A Better Life
Summary: Jack is beaten and abused by the Guardians every day. His only friend is Pitch Black. When Pitch pushes him through a white portal, suddenly everything has change. The Guardians are suddenly caring. Pitch is suddenly evil. What's going on?
Sorry this took so long. I kept getting stuck on my stories. My brain decides that it wants to be creative for a little while and then stop halfway between writing. Thank you for sticking with me :)
Answer to LovelyVintage194, thank you for the review. It was very interesting. I don't know a lot about history (especially amercian as I am british) so I will make quite a few mistakes, just a heads up. I will point out two points of defence. Number one: when North mentioned Jac told him he never had a teddy bear, this was from North's point of view and seeing as North works with toys, he would probably be update with toys names and so would probably call it a teddy bear. Number two: this is my personal head canon, so I may be wrong, but I believe that the use of language for spirits and guardians changes over the years. Meaning that Jack would have called it a stuffed bear or toy at the time, but when he was telling North about his past, he would be using modern tongue and would have called it a teddy bear. I
f any of that makes any sense., let me know ^^; But thank you for your review, it was interesting to read.
Six
Tooth shivered as she flew just outside Santoff Claussen. Even though it was a bright sunny day, the Artic was still freezing, especially for her, being used to the warmer climates and all. She was tempted to fly back inside the window she was hopped out of and go search for a cloak or some other warm clothing that wouldn't get in the way of her wings. But instead she pressed on.
Baby Tooth had flown straight back to Jack once Tooth had finished giving her a bath. Even though Tooth knew that she should sent Baby Tooth back to work with the other baby teeth, she felt that Jack needed the younger fairy right now and so she couldn't force herself to send her home.
She glanced at each and every window as she swooped around the building, silently counting. Eventually she found the window she was looking for and approached.
It was cracked opened, surprisingly. Although, it wasn't the open part that was surprising. Ever since Jack had disappeared they had kept that particular window wide open. No, what was surprising was that it was only partly opened.
Knowing she had found the right area, she pulled the window opened wider and stepped onto the window seat.
"Bunny? What are you doing in Jack's room?"
The Pooka was sat huddled on the edge of Jack's bed which was placed on the side of the bright blue room. The floor was covered in snow brought in by the winds and Jack when he had first stayed in the room. It had gradually piled up over the two years, despite the room's owner being gone. As Tooth stepped off the window seat, it was barely a second before her foot sank deep into white.
Lifting her foot out of the snow before she sank too deeply, she noticed Bunny was shivering in the freezing room. She turned to shut the window.
"Leave it."
His voice was cracked, soft, barely coming out, as a shudder involuntary went through the rabbit's body. Tooth hovered by the window anxiously.
"Bunny, you hate the cold."
Bunny lifted his eyes from the snowy floor that he had been staring at since Tooth arrived and finally looked at her.
"Kid prefers his room freezing. Leave it," He repeated, his voice a little stronger than before.
Tooth hesitated for a moment, before pulling the window close. She ignored Bunny's glare as she flew over to the bed.
"A few minutes with the window shut isn't going to melt all the snow and ice in this room." She said, crossing her arms. Her expression was only slightly stern though, "Scoot,"
Bunny huffed but moved to the side allowing Tooth to join him on the bed. "Why didn't you just come through the door?" He asked.
"You locked yourself in." Tooth replied, gesturing to the door where the key was turned to the right in the lock. She had tried opening it earlier, knocking and calling the Pooka's name. The only way she knew he was in the room was because one of the Yetis had told her he had seen him enter around the time North said he left the workshop. And only North had the keys to lock the guest rooms from the outside and he had kept this room opened since the day Jack had disappeared.
"Oh right," Bunny mumbled, not really caring that he had completely forgotten about that or that he didn't even hear Tooth try to get in earlier. Tooth looked at him in concern before placing a hand onto his paw.
"You okay?"
Bunny sighed, hanging his head.
"What do you think?" He asked gruffly, scoffing slightly, although Tooth felt that scoff was more directed at himself than at her.
She didn't answer, just silently waited for Bunny to speak again.
"I just….When Frostbite appeared in North's living room, I thought it'll be over. The constant worry, the what ifs, all that….I just thought that once we found the kid we could just put this whole bloody nightmare behind us. I didn't think about after."
"No one did, Bunny," Tooth spoke softly.
"Not being funny, Sheila, but you thought Frostbite was dead." Growled the rabbit.
Ignoring the flash of hurt crossing Tooth's face, Bunny stood up, walking away from her. He walked over to the empty fireplace instead, placing his hand on the mantelpiece as he glazed down at the ice and snow covered grate. North had placed fireplaces in most of the guest rooms, which, before Jack became a Guardian, this room had once been.
"Sorry. Shouldn't have said that." Bunny apologised quietly.
"It's okay," Tooth responded gently.
"It's not okay. Not after…argh," Bunny groaned, rubbing his forehead.
They both fell into silence, neither them knowing how to break it or if they even wanted to. Outside they could hear the wind blowing, picking up a few pieces of snows and carrying it along in a drift. Inside a small fraction of ice fell from one of the ice stalactites from the ceilings.
Tooth crossed her arms, rubbing them in attempt to get warm. She was about to ask if the fireplace still work or whether she should perhaps go get some blankets when Bunny spoke.
"I nearly gave up hope too, you know. So many times."
Getting up, Tooth fluttered over to his side, placing a hand onto his shoulder. He looked up at her and the sadness in his green eyes took her breath away.
"It was hard, you know? Being the only one believing the kid's wasn't dead. I know it's my job, being the bringer of hope and that. But there was so many times when I thought, 'maybe you guys are right. Maybe I'm being an idiot and I should just face facts. The kid's a fighter; he would've return by now if he was still alive'."
Tears spilled down Tooth's cheeks. Bunny reached up almost subconsciously, brushing them away with his paw.
"It's was bad enough when you gave up. You know how many times I wanted to just yell at ya?" He sniffed, trying to stop tears of his own from falling.
"Can I confess something? There were a lot of times I wanted to shout at you too." Tooth admitted.
The two let out a laugh, although neither of them really knew what they were laughing at. The fur on Bunny's cheeks became damp as he failed to prevent his tears.
"But when North and Sandy thought the kid was dead too…."
"Hey," Tooth whispered. Now she was the one wiping away the tears from Bunny's cheeks, "You don't have to think about that anymore. Jack's alive and he's safe and he's home."
"But look what Pitch's done to him." Bunny sobbed.
"I know." Tooth said, "But the best thing we can do now is be there for him."
"Easy for you to say, Sheila." Bunny said.
Tooth raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"
Bunny sighed, turning his head away.
"You, North and Sandy. You were always good at comforting the kid when he got hurt and upset. Me? I'm not good at the comforting lark, you know that. That's not how me and Frostbite's relationship worked."
Tooth nodded, understanding. When Jack had joined the guardians, she had taken the mothering role towards Jack, smothering Jack with love (occasionally too much) while North had become a sort of father figure, encouraging Jack and being there if Jack needed to talk about something he felt Tooth, as a mother figure, might not understand. Sandy had been the close friend and confidant, allowing Jack to talk about everything and not judge him, which sometimes Jack feared Tooth and North would do.
Bunny and Jack however were more like brothers. They still argued, constantly, though those arguments were usually teasingly and anyone could clearly see that Bunny did care for the winter spirit, in his own way. They would protect each other to the bitter end.
But Tooth could see Bunny had a point. Bunny was gruff, always had been. He wasn't always good at showing emotions, especially with Jack. Before Jack would have just easily just brushed off that gruffness, knowing deep down that, in his words, Bunny was a softy. But now….
"You see?" Bunny cried, "How am I supposed to be there for the kid, when I don't even know how? I should just leave."
With that he pushed past Tooth heading to the door.
"No!" Tooth shouted, grabbing Bunny's arm.
"Let go of my arm, Sheila."
"Not until you say you're not leaving." Tooth snapped.
"Sandy left!" Bunny snapped back, struggling against his grasp.
Tooth hesitated for a moment, but didn't let go of the Pooka's arm.
"H-He has his own reasons." She stuttered.
"What, so when he leaves, he 'has his own reasons', but when I try to leave, I can't because?"
"Because you didn't give up!"
Bunny stopped short, staring at Tooth with wide eyes, shocked. Tooth felt the tears fall once more, but she ignored them as she held Bunny's glaze sternly.
"You were right. Me, North, Sandy, all three of us gave up on Jack. You didn't. Despite the what ifs, despite us telling you that you had false hope, despites them time when you almost gave up, you didn't let yourself lose faith. You didn't lose belief in your centre….you didn't lose your belief in Jack. And now, when he needs you there more than ever, you just gonna walk away?"
For a moment there was nothing but Tooth's quivering breaths. Bunny turned away and Tooth felt her heart sink.
But then he looked back at her and Tooth saw a small shimmer of hope – the one that had stay lit in his eyes during those dreadful two years – spark in his eyes again.
"Okay," He whispered, "I'll stay."
Letting out a loud sob, Tooth threw her arms around Bunny, hugging him tightly, "Thank you."
Jack woke up with a groan. He blearily opened his eyes only to be forced to shut them again. A loud banging headache throbbed in his skull. In fact, his whole body ached, the pain of his injuries back in full force.
He tried opening his eyes again, wincing a little at the bright light. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and a few more for him to not close them again as his head pounded.
The ward was empty saved from Baby Tooth. And judging by the way she was curled up on his pillow and quietly snoring, her wings buzzing creating a low humming sound, she was fast asleep.
Jack didn't have the heart the wake her up. Besides he was used to having to deal with pain on his own, when he couldn't escape to Pitch's lair.
He couldn't help but whimper though. For the last couple of days he had medication from the IV numbing the pain. Pitch could only do so much with a first aid kit and any herbal remedies or healing spells (which, with the way Pitch organised his scrolls, wasn't always easy to find) thus Jack still felt sore even when he had managed to escaped the Guardians after a beating. After two days of no discomfort, it hit him twice as hard as it normally would.
Unconsciously, he reached out for the white stuffed bear North made him and held it to his chest. When riding out pain, he usually sought out something to hug, should it be a pillow or Nyx, Pitch's fearling. There had been a couple of times when he had grabbed the nightmare king himself, although he mostly very out of it when that happened. Somehow it comforted him a little and stopped him focusing on the agony coursing through his bones.
Sighing, he nuzzled into the white fur. He was about to close his eyes and let himself fall back asleep when he heard footsteps.
Eyes shooting open, he jumped, barely noticing that he was clutching the teddy tightly as his eyes snapped towards the intruder.
The Yeti standing there quickly held his hands up to show he wasn't about to attack Jack. Slowly he reached over and changed the empty IV bag.
Jack felt his headache and the aches and pain start to dull, "Oh….er….thanks."
The Yeti nodded, a small smile appearing on it's furry lips.
Jack watched the Yeti unsurely. He recognised the Yeti as the one who had brought him breakfast and the one who had appeared gloomy in the corridor when Jack was trying to sneak out. Still, he didn't know what to think about him. Older Jack hadn't really mentioned the Yetis being different from his world. And if the Yetis were the like the ones in his universe, well Jack was better off staying silent.
But Baby Tooth had mentioned Older Jack and this particular Yeti had shared some sort of relationship before this whole thing happened. And while she didn't really specify, he was sure she would have said if it was bad, right?
"You're….Phil, right?" Jack asked slowly, unsurely.
The Yeti nodded, grunting a gruff confirmation. However, when he squinted carefully, Jack swore he saw that smile grow bigger.
"Um Baby Tooth told me your name. I don't-"
He quickly stopped himself. He couldn't exactly say he didn't know this Yeti, even though he didn't. That would only raise questions. Questions that Jack didn't know how to answer.
Phil hid a sad sigh as Jack tried to figure out how to finish his sentence. He could tell Jack couldn't remember him, or if he did, it was one of those false wretched false memories. Knowing this, the Yeti hid any negative emotions as Jack let out a groan.
"Well, this is really awkward." Jack stated dryly.
Phil grunted in agreement.
Looking down, Jack suddenly realised he was still holding the teddy bear. He quickly dropped it, frost scattering across his cheeks as he blushed in embarrassment.
Now he was certain that smile on Phil's face had gotten bigger.
The door opened, causing Baby Tooth to stir. When she felt Jack stiffened besides her, she woke up properly, flying up to Jack's shoulder. Placing a comforting hand on the boy's cheek, she glanced around him to see who had opened the door.
Bunny stood there, dithering awkwardly. Tooth had said she was going to check on North, but Bunny guessed she had left him by himself so he could try to connect with Jack on his own, "Can I come in, mate?"
Jack hesitated, then nodded slowly. He didn't meet Bunny's eyes, however, staring studiously at the floor below Bunny's feet instead.
Bunny walked in slowly, approaching Jack carefully. He stopped just a few feet away, Jack's flinch telling him he had come close enough.
Phil glanced between them, uncertain if he should leave or stay. Deciding that the two needed a moment on their own, and knowing Baby Tooth was wide awake now, he finished writing medical notes on the clipboard clipped on Jack's bed and made his way to the door.
As he past Bunny, Phil shot the Pooka a warning look, if anything happens….
Bunny nodded, understanding the message. After a few moments the Yeti left, closing the door behind him.
And then my brain was like: Nope no longer being creative. You're on your own.
Thanks brain X/
Sorry for the cliffie. Hopefully I won't get blocked by writers block again and will updates soon. If any of you have any ideas how Bunny and Jack can bond, let me know, it might help :3
Thanks again :)