"There are really good cookies, Phil," Jack Frost said.

The yeti nodded happily and ran off to get more. Jack laughed. Sandy looked at him strangely.

"You're not one to give compliments," Nicholas St. North said, munching his own cookie.

"Yeah, I know. But I did torment the poor guy for several years." He grinned.

After the moon had rescued him from the freezing water, he had been searching for answers. He'd had a hunch that the Guardians could give him just that, and after years of being blocked, Jack finally managed to sneak in last July, with the help of Merida and Hiccup. His only two friends managed to convince the Big Four that Jack wasn't just a troublemaker, so they let him stay. Unfortunately, none of the Guardians had answers, but Jack liked to hang around when he wasn't busy, in case they learned something.

"North!" a voice bellowed from the workshop below.

"Hmm, looks like the Easter Kangaroo is back," Jack said. Sandy laughed silently.

"North, there you are," E. Aster Bunnymund said, bounding breathlessly into the room. "Howdy, Jack. We've got a problem mate."

"What is it?" North asked. Toothiana flew into the room, clearly agitated.

"It's Pitch Black! He's destroying villages and spreading fear everywhere. We have to fight him."

She buzzed around the room anxiously, often running into the windows.

"Bunny, tell the yetis to gather their weapons. We leave in one minute!"

"Can I help?" Jack asked. The Guardians looked at each other uncertainly.

"Jack, this is really more of a Guardian thing," Tooth said. "As much as we'd love to have you, I think it's better if Pitch doesn't know we're friends. He's too strong for you."

"But," North said, "You can watch on this handy little device I made. There's no time for me to explain how it works, we've got to go, now."

Jack watched as the Guardians raced off together. Sandy gave him a sympathetic smile as they left. Jack sighed. The invisible boy left alone even by those who could see him. And even though he understood why, it still hurt.


They returned, beaten and bedraggled, only an hour later. Both Sandy and Bunny had been killed in battle.

"What just happened?" Jack yelled, hurt.

"Ambush," North groaned. "There were so many, and it happened so fast, and he's got some sort of witch with him."

"But Bunnymund, he's the Easter Bunny," Jack said. "He can't be gone!"

"They aren't dead forever. Sometimes, spirits can return from the dead. So it is possible Sandy and Bunny may return," North said. "I hope."

"When? We need them here!"

"No one knows," Tooth said. She coughed and slid to the floor.

"You ok?"

"My powers are weakening. Some sort of spell the witch had. North, I didn't want it to come to this, but…I have to leave. It's the only way I can protect the memories."

"I understand," North said after a moment. "Good luck."

Jack watched his friend fly off quietly, blinking tears from her beautiful purple eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Jack asked despairingly.

North started to speak, but was interrupted. The moon shone down through the window. North got up and looked the figures Manny showed him. Jack wandered over and was startled to see himself among them.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Man in Moon has chosen new special people, called…Companions. They are the only ones who can defeat Pitch, and bring back Hope and Dreams!"

"Why am I there?"

"Because you are the first Companion. Jack, this is why you are here."

Finally! Jack thought. Then he noticed the other two figures and started. "Wait a minute, is that Merida?"

"Och, how did yew hear me coming tha' time?"

Turning, Jack saw the real Merida enter the workshop. Before she threw back her hood, she was almost identical to the blue figure. Jack pointed to it in astonishment.

"I didn't. I was asking if this was you."

Merida bent down curiously, then gasped. "Hiccup!" she yelled urgently.

Hiccup came running in from the other room. "Sorry, Toothless tried to eat the elves again. What did I miss?"

"Look," Merida said, pointing. "It's us."

"Wait, that's Hiccup?" Jack asked, looking at the other figure.

The scrawny, awkward looking kid pictured was nothing like the tall, confident Guardian he knew.

"Mer," Hiccup said quietly. "We caught up."

"Do you know what's going on?" North asked.

"Yes," Hiccup said. "See, before we became Guardians, we had to pass tests from the Man in the Moon. This is the first one. Those figures are us when we were children, centuries ago Scotland."

"But if you did it in the past, then why is the Moon bringing it up now?" Jack asked.

"Because we didn't do the tests in the past. We did them in this time."

"Yeah, I'm not following you."

"North's snow-globes can dew work time travel," Merida said bluntly. "You go back and bring us here."

Jack's jaw dropped. Slowly, he turned to look at North. "No. Way."

"Eh…" North looked like the elves did when they were caught licking cookies. "I have been working on that feature lately. Are you sure it will work?"

"If the Moons says it's time, it's time," Hiccup said.

North shrugged. "Then I will go get them!"

"Jack, here are the rules. You have to pretend like you don't know us. This will be our first time meeting you. We won't know what the heck is going on."

"Ooh!" Merida said. "You also need to explain what a globe is." Jack laughed. "No, Ah'm not kidding!"

"Also," Hiccup added. "From this point on, we can't tell you about what's going to happen, or give you any advice. I'm sorry. It's going to be really hard. For all of us."

"Something tells me this won't be as fun as it first sounded," Jack said suspiciously.

"No, it will be fun!" Merida promised. "We're going to have a blast."

"There are a lot of good moments, but also some terrible, terrifying ones."

"What will happen to me?" Jack asked.

Hiccup smiled. He wanted to tell the boy how much he would grow. You're going to grow up to be a loving husband and a wonderful father to two very amazing children. You are going to be the greatest king Arendelle has ever known, and one of the most famous Guardians of all time.

But he was forbidden to say that. And he knew it.

"It's going to change you," he said at last. "But in a good way. And you won't regret it."

Jack nodded solemnly. "Is this why you took me in all those years ago?"

"Yes," Merida said. "In our minds, we were already friends. Now it's time for the situation to be reversed. In your mind, we are friends. But our past selves won't know you."

North brought back the portal. "Do you know how to work it?" he asked.

"Yes."

Merida took the ball and concentrated on the moment that had started their adventures. It was one of her favorite memories, one that she had held onto throughout the centuries. But she had forgotten the date. She began to speak aloud.

"Our private island in between Berk and DunBroch, the first day I met Toothless. Angus and I were racing Hiccup and Toothless in the sky, and Angus saw the portal and was spooked…"

Then she threw the portal, hoping it would work.

"We have to get out of sight," she said, ducking into the other room.

Hiccup followed her. Come on, bud.

He was about to close the door when he remembered. "One more thing," he said, sticking his head through the door. "I can't speak to Toothless yet, so don't mention it."

"Got it!" Jack said.

At that moment, young Hiccup and Toothless bounded out of the portal, looking very confused. Luckily, their backs were to older Hiccup. A second later, Merida on Angus followed. Quickly, she dismounted and drew her bow; Hiccup did the same with his knife. Toothless stood behind them and roared on two legs.

"Whoa, take it easy," Jack said, smiling in spite of himself.

Hiccup quietly closed the door and went to join Merida in the next room.

"You know what this means?" he asked quietly.

"Ya," Merida said. "It means we'll finally see Rapunzel!"

"Shh! What if they hear you?"

Sighing, Merida undid her satchel, releasing a glowing blue wisp. She took Hiccup's hand and with her other gently touched the wisp. Within seconds, they were standing in her camp in the old Dunbroch mountains. She had discovered this gift a few centuries ago, shortly after they met Jack for the first time. The wisps had started to gather around her, but it wasn't until she touched one that she realized they brought her to people who needed her courage. Over time, she learned to control them by thinking, similar to snow globe travel. A light rain was falling over Ireland that day, so she and Hiccup took shelter in the little hobbit hole she had made for herself.

"We can't risk being seen by our past selves," Hiccup said. "We'll have to stay here for the next 48 hours, until we're gone and North can explain time travel to Rapunzel."

Rapunzel's coming, Rapunzel's coming! Toothless purred happily.

Merida sat down next to the fire a little gloomily. "After all this time you'd think two days wouldn't matter. Ah just don't know what ta do with myself."


"What? In becoming a princess? You don't want me for that, trust me. You'll do fine, don't worry. And you'll make a fantastic Guardian."

Merida hugged her friend empathetically. A few feet away, Jack and Hiccup were also saying goodbye.

"By the way," Jack said. "I'm sorry for challenging your leadership yesterday."

"Oh man, was that just yesterday? It seems ages ago. But hey, don't worry about it. We are all under a lot of stress, you especially."

"You never miss a thing, do you?" Jack asked, smiling.

"A lot more than Merida, anyway," Hiccup said. "She's pretty clueless, at least in this matter."

"Goodbye, Hiccup," Rapunzel said, walking over. "Thanks for letting us use Toothless so much." She pet the dragon fondly.

"No problem."

"Ready?" Toothiana asked. They nodded reluctantly.

After one last round of goodbyes, Young Merida and Hiccup stepped through the portal and disappeared into their own world. On the other side of the door, older Merida bounced up and down impatiently. Only Hiccup kept her from breaking down the door.

"Will we ever see them again?" Rapunzel asked.

Yes, Merida mouthed from the other side of the door.

"It's very complicated," North said slowly, and looking a little guilty. "I'll explain more to you later, it's a lot of information to take in. Right now, they deserve a nice long rest. And so do you."

"Hiyah!" Bunnymund slammed open the door, Sandy right behind. "Don't worry, mate! We're here now, just let 'em show their little faces and we'll beat them up!"

He ran around the room, holding his boomerangs up threateningly. Sandy stood in the doorway and slapped a hand to his face, embarrassed. He tried to get Bunny's attention, but, as usual, couldn't.

"Um, hi, Bunny," Jack said. "Glad to see you could make it."

"Pleasure to be here, just sorry it took us so long," Bunny said, bouncing around the room and looking around suspiciously. North! Open up a portal to Pitch immediately!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible," North said.

Rapunzel threw her hair out and wrapped Bunny up completely. "Sorry, you were making me dizzy," she said. "Pitch is dead."

"Dead?" Bunny asked.

"Since yesterday," Jack said.

"Oh, well crisis averted. Who's this?" he asked, looking at his captor.

"Everyone," Jack said, putting his arm around her, "I'd like you to meet Rapunzel."

Merida couldn't wait any longer. She kicked open the door and slipped out of Hiccup's grasp. Rapunzel looked up, startled, and in the next second she was nearly knocked to the ground in a giant bear hug.

"Merida?!" she exclaimed. "But…how?"

"I thought we had agreed you wouldn't show yourself until I had explained," North said, crossing his arms.

Merida looked up sharply. "I waited three hundred years for this and you were taking too long!"

"HICCUP?" Rapunzel asked, staring at him open mouthed.

"Hi," he said, grinning.

"Jack, please explain, I am so confused."

Jack grinned. "Hiccup is best at explaining it, actually."

"We're Guardians, like you," Hiccup said. "But we had to pass tests in certain circumstances with certain people to earn it. Since we were born centuries ago, it would have been impossible if North hadn't invented time travel. Once we passed those tests, we became immortal, like you. We returned to our own time to be with our families, but we lived on after them."

"I think I understand," she said slowly.

"I've known them almost since I first became a spirit," Jack added. "But they haven't seen you since they just left."

"Well," Hiccup began.

"Maybe another time, mate," Bunny said quietly. He was basically in charge of time, and it was his job to make sure nobody intervened in the wrong places. "It's a lot to take in."

"So…you haven't seen me in centuries?" Rapunzel asked.

Merida finally let go of her and drew back so she could look her friend in the face.

"Not exactly," she admitted. She pulled her hood over her head again and grinned. "Ah've been watching over yew all your life, even though Ah could never speak to yew or come close enough that yew would recognize me."

"You did wha' now?" Bunny asked, eyes narrowing.

Misty eyed, Rapunzel's hand flew to her mouth in astonishment. "You're the Mysterious Warrior?"

"Is tha' what you called me?" Merida asked, beaming.

"I knew your weren't mother…I mean, Gothel, because she didn't have a bow and arrow, and she was confused every time I asked her about it. She kept telling me I was dreaming."

"Wait, what did you do?" Jack asked, curious.

"Nearly every night Ah would patrol the cliffs around the Tower," Merida said. "Ah made sure that nobody got in or out except for Gothel. Ah made sure the wee lassie was safe. Gothel ne'er found me, though, Ah nearly shot her and ended it all once or twice. But Ah realized how that might change some things for the worse."

She glanced at Hiccup, who looked back knowingly.

Without Gothel, Maggie and Mavis would never had stolen Elsa out of revenge. How much easier it would have been for the Frosts, and how much pain they could have spared Jack. That, Hiccup and Merida decided, was going to be the hardest thing to deal with in the future. But if she had done that, Gothel would not have returned and enslaved Merida, which, though it was a series of heartbreaking and terrifying events for all, had led to Merida and Elsa becoming Guardians. So, on both occasions, Merida had lowered her bow and remained hidden.

"How could they possibly have ended up worse?" Jack asked. "Wouldn't they have ended up better?"

The two cousins looked at him sadly.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Hiccup said quietly.

Jack thought this was funny. "Older than 300?"

"A few years, yes."

Jack shrugged. "Whatever. It's all over now, so it doesn't matter. We should probably get you back to Arendelle," he said to Rapunzel.

"Right! I'll get a snow-globe," said North.

"Can't we take the sleigh?" Hiccup asked. "Rapunzel hasn't seen the sleigh yet!"

North chuckled. "Everyone loves the sleigh. Of course we will!"

"Ah just thought of something," Merida said as they followed North to the stables. "You've known us all your life, Jack. So, why did you not get along with Hiccup these past few days?"

Jack looked slightly embarrassed. "You were different. I guess I didn't trust you. Sorry."

Hiccup nodded understandingly. "The adventures we had changed me," he admitted. "Hopefully for the better."

"Maybe, maybe not," Jack said. "What was with the peg leg?"

Laughing, Hiccup looked down at his two good feet. "Now that's a nice story for the sleigh ride. I haven't thought about that in years."

"But you didn't have a leg in the past, and now you do!" Rapunzel said. "And Toothless had a fake tail. How?"

"Now that I can't tell you. But you can hear about when I lost it."

"Everyone load up!" North declared.

Rapunzel squealed with glee and jumped in immediately. Jack grinned at her.

"Like it?" he asked.

"This is amazing! Do we get to fly all the way back to Arendelle with this?"

"Well, we could always use the snow-globes…" North began.

"No, no shortcuts," Merida said. "We have too much catching up to do."

"You do realize you have all of eternity to catch up?" North asked.

"Yeah, but she'll want to spend time with her mum and dad when we get back," Merida said.

"Please, North," Rapunzel said. "This way I'll have time with everyone."

"Whatever you say," Nicholas St. North replied with a shrug.

He cracked the reins and the reindeer shot off down the ice tunnels. Rapunzel screamed with delight, looking around at everything. Jack watched Rapunzel, and Hiccup and Merida watched both of them. A moment later, when the sleigh shot out of the tunnels and took flight, Hiccup noticed Merida crying.

"Are you ok?"

"Ya," she said, smiling. "Ah'm just really happy that we're all back together again."

Rapunzel grinned and hugged her. "Me too!"