Chapter Fourteen

Once everyone was awake and ready to go again, they met in the room with the giant globe. Santa had a yeti get a little table for them and Jack had put his staff on top of it. They were going to figure out this staff thing, even if they just had to sit here and examine it.

Sandy was falling back asleep as he just stood there, and Jack was the most entranced into his staff. His eyes wandered up and down it, he even poked at the icy black stick with his index finger. After five minutes of nothing happening, Bunnymund sighed deeply.

"This obviously isn't going to work. We need to do something else," the rabbit suggested.

"You're right," Jack agreed.

The moon was still out which meant Jack wasn't in his Dark Jack state, so happily agreeing with Bunnymund always came as a surprise to the rabbit. He'd probably tease him about it when they got Jack back to normal.

"Before we do anything else," Santa interrupted. "I have something for everyone!"

Santa looked back at the yeti who had brought the table in, and he motioned for him to bring him something. The yeti grabbed a little red bag and started pulling out what looked liked watches to hand to everyone.

"These are tracking devices to wear on your wrist. Just in case we get separated again. They are disguised to look like watches so nobody else will notice," Santa explained as they all got one.

They all had their own color. Jack's was a light blue, Bunnymund's was a pastel pink, Tooth's was green, Sandy's was gold, Santa's was red, and Jamie's was just a plain black. Everyone latched theirs on to their wrist. The watch looked weird on Bunnymund, Sandy, and Tooth but they were not going to complain. This was actually a good idea and hopefully it'll work.

Jamie put his focus back onto the staff and he noticed something about it. There was still a spot that wasn't completely black from when Pitch had it.

"Hey guys, look at this," Jamie tells them all.

They all look closely to where Jamie had pointed and Jack's eyes widened.

"So... There's still a chance to fix it then," Jack said, getting excited.

"The question now though, is how," Tooth piped up.

"I'm sure Jack or one of us will be able to figure it out soon," Santa encouraged.

They all started to discuss of possible ways to fix it and how to stop Pitch once and for all. While they were discussing, the moon was radiating a bright light into the room. Sandy was surprisingly the first one to notice it as he pointed and tried to motion for everyone to look.

Everyone else was too focused on the staff however and since Sandy was so quiet, he made a whistle with his dream sand and the sound of the whistle vibrated the entire room. Everyone jumped a little and they saw Sandy pointing in the direction of the light. They all looked at it and saw a figure forming.

"MiM is trying to show us something!" Santa boomed excitedly.

They walked to the light and realized it was a familiar to sight to everyone but Jack and Jamie.

"A new Guardian!" Tooth said happily, clapping her hands together.

"As long as it's not another Jack," Bunnymund teased with a snicker.

Dark Jack probably would have said a come back, but this Jack made a face and puffed out his cheeks. Jamie chuckled a little to himself but he immediately stopped when he saw the figure was in full show for everyone to see. The figure was tall with brown hair and brown eyes. His outfit was a t-shirt, jeans, converse, a black jacket, and a very familiar scarf.

"It's Jamie..." Jack whispered.

Jamie's eyes widened and he felt everyone's eyes go directly onto him. Jamie stepped back a little and shook his head.

"That's obviously wrong," Jamie said, shaking his head and darting his eyes all around.

Jamie's face turned a bright red and he felt himself getting warm. Soon the figure of Jamie disappeared and the sun was beginning to arrive.

"MiM is never wrong, Jamie," Bunnymund said, looking at him a bit with worry.

Nobody had expected this, especially not Jamie. Jamie's breathing had slowed and his hands clenched into fists.

"Well nobody is not never wrong," Jamie retorted.

"I know it seems crazy, but it's true," Tooth said.

"I had expected this reaction when I saw Jamie's figure," Santa told everyone. "Remember when we told Jack," he added in with a little laugh.

Jamie wasn't for sure what happened with Jack, but he wasn't amused and didn't understand why Santa was laughing. Jamie didn't believe any of him becoming a Guardian was real and he shook his head no several times. What would happen if he did become one? What would he even be? What about his family?

"I need...I need to be alone for a little bit," Jamie breathed.

He stormed off back towards the guest rooms and once he was there, he slammed the door shut. Jamie collapsed onto the bed and he stuffed his face into the pillow. He could feel tears pouring from his eyes and everything felt like it ached, especially his hear. He was just so full of unanswered questions and he wasn't sure what was going on. What would happen to his college life? Would he still be able to attend, graduate, and be able to work with kids?

Jamie had figured that that with the other Guardians, you had to believe in them to be able to see them. What about Jamie? The other people who really knew him were family, friends, and maybe some of his classmates.

Jamie rubbed his eyes and he saw the sunlight seeping through the curtains. Jamie put himself under the covers and deepened his face into the pillow, not wanting anyone to see that he had been crying.

Suddenly, the door to the guest room swung open and shut again. Jamie didn't even want to look up to see who it was, even though it made him almost jump out of bed. Jamie could hear movement of feet on the carpet and then someone crawling on top of him over the covers. Jamie peered up and saw Jack staring at him.

He didn't expect the Jack with more emotions to bug him when he was upset, but he had temporarily forgotten about dark Jack. This Jack would just do whatever he pleased.

"What's wrong, handsome?" Jack asked, kissing his forehead. "Why were you crying?"

Jamie didn't say anything, deciding to turn over and look away from Jack.

"I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what's wrong," Jack whined, nudging his face onto Jamie's back.

Jamie debated on not saying anything, but he liked Jack too much to be quiet anymore.

"I'm scared," Jamie whispered.

"Why?" Jack asked, now nuzzling his face into Jamie's neck.

"Because I don't know what to do. I don't know what will happen to my life and what I want to do with it," Jamie explained. "I have so many unanswered questions that I can't figure out."

Jack sighed and he rolled off of Jamie, getting under the covers with him.

"I'm going to tell you something," Jack said. "When I was first told I was a Guardian, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Like, the thought of it was ridiculous to me. Nobody but the other Guardians and Pitch could see me. I was pretty depressed to be honest. Then, when I got you to see me, I was so happy!"

Jamie listened to Jack speak, surprised to hear all of this. He never pictured Jack being depressed, but Jamie guessed it was easier to fake a smile after doing it for so long.

Jack went on. "It made me realize what I wanted to do. So, instead of getting yourself upset like me. Just see what happens and you can decide what you want to do. Don't let the others choose for you. It's your decision. Got it?"

Jamie nodded slowly. He then scooted as close as he could to Jack and he stuck his face into his chest.

"Thank you, Jack," Jamie whispered, feeling a bit better.

"No problem, cutie," Jack replied with his little smirk.