In the days leading up the party, Pitch became increasingly uneasy. You could see it thick in his movements and written all over his face; he was nervous. He was hardly sleeping at all and he wasn't eating nearly as much as he usually did. I did my best to calm him down with little massages or just by taking his mind off of it, but it never worked. The sound of the Nightmares snorting and neighing was constantly around us; you could hear it in every room of our house no matter where you were.

The hours before the party were hectic. Pitch was worrying about what to wear and if we needed to bring anything special and I was worried about how I was going to make them get along.

"Pitch, are you ready to go?" I called from the front door.

"Almost, dear. I'll be down in a minute." I could feel the tension coming off of him in waves. It was so strong that it almost made me sick to my stomach. When he finally came down, I tried to calm him down.

"Pitch, honey, you've got to calm down a little. You're going to make yourself sick. I promise it won't be that bad, and besides you're stressing me out too." I said, nudging him with my elbow. He gave me a small smile and took my hand.

We flew together, circling the skies. Pitch must have looked like a vulture to anyone who could see him and I some kind of odd toucan. The one thing I knew absolutely nothing about was fashion. I usually stuck to my normal shorts and t-shirt, but since today was special, I dressed up a little. I was wearing a ridiculous sundress looked like a rainbow had thrown up on me. Pinks and blues and greens and yellows all swirled together on the thin material, and to cover my shoulders I had thrown on a black shrug, hence the toucan look.

We landed on the outskirts of a clearing in the woods not long after, and I turned to face Pitch.

"Listen, with the party, I really just want you to keep an open mind about everything. And I mean everything. Just remember I love you no matter what, and that this is for your own good, okay?"

He looked at me strangely, confused, and slowly nodded. I kissed him softly, then parted the vines to my left and led him in. Pitch stood behind me and at first no one noticed our presence, but Bunny must have heard me, because he turned to look at me with a broad grin on his face.

He bounded over to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Aleera! I thought you'd never get here! Come on in, say hello to everyone! Don't be shy!"

North was the first to approach, his feet thudding on the grass. He squeezed me so hard I thought I might explode and cackled in delight. "It's so nice to see you, my dear!"

Tooth flitted over and gave me a quick embrace along with Baby Tooth and a couple other fairies with a quick "Hi!", then out of nowhere Sandy tackled me. He and I had been close for a while and we hadn't seen each other for a long time, and we both rolled on the ground laughing. I saw a shy figure in the back of the group. He looked about sixteen or seventeen and had the most beautiful blue eyes that I had ever seen. Once North realized I had no idea who it was, he introduced us.

"Jack, this is Aleera, a very dear old friend. Aleera, this is Jack Frost, our newest Guardian."

I smiled and gave him a quick hug. He was startlingly cold, and I gasped in surprise.

"Sorry, I should've told you about that." He said nervously.

"It's quite alright, Jack." I laughed. I heard a gasp from behind me and turned to see that Tooth had discovered my "friend". Pitch looked horrified. Tooth whipped around to glare at me, and slowly it registered in the others why Pitch was here. They all turned to me, their faces a mixture of shock, disbelief, and most of all anger.

"Why did you bring him here?" Tooth asked, clutching her fairies to her chest, "Do you want us to hurt him?"

Pitch's face changed then to a look of amusement. "You, hurt me? Please, don't make me laugh." He received a glare from me and his expression hardened, becoming serious once more.

"Listen to me. You guys need to start getting along. You need to start working together to keep the Balance well… balanced. There can't be too much fear or too much joy in the world without consequences, and none of us want those consequences to be dealt out." I said quietly.

Tooth snorted. "What, are you suggesting we actually become friends with this guy? You're joking, right?" She froze when she realized I wasn't. "If that's the case then, I'll see you guys another time. I won't stay around here with this thing." She shot up into the sky and was gone in the blink of an eye. I turned to Bunny, then to North, my eyes pleading with them to hear me out. Bunny, with a sad look in his eyes, pivoted and hopped away. North did the same, putting his hand on Jack's shoulder and leading him to the sleigh.

I looked to Sandy, my last hope. He looked confused, unsure of what to do. He hovered quietly for a moment, and then disappeared in a flash, mouthing his apologies. I circled around to look at Pitch, but he was nowhere to be found. Except for the Moon, I was utterly alone.

The Moon.

I looked up to him with tears in my eyes, and then he too left me, leaving me in the dark. I fell to my knees and cried. I had ruined everything: my friendship with the Guardians, my relationship with Pitch, and now the Moon no longer seemed to love me. The darkness seemed to cave in on me, crushing me down to nothing. I had never felt more alone in my life.

A flash of blue and gold light to my right made me jump, and there was Sandy, hovering about a foot above the ground, a slight smile on his lips. Jack Frost was next to him, balancing on the hook of his staff, also smiling.

"We decided that you might have a good point. I've seen what happens when the Balance tips for fear, and I don't think I want to see what happens when it goes the other way, so Sandy and I'll help you out with this." Jack said softly. I smiled and a cloud of dream sand appeared above Sandy's head in the form of Pitch, a question mark next to it.

I shook my head. "He's gone, Sandy. Pitch left." Sandy was at my side in a second and had his hand on my shoulder, attempting to comfort me. I smiled, "Thanks Sandy."

Then the Moon appeared, shining brighter than I had ever seen it. Jack wrapped his cold arms around me with Sandy's hand still on my shoulder. I laughed, and then cried. I cried because they were there with me. I cried because I wasn't alone.

Howdy! I'm back! Thanks once again for all the great reviews! What do you guys think about Sandy and Jack helping out Aleera? Think it'll turn out alright, or do you think it'll just end up being a big mess?

I love you guys!

Kendall :D