I love you guys. Really. Is it bad that I'm happy when I make you cry?

Part 3 of the Fun Times Are Over arc.


The battle plan was "attack". It was doomed to fail from the start. They ran to the entrance to Pitch's lair and stormed the place. They wanted to punch the bastard, hurt him, maybe even kill him. They couldn't even find him. They wandered around in the dark, the moving shadows putting them on edge and mocking laughter coming from nowhere sending them running in different directions. They got separated more than once. These are the times Pitch would attack.

This was one such time. Bunny backed away from the black sand flying at him. This wasn't going well. He was bleeding from a few cuts and he didn't even know where to throw his boomerangs. Darkness clawed at the edge of his visions from nightmare sand stuck in the wounds. Not enough to be a danger, except that this was a fight and any distraction was a danger.

Just as he tried to regain his footing, the ground gave way, turning to shadows. He would have fallen to a lower level, even farther from his companions, had someone not grabbed him by the leather strap crossing his chest and back. His savior flew away, still holding him up above the ground.

"Wait, Tooth! I almost had him!"

"He almost had you, you mean."

"We could have gotten rid of him."

"Or we could have lost you, too. We're going back to the others."

They were following a stream of Dreamsand, which soon led them back to their fellow Guardians. North and Sandy stood back to back, staring into the darkness, looking for any sign of the one they came here for. Tooth put him down next to them.

"That bloody coward isn't coming out unless he can get us alone."

"You come here to fight me four on one and you call me a coward?"

Bunny threw a boomerang in the direction he thought Pitch's voice came returned to his hand without hitting anything. Pitch laughed again.

"Pitch!" North shouted. He took one step toward a darkened hallway, but Sandy grabbed his coat and pulled him back. The shape of a snowflake appeared above his head. "I know, Sandy! That's why we're here. He killed Jack!"

"Oooh, you should have seen it. The darkness consuming him, it felt so sweet. Like revenge."

"Pitch! That's it, when I catch you–"

"Enough!" Tooth shouted, grabbing him again and jerking him backward before he could dash away from the others. "He baiting you. Sandy's right, Jack is our priority."

"You're the one who said we would make him pay."

"We will. But not if it cost us our chance to bring Jack back. Getting beaten here won't help him. Jack isn't lost to us, Bunny."

Bunny looked down, his ears drooping back. Tooth and Sandy were right, of course. They had to concentrate on bringing the kid back. They could avenge him after. He knew their desire to come here now had been selfish. They wanted a distraction, so they didn't have to think about their failure to protect him. He should never have let the kid hang around with Pitch. He knew it wouldn't end well.

"We go back to Pole," North said. "We plan there. Bunny?"

Bunny sighed and nodded. He tapped a foot to the ground, opening a rabbit hole. Before jumping in, he looked in the darkness one last time.

"We'll be back. And we'll win."


Jamie didn't want to wake up. He hanged on to the dreams as long as he could. But they could not last forever. The midday light shone in his face through the window and finished waking him up. He blinked several times and rubbed the sand out of his eyes. The memories returned all too soon. "This is your fault. Never forget that. He would have been fine without you."

Jack's staff leaned against the wall next to the bed. He was sure he had still been holding it when he fell asleep. He picked it back up and wandered out of the room, with no real purpose. He wasn't sure he felt ready to face anyone right now, but he didn't want to stay alone either. He found Sophie eating cheerios in the kitchen. No one else was in sight and the house was silent.

"Soph? What are you doing here? Where's Ashley? Where's Jade? It's Sunday, right?"

"Good morning to you too. Not that it's morning."

"Soph–"

"Calm down. Sit. Eat. They're fine. Mom will be taking care of Jade for a few days. Ashley took her there. And yes, it's Sunday. You slept twelve hours, not thirty-six."

"Oh."

He grabbed a bowl and spoon and sat down in front of her. The microwave informed him that it was one o'clock. He was starving, but didn't feel like eating.

"Now, you tell me what possessed you to walk back here in the middle of the night without telling me. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I tried calling you, but I still had your phone."

Jamie hadn't even realized that Sophie took his phone. He looked down at his empty bowl. He hadn't meant to make her worry. She had enough to deal with already without her brother disappearing on her like that.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't planning to come here. I just went for a walk. I ended up at the lake. The Guardians came there. Bunny brought me back here. He said you told them about Jack?" Sophie nodded. "I'm so sorry for letting you deal with everything. I–I should have–"

"Bunny said Jack might come back."

Jamie's head shot up. "You spoke to him?"

"He was here earlier. He said they were going back to the Pole, to figure out how to bring him back. He could be back, Jamie. He could be back."

Jamie nodded, returning his gaze to his bowl. "Jack said to keep believing, before he... before he died."

"I'm believing. I'm not about to stop."

"I know, I am too, but he's not back yet. Why? Do we need to believe harder? Does it just take time?"

"I don't know, Jamie."

Sophie sighed. She had dark circles under her eyes and Jamie felt guilty for sleeping so well this night. He didn't deserve the Dreamsand. Not when he played such a role into this mess.

"This should never had happened. It's all my fault."

"Don't be an idiot."

"It's me Pitch wanted."

"Because you saved the Guardians. Would Jack have been better off if you hadn't?"

"No..."

"Then stop worrying about it."

"He didn't have to do that. To save me."

"No, he didn't. But he chose to. Drop it, Jamie. Eat."

He could tell his sister was too tired to argue with him, so he did drop it. He filled his bowl with cheerios instead of explaining to her that none of this would have happened if he hadn't started believing again. Pitch had been the one to make him stop believing the first time around, or so Jack told him. It might have been enough if he hadn't ruined that as well. And Jack would still be here. "This is your fault. Never forget that. He would have been fine without you."

He would bring him back. Somehow. Like they brought back Sandy. And sitting here moping wasn't going to do that. With a burst of determination, he pushed away his despair and sat straighter. He may be responsible for this mess, but he would fix it. He would bring back the Guardian of Fun. He forced a smile on his lips and was surprised to find it becoming genuine.

"Soph, how about we make some paper snowflakes?"


They found the sprite sitting on Jack's bed. Tooth sent Baby Tooth to get him when they learned the news, to give the little fairy something to keep her busy. A mission she could focus on. She now knelt on Jack bedside table, hugging a plastic action figure of the Guardian. A gift from North for his first Christmas with them. The sprite simply sat there and stared at the wall. Tooth placed a hand on his small shoulder.

"Wynt, isn't it? He'll be back. I swear he'll be back. But we need your help."

The sprite looked at her, his eyes begging her to tell him what to do. How to help Jack return.

"We need children believing," North explained. "We need you and the other sprites to fill in for Jack. To bring fun to the children of the world. To keep the lights burning bright."

Wynt took a deep breath and nodded. His lost expression was gone, replaced by resolve. He had a purpose, now, and he would do his best. He did not bother saying goodbye before flying out the window. Tooth smile. They could do this. She scooped up her little fairy in her hands.

"We need to do our own part. Sandy?" The little man nodded and gave her a thumb up. She turned to the others. "We'll have to go, to return to our job. You two try to find something that can help. Call us if you have any idea."

"Go.." Bunny said. "We'll do what we can. We'll figure it out."


It was a full day before Jamie returned to the lake. He tried to keep his smile on, to have fun, no matter how much he wanted to break down and cry. They cut paper snowflakes. He made Yeti stew for supper. He knew Ashley thought he was in denial. He wasn't. Jack would be back. That was just a fact.

But he wasn't back yet and it was getting hard to keep that smile. Ashley had left for work after asking him half a dozen time if he was sure he didn't want her to take the day off to stay with him. He told her he would be fine, but he wasn't. Sophie hadn't come out of the guest room yet and Jamie pretended he couldn't hear her crying. He left to take a walk.

He tested the ice with one foot. It looked solid. The Guardian had frozen the lake back when he returned and it hadn't thinned enough to be dangerous. He wondered if it ever would, or if the spirit trapped within would keep it frozen forever. He was still careful as he walked back to the spot where Jack had died. The ice was thicker here, where it had opened and frozen again. He knelt and peered through. He only saw darkness.

He still held Jack staff in one hand, but he pressed the other to the frozen surface. He almost expected to see Jack press his hand on the other side. But there was nothing. Jamie sighed.

"You told me to keep believing. I'm believing. Come back... please come back." He choked down a sob. "Come back," he shouted. "I believe in you!"

"I know."

Jamie gasped and turned. Standing behind him, Jack Frost smiled.


This isn't over, guys. We're about halfway through. I think.