Chapter 25: Finding Jack

Baby Tooth struggled to fly against the storm. Although her body was telling her to stop, she knew that she would be thrown into the snow if she did. She could already feel herself getting weaker, succumbing to the cold, and if she fell into the white stuff that would be the end of her. She had been searching for Jack for hours, trying to find him in the blinding snowstorm. It was nearly impossible to move through the storm, let alone find someone, but she didn't give up. Not after what had happened.

Baby Tooth had tried to keep up with everything that was going on, but things had happened so fast that she had no idea what had happened to Gemma. She hadn't even met the girl yet and already she was hurt twice. And then there was Bloody Mary. And then Pitch came into play. It was confusing, but that didn't matter right now. She had to find Jack. She had to help him in any way she could. He was her best friend; she couldn't just sit there when she found out how hurt Jack was. She had gone to find him.

So now the miniature fairy was struggling through the blizzard. This one was different from the usual ones. Something was wrong with Jack, and he seemed to be terrified, she could tell. She couldn't explain it, but there was something about the way the snow was falling, the extremely dark clouds barely visible above, the temperatures that cut one to the bone, and the sharp wind stabbing her tiny body that told her. It sounded crazy, but it was true.

Soon everything seemed to be getting stronger as Baby Tooth flew against the buffeting winds. She realized that she was close to the center of the storm. She couldn't give up, no matter how tired and cold she was. Jack needed her, she wasn't going to disappoint him. Not now. Not ever. She had always felt like a kind of Guardian Angel to him, watching over and giving him advice when he needed it. She was going to find him, even if she gave up everything else to succeed.

Then something strange happened, and it occurred so fast that Baby Tooth almost didn't believe it. The storm stopped, if only for a second. In the fracture of time, the wind stopped blowing. The snow stopped falling. It was like a glitch in a video game. She almost fell into the snow in surprise, but caught herself and shook her head instead. The storm started again, not as strong now, but the event still confused her. What was going on with Jack?

That wasn't the only thing Baby Tooth had noticed. Something else was there, and she didn't like it. A big black horse stared down at the bottom of a hill a few yards away, watching something. A Nightmare. Pitch knew what was going on, and had sent it to watch the Winter Guardian, she realized. She pushed herself, growing even more tired at every wing beat. She was almost out of what little energy she had left. She had to find Jack now.

Luckily, the storm was growing weaker as she moved closer to where the sandy figure had been. She kept lowering her altitude at sudden intervals while she flew, struggling to stay in the air. There was no way she was going to be able to keep this up, nor walk in the snow, but with good luck she had reached the spot where the Nightmare had been. It had disappeared, but she didn't notice when she saw Jack.

Baby Tooth squeaked in joy when she saw him, and immediately pelted down the hill to him. Seeing the teenager had given her a little more energy and renewed her spirit. Jack tossed and turned in the snow, fast asleep and fighting off another Nightmare. She realized that Pitch was the cause of the storm, striking fear into the poor boy's heart. The mini-fairy immediately raged with anger. How could he do this to Jack?

The mini Tooth finally got close to Jack as he shot up with a scream. She squeaked in his face, worriedly checking him over for injuries. "Baby Tooth!" Jack said. "How, how did you find me?" She squeaked her reply, explaining that there was no time for that. She told him about the Nightmare that had been watching him. Jack frowned, then scrambled for his staff, which was lying partially buried in the snow nearby.

As he did so, Baby Tooth collapsed into the snow, completely buried. Her energy was gone. From beneath the surface, she could hear Jack call her name and felt him pick her up. She shivered at his touch, a sneeze escaping her as she was lifted out of the frozen water. "Baby Tooth! Are you OK?" She could barely keep her eyes open, she was so weak. Jack closed his hands around her tiny body, trying to keep her warm.

"I gotta get you somewhere warm," he said. Baby Tooth felt herself being put into the pocket of Jack's sweatshirt. "Don't worry, I got you." She suddenly felt herself lurch with Jack, being raised into the air. Jack was flying into the sky, but there was a problem. The wind from Jack's flight penetrated easily through the cloth and in through the openings of the pocket.

She felt herself getting colder, getting weaker. The wind cut through her, through her feathers, through her skin, and deep into her bones. She knew she wouldn't last long, but was too weak to refuse. She felt the darkness closing in.

Then everything went black.

MEANWHILE

Tooth fluttered around the globe, nervously thinking about what was soon to happen. How was she going to explain her feelings to Jack? She hadn't meant for Gemma to run away, at least that was what North told her when she woke up. Would he forgive her for it? Would he even listen to her? "Thanks for nothing, Tooth. You've ruined my life, as if it wasn't bad enough with Jamie gone. Good luck trying to speak to me again." Jack's words haunted her. How was she going to fix this, with Pitch around the corner?

A fairy stopped in front of her, expecting orders. Tooth gave her a sad look of confusion, forgetting her job, but then remembered. "Berlin. East side. Sector 1." The fairy paused, giving her a sad look. Word had spread quickly among the little creatures, and they all knew everything that had happened. The mini-Tooth flew to her leader's shoulder, attempting to sit on it. She was trying to make Tooth feel better.

Although she was touched, Toothiana sent the fairy away. She couldn't let them see her like this. Sandy appeared with a cup of eggnog, staring up at her with concern. He had been there when she woke up, and was still worried about what was going to happen next. Tooth fluttered down to him. "Sandy, I don't know what to do! I, I didn't mean to hurt Jack like I did, but…"

Sandy held up a hand, making her stop talking. She could tell he meant that she would know what to say when the time came. It didn't make her feel better, though. "I know," she said, fluttering around nervously. "I just…" She cut herself off when she saw the tunnel. The hole had appeared at the center of the room, just below where Sandy and Tooth had been talking. Or, rather where the fairy had been worrying to the Sandman.

From where they were, the Guardians couldn't see inside the tunnel, since it was so dark, but they expected Bunny to hop out with Gemma in his arms in any second. After a few seconds, the pair shared a worried glance. Where was Bunnymund? Tooth was about to say something when they heard the pitter patter of tiny feet. Their first thought was rats, but as the objects came into view they realized it was eggs. And the eggs were carrying a passed out Gemma.

Sandy gasped when he saw the Scott. She was extremely pale with large black patches all over her body, her usually fiery red hair now a dull light brown color. The girl's clothes were wrinkled and covered in dirt and vomit, which gave off an awful smell. Her eyes were shut, and she lay limply across the little eggs, neither making a sound nor moving. The eggs carried her to a nearby couch, where immediately Sandy was by her side. Tooth, meanwhile, had hovered silently as they had walked in, still unable to see the girl.

Toothiana watched as Sandy waved her over, unwilling to move. He glared at her, pointing out that if she wanted to make amends with Jack she would have to accept his girlfriend. He turned his back to put his hand on Gemma's forehead, and Tooth quietly came up behind him. Sandy grabbed the Guardian of Memories' hand and gently placed it on the teenager's forehead.

At first, Tooth was afraid that her hand would pass through Gemma, who she still couldn't see. But as she placed her hand down, she could feel soft hair and skin. Going out from her touch, Tooth began to see the shape of a young teenaged girl. The imaged developed like a hologram, appearing and disappearing before reappearing once more. Tooth gasped and jumped back in shock.

Gemma's dreams had come true. Tooth had believed. She believed in Gemma Fogg. She could see her. She could touch her. To the Guardian, the Scott was alive. "Gemma, I'm so sorry for what I did," the Guardian said. "It was wrong of me. Please, wake up!"

There was no response.

OK everyone I am SO SORRY for not updating this story.

School's been kicking my butt and the past couple chapters made me really depressed.

Sorry about that. But hey, I'm back!

Anyways, please review!

It helps and I enjoy it!

:)