She had fallen asleep throughout the whole commotion. Jack was surprised she didn't hear Sophie laugh with delight as Bunnymund and everyone else created Easter eggs.
Jack found himself gravitating towards her every chance he got and he was surprise he felt a little off when he wasn't near her.
He reasoned that he was just worried that she had traveled so far from home with Sophie and had an obvious problem with her mother based on the fights he noticed.
When Sophie had fallen asleep in Bunnymund's arms, both he and Bunnymund were near Kailani as she curled in on herself.
"Not bad." Jack mused.
"Not bad yourself."
"Hey, look. I'm sorry about the you know, the whole kangaroo thing."
"Haha, don't worry about it. Poor little thing. Look at that, all tuckered out." Bunnymund said as Tooth and North came to see Sophie sound asleep in his arms.
"I love her." Tooth said as she kneeled, smiling down at the sleeping child.
"It's time to take her home." Tooth said, cradling Sophie.
"And Kailani?" Jack asked. He actually didn't want them to leave yet. They were safe from Pitch here.
"Jack..." They all turned to see Kailani murmuring in her sleep, shivering as she hunched in on herself. Jack frowned as he walked back to Kailani and kneeled, holding onto his staff.
Was she calling for him or another person named Jack? Jack didn't like the second option. His insides seemed to twist when he thought about her calling out for another guy.
He didn't like this feeling.
"Dad..." She murmured, almost fearfully and Jack began to get nervous. Was she having a nightmare?
How? Pitch wasn't here.
"No..."
"She's having a nightmare. Wake her up." North ordered as Kailani began to shake and hunch in closer to her body. Jack didn't think as he reached out to touch her but felt that disappointment seep in his body as his hand slipped through her arm like he was just air.
"We can't." Jack said through clenched teeth as he curled his hand into a fist, feeling helpless and invisible for the millionth time.
"Dad...no..." Kailani was moving her head side to side, almost as if she was searching for someone.
"She's having a nightmare." Tooth murmured as she clutched Sophie close to her.
"What are we supposed to do then? She's not supposed to have a nightmare in here unless Pitch is here or he's already touched her faith." Bunnymund said as he circled Kailani as she groaned fearfully in her sleep.
Jack was stunned. Pitch had touched her dreams already? How? Pitch was after children's faith and beliefs, not teens or adults.
"No, Jack...Jack...Frost..." Kailani began as she shook harder now and Jack was astonished that she wasn't calling out for another guy, she was calling out for him.
Someone was calling out for him.
It gave him hope that furled in his chest like a flower in bloom. But that hope turned into fear, something he was not used to.
"No. Dad." Kailani yelled harder. No one knew what to do because they couldn't touch or shake her awake. She was a Sighter and they had trouble seeing and hearing the Guardians.
"Wake up!" Jack breathed out anxiously, frustrated that he couldn't help her and no one could do anything.
"No..."
"She can't hear you, Jack." Tooth said as she placed Sophie on the ground to hover next to him.
"She has to wake up on her own, mate." Bunnymund said, placing a paw on Jack's shoulder.
"Kailani, wake up! You have to wake up!" Jack said frantically but trying to cover it.
"Jack..." Only a fraction of the fear in her voice disappeared and Jack, had he not been paying close attention to her, noticed something else in her tone. Something warm.
"Wake up!" Jack said louder, hoping she could hear him, knowing the chances of that happening were rare. He gripped his staff tightly, wishing his hands were on her shoulders and were shaking her awake.
"Jack..."
"I think she can hear you," North said. "Keep calling out to her."
"Daddy." Kailani murmured and Jack flinched at the heartbreak and pain that slipped through her mouth and into the air as she called for her Daddy.
"Wake up, please." Jack begged now, something he usually never did.
"Dad, DAD!" Kailani eyes shot open and she sat up, visibly shaken and breathing hard with a light sheen of sweat peppering her skin.
Everyone had jumped out of the way, expecting her to see them any moment but Kailani eyes were filled with pain and terror and she shook out shaky breaths as she rubbed her face violently, as if she wanted wipe away the nightmare from her memory.
Jack felt a surge of protectiveness towards her as he saw her try, but fail, to control herself.
"Just a dream, just a dream." She murmured over and over again but Jack knew she was trying to convince herself but was failing.
"Sophie." She jerked her head up, her hair flying forwards before settling back past her shoulders since her ponytail had come undone in her struggle from the nightmare.
She stood up and swayed and Jack reacted instinctively by reaching out to hold her up but he slipped right through and he growled out in frustration.
"Sophie," Kailani said as if she found the world's greatest treasure as she kneeled and touched Sophie's hair before standing up.
"We're still here." Her voice cracked and Jack knew she was going to lose it. Everyone saw as she walked to the edge of the hill and sat down heavily, wrapping her arms around her raised knees.
"I can't do this anymore. I can't. I just can't."
"We should leave her alone for a bit." Tooth said as everyone looked back, expecting Jack to follow them but found him staring at her with a certain tenderness in his eyes.
"Jack..." Tooth began but North stopped her.
"Let him be." North said. "They need this."
Buunymund and Tooth frowned but didn't question North as they followed him, leaving the girl and Jack alone.
Thank you for all of your reviews! It means a lot to me... Tomorrow is the release of Rise of the Guardians. I'm buying the DVD as soon as stores open. Until next time please review.
