The Invisible (Jelsa)

Chapter XLVIII

"I don't...understand..." Jack sputtered, holding the box far away from him.

"I don't often make boxes for adult teeth, but I knew this had to be an exception." She gave a smile, "Go a head."

"You know what's in here...don't you?" He asked in a half-accusation. She shrugged.

"Yes. Perhaps I feel sorry for your story more than most. I'm not supposed to have these, but...I knew that you'd want to know one day. Even if you don't realize it."

Jack stared at her for a long time, and then finally looked at the box. He was Jack Frost...and he was fearless. Telling himself so, he pressed his thumbs against the box and light exploded.

These memories came flying back at him with so much more than the first time, just because there was so many of them.

"You're not my queen..."

"Daddy!"

"...Too much awesome to fit into one child..."

"Have a beer, Jack. This may take awhile..."

"Anna doesn't believe!"

"Whose the girl?"

"Nevada...please...I'm here..."

"They're called 'wisdom teeth', Jack."

"I loved her more than life!"

"I want to die."

The memories kept spilling out, one after another. It seemed as though he lived through a hundred years in this small box of memories. Lightbulbs went off in his head at such a rate he felt as though they were exploding and creating fireworks in his mind as boxes that had been closed and padlocked for a long time were thrown open with no time to register the contents.

In the wake of what may have been hours, or just moments, Jack was feeling quite different than the first time. This time, he was speechless and felt cold all over. His body was numb like a chilly frost had stopped all the blood from moving, and he half didn't want to believe any of it.

"I'm the second guardian...to..." He whispered hoarsely to Tooth. She was watching him intently with worry. He looked down at the box, and still felt the wisps of memories rise up to greet him. In the box were two teeth...wisdom teeth, "But I never..." He began but a last memory whooshed up to greet him.

"Dad! Can I have your teeth?" Jack found himself in the bedroom of a palace, laying on top of the blankets with a warm arm wrapped around his shoulders. In the doorway was a little girl, with wintery snowy hair and a arm wrapped around her stomach.

"You don't want these, Vienna." Jack laughed, shaking his head, "They're disgusting and full of blood and bad memories for dad. Ugg, that man I swear had no idea what he was doing! Wisdom teeth...I never..."

"Why do you want them?" The queen asked, and Jack felt himself looking at her instead of the memory.

"Tooth fairy." Vienna said, rocking on her heels.

Elsa laughed, "Honey, aren't you a little old to believe in such silly things?" Vienna frowned.

"I believe in Daddy." She argued.

"Dad is different, sweetie." Elsa sighed.

"C'mon now, honey. I've seen the tooth fairy before." Jack said, reaching for the bedside table.

"Jack, don't encourage her. She's twelve!"

Jack ignored his wife and handed his daughter his wisdom teeth. She ran from the room gleefully and Jack shrugged. "Look, they'll still be there tomorrow. Then she'll realize."

Elsa gave a long sigh. "I suppose so. I think you're just getting her hopes up though."

Jack gasped up from the memory. "But you collected them."

"Yes." Tooth admitted, "I always loved your story with her...it was so sweet, so doomed to end horribly...I was there often...I mean, twenty-one kids from the first generation, even more from the second, it was quite the popular place for kids loosing teeth. It's technically against the rules to collect adult teeth...but you're a spirit...so I made an exception."

"I had a wife." Jack said dully, trying to wrap his brain around it all, "I had more than the family I thought I had. Tooth, I had children. And Odin," He laughed as the old expletive found it's way from his lips, "I loved them. I still do." He added after a hard thought.

Then he became crestfallen. "It's been so many years...and now they're all dead." He collapsed against a pillar, sliding down to a sitting position, "What...have I done?"

Then, an anger flooded him. "What has HE done?" He asked, leaping up and pacing. His eyes turned to the moon, and he swore violently. Tooth seemed to shudder at his language, but watched him still, "Of course they must think I was the worst father of the year. I wanted to die with Elsa, not live on like this!" He began to pace, "They think I abandoned them when I wanted the opposite. I wanted to be a normal father and be waiting for them on the other side..."

"The Moon needed you now, to save the world Jack. You were always meant to be a Guardian-," Tooth began to sooth, and Jack jerked away.

"Elsa is my world." He said in a low voice.

"Do you regret being a Guardian now?" She asked with a slightly miffed tone. Jack paused.

"No...but..." He turned and leaned his forehead against the pillar, "I left them all...those were the most important children...my kin."

"You left your sister."

"I saved my sister." Jack corrected, "I miss her, but...I just straight up left them." He spun, "Was Heimdall a good king? And Sarafina after him? How about their children? Were they really angry?" Tooth looked overwhelmed at the questions that spilled from his mouth.

"I don't know Jack. If I did, I don't know If I would tell you. I regret showing you these now, because of how it made you feel." She winced.

The bare reality of it all settled down like the heaviest of sands sinking to the abyss of an ocean. Jack felt a lack of energy, just sadness. It was a better sadness than before, because at least he knew that once...he had a love, he had all those things he envied North for. But it was still nearly worse, because he left it all. Because he was tricked.

"Jack..." Tooth whispered softly, "I shouldn't have-,"

"I want to know this all. Even if it hurts." Jack said, shaking his head, "I just feel so conflicted..."

"You are a Guardian. It's for life." Tooth said, as if reminding him. Jack bit his lip.

"It doesn't matter now, I suppose. They're all dead anyway. Perhaps if I had just stayed there, content with my immortality..."

Tooth winced, "Jack, it would have happened anyway. The Man is...well, he has plans that must be enacted and such. This is why not many of us fall in love. North handle it best, but that's still so much to sacrifice. How can you love all the children of the world equally if you love a few more? How is that fair?"

"I feel I may love Jamie more." Jack rebutted, with a fond smile.

"That is different. No one ever forgets the first child to see them..." Tooth gave a low giggle, as if caught up in her own memories.

"But he wasn't." Jack shook his head, "Elsa. If not Elsa, my children. They always saw me...except Nevada...Odin, we never made up." Jack crunched over, as if pained. He stood, and shook off his hoodie, "Thank you. But now I really need to think about this for awhile." He said. Tooth made a movement to follow, "Alone."

"Don't disappear for a long time. You can't ignore your job for ten years, Jack!" She warned, but Jack didn't listen. He didn't intend to be that far detached anyway. Not when there was even more meaning in his life. His heart drummed a steady beat-

Elsa, Elsa, Elsa forever...