We had done it. We, the guardians, stopped Pitch Black. We stopped the king of darkness, the ruler of nightmares. But in reality was there any doubt? We were the good, good always wins. Right?

That is what I thought. And I wonder if it was all worth it. We stopped something that will always rise again. Fear and darkness only exist because light and hope do. And light and hope only exist because of fear and darkness.

So did we really win?

TTT

Jack leaned back off of the top of the spruce and fell, and then he caught the wind and grinned. In an instant the breeze carried him up and he spun upwards into the clouds. He leaned this way and spun around so that he was looking down to the small city below him.

It was the first day of winter and he thought he would give the kids a little snow today. He sailed easily with the breeze and watched as children started to wake up and smile and point to the snow through their windows. Several of the children were already running outside. It was a Saturday so the children didn't have any worries in the world. Except perhaps whom they were going to go and sled with or have a snowball fight with.

But those were all the worries that the children needed. Now that the children believed in Jack and he was a Guardian he couldn't really show himself to the children. It was one of the rules of being a Guardian. "Once they believe in you, they don't have to see you to know that you are there, they just know." That is what North had told him. Jack listened but hardly ever followed that rule. A large grin spread across his face and he dove down into the city and went straight for the park.

Several kids were already there; he spotted Jamie and his friends right away. And they spotted Jack just the same. "Look!" "Jack!" "Yay its Jack!" The kids all smiled and waved as Jack picked up the pace on the breeze and landed on the fence surrounding one edge of the park.

"Hello kids!" Jack beamed at all of them crouching down on the top of the fence and smiling at all the kids running over to him, "Enjoying our first day of winter?"

"Of course Jack," Jamie smiled and picked up a pile of snow and threw it in the air and watched it fall. The little flakes catching the sun and dazzling like diamonds fell back to the ground a few landing on the other kids.

Jack laughed, "You're just like me." Jamie smiled. Then suddenly one of the other kids threw a snowball straight to the back of Jamie's head. Jack grinned, "Snowball fight!" Jack yelled and he flew straight up and flew over the ground dragging his staff along the ground and creating several snowballs for all the kids. The children ran around all eagerly gripping the ammo. They formed teams and started the war. Jack laughed and started to make snowballs himself and flew around the park throwing them at the children.

He flew back over to the fence and he smiled and circled his staff several times before making a very large snowball larger than his own body in fact. Then with the power of the wind he let it sail up to just above the center of the park, and then he shot an icicle out of the end of his staff straight towards it. It created the same affect that Jamie had made only early with the small pile of snow he had thrown in the air. The little flakes flittered this way and that all catching the light in one-way or another. It was beautiful some of the children stopped to look at the wondrous sight, while others took the advantage and pegged those kids right in the face with balls of snow.

Laughing Jack flipped back onto the fence and sat watching them play, he tossed in his own snowballs from time to time but he just watched. He loved to watch the kids play, it was one of the best parts of his job. He was interrupted from his thought though by a snapping. It sounded like a branch breaking; he quickly looked back over his shoulder into the forest beyond the park. His frosty eyes darted through the trees looking for what made the sound. Then he spotted something, and it made his stomach drop.

Two yellow eyes were staring directly at his own and Jack instantly spun around and perched on the fence ready to attack. But then a white grin glowed in the light and then it was gone. But a trail of black sand could be seen disappearing in the shadows. Jack nervously looked back at the kids. None of them seemed to notice Jack's sudden panic they were all still laughing and throwing snow at one another. Jack smiled lightly before turning back to the trees.

He hopped off of the fence and flew into the trees ahead of him. Pitch was back. In this exact town, why? Jack gripped his magic staff tighter and flew farther and farther into the trees. Jack only assumed that Pitch would be in the darker parts of the forest so he went further and further in and still nothing. He stopped and landed; maybe he had been imagining things. Jack shook his head and leaned back into the closest tree a small frost pattern formed where his back touched the bark.

A rustling in the bushes made Jack spin his head. He gripped the staff ready to attack and started slowly walking to the bushes. "Whose there?" He cried. There was no response. Instead a horse stuck its head out of the shrubs and stared directly at Jack. But this was no ordinary horse it was black, and it's eyes were a terrible yellow glow. And the horse it self looked like it was made out of sand, Pitch's sand.

With a flick of his wrist and a shot through his staff, the horse was frozen. Not really frozen parse but more of melted and the sand now had frost patterns through it. In an instant Jack regretted doing that to the horse. He could have followed it to Pitch. No matter, there were probably more and judging by where the horse came from Pitch was probably in that direction.

Jack jumped over the bushes from which the horse came from and he started down the path that way. He decided to walk incase he spotted something that he might not when he was flying. After a while of walking he sat down. Frost forming where he sat, he looked down the path he had come, it was frosted over from his feet. Well if Pitch was following him, he would have a wonderful trail. Jack grinned and shook his head placing his hands to his face. "Nice one frost," Jack mumbled to himself.

"I'm surprised you went out this far Jack," The voice Jack recognized in an instant and he looked up quickly looking for the dark figure. "All you had to do was look in the shadows." Instantly Jack stood up and looked around in the darkest parts of the trees. His eyes darted here and there, then he found him. Pitch hiding away in the darkness all that could be seen was the glow of his yellow eyes.

"What do you want pitch?" Jack demanded pointing his staff to the direction of the dark soul in the woods.

Pitch laughed and emerged from the shadows a grin growing on his face, "You jump to conclusions too much."

Jack stood there confused and watched as Pitch walked over to a rock and slowly sat down and stared back at the small guardian. "What?" Jack asked and walked over to directly in front of the king of nightmares.

"You think I am back to cause some sort of trouble," Pitch said poking the center of Jack's chest with one long finger, "Well not this time Jack, not this time." Pitch laughed slightly before sighing and looking up into the blue eyes of the guardian.

"You expect me to believe that?" Jack asked glaring into Pitch's yellow eyes.

"No, I don't," Pitch, replied surprisingly honestly, "But there are a lot of people who don't believe in me now a days. They believe in fear, yes they always will, but they don't believe in the man hiding under their beds."

Jack's gaze softened and he looked at Pitch before saying, "So people believe in the thing you bring but not in you?"

"Yes, I believe you experienced the same problem," Pitch replied pointing to the young guardian before continuing, "They saw the snow and the cold but they never saw you. That's why your powers worked; also you weren't a guardian at the time, so you had nothing to worry about. That's what's so great about being me. After a little while I pull myself together and my powers work just as fine as they did before. No one sees me, they see what I bring. But because I am not a guardian I don't loose any power."

Jack looked at Pitch with shock, "So is that why you didn't want me to be a guardian and work with you?"

"At that time yes, I knew that no one believed in you, and no one would, so if you became a guardian you would have instantly lost all of your powers before you could prove the children wrong. I knew that if you joined me you would never become a guardian and your powers would have been safe. But since you said no, I had to stop you before the children believed in you…"

Things started to click in Jack's mind, "So a part of you was trying to save me?" Jack looked at Pitch and Pitch smiled and nodded. Jack took a few steps back away from the man of the shadows and sat on a rock just opposite Pitch. He stared at the ground then mumbled, "Why?"

Pitch let a small grin tug at his cheeks, "I cared Jack." Jack looked up and stared at Pitch. Pitch walked over to Jack and continued, "I have a heart Jack, I am like you, the man in the moon picked me for something but that isn't all me. Just like you are all not a boy who is cold and can freeze everything. Jack I wanted you to come with me, because a part of me wanted to see the world the way that you did. I wanted to have," He hesitated he clearly didn't want to say fun.

Jack finished the sentence instead, "Light?"

"Yes light," Pitch nodded, "But that anger and darkness that I am supposed to be, I was made to be, it just shown right threw and I couldn't gain your trust. But why would you have trusted me anyway?" Pitch backed away and looked down to the ground, "I am a monster, I live right in line with Greed and Hate."

Jack stood up slowly and walked up to Pitch he took one of his hands, "You were made this way because the world needs that. Fear and darkness only exist because light and hope do. And light and hope only exist because of fear and darkness. So without you I wouldn't be here and without me you wouldn't be here." Jack smiled pointing from his own chest to Pitch's.

Pitch took Jack's hand pointing to his chest hand held it there with his own. Jack looked up into Pitch's eyes slightly alarmed but relaxed slightly as Pitch smiled. It wasn't a smile that he usually made. It was real and one that you know that you could trust. And jack did.

"Do you trust me now?" Pitch asked taking his other hand free of Jacks and pressed it to the young guardians small cool check.

Jack could swear his heart was beating ten times to fast but that didn't matter, "Yes," Jack smiled and floated up lightly on the breeze so that he was now eye to eye with Pitch. Pitch smiled too and let his hand on Jack's cheek glide to behind Jack's neck. Jack took his hand on Pitch's chest and let it glide up to the man's shoulder. They both slowly closed the space between them and came centimeters from each other's faces.

Pitch could feel the cool sweet breath of Jack spreading across his face. He liked it, it smelled like pine and mint and felt nice against his skin. Pitch closed his eyes and brought the cool lips of the younger boy to his own. The kiss lasted a few seconds before Pitch pulled away. Jack looked at him confused, he clearly wanted more and was disappointed when the man pushed him away.

"What?" Jack asked still floating as Pitch turned away and started to walk back into the shadows.

"Your guardian friends won't like this, they will find me again…" Pitch clenched his fists angry with himself for letting his personal desire get in the way of his own safety.

"No wait," Jack called after him and flew above him and right in front of the man, "They won't find out, I won't let them know."

Pitch didn't say anything; instead he just looked away and down to the ground. Jack placed one icy finger under Pitch's chin and raised his face so bother of their eyes met. Pitch could feel his heart melt slightly; those blue eyes made his head spin.

"How can I trust you," Pitch whispered staring at the young boy before him. Jack hesitated; he had to prove to Pitch that he did care. He didn't want Pitch to be forced away just for being the guardian that in someway the world did need. The long pause made Pitch push Jack away, "That's what I thought." The shadows started to wrap around Pitch as he started to dissipate into the darkness.

"No wait," Jack cried and he reached out and grabbed onto the wrist of the elder shadow. Pitch turned back slightly to look Jack in the eyes. Tears started to well in Jack's eyes, "Please don't…"

Pitch pulled away, "No Jack you should change your statement to 'Fear and dark will always be there as long as light hides them away, light was always meant to hide the dark. Light and hope will always be there as long as the dark tries to break free. Darkness will always be hidden by the light. Though light and dark were meant to keep a balance, they were never meant to work together.' Jack stood in shock as Pitch disappeared into the shadows.

Jack stood for several seconds waiting, then he cried out, "Pitch! Pitch! Come back! Come back! Please! Please come back, you can trust me…. I promise." Jack ran through the forest yelling and calling out. There was no response. Nothing just empty silence. Jack remained in the forest for hours hiking, flying and running looking for the man. He fly above the trees, he ran along side them. He checked every shadow he passed. Soon the forest was dark and the moon came out. Darkness surrounded him.

Irritated and exhausted Jack collapsed to his knees in a small clearing in the forest. He balled his fists and screamed. And tears of rage and despair ran down his face. Why did he do this to himself?

He threw his staff in front of him and leaned forward and slammed his fists into the ground. Several ice patterns forming where his hands touched the ground. Angered he curled into a ball and stared at the moon. And slowly he cried himself to sleep.

TTT

Deep within the forest far underground in an old hideout Pitch had used for centuries, sat the man himself. He stared at the water that ran through the hideout and glared at the reflection staring back. He had come to the realization that he really did care for Jack, and perhaps a part of Jack cared for him. But neither seemed to certain as to if they could really trust each other.

But how could Pitch like this child anyway? Pitch stood up and started to pace around the old area. Jack was kind, Pitch was not. Jack was able to see the light that Pitch could not. But maybe Pitch liked Jack because perhaps Jack could show him those things again. The light and the kind that people had in them. Long ago maybe Pitch had that in him too.

Pitch sighed and sat back down. Happiness, Pitch wasn't even sure the last time that he had felt truly happy. Or felt the joy in something. Maybe he had when he had almost been believed in. But maybe that wasn't joy, but his lovely friend greed playing the tricks. Pitch glared at the ground and felt the anger boil back inside him again. He couldn't even feel the real emotions of life anymore because of what he had become. And he absolutely hated it.

That's why Jack was in his thoughts again. Jack really could help Pitch, Pitch just had to let him. Besides Pitch had already tried to show Jack his world before and that didn't really go how he had wanted. All that Pitch had to do was trust Jack and let Jack trust him….

Maybe this time though…. Things would go how Pitch wanted them to.