After the dust has settled and Pitch has been dragged off by his own Nightmares, after the Guardians have returned to the Workshop and cried over Sandy (again), after North sets them all up with comfortable but impersonal guest rooms, Jack goes for a walk.
As exhausted as he is, he's too keyed up to sleep right now and there are too many thoughts running through his mind for him to be able to distract himself with a book or something. Even the many toys and gadgets lying around the Workshop aren't a temptation.
His staff slung across one shoulder, Jack wanders through the main corridors of the Workshop aimlessly, watching the yeti as they work. It's the Workshop's night cycle right now, which means that only a few yeti are awake, and they eye Jack warily as he walks by them. He can't really blame them for being suspicious, but he still shoots them disgruntled looks every time they pointedly edge away from him.
In one of the smaller hallways, Jack passes a large, ornate, and randomly placed bathroom. He ducks inside and hovers in front of the mirror, studying his reflection. There isn't anything obviously different about him; he still has the same dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and pale skin that he's always had. When he calls on his power, his eyes glow the same amber-orange color that they always have.
There's no indication that he's anything other than the autumn spirit he's been for three hundred years. And yet….
And yet he can control fire, which is an ability only summer spirits have.
Jack jerks back a good two feet when someone suddenly knocks on the door.
"Jack, are you decent?" North calls, his voice muffled by the door. Jack lets himself drift to the floor as he reaches over to open the door. "Oh. Good, you are. Cannot sleep?"
Jack shrugs, a little uncomfortable under North's scrutiny. "There's just… too much to think about, you know?"
To his surprise, North nods in understanding. "You are not the only one with this problem. Come with me, we will go to the other Guardians."
As Jack falls into step with North, he asks, "Are they still up, too?"
"Well, Sandy is probably asleep," North admits. "But that is because he is Sandy. It is when he is awake willingly that something is wrong."
"Makes sense," Jack says. He tries to keep track of the turns they take and the stairs they climb, but the Workshop can be a real maze sometimes, and he gives up well before they get to their destination. At least there's a window, Jack thinks as North leads him into the sitting room, so worst case, I can leave that way instead of trying to find my way out through the hallways.
The Guardians are lounging around the room around a large fire, and they all smile when they see him. Jack smiles back and hops over the back of a small couch.
He lands on Bunny.
"Oi!" Bunny yelps, and then stares at Jack in astonishment. For a second, they're both too shocked to move, and then Jack flushes slightly and slides off of Bunny's stomach and onto the floor. He leans his head back against the sofa and waits for the embarrassment to pass. After a moment, Bunny relaxes back into the cushions and lightly cuffs Jack on the back of his head.
"You're too keyed up to sleep, too, I take it?" Tooth says. Jack shrugs.
"A lot has happened," he says vaguely.
"You said it, mate," Bunny says. "Dealing with Pitch on top of Easter?" He scoffs. "I'm going to sleep for weeks when I get back to the Warren."
"You are welcome to a room here," North says.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to pass," Bunny says. "Me and the yeti don't exactly have what you'd call a cordial relationship."
"What would you call it?" Tooth wonders.
"It's not fit for polite conversation," Bunny says dryly. Jack laughs. The sound startles Sandy awake, and he drops to the floor, looking around with a bleary smile on his face. He looks more awake once he spots Jack and flashes a few symbols at him.
"Nah, I'm not going to let Pitch wallow for too long," Jack says. "I need him for my holiday, and besides, the sooner he gets back to business, the sooner the balance will be restored, right?"
"Exactly," Bunny says, sounding pleased. For some reason, this makes the others look a little sheepish. Suspicious, Jack twists to look up at Bunny, who looks down at him with an innocent expression that Jack doesn't believe for a minute.
"What?" Jack says slowly.
"Jack," North says a little awkwardly. "We must offer you an apology."
"What?" Jack says, surprised. "Why?"
"For how we treated you before," Tooth says.
"I don't understand," Jack admits.
"Oh, sweet tooth." Tooth looks mournful.
"For crying out loud," Bunny says. Jack twists to look at him. "Look, Jack, Manny chose you to be a Guardian, yeah?"
"I guess," Jack says.
"And we…." Bunny's ears flatten along the back of his head and he looks embarrassed. "Well, we chose not to tell you because we didn't think you'd make a good Guardian."
"You work with Pitch," North adds. "And your holiday is about fear and deception. Why would someone like that protect children, we thought."
"And we were wrong," Tooth says before Jack can get offended. Sandy nods in agreement and flashes a few symbols that Jack takes to mean, You're definitely Guardian material. "So we're sorry for judging you and for not telling you that you were chosen."
"Though you should know that Bunny defended you," North adds, smirking at Bunny. Jack looks back at him and grins when he sees how embarrassed Bunny looks. This close, Jack can see a faint blush underneath the thin fur near his nose.
"Aww, cottontail," Jack says. "You really do care."
"Rack off," Bunny huffs, but his voice is fond. Jack's smile slips off his face.
"I owe you an apology, too," he says. "To all of you, for what happened on Easter. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted. Hell, I shouldn't have gone off by myself in the first place."
"Oh, Jack," Tooth says. "I can't even imagine what it must have been like to wake up with powers and no memories. We don't blame you for giving in."
"Everything worked out in the end," North says cheerfully. "You are forgiven, Jack."
Jack smiles. "So are all of you." He allows himself a moment to bask in the warm, fuzzy feelings that overtake him when the Guardians smile at him and Bunny ruffles his hair. "So," he says. "You all have badass headquarters—wait, do you have one, Tooth?"
She giggles. "I have a palace in the mountains that's attended to by flying elephants," she says. Jack stares at her for a moment.
"That beats all of yours," he declares, and Tooth looks smug. Jack lets his head fall back onto the couch and relaxes fully for the first time in days. He knows his exhaustion will eventually catch up with him, but for now, he's content to sit here with his team by the fire. "Anyway, do I need to get to work creating my own castle or what?"
It's still strange to think of himself as a Guardian, but they are an official team now. And who knows. Maybe one day, Jack will even call them friends.
There are still a few loose ends that I haven't tied up yet, and that's because I'm considering writing a sequel to this (that's also why this story is so close to canon events). You can consider this the prologue to whatever I write next about Jack O'Lantern and the Guardians. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thank you to everyone who's commented, favorited, or even just read this story. Your support means a lot to me!
To Jokermask18: I hadn't heard of Stingy Jack before you introduced it to me, but I looked up the legend and it looks very interesting! It just might end up in the sequel ;)