Chapter 18

When Jack saw the Dollmaker about to strike Alice, it was like his sister at the pond all over again. Someone he truly cared about was in danger. He didn't hesitate for a moment in his actions.

"NO!" he yelled as he rocketed towards Alice in a desperate attempt to save her. He shoved her aside with just a second to feel triumph for saving her, before the Dollmaker's hand slammed into him harder than he had ever been hit before.

The Ruin that covered the Dollmaker's fist burned Jack like acid in the places it hit him, and he was sent flying towards town. The Wind tried to slow him down, but there was only so much it could do.

Then Jack's flight was cut off abruptly as he hit something hard enough, that he was sure some of his ribs at least cracked.

'Oh' he thought hazily. 'I must have hit the North Pole'

He then fell the rest of the way to the ground. Jack lay dazed where he'd fallen. He knew he was still alive, but for the moment it was too painful to move. The Wind swirled around him worriedly, and Jack knew there was not much he could do until his wounds healed themselves enough that he could stand again.

The sound of large wings reached his ears, and he was able to turn his head enough to see Katherine and Kailash land nearby. Katherine leapt from her giant goose, and ran over to him.

When she reached him, she fell to her knees beside him and started wringing her hands as her eyes darted over his prone form. "J-Jay, are you-?" she stammered out.

Jack realized he must look pretty bad for levelheaded Katherine to react like this.

He heaved in a painful breath and said, "I'll be alright. Just give me a minute."

"B-but, your injuries," Katherine protested.

"I'm immortal," Jack said with a wry grin. "These'll be gone in no time. It helps that I'm in the snow. Since it's tied to my powers I can draw strength from it."

Hearing that, Katherine quickly began piling snow on top of his injuries, which helped them heal faster. As she did so, she kept repeating two words under her breath. "I believe, I believe, I believe."

The snow, and her belief began to work their magic, and Jack could slowly feel his strength retuning. He sucked in a far less painful breath and asked, "Is Lis alright?"

On cue, a rage filled scream reached their ears from the direction of the battlefield.

"Guess that answers that question," Jack muttered to himself. "If she's alright enough to be that angry, she'll be fine."

Katherine looked down at him with a wane smile. "You must really love her," she said softly.

Jack's brain shut down, and despite his still healing injuries, he shot up into a sitting position. "Love?" he asked in utter shock.

He immediately regretted his sudden movement, and winced as the pain caught up with him. Katherine laughed at his reaction.

"Yes, love," she said as she tried to push him back down and put more snow on his injuries. "You clearly do."

"I-I! W-we're just-" he tried to say. He refused to lay back down. His injuries still throbbed, but they were no longer paralyzing.

Katherine smacked his arm, making him wince. "You are most certainly not 'just friends,' if that's what you're trying to say. I've seen the way you look at her, and how you look out for her. You care about her far too much to just be friends."

This was too much for Jack's brain to process all at once, and his face was turning beat red as he realized how much of what Katherine said was true.

In an attempt to distract Katherine, he picked up his staff and began to use it to hobble back towards the battlefield. "L-lets just go help the others," he said.

Katherine sighed in amusement. "We'll ride on Kailash, you really shouldn't be moving too much until you're feeling better."

Jack nodded stiffly, and climbed onto the large gooses back behind the girl.

Kailash took to the skies, and soon they were soaring over the forest, back to the fight. As they got close, they saw Alice's rampage, and the state she was in.

Katherine watched the other girl tare into the Dollmaker with horrified fascination. "W-what happened to Lis?" she asked in concern, and a little fear for the girl.

Jack winced. "She told me about this. She calls it Hysteria. It's a berserker mode she can tap into whenever she's either really angry or about to die. It makes her stronger and harder to hurt, but it does look really creepy."

"That's an understatement," muttered Katherine as they flew closer. Seeing Alice slaughter the Dollmaker single-handed was more than 'really creepy.'

Just as they were about to land, when Alice dealt the final blow. Below them the Ruin melted and died away, leaving it clear who the victors of the battle were.

Kailash landed in the snow, and Jack jumped of her back and ran strait towards Alice.

When she saw him, her face broke into a brilliant smile that made Jack pause. In that moment, he knew he could not deny Katherine's observations. Because there in that moment, Alice's smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Then Alice's eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed in the snow.

"Lis!" yelled Jack in alarm. He ran over to where she'd fallen and scooped her up into his arms.

Alice was still alive, but she was freezing cold. Her skin was so pale it was practically translucent, and there were dark bags under her eyes.

Ombric crouched beside them, and began to look Alice over. Under his breath, the wizard was muttering about which remedy would be most effective, and what wouldn't work.

Before he could administer anything, Toothiana let out a cry of alarm. She had reformed into her full-sized self, and was looking at the Dollmaker's body with terror in her eyes.

The other's followed her gaze, and saw the giant marionette monster's body slowly start to repair itself from the damage of the battle.

"He's still draining her!" hissed Toothiana furiously. She stabbed her sword into the Dollmaker's body in frustration, but the wound slowly began to close like the others.

Jack was gently shaking Alice, but she remained unresponsive. "Lis! Lis wake up!" he said worriedly.

"I don't think she can," said Bunnymund, his Australian accent still thick, but slowly going back to its formal tone. "This beast did say that his drain o' her powers would eventually lead her to a comatose state. Ah'll bet it's now reached that point."

Jack cradled Alice to his chest at the news.

St. North let out a curse in Russian, and began pacing in the snow, while keeping a wary eye on the Dollmaker's healing process. "Ve cannot let this beast reform himself. If he does, ve vill never be free of fighting him. Dere must be some vay to free Liz from his hold."

Ombric was muttering a healing spell for Alice, which made her look better for an instant, before all the progress faded back to her sickly state. The wizard sighed in defeat. "I agree. Lis must be freed from his influence, otherwise all attempts to heal her will vanish as soon as they are made."

Bunnymund's ear twitched as he tried to think up a solution. The chocolate was starting to wear off, and he was going back to his stiff self. "To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever happened before. I am unable to come up with a solution."

Sanderson made sand forms of Alice and the Dollmaker with a string attaching them.

"Maybe if we know more about how he's doing it?" Katherine translated for him.

"That might not be wise, for time's sake," said Bunnymund, but it sounded weak even to his ears, and the others ignored him.

Jack was still hugging Alice too him. When the Guardians looked to him for answers, he shook his head. "Lis's power comes from a world she created out of her own imagination and made real. A bad man tried to take control of her back before she became a spirit, and tried to manipulate her and her world. Those manipulations took form and became the Dollmaker. Even though Lis didn't make him, the Dollmaker is still part of her world, and is connected to it like she is. It's through that connection that he's draining her. The connection can't be broken without killing her," he explained.

Ombric looked down at the sleeping girl, impressed. "That is very advanced magic, and for her to do it at such a young age, it's unfathomable."

"Impressive as it is, it does nothing to help us save her," said Toothiana urgently. The Fairy Queen was not about to loose her new friend to this monster.

As she said that the Dollmaker's fingers twitched, but the monster did not awaken. He was still not healed enough to revive. The Guardians jumped at the movement all the same.

"Toothiana is right," said Bunnymund ugently, "If we do not help her soon, this monster will rise again, and she will likely sleep forever."

The last sentence Bunnymund spoke seemed to trigger a reaction from Nightlight and Sanderson. They shared a look of realization, and both began trying to tell the Guardians their idea. But between each of their own unique ways of speaking, it was impossible to tell what they were saying.

St. North waved his hand at the two of hem to stop them. "One at a time, one at a time," he said. Once the two settled down he turned to Nightlight. "Now, vhat is big idea?"

'The Kiss of Goodnight,' said Nightlight excitedly in his own way. 'The magic of it can take away all hurts. It is what I used to wake Katherine from the nightmares Pitch Black trapped her in. It may wake Lis as well.'

Sanderson nodded in agreement, and made sand symbols to show that such a kiss was very powerful magic.

"So like Sleeping Beauty?" asked Jack, incredulously.

"Sleeping Beauty?" asked Katherine.

"That could vork," said St. North, jumping on the idea, and ignoring the exchange between the youths.

"But who could do it so that it's powerful enough?" asked Bunnymund.

All the other Guardians looked over at Jack.

"Someone who loves her very much," answered Katherine, looking Jack in the eye. "That should make the kiss powerful enough to save her."

Jack turned red at her blunt statement, but if it saved Alice he was willing to try it. He glanced at Alice's sleeping form, working up the courage to do it.

The Dollmaker gave a full body shutter, and seemed almost healed.

"If you are going to kiss the girl, I would suggest you do it now," said Bunnymund, eyeing the monster with alarm.

Jack glared at him for that statement, but he understood the need to hurry.

He looked down at Alice's face again, closed his eyes, and kissed her on the lips.

Behind them the Dollmaker shuttered in pain and cried out. Then he seemed to catch fire and burn away until there was nothing left.

Alice gasped and opened her eyes. When she saw was happening she was surprised. But then she closed her eyes again and leaned into the kiss, pulling Jack closer as she did so.

There was a brilliant flash of light, and the other Guardians had to shield their eyes from it. If they hadn't they would have seen an instant where Jack and Alice's appearance changed. Alice's complexion became healthier and her black and white dress melted away into a blue frock. They also missed Jack's brown hair turn white, and his skin turned pale.

When the light faded, Jack and Alice were gone, and the Guardians looked around for them in puzzlement.

Before they could get alarmed, Bunnymund straitened up. "I sense nothing more wrong with the time stream. I believe they have returned to their own timeline."

Toothiana's wings drooped. "They didn't even say goodbye."

Sanderson, Nightlight, and Katherine all were similarly disappointed.

However St. North gave a happy laugh. "No need to make sad faces," he said jollily "If there is one thing I learned vhen I spoke to them about the future, it is that ve vill see them again. And that is something to look forward too."

That cheered them all up, and they made their way back to their new village. If they would meet their friends again in the future, they had best work to make that future bright. First order of business was to put an end to the Nightmare King' reign of terror.

*A*A*A*

A/N And there ya go. All that's left is the epilogue. I know the goodnight kiss thing is cheesy, but it's canon. It was how Nightlight was able to save Katherine from an eternal sleep at the end of Sandman and the War of Dreams.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.