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DISCLAIMER: Jack Frost, Pitch, and the other Guardians belong to DreamWorks

(General POV)

Christmas Eve.

The Final Battle.

A large gray rabbit crouched behind large tree trunks that, in the semi-darkness, matched the color of his fur flawlessly. His bright green eyes were wide and attentive, his large sensitive ears twitching slightly in the still air: watching, listening.

Not far from the rabbit's hiding place was a very small clearing, containing in its center a hole in the ground that seemed to lead only to darkness, covered merely by a broken and rotting wooden bed frame- a poor warning to 'keep out'. The air was cold and still, the forest completely silent. Eerie. Dark. Dead.

The Aussie gazed at the lair's entrance, waiting for the signal. Then, a beam of light burst through the clearing and exploded in the entrance to the lair, sending the deteriorating wood panels of the bed frame flying.

"Nice shot, Sheila," Bunny muttered under his breath with a smirk. "Wait for it..." he murmured to himself. "One... two..."

Out of the depths of darkness sprung the shadow creatures- wolves, bears, cats, spiders, bats... beasts both large and small that glowed eerily and ghoulish in the dark forest, their bright yellow eyes like strange lamps. The shadows pooled out from the hole like strange fog and smoke, searching for their attacker.

"...three- Hey! Over here ya' creeps!" Bunny called, springing out from his cover and tossing a few colorful egg bombs into the fray. That successfully got the shadow creatures' attentions, and the Pooka took off faster than a jackrabbit through the forest, leading the army of shadows away from the Nightmare King's hideaway.

...

(Jack)

Lyra raised her hand to grasp a small branch above her for support. I watched her from my perch in the tree to her left, waiting for her to show any signs of pain or discomfort from using her magic. I was beginning to develop a little paranoid fear that with each light beam she created her powers would weaken significantly.

But she seemed fine after shooting the exploding ball of light. I shook my head. I had to trust her- I had to trust that she knew her limits and would be ok. She crouched on her tree branch, ready to jump at a moment's notice.

"Do you think that was all of them?" she whispered to me, not taking her gaze away from the mass of utter darkness that was slowly shrinking as Bunny led the shadows farther away through the trees.

"Nah. Pitch isn't stupid," I whispered back. "But, I am willing to bet that was most of them. He's expecting a fight. His outer defenses will be low now with those things gone- once we get inside though..."

"Right," she muttered.

We turned our gaze upwards as three golden stingrays and two dolphins swam high above us through the sky, trails of golden sand streaming behind them. One of Sandy's patrols. He had several circling the skies of the world tonight, helping to guard North as he made his deliveries to the children. He had the yetis to help him get the job done, and then would join us as soon as he could. Christmas was a huge priority, as we depended on it to keep the belief up and our powers strong. At different times all over the world, children would be waking up to see what Santa had brought them- letting them down would just make Pitch's job easier.

As we'd expected, stray Nightmare horses were wandering around towns and cities all over the world, probably searching for a weak spot for Pitch to attack in and take over Christmas. Sandy and his golden Dreamsand army were travelling this very moment, giving good dreams to children and keeping the Nightmare horses at bay, as well as watching North's back.

I counted to three, and then turned back to Lyra. "Ok, let's go," I whispered, lightly jumping from my tree branch.

"Wait!" she hissed, grabbing my arm as I passed her and yanking me back down onto her branch.

"Ow! What?" I complained.

"Shh! Sorry- look," she said, pointing to the lair's entrance.

About a dozen or so Nightmare horses were emerging from the opening.

We waited quietly, hidden in the tree branches, watching as the black sand horses cantered away in different directions.

"Ok, now we go," Lyra whispered. Together we jumped down from the tree, landing lightly on the snowy ground.

Before we could move any closer to the lair, however, a little silver beam of moonlight twirled and twisted from high above, floating down to Lyra and I. It seemed to have its own personality as it approached her, almost cautiously, before racing forward and circling around her playfully. I watched wide-eyed as Lyra silently giggled at the movements of the moonbeam.

It was then that I realized what this little piece of light was. I'd only heard of them in stories- I'd never actually seen one before. Of course, three hundred years of waiting for answers that I wouldn't ever get from him kinda put a damper on any belief I'd had that these little moonbeam guys were real.

The light beam suddenly stopped playing, instead floating up close to Lyra's ear, where it began to pulse brighter than before. I listened, watched, and waited, but nothing else happened. Lyra stared off into space, apparently waiting, ready to 'listen' to whatever the light had to say, but it made no sound. Perhaps I'd been wrong about the light beam's nature after all.

Without warning, the silver beam twirled in a circle, and with a final, almost affectionate, nudge to Lyra, it drifted away on the wind back through the sky, becoming once again lost among the stars.

"Well." I whispered, breaking the long-term silence. "That was pointless," I said, tearing my gaze away from the stars and looking over at Lyra. But her eyes looked glazed- she was clearly lost in thought.

"Sorry- say that again?" she apologized, leaving her thoughts and joining me in reality.

I gave an uneasy whispered chuckle. "I said that really had no point- the light beam I mean. It just kinda came... and went... right?"

She cocked her head to the side with a curious expression on her face. "No... that's not all it did," she whispered slowly. "You... you didn't hear it speak?"

I stared. So I had been right after all- it hadn't been just any old stream of moon light- it was a messenger moonbeam straight from the Man in the Moon himself. With, obviously, a message. One that only Lyra could hear, apparently.

"Wait, what?" I said to her. "You're telling me that he," I pointed to the silver moon in the sky, "talks to you? It's that easy for you two to communicate?"

Three hundred years and counting, and almost a full year as a Guardian, and still the Big Guy on the moon hadn't once thought it important to personally tell me anything.

I admit I felt a little envious of Lyra.

She shrugged. "I'm a light spirit, Jack. I guess you couldn't hear his message because you don't have any sort of affiliation to light. Light and the Moon have always been connected to each other."

I knew she was right. I reluctantly pushed aside my feelings of envy and disappointment- I couldn't risk getting distraction from the mission. So I nodded at her conclusion.

"Fine, ok. But what did it say?" I questioned.

"It was a warning, I think," she stated simply, shifting her gaze from me to across the clearing where the entrance to Pitch's lair lay open in the snow-covered forest ground. "to be careful and whatnot... and advice...for me," she added in a voice even quieter than that the one she'd already been using. I almost didn't hear it.

"Advice...?" I prompted, hoping for more details. She didn't offer any.

"Ok," I said running a hand through my white hair sourly. "You can't tell me. Got it. But tell me this- does the message change anything? Will our plan still work?"

"Yes," she breathed after a moment. "It should."

"Terrific." I sighed. "Then let's go so we can send the next signal, please?"

She nodded, shooting me a sideways apologetic look. I took her hand in mine a squeezed it tight before letting go.

"Jack- wait," she said, before I could begin to move forward. I raised my eyebrows. "Tsar's message... his advice- I don't understand it."

I sighed again, really becoming annoyed with all her secrets. "Well, I can't help you unless you tell me what-"

"-Hold onto your center, and believe. Remember who you are and who you were. Trust your instincts, and light the world with the fire of faith." she cut in. "That was his advice."

I stared at her, slightly surprised. Her center...?

"He wants you to figure out your center," I said, momentarily caught off guard by the question that should have been obvious the moment Lyra accepted her Guardianship- What was Lyra Light's center?

I shook my head though, knowing now was not the time to dwell on that question.

"So many riddles!" she cried out, a little louder than a whisper, grasping her forehead like she had a headache.

"Hey- we'll figure it out, ok?" I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Right now, getting inside that underground death-trap is a bigger priority." She nodded at my words and reluctantly shook the thoughts out of her head.

We each grasped our staffs firmly as we cautiously crept towards the hole in the cold earth leading to the darkness beyond. Thankfully, we reached it without incident. I let her jump down before me to scout out what was ahead, while I kept a lookout from behind. The drop wasn't too far, and I landed squarely on my feet in a tiny crouch. Slowly, I straightened up and glanced around.

It was exactly the way I remembered it from the first time I'd come here last Easter with my little fairy friend, Baby Tooth. Tonight though, I came with Lyra, and this time, I actually had a plan and a reason for coming. No more rash and reckless decisions- tonight I meant business.

Lyra centered herself below the opening in the ceiling we'd jumped through. I watched as she forcefully shot her right hand up, shooting thin golden sparks high, high into the sky. The second signal, signifying that we had gotten inside safely and were ready to begin the next phase of the plan. Tooth, hopefully, would see, and begin her part with her fairies and Bunny, assuming he'd done his job with the shadows.

"Let's move," she whispered to me, and I followed her lead through the maze that awaited us in the darkness.

...

(General POV)

Tooth's wings began to beat a little faster when she saw the tiny firework-like golden sparks light up the dark sky. Whether from nerves or excitement, she couldn't be sure.

The beautiful fairy urgently turned to her mini companions. "Ok girls, you know what to do. Tell the others to get moving!"

The small group of tiny fairies sped away, led through the trees by Baby Tooth. They darted through the barren tree branches, eager and full of purpose. When they reached their destination, they were immediately greeted by more groups of tiny tooth fairies. Baby Tooth relayed Tooth's orders to them all, and at once the hummingbird-like creatures busily set to work.

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