Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG, it rightfully belongs to DreamWorks. I only own the plot and the OCs, details of whom can be found on my profile.

Links to all the songs/pieces/videos I have mentioned and information on all the OCs are on my profile.

Ok, so I'm sorry for taking so long to update... after the last chapter, I reached the end of the section I had already planned out in my head, so I didn't really know what to do next. I now have an outline of what will happen next though, so I should be okay for a while :) I'm sorry to say that this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter and a lot of what is discussed you already know... but it had to be done. However, the next chapter should be better :)

Also, ship-name / pairing name wise... I've had one person tell me their opinion. So that's one vote for 'Tack' - I think the alternative would be something like 'Jara'... please review and tell me what you think sounds better - Tack, or Jara.

You know, it's strange... this time last year (give or take a few days) I was writing an author's note saying about how excited I was because I would be going to see ROTG... I can't believe it's been almost a whole year since I saw that film (it will be a year on the 21st).

Anyway, enough of that - thank you to 1L2Y3R4A, FantasyInfinity, The Blue Monster Cake, Z. Bridgett, Blue Wolf29 and .94 for following the story, thank you to 1L2Y3R4A, The Blue Monster Cake, Thelatestbuzz and .94 for favouriting it, thank you to 1L2Y3R4A and FantasyInfinity for following me, and thank you to 1L2Y3R4A for favouriting me. Also, thank you to the following people who reviewed:

rachealninja10: Being their first kiss, I didn't really want it to be interrupted... but I can see why you expected that. Thanks for the feedback :)

an awesome anon: Thank you! :) As for City of Bones, I know it's probably a bit late, as you've probably already finished it, but... good luck :D ! Have fun with that little plot twist at the end... and welcome to the TMI fandom :)

Mullkkkkkk: No, I didn't know... that's really coincidental, considering that she ends up in a relationship with the spirit of winter...

Cat Lunanoff: Thank you! :) I'm glad you liked it. As for the 'making-out-every-chapter' thing, I'll try to avoid doing that...

Froster: I may have fallen into the faced-paced trap again in this chapter... I'll try to improve on that in the future though - thanks for the advice :) Also, in case you were wondering, it's spelt 'eligible' - so you were close! (I had to use spell-check to look it up - I didn't know either!) ;)

Chapter 26 - Catching Up

Tara's POV

I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called, placing the hairbrush I had been using on the bedside cabinet.

Tooth fluttered through the door, carrying a pair of crutches. "I thought these might help you to move about," she said, handing them to me.

"Thanks," I said, gratefully.

I stood, shakily, leaning on them heavily. I took a few shaky steps, getting used to how I was supposed to use them. I worked out that the easiest way was to move one crutch forward, then the other, and then hop forward on my good leg - the leg with the broken ankle didn't have to touch the ground once.

Tooth watched. "You did a pretty good job of breaking that ankle. It's been a few hours - normally an immortal would have mostly healed by now."

"Really?" I asked, taking myself back over to the bed and sitting down on it. "I haven't noticed any difference - aside from the effects of the salve you used."

"That's odd," she replied, frowning. She was lost in thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Never mind, it's probably nothing to worry about. So..." She gave me a knowing smile. "You and Jack are officially together?"

I felt myself blush. Ignoring this, I smiled back at her, feeling a little shy. "Yes."

"I knew it! I knew there was something happening between you two! So, when and how did it happen?"

"Just now," I replied. "It just... kind of... slipped out."

Tooth nodded, smiling knowingly. "I see. Well, I'm glad you two have finally-"

"Finally what?"

Tooth and I looked up to see that Jack was standing in the open doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

"Finally got together," Tooth finished.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "'Finally'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it's been obvious for a while that you two love each other, it was only a matter of time."

"I wouldn't say that it was obvious," Jack and I both objected at the same time, "I didn't see it!" We then looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

Tooth laughed with us. "Maybe not to you two, but it was to me."

After the laughter had subsided, I turned to Jack. He looked just as he always did - there was no longer any sign of what Pitch had done to him.

"You look a lot better," I informed him.

"I feel a lot better." His eyes gave me a quick look over. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"A bit hungry, actually," I replied, frowning. "I didn't think immortals were supposed to get hungry."

"Some people take a while to adjust," Tooth informed me. "They don't always get used to the idea of not having to eat or sleep straight away."

"Well, good news for you, Tara - North's ordered the yetis to make dinner," Jack grinned. He entered the room, and sat down beside me. "I think they should nearly be finished by now."

Right on queue, Phil stuck his head round the door and garbled something in the language the yetis spoke.

"Thank you Phil," Tooth nodded. "We'll be right there." She turned to us as the yeti left.

"You can understand the yetis' language?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded. "After knowing North for a while and visiting him a lot, you begin to understand the general message... After that it's a matter of noticing what words they use and when and figuring out what they must mean. Well, according to Phil, North would like us to come to the Globe Room."

I picked up the crutches and started to pull myself up, but before I could, Jack lifted me up off the ground and set me carefully on my feet himself.

"I can stand up, you know," I told him, half annoyed that he seemed to think I couldn't take care of myself, half of me finding the action rather sweet.

He shrugged. "But it's easier if I do that - no risk of you accidentally putting weight on your ankle."

He had a point. "All right, you win."

We made our way slowly to the Globe Room - slowly, because I was still getting used to the crutches.

When we entered the room, we were surprised to see that we had visitors. Samhain, Nocturne, April and Jack O'Lantern were talking to North.

Nocturne looked in our direction. Her eyes rested on me, then grew wide. She looked confused, then surprised, and then joyful, a wide smile lighting up her features. "Tara!"

The other three turned in surprise. April was the first to react. One moment she was standing by the Globe, the next moment she had tackled me into a hug, causing me to stumble backwards. "You're alive!" She cried.

She pulled away, and I regained my footing. It was then that she noticed that I was on crutches.

She gave me a sheepish look. "Sorry, I didn't notice the crutches..."

"It's quite all right," I reassured. I then frowned. "Hang on, why were you so surprised to see me?"

"Somebody," April said, accusingly, shooting a meaningful glare at Nocturne, "told us that you were dead."

"Hey!" Nocturne raised her hands in a signal of surrender. "As far as I was aware, Tara was dead - I didn't know that she'd been brought back!"

"Besides, it doesn't matter now," Jack O'Lantern pointed out. "She's alive - that's what matters."

"I couldn't agree more," Jack (Frost) said.

"So, what happened?" April asked, curiously.

"It's a long story..." I replied.

"Why don't you all stay for dinner?" North suggested. "That way we can all hear the full story."

April, Jack O'Lantern and Nocturne all looked to Samhain with expressions that said 'can we? Please?'

Samhain chuckled. "You know you three don't have to ask, you can do what you want to, you don't need my permission," he told them. He turned to North. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

We all made our way to the dining room. My crutches slowed me down, so I ended up lagging behind. Jack noticed this, and slowed down his usual fast walk to adjust to my current pace.

"I can't wait until this ankle decides to heal," I sighed. "It's being a right pain in the neck - I can't walk, I can't fight, can't play certain pieces on the piano properly..."

"How does your ankle affect your piano playing?" Jack asked, confused.

"I need to be able to use my feet to use the pedals," I explained.

"Ah."

We reached the dining room. When we entered, Jack pulled out a chair for me and helped to push it in once I had sat down. He then leant the crutches against the wall, and sat beside me.

Dinner was served - roast beef and potatoes with vegetables and gravy. Once we all had our food and had started eating, we then began to catch up on the various happenings.

Nocturne started us off. "Well, since we last saw each other, the Nightmare attacks have been getting more and more frequent and widespread - which suggests that they are increasing in numbers, dramatically."

"They are also much, much stronger, and they're harder to kill," Samhain added.

Jack O'Lantern then continued from where he left off. "They're getting harder and harder to fight, and it's harder to beat them and remain in fighting condition ourselves." Seeing our concerned expressions, he added, "don't worry - we've been fine so far."

April shot him a look that was a cross between an angry glare, an exasperated expression, and worry.

"All right," he sighed in resignation. "So I had a small run-in with a Nightmare last night, and yeah, okay, it was a close call."

"'Close call?!'" April exclaimed at the same time as Nocturne cried in outrage, "'Small run-in?!'"

Nocturne took a few breaths to calm herself down. "I would hardly call Morte Pavidum a 'small run-in' or a 'close call'."

"Morte Pavidum?" I asked. I turned to Jack O'Lantern, worried. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I don't really remember what the Nightmare showed me."

I highly doubted that. The things I saw weren't things I could ever forget - I guessed it would be the same for all people. I guessed he was lying because he didn't want to talk about it - and I understood that. So I decided not to voice my thoughts on the matter.

Nocturne looked as though she too thought he was lying - and she looked as though she very much wanted to say something, but was restraining herself from doing so.

Instead, she decided to change the subject. "So, Tara, what happened to you? We all thought you were dead."

"Not to mention none of us have much of an idea as to what happened when you went into Pitch's lair to rescue Jack," Bunny added.

Samhain, April and Nocturne all looked confused at this, but Jack O'Lantern looked even more confused than the three of them put together. "When did I need rescuing?" He asked. Then he realized who Bunny had meant. "Oh! Jack Frost, sorry..." He chuckled slightly at his own mistake, but then took in the full meaning of Bunny's statement and frowned in confusion again. "Hang on, why did Jack need rescuing?"

"It's a long story," Jack (Frost) replied.

"I think it would be best if we started at the beginning, with how Tara died," Tooth said, then turned to me, adding hastily, "if that's okay with you, that is."

"Of course that's okay," I replied.

Everyone turned to look at me. It took me a moment to realize why. They were waiting for me to start telling the story.

So I started with my attempts to make the children of the orphanage believe, of how Cassie and Mel became close to me. I then told them of how Pitch had taken Mel, of how Cassie and I had followed them into the woods, and how I had led him away to the lake to allow Mel and Cassie to escape, of how I had fought the Nightmares off, and finally of how Pitch had killed me.

"After I woke up, he captured me," I continued. "He thought I would be useful to him, as I was now immortal, so he tried to persuade me to join him."

"What do you mean by 'persuade'," April asked, sensing that I wasn't telling them the full story.

"Torture," Jack said quietly, slipping his hand into mine under the table. "He tortured Tara mercilessly, yet she still refused."

"It wasn't that bad," I lied, silently praying that Jack wouldn't say anything else. I would never admit exactly how bad it had been to anyone... but Jack knew... Pitch had shown him everything.

"Tara, I know you," he whispered to me, so that only I could hear. "If it 'wasn't that bad', as you put it, then you would never have given Pitch the satisfaction of seeing your pain."

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that, Bunny being a giant rabbit, he had excellent hearing. "How do you know about what Pitch did to Tara?" He asked Jack.

"It's probably best if we explain that later on," Jack replied, looking a little uncomfortable. "It'll make a little more sense that way."

"Wait, so let me get this straight," April cut in. "Pitch killed Tara, the Man in the Moon brought her back, Pitch captured her and tortured her to try to force her to join him. Right."

"Right," I confirmed. "He also tried showing me what happened to my mother, and giving me nightmares, but I still refused. He then realized what my centre was, and that because of it, I'd never willingly help him. He also found out... he also found out how I felt about Jack." I turned to look at said winter spirit, trying to convey how sorry I was, sorry that I'd failed to keep Pitch out, in the glance.

"I think I'm missing something here," North interrupted. "What do you mean, 'how you felt'?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tooth asked, rolling her eyes.

"They love each other," Nocturne finished for her.

I felt a small blush creep its way onto my cheeks, and noticed that Jack was also blushing slightly. "Yes, we do."

"You're courting? It's official?" Nocturne grinned. "That's great news!"

"I believe the modern term is 'dating' or 'going out', Nocturne," April pointed out. "It's been a long time since it was called 'courting'"

"Even I know that," Jack (Frost) grinned, mischievously, "and you're the expert on modern terms and analogies." Clearly there was some joke in the statement I didn't understand.

Nocturne rolled her eyes. "I'm several thousand years old and I don't spend as much time around mortals as you do - I have an excuse."

"Tara," Samhain interrupted, before the argument could get any further. "Please could you continue?"

I nodded. "After that, Pitch gave me one last chance to willingly join him. I refused. He then injected me with a drug that allowed him complete control over my body, and forced me to participate in an attack against the North Pole. He tried to force me to kill Jack, and though I tried to fight against his presence in my mind, he was too strong - if it hadn't been for his arrogance in releasing me in time for me to be myself as I delivered the fatal blow, he would have succeeded in forcing me to kill Jack - as it was, I only just managed to stop myself. After that, Pitch revealed that the drug he had used to control me was also a poison, and that I had a day left to live. He then left, and after a while the poisons effects took hold, and I ended up in the infirmary, unconscious. The next thing I knew, I had been miraculously cured, but Jack was missing." I turned to him, still not sure as to what had happened.

He understood, and proceeded to tell his part of the story. "While Tara was unconscious, Tooth thought that I should spend some time away from the infirmary, so I went to my room. When I got in there, I... I couldn't hold in the pain of losing Tara in any longer. I broke down. And that's when Pitch found me. He offered me a deal - if I gave myself up to him, then he would leave the cure to the poison for the other Guardians to find. I agreed, but it turned out that he wasn't planning on keeping his end of the deal - he attempted to smash the bottle. I attacked him, and unknowingly I must somehow have used the wind to blow the bottle to safety. I didn't know that, however, and so Pitch took me to his lair, and I believed that it had all been for nothing. Pitch beat me up, burnt my staff and gave me nightmares." He turned to Bunny. "One of the things he showed me was what he did to Tara, when he tried to force her to help him."

"Meanwhile, we had noticed he was missing, and had figured out what had happened," I continued, not wanting to think about the other horrible things Pitch had done to Jack. "We went to the entrance to Pitch's lair, but discovered that I was the only one who could get through. I went down anyway, and found Jack. We almost made it out, but Pitch tried to stop us, so I pushed Jack through the Snow Globe portal, which closed behind him, judo-flipped Pitch and ran."

April winced. "I doubt he took kindly to being judo-flipped," she muttered.

"He didn't," I confirmed. "He caught up with me and gave me nightmares showing me things... Things I never want to have to see again."

I realized that, under the table, I was clutching Jack's hand tightly, as though to prove to myself he was really there. I loosened my grip, though if I had been crushing it, he hadn't said anything. His hand gave mine a gentle squeeze, as though telling me that he understood, and that he didn't mind.

Bunny decided to take over. "When Jack fell through the portal, we all knew what had happened, and we discussed what to do. We decided that I should check my tunnels, to see if there were any connections to Pitch's lair through them. I found Tara, unconscious, in one of them - she had managed to escape the lair and get a small way through my tunnels. I picked her up, brought her here, she and Jack recovered - well, besides Tara's ankle - and that's it, really."

"Pitch is getting more powerful," I added. "He can now manipulate nightmares to whatever he wants the person to see."

"I'd forgotten about that," Jack muttered. "Thanks for bringing that up - I have a feeling it's important."

"That it is." Samhain looked worried, and maybe even a tiny bit afraid. That scared me - I didn't know him well, but from what I had seen, he seemed brave and not easily frightened. "I don't think Pitch has ever had that much power. Not even in the dark ages."

The four older Guardians and Nocturne nodded in agreement.

"This is bad," Nocturne concluded. "This is very bad. If he isn't stopped soon... Well... It may not be possible to stop him."

"We won't let him get that far," Jack O'Lantern reassured. "We won't let him win - even if we have to beg every immortal in the world to help, we will stop him - right?" He looked round the table, as though daring one of us to say no. "Right, everyone?"

"Right!" We chorused.

I couldn't help but grin. Things no longer seemed quite as bleak as they had before. From what they had said, it seemed that Nocturne, Samhain, Jack O'Lantern and April were planning on fighting alongside the Guardians in this war. The Guardians wouldn't have to fight alone this time - this time they would have friends.

After we had finished dinner, the Guardians, Samhain, Nocturne and April went off to the Globe room to discuss what the next move would be. I stayed in the dining room, as I was feeling very tired, and I didn't think I'd be much help - they'd all been immortal a lot longer than I had, and they were more experienced.

I was surprised, though, that Jack O'Lantern also stayed. We sat in silence for a few moments after the others left, both of us unsure of what to say.

Finally, he spoke. "Tara... I heard that you... that a Nightmare administered Morte Pavidum on you."

I nodded, having a feeling as to where this conversation was headed. "Are you all right?" I asked him. "I know the visions are very... very..." I struggled to think of the right word.

I didn't need to. Jack nodded his head to show his understanding. "I'm all right," he replied, "just a little... unsure as to what the visions meant. They were very strange, to say the least. Do you know what I mean?"

"Kind of... I didn't understand the meaning of my final vision at the time, but I wouldn't say the vision was 'strange', as such."

"Do you remember it? All of it?"

I nodded. "Yes. I don't think I could ever forget, no matter how much I want to. Why do you ask - is there something you can't remember?"

He looked uncertain. "If... If I tell you about this, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

I nodded. "You can trust me. Just... Don't feel like you have to tell me anything - if there's something you don't want to talk about, I understand."

He looked slightly reassured. "Thanks." He took a deep breath. "Well... I guess the first thing is... how much do you know about how I died, and why I became immortal?"

"I know that you forced the devil into making a deal, so that he wouldn't take the soul of any of your family members so that he wouldn't take your brother's soul, I know that at some point you fought him, and I know that when your time came to die, Heaven wouldn't take you, because you'd made a deal with the devil, despite the fact you had good intentions, and Hell couldn't take you, because of your deal."

Jack nodded. "There are many versions of the story - most depict me as an evil person, others depict my brother as an evil person. Neither of those are true - Lucifer attempted to corrupt my brother's soul, so I forced him to leave my brother alone. I made him swear to never take one of my family members' souls. But Lucifer sought vengeance, he hated that a mere mortal had outsmarted him. He wanted nothing more than to kill me and torture my soul for all eternity, but the deal I made prevented him from doing so. I'm not entirely sure how - my memory is a bit sketchy in places - but somehow I ended up in Hell, still as a living being. My best guess is that Lucifer captured me, and, since he couldn't kill me and keep my in Hell for eternity, he wanted the next best thing - to torture me until I died.

"Of course, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I stole some of the embers from a nearby fire and used it as a weapon. The fight took almost all the energy I had. I remember blacking out, and then the next thing I knew, I was in a bed in my father's house, and I was immortal."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what this has to do with Morte Pavidum," I said, a little confused.

"Well the thing is, is my last vision - the one that showed me my worst fear - was almost one of my memories... but it was different. I was in Hell but... I think I was there for a reason - I had gone voluntarily. I can't imagine why... what's really frustrating is that when I was experiencing the vision, I knew why I was there, I had some sort of purpose, but the more I try to remember, the more it slips away. And... there was someone else there... someone I don't remember. I just know that, whoever they were, I was desperate to save them, I'd do anything, give anything... but I can't remember for the life of me who they were. It's like when you wake up from a dream, and you remember that you dreamt of someone who you recognized and knew in the dream, but now that your awake, you don't know why, or where from, and you can't even remember their face, or their name. Do you know what I mean?"

I nodded. "I don't know what to make of it though."

He gave a sad smile. "Neither do I, that's the problem. But ever since I had that vision, it's been haunting my dreams, and I've had this feeling that there's something not right in my life, that something is... missing. I think I've had this feeling ever since I became immortal, but I just didn't notice it until now. I just know that something isn't right. Have you felt anything like that?"

I shook my head. "No. I haven't - and my visions were very different to yours, so I can't really help you there either. I'm sorry."

"That's all right," he said. "I just... I needed to talk to someone about, even if they couldn't give me any answers. Thanks for... for being that someone."

"Your welcome," I smiled. "I just wish I could be of more help. If there's anything I can do... just ask."

"Well... There may be one other thing..." He shook his head. "What am I saying? I can't ask that of you. Forget I said anything."

"No, it's all right - what do you want me to do?"

"Well... If it's not too personal, could you... tell me a bit about one of your visions? So that I know just how strange mine was?"

I nodded. "Ok." I then paused for a moment. "The one you told me about - that was your final vision - your worst fear?"

He nodded in response.

"In which case it's only fair that I tell you mine." I then told him about my final vision.

"You're scared of losing Jack? Because you love him?" he guessed.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm scared of losing him - and I'm terrified of what Pitch will do, now that he knows how afraid I am of losing Jack. At the time when I had the vision, though, I hadn't figured out how I felt about Jack, so I didn't understand what the vision meant."

"Well, it's certainly a lot easier to work out than mine," he muttered.

"True. But you'll figure it out - you just have to give it time and be patient."

"I hope you're right, Tara," he sighed. "I hope you're right."

So, yeah, quite this chapter was quite filler-ey in my opinion - sorry about that. Though, what did you think about that little section at the end with Jack O'Lantern and Tara? More specifically, can you think of what his vision might mean? *hint* chapter 18 *hint*.

So, I have an idea as to what might happen in the next chapter, so hopefully I'll have it written and posted... I may even post it as a Christmas present for you all :D .

Till next time!

MS.