You'd think that Pitch would be happy to know that Amelia and Nico successfully gave a nightmare to Tooth and avoided getting caught, right?
Wrong.
"IDIOTS, YOU WERENT SUPPOSED TO DO IT THAT WAY!" The Nightmare King yelled at his minion and the summer spirit.
"You said that you wanted to bring fear to not only Frost, but the others too and that's what we did" Amelia said trying to stay calm. Pitch glared at her.
"I specifically told you to give it to Jack Frost first AND THEN charge against the other Guardians" he said growling.
"So? The order of the factors does not alter the product. If that stupid fairy wouldn't have screamed, we could have given it to the others too" Amelia said.
"You said that you, YOU-" Pitch said pointing his finger at the redhead, who flinched. "-Wanted to have revenge on Frost, JUST FROST! So why did you charge against Toothiana first if you said that you were not interested in the others? THIS WAS YOUR PERFECT OPPORTUNITY AND YOU THREW IT AWAY!" Amelia bit her lip.
"I…thought-" she started but Pitch interrupted her before she could say anything else.
"NEXT TIME, FOLLOW MY ORDERS AS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO" he hissed. And with that said he was gone.
Amelia turned to face Nico.
"And people say I have a temper…"
Jack had spent the last five minutes trying to calm Tooth down, but she kept on sobbing and weeping on his shoulder. Not knowing what to do, he looked at Sandy, who like Jack, was also trying to console Tooth. The Sandman lowered his head sadly; if he had his powers he would have given her a sweet dream, but unfortunately, he didn't.
"Shh, Tooth, it was just a nightmare. It wasn't real" Jack said trying to comfort her.
"I-I k- know, b- but it looked- it seemed SO REAL" Tooth managed to say after a while with a broken voice.
"I´ll go get some water" Bunny said as he exited the room. North meanwhile was looking outside thoughtfully.
"North?" Jack asked. The Cossack turn to face him and the others.
"Toothy, I know that right now you don't want to talk about it, but I need to know what happened" North said looking at Tooth. Jack stared at North as if the Russian had grown antlers.
"North, that really isn't a bright idea, she just went though some trauma, can´t this wait until tomorrow?" he asked.
"I knov Jack, but there is a slight possibility that Pitch could ve vehind this…" North said.
"Pitch? But there wasn't any black sand when we came here. It couldn't be him. Plus, last time I saw him he was too weak to make a comeback" Jack said.
"Jack is right North. It didn't feel like one of his nightmares" Tooth said quietly.
"How can you be sure?" Sandy asked.
"When he gives you a nightmare, it crushes your dreams and hopes about the world and my nightmare had nothing to do with that..." she said looking down.
"True" North said. Bunny came in with a glass of water and handed it to Tooth, who gladly accepted it. They stayed in silence for a while, until Sandy yawed and they decided that they should go to sleep.
"Are you sure that you are okay?" North asked Tooth before leaving the room.
"Yes, North, I am. Go to sleep" she said with a smile. He smiled back and left. Only Jack remained, he was leaning against the wall looking worriedly at Tooth.
"Jack, aren't you tired?" she asked a bit nervously.
"You're not" Jack said.
"You're not what?" Tooth asked, although she knew what he meant.
"You're not okay Tooth. You may fool the others with that smile, but you are not fooling me. I'm a master of fake smiles, remember?" he said. Tooth's eyes became watery again.
"Jack-" she started, but he stopped her.
"Hey, don't feel bad about it. But if you don't want to talk I'm not going to force you" Jack said winking. Tooth laughed, since what he said drew a parallel with the lake confrontation.
"Humm, maybe I'll tell you in three years from now" she replied with a smirk.
"Now that's the Tooth I know!" he said with a smile. She replied back with one too, but this time it was an actual smile.
"Well… since you seem to be better… I'll just…go to sleep" Jack said awkwardly.
"No, wait!" Tooth said. Jack turned to face her.
"Will you… stay with me, please?" she asked a bit nervously. Jack got confused for a few seconds, but then realization hit him: she was scared. He couldn´t help to let out a small chuckle.
"What´s so funny?" Tooth asked.
"Nothing, it´s just that my sister used to do the same thing" Jack replied with a little grin as he walked to her bed and sat beside her. She rested her head in his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"Thank you" Tooth whispered.
"Better?" Jack asked. He didn't know why, but suddenly he had the urge to do anything to make her feel safe.
"Yeah…" she whispered.
Jack pulled her hair out of her face, while softly singing a song his mom used whenever he or Clare couldn't sleep after having a nightmare.
Time to close your eyes
Overlook the darkness
And try to dream tonight
Tooth felt her eyelids slowly closing as she heard Jack whisper a song.
"I didn't know you could sing" she said. Even though she could not see his face, Tooth knew that Jack was grinning.
"I've told you… I've been around for a long, long time" he said.
Not so long ago
Your world was bright
So take a breath and count to ten
And maybe you can dream again
Jack was also slowly falling asleep. Still, he managed to sing quietly the last notes:
Still dream, and all the wonder that you knew
Will all come flying back to you
If you remember all the hope you left behind,
Open up your heart and change your mind
Oh, what you'll find if you still dream…
Sandy and Bunny entered the room to cheek on Tooth, but instead they found the two sleeping Guardians, both with a peaceful smile on their faces.
"Well, I guess this kind of answers what we asked Frostbite earlier…" Bunny said.
A.N: I DO NOT OWN THE SONG "STILL DREAM". IT BELONGS TO Alexandre Desplat (COMPOSER), David Lindsay-Abaire (LYRICS) AND Renée Fleming (PERFORMER).