So here is the next chapter! Yay :D


Antarctica

Stella's POV

I flew after Jack, shouting his name. I couldn't fly as fast as I usually could, because of me being knocked out earlier, but the effects were already wearing off.

Jack landed in... I think it was Antarctica. He ran to the edge of a floating iceberg, going to throw his tooth box into the open. I landed behind him, a bit harder than I would have liked, ready to stop Jack. It wasn't necessary. Jack resisted, and brought his hand down. I silently walked over and stood next to him.

"Why did you follow me?" He asked.

"Because you're my friend. And I don't have that many friends. I treasure each and every one of them." I replied, looking out over the frozen sea.

"But-" Jack turned and walked a few steps in the other direction. I turned. "But you didn't say anything earlier."

"I...I..." I ducked my head in... shame? and let my dark hair fall forward to cover my face. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Sorry?" Jack asked in amazement.

"Well it's not my fault that you ran off and left us!" I yelled at him. Jack took a step back.

"I couldn't help it!" He shouted back at me. I took a deep breath. "And while I was there, I got this..." Jack held out another tooth box. I frowned, looking at the face on the end. It looked strangely familiar. Reaching out, I took it gently.

I examined it more closely. I had seen that face before. Hardening my resolve, I looked up at Jack.

"Well, you obviously want to be alone..." I let the sentence trail off. Spinning on my heel, I took off into the air. I was going to fly away, but I heard a voice coming from where Jack was.

"I thought this might happen." I immediately recognised the voice as Pitch's, so I flew over to a nearby mountain (which was conveniently covered in fog so I couldn't be seen), and sat myself down. I watched the confrontation between Jack and Pitch, nearly flying to Jack's help several times. I couldn't hear what was being said, so I silently flew closer.

"Very well." Pitch said in reply to something Jack had said earlier. "You want to be left alone? Done. But first..." Pitch reached into his coat pocket to pull out-

"Baby Tooth!" Jack charged forward. Baby Tooth squeaked as Pitch clenched his hand tighter around her.

"The staff, Jack." I stifled a gasp. That's what Pitch wanted to do. "You have a bad habit of interfering. Now hand it over. And I'll let her go." It was obvious to me Pitch wasn't going to let Baby Tooth go. But I could see that Jack wasn't going to take that chance. Jack, slowly, handed over his staff. Pitch twirled it.

"Alright, now let her go."

"No. You said you wanted to be alone... so be alone!" Baby Tooth squirmed a bit until she was able to peck Pitch's hand with her beak. Pitch shrieked and threw Baby Tooth into the air and down into the mouth of a crevasse.

"No!" Pitch lifted Jack's staff, and broke it over his knee, cracking it into two. Light exploded from the staff, and Jack clutched his chest as if in pain. I grimaced. I remembered how it felt when my staff first got broken. Now, it is no more than an ornament with great sentimental value.

Suddenly, Pitch sent a burst of Nightmare sand into Jack, sending him slamming into the iceberg wall behind him. I covered my mouth. As quickly as I could, I made a small bubble of air, cradling Jack down to the floor. I wasn't fast enough to keep him from crashing into the wall, so he was bound to have some marks from that. I only slowed Jack's fall minutely, because Pitch walked over and looked down into the crevasse. Seeming satisfied, he walked off.

As soon as he was out of sight, I immediately flew down into the crevasse, slowing Jack's fall dramatically. Jack alighted on the floor, and immediately rushed over to Baby Tooth, who was lying lifelessly on the ground.

"Baby Tooth! You alright?" Baby Tooth nodded, but she was obviously cold. Jack did his best to shelter her from the cold. "Sorry, all I can do is keep you cold." I smiled sadly at the attempted humour. "Pitch was right - I make a mess of everything." Jack lay down, devastated. Slowly, I walked over to him.

"You don't make a mess of everything, Jack." I said softly. He didn't reply for a moment.

"Why did you come back?" He asked, not opening his eyes. I smiled.

"I told you. Because you are my friend. My best friend, I like to think."

"Is that all we are? Friends?" Jack opened his ice blue eyes.

"I...I-" I stuttered. "I don't know. I was hoping that we were more than just friends... but..." I looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"I was hoping that too." I looked back at him.

"Really?" Jack nodded.

"I wanted to give you space, give you time to figure things out." Confused, I replied:

"But I didn't- don't have anything to sort out."

"But-" Jack shook his head and sat up.

"I thought you and Tooth had a thing going. That's why I didn't say anything."

"Tooth and I? No." Jack looked startled.

"But she obviously likes you." Jack nodded.

"Yes..." Seeing as Jack was daydreaming slightly, I did something I had never done before in my life. I leant forward, and kissed someone. Jack. Obviously. ng into the iceberg wall behind him. pain. f a were already wearing off.

Jack stiffened slightly, but returned my impulsive kiss.

We were broken apart when Jack looked down at his jumper pocket. When I followed his gaze I spotted a soft, golden glow coming from it. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his tooth box - it was pulsing with light.

"Stella - your cloak." I glanced at my cloak - it was emitting the same soft light as Jack's tooth box. I found my secret pocket, and pulled out my own tooth box. Baby Tooth had flown out of Jack's pocket, and now motioned to the box. Jack glanced at me, and I put my hand on top of his, reassuring him. With his other hand, Jack reached out to touch the box, but as he did so its top unfolded to reveal a handful of baby teeth - then the box and everything else seemed to glow bright with an intense light-

The walls of the fissure we were in seemed to fall away. I saw different flashes of a different time.


Children running playfully down a hill.

"Come on Jack, you can't have fun all the time."


Children's laughing faces as a familiar boy hung upside down from a tree branch.

"Jack, get down from there!"


A happy family sitting around a roaring fire as the same boy joked around with a pair of antlers on his head.

"You're funny, Jack."


Jack walked towards the woods with a small girl- his sister? A woman- probably his mother- called out to him.

"Be careful." Jack shook his head, as if he'd heard that a million times before.

"We will." He said, laughing.


And then-

Flashback

I saw a young Jack, but he had brown hair and brown eyes, standing on a frozen lake.

"It's ok. It's ok. Don't look down, just look at me." Jack reached down and removed the second of two ice-skates, leaving him barefoot on the surface of the lake. I saw his sister, standing in her skates, rooted to the spot. A spider's web of cracks emanates from where she was standing.

"Jack, I'm scared." CRACK! The ice below her splintered some more. She wobbled as it started to separate.

"I know, I know... but you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. We're gonna have a little fun instead."

"No we're not!"

"Would I trick you?" Jack's sister was fighting back tears.

"Yes! You always play tricks!" Jack chuckled.

"Well, alright. Well, not, not this time. I promise, you're gonna be... you're gonna be fine. You have to believe in me." Jack's sister paused, then smiled through her fear. And just like that, Jack's demeanour changes. A light switched on inside him, and he started to play. "You wanna play a game? We're gonna play Hopscotch! Like we play every day!" Jack's sister looked more relaxed."It's as easy as... one...whoaaa..." Jack showed his sister the first leap, almost losing his balance, but catching himself. Jack's sister laughed. "Two... three!" Jack turned towards her with his arms spread out. "Alright..." Jack reached down to pick up a familiar looking stick lying on the ice. He extended it to her. "Now it's your turn." Jack's sister looked down, trying to gather her courage. "One..." She hopped, wobbling, but caught her balance. "That's it, that's it... two..." She was almost there, just out of the reach of Jack's staff. "Three."

Jack's sister grabbed hold of Jack' s staff and in one massive effort Jack slung her to safety. But in doing so Jack got pushed back onto the cracked ice. He looked up to see his sister safe-

-and plunged into the dark, cold water.

"Jack!"

The scene changed to show a hole in the ice, descending into the dark icy depths... then the full moon appeared from behind the clouds. Jack's body slowly began to glow, bathed in moonlight. The moonlight got brighter and brighter. Jack's brown hair turned white and his bright blue eyes flashed open-

Flashback end


The walls of the fissure came into focus again, and Jack reeled back. Catching sight of me, he said

"Did you see that?" I smiled, nodding. "It- it was me! I had a family! I had a sister!" Jack was squeezing my hand. "I saved her!" Jack looked up at the moon. "That's why you chose me. I'm... I'm a Guardian." The moon seemed to shine a little brighter. I grinned up at my father.

"Jack, we have to get out of here." I said. Jack nodded, looking at the two halves of his staff. He bent down and picked them up. He tried to fit them back together, but nothing happened. I stood in front of Jack, and gently put my hands on top of his, smiling softly at him. I guided the halves of the staff back together, and Jack screwed his face up in concentration. I could tell he was using every ounce of his strength, but he didn't quite believe in himself, so I gave him a little boost to get him started.

As Jack gained in confidence, an icy blue light spread across his staff and melded the two ends back together. Jack grinned at me.

Together, we flew out of the crevasse, flew high into the sky and through the clouds.

"Come on, Stella! I owe you and Baby Tooth one."


Disclaimer: I don't own ROTG, Jack's staff, North's Russian doll thingy or Jack's memory.

So, updating again! I feel proud :D so what did ya think of my fluff-filled chapter? I was going to carry on, but I thought that was an appropriate place to end it. The next chapter will be the battle, and the one after that will be the Guardian ritual whatsit. So please R&R, coz if you do I will update soon!