YAY it's VISIONS!

Whew…so now that I managed to heal from my terrible eye infection, and it looks like there will not be any permanent damage to my eyesight on my left side, I can FINALLY get back to writing.

Let's GO!

Tooth stroked the white head lying in her lap, her lavender eyes soft with both worry and love for the child she had already adopted in her heart as a son. The other teen male who had taken up similar residence in her heart was also asleep; the rabbit warrior lay in front of the fire, one foot twitching from a dream playing in his head. Pitch walked into the living room, his mouth giving a small twitch of a smile at the quiet yet endearing scene.

"They try to act so tough," Pitch chuckled "but inside they are merely children."

"Yeah," Tooth smiled up at the dark man "I wish you could have seen Jack's face when he discovered Bunny's true age, he was so shocked he could barely speak."

Pitch snickered "I admit that I too was surprised to find that the rabbit was actually only still a teen. Though technically a young adult, he is still holding on to youth in some small portion of his heart, much like Jack. Years as an immortal won't change how he will always be immature and childlike in many ways due to being made an immortal before he was grown."

"Agreed," the fairy hummed turning her attentions back to Jack gently running her fingers through his soft hair "North told me that we will be having a group meeting concerning Holly and her intentions for burning up the homes of the children."

"Good," the boogeyman nodded firmly "when will this be?"

"In the morning," Tooth replied "we're all going to gather and you will tell us what you know."

"Fine," Pitch sat on the couch, gently picking up Jack's legs and laying them across his lap "I just hope that everything turns out well."

"Pitch,"

The Boogeyman looked at Tooth, his eyes going wide as he was pinned down by pink Arabian silk, her lavender gaze wrapping around him and chaining him to the couch "Yes?" he answered softly.

"What are you not telling us?" the fairy asked, her brow furrowing with concerned lines "I can tell you know, when you're hiding something from me-I mean us, so what is it?"

Pitch felt his heart clench, and he struggled to tear his topaz eyes away from the figure seated beside him "I-I-" he stammered before looking down and giving a heavy swallow as he considered whether or not he should lie, but one look back at the fiery pink orbs immediately denied that option "I…wish that…I could," Pitch replied slowly "but in order to protect this world and those in it, I…can't."

"…" Tooth hesitated before finally nodding gently "Ok, Pitch, I will trust you that you are doing what is best."

"Thank you Tooth," Pitch murmured his eyes cast down at the floor and glittering with silent pain "I want to tell you, but I cannot."

"Oh Pitch," Tooth reached out to touch him, but was stopped but the sudden fussing of Jack "Jack…?!"

The boy squirmed and suddenly began to cry, his head thrashing back and forth as he twitched and convulsed. Pitch could feel the vision tormenting the boy, and he began to fall underneath the pain of it himself. Clutching his heart, the boogeyman tried to remove himself from underneath Jack's legs, but he was stopped when the frost child began to kick and hit Pitch hard in the stomach. Tooth looked between the two of them, he face a mix of horror, and fear. Turning her head, she opened her mouth to scream.

"BUNNY!"

Aster shot up and his emerald gaze took in the scene n a flash before rushing over and wrestling Jack into his arms and holding him still. Tooth scooted over to where Pitch was clutching his chest, his breath a labored wheeze of pain "Pitch," she murmured stroking his face "come on, look at me, what's wrong?"

"H-Hurts," the dark man ground out "Visions…HURT!"

Tooth's eyes went wide with understanding and she whirled to face Bunny "Aster," she snapped "get North and tell him to contact Sandy, for all we know any spirit connected with dreams are probably in pain right now, I'll stay with Pitch and you take care of Jack."

"Right!" The rabbit nodded, clutching Jack to his chest and running out of the room.

Turning back to the boogeyman, Tooth curled her legs up onto the couch, and sat on her knees. Gripping the man's face between two hands, she caressed the gray cheek with her thumb "Pitch, you need to breathe," she directed gently "come on, you can do it."

Pitch attempted to take a steadying breath, but it came out more as a strangled choke, his voice rising to the ceiling in an agonized cry. Looking up at tooth through one squinted eye, Pitch gave a humorless whisper of a chuckle "G-Get's worse every time," he gasped "no matter how far away I am, it still h-hurts."

"Why do visions hurt you?" Tooth asked gently.

"N-no idea," Pitch wheezed "I d-don't even kn-know if Sandy suffers..the way I do. I j-just know…that visions…show the future, and the future is such a d-dangerous beast…it should n-not be seen…by anyone. Those who see the f-future, suffer every time. Jack is immortal, and thus does not suffer the short lifespan or bad health that a normal human seer would, but I who am connected to dreams, I guess you could say I'm allergic to visions."

Tooth breathed a silent sigh of relief, as while Pitch answered her question, she watched him calm down, and the pain recede from his eyes, but her heart still hammered with fear "The vision," she whispered "it's…horrible, isn't it?"

Pitch glanced at Toothiana, and then sighed casting his eyes back to the floor as one hand unconsciously rubbed at his throbbing heart "…Yes…"

The fairy lowered her head to lay on Pitch's shoulder, tears sliding down her cheeks "I hope that we are prepared for it."

Pitch brought a gray hand up to stroke the fairy's head comfortingly "that is my hope as well."

…..

"NO! I WANT NORTH!" Jack screamed, his entire body thrashing in Bunny's firm hold.

"We're almost there snowflake," Bunny panted, running as fast as he could manage on two legs.

Bursting through the door of North's study, the large man had barely enough time to let out a startled gasp before the winter sprite flew out of Bunny's hold and tackled him. Wrapping thin arms around North's neck, Jack began to weep helplessly, clinging to the man like a life line. North slowly brought shocked arms to envelope the boy in a warm hug, his blue eyes casting a silent question of worry over to the Pooka; Aster shrugged and then heaved a sigh, shaking his head with sorrowful fatigue. Turning back to the child sobbing in his arms, North began to pat Jack's back, softly whispering reassurances.

"There now Jack," the Cossack murmured "everything is just fine, not to worry."

"No…no, everything is NOT fine!" Jack wept gripping North neck even tighter.

"Of course it is," North patted the head giving a smile of gratitude as Bunny left the room and softly shut the door "why wouldn't it be?"

Jack stilled his sobs becoming a shuddering gasp as he struggled to regain his composure "I c-can't tell you…I'm sorry."

"Jack, if your vision is about Holly, then you don't need to keep silent anymore," North said "we already know about her plans."

"No," Jack gave a grieved sigh laced with a hiccupped sob "you don't know everything."

"What more is there to know?" the large man persisted "She hates me, and wants to take out irrational revenge by destroying me and burning the homes of children worldwide. Things cannot get much worse than that."

"Yes it can," Jack whispered harshly, not daring to sit up and look North in the eye.

"How?"

"I already said that I can't tell you!" the winter sprite shouted suddenly wriggling as he tried to disentangle himself from North's embrace, but was stopped by the beefy arms holding him in place.

"Why?" Santa asked firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Jack insisted on arguing "NO!"

"Jack…"

The boy shook his head harshly from side to side "No…it's too dangerous."

"What are you not saying?" the large man replied.

"I.."

"Jack,"

"CAN'T!"

"JACK, TELL ME!" North thundered.

Jack cowered in the man's arms, the booming voice causing him to freeze in fear, his frame trembling from the shock of hearing North yell at him so forcefully. North sighed, seeing he had allowed his frustration to get the better of him, and ended up scaring Jack "My boy," the large man said in as gentle a voice as possible "I'm tired of seeing you suffer alone, always being in pain, and never letting us help. Please…tell me."

"Y-you…d-d-die." Jack answered in a barely audible whisper.

"Wha-What?" North replied in a surprised tone.

"You die," Jack hiccupped "the visions show your sleigh going down in flames, and I see you in it, you die."

North sat back, he had to admit that he was stumped, and downright shocked "I…don't know what to say."

Jack gave a humorless laugh "That's ok," he sniffled "I probably just ruined everything by telling you, we have to save your life without changing the prophecy, but…I don't know how that's possible."

"Did…" North began, his inventor's brain suddenly clicking as the gears turned "Did the spoken prophecy specifically say that I would die?"

"…No…" Jack answered slowly as hope suddenly began to bloom in his chest "the vision can be changed, just as long as the spoken prophecy does not change, and the prophecy doesn't specifically say that you would die."

"Then," North said with a twinkle in his eye "there is hope, no?"

Jack felt breathless, like he had just been punched in the gut, and a smile broke across his face "Y-you're right," he gasped as new tears, tears of joy, began to stream down his face "it didn't…which means that if we work together, we can find a way to make sure that the prophecy still comes to pass without you losing your life."

"You see Jack," the large man said giving his adopted son a tight hug "nothing is impossible if you allow others to help you. Yes, you can solve some things on your own, but life is not meant to be lived alone. We are your family, and I see you as my son, let me be a father to you by helping you carry burdens."

"Ok," Jack smiled tearfully.

Pushing the child up so that he could look Jack in the eye "Didn't we just tell all this to Bunny when he was turned human," North teased gently "I thought you have learned it already by watching him."

Jack let out a soft chuckle as he wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand "I guess I forgot."

"Well don't forget again," North said ruffling Jack's hair "but just in case you do, I'll just have to remind you."

The winter child nodded his head enthusiastically and pitching forward to hug his adopted father in another hug "Ok, I can deal with that."

Short, but at least it's sweet right?

Well, I promised another chapter, and now I must grab some lunch because I'm hungry, and rest my eye for a bit. The infection may be gone, but spending long amounts of time on the computer or writing really tires it out.

NOW…REVIEW!