"He doesn't… remember?" asked Tooth quietly, horror etched into every line of her expression. They had gathered in the globe room for a conference. The news had just been broken to Sandy and Tooth, and neither were receiving it well. "Not… anything?"

"No. He doesn't " confirmed North grimly. Bunny was standing a little ways off from everyone else, and they heard him snort dismissively. "I have spoken with him." the big man added forcefully. "I believe he ees sincere." Tooth seemed not to know what to do.

"He doesn't remember any of us?" she flitted a couple of feet to the left. "Or Jamie?" her voice rose an octave or two, and she flew behind North frantically. "Or the battle with Pitch?" she darted forward, so she was beside him and looking into his eyes pleadingly. "Nothing?"

"I am afraid so." He clapped a meaty hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her. "But amnesia ees not end! Many peoples memories return to them! We" he paused for emphasis, then raised his hands excitedly. "will help him!" Sandy, who had been standing in sort of a shell shocked state, seemed to reawaken to the world. He nodded vigorously, and raised a hand of his own.

"Lovely. And now he's got ya all believin' that your psychiatrists.." Bunny swung around to face them, arms crossed, disgust obvious in his voice. It seemed he had decided to join the conversation. "All of ya are crazy. Ya know that?" His voice grew harder with every word, and the guardian of hope appeared to be doing his best to drain it from the room. "Your freakin' out over a problem that doesn't even exist!" He continued. "Frostbite's sucked all of ya in, but when he finally breaks and starts laughin'... When he yells 'gotcha', I'm gonna be the only one who will be able to say, 'not me. Not this time, but good try, mate.' And all of ya are gonna be standin' around, feelin' like a bunch of drop kicks. Wishin' ya'd listened." He glared at them all, his expression daring them to disagree.

"Aster." Bunny's eyes widened slightly at this sudden word from North. It had been a very long time since anyone had called him by anything but his last name. A very long time indeed. He met the man's gaze steadily and waited for him to continue, albeit defensively. "Why so steadfast in belief that Jack ees cracking joke?" North's words were curious under his reprimanding tone.

"Obviously because of Manny." Replied Bunny, without a moments hesitation. "There is no way he'd lead Jack on the journey he's been on, given him friends," he gestured around the room. "and...and believers," a motion towards the globe beside them, its lights sparkling happily. "if he was just gonna take it all away again. He wouldn't do that."

"You said same thing when Jack was chosen as guardian." North parried.

"Maybe so, but-"

"No buts!" The bigger man said loudly. "No maybe! I do not pretend to understand Manny, or his plans. And you also should not."

"If it involves bein' this cruel, I don't wanna understand." He took a few steps toward the closest wall and leaned against it. "Anyway, go ahead 'n continue. Don't let me interrupt. I just wanna watch. Usually its me that's victim to that little blighter's tricks, but now its your guys' turn. I'm just an observer today." He settled in and watched them expectantly.

The other guardians looked from one to another uncomfortably. After a last glance at the stewing rabbit, Tooth turned to face the other two.

"What can we do? Do either of you know anything about amnesia?"

"No..." said North thoughtfully. "But let us think logically. When you forget normal thing, what do you do?"

"Retrace my line of thoughts." said Tooth slowly. "I go back and think about the same things I was thinking when I forgot." She rose a few feet higher in the air from her excitement. "Do you think that would work?"

"I do not know..." North said a little uncertainly. "I do not think it would be that easy. To just speak to him of past things?" He fiddled with his beard while he contemplated their options.

Sandy came forward and tugged on North's sleeve. With their attention now on him, a sand replica of Jack's staff appeared, and he was so excited he pointed to it a couple of times. He smiled at them hopefully.

"His staff..." mused Tooth. "He's spent much more of his three hundred years with his staff than he did with us! maybe if we give it back to him, memories of the things he did with it will come back to him! He relies on it for everything after all. Fighting, flying, creating storms... I'm sure it would help!"

"I put it under bed in room." said North, enthusiasm growing. "Let us go reunite them!' He turned and made for the door, and the others followed closely behind. None of them were sure if this idea would work. It was a little far-fetched, after all. But then again, they all knew what a big part of Jack's fundamental being his staff was. This was surely worth a try.

oOo

Jack was still asleep when the four entered the room. They filed in, and hurried to quiet their footsteps when they saw how peaceful he looked.

"Maybe we should come back later." Suggested Tooth. She smiled affectionately down at the boy. With his slow deep breathing and contented expression to mask the worry and confusion she had seen there earlier, it was hard to believe he wasn't the same old Jack. She hoped he was having a good dream. She glanced down at Sandy in time to see him spin out a coil of dream sand. When it reached Jack, it immediately shaped itself into the moon.

"I agree." Said North in reply to Tooth's statement. "Jack ees in need of his rest." He turned to the door, but was cut off as Bunny crossed in front of him. Before anyone could stop him, the rabbit was shaking Jack's shoulder mercilessly and pulling the blankets off him.

"C'mon, ya bludger. Up." Jack curled in on himself at the sudden absence of the blankets, and his eyes tightened a little.

"Bunny, stop!" Tooth zipped over to him and grabbed one of his arms. Bunny simply continued with the other, giving the spirit of fun a light smack on the shoulder.

"Y'heard me. UP." Bunny repeated, slightly louder this time. Jack's eyes slit open and he stared up at Bunny for a moment.

"Wha-?" He mumbled. After a few seconds, his expression cleared slightly and he sat up while rubbing his eyes to help them adjust. "Oh. The pain-garoo is back. You would attack me in my sleep."

"What!? You think I'm a- why, you-" Bunny turned to the others indignantly. "He just called me a- a-" His loss of words was only making harder for Tooth to swallow her smile. He shook her off of his arm, and turned to Sandy only to see him puff his cheeks out and quarter turn away to hide his soundless laughter. North didn't even try. His roar of amusement filled up the small room. Bunny took in their reactions, and realized he had no one on his side. He begrudgingly admitted to himself that he may have deserved it, though.

The others' faith in Jack's sincerity had been getting to him, and he'd only wanted to see the boys reaction when given his staff. But, he thought ruefully, I didn't have ta act like such rat bag. Still! He questioned defiantly. Pain-garoo?

The name brought a question to Bunnymund's mind. He thought about it for a second, then slowly smiled to himself. Ya've dug yourself into a hole, now, mate. He thought darkly. The kangaroo comments'll always be the end of ya.

Tooth was in the middle of apologizing for Bunny's actions when a voice came from behind her. "Ya ever been ta Australia, Frostbite?" It asked.

Jack looked around when no one answered. "Is he talking to me?" He asked curiously, remembering that Bunny had called him that before, when he had first woken up here.

"Yes." Came the reply. "I am."

"Well then, no. Not that I can remember, anyway."

"Ever seen pictures? Of the Australian outback? Or wildlife?"

"I don't think so."

E. Aster Bunnymund pushed his way to the front and brought himself up to his full height. "Then how exactly do you know what a kangaroo even is?" His voice was low and final, confidence mapped on his features.

"I don't know." Jack admitted sheepishly. "I don't know why I know some things, but not others. I know kangaroo, and panda, and other things, but not how I know. Or even where I learned them from. Sorry." The answer brought the pookah up short.

Bunny deflated. For a second, disappointment flashed over his face. Then it lit up again as he remembered something. He got down on his knees and pushed a paw under the bed. "Well then... How about..." He felt around until he pulled out Jack's staff. "...this!" He held it up to him.

Jack stared at it intently. Something lit up in his eyes. "I know this!" He grabbed it, and frost curled around it again. The previous coat had melted off in its warm spot under the bed. Tooth raised her hands to her mouth, and Sandy nodded encouragingly. Bunny and North watched tensely. "Yes..." Jack whispered. "This was there when I woke up too!"

Jack scrambled out of bed, excitedly gripping his old companion. "Watch! Look what I can do with it!" He hurried to a wall and touched the tip of the crook to it lightly. A beautiful frost covering blossomed on the surface. Jack's eyes glowed as he watched the design grow. He ran to another wall, then a bedpost, his expression something akin to a child reveling in his new toy on Christmas. Bunny's heart sank into his stomach. They were gorgeous designs, but the Jack he knew could do better. Wouldn't have been so proud of something so simple.

Jack wasn't done yet, though. "And look!" he cried. He waited for something to happen but it didn't. He glanced up at them, suddenly self-conscious. "I swear I could do it last night... Fly!"

"There's no wind..." Murmured Tooth. She went to the window and cracked it open for him, a depressed aura following her. Jack didn't notice. As soon as a breeze had entered, he had risen off the floor. He hovered there unsteadily, wobbling every few seconds. He pointed forward, but misjudged the distance and went sprawling. Bunny's heart was now in his large feet, and he felt like he'd just tried to swallow a googie whole. Jack wasn't this clumsy. As the new one got up and dusted himself off, looking like he deserved a gold medal, Bunny realized that this was no act. He stumbled back a step and ran a paw over his ears. It had been a long time since he'd felt the sting of tears, but now he had to beat them down. Tooth wasn't so hardened though. In his peripheral, he noticed a single tear roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it off and smiled, though. She flew closer to Jack and brightly told him how fantastic he had been.

Bunny was having a harder time accepting things. To think that someone who had such an important place in his life... He now had no place in theirs. He was the only one remembering fun times, and smiles. He alone could think fondly back on past laughs and arguments. He clenched his paws in silent suffering and glanced down to see how Sandy was taking it. He realized that the little man hadn't looked up from the floor in quite a few minutes. North was mimicking Tooth's energy and clapping Jack on the shoulders, a crinkly-eyed smile plastered onto his face. Bunny wondered if Jack could sense the underlying grief in the room. Bunny hated to add to it, but he needed a few more minutes. Just a few more minutes to mourn the loss of one of his most precious relationships.

oOo

While the guardians were thus preoccupied, no one saw the nightmare slip from a dark corner of the room and out of the window. No one knew that it would only take it a short time to reach the nightmare king's lair and report what it had seen. How could they, after all? At this news, Pitch would reel back in shock, and then slowly begin to smile that pointy smile of his at this new idea... This scheme in the womb.

Things were about to get a lot more complicated for the guardians. By tenfold, at least. And it all stemmed from Jack being once again as close as he ever would be to existing as a neutral party. This time, however, Pitch wouldn't let the critical time frame pass him by. It was simple, really. Trade the bond with the guardians that Jack had conveniently forgotten about... For a bond with him. Pitch still believed that together, he and Jack could be great. The greatest, in fact. All he had to do now was wait for the right opportunity.

And he had a feeling that he wouldn't need to wait long at all.

Hey! And there's chapter three. I changed North's accent a little... Good? Bad? Let me know! And also, suggestions and predictions are very welcome!

Love, Mariah.