A/N :
AinsleyWright : I'll see what I can do. :)
To everyone else : Thank you so much for your nice comments / follows and favourites and I hope you like this chapter, it's one of my longest ones so far.
Jack was exhausted. Not just from his recent use of power but from mental pain above all. His ravaged mind told him over and over again that he had single-handedly destroyed the slowly growing bond between the guardians and him. While he had been convinced to be in the right when he had let his anger out at Santoff Clausen he now loathed himself for acting like a hysteric little brat. The past lay behind him and there was no way to change it, so why did he still feel so touchy about it? It should have mattered to have friends…a family now, but still the 300 years of loneliness haunted him like nothing else.
His tired body leaned against the remains of the dark icy sculpture, subconsciously accepting his mistakes to be a part of him, something he couldn't destroy and had to live with.
Maybe he had just pushed the guardians away so they wouldn't be the ones to push him away first? Maybe he was scared of allowing them too close, getting too close, too attached only to have everything he had ever dreamed of ripped away from him again once they got fed up with his antics? Maybe, maybe…he didn't know.
The ancient shepherd's crook lay losely in his hands as he rested his head on the smooth cold surface with his hood pulled up and legs drawn up to his chest. Neither the soft embrace of the wind nor the presence of his very own element surrounding him managed to be any comfort.
A small, naïve and desperate part of him hoped they would come looking for him. But another part, the wounded one that was the majority of his soul, convinced him that this was nothing but wishful thinking. Right now they were probably discussing how he wasn't guardian material and would be stripped off that title as soon as Man in Moon agreed.
Jack was tired of worrying, tired of being sad. At the moment he wanted nothing more than his troubled mind to leave him alone. With a weak sigh he closed his eyes and welcomed the upcoming waves of fatigue taking possession over him.
"This ain't nothing natural." Bunny stated as they approached the ominous object.
They were now close enough to realize it was made of ice but it was much darker than it should have been. Sandy's expression turned into a frown when he noticed a faint layer of black dust on the otherwise snowy white ground and knelt down to further examine it.
"Is that…nightmare sand?" Tooth asked, worry overshadowing her voice.
The little golden man nodded and kicked off the hummingbird hybrid's panic by this simple action.
"Does that mean Pitch is back? That cannot be, we defeated him only months ago, there's no way he could have regenerated so fast. But if he did and kidnapped Jack and oh my God, if he did anything to him I swear I'm going to kick his-"
Sandy interrupted the upset fairy by floating in front of her and gesturing with his arms as a signal for her to calm down. As he was sure to have everyone's attention the Guardian of Dreams pointed at the black sand and then created a calendar over his head whose sheets were ripped off one after the other.
"Ya mean this nightmare sand is months old already?" Bunny wanted to make sure he had gotten it right and Sandy nodded in confirmation.
Noone had a clue about how he was able to determine the age of it but he was the sandman after all so they didn't even consider doubting his expertise.
The four guardians cleared the remaining distance between the creepy sculpture and themselves and halted to a stop all at once as they caught sight of the hooded figure that was huddled up against it with his back turned at them. As realization dawned North and Tooth were the first ones who set out to hurry to their youngest teammember but they were stopped by a furry flash of grey swiftly jumping in front of them.
"Not so fast, mates, ya don't want him to run off again right away, do ya?" the large rabbit whispered.
He had a point, if they just stomped towards the boy and startled him he would most likely flee in terror the next moment. Although they really hoped he wouldn't be terrified of them but his mental state was inscrutable at the time being.
"What do you suggest we do then?" North asked, trying his best to keep his voice down.
Just as he had finished the sentence they caught a glimpse of a golden shape floating past them and getting closer to Jack. Bunny wanted to call him back but then realized that shouting would only alarm the winter spirit of their presence and if there was someone who was quiet enough to sneak up to him then it had to be the sandman.
As soon as he had touched down in front of the crouching teen and taken a short look at him Sandy's expression turned into slight worry before he signaled them with a golden snowflake followed by several 'Zzzzz's that he was sleeping.
Tooth hadn't missed the concern in her friend's eyes and wasted no single second to join him by Jack's side. While Bunny and North were walking towards them the fairy knelt down in front of the boy and reached for his hood, pulling it down carefully and slowly as to not wake him in the process. A weak gasp escaped her mouth when she noticed the cause of Sandy's worry. Despite being fast asleep the white-haired teen's expression was far from relaxed, he looked like someone who was forcing himself to forget somethig bad but not remotely managing to do so. Tracks of frozen tears were sticking to his pale cheeks, his arms embracing himself in a desperate attempt for comfort. It was a heart-wrenching sight.
With a tender move the hummingbird hybrid brushed her delicate hands over his face and removed the icy drops from his cold skin. She was sure Jack didn't want them to see him like this, but above all she couldn't take it to see him like this.
A gentle smile appeared on the Guardian of Memories' features as the winter spirit leaned into the touch ever so slightly. Shifting weakly it became obvious that he wouldn't stay asleep much longer and Tooth decided that it was the right moment to whisper :
"Jack? Sweetie, it's time to wake up." she cooed, her tiny fingers stroking his face softly.
The frost boy squinted against the sun shining right into his eyes, shielding and rubbing them with his own hand after Tooth had let go of him. When his vision finally adjusted he became aware of his surroundings and particularly the people standing around him. Sapphire orbs widened in shock as he almost choked on a gasp and jumped to his feet, only to realize his back was pressed against smooth black ice. He was trapped.
"Easy there, mate, it's okay." Bunny said in a soothing tone the rest of the group hadn't thought him to be capable of.
Big ears or not, the pooka could literally hear the young man's heart hammering against his chest in panic. Was he serioulsy scared of them or was it something else? Both options weren't to his liking…at all.
"W-what are you doing here? How did you find me?" Jack asked nervously, gripping his staff so tightly that his knuckles turned whiter than they already were.
"Is not important how we did, what matters is that we found you." North replied calmly. "Jack, we need to talk about what happened. We are-"
"I know…" the boy interrupted with a downcast expression. "You're dissappointed at me and you have every right to be. I'm sorry for, well, for everything. I shouldn't have yelled at you guys and insulted you and then run off, it was totally immature and guardian-unworthy and I really, really regret it. I know it's much to be asked for but can't we just pretend this never happened and go on with everything just like before?"
Their hearts threatened to melt even in the ice cold weather when he looked at them like a beaten puppy with a begging and vaguely hopeful smile on his face.
"No, we can't pretend it never happened, mate." Bunny stated, this time in a confident and firm voice.
Jack flinched at this but the Guardian of Hope shrugged it off and continued.
"Seriously, mate, ya shouldn't be the one ta apologize. I can't believe I'm saying this and I swear to the Man in Moon that I'll kick yer sorry butt should you ever use it against me, but ya're right. I treated ya like crap without even truly knowing ya and I'm sorry 'bout it."
"We all are sorry, Jack." North concured. "There's nothing that justifies ignoring you for centuries but we'll try everything we can do to make up for it. I am grateful to Manny for choosing you, otherwise we would have been too blind to see what good soul you are."
The Tooth Fairy was the next to speak up.
"I wish I had met you sooner and it was my fault it never happened because I was only caring about my work. You mean a lot to us, Jack, and I wouldn't want to exchange you for all the teeth in the world."
It wasn't the first time in his existence that Sandy regretted not being able to speak. Trying to get his message across as clearly as possible he formed several shapes over his head.
A clock with anticlockwise rotation, a big "X", an exclamation mark, a miniature of Jack joining the other 4 of them resulting in a group hug and an infinity sign.
"There's no way to turn back time, but you're one of us now and we'll stay together forever."
The Russian Santa smiled warmly at the flabbergasted teen who was staring at them in bewilderment as if he couldn't believe his own ears.
"You see, we all do care about you. We obviously didn't do for the last 300 years but we do now. Man in Moon couldn't have picked a better guardian."
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the winter spirit in anticipation of his reaction. As he didn't say anything but instead kept looking at each of them unsurely North inquired further.
"So, Jack…do you forgive us?"
Finally the frost child was ripped out of his trance like state.
"Yes…YES, sure I do!" he choked out, stubbornly refusing to let fresh tears fall again. "I…I…"
He was at a total loss for anymore words but there was no need to say anything else. North stepped forwards and pulled the lean boy into a tight hug, though careful enough to not crush him with his strenght. Tooth and Sandy joined, putting their arms around the youngest one as well. Standing on the side Bunny still weighted the pros and cons of a group hug until none other than North grabbed him by the wrist and brashly pulled him to the rest of them.
A single tear of joy trickled down Jack's face but he quickly brushed it away before anyone could notice.
There was a moment of complete silence. Noone moved, they just remained in the embrace of each other, enjoying the comfort and love of their strange little family.
Time seemed to stand still.
"Ya know…this gotta be the sappiest thing I've ever witnessed."
"Bunny!" Tooth protested.
North broke out into laughter, Sandy shook his head with a soundless chuckle and Jack laughed for the first time after what had seemed like an eternity.
"It is, old friend, but is good, no?"
"Yeah, even the grumpy Easter Bunny needs a hug once in a while, right?"
And with that, the Guardian of Fun was back.
"Oh ha-ha, Frostbite. I'm a warrior, touchy-feely stuff isn't my cup of tea."
Tooth smirked as she got a mischievous glint in her eyes and the pooka didn't like it one bit.
"Really now? Barely two hours ago you were freaking out over Jack gone missing and-"
"AHEM!" Bunny cleared his throat loudly to stop her from spitting out anymore information which could likely be used against him one day.
"I don't wanna ruin the party, mates, but can we move this to the workshop, I'm turning into an icicle here."
Everyone nodded their agreements and headed back to the sleigh with North leading the way.
"By the way, Frosty…."
Jack looked at the large rabbit who was walking next to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Even though I'm sorry for what I did in the past…I expect ya ta help me cleaning up the mess you caused."
"Uh, excuse me?"
"The sentinel eggs, mate. Ya had to use my waterproof paint, didn't ya?"
"Well, would have been too easy for you if I had used something else…" Jack shrugged, feeling the littlest bit of guilt.
"It surely would have spared ya a lot of trouble 'cause now ya'll have a fun time scrubbing paint off rocks."
"Awww, come on!" Jack pouted but the pooka's stern look made him shut up.
"Oh well, fine."
The winter teen flew towards the sleigh as soon as it came into sight, leaving a very triumphantly grinning Bunnymund behind. It didn't take the others long to join him but it had been enough time for the boy to think it over.
"I have an offer for you."
"Ya already agreed to it."
"Doesn't matter, so you wanna hear it or not?"
"Spit it out."
"I'll help you getting the paint off the sentinels and I won't quit before they're as good as new."
"So far so good."
"IF you ensure that all copies of those humiliating photos, and you KNOW damn well what I'm talking about, will be destroyed and we'll never talk about this again."
Jack crossed his arms and glared at the large rabbit with an expectant look in his eyes that screamed 'Accept it or forget it.".
After reconsidering this compromise for a moment Bunny sighed in defeat. This had seriously been enough drama for today and he agreed it would be best to just get over it. A furry paw was extended towards the winter boy and he shook it with a relieved and victorious smile on his face.
"Deal."
A/N: One more chapter to go, kinda like an epilogue. The guardians will want to know about the nightmare sand / ice sculpture. ;)
