Chapter 4: Sleepy Christmas

"I suppose... We should probably get back to the memories." Jack sighed, not exactly looking forward to what was coming up. He didn't know when it'd be shown, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see how they'd react to his death.

They walked through the front door, re-entering the memories. They came into Jackson's living room, which was decorated warmly for Christmas. "Ha! It is Christmas!" North shouted in glee. Bunny rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, mate. Easter's still better."

Jackson and Pippa bounced in their seats as their mother placed some freshly baked cookies and a glass of milk on the table for Santa. Jackson's eyes lit up for a moment before he dashed off to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" North asked, curious.

"You'll see." Jack rolled his eyes.

Jackson came back with a handful of carrots. "Jack? What're those for?" Pippa asked.

"For the reindeer, Pippa!" Jackson said, the guardians could hear the unsaid 'duh' at the end of his sentence.

"How thoughtful! They always did like coming to this house." North smiled, remembering how they'd pull harder to get to the houses they knew held carrots or other treats for them. Some kids still do similar things.

"Ma? Can we please stay up to see him?" Jackson asked, giving his mother the most powerful puppy-dog eyed stare the Guardians had ever seen. Pippa joined him.

"Oh, Jack! You and your sister were so cute~!" Tooth spazzed, and even Baby Tooth swooned a bit, making Jack flush.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, you know!" He pouted, which only made Tooth smile more.

"Jackson! You're too young!" Jackson's mother reprimanded.

"Pleeeease! I turned ten like three days ago! I'm old enough!" Jackson begged.

"Wait, when is your birthday?" Bunny asked, looking at their Jack. Sandy formed a question mark above his head, too.

"Well, I was born on December 21... Winter Solstice. If you mean when my birthday as Jack Frost is, well... that'd be December 26." He smiled at the others, who grinned back.

"Looks like we celebrate twice!" North proclaimed. Jack was quick to shake his head.

"No need to make a big deal out of it! Really! Even just once is plenty!" Jack didn't quite know what to think. He'd stopped celebrating his birthday not too long after he died. Aside from not remembering his human birthday, he never really found a reason to celebrate being alive. Especially considering the times when he'd really wished he wasn't. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—he'd found that he was much more durable as an immortal. Nothing he'd tried or found could kill him permanently. Maybe that's why he wasn't afraid when facing Pitch? He knew he couldn't die. But even if he could, he wouldn't have changed a thing. Not like anyone would've cared if I'd died anyways. The Guardians would get over me.

In the memory—which the guardians had missed due to the conversation—it appeared that Jackson's mother had agreed to let the two of them try to stay up to see North. Pippa tried, she really did, but she was asleep within two hours. After a while, they could see Jackson's eyes starting to droop, and a golden glow emanate from outside.

Most kids didn't stay awake long enough to see Sandy's work, so they were impressed when they realized that Jackson was still awake. In fact, he got up and carefully walked over to the window just in time to see a golden strand phase through the glass and form a scene of Christmas morning over his sister's head.

"What the...?" Jackson startled when a golden man appeared at the window.

"Oh! You met Sandy! That is very rare!" North grinned as he watched the two interact.

Sanderson—memory Sandy—waved in greeting before also entering the household.

"Woah! You're the Sandman!" Jackson whispered in awe. Sanderson tipped his hat in a friendly hello. "Can't you talk?" He tilted his head.

The Sandman shook his head, and made a shushing motion. "Wait, so you can speak, but you don't because if you do, you'll wake up all the kids everywhere?" He guessed, and both memory and present-day Sandy blinked in surprise. Nobody's guessed that right before! Everyone just assumed he couldn't speak, not wouldn't.

Sanderson nodded in excitement. He'd never met a kid who could read him so well.

"Wait, you can talk?!" Bunny turned to their Sandy in shock.

"Yeah, you didn't know that?" Jack blinked. "I mean, you guys have known him longer than I have, and I've heard him speak once before."

"YOU HAVE?!" The three shouted in unison. Sandy couldn't help but silently laugh at the scene before him. It was like a comedy skit!

"Oh, you mean you haven't?" Jack tilted his head innocently. Sandy shook his head, indicating that he has never spoken around them.

"So lemme get this straight. Sandy, you actually can speak, but you don't because if you do, all the kids all over the world will wake up?" Bunny waited for the affirming nod before he continued. "And Jack has actually heard you speak before?" He nodded again. "And do ya think we'll see that memory here?"

"Probably." Jack answered the last one. "It was a fairly fond memory of mine. I'm sure it'll come up during my immortal memories."

"That's so cool!" Jackson whisper-yelled, so as not to wake his sister and parents. Sanderson made a motion to the couch. "Aww, do I have to? I wanna see Santa! Please? There's something important I have to give to him!" Sanderson blinked in surprise before looking at the sky. He sighed and nodded, making himself comfortable on his little sand-cloud. "All right!" Jackson quietly cheered. He knew his sister would be so mad at him for not waking her up, but he couldn't interrupt such a nice dream. Besides! He was pushing his luck as it was! He didn't want Sandman to make him go to bed.

"I wanted to tell you, too, Sandman... Thank you." Jackson smiled at the golden man sitting in his living room. He formed a question mark above his head. "Thank you for giving me such good dreams! You're one of my heroes, you know that? I get my best pranking ideas from your dreams." He grinned, and Sanderson's glow became more pronounced around his cheeks.

"Aww, Sandy! You're blushing!" North grinned, looking between the flattered memory-Sandy and the equally flattered modern-day Sandy, who looked away in denial.

At that moment, memory-North made his way down the chimney, leaving a small cloud of soot from his landing. Jackson watched in awe and wonder. "Wow..."

"Sandy? What are you doing here? Oh! A child! You must be Jackson! I thought you'd be asleep!" North looked between the two in confusion.

"I asked him if I could stay awake so I could meet you!" Jackson grinned, and North—both past and present—could feel the wonder welling up inside the child. His wonder was one of the strongest he'd ever felt. And modern-North was very happy to feel that that wonder stayed mostly intact.

"Oh? Well you've met me. Ah! Cookies! And carrots, how thoughtful! No wonder the reindeer pulled me to this house first!" North dusted himself off and bit into a cookie with a smile.

"Hey, why don't kids ever leave anything out for me?" Bunny suddenly asked, pouting.

"Because Easter is not Christmas!" North replied. Before either could get into it, the memory caught their attention again. Memory-North and Jackson were sharing cookies with Sanderson.

"I wanted to give you something, Santa." Jackson said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small box.

"Please, call me North!" Then he looked at the box. "What is this?"

"Well... I thought... you give out all these presents to kids all over the world, and I... well... who gives you presents? So I... um..." Jackson fidgeted in his seat, making for a very cute picture. "Merry Christmas!" He held out the box with a grin. North was touched. Very few children ever thought to give him a present. (Though he always made sure they were on the Nice List thereafter).

"Sorry, Sandman. I don't have yours ready quite yet. But I'll have it ready by next year, okay?" Jack grinned as North took his gift and opened it.

"Thank you, Jackson." He smiled, pulling out a hand carved wooden tree with gifts delicately carved into the bottom, and four figures holding hands around the tree. Upon closer inspection, it showed North, Bunnymund, Sanderson, and Toothiana—though Jackson had yet to meet her.

North made a noise of recognition as he pulled the same small wooden oval out of his pocket, though it was quite worn, now.

"You kept it?" Jack asked in surprise. He was touched.

"I always keep gifts. Especially ones that are handmade! But this one always felt special to me." He smiled, winking at Jack, who did his best to hide his embarrassment.

Memory-North grinned and placed it carefully in his pocket. "Thank you. It is beautiful! I can tell you worked hard on it, no?" Jackson flushed.

"I did. Pa had to show me how to carve the wood, but this branch fell outside and I just had to thank you somehow. Last year, you brought my sister that doll she wanted! And after that, her nightmares stopped! So... I really wanted to thank you for making her nightmares go away."

"Nightmares? You mean Pitch?" Bunny asked sharply.

"I think... maybe? But as far as I remember, Pitch hadn't figured out his little nightmare sand trick, right?" Jack pointed out. Sandy nodded in agreement. If Pitch had figured out that sand trick this early, he'd have known centuries ago!

Sanderson made a clock above his head, and memory-North nodded. "You are right, Sandy. It is late. And time for you" he looked at Jackson, "to get some sleep."

"I suppose you're right. Thank you. Both of you." Jackson smiled, climbing onto the couch and curling up with his sister protectively. Sanderson smiled back and waved goodnight as he sent a stream of sand to the boy, causing the memory to go dark.

"So you've met three of us. Wonder if you'll meet Tooth, too?" Bunny wondered aloud.

"I think... I think I do remember hearing something about one of my fairies meeting a couple of kids around this time, but I'm pretty sure I never met you." Tooth said after a moment of thought.

"Nah, you didn't meet me, Tooth. But Baby Tooth, here, did!" Jack smiled.

"You can recognize her?" Tooth asked in surprise. Most people couldn't tell her fairies apart.

"Of course! She's got this one blue strip down her back, and a little brown feather under her right eye." Jack said, as if this were obvious. Even Baby Tooth was surprised that Jack noticed these things about her. Sometimes even her siblings had to resort to scent to tell each other apart, and even then someone would get it wrong!

They found themselves on Christmas Morning to Pippa rudely shaking awake a rather tired looking Jackson. "Pippa, what is it?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes. He noted with dismay that it was still dark outside, and the sun was only barely peeking over the horizon. "It's way too early to be awake."

"But Jack! It's Christmas! And Santa came! Look, look! He left boot-prints again!" She pointed eagerly to the shoeprints that North had left on their rug the night before.

"I know he came, Pip. I saw him." Jackson answered. Pippa froze and turned slowly to look at her brother.

"Y-you did?! And you didn't wake me up?!" She asked, hurt.

"N-no, Pip, listen! The Sandman was here, too! And I asked him if he'd let me stay awake so I could meet Santa. I didn't think he'd let either of us stay up if I asked. Besides, I was sorta star struck."

North chuckled. "And you weren't for me?!" Bunny asked, annoyed. What made North so much better anyways?!

"So... he was really here, then?" Pippa asked tentatively.

"She's already doubting? So young!" North looked sadly at the child.

"What's that supposed to mean, Pip? Of course Santa's real! And the Easter Bunny, as you saw! And the Sandman! And the Tooth Fairy! Even the Boogieman's real!" Jackson proclaimed. "Now, who told you otherwise?"

"W-well, I overheard some of the grown-ups talking about how they were going to do the 'Santa gift' this year, and that they thought it was adorable how we still believed." Pippa started to tear up.

"No, no, Pippa, look at me!" Jackson kneeled down to her level. "Listen, okay? They're all real. But you can only see them, if you believe in them. They're meant to protect the children, so of course the adults can't see them. Because they don't believe. And just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it isn't there. Like the moon!" Jackson took his sister over to the window and pointed out the moon, which was still in the sky. "Look, just because the sun comes out doesn't mean the moon is gone, right?"

"I... yeah." Pippa answered, feeling somewhat ashamed.

"Do you see those dark spots on the moon? There and there? What does that look like to you?" Jackson changed the subject suddenly.

"Uh... I don't know? A face?"

"Yes! It's a face! There's this guy that lives on the moon, and that's his face! He's called the Man in the Moon, and he watches over every child in the world from up there! But only at night, because the sun comes out during the day. So he asked the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Santa, and the Tooth Fairy to help him watch over the kids of the world while he was asleep. So if you ever need proof, just look at the moon." He finished, crossing his arms with a proud smile as his sister looked up at the moon in awe, her belief restored.

"That's pretty scary, there, mate. How'd you know all that?" Bunny asked.

"Well, I didn't." Jack scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I sorta... made it up?"

"You... what?" Tooth asked in disbelief.

"I couldn't let my sister stop believing! So I glanced out the window in hopes of an idea, and the story just sorta... came to me. I had no idea that MiM existed at the time. Not like you guys, who had well-known stories and holidays." Jack explained.

"That's pretty incredible, mate." Bunny whistled. "Maybe we should start trustin' your gut instead of North's. You seem to have some pretty sharp instincts."

"Bunny! Was that a compliment?" Jack asked playfully, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't go gettin' used to it or nothin'!" He crossed his furry arms. "You're still annoying, Frostbite!"

"You know, the Japanese have a word for people with your personality." Jack smirked. "Tsundere~"

"Ts-ts- what the bloody hell are you sayin?" Bunny raised his fists, as if to fight. "All right, me an you! Let's go!"

Jack just laughed as the memory sped up again, showing tired groggy parents coming downstairs, making breakfast, forcing everyone to eat before presents, and finally Pippa opening her gift to find several new dresses made of beautiful fabrics and fine materials. She was so happy that she nearly knocked Jack over with a hug. She was even more surprised to find matching dresses for the doll she'd gotten the previous year, as well as accessories for her.

Jack opened his gift carefully finding a pair of ice-skates. "YES!" He cheered, carefully pulling them out of the box. At the bottom, he found another, shallower box with his name written on it. He pulled it out carefully, reading the letter on top to himself and Pippa. "Jackson. I really enjoyed talking to you last night. The gift you made for me means a lot. I know it isn't much, but take this as an extra Christmas gift for you and your sister. May it bring you and your family luck in the coming year. From, North." Jackson pulled out the box and opened it to find several mouthwatering cookies and a small bundle of cash.

"I didn't realize you gave out money like that?" Bunny raised an eyebrow.

"Only for special children. I normally do not, because I have none myself, but there were a few very naughty people who had plenty of money to spare. They will not miss it." North shrugged.

"You mean you stole that?!" Tooth cried out.

"Mate. You realize he used to be a bandit, right? Stealin's sorta his thing." Bunny interjected.

"Was my thing, Bunny. I am different now." North corrected.

"But you still stole the money." Bunny pointed out.

"Hey, lay off him, okay? It helped my family more than you know. Thank you North. We may not have made it the next winter without it." Jack grimaced, realizing what was coming up. He slowly brought up his hood as he dreaded the next memory. The scene around them swirled, and Jack prayed to whatever god pitied him enough to listen that he was wrong.

A/N: Hello everybody~! I've noticed some attention being given to this story, so I decided to update it again (thus bringing the word count up over 5,000. Hopefully it'll get a bit more attention, now.

Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment down below. The more comments, the faster the updates, because your reviews motivate me to write more!! :D

Words: 2,867

Pages: 6

Posted: 12/26/2018