Chapter 16: Dreams and Miracles

Jack charged through Pitch's Lair. He jumped from cage to cage, quickly breaking off the locks and swinging the doors open wide. "Come on, let's go!"

The baby fairies chirped at him, but didn't make so much as a step forward. Their chirps didn't sound right. Worried.

"Wha…" Jack blinked. "Can't you fly?"

There was enough of a change in tone to make it clear to Jack that it wasn't the case. One of them gestured down, and Jack saw the globe.

Pitch danced on top of the globe. "You're all free to go!" He announced cheerfully as he waltzed down. "We won't be needing any Christmas toys this year, thank you. Or, any year for that matter!"

He heard a rather agitated sigh from one of the yetis, but chose to ignore it.

"Only six left! Six precious children who still believe in the Guardians with all their little hea-better make that five." He squashed one of the lights with his shoe like it was a bug. He dashed over to the next set of lights. "Four!" He cheered as another light was squashed underneath him. "Three! Two!"

He snapped his fingers.

The light didn't go out.

He snapped again.

And snapped again.

"ONE."

"Okay, look. You and I are obviously at what they call a 'crossroads'." Jamie said. "So here's what's going to happen. If it wasn't a dream, and you are real, you have to prove it. Like…right now."

The bunny didn't stir. Not that Jamie was expecting it to; it was just one of Sophie's dolls he was using as a stand-in. The actual Easter Bunny…if his dream was anything to go by, was big and strong and tough-looking.

But nothing else happened. Save for a cold wind coming in through the window, but that wasn't exactly magical.

"Listen, I've believed in you for a long time." Jamie begged. "Like, my whole life even. So you kinda owe me now. You don't have to do much, just a little sign so I know."

Nothing.

"Anything. Anything at all."

Still nothing. Jamie let himself slouch down.

"I knew it." He didn't, actually, but it helped to say that instead.

The bunny tumbled off the bed.

Jamie was about to crawl back into bed when he heard a light scratching. He turned to his window, where it was being engulfed by frost. Rapidly. And it wasn't like it was cold enough for ice either. A design began to form in the ice, like someone was moving their finger along the glass. An egg, with stripes and feet and…

The next window began being covered, and this time a design of a rabbit began being drawn on. Then, it was obvious.

"He is real…" Jamie breathed.

The design glowed, and soon a small bunny made of ice began bounding through his room. He reached up to grab it, and it exploded in a flurry of snow. But that wasn't right…so far as he knew the Easter Bunny couldn't control snow. But, he realized as a snowflake melted on his nose, someone could.

"Jack Frost…"

The sound of sleigh-bells was still perfectly audible, even with the thunder brewing overhead. Just as audible was the sound the sleigh made as it crashed into the pavement.

"Ah, северный олень! Come back!" North tried to call, but it was already too late. The reindeer had scattered.

"Are you alright?" Rapunzel asked as she and Merida rushed over.

"Is official. My powers are kaput." North turned to them now. Rapunzel could tell it took a few seconds for him to recognize her, and while that wasn't completely unjustified, it made Rapunzel feel a bit uncomfortable. "Rapunzel? Merida What are you doing here? What about lanterns? …What happened to hair?"

"It's…kinda a long story…" Rapunzel chucked nervously.

Tooth sprung out of what remained of the sleigh, but she couldn't fly more than a foot before she fell down too. Merida sprung to help her out. "Ye alright?" She asked.

"Losing Easter took a toll on all of us," North explained. "Especially Bunny."

On cue, a new figure jumped out of the sleigh. It wasn't E. Aster Bunnymund, or at least, the Bunnymund they had met before. He barely rose up to Rapunzel's ankle, hopped on all fours, and twitched its nose nervously around.

Pascal laughed like a maniac.

"Oi! Don't laugh at me! Come on, let's go!" The rabbit spoke in Bunny's unmistakable voice. He flopped off the sleigh and held up his front paws in an attacking stance, bouncing slightly from foot to foot.

"Stay, calm, Pascal." Merida advised, though Rapunzel could tell she was having a hard time containing her laughter. "He can probably smell fear."

"Oh come on!"

"Did he just…" Jack trailed off.

"Jack Frost?" Jamie repeated. This time, it was unmistakable.

"He just said my name!"

"Jack Frost…"

"You just said my name! You…" It occurred to Jack that Jamie was staring right in front of him. Right at him. "Can you hear me?"

Jamie, still with eyes wide and mouth agape, nodded.

"C—Can you…can you see me?"

He nodded again, and though his mouth was still wide open, the corners flipped up into something of a smile.

Jack gasped. "You-you can see me!" He flipped over and onto the desk in a fit of joy. It was one thing that the others could see him, but they didn't know who he was or why them seeing him was such a big deal. But now, he had a believer. Someone actually believed in him!

"You just made it snow!" Jamie pointed out.

"I know!"

"In my room!"

"I know!"

"You're real!?"

Jack sprung off the desk. "Yeah, ma-who do you think brings you all the blizzards, and the snow days! -and you remember when you went on the sled the other day?!"

"That was you?!"

"That was me!"

"Cool! But what about the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny, or-"

"Real, real real!" Jack scooped up the toy bunny and held it out. "We are all real!"

"I KNEW IT!"

"Jamie? Who are you talking to?" His mother called.

"Uh…" Jamie glanced at him, as if he was expected him to give him an answer. Jack shrugged.

"Jack Frost?" Jamie offered.

There was a slight chuckle. "Alright."

Another crack of thunder rang from outside. Deep inside, Jack could tell that wasn't thunder. That was Pitch.

"Is something wrong?" Jamie asked. He could probably tell that all of Jack just seized up for a second.

Jack stammered for a second, before settling on "Maybe!" and dashing out the window. Sure enough, a small crowd of North, Tooth, Rapunzel, Merida and…was that little thing Bunny?, had formed, and sure enough, above them floated Pitch Black on a cloud of Nightmare Sand.

Jack had enough time to order Rapunzel to keep Jamie safe before he charged up. All of Pitch's attention was on him now.

"Jack Frost?" He sounded almost surprised. It didn't last long, and he sneered. "Let's end this, shall we?"

Jack fired a shot of ice, straight for Pitch. Pitch easily blocked it with his hands. "That little trick, won't work on me, anymore!" With each pause, Pitch floated an inch closer. With each pause, Jack found the spell harder and harder to control. A splash of Nightmare Sand was tossed in the blast, and Jack was sent back flying. He collided with a dumpster.

"Nice try, Jack!" North said. "A for effort!"

"He's gotten stronger." Jack breathed as he pulled himself up with his staff. "I…I can't fight him…"

The thunder went off again, and Pitch's laugh filled the streets. "All this fuss over one little boy, and still he refuses to stop believing. Very well, there are other ways to snuff off a light."

The streetlights around them shattered, leaving the only light behind them keeping them from being out of the dark completely.

Bunny jumped forward. "If you want him, you're gonna have ta go through me!"

"Oh, look how fluffy you are!" Pitch cooed. A bony hand extended from the shadows, heading straight for the small rabbit. "Do you want a scratch behind the ears?"

Bunny jumped back into North's hand. "Don't you even think about it!"

"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this," Pitch appeared now. Behind him were an army of Nightmares. "You look awful."

The shadows crept forward.

"Jack." Jamie's weak voice cut through the tense atmosphere. "I'm scared."

Jack put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and bent down so he could get at eye level.

"Easy now, it's going to be okay. You have to believe in me. We're just…" Jack trailed off.

It was the same thing his sister had said when he saved her. It was one of the last things he ever heard as Jackson Overland Frost.

He could work with that. "Going to have a little fun."

"Now tell me, Jamie," Pitch continued. "Now do you believe in the Boogey—" He was cut off as a snowball collided with his face.

Most people managed to stop themselves from laughing. Still, a few stifled laughs could be heard from Rapunzel, Merida, Jamie and North. Pitch's reaction was evident on his face, a mixture of disgust and mild confusion. Jack tossed another snowball in his hand casually, just enough so that everyone could see that it was him that did it.

While Pitch tried to wipe the snow out of his eyes, a bright purple fireball shot through the alley and headed straight for the Nightmares, destroying them almost instantly. Jack was about to ask how, but a loud roar answered his questions. Toothless swooped down and landed in the alleyway, placing himself right in between the two.

"Hiccup!" Rapuznel exclaimed.

Though Jack was happy (though a bit confused) to see the Viking, he still didn't waste anytime. He shot out a path of solid ice in front of them, working straight past Pitch and his Nightmares. "Now let's go find your friends." He said to Jamie, and gestured to the trash can lids behind him.

Jamie's eyes lit up once he realized what that meant. Like a kid on a snow day, he rushed to grab one of them and launched off. The others seemed to understand rather quickly, and once they were all off, Jack and Hiccup followed.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked once Toothless lowered them down to his level. "How did you get here!"

"Snowglobe! You didn't think I was going to just skip this one out, did you?" Hiccup asked. "You got me involved; I'm staying until the end of this!"

"You lost your foot!"

"It was a foot!" Hiccup sounded almost exasperated. "It's a lot less important that losing a world!"

Jack could only stare at Hiccup for a second before he realized he was serious.

"Right then. Here's what I need you to do. We're going to get every kid in Burgress. You and your flying dragon and my magic are just enough to get kids to believe for just a little bit more. Merida, Rapunzel," He raised his voice just a little bit so Merida and Rapunzel could tell her was talking to him. "You lead them down to the city square."

"Got it!" The two replied in unison.

All around Burgess they sled, with Jack and Hiccup only straying away to knock on people's windows and grabbed their attention. With every new window, more and more kids were getting their own sledding gear and joining them.

Jack stopped the path as it came into view. A near tidal wave of Nightmare Sand had formed, encompassing the city, and heading straight for them. Pitch appeared to them again, on a new Nightmare and looking rather annoyed. One of Jamie's friends came rushing out, and immediately retreated once he saw what he was getting into.

"You think a few children can help you?" Pitch taunted. "Against this!"

The Nightmare Sand came crashing down. North held up his sword, ready to fight. Unfortunately, six or seven believers wasn't quite enough, and Rapunzel had to stop him from completely falling over.

Jack heard Jamie gasp lightly and turned over to him. "They're just bad dreams, Jamie." He said reassuringly. And they were. The Last Light on the globe should have an easy time fighting bad dreams.

"And we'll protect ya." Bunny added.

"You'll protect them?" Pitch cooed. Thunder crashed behind him for emphasis. He laughed. "But who will protect you?"

Though he wasn't proud to admit it, for just a fraction of a second, Jack believed Pitch. Right now, all they really were a rabbit, a fairy that couldn't fly, an old Russian man, and a Winter Spirit that only started being believed in a few minutes ago.

"Ye know Jack," Merida said. "I think I'm startin' to believe in ye."

That sudden admission gave him a huge burst of energy. That energy doubled, tripled—multiplied in a way that Jack could never have conceived of as Hiccup and Rapunzel nodded and moved in front of him defensively.

Jamie moved in front of them and spoke for the whole town. "We will."

And Jack was starting to believe in them as well.

"Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman!"

The Nightmare Sand came crashing down, wrecking the streetlamps and cars and other bits of suburban debris in its path.

"I do believe in you." Jamie said. "I'm just not afraid of you."

He held out a hand in front of him defensively as the Nightmare Sand came right towards him. Rather than engulfing him, the Nightmare Sand faded away, and in seconds the entire tidal wave was replaced with bright gold light. Dream Sand.

The change was almost immediate. Tooth flew back into the air for the first time all day. North gave a jolly laugh as he readied his swords. And Bunny…well, stayed the size of a bunny, but he at least found his boomerangs. Jack was beginning to like him a bit more that size.

The remaining Nightmares charged forward, but Jack didn't worry this time. Once the children found out that they could fight too, they charged forward. North tossed around two snowglobes, and soon most (if not all) of the Yetis and Elves were filling the streets. Even Bunny's large Easter Egg statues had appeared and were now itching to fight.

So Jack decided to set his sights on Pitch.

He flew up to the roof Pitch was up, and with a few ice beams, easily took care of the Nightmares. As soon as Pitch saw him, he readied a Nightmare Sand arrow, but before Jack could even think of dodging it, Merida was there and blocking it for him. Hiccup and Toothless came rushing up, and with one blast, all the other Nightmares were destroyed. Pitch tried to run off, but Rapunzel shot out from the other rooftop and destroyed the other Nightmare he was riding on with her frying pan.

Once he was on the ground, Pitch wasted no time in striking again, materializing his scythe out of Nightmare Sand. However, this time they were prepared for that. They dodged, and Jack even managed to get a good kick in before they backed Pitch into a corner.

"It's over, Pitch." Jack warned and aimed his staff.

Pitch only laughed and slunk into the shadows. Jack spun around, his head darting every which way to try and spot him…

"Jack! Behind ye!" Merida tried to warn him, but it came too late. Pitch swung his scythe.

A golden hand grabbed the scythe, and tossed it and Pitch aside.

Jack and the others began chasing it down, both out of a sense of obligation and curiosity. A giant spiral of Dream Sand was forming right in the center of the town. Jack managed to get a glimpse of a figure tapping Pitch on the nose lightly, before sending him skyrocketing upwards with a punch.

Sanderson Mansnoozie created a top hat with his Dream Sand, and tipped it respectfully to the children watching him. He tugged back down on the rope, and Pitch came colliding with the ground.

Sandy took a few seconds to greet the others (staying as silent as ever, Jack noted), before he rose up on his cloud. He shot out beams of Dream Sand in every which direction. Black Nightmare sand turned gold, and formed dragons, dinosaurs…one tough-looking unicorn. They were becoming proper dreams again. With enough kids dreaming, the Baby Teeth could regain their strength and restore memories. And that would help children believe again.

It only took five minutes, give or take, for all of Pitch's work to be undone.

With the battle over and kids having fun again, Jack took it upon himself to start up a snowball fight. Most of the kids reciprocated, but Jack himself ended up being pulled aside by North. "Your center?" He asked, gesturing towards the kids again.

"Yeah, well…" Jack shrugged. "It took a while, but I figured it out."

North tossed something on him. A small matryoska doll of a figure in a large blue overcoat, with bright happy eyes and bright white hair. Jack smiled softly.

"That's one!" North argued. "You still on Naughty List!"

A snowball collided with the back of his head, and this time Jack was rather happy to note that it wasn't him that threw it.

"You all on Naughty List!" North roared with laughter as he prepared his own snowball. "Bunny, think fast!"

Jack could hear Pitch rambling on about something. Before he tuned it out completely, however, he saw Jamie run past him. No…right through him. They may know that the Boogeyman is real now, but that doesn't mean they believe in him. They don't fear him.

Pitch came to the same realization, and bolted.

It didn't take too long for Jack to round up the Guardians again, and it took even less for North to get a snowball to chase Pitch back down. Right to the lake that sat in front of his lair.

"Leaving the party so soon?" North asked.

"You didn't even say goodbye." Tooth said, and flipped a quarter at him. Pitch had exactly one second to ponder over this before Tooth socked him dead in the mouth, causing a tooth to skirt across the ice.

"That was for my fairies."

"You can't get rid of me!" Pitch nearly squeaked as he got back to his feet. "Not forever! There will always be fear!"

"So what?" North shrugged. "As long as one child believes, we will be here to fight fear."

"Really? Then what are they doing here?" Pitch gestured around him, were a few Nightmares were beginning to approach.

Bunny shrugged. "Can't be mine. I'm not afraid of you."

There was a silent agreement among the other Guardians.

"Looks like they're yours." Jack said.

The Nightmares charged past them, heading straight for Pitch. Pitch screamed, and in a wave of Nightmare Sand, he was dragged back into his lair. The shamble of a bedpost was destroyed. The hole was closed behind them.

The Moon rose.

Well, you can imagine what happened next. Rapunzel was reunited with her birth parents, and Corona rejoiced, for they found their Lost Princess. And she was a princess worth waiting for. The parties went on for a week, and to be honest, I don't remember much of it. Dreams came true all around. Hook became one of the most famous concert pianists in the world, if you believe it! And Big Nose eventually found his true love! I assume Mimey's happy; he's never told me otherwise. Thanks to Maximus, crime disappeared in the city almost overnight, and the ceremonial weapon of the Corona Guard became the frying pan. Now granted, I still think it should be the standard weapon, but the Kind and Queen seem to disagree.

Diplomatic relationships opened up with Berk, Scotland, and Corona almost immediately. And in Scotland, the four tribes were as peaceful as they had been since their formation. Now, I know all the politics bore you, so I'll skip ahead to the part with the dragons.

Dragons became a staple in Berk. Can't swing a cat without hitting one!...and not because they're giant, scary lizards. Hiccup and his friends started up a new Dragon Academy for training them, and Hiccup even wrote a book based on all the things he found out about taming dragons. Uh…A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons, if I'm not mistaken.

Merida still hasn't married, and something tells me she's gonna stay that way for a long time. But, between you and me, I think she has a little something-something going on with the Macguffin kid. And Merida did get all of those woodcarvings. It took a bit of explaining to her mother, but I think by that point her mother was more than willing to overlook it.

Jack got sworn in as the Official Guardian of Fun right after they defeated Pitch. And while there hasn't been much for him to do yet, I think it's safe to say he's more than qualified. Easter and Christmas pass, the Tooth Fairies continue to collect their teeth, and Sandy continues to weave his Dream Sand across the world.

And as for me, well, I started going by Eugene again, stopped thieving, and basically turned the whole thing around, but I know what the big question is. 'Did Rapunzel and I ever get married?' Well, I'm pleased to tell you that after years of asking, and asking and asking…I finally said yes."

"Eugene." Rapunzel sighed. This earned a laugh from all the kids. It always did. Eugene didn't find what was so funny about it.

"Alright." Eugene rolled his eyes. "She said yes."

"And we're living happily ever after." Rapunzel added.

"Yes we are…" Eugene pulled her in for a kiss.

Jack snorted in fake-disgust. Or at least, mostly fake disgust; it was a bit hard to tell at the moment, thank you. "Come on, kids, why don't we go have a snowball fight!?"

The kids of Burgess cheered and darted off. Eugene watched as they darted off. "Oh, shoot!"

"What?" Rapunzel asked.

"I forgot to tell them the most important part!"

The click-clacking of the typewriter stopped suddenly, making Sofia almost uncomfortable with the silence once she noticed it was there. She turned up from her carving to take a look.

The children of Burgess never stopped believing in dreams and miracles. They would live for quite some time in peace and happiness, with the Guardians of Childhood protecting them. Yet this is not happily ever after, for this is only the beginning of their stories. The adventures of growing up and growing old awaited, as they do for all children. Yet the children of Burgess remained strong, for they knew how to change their fate.

So the next time to Moon tells you something, listen to it. Next time you see a Wisp, follow it. For you never know just who you might meet along the way and whose fate you'll change.

THE END.

"That's odd…" Sofia thought aloud. "I was'nae expecting them to finish so soon."

"Well, they did give us a good plug." The crow chirped.

She shrugged. Couldn't argue with that. Still, she was a bit upset. She was expecting to get a good Jack Frost book out of all of this. It was a completely new book. But she wasn't a Wisp. If this was what fate wanted her to write, so be it.

She scrambled across the den and searched for the cover. The cover was always there, just waiting for the story to finish. It was brown and leather, laced with gold and with a colored silhouette at each corner. One female and yellow, wielding a bow and arrow. One female and pink, with long hair flowing behind her. One green and male, with a large lizard-like figure trailing beside him. And one blue and male, wielding a staff as long as he was. In the exact center, a figure of a wisp sat.

She stuffed the cover with its contents, making a mental note to bind it properly later, and took a final look.

The Big Four: Not Yet Legends, the title read at the top, in gold calligraphy. At the bottom, by Sofia Joyce.

Author's Note: I shall end this story as it began: wildly off schedule.

But yes, this is the end of Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons: Not Yet Legends. And boy, has it been a ride. I wished I gave this another pass at editing before I posted it, but I stand by my work and I'm very proud of it. We will revisit this timeline and these characters again, but that might not be for another two years or so, and that's being generous. If you have read this all the way through, thank you so much for your support. I may not say it often, but it truly means the world to me. Stay tuned for interesting things to come.