A/N: Hey guys! Thanks again for being so patient with me. I am so sorry about the lateness of this chapter, but I had exams to prepare for. They're all over now though, so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently. I'm excited to share with you all what's in store for Ava and Jack. Enjoy!

"Jack?" a female voice came from inside the room. Jack flew through the window and landed smoothly, setting me down gently. I smiled and looked around the room. Four figures stood slightly dumbfounded; staring at us. "Who is this?" an Australian accent came out of the large kangaroo thing. More importantly, who was this?

Jack took a breath and looked...proudly? Towards me, "Guys, this is Ava. Ava, these are the Guardians."

"Ummm...hi." I found myself suddenly very shy. I looked at each of them. There was the sandman, that was all he could be; a short little guy made completely of golden sand. Then there was Santa, tall and large, with a long white beard. Not what I had expected. Then there was the fairy, the Tooth Fairy, she had feathers all the colors of the rainbow, most though, were pink. Her wings fluttered quickly behind her, keeping her afloat. Multiple miniature look alikes floated around her head; all staring at me. The last, the Easter Bunny, who I had earlier mistaken as a kangaroo. He was huge, not at all what I had expected. Boomerangs hung from his back, and I made a mental note not to mess with him.

"Hold on..." the kangaroo, I mean...Easter Bunny spoke again, "is she human? A believer?"

Here we go. "No...no I'm a ah...a spirit.." I trailed off. Should I tell them about myself? Would they even accept it?

Jack looked nervous as well, but hid it. "She and I have become good friends, we were going to go on an adventure, and meet tons of spirits. We already met two, and then we decided to come here, because Ava had never met you." he explained

"Jack." Santa spoke now, "We have big problem. Your spirit friend will have to wait." coming as even more of a surprise; Santa was Russian.

"Oh, North, hold on!" the Tooth Fairy's high pitched voice startled me, "Jack has met a girl! Oh this is wonderful! You two are soooo cuteee!" Oh no.

"Uh...Tooth it's not like-" Jack tried to explain but was cut off.

"Oh let me have a look at your teeth!" Oh no no no no. The Tooth Fairy launched herself at me, in full flight; straight to my mouth. "Open up!" on up she yanked my jaws open and poked around in my mouth. Her enthusiasm died quickly. "North..." she said, slowly taking her hands from my mouth.

"Vwhat?" Santa, or North, looked at me with interest. Only then did I notice the Sandman making an image of my father out of sand above his head. I praised the man in the moon that I couldn't feel my father's presence.

I sighed and bent my head slowly allowing my hair to cover my face. Jack half-heartedly tried to explain, but then the Tooth Fairy said, "It's her."

Everyone's head shot up. What did she mean? I looked over to Jack who gave me a confused look and shook his head.

"You don't mean...?" the Easter Bunny began

"Yes, it's Pitch's daughter."

"How did you know?" Jack asked, looking worried

An image of my mother being dragged away came to mind. Little me was yelling for her to come back, but the Guardians kept dragging her away. I closed my eyes to keep the tears at bay. How could I have been so stupid. I didn't belong with these people. I was just like my father.

"Let us go into globe room. Vwe have much to discuss." North said.

We all walking into a large room. Thousands of tiny elves were inside, either running about or watching us. "Ok." I said slowly, taking in the sight that was the Globe Room. Jack sat down on a nearby table and motioned for me to sit. I moved to where he stood.

"Where should we start?" the Tooth Fairy broke the silence while the rest of us twiddled our thumbs.

I decided to answer this one, "Where's my mother? If she's dead, ok. But I need to know."

It was quiet for a moment before there was an answer,"Your mother...is..." The Easter Bunny looked awkward, "She's...she's with Manny."

"So...she's dead." I sighed and accepted what I had known to be true.

The Guardians looked confused and stared at me for a moment. "She isn't dead." came from the Tooth Fairy, "She lives on the moon under Manny's protection. There is a long story behind your mother, Ava. Would you like to here it?"

I stared at her. At them. Was she telling the truth? My mother was still alive? "Of course." I said quietly; still not sure what to believe.

North spoke this time, "Vyour mother came to us in the early years. She asked us to try and make Pitch better. You see, your father was once human. A spell vwas cast on him by witch, and he vwas corrupted by darkness. Vwhen we could not cure 'im; your mother wanted us to save you both. We wvere unable to save you both."

I sunk in the information. I felt Jack grab my hand and took comfort in it. "She's alive?"

The Easter Bunny answered, his voice sad, "Yes, but no one but Manny can see her."

I looked down at my boots, "Oh." Jack squeezed my hand.

I thought about my mother again, zoning out the conversation. I thought Jack was telling them of what we had been through, but I couldn't be sure. My mother had been crying because she couldn't save me from my own father.

"Ava?" I looked up, tuning back into the conversation.

"What?"

"I asked if you were ok sleeping in my room. We don't have any guest rooms." a slight blush crept into my face, and Jack's did the same.

"Ummm...yeah, sure."

"Why don't you get to bed? You look exhausted." The Tooth Fairy said.

They wanted to discuss me and my father. Whatever, I really was tired. The portal had drained my energy. I nodded and walked out the room and Jack followed me. "I'll be right back." he tossed behind his shoulders.

"Here I'll show you my room." he said, running a hand through his hair

I nodded again, still quiet from exhaustion and the load of information I had to soak in. My mother was alive. Giddiness shot though me. I could never see her, but she was alive. That was all that mattered.

Jack led me through the vast workshop. Yetis and elves wandered about. Toys of all kinds floated around me. A small dog, a huskie, ran up to me. He yipped at my feet and I laughed, bending down to pet his soft fur. The little dog licked my face, barking excitedly. "Who is this?" I asked Jack

He looked confused, "I don't know. North must have gotten him somewhere, or maybe he just snunk in by himself." Jack laughed, leaning on his staff.

I stood up, "Let's get going." Jack started to lead me through the workshop again, but the little pup continued to yip and follow close to my heels. I laughed.

"Looks like you've gained a friend." he smiled at me and I returned the favor.

"You have a nice smile." Jack said to me

My blush was intense.

"Ah...thanks...you too." I looked down at my feet awkwardly.

Jack ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry, not sure what got into me there." he blushed too, his face turning a dark shade of blue. I shook my head and smiled, my blush refusing to go away.

We reached the end of the long hall and came to a set of doors. Jack opened one of them, the one with the large, intricate snowflake pattern painted on the front. As he pushed the door open I could see ice patterns painted onto the walls, an illusion of gently falling snow on the ceiling. We walked in and I got the full picture. Everything was beautiful. The floor looked like ice, his bed had frost designs all over. A long blue cushioned couch stood in the corner of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, made to look like ice. "It's so beautiful." I marveled, soaking up the view.

Jack laughed nervously, "You think? Thanks. Umm.. you can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch. He nodded. I tentatively took a few steps towards the bed and found that the floor was not, in fact, ice. I sat down on the bed and looked towards Jack. "Thanks." I said softly, allowing a small yawn to escape. Jack smiled, "No problem. Are you all set? I think I still have to talk with the Guardians some more."

I smiled, "Yeah, thanks again. I'll see you in the morning." I said, crawling under the covers and closing my eyes. I sighed as the door closed behind Jack and settled in for the night.