Secret of Frost and Moon

Aftermath

Alaia Skyhawk: And here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 63: Aftermath

The sleigh soared up into the sky, the pond and the boy who stood there passing from view. The light of the sun shining from the horizon like a blessing upon the six immortals in the flying craft.

Jack sighed, at last letting the tension leave him. He was sore, tired and aching, and now that his adrenaline was wearing off his shoulders began to sag. He turned to look at the others, who themselves were also starting to show their exhaustion from the past three days. The only exceptions were Nightlight, who had barely been affected by the Blackout, and Sandy, who hadn't been around for most of it.

Thinking about that made Jack frown a little, as he reached out tentatively to his friend. Almost as if wondering if him being here was just a dream.

"Sandy... How did you survive? I mean, Pitch he... You were gone."

They were all looking at Sandy now, even North who glanced over his shoulder while driving the sleigh. The Guardian of Dreams smiled gently at them, drawing his answer for Jack to translate.

"'I granted your wish'. What does that mean?" Sandy's smile widened, and he drew more. "'In that moment, you wished in your heart that more than anything you wanted me to be safe. You and all those here. So I went to sleep, and granted it'."

Bunny's eyes widened in understanding and he exclaimed.

"You were a Wishing Star Pilot!" He looked at the others. "I knew Sandy back before the Golden Age fell, before he became an immortal. He was great Star Pilot, probably the best. Could fall asleep in an eye-blink and shape a wish-dream just as fast!" He laughed. "You sly bugger! How did you even pull that off? Wish dreams don't normally last longer than a day."

Sandy chuckled silently, and held one of his hands up to the light. Tilting it back and forth so that the white powder coating it, sparkled.

Jack gasped.

"My frostdust! Of course! You were carrying some of it! You used it to extend the power of your dream!"

'And the belief of Jamie and the other children, did the rest.' Nightlight grinned from where he sat on the back of the sleigh. 'Jamie used the First Spell, just like the children of Santoff Claussen once did to revive Bear and Ombric... Ombric was right. Jamie really did turn out to be this generation's "Katherine".'

Tooth blinked at that, as surprised as Bunny and North.

"Wait, so you planned for Jamie to help?"

Jack shrugged.

"Well, we guessed that he would play a big role. Any kid with belief as strong as his is, was going to be an obstacle for Pitch. Ombric and I just made sure learnt everything he needed, to be able to hold onto that belief for as long as possible."

Companionable silence fell among them, lasting for several moments until Tooth sighed.

"Well, whatever plans you made while waiting for Pitch, they paid off... Thank you, Jack."

Jack actually blushed at the praise, and chuckled.

"You're welcome... Now I don't know about you guys, but I really want to find somewhere to sit down and relax after all this chaos."

North chuckled at that as well, and reached into one of his pockets for a snow-globe.

"Yes, we all need rest." He raised the snow-globe and shook it. "Workshop."