A/N

Heeeeeey...I'm back. Missed you!

Sorry I'm late, but here you guys are! Please enjoy! You guys deserve it and more~

Memories

Jack nearly blacked out when he landed back in his master's lair. He hadn't had the time to heal and nurse his injuries with more than a light frosting. The pain from his ribs and shoulder was immense, especially after putting up such a show for the Guardians. The shadow travel really jostled his injuries and he felt like curling into a ball as soon as he was thrown onto the stone floor.

A small whimper escaped him and he looked down at the confused and shell shocked fairy he'd been holding close. Then, without warning, his staff was roughly pulled from his grasp. Pain shot through his body, but he instinctually pulled Baby Tooth closer to himself, sending agony through his dislocated shoulder at the protective movement. He'd had no choice but to hold the little fairy with his injured arm, as he had required his good one to fight off the Guardians. The pain was sharp and true, bringing him to his knees and blurring his vision.

"Well Jack, I'm actually proud of you." Pitch said, stepping out of the darkness, Jack's staff held calmly in one hand. "The shadows say you were quite convincing."

Jack panted, completely exhausted and ashamed of what he'd done. He felt like he had really started something with the Guardians. That they were becoming friends. That he…he felt like…maybe…what was he kidding? He's a worthless slave and all he ever was before that was an unwanted spirit. Why would any of it change now?

"Now…Hand her over Jack." Pitch said, extending a hand as a triumphant grin spread across his face.

Jack looked down at the little fairy. He could see she was confused and shocked, but above all…she looked brave. She had resigned herself to the fate that has befallen her, but there was a defying glint in her mismatched eyes. So much unlike himself, Jack realized. He had no fight left in him. Pitch controlled him through and through, but Baby Tooth still had that spunk. She may be trapped, but she would go down fighting.

That sparked something in Jack. Something he never imagined feeling, but it was familiar at the same time. He felt protective. He felt defiant. He felt like this was…this was his job. Like it was something he had to do. He needed to do. He…wanted to do.

He had to protect her.

Clenching his jaw tight, he pulled Baby Tooth closer to his chest, ignoring the pain this caused. He felt his nerves set and he looked at his master, a hard glint to his eyes.

"No."

One word. It was one word, but it carried so much weight to it. One word. One syllable, yet conveying volumes of defiance. Jack would protect the little fairy. He would take beating after beating, but he would not let Pitch pluck one feather off her being.

Pitch read this message easily, and his grin slipped in to a snarl.

"No?" The Nightmare king mocked.

"I won't let you hurt her." Jack didn't know what had overcome him. He never defied his master. His heart was hammering, but he wouldn't stop. "I brought her here, as you told me too. I probably made the Guardians hate me, just like you wanted me to. I've done everything you told me to, as I always do, but I will not let you hurt this fairy."

"Oh really?"

"Yes." Jack said, the steel in his voice never wavering.

Pitch held the boy's gaze, never breaking. A battle of will ensued, but Jack remained as steady as he did.

Finally, Pitch sighed and dropped his hand, which had remained extended throughout the confrontation.

"Fine Jack. If that's what you choose."

Before Jack even had the time to hear the malice in Pitch's tone, he had snapped his staff in half.

The pain was like nothing Jack had ever felt before. All the years of Pitch's beatings and torture was hardly comparable to this. It was entirely different from any kind of physical pain that had ever been inflicted on him. It was as if something inside of him broke. Not a bone, but something more vital to his being. Something like his soul, if that were even possible. It was as if Pitch had managed to take a hit his very essence.

Jack yelped in pain, curling in on himself and doubling over on the cold stone floor. Whatever had been severed inside of him was agonizing, but still he clutched Baby Tooth close to himself. He would protect her.

"Then, I'm afraid, you'll have to stay here." Pitch said, dropping the two halves of Jack's staff to his feet. Calmly, Pitch folded his hands behind his back. "I was hoping to get some use out of you at the Pole, but it seems that something has sparked some defiance in you. No matter. I will soon correct that."

Pitch surveyed the pitiful spirit withering at his feet. It was obvious Jack was in immense pain, only focused enough to not loosen his protective hold on the mini fairy. Pitch could easily snatch the small creature from Jack, but he saw little progress in doing so. Fine. Let Jack have his little victory. He was powerless now anyways, and there was nothing a tiny, flightless fairy could do to help him.

Pitch cocked his head at the child, who was panting heavily with his eyes threatening to flutter shut. No. Nothing to fret about.

"I won't be long Jack." Pitch said, stepping around him and into the nearest shadow.

Jack shivered at his master's tone. He could hear the unspoken promise in his words.

He collapsed onto his back, utterly exhausted. He could feel himself drifting off, but a small chirp snapped him into attention.

Removing his cupped hand from his chest, Baby Tooth came into view, looking terribly worried.

"Hey Baby Tooth." Jack said, his attempt at smiling failing in the most glorious way. He tried to sit up, but his attempt only sent lightening through his shoulder. He winced painfully, deciding it was time he reset it.

Setting Baby Tooth on the ground for a moment, Jack, rather awkwardly and painfully, managed to maneuver and twist until he got the angle that would shove his arm back into his socket. Using the floor, it took three attempts. But he had improved. There was a time when so many attempts would've had him unconscious on the floor with nothing but a severely swollen and dislocated shoulder to show for his efforts. His pain tolerance had grown, and so had his capability to patch himself up.

Collapsing back on the ground, his shoulder back in place, he well and truly felt like sleeping. His ribs were still aching him, but he couldn't do so much about that. They would have to heal in their own time.

A frantic chirping made his eyes fly open. Baby Tooth was sitting beside his head and pushing on his cheek. Had he fallen asleep?

"Sorry Baby Tooth." He croaked out, moving his good arm to his forehead as one does when they feel a headache coming on. "Mmm tired…"

Baby Tooth squeaked, and he gave her his full attention. Jack didn't know what she was saying, but she was very fierce about it. Maybe she didn't want him to go to sleep?

Groaning, Jack sat himself up and scooted back until he could lean against the wall. Baby Tooth followed him, and when Jack held out his hand for her to crawl in, she accepted it, sneezing in the process. She wrapped her arms around herself.

"Sorry." Jack sighed. "All I can do is keep you cold."

Baby Tooth seemed to chirp sadly at that.

Jack rested his hands, along with Baby Tooth, in his lap. He leaned his head back until it met the stone wall.

"I'm sorry I got you into this." He said, not even opening his eyes. "He…he gave me no choice and I-I…I'm really sorry." He sighed deeply, finally looking at the mini fairy, what he said to the Guardians flickering across his mind. "I messed everything up."

Baby Tooth moved off of Jack's hand, trying to get closer to him and give a little comfort. She leaned up against his stomach and met something solid. Curious, she tried to feel it through the fabric of his hoodie pocket and remembered the tooth canister. Excitedly, she crawled into his pocket, pressing on the center diamond. It glowed brightly and, instantly, she felt Jack jump, knowing that voices from his past were calling to him.

"Jack!"

Jack's hoodie pocket was glowing, and a sweet, young feminine voice called out to him from within. A moment later, he remembered he'd put his tooth canister there when he'd been facing off the Guardians.

"Jack?"

"That voice, I-I know that voice…" He mumbled, and a second before he reached to grab the canister, Baby Tooth walked out of his pocket, sitting patiently on his leg. He pulled out the glowing gold container and…well, stared at it.

"Jack!"

He had no idea what this would show him. What would he find? Had his past-self done something horrible? Something horrible enough to deserve almost a hundred years of isolation and then an additional two centuries or so of pain?

Or…was there something good? Something normal? Something happy?

He looked at Baby Tooth, who nodded in encouragement.

Taking a deep breath, Jack placed his hand over the center gem, and his world dissolved into a moment of colorful diamonds, which cleared away to reveal…himself. Only, a little different.

Brown eyes and brown hair? Well, white hair was unusual for humans that looked as young as he did.

His past-self was running, turning around occasionally to look at a young girl with the same brown hair and eyes he had. He made faces at her and continued to bound through the trees.

"Jack, you can't have fun all the time." And older woman said.

Then the scene changed quickly, and his past-self was hanging from a tree branch by his legs. Three children laughed at him, but one, the same girl from before, also seemed concerned.

"Jack! Get down from there!" She shrieked.

Then it shifted again. His past-self was standing on a make shift stage holding what looked to be antlers to the side of his head. He couldn't hold back a small laugh as he watched himself.

"You're funny Jack!"

Then, that scene dissolved to show his past-self being dragged through a cottage door by the brown haired girl from the previous memories. Jack just knew that this was his sister. The women from the first memory was there also.

"Be careful." She said. His mom…

Past-Jack looked back at her and laughed. "We will"

The memory dissolved once more, and came back into focus on the two siblings.

"It's okay, it's okay! Don't look down, just look at me."

"Jack, I'm scared."

Cracking

"I-I know, I know, but you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. Uh…We're gonna have a little fun instead!"

"No we're not!"

"Would I trick you?"

"Yes! You always play tricks!"

A laugh. "Well, alright, well not-not-not this time. I promise, I promise you're gonna be…you're gonna be fine. You have to believe in me."

A gulp. Fearful.

"You wanna play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch! Like we play every day. It's as easy as, uh, one-" Cracking. "Woah!" Laughing. "Two…three."

Quiet.

"Aright. Now it's your turn. One." A gasp. "That's it, that's it. Two." More fear. "Three!"

A grunt.

Nervous laughs.

Horrible cracking.

"Jack!"

Darkness. It was dark and cold, just as it was in his earliest memory. Dark and cold and…he was scared. But the moon. There it was, so big and bright, just like before. It-it chased all the darkness away and Jack watched as his hair changed from brown to white. Then, the memories abruptly ended when once brown eyes shot open and revealed electric blue.

Jack was panting. So overwhelmed by his knew knowledge he was thankful to be leaning up against the stone wall, for he may have fallen over otherwise.

A family…He had a family!

"Did-did you see that?!" He asked Baby Tooth, sitting on the stone floor in front of him. The little fairy shook her head.

Jack scooped her up, unable to control his happiness. He hadn't felt so happy in so long!

"I-I had a family! I had a sister! I saved her!" He laughed nervously as Baby Tooth chirped excitedly. Then, he looked the little fairy in her mismatched eyes as another dot connected in his mind. "That…that's why he chose me…" Baby Tooth just grinned at him, cocking her head to the side. "I-I'm a Guardian…"

Finally. Finally, after so many years of pain, he had a purpose other than as Pitch's puppet. He was a Guardian. Bunny had told him, but now…he knew. He believed it.

Now he had to do his job.

"We have to get out of here." He said, setting Baby Tooth on his shoulder. But how? His staff was broken and he would be powerless, and foolish, to go after Pitch without his staff!

So he would just have to fix it.

Kneeling down in front of his broken conduit, Jack steadied himself. For once in his life, he was absolutely positive about something. He knew he could fix his staff.

Slamming the two ends together, he concentrated, pulling on the magic inside of him and channeling it through the wood. But his hands slipped, and he lost the connection. Growling once, he stood, slamming the pieces together once again and focusing. It seemed to take hours, but it worked! He felt that shattered part inside of him mend as well, and leaped into the air out sheer joy!

In the corner of his eye, he saw Pitch's globe.

Oh no.

Almost all the lights were gone.

There's…there's only one!

Jack landed on the globe and saw the last light. It glowed strong and bright, not flickering even once.

"That's here. That's in Burgess!"

Jack couldn't believe his luck! The last light was so close, and he knew that he had to go and protect this child. He looked back at the small, golden light.

"Hang in there kid." He said, and rushed off.

A/N

I tried to keep the memories as under-detailed as possible. We've seen the movie and read fics about the memories several times I'm sure! I didn't feel like it needed a whole lot of description, ya know? Wanted you to be able to visualize the scenes from the movie as closely as possible! Thank you all again for reading and supporting me! You are all so wonderful! And I promise, there is more to come! I have a few more surprises up my sleeve :)

Guest Review Responses:

To the Guest who said: How is it that Bunnymund is nicer to Jack here than he was in the movie? Simple my friend. Bunny and Jack both are different. Bunny, unlike in the movie, has no grudges against Jack. He has been raked by guilt for decades over not saving the kid, and he's worked too hard, and worried too much, to lose him so easily. There are so many factors to take in, but the biggest thing is that Bunny actually likes Jack in my story at this point. In the movie, Bunny had labeled him as nothing but a "trouble maker who freezes water pipes and messes with my egg hunts." The two are different. So, reactions are different too. But I'm glad you asked! There may have been others wondering this, and I really am happy to answer any questions! Thank you!

To the Guest who said: Was Jack healed somehow!? Gotta know what happens! If you update soon, I'll give you cookies made out of my tears and feels collected from all the angsty fanfiction I've read :) Nope! Not healed, just a good actor ;) He's had to deal with pain a lot in his life...And I don't deserve cookies! *weeps* I'm so sorry! I left for far too long! Please, hand them out to the deserving and patient readers! I mean seriously...you guys rock! Thank you!

Sparklehannah: Wow, what a great review and what a wonderful guess actually! I didn't even think of that to be honest XD But it would've been interesting to have seen that too! And just...wow! So many words, and I can't tell you how grateful I am to see you liking the story! Thank you, thank you so much, as always!

Elena'Guest: Hello Elena! Very pleased to meet you and thank you for your lovely review! I love excitement, so I'm honored to have been the recipient of so much! And, I'm sorry. I probably didn't update as fast as everyone may have wanted. But I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy, because there is lots to come!

Ikia: Thank you! And I will! I Promise! Til the very end :)

Sheepgirl3: I updated *nervous laugh*