When North arrived at the room and swung the door open, Bunny was already there. Lying on the bed was a limp looking Jack Frost, and North gasped at the sight of his pink cheeks.
'How hot is he?' he asked, striding quickly towards the bed.
'Too hot.' Bunny responded, and North put a big hand on Jack's head. He must have been at least fifteen degrees Celsius, much too warm for the winter spirit. Sandy hadn't followed him in, but he arrived soon after with Tooth as well- she flitted anxiously around the room, her face crumpled with concern.
'What happened to him?!' she said nervously, floating slowly down to the other side of the bed. She looked up at Bunny with her wide violet eyes and pleaded for an answer.
'I... I don't know, he just... Crashed through a window, landed on the floor, then suddenly flew up to the ceiling and came crashing down again. He landed in front of me, on his feet, then just... Dropped his staff and fell into me. Then I brought him here as quickly as I could.' Bunny said worriedly, rubbing his head and looking over his sick friend.
'You saw nothing before that? No fight, no injury?' North asked slowly, trying to calm the situation down.
'No, nothing.' Bunny replied.
'Jack?' Tooth tried to get his attention softly, coming closer to his face.
'Yeah?' he said weakly, looking at her with half closed eyes.
'What happened to you?' she held his hand, and nearly flinched at how warm he was.
'No... I can't tell you...' Jack replied with stubbornness. He shouldn't have come back, he should have stayed outside and let himself die so that the others wouldn't get hurt. If they stayed with him, the darkness would come again, and fear would seep into their minds too. He wouldn't let himself do that to his friends.
'What?' retorted Bunny, not understanding why he wouldn't tell them.
Sandy hovered over Jack and made a sad face with a question mark over his head, pulling a confused expression himself.
'I just can't... Okay?' Jack's tone felt angry.
'Are you angry about this morning?' North asked.
'No, no, of course not...' Jack turned himself onto his side as he felt the pain of losing another memory cut through him. 'Argh!' he moaned, curling himself up.
'Jack!' Tooth almost shouted she was so worried, and everyone edged in closer to him.
'No don't!' Jack shouted, coughing and holding up his hand to halt them. He created a gentle drift of snow above his head, and let it fall down onto him. It was cooling, but he ran out of power again and the drift came in short bursts until it stopped.
'Jack... You're losing your powers!' Tooth cried out, and tried to hug him or do anything but he pushed her away. She was upset.
'No!' Jack said again. 'No you mustn't! You have to leave... I'm just ill, I can get better myself. You can't be with me... I won't let you!' he shouted, and everybody was hurt. This wasn't like the Jack they knew, but they didn't understand that he was only trying to protect them.
'Jack, you're scaring us...' Tooth replied with genuine fear in her voice.
Jack was instantly on alert. If they were afraid, Pitch could get to them- he sat up and swung his legs round to stand up. The others asked him not to get up and tried to get him back onto the bed, but he refused and stood up. Slowly, he took one step then another, and on the third he fell face first into the floor.
'Seriously mate, what's up with you?' Bunny said while trying to help him up.
'Nothing, just a moment of weakness...' he shook the rabbit off his arm and stood up slowly, brushing himself down. He had an idea. 'I don't have my staff... It must be making me weak. Bring it to me and I'm sure I'll feel better.'
The others smiled at his acceptance of their help, and Bunny set off down his warren back to the room where he had crash landed. He looked around, and a cold drop of water landed on his nose, making him flinch and nearly fall over. He instantly looked up, only to see a large clump of ice frozen to the ceiling. It was melting, but strands of ice shot sideways out across the stone and icicles hung down. This was what happened when Jack couldn't control his powers. He quickly remembered what he was supposed to be doing and looked down to the floor. Jack's crook lay on the floor a few metres away from him, and he padded over to it and carefully picked it up. It no longer had ice covering it, and it was just a plain old stick with a curve at the end, not cold and not even slightly powerful feeling. Bunny tapped the floor twice with his foot and disappeared down the hole, leaving behind a little daisy. He arrived back in Jack's room to find him sat on the edge of his bed. Everyone looked up, and he smiled as he handed over the staff to its owner.
'Thank you.' Jack allowed himself to slightly smile, and everyone watched as his face got paler again.
'Jack you look better!' Tooth flitted excitedly and clapped her hands.
'I do?' he replied, holding his face in his hand.
Sandy nodded enthusiastically, some bright golden sand swirling around him because he was happy.
'Well then you can all stop worrying.' Jack said reassuringly. 'And stop being afraid.' he put emphasis on that last bit.
'Now you get some rest, and then you'll be right as snow!' North slapped his belly, and playfully pinched Jack's cheek, which the winter spirit did not look happy about.
'I'll be in to check on you later!' Tooth whispered, clasping her hands under her chin lovingly. She really was very maternal.
'Tooth!' North shouted from the hallway, knowing she would stay behind. She smiled at Jack and flitted out of the room, Bunny following behind.
'Bunny...' Jack reached out a hand, then pulled it back in. The Easter spirit turned around to answer to his name, and Jack continued shyly. 'Thanks for... You know, saving me and all...'
'Anytime, Frostbite.' Bunny smiled and left, closing the door behind him.