A/C: Hey all! Thank you for the reviews! To answer some of you, I would be giving spoilers, so please be patient. lol

I hope that you all enjoy the story so far. Things are going to get interesting.

Oh and for those interested and OVER 18...I have another picture I did for this story. :) It is on y!gallery, so you have to have an acct to see it. My screenname there is jaysin or it will be on my tumblr jsinwallace.(insert tumblr). (you know, com).

Chapter Three

The two men returned back to North's factor after a few moments of flight. Their hair windswept as they descended through the window, a yeti waving a hand in irritation at Jack's sudden appearance, and North looking very cross. Jack gave the man a timid grin, shrugging his shoulders before lifting his hands up in submission. North let out a small sigh, eyes closing, and looking much sterner than the man usually did.

"Room in back. Is his." He said, his accent thicker and both men let themselves relax. For some reason, they thought they were trouble. It was like standing in front of your parents after having been caught skipping school for the first time. Jack felt a rush of relief though, knowing that the large man was more forgiving than any soul he had encountered in his long life. North just shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head in the direction of Eros' new room.

"Sorry...uh...about the ceiling..." Eros muttered out, grinning widely before reaching a hand out to touch the large man's forearm. North's entire body relaxed and a small smile formed on his face before he gave a short nod.

"No worry, accident happens." He said and the two smaller men returned North's smile before they headed off.

They all had rooms within the factory, each one decorated or filled with material that made them feel at home or would help them with their singular purposes. Tooth's was the most colorful room of them all. Decorated with gold painted furniture that rose high up in a canopy style room, brightly colored feathers and shining jewels hung around as if the entire room was a wind chime, and very little furniture near the floor. The room was pretty much a mini replica of Tooth's palace and just as busy. Little Tooth's buzzing and flittering around in the room to deliver news to her whenever she was there or to collect supplies. It was a rather obvious room for such a flighty creature and the lady never seemed to stop working.

Across from her room was Sandy's, whose was…as expected; only filled with a bed. A bed that almost as big as the entire room itself and with nothing else much really. When the sleep spirit was in the room though, it filled with golden sand, and it soon became a magical room full of joy. The one time that Jack had peeked in the room, he had spotted Sandy in a roller coaster ride from an amusement park that the man had created out of the golden dust. Of course, he had to join.

Bunnymund's room was…rather green. Everywhere. Honestly, it looked like the rabbit had dragged half of Easter Island with him to the small room, and pushed in enough trees to upset the nature conservationists. The tricky part about the entire room was that one could actually get lost in there and if Bunnymund ran out of view, you could never find him in the mess, and would probably end up with a boomerang to the back of your head. Lastly, was North's room. A room that no one was allowed to enter in, except for North himself and even the yetis didn't know what was in there. The doors were large and foreboding, a low mist slowly coming out from beneath its heavy frame, and an occasional large laugh escaping from its depths. Jack hated that he couldn't even sneak in there.

Both men ignored the intricate details of the room as they made their way down the hall, trying to find the room that belonged to Eros. Jack should've known that the large man would place them across the hall from each other. North knowing that the two had been inseparable since their first fateful meeting all those years ago. Eros turned his head through the slightly cracked door and raised an eyebrow at the interior of Jack's personal room. A single cot sat in the corner of the room, not looking all that comfortable honestly. Next to it, a tiny dresser that was more than likely empty, but covered in frost. The rest of the room was bare, except for what appeared to be photographs. Photographs that was frozen to the wall in a single layer, ice keeping the keepsakes in place. Eros made his way towards the room to see the pictures but Jack put his arm out, giving the man a warm smile before motioning towards Eros' room door.

The room was more comfortable than Eros had anticipated. The room was filled with a familiar warmth, one that was inviting. A large bed sat against the wall, the headboard pressed up against it, and the rest entering into half of the room. A small couch and TV set were available as well, a sight that was all too familiar. Jack felt his heart seize up at what he saw before him, Eros felt a strange warming throb in his chest. Eros entered the room, looking around and smiling at the simplicity of the room around him. When he turned around to thank Jack, he was surprised to see the pained expression on the snow spirit's face. Almost as if he were being stabbed.

"Jack?"

The name jolted Jack out of what had been a trance, his mind whirling with the old memories from before. The confusion on Eros' face was evident but how could Jack tell him? The room was exactly how Eros' room had been when he was mortal, when they had been more than friends, and had shared hundreds of days with each other. The same place where he had lost everything for many painful years and the futility of his attempts to rekindle their connection. It was all too much information at that moment and to tell them that they had formerly been lovers? Oh, that would go well. Worse case scenario, he would end up a more than sunburnt snow spirit and how did one bounce back from that? Shaking his head, Jack rose a hand up to rub his temple to try and push the memories away.

"Ah…why don't you go ahead a rest, yeah?" As he spoke, he backed away from the door, wanting to get away from the pain that invaded his chest and the constriction of wanting to get closer. Eros became confused, unsure of what to do or say to make the snow spirit feel better, and the man didn't even pause to give him a chance. His hand rose up just as Jack turned around and quickly floated his way down the hallway, wanting to put some distance between them.

Eros stood frozen for a moment before his arms fell to his sides, his eyes gazing at nothing in particular as he thought about what had just happened, and wondered why it bothered him so much.

"Jack? Jack! What's wrong, are you okay?" Tooth's voice rang out as she saw Jack fly into the main room of the factory, a hand holding his head as if he were in great pain, and his face showing the grief he held silent. The snow spirit barely gave the fairy a look before he moved towards the door, wanting to get some fresh and cold air in his lungs. Tooth followed suit, her worry overcoming her and she used her quick movements to catch up with Jack.

"Jack, please...what's wrong?" Jack stopped, his back still towards Tooth, not wanting her to see his face. He wouldn't be able to put on a smile right now and he hated others seeing him upset in this manner. Taking a deep breath, he whispered out.

"Why doesn't he remember, Tooth? Why do none of us remember?" His entire body slumped down to sit on one of the large, overstuffed chairs. The huge chair being meant for the much larger spirit and its size dwarfing Jack's thinner, smaller frame. Tooth fluttered over to where he sat, perching herself on the top corner of the backrest, concern laced on her features. Her shoulders shrugged upwards, head leaning down to speak softly as Jack turned his face down, eyes shut in an attempt to calm himself.

"Jack…I know it's painful." She turned her gaze away for a moment, thoughtful as she spoke quietly so the others could not hear.

"I don't know everything that's happened between you and…well, Jamie. I figured something was going on long ago but I'm just happy for you both." Jack's head shot up for a moment, staring at Tooth as he realized what she was saying. She knew about them, knew enough that their acts of friendship around the others didn't really hide the fact from Tooth. As he stared, she turned back to meet his gaze, showing her the depths of her perceptiveness, and he smiled back with some relief.

"But it hurts me now, Jack. I know this is painful for you, him not remembering everything. Why doesn't he remember? Well…if I had a glass half filled with water and then I tried to pour a gallon of water in it, what would happen?" Jack raised an eyebrow at the strange question and Tooth's smile widened.

"It overfills. Imagine trying to fit all those immense powers and an immortal life into a single body. There's only so much room and memories either get lost in the mix or are completely pushed out. At least, that's how I see it." She said, letting out a small sigh and leaning back a bit. As the guardian who maintained memories of childhood, it was sometimes difficult to explain the full process of how it all worked. Especially since there tended to be minor loopholes all around and the occasional hiccup but this one just held a simple yet painful truth. Then grown people or Guardians were a whole different situation. Jack raised his hands up to grip either side of his head.

"So we become these powerful beings for the world, yet we lose ourselves to it. Doesn't seem right…not at all…" Jack said, biting his lips together so hard that he could feel the cold skin crack from

the pressure. Tooth lowered a comforting hand to Jack's shoulder, massaging the tense muscle there for a moment to gain Jack's attention to her once more. He couldn't look at her though; his hands just dropped to his lap, defeated in the thought that Jamie had sacrificed himself to only further sacrifice more of himself. It all seemed so unfair.

"It's not a bad thing, Jack. What we do, is a good thing. Well worth the price that we have to pay or really, it's not a price but a gift. We can regain our memories if we want, I know that I have looked back onto my past more than once. So have you." That was true, it was a total lost but it seemed wrong to Jack. He was glad that he hadn't lost the man forever but when was it alright to lose more and more each passing leap you take?

"I get it, I really do. I want to go back and watch all my memories, remember more about who I was." Tooth nodded her head, looking down at her hands as she clasped her hands.

"Would it really help to know though? You at least, would it help you?" Jack was quiet for a moment, seeing what Tooth was trying to do. Would remembering anything more from his past really make him happier or make things seem better? Not really. It was just a slight curiosity that he knew deep down, didn't really matter. He might have missed a lot from his past but he loved who and what he did now. That was all that mattered…or at least until Jamie. Now it wasn't about his memories at all. It wasn't his own memories that he wanted to see or remember, since he hadn't been the one to forget. It was all about him not wanting to hurt anymore and to have his lover back.

"No. You know that my past is my past, that it doesn't really affect me anymore. I answered what I wanted to know about myself." He said, his fingers gripping tightly on his staff, making ice crystals form along its length.

"Would it help him, Jack? To remember? Right now?" Those three questions each hit Jack like a ton of bricks and his hand flew up to his chest, trying to stop the suddenly strong beats of his heart. The portion of him that was still very human, was still very selfish. Jack had known for some time, after 300 years, that humans were selfish by nature. It wasn't to be mean or to be spiteful to the world, it was just a fact, and his own selfishness wanted to say yes to all three questions.

But a part of him knew better. Knew that no, it wouldn't help him to remember. Not right now anyway. If anything, knowing too much information at this point may just drive the man further into aggravation and with the unsteady ability that he had at the moment, it would turn very ugly, very fast. Bunnymund was worried about him burning down North's factory on accident. How would it be if he found out that he had had a life before, had died, and then instead of going on to some great afterlife, had been made into a spirit with eternal responsibility? Jack wasn't sure if that's how he would react but it was what he would do if he were a fire spirit.

"No, Tooth. It wouldn't be good…or probably make things worse for him." Jack said and Tooth nodded, agreeing that it might actually be dangerous. She rubbed her hand along his clothed back, warming the spot just a fraction as Jack stared straight ahead. The loneliness was overpowering now, even as Tooth sat there and tried to comfort him. It was too hard. He wanted Jamie back…

Eros was feeling as lost as Jack. He had tried lying down on the bed for a moment but it felt wrong. The bed felt too big, felt too hard, and felt too hot. He tried sitting on the sofa that was in the room. It felt good for awhile but as he tried to lie down, again it felt too big. The frustration was starting to set in once again and he soon found himself pacing back and forth in the room. His growing discomfort showing with dark burning parks on the soft carpet of the room but he didn't care. He wanted out of there and wanted to find things out.

With that thought, he found himself out in the hallway and he froze. He wasn't sure where he was going but he couldn't just sit in the room like that. One thought that came to mind was that he could get easily lost in the huge factory but he'd risk it. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he turned and was just about to walk down the hall when he remembered something. A flash of something in Jack's room, something that he had really wanted to see, but the man had seemed very secretive about it. Eros knew that it wasn't good for him to spy like that but he wanted to know.

Reaching out, he pushed the door open slowly, watching the ice melt away to smoke from his touch on the door. Peeking into the room, he gazed at the emptiness of it for a moment before he slowly entered and made his way to the ice covered wall. It was an interesting way to hang pictures, Eros noted, but it was surprising that the man had photos at all. Did spirits actually take pictures of themselves? Could they be caught in a photo? The answer was right in front of him and his head leaned to the side.

A little boy. A messy crop of brown hair on his head and leaning against Jack, who looked exactly the same as now, and both smiling like best friends in the picture. It was endearing and Eros found himself smiling, liking the idea of the icy man being so friendly with children. His gaze went to another picture, one of an older boy, but he could tell it was the same young man from before. He looked about fifteen in age and the two were still hugging and playing around like old school friends. The only difference now was the young man was steadily growing taller than the snow spirit and almost twice his size.

Eros kept looking along what seemed like a timeline of the brown haired boy and Jack. From the younger years, where even some other children were present and all of them throwing snowballs at each other. To the boy growing into a young man, his friends as well, and Jack still hanging out with all of them. Then to high school years but the young man having less friends in the pictures now. Until finally, Eros came across the last few sets of pictures. Ones of just the two men, a brown haired boy not being a boy anymore, but a fully grown man. Eros' eyes widened a bit.

The pictures weren't those of two good friends but of something else. Their arms wrapped around one another, the brown haired man being much taller and looking down at Jack with a loving gaze. Eros breathed in deeply. He hadn't known that Jack was like that but for some reason, it wasn't a particularly shocking thought. His hand came up to touch the ice covered photo, his warm fingers melting the ice away to expose the photo more clearly. He took a step back, tilting his head to the side to see it and he wondered who the brown haired man was. He hadn't seen anyone like that at the factory so far or on the travels to here. Of course, he hadn't really seen much of anyone except the four others and Jack. Hell, he hadn't even seen a reflection of himself yet. Letting out a sigh, he stuffed his hands back into his pants and turned around to try and lie down again.

A/C: End of Chapter 3. Another one is coming soon! Hopefully in the next day or two. :)