This takes place right after Prince Of The Ice Kingdom.


"Do the others know?"

Jack gasped and almost fell off his staff. He floated down instead and turned to face the speaker. He didn't need to ask Pitch what he meant. He must have see him talking to Jamie. Jack bit his lip nervously, not really wanting to talk about that.

"Ah, so they don't?"

"I haven't talked to them about it yet."

"And why is that?"

"Because this shouldn't even have happened."

"You're right, it shouldn't have."

Pitch looked strangely satisfied about this turn of event. Or maybe it wasn't that strange. Pitch might not be actively trying to get revenge anymore, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take some pleasure in seeing Jamie suffer because he believed again. He was the kid who had ruined his great plan, after all. By believing. This must be quite ironic.

"Did you come here to gloat?"

"No. I came to offer you my help."

"Your... help?"

"If you want, we can fix that. Make Jamie stop believing again. All it takes is a touch of fear."

Jack's fingers clenched around his staff but he did his best to stay calm. He was trying to keep things civil between them. It had mostly worked for the past few years, with only a few disputes. But he wasn't going to be able to remain a friendly neighbour if Pitch did anything to Jamie. Even if he wasn't a little kid anymore, Jack still wasn't going to let the Boogeyman scare him.

"Didn't work last time."

"That's where you're wrong."

Jack opened and closed his mouth a few time, confusion filling him. Pitch kept looking at him with a smug little look, waiting for him to figure it out. When Jack understood what he meant, he gripped his staff even harder. The Wind blew hard across the frozen lake as the snow started falling again. It took Jack some time to find his voice.

"What did you do to him? What did you do to Jamie before he stopped believing?"

"He kept coming here, you know? He was so full of fear. Fear that he would never see you again, that you did not like him anymore, that he had done something wrong, that he was supposed to become an adult, now. But he did not want to let go of his childish beliefs. So I fed that fear. I just helped him move on. Don't look at me like that, Jack. It was better this way."

"But that not why you did it."

"No. But what does it change? The result was the same. Jamie moved on with his life, got married, had a child who's not nearly afraid enough. You should be happy."

Jack lowered his head. The Wind calmed and the snow stopped falling. He felt angry at Pitch for daring to do anything to Jamie, ashamed for causing his friend distress and not being there to protect him, and yet a small part of him was happy. Jamie hadn't wanted to stop believing. He hadn't just discarded their friendship. No matter that it was what Jack had wanted him to do, he still felt relieved to know he hadn't been able to just let go. And now he blame himself for that. I need to speak to him.

"Look, thanks for the offer, but no," Jack said. The thanks were sincere enough, after all, Pitch didn't have to offer. He could have just gone ahead and done it. "I'll just... see what happens next."

"Whatever you say, Jack. The offer will still stand if you change your mind."

Pitch turned around and disappeared in the shadows of the trees. Jack shook his head, trying to make sense out of this. Why had Pitch offered his help, really? Not because he wanted to help Jamie, that much he was certain. And not because he wanted to scare him, because he didn't need Jack's blessing to do that. And why did he tell him about his role in making Jamie stop believing? To boast? To make him feel better about his friend forgetting him? Because he was in a talkative mood tonight? Jack sighed and looked up at the Moon for answers.

A snowball connected with the side of his head. Jack turned back to the trees where it had come from in surprised, but he could see nothing there. Nothing but too-deep shadows, that is.

"Stop moping around, will you?" Pitch said from the shadows. "You put snow all over my bed whenever you're upset."

"Oh?" Jack laughed. "And I don't, otherwise?"


I wasn't sure I wanted to use Pitch in this arc yet, since there's quite a few years since last chapter he was in, but I decided to just use him anyway. I'll write more of what happened since he got his new bed later.

I can't believe I'm only ten chapters away from 100. When I first started this, I told myself I would write 100 stories, but I wasn't really serious. Now it looks like I'm actually going to do it. So, while I said a few time that I might give up on this, I'm certainly not going to do it before reaching 100 chapters!