A/N I do apologize for the lateness in updating this story! Haven't been feeling like myself lately, but I won't let that stop me! Here's the newest chapter of The New Guardian!

~Recap!~

His shadow wrapped around the brunette and himself, and carried them throughout the world, wreaking havoc and nightmares wherever they went.

The five Guardians looked at the globe in worry, lights flickering everywhere, more specifically, over the town of Burgess. The lights went out, like a dying candle flame, and slowly encroached around Burgess. Jack was the first to jump up and fly to the town, the others gathering in the sled to follow behind. Please let her be okay, the silver haired male thought, Please don't let Pitch hurt her. He flew into the little town and saw shadows everywhere. Many were scary and demonic; others were the nightmares that Pitch had used before. "Where did these new ones come from?" the pale man wondered, following them quietly. When he followed them, he found a giant shadow fortress in the forest, one throne chair centered in front. He hid behind a tree to keep from being spotted, and peeked to see who was in control of the shadows.

Jack's eyes widened when he saw who was at the throne. Pitch sat there, with Autumn standing by him, several shadow soldiers standing guard. The others in the sleigh landed quietly on the roof of the fortress, silently climbing down. Sandy was able to gain control of some of the shadows with his touch, while North, Bunnymund and Tooth took out others silently. He tried to get closer, but jumping from tree to tree was difficult with those creatures nearby. He flew to the others as carefully as possible and when he reached them, he said, "I don't know what's happened, but that's not the Autumn I know." Tooth looked at her, then at everyone else and said, "That's her, but…she seems different…" Bunnymund and Sandy looked over to her and then towards North, "I don't like the feeling I'm getting from her mate, she looks scary." Sandy nodded and made cat eyes from his sand. When North gazed at her, he turned back towards the others as quickly as possible. "That is her, physically…but her mind is not at home. She is being controlled by Pitch," he said, pointing out to everyone her eyes, "See the way her eyes look? That is what happens when shadows take charge of something innocent and weak." "But she's not weak," Jack protested. "No, not physically, but she had to be in a weak state to be controlled like that," North replied, Bunny nodded and said, "We'll save her mate, no worries." The smaller male nodded and that was when the five jumped off and landed in front of the two.

When the five landed, punches, kicks, and various weapons were used and the fighting ensued. Autumn stepped forward, ready to fight until Pitch grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He smiled as he saw the Guardians fight a countless amount of enemies. "Autumn!" Jack called, freezing all the foes nearby him. He flew towards her, until Pitch got in the way. "Well Jack, what a pleasure to see you again," he smirked, "I'm sure you're here to see Autumn," he stated, gesturing to the creature that was now the brunette.

"What have you done to her?" Jack roared, throwing icicles, ice blades and other creations towards the raven. Shadows stopped the ice before it could hit the villain, and watching where the shadows had come from, Jack saw that it was from his own friend, Autumn. "You cannot hurt him," her watery voice said calmly, the shadows devouring the ice. Pale blue eyes widened, the Jack said, "I don't want to hurt you Autumn…please, fight whatever control Pitch has over you." The girl tilted her head slightly, before smirking and saying, "There is nothing wrong with me…I am simply free." The male sighed and said, "Autumn, you've got to fight Pitch's control! Please," he got closer to her and just before he could reach out to grab her hand, Pitch sent shadows towards the pale man, and said, "Why don't we play a little game instead?" The raven sent more shadows, causing Jack to freeze them all. "Jack!" North shouted, fighting the shadows that the silver haired male was previously fighting, "Go help Autumn," the Yuletide spirit proclaimed. Jack nodded, flying towards the brunette, snatching her and bringing her to his lake.

He placed her down and froze her legs to the lake before she could disappear. She struggled in her bindings and glared at the male. He looked at her, sorrow on his face, and said, "Autumn…" She growled at him and struggled even more. Jack placed his hand on her face, and brought his closer to hers, "I'm sorry Autumn, I should've been there for you." He grabbed her face with both hands and searched in her eyes for the real Autumn. He then slowly brought her closer to him, his lips a breath away from hers. He prayed that this would work and leaned in…

Their lips touched.

Autumn's eyes widened and then slowly fluttered closed, their tongues dancing with each other. When they stopped for breath, Jack watched her and as she opened her eyes once more, they were back to the natural color. She blinked a bit for a moment then realized what had happened and blushed, her eyes widening. "J-Jack?" she stuttered, "What happened? What are we doing here?" He smiled and made the ice disappear, bringing her closer to his embrace. "You're back to normal," he said, holding onto her tightly. She blinked, "Where did I go? I was gone?" Jack laughed and looked at her, his eyes softening, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I have you back," She looked at him with wide eyes, a cute blush dusting her face. She looked away and was about to say something when shadows surrounded them.

Jack took a battle ready stance in front of her and was about to freeze them when she said, "Stop! Don't do anything to them." He looked at her and said, "Why? They're going to attack!" The brunette shook her head and said, "They listen to me, so we don't really have to worry about them." She then stepped in front of the man and made them change from demons and soldiers to angels and fierce animals, like tigers and lions. Jack snickered a little and said, "The Wizard of Oz much? Lions and tigers, you're missing the bears," Autumn smiled back at him and also created bears, then saying, "Better?" He laughed and just as they were going to join the others, Sandy fell from the sky, his body battered and bruised.

"Sandman!" the brunette called, rushing to his side, "Sandy, what happened? Are you alright?" the snow spirit asked, lifting the wounded Guardian with the Wind. Autumn looked at the two and then disappeared, causing Jack to worry more. He looked up at the moon and silently begged, please…please take care of her…don't let her get hurt…

North and company stopped when they saw Autumn charge right into Pitch. The raven fell with a loud thud, and as he sat up, the brunette stood above him, a sword placed at his throat. Her eyes menacing and filled with anger and hatred. "If you want to live to see another day, leave…leave everyone alone…now!" she growled, her shadows also growling and pointing spears or swords at him. Pitch looked around for a moment, fear striking him once again. His upper lip curled in anger as he said, "No! I shall not leave! I refuse to be ignored!" Pitch threw her off of him and shot several blades of darkness at her, hitting her several times.

Just as she fell, Bunnymund caught her while North and his Yetis went to take care of Pitch. Jack arrived and saw a badly wounded Autumn, blood leaking from her shoulder, arms and stomach. Sandy looked up at Jack and made a band aid shape with his sand. "You'll take care of her Sandy?" the pale man asked, gaining a nod from the Guardian. With his worry somewhat gone, the winter spirit aided North in the battle against Pitch. Weapons were thrown and soon enough, the team destroyed the shadows and had Pitch cornered. North looked at him with disgust and hatred. He held his blade directly in front of the raven's face and said, "Now Pitch, you leave. And never return!" The Boogeyman scoffed and disappeared in shadows, flying back to his lair, shouting, "Just wait Guardians! Just wait!"

Up at the North Pole, the five Guardians took turns keeping an eye on Autumn. Well, two of them took most of the time; Sandy and Tooth were busy with their everyday routine, while Bunnymund would watch from afar, painting an egg here and there. Every time Jack came by to keep watch, North and the elves would have to help get the boy to relax and sit down instead of hover over the girl.

"Jack, you must calm down," the elder said, finally getting the boy to sit in a chair for a moment. The smaller male sighed and said, "I can't, knowing I could've been there to help her fight! I should've been the one helping her; I should've been the one making her feel better! Not Pitch and his lies!" he slammed his hands on the arm rests of the chair, causing the whole chair to turn to ice. North's eyes widened slightly, then glittered with humor as he said, "So…you have feelings for her Jack." "What? Well…." the snow spirit stammered, a slight blush dusting his cheeks, "Well of course I do…she's nice and sweet and…I do have feelings for her." North smiled at that and said,

"Do you love her?"

Jack looked up at the man and, with determination in his eyes said, "I do love her."

A/N Yes! A cliffhanger! Surprise! Hahaha, don't hate me! I just thought it'd be neat to surprise you guys in the next chapter :D I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, let me know in a review or PM or whatever! I enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you bunnies loved reading it! See ya in the next one!