AN: Hey, sorry it took longer. You might be a few chapters behind because FFN is being dumb and isn't notifying you guys...
Hopefully, you'll see this one.
...I told you my beta wouldn't stay with me...
Xay: W-what! Come on, Shy!
Shy: You took all morning to wake up, took nearly an hour in the bathtub, took a half hour long walk and then played on the computer!
Xay: ...Shemur...
Um, sorry if you're confused. My little brothers were. And sorry if this makes you cry. It made Xay cry.
Xay: *sniffles* No it didn't!
Shy: *rolls eyes* Right...
To Steefwaterbutter: Lol, I wanted to get it all out on April 1st, but then we 1, realized that that'd be crazy, as we wrote this in one week, and 2, it wasn't notifying you guys.
To Flight Feathers: Yay! You found my new story! Thanks for the review!
Disclaimer: 1, I don't own RotG and I own April, and 2, we are not responsible for any tears caused by the sad parts of this chapter. Sorry.
"Jamie!" Jack ran over to where April had teleported away. "How could I have been so stupid?" He ran his hand though his hair angrily.
"Jack, it's not your fault."
"But it is! If I hadn't gone to Jamie in the first place, then he wouldn't be in this mess." The Leprechaun spoke up.
"Jack, listen. If you hadn't gotten Jamie on St Patrick's Day, April wouldn't have gotten a believer and he'd still be in the white room."
"Yeah, but at least this wouldn't be happening."
"Even so, the past is the past. April took Jamie, we can't change that now. But what's important is that we save him."
"Yeah." Jack halfheartedly agreed.
"Then come on, we have to find them." The Leprechaun said determinedly.
"I'm starting to think you don't hate April." Jack said with a smirk.
"To be honest, I don't. I just get really mad when someone messes with my holiday."
"Well, we have to hurry. I don't know why he took Jamie, but we're gonna find out." Jack got up to leave.
April teleported to April Fools Land. He carefully brought Jamie over to a pile of stuff. He reached out and grabbed a door knob and twisted it. It opened into a strange looking house. He set Jamie down on a little bed. He started to walk away, but he heard Jamie start to cry. He remembered that Jamie was having a nightmare. He quickly ran over to a desk and pulled out a pouch of dream sand. He rushed over to Jamie and sprinkled it onto the black sand. It turned golden and April let out a breath. He turned to leave when Jamie spoke.
"April, you're scaring me." April turned around, Jamie was scared, terrified. April ran to a desk and pulled out a teddy bear. He came back to Jamie and handed it to him. Jamie smiled. April looked at him and Jamie noticed his eyes were green again.
"Why are you calling me April?" he asked strangely.
"That's your name, right?"
"No, silly, I'm Avery."
"Oh yeah." Jamie replied trying to play along.
"Timmy, I have to go. But don't worry, I'll be back really quick. Sorry for scaring you. No one can get in here, so you're safe." He finished, walking out the door.
"Timmy? Did he mistake me for someone else? I'll just play along until the Guardians get here." Jamie decided. He was really tired, so he fell asleep with the teddy bear in his arms. But he wasn't dreaming. No, he was having a nightmare.
"How are we gonna know which floor it's on? There are, like, over 40."
"Don't worry Jack, we will find him." North said then he looked at Sandy. "Sandy, do you know?" Sandy shook his head. North and Sandy had used snow globes to get there, Bunny and Tooth used tunnels, and Jack was with April to teleport. No one remembered what room it was. The door made it obvious, but finding the door would take forever. They didn't want to separate, because April might be waiting for them.
"Guys, there are fifty two floors, at this pace, we won't find Jamie until—"
"Jack, stop worrying. We'll find him. Jamie is a smart kid, he'll be fine." North said.
Jamie got up from where he was sitting. He looked around and found himself in a forest.
"I… I thought I was in April's house?" he thought. He stood up and looked around. The world seemed fuzzier and darker than usual.
Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud sound of giggling and rustling of leaves behind him. He turned and saw two boys burst through the trees and into the small clearing.
He instantly recognized the older one as April, only dressed in old fashioned clothes and looking about four years younger. The younger one looked… Just like him? The boy looked like a younger version of Jamie, only his other self was wearing a really outdated outfit.
April chuckled. "Timmy, come on! You don't wanna miss the leaves falling!" he grabbed Timmy's arm and led him through the trees. "We can make a pile and jump in it!"
Timmy jumped up and down. "Okay, okay! Avewy, you're pulling me too fast! I have little feets!"
April – Avery? – chuckled and slowed down a bit. "I think you meant legs."
Timmy made a face. "Uh… Yeah!"
Suddenly, the clearing filled with mist and Jamie became very light-headed. When his vision cleared, he was in the same place, but Avery and Timmy were gone.
Jamie frowned. "Is this a memory… Of April's? Is this his human life?" he walked around the clearing until he suddenly heard crying. He ran towards the sound.
He found Avery and Timmy tucked next to a tree. They looked about two years older than they were in the last memory and Timmy was clinging to Avery, crying. He had a small bruise forming on his cheek.
"It's okay, Timmy," Avery comforted, patting his brother's back. He smiled. "We… We can play hide and seek!" he suggested.
Timmy sniffled. "W-what if they seek us?"
Avery smiled. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. You believe in me, right?"
Timmy giggled and hugged his older brother. "Okay."
Jamie's vision fuzzed out again and he awoke back in the clearing. This time, Avery and Timmy were both there, older again. Avery looked just like April and Timmy looked just like Jamie. They were cautiously backing into the trees, fearful expressions on their faces.
"You really thought you could get away?" Jamie turned to see a group of about five older boys come out of the trees and corner Avery and Timmy.
"Why are they chasing you this time?" Avery hissed to his brother.
"Uh… I said I wouldn't give him my lunch… He got mad… But I was hungry!" Timmy defended.
Avery sighed. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. Everything will be alright,"
"Promise?" Timmy looked up with big brown eyes.
Avery smiled. "Yeah,"
"Hey, you think you can protect your little wimpy brother, do you? He still brings his worthless teddy bear everywhere with him!" Avery glared up at the bullies.
"Leave him alone! If you're gonna hurt anyone, hurt me instead!" Avery challenged.
The bully snickered. "Okay," he swung a fist at Avery.
Timmy gasped and cowered as the bullies beat on his older brother. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"
The bully chuckled. "He asked for it." The bullies finished punching and kicking Avery and turned to Timmy. Timmy whimpered and turned, running. The bullies followed him.
Avery tried to push himself up, but he was too badly hurt. He managed to choke out his brother's name before falling unconscious.
Jamie felt sick. "This was the nightmare April was having…" he had a bad feeling it was taking a turn for the worse and raced after Timmy.
When he got to them, the bullies had chased him to a high drop off. Timmy whimpered and backed further to the drop off.
The bullies laughed. "Not so tough now, are you?" they taunted. "I'll take that," the bully reached over and snatched Timmy's teddy bear.
"No!" Timmy tried to grab it back, but suddenly lost his balance…
And fell.
The bullies gasped and horror filled their faces. They ran closer to the edge and peeked over, gasping. They dropped the stuffed animal they had taken and ran.
Jamie held a hand over his mouth, trying to hold in his tears. "So this is why April hated his memories…" he suddenly heard a crashing noise behind him. He turned and saw April stumbling through the trees. He saw the drop off and ran over. He knelt down and picked up the teddy bear, tears streaming down his face. He suddenly looked up with a determined look…
And red eyes.
Jamie gasped and sat up in the bed, tears filling his eyes. He grabbed the teddy bear next to him and looked at it longingly, hugging it to his chest.
"Jamie, you're the only one who can stop this now."
Jamie gasped as he heard the mysterious voice from earlier.
"He believes that you're his little Timmy. You're the only one who can help."
Jamie set his mouth in a tight line and nodded, wiping his tears and standing up. He was about to set the teddy bear down, but decided against it. He took a deep breath.
"Uh, what do I do?" he asked the voice.
"I'm here to guide you. The rest is in your hands…"
Jamie frowned. "Voice? Are you gone?" nothing answered. "Darn it…" he took a deep breath and opened the door, running out. He had some memories to find.
"Guys, we have checked twenty three rooms, obviously, he is near the top." Jack said.
"What do you want us to do, start from the top?" Bunny asked.
"Yeah, obviously our previous plan isn't working."
"Fine, but we should try to hurry." The Leprechaun said.
"Um, why do you want to hurry now?" Tooth asked.
"Well, something's not right with the kid." He replied.
"Wait, how do you know?" Jack questioned.
"Well, Jack you remember the four leaf clover?" Jack nodded. "I'm kinda connected to him until I fulfil his wish."
"What's happening?" Jack asked eagerly.
"I don't know, all I know is he was crying a second ago." Jack's face filled with anger.
April opened the door. "Timmy I'm back! Oh, and I brought you your favorite food…" He saw the bed empty and dropped everything in his hands. He stumbled back until he touched the wall. Anger filled his face more so then earlier and he stepped forward. "The Guardians!"
Ten minutes later…
Jack flew though the crack of the elevator as it was opening. "Finally! Guys I found it! Come on!" Jack opened the door.
"Jack, wait!" Jack turned and glared at Tooth. "Jack, I don't think it's safe to go in there. He is probably expecting us, the door was unlocked. It's most likely a trap. " Jack did think that was a bit odd, but right now, he had to get to Jamie.
"Tooth, you're not stopping me from going in. Are you guys coming or not?" They all sighed and nodded their heads.
When they were in April Fools Land, they heard a loud voice. "Who do we have here?" April mocked. "Oh yeah, the not-so-smart-Guardians. I already showed you what I can do, yet you decide to come into my domain. And you gave me all this time to set up. Hahahahaha!" April appeared in front of them. Jack dashed forward. "Try to beat me all you want, you'll never win!"
The other Guardians sprang into action. "You can't beat someone you can't see." He taunted, teleporting in North's face and tying him up super speed. "This is so easy!" Tooth flew at April only to spring one of his traps. "Ha, I guess the bird is finally caged!" Tooth tried to get free from the net, but it was useless. Bunny tried to be useful, but most of the traps were set on the ground. He was dodging them when April distracted him and one of the traps set off and hit Bunny's arm hard. Bunny yelled in pain. April took advantage of it and carelessly tied him up too. The Leprechaun ran over to touch him. "Not this time!" He yelled and threw a bat at him, knocking him out. He looked around at the mess. "Jack, you're the only one left, do you really want to do this?" Jack looked around hopefully.
"Where is Sandy?" Jack thought.
"I don't have time for this Jack, make your choice." Jack looked up, no longer caring if he hurt April, and shot a wave of ice at him. "Oh well." He shrugged, teleporting away. "At least someone can set off the rest of my pranks!" He laughed. "To bad your little Sandman isn't here this time to save you!"
"What did you do?!" Jack screamed sending out more ice.
"Aw, come on, now you're messing up my home." He laughed again. "You really thought I wanted that little guy messing up my fun? You Guardians are hilarious… Or should I say, were hilarious." Jack growled. April kept teleporting around Jack, laughing at his confusion. "Like you can win this! You're fighting me in my home!"
"You won't win this time!" Jack yelled while dodging another prank.
"Oh, and why not?" April teased. Suddenly they herd Jamie.
"Stop guys! I found his memories!" Then Jamie tripped on one of April's traps.
"Jamie!"
"Timmy!"
It all happened so fast, no one could see what happened. When the smoke cleared, April ran over to where Jamie laid on the ground. A few feet away was Timmy's little teddy bear that Jamie had kept with him. April went over and picked it up. He began crying. "It's all my fault. I did this. I couldn't protect you last time. But now that I had the power to, I still couldn't… It's all my fault."
Jack ran over and saw Jamie. He began to cry too. "This whole fight was for nothing. I'm so useless I can't even protect my first believer."
:P