So did anyone remember Tooth making that comment once that she remembered Lights? Please review and make me feel all bright and bubbly inside? Fun fact: I was able to write a bunch over the weekend because I had the flu. Huzzah. So review and make me feel better? Please don't make me beg, because I might...

The hum of Tooth's wings was constant accompaniment to the age old argument being held between North and Bunny. This time the debate on whose holiday was better had been sparked by North proudly offering a tour of his workshop at its busiest. "You would not understand, Bunny."

For once, Sandy was attempting to participate in the argument, if only to stop it. He kept floating between North and Bunny, presenting pictures of friendship and peace – and occasionally Jack's staff to try to remind them of the impending visitors. Tooth was abnormally subdued; her directions to her mini fairies lacked her usual massive amounts of energy. Just the idea of this human girl, Jack's friend, worried her.

But she was determined to be friendly.

Bunny and North cut off mid-argument when a snow-globe-portal opened up in the middle of the library. The Guardians all turned expectantly.

Lights stumbled through the portal and stared at them all, wide eyed. "I should've let Jack come first…"

"Hello!" Tooth said, overly bright, fluttering up to Lights. "I'm not sure you…" She never finished her sentence because at that moment Jack came through the portal and rammed directly into Lights, causing her to stumble into Tooth causing the fairy to lurch backwards and nick Bunny's nose with one of her razor sharp wings.

"Ouch!" Bunny roared. "Watch it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bunny!" Tooth fluttered around him, somehow procuring a handkerchief and dabbing at the small scratch.

"I wasn't yelling at you," Bunny assured her, turning is glower to Jack. "I was yelling at him."

Jack grinned. "Hey, Bunny."

"Bunny, Jack, you make bad impression!" North boomed, stepping between them. The hulking man smiled warmly at Lights who was just then realizing how huge and… terrifying he really was. "Welcome to North Pole!"

"Whoa…" Lights gulped and nearly let out a squeak of fear when North bent and picked her up in a hug, planting a very whiskery kiss on each cheek.

Sandy drifted forwards next. Above his head appeared a picture of a sleeping child.

"Sarah?" Lights guessed, able to find her voice again. Sandy was extremely nonthreatening compared to the other Guardians. "She's all right, no nightmares since. Thank you, really, thank you so much."

Sandy smiled and bowed to her. And then Bunny came up for introductions.

Suddenly Lights found herself facing a wall of fur. A very tall wall of fur. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet the giant rabbit's.

"E. Aster Bunnymund," he said in a thick Australian accent, holding out a paw.

"Um, Alice… Rose," Lights managed, taking his paw.

Bunny considered her. "I thought Jack said you were Lights."

"She is Lights," Jack cut in, coming to Lights' rescue. "And could you all back up a few feet?"

His comment was directed mostly towards Tooth who was hovering extremely close, anxious to be friendly.

"Oops! Sorry!" Tooth smiled apologetically.

For the first time Lights noticed the miniature fairies hovering around Tooth. She noted that they looked considerably more birdlike than Tooth. And they were adorable.

Given a little more space, Lights was able to see the grandeur of the space around her. It was massive. Set in the floor was a pedestal with a large blue crystal which reflected the lights around it beautifully. And then she saw the globe.

"Holy snowflakes!" she whispered.

"Holy snowflakes?" Jack echoed. "Since when have you said that?"

"Since I've seen massive globes with lights all over them," she responded and walked past him to approach the observation rail. "What is that?"

North stepped up eagerly to play the tour guide. "That is Globe of Belief. Every light you see on that globe is a child who believe in us. We protect them and in a way, they protect us."

Forgetting her shyness, Lights asked the first question she thought of. "Is one of those lights mine?"

"'Fraid not," Bunny jumped in.

Lights looked concerned. "Why's that?"

"Lights… how old are you?" North asked.

"Seventeen."

"Your birthday is when?"

"The first of January."

"So you are almost adult, no?"

"Well, technically speaking," Jack pointed out.

"Hey!" Lights protested. "I'm millennia more mature than you are!"

"This is not question of maturity," North interrupted. "If it were, it does not take much to beat Jack in that category. This is strictly age. When you turn sixteen years old, the Globe does not count you as a child. Your light is no longer there."

Lights looked confused, even worried. "So, it doesn't matter if I believe?"

"Doesn't matter?" Bunny sounded as though she'd proposed the most preposterous idea in the world. "Of course it matters! Light or no light, someone who believes still believes."

"See, Lights, if people don't believe in us, we're completely powerless," Tooth explained.

"Then the Globe isn't completely accurate," Lights pointed out.

There was a brief pause.

"The Globe is… mostly accurate," Jack said at length, leaning on the rail beside Lights. "There aren't a lot of outliers. You might be the only one."

"Oh…"

The news was disheartening. Of course Lights knew most of the kids her age, at least at her school, didn't believe in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, or Jack Frost but she'd never considered that hardly anyone else did. Why then, should it be so surprising to her? Just the same as it would be surprising for her to learn that none of these legendary figures were real; because she wasn't one to believe in negative alternatives.

"I think it time for grand tour," North boomed.

North absolutely loved Lights, Jack could see. And it was easy to see why. Lights had the perfect reactions to every aspect of the workshop North showed her. She found the yetis impressive, the elves delightful, and the toys incredible. It was difficult to decide whose eyes were filled with more wonder, North's or Lights'.

The tour ended in North's office where a squadron of elves were painting Christmas ornaments in the style of Easter eggs, being led by a curiously multi-colored elf.

"Aw! Shoo!" North scolded, waving his hands at them. "You disappoint Christmas!"

Lights giggled and kneeled down to get a better look at the elves. The multi-colored one brought forth his ornament for Lights to inspect. Except it wasn't an ornament. It was an egg. An egg that had two tiny, twiglike legs.

"That's… different," Lights commented.

"Still think Christmas is so much better than Easter, mate? 'Cause your elves don't." Bunny was smug. And determined to count this little incident as a victory.

"Um, North?" Tooth asked. She was being careful to not offend anyone. "Shouldn't we have our meeting to discuss the crystal and the event Jack saw?"

North chuckled and clapped a massive hand on Tooth's tiny shoulder. "Ah, yes. You keep me in line, Tooth. We'll go back to the library now. There we will talk. But first, Jack, I want you to take Lights to see the reindeer."

"Aren't they kind of… vicious?" Jack asked.

"Vicious? Bah!" North gave a deep, full belly laugh. "They have spirit!"

"Yeah," Jack cast a glance at Lights who gave him a small smile. "Spirit. Sure."

"So do you spend a lot of time here?" Lights asked as she followed Jack through the workshop. She couldn't help but notice that some of the yetis seemed to know who Jack was (judging by their grunting and threatening gestures).

"Well, recently yeah. This is the Guardian Headquarters in a sense," he explained. "Besides, this place is pretty awesome."

She laughed and ducked one of the flying contraptions that was circling the base of the Globe. "Understatement of the year!"

Jack shot her a smile. "Glad you like it."

"It's not like it's a complement to you."

"Do you know what is a complement to me?" he asked and then answered his question without giving her a chance. "'Holy snowflakes.'"

Lights blushed and refused to answer him. Instead, she pointedly turned to look at the numerous toys being made by the yetis. Jack stopped walking in front of her.

"So now you're gonna ignore me?" he teased. "Don't you want to see what other surprises this place has?"

She was terrible at fighting the smile that played at the corners of her mouth. "Yes!" she cried and gave him a playful shove to get moving.

"Holy snowflakes…"

"That's the second time now," he felt the need to point out.

Lights wasn't listening to him, she was entirely distracted by the reindeer who had all peeked their heads out of their stalls when they'd heard people approaching. She walked up to the nearest one and reached out her hand. Jack was about to warn her to be careful when the animal lowered its head and allowed her to place her small hand on its velvety nose.

"Okay, so they like you."

She still wasn't paying attention to him, utterly absorbed with the creature. "They're amazing!"

The reindeer snorted and tossed its head proudly.

"I think he understood you," Jack said, amused.

"Do you know what his name is?" she asked, scratching the reindeer's neck.

Jack pointed above the stall where a nameplate was bolted. "I'm going to have to guess his name's Dmitri."

"Dmitri. Not what I expected."

"Were you expecting eight reindeer with stereotypical names, including Rudolf?" Jack moved to the reindeer's other side to scratch behind his ears. He huffed threateningly at Jack.

"Maybe…"

A bright flash of color in the corner of Jack's eye drew his attention to Baby Tooth who was gesturing back towards the stable door. "Hey, Baby Tooth. Meeting's started?"

She squeaked in confirmation.

"C'mon, Lights."

"You know, I don't think you'll need me at your meeting," she said with her eyes on the other reindeer she hadn't had a chance to meet yet. "I'll just stay here. I mean, I'm not a Guardian anyways."

Jack didn't see any reason to argue with her, so he followed Baby Tooth back to North's library where the other Guardians waited gathered around the crystal.

"… anything like this before?" Tooth was asking when Jack arrived.

"Never," North answered her. "It has been like this for two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Bunny echoed. "You're saying this has been acting weird for two weeks and you didn't bother to let us know before tonight?"

"Bunny, I know you are not busy now but I do not have time to have unexpected guests." Yet another gibe about holidays.

Sandy started up his usual game of charades.

"You think it has something to do with the Man in the Moon?" Tooth guessed.

"Of course it has to do with Manny!" North stated. "Who else could it be?"

"Well are we really gonna find anything out about this by arguing?" Bunny demanded. "Every other time we've seen the crystal it's been because the Man in the Moon's chosen a new Guardian and last time it was this gumbie." He pointed to Jack. "So if it's to pick a new Guardian, why hasn't he chosen yet?"

More charades from Sandy.

"You think that maybe the Man in the Moon thinks we'll need another Guardian but hasn't picked one yet?" Tooth interpreted.

Sandy nodded vigorously.

"Is that possible?" Jack asked. "Would he do that?"

"Man in Moon does many things," North answered. "And we do not always know why."

"So let's focus on what we do know," Bunny suggested. "We know that Pitch is back and that now he's got these crazy skeletons riding around on his Nightmares."

Tooth shuddered and Sandy made a disgusted face.

"Why would Pitch have skeletons?" Tooth asked. Her mini fairies seemed to agree with her.

"Because he's bored of the horse angle?" Jack suggested, taking a seat on a nearby table. "Does anyone know why Pitch does anything?"

"It was good question, Jack," North interjected. "Tooth is right. We must find out why the skeletons."

"Well Pitch knows we know about the skeletons," Bunny mentioned. "Jack said it saw them."

Sandy displayed a picture of a skeleton and then two figures.

"Yeah," Bunny answered the unspoken question. "It saw them. Jack and Lights."

Tooth's feathers fluffed. "It saw Lights? With you?"

Jack couldn't explain why he suddenly felt guilty, just that he did. "I wasn't just going to leave her in the dark in the mountains!"

"Jack!" she cried in distress. "Don't you see what this means? Pitch wants to get revenge on us. Last time he held a grudge for two hundred years and this time we didn't just capture him; we sent his own fearlings against him! And you helped!"

"Ya did more than help, mate."

"Exactly!" Tooth continued. "He'll be after you now!"

"I don't see how any of this has to do with Lights?"

North stepped in at that point. "It has to do with Lights because Pitch will use her to get to you."

Jack narrowed his eyes at all of them. "You really think Pitch will be able to make Lights take his side? You don't know Lights at all."

"No, Jack. Pitch would try to hurt her to get back at you." Silence met Tooth's words.

"B-but there, there has to be something we can do!" Jack protested after a moment. He gazed wildly around at all of the Guardians. "What if, what if I stayed away from her?"

"Pitch already knows about her, Jack," Tooth said quietly.

"The more you are seen with her, the greater danger she is in," North told him. "But the more she is alone, the greater the danger."

"So what you're saying is the more I'm with Lights, the more Pitch will want to go after her but when I'm not around her, the better opportunity he has?"

Sandy moved forward to draw attention to himself. The images of a girl, the Guardian symbol, Pitch, a shield, and several others flashed quickly above him.

"Sandy's right," Bunny said in a very decisive tone.

Jack stared blankly at the giant rabbit. "Mind translating?"

"What if there was just always a Guardian with Lights? To keep an eye on her?"

"I can do that." Jack wasn't entirely sure why he was getting defensive. He knew he could protect Lights. It was as if they were implying he couldn't.

Tooth shook her head. "You can't be with her all the time, Jack. You have… responsibilities."

Bunny scoffed. "Responsibilities. He wouldn't know what a responsibility was if it came up and introduced itself."

"Watch it, Kangaroo," Jack warned.

Bunny's ears were flat to his skull. "What did you call me?"

"Jack, Bunny," North scolded, once more preventing a fight between the two. "Again, Tooth is right. Jack cannot always be with Lights. We will take turns. Bunny has nothing to do, he can have first shift."

"Oh so just because it's not Easter, you just assume I have nothing to do and I'm free to babysit the overgrown ankle biter!"

Jack's gaze fell on Baby Tooth. "What if we just had someone to keep an eye on her? Someone who can let us know the moment there's trouble?"

"And who does he have in mind?" Bunny asked Tooth, refusing to speak to North or Jack.

"Baby Tooth," Jack answered, making eye contact with the mini fairy with the golden feather. "If she's willing."

Baby Tooth zoomed forward, obviously eager to help in whatever way she could.

Tooth hesitated for a moment. "As long as it's all right with Lights."

"Where is Lights?" North asked, looking around and not finding the human girl anywhere. "You did not lose her?"

"C'mon, North. I can keep track of one girl," Jack said with a tone that dripped with obviously faked offense. "She wanted to stay with the reindeer."

Seeing an opportunity, Tooth took it. "I'll go get her." And before anyone could argue with her, Tooth sped away to find Lights.

She was still in the stable when Tooth found her, having discovered the two little reindeer fawns.

"They're adorable," Tooth said by way of announcing herself.

Lights jumped but smiled when she saw the fairy. "They really are."

Tooth stared openly at the teenage girl before her, wondering if it were possible that Lights could remember her. She decided the best way to find out was to simply ask.

"Do you remember me?" Tooth asked.

Lights looked completely taken aback by the question. "You mean from when Sarah had the nightmare?"

The fairy shook her feathered head. "No, before that. You were very young," she added as a hint.

Now it was Lights' turn to shake her head. "I'm sorry but I don't."

"I guess you were only, what?, four years old at the time."

Lights suddenly looked at Tooth with new intensity. "I was four?"

Tooth nodded.

"Will, will you tell me about it?" Lights asked quietly, pulling one of the reindeer fawns onto her lap in preparation for story time.

Tooth was very much aware that telling the story was no longer optional at this point.

"The accident that killed your parents, do you know much about it?" Tooth began.

Lights closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. This wasn't how she'd anticipated the story going. "Some. I know I was there. We were on our way home from eating out – I don't even remember what restaurant – for my birthday. Well, it was a couple days before my birthday because my dad had to work on my birthday so we were celebrating early. I was in the backseat and it was a head-on collision. They both… they…" She paused to clear her throat. "But I was okay."

Tooth landed in front of Lights on the ground, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You lost a tooth that night. Your right central incisor. When one of my fairies brought it back, she told me about what happened. I went to the hospital that night."

Lights stared at Tooth in wonder.

"You were having trouble sleeping so I just stayed there with you." Tooth gave her a teary smile. "I remember thinking then how brave you were, how sure you were of there being good things in the world, even when you'd just lost everything as a child. I didn't leave your side for four days."

Lights wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm sorry I don't remember it. That was the kindest thing anyone's ever done for me." She moved the reindeer aside and hugged Tooth tightly, letting her tears get lost in those jewel bright feathers.

"I lost my parents, too," Tooth said quietly, pulling back so that she could see Lights' eyes. "It was a long time ago, but I understand. That's why I felt like I should be there for you, when you were young." She tucked a lock of Lights' hair behind her ear, picturing the frightened yet brave child she had first met. "Your parents would be proud of you, Lights."

When Tooth brought Lights back, they both seemed unusually subdued, at least at first. Jack seemed to be the only one to notice the change, but he kept his observations to himself. By this time, it was getting extremely late and Lights would have to leave soon.

"You will leave now," North said, "but you will come back, no? And soon!"

Lights smiled at him. "Maybe next weekend?" she suggested.

"One night?" North asked. "No, is not enough time to truly see the wonder of the Pole."

Lights laughed to herself softly as she looked around the library. "Maybe I'll just get 'lost' over Christmas break…"

"I like that idea," Jack chimed in.

Lights hit him.

"Idea!" North shouted, pointing at Lights who went cross eyed staring at the finger less than an inch away from her nose. "We will write letter to the orphanage saying you have won big fancy trip for the holidays and then, you come here! And!" He looked absolutely thrilled with his own idea. "You will come in the sleigh, Christmas Eve, and help me, in exchange."

Lights stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Her joking suggestion had just formed itself into a plausible reality. How did that happen? "Deal."

"But now, you must go." North picked her up in another bone-crushing hug. "It was a pleasure, Lights. Come back every time you are free." He then set her down, ruffled her hair, and went back to his work. The entire library seemed to vibrate with his footsteps.

"G'day, mate," Bunny said, with a cordial nod in her direction before tapping the floor twice with one of his hind paws to create a tunnel which he promptly jumped through.

"Does he always do that?" Lights whispered to Jack, more than a little amazed.

Jack laughed. "Bunny doesn't really follow the rules of physics."

"Do any of you?"

Sandy made a tiny dragon out of Dreamsand which flew up to Lights and circled her head before soaring off. When she turned back from following its path with her eyes, the little man was gone.

"Goodbye, Lights," Tooth said, smiling gently. "It really was nice to see you again."

"Bye, Tooth."

Okay, Jack had to admit he was a little surprised when the human girl hugged the fairy. Or maybe more than a little but, whatever.

Now it was Jack's turn to say goodbye, since he was the last Guardian left. Well, aside from Baby Tooth whose supervision Lights had agreed to. Baby Tooth hovered near Jack's right ear, still a little cautious about Lights.

"Well," Jack said dramatically. "I guess this is goodbye, kiddo."

Lights caught onto his tone and ignored the "kiddo" comment. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe," he said vaguely, "someday."

Lights lost it. She laughed brightly and hugged him. "So same time next week?"

Jack jokingly shoved her off of him. "What happened to your aversion to people?"

She ignored him. "Same time next week?" she repeated.

Jack couldn't resist ruffling her already ruffled hair. "If not sooner."

Tooth had been waiting for Jack. It was obvious now that the situation was more serious than she'd realized and she couldn't help but worry about her friend. He was just bound to get himself hurt and she didn't ever want to see anyone she cared about go through that pain. So when she saw him, she cut immediately to the chase.

"Jack," she said, "I don't think you should see Lights anymore."

Jack was too surprised to say anything.

"Not because you'll put her in danger. Just," she held her hands up when he opened his mouth to speak, "let me finish. She's a human, Jack. She'll grow up eventually and she'll stop believing in you. And you'll still be able to see her but she'll just think you were only some figment of her imagination she dreamed up-"

"I will make her keep believing if I have to," he growled.

"Fine, Jack. But what happens when she dies?" Tooth demanded, bristling. "What happens when she ages and slowly fades out of the world and all you can do is watch? Or even before that? What happens when she becomes an adult and she can't just pick up and go running around the world with you? When she doesn't have time for you anymore? It'd be hard enough if she were just your friend…"

"Just my friend?" Jack asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I just meant…" She fidgeted. "You never brought Jamie here!"

"Lights is my friend, Tooth. And I'm not going to abandon her just because someday I might-" He broke off and glared at her. "She is my friend."

Tooth watched him go with an uneasy feeling. What had she done?