Sorry for the long wait, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season! Here is chapter 14, I hope you enjoy it! It's over 4000 words, so hopefully, it makes up for the time between updating!

North's arm feels like it's getting thinner and thinner underneath his thick coat. He's aging, and quickly, and just the notion of that scares you. It's getting harder and harder to help him hobble down the street with every step you take. Jack better hurry up with whatever plan he's come up with. If he even has one.

Bunny leads you down another alley, but it's no use. "Dead end," he mutters. "Other way, other way!"

Tooth ushers North and you after Bunny, grasping Jamie by the shoulders as she does. The two are almost the same height, which in another situation would make you smile at how tiny the Tooth Fairy is. North groans and curses in Russian under his breath as you both turn and hurry back to the mouth of the alley. A loud bang sounds from behind you and you scream in fright. You whirl around towards the source of the noise, pointing North's heavy sword in front of you.

Jack lays on top of a dumpster, and you gasp as he suddenly falls to the ground with a thud, completely limp. You wince. "Jack!" you yell, rushing to his side. You kneel next to him and set the sword on the ground before taking ahold of Jack's shoulders and turning him over onto his back. He groans and you take his cold hand, pulling him to his feet.

North hobbles up on your other side and gives Jack a reassuring nod as he pats him on the shoulder. "That was good try, Jack. A for effort!"

"He's stronger," Jack mutters, successfully turning your attention back to him. He's still trying to catch his breath as he meets your eye, and you tighten your grip on his shoulders in case he collapses again. The frost pattern on his sweatshirt crunches under your fingers. "I can't beat him."

You see North and Tooth trade looks of concern as you let go of Jack slowly. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a shadow slinking across the ground out from under a trash can. You stumble backward and into Jack's cold chest, gasping. "Guys, look." You point at the shadow. They all follow your gaze and Jack straightens up at the sight. He moves so he's in front of all of you and aims his staff at the moving shadows. You pull Jamie into your side so he's in between you and the still slightly-shaking North.

Pitch's voice comes from the shadows all around you. "All this fuss over one little boy, and still he refuses to stop believing." A crack of thunder sounds and Jamie jumps under your arm. North puts his hand on his other shoulder as the sound of hooves clacking against the ground echo at the end of the alley.

Jack takes your free hand, and you glance over at him. He's changing which shadow he's pointing his staff at every couple of seconds. The enemy is all around you, and none of you know where he's going to emerge. All of your breathing echoes through the cold air in the silence. You turn back to observing your surroundings, tightening your grip on Jamie's shoulder.

"Very well," Pitch continues, still out of sight. "There are other ways to snuff out a light."

A bulb bursts behind you and you jump at the sudden darkness. You watch as the shadow of a clawed arm moves across the remaining lights in the alley, snuffing them out one by one. Terror flashes in Jamie's eyes, and you squeeze his shoulder once again, making him look up at you. You give him a reassuring smile, but he doesn't look convinced. If you're being honest, you're not that convinced either.

Bunny hops forward in front of your tiny group, ears twitching. "If you want him, you're gonna have to go through me!"

The shadow arm glides across the concrete floor and curls a finger around the back of Bunny. Pitch laughs genuinely. "Look how fluffy you are! Would you like a scratch behind the ears?" The finger tickles Bunny playfully and he bounds back and away from it. You jump in shock as Bunny jumps up to you, and you barely put your hands up in time to catch him. Jack pulls Jamie behind him the second he sees you're not holding his shoulder anymore.

Pitch finally comes into view at the end of the alleyway, riding atop a huge Nightmare steed. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this." Pitch grins gleefully, and you frown defiantly as his eyes pass over you. "You look awful."

North and Tooth slowly step in front of where you, Jamie, Bunny, and Jack stand. "Jack," Jamie looks up at your best friend, "I'm scared."

Jack's eyes widen briefly before he crouches down in front of Jamie. "I know, I know. But you're gonna be alright . . ." His eyes widen dramatically, and you tilt your head at him in confusion as you clutch Bunny closer to you. "We're gonna have a little fun instead," he finishes.

You raise your eyebrows. "What?"

"That's it." Jack laughs incredulously and stands up. You gasp as he grabs your shoulders and leans in close to your face. "That's my center!"

"Your what?" you squeak. "Jack, are you okay?"

Bunny bats Jack away from you with his little paws. "Nothing about this is fun! Do something!"

Pitch chuckles darkly. "And what do you suppose he does, rabbit?" All of you turn to face Pitch as he smiles sinisterly. "So what do you think, Jamie?" "Do you really believe in the Boogey—"

BOOF!

Your mouth drops open in shock, and you hear Jamie and North snicker secretively at the sight in front of you. Pitch has completely frozen on top of his stallion, white snow completely covering his face. You look over at Jack, who is tossing a bluish-white snowball up and down in his palm. He winks at you, and you barely find it in you to laugh through the shock. You turn back around to see Pitch wiping the snow off of his face, fuming. He turns back to Jamie and gives him his signature mischievous grin. "Now let's go get your friends."

A powerful gust of cold wind blows from behind you, and you suddenly find yourself sitting cross-legged on a trash can lid. You're sliding out of the alleyway and down the street on a sheet of ice. Bunny squeals in your lap and you gasp. You almost forgot he was there. He scrabbles at your legs desperately. "Wait wait wait wait wait!" he yells. His paws lose their grip on you, but you snatch him out of the air just in time to keep him from going flying.

"Sorry." You wince.

He's still breathing heavily in your hands. "Tiny Bunny. Strong wind." He looks up at the sky, seeming like he's sending a prayer to whoever he believes in. "This is humiliating."

You can't help but giggle a little bit as you zoom down the street on the blue ice, wind blowing your hair out behind you. It distinctly smells like snow, and you smile at the joy of this whole situation. You cannot believe Jack plans on fighting Pitch with snowballs. Actually, you can believe it. You look over to your friend to see him guiding Jamie carefully down the street on a crate in front of you. He looks back at you with a grin, and you smile fondly back.

North comes zooming past to you, laughing heartily. "This is amazing!" he booms. You look behind you to catch a glimpse of Tooth on her makeshift sled. Her violet eyes are the size of saucers and she clutches the edge of her trash can lid with a white-knuckled grip. For someone who's used to flying, she looks like she isn't a fan of not controlling her transportation. But despite her fearful body language, she is smiling widely as her feathers blow in the wind. Some of them decorate the ice behind you, but you choose to ignore them.

All of you are scared and thrilled, but man are you having fun.

You turn back around and observe your surroundings, trying to get your bearings. Once you realize where you are, your eyes widen. You lean forward and yell, "Jamie!" Both he and Jack twist around to face you. Pointing forward, you gesture frantically. "Cupcake's house is next block!"

He nods, and you hear him directing Jack on which building and window. Out of thin air, Jack forms a perfect snowball and blows icy blue across its surface. Then he turns over on his back, and you watch as he throws the snowball with perfect precision at Cupcake's window.

He turns back over and laughs, and you can't help but shake your head and join him. He takes Jamie by the collar and hoists him into the air before handing his sled to a still-laughing North. "Here!" he yells, "Be right back!"

He and Jamie fly away and down the street, effectively icing the rest of the road for those of you still on sleds. The wind is whistling around you, and soon you hear loud laughing behind you. Twisting around once again, you see a familiar face sliding across the ice behind you.

"Cupcake!" you yell, smiling at her. She giggles and waves excitedly back, her short hair flying behind her. Bunny hops up onto your shoulder to look at the girl behind you. Her pink night dress is billowing around her, and her boots are perched on the edge of her sled as she waves at him excitedly. He gives her a half-smile and waves slowly back.

A couple seconds later, Jack is back flying in front of you with Jamie. He takes the "sled" back from North and sets the boy safely back on before flying off down the road once again, covering the road with more ice. You watch as he throws two more snowballs at a window.

"(y/n)!" You turn your head around to face North, who is considering you curiously. His beard is split down the middle billowing on either side of him, which makes you crack a small smile. "What is he planning?"

You shake your head and giggle incredulously. "I have no idea."

He nods curtly. "Might as well join in, no?" He turns back forward and leans down, whispering into his hands before straightening back up. Your eyes widen when you see the two neatly-wrapped presents now in his hands.

You look down at Bunny with wide eyes. "Can he just do that?"

He smirks up at you. "Greatest Toymaker of all time."

Looking back at North, you watch in awe as he tosses the two presents up into the air. They disappear into thin air about three feet above them, a loud popping noise the only sign that they were ever there. North runs around slowly and winks at you. You tilt your head questioningly. He smirks and turns to face the corner window of the apartment building you're approaching on the left. A window is open on the fourth floor, with two faces looking out of it: Caleb and Claude. "Merry Christmas!" North bellows.

Bunny jumps in your lap, doing his best to get the attention of the two boys also. "Happy Easter!"

"Don't forget to floss!"

That's it. You burst out laughing at your new friends, unable to believe that you've only known them for three days. You continue to fly down the street, and you gasp as you approach your house. Someone is standing out front, and when you pass, time seems to stand still.

Your mom and you make eye contact as you fly by, both of you wearing mirror expressions of surprise. But before anything else can happen, you continue on down the road, leaving her watching after you. You hear her yell your name, but the rest of her words are drowned out in the wind.

"Who was that?" Bunny asks.

You don't even look down at him, still staring behind you even though you can't see your house anymore. "My mother."

Bunny frowns confusedly. "It's three in the morning."

Before you have a chance to respond, you feel a tap on your shoulder. Jack is flying next to you once again, grinning jovially. His white hair is plastered to his forehead and ears, as he's flying backward, and you can't help but give a half-smile at how ridiculous it looks. Normally his hair is sticking up at all angles; you couldn't even get it to stay down if you wetted it.

"What are you planning, Frosty?" narrowing your eyes at your friend suspiciously, yet playfully.

He shrugs. "I'm playing it by ear."

Your mouth drops open and he chuckles before falling back behind you to greet Pippa and Cupcake, the two children that have joined your ragtag group so far. They look up at him in awe as he talks to them, and you smile at Jack's obvious joy at having more kids to talk to. The rest of the kids save for Monty arrive on the ice within the next couple of minutes, and soon you're all gliding to a stop at the end of the icy road.

Once you come to a complete stop, the cold, still air around you feels warm from the lack of wind. Bunny hops out of your lap and promptly slips on the ice once his feet touch down. He slides a few feet on his fluffy belly before righting himself. You bite your lip in an attempt to hide your smile, pretending not to notice. Jack offers you a hand and helps you out of the trashcan lid and to your feet. You look around at everyone surrounding you and give Jack's hand a squeeze. All of the kids stand together in a group, talking excitedly into hands and pointing "discreetly" at the rest of you.

"Gotta hand it to you, Jack." You smile and tilt your head up to face him. "You're a pretty good Guardian."

He grins and scratches the back of his neck. "Ah, well I try." He looks down at his feet and squeezes your hand, rubbing his thumb gently over your knuckles. When he looks back up, his blue eyes are shining fondly down into your (e/c) ones. It looks like he's about to say something else, but he's cut off by a loud crack of thunder.

Everyone looks up.

Pitch stands atop a building far down the street from you, yet even from this far away, you can see his cocky smile. Clouds of dark sand swirl and crackle behind him, its huge mass booming down the street towards you like a tsunami. You don't even realize you're squeezing Jack's hand tightly until he squeezes back. Jamie and Pippa walk up to your side, both of their eyes shining with fear as they look at your foe. Monty, late to the party, comes running past you whooping in excitement, but once he sees what you're all facing, he screams and rushes back to the group, nearly plowing you over. You catch him by the shoulders just in time and push him behind you.

The Nightmare King's voice echoes towards you and all around you, coming from the shadows of the whole city. "You think a few children can help you? Against this?"

The sandstorm descends slightly from the sky with another huge crack of lightning to emphasize his point. Instead of winter, the air smells of a summer storm. North draws his sword and steps forward, but the heavy blade pulls him back down to the ground with a clang. He can barely stand at this point, and Jack leaves your side to help him. Then they both look back at Jamie, noticing the concern on his face and the other children's.

Jack steps back towards Jamie you and crouches down in front of the boy. His brown eyes are looking at the mountain of fear in, well, fear. Jack takes a hold of Jamie's chin and gently pulls his head down to look at him. "They're just bad dreams, Jamie."

Bunny thumps his foot in anticipation. "Yeah, we'll protect you, mate."

"Aw," Pitch coos, "you'll protect them?" He laughs maniacally. "But who will protect you?"

The whole world seems to stand still around you as the two opposing parties stare each other down in silence. It's as if the whole world has slowed to a stop, and the battle of good and evil is at a brief stalemate. Both armies wait for a cue to continue wreaking havoc on the world and each other.

"I will."

You jerk your head away from the sky in shock. Jamie stands a couple of feet in front of the rest of the group, chin raised defiantly as he stares down Pitch. This boy, who was huddled next to you and Jack only a few seconds ago, is now ready to take on his biggest fears. The resilience of children is astounding, but either way, you can't let him do this.

You move to pull him back, but before you can, Cupcake does the same thing, declaring that she'll protect them too. Caleb and Claude are next, shoving each other along the way, then Pippa. Monty steps forward last, sniffling from the cold. "Uh, I'll-I'll try," he promises. The Guardians can do nothing but watch in amazement as the kids squeeze past them one by one and form their own line of protection. Jack glances over at you with wide eyes, and you shrug, conveying that you don't know what to do either.

All of you turn to face the sky again. Pitch raises his arms, causing the wave of Nightmare sand to snake its way through town, causing destruction wherever it goes. It's slowly working its way towards you. "Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman?" He sneers down at you.

Jamie sets his jaw, looking up at Pitch in a way you've never seen him look at anyone before. "I do believe in you," Jamie says. "I'm just not afraid of you."

All you can do is watch in shock and fear as the black mass continues to spiral towards you. You were in Pitch's clutches for not even twenty-four hours, and you know you'll have nightmares about it forever. Nightmares that he doesn't cause. You don't want to be there again, and you don't want anyone else to have to experience it too. Especially not Jamie and the kids.

The mass comes down in one final wave on all of you, and Jamie thrusts out his hand to meet it. As it makes contact, the black sand bursts into streams of gold.

You gasp in wonder and awe as the streams of color fold all around you. All of the kids cry out in excitement, turning around and gazing at the streams of sand. You watch in awe as one of the streams of sand morphs into a dragonfly for a split second before the creature dives back into the gold river. You turn your head to face Jack. "Sandy," you whisper.

He shakes his head, eyes just as wide as yours. "It can't be." You grin widely and jump up and down in excitement at the slim possibility. There has to be hope for your crusade. The appearance of this golden sand is proof of that.

Tooth's wings flutter to life next to you, and you spin around just in time to watch her beat them with a resurgence of strength and energy. You cheer her on as she takes off into the air, laughing and flying around your group. North is next: His blue eyes brighten with newfound youth and joy, and his back straightens so he's not hunched over anymore. He unsheathes his sword and runs around joyfully, and you detach yourself from Jack to turn and watch him go.

"No!" Pitch's voice echoes once again, and you stop and look back up at him. "Get them!" He points towards you, and you gasp as still hundreds of nightmares flood towards you.

"Go!" Jack yells at you. "Find somewhere safe!"

He takes off towards Pitch and your hair billows around you at the gust of wind he leaves behind. You watch him for a moment before turning around quickly, looking for somewhere to go. A flash of gray catches your attention, and you look to see a still-tiny Bunny scampering down a side street. Two snarling Nightmares snap at his heels. You gulp and sprint after him, dodging the yetis that are coming out of North's portals as you go.

You turn the corner just in time to see Bunny dive under a parked car. It's a bit of a struggle to get completely underneath it because of his plump, fluffy body, but he manages to do so just in time. The two Nightmares gnash their teeth in frustration and shove their snouts under the car, trying to snuff him out. Gritting your teeth, you sprint forward and throw your arms around the nearest horse's neck, doing your best to pull it back and away from the car.

A pretty stupid thing to do, but hey, you've never been through anything like this.

"Come on, horsey!" you yell, tugging once more. You're leaning back pretty far when suddenly, the solidity of the horse disappears out from underneath your hands. Your momentum from pulling on the horse sends you flying backward and onto your butt, and you watch as what was once a Nightmare dissolves into golden sand. The heels of your hands burn from your fall and your hair has been thrown forward to veil your face. When battling evil Nightmares, bring a ponytail.

You lean forward off of your hands to brush it out of your eyes, only for a sharp gust of hot air to do the job for you. You blink in surprise at the sensation, but then your heart sinks. You know what the cause of it is. Opening your eyes slowly, you inhale sharply as your eyes are met with a pair of cold, golden ones. The horse snorts in your face and you shriek, scrabbling backward and away from it. Not too long ago, you were in a similar situation.

The supernatural being follows you closely, whinnying terrifyingly as its front hooves stomp dangerously close to where your feet are as you scramble backward. Suddenly, it rears up on its back legs, and your eyes widen in fear. You curl up into yourself, covering your head and waiting for the blow to come.

But it never does.

You open your eyes slowly and look up through your arms, still panting softly. A newly tall Bunny stands in a cloud of dispersed Nightmare sand, coughing and waving away the black particles with his boomerang. "Gah, why doesn't mine turn gold?" he complains. He blows the rest of it out of his face before sheathing the boomerang he's using to wave it off. He leans down and offers you a free hand. "C'mon, Sheila. Time to go."

You take his hand gratefully, and he pulls you to your feet. You wobble a little bit on your feet before the both of you take off running down the road. Bunny runs slower than he normally does so you can keep up with him, and you're grateful for it. This isn't a situation anyone should be alone in. "You know," you start, panting slightly because talking-while-running is not a good combination, "I'm glad you're not little anymore."

Bunny smirks over at you. "So am I."

Alright, there's Chapter 14! I hope you enjoyed it, as I enjoyed writing it. I plan on writing a series of one-shots after this story, and maybe a little bit of a story within the one-shots? I don't know, I'm still working out the specifics. Anyway, thank you for reading and enjoying this story!

Please, review and the next chapter will come soon!