Guardian with claws (A RotG fan-fic)

Chapter 18

*POV Anna*

It was silent for a while. Nobody knew exactly what they wanted to say.

‘So, what do we do now?’ I asked. ‘What is the plan?’ The others shifted uneasily for a moment.

‘Well,’ North started, not quite looking me in the eyes. ‘So far our plan was  to wait till you, you know, woke up again. I guess we all hoped you would know what to do, since you are the new guardian and all…’ His voice trailed away.

        Jack rolled with his eyes next to me.

‘Being a new guardian doesn’t give you brilliant ideas all of a sudden, you know,’ he remarked. ‘And believe me, I know.’ Again there was a moment of silence, as Jack seemed to get lost in memory.

*POV Bunnymund*

It was true. We had hoped Anna would miraculously come up with a solution. I, being the guardian of hope, knew. The truth was, we didn’t know what else to do. Anna had been our last resort. Now she was there, standing in front of us, we realized there was no point. We had no plan and we had no idea how to stop Pitch.

It was hopeless.

*POV Jack*

After the awkward reunion, I suggested we should all take some time to process things. Everyone murmured their agreement and we all went our separate ways, though we stayed at the Pole. I had planned on giving Anna a description of the past months, but she disappeared before I got the chance to ask her to come with me. I sighed quietly and flew off to my thinking space. The same place where I had taken Anna. It felt like yesterday, though it had been several months.

        To my surprise, Anna was already sitting there. I could have known it.

‘That’s my spot,’ I pointed out, leaning against the wall. Anna turned around, a hint of a smile touching her lips.

‘I knew you were coming.’ Questioningly, I tilted my head to the side. She shrugged, then pointed to her new ears. They were certainly something I had to get used to.

‘So, uhm, what happened after, you know…’ she asked, gesturing vaguely with her hand. ‘After the incident with Pitch.’ I chuckled softly.

‘The “incident with Pitch”?’ I said. ‘That’s quite a way to put it.’ She looked out of the window, a shadow coming over her face.

‘It’s been a while,’ I started off. ‘It’s almost Christmas now. North doesn’t admit it, but he is terrified the children still won’t believe in him by that time. I’ve seen what happened to Bunny when Easter turned out to be a disaster. Who knows what would happen now?’

        Anna sent me a puzzled look.

‘The children have stopped believing? But I thought Pitch had only done something so Jamie stopped believing!’ she exclaimed. I nodded sadly.

‘Yes, I thought so, too. And it was like that in the beginning. But then children from all over town stopped believing, like something was spreading amongst them, causing them to do so. By now, all the lights on the globe have gone out,’ I explained. Anna stared at her hands, taking it all in.

‘What happened to Bunny, that Easter you were talking about?’ she asked then, slightly frowning.

‘Oh, you wouldn’t believe me,’ I said, laughing softly. Anna sent me a scolding look. I raised my hands in defence. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll say it! He turned small, like a cute little bunny.’

        This news caused to crack a smile even on Anna’s face.

‘Okay, that’s quite funny,’ she admitted. ‘Though very worrying as well. If he turned small then, why wouldn’t he turn small now? What’s the difference?’ I had to think about that for a moment.

‘I… don’t know,’ I realized surprised. Though the answer was rather important: maybe something could help us! ‘Let’s go back to the others!’ I exclaimed, already jumping up. Anna quickly followed lead. Not ten minutes later, we were all in the globe room again.

*POV North*

Jack was basically jumping up and down, waiting till he could tell us whatever he wanted to say. Anna stood next to him, an amused smile on her face.

‘Okay, Jack, tell us. What is big news?’ I said with a smile. Jack opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and frowned.

‘Well,’ he said, suddenly full of doubt. ‘I’m not sure. All Anna and I discovered, is that something must be different from the last time the children stopped believing. Except for Anna being here,’ he quickly added.

‘Why?’ Bunny asked. Jack turned to him.

‘Well, for once, you didn’t turn all cute and fluffy again,’ he pointed out. ‘And the children didn’t stop believing all in once.’ I nodded.

‘That is true, though I don’t see how that effects the situation now,’ I said.

        Jack looked at me desperately.

‘We need to start somewhere!’ he exclaimed, starting to pace though the room. He looked like he was about to cry. Now, I’d almost seen Jack cry one time, at Anna’s funeral. This situation was killing him, and he needed to focus on something.

‘Let’s just check the globe again,’ I said, knowing it was of no use. ‘Maybe we missed a light!’ Everyone knew that wasn’t the cave, but nonetheless we all walked over to the slowly spinning boll.

        Jack flew over there, paying close attention to the once shining bright parts of the world. I turned away, and my eyes met with Bunny’s. He sadly shook his head, having gotten the same conclusion as I had: it had no use. Or so I thought.

‘Guys! Do you see that?!’ Jack exclaimed, almost falling down of astonishment. Interested in whatever I had probably missed, I turned back.

‘What’s that?’ asked Bunny.

        There was only one thing it could be.

New hope.