Oath of the Guardians

Pitch then woke up and couldn't believe what he was seeing. "No. No! You dare have fun in my presence? I am the Nightmare King! The Boogeyman and you will all fear me!" He swooped down on Jamie and his friends, but the children just walked through him as though he wasn't even there.

Pitch then looked scared and ran towards his hole in the ground, but was pursued by the others and ended up falling onto his backside when he slipped on the icy pond.

"Leaving the party so soon?" said North, smirking.

"You didn't even say good-bye," said Tooth. She tossed him a quarter, which he caught.

Pitch sneered. "A quarter?"

Tooth then punched Pitch hard in the jaw, which knocked out one of Pitch's teeth. "And that's for my fairies."

Pitch scowled as he stood up. "You can't get rid of me. Not forever. There will always be fear."

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

"Really?" said Pitch, sneering yet again. "Then what are they doing here?" He beckoned to the few remaining Nightmares that appeared before them.

"Yeah, about that. When you woke up, I told them to go after the one with the most fear scent on him and seeing as how they're not coming after me or anyone else, they're here for you," said Nightstar, smiling.

Pitch looked petrified. "You can't do that to me. I'm your father! Lynn, what about the love we shared once? Don't you still feel something?"

"You may be my father, but you don't have what it takes to be my dad," said Nightstar, as he took Sandy's hand in his.

"And I'm in love, alright. Just not with you," said Jacquelyn, as she took Sandy's other hand. "Not anymore."

Pitch then screamed in terror as the Nightmares chased him down his hole in the ground under the broken bedframe, which then vanished along with the hole itself. Pitch was gone. For how long no one could say this time, but for the moment it didn't matter. Everyone was saved, dawn was rising and all was well.

As if the Moon was celebrating as well, it shone bright as every for as long as it could before the sun's rays took hold of the day.

"Nightstar!" cried Tooth, in delight as she hugged him tight. She then kissed him for a moment, but then pulled back when she realized what she'd done. "Oh, jeez. I…"

But Nightstar just pulled her back in and kissed her again as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They stayed like that for a moment before Baby Tooth broke them apart with jealous squeaks.

"Calm down, Baby Tooth," said Jacquelyn, chuckling. "You two have our permission."

Tooth and Nightstar blushed as Sandy beamed at them.

"Jacquelyn, Nightstar, are you ready now?" asked North. "To make it official?"

"Yeah. We are," said Nightstar, nodding.

North looked pleased as a yeti handed him the book from before. North opened it to the page he wanted and then said, "Then it's time you take Oath. Will you, Jacquelyn and Nightstar Frost, vow to watch over the children of the world, to guard them with your lives, their hopes, their wishes and their dreams? For they are all that we have, all that we are and all that we will be."

Jacquelyn and Nightstar glanced back at Jamie and the other kids, who nodded happily at them, encouraging them to say yes.

"I do," said Jacquelyn.

"I do," said Nightstar.

"Then congratulations, Jacquelyn and Nightstar Frost," said North, as he closed the book. "For you are now and forever will be, Guardians!"

Everyone cheered and congratulated them at this, especially Sandy and the kids.

In the midst of all the celebrations, North's sleigh then came zooming down looked as beautiful as ever as it landed on the ice. All the kids oohed and ahhed at the sight of it. As North once said, everyone loved the sleigh.

"Much as I hate to do this, it's time to go," said Jacquelyn.

Knowing she was right, Sandy nodded and then made several sparkling Dreamsand fireworks as everyone said their good-byes. With the battle against Pitch over, it was time for everyone to go home and resume their usual work. They'd come back and would see each other again, certainly, but for now it was time to leave.

"You're leaving?" said Jamie, looking dismayed. "But what if Pitch comes back? What if we need you? What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you guys…"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," said Jacquelyn, as she and Nightstar knelt down to Jamie's level. "Listen, Jamie, do you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes up?"

"No," said Jamie.

"Do you stop believing in the sun when clouds block it out?" asked Nightstar.

"No," he admitted.

"Then why would you stop believing in us just because you won't see us for a little while?" asked Nightstar. "But if it'll make you feel better, we'll let you in on a little secret. Do you know of one of your ancestors, Pippa Bennett?"

Jamie nodded.

"Before I was the Bringer of Winter, I was mortal and Pippa was my little sister," said Jacquelyn, smiling at the stunned and happy look on Jamie's face. "Which makes you and Sophie my great-something niece and nephew, and Nightstar's cousins. Basically, Jamie, what I'm trying to say is you're family and family looks out for each other. So, don't worry about a thing. We'll alwaysbe there and now, we'll always be here." She placed a finger on his heart, causing him to smile.

"That kind of makes you a Guardian too," said Nightstar. "And you know what else? Because you're my little cousin and you were the first one to believe in me and my mom, this is for you, Jamie."

A small, dark blue and white pendant appeared in Nightstar's hand. They'd been saving it for their very first believer for a long time and they couldn't think of anyone better than Jamie.

"If you ever need us for anything or if you just want to see us, blow on it and say our names. We'll be there as soon as possible," said Jacquelyn.

"Wow," said Jamie, as he slipped the pendant on.

Jacquelyn and Nightstar then began to head to North's sled for a ride home when Jamie called out to them. They turned around and were surprised when Jamie ran up to them and hugged them. Deeply touched, they returned the embrace.

"We'll visit as much as we can," said Jacquelyn.

"We promise," said Nightstar.

Jamie smiled and then waved good-bye as the Guardians took their seats in North's sleigh and they journeyed to the North Pole for some well-deserved rest from the battle. The Guardians waved good-bye to their friends and believers with great broad smiles on their faces.

Jacquelyn then made several tiny snowflakes which Nightstar dusted with stardust, making them sparkle like stars before she sent them down to the kids below. Nightstar then snuggled up with Jacquelyn and Sandy in the sleigh and shared happy smiles with them. Finally, they knew who and what they were and they had something no one could ever take away from them—a home, friends and a family—and they would have it forevermore.

My name is Jacquelyn Frost.

I used to think my life with my son and Sandy was perfect the way it was before the Moon chose us to join the Big Four and become Guardians. But I was wrong.

Life's perfect now.

The End