Here we go again! A lot happened in this world over the weekend, so the others' memories of all that are making the memories of my most recent trip a little hazy, but I'll recount it as best I can. The sooner I do, the more I'll remember.

Thanks for sticking with me so far. I'd love to hear from more of you!

CHAPTER 6: Flight Of Fancy

So, not that night but the next night, I went back to my world and opted to go straight to see Tooth first. She was expecting me, but her mind didn't seem much more made up than before.

"There's just so much that can go wrong," she said, offering me a cup of fruit juice. (I accepted, but I was much more interested in the conversation than the drink.) "First off, he could be conning you."

I shook my head. "No way. I saw him. He was just a scared little kid. And those nightmare things have been tormenting him ever since we faced him down. He couldn't fake it. I'm sure."

She let that be for the moment. "Even if he's not faking, maybe he says he wants to try doing good now, but once he gets a little power back, it will be far too easy for him to change his mind again."

Pitch hadn't actually said the words "I want to do good now," but I decided not to mention that. "Then we'll deal with it when the time comes. He can't possibly get all his power back all at once. We'll watch him."

"I'm afraid it's just in his nature to want to frighten people and encourage them to do evil things."

"I don't believe that. He started scaring people to have fun with his brothers and keep them safe. Those aren't bad things. You know, some people like to be scared now and then. If they didn't, they wouldn't watch scary movies at Halloween." I suddenly wondered if I could travel to the world of Jack Skellington, but I still didn't feel like telling anyone that I could go to other worlds, so I didn't say anything about it. Still, if there were a Halloween-based spirit or Guardian, the Pumpkin King seemed like the perfect candidate.

Tooth frowned doubtfully. "I guess," she said.

"Won't you at least give him a chance? He's been all alone for so long... no friends at all, Tooth. Think about that for a minute. Remember how you felt when Pitch captured all your fairies? You were alone, but at least you could call on the Guardians for help. Pitch didn't have anyone. When people stopped believing in him, all he could do was pout and plan revenge. If he'd had a friend to talk to, things could have been different."

"I don't know, Jack..." She looked away with a sad expression. "I just don't know."

"Really? I honestly expected a little more empathy from you... you're such a nice person—I thought you'd at least feel sorry for him."

"I do. Really, I do. I agree, it sounds like a horrible position to be in. It's just... I'm afraid he's going to hurt you. That eventually reaching out for your help will turn into manipulating you. He's so good at that kind of thing, and I don't want anyone to take advantage of you."

I sighed. "I admit he came close to manipulating me before. But I know what to watch out for now, and I think I know how to help him."

"Just be careful, please. He may look like a little boy now, but he's just as cunning as he ever was."

"You sound like you're not going to help me."

"I'm not sure how I can. I'll be glad to help if you really need it..."

"You mean if something goes wrong."

"Don't get upset. I'm not going to get in your way, and I won't tell the others as long as things are going all right."

I took a swig of juice and set the cup down. "I guess I should be happy with that," I said, standing.

"You don't have to go so soon," she protested, also getting up.

"I should go see Pitch. If he thinks I abandoned him, I'll have to start all over." I couldn't help rubbing in my point a little. "At least he'll know he has a friend he can count on, even if we don't see things the same way."

OK, I really shouldn't have said that. It was too harsh. But I did the bratty thing and left without giving her a chance to protest. I get upset and my common sense goes away. It's a thing.

I hurried back to Pitch's lair and found him once more under his bed. "Please, tell me you weren't under here the whole time," I said anxiously.

"I wasn't," he answered. "You didn't bring Tooth." He didn't look at me when he said it, and though he didn't show it I knew he was disappointed.

"No... she's kind of a hard sell. I guess she doesn't believe you can change."

He nodded once, slowly.

"It's OK," I said, worming my way in beside him. "I still believe in you. It will take time, but I think she'll come around."

He shrugged.

I considered telling him not to pretend he didn't care, but decided against it. I didn't want to push too hard. But I really didn't know what to do next.

"Did the nightmares bother you at all?" I asked.

"A little. Not much."

"That's good." I tapped the floor impatiently. "Do you want to go outside?" I asked.

"What for?"

"Well... we could go somewhere cold and have some fun."

He pulled his blanket up a little bit. "I don't know. Cold is your thing." I could almost hear him add, "I don't have mine."

"I'll take care of you," I said. "If you don't like it, we can come back. No harm done. Right?"

"I guess." He drew in a breath slowly and then let it out all at once. Then he rolled over and we crawled out from under the bed. "I don't have warm enough clothes, though."

Pitch had never showed any sign of getting cold in the past, but I guessed that with his loss of power, he probably had a lot of human weaknesses. "We can find you some somewhere," I said. "Your jacket won't be enough..." I looked at him critically. "You know, you're about Jamie's size now. Maybe he would lend you some stuff. In fact, maybe he'd come with us. That would be fun."

I shouldn't have been so careless in bringing Jamie up. That, after all, was the kid who stood up to Pitch and put him in his place. The one who brought Sandy back to fight him.

Pitch rubbed one arm with the opposite hand. "Jamie doesn't like me."

I winced, realizing my mistake. "Well... he doesn't have to know that it's you. He stopped believing in you, so he won't be able to see you."

Pitch looked up at me through half lidded eyes in a sarcastic glare. "So, he's going to lend clothes to someone he can't see?"

"...Maybe? No plan is perfect... But since Tooth isn't being very helpful so far, we should probably try to get a kid to believe in you next anyway. It would be great if you could turn over a new leaf with Jamie."

"I don't want to. This is a bad idea. I'll just stay here." He started to get down on the floor again.

I grabbed him by the sleeve. "Wait. Just come with me, OK? We'll go talk to Jamie and see how things go. If it doesn't work, we can come back here. I'll find you some snow clothes somewhere and bring them another time."

He folded his arms and favored me with another glare. "I don't like it."

"Please? Just try."

He turned away from me, lowered his head onto the bed for a moment to groan into it, and then started pulling on his jacket. "Fine."

/'*

Pitch's nightmares still weren't cooperating with him, and though made from fairy feathers, his jacket wasn't enough to help him fly on his own, so he had to let me carry him, which he didn't like one bit. As soon as I set him down, he moved a few steps away from me and crossed his arms again.

It was late spring now, almost summer, but the night air was a little chilly. I was tempted to make it colder still, but I resisted and flew up to Jamie's window.

The kid was asleep in bed, some fanciful golden figures dancing over his head. I whipped up a few snowflakes and sent them floating into the dream, which quickly shifted a new direction. The figures changed or disappeared to be replaced by new ones. I kept playing around with the dream until Jamie finally woke up.

"Snow," Jamie said sleepily, almost in a question. Then he saw a larger-than-life snowflake hovering inches from his face and sat up excitedly. "Jack Frost?"

I tapped on his window and waved.

I never saw a kid move so fast. Jamie threw off his covers and ran over to the window, shoving it open as quickly as he could. "Jack!" he said in a loud whisper. "You came back!"

"Of course I did."

"But it's almost summer."

"Couldn't wait until winter," I said, smiling at him. "I was wondering... I want to take a friend to Alaska, and I wondered if you'd like to come along."

"Alaska? You mean now?" he asked.

"That's awfully far," Pitch put in.

"Well, we have to go somewhere where it's cold and the sun won't go down," I retorted.

Jamie blinked at me, confused by my tone.

"Sorry—I was talking to my friend."

Jamie moved over and put his hands on the windowsill, looking out into his yard. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Um, he's a spirit that I think might make a good Guardian someday, but he's having some trouble because no one believes in him."

Jamie's face was instantly the picture of warm concern. "I believe in him," he said. "He's a friend of yours, so of course, I do."

I smiled. "That's great. I'm glad you say that."

"There he is," Jamie said suddenly. "Is that your friend?"

He was pointing at Pitch.

"Um... yeah, that's him. His name's Philip."

"Hi, Philip," Jamie called. Then he looked at me again. "Is he a fairy, or what?"

Pitch "harumphed" at that.

"Uh, no," I said, struggling not to laugh. "He's just wearing a jacket that the fairies made for him." I explained that Pitch was sensitive to the cold because of his weakened state, and soon Jamie had crept through his house and back with coats, snow pants, and accessories for Pitch and himself.

"We can't be gone too long," Jamie said. "I have school tomorrow."

"I told you this was a bad idea," Pitch grumbled.

"It'll be all right. I can always take a nap afterwards. And the next day is Saturday, so I can catch up then."

"I'm supposed to convince kids to go to bed on time."

"Oh." Jamie looked critically at Pitch. "Are you related to Sandman?"

Pitch took on such a grimace at that question that I had to intervene. "No," I said. "Philip's job isn't all about sleep. It's also about doing your chores and stuff."

"I don't think I've heard of anyone like that, but it seems like I should have. Are there any stories about him?"

"Lots. But that can wait. We need to get going."

"Not all the way to Alaska," Pitch insisted as he pulled snow pants over his other clothes, stuffing his little black robe tails inside.

"OK, maybe not. But far enough that the snow won't cause a sensation, and somewhere where the sun is still up."

"How will we get there?" Jamie asked.

"I'll carry you," I said. Then, "Better idea—do you have a sled you can get out without too much trouble?"

Soon I was skating through the sky on a sheet of frost I projected ahead of us, pulling Jamie and Pitch behind me on a short toboggan.

"Woo-hoo!" Jamie shouted.

Pitch didn't say anything. He grudgingly held onto Jamie's waist. Jamie had Pitch's boots in his lap and was holding onto Pitch's legs, his own feet tucked under the curl at the front of the sled.

It was the most fun I had had in a long time, so I was determined not to let Pitch's sour mood spoil it. A lot of kids believed in me now (though a few had started to forget me now that the weather was turning warm), but I secretly considered Jamie my best friend. He was the first one to see me and talk to me (other than the other spirits and Guardians, I mean), and even if it was a little childish I still kind of held him in awe. As I said before, he had stood up to Pitch. That's nothing to take lightly, in spite of the fact that I'm trying to help Pitch now.

So, off we sped into the night. I'd better leave off for now, or this chapter will get far too long. More soon, I hope. Questions or comments? Feel free! ~Jack