Well, despite my posting the previous chapter at an awkward time, I still got a couple reviews on it. Thank you, guys! I really appreciate that. I'd love to hear some more reactions too, since this is the first time I've ever written a story like this and want to make sure I'm doing it right so I can do it again in the future, haha. I'd like to rewrite this whole story as an original story so I can publish it, but I don't know how to manage that yet. Still thinking. ;)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this final chapter! Thanks for staying with me through all of this. You're all such wonderful people. *hugs*

Disclaimer: Still don't own ROTG and never will.

"No!" I grabbed my head with both hands, closed my eyes, and shook my head as fiercely as I knew how, hoping that if I shook my head enough, the troubling visions before me would suddenly disappear and I could just laugh it all off as my crazy imagination. But alas, when I opened my eyes and looked back at Chaos, I saw the exact same vision I had before. "You can't be—I can't—No! This just—this just can't be!" I screamed again for a moment before finally being able to form words once again, even while screaming. "I'M—NOT—YOU!"

Instead of Chaos responding to this proclamation as I would have expected, Brent was the first one to respond to my outburst. He placed a hand across my shoulders and said, "Whoa, steady there, stranger. You never hated me when you thought I was Chaos."

I flailed and sputtered several times before again finding my words and rounding on Brent. "I never thought you were Chaos! That was you! It was all you! I didn't think any of us were Chaos! I wouldn't have assumed that any of the three of us could be so cruel!"

"Um…" Chaos raised his finger to try and get our attention, but I wasn't able to calm down enough to listen as of yet. I gripped my head again and collapsed to the floor in grief.

"This is ridiculous! This is all ridiculous! I'm not that cruel! I'm not! I wouldn't do all that he did! I would never do that! NEVER! I'm not Chaos!"

"Um…" said Chaos again, but once again he went unnoticed.

"Jack, calm down!" Brent knelt by my pathetic little form as I started quivering with an intense form of fear as the reality of the situation slowly sank into place and I realized just what kind of person this made me out to be. If I was capable of doing what Chaos had done, then what else could I—?

Brent grabbed my shoulders and gave me a firm shake. "Jack, get a grip on yourself! You've started asking Amanda for advice instead of me, right? Well, don't you remember how she was the first one to start insisting that Chaos wasn't evil? Do you remember?" He shook me again for emphasis. "Do you?"

I tried to speak, but my tongue could barely move, let alone form words. I was so scared. What had happened to me? What had happened to all of us? Were Brent and Amanda figments of my imagination to keep me entertained while I was coping with myself? Oh god, I hoped not. I hated to think that I'd lost my sanity that intensely, especially to think that I'd come up with a person like Brent, someone who honestly couldn't stand me from the start, even if he gradually grew to like me. Was that all fake? Was I really alone in here with no one but myself to talk to?

"If you would just listen to me, I could explain!" I heard a huff and then the sound of irritated footsteps approaching. I shivered, realizing that Chaos was getting closer, and I was undecided as to whether I wanted that or not. I wanted answers, or I thought I did, but I was terrified of him… me. I wasn't really sure what I was feeling at the moment. Everything was just too much. How on Earth was Brent taking this so well when I had completely lost it? And how was Amanda taking it? I hadn't heard anything from her and couldn't bear to look.

Chaos came and stood right over me, arms crossed and glaring down at me. I withered under his gaze, ducking my head beneath my hands as though that would help somehow, but he could still see me. I couldn't hide from him, even if he could hide from me. I didn't know why that was, and it seemed kind of unfair.

"Jack," he said, "you suffered some serious damage in that crash. I've been doing absolutely everything I could to make you face up to the feelings you were suffering from that led to that crash so you could get out of here. I want it just as badly as you do."

I raised my head slowly and looked at him, still shivering slightly as my own face looked down upon me. Was he saying that he had actually been trying to help me? How was that even possible? He'd been so cruel. I then glared at him and shakily stood to my feet. "Oh yeah? Then why didn't you bother telling me that I was suffering trauma from the crash? Don't you think that would have helped?"

He crossed his arms and irritably blew air out of the side of his mouth. "You really don't get it," he said, then he turned to look around him, caught sight of Amanda and looked at her sadly, then returned his gaze to me. "You can't just run from your mind, Jack. You had to figure out for yourself where you were and why you were here before I could help you leave. There was nothing I could do until you figured that out for yourself. You wouldn't have listened to a word I said otherwise. Heck, you're barely listening now as it is."

He was right. I was barely listening. It was really hard to listen to someone with the same face as yourself when all you wanted to do was punch that face in the nose and then continue beating that face to a bloody pulp until you ran out of energy and had to stop to catch your breath. I honestly couldn't think of a face I wanted to punch more right then, even though it meant punching my own face. Even if Chaos really was me, I believed I thoroughly deserved to be punched, and much more than that besides. If the punisher were to stop before I died, I would have deemed that person to be unreasonably merciful.

Chaos took a step toward me, leaning his head toward me so as to get my attention. "Alright, Jack, I want you to answer something for me: Why do you hate yourself so much?"

I jerked my head up and then started to flail a bit in the hopes of directing all suspicion of that accusation away from me, but I soon stopped as I realized that the flailing probably pegged Chaos as being absolutely right. Darn Chaos. I jutted my chin out defiantly. "What makes you think I hate myself?"

He shrugged, then scoffed a bit at my stupidity in trying to cover up a glaring wound that needed treating. He gestured toward me. "Isn't it obvious? You hate the fact that you've experienced intense trauma from being alone for three hundred years. You hate the fact that you have shadows in your mind. You hate the fact that despite trying to keep your mind light and zany, it still ends up being a terrifying place to be. You hate the fact that you're broken, Jack, and you therefore hate yourself for it. Why? Why is it so bad to be broken?"

I slumped down onto a nearby stairway as I covered my face with my hands to try and hide the tears that were prickling at my eyes. Why did he have to ask these horrible questions of me all of a sudden? Couldn't he just wave his magic wand and have us all be released? I thought we'd passed his final test. Did I really have to solve the mysteries of the universe to get out?

I sniffled, then decided to vocalize my own question. "Brent and Amanda… a-are they real?"

Chaos seemed to do a double take at this, though he recovered quickly. He probably half expected me to divert the topic. I was pretty predictable at times. "You haven't answered my question yet," he said.

"I need the answer to this question first," I said. "Are they real or are they not? I need to know."

He sighed and leaned against a wall. "What does that have to do with why you hate yourself? It's a completely different question."

"Because I can't think on that question until I know," I said. "Please just tell me. I really need to know."

There was a moment of silence as tension filled the air while Chaos pondered whether I deserved to know this yet or not. Or that was what I guessed, anyway. While I had connected with him quite a bit during the course of our adventure, I was still unable to read his thoughts, which was rather surprising if he was indeed me. Was there a part of myself I kept thoroughly hidden from the rest of myself?

"Fine," he said, and he started walking toward me. "Yes, they're real, but it's a long story and we need to-"

"Why are they here?" I said. "This is my mind, isn't it? Why are they in my mind?"

"You only said you needed the one question answered, not this one too."

"Please," I said. "I can't be at peace until I understand what happened." And I needed time to think on his question too, but I wasn't going to admit that out loud. It was a hard thing to admit to myself as it was, let alone admitting it to… myself? I kept forgetting that Chaos was really me. It seemed so unbelievable.

He sighed in resignation. "You just want a little time to think on my question, don't you? Alright, fine. I'll answer your question." My eyebrows shot up and I stared at him in shock for a moment, wondering how on Earth he had managed to discern that about my thoughts before it registered within me that while I couldn't read Chaos's thoughts, he could read mine. How was this possible? Why was that part of me so much more powerful than the part of myself I was conscious of?

He licked his lips in thought, then looked off toward Brent and Amanda. "Remember how you'd jumped in between the two cars to save them from the crash?" I nodded. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, obviously the crash happened anyway, and you were knocked unconscious along with the rest of them. Amanda's mother—s-she—" Chaos gulped, then regained his composure and continued, but in a whisper as he talked about Amanda's mother. "She died instantly. But the other two…"

"Obviously they didn't," I supplied, hoping to help him out a bit. He nodded, then continued once again.

"They were dying, but taking a little longer. You and your Guardian instincts—" He shook his head, looking somewhat amused at the situation. "You'd lost consciousness instantly, but could still wield magic for a time, and you grabbed a hold of both of their souls and held on tight as you were pulled down into your own mind. It was the only way you knew of to keep them alive until their bodies were stable again."

I jumped to my feet. "Wait, does that mean that their bodies are still alive out there?"

Chaos nodded slowly. "Yes," he said, "for now. But only for a little while longer. You've all been comatose for several weeks. The doctors are starting to lose hope and are talking about pulling the plug on the lot of you."

I squeaked and drew my hands up to my teeth, growing unsteady on my feet, yet unable to find a place to sit while in my present panicked condition. So this was what Jamie was talking about? This was why he was begging me to wake up now? Because he was worried that we would all run out of time to get out of here before the doctors pulled the plug on us? Was I connected to the same machines Brent and Amanda were? If I was, I could understand the doctors losing patience with me since they wouldn't likely understand this invisible comatose person that Jamie was talking to, but if I died right now, then both Brent and Amanda would go with me. I had to get out of here, and now.

"But how do you know all this?" I said, throwing my hands in his direction in a pleading gesture. "I've been unconscious this whole time, apparently. How could you possibly know any of this that I don't know?"

Chaos just rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm your subconscious mind, Jack. I know everything about you. Everything that you've seen, heard, felt, or experienced, even if you've forgotten all about it, I have it filed away safely. I remember everything."

I let the reality of this sink in for several moments while I processed just how weird this situation was. I was speaking to my subconscious mind face to face. It was like we were two people, even though we really weren't. Slowly, the various tests and obstacles we'd had to face started to click as to why exactly they had happened. We had to learn to face our various fears and sorrows. We had to learn to see things from perspectives we'd never seen them before. And since this was the mind of the Guardian of Fun, we had to learn to see some fun through all of this hardship.

Another thought ran through my mind. Even being the all knowing subconscious mind of Jack Frost, there were some things that Chaos couldn't have possibly known, things about Brent's and Amanda's past that I wouldn't have even thought to guess at. I wondered at how that was possible until I remember when Pitch had invaded and started mucking things up with a power of his own. I lifted my eyes to Chaos, a resigned look in them. "You let Brent and Amanda have a lot of power of their own in my mind."

Chaos shrugged. "I didn't want them to go insane if I could help it. Heaven knows they were suffering enough as it was without making them unable to interact at all with their environment. They knew whenever they needed to do something fun, and I would whisper into their minds, telling them how to create exactly what they wanted to see. They did the rest."

I bowed my head, not wanting to look into the face of my double. This had not been the sort of person I had expected when I ran into Chaos personally and demanded answers from him as to what was going on. He was not supposed to be trying to help us. He was supposed to be mean and sadistic and… and… what? I was fishing for words, but was suddenly unable to find them. Chaos came and laid his hands on my shoulders, and for once I didn't flinch. Despite my fear and resistance to him, and despite his harsh methods, he had only been trying the entire time to be kind.

"Why did you try to paint yourself as a villain?" I asked.

He smirked slightly at that. "Would you have had me portray myself any other way?"

"Heh." He had me there. I probably would have preferred to see him as a villain when my life was literally falling to pieces around me than to see him as a benevolent entity bent on saving all our lives, a benevolent entity who was part of myself.

He continued. "If you had gotten comfortable in here, you might have given up on fighting to find your way out of here. I couldn't risk you guys getting too comfortable. Especially you, Jack. I almost lost you towards the last when you remembered what happened with Jamie. Thank god for Brent."

I looked up to him and smiled a weak little smile. "Heh, yeah," I said. "Brent's pretty cool like that."

He took this opportunity to make his face take on a serious tone once again, and I shuddered, knowing exactly where he was going to go next. Even if I couldn't read his mind like he could read mine, it didn't make him any less predictable. He and I were one and the same. "Now, Jack," he said, "About my question."

I sighed, resigning myself to my fate of having to answer this question, though I hated it with a passion. Wouldn't any other question do? Couldn't I just answer some other really tough question and ignore this one? From the look on Chaos's face, I would venture to guess that the answer to would be no. I took a deep breath, and answered.

"I just—I look at the people around me. All the people, especially the children, they're all growing and changing around me. They go through their own struggles, but they're always striving to become better and better people. And humans have such a short time to do it in, yet so many of them still succeed. Just look at Brent and Amanda." I gestured toward the two in question. "Brent was a skeptic just a few weeks ago, and now he's opened his heart to the magic that exists in the world. Amanda was naive, and now she's showing more of her true wisdom as she blossoms. And then there's me. I was a freak. I started out a freak, I'm still a freak, and I'll forever be a freak." I gripped at my hair. "I'm no good to anyone, and I never grow. That's why everyone's so mad at me all the time. I'm an eternal child. I never grow up, and I never will. The thought of growing up terrifies me, and yet I desperately want to at the same time, but I can't. I only ever regress. I never grow. Never."

I thought Chaos was going to respond to all that rambling with some sort of lecture or something. It made the most sense in light of all that I'd said, but he surprised me by just throwing his arms around me and holding me silently in a loving embrace for some time. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there in shock, not even knowing what was happening. I'd thought Chaos hated me. He sure got angry at me often enough. Why was he suddenly treating me so kindly?

He finally broke away from the hug and turned to Amanda. "Snowflake, could we borrow a little of your childish wisdom?" I don't think she understood what he was talking about with the way he'd worded his question, but she nodded anyway and came running up to meet us. He knelt down to her eye level and said, "Jack here thinks he hasn't grown up at all during the entire time he's been here. Think you could tell him if you've noticed any growth he's had?"

Amanda thought on this for a while, and I was worried that she wouldn't even comprehend the complexity of the question. She was really smart for her age, but she was only six. Wasn't Chaos expecting a bit much out of her? Subconscious mind or not, he didn't know everything.

A few moments passed, and then Amanda shyly said, "He learned that he needed us."

Chaos smiled at Amanda and thanked her, then turned back to me and said, "Well?"

I simply shook my head bewilderedly. "But… what does that mean? I'm not sure I understand."

"Jack," he said, and he placed his hands on my shoulders again, forcing me to meet his gaze. "You've been through so much more than most people have ever gone through, yet no one knows about any of it. You've never been able to trust anyone else to see inside your heart, and so you suffer alone, unable to get the help you need to heal. But throughout this adventure into your mind, you've had to rely on Brent and Amanda for so much. You had to learn to trust, Jack. Trust is an important part of growing up."

I blinked at this new revelation, hardly able to believe my ears. "I-I'm growing up? Seriously? I can—I can do that?"

"Yes, you can, Jack." Chaos smiled. "And you're blossoming beautifully. You're a slow blooming blossom, but you are still unfolding your petals, one by one. There is no shame in that. Just keep growing. Your heart will tell you what to do. And I will always be here for you if you ever need me."

I suddenly panicked at the realization that I wasn't going to see Chaos again after I left this place. It was strange, since before this interaction, I'd wanted nothing to do with Chaos. Now I wanted everything to do with him. Was I crazy? "B-But… how will I find you if I need you?"

Chaos laughed, the first pure laugh I'd ever heard come from him. It melted my anxieties away as I realized the deep part of myself really was not a bad person. Amanda was absolutely right. Chaos was good deep down. He meant well, even if his actions weren't always appreciated. And he was just about to save all our lives if I could just get myself figured out enough to get myself out of here. "I'll be right here, Jack." He then touched my forehead. "Anytime you need me, just go into your mind. I'll be waiting for you there."

Amanda came running up then and started tugging at Chaos's sleeve. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her, but encouraged her to speak. "Does—Does this mean that you're not coming with us?"

He smiled again and shook his head. "My place is here, sweetheart. This is where I live. But don't you fret. You have a side to you who knows just as much about you as I know about Jack. All you have to do is go into your mind and see what you'll find there."

Amanda sighed and then buried her face in Chaos's hoodie. "I won't find my mommy there."

That wasn't what Chaos had expected her to say, and he blanched at the mention of her mother, then knelt down and hugged her. "Oh, snowflake. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I can't—I mean—I just—"

"I know," she said. "But it's okay. My mommy's not there, but she is here." She then pointed at her heart even as a couple tears slipped down her cheeks. "She'll always be here. Always."

Tears started leaking out of my eyes too, and I just let them come now that I realized I was in my mind and didn't have to let them freeze to my face. She knew what had happened. She actually knew. I couldn't figure out how she knew, but she did. How was such a young child so wise?

Chaos wiped away some tears of his own, then nodded at her and said, "That's exactly where she'll be. And she'll never leave you, no matter what." He then hugged Amanda very tightly, and she returned the gesture. Next thing I knew, I was roped into the hug, and soon Chaos pulled Brent in too. Perhaps Chaos just needed a good cry. Heaven knew he hadn't been allowed to cry in a long time, not with me not allowing myself to feel how broken I was. But perhaps it was okay once in a while. Amanda and Brent weren't mad at me for being broken, and maybe my other friends would understand if I actually let them see my emotional scars. It wasn't their fault that I'd never let them see.

Finally, Chaos let go, and we all stood up and looked at each other. He wiped one last tear out of his eye, then said, "Well… I guess this is goodbye." He then directed me to listen for Jamie's voice, and to follow that sound until I couldn't get any closer. I didn't entirely know how to follow a voice, but I closed my eyes and listened anyway.

"Jack, please wake up. Please. Please wake up," he cried. "I'm so sorry I did this to you. Really, really sorry."

I felt myself drift through different levels of consciousness as I simply listened and tried to do nothing else. I started to feel more grounded and less light and flighty, and the ethereal tone to Jamie's words gradually dissipated until all I heard was Jamie. And he no longer sounded like he was speaking from somewhere away up in the sky. In fact, it sounded like he was speaking into my right ear.

I took a deep breath. Then I took another one. Then I had a third. Finally, I worked up my courage to actually try to move a little, and my fingers twitched. My eyelids fluttered slightly, and I gradually opened my eyes.

Jamie's face came into focus over the course of several seconds, and I said, "…Jamie?" My voice was weak and raspy after several weeks of nonuse, but it had gotten the point across well enough.

"Jack!" He leapt from his seat beside the bed and threw his arms around my neck, nearly suffocating me in his enthusiasm. "Jack! I was worried you'd never wake up again, and that the last thing I would have ever said to you was that you ruined everything you touched, and… and…"

I grasped at the tentacles that were his arms around my neck and pried them free of me before he could kill me for real and held him just far enough away from me so that I could see his face. It was such a relief to finally see him again after several miserable weeks of trying and failing to find anything even remotely familiar. "Hey, kiddo, don't you worry about that. I heard you the entire time you were talking. It was your voice that brought me back." I smiled encouragingly, then booped his nose with my finger. "You wouldn't have sat by me and talked this entire time to a person who couldn't talk back if you didn't love me really deeply, right?"

Jamie nodded frantically, tears cascading down his face and making him unable to speak coherently. I felt for the boy and wished I could ease his pain, but I had no idea how to do so when his emotions were just overwhelmed at the moment. "I-I-I'll never stop believing again." The last word had dragged out a bit and sounded more like "aga-a-ain" in his agony at trying to speak.

I pulled him forward and held him tight. "I hope not," I said, "But I understand why you might flicker sometimes. It's just what happens when kids grow up. Even if they believe the rest of their lives, sometimes they just forget to believe for a moment, and they need to be reminded." I stroked his hair, hoping I was helping to reassure him at least somewhat. "I won't ever hold it against you if you flicker, Jamie. I admit I overreacted a bit this time, but I've learned not to take it so personally. It's a perfectly natural phase of life, and it doesn't mean you don't love me."

Jamie just continued hugging me wordlessly for a while, though not at all silently as his sobbing was loud enough to wake the dead at the moment. And perhaps it did, because as I came more to notice my immediate environment, I realized that I was not only in a hospital room in a bed, but that there were two beds on either side of me, and both of the occupants had just started moving.

"Oh, thank god!" said Brent to my left. "You're still here!" He sniffed and rubbed at his eye, acting like his eyes just itched, but I knew him better than that by now. "I was—I was worried that—"

"I know," I said. "But don't you worry. I'm still real, even out here."

"Jack?" I turned my attention to the other bed and saw a little Amanda slowly sitting up. I smiled at her, relieved that she was okay too. Jamie looked confusedly between me, Brent, and Amanda, no doubt wondering how they both knew me and were able to see me and wishing for an explanation. I figured I could explain it all later.

"Hey, Amanda," I said. "You okay?" She nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief and sunk back onto my pillow. We were okay. All of us. We'd all made it out of there safely. We actually did it. I could hardly believe it. That had to have been the biggest struggle of my entire life, and I had made it through. What couldn't I do if I could do that?

A few minutes later, the doors to the room banged open and a flood of people cascaded into the group, surrounding each bed and fussing over the occupants thereof. Nurses, doctors, worried family members who were relieved to see that their loved one had finally woken up, and in my case, the Guardians.

"Oh, Jack!" said Tooth as soon as she saw me, and she instantly pulled a Jamie and threw her arms around my neck. It seemed everyone was bent on suffocating me today. Hopefully I would live through it until they got it into their heads that that might not be the best way to approach a person just recovering from a coma. "We were all so worried! I'm so sorry for how I treated you. It wasn't fair to you and—"

"It's okay," I said. "I've come to peace with it." Seeing her disbelieving look, I laughed and nodded. "No, really. I have. The little voice in my head has a very loud mouth and wouldn't let me go until I'd heard him out."

"What kind of gobbledygook are ya spewing out now, Frostbite?" I turned to see a very worried, but strangely relieved Bunny, sadness evident in his eyes, but relief overwhelming the sadness. I chuckled at his question and shook my head. I had no idea how to explain anything. It was all too weird. It was even hard for me to process, let alone for anyone who hadn't actually been there to experience it firsthand.

"I um… I thought you might like to have this," he said, and he then placed something in my hand. I looked down and saw that he'd placed the snowflake egg in my hand. I picked it up and stared at it, then looked up at him in awe, not knowing what to say, but understanding the gesture completely. It was his way of apologizing to me.

Bunny then stepped back and allowed North to come up close to me. He sighed, looking sad himself, though also relieved at my recovery. "I removed you from naughty list," he said. "And put myself on it." If my jaw had dropped open any further, it would have detached from its joints and hit the ground. North put himself on the naughty list? Since when does he ever do that?

Seeing my surprised expression, he rubbed the back of his neck and said, "We were all naughty. All except you. You remind us how children are, and we forget you are child. We cannot be Guardians of Childhood if we forget children are children. Please forgive us."

"Of course!" I bolted up to a sitting position in bed and immediately regretted it, as dizziness washed over me and made me fall back onto my pillow. It would take a while for me to recover fully, but at least the biggest hurdle was over now. "People do stupid things sometimes, right?"

At this, Sandy nodded his response, then put forth both his hands to show them to me and let me clearly see them, then he took both of his hands and slapped one cheek, then the other. I threw my hand out to him in the hopes of stopping him, but I couldn't reach while I was still lying down. "Aw, Sandy, don't do that!" He just shrugged and shook his head, clearly thinking he had to do that. Well, at least he was done punishing himself now. All of the Guardians had apologized in their own way, and so had Jamie. Hopefully we could all just go back to being friends now rather than having them all hanging their heads like puppies after they'd been chastised.

An unexpected voice cleared his throat to the right of my bed, and I looked over to see an elderly man staring at me. That's right, at me. I stared back in silence for a moment before hesitantly saying, "You can see me?"

"I can," he said. "Amanda told me all about what happened."

"Oh." I self consciously tucked my legs up closer to my body. "Then you must know about how I-"

"Don't blame yourself for the snow storm, Jack," he said. "You never intended to do anything malicious, as you made evident by putting yourself at risk to save my little granddaughter. Nature is cruel. But I wanted to thank you for being a part of nature who tries to minimize the threat to others as much as you can, even if you have to lay your own life on the line to do it. You're a great man, Jack. I'm glad my little Amanda found herself in such capable hands as yours."

My jaw dropped open again as I struggled for words to say. "But I—I didn't—"

Tooth's hand made its way to my shoulder and she tapped it to get my attention. "Just accept the compliment, Jack. You really did put a lot at risk just to keep these two safe."

"But my negligence nearly cost them their lives!"

"No," said Tooth, "our negligence nearly cost you yours. Don't blame yourself for that." She then threw her arms around me again.

"Your sister's right," said the man, and he gestured to Tooth as I looked between them in shock to realize he could see her too. And that he'd called her my sister. We didn't look that similar, did we? "You have a dangerous job. It's just one of the hazards of being the bringer of winter. But you care about the people you bring winter to and will put their safety over your own, and that's the kind of role model I want my granddaughter to have in her life. Will you do me the honor of coming over for dinner once you're all recovered?" He then turned his gaze to Brent. "You can come too. She tells me that you helped a lot as well. Kept Jack sane, apparently."

"That's me, the sane-keeper," said Brent, rolling his eyes and laughing at his wit. "I'll be there."

Everyone was watching me and waiting for me to answer, but I was too busy being shocked to even think straight. Nobody blamed me for what had happened? Not even a little? I just couldn't comprehend it. "But… what's going to happen to Amanda? Her mother—"

"I'll be taking her in for now," he said. "I'm her Pop Pop. I'll be able to give her what she needs. Except, perhaps, for the empathy she'll need to recover from this. Which I'm really hoping you'll provide."

I stared in silence for a moment more, thinking over my words carefully, before I nodded at him and said, "I will." Then a moment later added, "I'll be there for dinner too."

"Good," he said, then patted me on the knee. "You all get some rest. You've been through quite the ordeal. But thank you for not leaving my little girl alone. I can't thank you enough for that." He then smiled one last time at me and left. One by one, all the Guardians followed suit, wishing me well and then leaving me alone so I could rest. The doctor came in and checked on us, and I was surprised to find that he could see me too. The other Guardians must have known exactly who they could take me to so I could get cared for properly when I was connected on a very deep level to the lives of two humans.

The feeling of fingers running through my hair brought my attention back to Jamie, who had not left yet, and seemed reluctant to do so, but I knew he had to get back to his life while he waited for me to recover fully, and I was sure he knew as well. I took his hand and gripped it in my own. "I'll be okay now, Jamie. Your love pulled me through. Thank you for that."

He hugged me one more time before standing up, looking torn between going and staying, and then he rubbed my hair one more time while singing his song again.

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My Guardian you'll be."

A tear rolled down my cheek and froze there, but I didn't care. I pulled Jamie into a huge hug of my own and then said, "Remember how that book ends? With the tables turning?"

"Yeah?" said Jamie. "What about it?"

I then stroked Jamie's hair in return and repeated his tune back at him as he choked up a couple times over it. But I think it finally sunk home that I honestly forgave him and that I loved him dearly and would never stop.

Jamie then got up and waved goodbye and wished us all well as we recovered, and Brent and Amanda promptly fell asleep, catching up on much needed real sleep this time instead of the phony version they'd been experiencing the past few weeks. Heaven knew we all needed it.

I sighed as I drifted off into my own dreamland, finally feeling the touch of sleep as it was supposed to be felt, a gentle healing caress, as the words of the song I'd sung to Jamie floated their way into my subconscious, where Chaos was waiting to take the new version and smile as he filed it away for later use, knowing with a smirk that I might need to surprise Jamie with it later in order to drive the point home.

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My Jamie you'll be."

Whoo! Done! Wow... now I have to go and reevaluate my life and figure out what to do with myself now that there's no more Pineapple to keep me occupied, haha.

Anyway, you might all be interested to know that I'm trying to come up with a sequel. Anyone who wants to be notified of this should follow me on Author Alert. I welcome suggestions for the sequel too, as a number of plot points aren't making sense yet, and I tend to need to know roughly where I'm going before I start if I'm to get all the way through a story. Suggestion are extremely welcome, haha.

I'm also interested in getting some cover art for this story, but would rather not draw something myself if I can avoid it. Would any of you like to draw for me? I'm open to a lot of ideas and art styles. Just talk to me and I'm sure we can work something out. :)

Phew! This story was... well, intense for me to write. It was a pretty accurate depiction of how my own mind works, haha. Hard to write. But still, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for seeing this through with me, and I hope to see you around again on either the sequel or one of my other stories!

Take care, everyone! You've all been wonderful! :)