As always, thanks for reading. I hope you find the next bit interesting.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Three Visits

I pushed open Jamie's window and drifted over to his bed. "Jamie," I said softly.

I had to try harder than that to wake him, but once he was lucid enough to realize it was me, he sat up and snapped on the lamp by his bed.

"Jack!" he exclaimed in a whisper.

"Yeah," I said, smiling and trying not to look obvious as I scrutinized his face.

"Are we going out again?"

"No... I won't take up much of your sleeping time tonight. I just wanted to see you."

He looked a little confused at that, but then he smiled softly. I guess I gave some sort of sign of surprise or recognition then.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just—you kind of remind me of my sister."

His eyes widened a little. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah... a long time ago." Stop being selfish, I told myself suddenly. Remember what you're trying to do. "Jamie, you remember when we got back here the other night and you were so sleepy... I was starting to tell you something about Pitch."

"Oh, yeah," Jamie said, frowning. "I forget... what was it?"

"I was telling you that he lost all his power because people didn't believe in him anymore."

"Yeah. I remember now."

"Well, you know how the Easter Bunny got all little and cute when that happened to him?"

"Yeah." Jamie smiled a little at the memory.

"That's kind of what happened to Pitch."

"Really? He's... little and... cute?"

I snorted. "Uh... he looks like a little kid."

Jamie laughed. "Wow. So, I guess he can't hurt anyone now."

"No, not really. But I was thinking... maybe he could start over. Maybe he could change his goals and start to help people instead of harm them."

Jamie was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Maybe. I mean, it's worth a try. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, that's what I think, too. That's why I brought him to see you the other night... 'Philip.'"

"That was him?!" Jamie asked, voice rising in surprise.

"Shh," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "You'll wake up your family."

"Sorry," he whispered. "That was him?"

"Yeah."

"I had a snowball fight with the Boogeyman?"

"Ha, yeah."

"Huh." Jamie frowned in thought again and then he chuckled. "Cool."

I ruffled Jamie's hair and he cringed away from my cold fingers, but his amusement lingered.

"You won't stop believing in him, will you?" I asked. "He really needs the support right now, and so far, you're the only one."

"I won't," he promised. "But you have to come tell me what's going on now and then."

"Yeah, I will. I should go now. I'm going to talk to North about all this soon—Santa Claus, I mean."

"He doesn't know yet?"

I shook my head.

"Wow... good luck."

"Thanks."

About to leave, I looked around the room and spotted a nightlight plugged into the wall, but not turned on. "Do you want this on?" I asked, pointing to it.

Jamie looked over at it. "Oh, I don't need it," he said, reaching up to turn off his lamp.

"OK. Still, it's nice that you've got it, just in case."

"Mhm." He smiled.

"Good night, Jamie."

"Night, Jack."

/'*

I stopped by to see Pitch after that. He was under his bed again, but as usual, he was not asleep.

"Do you ever sleep?" I asked. "I don't. Well, not when I'm here." That probably sounded silly. Pitch didn't know I could travel to another world, so he had no idea what I was talking about.

Sure enough, he gave me a baffled and disdainful look. "Why would you sleep here?" he asked.

"That's... not what I meant," I said. "But do you? Sleep?"

"What do you want?" he asked.

I was annoyed, because I genuinely wanted an answer to my question, but I let it go. "I told Jamie about you. He thinks you should have a second chance."

It was hard to tell what Pitch thought of this, but I'm guessing he was glad. If he didn't care, he'd have said something proud or sarcastic, but he just stayed quiet for a moment. "So, he knows I was the one with you the other night," he said.

"Yeah. He was surprised. But I think everything will be fine. I'm going to see North. I don't know if I'll get around to telling him about you or not; I'll have to see how it goes."

"Be careful. North sometimes reacts to things before getting all the facts."

"I know." I looked at Pitch's child-like face, thinking of who he used to be. "Pitch... do you remember the Golden Age?" I asked.

He stared up at the bottom of his bed for a very long moment, face still and blank, but glimmers of emotion flitting through his eyes faster than blinking. "No," he said at last.

I frowned. "I don't believe you," I said.

He rolled away from me, onto his side. "Go away."

"Come on, Pitch..."

"Go visit North. You're wasting time."

Time was rarely a concern to me, being immortal, but clearly that was not the real point. Pitch didn't want me asking about his past. He didn't want me here anymore, because I'd brought up something he'd rather have time to think over on his own.

I pushed myself backward, out from under the bed until just my head and one arm were still under. "OK... I'm going now." I waited hopefully, but he didn't move or say anything.

I turned and got up on all fours before seeing a large nightmare standing in the middle of the room. I say large... it was really pony-sized, but compared to the ones I'd seen lately, this one was large.

I lifted my staff, but rather than attack me, it dodged to one side and leaped onto the bed. I heard a little gasp from underneath and understood that the nightmare had come only to torment Pitch.

"Get away!" I shouted. I stood up and thrust my staff toward it, sending cold blue shards of ice at it.

Then the nightmare turned toward me, little icicles now sticking out of its shadowy hide like porcupine quills. As it reared up and struck at me with its hooves, I threw my magic at it, melding ice and snow with the darkness. A solid chunk of blue-black swirled nothing fell to the floor and broke in pieces.

I got down on hands and knees again to check on Pitch. "Are you OK?" I asked.

He had his arms wrapped around himself and he seemed to be breathing a little hard, but he nodded. "Fine."

"Do you want me to stay?"

He shook his head. "Go."

"O-OK, if you're sure," I said.

He said nothing more, so I left, but I felt guilty. There was no doubt in my mind that my question had revived fears in Pitch that had called the nightmare in.

/'*

I went to Tooth next instead of straight to North. I told her I'd confided Pitch's situation to Jamie and how he had reacted.

"I still don't know about this," she said. "But I guess I'll withhold judgment until we hear what North has to say."

"About that," I said. "I think he'll be more reasonable if you come with me."

From her expression, I knew she didn't want to go, and her words soon confirmed it. "Jack... I'm really busy here."

"I know, but if I go by myself, he might not give me a chance to say everything that I need to. He'll listen if you're there. I know he will. Please?" It wasn't the time for tooth-flashing, so I made an attempt at puppy eyes instead.

Whatever I did, it must have worked, because she couldn't seem to look away from me and she soon gave a little sigh of resignation. "Oh, all right. But we need to try to keep it brief."

"Sure. I understand. Can you go now?" (I knew it wasn't likely to be brief at all, but... I needed her to come.)

"I guess so. No time like the present and all that."

She left Baby Tooth in charge, and we headed off toward North's village together. I was nervous, but more confident than I had been for a while, especially with Tooth at my side. I knew she wasn't won over yet, but North was sure to take me seriously when he saw that she did.

"I'm not sure how much I'll be telling him," I said as we flew along. "See, there's another thing I have to bring up first."

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's about..." I glanced at her, not sure she would believe me. "...another world."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"I kind of got pulled into one," I elaborated, "and I found I could go back and forth pretty easily."

"That's big news to be sitting on."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure I had a grip on things first."

"Well, I look forward to hearing about this other world."

I nodded and we flew on.

I'll save the visit at North's for later, rather than wait to post when I have more time. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment. ~Jack