-I apologize if it's a little short. I tried not to rush anything and to make it the best chapter I could, but I really wanted to update today because it's...A very special Birthday Update for one of my reviewers! Happy Birthday Kay, I hope you enjoy it!-

-Burgess- Pitch's p.o.v****

It was a detail that anyone could overlook. Almost certainly she had, but I couldn't blame her. She'd died so young, and even as an enormously powerful immortal, her teenage mind couldn't hold onto memories as long as it would have taken to remember this place. This forest. I stood right where I currently was, a long long time ago, before the man I am today overtook the weakness of who I had been.

In a dark forest, clearing my mind. And then she came along, a single piece of light in a thick darkness. I looked over to where it had happened, a simple patch of grass that I'd stood upon when I first saw her, first approached her, first felt the sting of her powers. It played in front of me, like a movie I didn't want to see. Our scuffle, until I saw her face. A familiar face, one almost every existing spirit had memorized after the news of fall from grace.

I'd been told stories about it, had read the record book and seen the sketch of her person. Like every spirit, I knew her the instant I saw her. But the picture did not do her justice. The stories failed to mention how, yes, her eyes were sharp and deadly, but that they were also vibrant, briliant, with a black edging that faded into a deep, striking yellow that made the sun jealous every time she opened her eyes. Or how her skin was pale, yes, but would glow even in the darkest time of night if you looked close enought.

And how, yes, she was powerful and on-edge and vicious. But there was also something else deep inside there, something tragic. Something wonderful. And it enraptured me, it held me fast and would not let me go from that moment forward. It was a string from her to me, one I'd tried to sever long, long ago, wished away.

But I was not one to fool myself. It was still there, strong though her end was fraying more and more every day. Mine was strong, but I couldn't let it be that way.

A childish squeal came from down the path, laughter that boiled in my veins. I slunk deep into the shadows, the hard hilt of the dagger smooth in my palm. I would cut that string. Even if it meant destroying the one thing I cherished more than fear.

-At the Pole- Boston's p.o.v****

"Aren't you too young to drink?"Jack asked, as I set down a bottle of what North called 'Pepermint Light', some sort of alcohol that, once I got past the name, I had to admit was freaking great. It was warm and tasted like pepermint frosting, something I needed after that torturous session with Jack healing the cuts on my body for a second time, just to make sure they would be gone by tomorrow.

"I'm over two thousand years old. I think AA can stay away from me."I mused, cracking my knuckles and leaning back in my chair.

"Oi, Frostbite, Firecracker, where the bloody hell are ya!"I heard Bunny call, and I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Firecracker? Couldn't come up with something better than that?"I called back, walking out of the kitchen and to the overlook where Bunny stood impatiently, smirking as I walked over to him.

"I'd call ya somethin' else, but Jackie here's too pure a' heart ta hear it."He teased, and I laughed.

"Whatever, Fluffy," His eyes grew wide and Jack fell over in a fit of laughter, much like the one he'd had when I went into detail about how Bunny had turned into his much-more-adorable self, "What's up, why'd you call us here?" Bunny gave me a stern look and said scoldingly,

"Jack's here."

"..."We were both silent, confused as to what Jack's presence had to do with anything. Bunny rolled his eyes and exhaled like we were the most idiotic beings he knew, and explained like he was talking to preschoolers,

"Jack's here. That means it's your turn fer rounds." I raised my eyebrows, having completely forgot about rounds since my little adventure yesterday with Bunny. I frowned, realizing that I hated it more when Bunny was right then when I was wrong, and snatched the globe in his hand.

"An' don't drop it."He added in, making me turn and shoot a spark at him. He yelped and jumped, dodging in and out of the angry little things way as I threw the globe and jumped through the portal, laughing and winking back at him.

"Have fun, I think she likes you!"I called, right before I fell through the colored circle and out into a familiar neighborhood, catching the globe as it fell into my hands, soaring down and landing softly on a roof. I knew I had to make my rounds soon, but in all of the chaos on Easter I'd forgotten to give Sophie her egg. I'd checked and double checked that all it contained was a jumping, excited spark, one that wouldn't go out.

That way, if she ever needed a nightlight, she could open the egg and there it would be.

"Boston!"I looked down, surprised to see Sophie and Jamie out of the house at 1 in the afternoon, both beaming up at me as I jumped down, landing in front of them.

"Hey guys, what happened to school? Don't tell me I'm being a bad influence, Bunny wont let me hear the freakin' end of it."I groaned, and Jamie laughed while Sophie just ran up at me, wrapping her arms around my legs and exclaiming,

"Boston!"I laughed and knelt, rustling her hair as Jamie said excitedly,

"Jack gave us a snowweek, after what happened on Easter."I smiled and reminded myself to thank Jack for that. If these guys could be safe and happy for a week, it didn't matter how many snowstorms I had to fly through.

"That's good."And then a thought came to me. A very irresponsible and childish thought. I smiled at Sophie and said, "Hey, wanna go flying real quick? I've got a present for you." She gasped and nodded so vigorously that her hair flew irratically, making me and Jamie laugh as I picked her up.

"She has to be home by dinner, bad influence!"Jamie shouted up as I took to the air, and I had to give the kid a few props. Maybe, if I kept working at it, his wit could rival my own and together we could drive Bunny into insanity like he'd done to me. It was a nice thought.

Sophie cheered as I did spirals and dips, eventually flying over a forest and slowly descending, making Sophie laugh as I purposefully let branches rub across her face, getting snow her hair. I touched down onto the snow, the white stuff crunching under my feet as Sophie hopped up and down.

"Present!"She exclaimed, stumbling a bit over the word in her growing vocabulary. I beamed, leaning down and saying,

"You'll have to catch me first!" With that I turned, running quicklly over the snow fast, but not too fast for her to not be able to keep about two feet between us. Her giggles rang through the air, a sheer happiness that was unguarded in children at her age. A happiness they should all have. A happiness that I couldn't protect in a girl like her once.

But that was over, and I felt that I was doing a pretty damn good job in my second chance. After a few minuets, I slowed down, giving Sophie the opportunity to tackle me to the snow with a surprising amount of strength. I rolled over and held her to me, blowing on her neck and making her shriek with laughter, wriggling out of my grasp and panting with a smile cemented on her face. I got a hold of my breath before I got to a knee, reaching into my jacket pocket and smiling at Sophie.

"Close your eyes, okay?"She did as she was told, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she bounced a bit, both hands held out expectantly. I removed the egg and gave it a quick kiss, before laying it in her palms and saying,

"Okay, open."

Her eyes flew open and she saw the egg, gasping in delight as my heart lifted, seeing her happy at the gift. Quickly, she opened it, the top popping off as the single spark bobbed excitedly at her, up and down as her eyes widened. I watched as her jaw dropped in amazement, and I felt a warmth spread in my chest, being able to make her so happy with anything I could do.

"See, its a spark. Like the ones I use."I explained, as she held it closer for a look, "So if you ever need a nightlight, it's right there." Her eyes suddenly lit up and she hugged the egg to her, me about to say something when my voice was cut short by another.

"What a wonderful play on words. Didn't take you for the poetic type, my dear."

I stiffened, a shiver running down my neck. Of course he would be here. Of course I was happy, and he had to break it. Sophie looked up, confused, but I blocked her vision, standing up in front of her with my back to the owner of the voice. An anger stirred in my chest...but nothing else. No feelings. No bonds. Maybe a slight resonance of something that used to be, but it was faded and broken, somewhere lost in the past. The past week seemed to have turned everything I once knew into what it truly was, changing not just perception of things, but my feelings.

And now, that time when I was a puppet seemed long ago, almost like a fairy tale.

I felt free.

"Pitch, I'd reccomend you go right now. I don't want Sophie to have to see you broken."I said calmly, Sophie looking from my leg to the spark in her hands. There was a silence, and then,

"They've changed you, haven't they? And you've let them. What happened to the girl who was free to do what she wanted? Who obeyed no one? That girl, who so prided herself on belonging to no one. What has she become now?" He was trying to get under my skin. He was trying to manipulate me. But there was something in his voice, something that wasn't there the previous times.

It was desperation. Almost imperceptable, but I of all people could hear it. He knew. I knew. His grip on me was failing, the only thing he had to keep me was falling. And it felt...free. I squared my shoulders, looking down at Sophie as a sense of complete freedom filled me. His words didn't bend my will. His presence didn't render me useless. I felt like Boston, as I had been before he became Pitch Black. Before he broke everything. Broke me.

"She cut her strings."I said simply. There was a silence that followed, weighing thousands of tons. A silence that stiffened. I swore, I could almost hear the King of Nightmares gasp sharply. Silently. Then.

"Fine then."He spat, and I spun around just as I heard the crunch of snow, about to keep him away from Sophie, away from me, forever.

But none of that happened.

I felt it sink in before the pain, felt the tug and the serration of the blade, right under my navel, across from an old and familiar scar, sliding through me suddenly, as if I'd turned into it. And then the pain.

The only reason I didn't cry out right then and there was the sound of Sophie, making a confused little noise behind me. No. I had to fight it. I couldn't let her know anything was wrong. Couldn't scare her like that. But god, did it hurt. Hurt so bad that I felt like he'd just torn me in half, a scorching heat licking up my veins, exploding on the surface of my skin. A sharp agony that I remembered well, too well. One that had happened before, parallel to it.

A memory. Back against a stone. Eyes, so full of hatred and rage and regret. A knife, sharp and gleaming. Then an eruption of pain, of fire, of sharp stinging, of blinding, white-hot agony enveloping my entire being. Shock. Betrayal. Pain.

I fought it, the urge to make a sound, through the torture.

"...If they wanted to take you from me so badly, then they can have you. They can have your corpse."Pitch whispered, but I heard it. It wasn't even hidden. The crack in his voice. The shaking of his hand as it slipped from the dagger, leaving it implanted in me. A warm, sticky substance that I hadn't felt since I became immortal, not even on my worst wounds.

The pain. Not in me. In his voice. His agony. His betrayal. His regret.

And then he was gone, and Sophie was behind me, tugging on my pant leg. My entire body was stiff, cold sweat on the back of my neck.

"Spark? Spark?"She asked. Sophie. Yes, that's right. I have to get to the Pole, get there and get North and the others and tell them what Pitch has done, to go and keep the children safe. But I couldn't leave her, couldn't let her go home alone. I felt my knees grow weak as I fell to one, hunching over as much as it increased the pain, hiding the dagger with one hand on it, tears about to well up in my eyes.

It hurt. It hurt so, so much. But I couldn't let her know that.

"H-hey...S-Sophie...y-you wanna...you wanna g-go see...t-the Easter B...Bunny?"I asked, and she gasped, exclaiming,

"Easter Bunny, hop hop hop!" I fourced a laugh, my voice shaking and sounding horribly strained, but she was buying it and that was all I needed.

"O-okay! Just...reach into my...l-left...pocket. It's a magic...magic snow globe."I said, voice hitching as the pain threatened to break me apart. I felt her hand rummage in my pocket before pulling out the snowglobe, holding it protectively in her hands as I nodded vigorously.

"Good!...Throw it..."I tried to keep my voice even, lungs on fire, as Sophie did her best to pull back the snowglobe and then chuck it, the portal bursting open. I'd never been so happy to see it in my life. I just had to get through there. I just had to live long enough to tell them to attack Pitch, to do something. And then I could die. But not before, not one second before I knew the children were safe.

"Awesome...job. L-let's hop in...okay?"I managed out, and she nodded, closing the egg in her hands and starring at the portal in wonder. How I wasn't sure, but I managed to get to my feet, legs shaking violently as I wrapped an arm around Sophie's shoulders and stumbled awkwardly through, Sophie keeping up at my side as we fell through the portal.

I collapsed, falling to my knees and hunching over to shield the dagger from view, hearing the snowglobe fall noisily beside me.

"Oi, sheila, what's the big idea? I know yer fast, but ye've only been gone thirty bloody minuets, ya gumby!"Bunny's voice rang out, hopping up to the overlook.

"Easter Bunny!"Sophie exclaimed, and I nodded.

"Y-yeah, look! Now you go play, Santa's workshop is...is downstairs! Tons of...toys!"I tried, seeing a blur of green, then gold, then blue and red as the Guardians gathered in front of me. Sophie gasped and, disregarding anything else, sprinted behind me and down the stairs.

"Boston? Vat es the meaning of visit? You bring child to North Pole when we have much to attend to! Not to mention Christmas es mere 9 months away!"North reasoned, my hearing fading in and out. I couldn't make it. I couldn't tell them in time. I just hoped they would understand.

"We have bigger problems."

With a jolt, I pulled the dagger from my stomach. I heard a high-pitched gasp, the world around me beginning to waver and dissapear. I felt the dagger drop from my hand, but didn't hear the sound of it falling, as if it were muted. A cold spread over my body, then a strange heat. Then the voices, echoing in a dead memory...

'You wanted this! It's your fault! I..I don't deserve this!'

'Alena! Mommy stop!'

"Boston, how did this happen?!"

'Why couldn't you just be good?!'

"Get to infirmary! Yeti will take care!"

'It's alright Safa, stay inside. It's going to be okay. I promise.'

"Yer gonna be okay sheila...I promise, yer gonna be okay."

'Stop Mommy! Why are you crying?'

'Safa stay inside! I'll protect you, don't worry!'

'I'll end it! I'll be happy! I can't take this anymore! It's all your fault! Just..just die!"

"Sheila, don't you dare die on me! Don't you dare!"

"Bunny, the yetis have to get to her!"

'Alena!'

'Safa!'

'Die!'

'Mommy!'

'...Nightlight...'

"Boston!"

'The Guardian of Dreams.'

"...Sheila.."

'DIE!'