A/N: Finally, here's the next part! Sorry for the long wait, I had to take that nasty NCLEX test, which is just as horrible as it sounds and about ten hundred times worse when you are actually taking it. I feel like there is no way no how to actually prepare for that exam and that everything I had done, all the studying and worrying and skipping work and what not, was not helpful in the least. But oh well, after 3 hours of nauseating testing, it's done! Now I just have to wait who knows how long to get the results. Ugh, that thought alone makes me want to hurl!

So yeah, sorry it took so long to update, but hey! Bright side: it's a long chappie! :) Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, it is much appreciated!

Oh, and for those of you who asked, last chapter when Jack wasn't dreaming, he was hearing all the bad things the other legends and spirits said about him, reliving it, to be precise. If you've read Broken, it's that little part with all the italicized insults. For those of you who haven't read Broken, well, that's what was going on, Jack was hearing all the insults people have thrown his way. :) and you should read Broken...

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Bunny rubbed a paw down his face and stared at the winter spirit who lay in the bed in front of him.

"Come on, kid," Bunny muttered as he crossed his arms. "Ya gotta wake up already."

But the winter spirit remained still in the bed, a small frown marring his features and with no indication that he even knew Bunny was there. It was frustrating, to say the least.

"How is he?" a quiet voice asked as North entered the room.

"Bout the same," Bunny sighed. "Least he's not screaming anymore. Think Tooth took care of that. But, well, he's not doing much of anything any more now."

North nodded. "Go take break, get warmed up. I will watch him for a while."

"Right," Bunny said, standing up. He cast one last look at the boy before heading out of the room.

"Ah, Jack," North sighed, falling into the chair that Bunny had just vacated. "You cannot make things easy on us, can you?"

North watched the boy for any reactions, but none were forth coming.

North sighed again in disappointment. "You are family now, I hope you know that. You have something in this life to come back to."

North blinked back tears, watching hopefully. But Jack remained motionless.

"Well, take your time, we will wait," North said, resigning himself to this fact. "But Jack, please come back to us." Because, I can't imagine life without you now. But North could not make himself voice this part out loud.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Bunny made his way down to the kitchens, hoping to find something warm to drink, and was surrounded by a worried Tooth, Sandy, and Phil as he entered the great room.

"How is he?"

"Valrug flishgu?"

A question mark floated over Sandy's head, his face anxious.

"Whoa," Bunny said, stepping back. "He's, well, the same as when you left Tooth. He's been calm, sort of, but no signs of waking up."

Sandy's shoulders drooped and Tooth's wings slowed, landing her on the ground.

Bunny sighed. "Look, it's not a bad thing, it's just, nothings changed yet is all. I'd be surprised if he isn't up and annoying us all half to death by tomorrow morning."

"You think so?" Tooth asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah," Bunny said, although he didn't believe what he was saying.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North had finally done it, he had crafted the first ice train that flew and now he was watching it fly around his workshop. He laughed and clapped his hands as it did a loop in the air, flying circles around his head. North shifted in his chair to watch the progress, to watch how it flew.

It was so elegant, so well made and sure to bring wonder to the children of the world. North smiled. He could just imagine how excited the children would be to see this little bit of magic.

The train landed once more on the icy track, bumped up and down a few times, then settled.

North grinned. The train was perfect.

Now, he just had to make a little adjustment to the track and-

A crashing sound echoed in his workshop, breaking him from his concentration and North attempted to spin around.

And promptly fell off his chair onto the frost covered flooring of Jack Frost's room.

"Wha?" North asked, sitting up and looking around as the realization that he had fallen asleep set in. The events of the past few days overwhelmed him momentarily and his eyes fell on the bed.

The empty bed.

North swung around, his heart pounding in his chest as his eyes fell upon the sight of Jack, who was making painstakingly slow progress towards the door.

"Jack, you are awake!" North exclaimed, feeling his heart soar in relief and happiness at seeing the teen up. "Where are you going?"

"I need my staff," Jack answered. North noticed how much Jack was shaking and leapt into action as the boy took another step, stumbled, and nearly collapsed.

Supporting the boy gently but firmly, North carried him back to the bed, once again marveling at how light he was.

Jack was protesting, squirming under North's hands as he settled the boy down, but he was much too weak to put up much of a fight.

"You don't understand," Jack pleaded, his blue eyes meeting North's and North felt his heart break at the fear, pain, and sadness he saw in them. "I need my staff, please." The last word was said so quietly, North wasn't sure he heard it.

He hesitated. How did he tell Jack that his staff was broken, irreparable? North looked down at Jack, who was sitting anxiously in the bed.

"You did get my staff, didn't you?" Jack asked.

"Jack," North said, figuring he might as well bite the bullet quick. "We can get you a new staff."

"No," Jack said, and North was surprised by how firm his voice sounded. "I need my staff."

North was taken aback by how sure Jack sounded of that fact and was momentarily distracted as Jack attempted to once more get out of bed, showing much more strength than he had had a moment before.

"Whoa," North placed a heavy hand on Jack's shoulder, preventing the boy from getting up once more. He didn't want Jack to hurt himself further, or tire himself out.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Did you hear that?" Bunny asked, ears twitching.

"Hear what?" Tooth asked as Sandy shrugged his shoulders.

"Voices," Bunny said. And he did. He could hear voices. Two voices to be precise. North's and, yes, that was Jack's. Without another word Bunny was up and racing to Jack's room, the noises coming from the previously quiet room growing louder the closer he got.

He could hear Tooth's startled yelp behind him, but he didn't stop to explain. If he was hearing Jack's voice, that meant, that meant…

Bunny threw open the door and peered inside.

"What's all the ruckus up here?" he asked before he caught sight of North standing by Jack's bed and Jack, Jack was sitting up, looking for all the world like he was trying to get out of bed and the only thing stopping him was North's hand on his shoulder.

"Jack, mate, you're awake!" Bunny cried out in relief as the information sunk in, causing Bunny to feel weak in the knees.

"Bunny!" Jack cried out and Bunny could hear the desperation in his voice. But over what? What was going on? "I need my staff, please, get it for me," Jack practically begged, and Bunny felt his stomach drop.

So that was it. Bunny glanced at North, at the sorrow he could see there, before looking back at Jack once more. "Well, you see mate…" but Bunny couldn't bring himself to say more.

"No no no," Jack muttered, looking almost frantic and it tore both North and Bunny up to see it. Jack was never frantic, he was always relaxed and with a smile.

"What's going on?" Tooth fluttered into the room, taking in the scene in an eye blink. "Jack, you're awake!"

She fluttered over to the boy and flung her arms around him, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. "We were so worried about you," Tooth practically sobbed in relief. "You've been asleep for so long, we thought you might not wake up."

Bunny smiled. Leave it to Tooth to put all their worries and fears into a few simple sentences.

"Might not wake up?" Jack sounded honestly perplexed. "Why wouldn't I wake up?"

Tooth shook her head, there were so many reasons why, how could she answer.

But Jack didn't wait for an answer. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Three days, mate," Bunny said, suppressing a shiver at that thought.

Sandy appeared in to doorway just then and allowed a relieved smile to cross his face as he took in the scene. Jack was awake at last!

"Three days," Jack squeaked out as Tooth finally let up on her strangle hug to get a good look at him.

"Aye," North said. He never wanted to think about those three days again. "You had us mighty worried."

"But why?" Jack asked.

Why? Bunny thought. Why wouldn't we be worried? But before he could voice his thoughts aloud, Tooth spoke up.

"Oh Jack," she said, voice soothing as she brushed her hand against his cold cheek. "It's your staff."

"Yes, where is it?" Jack asked as the others all glanced at each other, unsure of where to go from there.

Sandy looked at Jack once more. He had known the boy the longest and consequently knew how attached Jack was to his staff. The boy was never without it. Sandy knew what they had to do: they had to give Jack his staff back, even if it was in two pieces.

He gave a slight nod to the others and left the room.

The others turned their gazes back to Jack, who was glancing at each of them anxiously, pain writ plainly on his features.

Sandy retrieved the pieces of the staff from where they had left them in the globe room and quickly made his way back to Jack. Maybe there was something else they could do, get Manny to make a brand new one, or find another conduit of power, Sandy thought as he returned to the room.

He held up the two pieces for Jack to see, a feeling of deepest regret and sorrow blooming up in his chest as he reunited the boy with his broken staff.

"It's broken, mate," Bunny said. He didn't know why he was stating the obvious but guessed it was because he couldn't stand the silence or the blank look on Jack's face. He needed to fix this, now. For his brother. "We couldn't fix it. We tried, but we couldn't."

And admitting that was hard. Harder than Bunny cared to admit.

"We are sorry Jack," North added, nervous at the boy's lack of response as he stared at the pieces of his staff. They were failures, all of them. They had not only not been there to protect Jack, but they hadn't even been able to stop his staff from being broken, and here was the proof. He didn't know if Jack could forgive them their failure.

Sandy tried to catch Jack's attention, to tell him that they had tried, but it hadn't worked. To tell him that they could get Manny to make a new one, or find something else to work as a conduit of power. To tell him that no matter what, Jack was still family to them, and it didn't matter if he didn't have his staff.

Sandy was trying to reassure the boy that they wouldn't abandon him even if he didn't have his powers. He knew how important their new found family bonds were to Jack, but he also knew that Jack had a hard time with trust and had some interactions that had ended badly for him, and Sandy wanted to reassure him that that would not happen in this case. That Jack would always be their family.

It was the only thing Sandy could think as he took in the blank mask that had taken over Jack's face at the sight of his broken staff. The only thing Sandy could think to do was reassure the boy.

But Jack wasn't even paying attention. Instead, he reached out and took the two halves of the broken staff from Sandy, face still emotionless.

"Oh Jack," Tooth said, gently touching Jack's knee in an attempt to comfort the boy. It was scaring her that he had gotten so quiet, so closed off, at the sight of his staff, and she wanted to let him know that everything would be okay. Wanted to reassure him, just as much as she needed to reassure herself.

"We'll figure something out," Tooth continued, unknowingly speaking part of what Sandy had been trying to say. "Find you a new one. Or Manny can make you a new one."

She wasn't sure if Manny could, or would, given the fact that he hadn't helped them earlier, but she wanted to believe he would.

"Make me a new one?" Jack asked, snapping out of his emotionless daze and looking rather confused, which confused everyone else.

"Or could figure something else out," North quickly put in, worried that Jack would reject the idea of a new staff.

"Why?" Jack asked.

Bunny shared a quick glance at North as Sandy met Tooth's anxious gaze. Did Jack not understand what had happened here?

"Because it's broken mate," Bunny finally said, bluntly.

"So?" Jack asked.

Bunny was getting a bad feeling about this. Had Jack suffered brain damage from the beating he received? "So, you can't use it anymore," Bunny pointed out.

His diagnosis of brain damage seemed more accurate as Jack started laughing.

Sandy and North looked worried and Tooth looked down right alarmed.

"Jack, are you okay?" Tooth asked frantically. She wished she knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

"You really think this is the first time I've broken my staff?" Jack finally asked as his chuckles subsided.

Tooth bit her lip as North and Sandy shared a quick glance.

"Well, uh," Bunny stumbled, because yeah, they really did.

"Because it's not," Jack said.

Everyone's eyes widened at that statement, that and the casual way Jack was saying it.

"Is not?" North choked out.

Jack shook his head and looked down at his staff.

Tooth felt her breath catch in her throat as he brought the two pieces together. Sandy and Bunny moved closer and North leaned in. None of them were sure what was going on, but they all knew they didn't want to miss it.

They watched as Jack closed his eyes, a look of concentration marring his pale features.

But then the look morphed into doubt, shame, fear, guilt. Jack's hands began shaking and his breathing quickened and became labored.

"Jack!" North called frantically. He didn't want to touch the boy in case he made things worse, but he didn't think whatever Jack was doing was good for him.

"Wha?" Jack's eyes snapped open and met North's gaze, a haunted look in them.

"Are you alright, mate?" Bunny asked. That little episode had frightened him, it reminded him too much of those few short hours not too long ago when Jack was thrashing and inconsolable to all except Tooth's gentle voice. "You don't look too good."

And that was true. Jack, who had already been paler than usual (which is saying something) looked grey, with frozen beads of sweat on his forehead and a slight flush to his cheeks.

"Why don't you lay down, you can fix this later," Tooth said, gently pushing the staff down in an attempt to get Jack to settle. After all, he had only just woken up; she didn't want anything to happen to him now. Not while she had anything to say about it.

Sandy looked on, worried. He knew Jack, knew he wouldn't give up until he passed out or finished what he started. But he sincerely hoped the boy would listen to Tooth. Jack looked about ready to pass out.

But something didn't make sense to Sandy. Whatever had happened just barely was the same thing that had happened not too long ago when Jack had been unconscious. Sandy didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't good. And he wanted to know what it was. He formed a question mark above his head, hoping Jack would understand, but knew that if he didn't, Sandy could always ask him later. After all, whatever had just happened now, and earlier, was something that was affecting Jack, and Sandy wanted to help him to overcome that. That's what brothers were for, Sandy determined.

"Nah, I'm okay," Jack said. He met Sandy's eyes and Sandy knew he wouldn't get his answers just yet. "I need to do this, it'll help."

Tooth nodded and backed away just slightly as Jack closed his eyes once more, gripping the staff tightly between his hands. A few seconds passed before Jack opened his eyes once more, only this time, a brilliant white light erupted from the break in the staff and beautiful frost patterns raced up and down the wood.

Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and North all watched, stunned, as the wood knitted itself together once more. What they had all spent hours and days agonizing over, debating about, and despairing over, Jack had fixed in a matter of seconds.

No wonder Manny wouldn't fix it, North thought, recognizing the staff now for what it truly was, an extension of Jack. He didn't make staff, Jack did.

"There," Jack said, a smile on his face as the glow faded, leaving the group blinking spots from their eyes and staring at the now whole staff.

"Oh, Jack," Tooth said in amazement. That was impressive magic.

"Was amazing," North agreed as Sandy nodded and clapped his hands.

Sandy hadn't realized just how the staff was connected to Jack, but now that he thought about it, he should have. Regardless, that was impressive what Jack had just done.

"Not bad, mate," Bunny said, which was as much as he could bring himself to say.

"Yeah," Jack said, but his voice was soft. He was swaying slightly where he sat and though he looked at Bunny, Bunny didn't think Jack was seeing him.

"Whoa!" Bunny yelped, lunging forward and catching Jack as he pitched face first towards the floor.

"We've got ya, mate," Bunny said as Tooth helped him settle Jack back onto the bed where he didn't risk injuring himself further.

"What happened?" Tooth asked, frightened. Fixing his staff was a good thing, right? So why did Jack just pass out?

Images formed above Sandy's head, showing an energy level reading, the staff being fixed, then the energy going to zero. Next, the image of Jack with z's over his head formed.

North nodded, casting a worried look at the boy once more. "Then we shall let him sleep," he declared.

"Rest now, mate," Bunny said, though he wasn't sure if Jack was still awake or not. "We won't let nothing happen to you." And Bunny meant it. He would protect Jack with everything that he was. Because that was what a big brother did.

"We're here Jack," Tooth reassured the boy, she didn't want him to worry that he would be left abandoned.

Sandy threw a fist full of golden dreamsand into Jack's face, filling them with the best dreams the dream-maker could imagine. After all, he wanted Jack's sleep to be restful, and that was something he could help with.

"Now," North said, placing his hands on his hips. "What in world did Jack mean, not first time he broke his staff?"

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

And that's it for now :) I'm debating whether I want to continue this story now or not, so we shall see how I feel I suppose! Thanks for reading! Bye now!