Chapter nine-Rest for the Weary
Things were looking up, he had to admit it was going better than he had expected right up until the 20th. He hadn't expected things to go smoothly but he also had certainly not expected the pole to start falling apart without North's magic. Not to mention the bitterness from several younger spirits when it was discovered that Pitch was a guardian. They had no knowledge of the situation but still went out of their way to give him trouble. He discovered how problematic this could really be that night.
He was out, spreading all manner of dreams and hoping that the other winter spirits had the season covered (as he had asked Phil to inform them that they needed to step up briefly) when he felt the air heat up. It was winter where he was, northern hemisphere and all, but the air around him was scorching.
"Lookie here, the new 'Guardian', I wonder what he's up to." A snarky voice pierced the comfortable silence he was working in. He recognized one of the lesser summer spirits, Theodore, before he even turned to face him, this wasn't good.
"Theo, this isn't your season and you know it. Now get out of here and stop melting the snow, the humans will be confused." Pitch warned tiredly.
"Oh no, I'm so scared. That is what you do, isn't it?" He asked as sarcastically as he could.
"No. That is not "what I do" and furthermore that is none of your business and I suggest you go back where you need to be before I send you there myself." Pitch warned, voice low.
"Or, I could help some friends get even." He smirked. Pitch must have looked confused because Theo laughed. "Oh don't tell me you can't even guess. You don't deserve to be a guardian, Pitch. They do. They want to take out some frustration." He explained. Pitch's gut knotted at his words but he scowled at the man as more summer and fire spirits showed up.
"Believe it or not, you aren't the first spirits to try your hand at me. Do your worst." Pitch's voice hardened, his face a cold sneer. For the first time in what felt like forever he could feel his soul, life breathed into it, alive and well. He could do good as he use to before that life-changing disaster that changed him, hardened him and what did he get? He got fights, and insults and all manner of accusations but he supposed that while he might be different, he had been much nastier before and there were many more people who knew him after that change than before. He hardened himself against the pain of knowing what his actions had earned him, wanting nothing more than to scream at the memories he had of his deeds. I wasn't in control! There was nothing I could do! That wasn't me!
Instead of the screaming and protesting he had wanted to do his guardianship so far had been mostly desperate scrambling to fix what had gone wrong. He hadn't had time to stew in his own thoughts and for that he was grateful.
By the time he had finished those thoughts there were fire arrows sticking out of every possible non-lethal place they could have struck him, gashes, wounds you name it. He was in rough shape. He somehow managed to drag himself back to the pole before he collapsed. Phil found him and between he and the other medically trained yeti they had managed to get him moving in time for Christmas and he had taken a little too long to do the fabled gift-delivery, but it had been worth it. The lights still twinkled on the globe but there were a few dimming.
He had wanted to stick around to see their faces on Christmas but he couldn't waste that time. There were so many other kids who needed their Christmas morning brightened. If he had stayed, he would have seen the most wonderful thing he had ever witnessed.
Mrs. Bennett had gone shopping for Jamie through the year, so right now all she needed was to buy for the five downstairs. She really couldn't contain her excitement. Jamie wasn't helping her be calm either. He had wrapped most of their presents himself, seeming to want to make everything beyond perfect for his new friends. In reality Jamie just knew what his mom couldn't, that he was wrapping presents for the Guardians of childhood!
"When are we going down there mom? Can we go? Come on!" He was hopping around like a crazy person, still in his pajamas.
"Be patient honey, we don't want them to wake up, do we?" She asked. He shook his head, deflating a little.
"No." He admitted.
Around midnight they snuck in and decorated the place a little more than it was already, stuffing the tree with gifts and noting the five neatly-wrapped gifts that said "from Santa" on them arranged around five more that simply had names and a few more that said "from Jack". She couldn't help her smile as she re-arranged them next to her own "from Santa" pile. Each had three from "Santa" including Jack just so the little ones knew and they would bring their own down in a few hours.
When Pitch had made it back to the pole the four kids lights glowed so brightly he almost couldn't look at them, and then there was a fifth. Jack's light was lit. He believed in the way only a big brother could;
He sat back and watched them ripping into their presents like they had all the time in the world, like the pile would never end. There was no savoring the moment, the one gift they would receive as in previous years, no. They believed that Santa would always bring them toys, they couldn't have been more excited and Jack couldn't help the Joy bubbling up in his chest. They needed these stories and he kicked himself for not telling them sooner. After all he might have helped them survive, but now they were flourishing.
As Pitch finally passed out from exhaustion and over-working his injuries Sandy started sneezing. He had been trying his best but there was no denying that he needed rest so Sandy's job got thrown a bit by the wayside for a few days. It only took him three more past Christmas of sleeping and chugging tea like it was the nectar of life before he was able to leave the pole again but when he did he realized the toll that attack had taken.
Back at the "Bunnymund" house Jack was about to collapse. He hadn't been able to sleep himself since Sandy had been waking himself up hacking every ten minutes so he was sitting up with the poor kid in his lap sleeping. It was the only way he could get any relief and Jack was starting to get worried. The medicine the doctors had prescribed was doing absolutely nothing to reduce his fever or the coughing.
"Easy buddy, big breath okay?" He practically cooed to the toddler who nodded, doing as suggested and managing to actually get a breath in. He sniffled and buried his face in Jack's hoodie. His heart broke for the little guy because he couldn't even talk, which meant he had been at school all day silently coughing behind teachers who had been too busy to notice. When he had walked in that night Jack had been immediately both concerned and furious. They hadn't noticed this and called him?
That quickly abated when he thought about what they must have been dealing with. Sandy was the best behaved kid in their classes, he couldn't blame them. He wished he had known though, poor little guy.
"Jackie?" Anna crawled up on the couch with him.
"Yeah Anna?" he asked, opening an arm to allow her to snuggle with him.
"Can we stay with Sandy?" She asked sweetly, Nick and Aster's heads could be seen poking out from the hallway. His heart melted.
"Sure, let's go to our room though." He stood with the shivering little mass of blonde hair still snuggled into his blanket, extending a hand which Anna took he led them to his room he shared with the two. Aster and Nick took the cue, Aster leading the little one in front of him and helping him up onto Jack's bed.
It was about then that Pitch peeked into the window to see a miserable-looking Sandy snuggled into a nest of blankets with all of his family cuddled up around him. He looked awful.
"I'm sorry kiddo, that was my fault." Pitch whispered to the boy through the window. Sandy couldn't hear him but it didn't matter. "I should have fought harder, I could have won. At least you believe now." He smiled sadly, going off to spread as many happy dreams as he could manage so the poor thing could get better as soon as possible.
Soon he heard a knock on the door. He called to let her know they were there and she keyed in with her spare.
"Jack?" Mrs. Bennett's concerned voice reverberated through the apartment.
"In here." He called from his room. The sleeping pile on top of him caused a choked 'aww' sound to escape her. She quickly sat down beside Jack, behind where Anna had curled up under his arm. Four sets of eyes were blinking open and falling shut.
"Don't mind me sweeties, go back to sleep." She urged with a smile. Aster, Nick and Anna happily obliged her. Sandy on the other hand looked like he could cry, which would definitely not help him at the moment. "Come here sweetie."
Jack let her scoop Sandy up into her lap and watched him snuggle into her offered hug.
"You still feelin' icky honey?" She asked. Sandy nodded with a little sniffle. "I'm sorry sweetie. You'll feel better soon, I promise." She cooed as she rubbed his back and set to a gentle rocking motion. "Jack, I have a humidifier upstairs and you look like you need a good night's sleep." She started. Jack just shook his head.
"But you've already done so much to help, if you hadn't paid his copay-" She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Shh, Jackie really? It's alright. I'll take him upstairs and get him his medicine, because I know he fought you and you had to wait, and you go get some sleep." She urged. He opened his mouth again but shook his head and sighed.
"You're right, of course. He needs you right now, too. He needs someone who can take care of him like he needs." She hated the look in his eyes like he had failed.
"Jackie no, it's you I'm worried about hon. You do such a wonderful job but you can't do this by yourself. You need help you can't just run yourself ragged. Please Jack, let me help you before you start looking like this." She practically begged at a whisper.
"Like what?" He asked, looking down at himself curiously.
"Like you're about to pass out, sweetie." She chuckled quietly.
"Oh, right…" She couldn't help chuckling because he just looked like he knew there was no point to argue. He was definitely burning the candle at ends it didn't have.
"As usual, you're right, and that's a wonderful plan." He smirked playfully, adding "you know I'm going to just stop questioning you."
"Finally." She grinned and rolled her eyes playfully, she would have thrown her hands up too but Sandy was still snuggled into her lap. Sometimes Jack wondered if she was still a kid pretending to be an adult because she was so full of life and fun he could scarcely imagine her being any older than himself.
"Jackie?" Nick looked up at his big brother, questioning the whole situation as he saw Mrs. Bennett getting up with a bundled Sandy in her arms.
"It's alright Nicky, she's gonna take Sandy upstairs where she's got more that can make him feel better." He explained to the sleepy toddler.
"You mean he's gotta go by himself?" He asked worriedly.
He shared a look with Mrs. Bennett and she immediately came to a decision.
"Of course not sweetie, you can come too, if you'd like." She assured. Nick nodded and squirmed his way out of bed which woke the others and inevitably meant that Mrs. Bennett had five kids to deal with, all so Jack could get some sleep. He smiled a huge, grateful smile at her as she left with her new herd of sleepy little ones.
He got the best, most relaxed night of sleep he had in a long time.
Back at the pole, Pitch was passed out similarly on one of the couches at the pole.
Even the best of them wouldn't have imagined the scenario that would come about in the next few hours. It was too crazy for Wonder, too magical for Hope, too creative for Dreams and there was no Memory in the world of it.
Okay, sorry not sorry about this cliffie. Let me know what you think, and if there's something wrong/something I missed. Please and thank you, you are all wonderful people! :)