Author's Note: I was tempted to make this chapter even longer, but I know I'm updating soon so I decided the next chapter can have all the drama. :) Not that this one wasn't without its own drama, of course.

Now.. reviews:

kame otaku suggested that the Dream Pirates make a comeback and mess with Pitch. I won't say if this will happen.. you'll just have to wait and see.

CrossoverJunkie suggested looking up bad guys, which is an excellent idea. He also suggested using the Monkey King, and then later suggested the kids get more involved. So naturally, I had to include the kids too!

A guest suggested that Jack has a sick day, and I agree. So at some point Jack will have a sick day and get pampered by a stressed out Pitch and a not-so-helpful-but-well-meaning Lillian.

Now, on with the story!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Tea Time with Sandy & The Invitation

Pitch looked at Sandy giving him that pointed look and sighed. He looked away from Sandy and down at his tea. Once upon a time, he had been a fearless General. Since when did he let himself get intimidated by the pint-sized Sandman?

He fiddled with his mug of tea and reminded himself that there was absolutely nothing wrong with at least talking to someone about his.. issues. He had encouraged Jack to do the same not that long ago! He supposed his hesitance was that he didn't actually want to admit that he needed help. And he knew that no matter what he told Sandy about things settling down and his issues just going away, he knew this was something a little more serious. If anything, things seemed to be getting worse as the days went on.

Sandy raised an eyebrow at Pitch, and Pitch sighed again.

After another moment, Pitch gathered his thoughts and finally began to speak to Sandy.

"I suppose it started after what had happened out on the lake," Pitch said as he continued to look down at his mug. He didn't think he could stand to see Sandy have any sort of pitying look aimed at him. "When I awoke, everything that had happened recently became vague.. Jack and Lillian were the bright points in my life that I clearly remembered, but most of the things I had done as Pitch Black have.. gotten extremely vague. I can't recall most of it. However, I can recall my life as Kozmotis Pitchiner very well. A little too well."

Sandy's brow furrowed as he listened to Pitch. Pitch really didn't remember anything he had done? No wonder he was having problems! But if he mostly remembered himself as Kozmotis, did that mean that he was Kozmotis now?

Golden symbols appeared above Sandy's head to ask just that, and after the silence stretched on, Pitch finally looked up to see Sandy's question.

Pitch shook his head sadly.

"No.. I am not the man I once was. But I remember.." his voice broke as he spoke, "..I remember how I became Pitch Black. I was such a fool.. After I heard that my Isabella and Emily Jane were.. were gone... I hunted down every last Nightmare and dream pirate and locked them all up. I thought as long as they were all locked away, I could.. prevent such a tragedy from befalling anyone else. With all that fear and evil locked up, they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else."

Sandy nodded solemnly to Pitch's story. They had all learned what had happened to Pitch quite a long time ago, but he listened raptly anyway. He doubted he had ever heard such raw emotion from the spirit before. If only Bunny was there! If Bunny could hear Pitch speak about his former life like this, he would never have any doubts about Pitch's intentions now. But Sandy also knew that there was no way Pitch would be so open if Bunny was there, so he kept quiet and continued to listen.

"I kept my locket of Emily Jane to remind myself of why I chose to stand guard over them. As long as I remained vigilant, everything would be fine. But.. then.. I heard her."

A question mark appeared above Sandy's head as he listened.

"..Emily Jane.." Pitch whispered brokenly. "..She was calling out to me.. Calling for help. She was trapped inside and needed me desperately."

"Daddy, save me! I'm scared, it's dark in here!"

"DADDY!"

"I flung open the door to save her, and..." Pitch trailed off as tears rolled down his cheeks. "..She wasn't there.. Every Nightmare and dream pirate must have escaped. After that, everything became dark.. For a very, very long time."

Sandy's look softened, but he did his best to try and seem neutral. He knew that Pitch wasn't saying such things for his pity.

"Th-that day, will not.. it won't leave me a-alone," Pitch said, his voice wavering through his tears. He wiped them away, but more kept falling. "Every night I d-don't use dreamsand, I have nightmares.. Some of the th-things I see, I think are memories, but.. I can't.. I don't know for certain.."

Sandy's eyes widened as Pitch spoke. He sounded so lost. He knew that after everything that Pitch had gone through that having nightmares would be normal, but not like this. A thought occurred to him and quickly a golden symbol appeared above his head.

Pitch had to blink some tears away before he could properly see it, and he paused when he saw the golden figure of Mother Nature hovering over Sandy's head.

Mother Nature.

That was right.. Mother Nature was his Emily Jane.

Flashes of a long ago argument came to him, but he couldn't really recall what it was about.

"I remember.." he said quietly. "Emily Jane lived. She's Mother Nature.. But I know she wants nothing to do with me.. I just.. I can't remember why!" Pitch exclaimed at the end as his tears finally stopped.

He banged a fist on the table, looking very upset.

"What was the point of helping me, if it made me forget what I was?! How am I to avoid repeating any of my past mistakes if I can't remember them?! Why would he do this to me?!"

Sandy shook his head sadly, but then perked up. He suggested that perhaps the Man in the Moon thought he was helping Pitch by making him forget. Maybe he thought Pitch would be disturbed by the memories of the things he had done as Pitch Black, and rather than be tormented by them, it would be easier for Pitch to forget.

Pitch pursed his lips and finally took a drink of his tea. Blasted moon.. of course he would fail to remember that his last memories of Kozmotis Pitchiner were horrible. Now it was all he could think about.

Sometimes I wish the Moon would go -

Sandy raised an eyebrow at Pitch's non-PG13 wish, but decided that now wasn't the time to mention that he could hear such things. Instead, Sandy suggested that Pitch establish some sort of calming routine before he went to bed. It would help relax him and make it less likely that Pitch would have nightmares. That, and a dream catcher couldn't hurt.

Sandy also suggested that instead of focusing on the sad memories of Kozmotis Pitchiner, he should focus on the happy ones. If he thought more positively of his former life, that could help too.

Pitch nodded, and took another long drink of his tea. Yes.. those were excellent suggestions that he hadn't thought of. Then the thought of the rest of the Guardians came to him and he internally winced.

"You'll keep this convesation to yourself, won't you?" he asked Sandy a little desperately.

Sandy nodded with a small smile and reached out to pat Pitch's hand. After all, even the Boogeyman needed a friend to listen to him and keep his secrets.


It was the next day that a little spirit made its way over to Jack's lake. He looked to be a little older than Jack (as most spirits were), and not very pleased to be there. He had firey red hair, eyes that looked almost orange and was wearing a fancy outfit that reminded Jack and Lillian of fire.

Unfortunately, the kids of Burgess were at the lake too. Even though it wasn't quite summer yet, it seemed like Summer was fast approaching. Jack was actually wearing a blue t-shirt with his brown pants, and looked about ready to melt. He was trying to hide his condition by lounging casually in the shade of his tree by the lake while the kids all had fun swimming.

Even Lillian had gotten in on the fun by leaving her bracelet with Jack and taking a dip in the lake. She shrieked as Jamie splashed her mercilessly. She was about to retaliate when the firey spirit flew overhead and went straight to Jack.

"Who's that?" she asked no one in particular as she watched the spirit.

Jamie, who couldn't see what Lillian was looking at, just looked confused.

"Who's who?" he asked her.

"That boy," Lillian said, pointing in Jack's direction.

"Uh.. Lillian? That's Jack Frost." he told her, looking concerned. "I know it's really warm out, but you're not getting heat stroke, are you?"

Lillian ignored Jamie's comment however and swam over to the edge of the lake. She climbed out to reveal her pretty pink swim suit and walked over to Jack and the spirit as she practically started steaming in the sun. When had it gotten so humid out? She frowned as she realized it wasn't even technically Summer yet. She was definitely going to have to have a word with August about this.

"Jack Frost?" the spirit asked as he landed down in front of Jack.

Jack's eyes widened when he saw the familiar spirit, but then he smirked. Anyone who knew Jack as more than a troublemaker would realize he was just covering up how he really was feeling, but unfortunately to others it just made him look cocky and smug. And when most of the other spirits hated Jack, that was not a good thing.

"Sparky!" Jack exclaimed. "It's been so long! About fifty years, right?"

The firey spirit narrowed his eyes at Jack.

"The name is Lucian!" he snapped. "And here!"

He thrust an envelope at Jack, carelessly brushing his fingers against Jack's.

Jack winced as Lucian's fingers left red welts on his hand. Naturally a lesser summer spirit would burn the Spirit of Winter. Not to mention that Jack had gotten on Lucian's bad side about a minute after they first met. It also didn't help that Jack refused to call Lucian by his actual name. Jack liked 'Sparky' better, since Lucian looked more like a fire spirit than anything.

Lucian turned and almost walked right into a curious Lillian. Lucian took in her green eyes, wild, wet curls and all the spring flowers at her feet.

"Child of Spring?" he asked her impatiently.

"Y-yeah?" Lillian said hesitantly.

"Take it," Lucian handed her an envelope and before either of them could say anything, the spirit took off.

"What's going on?" Jamie asked as he and the other kids got out of the water. They all wandered over by Jack and Lillian, looking at the envelopes that seemed to appear out of nowhere curiously.

Jack was careful to hide his hand a bit, so the kids wouldn't see his burns.

"It's nothing," Jack said with a smile at them. "Just some Seasonal stuff."

"Seasonal stuff?" Jamie echoed curiously.

"Yeah - " Jack started to explain but was cut off by a certain child spirits shout.

"COOL! We got invited to Mother Nature's!" Lillian exclaimed excitedly.

This was so awesome.

Lillian waved her invitation around, and Jamie snagged it to see what it said.

It said:

Child of Spring,

You are cordially invited to the Meeting of the Seasonals, to discuss your duties as well as your expectations as a new Spirit of Spring. This meeting takes place every fifty years. If you agree to go, hold this letter and say "Mother Nature, I accept your invitation" and you will be whisked off to my palace. The meeting takes place on May 7th. I expect to see you there.

Sincerely,

Mother Nature

"Hey!" Lillian exclaimed and quickly grabbed her letter back. "I need this to get to the meeting!"

"Wow, so there is a Mother Nature! Is she like your actual mom then?" Jamie asked excitedly.

Jamie's friends looked interested as well, but they also exchanged looks behind Jamie's back. He had that same tone he always got when he was ranting about Bigfoot.

"Um.." Lillian bit her lip and looked to Jack for help.

"In a way," Jack said. "She's in charge of all the seasons, so she looks out for the Seasonal Spirits and makes sure that we're doing our duties properly. That's why there's a meeting every fifty years."

Wait a minute..

Lillian narrowed her eyes at this.

"If she looks out for ALL the spirits, then why does she let everyone be mean to you?!"

The kids all looked at one another. Other spirits were mean to their Jack Frost?

Jack looked frustrated and ran a hand through his hair while he held his staff in the crook of his elbow and his letter in the other hand.

"She doesn't let them," he said testily to Lillian. Once he noticed the kids' shocked expressions though, he quickly changed his own expression to a smirk. "Now.. you wanted to play in the lake, right?"

He didn't necessarily like the water, or the splashing.. Or any part of this day at all really, since this was the exact opposite of anything he liked to do, but he knew that the kids and Lillian were having fun and that was enough for him.

He was about to suggest they put their letters away and Lillian have another water fight, when Pitch stepped out of the shadow behind him.

Pitch had decided to test his theory about the sun, and as the only thing that bothered him about being outside at this time was the ungodly brightness, he took that to mean that he was right and he could now stand being out in the sun.

But it didn't mean that he had to like it.

The kids all gasped as Pitch stepped out. Not only was it still weird to see a non-gray Pitch, it was weird to see him out in daylight.

Jack and Lillian turned to see Pitch, who was trying his best to look awake and well rested.

"What are you doing out here?" Pitch said sternly to Jack. "It must be at least eighty degrees!"

"Eheh," Jack said sheepishly. "I was heading inside soon."

Pitch rolled his eyes.

"Hey, look!" Lillian said excitedly and ran over to Pitch, waving her letter under his nose. "Jack and I get to see Mother Nature!"

Pitch's eyes widened and he suddenly froze.

Jamie was astonished to see that Pitch almost looked.. afraid.

"Isn't that awesome?" Lillian continued happily.

Pitch stared and then shook his head, as if shaking his thoughts away.

"Yes," he said faintly. "That's.. interesting."

Mentally shaking himself he went back into Adult Mode.

"Now get inside, you're all going to get heat stroke." he looked over at the children. "That goes for you as well."

Before the kids could protest, Pitch had ushered Jack and Lillian off into the shadow of the tree, leaving the kids to get home by themselves.

Jamie gave his friends a look.

"Was it just me, or did Pitch actually look scared?"

"It wasn't just you," Claude piped up.

"But the Boogeyman can't get scared!" Caleb piped up.

Pippa looked thoughtful at this.

"If he gets scared, do you think he has nightmares too?"

"No way!" Jamie burst out laughing. "Pitch?"

A pair of golden eyes appearing in the shadow and the sound of his cold voice made them all jump.

"You do realize that I can hear you." Pitch said to them, his voice as frosty as Jack's powers. "And that it's quite rude to talk about someone behind their back."

The kids all stared at the shadow in shock.

"..Sorry?" Jamie finally offered weakly.

The golden eyes appeared about ready to leave, but gave the kids one last pointed look.

"And everyone gets afraid."

"But - " Jamie said, when Pitch interrupted.

"Fear has been around as long as time itself," he snapped impatiently at them, disliking that they had been casually discussing what was wrong with him the instant his back was turned, "and is a natural emotion. Now I suggest you all return home before you turn as red as North's sleigh."

With that, the eyes disappeared from the shadow.

Cupcake spoke up after that.

"He sounds a little edgy too."


Author's Note: Bet you didn't see that coming! And don't worry, Lucian is just a messenger boy and won't be a major part of the story. I figure minor spirits and little sprites help the Seasonals. There's a reason you haven't seen any until now, so you'll find out why later. And CrossoverJunkie, you don't bother me! If you noticed, I tend to agree with you a lot and you help me add little tidbits to the story. :) The next chapter will be posted Friday and it will probably have a Jack sick day and the meeting at some point, of course. I decided to include it after I read a little about Emily Jane's backstory some more, but since I haven't read the books I'm probably butchering some things, so bear with me please.

That said, if you guys have any other ideas, send them my way! If you also have any Mother Nature suggestions, since she's coming up VERY soon, now would be the time to tell me! Thanks you guys for all your follows, faves, and reviews.