Pitch Black swung his dark ax in a swift slash to the left, warning away the nightmare that had just about nipped him in the shoulder. Another nightmare reared to his right, its black hooves thrashing in the air towards his face. Pitch was forced to duck the powerful strikes, but not soon enough.

One of the pawing hooves clipped him a hard one on the chin, sending him staggering backwards onto the cold hard pavement. The nightmares whinnied loudly, their vicious war cries trumpeting the come of their impending victory. They gathered around him now, red eyes gleaming, nostrils fuming smoke, snorting viciously.

Pitch, in pain and disoriented, scarcely had the strength or the wits about him to possibly avoid what was about to come. The nightmares trampling hooves were pawing ever closer. Maybe they would do him the favor of knocking him out- putting him out of his misery.

He thought he could last until she came... He had thought he could defeat these fears. He had been wrong.

Darkness surrounded him, and Pitch closed his eyes, surrendering to the black, lonely void in which he knew all too well.

The next thing Pitch knew... Light assaulted his eyes, flooding the caverns so brightly it blinded him. The nightmares screamed as they parished where they stood, vanishing in the wake of such intense power.

Astonished, Pitch was forced to lift an arm to cover his face. And then, he felt warmth...

Not a smothering, uncomfortable warmth, no... It was a soothing, lovely warmth. It made him feel safe.

Then the light dimmed, and Pitch looked up.

And what he saw... Why! It was her...

"Wishing Star," he breathed out, hardly able to believe it. Had she been watching him? Had she known he was in danger and come to his aid? Suddenly he realized he didn't care. She was here... He wasn't alone anymore. She was smiling sweetly, and leaning down to kneel beside him on the ground, her long skirts flowing around her and her eyes sparkling and merry.

His heart lept within his chest in. But it was not the same kind of leap it made when he was afraid or angry. What else could it be Surely not...Happiness?

Yes, happiness, that's what it was. He remembered now. Wait, what? Happiness?! That was not possible! He hadn't felt happy in ages!

Eyes widening with this realization, Pitch stared at the Wishing Star in mild horror.

"It's alright... I'm here now," she whispered back to him, her voice like the coo of a dove.

"I- You- How-?"

Pitch Black's tongue was all over his mouth, unable to produce one fluid, single thought, and instead blurting out fractions of multiple ones. He'd never felt so illiterate in his life. It was embarrassing!

"Shhhh," the Wishing Star smiled, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Can you stand?"

Pitch swallowed, feeling stupidly out of his depth, but nodded and moved to gain his feet. The Wishing Star stood up as well, but Pitch stepped back to gain some distance from her.

Happiness was not an emotion that had come knocking to the door of his heart in an extremely long time... And he wasn't quite sure how to welcome it.

"Thank you..." He managed, once he was steady. "I must admit, your timing was very unexpected..."

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long after our last visit," the Star replied humbly. "I had intended to meet with you sooner, but I... Well... I had a lot to think about," she explained carefully.

Pitch swallowed, staring at her with expectant, almost hopeful, eyes.

"And... Have you reached a decision?" He inquired, his tone wavering on the side of timidity. He wasn't sure, after all, that he wanted to hear her answer. What if it was a 'no'? How would he handle that rejection? How could he proceed from then on? His schemes only went so far... And he wasn't certain how much longer he could keep scheming should he fail yet again.

The Wishing Star looked down, and Pitch's heart sunk. So... It was as he feared.

"Pitch, this is very hard for me..." Wishing Star confessed, now taking a step nearer to him. Pitch recoiled from her again, his small flame of happiness doused by bitterness.

"I don't want to hear it," Pitch practically hissed, turning away. The dissapointment felt raw this time. More raw then ever before...

"No! Pitch-!" the Wishing Star pleaded, chasing after him and grabbing onto his sleeve. "Please, you must hear what I need to say," she besieged, her eyes brimming with tears. Pitch turned to glare over his shoulder at her, but instead of a seeing what he wanted to see- a shallow, naive little coward- all he could see was straight through her heart and into her deepest fear.

She didn't want to loose him.

The realization stunned him. She was afraid of loosing him?

"Pitch, you must know that I do care for you-" The Wishing Star proceeded, her sweet voice breaking with emotion. Pitch immediately clung to her, desperately, hanging on her every word. "It's just that-"

"Pitch!"

A young male voice echoed through the cavern, breaking the tender moment. A chilly breeze gusted through the cave, suddenly breaking against Pitch with a powerful shove, and tearing him away from the Wishing Star, sending him sprawling to the ground in a clumped, black heap.

Jack Frost!

Snarling, Pitch regained his feet, spinning about and forming a long, glinting black cleaver from nightmare dust. Jack Frost spun out of the air to land in a tuck in roll, wielding his hooked staff with a savage look of agression upon his pale face. And coming just behind him, was North, Bunnymund, Sandy, and the Tooth Fiary.

So the whole gang had come...

Pitch immediately moved to protectively stand between the intruders and the Wishing Star. He would not let anyone divide them.

"How dare you trespass into my lair!" Pitch Black roared.

"Step away from the Wishing Star, Pitch," Jack ordered, "We won't let you control or minpulate her!"

Pitch seethed in anger, baring his sharp, fanged teeth in outrage. How dare the Guardians assume such a thing! It was positively- untrue?

But wait- hadn't that been what Pitch was trying to do all along? Control and manipulate the Wishing Star to play a part in his plans? Yes... Yes that had been his goal. So what Jack was saying was true.

Swallowing thickly, Pitch turned his head to look at the Wishing Star, revelation donning in his eyes.

He didn't want to control or manipulate her... He wanted her to be with him because she wanted to be... Not because he had decieved or mislead her...

But he didn't DESERVE her! There she stood, positively breathtaking, inside and out, her eyes glossed with tears of fear and her lips parted in worry. Worry for him. She was so good, so pure! She had come to save him, come to turn him on the right path! And he had sought to use her for his own advantage! The grief of his actions hammered into his conscience like a gavel.

He was guilty, on all counts.

Shaken to the core, Pitch clutched his cleaver tightly in his hand, indecision written all over his ashen face. However, the subtle movement was enough to put the Guardians on edge.

"I said, STEP AWAY!" Jack shouted, aiming his staff at him. It was Bunnymund who struck first, hurling his boomerang into the air, which spinning around, swung in a circle around Pitch and the Wishing Star. The Wishing Star gasped and ducked, and Pitch, desperate to shield her, moved to hack the boomerang away. However, as he moved to do so, a band of sand whipped out and latched onto his wrist, yanking him away from the Wishing Star.

"No!" Pitch screamed, furiously glaring at Sandy. He would not let them take his Wishing Star away from him! With a sweep of his cleaver, Pitch disintegrated the leash of sand from his wrists, but just as he got free it was North who began to attack him with swords. Pitch was forced to duck and weave, avoiding the blades, and getting a strong set of blocking strikes in with his own cleaver. All the while, the Wishing Star was shouting.

"No! Please stop! Please! Don't hurt him!" But her cries were not heard.

Just as Pitch had gained the upper hand on North in their swords battle, he was side blasted by a stream of ice from Jack's staff. It came so quickly that Pitch was unable to deflect it, and was pinned directly to the nearest cavern wall, frozen there.

The air was forced from his lungs on impact, causing Pitch to struggle for breath, wheezing, unable to speak.

"No! Stop!" The Wishing Star intercepted, rushing to stand between the Guardians and where Pitch hung, vulnerably from the wall.

She held both her hands out, and suddenly the cave began to rattle, rumble and groan.

An earthquake was shaking the cavern, causing massive cracks to rip through the stone ground. Jack, Bunnymund, and North were forced to jump, again and again, to avoid falling into one of the cracks, while Sunny and Tooth hovered to try and help. None were able to believe what was happening.

Then, just as quickly as the earthquake had come, it stopped. The Wishing Star lowered her hands a large crack splitting the rock ground between the Guardians, and herself and Pitch. The Guardian's faces were ones of shock. Glaring hard at them, the Wishing Star turned abruptly to go to Pitch.

With a single touch, the ice disappeared from the wall, and freed him from his inprisonment. Pitch dropped down, weakly, and the Wishing Star caught him, helping him balance. Pitch's mind was still swimming with uncertainties, feeling torn apart. He wanted to stand with her, but he felt so undeserving.

The Guardians fought for her honor, and for her safety. What was he fighting for? He had nothing to offer her... But here she was, lifting her hands to his cheeks and looking into his dazed eyes with deep concern.

All was still and silent, everyone speechless in the aftermath of the unexpected earthquake.

And it was then, that suddenly, a bright shaft of light shone through the cavern's entrance above. It was moonlight. It was the Man in Moon.

The ray of moonlight encompassed the whole cave, arresting everyone's undivided attention. The Wishing Star, turned the moment she felt her father's presence and stared up through the hole in the cavern's cieling, face to shining face with her sire.

She lifted her hands, her expression pleading.

"Father! I'm so sorry, I've disobeyed you. But I could not turn a blind eye to Pitch Black's desperate call for a wish. A wish to have a Holliday of his own, a wish to have a purpose! A chance to be believed in for something good! I looked into his heart and saw all he ever wanted was to be loved by someone!"

Pitch swallowed, glancing from the bright, shining form of Man in Moon, then to the Guardians. He wasn't sure how he felt about his private wish being shared to all of them... But he wasn't about to speak up and interrupt the Wishing Star now. He had no face left to save. Man in Moon was not a power to be trifled with... And he had no desire left to rebel. What point was there in fighting anymore?

As it was, the Wishing Star continued her explanations, her tone ringing out in pure sincerity, and innocence of heart.

"I answered Pitch Black's call, and granted his wish, giving unto him the Holliday of Halloween. I knew in my heart that he could- that he would change, and he has, remarkably so. The Guardians came here to defend me from him on false pretenses. They believed he presented a danger to me, but this is not so. Please show Pitch Black mercy, and grant him your blessing to proceed on this new path before him!" She bade, with all the love in her heart.

Pitch held his breath, staring up at Man in Moon with wide, waiting eyes.