Chapter Text
"Give me the tooth."
Jack slid off the top of the throne, stepping quickly between Mother Nature and Toothiana, who she had been marching towards. "No way! You can't be against this plan. You just... can't."
Mother Nature was utterly, inhumanly still as she regarded Jack with wide, angry eyes. "An unwise choice of words." She looked past Jack to the other Guardians, who were watching and waiting. It was clear, in that moment, that this was Jack's battle to fight, and no matter how much they might wish to, they would not enter in uninvited.
Bunnymund, for example, looked like he would like nothing better than to step in and bury his boomerang between Mother Nature's eyes.
In truth, the only one who didn't look ready for a fight was Sandman, who merely looked thoughtful and a little sad.
The sharp smell of ozone filled the air, battling with the strange scent that could only be called cold as Jack stood his ground, uncowed. Her fists clench, an ominous breeze sweeping through the workshop as the cold north wind danced around it's warm southern counterpart, almost uncertain.
"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't go get Pitch right now and give him back his memories. Nobody deserves not to remember, and no one deserves to be alone."
Mother Nature let out a broken laugh, all the tension suddenly draining from her body and leaving her limp. She knelt in front of Jack with her shoulders shaking as her hair hid her face. "I forgot how young you are," she whispered. "You were only alone and unremembering for three hundred years, Jack Frost, and in that time you spread so much joy. For the last fifty thousand years, my father has been the very thing he spent his mortal life battling against. He has the blood of his dearest friends on his hands and in his mouth, and you would have him remember?"
If Jack's words had been a punch to her gut, then Mother Nature's were a slap to his face.
"Can you imagine?" she asked as Jack joined her on the floor, taking her hands gently in his own. "At best, he'd destroy himself for what he's become. At worst, you'd be unleashing a truly mad thing on the world."
"But what if your dad's better than that?" Jack asked, unable to resist asking the question. "Are you really ready to give up on hope? Your faith in him?"
"I have to think of a bigger picture. Give me the tooth. Throw it away. Anything but this."
Golden sand whirled and rustled across the floor, building itself into a sand sculpture beside the two nature spirits. Gently, Kozmotis Pitchner's hands closed over theirs, carefully separating Jack's from Mother Nature's and pulling her to her feet. The dream image was resplendent in his armor and gently smiling as he blew a small cloud into her face. North was there to catch her as she fell asleep, uttering a curse with her last waking moments.
"I guess you're in favor," Jack drawled as the sand sculpture dissolved. Sandy nodded emphatically, and the look that flashed across his face made Jack wonder if maybe Mother Nature hadn't been the only one clinging to a faint hope.