Hi guys! I enjoyed writing this chapter 'cuz it focuses less on the sadness that happened before and more on JackXStarla cuteness. Yay for that.
THANKS TO THOSE THAT REVIEWED:
Jack: Thank you Melantha Frost for your review. Yeah. I know. It's actually pretty depressing around here without the Easter Kangaroo and Tooth.
North: Dear FullMetalCanine: It is true. Those are my curses. :) My specialty. Starla: Dear Amberflame805, thank you so much for your amazing brilliant review.
Jack: ZambleTheZombie, thank you so much for your review.
Starla: ZambleTheZombie? I wish I could've been there for you. :( And thanks for saying I'm awesome. I bet YOU are awesomer. :D
ENJOY!
PS. This chapter is dedicated to my bro, Jake, who shows me that it's not always good to be alone. :)
If Pitch Black wasn't my enemy before, he is now.
Starla thought fierce thoughts as she lay on her little bed in a random room in the North Pole, staring at the ceiling.
She had locked the door and just wanted to be alone.
Starla kept replaying the scene over and over in her head:
Tooth crouched over Bunny's limp body.
Starla flying towards her—almost there, her fingers almost skimming Tooth's bright tropical feathers.
Starla seizing Tooth's shadow.
Pitch yanking it away.
Starla letting go.
Staring at the half-dead Bunny.
Watching Tooth's violet sparkly eyes close slowly right in front of her.
Watching the yetis organize a candlight vigil for the Guardians like they were dead.
Hiding out in her room, trying to pretend the past hadn't happened.
Starla took a deep breath. I hate emotion. I hate feeling. And I hate that I couldn't stop what Pitch did to my friends.
Something crackled against her window.
Frost patterned all over it, and Jack appeared, crouching.
He drew a smileyface—their regular ritual.
Angry and upset, Starla got up, stalked over to the window, and scratched out the smileyface with the back of her hand, not looking at Jack.
Jack's brows furrowed. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Starla exploded. "No, Jack. I am not okay! I was—" Starla held her thumb and forefinger apart to how how close. "—this close to saving Tooth's shadow and I couldn't."
Starla threw her arms in the air. "I just couldn't."
"Oh." Jack sat down on her bed in his usual carefree way and traced frost patterns over the white walls.
"Jack!" Starla walked over to the bed and seized his forearm, yanking him up. "Out! I came in here for privacy, and I'm not getting any."
Jack crouched in midair. "I just wanted to make sure—"
"Did North send you?" Starla exploded. North was already treating her like she had broken both her legs and was missing her shadow, being gentle, as if she had been traumatically affected by Pitch's shadow-stealing spree back in Burgess. She couldn't stand the kindly behavior of the older man; she just wanted to be left alone.
"No!" Jack shook his head. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." His brows crinkled.
"I'm fine." Starla turned away sharply. "Leave, Jack. Just leave me alone, okay? I just want some space."
Jack leaned against the frost design he had made. "Starla—"
"Out!" she pointed at the door, looking fiercer than ever. Starla was glowing brightly now, but not in a good-feeling kind of way.
Jack didn't budge, merely looked at her.
"Agh!" Starla covered her face with her hands. "You idiot." She pinched the space between her brows. "You know what? Fine—I'll leave."
She started towards the door and grabbed the door handle. A beam of cold ice shot past her and froze the handle.
Starla gasped and took several steps back, startled.
The instant she did, ice beams shot out.
Starla tried to whirl around to confront Jack, but looked down and realized something horrible.
Jack Frost had frozen her feet to the floor.
Starla gasped, astonished that he could restrain her by freezing her feet to the floor like that.
Jack picked up his staff and walked by with his usual swagger. "Fiiiine," he said with a long overdramatic sigh. "If you really don't want me around, I'll just go."
He turned around, glaring at her in mock anger.
Starla, shocked, yanked at the ice holding her feet to the ground. "J-Jack! Jack, what did you do?"
Jack ignored her. "I mean, I just wanted to be a nice friend. Check up on you, maybe make you feel better."
"Unfreeze—" Starla began impatiently.
"But you just won't have it. You want to be left alone?" Jack turned.
"Jack Frost! Don't you dare—"
"Fine. You can be alone." Jack unfroze the door handle and went to open it.
"NO!" Starla cried desperately. "Come on, Jack, you're not gonna leave me here, right?"
Jack tilted his head. "Why not? You wanted to be alone."
"But not like this." Starla felt so helpless.
"Like what?" Jack pretended not to understand.
"Jack, my feet!" Starla hissed. "Unfreeze them right now!"
Jack waved the staff in front of her. "Say the magic word."
Starla facepalmed, but despite herself, she smiled under her hand. He knew just how to make her smile. "Abracadabra," she said sarcastically.
"Hah." Jack smirked. "You're funny. Nice try, Firefly." He turned to go.
"No, wait!"
Jack glanced back at her with those ice blue eyes.
"Please." Starla folded her arms over her chest.
Jack brought his face up close to hers. " 'Please' what?"
She closed her eyes and smiled slightly. "Jack Frost—"
"King of Ice and Snow," Jack interrupted.
Starla rolled her eyes. "King of Idiots, more like." But then she sighed. "Jack Frost, King of Ice and Snow, won't you please, please unfreeze my feet like a good little boy?" She made her best pouty face and clasped her hands like an old fashioned little girl.
Jack chuckled and unfroze her feet with one wave of his staff.
Starla shook her head. "Was that completely necessary, Jack?"
Jack bumped into her playfully. "I'm sorry. I wanted to see if it would make you smile." He crouched down, looking up at her face. "Did it?"
"Did it what?"
Jack was earnest. "Make you smile?"
Starla gave in. "Yes. But it was a pity smile," she added.
Jack laughed and ran a hand through his already messy white hair.
Starla sat down against her bed and leaned back, letting out a long sigh.
Jack sat down next to her. He turned to look at her. "Starla. Are you scared?"
"Are you?" she asked him.
In truth, Starla was scared. Scared for Tooth and Bunnymund, and scared for her own shadow, and children all over the Globe that Pitch was targeting. But she wouldn't admit it.
Jack shook his head. "Afraid of Pitch?" He snickered. "No." But his voice cracked.
"Me neither," Starla said finally.
"So what do we do?" Jack asked her. "About Bunny and Tooth."
Starla stood. "I dunno. But we can't do anything without stopping that vigil."
She threw open the door and marched out to where North and Sandy were holding hands with yetis and standing before a Tooth and Bunny monument.
Starla marched over there, grabbing an elf by the head and jingling him so the bells pulled North and Sandy out of their sad trance.
"Rimsky-Korsakov, Starla," North growled. "Vat are you doing?"
"We need to stop this vigil!" Jack said, appearing behind Starla. "And need to start figuring out a way to help Tooth and Bunny."
North looked like he was going to protest for a minute, then North finally looked at Starla.
"Your call," he said to her.
She blinked. "M—my call?"
North nodded. "Vy not? Do you have idea to get us started?"
"I have a basic plan," said Starla, shrugging. "It's pretty vague, and we could do without it. It's kind of like a kick in the head to get us started."
"Kick in head?" North blinked at Sandy, and then turned to her. "Vell? Vat is kick in head?"
"Here's the plan," said Starla. "We go to Pitch's lair. We get the shadows out. They'll fly back to their hosts. And we try not to get our shadows taken away."
Sandy gave a thumbs up.
Jack nodded his agreement.
North stood. "Guardians," he said in his loud voice. He smiled. "Ve have ourselves a plan."
Hope you guys enjoyed!
PLEASE REVIEW!
Jack: Keep Calm and Love Jack Frost.
Starla: Keep Shining and Love Starla!
Jack: What the heck? That's not even a thing!
Starla: It's a thing NOW, Jack.
Me: You little lovebirds. Love you too!
Thanks again, guys, and bye!
