I am determined to finish this. And since it's Winter break/I only have one more transition chapter to write I probably will be updating a lot more frequently and consistently. It's all planned out so...I can do this.

But yeah, transition chapters are the bane of my existence.

bluemangosmoothie: well...yeah. I'm kind of mean to Jack, I don't know why

blueacrylicpaint: You mean on here? Or...? Cause I'm going to explain it 'better' later

kaylee: Thank you:)

Patpat: I'm really glad you like it. Thanks for the criticism too:) I'll work on making it better. Spoilers: you have earned fluff. I shall definitely fit it in somehow. Haha, thanks for the really nice review:)

AliceCullen3: thank you!

Completely against my will, the sunlight poured into the room and woke me up. A cold breeze blew in and made me shiver and reach for a blanket. What I got instead was an arm.

I smiled and rolled over so I could snuggle against the owner of the arm.

"Good morning," I whispered.

He "hmm"d and absentmindedly finger-combed my hair.

"Next time you come in through the window you should close it too," I said as another breeze made me shudder.

With a wave of his hand the window slammed closed, and I almost instantly felt better.

"Thank you," I smiled.

He nodded and wrapped his arms tightly around me. Although I knew I needed to wake up and start the day, I didn't really want to move. After a while I began to drift off once again.

The second time I woke up I was fully awake.

"Wake up sleepy head," I nudged Jack.

"Why?" he asked with a huff.

"Because," I poked his nose.

He shook his head, "That's not a reason."

"Really? I think it is."

"It's a pretty crappy reason."

I smiled, "What counts as a good reason?"

A devilish smirk tugged at his lips, but his eyes still remained closed, "I'm not going to tell."

"Well if you aren't going to tell then you can just stay here by yourself," I said while sitting up and pushing away the covers so I could stand up.

"Noo..." he said softly, stretching out his arms.

Over by the mirror I ran a brush through my slightly tangled hair, humming as I did so, "Too bad. We could've spent the day together but I guess not."

He sighed in a melodramatic way and called, "But...baby...it's cold outside."

I hummed louder.

Finally, in the most nonchalant way, he suggested, "Well you could try waking me up the way they did in old fairy tales."

Despite myself, a laugh bubbled out.

"Will you actually get up?" I asked.

He rolled into his back and folded his hands on his stomach.

"You're such a..." I struggled to come up with the right word. When nothing came to mind, I reluctantly stomped over to him and leaned down. After a quick kiss, I stood up straight, "There."

"Oh no!" he gasped, eyes still closed, "It didn't work! You have to do it again!"

"Oh my goodness," I shook my head. But after a second I leaned down once more and kissed him again. Before I could pull away, he reached up and looped his arms around my neck so I couldn't.

There was a shriek in the back of my throat as he pulled me down and rolled so he was pinning me down.

"Jack!" I protested when I finally managed to push him away.

"What?" he asked innocently.

I mockingly glared at him, but my face was probably too bright red to pull it off.

Without a word he pulled me into another kiss.

"Oi! Calm down!"

We broke apart in surprise and looked over to see Merida rolling her eyes at us.

"Hi..." I blushed.

"Breakfast is ready if you two are interested," she said, turning on her heel and leaving.

Jack burst out laughing the moment the door closed. I hit his chest softly, but I started to giggle too.

"Are you awake enough to go downstairs?" I asked.

He nodded.

After a pause, he finally let me up and we stood. Giggling, I ruffled his sticky-uppy bedhead.

After I picked up Pascal to put him on my shoulder Jack silently took my hand and pulled me along down the hallway and down the stairs.

"Good morning," I smiled at Merida and Hiccup.

Merida smiled in return, but Hiccup didn't so much as glance up. He was busy fiddling with his prosthetic foot.

"Do you need help with that?" Jack asked.

Hiccup shook his head, but Jack had already walked over and knelt to get a closer look.

"That doesn't look very easy to walk on..."

"It's not," Hiccup admitted, "I was messing with it earlier and one of the pieces broke off..."

Hiccup's words faded away as I stopped paying attention. Instead I wandered over to the window to look outside at Toothless.

Pascal crawled down my arm to rest on the windowsill and stared at the much larger reptile.

"Wouldn't it be cool if you could grow to that size?" I joked.

He nodded with a smile.

"But would you be able to breathe fire?"

The chameleon puffed out his chest as he inhaled deeply. Unfortunately...well, fortunately...no fire came roaring out.

"Is that better?" I heard Jack ask.

"Actually I think you made it worse," came Hiccup's snarky reply.

They both burst out laughing as I turned around. I caught Merida's eye and she gave a half shrug.

When they finally fixed Hiccup's foot, I noticed a pull string hanging from his belt. I asked, "What's that?"

Merida was about to reply, but Hiccup cut her off with a glare. He then said, "It's part of a back brace that I wear."

"Why are you wearing a back brace with a pull string?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cause he's half lizard!" Merida blurted.

"Merida!" Hiccup's eyes seemed to glow a lime green.

I noticed Jack's eyes widening at the sight. Under his breath, he murmured to me, "I'm not crazy, right? His eyes glowed, right?"

"You are crazy, but not because his eyes glowed," I replied.

Hiccup rushed to defend himself, "I'm not actually half lizard...well I am...but not in a mutant way. There isn't any physical affects...I...I'm wearing this back brace because they're part of these prototype wings I'm trying to make...and..."

"Hey, that's really cool," Jack smirked, "Can I see?"

"Not in here!" Merida cried.

Hiccup gave her a look, "Yeah Merida, I definitely was planning on doing it in here."

"Why does that matter?" I asked. In my head, the wings were only a little bit bigger than Hiccup himself.

Hiccup limped outside and pulled the drawstring. Two black mechanical dragon wings unfolded from his shoulder blades. They were the same span as the dragons. As in each wing was nearly three times the size of Hiccup. Finally, to finish it off, a fin almost like a fish's popped up from his back.

"That's...that's impossible," I stammered.

Merida shrugged, "Eh. You kind of get used to it. He's made crazier things."

"No I mean it's not possible for wings that size to be compressed in a...a back brace! And not have it be visible!" I cried.

"Ohhh," Merida replied, "Yeah, I have no idea how he pulled that off. It's cool though."

"Yeah...I guess so..."

"Hey dragon boy," Jack grinned. "I bet I'm still better at flying than you."

"You can fly?!" Hiccup asked, eyes wide.

To prove it, Jack jumped into the air and flew off.

Hiccup laughed and jumped after him. The wings flapped three times before he was actually up in the air. Merida winced as the wind pushed him slightly off course, but after he righted himself it seemed as if the wings really were an extension of himself.

"Amazing," I murmured.

(POV Change)

Hiccup glided along side me, "So how exactly do you fly?" he asked, clearly trying to appear disinterested. He was failing.

"I manipulate the wind," I replied, doing a flip in midair and smirking. Hiccup's motion seemed extremely limited by the wings. But it was impressive he was flying at all, so I didn't judge.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "And how exactly do you do that?"

"My staff." Duh.

"I mean..."

I half shrugged, "It's just part of my power that I channel through my staff. I'm not sure how it works exactly."

He nodded. Then, carefully, he asked, "Would you mind if I looked at it? To see if I can figure out how it works?" When he saw my expression, he added, "I promise I'll be careful."

Part of me wanted to yell no, without even explaining how precious this thing was to me. But a bigger part of me knew I could trust Hiccup, so after a long hesitation I nodded.

He smiled, "It's really great to have you back...Mer and I missed you two like crazy."

When I tried to reply, my voice was carried away by the growing wind. Finally, I yelled, "Let's have our heart to heart on the ground!"

Hiccup nodded and tilted his arm so he could turn around and fly back towards Berk.

When we were landing, I glanced at Hiccup to make sure he got down okay. There was a bright flash of fiery orange, and I was suddenly seeing something entirely different.

Hiccup was on fire, screaming and yelling for help. Toothless and Merida were trying in vain to save him.

"Jack!"

I snapped back to reality and realized I was falling. The ground was rushing up towards me, and I barely had enough time to make the wind push me up enough to break the fall.

The last thing I heard was Rapunzel, Hiccup, and Merida crying out my name simultaneously.

(POV Change)

"What happened?" Merida asked Hiccup, while I examined Jack for bruises or injuries.

"I didn't see, it's like he passed out in midair," Hiccup replied. "Is he okay?"

I nodded, "At least this time he managed to cushion himself. His eyes started to open, and I flicked his forehead, "You idiot."

He gave me a lopsided grin, "You should see the other guy."

"Jack," I rolled my eyes, "The 'other guy' is the ground. Stop pretending to be tough."

"I am tough," he pouted.

Merida snorted, and Hiccup chuckled.

"Agh!" Jack yelled suddenly.

My eyes widened as Jack zipped away. I turned and saw a tall, muscular man with long blueish gray hair dragging him by the ankle.

"Who the hell is that?!" Merida demanded.

"You mean you don't know who that is?!" I asked, panicking.

"Let me go! Stupid kangaroo!" Jack yelled. Only...a different word instead of stupid.

"Well he seems to," Hiccup commented.

The man tapped the ground with his foot twice and lifted Jack into the air. I gasped as he let go of Jack's ankle. But, instead of hitting the ground, he just disappeared.

"Sorry Sheila," the man gave an apologetic look, "He'll be back soon. Probably."

With that, he jumped up, and when he hit the ground he vanished too.

I ran over just in time to see a circular tunnel closing up. When it too vanished, all that was left was a pink flower.

"What?!" I cried.

Merida turned to Hiccup, "Do ya know who that was?" her accent was even more prominent than usual.

"That was Aster," Hiccup shrugged, "The Guardian of Hope."

"Well I HOPE he gets his butt back here! With Jack!" I replied, surprised at my own snarkiness.

Merida chortled, before seeing my expression and biting her lips shut.

"Where do you think they went?"

"North Pole? Maybe?"

I stood up and jogged over to Toothless, "Can you take me to the North Pole?" I asked.

"No," Hiccup shook his head, "But I will."

"Thank you," I smiled.

Merida sighed, "That knucklehead. First we get attacked by Mordu because of him, now we have to go to the North freaking Pole. What next?"

Before I could ask who Mordu was, Hiccup had climbed onto Toothless and was offering a hand up. He looked at Merida, "You coming?"

"Can't we just travel by wisps?" Merida asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Like you know how to find people," Hiccup smirked.

"Shut it!"

(POV Change)

"Unbelievable," I crossed my arms and glared, "You've resorted to kidnapping? I could sue you."

Aster rolled his eyes, "Yeah, as if you could find a lawyer who could see you."

I clenched my jaw and looked away.

"Hey, let's not fight," Toothiana suggested with a smile.

"Why'd you even drag me up here anyway?" I asked. "My answer hasn't changed."

North replied, "Will it change if I tell you your friends are in danger?"

My blood ran cold, "What?"

"Rapunzel. And Hiccup and Merida."

"Why are they in danger?" I was still wary of Merida and Hiccup, but I didn't want to see them get hurt either.

Toothiana gave me a sad look, "Pitch somehow got in and left us...a message. He told us he had a secret weapon of sorts...and he was ready and willing to use it. Against them."

"Are you being serious?" I asked. My staff started to glow, and probably my eyes too, but I didn't bother suppressing it. If Hiccup's eyes glow then mine can too.

"He put an emphasis on 'his bratty girlfriend'," Aster said.

Sandy winced at his words.

I shook my head, "I can protect them. And even if I can't, they have a dragon. And Merida has perfect aim. And Rapunzel has a frying pan."

"Whatever Pitch has up his sleeve will be much bigger than a dragon and some arrows," North replied.

"And a frying pan," I muttered.

Aster rolled his eyes, "Why don't we just leave them? When his precious friends get killed he can blame himself."

North glared, "You know why we can't do that."

I sighed and rubbed my neck. The impact on the ground actually really hurt. Being dragged by my ankle and thrown through a tunnel didn't help too much either.

When I glanced back up, Sandy was frantically communicating with the other three via sand above his head.

"Sounds good to me," Tooth smiled at Aster.

Aster just shook his head, "Whatever you want."

North clapped his hands once, "Excellent. Compromise."

"What compromise?" I asked.

"You don't have to take oath. Not until you decide to be full-time guardian."

I loved how he said 'until' not 'unless'.

"And your friends will move to Pole where we can all keep an eye out and keep them safe," he held his arms out in a 'ta-da' way. It was as if I had already agreed to it.

"Now wait a minute-" I began.

A shriek interrupted me.

"Put me down you-"

Two yetis entered, one struggling to keep a grip on a pissed-off Merida, the other holding both Rapunzel and Hiccup by their collars.

"Phil. Daniel. Put them down," North instructed.

I winced as Rapunzel hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine," she smiled weakly, "Are YOU okay?"

"We were just discussing living arrangements for you four," Tooth smiled. From Rapunzel's shoulder, a sleepy but excited Baby Tooth flitted over to the other fairy and chirped excitedly.

"Living arrangements?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and spat, "They want you to live here."

"Why?" Merida asked.

"Cause they want me to be a Guardian and they think this compromise will make me agree," I crossed my arms and leaned back against the desk.

Rapunzel was giving me a funny look, but I ignored her. Luckily, Sandy came up and she was distracted enough for me to fly away.

(POV Change)

After a few minutes of searching, I finally found Jack hidden in the corner of the library. He sat with his knees hugged to his chest, looking vacantly at the floor.

Slowly, I knelt down and tilted his chin up to look at me, "Hey," I smiled.

He blinked and gave a five second fake smile.

"I talked to Sandy. He genuinely thinks having you here is the best option right now."

"So you made the decision without me?"

I glared, "You flew off. I didn't have a choice."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's not permanent. It's just until they figure it all out," I tried to reassure him. "As soon as its over we can go back to Berk. Or Burgess. Or we can go somewhere else. Whatever you want."

He sighed, "I want to be left out of this."

Under my breath, I whispered, "I don't think you have a choice."

"What?" he asked.

I said, louder, "I want you to make your own choices or stop being upset when people make them for you."

Clenching his jaw, he looked away and glared at the wall.

With a sigh, I put my slightly cold hands over my face to cool down. When my irritation melted away I said, "If we don't do this something bad is going to happen. Sandy knows what it is and he tried to tell me before we got interrupted. But whatever it is it involves you and me. Merida and Hiccup too, if we aren't careful. I don't want you or them to get hurt."

He didn't reply.

Not wanting to be mad at him, I continued, "Besides. You'll be a great guardian. It's all about protecting kids...you love kids. I really think you'll like it."

"No I won't."

"Jack..." I tried to reach out and touch his face, but he jerked his shoulder away. "Fine. Be mad at me," I rolled my eyes and stood up. When he didn't even move, I walked away.

Before I left the library, however, I poked my head back to glance at him. His face was buried in his arms and his shoulders were shaking.

There was a twinge of guilt in my chest, but I pushed it away and left.