It's been about a month since my last update and so I hope you're all still with me on this story and I hope this chapter is something you'll like. Drop some reviews yeah? I think I'd like to get to 50 before I put up the next chapter. No pressure.

Fire & Ice

Chapter 8

I couldn't quite remember what happened next, but when I came to I was with Tooth. We were in the garden, standing in front of the Eternal Flame. She handed me the golden stones one by one, watching as I placed them in the flame. All in all I had lost seventy two sprites because of this fight, seventy three if you count the sprite Reyna used to free Pitch.

North had taken Frost inside, Bunny going off to assess the damage done to my realm. I sent Flicker and Baby Tooth off to go look after Frost, telling them to come find me if anything happened.

"I'm really sorry," Tooth said quietly as she handed me the last stone. I shrugged, refusing to meet her gaze.

"They'll be fine eventually. I have billions of sprites, this was a small loss," I said, trying to believe myself.

"Ashlyn, I didn't mean just this, but you know that's not true. Every single sprite mattered to you more than anything and I know how this must be hurting you," she said, sympathy in her voice. I glared at the fire, my hands clenching into fists filled with grass.

"You don't know anything about it, Toothiana. You've never lost a single one of your people, so don't pretend you know how I feel," I growled. She sighed.

"I almost lost Baby Tooth once. And once upon a time, Pitch had come along and kidnapped all of my fairies but her. Then when I lost her, I was crushed. I know how you feel, Ashlyn. Really," she said, her tiny hand resting on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

"They were all alive. They weren't with you but they were alive. My sprites have been slaughtered. Drowned and turned to stone. I don't think you know what that feel like," I said, closing my eyes. I stood up quickly, brushing dirt off my jeans and turning away from the flame.

"It's better to talk about it," she said softly. I walked away, back toward the palace.

"I'm going to check on Frost."

When I got to my room I sighed, seeing him lie motionless on my huge bed. The room was hot and I felt a small bubble of panic rise in my chest. I walked over to the bed, seeing Flicker and Baby Tooth sitting on either side of the headboard.

"Nothing new?" I asked. They shook their heads and I sighed. I reached out, lightly touching his arm. I recoiled when I felt his sleeve. It was warm. I bit my lip nervously, reaching out and skimming my fingertips across his cheek. It was warmer, and it felt as though he was running a fever. I swallowed hard. This couldn't be good.

"He's in a fire palace, laying in a hot bed, and he's in a sweatshirt. Oh this can't be good. How the hell am I supposed to cool him down here?" I asked myself, getting up and pacing around. I looked around, noticing his staff on the other side of the bed. I walked toward it quickly, grabbing it and jumping when I felt the shock of cold air. So the staff still worked? I twirled it, feeling a little like Frost. I tried to channel my magic into making the staff shoot ice, but nothing happened. Okay, only Frost could make it work? Not okay, Frost is unconscious.

I crawled onto my bed and over to him, the staff clutched tightly in my hand. It was actually kind of heavy, and I wondered how he could go around carrying it all the time. I sat myself down beside him, taking his hand and putting the staff in his palm. I curled his fingers around it. having to hold my hand over his so he wouldn't let go. His skin felt hot against mine and I didn't like it at all.

"Alright, Frostbite, time to freeze my room," I murmured, trying to make him make the staff work. I sighed, holding my other hand up and setting my index finger on fire. The tip lit up like a birthday candle and I closed my eyes, quickly poking his side. His body jolted, a shot of ice exploding from the staff and hitting my ceiling. The ice began to spread and I watched in amazement as the room slowly grew colder. It became a shimmering ice blue and I could see the ice covering everything. I jumped as the ice began to crawl up my bed. I faintly wondered if it would freeze both of us down, and so I used all of my strength to pick his heavy self up. I stepped on an already covered part of my bed, watching as the ice covered everything. It finally stopped when the whole room was covered and I sighed.

"If you ever wake up, you're the one that's gonna clean this up," I grumbled. I began to crouch when I slipped on my frozen bed, instantly going down. I was just glad we hit the bed and not the floor. I groaned as he fell onto of me, wishing it could have been the other way around just so I could have gotten off of him. I struggled to push him off, groaning with the effort. Flicker and Baby Tooth yanked at his clothes, trying to help.

If someone comes in and sees this, I thought to myself nervously, I am so screwed.

I finally got him off, rolling him onto the other side of the bed and panting heavily when his weight was lifted from my chest.

"Remind me never to do that again," I said weakly, Flicker nodding. I reached over and touched his forehead, noticing he was already starting to cool down. Wonderful.

A chill spread through my body and I sighed. I was cooling down too and that was not a good thing. I got up quickly, getting out of bed and rushing out of the room. I closed the door behind me, jumping when I saw Bunny and Sandy waiting for me. My hand flew to my heart and I pressed myself against the wall, trying to calm down from the surprise.

"Ash, what happened in there?" Bunny asked. I grimaced.

"I froze my bedroom," I muttered. His eyebrows went up. "He was starting to get heated and with him that's obviously bad so I used his staff to freeze my room. He's cooling down now. You're welcome." Bunny nodded, coming forward and pushing my bedroom door open. A cold gust of air escaped and he took in all of the frozen objects. I brushed past him, leaving without another word. I made my way to the entrance of the palace, grimacing when I saw the mass destruction that had occurred.

I saw North using his magic to fix things and I sighed. Going over, I placed my hand on his shoulder. Catching his attention, I shook my head.

"You don't have to fix this. It'd take too long," I said. He stood.

"Christmas isn't for another seven months. There's time, Ashlyn." He gave me a worn smile and I sighed, feeling the tears bubble up in my eyes. Heat flushed my cheeks and I sat myself on the cracked marble.

"Why did he do it?" I asked, bringing my knees up to my chest and folding my arms over them.

"He did it because he knew Jack would take the hit," North said, sitting in front of me as he placed down his tools. He snapped and a cup of hot chocolate appeared in front of me. I felt my lips twitch up slightly as I accepted the kind gesture. The cup felt warm in my hands and a cool breeze swept through the grounds.

"Why did he do it?" I repeated, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

"Because you mean a lot more to the boy than you can see," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"That's not true. He almost killed me, he refused to help me before we got to your place, and he only ever spoke with me once and that ended in us permanently freezer-burning a forest. Yeah, that must make me oh so important to him," I said bitterly.

"He matters to you too," North said, watching me with this knowing and calculating look. I scoffed.

"I owe him, that's it," I growled. "He saved me twice and tried to kill me once. I owe him one and that's it."

"Is that so?"

"It is."

"Then why do you care so much about him?"

"I don't," I said quickly. "I just care about paying my debts before I avoid him for the rest of my existence."

"That is not true," he said heavily. His Russian accent was comforting and it added to his voice when he spoke words of wisdom, but right now it was just annoying me. I glared at my hot chocolate, feeling the tears slip down my cheeks. It was my fault we were in this mess. I was the one Pitch was aiming for, it was my home he ruined. I should be the one he hit.

"I just need to know how to fix this," I said finally. "How did you defeat Pitch the last time?"

"We had help," North admitted. I stared at him, not quite sure what I was hearing. The Guardians had help?

"From who?" I asked, standing and brushing myself off. If they got help the last time, maybe we could get help this time.

"A little boy named Jamie Benet and his friends," North said, a small smile darting onto his lips. The cup slipped out of my hands and shattered. My breath caught in my throat and memories raced through my mind. North looked at me in concern, saying something I couldn't hear. It couldn't be the same Jamie Benet, could it?

Before I could take a second and collect myself, my hands were clapping together above my head and I was being carried away in a burst of fire.

I appeared in some kind of classroom, a hot breeze following me. I looked around, blowing my hair out of my face. Bored students paid no attention to their instructor and I caught sight of a student in the very back with his head up and his eyes trained on the lesson. My heart leapt up into my throat as I pictured the sobbing little boy from ten years ago. He had the same brown hair and bright eyes, the same pale skin and rosy cheeks. The answer to my earlier question?

Oh yes, it could indeed be the same Jamie Benet.