***This is my first story here, so it might be a bit of a rough read. Based on the song "Lost Boy" by Ruth B. All lyrics are hers, I take no credit for them. I own none of the characters, only the idea is my own. Please read and review if it so please you. Thanks!***
There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home
My only friend was the man in the moon
But even sometimes he would go away too
Jack dragged his feet through the snow, not bothering to call up a breeze to carry him. His shepherd's crook lay useless on the ground a few feet behind him. He lifted his eyes to the sky to watch the flurries falling from the clouds above.
Jaime laughed as he ran in circles, hands thrown up in the air trying to catch the flakes as they fell.
"Jack! Jack! I caught one!" he cried, his a wide smile on his face.
Jack beamed down at him from the rooftop, his signature grin on his face. "Great job, Jaime! But can you catch me?" Jack leapt off the roof, fluttering down the street on the wind, waving for Jaime to catch up.
Jack looked back down at the ground, where his feet had stopped moving. How long had he been standing here? It was a dark night; the Man in the Moon was hiding his face, but Jack no longer cared. It had been centuries since he had tried to hear the Moon's voice.
He shuffled his feet forward again, towards what he knew to be a tunnel to Bunnymund's kingdom. Or at least, if used to be.
I am a lost boy, from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored, we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Hey, Kangaroo!" Jack called out. "Are you here?"
"Frost, what are you doing here?" Bunnymund called out, hopping down to where Jack stood. "Not here to ruin another Easter, are you?"
"Of course not. Who do you take me for?" Jack said, "I'm here on a special mission."
"And what might that be?" Bunnymund looked at Jack suspiciously.
"PAINT WAR!" Jack shouted, throwing a balloon of paint at the unprepared rabbit.
The balloon exploded on the rabbit's fur, painting his belly bright pink. From behind Jack, more enthusiastic shouts were called out as Jaime and his friends came bursting of the tunnel, lobbing projectiles of their own. The paint splashed over the rabbit, the rocks behind him, and the eggs he had been painstakingly organizing.
"JACK! GET OVER HERE!" Bunnymund yelled, furious at the interruption.
"Oops, time to skedaddle," Jack said, laughing as he swooped up into the air.
Jack stopped in front of the tunnel's entrance. He put his hand out on the boulder that blocked it now. Not that it would matter, Bunnymund wasn't there anymore. No one was.
"Run, run, lost boy" they say to me
Away from all of reality
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Jack couldn't understand how it happened. They had known it was coming when the lights on the globe had started to flicker and die. They had thought that perhaps Pitch had returned with his nightmares. But as hard as they looked, they could find no sign of him.
The searched hard as the globe's lights continued to blink out, one by one. The first to feel the loss was Tooth Fairy. She had always been the most connected to the children's belief. Her baby toothlings fell into deep sleep, while Tooth herself seemed to shrink away day after day until she too fell asleep.
Sandman left her good dreams as she slept, but the other Guardians could do nothing for her except continue their search.
The next to fall was Sandman. His dream sand started to disappear and he could no longer conjure dreams. With the loss of his dream sand, he could barely communicate, unable to make his usual energetic pictograms. One night, the remaining Guardians couldn't find Sandman at all.
When Pitch came crawling back to North's workshop, they knew there was nothing they could do. Pitch had been cast back into the world, but with almost none of the powers they knew him to possess. He could barely carry himself when he finally collapsed at North's door. They left him in one of the guest rooms to "recuperate", though they already knew there was little hope. Pitch fell asleep that night and didn't wake.
North began to stumble when the elves collapsed to the ground. The yetis followed quickly, but North remained strong determined not to fall and leave the others alone. He used a walking stick to travel, often leaning on Bunnymund's shoulder as they walked.
They had not given up all hope. After all, everyone was merely falling asleep as if under a spell.
When Bunnymund's tunnels closed up, North and Jack could only watch as their friend wept. They took North's sled and checked at multiple locations, but none of the tunnels functioned anymore. Bunnymund couldn't travel to and from his Easter kingdom, so he chose to stay with North and Jack at the workshop.
The three of them stood in front of the globe day after day, watching the lights blink out, no longer knowing what else they could do. It seemed the children couldn't see them anymore, so they couldn't solve the problem anymore. It was too late.
He sprinkled me in Pixie dust and told me to believe
Believe in him and believe in me
Together we would fly away in a cloud of green
To your beautiful destiny
"Jack. Bunny. I'm fading. I can feel it, feel it in here," North said, pointing to his chest. "I'm sorry friends, I leave first."
They helped North into his bed, and watched over him as he fell asleep.
"Well, this is it," Bunnymund said, turning to Jack. "We're the last ones left, and I don't think I'll last much longer."
"It was a good run, Bunny," Jack said, holding out his hand.
Bunnymund looked surprised, but covered it with a smile. "That it was, Jack. That it was."
They shook hands before the globe as they looked on at the few dozen lights left. Bunnymund didn't wake up the next morning.
Jack wandered the world alone again. The Guardians were no more; the children no longer needed them. Having nowhere else to go, Jack returned to the little town where Jaime lived.
Jaime had grown up, gone off to college, and returned to the little town he called home. Over the years, Jaime's light had never faded from the globe. He had always believed in Jack.
But as Jack watched him grow up, he knew it wouldn't last. Jaime no longer needed the spirit of fun to bring him smiles on a snowy day. He left an icy picture on Jaime's window before turning away for the last time.
As we soar above the town that never loved me
I realize I finally have a family
And soon enough we reach Neverland
Peacefully my feet hit the sand
When Jack became aware of his senses, he found he had wandered back to the pond where he and his sister had played. The pond where the ice had broken and he had died. The pond where he had been reborn as Jack Frost. And now the pond that would soon reclaim him again.
The sat down on the bank, leaning his back against a nearby tree and looked up at the sky. The stars shone bright in the darkness, the moon glowing brightly from among them. The Man in the Moon remained silent, as he had when the others had fallen.
Jack could feel the tiredness creepy up on him now. But he was not afraid. Because even as the vision of the world around him was fading, the haziness in his mind cleared.
Neverland, I love you so
You are now my home, sweet home
Forever a lost boy at last
"Jack!" Tooth cried, a wide smile on her face. She stood next to Bunny and North, as brilliant as ever. Sandman floated above their heads, trailing golden flecks as he went.
"Jack, my boy," North bellowed, "Welcome home."