Author's Note: I felt so bad about leaving you guys hanging, I just HAD to write out the chapter. Um.. unfortunately, the movie didn't end on this one either.. Whoops? I'm giving up on saying when it's ending, since whenever I start writing, the chapters just get longer without my permission and things happen that I wasn't planning on. The good news is that it draws the story out a bit and gives you interesting little tidbits that might not have happened otherwise. The bad news is that you get cliffhangers instead, when I decide the chapter is long enough. Sorry?

Anyway, I was really excited by the plot ideas you guys gave me! You really think of things that I haven't thought about. CrossoverJunkie, I just HAD to implement one of your ideas into this chapter. I figure it can come back later in a drabble. So consider this.. kinda getting things started for that drabble later on. I'm still considering exactly what's going to happen with Lillian and Jack, so any more ideas on that front are much appreciated.

Chapter Twenty-Two: I Do Believe

Bunny started to hop after North once they got out of the sleigh, but he didn't realize how drained they all were. North grabbed his back as if it had gone out and he had to use one of his swords like a cane.

"Ah.." North said, looking pained. "Is official. My powers are kaput."

Tooth had tried flying like she usually did, but only managed to go barely a foot before she fell abruptly to the ground.

"We gotta get to that kid!" Bunny said determinedly, and as he hopped as fast as he could to Jamie's front door.

He was the first to reach it, but he was too small to do anything. Huffing with irritation, Bunny tapped his foot on the ground but much to his dismay, nothing happened.

His heart clenched at that.

Until they got more kids to believe in them, he couldn't go home.

His poor googies! All alone with no one to look after them except for the stone golems!

Bunny stared mournfully at the door for a moment, but Tooth, having recovered from her fall had helped North up to the door.

Tooth looked a little awkward, as did North. They usually didn't barge into a child's house via the front door. It just wasn't done.

Bunny looked back at them to see their hesitant faces and he rolled his eyes.

"What are ya waitin' for?! Bust that door down! We ain't got the time!"

Spurred into action by Bunny's scolding, the remaining Guardians started trying to break into Jamie's house.


Meanwhile, Jamie was upstairs in his room, sitting on his bed in his pajamas. He was staring at his old stuffed bunny that he was growing too big for, but hadn't quite outgrown yet.

"Look," Jamie said almost desperately to the bunny. "I've believed in you for a long, long time.. My whole life, in fact. So you kinda owe me."

Jamie gently shook the bunny.

"Just give me a sign. It doesn't have to be anything big. Just anything, really." he said as he stared intently at the bunny.

He waited a moment, but nothing happened.

"I knew it.." he said, looking crushed.

He let his bunny drop to the ground.


"No!" Bunny said with horror. "Nonono!"

He could sense the hope, the belief that was dying. If the Guardians had bothered to check out the globe on North's sleigh, they could see that the lone golden light on it was fading out and nearly gone.

North finally backed up and with a loud cry (and Tooth's help) the front door burst open as they rushed at it.

Not pausing to see if Jamie's mom noticed the commotion, all the Guardians bolted for the stairs. (Or in North's case, quickly limped.)

Bunny, seeing that the door was finally open, was a little gray blur as he dashed under North's and Tooth's legs and ran upstairs. He wasn't sure which room was Jamie's, but he didn't need to know. He could sense where the dying hope was coming from.

Jamie was in his room, looking completely crushed when he heard a commotion downstairs. He was just about to say the words to himself, the words that would doom the entire world.

A tiny little part of him that still wanted to believe thought that maybe..

He shook his head as he looked at his door.

No.

It couldn't be.

There was no such thing as -

"WAIT!" a voice with an Australian accent cried out.

Jamie's door, which had been partially open suddenly slammed against the wall as something forced it open.

Jamie stared at it in confusion as he didn't see anything actually open the door.

"Uh.."

There was a heavy sigh and then a voice said near the ground.

"Down here, mate."

Jamie looked down and was startled to see a small, fluffy bunny.

"Um.. Did you just talk?" Jamie asked the bunny, feeling sort of silly.

Bunny rolled his eyes, but he had a grin tugging at his lips.

They made it!

"'Course I did. I'm the Easter Bunny." Bunny told Jamie, whose mouth dropped open in surprise.

"The Easter Bunny!" Jamie exclaimed as North and Tooth finally made it in the room.

"But he's supposed to be cool, and.. tall. Not cute."

Everybody noticed the note of disappointment in Jamie's voice.

Bunny groaned.

"Where were you a few hours ago?"

Jamie shrugged at this.

"There weren't any eggs this year."

North decided now would be a good time to speak up.

"That is because that Pitch Black, the Boogeyman, destroyed all of Bunny's eggs. It was catastrophe."

Jamie gaped as he suddenly noticed that Santa and the Tooth Fairy were in his room as well.

"It.. it wasn't a dream," he said faintly. "You.. you were all here!"

Tooth nodded and gave Jamie a gentle smile.

"Wait.." Jamie said as he looked at them in confusion. "Why are you all here? And where's the Sandman?"

North rubbed the back of his neck.

"That is.. part of the reason we are here."

The Guardians glanced at each other, wondering just how much they should tell the child. He was after all, just a child, and they didn't want to frighten him.

Bunny saw that North and Tooth were hesitant, and was tempted to roll his eyes again. They really didn't have any time to be delicate. The kid was tough, he could handle it.

"We're here 'cuz almost all the belief in the world is gone," Bunny said, trying to sound more gentle, even though his words were anything but. "You are the only human child left who believes in us."

Jamie's eyes widened at this.

"Me?"

Bunny nodded.

"Pitch, the Boogeyman, has been doing his best to get rid of us by stopping us from doing our jobs, which get kids to believe in us."

Jamie looked thoughtful at this, as he thought about it logically.

"So.. if Pitch wants all the kids to stop believing in you, and.."

Jamie's voice trailed off as his eyes widened.

"Y-you think he'll come here?!" he squeaked in fear. "After me?!"

"That ain't all mate," Bunny said with resignation. "We think he's either holding a couple spirits hostage or has 'em on his side somehow. If it's the latter, we're in a whole heap of trouble."

"Bunny!" Tooth hissed as she noticed that Jamie looked more frightened at this.

But then what Bunny said sunk in.

"More spirits?" Jamie asked. "I thought there was just you guys."

North chuckled at this.

"No, there are hundreds of spirits! We are the Guardians however, and have dedicated our lives to protecting children, Naughty or Nice."

"Oh," Jamie said as he blinked. "So who are the two that you were talking about?"

"Well - " Bunny started, but the sound of whinnying outside caught their attention.

The Guardians winced at this.

"Pitch," North said.

Bunny looked down at his small self and then at Jamie, who was looking worried. Jamie believed in all of them again and his light should be shining brightly, but they were still just as powerless as before.

It wasn't enough.

Bunny's ears went back as he realized this. Pitch was probably waiting outside for them with who knows how many Nightmares, and maybe even Jack and Lillian and they didn't have enough power.

He snuck another look at Jamie and hardened his resolve. He squared his little shoulders and brought his ears back up. He was a Pooka warrior. He would fight to the last if he had to.

He opened his mouth to say just that, when a thought occurred to him. Jamie believed in them, but his belief and what little there was of the blue lights wasn't enough. In that case..

"We need ta get yer friends," Bunny burst out suddenly.

"Wha?" Jamie asked, confused as ever. "But.. Pitch?"

North looked down at Bunny.

"We cannot fight, Bunny. We are not strong enough."

Bunny just smirked at the other two Guardians.

"Then we'll just have ta sneak out the back."

A few moments later, North, Tooth, Bunny and Jamie, who was now wearing his vest over his pajamas and his shoes quietly went out the back.

Jamie's mom, who had been awake and wondering what in the world was going on with the front door, never noticed her son sneaking out behind her back.

The back door quietly clicked closed behind them and Jamie whispered to the Guardians where the rest of his friends lived.

"But.. how are we going to get them to believe?" Jamie asked. "I was trying to tell them that the Easter Bunny existed, but they didn't believe me. They didn't believe me about meeting you guys either!"

The Guardians looked an one another again, not having thought of this complication.


Out in front of Jamie's house, Pitch stood with hundreds of Nightmares surrounding him, Jack and Lillian. While Lillian's transformation had been slower, Jack's was much faster since he had gotten a lot more of the black sand into his system.

Pitch was a little relieved that Jack transformed more quickly, since it made him feel odd to hear little Lillian begging and pleading with him to let her go. That had ended once she finally transformed, but he really hadn't been looking forward to going through that with Jack.

Pitch glanced at Jack who stood near him, on the opposite side of him with Lillian. Jack was still wearing his blue hoodie since he had refused to wear the black one Pitch had offered him, and his ragged brown pants. Jack's skin, which had once been pale as snow, was now just as gray as Pitch's and Lillian's. His eyes, which once were a clear crystal blue, were now a golden color. All the fun and amusement that was normally apparent in them was gone, and his hair which had been white was now a pitch black.

Jack still clutched his staff, but instead of holding it close to himself like a teddy bear like he usually did, he was holding it loosely at his side. He glanced at Pitch, who was smirking evilly at Jamie's wide open front door.

Jamie's mom looked outside to see if there was anyone around, as she completely missed Jack, Lillian and all the Nightmares out front. She did however, spot Pitch.

"Oh hello!" Jamie's mom smiled at Pitch. It was late enough for it to be dark out, but it wasn't really very late just yet.

Pitch, who had been about to monologue with Jack and Lillian, paused as his golden eyes went wide.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered.

Nobody believed in him.

Not children, and certainly not adults.

"You aren't lost, are you? I don't think I've seen you around before." Jamie's mom said, looking a little concerned at Pitch, who was just standing there.

Pitch looked irritated at this.

He was Pitch Black! He didn't get lost! He even had a whole army of Nightmares at his command right there and the blasted woman wasn't even frightened of him!

Then Pitch exhaled and forced himself to calm down. Perhaps this could work in his favor.

He could deal with this.

He casually strolled across the street after discreetly detaching himself from Lillian. Lillian, who looked confused at the turn of events, went over by Jack.

"What's happening?" she whispered to Jack.

She was much quieter than before, but she still spoke to Jack at least. Pitch unfortunately, was still a little busy with world domination to have conversations with her.

"I don't know," Jack said as he eyed the woman with suspicion. "Why don't we just freeze her? She's getting in Pitch's way."

Lillian shrugged as Pitch made it up by Jamie's mom.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression," Pitch said in his usual elegant tone as he addressed the soon-to-be hostage.

Unknown to him however, was the fact that Jamie with the Guardians, had already snuck out the back door.

"But I am not lost." Pitch put on a fake put upon look. "But my vehicle seems to have broken down a few streets over. Nobody seemed to want to help me.." he sighed wearily.

"That's terrible!" Jamie's mom said. "Have you called a tow truck?"

Pitch mournfully shook his head.

"If I could use your phone?" he asked, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

It was difficult, but Pitch wasn't a good actor for nothing. He was the master of manipulation and hiding his true emotions. Even when he wasn't quite so evil, he could still effectively mask his emotions if he wanted to.

"Oh, of course! Come in, Mr..?" Jamie's mom asked as she stepped aside to let Pitch in.

"Pitch," Pitch said.

"Mr. Pitch," Jamie's mom said in a warm, friendly voice. "The phone's right here in the kitchen."

The front door closed as Jamie's mom began to lead Pitch over to the kitchen phone.

Jack and Lillian looked at one another.

This wasn't in the plan.


Jamie eyed Pippa's window. They had all snuck over to her house while Pitch was distracted. Unfortunately Like Jamie's, her room was on the second floor.

"So.. how are we going to do this?" Jamie asked.

Then he looked at the Guardians.

"Wait.. How did you guys get into MY house?"

The Guardians looked very sheepish at this.

"It was an emergency!" Bunny said defensively.

"We.. ah.." North looked very awkward. "We use front door."

Jamie blinked.

"But.. the door was locked."

Tooth gave Jamie a small smile.

"Whoops?" was all she had to offer.

Jamie face palmed at this.

"You guys busted in my front door?!"

Meanwhile, Pippa was woken up from a nightmare by the sound of arguing. She shivered as she looked at her window.

Lately she had been having terrible dreams about a man in all black, who taunted her. He often brought out all sorts of horrible things that had frightened her since she was very small.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as one of the voices sounded familiar to her. Getting up from bed, she wandered over to her window and looked outside.

She was astounded to see Jamie Bennet standing there, apparently arguing with.. himself? What?

She opened her window and called down to him.

"Jamie, what are you doing?" Pippa asked in exasperation. "My parents will hear you!"

Jamie paused in mid-arguing with the Guardians about how to break into Pippa's house and he turned to Pippa's window with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Now ya done it," Bunny said with a sigh.

Jamie blushed a bit.

"Um.. Hi?" he said helpfully.

Pippa rolled her eyes.

"Hi? That's it?"

Jamie looked around desperately. If only they had some way of showing her that the Guardians were real!

He paused when he spotted Bunny holding one of the only unbroken eggs. It was unpainted, as Bunny hadn't had time to finish it when the Guardians had all made their mad dash to the surface.

Bunny had painted a few swirls on the egg, as painting helped him think. And boy, did he need to think.

"That's it!" Jamie said as he lunged at Bunny.

"What's it?!" Pippa shouted at him. "Jamie! What are you doing?!"

It looked to her like Jamie was lunging at thin air and talking to himself again.

Jamie grabbed Bunny's egg and threw it at Pippa.

Startled, Pippa caught it. She stared down at the mostly white egg, with Eastery pink swirls on it.

"Wha..? Where did you get this?" Pippa looked down at Jamie, confused.

"The Easter Bunny," Jamie said patiently. "It's the only egg that he was able to get out this year."

Pippa looked down at the partially painted egg, then back at Jamie. Jamie had convinced his friends to wander around for a few hours, looking for eggs. They had all gone with Jamie out of loyalty to him, not that they believed in the Easter Bunny or anything.

But Jamie was out there in his pajamas. Where had he gotten this egg? She looked at Jamie, who seemed to be talking to himself again. But was he talking to himself?

"Pippa!" Jamie called out desperately. "He really is real! He needs our help! ALL the Guardians do! Santa and the Tooth Fairy! You HAVE to believe!"

Pippa looked back down at the egg again. The swirls were so delicate and fine. The only eggs she ever saw like that were the ones she gathered with her friends on Easter. She hugged the egg close to her chest as she realized.. She wanted to believe.

She wanted some goodness out there that would fight away all this darkness that surrounded her. She closed her eyes as she fought with herself.

She knew logically that there wasn't any such thing as a giant pink bunny that hid eggs all over the world.

But..

That didn't explain all the eggs she found every year.

That didn't explain the egg she was holding right now.

"Please Pippa! We NEED you! HE needs you!" Jamie called out.

She opened her eyes back up and looked down at the egg.

A lightness filled her heart and she felt so much better than she had in days.

"I.." a small smile appeared on her face. "I do believe."

Bunny's eyes widened as he felt the surge of power.

Another believer!

He looked up at the window to see Pippa was still looking down at the egg happily.

"Come on, lass! We gotta get to yer friends!"

Pippa looked back out her window, startled to hear the voice with the Australian accent. She looked very startled to see a small gray bunny, a big man in red and a.. bird woman..?

She laughed happily as she came to the sudden realization.

"Santa! The Tooth Fairy! The Easter Bunny!" she said gleefully. "You're all real! Jamie was right!"

"Come on!" Jamie said happily, but somewhat impatiently. "We have to get the others to believe too! Make sure you keep that egg!"

Pippa nodded and dashed back into her room. A few moments later, her front door opened and she ran out to them.

She had thrown her jacket on over her nightgown and had tucked the Easter egg inside a pocket.

"What's going on?" she asked curiously. "Why are you all here?"

Jamie took a hold of Pippa's hand.

"There's no time to explain! The Guardians need more kids to believe in them so they can kick The Boogeyman's butt."

"The Boogey - " Pippa exclaimed as Jamie tugged her off to Caleb and Claude's house.


Lillian and Jack stood outside, shifting from foot to foot as Pitch was inside with Jamie's mom.

Jamie's mom, whose name turned out to be Lauren, was sitting down at the kitchen table with Pitch.

They each had a steaming mug of tea, while they waited for the tow truck. Pitch dipped his tea bag into his cup as he eyed it, to see if it was strong enough for him yet.

Lauren, as she had introduced herself shortly after showing him the phone was happy to discuss her concerns about her children, after discovering that Pitch had a couple of his own.

Finding himself unable to extricate himself from the situation, Pitch instead found himself joining in on the conversation as he discussed Lillian, and to some extent, Jack.

"I really don't know what to do with her," Pitch said with a slight frown. "She's recently been through an.. illness.. and now she's so distant. She's nothing like how she used to be. Her brother seems to be suffering from the same thing," Pitch said as he sipped his tea.

"How old are they?" Lauren asked curiously.

Pitch looked uncomfortable for a moment, before he smoothly hid that way.

"Lillian is six, while her older brother Jack is.. 16 or so," Pitch said as he wrongly guessed Jack's age. He really had no idea how old either of them were, as they themselves didn't know.

Lauren smiled at that.

"Naturally Jack wouldn't be so open with you. I hear teenagers are difficult to manage. And it sounds like Lillian's still recovering from being sick. I'm sure she'll bounce right back once she's completely well."

Pitch nodded, although some part of him felt very guilty at that.

They would never recover.

There was no getting well.

He had wanted both Lillian and Jack near, but it wasn't like it was before.

Something was so very wrong with all of this, but he didn't know how to fix it.

He shifted in his chair as he thought of what to do now. They were still outside with all of his Nightmares, while the one last human child who believed was upstairs in his room.

He lowered his gaze to his tea cup and Lauren reached across the table to pat his hand comfortingly.

He tightened his grip on his cup as he thought of what his next move should be.


Author's Note: I hope that the scene with Pippa was believable. I was really struggling with figuring out how to get the kids to believe without Jack's help. There weren't any of Tooth's fairies around, Santa had no toys on him.. So I went with Bunny. He doesn't get to do much in the movie when he's little, so I thought it was his time to shine. Bunny gets painted as the bad guy a lot in the movie, since he has a terrible temper, so I thought it was about time he started doing more positive things. In the movie, Bunny seems to whip an egg out of nowhere and start painting it in North's workshop, so I decided he can do this whenever he wants, this his having the egg and a paint brush randomly.

As for Pitch drinking tea with Jamie's mom. CrossoverJunkie mentioned this as a drabble idea in a review, and the opportunity was there.. So. Pitch really was going to use Jamie's mom as a tool to torture Jamie with (his mom threatened by the Boogeyman, without realizing who Pitch actually was), but then she was being so nice to him and it threw him off his game, since nobody is nice to him. Then he found himself babbling about Jack and Lillian and now he can't seem to find a way to get out of the kitchen. It seemed like a good stopping place, since the chapter was already over 3000 words and I don't like the chapters to be too long. Expect more exciting things to come in the next chapter.

Also, sorry for the lack of Sandy. :( He'll be back soon, I promise!

EDIT: Also, I made up Jamie's mom's name. I'm sorry if she has an actual name, I just went with something off the top of my head.