Author's Note: Ok, I inadvertently lied again. This chapter had none of any toy making, or visits with the Guardians. It ran away on me, I swear! I guess you can actually call this "Grounding, Part 1," but I liked my original title for this chapter anyway. This chapter made me feel all mushy too. And since I was more awake writing it, I felt better about how it turned out. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter though.
Now, on to reviews! I had a blast from the past when I got a review for Chapter 7, which actually was more about Chapter.. 4? When Jack was all tuckered out in '68, when the Guardians were scolding him. I sent the reviewer a PM, but I thought I would mention it here as well, in case I wasn't clear enough. Jack can spread snow pretty well, but he can also make it disappear as he did on that day in '68. It's VERY draining for him to do so though, but he felt he had a lot to make up for, since it was his fault his powers got away from him. So that's why he was so weak when the Guardians were confronting him. Jack had spent the entire day removing so much snow and hadn't had any time to rest yet.
There was a suggestion for Pitch to teach Jack and Lillian self defense. While I totally forgot about it when writing this chapter, I'll definitely including something in the next chapter, which is probably going to be something like "Grounding, Pt 2."
There was another suggestion that Pitch make his own doll and storybook to go along with it. Let me just tell you guys that Pitch WILL make some toys. He WILL visit North's, but probably not without Jack and Lillian at first. I already know precisely what toys he's going to make now (thank you lots of time to think about this today), but I still welcome any suggestions.
Another reviewer felt bad for Bunny, and I do too. So there will be some Bunny in the next chapter somewhere hopefully. Anywho, thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews. Now on with the story!
Chapter Thirty-Three: Grounding, Stories and Exercise; Oh My!
In Canada, a small sprout sprung up from the whiteness of the snow. A small child stared at this fast growing flower with wide eyes. Not only was this flower growing in snow, but it was also growing right out of the sidewalk!
Word hadn't yet spread about Jack outside of Burgess, and while Pitch had some children quaking in their boots at the thought of the Boogeyman, truthfully, not a lot of children really believed in him. Kids were more afraid of ghosts or other mythological creatures than in the Boogeyman specifically, and parents were more than happy to reassure their children that there was no such thing as the Boogeyman. So while Pitch spread his nightmares, he usually didn't have to worry about being seen. He could vaguely recall how this used to bother him a great deal (alone for centuries and hated by most of the spirit world made for a very lonely Pitch), but then Lillian and Jack had entered his life and then it didn't seem to be as important to him.
So as the child watched the flower grow impossibly fast and big, he failed to notice that the flower spit out three spirits right into the snow.
PATOOEY!
The flower spit out Pitch, Lillian and Jack onto the snowy sidewalk. Much to his embarrassment, Pitch face planted right into the snow.
Jack sat up and shook the his head, getting the snow out of his hair.
"Oww," he complained. "You seriously have to work on those landings."
Lillian sat up in the snow and shivered.
"Where.. where are we?" she looked around. This definitely didn't look like Burgess.
Pitch got to his feet and helped Jack and Lillian stand as well. He wiped the slush from his face as the child gaped at the flower that was now rapidly shrinking back into the snow. Within a matter of moments it had completely vanished. The child looked around to see if anyone else had witnessed this phenomenon, but nobody else had noticed.
Pitch looked around as well, and after some looking, he spotted a sign.
"My guess would be Toronto, Canada." he said with a look at Lillian. "Didn't I tell you that it was too far? You know that we could have been home by now if we had traveled through the shadows."
Lillian pouted at that.
"Going through the shadows makes me cold and it's kinda creepy," she said. "Flowering is more interesting!" she smiled as she used her strange term for traveling via The Giant Flower of Doom.
"Interesting or not, you aren't very experienced in traveling such long distances. Even when you spread spring around the world, you still have to make several stops to get to the country you want to visit, don't you?" Pitch said, entering Adult Mode and sounding like he meant Business.
The child, not really noticed by the spirits, wandered over to where the flower had been and began to dig a little in the snow. He looked disappointed when all he saw was plain ol' sidewalk.
Lillian huffed in annoyance. Pitch just didn't understand. Besides, what better way to remind the Guardians that she had powers as well? She'd never admit it, but she liked showing off for the Guardians. It made her feel a little like a kid shouting at her parents 'Look what I can do!'
Jack made sure he had his staff.
"We're not that far from Burgess. We could just fly there through the wind."
Pitch, who had noticed Lillian shivering, shook his head.
"No, I think you two have had enough for one night," he said as he took a hold of Lillian's and Jack's hands.
He lead the two over to the shadow of a large building and Lillian's loud "Aww!" could be heard as the three vanished inside the shadow.
A mere moment later, they left a shadow in the corner of the globe room. Pitch gave Lillian a look that said 'See? That's how it's done.'
Lillian pointedly ignored Pitch, but she had to fight down a grin. Pitch was paying attention to them! He cared!
She was pretty sure she would never get over the feeling that Pitch actually cared again.
"As you two have both had dinner and it's getting late, I think you should head to bed," Pitch said.
Lillian's faint grin immediately vanished.
"I'm not tired!" she whined in a very childlike fashion.
Pitch was almost expecting her to stomp her foot and cross her arms as she used to do.
"Young lady," he said in a warning tone to Lillian.
"I can tell her a story," Jack said quickly. He didn't want Lillian to get into even more trouble or she'd never be allowed back to North's! Or the Warren, if she felt like visiting Bunny.
Pitch nodded at Jack.
"That's fine, as long as she's in bed."
Disappointment flashed on Lillian's face.
"Won't you tell me a story?" she asked Pitch quietly, all traces of sullenness gone.
Guilt tore at Pitch as vague flashes of Easter plagued him. He remembered the explanation of what had happened and it wasn't pretty. He had helped ruin Easter, and had essentially let Jack take the blame. The Guardians might have been unfair, but it really was all Pitch's fault.
And Lillian.. What had happened to her when he was.. whatever had happened to him. All three of them had needed to be healed by the Man in the Moon. Whatever it was, all three of them had been so far gone that the Guardians hadn't been able to help them.
Pitch had a horrible feeling that he was solely responsible for whatever had happened to Jack and Lillian.
Anguish crossed Pitch's face for a moment, before he carefully concealed his emotions as he was so good at doing.
"Of.. of course," he said quickly, only faltering a little. "I should have offered. I didn't think of it."
It felt like it had been a very long time since he had read Lillian a story, or told her a made up one.
A huge grin appeared as Lillian's eyes lit up.
"Yay! I'll get ready!" she exclaimed as she ran off to her room.
Pitch shook his head with a small smile and noticed Jack was still standing there, essentially doing the same thing that Pitch was doing.
However adult-like Jack might feel at times, the fact remained that he was still a child too.
"You get ready too," Pitch reminded Jack.
Jack ducked his head guiltily and hurried off as well.
A little later, all three were gathered in Lillian's room. Lillian was tucked into bed and laying down at Pitch's insistence. Jack was wearing pajamas that matched his eyes that had little white snowflakes all over them. He was without shoes or socks as usual, and didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that the pajamas were actually rather thin. Even though his preference in clothes was usually a sweatshirt or hoodie, the only temperatures that ever bothered him were warmer ones. Thankfully Pitch's lair was usually nice and cool. Not that great for a spring spirit, but wonderful for a winter one.
Jack was sitting cross legged by Lillian's feet and Pitch was perched on the edge of the bed by her.
"What sort of story would you like?" Pitch gently asked her. He hadn't gotten out any of her story books, as he wanted this one to be more personal. It was the least he could do, and he felt she needed the reassurance that things were going to be the same as they had been.
"I want a story about you," she said instantly. "Something that happened to you before you met me or Jack."
Instantly flashes of the Dark Ages came to Pitch and he tried hard not to panic. He didn't have a lot of nice memories before he had met Jack or Lillian, and thanks to the Man in the Moon's powers, all his evilness was rather vague, and since he had been evil throughout a good portion of his life, everything was.. vague. Really vague.
It was strange. At times like this, when he was trying to remember things and found that he couldn't, he didn't feel quite whole. But other times he felt.. more. He felt more complete, as if he could be who he wanted to be and not what something felt he should be like.
The silence stretched on as Pitch desperately tried to think of something, and then it came to him.
"A very, very long time ago, I once sat in a position similar to this. I had a daughter who was very much like you," Pitch said to Lillian with a sad, wistful smile.
"Really?" Lillian breathed, already entranced by Pitch's story.
Pitch nodded and continued his story.
"Though I had to travel quite a bit, she treasured the moments when I could be alone with her. Every night that I was able, I would sit in her room at bedtime and tell her stories of things I had done. She loved to hear all about my travels, and would frequently make little trips of her own. My wife, Isabella, kept urging me to scold Emily Jane, but I could never bring myself to do it. I loved how she would have her own little 'adventures'."
The loving, sad tone in Pitch's voice almost made Lillian sorry she had asked for this story. It was obvious that Pitch still loved his wife and child and that he missed them greatly.
"She would have loved the two of you," Pitch said, his voice breaking a little at the end. "Having snowball fights, and traveling through that flower. Isabella would have treasured the both of you as well."
Pitch's eyes looked suspiciously shiny for a few moments as he cleared his throat.
"What were some of the adventures you had?" Lillian hastily asked, changing the subject from Pitch's long lost family.
Pitch cleared his throat again and smiled faintly at Lillian.
"That is another story for another time," he said mysteriously to her, trying to hide away thoughts of tucking Emily Jane in as he was doing now with Lillian. He remembered standing in the doorway to her room with Isabella at his side, his arm wrapped around her waist while they both watched their child sleep.
"Aww," Lillian said, sounding disappointed. Not only did Pitch not tell her a long story, she had also made him very sad. She silently berated herself for it. She was having so much fun acting like Pitch's child that she forgot to be a bit more considerate of Pitch's feelings on certain subjects. Plus her memories still felt fuzzy, so she knew Pitch must still feel fuzzy too.
"No complaining," Pitch said automatically as he stood. Jack stood as well, and Pitch made sure to tuck Lillian in firmly. "Now go to sleep. Perhaps you can dream about what stories you'll put in your book."
Lillian's guilt vanished as she thought of the book that she would be writing. She loved reading books, and she hadn't really attempted much writing, except for essays for school and was excited to be an actual author.
Pitch motioned for Jack to follow him out.
"Now we can go to your room," Pitch informed Jack.
"Uh.. why are you going to my room too?" Jack asked, confused.
"You must realize by now that everyone who lives here gets tucked in," Pitch said as he ushered Jack off to his bedroom near Lillian's.
Jack blushed at the thought. He wasn't as young as Lillian, and while the teenager part of him rebelled at being treated like a little kid, the lonely part of him that remembered those couple hundred years all by himself, relished in the attention.
So it was with little complaining that Jack got into bed. Pitch made sure to tuck Jack's covers in as well.
"Remember, no snow," Pitch reminded Jack as he reminded Jack every single day, at least two or three times a day. Not that it usually did any good.
Jack nodded and stifled a yawn.
"What are Lillian and I going to do, since we're grounded?" he asked Pitch.
Pitch looked at Jack very seriously.
"You and Lillian are going to spend the day writing me an essay all about responsibility and why it's important for you to inform me of your whereabouts."
Jack pouted in a very Lillian-like manner.
"Aw, man! An essay?!" he complained, the warm feelings of being tucked in vanishing in a fit of teenage rebellion.
Pitch looked more stern at that.
"Do you realize what I went through when I couldn't find the two of you? I searched the world for you! I thought.." Pitch's voice broke. "..I thought I had lost you. That something terrible had happened."
Jack's protests died in his throat as he made the connection. Pitch didn't have his old family any more and thought he had lost his new one. Major guilt trip.
"I'm sorry," Jack whispered. He looked up at Pitch with large blue eyes.
To Pitch, he looked like a little boy who had gotten scolded. Pitch ran a hand down his face as he tried to regain some composure. He knew it would be a long time until he recovered from this experience. It was part of the reason he made their grounding so long, so he could secretly keep them close. Even if it would drive him insane having a bored Jack cooped up in the lair.
A bored Jack was always a very bad thing. He realized he was going to have to plan out activities that wouldn't seem like rewards, and that's how he came up with the punishment essay. Perhaps he would just have them do chores around the lair while they were grounded.
Hmmm..
Or push ups. Maybe having them run a few laps? Ohh, he could give them a whole fitness regimen! Yes, he could get the two of them in shape while they were grounded.
It would be perfect.
A week later, Jack and Lillian were very much ready to be ungrounded. Pitch had been waking them up with the sun every single day and before they even had breakfast, they had to do special stretches, and then several push ups and sit ups. It was horrible. Pitch claimed that this would instill a sense of responsibility in them and that it would help them with their powers.
When Pitch announced that he thought they were capable of doing thirty push ups and sit ups apiece and then a few laps around the lair before breakfast, Lillian had hastily announced that she had better get on with spreading spring.
Jack said he could help Lillian melt the snow in Burgess, but Pitch had said that Lillian needed to spread Spring all by herself. She shouldn't count on the Winter Spirit to help her out all the time.
Relieved to be getting outside at all, and avoiding their fitness torture, Lillian had eagerly abandoned Jack to Pitch's clutches. She immediately ran off to Burgess and made her bracelet glow. The winter chill in the air vanished and the breeze definitely had that whiff of spring to it now.
She was hanging around the local school when she saw Jamie and his friends playing outside. They all had their winter gear on still, even though the temperature had turned rather mild pretty quickly.
Jamie's eyes lit up when he spotted Lillian, and he and the other kids ran over by here.
"Hey, you're Lillian, right? Spirit of Spring?" Jamie asked her eagerly. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to really speak with Lillian much and was excited to have the chance to.
Lillian nodded and looked a little nervous at all the attention. It was definitely very weird.
"Yeah.." she said quietly.
As she stood in one spot, the snow around her feet melted and spring flowers sprouted up.
"Why'd you have to make the snow go away?" Jamie asked, sounding disappointed. "Is Jack going to have to leave?"
Lillian quickly shook her head at that.
"Jack lives with me," she said hastily. "He usually doesn't have to go anywhere colder until it's almost summer. But when it's warmer out, he can't stay outside too long. It feels just right to me, but he's used to colder temperatures. As for why I'm making it warm, I mean.. really?"
She gave Jamie a look.
"It's April. It's time for Spring! Even though I really like Winter too, I can't mess with the seasons. That would cause all kinds of problems. People would probably think it was the end of the world if Winter kept going on. Besides, we can't have too much of a good thing, right?"
"I guess," Jamie said with a sigh. He noticed the flowers at Lillian's feet and his eyes widened. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That happened in the winter! I remember my mom laughed when she saw flowers in the backyard and she said a little fairy must have been running around. That was you wasn't it?"
Lillian looked embarrassed.
"Jack and I liked visiting your house a lot," she said as her cheeks got a little red.
Jamie's jaw dropped.
"Y-you did?" he said. He had no idea!
Lillian nodded.
"I liked your book of Myths and Legends, so I would sneak in to read it sometimes. Jack just liked visiting you 'cuz of all the snowball fights he would help you and your friends start."
"Wow!" Jamie said, then he paused. Jack Frost and Lillian had been visiting him a lot? And he never saw them! Oh man.
"I'm.. I'm sorry I didn't believe in you sooner," he said guiltily.
Lillian shrugged.
"I never minded, but Jack really wanted believers. He's so lucky that you guys believe in him now. I don't think seasonal spirits normally have believers, so Jack is super lucky." she said with a smile.
Jamie smiled back at her while his friends milled about. Lillian was pretty adorable, for a girl.
"Hey, watch this!" Lillian said, happy to have an audience for her powers for once.
Her bracelet began to glow and she waved her hand at the ground behind Jamie and his friends. The snow began to melt more rapidly, and flowers started poking up from the ground as spring arrived at the school yard.
"Wow!" the kids all exclaimed as Lillian used her powers.
"I need to get rid of the snow," Lillian explained, "but since you guys are playing outside, I won't make it rain until tomorrow. Don't forget your umbrellas!" she said with an impish grin.
She gave the kids one last wave as she ran off. She had other places to visit after all.
As she spread Spring throughout Burgess, she thought about her book. Would the other Seasonal Spirits mind that she was going to be writing stories about them? She didn't think they'd mind having some believers, but what if they did? It seemed only natural to visit with August Bay first, as he was the season closest to hers. Then the thought of visiting Bunny at the Warren came to her.
She couldn't help it really, but the thought of visiting him made her excited, but also scared. He had hurt Jack and her. Plus he was always so grouchy! She really didn't want to go if all he was going to do was grump at her. Then again, he probably did have the best painting supplies. North's supplies were alright, but his were more for painting toys, than painting pictures.
She'd have to talk to Pitch and Jack about it later. A grin played on her lips as she thought of all the push ups that Jack was probably doing now. Maybe he'd already finished and started on his laps.
Ahh, the joys of doing ones job and avoiding all that horrible exercise. She didn't know it, but Pitch was planning on her doing her exercise routine when she got home.
Author's Note: I don't know where that angst came from, I swear! I visited Wikipedia for help with more of Pitch's backstory, as well as how things were with Emily Jane and Lady Pitchiner. Pitch has the saddest backstory ever. I still don't feel particularly comfortable going into details about any of the characters' pasts since I haven't actually read the books, but I figured I could go into Pitch's a little. I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as I did. My favorite parts of the story are where Pitch, Jack and Lillian have fun with just the three of them. But don't worry, I'll let other characters have fun too. I bet you were surprised I threw in a little Jamie and Lillian interaction there. And yes, I was highly amused that Lillian was telling Jamie things that everyone had probably been telling her all this time. Not that Jamie would know. :P I also was very amused at that random little boy in the beginning of this chapter. Poor kid, he was so confused.
As always, if you have any suggestions, comments, whatever, feel free to let me know! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. Sometime next week for sure. It depends on how busy I am.
Also. I snuck a very small book reference in there if you can spot it. It's so tiny, I doubt anyone would.. but. If you can guess it, you'll get points! Lots of points!
