Point of View: Jack

Present tense, as he's not telling the story anymore

23/23

The story at an end, I fly from my perch amongst the snow, setting a smile on my face despite the fact that happiness isn't something that comes easily right now. I miss them, the three royals, so completely and utterly. It's been years since their deaths and it's still a hard thing to think about. At least I'm not alone anymore; there's the other Guardians who I'm now a part of, Pitch long gone from his fruitless attempt to make the world one of fear. I hop onto a large fir tree, twirling to the top and letting the north wind skirt my face with its gentle blast.

Suddenly, I spot something sticking through the leaves of a nearby tree, my eyes glancing across the small surface. No, it can't be. I flew over to the tree, clinging onto the branches with one hand, as I pull a long arrow out of the tree with another. Ridiculously, I know this arrow. It's one of Merida's handicrafts. No, but it can't-it can't. That is literally impossible, Merida is dead. And yet, as I hold the familiar weapon in my hands, I see the smallest flash of red dart about the corner of my vision, flickering out of view. Letting a bout of laughter leave my lips, I follow what I have to see as somehow being Merida. It's impossible, but I have to hope as I fly into the air, my eyes trailing a moving fury of a fiery orange that darts about the line of trees. When it finally comes to a clearing, I zoom down upon it, accidentally crashing into the streak of color, my own figure entangling in a mass of limbs and curls, colliding to the ground in a tangled mass.

"Jack?" a Scottish accent questions, the very sound of her voice stirring up memories of so many days behind. A laugh escaping my lips, I look up to spot that sitting on the ground beside me is no other than the beaming figure of Merida Dunbroch, somehow her face glowing exactly as it had the night after escaping her assigned marriage.

"Merida!" I greeted, breathing my disbelief with unstoppable laughter. "You're alive! You're here! How...?"

She snorts at first, her gleaming blue eyes narrowing with happiness. "Depends on your definition of alive. I did die, fully and completely-but I'm back now so that's all good."

"You're back?" I question, unable to believe or make sense of what I was hearing. "How?"

"Isn't it obvious, Frosty?" Merida laughs, shaking her head with her wild curls following her movement. "I'm a Guardian. After I died, the man in the moon made me a guardian like you, gave me a new life back in a body that wasn't dying from old age. Apparently I'm the Guardian of true love-" She rolls her eyes at this thought. "-with the name Cupid, but you should still call me Merida, I still find the whole thing too strange."

"You're really a Guardian?" I ask, bouncing to my feet in my excitement. "And of love?"

"Shove off, Jack," she growls, her smile unable to leave her lips. "I s'pose I did stop arranged marriages in my life."

"Yeah, it suits you," I smirk, the teasing ebbing from my own voice slightly.

"I'm not the only one either, both Rapunzel and Hiccup are guardians too. We've been trying to find you but it's been harder than we thought, it's taken us awhile," Merida-or should I say Cupid-explains. "We've sort of found a spot together, settled in as our Guardians. I can bring you to them if you'd like."

"That would be great!" I respond, unable to contain my excitement. They're really back, completely alive. Our story may be one that few will hear about, but it is one that is not complete.

A/C The very ending of the story, set up for the sequel. It will come along, but I'm not sure quite when since the plot bunnies are still settling. Thank you all so much for being so supportive of this story-I never expected for this or really any of my stories to be this successful. And yes, I know the explanation on them as guardians isn't full, but I'll clarify that all completely in the sequel. I hope you enjoyed!