Disclaimer: Haven't done one in a while so figured I should remind you all if for some strange reason you weren't aware of this; I do not own Rise of the Guardians. Though I would like to.
Jack cheered as she flew around. It was as if a huge burden that had been trying to ground her had been pulled off. She felt free, happy even. And for such a lonely spirit, true happiness felt great. "Okay Baby Tooth, I owe you one!"
First thing she did was fly back to Pitch's lair. The rest of Tooth's fairies were trapped and she wasn't able to free them last time. She opened up the age doors. "Come on, let's go!"
None of them moved. But they squeaked at her urgently. "W-what's wrong?" She looked around and tried to listen. She had a bit of a hard time understanding them, but she was fairly certain she knew what they were saying. "None of you can fly?" Baby Tooth squeaked and pointed to the globe. "The lights," Jack whispered.
'Finally' the yeti thought as he finished painting the last robot red. It was then that the entire Pole started to shake. He tried to catch the falling robots as they tumbled off the table.
Black sand was swirling around the inside of the Pole causing the yetis and elves to panic. They knew North would be furious if he found out Pitch was in the workshop.
Nevertheless, Pitch cackling on the top of the globe. "You're all free to go!" he announced. "We won't be needed any Christmas toys this year, thank you." He bowed. "Nor ever again.
The yeti looked at the red robots he had spent hours working on, and let out a loud groan.
Jack dropped down to look at the globe. "They're all going out!" she realized. Almost no lights remained on the globe.
"Only six left," Pitch said gleefully. "Six precious children who still believe in the Guardians with all their hearts." He looked down at one right beside him. "Make that five," he said as he stepped on the light and it went out. He danced over to another one. "Four." He was singing it now. "Three." He jumped and stepped on two at the same time. "Two." Then he snapped his fingers to make the final light go out. Nothing happened. "One."
Meanwhile, Jack was looking at the exact same light. The remaining light was glowing over a small town called Burgess. Jack jumped up onto the globe. She knew who that child was. "Jamie!"
Jamie Bennett sat on his bed staring at the stuffed bunny he had placed across from him. He knew it wasn't the Easter Bunny, but this would have to do. All his friends no longer believed in the Easter Bunny. Everyone was getting nightmares. Jamie needed answers, and this was the only way he knew how to get them.
"Okay, look. You and I are obviously at what they call a crossroads," he told the rabbit. "So here's what's going to happen."
Jack peered into Jamie's bedroom window and heard what he was saying. 'Oh no. He's starting to have doubts. If he stops believing…' she couldn't bear to think of it.
"If it wasn't a dream, and if you are real, you have to prove it. Like, right now." The rabbit didn't say anything. "I've believed in you for a long time, okay? Like, my whole life in fact." He picked up the stuffed rabbit. "So you kind of owe me now. You don't have to do much. Just a little sign so I know." His eyes gleamed. "Anything. Anything at all."
After a moment, Jamie let out a sigh. "I knew it." He dropped the bunny on the ground.
The spirit's eyes got wide. She had to do something. Sure she wasn't a big fan of Bunny, but no one deserved the fate that would await the Guardians if no more children believed. She pushed open the window and approached Jamie. 'What to do, what to do?' Then she it hit her.
Jamie was almost in tears, when he heard a sound. Frost was spreading on his window. Then, to his amazement, something drew an Easter egg in the frost. The boy gasped and glanced down at the bunny that was lying on his floor.
More frost was spreading. This time something drew a rabbit in the frost. Jamie got to his feet. "He's real!" he gasped, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
Seeing the look on the child's face made Jack grin. She decided to try something she had never attempted before. Concentrating hard, she held her hands out and willed the frosty rabbit to come off of the window. Sure enough, the rabbit came to life and started jumping around the room.
"Whoa!" Jamie laughed. Jack silently cheered at her accomplishment. As the bunny raced around the room, Jack found herself laughing along with Jamie. The eight year old tried to catch the bunny and ended up causing it to burst into snowflakes. He looked around, surprised. "Snow?"
One of the snowflakes landed on Jamie's nose. His eyes went wide as he remembered what his mother had told him a few days ago. "Jack Frost!"
That caught Jack off guard. "Did he just say…?"
"Jack Frost?"
She gasped. "He said it again. He said…" She took a step back. "You said…"
Jamie slowly turned around and his mouth opened when he saw a girl standing there. Was she there the whole time? The girl looked to be maybe fifteen. Her skin was ridiculously pale, and her long hair was as white as snow. She was wearing a frosted blue hoody and brown pants. Her eyes were a startling shade of icy blue. He paused for a second. Was she…no. Jack Frost wasn't real, was he? He certainly wasn't a female, right? But who else could that be? The boy dared himself to ask. "J-Jackie Frost?" He guessed that would be the name of a female Jack Frost.
The girl grabbed her head. She couldn't believe that a child, a human child had just spoken her real, full name. "That's right!" She stumbled backwards again. "But-but that's me. Jackie Frost! That's my name!" She walked up to Jamie. "You said my name."
He still hadn't closed his mouth, and that's when Jack realized that Jamie was looking right at her. Her smile faded. "Wait, can…can you hear me?" She looked as if she dare not hope. All Jamie could manage was a nod. "Can…can you see me? Jack asked. Another nod, only Jamie had begun to smile.
Jack started laughing. "He sees me. He…he sees me!" She looked as if someone had just announced that a dead relative or friend was alive. As if someone had just told her Christmas was going to happen every day. As if she had just gotten the best present in the world. Jamie didn't think he had ever seen someone look so happy before.
She laughed and did a back flip, landing on a table in Jamie's room. "You just made it snow!" Jamie said, just in case Jack had missed that.
"I know!"
"In my room!"
"I know!" She leapt up and landed on the floor.
"You're real?" Jamie knew she must be, but still…it was a lot to take in.
"Yeah, who do you think brings you all the blizzards and the snow days? And you remember when you went flying on that sled the other day?"
"That was you?"
"That was me!"
"Cool!" Jamie cried, throwing his hands in the air.
"Right?"
"But what about the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy? Like, I mean…"
"Real, real!" She picked up the stuffed bunny and placed it in Jamie's arms. "Every one of us is real."
Jamie jumped up and down. "I knew it!"
They heard Jamie's mother call up, "Jamie, who are you talking to?"
"Um," he stuttered, looking at Jack. She gave him the okay. After all, it's not like she would believe him anyway. "Jack Frost?" he said.
His mother laughed. "Okay."
That brought Jamie back to his earlier thought. "I always thought you were a boy. Are you Jack Frost or, I don't know, Jackie Frost?"
Of course, right to the gender. Jack rolled her eyes. "Ugh, everyone is so convinced I'm a boy. No, my full name is Jackie Frost, but everyone calls me Jack Frost or Jack. I don't really use my real name much."
The window suddenly snapped open. Jack ran to it and looked outside. There were tons and tons of Nightmares in the sky. She also noticed a familiar sleigh fly ungracefully into the street across from Jamie's house. She heard North cry out and the reindeer run away after they landed. She snorted and turned to Jamie. "Better go help them out. Come on, I'll meet you outside." The boy nodded and Jack flew out the window to go check on the Guardians.
"Come back!" she heard North yell.
Tooth's head popped up. "North, are you okay?"
"It's official. My powers…" he waved his hand down. Then the sleigh almost collapsed and he fell over.
"Look!" Tooth pointed as she saw Jack fly towards them. "Jack!" She tried to fly out of the sleigh but ended up falling and landing on the pavement. "Jack!"
The said winter spirit rushed to go help her up. "You okay?" she asked.
Tooth fixed her feathers and shrugged. "Um-"
North walked in front of her, using his sword like a cane. "What are you doing here?" They hadn't seen Jack since the Easter incident. North had figured she had cleared out, left and wouldn't turn back. It appeared that he was wrong.
She smiled. "Same as you." The door to Jamie's house opened and the boy ran out. The look on his face when he saw Tooth and North was priceless.
"The last light," North said.
Jamie ran up to them. "Wow, it is you. I mean it is you!" He laughed. "I knew it wasn't a dream," he said, turning to Jack.
North straightened up, realizing that this child was talking to the invisible spirit. "Jack, he sees you." Both he and Tooth felt strangely proud of her. Jack grinned and playfully nudged Jamie.
Then she realized that there was one Guardian unaccountable. "Wait, where's Bunny?" Last she had seen of the Pooka, he was walking away from them all, grief stricken because of Easter. She hoped nothing had happened to him.
"Losing Easter took it's tole on all of us. Bunny most of all." North and Tooth turned to the sleigh. An adorable, fluffy, baby bunny hopped out of the sleigh.
Her eyes went wide. "Oh no."
Jamie giggled and approached Bunny. "That's the Easter Bunny? "
"Now someone sees me," Bunny grumbled. "Where were you about an hour ago mate?"
Jack couldn't help it. Seeing the tiny Bunny trying to look angry and threatening…the deep voice that most definitely did not go with the tiny fluffy body…Jack snorted and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from falling over laughing. She clutched her sides and willed herself to breath. This was serious and she shouldn't be laughing. But come on, it was pretty funny. It was hilarious.
"What happened to him? He used to be huge and cool. Now he's cute." Jamie scratched Bunny under the chin. Bunny looked comically pleased and his foot thumped the ground. Then he realized what he was doing and swatted Jamie's hand away.
He turned to Jack, who had managed to regain her posture and get her laughter under control. "Did you tell him to say that?" He ran over to Jack. Being a girl, Jack was silently dying inside. 'Oh my gosh he is so cute!' she wanted to squeal. She wanted to pick him up and squeeze the fluffy little animal. 'Get it together Frost.'
Bunny leapt partway up her leg then landed back on the ground, fists raised. He was sooo not helping. She deserved a medal for self-control. Managing to not laugh was near impossible. "That's it. Let's go. Me and you. Come on!"
Jamie crouched next to him. "No, actually she told me you were real. Just when I was starting to think that maybe you weren't."
Bunny's eyes grew and he stared up at Jack. "She made you believe? In me?" He looked like he was almost going to cry, he was so touched. When Jamie nodded, he gave Jack a grateful smile, which Jack returned with one of her own.
Then a flash of light made them all turn. Pitch had arrived.
Oops, cliff hanger! Oh well, you all most likely know what's generally going to happen. If not, why are you reading RotG fanfics if you haven't even seen the movie? I suppose I should be flattered that you are reading this to find out what's happening instead of the movie, but seriously, watch it.
On another note, I realized that my edits aren't working. For some reason, when I try to fix mistakes I made on previous chapters, it says it saved my changes, and when I read it the changes are there, but on the actual story that is published, nothing happened. So I'm sorry about the mistakes, I promise I tried to fix them but just can't.
