I'm Baaack! Who missed me? Sorry It took so long, but I had a few personal issues that had to be sorted out. Anyway. I realized while starting to edit this chapter that my last chapters weren't as long as I thought. I have the rest of the story typed, and I just need to find the time to get it edited and published. Anyway! If you want to complain about my missing feel free to. I deserve it!

Thanks to all of my loyal readers who have been waiting so patiently! Love you guys!

-Wolf

Chapter 34

Pitch glared at the tea that yet another angry looking yeti placed in front of him. He lifted it, sipping at the bitter liquid. A shudder ran down his spine, and he all but slammed the cup onto the kitchen table, pushing it away. He looked at Aster, who was shifting uncomfortably across the table. Aster seemed to be trying to look anywhere except the two other men at the table. Sandy was munching happily on Christmas cookies, and Pitch actually accepted one when offered, wanting to get the bitter taste of Earl Grey out of his mouth.

After a few minutes of silence Pitch leaned back in his chair, sighing. "Refusing to speak is only making this story longer than it should be." Aster frowned, and glared down at the table. He grumbled under his breath, and Pitch rolled his eyes.

After a minute of grumbling Aster looked up. "You wanna know what happened? Fine!" He slammed his good paw down on the table, huffing. "April came to help me every Easter for years. A few years ago she showed up in the middle of July, and said she had something very important to talk to me about." The furry creature leaned on the table, sighing quietly. "She had always been curious about my people, so I told her about where I came from all the time. Well that one time she came, she made me an offer, but I had to turn her down."

Sandy blinked, a golden question mark forming over his head, and Pitch just nodded for Aster to continue. Aster sighed, rubbing his paw over his face. "She said she.." He trailed off, looking very awkward suddenly. Pitch swirled the cup of tea with one finger, raising an eyebrow. Aster huffed, suddenly seeming to find a crack in the table very interesting. "She wanted to be my mate."

Sandy tilted his head looking rather confused as Pitch nodded. "I figured it was something like that. She was much too emotional for her feelings to be simply friendship." He tipped the cup under his finger farther, tilting it over the edge of the table, and smirking as a few drops of the hot liquid dripped onto the floor.

Sandy silently huffed, waggling a scolding finger at Pitch. Pitch rolled his eyes, moving his finger from the cup. He smirked smugly when the cup smashed on the floor, and splattered hot tea across the clean floor. "Oops. Someone should probably clean that up."

Aster rolled his eyes, twitching his good ear in agitation. "Ya know mate, you're a bit messed up." He leaned back in his chair, looking Pitch over. "You're meant to frighten, and yet in your personal time you act a lot like Jack." He smirked, rolling his eyes. "A mischievous anklebiter!"

Pitch glared at the other males at the table as both fell into fits of giggles. He stood, shoving his chair back. "If you are simply going to make fun of me, I'll just take my leave." He turned, waving over his shoulder.

Aster patted Sandy's shoulder, fighting down his snickers. "Jack calls me a grouch, and yet he wants to spend time with this killjoy?" Pitch spun on his heels, opening his mouth to tell the oversized rabbit where he could shove his overrated joy. He stopped as something struck him. Jack was always talking about how the Pooka was always so grumpy, and yet here he was after a violent battle, and severely injured laughing his tail off.

Pitch tilted his head, remembering the odd playfulness that had come over him shortly after Jack had woken after the battle. He moved back to his chair, stepping around the yeti cleaning the spilt tea, and sat down. "Tell me more about April. Her personality. Her powers."

Aster's ear perked up, and he tilted his head, looking suddenly suspicious. "Why do you care?" Pitch noted a hint of something in the furry Guardian's voice, but he ignored it. Aster frowned, and leaned back in his chair.

Pitch sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before he spoke. "I believer her personality, or her powers are affecting those in the workshop." Aster, and Sandy looked at each other, shrugging silently. Pitch rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. You two are treating me as if I'm your friend, which I am not! Not to mention that I actually started a silly game with Jack before that stupid check up. Seems like the effect of the April Fool to me."

Sandy tilted his head as he thought, and suddenly he nodded looking at Aster. Aster frowned. "I guess it's possible. She is basically the physical form of fun and mischief. I did always feel more fun just being around her." He leaned back a bit more, and smiled. "Each visit ended in some form of game."

Pitch rolled his eyes, standing again. "I don't particularly care about your love life. I was simply concerned about the possibility of Jack going mad like her." Before Aster could respond Pitch walked into the shadows, going off to deal with his new herd of frosty troublemakers.

Jack floated along after Jamie, and Sophie, who were now covered in melting snow. Sophie shook her messy hair, giggling. "That was the best snowball fight we've had all year!" She bounced along beside Jamie.

Jack rolled onto his back, floating above the youngsters' heads. Personally he would have loved to continue the fight, but it was starting to get dark. He hummed quietly, bolting up to Jamie's bedroom window the moment they arrived to the house. He hated going through the front door, cause Jamie's mom complained about the cold draft when he was downstairs.

Jamie threw open the window, grinning at the frosty teen. "Get in here before someone sees you!" He grabbed Jack's arm and yanked him inside, slamming the window shut.

Jack snickered, hopping onto the foot of the bed. "It is still so weird to think that's any form of problem!" He fell backwards, flopping on the bed. "So what have you been up to while I faced battle with the Guardians again?" Jamie rolled his eyes, and Jack huffed. "Besides school!"

Jamie rolled his eyes, hopping onto the bed, and flopping across Jack's stomach. "Absolutely nothing!" He grinned, punching Jack's shoulder. "So what is this huge problem that you need help with?"

Jack sighed as he shoved Jamie off, and hopped off the bed. "Well as it turns out Manny chose Pitch to be a Guardian while I was hibernating. Pitch doesn't want to be one, and swears that he won't make a good one. I need your help to convince him!" Jamie stared at Jack, his eyes huge.

Jumping up, Jamie threw his hands up. "Pitch is a Guardian!? This is ridiculous!" Jack frowned, having not expected that reaction. Jamie flopped back on his bed pouting. "Now you won't have ANY time for me! You'll spend all your Guardian time, AND free time with Pitch!"

Jack blinked at Jamie, then snickered, flopping on the bed again. "Are you kidding? If I can see Pitch during the time I have Guardian duties I won't feel the need to spend so much of my free time with him." He popped Jamie's forehead, making the younger boy jump. "Get it kiddo?"

Jamie huffed, and crossed his arms. Jack blinked for a second, confused. He jumped when Jamie popped his forehead with a smirk. "That's for hitting me." He shoved Jack off of the bed, and sat up, crossing his legs. "Alright then. What's the plan?"

Jack frowned. He hadn't really thought of a plan yet. "We need to find some way to make Pitch see that he would make a great Guardian. Or at least that he should try." Jamie tilted his head from side to side, thinking.

After a few minutes Jamie grinned. "I have an idea!" He grinned at Jack, and suddenly the older male was wishing he had gone to someone else for advice.

Jack frowned as he followed Jamie through the woods. It was very beautiful around here, especially with the snow around, but he was very nervous about Jamie's plan. Jamie spun around, beaming at Jack. "Don't look so gloomy! Even if this doesn't work, You're here so I'm safe!"

Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. "You have got to get better about relying on yourself! What part of 'I can't protect you all the time' don't you under-" He was cut off as Jamie shouted, tilting backwards. Jack shot out his staff, hooking Jamie, and pulling him back from the ledge he was now tottering on.

Jamie clung to the staff, then grinned at Jack. "I knew I could count on you!" JAck rolled his eyes as they both looked over the ledge. Jamie pointed straight down. "See! The river is still basically still frozen here, and you can hide down near the water in case I do fall." Jack wasn't very sure about this plan, but Jamie's logic seemed sound.

Pitch hadn't let anything bad happen to Jamie since Jack had started going down to mess with him. It only stood to reason that if Jamie was in trouble that Pitch would feel the need to save him, if only to make Jack happy. Jack sighed, still feeling very uneasy about this.

Jamie laid on his stomach, and struggled back over the ledge until it was just his arms up. He gripped onto a thick root, grinning at Jack. "Get into your place before I start calling for help." Jack nodded, and drifted down the ledge.

A sudden snap, and a gasp caught Jack's attention. He spun in the air, spotting Jamie just as he crashed into the older boy. Jack was so caught off guard that his staff was knocked from his hands, and both boys plummeted into the icy waters.

Pitch jumped as he felt a cold chill creep up his spine. Someone nearby was very frightened, but this wasn't the type of fear he liked. Whoever it was was afraid for their life. Pitch slipped into the shadows, leaving Midnight to try corralling the frosted Nightmares. Stepping out onto a ledge over a frozen river, Pitch looked down at something splashing on the surface.

After a moment he recognized Jamie as he crawled out of the water, coughing and sputtering. He sighed, and moved down the shadow on the rock ledge, freezing at the bottom when he kicked a staff, that looked very familiar.

Pitch's blood ran cold when Jamie looked out over the river, becoming more frightened by the second. "Jack? Jack where are you? This isn't funny!" Pitch was across the river before he even realized he was moving.

Jamie jumped when Pitch grabbed his arm. "What happened? Where is Jack?" Jamie hiccupped, on the verge of hysterics, and pointed to large area where the ice was smashed. Pitch growled, and slid down into the dark water, already feeling for Jack's fear.

Jack struggled against the water, but that only seemed to push him deeper. He felt crushing fear weighing in his chest heavier than lead, and it made his vision waver. He just kept repeating that he couldn't die like this. Not again!

Suddenly everything around Jack turned black, and he was suddenly on dry land again. He coughed, and sputtered even though he hadn't inhaled any water. A pair of black clad legs appeared in front of him, and he smiled weakly up at Pitch. "We ha-have got to stop meeting like this."

The world suddenly got very dim, and Jack's last thought before he passed out was that Pitch looked madder than usual.

Again I am SUPER sorry about the long wait, and I swear this chapter looked a lot longer in the word document! Feel free to complain T^T I don mind.

-Wolf