Thanks to Alexia04, Hanna, Everlak-forever12, IceSteam, Irene Kagamine, MagicGold34, ObsidianLove, OinkyThePiggy, Prongsies, THE NIGHTS RAGE, TheAngeloflego and erconn for following, favoriting and reviewing.
Thanks to Alex, AnDy-93, Taeng and all the Guest. Your support is amazing.
Sorry about last chapter I know I was very late and I didn't even add any A/N. I was working on Cold Poison -rather trying to rescue that sinking ship!- and then I accidentally deleted all the Gaia/Pitch part and had to rewrite it, but I still wanted to publish it on that day. By the time I was done, my eyes were closing, I didn't have energy to proof read, let alone write thanks. Thank goodness that apart from a few obvious typos it seems OK.
BrambletheArcher sorry to make you warm and fuzzy and then take it away
Thanks for putting up with me ;)
Tooth was curled up on her bed, while Baby Tooth filled her in with the day's events.
The Guardian was finding it hard to concentrate, staring blankly at the window. She was warm. A few months ago, being warm would have been a nice thing, but now it was just a reminder that Jack's arms were not wrapped around her waist. She hated being warm.
Why wasn't he here again? Oh, yes, that. Was loosing herself in his arms so terrible after all? Well, it certainly wouldn't have been terrible, and he would probably still be here, cuddling and kissing her, smiling his dazzling smile, filling her palace with his wonderful cold.
She put her hand on her chest, where she had this pain, this physical pain making it hard to breath. It was almost like she had been stabbed again. Was she overreacting to this whole thing? She looked 15, but she really was older than the mountains after all. Was making love to her winter boy so wrong? True, it was not the way she was raised, it was not what she dreamed of, not what expected. But she was not even human anymore, she was an immortal spirit now. And Jack did say that he wanted to be with her forever. And she knew he meant it.
She remembered his face when he stormed out of her bedroom three days ago. She had hurt him. She must have hurt him or he would have come to see her by now.
"Sandy! Thank you for coming!" said North, wrapping the Guardian of Dreams in a bear hug.
Sandy was worried. North had never randomly asked him to come to the workshop before. He made a question mark over his head.
"It's Jack" said North "he and Tooth had a fight the other day, and when the Guardian of Fun is not fun to be around, one worries, no?"
Sandy nodded.
"You and Jack are close, no? I thought maybe you could try talking to him" North continued.
Sandy couldn't help smiling. North looked like a worried father.
Jack finished his rounds and flew to Burgess. He had decided that, since he was a Guardian now, it was his duty to protect children from extreme weather conditions and to make sure that winter was just nice and pleasant. He found Mandy in the garden, tending to her veggie patch. The winter spirit knew how important gardening was for Jamie's mom, and although she never asked him to, he always made sure to keep the cold away from her tomatoes.
Mandy knew that the hellion was there before she could see him, when the familiar cold breeze touched her face. She was replanting a little tree, and she spoke without turning around to see him.
"Hi, Jack. Jamie is inside, but his building a model plane with his dad. You could play with Soph, but she's watching a Barbie movie..."
"It's OK, I actually came to see you" he said.
There was something about his voice that made her turn around. It didn't carry that usual playfulness it always did. It was thick and low. The voice of someone who had suffered alone for centuries.
"Sweetie, are you OK?" she asked, jumping up and wrapping him in a hug.
She was short and thin, yet her arms always made him feel safe, protected, loved. He buried his face in her shoulder and that stabbing pain on his chest actually felt better, the emptiness threatening to consume him slowly disappearing. It was funny, really. Technically speaking, he was her uncle. Well, great, great, great... he was he uncle. But he knew Amanda saw him more like one of her own kids and he could feel that motherly love radiating from her every time she smiled at him.
"What happened, sweetie?" she asked, in the sweetest voice in the world.
He pulled away to look at her.
"It's Tooth. Something is bothering her. She doesn't want to talk to me about it, she literally pushed me away. I don't know why she doesn't trust me." he said. It was hard to talk with that damned knot on his throat "I haven't seen her in three days"
Amanda smiled. Three days didn't seem like much, but Jack sounded as if it was three years.
"We girls sometimes get confused inside our heads. It may have nothing to do with you. Do you know what could be bothering her?"
"I think she's confused about..." Jack took a deep breath. He felt marginally more comfortable talking to Mandy. At least he knew that she wouldn't be loud like North. "I think she wants us to get more intimate, but she's not quite ready yet. I think three days ago she felt like just letting it happen and it scared her, not being in control."
He looked into Mandy's eyes, expectant. She looked like she was either trying to make sense of what he had just said, or thinking carefully the words that she was about to speak.
Mandy was surprised. Apparently the Guardians were more human than she though. She was flattered that Jack would share something like that with her.
"And how do you feel about that?" she asked, both her hands holding one of his.
"I feel like I can wait for her for millennia as long as I get to be with her while I wait. I feel like I'd do anything to make her happy, even if it means giving her space when she needs it. But mostly I am hurt that she didn't tell me what she was feeling. Did she think that I would take advantage if she told me she was confused? I want to make love to her, I do, but not when she has doubts. I want her to be certain and happy."
Jamie's mom cupped his face in her hands and kissed his forehead.
"Why don't you go and tell her that?" she said smiling.
"Now?" he asked.
"Right now. Those exact words. Throw in an 'I love you' and you'll do perfect" she said smiling again. She could barely believe what a sweet boy he was.
Jack looked at her incredulous. Was she... proud of him?
"Gaia! The boy did it again! Do you want me to..." said Gretchen as she entered the throne room at Mother Nature's Palace. But she couldn't finish that sentence. Her green eyes were wide with fear and surprise. Gaia's body was almost completely covered in black sand, no... her body was becoming black sand.
"Run!" whispered Mother Nature, her face contorted with fear.
Gretchen looked around. She had no idea what was happening but she had to help her friend somehow. She was not about to leave Gaia. And then she saw him.
"Pitch Black... what?" she said, looking straight into the yellow eyes.
Kudos to whoever guesses who the OC is!
Clue: the German name is on purpose ;)
