I'm sorry that this took so long but I worked really hard on this, harder than I did on any other chapters before so I hope the waiting was worth it!

And now I finished my very first fanfiction.. o: That feels kinda awesome. :D Hope you could all enjoy it. :)

Not much had changed for Jack since he fought alongside the Guardians against the Boogeyman. He still spent his days causing mischief wherever he goes, playing with children and doing whatever he feels like and most humans still couldn't see him. To be fair adults would never see him but children could. They just had to believe in him. For a long time no child had believed in Jack Frost. He had spent most of his life alone, isolated without anyone at his side and wishing for some company.

Now, that the Guardians cared about him, about what he did and what he felt…it made him uncomfortable. He had distanced himself more and more from them so they couldn't reject him again or be disappointed in him. He did it to avoid getting hurt. They didn't know how many times he had actually fucked up, didn't know how weak and stupid he sometimes was or know what a failure he could be. They didn't know any of that yet and he wanted it to stay that way. So he made sure that they couldn't see him when he will mess up the next time which resulted in them not seeing much of him at all.

Oh, he still visited the Guardians every few weeks, each and every one of them. It might seem logical to think that the heat of the Tooth Palace or the Warren would bother him but heat had never been a problem for him. A winter spirit he might be but he could stand heat as long as he wanted; the only difference there was between the temperatures he was in were that his powers didn't work when it was too hot because everything he created, be it frost, snow or ice, it melted as soon as it appeared. But his well-being had never been affected, at least never to the point of discomfort or danger.

It had been surprising to learn that he actually enjoyed Bunny's company the most of the Guardians. Sure, they were all really nice to him but he didn't like to be coddled and Aster was the only one of them who didn't do that. The Pooka respected him and treated him like he did anyone else and that's what Jack liked so much about spending time with him.

They didn't have to speak all the time they spent together, sometimes it was enough to sit in silence and enjoy each other's company without words.

Most of the time they were painting googies, drawing and creating new designs together or they were bantering, rough-housing or racing each other playfully.

There had been a few times where Jack hadn't made himself known and instead had watched Bunny work unnoticed but that had been exceptions. They always spent their time together during daytime. Every time when night started Jack would leave. Not once had he spent the night at the Warren or any of the other Guardian's homes.

It wasn't that he didn't like them or trusted them enough, it was just that all the times he had been at anyone's place yet it had been a day where he didn't need to sleep. It had always been enough for him to sleep every few days for roughly twelve hours. He would sleep on tree branches or let the wind carry him through the air whenever he got tired.

OoOoOo

Jack had started to suffer from insomnia a few days after their defeat of Pitch. None of the other's knew about it and he intended it to stay that way. It wasn't a big deal. Everyone had trouble sleeping once in a while. The only thing that made him worry a little was that he couldn't remember even one time in his existence where he couldn't sleep, not in his human life and not in his immortal one.

Now every time he tried to sleep he couldn't stop remembering things he had avoided thinking about.

"You make a mess wherever you go." Pitch' words he had said to him in Pitch' lair while Easter was ruined. "You have a bad habit of interfering." Pitch again. The most events that prevented him from finding any rest were things the Boogeyman had said to him but not everything he had avoided thinking about where about Pitch. Aster's words when he, North and Tooth had accused him of ruining Easter echoed inside his head, too.

"We should never have trusted you" , "He has to go." , "Where did you get that Jack?" It hurt something deep inside of him to remember those things, to hear them again and again, to hear them being repeated for hours in his mind.

It didn't take long for Jack to abandon the idea of sleeping completely. It hurt him too much when he was forced to think about those things. The worst of it was the guilt and the anger at himself that had begun to eat at him.

He knew that he had messed up a few times too many but nothing of that had ever been his intention. All he had wanted was to be accepted, to learn his purpose for existing, to learn who he was.

Nothing he did had helped against his insomnia. He tried counting sheep, focusing only on his breathing, listening to soothing music that floated out of someone's bedroom, he even tried exhausting himself until he felt like he could drop unconscious the next second but nothing worked! Sleep jut wouldn't come instead he would lay awake for hours on end, forced to listen and watch all of his unpleasant memories that came to the forefront of his mind as soon as he laid down and closed his eyes.

At first Jack had thought it wouldn't be so bad to miss a bit of sleep, that it would solve itself with time and vanish like the problem had never been there at all. That assumption was proved wrong when his powers slipped more and more out of his control the more tired he got.

It started harmless enough, a few slips of his aim while having snowball fights with kids here, a little less concentration than normal there but it got worse fast. Sooner than he would have liked he would fall asleep for a few seconds while he was flying, almost crashing against buildings or trees more than once, his already short attention-span grew almost nonexistent and the usually easily controlled and harmless snowstorms grew lethal and dangerous and all of that because he was too tired to wield his powers properly.

He thought that he could deal with it alone because it wasn't the first time that he had problems and he had managed to deal with every one of them in the past on his own just fine.

Admittedly the blizzard of '68 would have never happened had he gotten some help. But there hadn't been anyone who he could have asked and in the end he had managed to deal with it alone hadn't he? One blizzard wasn't that bad. It could have been way worse couldn't it?

The Guardians didn't need to know all of his problems. He didn't want them to think of him as weak, didn't want their pity they would give him when they knew because they couldn't understand him. They couldn't because they hadn't been through the things he had been through and they didn't even know him properly. No amount of explaining could make them truly understand so Jack didn't bother to trying and kept his problems to himself.

OoOoOo

After nine days Jack got seriously frustrated. After twelve he felt helpless. When three weeks had passed without any real rest he grew desperate and decided to screw it and just visit Aster and see if he could help him. No matter how much he didn't want the other to see him so weak, he couldn't see another option.

When he finally managed to visit Aster after debating with himself for almost two whole days it was hard to act like he usually would. His body felt weak and sore everywhere, his eyes drooped every few seconds and it was hard to concentrate on anything. He was pretty sure he managed well enough to hide it but from the suspicious look in Aster's eyes he saw whenever the other one looked over to him it seemed that Aster had noticed that something was up with him.

"You okay Frostbite?" They were both drawing new designs onto a big blank piece of paper for next Easter. Aster had an expression on his face that could be interpreted as concern by the overly optimistic. Jack wasn't one of them.

Lifting his head and turning his face towards Aster he shot him a smirk and responded: "Awww, does the big bad-ass Pooka actually have a heart? I'm touched, really." The younger's tone was mocking and his teasing expression only emphasized it more.

It was hard for Jack to manage that much with the growing headache that was distracting him but he managed well enough. He is glad that they were both sitting and he didn't have to stand up because he was sure that his legs wouldn't carry him properly if the exhausted feeling in his body was any indication.

Aster shot a glare his way but surprisingly didn't say anything further. Fear that the Pooka had noticed the poor shape he was in made cold sweat break out across his neck which only heightened the discomfort he was already in because of the heat of the Warren was bothering him. He felt uncomfortable, more exhausted than normal and he had started to sweat almost instantly when he had arrived. That had never happened to him before. Normally he could stand heat without any problems but today he just wasn't able to. Apparently his body didn't like the lack of sleep it had been going through for three weeks now.

Jack shook his head, dispelling the thought of Aster pitying him and tried in vain to concentrate once more on the patterns he had drawn on the sheet in front of him. It was hard to do anything more than staring at it with his vision swimming and his thoughts being all muddled inside his head. Damn exhaustion.

OoOoOo

Everything was okay. He could deal with it just fine. It would go away with time, he was sure of it. This insomnia couldn't go on forever right?

Right?

At the end of the day Jack wasn't so sure about that anymore. He felt like he would collapse any minute and it got harder with every second that passed to keep himself moderately upright while sitting on the ground.

Since Aster had asked him if he was okay he couldn't refocus on painting new designs so he had sat there, staring at the piece of paper without doing anything for a while until Bunny stretched and declared after a huge yawn: "Damn, it's late. Should be enough for one day. What da'ya say Frostbite?" The rabbit looked over to him then before he continued. "You wanna stay the night mate? It's really late an' you look really knackered."

Getting to his feet with the help of his staff which was the only thing that kept him standing Jack hesitated, debating with himself before he gave in with a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." There was something that looked a lot like relieve and joy that flashed across Aster's face after he agreed but Jack decided to ignore it for now. He could tease Cottontail about it later when he didn't feel as tired as he did right now anymore.

Just as he was taking one step forward his legs wobbled dangerously for a moment before his body collapsed. His face would have smashed right onto the ground had Aster not caught him in time.

A groan escaped Jack's mouth before he could stop it. His vision was bleary when he turned his gaze upwards to meet Bunny's whose brows where furrowed and his mouth twisted downwards as he pulled his lax body against his furry chest.

The winter child could feel the words that Aster said vibrate through the chest his face was pressed against. "Ya're an idiot, ya know that? Should'a said somethin' sooner. I would'a stopped earlier if I had known how tired ya are."

Jack forced a grin onto his face. "Aw c'mon now. I'm not that tired. Just wanted to see how you'd react if I fainted." His voice sounded teasing but there was still a tired undertone in it he couldn't quite banish from it. Aster raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing a word he had said. Sighing Jack looked sullenly to the side.

"Sorry. I just…I thought I could handle it on my own. But I can't and I don't know what to do because I tried everything already and-"He was kind of glad when Aster interrupted him. The arms that were wrapped around him tightening their hold and the paws that tucked his head protectively underneath the other's chin calmed him down before he could work himself up any more than he already had.

"Calm down ya Drongo. I don't have the faintest idea what ya're talkin' 'bout. Mind explainin'?" Aster's voice sounded annoyed but there was an underlying softness in it that made something in Jack's body warm up and made him relax for the first time he had in three weeks.

Jack nodded, and then turned his head so he wouldn't get fur inside his mouth.

"I can't fall asleep… every time I close my eyes I...I remember stuff, you know? Bad stuff, things I don't want to remember or think about," he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, "I hear the things Pitch had said to me when he had been chasing me around inside his lair, saying things like-"

His mouth clicked shut abruptly when Aster interrupted him.

"Whoa hold on there mate. What do ya mean 'while he was chasin' ya around his cave'? When did that happen?" His shoulders had been grabbed and pushed away from the other's body who was watching him while he talked.

Jack avoided his searching gaze and mumbled something or another quietly. Fortunately Bunny had better hearing than most do or he would have never caught what the kid had said.

"After I brought Sophie home…I heard a voice calling my name and I would never have followed it had it not sounded so strangely familiar…" Jack shrugged. "So I chased after it until I landed in Pitch' lair. When I was there Pitch started to mess with me, saying things like you guys would never accept me and that I wouldn't ever be a Guardian because I make a mess out of everything and he taunted me with my deepest fears and…and I just can't forget what he said…or what you said to me when you all thought I had betrayed you..:"

There were tears gathering in the blue eyes but they were blinked back as fast as they had come. Jack shrugged a second time to seem nonchalant about it but the tense line of his jaw and shoulders gave him away. Instead of commenting on it Bunny pulled him back in an embrace, curling his bigger body around the winter child.

"I'm sorry Jack. About what I said back then…I was wrong. We can trust you. If we can trust somebody it's you. But," the Pooka chuckled and hopped towards his sleeping place, Jack still held securely in his arms, "I think we should talk more tomorrow. Ya look like ya need ta sleep now." A fond expression had wormed itself over the furry face but even though it remained unseen the boy heard it in his voice.

"Thanks." Jack's voice was muffled when he talked against the fur of Aster's chest where he had pressed his face into, the rest of his body curled up against the other's warm body. Aster settled himself inside his nest until he felt comfortable, his arms still wrapped around the winter child whose face was tucked underneath his chin. "Any time Jacky. Any time." A sleepy but happy smile adorned the boy's face while he slept undisturbed through the night in the arms of the Guardian of Hope.

OoOoOo

The next morning was bright, warm and greeted the two well rested Guardians cheerfully. They both stretched and yawned before they got up to eat breakfast. Shortly before Jack was about to bite another piece off of his meal Aster spoke up. "Hope ya learned that ya can always ask for help if ya need it. An' I mean you can ask any one of us. 'm not the only one who cares 'bout ya. Next time ya have a problem ya can't deal with ya come to one of us, is that clear?" He waved his paw mock-threatening towards the youngster while he talked but it was still clear how serious he was so Jack nodded and shot him a sheepish apologetic look.

"Sure thing Cottontail." The grin on the boy's face was teasing even though he felt warm and happy inside after Aster's reassurance. It felt good to know that there were people who would help him when he needed them. He saluted mockingly and laughed when the other threw a carrot stick at him. It seemed like he would spent the next few nights with Aster. He honestly couldn't say that he minded that one bit.