, letting him slowly process what he'd heard. The information was vague at best, leaving with little to go on, but for Jack, this was the most he'd learned about himself in three centuries.
"I had a family..." Jack murmured, "A sister... a mother..." frozen tears threatened to pour down his face, "And I can't even remember them!"
Now it was Katherine's turn to hold him, "Shhh... shhh..." she hushed, "We'll find your memories. I promise."
The hand caressing the winter spirit's hair suddenly changed, showing black veins across the back. Katherine's eye hardened upon noticing, pulling her hand to her side and hiding it in her sleeve.
A knock on the door caused the pair to look up.
"Who is it?" Katherine spoke up, shifting so Jack's tear-stained face would not be seen if anyone entered.
"Katherine," Tooth's voice sounded through the door, "I'm sorry, but we've called a meeting."
Katherine reached over to grab a wooden cane, gripping it on the end bearing the carved flying gander, "Thank you, Tooth. We'll be right there."
Jack furiously rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, "Yeah, we've got work to do."
Katherine took his offered hand and rose from the bed, carefully making her way to the door, "Can you promise me something, Jack?"
The winter spirit stopped to look down at her, once again so steadfast despite her temporary weakness. Normally he'd make a quip about not being trustworthy or how serious she was.
Or how her reddened eyes made him want to...
No! Bad Jack!
"If I can," he answered with complete solemnity.
Katherine reached up and pull him closer for her to whisper, "Please don't let me lose you."
She kissed his forehead softly and opened the door, leaving a frozen Jack behind.