Chapter 37: The Perfect Storm

There were fragments.

Mother Nature could see them: bits and pieces, searing across empty space. People she could have sworn she once knew. But there was no recognition, except for one.

The girl.

Who was she? She couldn't place a name, only meaning. She was important. Or, she had been. Mother Nature tried for memories, and a few sprang forward: the girl dressed in armor, speaking with rage in her eyes; the girl, younger, walking away from bullies, and Mother Nature sending rain after them; the girl, an infant, babbling nonsense in Mother Nature's arms.

She had significance. Yes, Mother Nature could feel it: she had been prepared to burn the world to find this girl. There was something about her that Mother Nature had loved. She had been a part of the plan, but Mother Nature had wanted something from her. Forgiveness. Accepting Mother Nature would have stopped the chaos. But, like Mother Nature had wanted, the girl had rejected her.

It was for the best. She couldn't love. Who would love her back? No, the hateful woman, the storm, inside of her had won, and now the world was going to burn. But Mother Nature still hadn't found the girl.

She wanted to keep trying. But she was spiraling downward.

!=!=!=!=!=!

"No."

"Jack—"

"No. I'm not letting you go alone. You're as crazy as her if you think that's happening."

Charlotte pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. "Then call me crazy."

"Why is no one else upset by this?" Jack demanded, words focused on his fellow Guardians. "I thought our job was to protect her."

"It is," North replied. "Ve do not approve of this as much as you, Jack. But Typhan is vise. If he says Charlotte must go alone, then she goes alone."

"Now you're letting a jumble of stars make the orders?"

"That 'jumble a stars' is ten times older than ya," Bunnymund growled, "and twenty times wiser." His face softened. "He knows what he's talkin' 'bout, Frostbite."

"But—"

"Your lack of faith in me is appalling," Charlotte said.

"It's not that, it's—" Jack broke off, defeated.

Charlotte put her arm on his shoulder, hoping she could reassure him with her touch. "I know," she said, nodding. "But once a firecracker has been lit, you can't stop the sizzle."

Jack's lips quirked in a joyless smile. "Tch. How appropriate."

"Charlotte, no."

Katherine was right in front of her, wrinkly hands clenched into fists. "Don't you remember what we talked about? You promised me. A hero's story never ends well, and you know that!"

Charlotte sighed. "I know I promised you," she said, "but things have changed, Katherine. This doesn't just involve your world. It involves mine too. If I'm the only thing standing between Mother Nature and the destruction of both worlds, then I'm willing to do…anything." She swallowed. "I have a sister, remember? A sister who's going to need my newfound knowledge of dragons. I don't care if I'm not the one who gets to tell her that knowledge. I just need there to be a world standing where she can find out."

They could hear the storm growling above them, and the wind picking up.

"We don't have much time." Charlotte peeled off her armor and handed it and her sword to Katherine. "Can you hang onto this stuff for me?"

"What?" Katherine pulled her hands to her chest, as if the armor and sword were going to lash out and bite her.

"You're going to need them, Charlotte," Tooth pressed, the brightness of her feathers dimmed from the darkening, swirling sky.

Charlotte shook her head. "I can't. If I go in looking like I'm ready for a fight, then a fight is what she's going to give me. I need to be vulnerable. I need to look like myself."

"You do realize vhat you are doing, Charlotte." The North that had trained her back in Santoff Claussen was speaking now: the blunt, stern North that didn't play games and wasn't afraid to hurt her if it meant teaching her. But he didn't argue with her, which showed that he, at least, understood. "I gave you that armor for a moment like this. You are very vell valking into the seat of var. The danger is real."

"I may not be using the physical armor you gave me, but I'm using the mental armor." Charlotte tapped her temple, mustering up a grin. "You taught me strategy, and that's what I'm using. She'd take one look at me in all that metal and think nothing of killing me. But this armor…" She gestured down to the outfit she had been wearing underneath: the plain black, elbow-length shirt, tucked into a dark blue gather skirt covered in peach flowers, black tights, and brown boots. "This will make her stop for a second." Charlotte nodded, half to herself. "And that second is all I need."

"Vhat are you going to do?" North asked, half-smiling with pride.

"The one thing we never considered." Charlotte glanced back at the wall, spying the funnel of wind and storm clouds on the other side. She folded the picture Typhan had given her, putting it in her skirt pocket. "I'm going to talk to her."

Katherine took the armor and sword, the purple veins standing out on her trembling pale wrist. "Then go," she said, nodding at Charlotte with respect. "Heroic deeds never go without tragedy…but I have faith in you, young one."

Charlotte smiled sadly at her. It went unspoken, but Charlotte could still hear the rest: From one woman of the Guardians to another, these stories never end well. But maybe yours will.

"We'll take ya there," Bunnymund said, drawing his boomerangs. "It ain't pretty on the otha side, so we'll getcha as close as possible."

"Are you sure?" Charlotte asked.

Bunnymund rolled his eyes at his fellow Guardians. "How didja not assume it'd be us, anyway?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "You're pretty much stuck with us, at this point."

"Well, this sucks." Charlotte shrugged and held out her arms, still smiling. "But what are you gonna do? Some things you just can't change."

"And never will," Tooth said, linking arms with Charlotte.

Sandy linked with her other arm, pumping a fist into the air.

"Jou weelll also need this, I assume?" Cupid held out her classic white beret.

"Oh!" Charlotte happily arranged it on her head. "Thank you. Where did you—?"

"Jou left jour bag in my cloud," Cupid said with a shrug. "Jou wear thees a lot, no?"

"I do." She regarded him coolly, keeping in mind his outburst from earlier. "Thank you."

"Also," Cupid went on, "good luck." He stepped away with a curt nod.

Although terse, Charlotte found meaning in his words.

"Good luck, old girl," Ombric said. "Carry with you the well wishes and encouragement of Santoff Claussen." Nightlight next to him allowed a faint smile to agree.

Eldrid took a deep breath. "I don't know how this ends," she said, the gold specks on her cheeks shining brighter. "Perhaps this is the last instance we speak. But please…please bring Mother back to me. To us." Her voice caught. "Don't let her fade away from us."

Charlotte took her hand, catching Eldrid with a determined gaze. "She's going to do her worst. But I promise you, I'm bringing her back." She turned to the Guardians. "Ready?"

They agreed attacking by air wasn't the way to go, considering the harsh winds, so they left through Bunnymund's tunnels. All six of them fell down into one, and Charlotte was the last to pop out, just barely landing on her feet. The Guardians stood in front of her, forming a defensive shield against the swirling winds. "Protect Charlotte until ve get to Mother Nature's fortress!" North commanded as they started forward.

But as it turned out, there was more they were up against. With the winds came debris, and lots of it. Sandy cracked a whip at an incoming tree boulder, and North diced apart a whole tree stump.

"Guys, please be careful!" Charlotte pleaded.

"Don't worry about us!" Tooth yelled, using her rainbow dagger and wings to block dirt and branches.

"We gotta protect you out here!" Bunnymund added. He chucked his boomerangs at a snapped-off branch the length of a truck, and they met in the middle and broke it in two.

"Because we won't get to protect you in there!" Jack finished, freezing anything and everything in his path.

Charlotte was amazing by their on-point mental wavelength, and even more amazed by their dedication. Her heart swelled. "You're amazing," she cried over the wind. "All of you! You're the greatest friends I've ever had!"

Their vigor seemed to inflate from her words, because they became more fervent in their defensive line, annihilating anything in their way. At last they were close to the thorny fortress, which surrounded the funnel, which Charlotte noticed was filmy and tinged with dark green.

"Jack! Charlotte!" North shouted. "Go!"

Catching on instantly, Charlotte jumped on Jack's back, and he took to the air. He zoomed straight into the thorny fortress, and Charlotte huddled close to her body to avoid the sharp points. Jack halted once they made it through, plopping to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte demanded.

Jack's hoodie was ripped up, and blood was oozing from scrapes along his legs. One long scrape ran across a cheek, already bleeding badly. Regardless, he stood up and dusted himself off, casual. "Looks like Mother Nature's made her point," he joked.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You're incorrigible."

"Says the girl strolling right into certain death."

"I'm not gonna die," Charlotte said stubbornly. "I can handle this."

"Are you sure?" Jack was serious now, staff on his shoulders. "Because I can come with you, you know. You don't have to do this alone. Truthfully, I want to come. I don't want to leave you alone with this lunatic."

Charlotte wanted to say yes. She wanted to walk into this with Jack at her side, someone who was well-equipped, magical, and used to dangerous situations. But Typhan's words whispered in her ear: But if you do this, you are entirely alone in your quest. You are the only one who would approach her and save her, if that is how you all choose to proceed. And it was painfully clear that she couldn't.

"I'm sure," she managed. "I've got this."

Jack hesitated, but then put his hands on her shoulders, eyes boring into hers. "I know you've been making promises all day," he said. "But you need to make one more: to me. Promise me you're going to be okay."

Charlotte bit her lip. "I—"

"Promise me, firecracker. I can't—I can't lose you." Jack shook his head. "It's clichéd, I know. But I can't, Char. You've become a member of the family." Jack shrugged softly. "My family."

Charlotte knew she shouldn't. She didn't truly know how this was going to end. It was a promise she was very well going to break.

"I promise."

Jack nodded, content. "Alright. I'll see you on the other side." And he was gone.

Charlotte stared longingly at the hole he'd left through. "The other side," she echoed.

She was in a whole other world now. And there was nowhere to go but forward.

So forward is where she went.

Charlotte stepped over fallen thorns the size of her torso. They laced over her head, an intricate roof of sharp, deadly spikes. She could see the sky through them, still furious and gray.

She walked carefully down a corridor made by the arrangement of the thorny fortress. With a chill, Charlotte wondered if a passageway had been made on purpose. Was Mother Nature still hoping someone would come? Or was it all a trap?

She was reminded of Sleeping Beauty. She had to chuckle at the image of Mother Nature lying asleep at the heart of the fortress, waiting for someone to kiss her awake.

"Well, goddamn," she muttered. "I guess I'm Prince Phillip?" Then who was Maleficent?

Veeerryyy funny, Xylan.

She didn't have a chance to continue the thought. She was at the heart of the fortress. Peeking over the side of the thorny walls, Charlotte saw her.

She didn't know if she could properly call the creature "Mother Nature." There were pieces of her attached to the woman—long hair, curvy body, perfect posture—but there was no way it was actually her. This woman was entirely dark green, including her skin and hair, which churned with electricity. Her fingers were long and nimble, but they twitched. It seemed the image of the woman was fizzing in and out of clarity—one moment she was clear as crystal, and another moment she was static.

Mother Nature was gone. But what had she left in her wake?

The woman hovered inside the funnel of wind and cloud, apparently fueling it with her hands. Absently, Charlotte moved her foot, and it rustled some pebbles. Mother Nature cocked her head, somehow hearing the disturbance, despite being ten feet away.

"Do I have a visitor?"

Charlotte clasped her hand over her mouth. Stupid!

"I know you're there." Mother Nature's voice was worse than it had been the last time Charlotte had seen her. It was unlike any other voice she had ever heard: a mixture between a beautiful, flute-like soprano and the wretched, diseased cough she'd hear from a smoker. "Come out while you can, or I'll drag you out."

Charlotte stepped out of the shadows, giving a tiny wave. "Um…hi there."

She couldn't stand the eyes: two whirring vortexes of light. No pupil, no iris—just literal emptiness. "You. I recognize you." Mother Nature moved out of the funnel and into the open. "You haunt my memories like only the strongest of ghosts. Who are you?"

Charlotte did her best to mask her shock—Mother Nature didn't remember who she was? "Well…I'm Charlotte. I'm not surprised you recognize me. We have quite the history."

"Indeed we do," Mother Nature mused, floating closer. "It's coming back to me now. You were important to me."

"Were?" Charlotte asked, nervous.

"Past tense. Before I became what I am now, of course." Mother Nature smiled, and it scared Charlotte. "What brings you, little mortal?"

"I, um, well…I'm here to help you."

"Help me? How strange. As you can see," Mother Nature said, gesturing up to the storm, "I'm doing quite well without any extra hands. My work is almost complete. So you can go now."

Mother Nature turned away, and the words leapt from Charlotte's lips. "I'm not leaving."

Mother Nature stopped. "I do believe you must not have heard me." Green power was swarming at her fingertips. "Your services are not needed. Leave. Now."

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

She had Mother Nature's full attention now. "I seem to recall an earlier meeting between the two of us," she mused darkly. "You came to me once as a warrior. What do you come to me as now?"

Charlotte swallowed. "A friend. The friend that should have been there the whole time."

"A friend." Mother Nature laughed, and it sank deep into Charlotte's bones. "How comedic. What could you have done, as a friend?"

"Helped you," Charlotte said. "I know what you're doing, and I can't allow it. But if you would just let me show you—"

Pain. Charlotte was struck in the shoulder by a green orb, and it pushed her back. She cried out and held her shoulder, feeling the heat rising from the wound. Mother Nature was looking at her coyly, hands still glowing that horrible dark green. "You won't allow it?" she demanded. "And how does that work?" She struck Charlotte again, this time in the stomach. "It's aaaalll coming back to me now. I ask, I beg for forgiveness, and what do you do? Throw it right back in my face." The third strike went to Charlotte's cheek, knocking her onto her back. "You made me this way, little mortal. You rejected me, and you created me. You created chaos."

The earth under her rose to make Charlotte stand, and Mother Nature approached, lip twisted in a sneer. Mother Nature grabbed the front of Charlotte's shirt, yanking her close. "I will give you one more chance," she hissed. "Leave. I know you know what I'm doing, and what it will do to me. It's what I want!" She flapped her other arm, and thunder roared in the storm, lightning twanging across the clouds. The wind was howling. "You won't stop me. No one will." She dropped Charlotte and began to make her way back to her funnel.

Charlotte was terrified. She had to take her chance and just leave; Mother Nature was gone, and this monster was all that was left. She was going to die if she stayed. She couldn't save her, couldn't save someone who was no longer even there—

"Besides," Mother Nature growled, "it would be better if I was just gone."

Charlotte jolted, holding her wounded shoulder.

It would be better if I was just gone. Charlotte had heard that before, from another woman who wanted to take her own life, just about to jump off the edge.

"Cicely!"

Mother Nature whirled around and glared. "What did you just call me?"

Charlotte gulped, ignoring the throbbing of the blooming bruise on her face. "Cicely. That's your name. Isn't it?"

Mother Nature's face went stone cold. She raised her hand and gripped it into a fist.

All at once, everything flared. Bulbs of power pulsed through the ground and into the funnel, creating a netting over their heads to trap them inside. The wind in the funnel expanded, like the storm was coming for them. Everything was alight with the eerie green fire.

Charlotte could sense what she had done. Mother Nature was angry now, glaring, the green fire in her eyes and dancing along the outline of her body.

Charlotte glanced around wildly, her heart rate doubling. She itched to suck her thumb. She started to hyperventilate, scared by the changes, but the thought appeared to her: I've got her attention. The reason why she was here came snowballing back to her, and she squared her shoulders. She forced the air rushing out of her mouth to come out of her nose, and furrowed her brow, meeting Mother Nature's smug gaze with a determined one.

"So you want to stay, eh?" Mother Nature asked. "Very well. I'm in a playful mood."

"It strikes a cord, doesn't it?" Charlotte straightened, not letting her fierce look waver. "Cicely. That's your name. And that's not the only thing I know about you."

The smugness cracked a little, like only breaking one part of a mirror. "Shush yourself. You know nothing of me."

"I know your name is Cicely." Charlotte swallowed her restricting throat. "I know you lived in Nevada. Suncliffe, Nevada."

Mother Nature's face twisted. She flicked her hand sharply, and a long, jagged rod of earth came shooting out of the ground at an angle. Charlotte hissed as it grazed the top of her shoulder, ripping her shirt and just barely missing her neck.

"I know you had the best, prettiest garden in town," she went on. She met the vortex eyes. "Phil said so."

"Shut up!" Mother Nature yelled. She waved her arms, and more rods shot out of the ground, all at various, contorting angles. They sliced into Charlotte's arms and legs, drawing blood and tearing her clothes. But Charlotte didn't stop.

"I know you had a daughter," she cried. "Her name was Sagebrush. She had long hair so black it was blue. And you loved her more than anything."

The ground under Charlotte's feet shifted and slanted. She was thrown off her feet and slammed back down by the wind, which was now being manipulated. Her cheek was touching the dirt, and when she tried to get up, she was pushed back down by the wind.

"But there was something about Sagebrush you didn't understand," Charlotte went on, trying to stand. "Something that scared you. Something you couldn't help her get rid of. And that scared Sagebrush too—"

"Shut your mouth!" Mother Nature screamed.

The wind picked Charlotte up and threw her backwards; she slammed against the wall of thorns before crumbling to the ground.

"That is the past," Mother Nature snarled. "That's not who I am anymore. Who are you to use it against me? Here, where it has no power?"

Charlotte slowly got back to her feet, wobbling from the pain. "The past…always has power," she said. "And you know what? You taught me that. You're always your past…but you're also your present, and your future."

"The only thing I've taught you is a lesson in pain," Mother Nature said. "You won't stop what I truly want."

"But it's not what you want!" Charlotte urged. "It doesn't have to be this way!"

"Child, look at me. I'm a monster. Your world mademe this way." Mother Nature's scowl deepened. "You made me this way."

"I know!" Charlotte gasped, standing still. "I know," she continued, sad. "I know I rejected you, and hurt you, and left you in the dark. I know the world took away your only source of happiness and turned you into a monster. The world…the world has hurt you, over and over again, and it will continue to hurt you in the future. But…if you do this…the world will win!"

Mother Nature's face blanked. "Those words—"

"You said those words to your daughter, many years ago." Charlotte limped forward a step. "You stopped her from doing what you're about to do, right now. You saved her, and died for it. Cicely…the world made have made you a monster, but you can revert back into who you once were. Because you saved your daughter once…" Charlotte forced a smile. "And you saved me."

"Saved you?" Mother Nature was shaking, the green fire ebbing. "No. I…I hurt you! All I do is hurt! I made you miserable…"

"And I've learned so much because of it," Charlotte finished, feeling the truth to her words. "You've taught me the meaning of letting go. You hardened me, but I learned how to soften. You made me who I am today, and I'm stronger than ever."

"But—earlier—"

"I was wrong to reject you. I take back everything I said. I do forgive you. And…" Charlotte bit her lip and reached into her pocket. "I have something to show you."

The rage was subsiding from Mother Nature. Now she was just blank. "What?"

"Look at this." Charlotte unfolded the painting and held it out. "Cicely, do you remember this?"

"N—no…" Mother Nature sounded conflicted and near tears. She kept on looking back and forth between Charlotte and the storm.

"You and Sagebrush painted this together," Charlotte said, gentle, "when she was five years old."

Mother Nature groaned and held her head in her hands. "Stop—"

"This painting is important to you," Charlotte shouted, "because you painted it with the most important person in your life." It's working! "And you kept it for years because it reminded you of her, and of a simpler time. You may think you're toxic, Cicely, but you're not. You're important, and powerful, and talented. You helped Sagebrush, and you helped me, and now you need to help yourself. You taught me that pain makes you stronger!" Charlotte stumbled to her knees, exhausted from the beat down and her words. "You make me stronger, Cicely," she finished weakly, shoving the painting into Mother Nature's hands. "Please…don't leave me."

Mother Nature stared down at the painting, taking it in, and an agonized scream ripped from her throat. The dark green that had sucked away all other color melted in a flash of light. There was a rumbling so loud Charlotte could feel it in her chest. She ducked, squeezing her eyes shut.

It was quiet for a very long time. Then, finally:

"Charlotte?"

Mother Nature's eyes were a brilliant, chipper green. Her hair was blonde and curly again, and she was wearing her petal gown again. Her mask was gone, and so was the darkness that had infiltrated her heart.

"Oh my god," Charlotte gasped. I did it.

In the sky, the storm was breaking and lessening, and the sun shot through.