A/N: For the lovely Nayka D (BlackInkGhost on deviantArt), who in turn gifted me with some beautiful fanart. It's a little late for Christmas (happy New Year, everyone!), but that's built into the story. *grins* Standard disclaimers apply.

December 25th came and went. Jack had spent the week leading up to the day making sure all his believers (especially Jamie) had the white Christmas they'd been wishing for. The kids of Burgess who were in town for the holiday came out to have a gigantic snowball fight that afternoon. Jack happily took part, but while there had been much babble about the dreams Sandy had given them the night before and the presents they'd opened from North that morning, and while they had all had fun, something had still been…missing.

He had begun remembering more of his family, of his life as Jack Overland, since he'd relived the memories kept safe by Toothiana. He had never had much, but that hadn't mattered. He was sure that wasn't what was missing now. After all, he had a family with the Guardians now. It was official. He wasn't alone. He even had believers.

But Jamie and the other kids had eventually gone back inside to be with their own families.

And Tooth and Sandy were as busy as ever, and North was never busier than now, and Bunny had already kicked things into high gear with his Easter preparations.

And he was still alone.

But that was okay. Really. He knew he wasn't truly alone. At the very least, he still had the wind.

So why did he still have that aching, hollow feeling in his chest?

Jack pushed that feeling away and focused on the more important things, like keeping the sense of fun alive in children everywhere. The wind took him from farmhouse to city apartments and back again, spinning around skyscrapers and barns alike. He travelled from country to country, continent to continent. He brought with him frigid air and sparkling snowflakes, painting rich patterns of frost over every surface. He would occasionally see Sandy's Dreamsand swirling amongst his flakes, sculpting itself into a physical form before filtering through the windows to find a sleepy child. Twice, he came across Tooth's fairies, though neither was Baby Tooth. Both fairies merely nodded their heads in acknowledgement before flittering away, disappearing with their precious cargo.

Jack kept up his work—his art—as he had for so many years before, not sure why he had thought this year would be different. They'd only gathered together to collect the teeth and prepare for Easter because it had been necessary. North had called them together a few times, usually when there seemed to be signs of Pitch's resurgence, but aside from tracking down a few stray Nightmares, the rest of the year had been relatively quiet. Earth's children were protected, and there was no great indication of anything important—wonder, hope, dreams, memories, or fun—dying away. It wasn't necessary to gather when everyone else was so busy.

Still, when Jack caught sight of the aurora borealis lighting the skies over Reykjavík, he was glad. Even knowing it must mean bad news, it gave him a reason to go to the North Pole. Since the call had gone out and the others were coming, Phil wouldn't refuse to let him in again. Just because his frost had gotten a little out of hand last time….

The wind picked up, pushing him north. He passed Bunnymund as he blew by towards the door, smiling as the kangaroo started cursing under his breath. Bunny still hadn't entirely forgiven him, especially after the mess of last Easter, but Jack didn't mind. If Bunny were really angry, he wouldn't bother retaliating. When their ongoing rivalry stopped, that's when Jack would worry.

The door slammed shut behind them, and Bunnymund huffed and stamped the snow from his feet. "Colder than a penguin's chuff," he muttered. Phil offered him a steaming mug of cocoa, which Bunny took with a nod of thanks. "Well?" he asked as Jack stared. "Don't you remember the way, Frostbite?"

Jack turned his bewildered gaze to Phil. "You made him hot chocolate? Why?" Then, before either of them had a chance to answer, "What about me?"

"Wouldn't be hot once you got your hands on it," Bunnymund pointed out, "but there's more than enough if you want a mug."

Jack blinked.

"You hit your head on that staff of yours, Snowflake? You're looking a bite short of a bickie there. Take a cup or don't, but get a move on. We're already late."

Phil offered the tray—it still held three cups—so Jack took one, careful to contain his frost this time. The mug cooled immediately in his hands. Phil nodded, an improvement over his usual glare, and he disappeared into the bustle of the shop. It didn't appear as busy as usual, though Jack had to swerve to avoid more than one group of elves laden with plates of sweets. For once, there seemed to be more empty shelves than full, and the yetis at the benches seemed to be tinkering more than working. He thought he even spotted a few of them with mugs of their own.

The meeting room yielded more sweets—these ones hopefully not licked by the elves—and a blinding swath of Christmas decorations, including a huge tree in the middle of the room that was laden with handmade decorations. The branches were sparser than the trees in the homes of Burgess, but a single lit candle flickered at the end of each bough. Intricately carved decorations hung from the ceiling, spinning gently as tiny bursts of Dreamsand drifted past. Every wall was plastered with notes written in a child's hand, with some of them sporting bright crayon pictures. It was hard to know where to look first.

"Jack!" came North's booming voice. "Bunny! Welcome!"

Tooth flitted down in front of him, beaming. "Jack, you made it! And your teeth are as white as ever!" Her eyes darted to the drink in his hands before she met his eyes again. "You've been very good about brushing and flossing."

"Uh, right." Jack was familiar enough with proper dental care from Tooth's occasional lectures—she was very well-meaning—but the truth was, he never needed to do anything. He just didn't have the heart to tell her that.

"This is your first year with us," Toothiana said, "so this year will be even more special." He caught sight of a swirl of colour behind her and realized some of her fairies were still hanging decorations on the tree. "North likes setting aside time for us to get together. Christmas means so much to him."

Jack frowned. "But Christmas is over."

"Christmas is just day, Jack." He hadn't realized North had come up behind him, but the Guardian's voice was unmistakeable. "Meaning of Christmas—that is what is important. We keep alive meaning, we keep alive spirit, no matter what day we celebrate."

"He likes to celebrate on January 7th," Tooth mouthed before she moved away, darting over to greet Bunny who was talking to Sandy.

"Christmas," continued North, "is not day celebrated by everyone. But meaning, spirit, that is felt even by children who do not know me. Toothiana, before she became the Guardian of Memories, was child like that. Does not mean she does not value what Christmas means. Does not make children like her less deserving of wonder."

Jack opened his mouth, but a group of elves tumbled over in their attempt to use candy canes to ensnare a still-steaming plate of chocolate chip cookies. When the cacophony of bells quieted and a glare from North had sent the elves scattering with their stolen sweets, North sighed and knelt to sweep up the crumbs. "Is your first year as Guardian, Jack. I try to make this Christmas special. You like tree? I pick for you."

North seemed to be waiting for something, so Jack put down his mug and took a closer look at the tree, crouching on the top of his staff so he could appreciate its height. He didn't get too close—he didn't want to accidentally extinguish the candles or freeze the buckets of water Phil had probably insisted be placed nearby—but he got close enough to recognize the tree as a jack pine. Moreover, he was close enough to realize that each decoration had been lovingly crafted by children. He smiled in spite of himself. It might look a tad more straggly than the typical Christmas tree, but he thought it was perfect.

No, not quite.

Jack reached out and touched the tips of the nearest branch, letting his frost spread until the entire tree sparkled in the candlelight.

Now it was perfect.

"It's beautiful," he said, alighting beside North.

A giant arm wrapped around him, nearly squeezing the breath from his body. Jack didn't try to wriggle away, even though one of North's swords was digging into his ribcage. "You are family, Jack. We are family. Sandy, he feel your sadness when you touch his Dreamsand, and Tooth's fairies report that you seem lonely. You should not be. We are here for you. You know this, yes?"

"Well, yes, but you're all so busy, and—"

"Busy? Jack, we are not so busy we cannot stop when you need us. We left you alone for too long. Bunny, he always speak of your pranks. Grumble and complain, but that is Bunny. He call you troublemaker. Tooth and I, we always think we are too busy to look for you. That was mistake. We did not listen to Sandy when he tell us we should speak with you."

"And Sandy's not much of a talker," Jack concluded. Besides, the Guardian of Dreams was even busier than Tooth, who had her multitude of helpers. "It's okay, North. You already apologized. Everyone did, even the Kangaroo." Bunnymund's apology hadn't even been perfunctory; Jack knew he wouldn't have made it if it weren't sincere.

"No. Is not okay. We should have known you before Man in Moon point us to you. We should have done more for you. Sandy's dreams to children of you were not enough to spark true belief in them, and we all know pain of nonbelief." North was silent for a moment, and then he finally released Jack and gave him a huge smile. "But that is in past, yes? This is Christmas. Our first as family. We must celebrate. Come, Jack. See notes from children."

Jack went, bemused by how North would point to a note or a drawing and launch into a story about that child. He snagged a shortbread cookie from one of the many trays, chased that with some cider, and stopped to admire a gingerbread house before stealing a deer-shaped cookie from under Bunny's nose. Bunnymund rolled his eyes when Jack stuck out his tongue, but North was still talking and didn't notice, though Sandy smirked at them.

Jack didn't realize North had been shepherding him to his private workshop until the door shut behind them. He glanced back at the sound, and by the time he turned around, North had his hands behind his back. His smile, if possible, had grown even wider. "Merry Christmas, Jack," he said, bringing out a present wrapped in bright blue paper and bound with silver ribbon.

Something in Jack's chest tightened. "Really?" His voice cracked. When North nodded, Jack set his staff against the nearby shelves and took the gift.

The package had looked small in North's hands but was easily double the size of most of Jack's snowballs. Jack pulled the ribbon off carefully, feeling North's watchful eyes on him as he set it on the counter, and then decided that the best way to open presents was to tear into them with reckless abandon. The wrapping paper fell to the floor in pieces, and then he was into the cardboard and searching through the tissue paper for North's gift.

His fingers brushed smooth wood. He pulled out an intricately painted doll, cradling it in one hand as he put the box aside with the other. "Is matryoshka doll," said North. "You already have centre."

Jack traced the doll, which was painted in North's likeness. The detail was incredible, right down to the tattoos on his arms. "You made this?" Jack whispered, even though he knew North had. He turned it over in his hands; he could barely see the seam where the doll fit together.

"Open it," North said happily.

Jack did. He set the pieces on the desk before examining each doll in turn. The second one was painted to look like Bunnymund, his boomerang clutched in one hand and a painted Easter egg held delicately in the other. The third doll was Toothiana, every feather in place and resplendent in colour; her hands were together, cradling a tiny fairy that looked just like her. Baby Tooth, Jack knew. Sandy was the fourth doll, eyes open and sparkling, golden Dreamsand seeming to shift and dance on the unmoving figure. He pulled apart Sandy's doll before reaching into the pocket of his hoodie and taking out the little Jack Frost North had given him in the spring to help him find his centre.

"I love this," Jack said as he put the dolls back together. They fit perfectly. "Thank you, North."

"Is reminder of family," said North. "We do not need to be blood to be family. Man in Moon, he help us find each other, but we are strong now. Pitch will not break us apart again. You are Guardian, Jack, and always will be. Now come, let us rejoin others."

Jack laughed, tucking North's gift into his pocket and picking up his staff again. The door opened on warm light, lilting laughter, bright chatter, and the tinkling bells of the elves. Maybe this Christmas celebration wasn't on the traditionally recognized day. Maybe it wasn't even on the twelfth day of Christmas. But if Tooth had said this was the day North had chosen for them all to celebrate, then it was their Christmas. And since Jack had spent the last three hundred Christmases alone with no one but the wind, this meant more to him than anything.

He wasn't alone anymore.

He had family, friends, believers. He brought fun to children and protected them along with the other Guardians. No one, not even Pitch, would ever be able to take that away from him.

And right now, with the other Guardians gathered around the tree and a handful of elves making off with the gingerbread house he'd admired earlier, everything seemed perfect. He didn't want to ruin this moment. He'd even wait on hitting the Easter Kangaroo with a snowball; there was more than enough time for that.

Jack wrapped one arm around the Guardian of Wonder and hugged him. The man might have had him kidnapped, but he was good at his core. He was special, and not just because he was a Guardian. As far as Jack was concerned, North held their group together better than the Man in the Moon, and Jack was thankful for that.

"Merry Christmas, North."