Hi everybody, this is part two of three of my three-part update. The star authors in this chapter are Vija-Thorn, Crystal Rosewing and Fanty. Girls, you are all a godsend. Thank you so freaking much for letting me do this, and I'm sorry I couldn't make them longer!
Alrighty then, have fun! And don't forget to review!
By the time Jack got back to the Pole, he could barely see a few feet from his nose to dodge the icy glaciers that seemed to pop up with almost deliberate regularity and when he finally touched down on the balcony of the North Pole, his feet were covered in bruises from skimming sharp peaks and his face- though still white, was covered in thin scratches for running into icecaps.
Jack alighted on the balcony railing with the grace of a bird, his legs bent and his staff held out to keep his balance. Then he took hold of the railing with his other hand and gently eased himself off with a little hop. The window which was always open for his use remained ajar and Jack gently eased it open wider before slipping in and closing it behind him, though he wasn't quick enough to stop the chilly breeze which slipped through the crack in the closing door and wound its way across the room, heralding his arrival.
The Guardians, who were settled at the table used for dining by the fire, all looked up when the fire behind them wavered and smiled when they caught sight of their favorite white-haired teen. North stood up as Jack watched closer and embraced him.
"Ah, Jack! You are here!" He said, pulling Jack into one of his famous rib-crushing hugs. Since the boy had left, North had busied himself with various projects; chief among them working on Seraphina's nightgown, which was almost finished. Just a few more stitches and it will be done, he thought to himself as he released a grinning Jack. He was planning to give it to her tonight, after everybody else went to sleep to avoid any embarrassment. For either of them.
"Wow North," Jack said, leaning on his staff and regarding Father Christmas with his also customary mischievous smile. "I leave for a few hours to go hang out with Jamie and you act like I've been gone hundreds of years. You guys really can't survive without me, can you?" He asked, looking around at the other occupants of the table. Bunny was sitting in the chair closest to the fire- of course, and Sandy was sitting on a squat, plushy cushion. They were playing Skip-bo, it seemed. And Sandy was winning.
Bunny set down his cards and chuckled. "Actually Mate, we didn't even notice ya absence. When did'ja leave?"
Jack swung his staff idly at the rabbit in response and frost began creeping over his cards. North ruffled his hair. "Oh Jack, you know Bunny eez just playing." He told him, letting out one of his deep, belly-laughs.
Jack nodded, chuckling. "I'm aware that the Easter Kangaroo enjoys attempting to rise above me in the nuisance scale," He said, grinning at the Easter Bunny. Then he added, "And he's failing miserably."
Bunny rolled his eyes and brushed the frost off of his cards. "Alright ya bloody show pony, I can see you have a pretty good time at Jamie's. Normally you're only half this cocky."
Jack took a running leap and launched himself into the air, landing on the soft back of one of North's chairs away from the fire. "Oh yeah, it was a blast!" He then launched into a grand regalement of the events at Jamie's, beginning with his scaring of the young boy and ending with his exit. He described everything in great detail and Bunny applauded him when he told them about the ice wraith costume, saying that he was living up to his genetics and that Pitch would be proud.
Jack thanked him and then began talking about the relationships between the kids currently. "Monty was beet-red when Cupcake started teasing him, and so was Jamie when Pippa did it. It was hilarious!" He chortled. However, when he mentioned that Jamie and the other children already knew what was going on, North raised his hand to halt his flow of words.
"Hang on hang on! You mean to say dat de boy knew of Pitch and Toothy and all of this already?" He asked, frowning at Jack. Something didn't seem quite right about that. Hadn't some of these events happened mere hours ago? That couldn't be long enough to post a chapter, could it?
His question was soon answered when Jack replied, "Most of it."
North raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.
"Apparently," Jack explained. "He has been keeping up with the Fanfiction story, but Abby hasn't been updating for quite some time. Plus he also told the other kids and now they know everything because I told them about what's been happening the last few days."
Sandy frowned. How much did he know before though? Did he tell you?
"According to him, the chapters stopped when Tooth and Pitch left to go to the Tooth palace, three days ago." Jack told them. "I asked him if he knew but nothing appeared on Fanfiction after that from her. No updates, no author's notes, nothing."
North's frown deepened. "That is very troubling, Jack." He said. "Could de girl possibly be in trouble?"
Jack shrugged. "It's probably nothing serious." He said, then added cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood, "She's probably over-used her computer and the thing has crashed. I bet she'll be back online soon with a big fat sorry and a brand new batch of chapters in no time."
The others still looked worried and, quite frankly, Jack was too. In a strange way, Abby had almost become like family to them as well, even if they had never met her face to face. Her courage and the kindness she had shown towards Pitch when they had sat on the side-lines and done nothing was nothing short of heroism and he wished that they could find her to thank her. North probably will be able to find her this Christmas, he thought. Or Tooth, through her memories. Then we can thank her.
North didn't reply and the room which buzzed with conversation before grew quiet. North sat there in his chair, frowning and thinking while the others went back to their card game and as tedious silence fell upon them, Jack's train of thought began to wander idly from Abby to Tooth and then, as it was bound to do, to Seraphina and her father. It was going to be hard dodging two sets of parents, one of which was his newly acquired grandfather!
Thank Manny that Pitch likes playing tricks almost as much as I do, Jack thought with an inward sigh of relief. I wonder what he'll say when I tell him how I spooked Jamie and the kids!
He imagined Pitch clapping him on the shoulder and saying, "That's my boy!" and Jack's cheeks glowed slightly with pride.
Which quickly extinguished as he recalled his previous train of thought and frowned, looking around at the two empty seats on his right side. Speaking of Tooth and Sera...
"Hey North?" Jack asked, jolting the big Russian out of his thoughts.
North looked up at the boy and asked, "Yes Jack?"
Jack tilted his head towards the empty seats. "Uh, where are the resident moms? Did Tooth take her to the Palace?"
North frowned, then realization hit him and he smiled slightly. "No Jack, they are still here. At least, I think they are." He added, frowning and looking up towards the stairs where the rooms were. "We haven't seen them for quite some time."
"I haven't seen them since I left," Bunny added without looking up from his cards. "I left after Sandy, but we did- SANDY YA RAT DRONGO! You KNEW I was going for that one!" This last comment as Sandy set down three cards and happily received the pile to add to his already thick stack.
Sandy cheekily smiled and wagged a finger at Bunny, writing with the sand above his head, Bad form to curse Aster.
Bunny just grumbled and picked up his cards again, drawing three from the pile. "Buggering sandbag." He muttered.
Sandy gave Jack the thumbs up and wrote while still concentrating on his cards, They are up in Tooth's room Jack.
Jack frowned. "But... it's way past dinnertime. How come you haven't gone up and talked to them yet?" He asked, looking at North and then the others in confusion.
Sandy decided to answer that one for North. I did go up there, but I chose to let them be for a little while longer. He wrote, still focusing on playing the card-game.
Jack frowned. "Why? What were they doing?"
Sandy shrugged. I didn't exactly see what they were doing, but it doesn't really matter. It's the fact that they are actually spending time together that I care about.
Jack frowned and was about to ask another question, but Sandy continued to write and he closed his mouth.
It's hard enough for Sera to spend time with me, Sandy explained. And I didn't want to ruin her chance at some bonding time with Tooth, so when I came down I asked North and Bunny to wait a little bit. She's having a really hard time with all this change, you know Jack.
Jack frowned. "She is?" He asked. His mother hadn't seemed very different to him. Then again, Sandy had known her since birth. He had probably picked up on certain signs that he, Jack, had not.
Yes, she is. Sandy told them.
Across the table, North had taken a few wires and screws out of his pockets when the conversation had shifted and was trying to fit them together in a way that created a propeller, but when he heard Jack ask why they didn't ask Seraphina and Tooth to come down for dinner he put the items back into his already crammed pockets- he was a toymaker! It was in the job description to have whoozits and whatzits galore clogging every available space in his pockets! -and watched the two intently.
Sandy had already told him and Bunny, in confidence, about his conversation to Seraphina the night before and both of them knew to try and make her stay here as comfortable as they could; North's version of this was speeding up his process on the nightgown and Bunny's was moral support. Still, old habits die hard. North had been a bandit for years, and every time he and his crew liberated a place, he needed to have as much intelligence about the place as possible.
This was a little different than robbing the czar's palace admittedly, but the principle was the same.
Jack frowned, though he didn't notice North's sudden interest in his and Sandy's conversation. "How do you know she's having problems?" He asked Sandy. "She seems perfectly alright to me."
Sandy shook his head. Oh Jack, she is a long way from alright. Then he smiled slightly. That's another thing that you and Pitch have in common with her. Whenever you need help, it virtually has to get dragged out of you through endless needling and prodding.
Jack was insulted. "Hey, I ask for help!" He said, then he amended with a little lest indignation, "When I need it."
Yes, and how many times to do you believe you need help? Sandy inquired, raising one of his eyebrows.
Jack had the good grace not to answer and Sandy had the good grace to just leave things at that, though he knew that his point had been made.
Anyway, Sandy began again. She is a long way from OK. Last night she spent about half an hour talking to me and crying, wondering if she will be able to fit in here with us. I tried to explain to her that this was exactly how you felt when you joined us, but I knew that it would do no good. She had to find these things out for herself, and spending time with Tooth was her first step to feeling like she is truly part of this family.
Jack nodded, thinking about the Sandman's words. It was true, he hadn't exactly been the most welcoming person when he had joined up with the Guardians. Three hundred years of living virtually alone- except for Sera of course, had given him a harsh outlook on life in general and, though he was the Guardian of fun, sometimes the world hadn't seemed like such a fun place.
"So, you left them alone..." He said slowly, still trying to get it straight inside his head. "Because you wanted them to bond more?" It made sense, once he said it aloud. As far as he knew, neither of his mothers socialized much.
Sandy nodded, setting down three more cards and collecting the pile. Yes. I don't know how many chances Sera will get, he wrote, ignoring Bunny's outraged protest to his winning another stack of cards. So I want her to seize them when she can.
Jacknodded again. It was a nice thing to do, one that mother would no doubt appreciate once she found out about it. After being embarrassed and redder than a strawberry for a few minutes, he thought with a smile. "So... how long ago was this?"
Sandy shrugged. About half an hour ago. I came down and told the others, and we all agreed that we should wait and let them come down in their own time.
"Well yeah, but that was a while ago." Jack said. "They might've lost track of time."
"Dere are clocks in each room." North said, looking up from his work for the first time in a while. "If dey vant dinner, dey vill come down."
Jack nodded and they sat in silence which was broken only by the occasional grumble from Bunny or the clinking of metal on metal as North continued to assemble the bare bones of little toy after little toy on the table for another few minutes, then Jack heard his stomach growling and he flushed a little as all eyes turned to him.
It's alright Jack, Sandy assured him. I know you're hungry from all the flying you've been doing, but I know they'll be down soon.
Jack still felt embarrassed. Here they were, allowing the two girls to spend time together and push dinner back an hour, and he had to go and seem selfish because his stomach growled.
Six or seven minutes later, the same thing happened and Jack pulled his hoodie over his face to hide his scarlet face. This time, it was North who raised his head and smiled at the boy. "I can have something brought up if you really are that hungry Jack-" he began, but Jack was stubborn. He would not allow his stomach to overrule him!
"Thank you North, but no. I can wait." He said firmly, folding his arms over his stomach in an attempt to muffle its roaring. It sounds like a freaking dinosaur! I shouldn't be this hungry, dammit!
The third time a stomach rumbled however, it wasn't Jack's.
A thunderous roar split the silence and everybody jumped. Jack nearly fell off his chair and only his quick reflexes kept him from doing just that. His hand moved automatically to the back of the chair where he grabbed a hold of the thick cloth and, when he had righted himself, his eyes followed everybody else's over to the squat golden man who was staring down at his own stomach in surprise. The expression on his face could only be described as, WTF? That came outta me?!
"Uh... Sandy?" Bunny said uncertainly, looking at the little man and clearly trying not to chuckle.
"Do you need something brought up Sandy?" North teased.
Sandy stuck his tongue out at the big Russian, then he turned to Jack. Alright Jack, it's been long enough I think. You can go check up on them. He told the winter spirit.
Jack didn't need prompting twice. The second the words appeared he bolted for the stairs and flew up them like a bullet. North chuckled.
"He was trying at least," he commented.
"Yeah, we all were." Bunny said, then he grinned at Sandy. "Although someone doesn't seem able to keep a lid on it, eh Sandy?"
Stuff it. The Sandman replied. The both of you are just as hungry as I am.
Both spirits' stomachs replied with great thunderous rolls and they all laughed.
XXXXXXXXXXX
It was safe to say, after seven full hours of reading fanfiction without a break, that both Tooth and Sera were now irrevocable fanfiction junkies. They had prodded the surface by reading Black Coffee and Black Chocolate Biscotti, but now they were completely and utterly consumed by it.
After finishing Black Coffee and Black Chocolate Biscotti, Tooth had found another story which was quite detailed and, if she had to be honest, beautiful called Darkness and Memories. That one had taken them hours to read, and in the end Tooth had been crying. A few tears had fallen from Seraphina's eyes as well, but she had forced herself to remain somewhat composed. It had been the last chapter which was the most emotional for her, because it was so close to the truth.
"I didn't want you to leave me...please...don't leave me again." The fairy's voice was quiet and fragile. "Don't leave me again."
"This is my fate. I wish I could change it, I do. But... I could never be more happy knowing that this came about again because I was protecting someone I loved."
They had spent half an hour talking the story over, and by talking it over I mean Seraphina assuring Tooth that it wasn't going to happen. It was just a story, and though they were both drawing parallels to her current situation, the story wasn't real life. As far as they knew, Kozmotis was dead and it was Pitch she was in love with. Pitch who was fighting for her, inside his own head. Pitch who had sacrificed himself multiple times for her, showing that maybe, just maybe, the General wasn't quite dead yet.
After Tooth had stopped crying, they had gone on to read a very rejuvenating story that wiped all sadness from Tooth's mind. At least, for a little while. It was called Within the Heart of Darkness, and it featured a human woman with an uncanny ability for trouble, as well as magic. Both Seraphina had laughed out loud at the paragraph half way down the third chapter, and hadn't stopped laughing until the chapter was finished.
Nonetheless, Artemis's irritation at Pitch just continued to grow. She clenched her teeth and above all else she just wanted to punch him in his smug face. But after another second or two she took a calming breath which wasn't nearly as calming as she believed it to be, and told her publisher, "No, it's not insomnia. It's just a bit of a rough patch. Don't worry about me though, after what I've been through I can handle anything and everything life throws at me." She said calmly, careful to throw an icy glare Pitch's way.
Pitch's amused smirk changed to one of annoyance. There she was, challenging him again. Wouldn't she ever learn? It was fine with him though, because the prospect of Artemis making an even bigger fool of herself was just too good to pass up.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Joseph asked again. He had known Artemis for several years now and he had to admit...she was definitely acting more than a little strange right now.
"Yeah... I'm just-" Artemis paused and suddenly, out of the blue, her demeanor shifted. Her eyes brightened and a happy smile appeared across her face. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine." She said carefully... very carefully and nonchalantly so that the Boogeyman wouldn't notice, she picked up her fork from her plate setting and brought it underneath the table.
"Of the many things that you undoubtedly are, fine is certainly not one of them." Pitch interjected once more, only this time... Artemis was ready for him.
And she stabbed him, hard, in the leg with a fork.
"YEOW!" Pitch yelped and almost fell backwards off of his chair but he caught himself and rubbed his leg where he's been stabbed. Artemis's smile grew by a few molars.
"Why you-" Pitch started, only to be stabbed again.
And again.
And again.
Virtually every time he opened his mouth his leg would receive another stab, which Artemis learned had two distinct benefits. The first and most obvious was that it would shut Pitch up. The second, Artemis discovered that stabbing him was very therapeutic. Hmmm, maybe she should start stabbing everybody who annoyed her with a fork...
Wishful thinking.
They were almost finished with it. Just half a chapter to go, and the plot was just getting good! Tooth and Seraphina both had their noses inches from the screen, drinking in every detail with their eyes.
"What...happened to you?!" Pitch demanded, staring at the bandages. They encircled both of her arms, from the backs of her hands to well up her forearm and disappeared into her shirt sleeve.
Artemis chuckled. "I tried a new experiment with my new Magic Artist abilities and...you could say it didn't go...quite as I planned."
And with that she began to unwrap the bandages, revealing exactly what she had done to herself.
*GRRRRRRRR!*
Both woman, who had been on the edges of the bed and grasping their hands so hard that the skin had gone purple from lack of blood-flow, jumped and Tooth, though she would never admit it, screamed a blood-curdling shriek and leaped from the bed, automatically moving in front of Seraphina and Pitch and reaching for the sabers she'd kept at her hips in her early years, after her murder of the Monkey King. They had made her feel more secure after the third attempt on her life by monkey assassins.
Seraphina, however, didn't move. Just as it was Tooth's instinct to move when scared, it was hers to freeze and remain motionless. Her heart thudded in her chest as she stared over Tooth's shoulder and through her rapidly fluttering wings at the figure in the doorway. The image was a little distorted by the wings, but she could clearly make out a mop of white hair on top of a thin stick of a body.
"JACK?!" Tooth yelled, taking the word right out of her mouth as she too realized that the person who had disrupted their reading was none other than her surrogate son, standing in the door way, leaning on his staff with a sheepish grin on his face and flushed pink cheeks.
"Hey...moms." He said hesitantly, trying to look as innocent as possible. "I'm...sorry about scaring you."
Tooth lowered her fists, but the glare was still present on her face. "Jack, what on earth are you doing here?!" She demanded, rising up from the bed and flying over to him. Jack noticeably flinched when she came closer and, seeing this, Tooth's face softened. "I'm sorry Jack," she apologized. "I didn't mean to yell."
Jack waved his hand. "Oh no, you were well within your rights to yell after I just scared the crap out of you." He told her.
Seraphina, who had also gotten up once she realized that it was only her son, crossed the span of the room and came to stand beside Tooth. "And what about me?" She inquired. "Don't I get an apology?"
Jack shook his head. "You're the daughter of the Boogeyman!" He said seriously, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. "Nothing scares you."
Seraphina ruffled his hair. "That's right you little scamp." She said affectionately.
Jack leaned in like a cat to her hand and beamed when she ran her slender hand through his hair. It always gave him the shivers, but in a good way. Like, he was still amazed that someone would love him enough to do something like that. "I know, but that's why you love me." He said happily.
Sera rolled her eyes and dropped her hand. "What on earth was that anyway?" She asked. "That sound? I've never heard you make that sound."
Jack's cheeks turned pink again and he lowered his head in embarrassment. "It was...my stomach." He said quietly to his feet. It was true. He had just been standing there quietly, waiting for them to notice him, when his stomach had roared like a freaking tyrannosaurus and scared them out of their skins. Truth be told even he, Jack, had been scared by it and had leaped about a foot in the air before he had realized that it was his own stomach.
Seraphina frowned. His reply had been a little too quiet to hear properly. "What was that Jack?" She asked.
Tooth, who had excellent hearing and had understood each and every word but chose to not reveal this knowledge, just because her twisted version of motherliness demanded retribution for being scared by her son and she wanted to hear him admit it. "Yes, what was that Jack? I didn't hear you."
"It was my stomach alright!" Jack snapped, blushing down to the roots of his hair. "I'm a little hungry, and my stomach growled. Happy?"
Tooth and Seraphina smiled at each other and Tooth said, "So, I take that to mean that it's time for dinner?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Jack nodded, his face still flushed but it was fading. "Actually, yeah it is. But the guys wanted me to come up and make sure you two were alright before anything else." He craned his neck to see what Tooth had thrown from her lap when his stupid stomach had scared the living daylights out of the two women. "So, what'cha been up to?" He asked.
Tooth glanced at Seraphina, unsure if she wanted to keep their activities a secret, though she couldn't imagine why she wouldn't want Jack to know. Sera nodded and told him, "We've been reading some of those amazing fanfictions that started all of this."
Jack, who had been slowly inching towards the bed in an effort to see what they had been doing in case they told him no, stopped dead when he heard her response. His eyes widened to the size of golf balls and he slowly revolved to stare at them, his mouth open in what could only be described as utter shock.
Then the side of him that was like Pitch completely took over and he busted up laughing.
Seraphina and Tooth shared identical smiles; Gentle smiles, but with a hint of mirth in them. Motherly smiles. The kind of smiles parents wear when their young child gets into a predicament because of curiosity and they should be reprimanding them, but it's just so adorable that you can't help laughing and smiling at them.
"YOU- YOU- AHAHAHAHA!" Was all he could get out before lapsing back into fits of insuppressible mirth.
Tooth folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "I knew you would react like that," she said with a grin.
"You- you bet I would!" Jack choked, then he threw back his head and started howling with laughter. His stomach was beginning to hurt more than before and he almost slid to the ground, but he had enough sense of self-preservation to use his staff as a kind of mini-pole vault and push himself backwards, against the wall and keep himself braced up by digging the butt of the staff into the stone, all the while giggling and cackling hysterically.
This fit lasted a matter of minutes and by the time Jack was breathing normally, Tooth and Seraphina were also laughing.
"I h-had no idea you could laugh like that Jack." Sera told him, chuckling delicately. Jack's laughs normally were like an average human boys, but every so often she would hear the tinkling of crystal and the gentle cold breeze in his voice, reminding her of his roots.
"Me neither!" Jack admitted. "Well, like granddad like grandson I guess."
"And, in this instance," Tooth added with a chuckle. "Like father, like daughter."
Sera blushed. "Hey, this was your idea!" She said, punching Tooth in the shoulder and Tooth laughed.
"True." She conceded. "But you went along with it."
Jack smiled at them. They were already acting like sisters and it made him so happy to see this, he felt like his heart was about to burst. Then he remembered North and the others waiting on them and he said, "Oh, I almost forgot! The others are waiting for us!"
Tooth and Seraphina nodded and Tooth flew back to her computer, clicked the bookmark button, shut down the computer, kissed her sleeping boyfriend on the cheek and flew back to the doorway, which Jack and Sera were already standing in, waiting for her.
Sera had a momentary flash of worry as they descended the stairs, but it was quickly put to rest when she saw the excited and happy faces of her uncle, Bunny, and North when they saw them coming. North stood up when he saw them and boomed, "Ah dere you are!"
Jack cracked a grin. "Yes North, I was able to find them in this labyrinth of yours you call a workshop. Though I got lost at least six or seven times before actually finding the right door." Completely true.
North laughed and pulled out a seat for Seraphina next to him and close to the fire, which she accepted with grace and a nod of her head. Tooth sat down as well, making sure to keep her wings up and folded back so that she could rest comfortably and Jack perched himself on his chair, which still hadn't lost the coating of ice which had been present the first time he had sat on top of it.
North clapped his hands and dinner was immediately brought in. Stroganina, hearty Russian stew, home-made bread, raw carrots, salad and apple tart for dessert. Everybody dug in.
Though they had been snacking for the better part of six hours, Tooth and Sera were both very hungry. It was odd, Sera thought as she helped herself to more of the delicious Yetish bread. This morning, I could barely eat. I could barely look at any of them without worrying. She wondered what had changed.
"So," North said after a few minutes, striking up conversation. Things had been a little quieter around the dinner table than he liked. In his family- the adoptive family he'd had in Santoff Clausen, there was always talking and laughing over food. Everybody telling everybody about what had happened during the day, connecting current events with what happened months ago and the like. "Sera, vhat vere you and Tooth doing today? It must've kept you very occupied for I did not see you all day."
Jack laughed. "Ha! He's the one to talk. I bet you were in your workroom all day too North!"
North shrugged. "Eez true, but I am curious."
Sera swallowed a spoonful of stew and licked her lips, thinking carefully about her answer. Tooth didn't seem to care that Jack knew, so why would she care that the others did? "Well," She began slowly. "Tooth thought it would be amusing to borrow a laptop and show me some of those wonderfully diverting fanfiction stories that, according to Sandy and Jack, started all of this."
Everyone but Jack and Tooth choke a little on their food and North coughed. "You, you vere looking up Fanfictions?" He asked, looking at her intently. That curious glint was back in his eyes and Sera found herself blushing.
"Tooth thought it would be a good way to pass the time," she explained, not looking anyone in the eyes as she directed her gaze down at her plate. "Some of them were very good." She added, trying to make it seem like the most normal thing in the world. And failing miserably.
North chuckled. "I have to doubt dey vere," he replied mildly and her gaze instantly snapped to his face, ready with a sharp retort in case he was mocking her. However, when her bright green eyes locked with his sapphire ones she found none of the cruel laughter that was present in other spirits' eyes when they had ridiculed her in her youth. His eyes were pure, the color of cobalt submerged in light blue water with the same shimmering qualities of light on water. They were laughing eyes.
She inhaled, then exhaled, trying to cool her temper down a little. Another of her father's inherited characteristics that she wished she hadn't gotten because, for all her claims of neutrality, she was anything but. She had opinions, and strong ones at that. Not to mention virtues and beliefs.
"So, what kinda stories did you sheilas read?" Bunny asked, chomping down on a huge carrot with his thick teeth.
Tooth took a sip of her drink- a spicy Indian beverage which was the color of molten honey, and answered, "Well, we found an adorable one about Sophie Bennett, you remember her Bunny? Jamie's little sister?"
Bunny nodded, grinning. "Sure, I remember the little ankle-biter." He said, taking another bite of his carrot. "Was it about her an' her brother?"
Tooth beamed. "Actually, it was about her believing in Pitch. She left him a little treat each night after a run-in with some bullies on the playground."
Jack choked on his Stroganina. "She- she what?!" He demanded once he had cleared his throat. "What kind of treat?"
Seraphina shared a conspiratorial look with Tooth and Tooth smiled, but there was something vaguely menacing about it. Like one would imagine the face of a Venus flytrap would look. "Why don't you read it yourself?" She asked silkily, looking at each of them in turn. It was uncanny,
Seraphina and Jack both realized at the same time, how much she managed to make herself sound like Pitch.
North frowned, thinking about it, but before he could answer Sandy interrupted by waving his hands and then clasping them together, begging him, Please North? There's nothing else for us to do and I think it's a great idea!
North sighed and glanced at Bunny, who was grinning. "Bunny? Vhat do you think? A little reading before bed?"
Bunny nodded eagerly. His green eyes were alight with a slightly maniacal glint. "Oh yeah, this'll be the perfect opportunity to get summore dirt on Pitch!" He said and rubbed his paws together in a way which spelled impending embarrassment for the Boogeyman. Then he caught the raised eyebrows of Sera, Jack and Tooth and the glint faded. *cough* "I mean, purely for goodhearted family fun." He added, grinning sheepishly.
Jack clapped his hands in excitement. He had been missing the good old-fashioned fun-poking that was reading fanfictions, and it was time to bring that back into this story. "I'll go get it!" He volunteered enthusiastically, already rising from the top of his chair but North was too quick. He grabbed the boy by his ankle before he could fly away.
"No, you will not Jack." North said firmly. "You- all of us, will eat our fill first and den we will go to library for fanfiction-reading."
Jack pouted for a bit, then he sank back to his seat and hooked a chunk of bread from his plate- which was how he had been eating the entire time -with his staff's hook and pulled it up to him and he bit into it, then he quickly set it back down on the plate and proclaimed, "I'm done!"
Seraphina rolled her eyes. "We won't be able to get a second more's peace North, until we go read those stories now." She told North with mock severity, but the effect was spoiled by her smiling.
North smiled back and, sighing, nodded. "Very vell Jack, you may go to library and wait for us. Do not touch de books, and we will be there shortly."
Jack immediately zipped off and everybody sighed and rolled their eyes. "That boy," Seraphina said with slight exasperation, shaking her head.
"Trouble-maker through and through, but he has good heart." North agreed and she smiled at him, to which he responded with his own smile.
"I hope you know North," Tooth said idly as she pushed her plate back and stood up from her seat. "That Jack has no intention of leaving the books alone."
North smirked as he too stood up and led the way out of the dining room, leaving the yetis to clean up. "I know." He told Tooth, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, "But I enchanted dem to nip as any inquisitive fingers not my own."
Tooth stifled a laugh with her hand. It was just like North to trick Jack into listening to him.
"Oh yes," North said quietly to himself. "Jack vill learn not to let his guard down in my home."
XXXXXXXXXXX
As it turned out, Jack wasn't touching the books when they entered the library.
He was too preoccupied playing Crash Bandicoot Warped, as the Guardians discovered when North pushed through the great double-doors and found him seated in the middle of the floor, his eyes fixed on a gigantic flat-screen which protruded from the floor and a gaming controller in his hand.
North, who hadn't been aware of any existence of a giant screen in his library, frowned when he saw it. "I don't remember installing this," he murmured to himself.
Jack, who seemed to be having an absolute ball with his new toy, paused the game and jumped to his feet when he heard the door open. "North, this thingy is amazing!" He said excitedly, rushing over them. He was practically radiating childish excitement as he stood in front of them, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I can run, and jump, and break things, and fly! All the stuff I can do here but people don't yell at me for it!"
North rolled his eyes. "Alright Jack, I vill get you game for Christmas." He said and almost laughed out loud when Jack's eyes grew wide.
"You will you will you will? Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He practically squealed, his excitement clearly reaching critical levels as he was jumping up and down so fast that they could barely see more than a blur.
North actually did laugh this time, as well as the others. Then he set a hand on Jack's shoulder to slow him down and said, "Yes Jack, but calm down. Or you vill be giving yourself culinary."
Everybody else looked at him with frowns of confusion and raised eyebrows. Jack was still trying to get control of himself.
"Vhat?" North asked them. "Eez vhen heart gives out, no?"
Bunny and Tooth exchanged puzzled looks and Seraphina, who wasn't as used to this as the others- minus Jack, just stood there looking nonplussed. Sandy, however, had known North longer than any of them and had immediately guessed what he had meant to say.
Coronary, he wrote above his head and tapped on each of their arms to get their attention. He meant Jack was going to give himself a coronary if he didn't stop getting so hyper. Then he turned to North and wrote, Culinary has to do with cooking and food, North. Coronary is when the blood in your arteries gets blocked.
It took them a moment, but eventually everyone got it.
"Ah, now I understand." Seraphina said, smiling gently at the Russian. It had been hard for her to learn modern language as well, and evidently North was still getting the hang of modern colloquialisms.
North flushed and tried to divert the situation away from his major blunder. She must think I'm some kind of idiot now, he thought. "Weren't we going to read fanfictions?" North grumbled with a huff of petulance as he folded his arms and glared at the ground.
Seraphina did not fail to catch this little display and she smiled secretively to herself, but chose not to comment. Instead she nodded. "We were indeed," she said.
Then Tooth spoke up. "That is, you guys are."
Everyone but Sera turned to her and frowned. "Vhat do you mean Toothy?" North asked, puzzled. "You vill not be reading vith us?"
Tooth glanced at Sera, who already had a shrewd idea that they would sit the first story she wanted them to read out because they had already read it and was looking forward to more time for chatting with Tooth. "Well," She said. "Not for the first one." Again, she was met with puzzlement and she elaborated. "The one Jack wanted to read, since we already read it and all."
They all nodded in understanding and Sandy gave them the thumbs up. I'm all for it!
So was North. He called for Phil to bring extra chairs- since there were only three in the library and, once Tooth got them all set up on the computer that North kept in a discreet corner on a roll-top desk with a flat screen 17 inches long and a red and green keyboard with the story loading on the front page, she and Seraphina retired to another corner where they spent fifteen minutes talking about what their varying reactions to the little story would be.
Sera thought that Jack and Bunny would be a little offended by Pitch usurping their places at little Sophie's tea party, but Tooth just brushed this suggestion away.
"Maybe a few days ago," She explained when Sera had challenged her reasoning. "But not now. Bunny loves little Sophie and he was fiercely protective of her, but he probably wouldn't feel jealous of Pitch after what he knows Pitch has gone through."
Sera nodded in agreement. "True. But what about Jack?"
Tooth shrugged. "Jack has a better relationship with Jamie because of his age. Sophie...he doesn't know much about her except that she's a toddler. Therefor he can't form a bond with her. Yet."
Sera smiled and nodded. "From what I know of Jamie from the story, I bet her brother will be very protective of her when she gets older." She said with a gentle chuckle.
Tooth nodded again. "It makes me wonder what Jack would do if he had a little sister." She said, almost to herself.
Sera feinted a look of horror, but she was smiling. "Oh gods Tooth, don't tempt Karma!" She begged the other woman, inducing a high-pitched giggle from her. "I am NOT KIDDING!" Sera insisted, trying to keep back her own laughs. "She can be a bitch when she wants to be, and making another Jack would not only be a field day for her, but it would be the equivalent of creating a mischievous bio-bomb!"
Tooth had to laugh at that one. "Oh- oh Sera," She said through her giggles. "You sound just like Pitch!"
Sera raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so I presume he didn't take his new relation to Jack as well as Jack did?"
Tooth snorted. "HA! You could say that!" She paused, trying to remember his exact words. "When we learned that Jack was his grandson, and these are his exact words mind you," she told Sera while trying her hardest not to laugh at the memory. "That if he brings his pubescent sulk into my caves-"
Seraphina lost it. She started cracking up in her chair, losing all composure she had retained and letting out sweet laugh after laugh. Her laughs reached just volumes that the others stopped their reading- most of them were done anyway -and look back at her to make sure everything was alright.
Tooth, who was still laughing but not enough to be oblivious to her surroundings, waved to them to let them know everything was alright, and that she was just having an attack of the giggles.
North was a little hesitant about going back to the story, Tooth could tell that by the way he kept looking at Sera, but to reassure him she waved her hand again and mouthed, She's fine. Finish reading. Though she couldn't be sure he saw her since they were several yards away from each other.
North still remained hesitant, but eventually he listened to her and did turn back around to keep reading and, once she was sure he wasn't paying any attention to them anymore, Tooth turned her attention back to Sera. She was still laughing uproariously, and it took Tooth several minutes to calm her down. "Sera," She whispered, putting a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I know it's amusing, but the others are staring and they probably think you've lost your mind."
Sera instantly stopped laughing and the utterly mortified look on her face that took the place of the smile which had been there only moments before was so unexpected that Tooth burst out laughing, which made her even more embarrassed.
"I- I'm so sorry Seraphina I'm n-not laughing at y-you!" Tooth said through her giggles, trying in vain to compose herself.
Sera wasn't sure how to respond to this odd change of events, since it had been a long time since anyone had actually laughed at her. She was a respected spirit after all, and almost always older than anyone else in the room combined! Her magic was the absolutely most potent, and normally she wouldn't like being even chuckled at because it made her feel like she was being mocked.
Then again, she reflected. Her demeanor had changed quite a lot since Jack had come into her life. Only five hundred years ago she would have probably wrapped Tooth in vines and crushed her with a snap of her fingers. But now, not so much. Now, all she could really do was give Tooth a reproachful look and wait for her to stop laughing, which didn't take too long.
"I'm really sorry about that," Tooth said when the laughing had subsided, and she did so with such timidity and obvious sincerity because she didn't want to ruin her new found friendship.
When Sera recognized the timid and submissive tones, she knew that Tooth really wasn't mocking or degrading her for her brief break of composure. Not that she had expected her to. Tooth, from what she learned, wasn't a mean person by nature. And, to be honest, it had been a little funny.
"It's alright," Sera told her with a small smile. "I-"
But whatever she was about to say and- to be fair, she didn't really know what she was going to say next, was interrupted by North's booming voice practically in her ear. "Seraphina, Tooth! We have finished!"
Both women looked up to see North towering over Sera and she resisted the urge to jump at his sudden appearance. "Really?" She asked him, peering up into those immense blue eyes of his. "Already?"
North nodded. "I speed-read." He said, blushing a little. This was clearly something none of the others knew about, but neither commented.
Tooth smiled and stood up. "Perfect! Now we can pick a new story to read, and I think I know just the one."
Bunny moved over from his seat in front of the computer screen when Tooth drew up beside them and she nodded in thanks, then set about finding just the right one to re-introduce the others to the wonders of Fanfiction.
At least, that was the plan. And she got about three scrolls down the list of updated stories before Jack pushed his way in and stuck a finger on the screen.
"Can we read that one?" He begged. "That one looks really really cool!"
Tooth sighed and directed her eyes to where her overenthusiastic adoptive son was smudging up the screen. The title was an odd one, but it did bode a decent story. "The Dangers...Within." She read aloud, then she looked a little farther down the tab for the story and noticed something. "Jack, this isn't even a story!" She told him, scanning the tab again to make sure she had read it correctly. Chapters: one.
"What?" Jack asked, frowning and peering closer.
"It's a one-shot!" She told him, pointing at the little label. Then she thought a little about this and decided that, if Jack really wanted to read it then there wasn't really much harm in it. "If you want to read it, I don't mind."
Jack, who's excitement had deflated a little when he realized that she was right and it was indeed a one-shot, sighed. "Fine." He grumbled. "Whatever."
Tooth poked his shoulder. "There's no call for that Jack. You chose it, and it really does look interesting."
Bunny poked his big nose over Jack's head and read through the synopsis aloud. "Ever wondered what would happen after you watched the movie? Audiences exited the theaters, full of belief for all of the Guardians. But, does it sound good as it seems? You'd think they'd be all excited that they starred in their own movie. But they didn't realize the dangers within, and they come in one of the scariest forms on the planet." He paused, then said, "Sounds good enough for me!"
Sera chuckled. "I suppose I'm in as well," she said and leaned in to begin reading. North and Sandy shared the look so often expressed between them; it was a look that simply said, kids. Then they too bent towards the large screen and began to read.
"North! North! We have a problem!" Toothiana came fluttering in, her feathers all puffed with worry. The big man himself looked up from his ice sculpture, worry creasing his forehead.
"Yes, I have heard. Someone sent out a distress signal." North set down his chisel and followed Tooth downstairs.
"My feathers do not puff up," Tooth muttered. The others shushed her.
"Do you know who sent it?" Tooth asked, biting her lip.
"I have a few theories, and none of them are good." North told her, turning the corner.
Tooth didn't answer. All of the other Guardians were there. Jack was entertaining himself by freezing the elves, not one bit concerned by the current situation. Bunny stood in the center, impatient and worriedly handling his boomerangs. Sandy floated next to Bunny, wide awake and a question mark of dreamsand floating above his head.
"Did anyone of you send the distress signal?" North asked rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"No. I was down in my Warren when I saw it." Bunny shook his head.
"I was in Canada, sending a snow storm when I saw it. It wasn't me." Jack spoke up, to which Bunnymund rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Jack glared at him.
"What about you Sandy?" North asked, bending down to look his old friend in the eye.
Sandy just smiled and created a dreamsand image of Asia, followed by a moon and a couple of Z's. North nodded, completely understanding what he was trying to say. He had been on the other side of the world, giving dreams to children. So that left himself, Tooth and...ugh...don't even mention him.
"Tooth?" North looked her up and down, hoping that she was the answer.
"You think I would have? I'm the one who told you!" She irritably folded her arms as she hovered up and down.
"That just leaves one other person," Jack muttered under his breath and they all groaned.
Of course. Pitch Black, the boogeyman. But HIM, really? In distress? Might as well be a joke!
Everybody but Sera subconsciously winced. That had been just their attitude towards him a few weeks ago.
They raised their guards as they all entered the sleigh, not liking this situation one bit and, by the time they landed outside his lair it was afternoon.
"I'm hungry," Jack whined.
"I don't whine!" Jack whined.
"What else is new?" Bunny snapped, grabbing his boomerangs just in case.
"Boys, stop it!" Tooth reprimanded them. "We're here for the problem at hand."
They slowly descended into the darkness of Pitch's lair, keeping their eyes on every moving cage and shadow. Fearlings scrabbled across the floor, moving out of the way for the Guardians. Nightmares watched them enter like hawks, waiting for them to gain fear so that they could attack. After feasting on the meager fear of their own master, it was about time they got a taste of the Guardians! But who said that was ever possible? After the defeat of Pitch, they had no fear of him.
"You go first." Tooth shoved North forward into the center of the dungeon. He glared at her, then slowly drew a sword from his belt.
Suddenly, something cloaking in black stumbles out of the darkness, fear written all over his face. Pitch. He looked behind him, then in front. Once seeing the slightly relieved but also peeved Guardians, he ran forward. "Oh thank the moon you're here!" He cried as he ducked behind North, his eyes darting everywhere like a frightened animal.
"What in tarnation is wrong with you?!" North tried to move away from him, but Pitch clung like a limpet to his coat.
"SHH! You'll bring them all down on us!"
"What, your army?" Jack scoffed, satisfaction all over his face as he watched the boogeyman looking every which way, as if whatever was after him could pop up out of the very ground beneath them.
Pitch whipped around and glared daggers at him. "Shut it Frost, you're their main dish!"
Jack paused, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, main dish?"
"Just keep reading!" Tooth ordered.
"Pitch, this is ridiculous!" North growled, grabbing the boogeyman by his skinny neck and hurling him away from them. "What is going on?!"
"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Pitch howled, getting to his feet as fast as he could and glaring at them.
Just then, hundreds of little giggles and sighs filled the room. North drew both swords and pointed them in the direction of the noises. Bunny pulled out his egg bombs, ready to let fly at whatever monsters were lurking in the dark. Tooth flew higher and, though she didn't have any weapons besides her fists, she set those in a boxer position. Sandy summoned his sand-whips and Jack raised his staff, but his attention was focused on Pitch and not the wall. Something wasn't quite right here...
"Don't...move." Pitch froze, sensing the presence of his predator.
Different colored eyes were glued on him; shades of blues, browns, greens, black and hazels. The guardians watched in horror as something shaded by obscurities slowly walked out, eying her boogeyman prey hungrily. Pitch started to sweat, his heartbeat becoming loud and erotic. With one swift motion, it jumped into the air, pink sparkly nails at the ready.
Jack frowned. "Pink and sparkly..."
"NO!" Pitch yelled, but it was too late.
The little girl had already reached him and now had her hands wrapped around his neck, giggling and nuzzling her face against his collarbone.
It took them about five seconds of stunned silence, staring at the computer screen, before everybody erupted in laughter.
"WHA- WHAT THE HELL," Jack was able to choke out through his laughter, "WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!"
"JACK!" Sera admonished, though she too was laughing much harder than she had in a long, long time. "L-language!"
"Oh gods mate, that was hilarious!" Bunny howled, thumping both fists against his knees as wave after wave of unstoppable mirth flowed over him, and the others weren't doing any better. "Pitch was scared outta his shorts, and he was only afraid of a KID!"
"R-read the next few lines!" Tooth choked through her laughter. Sandy wasn't even able to get up off the ground, he was laughing so hard.
They did so, and were immediately reduced to laughter-filled tears once again.
"Rise- rise o' the FANGIRLS!" Bunny read the ending line aloud, then he fell off his seat and started banging his fists on the stone ground because he just couldn't stop!
North had fallen over too and was now laying on the ground beside Sandy, who had nearly passed out from lack of air. He hiccupped, then wrote in slightly shaking letters above his head for anyone who cared to look, Why is the first thing that pops into my head when I hear that is Abby with a battle-axe, leading Drago, Fanty and Star in a charge with a bunch of teenage girls?
Only Sera was able to actually get through to the end of Sandy's sentence, and that was because she had the best control over her emotions of anyone on this earth. The others were still howling and dying of laughter in their chairs or, in North, Bunny and Sandy's case, on the floor. "Don't worry Sandy, you're probably not the only one." She told him, still chuckling as she reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.
Eventually the others eased back into some sense of normality and were all able to sit, stand, and talk again. Though they all did so with great big grins plastered across their faces.
"OK," Bunny said, raising his paw. "I officially put the Popsicle in charge of choosing the stories!"
Tooth rolled her eyes and nodded, conceding that Jack did find a gem in this little one-shot. "Alright, but we each get to choose one first. Then Jack can choose them."
Jack objected, saying that there were six of them this time, and that it wasn't fair but North stepped in, telling Jack that Seraphina hadn't read many of these and that it was more fair to allow each of them to choose one.
Jack sighed. "Fine." He said, but it really didn't bother him. Sometimes he was a little less childish than he let on. "Who picks first?"
Tooth shrugged. "Sera, do you want to?" She asked, turning her head to look up at Mother Nature, who was standing behind her.
Sera shrugged back. "Sure." She was starting to enjoy these little stories more and more. Ever since Tooth had first introduced her to them, she had immediately taken a liking to them- even the one that had made Tooth cry. They were just so well-written and detailed, and the fact that the writers explored her father's backstory like they did and didn't just write him off as a villain made her feel so happy she could barely keep it in.