Cadence had been more dormant since Pitch had dealt with Jack in Antarctica.

Right now, her head hung in defeat. Seeing her best friend blasted into a chasm can really take a number on one's spirit. She still pictured the horrified look on Jack's face. It would forever haunt her memories.

Pitch had already left for the North Pole. Cadence had never felt so helpless. Some how she had fallen asleep. She knew it was a mistake, but she didn't fight it. She guessed that Pitch had put her to sleep to keep her from trying to escape. But she was just too tired to think...

She opened her eyes upon hearing a noise. The Mini Fairies had gone silent. From the darkness, Cadence heard the sound of bare footsteps.

"Cadence?!" A familiar voice shouted.

"Jack!" Cadence shouted back. She crawled up to the bars of her cage. Jack came out of the inky blackness that surrounded Cadence's prison.

"Jack! You're okay!" Cadence cheered.

Jack didn't seem to have the same enthusiasm. Instead, he kept an annoyed look with a bit of anger.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Jack's look seemed unnerving to Cadence.

"You seemed to be happy for someone who's best friend got blasted down a chasm." Jack spat.

Cadence was a little stunned. "Jack, there was nothing I could do! Pitch had me-"

As fast as lightning, Jack came right up to the bars on Cadence's cage and slammed his fist on them. The speed and ringing sent Cadence backwards in surprise and shock.

"If I didn't have feelings for you we wouldn't be in this mess!" Jack shouted in rage.

"..." Cadence was baffled and scared beyond words. Jack would never act like this. "Feelings?"

"Yes. I've felt pity for you all of these years! You actually thought I could love someone like you?" Jack scolded.

Hot tears began to flow down Cadence's cheeks. Suddenly the ground started shaking, rocks and boulders began tumbling down. Before a gigantic rock could even smash Cadence...

"Cadence!" Jack was shaking Cadence awake.

"Wha? Jack?" Cadence asked groggily.

Jack let out a breath of relief. "You were screaming my name, what happened-"

POW!

Cadence punched Jack straight in the face. He stammered back a few feet, trying to regain his senses. "What the hell!?" He shouted.

"I had to make sure you were real!" Cadence shouted.

"Well, I'm real." Jack put a hand to his jaw to make sure it wasn't broken.

"Wait, how are you here?"

Jack smiled and showed off his newly fixed staff. "Let's just say, I found out a lot more about myself that made me happy."

"You looked at your memories?" Cadence smiled. "What happened to you?! Did you have a family?"

"I'll tell you about it later, right now, we need to get to Jamie Bennett's house."

"Why?" Cadence gave a confused look as to why they would need to foot a twelve-year-old's house.

Jack pointed his staff to the Globe at the center the room. All the lights had gone out, except on that was positioned over the state of Pennsylvania.

"Okay, let's go." Cadence said quickly and held onto Jack. "But what about the fairies?"

"They can't fly, not enough kids believe in them. But I left their cages open." Jack flew them out of the Lair at top speed. "Where's Pitch anyway?"

"He went to the North Pole and left me here. But when he sees the light on the globe there's no doubt he'll be heading for Jamie, as well." Cadence replied.

Jack and Cadence were outside Jamie's bedroom window. Jack opened the window to hear what Jamie was saying to his stuffed rabbit.

"Okay, look, you and I are obviously at what they call a crossroads. So here's what's going to happen: if it wasn't a dream and if you're real, then you have to prove it. Like, right now." Jamie stared at the bunny. When nothing happened, Jamie said, "I believed in you for a long time, okay? Like, my whole life, in fact. So you kinda owe me now." Jamie hugged the rabbit this chest. "You don't have to do much, just a little sign so I know. Anything. Anything at all."

Moments passed in silence before Jamie dropped the toy to the floor. "I knew it." Jamime whispered.

Cadence was pushing Jack and mouthing: Do something! Jack's mind raced before he thought of an idea. He slipped into Jamie's room and frosted the window on the inside. Jamie twisted around, hearing the crackling sound of ice on his window. Cadence hid under the window sill hoping she wasn't seen.

Once the window was frosted, Jack drew a rabbit. He concentrated on getting the drawing to hop off the window and around the room.

"Whoa!" Jamie was thrilled as the rabbit leaped into his bedroom and then burst into hundreds of tiny snowflakes above his head.

"Snow?" Jamie asked.

A large snowflake landed on Jamie's nose. The snowflake glittered blue before the magic collected into Jamie's eyes. "Jack Frost?"

Cadence's attention was grabbed when Jamie said Jack's name. She peeked over the window sill looked at the scene.

"He said my name?" Jack blinked before putting on the biggest smile Cadence had ever seen. "He said my name!"

Jamie turned around and his eyes widened even more. "Jack Frost!" He said breathlessly.

"He said my name again!" Jack cheered. When Jamie stared at him he came to a realization. "Wait. C-Can you hear me?"

Jamie nodded with his jaw hanging open.

"And you can see me?"

Jamie nodded again.

"He sees me! He sees me!" Jack leaped around the room in joy and the room exploded with snow.

"You just made it snow!" Jamie exclaimed.

"I know!" Jack let the more exploded with more snow.

"In my room!"

"I know!"

"You're real?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah!" Jack said. "Who do you think brings you all the blizzards and snow days, and remember when you went flying in the sled the other day?"

"That was you?" Jamie's excitement grew.

"That was me!" Jack gushed.

"What about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?" Jamie asked.

"Real, real, real!" Jack answered. "Everyone of us is real!"

Just then, Jamie's mom called from down the hall. "Jamie? Who are you talking to?"

"Uh, Jack Frost?" Jamie answered cautiously.

"Uh, okay." Jamie's mom laughed.

"Uh, Jack," Cadence said from the window. "You may want to see this." Cadence gestured behind her at the scene below in the street. North's sleigh had landed and the reindeer got loose and made a break for the woods.

Jamie gave her a curious look. "Aren't you the vampire girl I saw a few days ago?"

"I'm not a vampire!" Cadence snapped. She slid down the roof and landed on her feet on the icy ground. She ran towards North and Tooth as Jack flew beside her.

When they noticed the two running toward them, Tooth tried to fly to them, but her wings gave out. "Cadence! You're alright!"

"What are you doing here?" North asked them both.

"Same as you." Jack answered. He motioned to Jamie who had followed Jack and Cadence outside his house. Jamie stared at North and Tooth in awe.

"Jack! He can see you!" North exclaimed.

'How come no one acted like this when they met me?' Cadence growled in her head. But then she looked around, searching for a missing member. "Wait, where's Bunny?"

North looked down at the ground. "Losing Easter took its toll on all of us. But Bunny, most of all." North said sadly.

"Oh no," Cadence said under breath.

North stood aside to let a normal-sized bunny hop out of the sleigh.

"That's the Easter Bunny?" Jamie let out a giggle.

"Now somebody sees me! Where were you about an hour ago, mate?" Bunny ranted.

"What happened to him?" Jamie asked. "He used to be so huge and cool, and now he's . . . cute."

Bunny was at the edge of his nerves. "Did you tell him to say that?" He asked Jack. "That's it! Let's go! Me and you! Come on!" Bunny challenged. He took a little fighting stance while kicking Jack's leg.

Cance picked up the little rabbit by the back his neck, like how a mother lion would pick up her cub. "No, Bunny. He got Jamie to believe in you guys, again."

Bunny stopped fighting to get out of Cadence's grip. "He got him to believe in me?"

Suddenly, everyone turned when they heard thunder in the distance. Pitch was standing on a giant cloud of Nightmare sand in the air above them.

"Get Jamie out of here!" Jack ordered.

"You've got a plan, right?" Cadence asked.

"More or less." Jack shrugged before blasting off towards Pitch.

Bunny was dropped out of Cadence's grip and led the way through the neighborhood. Cadence brought out her sword and kept Jamie closer to her. She slashed any Nightmare who dared to come near Jamie while they ran through the town. Bunny had led them into an alleyway, but only to find that it was a dead end.

THUD! Jack had fallen onto a dumpster.

"That was a good try, Jack." North said encouragingly.

Jack could only think of one thing. "My staff. Pitch took it."

More thunder cracked at the entrance of the alleyway. Shadows began toCcreep along the walls of the alley. Pitch's voice boomed down. "All this fuss over one little boy. And still he refuses to stop believing. Very well. There are other ways tosnuff out a light." As if to prove his point, Pitch's shadow began breaking the lightbulbs in the alley.

"You want him, you're going to have to go through me!" Bunny threatened, getting in front of the group.

Pitch laughed. "Look how fluffy you are! Would you like a scratch behind the ears?" The shadow of Pitch's hand tried to scratch Bunny, but he jumped back into the safety of North's arms.

"Don't even think about it." Bunny retorted.

Pitch's shadow disappeared and was replaced by the sound of hooves trotting down the alley's pavement. The real Pitch appeared, riding on the biggest Nightmare.

Cadence stood defensively in front of Jamie. Her sword, gleaming in the light of the full moon, held in front of her. She felt no trance of fear. Instead, she felt anger. Anger for the pain of feeling helpless. Anger for when Pitch used her as a hostage against her best friend. Anger, for her hatred for Pitch.

"You are not going to touch him." Cadence growled. Her words, as if she had muttered a spell, caused the Nightmares to back away from her. Her bravery would not let the Nightmares come anywhere near Jamie, who clung to the back of Jack's leg.

"Jack, I'm scared." Jamie confessed in a small voice.

Jack's eyes flashed for a moment before he faced Jamie. "We're gonna have a little fun instead."

Pitch continued to close in on them. "So, what do you think, Jamie? Do you believe in the Boogeyma-"

SPLAT!

A snowfall hit Pitch in the face. Jamie laughed as Pitch wiped away the snow. Jack created another snowball in his hand.

"I do believe in you," Jamie said, "I'm just not afraid of you."

Another snowball hit Pitch in the face. With Pitch distracted, the Guardians, Jack and Cadence, and Jamie ran out of the alleyway. Along the way, Jack picked up a few wooden crates, a trash can lid, and a wok.

"Ready for a little more fun?" Jack asked Jamie.

Whoosh!

Jack flew along the street, with Jamie and Cadence by his side. The Guardians followed them on the makeshift sleds Jack had given them.

"Let's go get your friends," Jack told Jamie.

A few minutes later, the children and the Guardians were gathered in the middle of town. Pitch stood on a rooftop, churning his Nightmare sand into a giant wave, that was about to crash over the town.

"You think a few children can help you?" Pitch chided the Guardians. "Against this?" And with that, Pitch made the Nightmare sand make it's way towards the group.

Cadence noticed the fear in Jamie's eyes. "Jamie, they're just bad dreams." She assured him.

"And we'll protect you." Bunny added as he, Jack, North, Tooth, and Cadence moved in front of the children, blocking them from the Nightmare sand.

"Aww, you'll protect them." Pitch sneered. "But who will protect you?"

"I will." Jamie volunteered. He stepped forward in front of the Guardians.

One by one, Jamie's friends each volunteered and stepped in front of the Guardians. Then the nightmare sand rushed toward them.

"They're just bad dreams." Jamie reminded his friends. The kids put their hands out as the Nightmare sand barreled into them. But instead of swallowing them and hurting everybody, the black sand turned into golden dreamsand!

"Whoa. . ." Cadence smiled. Every strand of Nightmare sand that the kids touched turned into dreamsand. Soon, the Nightmares were running every which way, trying to get away from the dreamsand. Cadence watched the dreamsand go into the windows of children's bedrooms.

And as if there wasn't enough amazement to be had, North could feel his his power rushing back and Tooth's wings began to flap again, lifting her high up into the sky.

"Okay, my turn!" Tiny Bunny cheered as he expected to regrow. But instead he was chased by a huge Nightmare. "Crikey!" He dove under a car, but the Nightmare caught him by the tail. But when the Nightmare tried to pull Tiny Bunny out from under the car, he was surprised to pull full-size Bunny out instead. "'Ello, mate." Bunny said before taking out his boomerang an slicing the Nightmare in half.

Jack and Cadence were working together to slash and ice oncoming Nightmares. They were soon joined by yetis, elves, and Bunny's giant sentinel eggs.

"Oh, hey Phil." Jack greeted the Yeti next to him. He scanned the scene and saw Pitch on the same rooftop. But Pitch disappeared down the roof to the other side of it. But before Jack went after Pitch, he turned to Cadence. "You stay here."

"Fine." Cadence grumbled.

With a smile, Jack ran off after Pitch with the Guardians in tow. Cadence, who no longer had to fight any Nightmares thanks to the yetis and eggs, joined the kids who were playing in the dreamsand. She watched as the kids turned the dreamsand into their own creations. Cupcake had created a giant unicorn that she rode around the park, laughing her head off in joy.

DING! The children's creations gave Cadence an idea. She ran up to a lonely stream of golden dreamsand and thought of one thing.

"Sandy." She said. Cadence took the dreamsand into her hands and concentrated on Sandy's image in her mind. After a few moments, a hand rested on Cadence's shoulder. She opened her eyes to Sandy smiling at her.

"Sandy! You're back!" Cadence smiled brighter than ever.

Sandy smiled in return and brought out a lasso. He swung the loop around and flung toward an alleyway, and pulled back, dragging Pitch along with it. The Guardians ran up and were filled with joy at the return of their old friend.

Sandy then rose above the battle, shooting strands of golden dreamsand in every direction. Nightmares quickly disappeared, leaving behind only happy was so much dreamsand floating around that Sandy turned some into a gigantic brontosaurus. Everyone cheered as Sandy created more creatures out of dreamsand.

Somewhere within those few moments a snowball fight broke out amongst the kids. But before Cadence got into the fun, she spotted something shimmering in Pitch's hand. It was thenecklace he stole from Cadence.

"I'll take that!" Cadence smirked as she yanked it out of Pitch's grasp and put it back around her neck. She looked over to see Jack talking to North with a large smile on his face. She walked up to them. Noh saw her coming and went to join the Guardians were battling the little kids in the snowball fight.

"So, what do we do now?" Cadence asked Jack. She watched the children pelt each other with snowballs. Jack looked at her. Her hair was completely messed up and her gleaming purple eyes flashed with power and pride. His cheeks blushed in twenty shades of red. This was no longer the little girl he found in woods, freezing to death. She was now a brave, beautiful woman.

"Hey, uh, Cadence?" Jack stammered.

"Yes?" She looked at him with large eyes.

"I've been meaning to tell you something." Jack gripped his staff tightly.

"What is it?"

"W-Well, I . . . Uh, I . . ." Jack's mind raced to find the right words. "For the past . . . Uh. . . What I'm trying to tell you is-"

Jack's mind went completely blank when Cadence pulled him into a kiss. She pressed his lips to her's, and it started out as a soft kiss that lingered. Then it was like something in them clicked. They were kissing deeply and hugging closely.

Claude and Caleb came up to throw snowballs at them, but then stopped.

"Ugh!" Claude held his stomach.

"Gross!" Caleb wretched as they both walked away and threw the snowballs on the ground.

Cadence didn't notice. The entire world melted and she felt like she was walking on cloud 9. Jack dropped his staff and hugged Cadence closer to him.

Nothing could ruin this moment.

Until. . .

Cadence gasped when she felt a sharp burning pain in her lower torso. She pulled away from Jack as warm blood gushed out where a dagger had imbedded itself in her stomach. Behind Cadence, Jack could see Pitch smirking, as if he had won some prize. Cadence only had one second to look at Jack before she collapsed in his arms.

"Cadence, no!" Jack pleaded.

Blood seeped out of her wound, turning the snow into an ugly crimson color. The dagger was still inside Cadence's lower back. The metal had sliced through her parka with little effort and dug straight in to her skin. Cadence cried out in pain as she finally felt the effect of the dagger. A searing burn flared up her side, consuming her in agony and making her mind go blank. Jack pulled out the dagger in a swift motion, causing Cadence to whimper in pain. The Guardians had gathered around when they heard Cadence cry out in pain.

"North, do something! please!" Jack was on the verge of tears. His best friend was dying in his arms.

"Quickly, come." North instructed as he brought out a snow globe.

"Cadence, hold on." Jack's words were already echoing in her head.

Cadence could only feel her body go limp as she saw nothing but blackness.