Thomas smiled and shot you a wink. You rolled your eyes but couldn't keep the shy smile from your face. Under his gaze, you struggled to stand comfortably in front of the rows of flower arrangements. You'd never gotten this kind of attention from anyone.
"Are you feeling better today?" he asked, opening up the cash register to start the day with an array of bills.
You'd been feeling under the weather recently, but you weren't sure why or even what you felt. There was a weird buzzing feeling in your head and you'd been seeing things. Other than that, you felt fine. So what was wrong? You didn't have a clue.
"I guess," you said. "I really feel fine, but I still have those weird symptoms."
"Hm," he mused, shuffling the money, "That's weird. I wonder what it is, y'know?"
"Maybe just anxiety or something," you said, trying to brush it off. You glanced at him as you finished threading a flower into the last arrangement. It was almost time for the shop to open.
"Well, if you wanna talk about anything, I'm here, y'know," Thomas assured.
You smiled at him, thinking about how he'd been the first to welcome you in this place that seemed like a completely different planet. At nineteen, he was three years your elder, but he didn't seem to be any older than you. Instead, he acted as if he'd been your friend for years.
"Thomas? (Y/N)?" someone was saying.
You turned around to see your manager, and elderly lady who had owned the flower shop since her mother had given it to her.
"Are you ready to open the shop?" She smiled warmly at the two of you.
The two of you nodded, giving each other glances to reassure each other.
"I need to get some Christmas stopping done, so I'll be back around closing." She left the shop then, turning the Sorry, We're Closed sign to Open! as she went. You hopped up on the counter and picked up a stray flower, twirling it in your fingers. Your eyes wandered to the door again, where a shadow was flying through the crack.
You touched Thomas's shoulder and nodded in the direction of it. "Do you see that?"
He frowned. "See what?"
"The shadow. At the door."
He shook his head. "No."
You turned to him, keeping an eye on the shadow as it flitted across the walls. "I swear to you, Thomas, I'm not crazy. I know what I'm seeing. You have to believe in me."
He met your eyes and nodded. "I do. I know there are things out there, (Y/N), things that most people don't believe in. Beautiful things and horrifying things, y'know? I believe it more than anything."
"Why would I be seeing things like them though?"
He gazed at you. "Maybe you're special."
You tore your arm from Pitch's grasp and backed away from him, stumbling as you went. You stepped through the doorway and he grabbed you again. You formed a ball of electricity, and he yelled as it dug into his skin. Grey sand began to fall from his arm where you'd touched him.
You opened your wings and jumped into the air. The darkness from Pitch's touch began to spread, stretching down to your fingers and up to your shoulder. In continued to move onto your skin, and the light in your hands began to jump wildly from your grasp.
"(Y/N)!" Bunny screamed.
"The necklace!" Manny exclaimed.
Bunny tossed it up to you and you caught it, then clipped it around your neck. The flickering light in your hand stopped, but the dark grey continued to spread. Your heart banged against your chest. A strong force began to paralyze your arms, but it seemed to struggle for control. One moment you were frozen, the next you could move as you wanted. You moved to the top of the globe and shifted your attention to everyone below you. You looked down at the immortal beings that were watching you. They stared with wide eyes, all looking confused and fearful.
Fearful.
Pitch formulated next to you and held his hand in front of him. Suddenly, your actions weren't your own. You were his puppet. And you had the power to destroy things as far as miles around you.
"Mother Nature," he cackled.
No, you thought. This is exactly what he wanted the whole time.
"I command you..."
A cold feeling washed through your veins, turning your blood a miserable combination of cool and warm. Your stomach thrashed. Light began to flick from your fingers, varying in strength.
"...to kill the creature you love most."
Shaking. Your body shook, your vision shook. You pushed your hands down, towards the ground, willing yourself down and away from everything. The workshop went hazy, and your head began to spin. Your arm was moving in the wrong direction. Up, straight out in front of you. From your shoulder to your fingertips, an electrifying defiance sparked up and down your bones. You raised your hand and aimed it at Bunnymund. He met your eyes calmly, as if he had expected such a fate all along. Your eyes flicked to Ombric, whose eyes were flashing different colors. Manny stood, bent over a cane that had come from nowhere. Tooth, Jack, and Sandy stood close to each other. North appeared to be crying.
With a deep breath, you formed a ball of light that spun wildly, shooting beams of light out of it as it turned. You breath quivered against your lips. Your eyes fell on the light. Thomas had known all along. He was real, and he was out there now, probably wondering about you. Bunny was down below you, thinking that you were going to kill him under the control of Pitch. The Guardians - your friends, family - expected to see the darkness come through. You fought it as diligently as you possibly could, and they thought (knew?) that you weren't strong enough to truly overcome it. Your wings beat strongly, and you hovered in the air like it was a standing position.
And you let the light go.
It sped towards Bunny, making your heart fall lower than the ground. A rotten feeling in your stomach began to grow, and your mouth went dry. Bunny lifted his chin and was mouthing words, but you couldn't make them out. He was walking backwards, his eyes even and his paws trembling. As you watched the with growing confusion and lessening confidence, it split when it was halfway to him. Now there were two beams of light shooting towards him at lightning speed. They were close enough to illuminate his fur, growing nearer with each trembling breath you took.
Your voice exploded from your chest.
"Bunny!"
The beams of light veered sharply and went past his shoulders. A tingling feeling rippled across your skin. The light flew towards the wall of the Pole. The beams of light were growing, slowly pulling light from the rest of the room. Before they hit North's home, they crossed and came back towards you. You spun around and pushed them towards Pitch.
The light hit him with a life-threatening blow. It pushed him from the top of the globe onto a level of the workshop, and a multitude of Yetis backed away from the body of Pitch that landed with a loud thud. You flew over and landed on the railing of the platform. Grey sand began to sink off of him. Shards of light flew across him. The sand fell away from him and made way for a person.
"Pitch?" you whispered.
He looked up at you. He began to sit up, and sand rolled off of his clothing. He wore black pants with a white shirt. You warily offered your hand to him, and he took it. You pulled him up and took a step away from him.
"What have you done?" he asked quietly.
"I... I'm not sure." You glanced downwards.
Footsteps behind you made your head turn. Bunny was leaping towards you, with North following close behind. Manny and Ombric followed more slowly, talking between themselves.
His voice was breathy and lost. "You released me from the darkness."
You looked back at Pitch - or, the man. Who was he now? "How?"
He smiled, and his teeth were perfectly straight. "I wouldn't know."
You raised your hand to your forehead and smiled at the ground, confused but proud. Bunny was next to you as you took a deep breath. You fell against him, feeling his heart beat become regular. His arms slowly wrapped around you, pulling you into an embrace that said everything that words couldn't. All you wanted to do was remain next to him for the rest of the night, with nothing else to worry about. The way the Guardians looked at you made you realize that they understood.
Bunny rested his chin on the top of your head. "Come on, little mate. It's time for us to go home."
I WISH I KNEW MY READERS IRL i feel like you guys would be rly good friends