Prologue

Have you ever been burdened by something so big, so mind-boggling huge and with all of these out of place things that you—no. This doesn't make sense at all, for frosts sake.

Alright, let me try an easier opening.

My name is Jacqueline Frost. My story? Is very long, and sometimes a little too close to a soap opera for my liking, to be quite honest. Thankfully it has been a few years since said soap opera concluded. And on a happy note, too! My family is close as can be, the people of Crystal Springs respect myself and the other Legates, finally, and best of all for me? I have my big brother back for good.

See, that's the thing though—or, well, person, I guess. My brother. He's mostly the cause of the whole soap opera life to be honest. I actually told him that the other day! Of course, being the stuck-up snowdiva he is, he took it as a complete compliment! Which, Jack, is not what I intended it to be, you absolute blizzard brain—and now I'm getting off topic. Whoops.

For a long time—and I'm talking centuries long, like about fourteen hundred years if we're being relatively exact—Jack had completely cut ties with us. He left the family with this idea that he had to take back his reputation.

You see, if you haven't figured it out by now, my brother is none other than the Jack Frost. Yes, the winter guy, who has a bit of a penchant for trouble. He was born with a frozen heart. An extreme case, we found out a few years back: he was cursed with it. So he had a wee bit of an evil disposition. He had worked really hard to get his Legendary title, and no sooner had he achieved it and was known throughout the mortal world, does jolly old Saint Nick begin his gift giving on the holiest night of the Catholic year (well, those who follow the western church, I believe. Honestly, don't get me started on mortal religions. All of them are real and all of the god-figures tend to be a bit of a pain and at times, a little troublesome (see: Zeus). Some of them are also incredibly sassy, holy snowballs).

And where did this date fall? Oh, right! Wham bam smack centre of winter! Which, of course, is Jack's domain. Then, Santa became more popular; soon the world knew of Santa Claus, and his Legendary status overshadowed Jack's. All of the reputation he had known, the acknowledgement that he once got, was now part of Christmas as a whole and belonged to Santa. I guess you can kind of see why his ultimate goal was to upstage Santa. To frozen Jack, the fame and glory and recognition Santa had should have been his!

Now, I bet I can guess what you're thinking, reader. Well, Jack never succeeded in upstaging Santa, did he? I mean, I probably would have heard of it, right?

…Right?

Well, the answer to that is more complicated than you will ever know (which is why I'm writing this certainly lengthy recollection of it). But, to put it simply: yes. Jack did succeed. But nobody remembers. Nobody but Jack.

And myself.

Even after everything was fixed and we dealt with Jack's thaw and return home, and the whole shadows thing, memories of the alternate timeline bothered me like you wouldn't believe. It was just…so bad. And now, with no big event happening, I haven't really had a distraction from that alternate timeline. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It wouldn't leave my head! I had to figure out a way to get it out of there, and that's when I noticed the shelves in my sitting room. They were weighted down with journals and diaries I had written throughout the centuries.

That's it! I thought. I'll write it all down! All of it!

But not before I got permission from Jack.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking, presuming you're aware of Jack's history. You're going to ask his permission? Why?

Because he wasn't at his best, reader. In fact, this was quite possibly his worst moment, his lowest low, during a frozen heart. Believe it or not, people are capable of change. And when they do change, sometimes they don't like to look back on their past selves. Which is why I went to talk to Jack, first. I wanted to do this to help myself feel better, but I wouldn't do it if Jack didn't want me to write out his time as Santa for anyone to be able to read, should they have access to it. So, I went to talk to him. It was what came after the snowdiva conversation!

"I'm not a diva," Jack had said, after my comment. "I like to keep people on their toes," he began, crossing one leg over the other, hands clasped around his knee.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you do," I said, moving the book he had been reading off of the opposite chair and making myself comfortable. It was silent for a bit, before Jack broke it (he really does not handle silence well).

"I know you came here for another reason, you know," he said, uncrossing his legs and shifting forward, perched on the edge of his seat. "Not just to accuse me of being a diva."

"Accuse? Please, you already pleaded guilty."

He shrugged, grinning. "What can I say." He winked, and I rolled my eyes again. At the rate I was going with eyerolls today, I was gonna beat out Mom's personal best.

"Now come on Jacqueline, what's bothering you?"

"How did you know I was coming to be serious?"

Jack didn't say anything. He merely tapped his head knowingly.

"Right. The connection. Snooper! And you say I don't know what privacy is."

"Come now little flurry, out with it."

I sighed. "Do you…do you remember the timeline where you were Santa?"

"How could I forget it?" His face fell as he shifted back in his chair. "If there is one thing that I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for, it would be that timeline. All the awful things I did during those twelve years that seemed like a good idea at the time. All the trouble it caused for the elves…the Legendaries…the people of the world…Mom…Dad…and especially you, Jacqueline. Quite honestly, I don't think I'll ever let myself forget that timeline." He looked away now, frowning. I hadn't seen him this frowny since I reunited with him up North after the fourteen-century silence.

"Well…you're not the only one who remembers that Timeline," I admitted.

"I thought as much. That's…unfortunate."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry Jacqueline. I've…I've looked into it, you know. A way to forget, that is. I've come up with barely anything. Amnesia dust is never good for long term things, especially when only two people in the magical world remember it in full."

"I've been told the same thing," I admitted. "It's just…since things have quieted down I haven't been able to stop thinking about Frostmas. I can't stop thinking about what happened during those years, where each event led…I can't stand sitting here and having it all in my head. I was thinking…"

"Ah," Jack said, catching on. "I think I know where this is going."

"I just know writing it all out will help me. But I can't write it all out by myself. I'll need your help to fill in the blanks, and I wanted to make sure…that you would be okay with having that all on paper."

"You wanted my permission?"

"I won't publish it or anything. I just want to write it all down and archive it, I think." I stared out the window at the blooming backyard. "I just want it out of my head," I said quietly.

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment. I didn't reach out to see what he was thinking about; I knew how much he regretted that timeline nowadays. I didn't want to know his thoughts right now, especially since I had just told him that of all the people in the world to remember the timeline, it had to be his little sister.

This will sound totally self-centered, but it's true. Jack's one really big regret is how badly he treated me, and how badly he hurt me (both literally and emotionally). All of us, really…but for some reason he tends to dwell the most on how his actions have impacted me. I've never asked him why. I don't think I want to know his reasoning. He gets really deep randomly despite his debutante personality and self-centered tendencies, and it felt like this was fast becoming one of those out of the blue moments.

Finally, he looked at me and spoke up.

"I think it's a good idea," he said. Getting up, he went to the bookcase behind me and pulled a small, brown number off the shelf. The bookcase moved, bringing Jack into the secret library that was held behind it. Moments later, the bookshelf flipped again, Jack emerging with a large, old tome.

"What the heck is that?" I asked. It was huge, and I had never seen it in either of the house libraries before now.

"I grabbed it from Old Frost Castle when I went to find Dad the New Year's Eve after the whole Deliquesce thing. Grandma Frost used it for really ancient warlock magic—you know, back before warlocks focused more so on potion making and alchemy and all that jazz."

I grabbed it from him, carefully flipping through the thick, weathered pages. Spells, incantations, and curses were written in all sorts of ancient languages, covering the pages. Some of them had accompanying diagrams ranging from weird to downright terrifying.

Jack gave his finger a little twirl. The pages flipped at his command, settling open on a set close to the back of the book. A diagram depicting a warlock writing was on one side. A trail of gold was painted onto the drawing, stretching from the warlock's head, down their arm, and around the quill.

"This incantation allows the user to put their memories down on paper; should they choose to, they can forget it once they've finished writing it down. When you re-read it, you'll recall the memories. It doesn't get rid of them per se…it more so locks them up, and most importantly, what you want, gets them out of your head."

"But what about you?" I asked, staring at the faded pages. I didn't recognize a few of the languages on it. "You'll still remember everything," I finished, upset.

I heard him get up from the chair, his footsteps soft on the plush area rug. He placed his finger under my chin, tilting my face up so that I was looking right into his lighter blue eyes.

"Don't you get all mushy on me, Jacqueline," he began, freezing a tear that had slipped out and flicking it off my face. "I've lived with these memories for years slushy. I've…come to terms with it, in a sense. Yes, I still feel a tremendous amount of regret for it and I know now that there's nothing I can do with certainty to make it up to you. There's no number of trips to Gstaad, or snowball fights, or victories at Elemental Ball that could ever, ever make up for all the things I put you through in that timeline. But maybe…just maybe by doing this for you, I can make it up in the littlest way possible."

I could feel my face turning red as the tears threatened to emerge. I smiled and sniffed. I'm such an emotional wreck when Jack gets all mushy on me—those spontaneous deep moments he has that I mentioned before.

He offered his hand to me, standing up. Placing the ribbon on the page and closing the book, I grabbed his hand and pulled myself off of the couch. I tucked the book snug between my arms, holding it against my chest.

"Write it down Jacqueline. Write the whole thing down, with as much excruciating detail you want! I'll help you fill in those blanks, even. And then, once you've finished all twelve years, you can choose to forget and archive it, and never have to deal with it again—to an extent, of course. You can rest easier not knowing; I can rest easier knowing I helped you lessen the hurt, maybe. Hopefully."

So much for hiding those tears. I sniffled again, wiping my eyes on the back of my long sleeves.

"Thank you, Jack," I said, a bit more warbly than I would have liked. I leant against his chest, the book between us.

"You're welcome, Jacqueline," he replied, hugging me.

He let go and with a nod, I wound my way around his sleek leather couches in his sitting room, heading out.

"Oh, and Jacqueline? One more thing."

I turned back, eyebrow raised.

"Don't sugar coat my reign of terror," he said, hands deep in his pockets, his usual air of confidence and nonchalant-ness returning.

"I wouldn't dream of it, frosty," I replied, running out of his room before he could call me out on the nick name usage. He's not a fan of "frosty"; I could make do without being called "slushy". I don't even look slushy! So, if he calls me slushy I call him frosty (and admittedly if I slip up he does the same thing too), and then we're even.

Now, a few days later, I've finally translated everything properly (with a lot of help). I have a huge role of parchment in front of me ready to go, my pen ready to write, and the spell in place (and it was a hard spell! Our warlock blood is very thin) to help me forget…if I choose to. I've talked to a lot of people to get these snippets right, both during those years in the other timeline and over the past few days with Jack and the proper Santa himself.

Here goes everything, I guess.

Let's start with the moment Jack became Santa. Year one of what I like to call the Twelve Years of Frostmas.

A/N-Here it is! This is by far my favourite piece of work I've done: my take on Jack's reign as Santa during The Escape Clause. Oh baby, I am EXCITED! It's planned out to be 12 chapters (sans the prologue and epilogue; 14 including them), with each chapter being a year in which Santa!Jack is...well, Santa-ing.

A fair warning to new readers! This fic is heavy on OC usage; that is, it's told from the perspective of my OC Jacqueline. So don't go in thinking we'll be seeing it all from Jack's perspective. Jacqueline does show us insights from his viewpoint, but she's the narrator the entire time (with the exception of a few bits in the middle I have planned).

And a heads up to returning readers, and new readers: The years start out small but by Year Five, we're in 7k territory and Year Six and Seven are in between 10k and 15k, and Y8 and Y9 are just as long and I'm positive Y10-Y12 will be past 10k as well, so just a heads up there! I've tried to make them shorter but, uh, that hasn't quite worked with everything I want to cover and keeping to the 12 chapters-12 years aesthetic.

I think that about covers it! Please do R&R! The reviews on Frostmas are what REALLY keep me writing bc this is such a fun little side project, it makes me happy to know people are appreciating it as well!

STORY DISCLAIMER

I do not own The Santa Clause, nor do I own Jack Frost or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, the Frost family-barring Jack-and a multitude of other OCs that crop up throughout this fic, as well as the Legate Law. Any resemblance she may bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use her or any of my characters without MY permission.