Chapter Seventeen: Family Once More
The Guardians woke up soon after Jack had destroyed the seal. Their first thoughts were what were they doing in a cave, why weren't they back at the Workshop, and where was Jack. Their questions were soon answered as their memories returned and saw Jack lying on the stone floor, unconscious.
North ushered everyone to the sleigh. Bunny picked up Jack, being careful not to jostle any of his injuries and the Guardians made their way back to the sleigh and flew to Santoff Claussen. They arrived and quickly took Jack to the infirmary and tended to the winter spirit's injuries. Jack had cried out in pain while they were doing this, which pained the Guardians, but they had to continue.
When Onyx had bashed into Jack, she had fractured two of his ribs. Jack also had various bruises that were easy to tend to. After tending to Jack, the Guardians left the room and walked to the library. They often went there to think.
"I can't believe we forgot about Jack!" exclaimed Tooth. "I feel awful!"
Sandy put up an image of them all. "We all do."
Bunny sighed. "And a nightmare caused all of this…"
The Guardians felt terrible. Not only did they forget the Guardian of fun, but they had missed spending their one year anniversary together because of it.
"But ve didn't completely forget him," said North. "There were memories that came back."
"That's the one thing I don't understand," said the Guardian of Memories. "Memory spells are supposed to disable the ability to remember what was forgotten. Why did we remember?"
The Guardians thought for a while. The answer came to Sandy suddenly and he put up various dreamsand images over his head.
"Sandy, we can't understand ya when ya talk like that," said Bunny.
Sandy shook his head and produced his images slower. First was the image of a heart, then Jack, and then all of them together in a group hug. "We love Jack. We're family. So we could never have completely forgotten him because he's important to us."
Tooth smiled. "That does make sense. Jack is family, and families can never forget each other."
The realization was short, but the Guardians felt glad. They could never forget Jack. He was their friend. He was family, and they all deeply cared about him. Their familial relationship with Jack must have caused the spell not to work completely and allowed them to remember moments with their winter spirit.
"Anyway, we still have to make it up to Jack," said Tooth. "We missed the anniversary so…"
"Ve can throw him party anyway!" bellowed North. "It can be… 'Thank you for saving us' party," said North.
"Sounds good ta me," said Bunny. Sandy nodded in agreement and dreamsand swirled over his head, creating the image of a party hat.
"Alright, then! Let's get to work!" said North. And the preparations began.
...
Jack groaned as he slowly came to. The first thing he felt was pain in his chest and his hissed as he slowly sat up. He then remembered everything that had happened. The memory seal, the battle at the cave, everything.
Jack looked around and saw that he was back in his bedroom at the North Pole. The Guardians must have taken him there after he destroyed the seal back at the cave. Jack looked out the window. The Moon was round and full.
"I was out for that long?" asked Jack to himself. He grabbed his staff and slid out of bed, ignoring the pain he felt when he stood. Jack used his staff to prop himself up and walked to the door and walked into the hallway.
Jack made his way to the Globe Room and was surprised to find all of the decorations from the anniversary party back up again.
"What's going on?" he asked. He wasn't expecting an answer.
"It's the 'Thank you for saving us' party!" said Tooth. She fluttered up to him. "Since we missed celebrating the anniversary together, we decided to throw another party for you!"
"We thought ya wouldn't get up until tomorrow," said Bunny.
"Do you need anything, Jack?" asked North. "You are leaning on staff quite heavily."
Jack smiled. The Guardians were back to their old worrying about him selves again.
"No, I'm fine," said Jack. "I'll just sit down."
Jack walked over to a chair and sat down. "So, what did you have planned for this party?"
The Guardians smiled. A large buffet was brought up and Jack was surprised. It was everything that he had chosen for the feast for the anniversary. The Guardians spent the rest of the night eating, playing games, and telling stories of past adventures. Jack smiled. He was having fun, and was happy that the Guardians remembered everything that they had forgotten.
Jack suddenly remembered that his believers remembered him too. His smile grew wider. The day couldn't get any better.
When Jack had started to yawn, the Guardians decided to turn in for the night. Jack walked back to his room and laid down. A content smile spread across his face and then he fell asleep.