She slipped out of the apartment's open window, landing silently on a rusty old fire escape outside. Shadows billowed from beneath her feet as her hair curled freely in the warm night air. All she could feel was triumph and longing. Pitch had done it- he was actually destroying Christmas, and the Guardians had no idea what was going on.

Darkness let a small, wicked smile play across her lips as she stepped out into the air, plummeting towards the lit up street below before being picked up by the night's shadows and sent spinning through the air. The city lights of Rio de Janeiro had made the clouds glow a putrid orange, but she burst through them, running atop the fluffy white giants with glee.

The moon shone down upon her and she twisted around, exhulting in the shadows and stars that filled her night. Dark smirked up at it confidently. "He did it, Moony. He did it, and you couldn't stop him! Christmas was ruined by Pitch Black and a child!"

The Man in the Moon stayed silent as ever, and she grinned up at it, feeling the joyful pain of its blinding light. "Come on, you had to have been expecting this, Moony. I mean, it was Pitch!"

And what did you do?

The voice floated softly through the stifling night air, and she cocked her head to the side, not having expected an answer. "Excuse me?"

What did you do?

"I did..." Darkness frowned, thinking. What had she done? "I broke Pitch free, I beat up a Leprechaun, I stole some gold, hired Piper, met a Unicorn, was accidentally tortured by the Guardians, tricked Jack Frost, kissed Jack Frost, was beaten up by Jack Frost, tricked him again, I met a skeleton with a pumkin for a head, beat up Jack Frost, stole his memories, tricked him again, roasted him over a volcano and had a date with the spirit of love. What do you mean what did I do? I've done practically everything there is to do."

But you haven't done what you wanted, the voice replied, and she could no longer tell whether it was in the air around her or in her head.

She shook her head up at the moon in denial, wondering if the Man in the Moon could even see her, a small dark speck among the endless white clouds around her. He didn't know what she wanted, she wanted to be away from the Guardians, away from it all. "This is what I want." She told the sky firmly.

Go back, back to the Guardians.

Dark sighed angrily, knowing that she should be doing her own thing, living it up in Rio for Christmas, but then again, this was the Man in the Moon. She kind of owed him for saving her, for reasons she wasn't quite sure about. "Everyone's telling me what to do? Why can't I decide?!"

Once the words were in the air, the answer seemed so obvious and stupid she nearly slapped herself. Of course she could decide. It was her life, after all- or death, whatever. But what did she really want? Before Pitch she wanted away... but now, now she had seen all the destruction he had caused, all the lives he was ruining, the Guardians he was killing. She turned to the moon, mind set. "I'm going to go break things with Pitch."

Germany was covered in a light layer of snow as Dark dropped down through the clouds, air rushing past her so hard it tore at Jack's hoody and bent her limbs back. She twisted wildly in the nothingness that surrounded her, flailing and screaming. Only a couple of inches separated her from the ground when she paused, grinning with wild excitement. That cleared her head.

She dropped to the cold forest floor, glad she'd managed to avoid the leaveless trees that filled the woods she was in, everything around her illuminated in pale light. The moon was almost at the edge of the horizon, and sunlight had painted the opposite edge of the sky an icy blue, reminding her of Jack's eyes.

Forget about the hot guy, Dark told herself. You have a job. The thought only made her grin increase as she began to tiptoe through the forest, feet barely crunching in the snow. She really had to get over Jack- he had a soul mate now. I wonder if I could be bride's made at the wedding.

She let out a giggle at the thought of tottering around in a dress and heels at the wedding of her ex-boyfriend and a girl she had never met. Like that wouldn't be awkward at all, maybe she'd spread some tales about being locked up with Jack at the reception. If they had receptions these days; Dark hadn't been through a wedding in decades. She felt like such an old lady.

Jack won't ever want to see you again. There was her inner pessimist, finally, Turning up just when she was beginning to enjoy herself. But not even that could take away the grin of certainty that lingered on her lips.

Dark wasn't sure that she remembered the way to Piper's stream, but was rewarded a few minutes later by the flickering light of a fire dancing through the trees. She smiled and moved silently towards it, hoping to catch him off guard. She was actually surprised that he had escaped, having only thought of her journey here a shot in the dark. Not that shooting in the dark was difficult for her.

Piper sat on a rock in the clearing, the wing of a pheasant in his hand as he held it out. He was facing away from her, and Darkness tiptoed to the line of the trees, watching. A large reindeer stood tethered to a tree at the edge of the fire light, his nose alight with a red glow of its own. Skirting in the edge of the shadows was a fox, small and sleek as it eyed the food in Piper's hand distrustfully.

Piper was singing to it in a low voice, his tone so beautiful that Dark was frozen to the spot, simply captivated by him. For so long she had loved Pitch's voice, how silky and sly all of his words sounded. But Piper... Piper could sing. Piper had the voice of a God. "Big blue eyes, pointy nose. Chasing mice and digging holes. Tiny paws, up the hill- suddenly you're standing still. Your fur is red, so beautiful, like an angel in disguise."

The song seemed to have the same effect on the fox as it did on Dark, and it slipped up to him, taking the bird's flesh delicately between its teeth. Piper reached out and grabbed it by the scruff, pulling it into his lap where it allowed him to pat it, this wild animal, suddenly tame as a kitten in his hands. Then Piper addressed her. "The fire isn't that bright, I shouldn't think. Come sit."

"You knew I was there," Dark said accusingly, and he raised an eyebrow, running a hand through the fox's soft pelt.

"I doubt there's a single person in the country who didn't here you screaming back there."

She flushed slightly and took a seat on a rock, eager to change the subject. "Your fur is red, like an angel in disguise? Seriously?"

"I didn't write the song," he replied dispassionately. It took her a moment to realise that something was troubling him, something big. His proud, handsome face looked weary in the fire's orange glow, and his eyes were red. There was something suspiciously like dried blood on his sleeves.

"Piper- Piper what's wrong?" She asked, feeling concerned for someone else for the first time in her life. She felt like... like she ought to do something.

"Nothing," he responded instantly. "Why are you here?"

"I'm going back to Pitch, to have some fun."

"I would have thought you would go to Jack for that. But why me?"

"Why not you?" He didn't answer her, and she sighed, trying to think of a way to convince him. "What happened when you broke out of the North Pole?"

"Nothing," he replied, then caught her eye and elaborated in a dull voice. "I broke some walls, stole a reindeer. Why do you need me?"

Dark chose her words carefully. "I might want some company when around Pitch and Jaxon. The kid... he's powerful. I don't know what happened, but he's done something to the Nightmares, they're taking over the children. That's Pitch's big plan. And I don't trust him to keep me safe."

"But you trust me. A murderer." He looked down at the fox as he stroked it it, scratching softly behind its ears. His brown eyes sparkled red in the firelight.

"If you help then you will have revenge on Bunnymund," she tried, but the glare he cut her was cool and sharp.

"The Easter Bunny's dead."

"Oh. He was killed by...?"

"Me."

"Oh. Okay then." Dark shuffled on her rock and blinked the light out of her eyes. "Well then come with me as a friend."

That seemed to surprise him. "I don't have friends."

"Neither do I, but if I did, you'd probably be the closest. I thought Pitch was... then Jack, but you're the only one who hasn't left me at one point in time. Jak and I, please. This is going to be big and cool and great. Please come with me."

"What's your plan?"

"I need to return something. And I don't know where Pitch is, so I figured that my best bet was hanging around with the Guardians until he shows up."

Piper shook his shaggy hair and let the fox go, blowing a small, inaudible whistle on his pipe that sent the poor animal scurrying. "Hang out? They'll kill you on sight, me too."

"Jack owes me and I owe Pitch. So please will you come?" She asked for the last time, and he stood, brushing down his old fashioned pants. He was no less as tall as he had once been, but seemed slightly stooped. Dark fought the urge to hug him.

"Rudolf and I will find Pitch, Uni and Jaxon." She nodded in reply, about to fade into the shadows when he called her, voice cracking slightly, fresh tears welling in his eyes. "And Darkness?"

"Yes?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Don't... just- just leave Jack Frost alone."

And Dark is back. With my bish. This chapter actually didn't turn out how I planned, it's lacking all the feels, but oh well. Please comment and tell me what you think, though I think the majority of readers died from the cheesy romance a couple of chapters back. Oh well...