[✅] The New Guardian

Chapter 17

*Unedited*

{Ivy's P.O.V}

100 years later

We hopped towards the workshop in all its holly boughs and Christmas ornaments hanging about, cheerful smiles imprinted on our faces, our laughter filling the air while as we reminisced about our last 100 times repeating this exact same routine each time the 25th of December came around. Waking up in bed to meet his warm smile despite us not ever needing sleep as guardians - we always slept the night before Christmas because North wanted us to be 'full of cheer and joy' and he believed that this special one night of sleep each year would work wonders - and getting ready for the day, laughing and joking and giving each other our presents, sharing a few kisses, before bounding off to the workshop, trying our best to imitate Bunny and slightly agitating him, but he had opened up to us over these many years and wasn't as grumpy as before, even though his silent demeanor remained - as well as his argument about Easter being better than Christmas. Tooth would always be flying about with her fairies, adding final touches to the decorations, cheerily greeting us, and Sandy would have had adorned the workshop with mistletoe everywhere, glittering with the yellow dream sand they were made out of. North would be waiting with the Yetis, setting up the Christmas tree, on which a beautiful star with 6 colours would take its place without fail year after year, each one representing a different guardian. The workshop never ceased to amaze me with all the new tinsels and baubles they churned out each time we were preparing in lieu of the Christmas celebration, despite how many years had come and gone.

"And remember that time North gave Bunny a sculpture of an Easter Egg? Those tears in his eyes! They were just so - so- "

"- unlike Bunny?" I chuckled, unable to wipe the grin from my face.

"Exactly," Jack's cerulean eyes sparkled with joy and we greeted the workshop with our laughter, snowflake and lightning marks on our necks glowing brighter than ever before.

We joined the other guardians at the base of the tree, exchanging gifts. Jack kissed the tip of my nose, giving me a sweet smile."Merry Christmas, Ivy. Love you."

I smiled, catching the extra locket hanging on my neck, carved of snow and lightning, between my fingers.

When Pitch captured me and turned me evil, he made sure to poke at my vulnerabilities and always offend me in all his little ways, and that was why I always fell into the dark pit of defeat every single time I faced him.

After we had gotten the teeth back from the attic of a house in Burgess, we consulted Man in the Moon about Pitch. Killing him would be wrong, even if it meant eternal peace for the world. Man in the Moon ended up making Pitch a mortal and sent him to live in a nice little house in London, and he managed to find a girl who loved him for his strange eccentric quirks. She eroded away the evil part of him and I had never seen Pitch so happy before. Of course, Pitch was now nothing but a memory. Being mortal meant he wouldn't live forever, and so his time had passed. He, however, lived a good life, and I was glad for that.

I still didn't know where I came from. I didn't know who I was before this. I didn't know what happened to me, if I had a family, what my life had been, and why I was chosen to become a guardian.

When we got the teeth back, I decided not to look back at my memories. I decided not to find out what I had before I became a guardian, what ties I had, what I was like, who I was, because I wanted to start anew and truly accept myself as a guardian. I didn't have to find comfort in my past. I had the guardians now. They were my present, my future, and my forever. I didn't need anything else to be as happy as I was now.

I realised that being a guardian meant taking care of the people of the world, not just the children, because every single person was precious and the world wouldn't be right without even that one person living on the planet. My centre was clarity. Clarity let people see the simplicity of the world when I brought storms, lightning and thunder. Clarity was unwavering faith in whoever you loved. Clarity was truly understanding your feelings and understanding the one you truly loved.

All of the guardians had made me realise that I was worth something. I could be worth everything if I wanted, they had told me. If I was negative, I wouldn't even be worth a single speck of sunlight that shone on the planet. If I was okay with myself, I would only be half of what I could truly be. If I believed in myself, however, I could touch the tip of the galaxy with my fingers and stay there.

Jack was also an important influence in my life. Jack gave me all his love and I gave him all of mine. Our connection was something that could never be lost, never to end, eternal. Everytime I saw his icy blue eyes stare into mine and his hair falling in his eyes like snow kissing his face, I felt electric. I never imagined that this level of love could ever have been possible, but it was.

I could fight. I could fight for the guardians, for the world, for the children, for the adults, for everyone's dreams, for whatever I wanted. I was no longer useless, I no longer thought of myself as useless. I was worth something. I could do something for anyone I wanted at anytime I wished. I had everyone to fight for, to constantly spur me on to live better and fuller and to do more for every single person every single day.

I had a cause now, and I wasn't afraid of whatever could possibly stand in my way.

I brought my face close to Jack's, our lips brushing as I whispered,

"Merry Christmas. I love you too, Jack."

THE END

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The Frostlight journey has come to an end and so has this story D:
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT SO FAR.
I know this fanfiction is probably a lot shorter than all the ones you'll read out there, but I sure hope it was sufficient enough to keep you loving it despite how short and awful it was. XD
I'll miss my dears omg ;-;
Tell me whatever you thought of this story down below in the comments. It would help a lot, and I really really love every single one of you.
Thanks for staying with me throughout this journey guys :)

I love you.

~Ivy