Chapter Twenty One

"Matthew!"

The Canadian jumped hearing his name called. It took him a moment to realize where he was. He must have fallen asleep leaning against the rail. Kumakuro had curled up next to him resting his head on his feet.

"You look exhausted." North said looking him over worriedly. Matthew just shrugged silently yawning. "Why are you not in bed?"

The Reaper reached to grab his notebook from his pocket, but realized he left it behind. North smiled gently and handed him his.

'i was but i cant sleep.' He showed the message to the Guardian. 'theres a wave right now. they keep waking me up.'

North nodded understanding what he was talking about. "How are you? How is Jack? I've been so busy with preparing Christmas I haven't had much time to talk with you two."

'hes,' Matthew paused to think for a moment. 'getting better. lots of ups and downs but hes getting better.'

"That's good to hear!" The Russian smiled brightly. His face turned serious. "But, how are you?"

'im alright.' Matthew wrote. He wanted to be honest with North. 'just tired lately. physically and mentally but its nothing i cant handle.'

"If you need my help, don't be afraid to ask." North said and the Reaper nodded. They were both quiet for a moment.

'bunny is still technically a guardian.' Matthew wrote. It was something he'd been thinking about over the last few days. 'how?'

The Guardian of wonder sighed looking up towards the skylights. The stars shone through, but the moon was nowhere in sight. "I've spoken with Manny about it years ago and again recently." He shook his head. "The children still need hope, therefore Bunny remains a Guardian."

'he partnered up with pitch.' The Canadian wrote eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, but not to harm the children." North shook his head. Matthew could tell he was holding back anger. "Manny does not see any issue with it." The Reaper couldn't find the energy to be angry, he was just disappointed. "I try to protect you two from him, but there is nothing I can do when it comes to Manny."

Matthew nodded in understanding. He knew there wasn't any real way to go against Manny. Being a Guardian under his thumb gave him even less options. The moon hadn't done anything to help Jack or him. Neither one of them had really spoken to him in centuries.

'im going out for a bit.' The Reaper wrote. He was starting to feel cooped up and trapped. He needed to stretch his wings.

"Okay." North hummed. He didn't ask where he was going or why. "I'll tell Jack not to worry if he's looking."

'thank you.' Matthew wrote before handing the notepad back.

Kumakuro looked up as he moved. He crouched down giving the bear a scratch before straightening up. Kumakuro let out a yawn before waddling off towards their room.

The Canadian smiled watching him go. He looked adorable. He shook his head and stepped towards a shadow. He waved goodbye to North as he stepped through. He stretched his wings walking to the edge of the roof. He stepped off and started to glide. He wasn't sure where he was going at first, but flew south. He hadn't realized how much he had missed flying.

Matthew kept flying until he reached Africa. He found the rain forest. He decided to go see if his weapons were still in the cave. He landed in a clearing and sighed. It was hot and humid making it hard to breathe. He walked slowly until he found the ravine. He spotted the entrance to the cave and felt for shadows. He noticed there were multiple in the tunnel and cave. It seemed like Pitch had left, or at least the spell was not effective anymore.

The Canadian walked through a shadow into the cave. His wings were metallic as he quickly looked around. The cave was empty and there was no one inside. He relaxed folding his wings behind his back. He looked around and spotted both weapons on the floor in the corner of the cave. They were both perfectly laid straight next to each other.

Matthew was immediately suspicious. He carefully walked over and picked them up. He expected a trap, but nothing happened. He decided not to push his luck and quickly left through a shadow. It was much more humid and hotter outside the cave. He huffed to himself spreading his wings.

With the air being heavier, it was harder on his lungs to get into the sky. He managed, but barely. He started to fly north again. He hummed happily feeling the air get cooler.

As he flew, a death flashed across his mind. He decided to go help. It wasn't too far away along his way home. He quickly helped the soul before starting to fly home again. There was another one before he left Europe. He sighed and flew for it, it wasn't far from the first. He hadn't realized how much he missed traveling. There was another soul close by and he went to help. It was hard on his lungs, but he did it anyways.

Matthew stretched yawning. There wasn't another soul close by. He decided to fly home. He smiled seeing the warm glow of the pole come into view. He landed on one of the upper roofs and stepped through a shadow.

The Canadian reappeared in the hallway outside their room. He didn't want to spook Kumakuro if he was awake. He assumed Jack would still be asleep. He'd only been gone for a few hours at most. He gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Matthew immediately noticed how cold it was. He also noticed the bed was empty and there was frost across the walls. He looked for Jack, but he didn't have to look long. A blue and white streak tackled him to the ground. His first instinct was to fight, but he didn't. He carefully wrapped his arms around Jack not knowing what was happening.

"B-birdie." The Guardian was barely able to get a single word out. His hands fisted in his coat. He buried his face in his chest. The Canadian could hear how ragged and quick his breaths were. He was shaking. He was panicking worse than he'd ever seen before.

Matthew carefully tried to gather Jack into his arms fighting off his own panic. The Guardian was confused and wasn't exactly helping him move. He managed to and sat up. He got his feet underneath himself and stood with the winter spirit in his arms. He quickly took the few steps to their bed. His lungs complained the whole time.

The Reaper used one hand to open their nightstand and find the pill bottle. He knew he wouldn't be able to calm him any other way. After a bit of rummaging he found it. He hurriedly got the lid off and got one pill out. He quickly offered it to Jack. The Guardian didn't hesitate and grabbed it. He put it in his mouth before burying his face in his chest again.

The Canadian held him tightly waiting for the medication to kick in. It was the longest fifteen minutes of his life. He hated watching Jack suffer without being able to help.