Wow, so this has been a long time coming. I've missed writing and thought I should try and finish this story. Let me know what you all think!
The next thing I knew I was screaming. Holding my head in my hands as my vision blurred from the pain in my skull.
"Sara!" I felt Jack's arm pull me towards him, but all I could focus on was the pain in my head. I felt tears threatening to spill over as the pain slowly began to subside. My vision was clearing as the large doors leading into the room banged open.
A flash of iridescent feathers surrounded me for a second as I was pushed toward the floor to lay down.
"Oh my goodness, oh no no no." Tooth was muttering as I felt her hands cup my face. I felt extremely warm, but the sharp pains were being replaced with a dull headache.
"What the hell happened?" I heard Bunny ask to which Jack quickly responded.
"I don't know! She just suddenly started screaming when her memories ended."
"We leave you alone for five minutes and you still found a way to screw up." Five minutes? I felt like I was reliving my memories for days.
My eyes were now in focus and I looked up at Tooth.
"Are you okay?" I gave a small smirk and took a shaky breath to reply.
"Never better." She helped me sit up as I looked around the room. North, who seemed to have waited to rush in, took a few steps toward me.
"What happened? What did you two learn?" I looked over at Jack and he came to sit next to me. Together we explained our past and how they were intertwined.
"So yeah. You were right. It makes sense that Jack and I bonded so quickly. We already knew each other." North stroked his beard as Bunny, who had been irritated and pacing, chimed in.
"Enough of the sappy love story. Did you learn anything actually helpful?" I could feel Jack tense next to me and I put a hand on his arm while keeping eye contact with Bunny.
"Yes." I could feel everybody's eyes on me. I've only known these people for a short time, and know I've revealing all of my personal memories and thoughts with them. The thought made my stomach turn. Maybe life was easier before this Guardian business.
"The boy we had mentioned, Ben? He's Death."
"What?" Tooth asked laying a hand gently on my back. "How do you know?"
"I just do. It all makes sense. He was in love with me and really hated Jack. The comments about "coming in second again" must refer to that."
"I agree," I looked at Jack as he began to stand, "It's most definitely him. He knew both of us and he somehow got access to his memories." I began to fiddle with the strings of my hoodie as I felt my heart thump against my chest.
"I still don't understand what he wants. There has to be more in it then just that." I felt Sandy poke my arm as he gestured to my head.
"I don't know," I said beginning to stand up with Jack's help, "I just suddenly felt so much pain."
"I'm not surprised," Tooth told me as she flew to stand by North, "Many memories can feel really painful."
"No."
"What?"
"No that wasn't it. I couldn't see the memories I just felt the pain. I was scared and I felt powerless." I muttered the end of my thought looking down. I felt anxiousness beginning to form in my chest as my head continued to throb.
"You must be missing a few memories." Tooth said looking toward all the Guardians. I suddenly felt more isolated then ever. How am I supposed to be a Guardian? I can't even protect myself from my own memories.
"Glad to know we figured nothing out," Bunny muttered under his breath.
"Well it doesn't matter," everybody turned to me and I saw Jack furrow his brows, "None of my questions or your guys' questions are answered. This was pointless."
"No it wasn't." Jack said coming towards me. I held my hand out which stopped him in his tracks.
"No, none of this makes sense," I felt so many emotions begin to spill over inside me as I continued, "I've been waiting for over 300 years to figure out why I'm here. I never got that answer. I want to know why me of all people should be a Guardian and that still hasn't been solved. Nothing makes sense and I don't know why Death is obsessed with me! It has to be more than just some weird love and we have no idea. This was pointless and I...I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."
"Sara-" Jack reached out to me, but I just walked towards the exit instead.
"I think I just need to be alone." I heard him and a few people call my name, but I didn't look back. I took a shaky breath as I tried to stop tears from forming.
"Mind if I join you?" I jumped as I saw Tooth was flying next to me.
"I guess." We flew in silence for a few minutes before she broke the silence.
"I'm sorry."
I turned toward her confused, "For what?"
"I just can't imagine what you're going through." I shrugged and tried to lock eyes with the horizon we were following.
"I'm sorry I got so emotional."
"No, don't be. You've had a lot happen these past few days especially. It must be scary." I laughed as she still somehow was able to keep such a positive tone.
"I just don't understand."
"What?"
"You're right. I try to pretend and act strong but I'm terrified," I felt tears began to form in my eyes once more. I took a deep breath to steady my voice, "I just don't know how I'm supposed to be the Guardian of anything when I haven't been able to protect myself." We began descending towards North's workshop as Tooth spoke.
"I think you just need to believe in yourself. Manny picked you for a reason and he's never wrong."
"Well, that's hard to know when he won't talk to you."
"He will, I promise," I looked at her as she gave me a smile, "You have a long road a head of you. But we will be there every step of the way." Our feet touched the ground as she suddenly hugged me. I let myself lean into the embrace.
"Thank you, Tooth." We parted and I felt a smile grow on my face as we walked in to the workshop. The rest of the Guardians were already by the control panel, seemingly waiting for us.
"What?" I almost yelled causing them all to turn towards me, "How did you guys get here so fast?"
"Our lovely kangaroo friend let us use the tunnels," Jack laughed as he walked over to me. He walked by my side as tooth gave my arm a squeeze before flying up towards the rest of the Guardians. "Are you okay?" I looked up at him and let myself lock eyes with him.
"Yes." He smiled as we stood next to Sandy.
"What's the game plan then?" Jack said twirling his staff around before leaning against it. What a show off.
"Somebody took those memories for a reason," North said while stroking his beard, "I'm almost certain Pitch Black did it for Death."
"Why? Why only those memories?" I asked.
"Maybe there was something important about them?" Tooth chimed in.
"Yeah obviously," Bunny said twirling his boomerang, "But why leave the rest of them then?"
"All good questions," North said his voice booming, "We shall meet tomorrow and discuss this further. Death and Pitch are becoming more and more powerful. They could sneak in at any moment. Everybody needs to be on their guard."
I felt a shiver run up my spine as Jack put his arm around me. "I'll watch over Sara."
"Good," North said before I could interject, "Jack, may I speak with you for a moment?" Jack squeezed my shoulders before he flew over with North out of ear shot. As the Guardians began to disperse, I walked over to Sandy.
"Sandy," I began as he turned towards me with a smile, "I need to ask you for a favor." I turned to ensure nobody was watching or listening before I continued. "Could I have some of your dust for tonight?"
Sandy frowned at me and formed a question over his head. "Because...I just want to make sure I sleep tonight." He looked up at me for a while before twirling his hand and creating a small brown bag. It was held together with a string, and I gently took it from him. "Thank you."
He smiled and began to walk away, "Sandy?" I said causing him to stop and turn around, "Don't tell anybody about this." He furrowed his brows but gave me a nod as he walked off. I let out a sigh of relief before putting the bag in my pocket.
"What are you doing?" I jumped as Jack laughed.
"Don't scare me like that!"
"But it's so much fun," He said smirking at me. "Come on, it's getting late." He took my hand in his as we began walking up to my room.
"You know you don't have to stay with me." I said as we neared my door.
"Of course I don't have to. But I am so deal with it." He said sticking his tongue out at me. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at him. His smirk made my heart skip a beat.
"I can't believe our pasts are so closely intertwined." I said as we walked into my room.
"I can," he said as he took our staffs and leaned them against my dresser, "The moment I saw you, I knew you were special." I felt my cheeks turn red as I looked away and sat on my bed.
He stood in front of me and put his his hand underneath my chin, tilting my head up to look at him. "I didn't realize that something was missing in my life," he started as he began to lean down towards me. His face was coming closer and closer to mine and I felt my face grow warm. "But now I feel like a hole has been filled."
I smiled and let my eyes take in his messy hair, calming eyes, and his lips as they began to move even closer towards mine. "I feel the same way," he smirked and closed his eyes to kiss me.
"Even if you are annoying sometimes," I said standing up and walking towards the bathroom. His hands grasped my wrist and I gasped as he pulled me into his chest. He was smirking as he looked down at me.
"Wow, you're a bit of a tease." I flushed hard as I let me hands slowly trace the muscles underneath his hoodie.
"This is just like when we met." I said looking up at him laughing. I was surprised to see his face had changed. His eyes were darker, and his smirk was gone. Before I could even think he bent down and pressed his lips against mine. I felt myself lean into him and I closed my eyes. He kissed me once more, and our passion grew.
We kissed for what felt like minutes, before we finally parted, both of us out of breath and flushed.
"Wow," I breathed looking up at him.
He smiled and gave me one last kiss before speaking. "Well now it's time for you to go to bed."
"What about you?"
"I'll be up making sure you're okay." He gestured to the chair near my bed. I opened my mouth to speak, but he wouldn't let me. "You can't convince me otherwise." Truthfully, I was glad he was staying with me. I gave him a small smile as he winked at me before going into the bathroom.
Once the door was shut I laid down in bed while taking the pouch Sandy had given me out of my pocket. I gently shook the sand out of the bag and over my head. I placed the empty bag underneath my pillow and took a deep breath before closing my eyes. With the sand and Jack by my side, I knew I would be able to finally rest peacefully.
Or so I thought.
