Wow! I sincerely apologize it took absolutely forever to upload this, I had most of it done, and then just...didn't...write any...more... I do apologize, I would make the excuse of school and work and being busy and stuff, but really, I just forgot and put it off. I sincerely apologize! This is the second to last one, I think I'm just going to improv. the last part, and let it write itself, I apologize if parts of this are awkward reading or anything, I was lazy again...:/ Anyway, after this, you won't have to worry about being annoyed with me for not updating, you are completely entitled to do that.

Thank you for reading, here's the story :)

I beamed at him, "Congratulations!" I reached forward and wrapped my arms around him. He stiffened, but curled his arms around me, returning the hug. He pulled me forward, and I hissed, cringing. He pulled back, a worried look on his face, and I put a hand on my ribs.

"Sorry." He muttered, then got up and walked over to his staff. I gasped.

"Jack, your staff…it's broken."

"I know. Pitch did this. But, I think I can fix it now." He looked at me reassuringly, but also unsure. He picked up the pieces and banged them together, straining, and they broke apart again. He scowled and touched them to each other, more gentle this time, and scowled at the two pieces of twisted wood. He strained, and there was a sudden bright light, and ice once again coated his staff. He touched it to several different surfaces, grinning each time frost made an appearance, and dashed over to me, picked up his tube of teeth, and picked me up, holding me to his side.

"Let's go back to Burgees." He beamed and I returned the smile, but slightly strained.

"Let's go." He shot upward, with Baby Tooth fluttering around us, and whooped with joy. I smiled and tried to retain body heat, but with the cold wind and Jack's cold chest and arm wrapped around me, it was difficult. Soon, my teeth were chattering.

"J- J- Jack, I d- don't s-suppose you could…make the wind a l- little…w-warmer, c- could you?" He looked at me, slight surprise on his face, and called out to the wind, "Wind, be warmer, jeez!" A playful smile stuck to his face and the wind complied. I sighed "Thanks," as I felt my extremities slowly warming up again.

It took us roughly eight hours to reach my hometown, and once we were there, it was dark out. All of the streetlights were on, and the roads were empty. We swooped down into Jamie's driveway, and I was sorely tempted to ask Jack to take me to my house, but I didn't, because I felt like I had to help him.

We walked up the driveway, well, Jack walked, I kind of hobbled, but we got there, and got Jamie to help us. Suddenly, there was a great noise like something being un-suctioned, and there was the sound of jingling bells and a man yelling "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" We turned, and North's sleigh smashed down on the asphalt in front of Jamie's driveway. Out staggered North, leaning on his two swords, and Tooth weakly fluttered out. Jack helped me over to them, and asked, "But, where's Bunny?"

North looked at Tooth and said, "Losing Easter took its toll on all of us. Bunny most of all." He and Tooth backed away from the sleigh and Jack said, "Oh no."

Bunny was the size of a normal rabbit. He snuffled, and Jamie walked up to him, disbelieving.

"That's the Easter Bunny?"
"Now somebody sees me, I mean, where were you about an hour ago, mate?"

"What happened to him? He used to be huge and cool. And now he's…cute." Jamie reached out a hand to tickle Bunny's chin and Bunny liked it, but batted Jamie's hand away with a growl and looked to Jack.

"Did you tell him to say that?" He hopped off of the sleigh and over to Jack, "Let's go, me and you. Come on." He bounced around, lifting his fists, and I let go of Jack, allowing him to get some room, while I stood on one leg. Jamie approached Bunny again and said,

"No, actually he told me you were real. Just when I started to think that maybe you weren't." Bunny looked from Jamie to Jack a few times, then said,

"He made you believe? In me?" and when Jamie nodded, Bunny looked to Jack and smiled.

"Alana, are you okay?" Tooth fluttered over and asked. Everyone turned their eyes toward me. I looked down at my feet, embarrassed.

"Well, actually, I think my ankle's broken." I looked up, a guilty smile on my face. Tooth's breath sucked in and she touched my shoulder.

"Your house is there," Jamie gestured. I smiled sadly at him.

"Yeah, but they wouldn't let me leave, and I have to be here. If anyone has two pieces of wood or something straight and some strips of cloth, that's work as a splint."

"I've got my boomerangs, you can use those." Bunny offered.

"And I have cloth." Said North. He reached into the sleigh and pulled the tools out and handed them to me. I took them, sat down as gracefully as possible, wincing slightly, and placed the boomerangs on either side of my ankle, tying them together with the cloth. I looked to North, "I don't suppose you have a crutch or two?" He turned and rifled around in his bag, and pulled out two crutches.

I thanked him and pulled myself up with their help. Once I was standing again, I looked up to the sky and paled, seeing Pitch on a cloud of Nightmare sand. Everyone's eyes followed mine, and Jack got us all sleds to ride on.

However, calling them 'sleds' is too kind a word. We were actually riding on trash lids over ice that he made on the road. It was terrifying, but immensely fun at the same time.

When we got to where Pitch was, we stood in a group, surrounded by nightmares. It didn't look good for us. The Guardians were weak, Pitch was strong, and along the way we had picked up Jamie's friends. We stood behind the Guardians while they bantered with Pitch, and then when Pitch asked, "Who will protect you?" Jamie replied, "I will." All of the other kids, including Cupcake surprisingly, walked forward and said the same. When they were all done, I hobbled forward and glared at Pitch, and said, "I will." I wasn't afraid of the Boogey man anymore.

He glared at us and threw nightmares at us. I hobbled in front of the kids as fast as I could and reached up to block them from the nightmares, but as I came into contact with that first nightmare, gold sand radiated out from where I had touched it. The kids following my example, began running around touching anywhere they could reach, usually the legs, of the terrifying horses and turning every one of them into golden sand.

Eventually, the gold sand won out, and Sandy was reformed! He turned all but a few of the nightmares back into Dream Sand as Pitch ran away, a very scared look on his face. He reached Jack's pool, and ran into North. It would have been comical, had the Guardians not been so serious and Pitch so weak. He scrambled backward as best as he could on the ice, and North commented, "Leaving so soon?"

"You didn't even say goodbye." Tooth flipped a quarter through her fingers then tossed it at Pitch.

"A quarter." He said with disdain, but it didn't last long, because Tooth punched him in the face and he lost a tooth. He shouted, and Tooth shook her fist.

"And that's for my fairies."

Pitch stood up and said shakily, "You can't get rid of me, not forever. There will always be fear."

"So what?" North asked, "As long as one child believes, we will be here to fight fear."

"Really? Then what are they doing here?" Pitch asked menacingly, gesturing at the ten or so nightmares around us. The Guardians looked around and North laughed, "They can't be my nightmares, I'm not afraid." There was a pause, as Pitch looked confused, then Jack stepped forward and spoke.

"Looks like it's your fear they smell."

Pitch looked around, scared, probably for the first time, and tried to run away from the Nightmares. It didn't work, of course. Horses can run faster than a person.

He was engulfed in nightmare sand and dragged down the hole with the broken bed over it, and the last thing we heard as the wood disappeared was Pitch yelling, "No!"

I'm gonna go do the last part now, so it should be up today :) If it's not, feel free to yell at me *guilty smile*