Sophie woke after a sparse hour of sleep, finding her cheek and the collar of her shirt drenched in drool, snuggled securely in Bunnymund's lap.

She quickly disentangled herself from the warm nest of Bunnymund's furry arms and legs, embarrassed at herself.

Sophie stared at Bunnymund. His feet were arranged in what one would think was an awkward position, his weight balanced solely on the balls of his feet and toes, his heels up in the air as a resting point to lay his thighs on. The stance reminded her of a monk meditating up on a post, and indeed, Bunny seemed to be in a meditative state by the way his eyes were closed.

They opened when he seemed to realize Sophie was no longer in his arms, the warmth gone from his chest and lap. The chill from her absence roused him from his hibernating state of consciousness. At her strange look, he smiled.

Bunny's smile struck Sophie as abashed, yet unapologetic. It seemed sad at the corners of his eyes where they crinkled slightly.

"Just like old times, eh?" he said. "I remember the days when you were still just a lil' ankle-biter, toddling around all over the place, wanting to sit in my lap and falling asleep on me."

"Sorry," Sophie mumbled. She was even more embarrassed now.

Bunnymund chuckled at her blush. "Never thought I'd get to do that again," he said softly, more to himself than to her. He coughed, trying to cover up his slip-up, but of course, it was of no use. She'd already heard, and he knew it. He remained just as awkwardly silent as she, which comforted Sophie, knowing she wasn't alone in her feelings.

"So…what now?" Sophie asked after a few more seconds of proper silence.

"What? Eh, well…" Bunny paused, seeming to ponder their next course of action. "Ah, well, I suppose we'd better get you home, shouldn't we?"

"Oh, that's right! My mom…she…" Sophie put her head in her hands, smacking her palms against her forehead and covering her eyes in shame. "I can't believe I forgot! She'll be worried sick about us…!" At "us," Sophie seemed to stop short, suddenly remembering her brother.

She let her hands drop from her face and looked at Bunnymund with tired, pleading eyes. "Jamie…" she grimaced. She realized her mother knew nothing about Jamie's condition.

"He's safe at home by now. The Guardians checked on his condition. He stabilized as of last night while we were having that, er…discussion. He's with your mother, waiting for you, most likely."

Sophie set her mouth in a look of grim determination and squared her shoulders.

"Then I'd better not keep them waiting," Sophie said.

Bunnymund nodded in agreement and stood up from his crouched position. He spun around and squatted again in front of her, showing her his back at eye level.

"What…?" Sophie sputtered.

"Grab on," Bunnymund interrupted. "It's gonna be a long ride, and I'm gonna go fast."

"Alright," Sophie allowed. She awkwardly clambered onto Bunny's shaggy back, hooking her arms around his neck as he dropped to all fours.

"Ready?" he asked, and at her approval, bound off into the dark of the tunnels.

"I'm telling you, Soph," Jamie said, ripping the bandage wrappings from his hand. He stared down at the clean purity of them. The word "innocent" came to mind, for some reason, staring at them. His hand clenched around them. "There's just something missing. I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to remember, but I guess that's sorta redundant, huh? I just—I don't know—feel like I'm forgetting something important. I guess. I can feel it nagging in the back of my mind, like I'm supposed to be somewhere or do something important and—hey! Are you listening to me, Soph?"

Sophie nodded. She must've had a dazed look to her eyes. Call it lack of sleep or anxiety for the things that were nearing or whatever.

She'd heard every word Jamie had said so far, but it pained her to do so. She wanted to grab him and shake him and scream at him that the Guardians had erased his memories to protect him, that he was supposed to be fighting Jack and Pitch with her by the Guardians' sides. But she couldn't. Even if she did, she doubt he'd believe her.

They were on the rooftop of one of Jamie's friend's apartments downtown, watching the sun set after a long day of catching up and explaining she'd been staying at a friend's house (Yes, she had made a new friend. What was their name? Aster. Aster Bunnymund. Yes, Jamie. The name's familiar because you were with us, talking to Aster's older brother, and you went downtown to get snacks with...uh…Nick, yeah, Nick. Anyways, Nick found you passed out. You'd been mugged. That's why we didn't come home, Mom. Yes. Yes, I know that's irresponsible and I know you were worried sick. Yeah. Okay. We will be very careful next time.).

Sophie had carefully hidden her injured arm beneath one of her too-long sleeves. Stealing your brother's sweaters did come in handy.

And luckily she was already right-handed and used her uninjured hand the majority of the time over her left one. Right now, Sophie was wearing one of her brother's stolen sweatshirts. Mittens were fitted over her hands, and because the ice had already crept up around her shoulders and ghosted over her neck, she hastily wrapped a bulky knit scarf about herself.

Despite the shivers that occasionally rained down her spine, Sophie was content there, sitting next to Jamie and staring out at the stout skyline, watching the night lights flicker on one by one downtown and across the countryside. The day out window shopping had been a good, relaxing time. They'd bought small snacks for the walk, but otherwise had nothing to show for their adventure other than the empty Styrofoam cups that had once held designer coffee sitting between the siblings, long ago discarded.

The silence was beautiful and calm between them, and Sophie closed her eyes and sighed, relishing the moment, wanting it to last forever…especially because she knew what was to come later that night.

"How are you?" Jamie asked suddenly.

Sophie turned to find him peering curiously at her, his brown eyes full of concern. "I'm okay. Why?"

"You just seem different." Jamie's brow furrowed, trying to pinpoint the exact change he sensed in her, but was unable to find it. He shrugged.

"I'm just…more in touch with myself, I think, as of late. Because of everything that's happened," she added quickly. "The important things have become clearer to me. Everything's been put in perspective. That sort of thing."

Jamie nodded. "You're pretty wise for your age, you know that? Always were."

She blushed, surprised at the compliment. She didn't feel sagely. She felt childish and small and idiotic. But she thanked him anyways.

The streetlamps flicked on, the sun long ago dunked under the horizon.

Jamie shivered and rubbed his arms. "Brrr!It got chilly out here on us, didn't it?"

Sophie stood and directed her attention to the sky above, searching for something. "Yeah…"

"Whatcha lookin' at, Soph?" Jamie's arm brushed her shoulder as he stood up beside her. He tugged at one of the tassels of her rabbit hat.

She squawked at him playfully and batted his hand away. He mimicked the sound in a high, squeaky voice and pawed at her with a limp hand, rolling his eyes up in the back of his head, maximizing the effect. They laughed at each other's ridiculousness.

"There are no stars tonight," she finally said after using a finger to wipe away a few stray tears and catching her breath.

Jamie nodded. "You're right. Hey, do you remember when we used to sit out at night and watch them appear one by one in the sky?"

Sophie choked back a sob. They'd done that quite frequently on cool, crisp nights, usually with a third member seated between them.

For that and an irksome feeling of tonight not ending well, she gripped him a warm hug that he immediately returned.

His arms were warm and safe and the material of his jacket and sweater cushioned her head like a cloud. Tears pricked at her eyes when the suspicion that this would be the last time they'd ever do anything like this again crept into her thoughts like a poison.

"Hey, Soph, it's okay." Jamie patted her back and rubbed it a few times before letting go, sensing her mood. He ruffled her hat over her head.

She didn't bother to fix it and let it sit crookedly on her mussed hair.

Jamie laughed, trying to ease the tension. "Your hair's gotten longer, but you keep cutting it weird."

It was true. Sophie had grown her hair out for a while, deciding after the pixie cut she'd gotten when she was five was not for her, no matter how many times she heard that honestly it had looked totally cute on her. The blonde locks were to her ribs now. "Those are called layers."

"Are you supposed to cut them yourself?"

Sophie blushed. "You always give nice hugs," she said, trying to change the subject.

It worked. "The secret is in wearing baggy clothes. Makes it extra squishy just for my little sis," Jamie winked.

Sophie's face flushed a darker puce. "Hey, Jamie, what do you think you're gonna do? You know, once you go to college? What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"Hmm…well…" Jamie stared up at the empty night sky, pondering his options. "Doctor would be cool. Oh, but paranormal researcher would be pretty awesome, too!" His eyes scrunched in thought. "Ah! I know! An astronaut! I'll explore the stars and all the galaxies out there! I'll bring you home some star dust. How's that?"

Sophie laughed, her eyes twinkling at her brother's outrageous promise. "Sure, Jamie. But what about the moon? Don't you wanna go there some day? Or maybe the other planets?"

Jamie crossed his arms loosely and tilted his head at her. "I thought that went without saying!"

"You could be all three," Sophie suggested. "I bet you'd be the best doctor-paranormal researcher-astronaut ever."

Jamie beamed. "You think so, Soph?"

Her response was cut short by a blasting gust of cold wind that had her and Jamie closing their eyes out of instinct to keep the dry, stinging air out. The air in their lungs froze, and they clutched their jackets closer as the wind whipped around them. It tore Sophie's bunny hat from her head and threw it over the edge of the building to the street below.

Just as suddenly as it began, the wind quickly subsided. Sophie opened her eyes, mentally sorting out and getting a hold of her bearings as she took in the scene before her.

In her immediate vision stood her brother, rubbing his arms, glaring resentfully out at the blank-faced sky.

"Guess it's colder than we originally thought it was out, huh, Soph?" Jamie said through clattering teeth. "C'mon, I'll grab your hat and we can go home."

But Sophie wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Her interests lay elsewhere at that moment.

"Soph? You okay?" Jamie asked, his brow creasing in concern.

A figure stood off to her right, hovering dangerously close to Jamie's side.

Jack Frost smirked at her. "Go on, Soph, answer your brother."

She opted for a glare instead, ignoring her brother's anxious questions.

Jack gave her a knowing look before pressing on. "Aw, are you just that shocked to see me? I gotta say, I don't blame you. I'm shocked to see him still alive," Jack nodded to Jamie. "Honestly, I thought I'd killed the guy. But I'm glad he's still around for me to mess with. No offense, Soph, but you're just not as fun."

He's just trying to rile me up, she knew. It's working, too.

"You almost did kill him. Look what you've done, Jack! He can't remember anything! He can't remember us all those times you spent with us, playing in the snow, at our house, at school, flying with you—none of it. He can't remember his own best friend, and if you don't feel anything because of that, you really are a monster, and I—I hate you!" All of the words, all of the emotions, the fury boiling her lava-like blood came in an outburst of accusations and scathing words.

And it felt good, letting all of that out.

Although, she would've liked to have seen the look on his face; she was too busy staring at her platform sneakers, unable to meet his eyes.

"Sophie?" Sophie lifted her head, meeting her brother's fearful gaze. His voice shook. "Who're you talking to? Who's Jack? Who's my best friend? I don't…I don't have a best friend…"

He trailed off, his face contorting with pain as he reached a hand to his head. "Think I'm getting a headache," he muttered through grit teeth.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced, caught off-guard as she watched a pale hand reach hesitantly, achingly slowly toward her vulnerable older brother as Jamie brought his other hand up to his skull, pressing on either side. They were white from the pressure, fingers pushing into his scalp and tugging at his hair.

Jack's hand paused, hovering over Jamie's shoulder, almost as if he were about to pat it reassuringly.

Jack's face was expressionless, his entire focus intent on Jamie. There was no threat in his movements. Only tentative curiosity.

Jamie jolted into movement, turning abruptly away from both her and Jack to face the sprawling view of downtown Burgess below.

Jack's hand melted through Jamie's shoulder and back.

It startled her, seeing a pang pass over Jack's features. His hand slipped limply to his side, his bottom lip quivering. He pressed his mouth in a tight line before outright frowning. His hands clenched into fists. He turned his burning glare on her.

In that moment, she realized that underneath all of the anger, underneath all of that bitterness and the dark intentions and the violence, the lashing out, she realized that he had shattered beneath a great burden, desperately trying to protect the pieces left like a cornered animal. He was in pain.

"So you did erase his memories," Jack said, calculative. His mouth twisted into a feral sneer directed at her. "But, little did your friends know, it's to my advantage. See, last night, while they were preparing for the attack, I snuck into North's workshop and stole his book from right under his nose. The book held information on being a Guardian, as well as undoing the oath. Breaking my oath by bringing harm to children doesn't directly affect my Guardianship. Instead I would only be given severe punishment. So that theory ruled out, I kept searching for another possible solution besides Jamie's or the Guardians' consent. And as it turns out, there's three ways to lift my Guardianship."

Sophie's heart was beating too fast against her chest. She had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going.

Jack's grin spread wider. "Oh, yes. Three ways. Imagine that! And here I thought there were only two." He counted off on his fingers. "One way is to make another Guardian release you of your service. The second way is asking your very first believer to deny the sincerity of your oath because of special rights privy to the first believer over his or her honorary Guardian. The third way is a last ditch effort. It's meant to save the Guardian when he or she is about to fade for good, where the very last believer lifts the burden of the oath and stops death itself from claiming the otherwise immortal legendary figure."

He paused, letting that sink in for her before continuing. His eyes glinted like knives as his gaze bored into her, finding and exposing all of her panic and fear, using it as fuel for himself. "I know you're the last believer, Sophie. I can feel it. You're the only one now."

Jack took a step toward her. Maybe his words should've stirred something in her—like pity or sadness—but she could only feel the panic rising in her throat and choking her.

"You don't want me to die, do ya, Soph? Let's make this easy on both of us and just—whoa!"

Jack jumped back, an all-too-familiar boomerang whizzing through the space between him and Sophie.

"You stole my book, Jack!" came a Russian-accented cry.

Jack twirled to face the four figures cutting starkly in their bawdy colors against the dull night. He ignored North's cries of accusation and instead turned his attention to Bunnymund.

"Déjà vu," Jack whistled. "Now that's nostalgic, eh, Bunny?"

The Pooka caught his weapon and narrowed his eyes, a low growl building in his throat. On his left stood North, swords drawn and pointed at Jack. On Bunny's right flitted Tooth, small hands balled in tight fists, ready to pummel the winter spirit at the slightest provocation. Sandy was surprisingly hovering overhead on his golden sand cloud, twin whips forming in his nearly nonexistent hands.

Guess he finally joined after seeing the damage Jack had done, i.e. Jamie.

"Here we are again, mate," Bunny said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Only this time, there won't be any holding back. This is the last time, Jack."

"Four against one? That hardly seems fair. I don't like the odds of that." Jack leaned lazily on his staff.

"You wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't run off and joined Pitch, now would ya?" Bunny snarled.

Jack pushed off of his shepherd's crook and stared evenly back at the rabbit, unsmiling. "I meant for you."

Black sand and shadows raced towards the Guardians in a flood of darkness. Jack alighted on a wispy coal cloud, watching the struggle between the colorful Big Four and the monochrome creatures of darkness, Pitch's minions. Pitch himself appeared in the fray, wielding a scythe formed from pure darkness and tainted dream sand.

"You said you wouldn't hold back, right? Well, we won't either!" Jack yelled across the way.

Satisfied, Jack tapped the cloud he stood on with his staff, freezing it to his tastes, airy sand morphing into a solid disk of black ice.

"It's funny how this black ice looks so much like obsidian, something that's made from something so hot and bright. Volcanic glass may be made from lava, but my ice is made from something so cold, it's a wonder it isn't so brittle that it'd shatter," Jack said absently.

Sometimes I feel that way, he seemed to silently imply.

He tipped his head down at Sophie, his eyes lighting on her frightened ones. There it was—those doe caught-in-the-headlights firework-green eyes, full of horror directed specially at him.

His gut churned at the thought, out of pleasure, disgust, anger, or maybe even sadness, he didn't know. And he forced himself not to care.

"Well, Sophie," Jack said. "It's just you and me now, isn't it? You're all alone. And totally defenseless."

Sophie gulped, paralyzed just like before in her bedroom. It felt as if iron rods were stuck in her joints. She couldn't move a muscle.

"That's the paralyzing fear working its magic," Jack explained, seeming to understand her alarm. He smirked. "It usually kicks in when the victim feels powerless. Is that how you feel, Sophie? Powerless to stop it all? To stop Pitch? To stop the world from ending? To stop me?"

Her breathing was erratic. She couldn't speak.

Jack reached down and yanked her aboard the disc by the arm. He spun her around so her back was to his chest, her arms pinned behind her back, kept in place by Jack's cruel hand shackling her wrists. His other arm was wrapped around her front, reinforced by his staff.

The direness of her situation seemed to set in, trapped like that. The adrenaline kicked in, and Sophie found she was once again in control of her body. She squirmed against Jack, crying out against her restraints.

Jamie chose at this moment to take notice of Sophie's distressed shouts, lifting his head to give her a startled look. After Sophie had quieted down, he'd taken the initiative to try and soothe his raging headache, deciding not to worry too much about her. After all, she was under a lot of stress and had been acting strange as of late.

But the position she was in, staring wide-eyed with panic, her arms behind her back…the image tugged at his brain, saying that he'd seen her like this before, and recently, too…

And she was floating. In the middle of the air right in front of him.

"Sophie?" Shock was a prominent emotion on his face, along with doubt and fear, and an underlying anger directed towards the cause of his fear.

"Jamie," she whispered, realizing how it must look to him.

"Sophie? What's going on…?" Jamie eyes squinted at her through the throbbing pain echoing through his skull. With every wave it felt as if someone were smashing his head in with a hammer.

And then Jack was whisking her quickly away, trying to get away from Jamie's horrified expression as fast as the disc and Pitch's magic would allow him.

"Sophie!" Jamie's older brother protective instincts took over, and he leaped for his sister.

Jamie jumped and caught her ankle, wrapping his hand securely around it. He grinned comfortingly up at her anguished face.

Jack unwrapped his own arm from around her, swinging his shepherd's crook to lightly touch the hook to Jamie's clinging hand.

"Sorry, but no hitchhiking," the winter spirit said.

Sophie shrieked.

Jamie's grip loosened as he cried out in pain. His hand was a bright ruby red, frost nipped (not quite frost bit) and smarting. Still, Jamie held on desperately. Sophie could see the muscles and veins in his arms flexing and stretching, straining to keep hold of her.

"Sophie," he groaned for his sister through his clenched teeth, fighting to pull her down.

"Please," Jack whispered, so quietly Sophie was unsure if she hadn't imagined it.

"Agh, Sophie!" Jamie cried out. His strength was fading, but he'd be damned if he lost her now. He couldn't lose her. Not her. "I got you, Sophie! Hang on!"

"Please, don't. For your own good. Let go. Please, let go," Jack pleaded softly. "Please, don't make me."

"Stay with me, Sophie!" Jamie huffed through his nose. "Please, Sophie!"

Sophie stared down at him, trying so hard to hold onto her, trying so hard to stay rooted to the ground and pull her into his arms, safe and sound.

She knew that ending wasn't meant to be, though.

So she cried. Tears ran messily down her face and dripped from her chin. Her nose ran like she had a bad cold, but she didn't care. Because if this didn't end right now, Jamie would get hurt, and she would never be able to forgive herself for that.

This was it.

This is where she was the one who had to let go. Once and for all.

"Jamie." Her voice hitched on his name as she fought to choke back the sobs that threatened to wrack her body in their intensity. "Jamie, I need you to listen to me."

Jamie slowly raised his head to look at her, his eyes squinted from the strain of holding onto her.

"Jamie, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but you need to let go. You have to let me go."

Jamie stared at her, dumbstruck. He began to shake his head in denial, both at her words and her sincerity behind them. "No," he said. "No, no, no, no, no. You can't, Soph. I can't. I can't let you go. I can't leave you behind. You can't leave me behind. We—I—you just—" He broke off, shaking his head for a moment longer before staring up at her once more with his begging eyes. "Don't do this."

"I have to," she replied. She was only half-aware Jack was watching this exchange between her and her brother. She knew not what he thought of it, nor did she care at that precise moment. All she cared about was Jamie. Her entire focus was on her brother and the new tears that were starting to cascade down the sides of his face. "You have to. Please, Jamie. I'll be all right. Trust me."

"Sophie…"

"Let me go," she said softly.

And Jamie squeezed his eyes shut in defeat. His hand slackened around her ankle, feeling it slip free, her skin grazing past his one last time.

As soon as he completely let go, he had the sudden urge to reach out and grasp her once more, to hold onto her and crush her to himself with his arms, safe from all harm, just at least once. One more time to say good-bye.

But his hand only felt empty air, a slight chill breeze brushing across his palm and over his knuckles.

He opened his eyes.

She was gone.

The song for this chapter is "My Last Serenade" by Killswitch Engage.

I'm sorry if the grammar or the speed is off, but I did this sort of quick and didn't really go over it yet. But I figured the few of you that like this fic have waited long enough. So here it is.