Believe in Me

Light Up The Room

((To Jackfrostfan: I'm on my phone so this isnt in bold ^^' I wanted to say thank you for the idea. I'll definatally use it later in the story, to be honest, i was planning something like it but had pushed it aside. Thank you for saying it, it'll make the story better. I sort of messed up, again, torture isnt one of my strong suits :s but i'll think something up, definatally ^^ im glad to have readers and still really thankful.

To vampiresrox: thank you so much ^^ It really means a lot..! Thank you for reading, saying that really boosted my motivation. Hopefully it stays going strong!

On with the story. It's six thirty in the morning right now, school tomorrow and I havent slept yet, so it might or might not be a little below standards. Enjoy ^^

PS: This chapter has no action, mostly just talking.

Jack awoke to silence. The room was warm and smelled faintly like honey, his sore wrists resting from their time being pulled up in the cuffs. He tried to rise to sitting and gave a sharp groan as a deep knifelike pain shot through his legs all the way down to his ankles. It had taken his mind a second to distinguish the happy dreams Sandy gave to him, dreams of swimming in the lake with Jamie, snowball fights and happiness, from the ever growing negativity of reality. He wasn't in the infirmary but instead in the spare room North had given him to stay in when he wasnt out sleeping in a tree near Jamie's place like usual. The sheets were freshly washed and soft and inviting compared to the horribly hard floors he recently remembered. Pitch.. The winter spirit winced as that smirking face appeared in his head, those sharp teeth pulled up in the most sadistic grin.. it wasnt like him. Could people really change that fast? Sure Pitch was bad but Jack never knew he would go this far. Was he really going insane at this point? There was a knock at the door that snapped him from his thoughts. "Come in..!" he called with the little strength he had worked up. The yelling from the night before had left its scar on his voice. The door swung open and, to Jack's surprise, two bright green eyes met his. "Ilia!" He almost forgot his pain for a split second. Everytime he had seen the child since a week or two before she was either asleep or dazed, something that was starting to worry him. "Hi Jack," she smiled, walking in. In her small hands was a tray, a bowl of soup, a few christmas cookies, and a red and green mug of fresh milk balanced neatly on it. "I brought you food! North wanted me to wait for you to wake up first so it might be a little bit cold." Her smile lit up the room. Jack had forgotten how bright the spirit of nature was, warming up his dampened spirits if only a little. "Thanks," he grinned back, pulling himself weakly to a sitting position against the headboard behind him as she set the tray down on the side table next to the bed. Her wounds were healing as Jack saw up close, the bandages being white and clean, not soaked with blood as before, and the deep bruise on the side of her cheek slowly but surely fading away. She seemed to notice him looking from wound to wound and shook her head, giving a tiny shrug. "I'm okay, Jack, You should be worried about you," she laughed positively, her tail swaying gently behind her. "Guess you're right," he replied with a shrug in return, making him wince slightly with the movement but keep his smile up all the same. "How is everybody?"

"Good," she started but stopped, looking as if she had just remembered something. "Ilia?" Jack questioned with a slight narrow of his eyes in curiosity. She started to giggle and looked around the otherwise empty room before whispering. "The girl that saved you..? She's the groundhog." It came as a slight surprise. Jack had always expected the groundhog to be.. well.. a groundhog. But then again, he had expected Mother Nature to be an older woman and the easter bunny to be more than a giant kangeroo, so it wasn't too awestriking. "What about it," he chuckled at her own laughter. "Bunny doesnt like it.. they used to date." This got Jack's blue eyes to widen and him to realize he was laughing with the small girl. Bunny had a GIRLFRIEND? Jack couldnt help but wonder what the large rabbit was feeling with her, Jayna was her name right? Hanging around the large workshop they had started to more and more often call home. Bunny had started to stay here more often and Tooth only went to her palace every so often now. They were all like a family.. and Jack felt himself smiling again. They could heal each orher with laughter and love just as Ilia's words brought the joy he was known for back into his soul. "So kiddo, otherwise, how's everyone doing?" Ilia got over her giggles with a silly, playful smile left behind on her face as a result, her white fox ears perking up slightly. "North says that me and Grey are allowed to walk around again as long as we dont push ourselves!" Seeing that the child was nearly jumping up and down with excitement to see the winter spirit smiling again, Jack kept to himself that Ilia would probably push herself anyways. Grey was walking? It was nice to hear that the reaper could get up. After all, he DID have a hole right through his stomach and his wounds were serious. Though the nightmare of the monster still haunted Jack's thoughts, he missed seeing Death. Was he avoiding Jack because of that dream? It made the winter spirit feel slightly bad, though he wouldnt show it to Ilia. She was so happy already, he couldnt bring that down. "That's nice to hear," he smiled, getting a nod and an "mhm!" in return. "But.. Tooth says that you need to stay in bed till she can heal you. It should heal pretty fast, the burns are really bad but didnt ruin anything perminatly. That was also good to hear. Jack realized he needed to be a little more cautious in case he wanted to lose his legs or something. "Sandy was just here to check on you too," Ilia continued, her eyes twinkling like a candle lit behind them. She seemed much more relaxed and as she spoke of the guardians, she seemed fond of them, unlike the last time he remembered where she was scared to even go to the pole. It was a big improvement. "Oh.. but, one thing. Your staff.. it was left at Pitch's place. Grey went to go get it back while the guardians were busy." This wiped the smile right off of Jack's mouth, eyes wideninf but before he could speak Ilia did first. "Dont worry! He has his scythe, he cant get hurt any further as long as it's with him. The only reason all of that happened last time was because he was unprepared. No need to worry." She smiled and though Jack was still nervous, he gave a weak smile in return. Grey went all the way back to that horrible place to get the staff just for him? Maybe he cared more than Jack thought after all.. he DID seem worried when Jack was brought in, the winter spirit vaugly remembering the red eyes filled with concern, checking to see if he was close to dying or not. "And.. im gonna go with him. I just came to say hi."

"But Ilia, Pitch is..!"

"Dont worry Jack," she resonded, hugging him softly to make sure she didnt squeeze any injuries. "I'll stay safe. If the guardians ask, we went out to do our jobs, okay?" Despite his wanting to, Jack gave a small nod in agreement, earning a brighter smile from the child as she turned and skipped back to the door. "Dont forget to eat!" she called, closing the wooden door into its frame behind her.