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Jack walked along the telephone lines in the small town of Burgess. It’s been about a year since they defeated Pitch, and everything had been going smoothly. He grew closer to the other guardians, and while he still wasn’t really open to them about all of his issues, he felt comfortable around them.
He saw Sandy’s magical sand coming towards him, right on time. Instead of reaching up and running his hand through it, the sand came to him, swirling around and making him giggle. Manny’s been doing that ever since he found out that Jack loved the feeling.
He sighed contently as he looked up to the sky, and then he saw the lights. The aurora borealis stretched across the sky. The mortals simply saw it as a beautiful sight, which it was, but it also doubled as a call for the guardians.
Jack called out to the wind and headed toward the north pole. His mind was reeling, what is it this time? Pitch? Some other threat? Or is it good news? No, the lights were always used for emergencies.
Jack arrived at the North Pole, flying into the workshop via an open window. However, he was only met with the other guardians staring at him with happy expressions on their faces.
“Happy birthday Jack!” They all called out simultaneously. They were holding a cake, candles and all.
…What? It wasn’t Jack's birthday… was it?
The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn’t know his birthday. While he did get some of his memories back, some of the memories were fuzzy, and some of them were coming back very slowly.
Seeing Jack's conflicted face, the guardians became confused. They thought he’d be happy. Does he not like his birthday? Or is it something else? Did they get the date wrong?
After a moment, Jack realized they were waiting for his response,
“... Today’s my birthday?”
The guardian's faces immediately fell. They were quiet for a moment, but eventually, Tooth addressed him.
“Jack, you didn’t know?”
“Um.. no. I guess I didn’t. But how do you guys know?”
“We know everyone's birthdays. There’s a mode on the globe, where if it’s a child's birthday, their light will glow. Since you were technically still a child when you became a guardian, your light still works. I noticed it this morning, and I told the other guardians. None of us knew that you didn’t know…”
“Oh, well I guess we know now! That cake looks delicious, let's not put it to waste, shall we?”
Jack plastered a fake smile onto his face. He remembered less than he thought he did, which kinda hurt. How did he not remember his own birthday?
He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a heavy pat on the back, which almost knocked him down. He looked up to find North giving him a reassuring smile before making his way to the little lounge they had. Jack soon made his way to the couch, sitting beside Sandy. He blew out the candles on his cake, and as they ate, the disappointment in himself slowly turned to contentment. He may not remember everything right now, but that was ok. He was surrounded by people who cared about him, and that was enough.