Hero

A/N: Okay, so, this is my newest Rise of the Guardians one-shot? It's quite cheesy, but I love writing RotG one-shots. I don't know what it is. My love for HTTYD and Brave and stuff just spills out in my main fics, but I don't write RotG as much so I have to make the one shot really long to convey my love for the film. And for Jack Frost and his amazing body, holy cow. Um, anyway, I promise to keep this AN G-rated, so I gotta stop talking about that right now. I guess I really wanted to do this because everyone seems to think that the Guardians would find Jack's tooth box, but I really love the idea of Jamie finding it. Also, I really love Jamie and Jack's friendship, and I think it would be easy for Jamie to view Jack as an older brother, and automatically make Jack his hero, and thus assume a lot about him. So Jamie really looks up to Jack. Okay, now I really gotta post this before I just ramble mindlessly some more.

Even if it hadn't been for the frost crackling on his window, Jamie would have known Jack was there. Ever since the battle with the Boogeyman, Jamie had been leaving his windows open more and more often to allow the winter spirit to just wander in when he pleased, but even when it wasn't thrown wide during the day, the boy always seemed to know just when to unlock it. The winter spirit liked to tease him by telling him he had a "spirit radar".

So, when the telltale crackle issued from the pane, Jamie bounced off the bed and flicked the window open, allowing the winter spirit inside. Jack swung his staff a little, letting flecks of snow fall onto the carpet, plopping down immediately on the boy's bed. "Can I ever sneak up on you? I mean, ever?"

"You covered the window in frost!" Jamie pointed out. "How was I not supposed to hear that?"

Jack considered this for a minute before shrugging. "You and Sophie have ears like bats." He tugged the kid teasingly on the ear, pretending to yank him onto the bed by the side of his head while Jamie struggled and yelled out in mock pain. Collapsing, beaten, on the comforter, the boy immediately sprang up again, grabbing Jack by the hoodie sleeve. "So, what's been happening now? Have you guys seen any sign of Pitch? How are the other Guardians doing? They are still going to visit, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, relax." Jack held up his pale hands, making calming motions and ruffling the kid's chocolate locks affectionately. "Am I not good enough anymore?" he teased.

"No!" Jamie's response didn't even take half a second. Jack was always going to be good enough. Better than all the other Guardians put together, in fact. Not that he would ever tell them that. After all, he loved Bunny and the tooth fairy and Santa and the Sandman as much as he always had. It was just…they weren't Jack, and they never would be.

"Oh, that's good," the winter spirit bestowed a doting smile upon the boy. "You had me worried there for a second, kiddo."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." Jack never worried about anything. He'd faced down the Boogeyman just a few weeks ago and he'd bounced right back again. Sometimes Jamie thought that his friend wasn't afraid of anything. What would he have to be afraid of? He could do anything!

"Hey." The teen sounded playfully offended. "These are the type of things that keep me awake at night, kiddo! Does Jamie like Bunny more than me? What about North? Yet Tooth offers so much competition…and Sandy can give you restful sleep anytime he wants! Who can compete with that?"

The boy giggled as his friend messed up his hair again. "You can." He pressed himself against the winter teen's side, heedless of the spirit's fingers stilling suddenly, still tangled in his hair. "I'll still like you best."

He pulled away to look up at the spirit, smiling widely, displaying the gap where his front tooth had been knocked out on the sled ride. A snowball fight was quickly instigated, and then taken outside, for fear Jamie's mother would hear, and soon, too soon, Jack was carrying him back up to his window, settling him down on the bed. The spirit ran his fingers through his white hair with a sigh. "I'll be back soon, kiddo."

"Tomorrow?" Jamie pressed hopefully, sitting up in bed.

To the boy's delight, the teen nodded. "Probably, yeah. I shouldn't even have to leave at all…" he rolled his eyes to indicate disgust. "Because it will just evolve into another Christmas vs. Easter argument between North and Bunny, but they'll be mad if I'm not there." He gave the kid an enthusiastic wave as he left, just to prove how much he'd miss him.

It took a minute for Jamie to notice the glint on his floor – he didn't take his eyes off Jack, even when the teen became a tiny speck in the distance and the sun hurt his eyes. When he finally tore his gaze from the window and realized something was glittering on his floor, his first thought was snow remnants from their fight, but he quickly realized it was gold, not white. So he got down on his hands and knees and examined the object for a second or two, his brow furrowed. He didn't own a toy like this, he knew that.

"A tooth box?" Jack had told him about these, the reason Tooth collected the baby teeth that fell out of his mouth. They held his most important memories, according to Jack, and whenever anyone needed to remember a better time in their life, Tooth would bring it back for them. Somehow, the old and new even stayed in contact, Jack said, because recent memories could be found in teeth that had fallen out long ago. What was one of the tooth boxes doing in his room? He turned the golden object over, surprised to find a face similar to his staring back at him. Brown hair, and brown eyes, but a mischievous smile, too. One that reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite think who for a minute and then… "Jack."

Wait, was this Jack's tooth box? Did that mean it had Jack's memories? Could only Jack access them? There was so much Jamie wanted to know about this box! He turned it over again in his hand, finding a big purple diamond in the middle, slightly raised. Was it a button? He pressed it, curious as to what would happen. His world disappeared in a shimmer of white diamonds.

The image formed quickly, and Jamie soon recognized himself in the scene: him riding down the sled, and Jack leading him, visible this time, even though the way he remembered it, the ice path had just been growing of its own accord. So this couldn't be his memories then, could it? But then, why would the tooth box take him to a memory Jack had of him? Jack had three hundred years' worth of memories stored inside his mind – why had the box chosen to show him this one, one he already had himself?

He watched himself careening down the ice path, hit the pile of freshly fallen snow, and jump up, waving his arms up and down in his excitement. But this time, he saw Jack, too, flying over to lean against a statue, smiling down at him. He saw himself get hit by the couch, but he also saw Jack wince, chuckle and mutter, "Oops."

He saw himself raising a fist in triumph and exclaiming about his tooth, but he also saw Jack flying down from his perch, and over the babble of his friends, he heard the spirit saying clearly, "What about all the fun we just had? That wasn't the tooth fairy, that was me!"

The teen flew to stand in front of them, barring their way, and Jamie couldn't fathom how he didn't run into Jack at that moment – he was walking right toward him, about to plow into him, and then…he passed right through him. Their bodies never hit. Jamie just passed right through him, like…like he wasn't even there.

The boy gasped, wanting an explanation, but Jack gave none. He buried his hands in his hoodie pocket, seeming almost…resigned. Had this happened before? Jamie wondered worriedly. He would never ignore Jack like that now that he could see him! He would never walk through him, would never…

The scene flipped, changing to…his bedroom? He was there again? Why did he keep appearing? If these were Jack's memories…he suddenly wanted out, but at the same time, he couldn't quit watching. He saw himself, standing on his bed and telling Sophie about his day, describing everything in great detail while Jack watched from the window. Jack had his hood pulled up, too, which confused Jamie. He'd never seen the teen with his hood up before.

Finally, with an exhale and a blast of frost, the teen pulled himself up to wander on the roof. Jack had wandered on his roof before? What else was he going to discover from this scene?

The moon was shining bright and full as the winter spirit slowly plodded along the rooftop, coming to a standstill suddenly, awash in the silvery halo. "If there's something I'm doing wrong…" Jack finally broke the silence, leaning on his staff as he looked up at the moon, "will you just…tell me what it is? Because I've tried everything…" he sounded close to tears now. He sounded like he was about to cry, but that was ridiculous because Jack was a Guardian. A hero. Heroes didn't cry. "…And no one ever sees me."

No one ever saw him? Did that mean he'd tried the sled ride trick with other kids before him, and it hadn't worked on them, either?

There was another minute of silence, with the impassive moon staring down at the hooded teen before Jack broke it again. "You put me here!" He sounded angry now. Jamie had never heard Jack angry with anyone but the Boogeyman. He'd told Jamie that he and other spirits had a sort of connection with the moon, but clearly, it was more than that. The moon had put him here? "The least you could do is tell me…" The spirit lost steam, and sounded like he was about to cry again. "Tell me why."

The moon did not answer.

Jack turned away.

The scene flipped again. For a second, Jamie struggled to get his bearings before realizing it wasn't a place he had ever seen before, but he immediately realized what it had to be: Bunny's home! The Easter Bunny would of course live in a climate such as this, with flowers blooming by a purple stream, and sunlight hitting the long grass. There was Bunny, crouching next to Jack, and there was Tooth, fluttering over to join them. For once, Jamie couldn't locate himself in the scene, but he recognized his sister, asleep in the Easter Bunny's arms, and he stared. What was Sophie doing in the Easter Bunny's home?

"I love her," Tooth said softly, staring down at the child in adoration. "I think it's time to get her home now."

"How about I take her home?" Jack rose to his feet.

"Jack, no!" Tooth fluttered forward, resting a hand on the Guardian's shoulder. "Pitch is—

"No match for this," Jack gestured to himself with his staff, his usual confident grin overtaking his features, revealing his belief and faith in himself. Just like Jamie did, he knew he could do anything.

"Which is why we need you here, with us." Even North seemed to know.

"C'mon. I'll be quick as a bunny." Jack grinned, nodding at the rabbit, who reluctantly surrendered the sleeping child.

"Be quick about it, Frostbite," the bunny grunted, and Jack secured the girl in his arms and gave his fellow Guardian a thumbs-up before shooting up out of a rabbit hole.

Jamie watched him as the scene slowly flipped to a darkened lair with cages dangling from chains, running up and down staircases in a mazelike structure as cruel laughter followed the spirit's every movement…laughter that made the hair on the back of the boy's neck prickle, yet he couldn't place it…

"Don't be afraid, Jack. I'm not going to hurt you."

Jamie suddenly realized who it was. The Boogeyman! Jack was in the Boogeyman's lair? But wait…why…?

"Afraid?" The teen interrupted the boy's thoughts, holding his staff at the ready. His back was ramrod straight; his lips were set in a firm, determined line. "I'm not afraid of you."

Pride flared in Jamie's chest. Of course he wasn't. Jack wasn't afraid of anything.

"Maybe not," the cloaked spirit kept his back to the other. "But you are afraid of something."

No, he wasn't!

"You think so, huh?"

"I know so!"

No, he didn't!

"It's the one thing I always know…people's greatest fears…" Pitch continued, breathing deeply in and out, as if relishing the words. He turned slowly on the spot to face Jack, golden eyes amused and cruel. "Yours is that no one will ever believe in you."

Jamie waited for Jack to deny it, but there was no time; the teen lost his footing and fell for what seemed like a long time, and there were a few breathless seconds where he searched for his staff before finding it and bolting to his feet, running through another doorway. Why wasn't he denying it?

The doorway led to nothing but a wall, but as Jack ran his fingers over the brick, Pitch's voice continued, relentless. "And worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know why. Why were you chosen to be like this?"

But Jack wasn't afraid! He was never…he'd faced down the Boogeyman, and he hadn't even flinched!

But he looked afraid. He looked terrified, his fast breathing making his chest rise and fall as Pitch's shadow overtook his, cloaking him in darkness. "Well, fear not," the dark spirit said. "For the answer to that is right here." And he held out the tooth box that Jamie had found lying on his floor.

Why didn't Jack grab it? Why was he hesitating? He wasn't scared! His expression might have said otherwise, but Jamie knew better. Jack was never scared, never afraid. He was far too brave for that.

"Do you want them, Jack?" Pitch's smile was sickening. "Your memories?"

Jack took a hand off his staff, but he still didn't reach out and take his memories, despite the fact that even Jamie could tell he wanted to. So why didn't he? What was stopping him?

Pitch dissolved into shadows again, laughing at the Guardian's stupidity. "Everything you wanted to know, in this little box." His shadow appeared on the wall, holding the box out again, but Jack ran from it. He ran like he was scared. He kept twisting and turning, trying to find the real Pitch, but it was all shadows.

"Why did you end up like this?" The Boogeyman's voice was a relentless thing, attacking the spirit from all sides. "Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone."

Jack wasn't scared. No…he couldn't be scared. He was a Guardian. He protected other people from getting scared. That meant he never got scared himself.

"You want the answers so badly." Jamie could tell Pitch was smiling now, even if he couldn't see him. "You want to grab them and fly off with them…"

Then why didn't he?

"But you're afraid of what the Guardians will think."

No, that couldn't be true! The Guardians, they were Jack's friends! Jack couldn't be afraid what they thought!

"You're afraid of disappointing them."

But why would he be afraid of that? Jack couldn't disappoint people if he tried!

"Well, let me ease your mind about one thing." The shadows appearing on the walls never disappeared, now. They just kept coming, one right after another, and Jack kept pointing his staff at each of them in turn, in clear panic, but he wouldn't shoot. Maybe he couldn't. "They'll never accept you. Not really."

No, that wasn't true! Why would Jack be afraid of that? The Guardians did accept him! They had let him take the Guardian oath and become one of them!

"Stop it!" Jack, his hero, sounded so angry again. So angry and so close to tears, and so…so afraid… "Stop it!" He was begging, Jamie realized. Pleading with the shadows to stop their torment.

Pitch appeared from out of the shadows. "After all, you're not one of them."

"You don't know what I am!" Jack was shaking when he held the staff up, but he still didn't shoot.

"Course I do! You're Jack Frost! You make a mess wherever you go." The Boogeyman's silky voice was cruelly delighted, and Jamie wanted to yell at the dark spirit. That wasn't true! His hero couldn't do anything wrong, even if he tried! He could do anything he wanted to, anything at all. He was perfect.

But if he was so perfect and infallible, why did he look so afraid? Why did he look like he was believing every single word?

"Jamie. Jamie."

Calling. Jack was…calling his name? Where? Jamie turned to look, and the memories vanished around him, and there was Jack, restored back to his proper courage, clutching his staff and looking a little worried.

The boy couldn't speak. How could he be expected to speak, after everything he'd just witnessed?

"Are you okay?"

"Jack!" Before he knew it, he was hugging the teen, trying frantically to gabble out everything. "I'm sorry, you left the box here, I accidentally entered your memories and…and…"

"Hey, hey," Jack cautioned, "take it easy, kid. I just realized I was missing my tooth box. No harm done. Just don't mess around with a tooth box next time – you could have seriously damaged the memories."

"Did I?"

"Nope, you didn't change a thing," Jack replied, looking down at the box in apparent satisfaction. "Nothing to be afraid of."

"A-afraid." Jamie repeated the word to himself, lifting his eyes to the teen. "Jack…have you ever been afraid?"

"What kind of question is that?" Jack knelt to the kid's height. "Of course I've been afraid before. Everyone gets afraid sometimes. Where is this coming from?"

"I…I saw things…you looked afraid…Pitch was…Pitch was saying things and you were scared and…and…"

"Oh. That." For a second, a hint of shame colored Jack's face, before he abruptly shook it off. "Yeah. I was scared."

"But you're not scared of Pitch! Are…are you?" He added uncertainly.

"No." But Jack took a long moment of thought before giving the response. "Jamie, Pitch scared me because he knew exactly what truly scared me. He wasn't issuing empty threats when he said he knew my greatest fears – he really did know them."

"But…but you're not scared of anything!"

For a second, the spirit looked extremely shocked. And then he burst out laughing. "What? Where did you hear that?"

"Well, you're a hero! Heroes never get scared!" Jamie said desperately.

This made Jack pause. It even made him stop laughing. "What…what makes you think that?"

"Well…well, you're a hero!"

From the mystified expression on Jack's face, it was clear that "hero" was not a word he would use to describe himself. "What?"

"You are! And everyone knows heroes are brave, and they're never scared of anything!"

"No." Jack shook his head. "Jamie, you're wrong. Whatever you're thinking, whatever you believe about heroes, that's wrong. Everyone gets scared sometimes, kiddo. Even heroes."

"Even you?"

"Even me."

"But you're so brave!"

"Are you kidding? You think I wasn't scared? Ever?"

Jamie nodded.

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that's where you're wrong. You say I'm brave, but bravery isn't a lack of fear. Bravery is acting despite fear, just like you did when we faced Pitch. Pitch was right when he said there would always be fear, but we can fight it. Everybody has fear, Jamie. Everybody. But not everybody is brave enough to stand up to their fears. And you were, kiddo. You were."