A/N: New chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!

Disclaimer: I don't own rise of the Guardians

Back

Jack blinked at finding himself back in the North Pole the same exact spot he'd left, the only difference he could see was that the Globe room was no longer filled with Grim reapers.

Jack barely had time to acclimate to the fact that the pull was gone, but the desire to go back, to try and find the family he lost was still there when he heard his name being called.

"Jack."

He turned his head, to see Jessica and Nicholas hurrying up to him.

For a moment they blinked at him… "You're hair…" Nicholas said before he shook his head. "We'll worry about that later… did you see Sarah? How is she?"

His stomach twisted as he thought of what he'd experienced and the things he'd revealed while

under Sarah's influence. "I'm sorry." He said as they approached. "She knows about Krampus' ultimatum."

Nicholas and Jessica's eyes widened, but Nicholas' shone with understanding quicker than Jessica's. "She used her power."

"She knew I was hiding something," Jack said. "I'm sorry."

Nicholas closed his eyes. "It's not your fault. I've should have seen that coming. Sarah hadn't used that power for years; I didn't think she'd use it against you."

"It's alright."

"It's not," Nicholas said. "When we get her back, we'll discipline her."

Jack looked down for a moment thinking about what he wanted to say before he started telling them about Sarah. "She was asleep when I got there. From what I saw there wasn't a scratch on her, I woke her, and we explained what happened. And she must have seen something about my expression because she then insisted that I tell her everything, eventually using her power to force the info from me."

Nicholas closed his eyes. "I knew there was a danger in teaching her that, but I also wanted to give her a way to protect herself. I'm sorry."

Jack didn't know what to say, to comfort them, and instead just stayed quiet.

"Is there a risk of her escaping?"

Jack shook his head, "From what I could tell, the only way to leave was through the scythes."

"So, all she has to do is use her voice against them"

Jack shook his head, "No."

Nicholas tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Jack smiled softly, "Well… a Grim wouldn't be good at their jobs if they could be manipulated with magic, could they?"

Nicholas stared at Jack for a moment before he slumped forward in relief.

When it was clear that Nicholas and Jessica were relieved by the news, Jack moved aside and sought out his daughter.

He didn't find her, instead found Sophie; her feet freed, but still looking quite annoyed.

"Hey, Soph," Jack said.

Her annoyance melted at seeing her former flame. "Hey,"

"Where's Jackie?"

Sophie gestured her chin to a point behind Jack. Jack turned to see Jackie on the phone. "She's grounded for a month when this is over." She said almost seething.

"She was trying to protect her family and friends?" Jack tried.

Sophie glared at Jack, before looking back down. "I know." She covered her eyes,

Jack wrapped his arm around Sophie, "Our girl is growing up." He said. "As much as I want to protect her…" Jack stared at his little girl, remembering how he'd tried to stop her from fighting only to have her prove moments later that she could handle herself just fine.

"She's 13," Sophie said. "She's too young. She was too young 3 years ago, and she's still too young now."

"She's our daughter, Sophie," Jack said rubbing her shoulders. "She'll always be too young to us."

Sophie looked up at Jack for a moment before she sighed. "How was Sarah?" She asked changing the subject.

Jack's face clouded over, and he looked down.

"That bad?" Sophie asked concerned.

Jack nodded once, "She used her ability on me."

Sophie's eyes widened and she put her hands to her mouth.

Jack nodded, "I… fought her off as much as I could. But… I couldn't stop myself from telling her about the ultimatum…" Jack said then he looked down. "Or part of it."

Sophie put a hand to her forehead before she looked up at Jack. Concern clear in her expression.

"Are you alright?"

Jack thought of what he'd experienced, that pull, that sense of home. How he'd felt after Sarah used her powers. How even after his experience with Sarah, he'd still felt drawn to that afterlife.

Jack looked at his former lover, part of him wanted to just smile and laugh and tell her that he was fine, but the other part - the part that was still that little colonial boy; the part that was tired and sore, and still recovering from his time under Pitch's thumb, wanted to talk about it; the part of him that had been called to in that afterlife - didn't want to play this off.

"No," Jack said shaking his head. "I'm not ok," he told the girl who'd always seen the part of him that had once been human. The girl who had spent hours at the Burgess archives looking for all the records she could find of his family. Because when she looked at him, she saw everything. The spirit of winter, and the once human boy who'd had a family.

And just like she'd done when she was 15 and had just given Jack the records of his old family, she opened her arms.

Jack stared at her in relief, this was why he'd fallen in love with her. She saw him. He was never just the Spirit of Winter. Never just the maverick. Never just a being of chaos and fun.

With Sophie, Jack was also a person who'd been hurt, and lost and alone. He could cry, and be angry, and rage at the world, at the stars, at the moon and even on occasion the guardians. She'd seen him at his absolute worst and had never once treated him differently because of it.

No. She just loved him.

And just like all those years ago, when things were simpler, he wrapped his arms tightly around Sophie buried his head in her shoulder and let the tears pour.

"It felt like home." He whispered through his tears. "The afterlife felt like home."

Sophie, said nothing, but she didn't need to, instead, she just tightened her grip on him, and let him cry.

A/N Thanks for reading! Please review!