Guardian with claws (A RotG fan-fic)

Chapter 14

*POV North*

I chuckled softly. Jack confessing his feelings like that, and Anna hugging him? There was something going on between the two of them.

‘The other really need to know this,’ I muttered to myself, then sneaked away, very pleased with this juicy news.

        I hurried to the globe room, where my fellow guardians were chattering amongst each other.

‘Guys! Guess what I just saw!’ I exclaimed, barely able to hide my excitement. The others looked up, curious to what I had to say.

‘Well, tell us, mate!’ Bunny said, clearly not into guessing. I gestured for them to come closer and they did. Tooth genuinely curious, Bunny rolling his eyes and Sandy… Well, Sandy was just Sandy.

‘I just saw,’ I started dramatically, ‘Jack and Anna hugging!’ Sandy just smiled, Tooth cheered and Bunny’s eyes widened.

‘You saw them hugging? Are you sure you didn’t see a yeti?’ he asked. I laughed.

‘Bunny, does Jack or Anna look like a yeti to you?’ I asked amusedly. He muttered something like ‘you know what I mean’.

‘I know what I saw, my friends. There is something going on between them,’ I continued. ‘I can feel it. In my belly!’ This gave me some sceptical looks, but I ignored it. My belly was always right. Always has been, and always will be.

*POV Anna*

I pulled away after a while and saw a happy, but confused look on Jack’s face.

‘What?’ I asked, smirking.

‘Nothing,’ he replied, though I could see he was lying. I raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s just… I didn’t expect you to change. Well, you didn’t really change, but your behaviour did and so you changed a little too, but I…’ he stumbled.

‘Take it easy, mister snowman,’ I said, giggling. ‘I know I’m acting different, but you are too. You’re a whole lot less annoying now.’

        He poked me in my arm.

‘Mister snowman?!’ he exclaimed indignantly. I couldn’t help it. I burst down in laughter. After a few seconds, Jack joined in. He was not someone to stay mad for long, I noticed.

‘Let’s go back to the others,’ I suggested, once we were calmed down a little. Jack nodded, wiping a tear from his face. I didn’t know why, but he seemed much nicer all of a sudden. Though I was sure he could still be as annoying as he had been before.

*POV Tooth*

I knew it! I knew Jack and Anna got a thing for each other. I was flying around the globe when they returned. I quickly got down. I wanted them to tell us themselves, as though we didn’t know a thing…

‘Hi, you two, what have you been up to?’ I asked. North sent me a look. Real smooth, Tooth, it seemed to say. I rolled with my eyes.

‘We talked,’ Jack said simply. I smiled at them. They wanted to keep it secret! How cute!

        I got a hold of myself again. I won’t disgrace the uniform, I told myself, like I always told my faeries.

*POV Jack*

Deciding to ignore Tooth’s weird behaviour, I asked what we would do next. ‘I mean, we know now that Anna is the new guardian, but we don’t know what she stands for.’ North nodded thoughtfully.

‘You’ve got a point there, Jack,’ he mumbled, scratching his beard. ‘I think we should…’ But we never got to know what North thought we should, because at that moment, Sophie came running in, followed by several yetis.

‘Look, Anna! Look what I’ve made!’ she yelled happily. Anna kneeled in front of her to admire the little puppet made of all sorts of materials.

‘Wow, Sophie! Did you make that all by yourself?’ Anna asked, with her beautiful smile on her face. Wait, what? Oh well, it’s true. I shrugged and listened to Sophie, as she explained that a yeti had told her what to do.

        She pointed at one of her companions, and he proudly stepped forward.

*POV Anna*

Sophie looked very happy, but she also looked tired. It has been a busy day for all of us… I thought.

‘Maybe I should take Sophie home,’ I whispered to Jack, who was standing the closest to me. ‘Then you can all make a plan and I can go talking to Jamie once more.’ Jack nodded.

‘Good idea,’ he answered, also whispering.

        Jack turned away and walked over to Santa. I caught Tooth winking at me, though I didn’t know what for. I decided to leave it be. She’ll explain later.

*POV Sophie*

‘Sophie!’ I heard Anna call me.

‘Yes?’

‘We are going home,’ she said. I clutched onto the leg of one of my yeti friends.

‘But I don’t want to leave yet!’ I protested disappointed.

‘I’m sorry, Soph, but the guardians have a plan to make,’ Anna said, lifting me up.

‘A plan? What kind of plan?’ I asked curiously.

‘A plan to stop Pitch,’ she answered mysteriously. I sighed.

‘But can I take my puppet?’ I asked. Santa Claus nodded.

‘Yes, you can,’ he said. ‘Consider it an early Christmas gift!’ I cheered and he smiled.

‘I’ll take you to Burgess,’ Jack said. Then we took off, going home.

*POV Anna*

Once we got back, I brought Sophie to her mother. Luckily she had read my note, so she didn’t worry about her two children. I went to pick up Jamie, who was still hanging out with his friends at the egg hunt.

‘Jamie, come on, we’re going home!’ I called over to him. He reluctantly said goodbye and strolled over to me. We walked in silence for some time, while I tried to come up with the right words to ask him about the whole believing thing.

‘Jamie,’ I started very smoothly. He looked up at me, still with that cold look in his eyes. ‘Why don’t you believe in Jack anymore?’ He rolled with his eyes.

‘He’s stupid,’ he answered simply. ‘And he doesn’t exist.’

‘Oh, yes, he does,’ I mumbled. ‘How about the Easter bunny? You had a nice time, right?’ Jamie huffed.

‘Yeah, right. Like a bunny will actually pop out and hide eggs. It’s just the adults who do that.’

‘Oh really? And who is it that puts Christmas gifts under the tree at Christmas? Also adults?’ I asked, getting more and more frustrated by the second.

‘Yes, of course,’ he said. I needed to come up with something to make him rethink the situation.

‘How about Pitch? Is the boogyman also just a trick adults use to scare you?’ I asked.

        Jamie looked up again.

‘Now the boogyman, that is someone to look out for. He does exist.’ Fear shone in his eyes. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Jamie didn’t believe in the guardians anymore, but he did believe in Pitch?! Something was terribly wrong here. It made me angry. It must have been Pitch who has done this to Jamie. Who would want him to believe in the boogyman?

‘Alright, Jamie, here’s what we’re gonna do,’ I suddenly said. ‘You are going to walk home yourself, while I am going to find Pitch to ask him what on earth he thinks he’s doing.’

        Jamie’s eyes filled with fear again.

‘No, Anna! Don’t! He’ll hurt you!’ he exclaimed. Then he calmed down a little. ‘Besides, you don’t even know where he is.’

‘Oh, I will find him. Believe me, Jamie, I will,’ I said, my eyes shooting fire.

‘Oh, but there is no need for that,’ a voice remarked, chuckling softly. I turned around to see the boogyman himself.