Rise of the Guardians Waking Up to You

Summary: Fem!Jack- "It was dark … And Cold … I was scared … But I wasn't alone." [One-shot depicting the beginning of the Fem!JackxPitch or 'Black Ice' pairing]

Ahh, so I've always wanted to write a story for this pairing but I never quite found the right motivation to do so. Today however I found a beautiful piece of fanart of Jack and Pitch that inspired me to write this little one-shot. Perhaps my idea isn't that original but I believe my execution of this story was. I've always been a fan of bad guys being- well- bad so I keep Pitch his Pitch-y self in this one-shot. I hope you guys like it ;)

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One-Shot

Waking Up to You

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'_It was dark'_

I couldn't see.

My eyes were closed, I eventually realized.

I opened them but that didn't help much.

'_And cold'_

I was floating in freezing water.

But the sensation of the water wasn't the way it should be.

The cold was _comforting_.

Something told me that this was wrong- that the cold should have been biting and painful instead.

'_I was scared'_

How was I alive?

I wasn't breathing.

I _shouldn't_ be alive.

What was going on here?

'_Then I saw the moon'_

I could see it clearly through the cracking ice above me.

'_It was _so _**big**__ and it was _so _**bright**_. _It seemed to chase the darkness away and when it did, I wasn't scared anymore_'

Suddenly I was above the ice and I was gasping for breath. I panted softly and looking around, trying to catch my bearings. I could barely think straight. Through the haze I somehow manged to realize I couldn't remember a thing.

It was only when I slowly began to lower back down onto the ice I'd previously emerged from that I realized I'd been floating_._

_Floating._

When my feet touched the ice the cracks I'd made in it when I ascended from the water mended before my very eyes.

It was amazing.

'_Why I was there, and what I was meant to do, that I've never known_'

I found myself staring at my hands.

Nothing that was happening to me made any sense, that much I knew despite my lack of memory.

'_And a part of me wonders if I ever will . . ._'

Slowly I examined the clothes I wore- a pair of brown pants, an equally brown shirt, and a cloak. For some reason my feet were bare and the cold did nothing to bother them.

I could see my hair dangling between my legs. It was long and white with silver streaks in it that made it practically glow in the light of the moon. It was so long in fact that it nearly trailed on the ground.

For a moment I wondered how my hair could be white when my hands and feet belonged to that of a young person.

After all wasn't white hair a sign of old age?

The thought only plagued me for a moment before my attention was drawn back to the moon.

I looked at it for but a moment before I began to stagger my way across the ice in breathless awe. It didn't take me long before I stepped on a large wooden stick. For whatever reason I decided to tap it with my big toe and at my touch it became covered in a thin sheen of frost. Intrigued beyond words I knelt down and picked it up. The moment the stick was in my hands the frost furthered its hold on the wooden object until it began to glow a light blue.

For a moment fear filled me and I dropped the lower half of the stick.

That fear quickly changed to awe when I saw the frost that sprouted from the bottom of the stick and spread across the icy lake.

I laughed softly in disbelief as I observed the wooden object I held in my hands.

Suddenly overcome with a distinct feeling of wonder I began running all around the lake touching the stick to just about anything I could. I watched in delight as patches of frost spread over trees and the frozen lake I had just emerged from laughing like a maniac all the while.

I was skating around the frozen lake when a gust of wind threw me into the air.

The moment I stopped going up I looked down nervously. I expected to fall back to the earth but when I didn't I was _so_ excited . . . until I did fall of course. Then I wasn't quite so happy.

I cried out as I fell. On the way down I smashed through several tree branches until I fell onto a particularly thick branch that managed to catch my fall.

I was just starting to pick myself up again when a deep chuckle resonated throughout the clearing.

Instantly my fear returned to me tenfold and any sense of wonder I previously held was lost.

In response to my fear my body stiffened and I moved to hold the stick out in front of me in the hopes of warding off whoever it was that had laughed at me just now.

"How cute" the voice purred, practically dripping in condescension. My eyebrows drew together when I realized I was being mocked. "You're like a lost little kitten stumbling around in the forest", the voice continued just as lowly only this time from directly behind me.

Panicked, I whirled around ready to attack the man who seemed to find my fear amusing only to be met by thin air. For a moment I could have sworn I saw a shadow move across the trees and out of sight but I quickly chalked the incident up as my imagination playing tricks on me. With a quick shake of my head I turned back around.

"Who are you?" I asked breathlessly, tensing. "What do you want?"

I didn't know what was going on. One moment I was floating- teetering between oblivion and consciousness, the next I find out I can do impossible things like create frost with a stick and fly, and now I'm being cornered by some mysterious man I've never met before.

At least I don't think I've ever met him before. I can't be completely sure though considering I don't remember anything before waking up in the lake.

"Who am I?" the man asked from somewhere across the clearing. He laughed, as if the notion was funny. "I suppose you wouldn't know of me, being a new spirit and all."

"Spirit?" I parroted back.

I could feel a migraine forming behind my eyes as I tried to process everything.

In response I lifted a pale hand to my forehead and exhaled deeply.

Nothing was making any sense!

"Yes", the voice drawled coolly somehow coming from a completely different place in the clearing than it had before. "A spirit."

Feeling uneasy in my spot among the trees I used my new found power of flight to jump across the clearing so I was standing in the middle of the lake.

Turning this way and that I gnawed uneasily on my lip. "You never told me who you were", I pointed out wearily.

As soon as I said this I caught sight of a shadow splayed out across a nearby tree. Despite all logic the shadow managed to take on the shape of a man despite no one being around to create said shadow. My mouth fell open at the sight and before I really knew what I was doing I was backing away cautiously with my stick pointed threateningly at the tree. A grin spread across the shadow's face when I slipped on the ice and fell on my back.

Upon hitting the ground my breath left me in a rush and clouded before my face in a visible fog. I wheezed lowly as I desperately tried to get my breath back. Despite myself I felt a twinge of embarrassment for falling in front of this terrifying man who seemed to delight in my confusion and fear. "My, my, you're quite the clumsy thing aren't you little spirit?" he asked sardonically with an amused chuckle.

I could only blink, my eyes as wide as saucers, as the man emerged from the shadows like a phantom rising from the grave. His eyes were a bright iridescent yellow and his skin was a deep and unusual grey. He wore an odd black cloak that seemed to cover everything but his hands and much to my disbelief seemed to melt into the very shadows he stood in. His raven hair was slicked back in a rather unique style that I might have admired had he not been stalking me in such a cruel fashion. Oddest and most interesting of all were his teeth that were pointed in the way you would expect a monster's to be. His unusual and rather sinister appearance seemed to be fitting considering what little I could gleam of who this stranger actually was.

"My name is Pitch Black", the man told her with a mocking bow from his place on the shore of the lake. "And who might you be little spirit?"

I was not expecting his question. I sputtered as I struggled to remember myself.

"_I-I_", I stuttered helplessly only to be saved the embarrassment of admitting I didn't know when a melodious voice gave me my answer.

"_Jack Frost_", the disembodied voice told me calmly, his voice a gentle caress as sweet as any hug could ever be.

I twitched at the unexpectedness of it all and stared at the moon which had noticeably brightened when I received my answer. "I uh- I guess my name's Jack Frost?"

I tried to say it as a statement but it ended up coming out as a question as I myself was still digesting the fact that yes- my name is Jack Frost.

When I turned my attention back to Pitch I noticed he was glaring at the moon. However at my answer he turned towards me with a genuinely amused expression.

"I didn't realize Jack was a girl's name . . ." he trailed off looking at me thoughtfully. His yellow eyes looked me up and down before he met my eyes with a raised brow, "You are a girl aren't you Jack?"

I flushed at his question and somehow managed to find the courage to send him a heated glare. "Of course I'm a girl! I might not remember anything but I know that much. Besides Jack is probably just a nickname for Jacqueline or something", I defended myself not realizing that I looked more like a hissing kitten than a growling tiger like I imagined myself to be.

"In that case I apologize . . . _Jacqueline_", he murmured although it was clear to see he wasn't truly sorry at all. He was trying to antagonize me for whatever reason.

Boredom perhaps.

Or maybe he was just a sadistic jerk like I was beginning to believe he was.

I was about to retort with something clever when Pitch abruptly turned his back on me and began to melt back into the shadows.

The whole thing was so sudden and unexpected that I felt a thrill of fear shoot through me along with a stinging jolt of panic that shook me to my core. One minute we'd been having an argument of sorts and the next he was leaving me all alone with nothing but the knowledge of my name to keep me company!

Dread filled me as I thought of how awful it would be to be left alone again even if it meant being freed from his intrusive presence. Somehow his company, terrible as it was, seemed much more appealing than being left alone in this deserted clearing.

"Wait!" I screamed loudly leaping to my feet and holding a hand out in his direction with a level of desperation that left me breathless.

Pitch paused in his retreat and tilted his head to the side in a way that would have seemed innocent on anyone else but managed to look so very wrong on him.

Then, lazily, he turned around with a sly and almost predatory look on his face. "Yes Jacqueline?" he inquired politely with a grin that showed off his pointy teeth quite nicely.

I gulped before shuffling my way towards him with great trepidation, all bashful and nervous now that I wanted something from him that I doubted he would give me. "Please", I whispered softly, lowering my eyes from his own when the weight of their piercing gaze proved to be to much for me to handle. "Don't leave me alone."

Pitch hummed thoughtfully at my answer, placing one of his hands on my shoulder almost absently, the fingers of his hand curling around my shoulder and digging into the sensitive skin there. "Well, since you asked me so _nicely_ I suppose I can't refuse your request."

I sighed in utter relief at his words, unminding of the hand that had tightened on my shoulder possessively when I made no move to reject it. I was to overwhelmed with feelings of relief and joy to notice that or the victorious look displayed so openly in his glowing yellow eyes, visible for anyone who cared to see. "Thank you", I whispered with a small grateful smile in his direction.

I sagged in his grip as a sort of contentment came over me and overtook my better judgment. It blinded me from the fact that this man was so obviously manipulating me. Every word, every look, every movement, and every touch was calculated and planned out ahead of time. Each action had a purpose and I was unknowingly playing my role in this man's predetermined script to the t.

"I will allow you to accompany me to my home and live with me there for as long as you please", he told me and my heart began to beat faster in excitement. I smiled brightly at this man who I had once thought to be terrifying but I now considered to be my only friend in this moment of vulnerability. "However", he added and my elation quickly plummeted, "In return I expect you to follow my rules."

Licking my lips uncertainly I asked, "What are your rules?"

Pitch smiled endearingly down at me, although if his smile was just a bit _too_ sinister to be genuine I didn't notice. "If you are to live with me I won't have you going anywhere without telling me first nor will I allow you to talk to anyone you don't know without me there to determine whether they're a friend or a foe. The last thing I want is to have to rescue you from any fights you might get in should you stray too far from my side."

I hesitated before I decided whether to agree to his terms or not. He was asking a lot of me but at the same time I would be gaining a lot by accepting. The last thing I wanted was to be alone like I was when I woke up with only the knowledge of my name and some magic stick to keep me company.

And so I accepted.

"Oh and one last thing", Pitch added almost as if it were an afterthought although I could tell from his tone and the overly casual way that he spoke that it was anything but. "As long as you follow my every command I will stay by your side and give you the companionship you so desperately crave."

After accepting his previous two rules it was easy enough for me to agree to his newest term.

"All right", I consented quickly.

Pitch smiled then, a dark victorious smile, and pulled me close. Before I really knew what was happening we were traveling from shadow to shadow at a startling fast pace towards his home.

Had I known exactly who I was talking to at the time I would have ran and never looked back. Unfortunately at the time Pitch and I met I was a new spirit, vulnerable due to my lack of memories, and I was easily manipulated. It was all too easy for him to lure me back to his hideout and isolate me so that I was loyal to him and only him.

By the time I realized what kind of man Pitch was I was already too attached to him to find the motivation to leave. He may have been a bad man but he was all that I knew and in our time together I'd become attached to him. I craved his praise and tried my very hardest to please him even if it meant going out of my way to do so.

Besides, as Pitch was so very fond of saying- what goes better together than cold and darkness?

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Ahh. My god I am so happy with this. I freaking love it. I feel like doing a little victory dance at how beautifully this came out ^,^ I've been wanting to write a black ice fic for months now and finally success! Ha, ha, ha! I know there wasn't really any romance but in the description I said this one-shot was the begging of their romance.

If any of you are wondering I plan to keep this a one-shot although I may add another one-shot to this story if I feel particularly inspired.


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Rise of the Guardians, Hurt-Comfort, Suspense