The Oath of a Guardian

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Drama
Word count: 1,101
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or affiliated characters. Such an honor belongs to DreamWorks Animation and William Joyce.

Jack Frost wasn't a fan of the summer, choosing instead to spend those sweltering months at the Pole with North, or in the Antarctic, his home away from home. The exception to this rule was in late July, when Jack would return to Burgess for the birthday of one Jamie Bennett, bringing with him a cool breeze that swept through the tiny town.

Since the moment Jack was first believed in—first seen—nearly three years before, Jack knew his bond with Jamie would not be an easily broken one. Sure, it would mean watching Jamie grow up and eventually die, but Jack was determined to stay by Jamie's side as much as possible, and the rest of the world, which experienced an exponential decrease in winter storms on the whole, was thankful for that even if they didn't know who they were thankful to.

The guardian of fun came out of his musings as he saw Burgess come into view below and swept down. Landing easily on the Bennett's roof, where he watched Jamie's mother set up party favors in the backyard. Jamie's friends would be there soon, and after games and cake and presents, the children would go with Jack to his pond, which he would freeze thoroughly for impromptu ice-skating and provide snow for the children to have a snowball fight. When Jack left the woods that night after the children had all gone home, his localized winter wonderland would melt into nothing and no one would be any the wiser.

Sophie, now going on six and far steadier on her feet, pranced around the yard in a tutu. She saw Jack after a moment and waved at him, causing Mrs. Bennett to follow her daughter's gaze and shake her head with a grin when she saw nothing there—her little Sophie had such an imagination!

As soon as Mrs. Bennett disappeared into the house once more, Jack came down to greet the little blonde girl. "Hey, Soph'. How've you been?" he asked, dropping a snowflake on her nose.

"Good," she giggled. "It's Jamie's birthday!"

"I know. I'm here to see him. Where is he?"

Sophie tugged at her pigtails, "He's cleaning his room."

"Cleaning his room? On his birthday? That's no fu—"

"Sophie, who are you talking to?" came just the voice Jack wanted to hear. The winter spirit turned to find Jamie on the back porch, a cardboard box full of toys in his hands, with a familiar stuffed rabbit on the very top of the pile.

"Jack Frost!" the little girl shouted enthusiastically.

"Hey, Jamie," Jack waved at the boy. "Happy birth—"

"Sophie, Jack Frost isn't real," Jamie snorted, giving his sister a playful nudge. "Besides, it's summer. What would Jack Frost be doing here in the summer?" With that, Jamie went on his way, cargo in hand.

"Not real?" Jack repeated, taken aback. "Oh, I get it. Good one, Jamie." But Jamie didn't acknowledge him, and Jack frowned. "Where are you taking that stuff?"

Sophie bounced along behind her brother and the personification of winter. "Jack wants to know where you're taking that stuff, "she relayed.

Jamie sighed, "To the garage for the garage sale next week. You know that." Jamie continued on, heedless of Jack, who was standing right in front of him.

As the boy walked right through him, Jack's puzzlement turned to sadness, "You can't hear me anymore. You can't see me anymore." He couldn't believe that Jamie had simply stopped believing in him, not after all this time, after all they'd been through.

Jamie came out of the garage, closing the door behind him, and taking Sophie's hand. "Come on. You promised to stay in the house while my friends where here," he reminded her as he tugged her into the house.

"Bye-bye, Jack," she waved back at him before she and Jamie finally went inside and were gone.

As Jack took to the sky, he fought back tears. This hurt; more than dying, more than getting his staff broken in half, more than anything he had ever experienced, this hurt. And what was worst of all, he had no idea how to fix it. He glided on the wind, high above the clouds, until he came to the Pole, where he knew North, busy as he was, would make time for him.

They sat in front of the fire with hot cocoa, cookies and candy canes, and Jack explained what had happened. When the story was finished, North didn't take a moment to think it over, or even look remotely perplexed. He turned his wise old face to Jack and said, "Jamie Bennett turns thirteen today, yes?"

Jack nodded, and North patted him on the shoulder.

"We are the guardians of childhood," the large man explained. "Jamie is not child anymore, he is teenager."

"But why can't he see me?"

"The children must grow up, and to do that, they must stop believing. We become stories for their children, and those children believe in us. It is cycle."

"That's why you don't get close to any of the kids. They grow up, and it hurts too much." Jack sighed, "Being a guardian really isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"You can tell Man in Moon you no longer wish to be guardian, if that is what you want, Jack. But consider: Sophie Bennett is very good, never on naughty list. She still believes in you."

"For seven more years," Jack testily pointed out.

"And then Jamie is twenty, and soon to have children of his own. You would deprive them of a guardian because their father had to grow up?"

Jack sighed and gave North a sad smile. "You're right. It hurts, but you really are right. I can't stop making kids happy just because I have to let them go eventually."

"Good." North stood and ushered Jack along with him, "Now help me settle debate, what color is fire engine?" They came to a long table where a yeti was painting a fire truck yellow.

"Red. Fire trucks are red."

"That is what I say!" North threw his hands up as the yeti grumbled his argument, and Jack had to shake his head in amusement.

Like it or not, Jack Frost had taken an oath to watch over the children and protect them with his life, because they were all that he had, all that he was…

An image of Jamie, grown up and with a family all his own came into his mind's eye, and Jack smiled.

And all that he would ever be.

A/N: Forgive the lame ending. I just really wanted to explore the idea that the reason adults didn't believe in the guardians was because they went through a crossover on their thirteenth birthdays. A lot of people have the idea that Jamie will continue to believe in Jack and the others into adulthood, and while that would seriously make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, I wanted to look at the other option, and consider how that would affect Jack. That is why I wrote this in an hour and a half at 12:30 in the morning, and why I just gave up and went with this lame ending at two in the morning.

Thanks for reading, anyway. Reviews are appreciated, but favorites are love, too, and I'm not picky about what attention I get, so long as I'm getting some. :)