The Guardians had come back to get her a few moments after seeing as she was in no condition to fly on her own, Tooth scooping her up despite the fairy's weakening strength and previous distaste for the teenager. They sat in the Tooth Palace Lagoon, Tooth and Jack on the ground next to each other talking and the rest standing next to Annie who was on the ground in a considerable amount of pain. She wasn't about to voice it though, this wasn't exactly about her, it was about Tooth. Annie could already tell that at least two of her rib were broken from her earlier fall.
"Okay, alright I admit it, you were right about Pitch." Bunnymund admitted to North, it was obvious they were playful rivals of sorts. Annie knew that with Easter and Christmas there just had to be. North sighed at his friend and patted his belly. "This is one time I wish I was wrong. But he will pay." He said, looking down at Annie by his feet before turning his attention back to the pair who were now walking across the pond. Annie listened in on what they were saying.
"That's why we collect the teeth, Jack. They hold the most important memories of childhood. My fairies and I watch over them and when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them." She said with a gesture to the huge, beautiful mural above them of herself doing just that. "We had everyone's here. Yours too." She continues with a smile. Jack's head whips around to look at her.
"My memories?" He asks dumbstruck. Tooth looks at him questioningly before answering. "From when you were young. Before you became Jack Frost." She informs simply. Jack looks down in thought. "But I wasn't anyone before I was Jack Frost." He said more to himself than Tooth. He didn't remember a thing. Tooth gives him the same look.
"Of course you were. We were all someone before we were chosen." North chuckled at Tooth's statement and gestured to Bunnymund. "You should have seen Bunny." Bunnymund jumps at the mention of his formal self and glared at the much taller man. "Hey, I told you never to mention that!" Annie chuckled openly at the bickering pair though the movement angered her ribs. Yes, that rivalry was painfully obvious. She turned her attention back at Jack who was still processing all the new information.
"That night at the pond...I just, why I assumed... Are you saying, are you saying I had a life before that? With a home? And a family?" He asked Tooth excitedly. It broke Annie's heart that he couldn't remember. "Yeah, Jack. I remember you. We were friends." Annie spoke up. Jack turned around in surprise at her voice. The last time she spoke was when she was standing up against Pitch. His eyes widen with happiness. "Really?" He asked with a wide smile and looks back to Tooth.
"You really don't remember?" She asked in disbelief, it was clear that all of them remembered but Jack. Jack begins to jump up and down with his excitement like a small child on Christmas morning. It was adorable. Annie couldn't stop the smile that spread over her lips.
"All these years, and the answers were right here. If I find my memories, then I'll why I'm here. You have to show me!" He gushed and leaped around the pond in a single bound. Tooth's face falls at the mention of the teeth. "I...I can't, Jack. Pitch had them." She said sadly. Jack floats down onto a nearby rock overlooking the Guardians. He was thinking, Annie could tell. His brows were knitted and and pale lips were set in a soft line. The conversation was interrupted by a soft, metallic clank. Everyone looked down at the source of the sound. On the ground against the rock Jack was perched on was a golden canister with the picture of the brunette boy on it. The Guardians looked at Annie in disbelief.
"Pitch told me to help snatch the teeth. I had to keep yours, Jack even if Pitch would have beat my ass for it." Annie said with a smile while everyone continued to stare. Her emerald eyes narrowed a bit. "I'm really not all that bad, you know. Can we hurry this up? My ribs are broken." She continued and looked away and focusing on the rock wall inches from her head, prodding her ribs with her index finger to feel the broken points, hissing each time she found one. Annie was insanely thankful for her healing factor now, knowing that the ribs would heal in just an hour or so. They were already almost there. Her thoughts were interrupted by a gasp from Tooth.
Annie watches as a patch of Tooth's shiny feathers fall out and vanish into the air. Everyone's eyes fill with worry. "Oh no!" Tooth exclaims as the ancient mural beings to disintegrate. "The children. We're too late." She says hopelessly. Annie's attention is pulled to North who is pacing back and forth with his swords at his temples.
"No! No! No such thing as too late!" He scolds before his eyes light up. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Idea! HAH!" He's so gleeful and the others look at each other as if he was nuts. Annie had to chuckle at his behavior. It was clear he was a fun man to be around. He swung his swords out, causing everyone including Annie to jump back for their own safety. "We will collect the teeth!" He exclaimed as if it were the best idea in the world. It seemed pretty stupid to Annie, of course this was the man who delivered billions of gifts in just a few hours.
"We're talking seven continents, millions of kids!" Tooth began as if to talk North out of the idea. Annie couldn't imagine why she was subtly protesting such amazing help. Maybe she was just to proud. North laughed at her, something he seemed to do often and pointed his swords to his chest to gesture to himself. Jeez, this man was going to kill himself with those damned things.
"Do you know how many gifts I deliver in one night?" He asked smugly, bringing up the fact that he was indeed the Santa Claus. Bunny stood by him, gesturing to himself with his own weapons just as North had done. All these people are going to kill themselves. But how much damage could you really do with a boomerang anyways? "And eggs I hide in one day?" He chimed in just as smugly as his taller friend. Then the focus was on Jack, who had yet to pick his teeth up off the ground thought Annie could see the way his icy eyes flickered to this almost desperately every so often and could feel the way that desperation and curiosity grew over the course of the conversation. His eyes were now locked on the small canister, barely paying attention to the voices around him.
"Jack," Tooth began, snapping the teenager out of his trance and forcing him into the conversation. "will you help us?" She asked hopefully, her large pink eyes twinkling with hope. Annie found it ridiculously hard to not find that adorable female amazing, so strong and confident. A smirk cut Jack's face and he nodded. "I'm in."
"And Annie, if you help us we'll protect you from Pitch." Tooth said a bit softer than she had when she was speaking to Jack. All the eyes were on her as she thought about it. One particular pair seemed extremely unhappy with all that was going on, Bunny, who obviously didn't like Annie or Jack just glared dangerously in her direction. Annie had encountered him a few times, sometimes rotting his eggs or destroying them completely, drinking in all that excited energy that left the kids as they found the disappointing and smelly things. She glared back though if she was in his place, she would probably hate herself too. "I don't need your protection." Annie spat as she stood up as confidently as she could with her still aching ribs. "I'll help you because I want to," She admitted to the team who just listened intently. "and then I'm gone. You won't have to worry about me anymore." She finished, turning away from the eyes and looking at the destroyed mural.
"I can't believe we're doing this!" Bunny finally spoke his mind, pointing his boomerang in the direction of the two teenagers. "We're really allowing these two to help?" He said as if they weren't there and looked at his teammates in disbelief. "She's sleeping with Pitch, how do we know this isn't a set up?" Annie's hands were suddenly swallowed by the dark, smokey energy.
"Shut your goddamn mouth, Rabbit, you need me more than I need you right now." She ordered in a low, dangerous tone. She agreed to help them and now the Easter Bunny was throwing opinions around? "I'm not about to take this from a rodent." That's when she felt that slight prickle of amusement in her side, finding herself shocked when it came from Jack. Her curiosity peaked when she barely heard him whisper the word 'kangaroo' under his breath. No one else seemed to notice, all of them focusing on her and her odd pause in her ranting. "He does have a point, Annie." Tooth's voice knocked her out of her mental prodding and back into reality. Annie laughed cockily and floated back until she was leaning on the rock wall comfortably with her feet kicked out in front of her. She found herself thankful that her ribs were feeling better, otherwise she would have looked ridiculous rather than confident.
"That the kangaroo does, but can't you just trust me?" She said, throwing the obvious insult Bunny's way. The rodent gasped and looked between Jack and Annie in shock. Jack was trying to hide his barely contained giggled in his fist. "I mean, crickey, you're really going to let an animal call the shots? I used to eat him for breakfast." Annie continued with a smile, mocking Bunnymund's accent perfectly. At this point Jack had to turn around to avoid anyone noticing his failing attempts at hiding his laughter.
"I ain't a kangaroo mate, I'm the Easter Bunny. Kids believe in me." Bunny said almost threateningly, stepping much closer to Annie than she would have otherwise been comfortable with. Annie rose a brow at his words, ignoring the close proximity. "Really gunna pull the belief card on me, mate?" This time not using his accent. "I don't even care about being believed in. I can help people without being believed in unlike you, ya know." Her voice softened considerably by the end of her words, it reminded her of her parents. The only people she had ever actually wanted to believe in her. She knew she was holding back tears, she knew that everyone else knew. They burned like hell but she would never admit it. "But whatever, I'm helping you whether you like it or not." The rest of the team nodded at her and began to make their way back to the sleigh. Bunny glared at her for just another moment for turning angrily to follow his team. Annie let out a sigh and floated upwards, condensing the energy under her to lay on her stomach in the air as the cloud carried her along.
"That kangaroo thing really gets to him. It's pretty funny." Jack said with a light-hearted chuckle. Annie smiled and looked down at him. He was looking up at her sympathetically which puzzled Annie a bit. She wasn't going to poke around his brain to figure out why, she respected him enough to not do that. The moment before had been an accident. "Yeah, it seemed that way.'' Annie answered simply. She didn't exactly know what to say to this boy from her past life. What were you supposed to say in that situation? Jack nodded and continued to walk alongside her, somehow staying close to the Guardians in front of them. It was a nice moment of silence; comfortable rather than awkward.
"How are you ribs?" Jack asked suddenly as they approached the sleigh. By then Annie had chosen to walk on her own, wincing anytime her swinging arms accidentally connected with her fractured bones. She could feel the concern that wafted off of his form. It briefly shocked Annie that he was at all concerned about her so early on. The others were clearly not nearly as concerned. She shook her head to bring herself out of her thoughts and shrugged. "They hurt when I touch them, but they should be healed by the end of the night. I'm still able to help." She played off her ribs as if they were no big deal but they had hurt like a bitch when she had first fallen. Annie had had broken ribs before, Pitch made sure of that, but they hurt just as bad every time. Maybe she was just being dramatic.
"How do you heal that fast?" Jack asked in surprise. It was a valid question. No one's fractured ribs healed in less than a day. Again she shrugged her shoulders; the movement angering the bones in question. God, if she didn't stop moving like this they would never heal. "I'm an empath and an energy master i guess you could call me. I can use energy to repair cells easily and quickly." She explained plainly. There was much more science around what happened but Annie thought that was the easiest way to explain it to someone who didn't know the ins and outs of her abilities. "It's a blessing when you're around danger everyday, ya know? Pitch's crew really liked that I could heal them as well." She finished. It was clear so was no longer talking to Jack though he still listened intently. Annie knew she tended to do that; fade in and out of a conversation. She had inherited it from Pitch. That's what happened when you spent three-hundred years with someone. Of course she would pick up on some of his she went again, prattling about in her thoughts. Annie nearly groaned out loud; she needed to kick this.
"Come everybody! Millions of teeth waiting to be collected!" North yelled excitedly to the two teenagers who were still idly standing next to the sleigh long after everyone else had boarded. Jack smiled up North and hopped into the rickety sleigh happily. It was no secret that those two obvious shared a close father-son bond. It was also no secret that the sleigh was groaning under everyone's weight. "That thing doesn't look safe." Annie added a bit nervously when she had meant to be cocky. She hadn't given her fear of the ancient machine permission to show through but it still had; a problem she regularly had with any emotion. The huge animals in front began to kick and grunt in an anxious and annoyed way.
"No matter! Everyone love the sleigh." The gigantic man boomed from above her. Annie was shocked for what felt like the millionth time that day when North bent down and scooped her up by the collar of her shirt and lifting her effortlessly into the back like a kitten. She wasn't fond of the way her shirt lifted when he did so, it exposed her stomach and arms and all the bruises and scars that were hidden under the fabric. She could have growled with disgust at the markings that littered her petite body. It wasn't so much the deep, lumpy scars that swirled around her torso and arms that bothered her; those were from the bear. It was the dark, barely raised marks and bruises that Pitch had left behind. Annie hated them and she knew that every person in that sleigh hadn't gotten an eye full. She ignored the worried and curious glances, choosing to instead copy Bunny's position with his paws gripping the seats with incredible force.
The reindeer grunted began to pull forward, bringing the sleigh forward quickly. Annie closed her eyes and gulped as they grew faster and faster, finally pulling off the ground and into the sky with excited whoops from both North and Jack. Annie was afraid of heights -always has been, always will be- but she was confident when it was her energy lifting her. Her breathing was heavy and rugged as they flew up even faster. Annie knew she wouldn't be the best flier in her condition if something were to happen and her heart nearly thumped out of her chest. "Calm down, Annie. It's fine." She heard jack laugh near her ear. She hated this! Annie was pretty sure her fingers would fall off if she held on any harder. Wait.. What was she holding onto? She opened her eyes just long enough to see that he right hand was clawing deep into Jack's covered arm. The teenage boy didn't seem to mind and if he did he definitely wasn't showing it, instead laughing and yelling like a boy on a roller coaster.
They landed in some small American somewhere near the East Coast. Annie wasn't sure of the exact location and didn't really care to know. Even if she did she wouldn't have had time to ask with Tooth barking out orders, addresses, and numbers. Annie sighed. It was going to be a long freakin' night.
Hey guys! This is my favorite chapter so far, just so you know. I needed Annie to make some sort of connection with the Guardians and I feel like I did that. I want to thank anyone who has favorited and followed so far but I really need some reviews here, guys. I would love to hear your opinions. There will mostly likely be more than twenty chapters in this at the rate I'm going to now.
Listen to Good Little Girl (Bad Little Boy) by Marshal Lee and Fionna from the gender-bent episodes of Adventure Time. They are one of my hardest ships! And that Donald Glover, lemme let you.