Sadly, my faithful readers, this is the final chapter of this story. But worry not, for there will be a sequel! Just wait and you will see!
Chapter 18: Happy Ending
Once Pitch had been dragged down his own hole by his own beasts, the four official Guardians caught the attention of the four Guardians-to-be. All four spirits lined up, ironically by chronological age, Windsong, Narain, Jack, and Casey, and North pulled out the huge book once again.
"Are you four ready to make a decision?" North asked. All four spirits nodded and North opened the book. "It is time you took oath." He opened the book to the correct page. "Will you, Windsong, Narain Hart, Jack Frost and Casey Aqua, vow to watch over the children of the world? To guard with your lives their hopes, their wishes and their dreams? For they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be."
Jack and Casey looked back at Jamie and Maddy respectively, both of whom nodded. Jack and Casey turned back around and, along with Windsong and Narain, said, "We will."
"Then, congratulations, all four of you." North said. "For you are now and forever more, Guardians."
The children began cheering along with Bunnymund's egglets, the elves and the yetis as North went down the line, picking up one spirit after the other and giving them big Russian kisses.
After their induction into the Guardians (officially at least), Casey suddenly felt very light headed again and she stumbled back. "Oh no." She muttered.
When he heard Casey's voice, Jack turned just in time to catch Casey as she passed out. "What's going on!?" he yelled.
Narain knelt beside Casey and put a hand on her forehead. She sighed and looked at Jack. "The temporary fix I gave her to help her fight Pitch despite her pond being polluted has run out. The poison is in Casey's body again."
"How do we get it out?" Windsong asked.
"The only thing we can do is figure out how to disconnect her from her pond and reconnect her with another body of water that isn't polluted." Narain replied.
Jack looked at Casey. "How about we connect her to my lake?" he suggested, looking up at everyone. "It's the best thing for her."
Narain nodded. "Agreed."
"How do we connect her to a different body of water?" Tooth asked.
"Her clothes." Narain answered. "Her body and clothes are constantly wet, but with water from whatever body of water she is connected to. If we dry out her body and clothes then resoak them in water from Jack's lake, her connection with the polluted pond will be destroyed."
Everyone nodded in agreement. So, for quite a while, the Guardians worked, first drying Casey's clothes then, after Solar Flare had melted the ice on the lake, they put her in, careful not to let her freeze. A while later, Casey's eyes cracked open and she took a deep breath.
Jack smiled. "Hey, Casey." he said softly. "You alright?" Casey nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak at the moment, but the Guardians were relieved all the same.
The sound of bells alerted them and they all, Guardians and children, looked up to see North's sleigh, repaired and the reindeer back in place, flying to them. It landed gently on the ice and the children marveled at it.
Bunnymund laughed and looked at North. "Everyone loves the sleigh."
North nodded then he put a hand on Jack and Casey's shoulders. "Time to go."
Sandy built up a large ball of dream sand and hurled it into the air where it burst and golden dream sand snow rained down on them all. The kids were amazed. Bunnymund knelt down beside Sophie as the two-year-old played with a large group of eggletts. "Happy Easter, ya little anklebiter." he said as Sophie grabbed his nose. "I'll miss ya."
Jack and Casey turned to face Jamie and Maddy, both of whom were looking distraught.
"You're leaving?" Maddy asked.
"But what if Pitch comes back?" Jamie asked. "What if we stop believing again? If we can't see you…"
"Hey," Jack said as he and Casey knelt down to eye level with their respective first believers. "Slow down, slow down. You tell me you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes up?"
"No…" Jamie muttered.
"Okay," Casey continued. "Well, do you stop believing in the sun when the clouds block it out?" She pointed up to the sky.
Jamie and Maddy laughed. "No." Maddy replied.
"We'll always be here, you two." Jack said. "And now, we'll always be here." With their free hands, Jack and Casey each pointed at Jamie and Maddy's chests.
"Which kinda makes you Guardians too." Casey finished. Jamie and Maddy smiled widely. Jack and Casey stood up straight and began walking to the sleigh.
"Jack!" Jamie yelled.
"Casey!" Maddy shouted as she and Jamie ran to Jack and Casey. Right as Jack and Casey turned around, they were surprised when the two ten-year-old kids wrapped their arms around their middles. At first, neither spirit knew how to react to being touched this was after how long they'd each been alone. But then, they relaxed and knelt down to wrap their free arms around the children. Once they had let go, Jack and Casey jumped on the sleigh right as North snapped the reigns and the sleigh took off, the children waving at them. The two spirits climbed in and found seats.
Casey looked up as Narain sat down beside her. Narain saw that Casey was still clutching the canister that had her baby teeth in it. "Have you looked in there yet?" Narain asked.
Casey looked back at the canister and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Back when the other guardians thought that Jack and I had betrayed them. I ran away to the Atlantic ocean where I was hoping I'd be able to think more clearly. I tried to throw it away, believe me, but something held me back. Then Pitch turned up and things just went crazy. He managed to get ahold of my staff and he snapped it, then he sent me flying across the surface of the water. I didn't really do anything. I just felt so useless without my staff. That was when I thought I heard something. When I looked back at the canister, I found it glowing, so I opened it. That was when I was flooded with memories, ones that I had lost two hundred and fifteen years ago." Casey looked up at Narain, a slight smile gracing her face. "One kinda stood out. Apparently, I had a little brother."
Narain nodded. "What was his name?"
"Matthew."
Narain's eyes widened. She had heard that name. Yes, two hundred and fifteen years ago to be exact. The little ten-year-old boy with dark brown hair and amethyst eyes. His name had been Matthew. Narain had found him mourning over his older sister, a girl who looked about fourteen-years-old and had dark brown hair like Matthew, but since her eyes had been closed, Narain had no idea what color they had been. Narain looked at Casey as the memory of the fourteen-year-old girl went through her mind. Was Casey the same girl that had died all those years ago.
"I saved him." Casey continued. "We had been on our own since our mother had passed away and we stumbled upon a campsite. We didn't think it belonged to anyone so we helped ourselves to the fish we found cooking there. Then, the owners of the campsite came back and it turned out to be a band of bandits. They threatened to kill us so I hid Matthew and lured the bandits away so that he could escape. The bandits ended up confronting me at the pond where I live at now and the leader stabbed me in the chest." Casey looked down, her free hand clutching at her chest, but Narain had a frown on her face.
"Casey," she said, grabbing the younger girl's attention. "I was there all those years ago." Casey's sapphire eyes widened.
"You-you were?" she asked. Narain nodded slowly.
"Yeah. Me and my deer brother tried to help you and your brother, but by the time we had gotten there, it was too late. You had died and your brother was bent over your body sobbing his little heart out."
Casey started to shake a little. She pulled her knees to her chest and put her head to her knees. "What-what happened to him?"
"I took him to a human friend of mine where he grew up."
"So, he was okay?"
"He remained disturbed about your death but I don't blame him."
Casey nodded as tears began to stream down her cheeks. The water spirit tried to choke down her sobs, but was unable to do so. "That's a relief." she said. "That he's okay. Now that I remember him, I know I'd be a wreck if anything happened to him because I couldn't be there to protect him."
"He was fine." Narain said. "Missed you terribly, but he grew up into an impressive young man with a wife and two children, a son and a daughter."
Casey smiled.
"He named his daughter after you, you know." Narain continued. Casey's sapphire eyes grew wider.
"He-he did?" she asked. Narain nodded.
"He loved you that much."
"I wish I could see him again."
Tooth, who had been listening in on Narain and Casey's conversation, turned to look at the fourteen-year-old spirit. "Now that you have your memories back, you'll always get to see him, whether physically or mentally."
Casey smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked back at Narain. "Thanks for taking care of him." Narain nodded.
"It was the least I could do."
"It still means a lot." Casey said. Narain wrapped an arm around Casey's shoulders and hugged her tightly. Jack came on Casey's other side and wrapped his arm around her as well. Casey smiled as the sleigh continued to fly away into the horizon.
"My name is Jack Frost."
"And mine is Casey Aqua."
"And we're Guardians."
"How do we know that?"
"Because the Moon told us so."
"So when the Moon tells you something-"
"Believe it!"
Okay, so, the way Casey gets connected to Jack's lake isnt wat i had in mind. I knew i was going to make Casey be connected to Jack's lake i just didnt know how i was going to do it. Then the fact that Casey is always wet popped in mind and there yu go, the way Casey is disconnected from the polluted pond to Jack's lake.
Casey later found out that Matthew is the reason Maddy had heard her legend. She was grateful to him believe me, even if he never saw her.
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