A/N: A treat for my patient, oh so patient readers...TWO chapters! Which will thankfully conclude this little mini story arc (mostly), and I say thankfully because I think I tend to procrastinate more on longer story series as opposed to drabbles...but it was still fun to do.

Chapter notes: oh man, I feel kinda bad for the amount of angst coming up...but it was pretty fun to write. Lol what does that say about me -_-

Enjoy!

Nightmares of Past III

It was so cold.

He'd lived through the harshest of winters, but never could he have imagined that being cold could hurt so much. It felt like a thousand needles were constantly stabbing him over and over, and even if he could breathe right now he probably wouldn't. How could he, when it felt like his body was freezing from the inside out?

Yet somehow through the overwhelming pain, he still managed to retain a few coherent thoughts. They focused on the little girl above him, and just how angry he was with her. How could she do this to him? It was because of her that he was going to die. He had told her, countless times that day, that he wasn't sure if the ice was thick enough for skating...but she had refused to listen. No, she'd just whined and cried so much that he'd been forced to give in, if only to shut her up. And now look where he was...drowning in the freezing darkness, life slowly draining away...all alone.

If it had been any other time, Jamie Bennett would have counted himself the luckiest human in the world. Who else could say they had the chance to see Santa's personal workshop?

But at the moment, wonder and awe was the last thing on Jamie's mind. Instead, he was staring sullenly across the room, practically glaring at those he'd considered his childhood heroes. "I'm coming too, and there's nothing you can say to change that." He said firmly.

Tooth shook her head, her normally cheerful face pinched from distress. "Jamie, you can't. It'll be too dangerous."

"If yuh thought that, why did yuh bring 'im 'ere in the firs' place?" Bunny grumbled, agitatedly rolling an egg bomb between his massive paws.

"Because I wouldn't let her leave without me, that's why." Jamie quickly answered for her. "Jack's my friend too, and in case you forgot, I wasn't exactly helpless against Pitch the last time I saw him. Let me help, please!"

Both Tooth and Bunny opened their mouths to argue, when North quickly interjected, holding up his large hands. "He is right, no? Jamie and friends were the ones who helped us." He said in a reasonable tone. "I think he will be able to help again. No, I know. I feel it in my belly."

"But North-"

"Crikey, not another belly feeling again-"

Any further arguments were cut short by an impatient wave of golden sand engulfing the room.

"Hey, what'd you do that for!" Bunny protested indignantly, turning to the smallest Guardian.

Sandman held out his tiny hands, revealing the handful of coal black sand Tooth's fairies had discovered in Jack's room. With a look of distaste, he quickly converted it back to their original golden color, then proceeded to produce a rapid flurry of images with his sand.

Jamie squinted in concentration, barely able to focus on the ever changing golden figures. He thought he could make out what looked to be a likeness of Jack, lifelessly floating in the air...but what he didn't recognize was a little girl seeming to crouch in midair a few inches above him.

Before he could ask what it all meant, the images were quickly snuffed and the rest of the Guardians straightened, identical looks of alarm adorning their faces. "What is it?" Jamie asked, barely managing to keep the fear out of his voice.

"No time to explain..." Bunny muttered. "We need to go, NOW."

It was so dark.

Nothing but the lonely darkness, and the freezing cold. It was funny how he was still sinking through fluid water, and still feel like his body was encased in a block of ice. He could feel his arm slowly moving with the water's currents, and yet couldn't even move his hand away from his face. Now he had to die staring straight into his own palm instead of up at the rapidly disappearing surface, and the increasingly blurred image of his sister. How unpoetic.

He wanted his last sight before death to be of the one who killed him. He at least deserved that much, after everything he'd sacrificed for her during his short life. But he couldn't even have that.

Jamie shivered, drawing North's too large coat tighter around him. In all the hurried panic of traveling with Tooth to the North Pole, he hadn't really put much thought into proper attire. Then, arguing for the Guardians to take him along also took up most of his attention. But now he was suffering the consequences, flying through the chilly air in North's sleigh wearing nothing but his pajamas.

Despite the discomfort, it was hardly the prominent thing on his mind. No, that would be the almost sickening feeling of worry for Jack, and the fervent hope that he was alright. Through much prodding, North had reluctantly explained what Sandy had discovered from the black sand - that over the past few weeks, maybe more, Jack had been suffering from nightmares about his sister.

"But I thought the Guardians didn't sleep?" Jamie had asked in confusion.

"No we don't, but Sandy can make daydreams if he wanted to. It looks like Pitch figured out how to do that too."

That had explained everything about Jack's unusual behavior. His reluctance to leave every time he visited, not wanting to be alone. Constantly appearing tired, as Tooth had observed. It must have been such a drain, to deal with nightmares - or daymares, he supposed the term would be - for such a long time.

Jamie couldn't help feeling the pang of hurt as he wondered why Jack wouldn't confide in him about something like that. Didn't he trust him? He could have helped!

He also felt the smallest bit of anger that the winter spirit hadn't even bothered to tell anyone. He had to have known the daymares weren't natural, that the most likely cause was going to be the Nightmare King. What was it that had stupidly caused him to keep such a dangerous thing to himself? Some inflated sense of pride?

When this was all over, Jamie thought resolutely, he was going to get to the bottom of everything. And Jack would have absolutely no choice in the matter.

A/N: I know most people tend to review only the most recent chapter, but I'd really appreciate any feedback on both! Pretty pleeeease :)