Work Text:
Hold On
No. 14-Water Inhalation, “Just hold on”
Jack Frost was the Guardian of Fun, so of course, that meant that he used fun to help children around the world. He started snowball fights, helped kids make snowmen, froze bodies of water so that they could ice-skate, brought snow days, anything they wanted. However, just because he was the Guardian of Fun, that didn’t mean there were no rules for kids to follow, and that also went for Jaime Bennett and his friends in Burgess. Those rules were:
- Never throw a snowball to hurt someone. Make sure it’s made of snow only and not of ice.
- Always make sure your parents know where you are and stay together, when necessary, especially when the Boogeyman’s lair was nearby
- Never…EVER go ice-skating on the lake until Jack checks the ice and/or freezes it
Jaime always found himself slightly confused by that last rule. Jack never explained the reasoning behind it, but he was always very adamant about it. At least that was what he thought that day as he and his friends gathered around the Burgess Lake. It was winter, and Jack and Jaime agreed to have a meetup with his friends once they were let out of school for Christmas break. Not only that, but Jack told him that he managed to convince North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy to come join them for a little bit. So, he, his sister Sophie, Pippa, Cupcake, Monty, Caleb, and Claude all sat by the lake waiting for the 5 Guardians of Childhood to show up. Jaime smiled as he watched his little sister play with the teddy bear North gave her for Christmas last year along with a small sleigh for the bear.
“This is one of those times I wish we had cell phones to call them,” Caleb said after a moment of silence.
“Oh, come on, they’ll be here,” Jaime said rolling his eyes. “They’re busy making us and every single child of the world happy.”
Claude, Caleb’s twin brother couldn’t help but laugh. “Man, we’re just a couple of kids…waiting to spend the day with Jack Frost, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman,” he said. “How many kids could say that?”
“Especially after we helped them defeat the Boogeyman,” Cupcake said raising an eyebrow.
The kids couldn’t help but laugh at the joke. Not long after that, they fell silent again listening for the sound of Bunny hopping, North opening a portal, or Tooth, Sandy, or Jack flying in the air, but there wasn’t any sign of them. Even Jaime was starting to get bored. However, the silence was interrupted by a whimper and cry.
“Soph, what’s the matter?” the Last Light asked his little sister as she looked out over the lake crying.
“T-Teddy bear…” she said through her tears.
Jaime furrowed his eyebrows together as he followed her direction to out on the frozen lake, and then he saw it…Sophie’s teddy bear in its sleigh…stuck on the ice. His eyes widened at the sight. “Uh-oh…” Jaime said. “Aw, Soph, it’s okay. Jack can get it when he gets here.”
“No!” Sophie said as she took a step toward the ice.
However, Jaime and Pippa quickly held her back to stop her from moving any further.
“Soph, you can’t go on the ice,” Jaime said. “You could fall and get hurt. We have to wait for Jack.”
“No! No! Teddy bear!” Sophie said continuing to cry and struggling to get out of Jaime and Pippa’s grips.
Jaime sighed. There was no way Sophie was just going to wait for Jack to grab her toy, and there was no telling where he was. He couldn’t give her an exact time frame. Not that she would understand anyway. He looked down and saw that he did have his ice-skates on already, and it was cold out. The ice couldn’t be that thin. “Don’t worry, Sophie,” he said as he stood up on his feet, “I’ll get your teddy bear back.”
“What?” Pippa asked incredulously. “Jaime, no, you can’t.”
“Yeah, Jack said we’re not allowed to go onto the ice when he’s not here,” Monty added.
“I know,” Jaime said as he picked up a rock, “but Sophie wants her bear back. And the last thing we need is her wandering out onto the ice. He’ll understand, and it’ll be quick. He probably won’t even notice if he’s not here by then. Besides, it’s really cold out. How thin could the ice be?” He threw his rock onto the ice just to make sure, and sure enough, when it landed, no cracks were seen. “See? No cracks, it’s safe.”
He wasn’t thrilled about disobeying one of Jack’s rules, but it was better that he went rather than Sophie. After his foot slid out slightly, he managed to get his balance and skated over to where the bear sat in the middle of the lake. So far, no signs of thin ice or cracks anywhere…and still no sign of Jack or the other Guardians. Finally, he got to where the bear sat, and then he bent down and turned it around so that it was facing Sophie.
“Alright, Sophie, heads up!” Jaime called out. Then he pushed the sleigh sending it across the ice straight to his sister.
“Teddy bear!” Sophie exclaimed as she picked up her toy hugging it close.
Jaime chuckled lightly. “See?” he asked as he just started skating back to the shore. “What did I tell you?” But…just as he started skating back to his friends…he heard something underneath him…something that made him and his friends freeze. He looked down only to see…the ice cracking underneath him. He tried to skate away…but…the ice gave away. “WHOA!!” he shouted as he fell into the water below.
“JAIME!!” his friends shouted as they watched him disappear into the water.
Jaime tried to hold his breath as he fell through despite the awful shock of the freezing cold water. His whole body was in pain, and when he tried to swim back up…he could barely move.
“No…No…NO!” Jaime thought to himself. “I don’t want to die! I can’t! Too cold! Too cold! Jack…I’m sorry…I didn’t listen! Please help me!”
“JAIME!!” Pippa shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Aw man…aw man…what do we do?” Monty asked.
Sophie began crying and clutching her bear. “JAIME!!” she screamed.
“We’ve got to get him!” Cupcake said as she tried to step onto the ice…only for Caleb and Claude to stop her.
“No, we can’t!” Caleb said. “The ice is too thin!”
“We could fall in, too,” Claude added, “and then we would be of no help to Jaime!”
“Then what do we do?” Cupcake asked frantically. “We’re wasting time just standing here! He needs help!”
“I know what we can do!” Pippa suddenly said. “Cupcake, Monty, run back to Jaime’s house and get his mom! Caleb, Claude, go back to your house and call 911!”
“What about Sophie?” Caleb said. “And what about you?”
“We’ll stay here and wait for the Guardians,” Pippa said as she knelt to Sophie’s level hugging her close. “They’re on their way, and they can help! GO! RUN!”
Her four friends did as they were told and took off running to complete their respective tasks with one goal in mind: save Jaime!
“Don’t worry, Sophie,” Pippa said as she hugged the blonde close. “We’ll save Jaime, I promise.” She then looked at the gaping hole Jaime fell through. “Just hold on, Jaime. Just hold on…”
Jaime swam with all his might, but the cold temperature made him feel numb all over. He felt so tired, and his body felt heavy. He wished that someone would come for him, but it didn’t look good. Jack was nowhere near Burgess. His lungs burned…desperate for air, and it was getting harder to hold his breath.
“I’m sorry, Jack,” he thought to himself as his eyes grew heavy. “I’m so sorry…Don’t be mad…”
His vision blurred, and his eyes closed. His body went still, and his mouth opened…unable to hold it in anymore as the light shined above him.
“I’m sorry…”
Jack knew that the kids would be eager to go ice-skating, so he planned to arrive to the lake before the others to give them time to do what they needed to do. Besides, it was the perfect chance to spend some time with Jaime and his friends, so of course, he would jump at the chance to go ahead by himself. As he got closer to Burgess, his excitement increased. He couldn’t wait to spend this day with his first believers and family.
However…as he approached the town…approached the lake, his excitement…turned into dread…when he saw a hole…in the ice…and Sophie and Pippa huddled together on the shoreline. His eyes widened.
“No…no…no…” he said to himself as he flew down to Pippa and Sophie hoping that it wasn’t what he thought it was. “PIPPA!” he shouted as he landed behind them.
Pippa and Sophie turned around, and Jack was able to see that they had tears in their eyes, which made him even more nervous. “JACK!” they said in unison as they stood up and ran to him.
“What’s wrong?!” Jack asked as he grabbed them each by the shoulder. “What happened?!”
“It’s Jaime!” Pippa replied frantically. “He fell through the ice, and he hasn’t come up for air!”
“WHAT?!” Jack shouted as he felt his heart drop to his stomach. He looked to the gaping hole in the frozen lake. His first believer was in the freezing water. His eyes widened. “STAY HERE! DON’T MOVE!” He stood up and ran over to the gaping hole dropping his staff to the ground in the process. There was no way Jaime was going to suffer the same fate as he did. He refused to let that happen. “JAIME!” he shouted as he dove headfirst into the water.
Thankfully, not long after he told the Guardians that he drowned in the lake before he became Jack Frost, they all talked it over and decided it could be useful for Jack to learn how to swim. So, he used those skills they instilled in him and swam down with all his might. He could barely feel the cold temperature of the water, but his heart pounded at the sight of Jaime floating at the bottom of the lake. He couldn’t help but think back to his drowning. Nevertheless, he pushed forward and swam down to the bottom to get to Jaime. He had to get to Jaime. He had to save him. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed the boy under his arms and swam back up to the surface.
Jack let out a huge breath as he came back to the surface, and he wasted no time in helping Jaime out of the water. “I’ve got you, buddy,” he said. “I’ve got you.” It took him a minute, but he was able to pull himself and Jaime out of the water and back onto the ice and carried Jaime back to the shoreline wanting to get him as far away from the water as possible.
“You got him, Jack!” Pippa shouted happily. “You did it!”
Now that he was carrying Jaime, he could see that the boy was still unconscious. Jack almost threw up at the sight of the blue lips on Jaime’s face. He snuck a smile at Pippa and Sophie. “Of course, I did,” he said as he laid Jaime down. His smile quickly faded. “Where are the others?”
“The twins went to call the police,” Pippa replied, “and Cupcake and Monty went to get Jaime’s mom.”
“I want Mommy! I want Jaime!” Sophie cried as she hugged her bear close.
“Don’t worry, Sophie,” Jack said. “Jaime’s going to be okay, I promise. You…you have to believe in me, okay?”
“I promise…I promise…you’re going to be…you’re going to be fine. You have to believe in me…”
Jack mentally shook that memory from his head. He couldn’t think about that right now…not when Jaime’s life was on the line.
Sophie looked at him and nodded tearfully.
Jack then turned back to Jaime only to see that…he still wasn’t waking up. Shouldn’t he be waking up now? Why wasn’t he waking up? “Jaime?” he asked the boy shaking him gently. “Jaime, wake up. Can you hear me?”
No answer came from the boy. No coughing. His eyes weren’t opening.
“Hey, kiddo, come on,” Jack said trying to hide the nervousness, “this isn’t funny. Come on, wake up, Jaime. Jaime…”
No answer.
“Why isn’t he waking up, Jack?” Pippa asked causing Jack to look up at her. “Is…Is he…going to be okay?”
Jack froze for a minute. He had almost forgotten that another 11-year-old and 3-year-old were next to him. His center was Fun for a reason, so he needed to act now and get them away from this scene. “I-I’m not sure yet, Pippa,” he began, “but I need you to do a big favor for me. Take Sophie and…go look for the other Guardians for me. I need to stay with Jaime to make sure he’s okay.”
“O-Okay,” Pippa said nodding.
“Okay,” Jack said, “what do you think, Soph? You want to see if Bunny came yet? He should be here soon.” He hoped and prayed with all his might that the others had arrived.
Sophie gasped happily. “Bunny!” she said jumping up and down.
“Yeah, Bunny,” Jack said. “So, hurry up and go find him, okay?”
The girls nodded and quickly took off into the woods leaving Jack alone with an unconscious Jaime. As soon as Jack was alone, he felt the fear take over full force. “Jaime…Jaime…Jaime, come on, kiddo,” he said shaking the boy even more, “you got to wake up. Jaime…wake up! PLEASE! JAIME, WAKE UP!”
No response came from the boy once again.
Jack began to breathe heavily as he looked around for any signs of North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy. His heart continued to pound. He hoped that they would arrive soon. They needed to save Jaime. He needed to save Jaime. There was something wrong. He should’ve been waking up, and he wasn’t. This couldn’t be it. Jaime couldn’t die. He just couldn’t. Tears formed in his eyes as he continued to shake the boy to wake him up, but his efforts were proven to be in vain. “Come on, buddy,” he said. “Please…please…wake up! Jaime! JAIME, PLEASE!” He looked around again frantically for any signs of the other Guardians, but there was no sign of them yet. “Come on, guys…where are you? I need help…please…”
A portal opened, and sure enough, North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy emerged. Just as they emerged from the portal, Bunny immediately stopped in his tracks flickering his ears, which made North, Tooth, and Sandy look at him with confusion.
“What is it, my friend?” North asked curiously.
“Someone’s coming…” Bunny replied.
“It’s probably Jack coming to get us,” Tooth replied.
“No, I don’t think so,” Bunny said. “I know Frostbite’s footsteps. This is…two ankle biters…”
“BUNNY!” a voice suddenly shouted.
“Sophie?” Bunny asked. His eyebrows furrowed together when he and his fellow Guardians saw Jaime Bennett’s little sister and one of his friends Pippa running to them. Sophie looked thrilled to see them, but Pippa looked scared… Both looked like they had been crying.
“BUNNY! BUNNY!” Sophie shouted as she practically scrambled into the Pooka’s arms.
“North, Bunny, Tooth, Sandy! You’re all here!” Pippa said as she and Sophie ran up to them. “You need to come help! J-Jaime…he…” She was out of breath as she tried to bring them up to speed, “Jack…he…”
North widened his eyes slightly at the mention of the youngest Guardian and the Last Light. He quickly knelt down placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Pippa…Pippa…” he said trying to hide his concern, “slow down, little one. What happened? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jaime…” Pippa began after taking a deep breath. “We…we were waiting for you guys by the lake. Sophie lost her toy on the ice, and Jaime went to go get it. But…but the ice…he fell in. Jack jumped in and pulled him out as soon as he got there.”
North widened his eyes again as he looked at Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy, and they shared his look of concern. Not long after Jack became a Guardian, he showed them his memories—how he drowned in that very lake when saving his little sister before Manny saved him. North could only imagine what his son was going through now. He turned back to Pippa. “Where are Jack and Jaime now?” he asked.
“Back by the lake,” Pippa replied. “I told my friends to call the police and to get Jaime’s mom. Jack told me to come find you guys, but I think he did it just so Sophie wouldn’t get scared.”
North felt pride swell in his chest for Jack. Jack always found a way to protect the children, and he couldn’t be prouder of him. “You did the right thing, little one,” he said with a smile. He then turned to his fellow Guardians. “Bunny, Sandy, stay here with Pippa and Sophie. Tooth, you’re with me. We’ll go find Jack and Jaime.”
They nodded in agreement, and North and Tooth made their way toward the lake while Bunny and Sandy stayed behind with the two girls. Tooth flew as fast as she could with North not too far behind on foot. They could hear Jack crying out for Jaime to wake up and for them to come help.
Not long after that, they finally made it to the lake, and they saw Jack…shaking an unconscious Jaime trying to wake him up. Their hearts broke for the Guardian of Fun.
“Jack!” North shouted as they went over to the winter spirit and the boy.
“Sweet Tooth!” Tooth shouted.
Jack looked up allowing them to see that he was soaking wet and crying. “NORTH! TOOTH!” he shouted. “PLEASE HELP!”
“We’re here, my boy!” North said as he knelt next to Jack and Tooth on the other side of Jaime. “Pippa told us what happened. Has he woken up?”
“No…no…no matter how many times I tried…he…he won’t wake up!” Jack said frantically. “North, he’s not waking up! I-I don’t know…”
North and Tooth scanned the boy, and they could see that his lips were blue and that his skin was pale. North had a feeling that Jack didn’t know how to get Jaime to wake up and how to help him, but that was something to worry about later. Right now, they needed to focus on Jaime. “Alright…alright…stand back, okay?” he said gently. “I know what to do. It’ll be alright.”
“North, we need to hurry,” Tooth said as she placed her fingers on Jaime’s neck. “He’s barely breathing, and his pulse is faint.”
“W-What does that--?” Jack tried to ask.
“We’ll explain later, Sweet Tooth,” Tooth said as she flew up to Jack placing her hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “Let North take care of it now.”
North wasted no time in unzipping Jaime’s jacket and began doing chest compressions on the boy. Once that was complete, he bent down giving Jaime rescue breaths. Then he repeated the process as Jack and Tooth watched. “Come on, Jaime,” he said to the boy. “You didn’t give up on us. We’re not giving up on you. You need to fight! Fight!” He completed more chest compressions and gave two more rescue breaths. Then, he did it again. He refused to lose their Last Light and his adoptive son’s first believer. Not today. Not like this. He gave more chest compressions and two more rescue breaths, and then as he began to do more chest compressions…he heard a cough…the most beautiful sound he ever heard.
Jaime suddenly began to cough up water.
North wasted no time in turning the boy to his side to help him get the excess water out. “Easy, Jaime,” he said gently, “easy.”
“He’s awake! He’s awake!” Jack shouted happily. “North, you did it!”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Tooth said as she gave Jack a reassuring shoulder squeeze before moving to Jaime.
Jaime finally stopped coughing and groaned as he tried to open his eyes.
“Jaime, are you--?” Jack asked as he moved to the boy.
North gently placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder stopping him. “Give him a minute, Jack,” he said. “It’s alright, let’s just give him some space.” He quickly took his coat off.
Tooth took the hint and helped Jaime sit up as he came to so that North could wrap him in his coat. She could feel him shaking under her touch.
“There we go,” North said as he wrapped him in his coat and held him close. “You’re alright.”
Jaime looked up and blinked his eyes to clear the blurriness from his vision. Sure enough, he saw three of the Guardians looking down at him. “J-Jack…N-North…T-Tooth…” he said through his shivers, “w-what happened?”
“You fell through the ice,” Tooth gently explained, “but you’re going to be okay. Jack got you out in time, and North gave you CPR.”
Jaime immediately looked up at Jack as he remembered what led up to that. He broke Jack’s third rule and went onto the ice when he wasn’t supposed to so that his sister didn’t. “I-I’m s-sorry, J-Jack,” he said still shivering. “S-Sophie l-lost her toy, and I-I was just trying to get it back. Please…please don’t be mad…”
Jack’s eyes widened as his heart broke. Jaime actually thought he was mad. “M-Mad…?” he said shakily. His first believer almost died thinking that he was mad at him, and with that thought…tears came to his eyes. “No…no…buddy, I’m not mad. I just—I was just worried about you.”
“Okay, now it’s your turn. One...” Mary stepped forward, “that’s it…that’s it…two…” she stepped forward again, “three!” On three, Jack hooked the crook of the stick around Mary’s waist and pulled her off the dangerous ice swinging her to the side. However, in the middle of the swing, the force sent him back toward the thin patch of ice.
Jack and Mary looked at each other smiling and chuckling with relief that the other was safe. However, when Jack took a step toward her…the ice cracked underneath him causing him to fall into the freezing water below. “WHOA!” he shouted.
“JACK!” Mary shouted as he went down.
Jack mentally shook the memory out of his thoughts. He couldn’t think about that right now. He refused to. He might have pulled Jaime out of the water, but North saved him. North saved Jaime. Jaime was still alive.
Jaime managed a small smile at his best friend. He then looked around as he shivered realizing that it was just him, Jack, Tooth, and North, and he furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. “W-W-Where’s…?” he tried to ask.
“Oi, mates!” they heard Bunny shout from the woods.
“Over here, Bunny!” North shouted in reply.
Jaime turned only to see the Easter Bunny and the Sandman emerge from the forest…with Pippa and Sophie. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“Jaime! Jaime!” Sophie said happily as she ran ahead to her brother.
“Hey, Soph,” Jaime said through his shivers.
“Jaime! You’re okay!” Pippa said happily as she followed with Bunny and Sandy in tow.
“Yeah…I’m okay…thanks to—”
“JAIME!” another voice shouted from behind North.
The Guardians all looked only to see a woman running over to the lake with Cupcake, Monty, and the twins in tow.
“Mom?” Jaime asked aloud. No one mentioned it, but he could’ve sworn that he heard sirens coming toward the lake. Instead, he watched as North, Jack, and Tooth slowly but swiftly moved out of the way to allow his mother to get to him. Jaime also believed it was so they could avoid being walked through. However, he couldn’t help but notice that North and Tooth were gently pulling Jack away.
“JAIME! JAIME!” his mom shouted as she ran over to her son hugging him tightly. “Oh, my sweet boy, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I-I’m okay, Mom,” Jaime said despite shivering slightly.
His mom however stopped and pulled away when she realized that Jaime was wearing a red coat…a huge red coat…that she didn’t recognize. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “W-Where did you get this coat?” she asked.
Jaime and his friends all looked at each other with widened eyes. Then, they looked to the 5 Guardians. However, they all simply shrugged with small smiles.
“Santa! Santa!” Sophie said suddenly. “And Jackie!”
“Uhh…yeah…two really nice guys gave it to me…” Jaime said. “A father and son…Santa Claus and Jack Frost.”
“Yep!” Jaime’s friends said in unison.
Jaime’s mother simply chuckled and shook her head. It didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that Jaime was safe and alive. “Well, I owe Santa and Jack a lot,” she said hugging Jaime again.
North smiled down at Jack. However, his smile fell when he saw that his adoptive son was looking sadly at his first believer. He made a mental note to talk to Jack later. Instead, he hugged the winter spirit, who quickly returned the gesture despite how wet he was…and the ice that was freezing on him. He was about to say something to Jack…when sirens suddenly blared. He looked to see police cars and ambulances park in front of the lake, and the Guardian of Wonder couldn’t help but feel relieved. Jaime was going to get true medical attention.
The 5 Guardians watched as paramedics and police officers surrounded Jaime taking his wet jacket and North’s coat off and doing everything imaginable to keep the boy warm. Jack took a step toward the group, but North hugged him tightly keeping him close.
“It’s okay, son,” North whispered to him. “They’re going to help him. We need to let them work. You can see him later, I promise.”
Jack didn’t say anything. Instead, he held onto North in return as if to keep himself grounded. Jaime was okay. He was alive. He was going to be okay, but Jack could still see the boy’s lifeless body floating at the bottom of the lake and when he pulled him back to the surface. If North and Tooth didn’t come when they did, Jaime could’ve died, and that made Jack sick to his stomach. Jaime almost suffered the same fate he did over 300 years ago, and it would’ve been his fault. He was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when the paramedics placed warm blankets on Jaime and moved him onto a gurney wheeling him to an ambulance with Jaime’s mom, Sophie, and his friends in tow.
The kids all waved to the Guardians. However, Pippa and Monty must’ve realized that they were leaving them behind and quickly ran back.
“You’ll come back and see us, right?” Monty asked.
“Absolutely,” Tooth answered. “We’ll come back and see Jaime once he’s settled in.”
Pippa and Monty smiled. “Thanks for saving Jaime,” Pippa said to them.
“You’re welcome, Pippa,” North said with a gentle smile.
Pippa and Monty waved goodbye again before turning back to the ambulance and the police cars leaving the Guardians at the lake. They watched as Jaime’s mom and Sophie went into the ambulance and the children gathered into the police cars, and the sirens blared again as they drove away heading toward the hospital.
For a moment, the Guardians of Childhood were silent as they watched the children—especially Jaime, the Last Light himself leave the lake. None of them could have pictured this day happening the way it did, and they were simply stunned and of course worried for the boy, who never gave up on them. It wasn’t long before North finally spoke.
The Guardian of Wonder sighed. “Let’s go home,” he said. He briefly left Jack’s side to grab his coat and to put it back on. However, he wasted no time in wrapping his arm around Jack again and led his fellow Guardians and his adoptive son away from the lake. He saw Bunny giving Jack’s staff back to him, but Jack had yet to say a word. However, he could feel Jack’s hand gripping onto him…shaking. He made a mental note that he and Jack would need to talk later. With that, he took out a snow globe and whispered the Pole into it before throwing it to the ground to create a portal.
They all stepped through the portal and found themselves back in the Globe Room at the Pole.
“Jack?” Tooth said as soon as they returned. “Are you alright, Sweet Tooth?”
“Uhh…y-yeah…” Jack said as he looked at Tooth with a small smile. “I’m okay. It’s just…been a crazy day, you know?”
“Jack…” North tried to say.
“I-I’m…I’m just going to go to my room and lie down for a bit,” he said as he walked away making his way out of the Globe Room leaving his family behind. “See you guys later.”
“Jack, wait,” North said as he tried to go after him.
“North,” Bunny suddenly said placing a hand on the Guardian of Wonder stopping him from moving any further, “let him go.”
“Bunny, how can I just leave him alone?” North asked. “My boy needs me…He needs us. We need to talk to him.”
“No argument there, mate,” Bunny replied, “but he just went through something with his first believer…something that he went through as a human. He probably needs to process it all first.”
“Bunny’s right,” Tooth said. “It probably brought up a lot of bad memories and feelings. He’s not going to shut you or any of us out. He loves us, and he knows we love him. He needs to take some time for himself, and then he’ll talk when he’s ready.”
Sandy nodded and flashed an image of a clock and then the five of them in a group hug clearly agreeing with Bunny and Tooth.
North sighed when he realized that his fellow Guardians were right. Jack might not have almost drowned today, but his first believer did. Unfortunately, it was certainly an experience that hit too close to home for the Guardian of Fun. North could only imagine the feelings and memories that were running through his adoptive son’s head. It broke his heart as he remembered the fear and panic in Jack’s voice when he tried to wake up Jaime. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll give him some time, but then I’m going to talk to him.”
“No one will stop you,” Bunny said as Tooth and Sandy nodded in agreement.
“We need to get back to work,” Tooth said after a moment of silence, “but please call us back here if Jack needs anything.”
“I will,” North said with a smile. “Thank you, Toothy…all of you.”
“Hopefully, we can reschedule a day with the ankle biters,” Bunny said with a small smile.
“We’ll make it happen,” North said nodding.
Not long after Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy left, North found himself in the den of the Pole. Normally, he probably would’ve gone back to work himself, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that. He was worried about his adoptive son, and he did what Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy said to do and gave Jack some time alone in his room. He decided to put Phil in charge and got a fire going in the fireplace in the den so that he was accessible to the yetis if they needed him or to Jack if he needed him.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting for…but eventually, he must’ve dozed off for a while…because next thing he knew…he heard a voice.
“North…?” the voice said. “North…wake up…”
North suddenly opened his eyes, and sure enough, he saw Jack looking at him. He immediately straightened in his seat on the couch and rubbed his eyes. “Oh…Jack,” he said, “I-I’m sorry, son. I must’ve dozed off. How long were you standing there?”
“Not long…” Jack replied with a shrug. “Phil said I could find you in here.”
“Well,” North said with a small smile, “here I am.”
Jack gave him a small smile in return and chuckled before his face fell again, and North felt his heart break seeing his adoptive son not be his usual fun-loving, energetic, and all-around happy self. He sighed sadly. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Jack shook his head.
“No…” North sighed again, “come here, my boy.” He patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Sit down.”
Jack did as North said and sat down next to him on the couch curling up at his side, and North wasted no time in wrapping an arm around the winter spirit pulling him close.
“I’m sorry I walked away like that,” Jack said after a moment of silence as he stared at the fire. “I just—”
“I know,” North said. “We all figured you needed time to yourself. It was a tough day for you. I understand. Do you want to talk about it?”
Jack nodded. “I just…I just keep seeing him floating at the bottom of the lake…” Jack said shakily, “and then…I…I remember how cold it felt…and…how dark it was…”
North hugged Jack tighter silently telling Jack that he was listening and that he was there for him.
“And then…I keep thinking that I should’ve gotten there sooner…” Jack said as tears formed in his eyes. “If…If I had gotten there sooner…then—”
“No, no, Jack, don’t do that to yourself,” North quickly said.
“But it’s true, North,” Jack said looking up at his adoptive father allowing him to see the tears in his eyes. “If…if I took longer to get there, then…it…it would’ve been too late. He…he could’ve—”
“He didn’t, my boy,” North quickly said. “He didn’t die. Jaime is still alive, thanks to you. You got him out.”
“How can you even say that?” Jack asked suddenly. “You were the one, who saved him, North! If…if you didn’t come when you did…it wouldn’t have mattered if I pulled him out or not. I couldn’t wake him up. You were the one, who did that…that…chest…breathing…thing. That’s what saved him. I could’ve killed him all because I didn’t know how to do that. Face it, if I had gotten to the lake sooner, none of this would’ve happened. I could’ve stopped him. I could’ve gotten Sophie’s stupid toy. He almost died today, and it would’ve been all my fault!”
“Jack! Jack, listen to me!” North said firmly as he knelt down in front of the winter spirit gripping his shoulders so that he was looking at him. “What happened today was not your fault. You can’t put that pressure on yourself. Jaime made a choice, and you can’t be there by his side every second of every day…for any child for that matter. What matters is that we did save him. We were there for him…for all those children today.”
The tears flowed down Jack’s cheeks as he began to sob. He knew that North was right and that he couldn’t be attached to Jaime’s hip all the time, but…it was still devastating to think about how things could’ve been different if he arrived to the lake later or if even the others arrived later. “I-I get that,” he said. “I get that I can’t be there for him or any other kid 24/7, but…I…North…I couldn’t wake him up… You did that. If…if you didn’t come when you did…”
“You needed help,” North quickly said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We’re a team…a family. You know that. It’s okay to need help. You can’t fault yourself for not knowing a rescue method that wasn’t around when you were human. You still pulled him out of the water, and I helped him come to. We saved him…together.” North smiled warmly at his adoptive son. “I know what happened today was frightening, but you did everything right.”
Jack scoffed. “What did I do that was right?” he asked.
“You pulled Jaime out of the water,” North replied. “You got Pippa and Sophie to leave so that they didn’t get scared. You asked for help when Jaime wasn’t coming to. Jack, trust me, you handled it very well today.”
Jack sniffled and wiped the tears streaming down one side of his face, and North wasted no time in wiping the tears from the other side with his thumb. The Guardian of Fun realized that the Guardian of Wonder was right. He got Pippa and Sophie away when the situation became too scary for them, and he did get Jaime out of the frigid water. He was always uneasy with the water…for obvious reasons, but he was able to put that aside for Jaime. However, there was still something weighing down on him from that day. “But…what if…what if something like that happens again and…I’m not there…and it’s too late?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“You can’t do that to yourself, my boy,” North said gently. “You can’t think about the what ifs. You are a Guardian, and we continue to do our best to be there for children and to protect them…wherever and whenever we can.”
North was once again right. The Guardians might’ve been immortal, but they couldn’t be in two places at once. They wouldn’t be there for every child every day, especially for Jaime and his friends, but they had to continue to do their best to do so…no matter what might happen. Jack could only nod as he leaned forward and hugged North tightly. “It’s still scary what happened…”
North wasted no time in returning the gesture. “I know, son.”
“I saw how Sophie and Pippa were watching when I got there,” he continued as tears came to his eyes again, “and…I thought about how Mary…how she…probably stood there…how scared she must’ve been…and how devastated our mother must’ve been.”
The Guardian of Wonder hugged the Guardian of Fun even tighter as he listened.
“I wish I could’ve told them that I was okay,” Jack said after a moment.
“I know,” North said nodding. Ever since he had taken Jack in, he came to love the boy as his own son and even adopted him, and with that love came concern for his safety. He often found himself wondering what Jack’s biological mother went through that day when Mary returned home without her big brother. He knew that he couldn’t be by Jack’s side every second of every day, but that never stopped the worry and concern. “I hope in some way Manny gave them closure for you.”
Jack nodded. He and his adoptive father stayed there for another moment before finally pulling away so that North could return to where he sat on the couch. “W-What was it that you did to get him to wake up?” Jack asked.
“It’s called cardiopulmonary resuscitation…CPR,” North said with a small smile. “Humans call it the ‘gift that keeps on giving.’ It’s what they use to revive someone who is unconscious if they have a heart attack…or something traumatic like…”
“…drowning?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” North replied, “you wouldn’t have known about it because it didn’t become a method they used until…the 19th century I believe.”
“How did you know about it?” Jack asked.
“Well, as more and more children came to believe in us over time,” North replied, “Ombric…Father Time…taught us the methods in case we ever came across an emergency.”
“Do you think…maybe at some point you can teach me?” Jack asked. “This way, if you’re not around and I can’t call you, I can do it.”
“Absolutely, I would love to teach you,” North said. “Maybe once everything from today settles down?”
Jack nodded before leaning into North’s side hugging him. “Thanks, Dad,” he said.
“You’re welcome, son,” North replied.
With the warmth of his adoptive father’s embrace and the warmth of the fire, Jack felt his eyelids growing heavily as he fell asleep. However, he made a mental note that the five Guardians would see Jaime tomorrow as soon as possible.