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"Duck!"

The Guardians all dropped to the floor as a beam of blue light shot from little hands.

"Oops..."

Jack chuckled and ran his hand through his young son's hair. Jaime sat off to the side, recovering from the near catastrophe.

"Nice try, Elli. But next time, aim for the target," Jack advised.

Elliott sheepishly looked down, rubbing his sneakers into the floor.

"Sorry about the mess, Uncle Santy," he mumbled.

"It okay, little one," Santa brushed off. "You learn like your papa did before."

Bunny shook the chill off his tail and ear fur. "Oi, little bugger. Try not to create chaos, your dad is a big enough pain in my backside."

Elliott giggled at the snow collecting on his fur. He was always a fan of Bunny, despite his father's general mischief towards him. He happily skipped into Bunny's arms for a warm hug.

"Sorry, Bugs."

Bunny grimaced at the nickname but continued to hug Elliott anyways. It was nice to hug a Frost without wanting to choke them.

Elliott Snow Frost was a surprise to The Guardians crew. The little boy was conceived with no knowledge that he could be conceived to begin with.

"I guess my little swimmers are stronger than we expected," Jack had joked.

In those nine months, Jaime stayed with Jack in his much more livable ice castle. Elliott was born with the signature white hair and blue eyes but was completely Jaime when it came to his outspoken personality. He quickly adapted to being hidden from other people because he was special. Elliott awkwardly compared himself to Renesmee Cullen because they were both children of mythological and human parents. He longed for a real connection like that.

Elliott grew to teenage years without much contact with the human world. Outings a few times a year with Jaime was all he got, besides the glorious collection of movies across all genres.

He was now old enough at 15 to start practicing his powers. Every day, Jack would make him do target practice until he would hit 5 in a row before moving onto the next practice run. On some days, Elliott would do well and hit 5 targets quickly without many errors. On really challenging days, Elliott would take up most of his practice time missing before there was time to practice another element of his power.

Today was one of those days.

"Alright, one more hit and we're done," Jack encouraged.

Elliott went back to his start mark and inspected the last moving target that moved in random circles at a moderate pace. He hated the random ones.

Elliott focused all his energy into this final blast of cool air. He paced himself and threw his last shot.

It missed.

Or so they thought.

The shot melted into the ground, stopping the target in its track. It spread throughout the area, slowly freezing the target solid.

While Elliott was jumping around for finally finishing his daily practice, the rest of the Guardians and Jaime were shocked at the power Elliott possessed. Elliott realized this when he heard no one cheering along.

"Did I do something wrong, Dad?" He wondered.

Jack shook his head. "No, we're just surprised at how much power you can push out. Good job."

Jack took Elliott under his arm and gave him a side hug. Elliott happily obliged to his Dad's warm hugs. He got even warmer when Jaime got pulled into the hug. He looked up and saw his parents in a lip lock.

"Ew."

He squirmed out of the hug as they laughed at his reaction to their kiss.

"Can you not do that while I'm underneath you?" Elliott asked politely.

Jack turned to Jaime and back to Elliott. "No."

Elliott groaned as they went back to kissing.

"Nasty pair, they are," Bunny commented.

Sandy chimed his admiration for their love, with obnoxious kissing sounds and little sand hearts above his head.

"Alright, champ. I think you're ready for the big test," Jack announced.

Jaime held back Jack. "Do you really think he's ready?"

"With the amount of power he showcased today, I think we can spare a few more hours to learn how to fly."

"Flying!?! I'm finally going to fly?" Elliott questioned.

"First, you gotta practice before you can fly to another country," Jack warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lots of practice, can we start?" Elliott eagerly insisted.

"Second, you need to be supervised by a flying entity. Me, Sandy, Tooth, the faeries. You cannot attempt high altitudes without one of us, got it?"

"Got it, can we start?"

"Third, never go past the mountains. Under any circumstance, you do not go past them. Do you understand?" Jack emphasized.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we start?"

Jack mockingly licked his finger to test the wind currents. He pointed it in every direction.

"The wind currents seem to be a little weak..."

"Jack..." Jaime warned.

"Alright, alright."

Elliott cheered and skipped to follow his family into the bigger clearing to finally learn the coolest power of them all.

~=~=+=~=~

"Papa?"

Jack looked back at the sound of a forgotten name. He rested against the doorway.

"Yes, El?" He answered.

Elliott rolled over in his bed to face Jack. "Do you think I'll do good?"

"Do good at what, bud?"

Elliott looked to the floor. "I'll do good as a Guardian someday."

Jack sighed and pocketed his hands, moving back towards his son's bed and took a seat at the end.

"I can't tell you that, Elliott. We don't know if you'll become a Guardian. That's the Man In The Moon's decision, only he can tell when the time comes," Jack admitted.

Elliott nodded woefully and tucked back into his sheets. Jack got up and placed a kiss on his temple.

"I know when the time comes, and he said you're ready, you'll be as great as your old man. Probably even better."

A smile was left on Elliott's lips as he drifted sleep. Jack closed the bedroom door behind him with the dread of a parent in his stomach. He looked down at Sandy, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Give him a good one, eh Sandy?"

Sandy chimed with a nod. As Jack strolled back to his room, Sandy concocted a dream of adventure for Elliott's mind to mold.

Jack creaked open his large bedroom door with a sigh. Jaime looked up from his book at the sound.

"What is it?" He questioned.

Jack climbed into bed and rolled over to gather Jaime in his arms. He kissed the top of his head and exhaled heavily.

"He's growing up," Jack mumbled.

"Yes, he'll be 16 next week, Jack," Jaime reminded.

Jack groaned. "16."

Jaime hummed and nodded. "16, indeed."

Jack hugged Jaime tighter and stared out the window at the Man In The Moon.

"He needs to be with humans," Jack realized.

"Why's that?" Jaime asked.

"He's deprived. He needs social contact with others, especially his age."

"What do you suggest?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe we postponed the birthday celebration till dinner and we take him out the whole day. With the humans."

Jaime placed a hand on Jack's cheek, which caused him to look into his eyes.

"Did he tell you something?" Jaime cornered.

Jack stuttered the words. "He is wary that he won't be a good Guardian. A great one at that. I don't know if he'll ever have the chance, he needs to be acclimated to the human world because there's a high chance he'll stay half human."

Jaime smiled a tearful smile at his beloved. Jack worried like a fearful father as his child goes off to win something nearly intangible.

"Our boy is strong. If he cannot find a place among you guys, he'll find his true stance somewhere," Jaime assured.

He wiped away Jack's cold tears as they fell. Jack leaned in to kiss the love of his life as if he wouldn't be there tomorrow. The kiss was a kiss of compassion and reassurance.

"How'd I get so lucky to have a guy like you?" Jack whispered against his lips.

Jaime giggled and kissed him more fervently. The cold air warmed around them as they both settled into the sheets, aiming for baby number two.

The End.

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