Chapter 04 – The Joint Decision


The three were fascinated by their new surroundings. Merida kept turning her head to see every last detail of the headquarters of North; Hiccup took out his pencil and small notebook to sketch a part of the place; while Rapunzel took small steps backward, looking so astonished. This was the first time Rapunzel saw something this beautiful. Every detail on the walls, on the floor, on everything, was just so appealing to her. She kept moving backwards until she bumped into Jack.

Rapunzel looks behind her to face to Jack... She didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I've been trying to bust in here for ages, until now!" Jack said.

Rapunzel gave him a surprised look, like she was telling him on why he'd even think of doing that.

Jack put his hands up in the air, one still holding his staff, "Relax… Never get past the yetis," Jack pointed to the yetis together in one spot of the room with Phil at the very front, signaling Jack to never even think about doing it again, "Oh, hey, Phil! Long time No-See!"

"Guys, I think that's enough chit chat for now, Man in Moon's trying to say something," Toothiana said a she fluttered around with her baby teeth following her everywhere.

A little baby tooth suddenly flew towards Jack; she had a golden feather, like Tooth, at the tip of her head. She goes inside Jack's hood and flies around him.

"Oh, hey there, Baby Tooth! I missed ya!" Jack said as he let her land on the palm of his hand. He approached Hiccup and Merida, "Hic, Merida… This is Baby Tooth."

"She's really cute," Merida said as she went closer to the little fairy.

"Hey there!" Hiccup said.

Jack chuckled a bit and showed Baby Tooth to Rapunzel, "Rapunzel, Baby Tooth. Baby Tooth, Rapunzel."

Baby Tooth suddenly held a big smile and gave Rapunzel a bear hug on her cheek.

"Whoa, hey there, Baby Tooth!" Rapunzel giggled.

Jack and the others chuckled and brought Baby Tooth back to his shoulders. They went closer to the globe to hear the news Man in Moon wanted to tell them, keeping silent.

The light of the moon shined down on the imprint of the symbol of the Guardians on the floor, and formed an image with the using of shadows. It showed the image of Pitch Black, just like before… But now, he wasn't alone. There was a blurry image of a woman next to him, wielding a dagger. Rapunzel and Jack suddenly felt chills climb up their spine… There was something really disturbing about that image of the woman.

"Pitch has returned?!" North said, being surprised.

Everyone held their breath of shock, "B-But how?! He was imprisoned for eternity below!" Bunnymund explained.

"I, too, do not know how the Boogeyman was able to escape. And it is your duty to bring him back, once again, and let the children keep on believing… But, you are going to need help."

"Wait, we're gonna be needing help AGAIN?! It hasn't even been a decade yet, since we needed help," Bunnymund said as he crossed his arms around his chest.

"Pitch has summoned an apprentice. His new-found novice bleeds pure darkness. She does not care about anything but revenge."

"Revenge on whom?" Toothiana asked, but Man in Moon did not respond.

A shining, light blue crystal slowly rose up from below from where the symbol of the guardians was imprinted. It was the same crystal that showed up when Man in Moon had to choose a new guardian.

"Guys, do you know what this means?!" Toothiana told the others.

North responded quickly, "Man in Moon's choosing a new guardian, once more!"

"Yes, guardians… But this time, it is something I have never done. Something I have only planned on doing if it was really needed for emergencies, like now."

The guardians looked at each other confused, while Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel just went with the flow, listening to every word the guardians and man in moon spoke.

"I will be choosing more than ONE guardian… And this time, they are still mortals. The Sun and I have agreed to this to join forces against the Boogeyman and choose new guardians… Can you now guess who those mere mortals are?"

The five guardians looked at the three. They have realized why Man in Moon wanted their presence.

"WHAT?!" Merida said stridently.

"No way, are you serious?!" Hiccup asked.

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Rapunzel said.

"Because of this different way choosing a guardian… Their ability and strength will not be based on how many children believe in them… But, from the goodness in their hearts. Their magic will be based on their ability from their life 250 years ago… I guess, we just added a few polishes. And they will only be seen by the children if you ARE still seen by children… This makes all of you a bit linked together."

"Wait, we had a different life 250 years ago?!" Merida asked the guardians.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "So, Reincarnations are real?!"

"I wonder what I was 250 years ago," Rapunzel asked herself.

"You were a Princess."

Rapunzel's eyes widened and faced to Jack; He had his one hand inside his pocket and the other holding his staff.

"You were a Princess… But then you got kidnapped when you were baby and lived in a tower, then ran away and returned home."

"R-Really?!" Rapunzel said, "So, I guess I really AM Rapunzel… I seriously lived that fairy tale?!"

Jack held a grin, "Your story from 250 years ago IS the reason there's even a fairy tale called 'Rapunzel'… Although, some parts were changed… Probably because of how long that story was told."

"How 'bout me?" Hiccup asked the winter sprite, "Wait, did you even know me 250 years ago?"

"Who wouldn't know you 250 years ago? You were the famous Viking Dragon tamer! You were able to tame the most terrifying dragon and made him your pet," Jack praised proudly.

Hiccup's eyes widened in elation from what he heard. He thought that he was actually able to do something great for once, even if it was only in his past life.

Jack faced to Merida with his signature smirk, "And you, miss Frizzball, were also a princess… Just not the ordinary one."

"What?" Merida asked in confusion.

Jack shook his head down as he chuckled lightly, "You were a bit of a rebel… You ran away from your home, 'cause your mom arranged a competition with different clans to win your hand… And Hiccup was one of your 'forced' suitors."

"What the Hell?!" Merida said in surprise. She looked at Hiccup as he raised his shoulders, signaling her that he doesn't know anything.

"You were really great in Archery… Until now!" Jack said as he pointed his hand to Merida's new bow.

Merida reached her hand from the back to pull out her brand new bow. She looked at the carved patterns and found it so familiar.

"You actually made that bow, yourself, in your past life," Jack smiled as he silently reminisces about the times the four of them were together before… Especially the moments he spent with Rapunzel.

"How long was my hair that time?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

Jack faced her and snickered as he remembered the times he and Punzie would brush her hair and he'd always get tangled up in it, "Believe it or not, it was 70 feet long!"

"Whoa! That's a lot of hair!" Rapunzel exclaimed ecstatically.

"How come you know all of this?" Hiccup asked Jack.

Jack did not respond… He didn't want them to know who he was for them before, yet.

Bunnymund approached them, "That's because he was- … OOFF!"

Bunnymund was stopped by Jack who suddenly elbowed him on the stomach. Jack signaled him to not say a word, for now… So, the guardian of Hope zipped his lips.

"Why don't you look at your past life from my toothboxes? They store memories of each and every one eversince," Toothiana said as she fluttered around.

"You collect memories?" Hiccup asked the guardian of memories.

Toothiana nodded, "That's why we collect the teeth; they hold the most important memories of childhood. My fairies and I watch over every child even before… And when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them."

"That's great! Then, I'll get to see who I was before!" Rapunzel exclaimed in joy.

The others continued to chat when North suddenly cleared his throat.

"I don't think Man in Moon is finished."

All of them faced to the window Man in Moon was peeking at as the rays of light from him shined down.

"Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup… Please step forward."

The three took small steps towards them until they were being hit by the rays of light from the moon.

"Place your hands on the crystal."

The three did as what the Man in the moon say; they placed their hand on the crystal that was used to choose a new guardian.

The moon suddenly shined brighter than ever. It shined down on the three and something suddenly fell from the moon… It was a droplet; it was the time for the droplet of the sun and the moon to join once again. The droplet of the moon fell on the crystal, as North approached the three, holding a small tube containing the droplet of the sun. He spilled it into the crystal and back away.

The three looked at each other confused and suddenly felt a strong force surround them. The crystal busted rays of light around them. It had the color of gold and white. Swirls of them orbited around them each. They slowly floated like they were being carried by those rays of light.

They had no idea on what was happening that they just closed their eyes and hoped that this was just a dream.

They light suddenly burst that it also blew a strong wind inside North's place, making the elves almost go with the wind. They held onto the fur of the yetis as the guardians closed their eyes from being blinded by the light from the crystal.

"Rapunzel? Guys?" Jack called out as he approached them slowly.

As the dust and wind go steady, they were able to slowly see the three mortals. Everyone's eyes in the room widened in amazement.

The three were back with their looks 2500 years ago. Merida was wearing her dark blue-green dress that was slightly ripped by the sleeves, and the symbol of her kingdom around her hip, with a cloth keeping it in place. Hiccup was wearing his Viking outfit from before; He had his green, long-sleeved shirt and a fur coat with a brown belt inside. Rapunzel was wearing her pink dress and was barefoot, once more. Her hair became 70-feet long and was completely blonde, once again.

Jack's heart skipped a beat as he gazed onto Rapunzel. He couldn't even speak, and felt all nervous for no reason, at all.

"Merida, your ability is still Archery and swordsmanship… But you can now control fire."

"Cool!" Merida said as she looked at the symbol she had on her hip.

She suddenly heard fainted whispers, calling her name. She turned to her side to see a willow-the-wisp.

Merida gasps in surprise.

"That is a 'Willow-the-wisp, Merida. It leads people to their fate. Do not worry; they are your disciples."

Merida tries to touch the wisp, but as she puts one of her finger closer to the wisp, it disappeared like the fire of a candle blown away. She turns around to look for it and sees dozens of them encircling her. Merida's eyes followed the movement of each one of them as they disappeared one by one like a bubble being popped.

"Hiccup, you will once again be known as the Dragon tamer… But, you will now have the ability to manipulate objects."

Hiccup looked to his left opened his hand to the direction of a thick book near them. The book hovers briskly towards him, resulting to Hiccup running away from it. It hits him right on his face, letting him fall stumble down. This made Merida chortle like how she always laughed.

Hiccup gets up, his hand on his forehead, which had quite of a lump from the hit he received from the book.

"Oh, before I forget, Hiccup…"

The Dragon Tamer looks at Man in Moon, being almost blinded by the light it shined.

"You have one last thing to receive."

A gleaming object fell down gently from the moon to Hiccup's hands. It was a rock that had the color of the night sky.

"A rock," Hiccup said in confusion, expecting to hear an explanation.

The rock suddenly glowed luminously. It outsized that Hiccup that to let go of it, and to his surprise, it floated. It kept growing that Hiccup backed away; as he tried to figure the shape it was forming. The light finally faded away and Hiccup could finally find the figure recognizable. He suddenly a hint of elation from it; he didn't know why, though. As he looked closely into the figure, he saw huge wings and green, cat-like eyes.

Jack took a step closer, looking closely at the figure, "Toothless?!" he called questioningly.

The figure waggled and the glow faded away, revealing it to be Hiccup's pet dragon, Toothless. It was hiccup's first friend 250 years ago and the Night Fury he had trained. The Man in the Moon, then, returned the memories of Hiccup with Toothless back to the Dragon Tamer… But, those were the only memories he returned to him.

Toothless charged at Jack, licking his whole face, "Toothless, Toothless! I get already, I get it! I missed you, too!" Jack chuckled as he tried to get off of the Night Fury, patting him on the head as he was able to get out of the Dragon's grip.

Hiccup looked closely at Toothless and the memories flashed back. He was astonished to see his pet dragon. He has missed him so badly, without letting his reincarnated self, know about it.

"Toothless?" Hiccup called nervously.

The Dragon turned its back to face Hiccup, and when he saw his master, He became ecstatic that he couldn't keep his feet on the ground. He charged at his master, and best friend, as Hiccup backed a few steps, for he was a bit startled.

"Toothless… No, no, no, no… Don't-…"

Hiccup was stopped by the Night Fury. Toothless got over him and licked his whole face. Hiccup chuckles as Toothless sniffed his disabled leg. Hiccup looks at the Night Fury's tail and saw that nothing has changed; his other fin was still replaced with Hiccup's invention 250 years ago.

"I really missed you, buddy! How's it been?" Hiccup said as he scratched the back of Toothless' ear, making the Night Fury move its leg like a dog, "Didn't think I'd forget about that, did you?"

Toothless suddenly showed him a Toothless grin and suddenly grabbed him on his shirt and tossed him to the Night Fury's back, "Toothless, W-what the hell are you planning on doing?!"

The Dragon waggled and set his wings. Hiccup held a tight grip around Toothless' neck, being quite surprised. Toothless, then, slapped him with his ear, telling him to calm down and let go of his grip around his neck.

"Ow! What was that for-… Oh, sorry, buddy. Alright, like old times," Hiccup said as he placed his feet on the invention he had placed on Toothless for his disabled foot.

They soared around the room, competing with the toys North made that few around. Hiccup put his hands in the air as high as he could and screamed at the top of his lungs. This was the first time, after 250 years, that he had experienced something this fun.

After a few minutes, they finally landed back on the ground and Hiccup couldn't look more contented.

"Rapunzel… Because of your special connection with the sun 250 years ago, you are now reborn as her daughter. Your ability to heal will be given back to you, with the conditions still the same: You must not cut your hair. But remember, even if it gets cut, you still have your tears. And once it grows again, you will regain your ability back."

Rapunzel grabs a portion of her hair, "Well, how do I get it to work?"

The man in the moon did not answer, but Jack felt like he was smiling at Jack.

"Oh, come on, really?" Jack rolled his eyes as he looked at the moon. He scratched his head and went closer to Rapunzel.

"You might find it familiar," Jack said to Rapunzel, who had no idea what jack had to do.

Jack sighed, "You seriously don't remember… not even a bit?"

Rapunzel blinked her eyes innocently.

Jack groaned in annoyance to do this in front of everyone. He cleared his throat and buried his face on the palm of his hands.

"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine… " Jack sang as he continued the lullaby.

Rapunzel's hair started to glow; it shined as bright as the sun.

Everyone's jaw dropped, except for Jack… For he has longed to see that kind of hair glow for so long and even sing the lullaby… He just wished that he could've sung it at the time Rapunzel would be the only one able to hear it.

Rapunzel was slowly recognizing the song. She knows that she have heard before and found it so familiar.

Jack was finally done with the song and everyone was dumbstruck.

"I never knew you had a talent in singing, Frosty," Bunnymund teased as he tried to stop himself from snickering.

"You're seriously gonna get it, you kangaroo," Jack said in annoyance.

"I can't wait to tell this to Jamie!" Rapunzel said in excitement, that she couldn't even keep her feet steady.

The room suddenly became silent as the guardians looked at Rapunzel.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" Rapunzel asked, feeling uneasy of the frown the three guardians gave.

"I am sorry, Rapunzel… But, you may not go back to your mortal life, anymore."

Hiccup took a few steps closer, "W-What do you mean?!"

"… You are now part of the guardians, Hiccup… All three of you, which means you are reborn. You cannot live your normal life for you have an obligation, now. You must let the children keep on believing in you and not let their hearts be filled with fear and darkness... Which means that your parents and siblings will forget everything about you being part of their family. Their memories of you will be erased."

"No…" Rapunzel whispered as horror were seen in her eyes, "That can't be… I don't want that to happen!"

"It must be done, Rapunzel. We cannot take the risks."

"Wait, what risks?" Merida asked.

"You see, when a person creates a connection or bond with a guardian, a part of them changes. They become only a mere memory… which means if something appalling happens to them at the wrong time, they turn into a part of Sandy's dream sand, and the memories they had with their family or friends, are erased. They forget that they even had a person like that in their life… Not a single memory of them will be brought back. And it will also be us, who would feel dreadful, for we would not forget a thing."

"That can't be true! I had a connection with my sister before! I watched over her until she passed away, giving birth to Hiccup! And she wasn't forgotten!" Jack exclaimed to Man in Moon.

"For you just watched over her. You did not create a special bond for the two of you. It happens only when you create a bond like what you and Jamie have."

Jack was mortified with that news. His eyes roamed around the four guardians of childhood, expecting to hear a reaction, saying that Man in Moon was just teasing them.

"It's not fair!" Merida exclaimed, but man in moon did not respond.

There was a short silence in the whole room. Everyone didn't know how to react and the three, newly chosen guardians took a time for them to accept their fate gradually and open-heartedly.

"Can we at least say goodbye? I don't want to leave without one," Rapunzel said in an almost fainted whisper, for the grief and sorrow inside of her ate up even the strength for her to mutter a word.

The man in the moon looked to North, and did not let the other guardians hear a word he said. The guardian of wonder looked at Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup and Jack.

North sighed, "You only have tonight. When the sun starts to rise, their memories will be completely erased… So do everything you need to do quickly."

Hiccup and Merida rode onto Toothless, as Rapunzel rode together with Jack, soaring as fast as the wind, making sure not to waste any time and hurriedly reach their loved ones… To see them for one last time.


Heeey, guys! I was just soo excited to write the next chapter after this that I really wrote this quickly. Anyway, nothing new. till have to wait a week or two, or maybe if I have more time, maybe three days? HAHAHA! Please review! Love you, guys! ^^