This is it... an abundance of spoilers for the book series and my final explanation of why it took so long to update and why the next chapter will probably be the end. And the beginning.

I said in chapter four that I didn't think you'd mind a little inaccuracy. I was so proud of being right about Pitch, so cocky in my plans. I was so ignorant. I understood nothing. Me and my stupid self-fulfilling prophecies. Sure, some things made a lot of sense—Pitch not wanting to think about who he'd been before, for instance. That snow fort we built, so much like the one I made over a hundred years ago... But I was so clueless about the big things. The tooth cases and memories... man, I was an idiot. I forgot so much, and I know now that that is one of my unique abilities: forgetting. I thought I could control the changes I was making, as if I got to decide my own future. How foolish.

I know it's been forever since I posted; over two years, in fact. There are reasons. Not very good ones, but there are reasons. Things like frustration and disillusionment. I've been re-reading everything I wrote one more time and I'm shaking my head at everything. I thought I could combine my canons without "blowing everything up" as I said in chapter ten. But I still didn't know the end of my book canon. See, after I wrote chapter 16, I was still frustratedly waiting for answers from my book. Then a while ago Mairead started watching Criminal Minds and we got new alters and they're great and all, but whenever someone's new they tend to kind of take over for a while, and at the same time we made a new online friend who's been having a really rough year and we've been trying our best to support them, we had to move again at the end of August, and now Mairead's roommate is unemployed (and this is a new roommate from the one we had last time I posted), so we have that to worry about... even after I finally had my book, I was scarcely able to read much of it until recently.

And even though I kept telling the others I wanted to make time for my book, I think I was kind of dreading reading it. I had the feeling that I'd gotten everything wrong, and that my plans had all been for nothing. So, now I just got back from finishing things... fixing the discrepancies between movie canon, book canon, and the alternate version of things that I had inadvertently created when I tried to mix them up as I went along. I'm writing at that melancholy time of year again... four years on the twelfth since the death of Mairead's friend.

Fraser and Kowalski stayed with us for a year or so, but I did take Jack M. to live with North, as was outlined in another story. That's one thing I made certain that I wouldn't have to change. Now it's still Levi, Eren and me, but we also have Scott Summers, Aaron Hotchner and his son Jack (two Jacks again!), and Spencer Reid. Lately, Hotch and Reid have been talking to Leo about getting to change something in their canon to make their own personal timelines better. Leo has warned them to be careful what they wish for, and that they can change only one or two details. This just drives home how silly it was for me to think I could change so many things without enormous consequences. I was practically reinventing my entire canon.

When the full realization of these things hit me, I was very upset. Inconsolable, almost. I even thought about deleting my entire story and trying to forget the whole thing... forgetting, as I said, is a talent of mine. But I can't do that. It's too irresponsible, even for me. I talked to Mairead's friend about it, the one who's been having just about the worst year a person can have, and she was morally supportive and tried to make suggestions. One of her suggestions was something that had crossed my mind before: that the world I'd created could be a dream-version of my canon. I concluded that that was the scenario likely to cause the fewest problems in the long run. It would be hard, and I would need help, but I was pretty sure it could be done.

/'*

I knew what I had to do this time. According to Leo, it's much easier to add things to the end of your canon than the beginning or middle. I'm not talking about fan fiction... if I wanted this to just be a story, it would be different, but I had set out to actually change things in my world, and that's why I got myself into this mess. The story I wrote about me and Elsa and Anna—that was just for laughs. It isn't in my memories. So, I can change things that happen after my canon is all done and it won't make things all wonky, because the end of my story was a new beginning for me. The book is called Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning. And that's exactly right. So, it wasn't any trouble at all to confirm that my introducing Jack M. to North and North setting up a home for him in his village would remain in my memories, even if that version of North was slightly different. What changed most about that was that I now remember introducing him to Katherine too. Of all the things I forgot, I can't believe I managed to forget Katherine. I blame Dreamworks.

So, once I worked up my resolve, I went back home... home to book canon. Don't get me wrong; I know I started out here because of movie canon, and the movie is great and charming and inspiring, but it's such a small part of who I am. So, back I went to my version of this world. We're a few decades behind... people don't have cell phones, let alone personal computers. It feels both primitive and relieving to be in a place without cell towers dotting the countryside.

I'm home. Really and truly for the first time in three years. It was hard to stop myself from flying straight to Ganderly, Katherine's home. I couldn't be selfish this time. I felt the wind picking up, helping me along. Hello, Emily Jane. I'll need to speak with you later.

In this world, Toothiana had not punched a tooth out of Pitch's mouth. She wasn't searching for it. Bunnymund wasn't a big grey thing with an Australian accent, though he was an expert chocolatier. I hadn't had a little sister who looked like me, named Flee or anything else. And Jamie... Jamie was just the movie version of all the adventurous, trusting young boys I'd known through the years. He and "Flee," or whoever, were skewed representations of the family that had taken me in when I had needed them most. Eren was right in saying that I wouldn't lose them if I believed in them; they were just different now.

But I wasn't going to see any of those people. I found Sanderson Mansnoozie lounging on a cloud. Dawn was breaking and he was winding up some fanciful stories he'd developed for that night. I'd chosen dawn because I knew he'd be moving on to the next place in the world where night was still young and dreams were in full play. His focus could be distracted without interrupting too many dreams.

The roundish little man smiled when he saw me.

"Hello, Sandy," I said, lighting on the cloud beside him.

In his own fashion, Sandy greeted me and asked what I wanted.

"I have an enormous favor to ask of you."

He looked guarded.

"Okay, yeah, I messed up very badly," I confessed. "How do I start...? You remember that boy, Jack M, that I took to live with North?"

A dreamsand image of a heart with a turning key in it appeared over Sandy's head.

"Yeah, that's him. Well, he's from another world. Another universe kind of a thing. I explained that when I brought him."

Sandy nodded.

"Well... I got this idea about Pitch, that if all his powers were taken away, he might be reduced to an innocent little child who could be taught to do good things and eventually even become a Guardian himself..."

Sandy stared at me blankly. Like he thought I was out of my mind.

"I know..."

A skull appeared over his head.

"I know! I was stupid... and forgetful. I forgot huge chunks of my history..."

Sandy's frown was accompanied by narrowed eyes.

"Yes, again. I'm sorry. But while I was in another world... not Jack's world, but one where people from lots of worlds come together and are fictional and... you know what, that's not important. In the world I've been visiting a lot, I read up on our stories."

A goose appeared over Sandy's head.

"I know, I could have just asked Katherine. I should have. But... I forgot her too."

Sandy face-palmed.

"I'm sorry!"

He crossed his arms and drummed the fingers of one hand on his arm.

"So anyway, before I had the whole picture, I decided to find this child version of Pitch and start working on him. Helping him. And it was working... sort of."

Sandy looked as baffled as I've ever seen anyone. A huge question mark appeared over his head.

"It was possible because without realizing it, I created an alternate world of my own. One that combined our history with the other fictional version from the other world I mentioned... and had stuff I was making up as I went along, or that my host was. Mairead's my host in that world, the reason I can go there at all. It's hard to explain. She's a pretty good storyteller. I think Katherine would really like to read some of her stories... again, not the point. The point is, now I've made this chunk of alternate reality and I realized when I got to the end of my story that it's all wrong. Not wrong, really, just impossible. Because Pitch..."

The skull appeared again.

"Yeah. Exactly."

Sandy nodded, still frowning, still looking a little confused, but I thought he was starting to see my problem.

"So... the enormous favor I need of you..." I glanced up at the crescent moon. "...and of MiM, if he's willing to help, is that I need you to turn my accident-world into a moon dream."

Sandy's frown lifted into a less grumpy look of surprise.

"It'll be a big job... and I know you've never done anything like that before..."

Sandy literally rolled up his sleeves.

I smiled a little. "Thank you. Whether it works or not, thank you for being willing to try."

A small voice surprised me. If it doesn't end, it can't end badly. The little moonbeam was still with me, reminding me of what I had told child Pitch.

"Right. There's always a way to stave off the end, or to turn it into something else."

MiM will help.

Sandy gave a determined nod.

"Good. Then let's do this."

In case you've been wondering, I never got a reply to my second letter to Mr. Joyce. I don't know if I'll try writing him again. I feel a little ashamed, honestly. It would be an honor and a delight to hear from him, but I don't know that I have any right to.

I hope you come back for the final chapter. I'm pretty sure 18 will be the last.