JACK (Yes, I'll go dig Dark up sometime soon)
He held Rebecca's hand as tight as possible as they corkscrewed wildly through the air over Brisbane, her yells of exhiliration deafining in the night's warm air. The enormous sack had them squished so tightly against the railings of the gigantic sleigh that there was no danger of falling out, and after convincing her of this, Jack promised that if she did happen to slip, he would catch her.
Tooth and Sandy were packed along the other side of the sleigh, too keep an eye out for Pitch or his Nightmares, but after the first hour they had begun to relax and enjoy the ride, experiencing what North did every year. North himself stood tense at the head of the sleigh, relaxing only to deliver presents, a duty which he didn't trust to any of the other Guardians to help him with.
The moon was beaming down on the countryside around them, at it's fullest, and Jack sincerly hoped that was a sign for the Guardians as they took off again, pelting through the sky. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the pull of the wind in his hair, the force sticking him to the sleigh and Rebecca's hand in his. He could have stayed that way forever.
But unfortunately, the moon had other plans for him, as the ride was slowly coming to an end, faster than he ever would have believed it would have taken. At each house North would slip out with his sack, passing from chimney to chimney with lightening speed. But without fail, everytime he returned to them, a small milk mustache and hint of cookie crumbs hung around his lips.
Finally they arrived in Brazil, and as North left them to deliver, Jack turned to Rebecca as she lay sprawled against the near empty sack, breathing softly with a small smile on her face. He stared at her as she lay so peacfully, unaware of Tooth's gaze.
"Jack," the spirit of memories whispered, and he looked over at her, smiling with a warm tingling. He, Jack Frost, was feeling warm, and it wasn't because of the temperate South American air.
"Yeah?"
"I... I wish you and Rebecca the best of luck." Jack blushed lightly at her words, and noticed that her eyes were sad and disappointed.
"Are you alright?" He asked finally.
"Yes, yes... Just have fun."
He barely noticed when North returned to the sleigh, grinning through chocolate chip lips. The giant Russian had become increasinly confident over the space of Christmas Eve, and he dug out three presents from the deflated sack and passed them around. Jack held the lightly wrapped purple present in his hand and smiled with excitement. "We get to deliver some?"
"You did come with me all this way," North admitted, and pointed to a tall apartment building opposite them, where they had parked the sleigh on a tall rooftop. "She lives in there."
Jack gave a small laugh of nervous excitement and dropped to the rooftop North had indicated, slipping through the open window and leaving impossible frost on the warm glass. There was a young girl, six or seven, asleep in a bed before him, her room lit up in the pink glow of a nightlight. On the wall were dozens of posters of Princesses, smiling down at the many doll replica of themselves that lined the shelves around them. A stocking hung from the end of her bed, and Jack filled it with snow before sneaking out the door, with one last glance at the girl.
He floated gently down the steps and looked at the name tag on the present in his hands. It was addressed to Michi. Wishing Michi the best of Christmases, Jack slipped it under the lit up Christmas tree in the lounge room, well and truly frozen.
It was only when he stood up that he realised how dark the room was. Nervously, he lifted his staff towards the corners of the room, which revealed everything to be normal, but never the less he sprinted up the steps to the window, looking back only when he had returned to Michi's room. She was still asleep, golden dreamsand floating above her head in the form of butterflies.
He gazed at her, admiring the sweet innocence in the child, taking pride in the hope and wonder he had brought her, that she would discover in the morning. With one regretful look at the shadows downstairs, he slipped out the window and headed back to the sleigh, a smile coming to his face. It looked like Pitch had seen sense and abandoned his plan after all- this was going to be a great Christmas.
(this is the time to pay Mark Petrie)
The Nightmare hovered over the sleeping girl's head, its red eyes narrowing in distaste as it surveyed the butterflies above her. The shadows within the room seemed to darken, the nightlight emitting barely more than a dull glow. The butterflies became dimmer and dimmer, and with a snort the Nightmare dove into Michi's mind, purging all goodness from her, all innocence, all hope, all wonder, all fun, all memories and all dreams.
Michi sat up straight, looking directly ahead with her burning red eyes, surrounded with irises of solid black. Her soft brown hair hung limp around her face as she jerkily moved her legs from under the sheets to rest on the floor. Wobbily, she rose, the Nightmare unused to walking on to legs in a body of flesh, and she stumbled into the wall several times before making it out of the door, ruining the dramatic effect.
Like a pale ghost in the night, Mich descended the stairs, body stiff and tall, holding herself high for a girl her age. With a mechanical quality she marched to the Christmas tree. She bent down stiffly, knees sinking into the soft carpet as she surveyed the presents before her before taking the small purple box in her hands.
From then on she moved swiftly and roboticly, hands gently unwrapping the paper from around the box, putting it to one side and opening the thin cardboard. From this she took out a set of Russian doll, painted with the likeness of all those Disney Princesses she had dearly loved. She systematically separated all of these princesses and lined them up before her. Then she smashed them all to pieces.
Michi's tiny fist came down on each one in turn, pulverizing it into the floor. The Nightmare inside was unable to feel any of the pain it was causing her, and so didn't even notice when her index finger snapped against the force, as she continued to punch them with every bit of strength she could muster.
Once every toy was broken, she thoroughly scooped up the remaining fragments and placed them back into the box, Cinderella's face marred by the thousands of cracks that spread across the fragile wood. Michi proceeded to seal it all up again neatly, identical to the present Jack Frost had delivered minutes earlier.
As a final touch, the Nightmare brought Michi's body to her feet and over to the wall, which was fashioned with stylish green and red wallpaper. It then forced her to use her fingernails to scratch a message into it. The words were long lettered and crooked, black with the paint below. Outlined creepily in the wallpaper's shreds, the message read: Merry Christmas.
Pleased with it's work, the Nightmare walked Michi back to her bed, dropping her onto the covers like a discarded toy as it slipped away, onto the next child, completely unaware of the silent figure that watched darkly from the shadows.
Merry Christmas, my lovelies...