-Five years later-

Once again, Jack sat by a gravestone remembering. Only this time it wasn't Jamie's. It was Sophie's, right next to Jamie's. as it should be. This time it was Sophie's gravestone he traced the words on.

Sophie Bennett,

Loving Mother,

Wise and Seeing

The words were as true as Jamie's were, Jack mused. Sophie was a very loving mother. She had never married, but had adopted two kids and raised them better than most families with two parents could. Her kids had grown up and had long stopped believing, but Sophie never had. And she was the wisest person Jack had ever met, excluding ones who had lived for more than a few centuries, seeing things no one else saw, including the fact that Jack was different from the others.

That thought reminded Jack of the plan he had made five years ago, and that he was going to carry out that plan later today. He had promised Sophie not while she was alive, and he hadn't regretted that promise, but now that she was gone, he had to do it. His purpose in life had been achieved, and he had already lived past his time.

'So yes,' he concluded. 'Today would be the day.' But first, he had to say goodbye. He turned around, intending to go back to the pole to tell them, when he saw Bunny heading toward him. "Ah," he said, pleased that he could maybe do one now, so he would have someone who had his back when he told the rest. Or maybe he just didn't want to deal with them all at once; he wasn't sure.

"Perfect timing," he told Bunny, remembering a little too late that he might have put a little too much cheer in that statement for this situation.

Sure enough, Bunny looked up at him with his tired eyes and snapped, "Honestly, Frostbite! Can you ever be serious?! Do you even care that we'll never see Sophie again, ever, or has that not been drilled into your little pea-sized brain yet?"

Jack flinched. Yep, a little too much cheeriness. "Sorry," he said sincerely. "And yes, I can be serious, and I'm being serious now when I say that I would definitely care if I never got to see Sophie again, but the thing is," Jack hesitated, looking at Bunny's confused expression, and he took a deep breath before finishing, "The thing is I will be seeing her again, very soon, along with Jamie and my sister and my parents as well," he said, a smile crossing his lips as he finished, and waited for Bunny to catch on.

Bunny's eyes widened almost comically as he figured it out. "No mate, you ain't thinkin' of…" he trailed off.

"Yes, in fact, I am, just as soon as I say goodbye to everyone."

"But-but you can't seriously be that selfish!" Bunny spluttered.

"Selfish?" Jack asked. "I didn't think of it as being selfish.

"Well, it is! I mean, you can't just kill yourself just because they're gone."

"Bunny," Jack sighed. "It's not just because they're gone. I'll admit, if they were all here I wouldn't be doing this. But, they're all mortal. They'd grow up, move on, and I'd be stuck in this same position again."

Bunny looked confused. "How is that not just because they're not here?"

"I was getting there. Be patient," Jack said, annoyed. Then he sighed. "Manny gave me a second chance at life, because I saved my sister and died too young; 17 years ain't long enough, after all. And I was lonely for a while and then I was happy for awhile, and I lived out that second chance. And now? My time has come, and it's time for me to go. Life doesn't last forever, and this was only a second try. This is something that needs to happen, but it won't, not naturally, so I have to do it myself. You of all people should understand the circle of life the best."

Bunny nodded slowly. "I guess so," he said reluctantly. "But are you sure? You might just think that right now because you're hurting. I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

"Oh, don't you worry, cottontail. I've been planning this for five years and never once had a single thought of regret."

"Five years…since Jamie died."

"Yeah. Sophie came to me two days after. I told her everything I just told you and some more too. She's the one who gave me the idea. I promised her I wouldn't do it as long as she was alive. Well, she's not exactly alive anymore, so now I can."

"Wait, wait, wait, did you say Sophie gave you the idea?"

"Yeah," Jack smiled sadly. "She said she's always sort of known I wasn't like the rest of you guys. Not in a bad way, just different. So she told me the idea."

"Huh, well, well w-what about being the guardian of fun? Who's gonna bring fun if you're gone?"

Jack smiled. "You forget. I don't bring fun. I protect it. And you guys did just fine without me for however long you've been doing this. Besides, I know exactly which one of you guys could do it without me."

"Who?" Bunny asked.

"You, of course you. It's always been you, really. You've been doing it all along I think, without even realizing it."

"Me!?" Bunny gaped at Jack. "Why me?"

"I just said why. You've always done it, just without knowing it."

"Well, okay, I guess, and thank you, but do ya have to do this?"

Jack sighed. "Yes, and I told you why. Circle of life and everything. My time is finished. You know, if I had gotten off the ice that day and lived out my life then, I wouldn't be here now, I guarantee it. But I didn't, and I am here, and now it's about time for me to leave. Do you understand?"

"I...yes," Bunny said reluctantly.

"Great!" Jack exclaimed. "Do you think you could explain that all to the others, because I don't think they'll listen to me. Tell them I said goodbye and I'll miss them."

"Uh, yeah I guess I can do that."

Jack smiled warmly. "Thank you. I have a feeling they'd just lock me up until I change my mind out of sheer need to get away. They don't understand the circle of life like you do."

"I..suppose I'll take that as a compliment. Can I, can I watch?"

Jack thought about it, then said, "Sure, as long as you don't try to 'help.'"

"I promise."

"Then come on." Jack starts walking, and Bunny follows him.

"How are you gonna do it?" Bunny asks.

"Well, I figure I want to leave this life the same way I left the last one. And this might be the only way I'll be able to go through with it. So I'm going to drown myself. In my lake." He gestures to the frozen body of water as they arrive.

"Wow, um, right now?"

"Right now," Jack nods in confirmation.

"W-well then," Bunny stammers. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah," Jack says quietly. "I guess so. Bye, Bunny."

"Bye, Snowflake." Bunny goes over and hugs him. "I don't think I've ever done this before, and you deserve it, so-"

"Thank you," Jack interrupts. "Thank you for understanding. Only you and Sophie are the ones who really understand, I think. But now we really have to say goodbye." Without a word, he walks on the ice out to the middle, and slams his staff down in front of him. The ice there melts fast in a perfect circle in front of him. Jack looks back at the shore where Bunny is. "Goodbye."

"Bye," Bunny whispers, waving.

Jack looks down at the hole, takes a deep breath, and whispers, "You can do this," to himself before jumping in, the hole icing over behind him.

Bunny watched, and once the hole had completely iced over again he sighed and opened a tunnel to the Pole. "The others are going to kill me for this," he muttered before going down the tunnel, wiping at tears he swore to himself weren't there.

And under the ice, Jack let out his last breath and breathed in, choking on the water before everything went black.

Jack opened his eyes and saw Sophie standing in front of him. When he looked past her he saw his mother and Jamie and a woman he didn't recognise at first before noticing she had his sister's eyes. There were others too, but Jack had eyes only for his sister. "Pippa!" he breathed out. "I've missed you!"

She smiled through tears. "I've missed you too, Jack. You have no idea."

"I'm so happy to see you all," Jack said, moving to hug everyone else as well, Sophie last. When he got to her he smiled with gratitude. "Thank you, Sophie, for everything."

She smiled too. "Hey, no problem. You kept your promise didn't you?"

Jack attempted to look offended. "Hey, of course I did! I don't break promises!"

"Not intentionally," Sophie corrected.

Jack grinned. "I'm a little forgetful sometimes, forgive me, thank you."

Sophie fought a smile as well. "Hey, why don't I show you around here? You'll be here for eternity after all. Then later you and your sister can catch up."

Jack smiled again, softly this time. "I can work with that."