Hello everybody! If you are reading this AN because this was the first chapter you saw and believed it to be the newest update, think again! This is part three of a three-chapter update, and if you haven't read the other two then GO READ THEM RIGHT NOW! Otherwise you won't understand a thing that's going on.
If you HAVE read the other two however, then ignore this top part.
I would like to thank the awesome writers who allowed me to use their stories in this chapter, Jettara1, Not A Stranger, and Miki Cheshire. Thank you all so so much for your help. I hope you all like the chapter.
And to my readers, thank you so much for being loyal. REVIEW!
Tooth stood and allowed her to sit down so that she could see the screen better, which she acknowledged with a nod of her head.
"Let's see," Sera muttered to herself as she scrolled through the archive. "This? ...no, too short. This one? Nah, the genre is romance. Blech. This? Nada. It doesn't have dad in it."
The others listened to her mutterings and shared slightly amused looks with each other, the biggest of which was Sandy's. He chuckled silently at her, for once using his muteness in a beneficial way.
Finally, she found one that she approved of and, once the others read the titles, they immediately took a liking to it.
"Family Vacations," Tooth read aloud, then she frowned. "I seem to remember reading something about this in one of the earlier emails."
Jack nodded, leaning in to read the short tab that explained the main plot of the story. "Family vacations are never easy, everyone has their own ideas of the perfect vacation spot and sometimes this could lead to complications, arguments or illness. From Australia to Hawaii to the Rocky Mountains the Guardians will learn more about each other and maybe even Pitch Black. Now if only they could find a place everyone can enjoy. Yeah, I remember this one! We planned on reading it- there's a sequel right beneath it by the way, but we never got around to it."
Jack paused and gave Tooth a teasing smirk. "What with Tooth going rogue on us and falling in looove with our enemy and all."
"Keep it up boy," she warned him without her eyes moving from the screen and not a trace of humor in her voice. "I will put you in time out, so help me."
Jack chuckled, but there was something in her tone that made him keep quiet as they all began to read again. Tooth might not be his birth-mother, but she held a power over him that was just as strong- if not stronger! And he, mischievous scoundrel and imp that he was, couldn't bring himself to disobey her. At least, not this time.
The rest of the night was spent in a similar fashion to that of the earlier nights of their exposure to Fanfiction. They read through story after story- pausing every five minutes to laugh, scowl and- in the case of one short one-shot called Fall of the First which North had picked without knowing what it was really about, crying. And when this happened, it wasn't just Tooth and Sera who had tears sinking down their cheeks. That particular tale moved them all to tears; Even Bunny felt a few salty eye excretions when he read the incredibly moving tale that was in no way true, but a good tale nonetheless.
It features Pitch as some sort of spirit pyromancer and Jack, crying slightly though he was, couldn't help asking, "None- none of that ever actually…happened, did it?"
Seraphina sniffed slightly. "A romantic notion Jack," she told him gently. "But no. Before he was Pitch Black, He was a human names Kozmotis Pitchner. Nothing more. Though I must credit this author, for he or she has truly crafted a beautiful story, it is almost completely inaccurate. Save one thing."
None of them had to ask what that one thing was, for it was obvious even to Jack. His being alone and misunderstood. And afraid.
But before they found Fall of the First, they spent an incredibly long amount of time- considering that it was only six chapters, reading Family Vacations. This proved to be the perfect starting point because it gave them all ideas about what they were going to do for family bonding activities, once this thing with Pitch was over and he was back with them again.
Seraphina absolutely loved the story, often having to pause in her reading to laugh. The best lines, in her opinion, were:
"Are there any Kangaroos? Real ones, I mean. Not you."
"THAT'S IT! TAKE IT BACK!"
"Never Kangaroo!"
"Take it back!"
"Aren't you worried that one of the lady-Kangas might take a fancy to you?"
"Take…it…back!"
Jack had laughed uproariously at that one. Then there was:
"JACKSON OVERLAND FROST! Do you know what that stuff does to teeth?! It ROTS them! Do you really want to damage those beautiful freshly fallen snow teeth of yours? Now, open up! I need to check if they are alright! Be a good boy now Jack. Jack!"
Sera gave Tooth a small grin when they came upon that last line. "Haven't you noticed, Toothiana?" She asked mildly. "He's never a good boy."
Jack was insulted. "Hey!" He objected. I'm a good boy!" Then he added a little sheepishly, "At Christmas time."
North let out loud, echoing bark of laughter. "Vould you like me to get out footage of you being so called 'good' at Christmas time Jack?" He asked innocently.
"No no," Jack quickly, raising his hands in defeat. "That's quite unnecessary North. And anyway, don't we have a fanfiction to be reading?"
They did indeed, and by the time they were done they had realized several very important things.
Firstly, that Jack should NEVER go to Australia unaccompanied ever again, (or anywhere nearly that hot for that matter,) secondly: North really needed to get Jack into his workshop to test the boy's talents in art and sculpture, (the boy protested and said that he had about as much artistic integrity as a monkey with mashed fruit, but they all dismissed this as what was quickly becoming known to them as the 'Pitch side' of Jack rearing its head. They had seen his skill with his frost and knew he was just being humble.)
Thirdly, that they really needed to get Pitch out of his lair once in a while once this was all over, (Tooth already had several plans involving a country-wide tour of her Indian homeland in the making and North had been seriously considering building an area beneath the Pole that was suitably dark for him, but installing several heavy-duty heaters so that he would not become a Pitch-cicle.) and lastly: North was NEVER, EVER, under any circumstances, to be allowed to go into a hot tub or water without a pair of swim-trunks on, or risk Jack and everyone else's eyesight.
"I am not THAT bad!" North objected when he read that bit. "And I do wear suit!"
"Bathing suit, North." Sera corrected. "Big difference."
Next came Fall of the first, the results of which have already been established, then came the rather longer sequel which Jack and Bunny enjoyed considerably, both choosing to completely ignore the implied pairing of their esteemed personages and, thankfully, no one else seemed to notice it. The next story they chose was one the others had already read and its prequel, Children of a Lesser God. Seraphina hadn't read it and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but actually turned out to be a mini-disaster in itself. Well, at least they learned something!
Sera was veeeery passionate about her father's history and backstory.
Through the entire thing she kept grouching and groaning about how "No, that is NOT how it went down! Don't these kids read the books?!" and "JACK? As a PRINCE?! HA!"
That last one Jack protested a little bit at, since he was indeed the grandson of the Nightmare King and that technically made him a prince. But she had a comeback for that.
"Actually Jack," she told him as the others listened intently. "My father, mother and I were all nobles of the upper class on our planet, second only to our king and queen so, technically, you're more like an archduke." She paused and a small frown creased her face as she re-thought her statement. "Or, at least something like that. I never paid much attention to all those stuffy classes and things. I am content to keep only one title, and that is mother."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Archduke? That sounds even more hoity-toity!"
Sera smiled. "Indeed."
Once they were done with those two stories, it was getting rather late and more than two of the party was yawning, but they chose to keep it quiet because they knew that the second Sandy heard even a hint of tiredness in their voices, he would order them off to bed or, should they resist, just dust them right there.
And, speaking of Sandy, it was his turn to pick the story. Once Seraphina finished reading the last of the prequel to Children of a Lesser God, her response to the last chapter being, "It just ends there?! What, did she forget about it?!"
Jack sighed. "Yes mom, sometimes these kids do forget about their stories. This isn't the first one we've come across, and it's slightly disappointing when we do."
Seraphina folded her arms across her chest and turned away from the computer, reminding them all of a certain frosty pouting teenager. "Humph. Well, they should at least try to end it on a good note." She grumbled. "I liked this story, and I can't believe that they-" Here she lapsed into grumbling and muttering under her breath, so that the others couldn't hear her.
Jack sighed. "Mom, some people on here post stories by the chapter." He explained. "Those are called updates. Some people take years to finish their stories on here, and others just post them all at once. Most post updates because it's easier."
Sera nodded, understanding but she was still irritated. Sandy, who had seen this look on her face before and knew it meant she wouldn't be talking in sentences for at least ten more minutes, pushed his way to the front and wrote, I believe it's my turn to pick a story.
Sera silently gave up her seat at the computer screen and allowed Sandy to sit down. He nodded his thanks, but she didn't respond. And to think Pitch missed her moody teenage-years, Sandy thought with a small smile.
He took his sweet time in finding a story; Sandy was a very avid reader and he had standards, after all. It was called When You Wish Upon the Moon, and it actually ended up being more humorous and well-written than he- or anyone really, had expected. Even though it had begun in such a way that Seraphina and Tooth, already having been exposed to the sad side of Fanfiction and not in a hurry to invoke further grief upon themselves and their companions, asked North to skip it. But after being consoled by Jack, Sandy, Bunny and North, they chose to forge on and read it anyway.
A ray of moonlight encroached on Pitch's shadowy path as he skulked on the outskirts of a sleeping town. He looked up, into the full face of the moon. "You," he spat. "This is all your fault!"
The moon didn't reply. He never did.
Pitch slinked back to the shadows of his home, greeted by the treacherous creatures that had once served him so well. Damn him, and damn those retched Guardians. Especially that cursed Sandman, who was probably sitting up in the North Pole with the others, drinking eggnog and laughing merrily, having a grand old time while he had no one down her for company but his nightmares.
Don't you like being alone? A voice that didn't quite sound like his inner thoughts asked, but Pitch was too tired to notice the difference. He laid down on the slab of onyx that served as a pathetic excuse for a bed and as his eyes drifted shut and the nightmares began, he found himself answering, No.
I wish I weren't alone.
After finishing the first chapter,things grew relatively easier; Pitch and, oddly enough, Sandy- "I should have known he would pick one with him in it," Jack muttered, Sandy waved his hand to shush Jack and Bunny asked sardonically, "And you don't?" –found themselves in rather unique positions.
"Manny explained to us that, when two souls make the same wish at same time, without one another knowing, a very powerful magic happens. This magic can only be undone when the wish is granted."
"So what's the wish?"
The Guardians looked at each other uneasily.
"You mean to tell me… that two little brats made a wish so powerful that Sandman and I are human and you don't even know what it is?!"
Positions that eventually led to Pitch and Sandy moving in together above Jamie's house which, incredibly enough, had a third floor which Jack had never seen because evidentially it was invisible and intangible! Or, at least that was the excuse Jack was going with because he had never seen nor touched it. That, and he had completely forgotten the fact that this was just a story and not real in the least!
Again!
However, this little detail had little to no effect on the Sandman, who enjoyed the story immensely and busted up laughing at every single funny bit there was. Most of these were Pitch-related in origin, which meant that Sandy was laughing virtually every time Pitch opened his mouth.
"Black," he said when North asked what color he wanted his shirts.
"Black," he repeated again when North asked what color he wanted his pants.
"Oh I don't know," he thoughtfully when North asked him about his socks. "Perhaps a nice shade of what the hell do you think?"
"Kozmotis Pitchner? That's a ridiculous name even by your standards. And you are… Sanderson Mansnoozie? You're seriously going to use that name? Why not call yourself Sleepyhead the Tooth-Rottingly Sweet and be done with it?"
"You look funny," little Sophie informed him.
"You have a spider in your hair," he informed her mildly.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Check your calendar."
"Please, that glitter-soaked space cadet might be human now, but he's just as sickeningly happy as he ever was."
"Get out or I will stop screaming and I will never stop." He wasn't bluffing either.
"Oh stop cowering! I've seen baby animals that are less afraid of this movie that you!"
These were all classic Pitch lines, but it was the last scene of the story that had Sandy on the floor again, laughing hardest of all.
"Alright, I suppose with what we've been through its only fair to call a truce." Sandy beamed and clapped his hands. Pitch glared at him. "But that doesn't mean we're friends!"
You would prefer us to be something else then? The golden man hovered closer, a crafty look in his eyes and Pitch suddenly felt nervous.
"Uh, no. I take it back! We can be friends." Sandy placed a hand on Pitch's scarf and trailed it up his neck. "Good friends! The best of friends! Now stop it you glitter-dusted lunatic!"
Sandman chuckled and floated out of the newly re-instated boogeyman's personal space.
"I honestly do not understand how anyone tolerates you."
By the time they were half way through, absolutely everyone was laughing and Sandy, yet again, couldn't breathe. Mirth bubbled from each mouth as they all fought to keep at least some form of composure but ultimately, failing dismally. This time, the fit lasted at least five minutes and by the end of it, only Tooth and Sera remained seated or, in Tooth's case, hovering.
By the time everyone was coherent again, the night was well past its peak and it was getting very late, as Sandy found out to his horror when he got to his feet- courtesy of North but helped along by his propulsive dreamsand –and glanced at the elegant grandfather clock North had standing in the corner. He nearly fainted when he realized that it was almost eleven O'clock and he nearly dusted them all right then and there. The only thing that saved them all from a dreamsand coma was Jack, who noticed the look on Sandy's face and begged shamelessly for one more story.
"Please?" He begged, preforming 'the look' as well as he knew how, which- after three hundred years, was pretty damn good.
No Jack, it's way past your bedtime. Sandy told him.
"What?" Jack whined, looking outraged. "Bedtime?! I haven't had a bedtime in three hundred years!"
Sandy gave him a stern look. Well, it's high time to rectify that. A body, any body, needs a minimum of eight hours of sleep every twenty four!
Jack looked about ready to launch into the first real argument they had since he moved in with the Guardians and the others were getting worried but, surprisingly enough, it was his mother Sera who came to his aid.
"Please Uncle Sandy? Just one more story? It'll be a short one I promise!"
Sandy sighed. Two of them preforming 'the look' was almost unbearable and finally, he relented.
Fine, he said, rolling his eyes. Just make it a short one, or I will dust you both and you won't wake up until next month. Then he chuckled silently as he watched Jack and Seraphina eagerly pounce on the mouse and there was a slight scuffle before Sera relented and allowed Jack to scroll through the archives. Then he turned towards the others and sighed. Sera used to do this every time I invited her to Cloud Castle for a family movie night. He told them.
North chuckled a little and even Tooth and Bunny cracked a grin at that one. Then their attention was drawn back to the screen when Jack called, "Here's one Sandy!" He beckoned the others. "And it looks good too!"
Sandy sighed and leaned in to read the title. Of Ice and Thieves? He wrote skeptically, looking at the title tab. Pitch was already running late as it was, the last thing he had time for was a pickpocket attempt. But some things are more important than keeping a schedule, and a lost boy in the streets of Seattle may be exactly what he needed in order to remember that. Now, he's looking to pay back the favor. But some scars run deeper than he thought, and Pitch may just be in over his head. He paused, then looked up at Jack with a raised eyebrow. Really Jack?
Jack shrugged. "Hey, you just said short. Didn't say nothing about the content!"
Sandy sighed again, this time in defeat. Alright, he said again. Alright Jack. Go ahead.
Jack glanced at the screen, then back at Sandy guiltily. "I was…wondering if I could read it aloud."
Everybody who had already heard Jack's attempt at fan-audiobooking, as he called it, groaned. Seraphina, who hadn't been subjected to this, looked at them in confusion. "Why…why would you not want Jack to read aloud?"
North sighed and waved for Jack to go ahead. Tooth leaned in and whispered into Sera's ear, "Trust me, you'll know once he starts."
Jack grinned and immediately launched into a verbose, almost Shakespearean oral narrative. "'Watch it!' Someone called as Pitch pushed past them on the street. Late. He was so, so late!" Jack began, trying to sound mournful, as if it were his own lateness he was berating. The Guardians rolled their eyes. "Pitch glanced down at his pocket watch, decisively ignoring the inscription on the top and he groaned-" Jack punctuated this with his own groan, "-when he saw the time. Why had he thought it was a good idea to walk to Lokia's headquarters instead of taking his limo?"
He was warming to his task now. Jack hadn't known just how much fun reading aloud was, and he wondered if he should try to get a job as a narrator. Then he remembered that most people couldn't hear him or see him, and dismissed it. "Oh yeah, the view."
At first, Jack really liked this story. It had Pitch in it, which was cool, but it also had him in it which was doubly cool! The plot seemed really neat and actually plausible, if Jack really was nothing more than a normal kid who was living in the streets and Pitch really was a stuffy rich businessman, not to mention freaking hilarious! Of course, there were some parts which he, Jack had to stop reading and grit his teeth because he was so angry, but those were few and far-between.
The best lines of all were, of course, Jack lines.
"See ya later Mr. Stockbroker. Or, you know, not."
Though Pitch had some pretty kick-ass ones as well.
"Oh, an incredibly small knife wielded by a buffoon with limited mental capacity. I'm terrified."
"You realize that this is exactly the type of stranger-danger situations kids are taught to avoid? Only this time it's a Limo and not a white van. Props for originality though. I wasn't expecting that."
"So, you're trying to buy out North's business?"
"I am merely trying to salvage from a ruined opportunity."
"Huh. So… you're like a whore."
"P-pardon?!"
"Yeah, you both screw people for money."
And by the time they were done, Jack was laughing his ass off with the rest of them.
"JACK!" Tooth admonished through her giggles. "That is the rudest thing you could have POSSIBLY said to him!"
Jack couldn't breathe he was laughing so hard, and as such was unable to form a response.
Sera, who was having mixed feelings about this whole affair, couldn't help chuckling when Jack read the last segment aloud. It was rude, but undoubtedly true. The Pitch in the story was definitely an unfeeling and unsympathetic. If she wasn't a respected sprit she might've called him a dick. I mean honestly, who just sits there while a friend is ruined when they have much more money than they need?!
Still, the story worked. It had characters which were outspoken, but true to the original and, more importantly, you could empathize with them. That was the mark of a good story, along with good description and verbs. This one was a little on the skinny side, description-wise, but the colorful dialog made up for that tenfold.
The others agreed with her when she voiced her opinion. "Indeed!" North boomed, clapping her on the shoulder. But it wasn't a hard clap; more like the gentle clap of a proud family-member. "If Pitch vere human, I have no doubt dis is vhat he vould be."
Tooth was still a little ticked about the 'whore' comment on Jack's part, but she couldn't help a smile twitching up the corner of her lips. "Or a horror writer." She added and everybody started busting up again, Sandy most of all. The idea of Pitch being a horror writer was just too funny!
Finally, the gang settled down a bit, though there were still smiles over each and every face. They all stood up and Sera stretched a little. Bunny popped his shoulders and knuckles and Jack let out a monstrous yawn. He looked like he was about to fall over and Bunny quickly put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Alright kiddo, night-night time."
Jack tried to protest, but all the hours of the day were quickly catching up on him and he could barely manage a mumbled, "M'OK Bunny, I dowanna go ta sleep!"
Bunny couldn't help smiling. The snowcone was clearly fighting to stay awake, but he was losing that fight and badly. Bunny ruffled Jack's hair gently and North put a hand on his other shoulder to steady him. "Jack," he said softly. "You promised Sandy."
Jack nodded- at least, they thought he nodded. It might've just been his sleepy head drifting back and forth –and Sandy subtly let a thin tendril of dreamsand loose from his fingertip, just in case he tried to fight. The sand encircled Jack's head like a little golden halo and Tooth couldn't help whispering, "Aww, he looks like a little angel!"
Sera snorted, albeit softly with her hand over her mouth. "Wait 'till he wakes up." She told Tooth. "He'll be back to his normal mischievous self in no time."
Tooth nodded and, as Jack buckled and sank into North's arms, sleeping like a baby, they all smiled. It had been a good day, and the perfect end to a good day would be nothing better than a relaxing sleep
But for some of them, the day wasn't over quite yet.
XXXXXXXXX
Sera smiled to herself as they all trooped up the spiraling staircases towards their rooms, North first with the snoozing winter spirit gently snoring in his arms, then Bunny, Tooth and finally Sera trailing last. Sandy had told them that, just like last night he needed to go complete his nightly rounds and would be back by morning. Sera took this information, commonplace though it was, with a grain of salt.
"You need sleep too, Uncle Sandy." She had scolded the little man, to which Bunny- who was forever unable to resist a snarky comment –said, "He gets enough at our meetings."
Sandy raised his eyebrow. Then, with a blinding speed that none of them knew he possessed he crossed the room while simultaneously forming a golden ball of sand and lifted it in front of Bunny's nose, without his expression wavering. Oh really?
Bunny had leaped back a good three feet and, making a mental note to never ever mock the little man again, started stammering apologies; lest Sandy dust him and leave him drooling into the carpet for the opportunistic elves to experiment on. "I didn't mean anything by it Sandy, really! There's nothing a'tall wrong with a little boring meeting-snoozing! I do it meself on occasion!"
Sandy nodded, satisfied that his point had been made and, with a hug to Sera, a supportive pat on the arm for Tooth and a nod to North- did anyone else notice that surreptitious wink Sandy slipped him? –and Bunny, he turned and flew out the window. The others followed him with their eyes until he was gone and afterward, staring out at the immense window as if statues until Jack made a little noise and moved in North's arms.
North glanced down and, assessing the situation, he quickly shifted him from the drunk-like half-slouch position into bridal-style with his staff across his chest. Jack's mouth fell open when North tipped his head back and soft snores escaped from it every time he inhaled and exhaled. North smiled warmly down at the boy. It had been years, decades really, since a child had fallen asleep in his care and he looked like he wanted to stand there all night, just watching over the boy. But, after a few minutes more he looked up at the others and said softly, "I should put him to bed."
Bunny nodded emphatically and yawned, but he put his paw over his mouth to muffle it and not wake the boy. "Yeah mate, I think I'm going to follow the ankle-biter's example and hit the sack."
Tooth nodded in agreement. "I'm completely bushed." She said, proving the fact that yawning was contagious with a dainty yawn and followed Bunny as they headed up the stairs. Seraphina, however, hesitated when the others started climbing the stairs. Maybe it was a result of all her years spent around Sandy, maybe not, but it took a lot to get her sleepy. It was something she had been dealing with for close to nine thousand years, but hadn't really paid much attention to. She was a busy woman after all.
But, for the sake of fitting in, she decided to go along with it and feign sleepiness by yawning; albeit quietly so that she didn't disturb Jack.
When they reached the landing, everybody bid their respective goodnights and headed to theirs- or, in North's case, Jack's room. Sera moved inside hers, which was right next to North's, as silently as a wisp of air might ghost through a drafty door. Once inside, she shut the door and leaned against it with a sigh, knowing that she was about to face her greatest and most nefarious foe. Boredom.
Sera plunked- there's that word again! -down on her bed and kicked her shoes off. They hit the door with a satisfying *slap* and her lips twitched in a small smile. If someone had been watching her, then they might've thought she was any other young woman who was mad at a boyfriend or anxious about a test, and not the most powerful female spirit created.
Sera let another sigh escape her lips as she eased herself down on her soft, warm bed. It was the epitome of comfort. The mattress was stuffed with goose down and the blankets made her feel like she was laying on a cloud again. For anyone else it, would probably have led to instant unconsciousness with peaceful childhood memories playing over and over in their head.
But not Sera.
She just laid there for what felt like hours, alternately looking at the ceiling as her mind's eye traced random patterns in the wood grain and turning her head to look out the stone window where the stars were blinking in and out of sight with the movement of the clouds against the midnight-blue sky. Those stars… once her home. Not naught but a distant memory.
Not so distant lately, she thought as she stared off into space. It was true. She had thought more about her birth-planet, her father and her past in general in the last few days than she probably had in centuries.
Sera sat up slowly, her attention still on the stars glinting like the far away eyes embedded deep within a velvety face. The moon was also out, his half-face shining bright and sending ripples of light over the frosty landscape, making what little natural light had remained after the sun went down reflect in fractal spears of color, bouncing across the dunes of snow. She looked up at him, smiling gently.
Though she was older than him by about five years and not one of the guardians, she still referred him as an equal and respected him. But, in the same token, these reasons stopped her from talking to him or using any form of communication with him at all. Of course, like all spirits she liked to have one-way conversations with him- and that was probably why she had taken such a liking to Jack all those years ago. However, unlike Jack or any of the others who he had gifted with Spirithood, she knew that she would never get an answer.
She hadn't been born like the other spirits. In fact, Sera herself wasn't fully sure what great cosmic force had transformed her from gangly mortal girl to elegant immortal- and immeasurably powerful –woman. She had looked in every book, talked to each and every spirit who might have even a whisper of a clue, including the Grim Reaper, Father Time, Eros and she had even tried to get into the moon's palace on one memorably desperate night, but the spells protecting the palace had proved too strong for her magic and eventually, she had stopped asking.
Her spiritual origin didn't truly matter, in the grand scheme of things. And that was what she was all about, wasn't it? The grand scheme. The bigger picture. She didn't pay attention to all the little details, because it just wasn't part of her.
For a time, back when she was much younger and inexperienced, she believed that her power had actually been entirely self-generated. That it had been hidden away inside her, dormant for years until she was threatened and once that occurred, like someone had pushed the big red detonator button, her powers had awoken and unleashed its fury. But even that was nothing more than a naive and flimsy hope.
How had she aged so fast? Where had the powers originated? Her mother and father had been both human at the time of her birth, so did that means she was adopted? Questions like this had constantly gnawed at her heart for her entire life, driving her to seek answers which she hadn't yet, to this day gotten, in a futile attempt for justification of her existence.
So absorbed was she in her star-gazing, appreciation for the Pole's surrounding countryside and her own thoughts about her past that she didn't hear the quiet knocking on her door frame and jumped when a voice came from the doorway.
"Seraphina?"
She turned around. It was North, standing in the doorway. He had changed out of his red shirt and into a loose white-cotton shirt, but the pants seemed to be the same. His hair was brushed back out of his eyes and again she noticed how startlingly blue they were. Much brighter than Jack's, though they held the same twinkle in them that she attributed to troublemakers.
"I am sorry," he apologized. "I did not mean to startle you."
Sera nearly blushed. He had seen her jump. Of course he had! It took a lot to scare of startle her, and it only happened when she was off in her own thought; a habit which, oddly enough she still didn't know where she had gotten. Maybe it was something her mother used to do. Huh. "Oh no, it's quite alright North." She told him, remembering to be polite. "I was just…thinking about some things."
He nodded and asked, "May I come in?"
She nodded. "Of course. This is your…house…after all." House was a bit of an understatement. "So," she asked, knowing that if she didn't talk an awkward silence was sure to follow. And she hated awkward silences. "How's Jack doing? Is he alright?"
North smiled as he stepped through the doorway and nodded. "He is sleeping like baby. I just finished tucking him in."
Sera felt a smile creeping onto her face. It was true. Jack was absolutely adorable when he was asleep sometimes. He could talk in full sentences, sleepwalk and, to her vast amusement, sing in his sleep, as she found out when she walked in on him mumbling along to Shepard of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold one night. "That's good. He used to be fussy when I asked him to go get some rest."
"Sandy knows his stuff," North agreed. "That dreamsand knocked de boy right out."
Sera nodded and allowed a short pause before asking hesitantly, "So, was there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
North glanced down at his arms and Sera followed his gaze. She frowned. There was a small bundle in his arms. It looked like clothes, but he was too far away from her to be sure. North caught her eye and smiled nervously. "Ah, yes, actually. Well, not so much tell you as, ah, show you." He held the bundle of clothes out for her and she blinked in surprise, then she rose from her seat on the bed and walked over to him. First a room, and now a gift?
"What is it?" She asked, eying the bundle of cloth in his arms.
North coughed. "I saw that you only had the one dress and I...well...I didn't know if you vanted something else to sleep in." He said, still smiling at her. "So I routed around in old trunks until I found something."
Seraphina took the garment and, shaking it out, found it to be an elegant floor-length nightgown with long sleeves, made from rich green cloth and enforced with what she assumed was sheep wool or polar-bear fur. It felt warm and soft against her skin and as she looked on, she noticed that there were red designs stitched in around the neck and hem, mostly intricate knots and complex whirls. It reminded her of her old dress. The one that she had worn when human and had been molded into the one she wore now.
"Oh North," She said, looking at the nightgown with something akin to awe. This had to be the most beautiful present she had ever received, and from someone who was almost a complete stranger to her! "Thank you so much." And, to show her gratitude she slipped the gown over her arm and, standing on tip-toe, planted a kiss on North's cheek.
North stood frozen to the spot, his cheeks aflame with flush. "It was just a nightgown," he murmured, looking down at his feet.
She beamed at him and replied, "That wasn't just for the nightgown."
North raised his head to give her a quizzical look and she laughed.
"It took a lot of faith to trust me like you did," Sera explained. She was feeling a little better and, because North had been so kind to her, she felt she owed it to him to thank him. "From the minute we first met, up until now. You didn't trust me at first, but once you allowed me to explain you were nothing but kind to me. You even offered me a place to rest and now this?" She smiled, gesturing to the nightgown. "I think that's worth more than one little kiss."
North blushed again, deeper this time. "Da," he coughed. "Of course I listened to your explanation. And like I said before about the room: You are family now. It is simple logic to have you staying here, to say nothing of being a good host." His blush sank back into the normal pallor of his cheeks and he raised a gentle hand to rest on her shoulder.
She allowed him to stand there for a few seconds, looking into his eyes, then she glanced down at the gown and felt slightly giddy at the prospect of trying it on. This was a rare feeling for her in any event, as you didn't get to be the most powerful female spirit in the world by being giddy all the time. "Can you leave for just a minute so that I can put it on?" She asked him, to which he nodded and left immediately.
When she heard the door click, she immediately slipped her green dress over her head and laid it over the blankets. Then she shimmied into the nightgown and oohed in pleasure at the feel of the cloth on her skin. "North," She called softly. "You can come back in."
North re-entered and was struck dumb by the spirit before him. For about two seconds. Then he pulled himself together and said, his voice low and a little husky from his accent, but she didn't notice. "It looks vonderful on you, my dear."
She beamed and turned. "It feels like it's been lying in front of a fire for the last hour," she commented as she ran the material over her fingers again. Silky-soft and lighter than air, it felt like ray of light had somehow been woven into cloth and had wrapped itself around her in a loving embrace.
North nodded. "Polar-bear fur." He replied, by way of an explanation. "It retains heat."
She nodded and they stood in silence for a bit, watching each other and thinking. North was amazed that he hadn't known about her before now; such a strong spirit, and such a lovely one too. Even if she was Pitch's daughter. But strangely, that didn't bother him nearly as much as it should.
He knew that, technically, she wasn't Pitch's daughter and that afforded him about half of the reassurance that she was a good spirit. The other half was her obvious love for Jack and motherly tendencies for Bunny, her warmth towards Tooth and affection for Sandy. No one was that good an actor. North found himself wanting to stay here, in this room, and get to know her better. Maybe they could be friends.
Sera was thinking the exact same thing. Well, almost.
With that build, those eyes and that infectious laugh, it's a miracle there isn't a Mrs. Clause already. She thought, unable to take her eyes away from his face.
When she had pictured her secret finally coming out into the open one day and seeing the reactions of the Guardians, North certainly wasn't what she had been expecting. He was friendly, kind, Jolly, she added in her mind with a small smile. Yes, that's the best word to describe him. Jolly. I've never met a more jolly man. And he didn't seem to mind that her father was the Boogeyman. Or, if he did, he didn't show it.
Either way, I think I might like him.
Finally, North decided to break the silence.
"I should probably get back to vork," he said, turning to leave. "You need to rest."
Seraphina felt a little disappointed and, before he could reach the door she crossed the space between then and put a thin hand on his shoulder. "Wait." She said, trying not to sound desperate. If she was left alone again she might die of boredom. Or worse, get pulled back into her gloomy thoughts about her past.
North blinked and turned around. "Da?"
Seraphina coughed and tried to sound like she was more bored than craving human conversation. She was apt to do that after being alone for so long, with only Sandy and her Seasons to talk to and even they barely contacted her a few times a month. "I'm...not ready to go to sleep just yet."
North blinked again and said, a little awkwardly, "Vell, I vas going to stay avake for a little while longer to draw up some toy designs in my vorkroom."
Seraphina smiled. "That sounds interesting. Might I be allowed to come along?" She hadn't seen very much of the Pole when Jack and Sandy had first brought her here. Nothing more than a fraction of the corridors which wound around and through this behemoth of a castle, so naturally she was going to seize any chance she got to go exploring. She might've been an adult in body, and she certainly had lived long enough to constitute having the mind of an adult, but she still had the curiosity of a child.
North didn't even need to think before he answered her. "That sounds like grand idea," he said happily, clapping his hands to illustrate his enthusiasm. "Follow me, Lady Seraphina."
"It's just Seraphina, North." She corrected, punching him on the arm. She hated being referred to by any title, even when the person calling her that was just teasing. "Or Sera, if you like." She added.
North didn't even flinch at the punch, and he laughed when she corrected him. "Very vell, Sera." He said, guiding her out of her room and down the hall.
Seraphina smiled the whole way to North's workroom, mostly because of how she was being treated and how gentle North was being with her, but also because of the soft snores she heard from the two rooms they passed. Tooth and Pitch on one room, Bunny in another. It made her feel slightly relieved that they were taking the time to get some strength for the difficult day ahead.
Of course, it also made her feel guilty that she was not asleep as well. But that guilt faded quickly when she remembered that she was getting an exclusive tour of Santa's workshop to be replaced by girlish delight. Though she was an adult spirit, an elegant and well-respected one to boot, it was virtually impossible to repress the little girl inside her which was jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of seeing the inner workings of Santa's workshop.
"You can hear that too? North asked, assuming her smile was because of the gentle snores coming from the doors they passed as they walked slowly down the rug-covered stone corridor.
She nodded. "Yes, but that's not why I'm smiling."
North quirked an eyebrow as they turned down a corner and began to descend a short flight of stairs. "Oh? Vould you care to clue me in?"
She smirked. "Maybe later." She said and North laughed, though it was quiet because he didn't want to wake anyone up. It felt good to just talk with someone when the conversation wasn't about work orders, impending doom and how much Christmas was obviously better than Easter.
"Very vell." He conceded. Then added with a wink, "Though I think you should know, I always get vhat I vant eventually. I am Santa Clause, after all."
Seraphina laughed and soon they were at a huge wooden door, set into a darker wooden frame with ornate iron bracings that led into the room where the magic happened. Figuratively speaking, that is.
"Here ve are," North announced, reaching past her to press down on the wrought iron handle. "My private workroom."
Whatever Seraphina had expected to see when that door opened was nothing compared to the sight that lay beyond those barriers.
The room itself was incredibly plain. Stone walls were framed by wooden beams and only a few rugs were scattered over the stone floor. This was a room for work, not relaxation. A huge workbench that, using her deep-rooted connection to the earth, Sera deduced was made from finest oak wood dominated the center of the room. It had three small drawers on either side that she assumed were for tools and materials, though goodness knew there were enough of those scattered all over the room.
North might be a talented spirit, she decided. But he certainly wasn't a tidy one. Hammers and chisels in all shapes and sizes, pieces of paper and pencils were scattered everywhere over the tabletop, along with plenty of building materials like metals, woods and ice piled up in corners and a toolbox with screwdrivers and a saw tip poking out from underneath the red lid. Everything was shiny and without a touch of rust.
North certainly keeps his tools well-cared for, she thought with a smile and she stepped over the threshold and proceeded to give the room the once-over. A fire burned gently in the stone fireplace on the far right side, a bookshelf in the other corner held lots of grubby notebooks and a few dusty books on architecture and toy design, half-finished demo-models were perched on every flat surface available and shreds of paper with scrawls that would be worthy of a doctor were absolutely everywhere!
Still, despite its clutter and the dust on the books, there was something about the place that fairly radiated creativity and wonder. Seraphina was frankly astounded by the level of detail North put into these things, and not just the toys. The detail of the room itself was like none she had ever seen before, and she told him so.
"North, this place is amazing!" She exclaimed, walking over to the workbench and picking up a little doll that she thought was called a limberjack whose body-parts were held together by metal wires. It only had eyes and a slit for the mouth, but the superb craftsmanship of the wood and the finality of the two little blue eyes already made it a masterpiece. "And these toys, how do you make them so well? I thought you were a thief before you became Santa Clause!"
North was smiling the widest grin he was sure he had ever worn. He was devoutly proud of his craft, as he called it, and was never able to keep from showing off. "I know, eez vonderful isn't it?" He said, sighing with content at the room before them. "I spend majority of my time here, so it's quite homely."
"Homey, North." Seraphina corrected, smiling as she made the little puppet dance with her slim fingers.
North inclined his head to her, though she couldn't see him, pleased by her reaction to the doll and his workroom. "Homey, he agreed. "And I prefer outlaw bandit. It makes me seem-"
"Less like a pirate?" She inquired, setting down the little limberjack doll and turning around to look at his maker while raising an eyebrow.
He winked at her. "And much more dashing and mysterious." He agreed.
She smiled and North offered her a seat in the form of a tall-backed green velvet chair with bronze tacking around the fronts of the arm rests and along the ridge. She thanked him and watched in silence as he set about tidying the place up, moving random pieces of paraphernalia into little piles until he could actually deal with them all separately. She noticed how quickly and methodically he worked, dividing up each part of the workbench and then tackling each in their own due time. It was interesting, as well as fun to watch.
When that was done, North sat down and pulled the limberjack that she had picked up over to him. "You can keep talking to me," he reminded her, taking a moment to turn around and smile at her. "I enjoy de conversation."
Sera nodded and replied, "I know. But I want to watch you work for a little bit."
North nodded and, without another word, turned back to his work. He worked on that one doll for what felt like hours, giving it a face and painting lips around the slit that was the mouth. He carved out fingernail-size ears and glued them on in the precise spot, then he carved a quaint little nose with holes and, after making an indentation in the wood, glued that in too. It was amazing, the level of detail that he put into this single doll. It was like he was carving a real person from that wood.
Seraphina watched North work for a long time, the silence only broken by North's gentle humming and the crackle of the fire that warmed her steadily. She found herself enjoying this quaint little room, with its gentle fireplace and homeliness. She chuckled, then she remembered her thoughts on the chair beneath her and allowed her fingers to run over the soft material and rubbed it against her fingertips like a content cat.
This was rich, expensive material, not the cheap stuff dress-makers used mostly nowadays and her mind wandered briefly to why North would have something so- was feminine the right word?- in his workroom.
Maybe there is a Mrs. Clause, some part of her mused. She's just gone now and North likes being reminded of her. Or maybe it's just a chair that he misordered from a catalog and never sent back because he liked the color. She could come up with a dozen different scenarios for why the chair was there but, because she didn't like pre-judging she decided to ask the man himself.
"North?" She asked,
"Why do you have this comfortable chair sitting in the corner, when your own chair is nothing but wood?"
North dropped a tiny hammer he was using to make sure the ears and nose were in glued properly and turned around to look at her. There was something odd in his eyes, but it wasn't anger. "Vhat?"
She instantly backpedaled. "Oh, I'm sorry! I mean, if it's for a personal reason I don't mean to pry. It's no business of mine where yours or your wife's furniture is placed!" She could have slapped herself. She'd let the wife comment slip and now it was a certainty that he would be angry and turn her out!
But, to her surprise, he only smiled and let out a laugh. This one, on contrast to his normal deep, booming ones, was soft and carried through the air to her like the laughter of a small child.
"I- I'm sorry." Sera said again, unsure of how to respond to the strangely comforting sounds of mirth that escaped the jolly man's mouth as he continued to laugh at her. Eventually he stopped though, and when he did he wiped his eye and lowered his head to look her dead in the eyes. He was smiling.
"Seraphina, dere is no need to apologize." He said kindly, standing up and walking over to her.
Sera felt like a mouse standing below a gigantic elephant as he towered over her, but the feeling rapidly was extinguished when he bent down and took her hands.
"Dis chair belonged to a very good friend of mine, a long time ago. A very vonderful and kind friend, who always put others before herself and never asked for anything." North was looking straight into her eyes and Seraphina felt unable to look away from those twinkling pools of wonder.
Why am I acting like this?! She asked herself angrily, though her face remained a blank slate. He's just another spirit! I never freaked out like this when I met Sandy or Aster!
That's because neither of them were built like lumberjacks and had eyes this blue, a snarky part of her that she did not know even existed said.
Oh yes, she thought, staring deep into those cobalt eyes. They were like glistening pools of sapphires and pure seawater intermixed with all the emotions of a happy child, remembering a favorite toy. They are so beautiful.
"Who was she?" She found herself asking in a breathy voice, though North didn't seem to notice.
"Her name was Katherine." He replied, standing again and reaching for his own chair so that they could keep talking. He sat down in it and sighed. "She was a beautiful little Russian girl who lived in a village near here where I grew up. The original Santoff Clausen."
Sera frowned, too caught up in the story to pay attention to what she was saying. "The original?" She inquired.
North's face immediately became sad again and she opened her mouth to say, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." But he spoke before she could get a syllable out.
"The village was named Santoff Clausen long before this place was," he said with a small smile. "I named it in honor of de brave children and people who sacrificed their lives to save me vhen..." he paused and cleared his throat. "Vhen something terrible happened."
Seraphina frowned. "What happened Nick?" She asked, unaware of her accidental slip-up concerning his name.
Oddly, North didn't notice either.
"Pitch happened." He replied, looking down at his coal-black boots. "Or, more accurately, de Fearlings controlling him happened. Fearlings, as I am sure you know, are attracted to happiness and light. Like de moth to flame. Only rather than dying vhen dey found the flame, dey tried their hardest to snuff it out."
Sera closed her eyes, trying not to picture what it must've been like. Visions of flame and screams echoed in her mind, reminding her that hers had not been the only sad story found in the spirit world. Jack had lost his family, after all. Sandy had lost his best friend and North, North had lost an entire village to the forces of Darkness which her father had been ordered to guard. An entire village! Men, woman and little children. Happy people living happy lives, without a clue as to the horrors the world harbored.
Sera felt a big hand closing over her slender one and she opened her eyes to find herself staring straight into the blue eyes of Santa Clause himself. He was so close that they might've been nose to nose and, for a moment Sera swore her breathing stopped. Then he let go of her hand and pulled away, smiling gently.
"I- I'm sorry," she stammered, trying to figure out why her first impulse when she had seen those beautiful eyes so close had been to lean in, but North just kept on smiling at her.
"It is fine, Sera. You have nothing to be apologizing for." He told her. Then he reached out and, for a moment she thought he was going to take her hand again, but he didn't. His warm, huge hand rested gently on the arm of her chair and he smiled. "Katherine had a beautiful snowgoose which she kept for a pet in her village, called Kailash. She was a breed which only survived in the coldest Himalayan mountains, and Katherine stumbled upon it by pure luck while out on a hike on a glacier."
Sera remembered the creature. It had been one of her finest creations. The geese of today were pitiful in comparison.
"Her parents had died in an avalanche, so when Katherine came along Kailash immediately adopted her as a mother and followed her absolutely everywhere. So, when we escaped, it was natural that we take Kailash as our means of transport. However, right after ve left a huge snowstorm hit and Katherine thought ve vere going to die. I gave her my coat to keep her varm and Kailash wrapped her wings around her, hoping that she vould at least survive." He paused, looking at the red chair like it was this Katherine, come back from the dead.
"And did she?" Sera asked.
He didn't nod or shake his head; only continued with the story. "We found a cave and built fire, vaiting for de storm to pass. She told me stories from de one book she had managed to save from the library, Kailash kept us warm and I made her little toys from the odds and ends I found hidden vithin my coat." He paused again and looked at some of the shelves where those toys still sat, a reminder of the girl that had saved his life. Just like the chair. "I do not know how long ve vere in that cave," He said, turning back to Sera. "But by the time the storm passed, ve vere both dead."
Sera lowered her head. She'd had a feeling that was coming. It was a requirement for spirits to first die, and then mold their souls to fit the roles they were chosen for. Only she, Bunny and a few others she knew of had escaped that fate by being born magical and simply given the powers. "And you were brought back," she said quietly.
"No."
She raised her head, frowning at him. "What?"
North was smiling again. "It vasn't just me. Katherine was brought back too."
Sera opened her mouth to ask, "Then why isn't she here? Why isn't she a Guardian as well?" But North beat her to it.
"De Moon brought me back in equal parts so that I could revenge my people, and to bring wonder to de world." He explained. "He brought Katherine back to help me, and made her the Guardian of Storytelling. He also enchanted her book, so that it vould hold every single story ever written and gave me two of his father's ancient swords, forged in stardust and wishes."
Sera breathed in a shocked gasp. She'd thought the relics from the Moon Clipper had all been lost long ago, before she had even come to earth or locked up in Lunar's palace. She hadn't imagined that they were here, on earth! "Do you still have them?" She asked eagerly, anticipation mingling with the firelight and setting her brilliant eyes agleam. "Those relics are a priceless piece of my history, and I should dearly like to see them North."
North waved her request away. "Of course, of course my dear. You vere actually alive in those days, so of course you may see them." He rose to poke the dying fire and, with less effort than picking up a wooden child's block, he lifted three large logs into the fireplace which greedily began to eat into the wood with a ravenous hunger that soon brought the blaze crackling to life again. "But, maybe ve should leave dat for tomorrow." He said, turning back to her. His heavy eyebrows coupled with the firelight cast deep shadows over his eyes.
"So, what happened once you two became spirits?" Sera asked once North had sat back down again in his wooden chair. His was a fascinating story, no doubt. A former bandit turned toymaker; it was an unlikely choice for Guardian but, hey, who was she to talk?
North leaned back in his chair, his fingers laced together and his thumbs twiddling quietly as he considered the question. "Well, once we were reborn the first thing we did was go back to her village and search for survivors, but we found no one."
"So, Katherine and you were the only survivors?" Sera asked, fearing the worst.
North chuckled. "Well, we thought so at first. That's when we decided to leave and go search for Pitch, after which we eventually met up with the others the Man in the Moon had chosen: Sandy, Tooth, Bunny, a man from Katherine's village- who was actually her adoptive father -named Ombric who was chosen as Father Time, and a young boy named Nightlight."
It took about three seconds for Sera to actually register what North had said, and in the next five seconds her expression went from surprised to shocked, to horrified, to sad and then finally, to a blank slab of skin and dull eyes.
And North watched it all, wondering what he had said to make her expressions changed so dramatically in such a short amount of time. "Sera?" He asked gently, putting his right hand over both of hers and patting it gently.
The dull gleam of her eyes remained unwavering and her voice was flat and emotionless when she answered. "I knew Nightlight."
North blinked. "You did?"
She nodded. "He was my brother."
If North didn't have an extremely firm control over his emotions he might've fallen out of his chair. "Y-your brother?" he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. "But- when we knew him he-"
"Looked barely older than Jack, I know." She interrupted. She knew that North was still holding her hand, but she didn't really mind. This just goes to show how much she had changed in such a short time. Normally, she didn't even like having people near her, and here she was allowing someone to hold her hand for extended periods of time. "My father found him on an isolated planet far away from ours, brought him back and treated him like a son. I grew up treating him like my brother."
"When vas the last time you saw him?" North asked eagerly. Nightlight had been a great friend to Katherine and he might know where she was after all this time.
Sera smiled sadly. "Over ten thousand years ago." She replied quietly. "Before my father became Pitch Black. Nightlight was off searching for him and wasn't there when he came to our house, the night he killed my mother."
North couldn't help the disappointed look that came on his face when Sera told him how long it had been since she had seen him. "Ah. I see."
Sera sighed. She didn't even want to look up now, because she knew what she would see. Those big, beautiful blue eyes full of disappointment and sadness. "North-" she began, but he cut her off.
"Sera, it's alright." He told her, squeezing her hand gently. "Don't blame yourself for not knowing something. I just wanted to ask."
They sat in silence for a little bit, then Sera asked hesitantly, "What happened then North?"
North shrugged. "What else? We fought Pitch and the Fearlings, and we nearly killed him." He couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice, because he knew now. He hadn't known before just how badly one battle could affect the future, but he knew now.
This time it was Sera's turn to lay a comforting hand on North's much larger, stronger hand. "North," She said gently. "I have told Tooth, and I have told Sandy and I have told Jack. It…is…not…your…fault. He was under the influence of the Fearlings, and you did the right thing."
North shrugged again. "I keep telling myself that Sera, but I don't think it will ever sink in." Then he raised his head and their eyes met. "At least, not until Pitch himself forgives me."
Sera smiled. "And I'm sure he will, as soon as he wakes up." Then, because she couldn't help herself she asked, "So, what happened to Katherine?"
North sighed again. "After the battle she, Nightlight and Ombric disappeared without a trace." He told her. "We didn't know if she was alive or dead, and we still don't know."
Sera frowned, the information filtering slowly from her ears into her mind and suddenly, in a flash of realization, it all made sense. Why he treated the chair with so much reverence, why he spoke about her as if she weren't exactly dead but not exactly alive either. And it almost broke her heart.
"Oh my gods North, I- I had no idea." She said, all the while thinking, what she did for him, saving his life in her village and then he couldn't save her. It must've shattered him.
North nodded. "It was hard in the beginning," He admitted. And from the expression on his face, she didn't doubt it. It had been hard for Sandy to find her after she had transformed into Mother Nature, so she partly knew how he was feeling. "I felt like I had abandoned her and, even though we never found a single trace of her, I never stopped looking. Even now, I still put de word out to see if anyone's seen her, but I never get response." He gave her a small wink. "At least, not yet."
Sera found herself smiling. It was very touching how, even after hundreds of years without contact, North was still trying to find her. That was dedication and she wondered if, after a few thousand years without contact, she would still be looking for Jack.
"But enough of dese saddening stories!" North said, clapping his hands and making her jump a little in her seat. "There are many more tales I have of my bandit days, and I vould be honored to share a few of them vith you Seraphina."
Sera glanced up at the closed window on the other side of the room. To be honest, she was having probably the best time she had had in close to five thousand years, and she was in no mood to stop. Even though Sandy would probably have her hide in the morning, but she didn't care. She had had a pretty damn good day today, reading fanfictions and bonding with Tooth notwithstanding, and she knew that once she actually did go to sleep, it was going to take her a heck of a long time because she was probably going to be thinking, Why?! Why did I turn down his offer?!
No contest.
"I would be delighted to, North." She said, smiling.
The beaming smile that stretched across his face was so bright and infectious that it could have lit up an entire city.
XXXXXXXX
Neither of them truly knew how long they ended up talking for. At first it was North telling her tales upon tales of his bandit days, before he became Santa Clause. Great adventures involving trekking through the snow, sneaking into vast palaces with armed guards searching the entire place top to bottom, vicious dogs with spiked collars tracking him and his men, daring escapes, rescues, swords-fights and enough treasure to fill twenty Fort Knox's. Then Sera started telling a few storied about her own life. Stories which she had never told to anyone and later, when she woke up in the morning she would blame the sleepiness, even though she had protested about her tiredness to North several times during the rest of the night.
Story after story after story was exchanged between them, punctuated by North getting up every little interval to stoke the fire and keep it fed. And both of them would have gone on all night and well into the morning, which they did, except for one little problem.
Both of them fell asleep by four O'clock AM.
Sera was the first one to fall victim to her uncle's element. North was in the middle of one of his harrowing tales and in the story he was just about to sneak into the czar's bedroom to steal his wife's favorite earrings, but he stopped just as he was about to reach out and take the jewelry. Because he had noticed something.
"Sera?" He asked, leaning in and looking at her face carefully. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning back in her chair, but her mouth was closed and as North watched her, he began to see the gentle fluttering of her breath and the slow rising and falling of her chest. He smiled and, making sure to be quiet so that he would not wake her, he rose and crossed to the other side of the room where he kept a large hand-carved trunk. He opened the trunk, routed around a bit, then he found what he was looking for and gingerly pulled it out.
"Perfect." He murmured to himself. He had no qualms about what he was about to do next. None at all. It was more respectful that attempting to pick her up and carry her to her room, though he had no doubts he could manage it. But he didn't want to take the chance of her waking up and screaming because she didn't know where she was or who he was.
North took the blanket- for, of course blanket it was, and shook it out to clear the mothballs out of it. The green material rippled in the firelight- the same material that he had used to make her nightgown in fact -and the silver threads sown into a pattern of moons and leaves reflected the light all around the room. Then he crossed the room and, using the utmost care and tenderness, he laid the blanket down over her body and made sure to keep her face and one of her hands free, just in case she suddenly woke up and thought she was trapped or something.
Once that was done, he sat down in his wooden chair and watched her for a few seconds, then he turned back to his table and began working on another toy. The quiet chink of the chisel against the wood and knock knock knock of the hammer were the only sounds besides the fire that echoed softly around the room like a nearly silent melody as he worked and, after another hour, he too was asleep.
And this was what Sandy found an hour later when he came back to the North Pole from his rounds.
As soon as he flew through the open window and shut it behind him, he headed straight to Tooth's room to check up on her and give Pitch another dose of dreamsand. When he determined that they both were fine he crossed the hall to peer into Bunny's room. He too was sound asleep and snoring like a chainsaw. He was a little freaked out when he flew up to the rafters and couldn't find Jack, then he remembered he had been asleep when he had left and he searched the unoccupied rooms until he found him.
Sandy smiled when he saw the teen tucked in to a big bed with his staff leaned up against the wall and a teddy bear in his frozen grip. Something about the way he curled in on himself reminded him of Sera, and he stood there for a long three minutes just watching the boy before he remembered that there were two more people he needed to make sure they were safe before going to bed himself.
Thankfully, Jack's room was close to Sera's and it took him no time at all to see that she wasn't in her room. Initially, he was worried. No, actually, that's an understatement. Initially, when he first realized that she wasn't in her bed or anywhere in her room, he almost had a heart attack. He spent at least six minutes searching the room to make doubly sure that she was in fact not there, and by the end of the six minutes he was close to catatonia.
Where could she be?! He asked himself, flying from one side of the room to the other with agitated worry. He knew that she liked going off on her own a lot, but would she really go off on one of her solo trips when he wasn't there?
The answer was no, she wouldn't. She had a smart head on her shoulders and knew better than to go off to who knows where in the middle of the night. So, the logical explanation was that she wasn't off on one of her solo trips.
She had been kidnapped!
But, before Sandy made it to her doorway he stopped and slapped himself. What the hell is wrong with me?! He made a face. Kidnapped? Boy am I an idiot. She's one of the most powerful spirits in the world! It would take a freaking army of every single spirit on the face of the earth to kidnap her. And even then, she would fight like a rabid panther against them and probably wake up everyone.
So, the actual logical explanation was thatshe was off somewhere in the Pole, exploring.
So, following his logic, Sandy began searching the Pole for her. Purely to satisfy his maternal instinct and make sure she was alright, you understand. However, he spent half an hour searching the Pole top to bottom, looking in every nook and cranny that she could possibly be in and some that there was no way she could be in, but he checked anyway because he was just that way. But he couldn't find her.
After circling the Pole at least three times, he decided to go wake up North and ask him if he knew where she might be. Because of his mannerisms and his ideals towards sleep, Sandy almost chose to leave North alone and continued on his search by himself, but then he thought about it and decided that his worry of Sera outweighed his respect of sleep.
He headed down the hall to North's room, making sure to make the least amount of noise possible. North was not going to be happy when he woke him- would anybody be? But Sandy had a feeling that when he told North that Sera was potentially in danger, he would be up like a shot and ready to lead the search.
He cares about her, and he's definitely trying for her attention, Sandy mused as he pushed open the door to North's room. That nightgown wasn't just a kind gesture, even if North didn't even know that himself.
Once he opened the door however, things started to slide together. He knew immediately from the lack of heavy breathing and a body-shape under the covers of the bed that North wasn't in here. Once he knew that, he immediately turned, shut the door and headed to the one other room North would be in. His workroom.
He might even still be awake, he thought hopefully as he flew down the hall in search of North's workroom. He hadn't been there in a while, but he'd been their enough to know it was near.
It took him a matter of minutes and soon he was standing in the doorway, staring with eyes that were almost popping out of his head at the scene before him. There was North, bent over his desk with a hammer and chisel still in his hands and a small puddle of drool on the water-sealed table. And there was Sera, leaned back in Katherine's chair with a green blanket tucked gently around her and her mouth open just enough to let dainty snores escape.
Sandy stood there, unsure of what to do for several minutes. What had been going on in here?
Tentatively he took a step into the room, making sure to watch where his feet landed. North was notorious for leaving tools helter-skelter and hither and dither; booby-traps just waiting for an unsuspecting toe to stub. First he checked North to make sure he was still asleep, which he was, and then he checked Sera. She was a little closer to consciousness that North was, but that was only to be expected because she had been dealing with children for so long. He had seen her wake up in the drop of a hat to scold one of her children, and it would probably be no different now.
Which was why as soon as he got within five feet of her, he sent a tendril of dreamsand over to her where it circled around Sera's head, bringing all of the happy dreams that Sera hadn't had for years to the surface of her mind. He watched happily as her dreams took the shapes of butterflies, flapping their delicate golden wings in silent circles around the crown of her head and, once she was securely in the grip of his dream-powers, Sandy tip-toed over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead.
Safe dreams my beautiful girl. He told her inside his head, smiling gently. Then he turned back to North. Nice going friend. Hetold him, and patted North lightly on the back while subtly letting a few pinches of dreamsand seep out of his hand and take root in the subconscious of Santa Clause. Golden candy canes began dancing around his head and Sandy was reminded of the scene in Jamie's bedroom, when Aster and Nick's dreams had mingled, producing a scene that, according to Jack, was worthy of the America's Funniest Home video award.
Hehe, maybe I'll just nudge the dreams a little. He thought to himself, grinning like the malevolent little troll he was. The prospect of seeing the combinations of their two dreams was indeed a humorous one, but after a while Sandy decided to just let them sleep. He could do his mad experiments another time.
Sandy was about to head back to his own room and spend the rest of the night creating his own dreams, but before he turned away from North's table something caught his eye. Sandy frowned and walked around the table, to the side that was facing Sera. There, on the desk, right beside North's hand as if he had just stopped for a break, was a small wooden figurine. It was crude and not nearly finished, but it was clear from the half-finished face, long hair and slim tulip-like dress who it was meant to be.
Sandy grinned. Oh, he was going to have fun teasing North about this later when he woke up.
You really have got it bad for her, don't you? He asked the sleeping Russian, grinning broadly. No answer. Sandy chuckled silently, then headed out the door. Goodnight old friend. Good night Sera. Pleasant dreams to you both.
And with that, Sandy headed towards bed, visions of pleasant dreams already forming at the forefront of his mind and it was all he could do to not trip over his feet as he walked down the hall. It had been a good day, and he was ready for a nice, long sleep.
However, someone seemed to have other ideas.
Halfway to his room, Sandy was passing one of the huge glass windows that North had installed recently all around the Pole, purely for Jack's convenience so that he didn't have to go flying around searching for the one window he could get in through, after a long day of snowballs and fun times. The window was facing the east, and the silvery light of the moon was streaming in through the glass and spilling out onto the floor in a puddle of lustrous pearly light.
Now normally, Sandy always stopped to say hello to his old friend. He did it almost every night, in fact. They would chat about their jobs, how the kids were doing, normal things, and then they would go their separate ways. But this time, Sandy was so out of it that he didn't even acknowledge the presence of his old friend. He just walked past the window, focused on one thing: Sleep.
Or, at least, he would have. Had not the light of the moon suddenly become solid and stopped Sandy dead in his tracks.
What the- Sandy thought, blinking as he found himself suspended in mid-air. This was a normal occurrence for him after all, but it wasn't normal for him to not be able to move!
Sanderson, be still.
Sandy blinked again, the numbing thoughts of sleepiness completely gone from his mind. MiM? He asked, following the beam of the light that held him upwards until his eyes alighted on the home of the last of the Lunanoffs.
Yes, old friend. It's me.
His voice was deep and resonating, but soft and melodious, just like always. Sandy smiled. It had been some time since he had heard that voice. I'm sorry I was ignoring you Manny, he apologized. I'm just really tired.
It's alright Sanderson. Manny told him. You've had a pretty busy day, after all.
Sandy nodded, smiling. Yeah, if it weren't so funny it would have been a nightmare.
Manny laughed. Indeed. I've been watching my Guardians since the sun went down and I must say, this is really making me want to get Wi-Fi.
Sandy raised an eyebrow. Can you even get service on the moon? He asked dubiously.
He imagined Manny shrugging. Well, probably not. I'll have to hook it up to a modem to get service, but that's no big problem. I prefer towers to laptops anyway.
Sandy shrugged and was about to say something else- in his mind that is, but Manny got there first.
Speaking of big problems…
Sandy winced. There could only be one thing Manny meant by 'big problems'. Pitch.
If this is about Pitch, he started, ready to take the heat for letting this slack happen. Originally, when Tooth had told then about her decision he had been a little hesitant about letting this happen, but he hadn't voiced his opinions because Tooth had seemed so confident about her choices and he wanted to encourage her.
It is.
Sandy winced again. We came to an agreement about that yesterday. He explained. We decided to wait for three days, and if he doesn't come out of it on his own by then we start trying to get him out of it ourselves.
Sanderson-
It was the only decision we could make! Sandy told him, knowing that he would probably be disappointed by their pacifist choice and, as the oldest he should be held accountable. It was like having siblings. The oldest got the rap for everything.
Sanderson,
But we planned on jumping into the books and looking for a solution the minute we woke up this morning! Sandy felt like he should try to justify himself and he was so worried about what Manny would think that he didn't notice the impatient tone in his voice.
That is, until he sent Sandy's mind reeling with a loud and impatient, Sanderson!
Sandy stopped and blinked. Oh, that hurt. That was the problem with telepathy; it hurt if Manny spoke too loud, and he knew this.
I'm sorry old friend; I didn't mean to be so loud.
Sandy nodded shakily, still trying to blink away the resounding words in his mind. It's OK.
Manny sighed and when he spoke again, Sandy heard a smile playing around his tones. First of all, calm down old friend, you're going to blow a gasket.
Sandy blushed and all his shock immediately converted into embarrassment. Sorry Manny.
That's alright. Anyway, what I was going to say was I understand your decision.
Sandy blinked. You do?
Though they hadn't seen Manny in centuries, all of them had talked to him enough to imagine every emotion and expression on his face when he spoke, and now was no different. When Sandy listened to Manny's words, he imagined him nodding understandingly and smiling gently. Yes. And it was a good decision. You couldn't do much with what you had except wait it out, and it's a good thing you did.
Sandy frowned. Why? He asked, and he couldn't believe the answer that floated into his mind from the moonlight.
Because I have a way to save Pitch.