i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry. i really wanted to write this thing even though i already have little jack waiting to be written... sorry...

AU. all will be revealed either in the story or at the author's note at the end (if you are confused, pm me or leave the question in your review. if you have an account, i can answer the question)

Night wasn't supposed to be this long.

Well, technically, North thought, it was always dark in the North Pole. But all around the world the sun had been blotted out (along with the moon at night) with terrifying, menacing black clouds that lurked overhead. They covered every inch of the sky and struck fear deep into the hearts of the children of the world. The Guardian of Wonder gazed at the giant globe in his viewing room. Thin tendrils of black shadows crept from the corners of the sphere and spiraled outward, inward, all over the place.

"Pitch... what have you done?" Toothiana breathed as she flew to the top of the world. The gloom in the sky naturally made everyone tired faster, and people gradually had started going to bed earlier in the hopes that the next day would bring sunshine. Scientists and meteorologists were baffled-by all accounts nothing was really wrong with the environment. In America, it was mid-December and even in the northern-most point of Maine there hadn't been the hint of a snowflake. Why, just last week there had been two feet of snow... but that was all gone. Melted into thick mounds of mud and sludge on the side of the road.

"What's gone and crawled up his arse?" Bunnymund hopped out of one of his tunnels. He hopped over to stand by North while Toothiana entered through the window. In the distance they could see the wing of Sandy's plane coming into view.

"There could only be one thing, my friend," North said, rubbing his beard.

"Well, where's that little mate of his? The pale one; white hair and such? They're a scary pair together but neither has caused much trouble in all the time I've been around..." the rabbit trailed off, realizing the problem himself. Pitch was one of the oldest immortals in the world, followed very narrowly by Jack Frost, the bringer of Winter, and then Sandy. Later had come Tooth, then Santa popped up around about seventeen hundred years ago... then Bunny about six hundred years ago. As soon as Bunnymund came into existence, he had been told of the duo of Cold and Dark. They weren't evil, really, MiM explained. Fear was necessary for survival, and Jack Frost became fear's friend out of loneliness and commonalities.

In short, they were basically made for each other.

Bunny had only met Pitchiner once. He was a grey man, not very happy, and had the strangest shadows following him around-including a young boy with hair the color of the moon at its fullness and skin that lit up the night. The child looked... dead. Come to think on it, he probably was dead, Bunny thought. MiM hadn't always been kind. He knew that Tooth had also been made from a dead woman (a witch in training, if he could believe that) who had died of a sickness. It was actually pretty plausible that underneath all her feathers and grandeur she was just as pale or grey as Pitch and Jack.

Jack himself was actually a mystery. Never had Bunnymund seen him set foot on the ground, preferring to float above it (even if only by millimeters). Jackalope had given him the 4-1-1 on the Winter Spirit. Apparently, when humans first started roaming the earth was when Jack first popped up. Nobody knew how he came to be, only that as soon as he began life he froze the entire world. Mortals called this period the 'Ice Age', which was very creative of them, Bunny must say. Many species went extinct or migrated all around the world.

Centuries passed in this cold time until the other seasons were created. MiM must have needed some more energy or something; Jack really had made a giant snowball of a planet. Eventually the snow melted in most places, bar the poles and those areas in their vicinity. Finally people could take some root where they were and live their lives. During this transition era, Pitch had taken notice of Jack and they had since never left each other. Rarely could you see one without the other-if you saw either at all. They didn't like to be seen... or at least, not seen. It was no secret that Jack had likely never had any believers and all of Pitch's few had died out.

They were all each other had, really. It was kind of heartwarming, but wholly sad.

The problem at hand was that there was absolutely no snow in the world besides those regions that had it year-round. The ground was bare where winter was meant to touch it, but hadn't. There was only one thing to do. They would have to contact the pair.

"Oh alright, bugger. Who knows, maybe they've finally snapped," Bunny joined in on the battle plan, finally, after being lost in his thoughts. It wasn't a battle plan, per se, but they did have to break into the Black Ice fortress. True to its name, it was nearly impossible to see if you weren't concentrated on looking for it and it really only appeared in the coldest region on the planet-the South Pole.

The three Guardians loaded up, minus Bunny because no he was not getting on the sleigh, never again, damn it, North. They met up in the middle of Antarctica. It was a very pretty name for a very... unique place. White was one word that came to Bunny's mind; naked was another, followed by death. To each his own, though.

Each of them shivered with the freezing cold, their immortal status keeping them just on the cusp of warmth. Just beyond their line of vision they could see the outline of a dark spire, stark against the snowy backdrop.

"Well, onward, friends. All aboard the sleigh," North cried, fearlessly. He loaded himself back inside and the others, including Bunny, followed suit. The rabbit clung to the guardrail in fear while they headed to the castle at top speed.

Pitch angrily threw a vase into the wall, watching, pleased when it shattered on impact. He took a double take and moaned his misery when he realized it was one of Jack's favorite Ming vases... not the shitty canopic jars those damned Egyptians used to incorporate in their burial rituals. A silly mistake; they didn't look a thing alike. Funny what grief does to you. The Boogeyman stretched out his shadows and they tenderly mended the destroyed piece of art.

Their castle was bleak and empty without his partner. No longer did it sparkle with white light backed with his dark shadows... now only the black remained. It was depressing. So much like those horrible days from long ago when he'd been all alone. Before Jack...

Why did Jack have to leave? What possible reason could he have for abandoning their home? His cheerful companion had never said a thing about leaving, merely about going to bring a white Christmas to the northern hemisphere Pitch didn't think anything of it, intending to stay at home this once to catch up on some pop culture-had to find out what those kids were afraid of somehow, right? Of course, Jack hadn't returned. A day went by and all was well. Two went by, all was suspicious... Three... Four... Five... and now they were coming up on a complete cycle since he'd seen the spirit last. Half a fortnight had passed since they'd slept side by side in their home.

Seven long, heart wrenching days had passed since he'd so much as touched anyone.

What was that God-awful screeching noise? It sounded like nails on a chalkboard... or iron on glass. Outside the (terribly unfrosted) windows was St. Nicholas' sleigh. It contained not one, not two, not three, but four Guardians of Childhood. What could they possibly wan- oh. Oh yes, he had been spreading nightmares all across the globe, hadn't he? The hellish creatures were doing his bidding, searching for the lost Jack. Such lovely creatures, Jack always said. Never afraid of them.

"How dare you intrude on my home?" Pitch screamed at the four, slouching slightly even as his shadows stretched long across the floor, waiting for his command. Just say the word they seemed to whisper and we'll get rid of them...

"Pitch," the Toothfairy started, and where did she get the gaul to address him without answering his question?

"Where is Frost, you bugger? You're causin' a whole lotta fright up north and we don' like it. Not one bit, mate," E. Aster Bunnymund stepped in. While there was no bad blood between the two parties, there was still the deep unsettlement from each others' presence that neither would admit to. The uncomfortableness was brought on by years of separate agendas, different schedule... differing views. It was by no means disconnected or hateful, but cordial was the most Pitch would ever give their relationship.

"He has... disappeared. Not to worry, though. I have sent my minions throughout the world looking for him. Have you not seen him, then?" The pale man cast them woefully despondent eyes. They were filled with exhausted hope, just barely holding on. It was a very desperate expression, actually. The Guardians hadn't seen the likes of it on the King's face in their lives. He certainly showed his age now, if only in those eyes.

"I'm afraid we have also not seen your... partner, Pitch," Claus started, tentatively urging the conversation past this awkward point.

Pitch recoiled from them, "You are of no use to me then!" he cast them a dark wave the didn't get anywhere near them thanks to Sandy. The diminutive man flashed symbols above his head as he floated quickly over to Pitch, communicating rapidly.

"A deal, you say? What kind?... Yes, yes I think I could manage to hold back the nightmares... That remains to be seen, Sandman. I have no idea where Jack is or in what condition he is being kept in... You would need to move quickly, it is already the twenty-second... Agreed."

Sandy turned to the others and hustled them out the door with wide arcs of his sand encircling them while Pitch retreated to the upper levels of the Shadow Realm. They could already see the dark clouds reducing slowly, conforming over the towers into a massive blob of black.

Outside, Sandy wasted no time in pushing Bunny to open a tunnel to the North Pole, then pushing the sleigh down it to North's protests.

When they all met in the observation room again, Sandy quickly explained his plan. It was like playing charades most of the time, but they got through it eventually.

"So you made a deal with Pitch so he'll call off those clouds and the 'mares, and keep them at a reasonable rate, if we can find Jack... but you also gave us the bonus of getting North a white Christmas-without a complete blizzard-and Bunny a snow-free Easter if we succeed. Did I get it all?" Tooth looked up at everyone's surprised faces.

"What? I spend the most time with Sandy. After all, we run into each other quite often while running across the world every night," she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Where do we start looking?"

Jack breathed deeply through his mouth, staring up at the still cloudy sky. As soon as it turned dark hours ago he'd known that Pitch was missing him. The clouds were leaving though... did that mean that he had given up already? No. Pitch wouldn't abandon him. They'd been together too long. You don't toss away thousands of years for... for... what was he saying?

The icy spirit wiped his brow with the arm of his sweatshirt. It was so hot. You couldn't really avoid going through the equator when you were the spirit of Winter; everywhere needed snow sometimes. Usually he had Pitch transport him through those nifty shadows of his... but not this time. Of course the one time he went alone everything would go to hell.

The wind couldn't reach him here. It was too dry, too thick in the air for the wind to lift more than the leaves. Jack was stranded on this stupid beach, hot sand and all. Why oh why couldn't anyone see him? All he needed was to be thrown in the icebox for a couple hours and he could fly home to Pitch. Screw winter in this place ever again! They didn't deserve his beautiful snow.

Jack heaved a big breath, watching a few grains of sand blow away in the desperately swishing wind. It was trying, really it was. He'd been here for a few days, at least two anyway. The dark clouds had helped kind of, blocking out the sun and whatnot. It was still boiling hot. Balmy sixty-two degrees. Downright volcanic, if you asked him. He was starting to get tired, though. All he could think about was how nice it would be to just be cold. Cold. In a preferably dark space, too. With Pitch. Pitch always made things better. One time they'd buried themselves in a big pile of snow in the Alaska, near the Bering Sea (one of Jack's favorite spots, though he couldn't remember why) and Pitch had made it so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. They watched the stars forever it felt like.

Sighing again, Jack resigned himself to dying hot and alone, surrounded by sand and air whipping through his hai-wait! His eyes snapped open and his head snapped from side to side. It was true! He was in the air! The wind was brushing through his white locks excitedly, no doubt thankful for his continued existence. It wasn't carrying him though, it hadn't the strength just moments ago. Who, then, had him...

The spirit of winter turned his head to the left and saw both the Sandman and Toothfairy waving gently at him, picking up his feet and placing them in buckets full of glorious ice water and snowballs. Nick St. North himself was piloting the giant sleigh they were in. Where, then, was the last of their brood? The rabbit. Jack looked around at the dark space around him, closing in from all directions-the rabbits tunnels. Of course. Where were they taking him? All he wanted was to go home, not some stupid workshop in the middle of nowhere.

The tunnel opened to a blindingly white expanse. The arctic tundra-they had brought him home! He was so happy he could kiss them-all but the rabbit, because reasons.

He was yanked out of the sleigh and manhandled into the coldest and clammiest hands in existence. His Pitch's hands always were so lovely...

"Kozzy..." the pet name slipped, unbidden, from his mouth and he distantly heard a scoff and muffled giggles before he was chucked into a magnificent snow mound. Jack moaned in ecstasy at the delicious cold that seeped into his bones immediately, feeling tons better from just that small amount of comfort, now able to listen partially to the conversation.

"...twenty-third already. You cannot possibly expect..."

"My best efforts will be to getting him up and about, I can assure you."

He soon faded back into sleep, curling up in the mound and humming when more was shoveled on top of him.

Eh. Whatever it was, it could wait. He was home he was nice and cold.

A white Christmas was appreciated by many people in the northern hemisphere that year. Though even in the coldest regions the most they got was a foot and a half, snow was snow. Jack wasn't at one hundred percent, but they didn't know that. Global warming, they said, was a funny thing. Pitch escorted him everywhere using the shadows, keeping him out of any sunlight at all, barely letting him walk by himself. The Guardians sent many thanks and greetings after Christmas, inviting the both of them to the New Year's party on the 31st, but both Jack and Pitch weren't sure they wanted to branch out to the other spirits in the world yet, though it had been thousands of years since either of their creations they were still the only immortals either had spent more than a few moments at a time with.

They gave a very flaky 'maybe' and made no promises except to keep Easter snow free. For now they were both content to languish in the darkness and frigidness that was their home and maybe open a few presents for themselves.

oh shit thats a shitty ending. certainly the longest oneshot i've ever written, but i'm not sure on the exact wordcount at this point. To clarify my headcanon:

Since I believe seasons would be the first thing to pop up when the world starts, needing to kick start all the growing and whatnot, I thought of course Jack would have to be one of the oldest spirits. Santa and Bunny are both from Christian holidays, so they wouldn't have come up until fairly recently; Sandy and Pitch would come about as soon as people came up because of fear and dreams; and witches stealing your body parts (ie, teeth) has been around forever so i just left Tooth as the third/fourth oldest. really sketchy on the timeline except for the beginning and end for me XD

what i think in this AU is that when people started popping up, Jack would have died somehow (i'll probably just keep the drowning, whatever) and then been reborn, then caused the ice age because he's totally the only season running around. Que forever filled with ice. also, i made his favorite place the bering sea because people came over on the 'land bridge' over there from russia to north america. Jack lost his memories (like in canon) and so doesn't really know why he likes that place so much, but its where he was with his family for a long time and maybe drowned there.

In my head Jack is like a few weeks past his 15th birthday, so whoops. Late warning: underage Jack. you can read it however you like though. I think Pitch would be about 25-8 because they didn't live too long back then. My theory is that, because they were all alone for quite a while, they got to be friends. Then, because there weren't really social norms back then about the age differences, they got together and have been together since.

thanks for reading. if you're confused, feel free to shoot me a pm or leave me some way to contact you in a review :3

favorite, review, or follow ME, not the story XD i don't plan on it being more than a oneshot. on another note, this is basically proofread, but no beta.