Author's Note: I knooow, this is SO late. I'm sorry! To make it up to you, not only do I have the next chapter, it skips around to EVERYONE and has Pitch confronting Mother Nature finally. This is a very tense chapter, with lots of potentials for cliffhangers that had me going.. "Now, if I stopped here.." But I knew you guys would kill me, so..

Usually I would do reviews, but I know you guys just want to get on with the reading, so let me just say a very big thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved and followed this story. I hope that I did the argument justice..

Eh.. anyway! Chapter time!

Chapter Fourty-Two: Pitch Black vs Mother Nature

Pitch continued to glare fiercely at poor, confused Jasper.

"Wh-why - " he started, then paused as he felt the scythe move just a hair closer to his neck. If it moved any more, it would be cutting into his delicate skin. "Why do you care about the n-new Spring Sp-spirit?" Jasper finished his question, his voice several octaves higher than normal.

"What does it matter to you?!" Pitch snarled. "Answer me! WHERE. IS. SHE."

"M-Mother Nature asked the Spring Spirit and Frost to stay after! Sh-she wanted a word with them! Please don't kill me..!" Jasper pleaded.

Pitch stared at Jasper, his mind whirling. What would Emily - no, Mother Nature want with Lillian and Jack? Then his eyes narrowed in consternation. Could she possibly know about their connection to him? But how could she possibly?

Jasper tried very hard to stay perfectly still as Pitch narrowed his eyes. He could see that Pitch was annoyed.. concerned..? He was something alright, and Jasper could see that it probably meant the end of his life as a spirit.

He just knew that Pitch was going to -

"Take me to Mother Nature. Now." Pitch suddenly demanded, withdrawing the scythe to allow Jasper to move a little without accidentally beheading himself.

"Wh.. what?" Jasper asked in shock.

Pitch frowned at Jasper, who nodded at Pitch's request, then looked hesitant.

"Ah.. I don't really know where she lives precisely," Jasper started, then hastily continued at Pitch's darkening expression. "But my sprites do! I just need to pop home quick and get one of them to lead me to Mother Nature's. Usually when she needs to see us, she'll either come to us or send a letter that will take us to her."

Pitch absorbed this very quick explanation and his frown deepened. This sounded like it would take some time to get there, and he didn't want to take any time. He thought suddenly of North and his snow globes but then quickly dismissed the thought.

No, the Guardians didn't need to get involved in this. This was his business, not theirs.

Decision made, Pitch reached out and clamped one of his pale hands down on Jasper's arm.

"Do it," he ordered.

Looking very apprehensive, Jasper reluctantly vanished with Pitch in a swirl of fall leaves.


It had been a hectic day at the Pole. When Jack had first arrived at the Pole, everyone had been very worried about poor Jack and had hovered like crazy. But then Jack's fever had finally broken and he had been on the mend, so the visits were less frequent. Especially when a visit meant some form of snowball to the face or a wintery blast.

A bored Jack was not a good thing.

So all the Guardians found one reason or another to avoid visiting Jack's room. They hadn't seen Lillian around either, but that was easily explained by her visiting Jack and they were probably causing all sorts of mischief in his room, so it was probably best that they leave the two spirits be.

It wasn't unusual not to see Pitch either, since Pitch went back and forth between visiting Jack and Lillian and they did want to give him his privacy, after all.

So it wasn't until the three spirits had been missing for several hours before the Guardians realized that something was wrong. Sandy had shown up in the early afternoon and looked around the Pole with an eyebrow raised. North was busy with his yetis, and naturally there wasn't any sign of Tooth since she was busy with her own fairies.

But Bunny was there, and he was in the globe room trying to look busy when all he really was doing was watching two blue lights on the globe while he paced back and forth.

The blue lights on the globe were shining brightly earlier, but now they looked dimmer somehow. He couldn't understand how that could happen, as both Jack and Lillian were right there at the Pole! The last time he had wandered by the door to Jack's room, he could feel the freezing air coming from the crack under the door and decided that if Jack had used his powers so much, that he must be feeling better.

That had been at around ten in the morning and now it was after noon. He stopped pacing when he felt a tap on his arm and looked down to see a perplexed Sandy staring up at him with a golden question mark above his head.

"Look," Bunny said as he gestured at the globe.

Sandy looked and didn't like what he saw. Jack and Lillian's lights were not as bright as they should be. Jack's had dimmed somewhat when he was sick, but as he got better his light had bounced right back to its usual brightness.

Sandy raised an eyebrow at Bunny.

"I don't know!" Bunny threw his arms up in the air. "I thought Jack was gettin' better, but now.."

Sandy could see the reluctance Bunny had at visiting Jack and was confused until he realized.. Bunny and Jack were tentatively starting to get along a little better, and so were Bunny and Lillian. All that toy making had helped bring them a little closer, and now Bunny was afraid that by visiting them, they might reject him.

But if Jack and Lillian needed the Guardians, Bunny could hurt their relationship just as much if he didn't visit them.

Sandy raised a finger into the air as if on the verge of explaining this, then shook his head and grabbed Bunny's arm. He hauled Bunny right off to Jack's room.

"Whoa! Hey.. Sandy?! Where are ya takin' me?!" Bunny exclaimed, but soon he could see where they were going. "Sandy.. I ah.. I don't know, mate. Maybe Jack wants time ta himself."

Sandy rolled his eyes at Bunny and knocked on the door. They waited a moment, but didn't hear anything, so Sandy pushed open the door.

A winter wonderland greeted them, complete with snow everywhere.

Bunny peeked in the room and shuddered. Thankfully he hadn't been there when Jack had done that. He looked over at the bed and could see that the covers were mussed, as if Jack had been there not long ago.

"Where is he?" Bunny asked as he scratched his head.

A golden flower appeared over Sandy's head with a question mark.

"Maybe," Bunny said doubtfully.

So with that, they closed the door on Jack's wintery room and headed off for Lillian's room.

Bunny knocked this time and opened the door. They both peeked inside to see that Lillian hadn't used her powers to decorate her room. In fact, her room didn't even look used. If it wasn't for the extra clothes, Bunny would have sworn that this was just another empty room that North didn't use.

Lillian's room was very neat and the bed was expertly made.

"Ya don't think they're in Pitch's room, do ya?" Bunny asked, starting to get a little worried.

Sandy shrugged, but it only took a minute for them to realize that Pitch's room was empty. His room was also neat, but they could see that at some point he had fetched his plans for the toys he was planning on making and had been working on them. Probably around the time Jack was feeling better and had decided to freeze his room, Bunny decided.

"Where are they?!" Bunny demanded.

Sandy frowned and shook his head. He had no idea where they could be.

Then Sandy's eyes widened, unknowingly at the exact same time as Pitch's.

For while Sandy could hear wishes, Pitch could hear fears.

It was at that moment that two child spirits were wishing and hoping with all their might, while their fears screamed out louder than ever before.


Lillian had drawn her cloak around herself, thanking herself yet again for thinking to wear it. She only wished she had thought to wear her boots, since her feet were a little cold. But she thought they were going to Mother Nature's and it would be much warmer there than Jack's room. In fact, she had almost not worn her cloak at all, but the thought of what Pitch would say had helped her.

That, and Jack's room was freezing.

She looked glumly at the wall of water that was blocking the mouth of the cave. With that there, there was no way they were getting out of here. She wished Pitch would come save them, but how could he find them?

What if Pitch never finds us?

Lillian's fear called out.

What if nobody finds us?! What if -

Lillian squeezed her eyes shut.

No!

Pitch WOULD find them.

He WOULD save them.

He had to.

Lillian opened her eyes again and glanced at Jack. To her dismay, Jack had sat down so he was leaning against a cave wall, looking flushed.

He had this terribly lost look in his eyes that she didn't like.

He doesn't think we'll get out of here, she suddenly realized.

Does he think we'll..

A memory came to her then, of a little girl sitting on the snow, wishing that she wouldn't sleep forever like her mommy.

Lillian stifled a sob and blinked her eyes against the tears that were threatening to fall.

NO!

She wouldn't let that happen!

She discreetly wiped her eyes and then walked towards the mouth of the cave.

Jack turned his head to look at Lillian, when realized that she was moving.

"What are you..?" he trailed off.

"Looking for a way out," Lillian said, her voice sounding much too grown up for one who looked so young. Her voice sounded hard, and determined. "We're getting out of here!"

Jack wrapped his arms around his legs as he watched Lillian.

I wish we would find a way out

He sighed as rested his head on his knees. He didn't want to worry Lillian, but he was starting to feel worse again. He had a feeling his cold, which had been going away, was now back with a vengeance.

How can we find a way out..? I don't think Pitch will ever find us.

Jack closed his eyes as his fear washed over him.

As his doubts and fears grew, a blue light on the globe grew even dimmer.


Jasper and Pitch appeared right in Jasper's room, to the surprise of one of the Fall sprites who was standing guard still over Jasper's paints.

Jasper couldn't help but give a small smile at that. She sure did love his paintings.

He walked over to her and picked her up gently in the palm of his hand.

"I have a job for you," he told her seriously.

Her eyes sparkled happily, but then she spotted Pitch in the background and shot him a distrustful look.

"It's alright," Jasper soothed her. "I have an important errand I must do, and I need you to lead me to Mother's Palace. I have.. I have business with her."

Jasper felt a little guilty about the lie, but he didn't have time to properly explain the situation to his sprite and he had a feeling that Pitch didn't care about removing a few of his less necessary appendages to get things moving along.

The sprite nodded and flew up into the air, her leaf-like wings fluttering. She took off like a shot and Jasper grabbed a hold of Pitch's arm as he ran out of the room.

"This way!"

A flabbergasted Pitch followed after Jasper.

"Are we running there?!"


I wish Pitch would save us!

I wish we would find a way out.

Please let Pitch save us..!

..I wish...

Sandy's eyes widened as he was suddenly barraged with wishes. Sure, children, adults and spirits were wishing all the time at he could constantly hear them in the background.

He was usually able to absorb them subconsciously or at least tune them out somewhat when he was busy, but these wishes were very powerful ones.

Except for that last one. That last one was very worrisome as it wasn't finished. It was as if the wisher had given up mid-wish, as if they had decided that wishing was pointless.

That hope was pointless.

He had a sinking feeling that it was either Jack or Lillian's wish and he didn't want to know what caused that.

He could tell from their wishes that they were in some sort of trouble, if they kept wishing that Pitch would find and save him.

A small part of himself was disappointed that Jack and Lillian weren't wishing for the Guardians to come save them, but he could understand. Their relationship was far from fixed, and Pitch had been there for them all along.

Well, mostly.

Sandy furrowed his brow. Even when Pitch was evil, he was still protective of Jack and Lillian.

Then he shook his head. He was getting off tangent here and they didn't have time waste.

A series of golden symbols appeared above his head and Bunny cursed.

Jack and Lillian, and quite possibly Pitch were all in trouble.

Bunny and Sandy shared a grim look before they dashed off to tell North.

It was time to assemble the Guardians.


Jamie sat with his friends at lunch, looking puzzled.

"Ok, so you overheard Mr. Underhill say what?" Jamie asked Pippa again.

"You know he likes to keep up with the news," she replied to Jamie. "So he gets all these updates on his phone, and I overheard him talking to Mrs. Grima about this one he got. It said that there was a waterfall that had frozen solid."

The kids all exchanged looks at that.

"You think it's Jack?" Monty asked.

"Who else could it be?" Caleb replied.

"But why?" Jamie asked. "And why so far away? You said it was in South America or Asia or something, right?"

Pippa shrugged.

"I didn't hear where it was. I was going to be late for my next class."

"The Guardians would know," Cupcake said reasonably. "Or Pitch."

Jamie shivered a little at that.

He could still remember the look Pitch gave them after he had caught them all talking about him.

Yeah, he wasn't about to go find the Boogeyman to ask what was going on with Jack.

Still.. Why would Jack freeze a whole waterfall?


Pitch had been running with Jasper, and he was not amused. Apparently, Jasper had no mode of transportation except for teleporting with his leaves, so they were forced to run after Jasper's sprite.

At least until they hit civilization, and Jasper lived very far away from civilization. After that, Jasper had decided that riding on top of cars was the way to go.

Jumping onto a moving vehicle was not on Pitch's list for fun things to do.

He sat grumpily on top of a bus that they had climbed on at a red light, when Jasper's sprite had flown up higher and had been more difficult to see. It was as he was sitting that the fear hit him all at once and his eyes widened in surprise.

What if Pitch never finds us?

What if nobody finds us?! What if -

The fear had paused, but then continued on in a whisper, as though the person thinking it didn't want to hear the rest.

What if we die?

That fear.. It sounded a lot like Lillian's, Pitch realized.

He was already overwrought with worry, and was starting to get more worried, when Jack's fear hit him next.

How can we find a way out..? I don't think Pitch will ever find us.

No one will find us.

We'll be alone here forever.

..At least until I melt and Lillian freezes.

It was that last thought that had Pitch sitting up straight.

He was about to yell at Jasper to get his stupid little fairy to hurry up, when they passed an electronics store and a news report came on. They passed by too quickly to see or hear much, but an image stuck in Pitch's mind.

It was a waterfall that was frozen solid.

And then he knew.. That's where they were.


A little before the kids' lunch hour, Lillian had been examining the mouth of the cave and was trying to quell her panic, which was threatening to overwhelm her.

The roar of the waterfall was deafening and she was dismayed to see that there really wasn't any way out of the cave, unless they decided to jump down to the water below.

She looked down at the water, which seemed to be a long way off doubtfully.

I wish Jack had his staff, she thought ruefully, unknowingly sending Sandy into a panic.

She stared out at the water and then remembered the time that Jack had dressed up as Jack Frost for Halloween.

"Do you need your staff to use your powers?" she had asked him.

"It helps me focus my powers. Like your bracelet helps you with yours. I can probably keep up the ice on my costume without it, and maybe use a little to amaze some kids, but I wouldn't be able to do much else." Jack had said.

Lillian continued to stare at the waterfall.

Jack's staff helped him focus his powers, but that meant it didn't actually create anything. That meant that Jack's powers were inside of him, waiting to be used.

Her bracelet helped focus her powers too, Jack had said, so that meant that it didn't actually create anything either. All her powers were still deep inside her, waiting to be used.

The air around them was cool because of the waterfall, she knew. But what if the air were colder?

She knew she could raise the temperature of things, so that meant she probably could do the opposite and lower temperatures as well.

She took a deep breath, and concentrated harder than she ever had before. She had closed her eyes to concentrate, but if she had opened them, she might have seen her fingertips begin to glow softly.

She could feel the air around her, little by little, get colder and colder. When the temperature near the water was significantly lower, she called out to Jack.

"Jack, come here!"

Jack frowned as he heard the strain in Lillian's voice. Concerned for his friend, he slowly got up to his feet and wandered over by her.

"What - " Jack started then stopped. He gasped as he felt that air by Lillian was much colder than the rest of the cave.

"Freeze the water Jack," Lillian said to him, her eyes still closed. "You can do it! We can use our powers still. It'll get Pitch's attention. He'll find us!"

Jack looked down at Lillian. He really didn't think she'd be able to do much of anything without her bracelet, but here she was, changing the temperature.

Jack could see how much his friend was concentrating and how much of a strain it was to try doing so much without her bracelet.

If she could do it, then he could too.

With that thought in mind, Jack reached out as far as he could from the cave.

He closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could.

This would work.

..It had to.


Pitch Black stormed into Mother Nature's palace with Jasper and his sprite on his heels. It had been a very annoying and tiring trip to the palace. Not to mention extremely tense after he had seen the news report.

As they were already well on the way to Mother Nature's, Pitch had decided to continue on with the trip as he had a thing or two to say to her.

His black cloak flared after himself and if there had been any spirits left, they would have all fled in terror at the sight of his expression.

Mother Nature stood from her throne as Pitch stormed inside. She looked completely shocked, before she clenched her hands into fists at her sides.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded.

"How dare you!" Pitch shouted as he walked right up to her. "HOW DARE YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM!?"

Mother Nature glowered at Pitch, a look which was returned tenfold.

"So, you've come to find them? When you didn't look for me?"

For an instant, it looked to a stunned Jasper that Pitch was going to hit Mother Nature, but then Pitch lowered his hand, as if catching himself.

"I NEVER stopped looking..!" Pitch said, his voice sounding outraged while he had a tortured look on his face. "YOU were the one who turned their back on ME! AND on Jack and Lillian! Who is in charge of all the Seasonals?! And yet you sit here in your palace, while they're in harm's way! What kind of Mother are you?!"

Mother Nature reeled back as if she had been slapped. Angry tears formed in her eyes as she glared at Pitch.

"You replaced me! You don't care about me..! You have a new daughter! A new child. You have no need of me. You replaced me just as you tried to all those years ago. I remember what you did to that girl!"

Mother Nature said, referring to what Pitch had done to Katherine so long ago. Pitch didn't really remember much about that, really. But he did remember bits and pieces of the terrible fight he had with Mother Nature then. It had been similar to this one, and she had accused him of replacing her then too.

"I wasn't myself then!" Pitch said angrily to Mother Nature. "And didn't you think I could have enough love for more than one child?!"

Mother Nature opened her mouth to argue more, but Pitch cut her off.

"I know that they aren't my biological children," Pitch snapped. "But they have earned the right to be called MY children, unlike you! I am ashamed to call you my daughter! How could you do this to them..?!"

Pitch said, his voice breaking at the end. Tears sparkled in his eyes, but he held them back.

"They trusted you," he said more quietly. "You were their leader and you betrayed them."

Mother Nature, who was normally so stoic and calm to her Seasonals, twisted her hands with anxious look on her face.

"..I.." she said, sounding suddenly like a small child who was being reprimanded.

"You make this right." Pitch said to her. "Tell me where they are. Now."

"..Father.." Mother Nature said in a small voice.

"You and I have much do discuss," Pitch said, his voice sounding strained. "But.. please. Tell me."

Looking thoroughly ashamed of herself, Mother Nature hung her head.

Jasper, stood staring at the two with his mouth open, as he realized he could hear Mother Nature whispering something to Pitch Black.

What was that all about?!


Author's Note: Whew! There was a lot going on. I hope you guys like this chapter. I was a little iffy about the poor Guardians being so clueless, but I guess that's what happens when nobody tells them everything! So who do you think will reach Jack and Lillian first? Pitch or the Guardians? Also, I can imagine that Pitch's talk with Mother Nature later might be Tea Time with Mother Nature, which I think would be cute. If they can sit like adults without screaming at one another, anyway.

Did you like that I threw Jamie and the kids in there? I wasn't going to, but then I thought I should. If you're wondering about the waterfall, Lillian lowered the temperature around the water to make it easier for Jack to freeze it, since they both can't do a whole lot without their staff/bracelet, or so they think. Lillian realized that they probably could do much more than Jack thinks they can, since they still have all their powers, it's just harder for them to use them without their staff/bracelet to help focus their powers.

Anyway, I won't say when the next update is, since that always seems to backfire on me. If you have any suggestions for further plot, etc, feel free to let me know!