RotG: Frosted Heartbreak, Warming Love…
Jaclyn's POV

It has been nine months since Pitch's defeat, and since then, I'd come open about my crush on Bunny- only to have him shatter my hopes when I 'ditched' everyone on Easter, leaving them vulnerable to Pitch's Nightmares while I talked to the Boogeyman himself. We've been distant since, barely talking to each other.

Bunny knew how much heartbreak he'd caused me, yet he still acted aloof and uncaring towards me. I drew further and further into myself, not allowing any to break my protective shell- until the night North invited us all to his workshop for a Christmas party. I knew Bunny was going to be there, and tried everything to avoid going- but North insisted I come, if not for him, then for myself seeing as how it would be a celebration on my becoming a Guardian as well.

That's how I got here, stuck in my room at North's workshop, having Tooth fitting a light-blue, knee-length dress onto me with short, snow-white leggings that ended just above my ankles, and simple white shoes. She'd fixed up my hair so it was neat and tidy- I refused to let her tie it up, so we'd compromised by simply brushing it out until it was neater.
"Tooth, are you finished yet? I wanna get this over with already…"
"You have to look nice tonight- there's plenty of spirits coming who you haven't met, and you must make a good first impression!" she scolded, tucking a pink flower into my hair before nodding in approval.
"There, you're ready. Let's go."

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Jaclyn's POV

With Tooth leading the way, we managed to make our way down to the main floor of the toyshop, and I realized how right Tooth was- there were literally hundreds of spirits here! Most of them seem to be seasonal spirits, like me, but some seemed to represent holidays, like the short man dressed in green hanging by the punch bowl- obviously the Leprechaun, representing St. Patrick's Day.
Or the guy dressed in a torn, black shirt with spiky, orange hair and purple eyes, cat-whiskers and a permanent grin on his face- obviously Hallow, the spirit of Halloween.

"Hello there, you must be Jaclyn Frost." A cheery voice said in my ear. I turned around to face a small girl, dressed in a magenta-pink jacket with a lighter pink shirt and a set of arrows, complete with bow, hanging on her back, with a pair of pink pilot's goggles pushed onto the top of her head. I recognized her from the wings on her back.

"Cupid Amour. What are you doing here- need to break my heart some more?" I hissed vehemently. I'd blamed her from the start of my crush on Bunny- I mean, she's the spirit of love, why wouldn't I blame her?!- and I wouldn't stop now.

"Easy, girl," she said, backing up slightly, hands splayed in front of her protectively. "I'm sorry about that, but I got a way to make it up to you."
"How? You shattered my heart beyond repair…" I whispered, eyes downcast.

"Oh, sweetheart, if there's one thing I know, it's that hearts can be mended. See Bunny over there?" she said, pointing over to a far wall.

Sure enough, Bunny was leaning up against the wall, glaring over at me fiercely. I felt a shiver go up my spine as I turned back to Cupid, only to see she was already gone. I wandered over closer to Bunny, making sure he didn't notice me doing so.

I was a few metres away from him when suddenly; I heard a noise over to the side. I turned, and saw Cupid on a small stage with a bunch of other spirits, Hallow and St. Patrick among them.

Are they going to do what I think they're going to do…?
"This song is dedicated to all the young couples out there- you heard it straight from Cupid, grab a lucky someone and start dancing!"
You bloody, fucking bastard, I can't believe you…

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Jaclyn's POV

I recognised the song as it started up- 'Thousand Years' by Christina Perri and Steve Kazee.
Is she trying to get Bunny to kill me?!
'The day we met, Frozen I held my breath.'
He's looking at me! Bunny was looking me right in the eye, emotions gleaming within his gaze.
'Right from the start, I knew that I'd found a home for my heart…
Beats fast, Colors and promises…'
My heart aches… it's like that day, all over again… I can't do this!
'How to be brave, how can I love when I'm afraid to fall…'
Afraid to fall for him again… yeah, that's it…
'But watching you stand alone, all of my doubt, suddenly goes away somehow…'
Wait a second… is he coming closer?!
'One' he was slowly walking closer to me, closing the distance between us as I stood, frozen in place.
Why can't I move?! All I could do was stare at him, wide-eyed with fear and anticipation as he got even closer, a look of pure determination on his face.
'step'
Almost here… w-what's he thinking… he's going to hit me again, isn't he…
'closer…'

"Hey, Jackie. I saw ya hanging here alone, an' thought ya might wanna dance- wit' me?" he said carefully, words guarded.
Time stopped- the music was gone, time stood still, everyone in the room seemed to have shifted their full focus onto me and Bunny. I froze in terror- would he burst out in anger if I said no?

Fearful of another rejection, or worse, another hit resulting in more scars, I shrugged lightly, letting out a small, fake laugh as his face seemed to light up.
"S-sure, why not, Bunny?" he reached for my arm, pulling me close to him as I let out a small squeak.

"Alrigh', c'mere then…" he said, wrapping his arms around me- one paw on my shoulder, the other slightly above my waist. I placed both my hands on his shoulders, nervously staring at the ground as he led me to the middle of the room in a slow waltz. My hands locked together behind his neck, mind battling for dominance with my heart…

'I have died every day waiting for you, darling don't be afraid, I will love you, for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more…'
He'll never love me… I got to stop fooling myself…
Tears pricked my eyes as we waltzed around the room slowly.

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Bunny's POV

I'd decided to shut out how I really felt about her. I mean, why would she seriously consider having a crush on a rabbit?
Everything was going great… we'd tease each other occasionally, but nothing serious… until Cupid intervened.

When Jaclyn confessed her love to me mere days after defeating Pitch, I was shocked. I mean, I'd practically just learned a day ago that she wasn't the annoying boy I'd thought she was for 300 years, and suddenly, she's confessing her love to me?!

I admit, when I rejected her, I was probably more than a little cruel to her… I knew I'd shattered her heart with what I'd said, I'd heard her crying for three weeks after that day. I really shouldn't have hit her, because she now sported an 'X' shaped scar on her face, on her lower left cheek.

She'd barricaded herself to her lake, sending up an ice barrier around it- it hadn't kept me from hearing her crying and screaming in pain, though.

Now, here I was, dancing around with Jaclyn, who was nervous as all hell in my arms, looking anywhere but at me.

'Time stands still, Beauty in all she is. I will be brave, I will not let anything take away, what's standing in front of me…'

I shoulda told her how I really felt… this guilt is eating away at me… the fact that this song really represents her doesn't help at all. Stupid Cupid, meddling in my love affairs…

'Every breath, every hour has come to this… one, step, closer…' I sighed heavily, knowing what I had to do.

I'm going for it this time- I'm not losing her again…
I tightened my grip on her slightly, though she didn't seem to notice, keeping her gaze off me. I noticed the tears slipping from her eyes, and the guilt tore me apart.

'I have died every day waiting for you, darling don't be afraid, I have loved you, for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more…
 And all along I believed I would find you, time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more…'
 There was a break in the music, leaving it to an instrumental solo- now was my chance! I kept dancing around the floor, holding Jaclyn's trembling frame closer before I gently lifted her face to mine with a paw- the pain in her eyes was obvious, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Snowflake, I'm so sorry for what I said… ya never ruined Easter."
"How do you know that?" she squeaked, her voice laced with pain and doubt. I flinched, her words and pain hitting me hard.
"Because… actually, I don't really know how ta explain it, mate. I just know it. I shoulda never hurt ya…" I attempted to smile, to cheer her up.

'I'll love you for a thousand more…'
"But… the eggs… if I hadn't been so fuckin' obsessed with getting my stupid memories back… if I'd never left y-" I cut her off in the only way I could think of- I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, causing her eyes to go wide with shock and her body to freeze up.

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Third Person's POV

Suddenly, the music started up again, lyrics pouring out.
'One, step, closer…'

Bunny gently pulled back from the shocked winter spirit, smiling at the jumbled emotions plastered on her face, easily mistaking them for joy and elation, when they were really confusion and heart-ache.
"Ya enjoy that, ya showpony?" he said. Instead of responding, Jaclyn wrapped her arms around him more firmly, causing him to re-adjust his grip on her so his one paw was still on her shoulder, but his other paw was on her lower back.

'I have died every day waiting for you, darling don't be afraid, I have loved you, for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more…
 And all along I believed I would find you, time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more…'

"Jaclyn?"
"Yes, Bunny?" the girl's face was a deep shade of blue, frost heavily evident on her cheeks as her embarrassment grew.
"I want ya ta be my mate."
"But, I thought we were… f-friends already?" she said hesitantly, voice cracking, almost like she didn't believe herself.
"Nah, not that kinda mate… I meant, like a soul-mate… I love ya, with all my heart, Jaclyn. Please be mine?"

"… I don't know, Bunny…"
"What's not ta know? I thought ya loved me, shiela?"
"I did… but…" she shook her head, smiling sadly. "I'm such an idiot…"
"Why don't ya stay wit' me at the Warren fer a while? Just ta settle in a bit…"
"… Bunny, I can't…"
'A thousand more…'

"There's no need ta be scared, Snowflake. I promise, I won't hurt ya ever again." He held the trembling girl closer, lips locking onto hers again as he leaned down.
Cheers erupted as the song ended, all attention on Cupid as she started up another song, an older Celtic song that few recognized, but danced along to anyway. When Bunny pulled away, his gaze changed from joy and curiosity to sheer heartbreak- Jaclyn was pulling away from him, tears streaming down her face as she ran from the room, grabbing her staff from a nearby wall before jumping out the window.

Bunny ran after her, shouting her name desperately- only to have his voice lost in the howling wind as she flew off.

While she sang, Cupid couldn't help but look over at Jaclyn and Bunny- she knew they belonged together, why couldn't Jaclyn see that?
Sighing heavily, Cupid realized she'd have to work harder to get Jaclyn to realize what Bunny really meant to her.

"Hallow." She said, turning to the spirit beside her after the song died down a bit. He turned to face her, narrowed eyes gleaming with emotion.

"Yeah, Amour?" he said, voice smooth as silk.

"I need your help to get Jaclyn to realize just how important Bunnymund really is to her- she seems to be too wrapped up in her own guilt to realize he's forgiven both himself and her."

For a moment, Cupid was afraid Hallow would deny her request- after all, Hallow hadn't been able to truly love anyone in over 500 years, and suddenly, Jaclyn comes along and changes that. He'd fallen head-over-heels for the girl, and everyone with a set of decent eyes could see it. He got extremely territorial whenever he believed his territory was being encroached upon, and to him, Jaclyn was his territory, and his alone.

But, to her relief, after a flash of conflicting emotions too jumbled to recognize, he nodded stiffly. She sighed in relief, a plan already formulating in her head.

She just hoped she wouldn't be too late… the poor girl had suffered so much…

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