Kitsune (Jack Frost x OC)

Chapter 10: Hope of Easter

Back at the North Pole, the mood was grim and sad. They had to mourn the loss of their friend and brother who perished the same night. The 3 Guardians and her stood around the special circle.

Tooth placed glass lantern on the Guardian symbol, where Sandman's likeness was. She looked around her, seeing her family. They all held hands; their heads bowed in silence. North even shut his eyes in grief, and she felt her own head being lowered.

All around the symbol were other lights; the Yetis stood by, as do the elves. They nodded their heads, making the bells chime, creating a dirge for the Sandman. One yeti sniffed and was comforted by another yeti.

Mikoto stood outside the circles in her fox form. Ears were down, and her head was lowered in respect, black eyes closed in mourning.

As they mourned all together, Jack has isolated himself to mourn in silence. Once the ceremony was over, North went to look for him while Mikoto retreated in silence, the other guardians watching her.

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At the Globe, the lights were dimming.

"Look how fast they're going out!" Tooth pointed out.

"It's fear. He's tipped the balance" Jack said.

"Hey, buck up ya sad sacks! *Bunny hops onto the console* We can still turn this around! Easter is tomorrow, and I need your help! I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!"

They all nod and then notice that Mikoto was not present.

"Where is she?" Jack asked.

The answer came from a Yeti who started to speak fast to North. The Guardians watched but couldn't understand what he was talking about. They ended up following North towards the lower floor of the workshop.

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At the back of the workshop, Mikoto was lying on the snow. Usually, the snow that would melt in contact with her warm body was now slightly covering it. With eyes closed, she laid on her tummy and let the snow slowly cover her as she sat unmovingly.

She mourned the loss of the Guardian, feeling guilt and burden for his doom. She was too slow to protect him; she was too slow to warn him for the arrow. She was the one to distract him by trying to interfere.

She was such an idiot, knowing she was out of her waters. There was a reason why Jack was chosen as a Guardian and not her. He handled Pitch with ease while she almost died during the fight.

She was weak and not made for fighting. She shouldn't even be there. It was not her battle, so why did she keep choosing to stay?

A tear rolled down her eye as she heard footsteps, but she didn't move.

"Mikoto?" Jack called her, being the one to take a step forward as the other Guardians waited for him. The fox didn't reply, but the moving of her body up and down indicated she was still breathing. "Mikoto, we have a plan. We can still stop Pitch!"

"You should go without me."

That hit Jack's hart like a sharp double-edged knife. Mikoto always joined him and never turned him down. They were a team, they were meant to stay together no matter what. Now, she was turning him down?

Before he could ask more, Jack placed his big hand on his shoulder in a comforting way while standing next to the young spirit.

"Mikoto. We need you for this plan. Now more than ever" he said but only received a sigh and a scoff.