Chapter 6 - Mother Says No

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The three sprites all hesitated, but once again it was Fran who answered. "She can't at the moment. But that's what she said. You should definitely listen to her."

"Wait- how does she know about that?!" Jack finally spoke. "I only just told Pan an hour ago!"

"Were you in a forest, you know, around NATURE, when you told her this?" Fran asked in a bored voice, speaking like she would to a child.

"Uh, yeah..." Jack muttered quietly, put down by her tone.

"Well, there you go, then."

"Why was she watching me?" Pan asked, the dingo at her heels, copying her mistrustful look towards Fran.

"Think of it, like a prisoner that gets out of jail, Pan. Somebody needs to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't continue with your crimes. Make sure you're not endangering the public." Fran looked like she was hiding something close to amusement under her serious expression.

"Wait, a PRISONER?" Jack exclaimed, clutching staff a little tighter and staring at Pan in a new light. What on earth had she done to become a criminal?

"Not literally," Poppy interjected.

"I have never been to jail," Pan told him, not taking her eyes off Fran. It was a mystery to him how she was holding her bow so steady for so long. "Mother Nature said she never wanted anything more to do with me."

"She doesn't." Fran said. "It's not you she's doing this for. It's about the real Guardians and the children. Because funnily enough she values lives. If she's not here it's because she doesn't want to see you."

"No." Pan growled. "You're lying. She's not here because she CAN'T come, can she? Because that's what happens when she saves lives. That's all I was trying to show her. It was more than anybody else ever did! How bad is she?!"

"That's none of your business," Fran began, at the exact same time as Poppy replied.

"Bad."

Pan hid whatever emotions she was feeling, so Jack was left even more confused, as clearly all the other Guardians were. Bunnymund coughed awkwardly, and Toothiana averted her gaze from the family argument.

"Would you like private chat?" North offered, preparing to leave them all, but Fran shook her head.

"Sorry for that, North. Hopefully Pan won't bring that back up." Jack watched Pan's head tilt to the side as Fran spoke, eyes narrowed, and felt, perhaps, that she wasn't the one at the top of the foodchain here. "No, we came to give you the message, and find out just why the Man in the Moon wants HER to be a Guardian."

North was glancing between the family cautikously, and took a moment to reply. "We don't know that yet. But perhaps... If you come with me, we talk about it upstairs?"

"Sounds great," Fran replied in a voice that said she'd heard a lot of better ideas, but she turned and followed him, Bunny as well. Jack had to use every ounce of self control not to watch her leave, the wide hips, the brushing of her brown thighs- what was it with these Nature Sprites and not wearing clothes?!

"Hi!" A tiny voice squeaked beside him, tearing Jack's mind away out of its happy place.

Jack jumped, looking down, startled by the third little Nature Sprite, whom he hadn't entirely paid much attention to, nor seen her approach. She was tiny. A girl who couldn't have been older than twelve, with wide, lilac eyes. And she was cold... so cold. Frost coated her eyelashes and snowflakes clung to her long silver hair. Her dress was blue, like many blue flower petals had been frozen together. Even her feet looked blue with cold. He hesitated, thrown off by her bright, chirpy smile. "Hey there."

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