A/N: I've been wanting to write afanfic for Rise of the Guardians that highlighted the relationship that was emitting from the two boys in the movie. Jamie and Jack are already so relevant to each other, made evident by the fact that since the beginning of the film, Jack took a particular interest in him and Jamie became his first believer. Now, here's a little story I came up with because of a car accident I witnessed recently. Enjoy, and please tell me what you think. Also, Jamie was twelve at the time of the car accident, and Sophie was eight.

Something New

…

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sophie Bennett did her best not to sigh out loud at her mom's continued inquiries about her health. Since the doctor had prescribed her of having an acute fever, her mother had been doting on her nonstop, desperate to help her health despite the doctor assuring them it was a small matter. "I could turn up the heat. Your room's always cold nowadays."

It was another winter season in Burgess. The town was blanketed in snow and ice, the moon above illuminating the frozen evergreens and abandoned snowballs and forts. The lakes were frozen, and the wind was crispy, and the snow fell gently all over town. A perfect winter's day and a partial reason for her current sickness.

Sophie felt a stab of annoyance at the babying she was being subjected to. She was practically a teenager, for goodness sake! She had boys chasing after her. She rode the bus by herself and had sleepovers. She could take care of herself in any given situation, darn it! However, the minute any sign of a deterioration of well-being, and her mom went back to treating her like a toddler. She had half a mind to protest against this treatment.

Unfortunately, she knew what had brought forth this overprotective anxiety. And she couldn't take away the only thing that kept her mom together some days. After all, she was the only child she had left to dote on.

"Mom," the blonde girl gently chided, "I'm fine. I just need a good night's sleep, and I'll be fine. Don't worry."

Sophie watched as her mom gave a deep gulp, her eyes growing misty as she gently brushed her daughter's hair. "I know, sweetie. I just… with your brother gone, I-" Her mom's voice broke, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke again. "I just couldn't stand it if I lost you too. For any reason."

Sophie could only thin her lips at the mention of her older brother. Whenever her mom mentioned Jamie, it became challenging for her to argue about her mom's anxious tendencies. It was very justified when it was put in that perspective. And a familiar pit of guilt and intense melancholy would always flood her stomach. With Jamie gone, it was hard to feel anything else.

"I know, Mom." Sophie said mildly, "But I'll be okay. If anything's wrong, I'll be sure to let you know. I promise."

Her mom nodded slowly to herself, apparently trying to compose herself as she answered, "Okay. I love you, Sophie." Something else she couldn't do for the child that was no longer here. Sophie shot her a forced smile. "I love you too, Mom."

Stroking her daughter's hair, she watched as her mom left, closing the door softly behind her. There was a brief moment of silence as Sophie attempted to get warm beneath her comforter. The winter feel wasn't helping her fever any, but she refused to bother her mom about it now. She was clearly having a bad day if the way she left the room was anything to go by.

"Is she gone?"

Sophie was no longer startled by the unexpected voice in the night. She had had years to get used to it. Now, she only sighed before she answered long-sufferingly, "Yeah, she's gone. You can come in now."

There was a commotion by her window and then, with a quick open and shut, her visitor was inside her room. He was wearing a dark blue coat with a hood over his face, along with faded light blue jeans with navy boots. His whole outfit had flecks of snow stuck to it, making it evident that he'd been out in the snow for a while.

"I didn't realize you were coming today," Sophie said apologetically, twisting her body to face her visitor with her comforter wrapped around her. "I would have saved you a piece of turkey or something."

The blond teen watched as the person moved their hood down, a puff of brown hair appearing from under. The person, a boy about her age, turned to face her, face set into a familiar smile. Sophie took in the youthful appearance as well as his multicolored eyes. He still hasn't changed, even after all this time. Ignoring the white tuft of hair by his right ear, Sophie smiled.

"It's okay, Sophie," Her older brother, Jamie Bennett, chirped, leaning casually against the window, "It's just nice to see you again."

…

If anyone were to tell Sophie a few years previously that she would be involved in an accident that should have killed her older brother, but didn't because he was saved by a legend named Jack Frost, she would have called that person crazy. And she dealt with the knowledge that the Easter Bunny and other "fairy tales" were real, mind you.

Not since Jamie's life had been changed forever, Sophie had about four years to get used to deceiving her mom and keeping Jamie's existence a secret, time in which included midnight visits and different changes in weather. And still, the blonde couldn't believe it some days.

"So, how are you? What are you doing here, by the way?" Sophie questioned, patiently waiting for an explanation for Jamie's arrival as she watched him take a seat at the edge of her bed. Her brother came and went depending on what he had time for, but he had warned her he might not make it back to Burgess for a while. Something to do with global warming.

Jamie hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm okay. And I wanted to see you. I missed you, you know."

Sophie nodded. "I missed you too. I'm glad you came back early. How was North America?"

"It wasn't necessary for us to go everywhere, just the east. It didn't take as long as we thought it would, so I was able to come ." There was another slight pause. "How's mom?"

The blonde breathed deeply through her nose, wishing Jamie hadn't asked about that, of all things. "She's good."

Jamie sniffed a little at the blatant lie. "That bad? I thought she… was getting better."

Sophie gave another sigh. "Today was a bad day. I caught a cold, and when I tried to stop her from going all "over-protective mama bear" mode, she guilted me once again with the reminder that you were gone and she didn't want to lose another kid."

The blonde could have kicked herself when she saw her brother's expression. She hadn't meant to snap like that, but at times like these, it was hard knowing about Jamie while her mom had absolutely no clue. She was mourning a son that still lived and breathed, and the mother could never understand or be aware of this miracle.

"I'm sorry," Sophie said softly, placing a hand on her brother's cold shoulder, "like I said, it was a bad day." Her brother nodded, head bowed as he pondered something over. Then he looked up and shot her a soft smile. "I know. It's okay."

There was another moment of deafening silence. The Jamie's smile grew warmer as he said with barely concealed excitement. "Hey, Soph… I learned something new today." That perked his sister up. Since the discovery of his abilities, her brother had always shown her his progress and any new tricks he'd mastered. "What is it?"

Rather than answer, Jamie cupped his hands together and bowed his head over them. His eyes flashing blue, Sophie watched as he breathed slowly into his hands, white mist pouring into his hands for a few seconds. Then, after taking the time to admire his work, Jamie uncupped his hands to show his sister what he had made.

The blonde gasped as she saw the ice tulip in his hand. Setting it gently on her bedside table, Jamie explained kindly, "I made it out of a special ice. It should last all winter if you want it too." His sister could only nod dazedly, racking her brain over all this. Since the time Jamie had been working to hone his skills, he had been getting better and more creative with it. She was sure there were things he did that even Jack Frost never thought of.

Speaking of the Fun Guardian, Sophie steeled herself to ask her next question. "So… how's Jack Frost?"

Jamie tensed as he recognized that tone of voice from his sister. She never brought up Jack Frost unless she wanted to find something else to blame him for. "Sophie…"

"What? I can't ask how my big brother's savior is?" Even the blonde knew she was laying the hurtful sarcasm a little too thick. But that's was just an ounce of the anger she felt for the Guardian these days.

"Sophie," Jamie pleaded, sad to have to go over the same thing they've already had numerous times. "Jack helped me."

"If you're hoping to dispel my anger with that fact, save your breath. You lost your family as a result of his "saving" you! So, tell me, how exactly did he help you?"

"I would have died that night! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"Easy for you to say! You don't have to deal with mom and her depression tendencies! I have to live with this lie, Jamie. No one knows but me! Do you know how hard it is to keep my mouth shut when I just want to put mom out of her misery? She thinks you're dead, Jamie, and she can never know otherwise. And yet you and Jack insist on burdening me with this!"

"Burden?!" Jamie replied, flabbergasted. "You found out! You were there, Sophie. And you said you could handle it. And do you really think this is easy for me? I miss mom every single day and probably will for the rest of my life, which will most likely be a lot longer than it should be. It's not all snow days and fun times, Sophie. I'm reminded every day of what had to be sacrificed for me to have a life at all."

"Well, it certainly sounds a lot easier than how we're living. Mom is broken, Jamie. She can't recover from your "death" because she feels it's her fault, but she has to be a responsible parent for me and shove all the grieving emotions down. And she's really trying, that's the unfortunate thing. She's trying, and I'm trying, and it's not good enough. This family isn't complete anymore, and it's all because of him!" As she shouted, more harsh words left her lips. "He couldn't let you go, and now you're stuck! I don't understand how you could defend him all the time, honestly, because he didn't do you any favors. He ruined you, and now you're stuck."

"'Didn't do me any favors'… are you saying I'd be better off dead?"

"Yeah, maybe I am!"

There was another long quiet, this one full of tension and unspoken shock. "Jamie," Sophie said remorsefully, "I didn't mean that."

"Yes, you did." The blonde had never heard the hollow tone her brother was sporting now, but it seemed wrong to see the boy sound like that. "I think that's the most honest you've been since I started visiting you." There were tears in Jamie's ever-changing eyes.

"Jamie—" There was a quiet knock at her window, this one soft and cautious. Jamie sniffed, getting off the bed and moving to the window. "Jack's here."

As soon as the window was open, Jack Frost zipped inside, stance tense and holding his staff tightly like he was ready for a fight. "You okay? I could hear yelling."

Jamie nodded, a forced smile on his face as he looked up at his friend. "Yeah, we're okay." Neither party bothered to point out that the winter spirit had only been concerned for his first believer. It already went without saying. "We should get going though, North's waiting for us."

Jack studied the younger boy for a minute before he nodded to himself, moving forward to set Jamie's hood back over his face. "Okay, let's go."

Sophie watched in a stupor as Jack Frost gave a piggyback to her brother, only frantically moving once she realized they were really leaving. "Wait. Jamie, wait." The two instinctively turned to face her, Jamie's expression hidden under the hood.

"It's okay, Soph," Jamie said gently, burrowing into Jack's shoulder as he spoke. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" And, with a stiff nod from Jack Frost, the two were gone without a trace, leaving Sophie with ice shaped like a flower and depressed thoughts, wondering to herself how things had gone so wrong in the last four years.

…

4 years ago…

It was a brilliant winter day, the sun shining above the fallen snow that was stationed all over Burgess. The roads were icy, and the shops were decorated with festive colors, spirits of cheerfulness spreading to every resident of the town. Including Jack Frost.

If the majority of the people below could see him, they would probably gawk at the way he was whooping and twirling in the air. The few that could see him couldn't help but laugh at the Guardian of Fun's enthusiasm. It's been the same way since the first winter he ever found his first believer.

The number of believers had grown in the last three years, and now he had a decent popularity all over the world. A plethora of kids who anxiously awaited his reappearance and the fun times that came with it. But, there was one person who he was almost hungry to see, someone who made him feel truly alive. And he lived in Burgess, his original home three hundred years ago.

Most people who knew him, including his fellow Guardians, assumed he was so anxious to see Jamie due to him believing in his existence first, but that wasn't really true. The connection had been there since he had first laid eyes on the kid, giving him nicknames and already feeling quite fond of him. It was like Jamie was the kid brother he was always missing.

Anyway, Jack Frost continued riding the wind through town, waving at his limited, but captivated audience below as he headed towards the lake he had first come out of. The place where Jamie and his friends generally hang out. He wasn't disappointed.

Jack could hear their laughter from high above, taking another aerial backflip before he lands on the lake, making a splash of ice appear all around him, alerting the kids that were just about to leave.

"Jack!" He looked up to see Jamie headed towards the edge of the lake, that familiar grin on his face. The rest of the group stayed a little further back, close enough to at least observe his arrival.

"Hey, kiddo." The winter bringer greeted, a warm smile gracing his face. He always seemed so much happier when Jamie was around. He never really understood it, but he didn't bother examining it just then. Instead, he chose to enjoy the time he spent with his most cherished believer.

"It's good to see you again."

Too bad neither of them was aware that things would be drastically changing all too soon.

…

The next day, after spending the rest of the day with Jamie along with his friends, then following the brown-haired boy home where they spent half the night talking (Jack telling stories of the winters around the world and Jamie listening with blatant attention), it was the weekend morning. And time for grocery shopping.

"So, you'll be back tonight?" Jamie asked excitedly as he zipped up his snow vest over his clothes and put on his hat.

"Of course I will, kiddo," Jack promised, swinging his stick as he left through the window. "I promise, I'll be here before you get back." And then he was gone.

So, Jamie spent the rest of the day shopping with his mom and sister, long awaiting the moment when he would see the Guardian again. However, the car ride back home in the evening turned out to be more unpleasant than the brown-haired boy had thought. Somehow, a debate had been started.

"Jack Frost is so real, Mom. Just like Santa and the other legends." Jamie argued vehemently. He was seated in the front seat His mom sighed, looking very much like a condescending adult. "Jamie, I let you continue with these fantasies before because I thought you would grow out of it, like the other kids. But it's like you're getting more and more sucked into fantasy. The other parents are angry that you're encouraging their children to acknowledge nonsense, and I agree."

"Mom, I've seen Jack Frost! We just spent last night together. He's my friend, and he cares about me." Sophie remained quiet in the back, knowing if she voiced her conviction too, her mom would grow more frustrated with her older brother.

"Jamie, you've almost graduated middle school. Your growing up, I don't understand how you can keep acting this way. There is no Jack Frost, and you can't keep making up these imaginary friends and interactions. And I don't want to hear any more about it!"

"Mom!"

"Not now, Sophie! I—"

"No, Mom! In front of us!"

All passengers of the car turned to see a bunch of bright lights in front of them, just outlining a slightly more prominent van. The ice was too slippery on the road for them to move away fast enough and there was no way for the two vehicles to avoid each other. The last thought Jamie had before they crashed was wondering if he died, what would happen to Jack Frost? How would he feel to lose his first believer?

…

To kill time before he could see Jamie again, Jack had traveled to some nearby cities and countries to spread a little snow around. It kept him busy enough till it was late in the evening, around which he figured he should move to meet Jamie at home. Or maybe even on the car ride back to his house.

Mind made up, Jack raced through the sky, ecstatic to see his friend. Just as he was making his way through the streets of Burgess, the sound of a big crash resonated throughout the area. Feeling curious and sure Jamie wouldn't mind if he was a few minutes late, the Guardian made his way to the crash zone.

The first thing he noticed was that the bigger car only had a busted headlight and a cracked windshield. The second was that the other car looked a lot worse. The third fact that made his blood curl suddenly was the realization that it was Jamie's family's car.

"Jamie!" Shooting forward, Jack Frost looked around, frantically searching for his friend and growing more panicked as he found no one in the car or streets beside the automobiles. He absently noticed the car doors were opened. "Jamie!" Just then, he heard a low moan coming a few feet away.

Looking south of the wreckage, Jack could see about three figures on the street. Flying there fast, he looked at the bodies huddled on the ground. The first, Jamie's mom, was unconscious and had a gushing wound on her forehead, but was otherwise unharmed. He turned his head slightly to see a much smaller body crouched over another unconscious person. He walked forward to get a closer look, then gave a slight gasp as the person turned their head to face him.

It was Sophie, who looked utterly healthy but had tears swimming in her eyes. Feeling a lump growing in his throat, Jack kneeled by the dirty, fallen body, already panting in despair as he had previously guess who the fallen figure was. His best friend, his first believer, Jamie Bennett.

…

Jamie felt light-headed. It wasn't so bad, although he felt like he was aching all over. Especially his chest, which was burning for some reason. It was like he was floating in the dark, almost entirely unaware of what was happening all around him, like it was all a dream. It was a little disconcerting.

The almost teen tried to retrace his thought to what had happened before he began to feel this way, but for some reason, he couldn't. All he registered was that he felt cold and airy. And he could distinctly hear buzzing noises around him. Jamie found if he focused hard enough, he could make out some words.

"—amie! Nonononono! Jamie, please, wake up!"

A wave of dizziness enveloped the boy enough that he couldn't hear whoever was talking again for a while. Although, he had noticed that the person speaking sounded very familiar and profound. And worried.

"—happened?! Did you cra—!" Jamie could hear a second softer voice mumbling to the first one. That voice was familiar as well, and light. Feminine.

"He won't wake up! Why won't he wake up?!"

Jamie could feel his body growing numb all over. He was slightly glad, he was able to focus on the people speaking more. It sounded like the louder, more frantic voice was pleading with someone but the boy couldn't be sure. The clarity he had just gained was rapidly disappearing.

"Please…Man…Moon! He can't…!" It was just darkness for a few minutes. Then he could just hear someone whispering over him. "Please, not him. Please…" Quiet again.

Then just as he felt weak enough to sleep forever, Jamie could feel light against his eyes. It was gentle and subdued, white like moonlight. His body was getting feeling back, but it wasn't hurting like before. Little by little, he could hear again. One of the most prominent sounds was that of a thick gasping, like someone taking a breath after almost drowning. It was a few moments before he realized that someone was himself.

"Oh, Jamie." He heard someone say with relief clear in their voice. The deep-voiced someone again. "Oh, Jamie." It was after he said his name the second time that Jamie recognized the person.

"Jack?" The boy croaked, squeezing his eyes as he prepared to open them, feeling somewhat disconnected with himself. Like he had been sleeping for weeks.

"Jamie." He felt himself being lifted in a slightly cold embrace, feeling someone press their face into his brown hair. "Oh, Jamie."

"Jamie? Is he okay, Jack?"

"Sophie?" Jamie softly questioned, trying to open his eyes to see his sister. "Sophie, what happened? Where's mom? We were in the car and—" He heard Jack softly shush him, pressing his face into his cold neck.

"It's okay, Jamie. Everything's going to be okay." The boy found himself trusting the Guardian of Fun. He always had, even when they first officially met.

"Just sleep now, Jamie. Okay?"

"Okay, Jack." He said under his breath, fluttering his eyes for a moment to see the fuzz of white hair that was undoubtedly Jack Frost's, then he closed his eyes and peacefully lost consciousness.

…

So, how goes my first Rise of the Guardians fanfic? So, as you can guess, Jamie was saved by Jack Frost and the Man in the Moon. There is more to come, like a chapter about the other Guardians reaction and other things, but I'm swamped with college right now, I'm sharing one computer with my brothers, and I barely have time to myself, so please bear with me. I will work as fast as I can but for now, your reviews, follows and favorites would be much appreciated. Even PM me, I just would really like to get some feedback on this story. Also, if there's something in particular you want to see here. Have a nice day!