I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of the characters.

Mistaken

Jack rolled his eyes, ignoring North and Bunny's drunken laughter and jokes. He enjoyed spending time with the other Guardians at one of North's countless parties, using literally any excuse, it seemed, since today they were partying to celebrate the three-and-a-half month anniversary of Jack becoming a Guardian. In reality, North had gotten bored and didn't have a reason to party other than that. And Jack was only certain about that because he had actually been a Guardian for four months as of yesterday. But he loved the company. How could he not? He had been completely alone, aside from the wind, for three hundred years. Now he had friends. He had a family. And he had Tooth. He couldn't tell her how he felt, of course, but she was his friend now. His best friend. He desperately wanted her to be more, to tell her how much she meant to him and have her feel the same, but he knew better. She had sworn off relationships centuries ago, according to her. Because she was always so busy, she had never found anyone patient enough to put up with hardly seeing her. Everyone just gave up.

"Hey," Tooth smiled, stepping up in front of him and breaking him out of his thoughts.

He smiled, feeling his heart skip a couple beats as his icy blue eyes met her beautiful amethyst ones. "Hey. Fun party huh?"

"You get used to them," Tooth smiled. "Eventually. It's mostly fun to watch drunk North and Bunny. Once in a while, even Sandy gets drunk."

"Speaking of, how is he here?" Jack asked. "Doesn't he have dreams to bring?"

"Night's passing the pacific ocean right now," Tooth said. "He has a few hours off. Usually he spends it sleeping, but he loves coming to the parties."

"You know, I never thought," Jack said. "When he sleeps, does he dream?"

Tooth's face fell a little. "No. unlike everyone else, Sandy's not able to enjoy what he brings the world."

"That's got to be rough," Jack said before winking. "Hey guys, are we going to do anything fun at some point tonight, or are we just supposed to keep laughing at Cotton Tail tripping over his own feet?"

"Watch it mate," Bunny said, slurring badly and swaying slightly. "I'll fight ya."

"Right," Jack smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Well what do you suggest?" Bunny asked, sitting down hard.

"I dunno," Jack said. "Maybe a party with more than five people?"

"The last time we invited more immortals, we ended up having to UPS half of them home," Bunny said.

"No way," Jack laughed before asking skeptically. "UPS comes here?"

North chuckled. "Where did you think I got the toy parts?"

Jack stared at him. "No way. UPS comes here!?"

Tooth covered her mouth to stifle a laugh and walked over, sitting down on the floor before the fire, everyone else shrugging and sitting down with her. "Let's play a game. How about Truth or Dare?"

"No one's drunk enough for that to be fun," Jack said. "What's the winner get?"

Tooth blinked then shrugged. "I don't know. Truth or Dare's really not that kind of a game."

"It is if you play it right," Jack said. "How about this. Refuse or fail a dare, or refuse to answer a question truthfully and you lose. Last man standing get's to make on demand of one of the losers that they can't refuse."

The others exchanged surprise looks before all agreeing. Jack grinned widely. If he could just manage to win, maybe he could finally have a way to get Tooth on a date. And maybe then he could win her heart. Maybe.

"Where did ya learn to play Truth or Dare like that?" Bunny asked.

"I sometimes find a bunch of teenagers or adults having a party and I hang out to watch," Jack said. "Adults can be really fun too."

Bunny and North exchanged a look before both shook their heads and took another drink.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Nothing," North said. "Let's play. I'll start. Jack, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Jack said, hands folded behind his head.

"I dare you to drink a glass of eggnog," North said.

Jack snorted, reaching for the glass, only for North to swat his hand away.

"Using your mouth only," North finished.

Jack stared at him, mouth agape for a moment before releasing a bark of laughter. "Oh, this is going to be more fun than I thought."

He leaned forward, but one of North's large hands hit his forehead and stopped him. He stopped, watching as North upended a flask over the glass, a clear liquid pouring into the eggnog before he mixed it.

"There," North said. "Is all ready."

"Please tell me that wasn't vodka," Jack said.

North chuckled. "Is good for you."

Jack swallowed hard. He was not a drinker. He had tried once. Once. It had not been pretty. His eyes flicked between the eggnog and North, who grinned and gestured at the glass. Sandy, who had been the one to find Jack and keep him out of trouble for the second half of Jack's time drunk, held his hands out, trying to warn North not to let him drink, a dozen symbols flashing over his head clearly meaning to stop him, including a stop sign, exclamation points, a traffic light with lines around the top light, and even the word "NO!" Jack took a deep breath and leaned forward, gripping the cup with his teeth, slowly sitting up and drinking it through his teeth, careful not to spill any. It was disgusting. Truly. Eggnog and vodka were definitely not made to mix. Especially not in the amount North had given him. Finally, the glass was upside down, finally empty, and Jack set it back down, swallowing the last of it and desperately praying it didn't end too bad, sharing a knowing look with Sandy, who formed a ball of dream sand and set it beside himself, just in case.

"Now is your turn," North said. "Good job, by the way."

Jack grimaced and looked around at them. "Bunny, truth or dare."

"Dare," Bunny said.

"I dare you to balance on the back of your chair while you juggle three raw eggs for thirty seconds," Jack smirked.

Bunny glared at him before standing making his way to the kitchen and back, holding three raw eggs. Then, he climbed up onto the chair and began to juggle the eggs. For a moment it was fine. Then, he pitched backward, flipping and landing on his stomach. He grunted, rolling to the side just in time for two of the eggs to hit him in the chest and one on the forehead. Jack howled with laughter, as did North while Sandy covered his mouth in a futile attempt to silence the jingling sound that passed for his laugh, and Tooth giggled into her hand. After a moment, Bunny pushed himself up, wiping the egg off of his fur as best he could and flicking it at Jack, who froze it part way to him and knocked the chunks of frozen egg yoke out of the air.

"Very funny," Bunny grumbled. "Truth or dare Frost."

"Dare," Jack smirked.

"I dare you to stop making it snow on Easter!" Bunny shouted, grinning like he'd just won some great victory.

Jack snorted. "Okay. Sure. You could have just asked."

Bunny blinked, staring at him and Jack sat forward, smirking.

"Sandy's turn," Jack said. "Truth or dare?"

A "D" appeared over Sandy's head and Jack snorted, beginning to laugh and receiving a curious and confused look from everyone.

"He wants the 'D,'" Jack laughed.

"Jack!" Tooth gasped, blushing scarlet. "What's wrong with you?"

Sandy waved his arms, getting everyone's attention before pointing at North and forming his sand into a flask over his head.

"It's because he drank some vodka?" Tooth asked. "Okay, Jack's definitely not allowed to drink anymore."

"Seconded," Jack laughed, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Okay. Sandy, I dare you to..." He trailed off, blinking slowly before staring at the floor.

Creativity was failing him. He blamed it on the alcohol, but he couldn't think of a dare for the sandman. But then it clicked.

"I dare you to invite more people," Jack smirked. "In the next ten minutes, you need to invite as many peaceful immortals as possible."

Sandy raised an eyebrow and closed his eyes, focusing. A moment later, a sea of dream sand shot outward from him, flooding out of the workshop through any windows and balcony doorways nearby and spreading outward. Then, Sandy sighed, opening his eyes and nodding. Jack grinned, settling in to wait as they continued to play. However, despite three of the players being drunk, as much as it shamed him to say he himself was drunk already, the game wasn't nearly fun enough for Jack. He continued to play, since he could see the others were having fun, but he himself was starting to bore. Finally, immortals began to reach the pole by the dozen, North glaring at Jack for a moment before sighing and going to let them in. Within a few minutes, they had moved to an amphitheater with a balcony and the party took off.

Within moments there was drinking, laughing, jokes, and everything in between. The constant stream of alcohol was provided via Saint Patrick in his alcohol-stained green suit and Scott Highland in his kilt, both easily the most drunk in the room, considering they were the only two spirits of drunkenness to exist. They were also the life of the party, keeping everyone in a lively, partying mood. Well, most everyone. Cupid and his girlfriend and counterpart Valentine were in a different kind of mood in one corner of the room, as though being in the corner would make it any less obvious.

Jack was loving the party. He had never seen a gathering of so many people that could see him, and none of them were yelling at him for any reason as he wound his way through the crowd. Actually, quite the contrary. Most of them were happy to see him, and greeted him as old friends, something that was only somewhat turned bitter sweet by the knowledge that none of them had been able to be bothered to associate with him for three years, except Saint Patrick and Scott, who had always invited him to come and drink with them whenever he felt like it, though he had never accepted the invitation.

Jack scanned the crowd as he wound through it, looking for the slightest hint of green feathers. He had to find her. He may not have won their game, on account of making it end, but he figured it was for the best. He didn't want to ruin their friendship by forcing her to go on a date with him, and he didn't want her to reject him, again, for fear of losing her as a friend. Finally, he reached her, finding her talking with Bunny and a couple of female immortals that Jack didn't recognize. He had almost reached them when their voices reached his ears and he paused.

"No way!" one of the girls squealed. "You're in love!?"

"Shh!" Tooth shushed her. "Not so loud! But...yes, I am."

Jack felt this cold. He couldn't actually feel cold anymore, but now he did. Cold spread from his chest, filling him quickly, and making his whole body ache.

"Who is it?" one of the other girls asked.

"I'm not telling you that!" Tooth said, blushing but smiling.

"What's he like?" the first girl asked.

"He's so...perfect," Tooth smiled. "He's handsome, and kind, and selfless, and generous, and he's so...warm."

Jack felt his heart disintegrate. From where he stood, he could see Tooth from the side, just enough to see the way her eyes shone with love as she described him, and enough to see the truly happy smile adorning her lips. He turned away. He was a fool to have entertained the dream of being with her for so long. Of curse she wouldn't love him. He was a spirit of winter and she lived in a rain forest. She liked it warm, and he was so cold that if he stopped suppressing his powers at all he would cover anything, or anyone, touching him in frost.

He bumped into someone and pushed past them with a mumbled "Sorry" and nothing else. He didn't even look up. He suddenly felt sick. The air was too hot, too thick. It felt like it was pressing in on him from all sides. His head was spinning, his chest throbbed with every beat, and his eyes burned. He knew he was crying. He could feel it. He made it to the balcony and shut the doors, taking a moment to cover them in ice and frost to block himself from view before he staggered forward, falling to his knees on the balcony, the wind ripping painfully at his hair and sweatshirt. He looked up, realizing for the first time that the wind was howling deafeningly past, sleet and snow flying past in near-horizontal blurs. The sleet was about pebble sized and pelted against him, stinging but failing to hurt as bad as his heart did. The doors opened and he glanced back, only to look forward again when he saw it was Cupid.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Are you ok-"

"Don't," Jack interrupted, Cupid stopping. "Not with me. I don't want to hear it."

"Jack...you can't just-"

"I have a job to do," Jack said, voice cracking at the end, but hidden by the wind that came to pick him up.

As he began the last word, a blast of arctic wind crashed into the balcony and lifted off again so violently that Cupid was sent hurtling backward through the open door and into several other immortals. Jack felt a little bad for throwing him, but he had to get away. Less than a second after he had escaped the balcony, he had begun to sob. And still the storm around him grew worse, his pain fueling the storm. Then, his pain boiled into anger. He found himself clenching his staff so hard he thought he might crush it, his teeth clenched to the point that it hurt, and his chest throbbing painfully. Then, he reached his first destination. He swung his staff and instantly took off, sweeping through the streets of the city, a massive blizzard following. The biggest he had made in years, though he didn't notice.

"North, how's the situation looking?" Bunny asked, as he, Tooth, Sandy, and Mother Nature, who they had had to beg not to go after Jack to stop him herself, which would involve her possibly killing him.

"Bad," North said, staring at the globe, which was set to weather rather than believers this time. "Jack Frost has been generating endless blizzard for almost two days. The others who went to try and see what was wrong with him, even other winter spirits, were unable to reach him through the cold."

"How cold?" Bunny asked.

"Negative forty," North said. "And falling. Is so cold that telephone wires are breaking."

"He's going to kill people if this keeps up," Bunny growled. "What's that idiot thinking?"

"Does not matter," North said. "He must be stopped."

"I'll happily do it," Mother Nature said. "He's throwing this world's balance off."

"No, you're not killing Jack," Bunny said. "We just need to get close to him. If we can do that, we can talk some sense into him. Or slap some into him."

"We can't," North said. "Storm is too strong. Wind around Frost will throw all of us around like toys. Has already ripped apart several houses, all evacuated before he got there, thankfully."

"Well, someone needs to do something!" Bunny said. "Even if we only-"

They stopped as an elf's bell began to ring rapidly. They turned to Sandy, who was glaring at them and dropped the elf, pointing to the sand over his head, where it was forming a silhouette of Tooth. Then, he pointed out the balcony door nearby, which was open suddenly.

"No," Bunny breathed. "She didn't. She'll die!"

"No more discussion," North said. "We must catch Tooth before she reaches Jack. And then we must allow Mother Nature to deal with him. Please, do not kill him."

"I promise nothing," Mother Nature said.

Tooth held her hands up to shield her face from the wind and sleet. The wind was already strong enough that she was barely able to fight against it. Finally, she had reached Burgess, though. It was the town Jack was heading for, and apparently now passing through. He had slowed considerably the first day, seeming to barely be moving at all now, probably walking. The humans were baffled and terrified of the storm, not knowing the real reason behind it. It defied all logic for it to remain so strong for so long while moving as slowly as it was.

Finally, Tooth landed and struggled on through the storm on foot, the wind actually blowing her sideways or backward every once in a while, but not by much. She knew she could still fly, but she wanted to save her wings as much as she could for when she'd really need them, reaching Jack. She struggled through the storm, fighting against the wind for the most part, struggling to find her wayward friend. She searched all through town before finding herself leaving the town. Even in the woods, the wind was terrifyingly strong, arguably stronger without the buildings to block it. And the further into the woods she went, the stronger they got. Finally, she had to start flying again, stopping as she found herself at a lake. Jack was standing in the center of it, back to her, and staring down at the lake. Tooth fought closer, trying to shout to him, but her voice barely made it past her lips before being silenced by the wind screaming past her.

Finally, she reached out, grabbing his shoulder and he spun, the temperature shooting back upward to a level she could survive, and the wind dropping away quickly, allowing her to land, watching him worriedly as he stared at the ground. After a moment, he reached up, pushing her hand off of his shoulder and letting it fall. It was still snowing and sleeting around them, but the wind had died down to almost nothing, especially compared to a few seconds ago.

"What do you want?" Jack asked, turning away and brushing his foot over the face of the lake, the snow sliding aside and allowing him to see his reflection, distorted slightly by the rough, uneven surface of the ice, helping give it the illusion of being below the ice.

With a start, Tooth realized what lake they were standing on.

"Jack...your storm...you've been...causing so much trouble...for days," Tooth said. "You've destroyed homes, power lines, vehicles. You've done so much damage. I...please. Tell me what's wrong."

"What makes you think anything's wrong?" Jack asked. "Maybe I just wanted to see how big a storm I could make."

"Jack, don't lie to me," Tooth said. "You know I'll just see through it. Please, talk to me. I want to help. I care about you. The others too. We're all worried.

"Don't be," Jack said. "I'm just accepting reality."

"What reality?" Tooth asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You know...I knew from the beginning I couldn't have what I wanted, you know?" Jack asked. "I thought I'd be okay with it. But then I heard...and I just broke."

"Heard what?" Tooth asked, reaching up to cup his face, only for Jack to pull away, turning away from her. "Jack, please. Talk to me. Let me help. Don't shut me out."

"Why?" Jack asked. "Why should I believe you again? You lied to my face before."

"What are you talking about?" Tooth asked. "I've never lied to you."

"Right," Jack snorted. "Never. You're Little Miss Perfect."

"What did I lie about?" Tooth asked, angry that Jack, of all people, would accuse her of lying.

Jack's hands curled into fists and he felt himself trembling, though with sobs or rage he couldn't tell. Maybe both.

"You said you had sworn off relationships!" Jack exploded finally, unable to contain his rage. "You swore off relationships because there was no one good enough, so I stayed silent! I kept myself under control, and refrained from telling you how I felt because I knew you would never be able to return those feelings! And I was fine with that! But then, at the party, I heard you! I heard you talking to Bunny and those others about Mr. Perfect! The guy you're in love with!"

Tooth blinked several times as her brain slowly caught up to what he had said. "The...party?" Tooth blinked. "You were...what..."

Jack shook his head, starting to turn away again. However, as he did, a hand suddenly grabbed his hoodie and spun him back around, Tooth's lips crashing into his. He blinked in surprise before shoving her away, to his shame not gently. She slid backward on the ice, using her wings to keep from falling over as the wind kicked back up, not as strong as before, but enough that he had to shout his next statement over it to be heard.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Jack demanded.

"It was you Jack!" Tooth shouted, hands balled into fists at her side, a range of emotions running through her. "I was talking about you!"

"The hell you were!" Jack shouted. "I heard you Tooth! You were talking about how selfless he is! How warm!"

"You are warm Jack!" Tooth said, whatever anger she had felt for him yelling at her, accusing her of lying, and pushing her gone, replaced by sympathy, guilt, and shame. "You're the warmest person I know."

"I'm a winter spirit!" Jack said. "I physically can't be warm!"

"I didn't mean literally!" Tooth snapped. "I don't care that your body's cold! I love you because your personality is warm! You care about everyone! You're kind no matter what people do to you! You went three hundred years alone and you still found it in your heart to love the children of the earth who didn't believe in you, and to save all of us from being forgotten! That's how you're warm! That's what made me fall in love with you Jack Frost!"

Jack stared at her, understanding slowly beginning to set in, before the realization of how badly he had messed up began to set in and guilt, shame, and regret filled him, tears running from his eyes instantly. "I...I didn't...I thought...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."

Tooth stepped forward, kissing him, and just like that, the storm ended, the clouds over them fading and the snowfall finally ending. After several seconds, she pulled away and Jack began to try to apologize again.

"It's alright," Tooth said. "It's over. I'm so sorry I made you think I didn't love you."

Jack nodded and Tooth kissed him again just before the others landed behind her, Bunny, Sandy, and North in North's sleigh, and Mother Nature riding the wind, as Jack could.

"I see you were actually able to reach him," Mother Nature mused. "Not bad. Jack Frost-"

"It's alright," Tooth said, standing between them protectively. "He's not going to do it again. It was a mistake. A misunderstanding."

"It's okay, Tooth," Jack said. "I made a mess. I have to own up tot he consequences."

He stepped around Tooth, steeling himself for her to kill him, as she was known to do to nature spirits that angered her. Mother Nature strode forward, stopping in front of him and narrowing her eyes. Then, her fist crashed into his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't you ever pull a stupid stunt like that again," Mother Nature snarled. "Do you have any idea how much damage you caused."

"A lot," Jack said. "Too much."

Mother Nature sighed and turned, walking away before taking off. Bunny, Sandy, and North all looked at him warily, but all much calmer than they had been in days.

"Are you calmed down now?" North asked.

"Yeah," Jack said. "Sorry for causing so much trouble."

"Don't worry about it," Bunny said. "No one was hurt this time, and the snow will melt. Eventually."

Jack nodded and Tooth wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing the back of his shoulder before resting her head on it. North and Sandy smiled and Bunny seemed to suddenly figure out what had happened, sighing before chuckling exhaustedly.

"So that's it," Bunny sighed. "Well, since we ain't gotta beat the stuffing out of ya, I'm going back to the Warren to sleep."

The others nodded, Sandy taking off to head over to where it was night and do his job and North took off with his slay again, using a snow globe to get back to the North Pole. Jack sighed, turning around in Tooth's arms and kissing her.

"I suppose you should get home too," Jack said.

Tooth shook her head. "Baby Tooth is handling everything. I used our telepathic connection to let her know you're okay, so she'll be okay. I'm going to take a few days off. I want to be able to spend time with you."

Jack smiled, tightening his hold on her and smiling. "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled, kissing him before resting her head against his chest.

Jack tucked his head into the top of her head and smiled. He may not be perfect, and he may be terrified of driving her away, but for as long as he had her, he would never be capable of having a bad day.

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