"Hood down Jack, inside rules" Jack huffed, shoving his hood back so that it fell across his shoulders, floating over to the window ledge and perching there to create frost ferns on the glass.

The guardians were meeting, as the now did once a week, although they often saw each other more frequently whilst going about their work. As great as the guardians were, he couldn't help but distance his self when we all sat together in the globe room, an outsider, the newbie of the group. Going from 300 years of solitude to suddenly having to maintain social contact isn't easy, you know?

To be honest, it could all be a bit overwhelming, and he could feel that soon, he was either going to end up running away and hiding out in Antarctica for a month or so, or he was going to snap.

It ended up being a snap, of course.

Their meetings always went the same way in the end, really. Short, pointless reports about how their work was going, which was fairly monotonous once Easter and Christmas were out of the way, what with Sandy and Tooth having important jobs, sure, but repetitive ones. Jack sat in the nook of the window the whole time, barely listening to the dull prose of his companions as he thought about the blissful white expanse on the other side of the glass. His arms practically itched with the need to feel the wind blowing past them. He felt trapped, like he was being watched, like someone was waiting for him to slip up or do something stupid. Like a stupid little child.

"Jack? What about you?" Tooth's use of his name pierced through the haze he had worked himself into, and Jacks head shot up, almost causing him to fall from the ledge.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's cool with me, snowballs and fun times as usual" Jack flashed her a toothy grin, making her fairies squeal in delight. "Had a great time with Jamie the other night, playing video games 'til late."Jack loved spending time with his first believer, who looked up to him rather than down at him, who never gave him the look they were giving him now, the concerned disapproval look, the parent look, the 'I'm the adult and I'm about to tell you off' look.

"Zat is vhy you missed dinner with us? To play? Jack, ve vorried about you when you did not meet us for dinner as usual, you should have told us vhere you would be. Is right thing to do, no?" North scolded, arms folded, naughty and nice tattoos in full display.

"Why? It's not like I've never missed a dinner before." Jack questioned, his confusion displayed clearly in his furrowed brow.

North chuckled, relaxing a little as he reached over to ruffle Jacks hair. The winter sprite stepped back from the touch, disgruntled.

"Because you are baby of the family, no? Ve must protect our youngest little guardian."

Jacks confusion melted into indignation as he shoved the Cossacks arms away from his shoulders, stepping back towards the window, where he knew he could escape if need be. "You're kidding me right? This again? I'm not a baby, North! Yes, I died young, so I'm always going to look 16, but I'm older than you are! I was born in 1712, you weren't born until 1724, I'm a full 12 years older than you, would you please stop treating me like a toddler? Jeez, I'm 317 years old, I've been around the block a few times guys, if I want to stay out and play zombie mania games with a friend I can, you're not my parents! Newsflash, they died a long time ago and so did any semblance of my childhood. If you want to think of me as a kid, why didn't I get any Christmas presents or Easter eggs, huh? And if I'm not a child, how come I have to report to you where I go? Answer me!"

The windows flew open as the wind rushed to comfort and soothe the winter spirit, the snow outside fast turning into a blizzard as the master of the season let his emotions reign. The other Guardians stumbled under the tremendous wind and their own shock as to Jacks revelation. Tooth was first to recover, worried more about her sweet tooth than about the wind bowling her over.

"Jack...it's not that we don't think you can take care of yourself, we do! We do." She swore as jack opened his mouth to argue. "It's just that you look so young and we left you alone for so long...we haven't had a new member to the guardians in so long that I suppose we all just wanted to form a family unit. We know you're not a baby, Jack, and we're sorry if we came on too strong about it."

Jack deflated, dropping from the wind to land on the floor, looking exhausted all of a sudden. He leaned heavily on his staff, and Sandy and Bunny stepped forward a tiny ways just to make sure they were within reach if he fell.

"It's okay, just...tired myself..out. Sorry.." Jack was cut off by a huge yawn, showing his pearly whites, "bit touchy about being called a baby. I can..mm..take care of..myself. M'not weak" The winter spirit was leaning more heavily on his conduit of power now, almost slumping to the floor. North scooped him up and carried him to the couch as Sandy sprinkled dream sand over his head, all of the guardians understanding his outburst now. To Jack, the most important thing was to feel like an equal, to feel strong and like he was really one of them. And as he curled up on the couch, the wind drifting gently through snowy tendrils of hair, the guardians knew that he was.

He might not be a baby, but he would always be their little guardian.