Rise of the Guardians One-Shots pt.2

One Year

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Natasha sat at the foot of the bed that held North's body. She wasn't used to seeing her older brother down like this, he wasn't hurt but she didn't like him just being like this. It was close to time of Sandy waking up and part of her hoped it would go wrong and they would wake up out of order.

"Phil almost killed Ridley yesterday. Apparently he stepped on some of the red robots when he was running from Tinsel. Ridley took up playing with Jack's elves."

Natasha smiled at the memory of the older rabbit running around with the elves chasing him. No one knew why he was doing it but no doubt it was for Jack. She knew he missed his nephew. They all missed the ones sleeping. It messed with her to see North like this but she was nowhere near affected as the Pooka's and Callahan were. The clock told her it was time for to go as she stood up, squeezing his hand one last time before walking out. 

She made her way to the stairs as she began the travel of the tunnels to the portal that would take her back to the main office. When she got there, Sam was there. She rolled her eyes at his face, just his face. Because she was annoyed at herself for feeling happy to see it. He looked up at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes, like he knew. 

"Hello, Nat." 

"Hello, pain in my ass." 

Sam rubbed his hand over his mouth as he hid his smile. He didn't know why he liked being around the female Russian so much, well he knew why, but chose to deny it. He knew once Jack and the others came back it would be known but for know they both believed ignorance is bliss. 

"What do you want, Sam? I'm working." She sat down at the work bench to continue on a new toy brand that would go out this Christmas but was stopped as a hand covered hers. She glanced up to see him just looking at her with a soft look. 

"You have bags under your eyes and you look like shit." She raised her eyebrows before turning back to the toy.

"Thanks for the compliment." His laugh echoed around her as she suddenly felt more tired than before. She looked beside her to find Denver standing behind Sam with a smirk as dream sand ran through the air. 

"I'm killing both of you." 

"Please, Jack would freeze you if you did." Denver said as Natasha slowly slumped to the side, right into Sam's arms. He looked up at the man as the human eyes held a look of admiration towards the girl. Denver kinda liked it, the idea of them together. He wondered how North would feel about it though. 

Manny stayed at the window, not speaking as he watched Denver walk back into the workshop to go meet up with Callahan while Sam held Natasha. He did know the North may throw a hissy fit seeing his sister with a man he hated for so long but she was her own adult. 

He smiled softly as Sam carried her over to the sofa before sitting down himself, her head in his lap and a book in his hand. It was a definite that those two would end up together soon. 

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"I can't take this anymore. I want to be in the Garden's, I want to be with the kits, but I can't control any of it after this long. How? Why did it go to me, Jack?" Liam was almost yelling at the body of the sleeping boy. His voice echoed around the cavern they were placed in as he slid down into a position that made him look younger than what he was. His ears pressed against his head as he felt the ground freezing. 

"I don't understand. Why didn't this go to a seasonal or something? Why did you give this to me and Ridley?" The fur on the back of his neck stood up as the crevice that showed the sky lit up, welcoming Manny to the room.