This is crazy! I'm crazy! He's not going to want to see me, no matter what he said in June.
Jack was standing at the hidden entrance to the Warren, located on Jessie Island.
The mortals had protected the island due to the migratory birds, so there was little chance of discovery, but even so, two warrior egg sentinels sat dormant, ready for a fight if one occurred.
It was here that Jack was trying to make up his mind to see the pooka or not.
But the thoughts in his head were spurring him on.
He didn't mean to have them, honestly he didn't.
The last time he had had thoughts like these... well it had been sooner than he had told Bunny, that was certain, and he had definitely tried something more drastic than hanging out in the sun.
If Bunny really does care, then he'll want to know, now, before I actually try something.
With that thought Jack walked past the stone sentinels, and into the Warren of the Easter Bunny.
V_V_V
Bunny was finishing for the day. He had been figuring out new designs and color schemes for Easter, which was only 6 months away, but it never hurt to stay on his toes.
He had just overseen to the last of the egglets marching back into their tunnels, when his ear twitched, and he froze.
He wasn't alone here anymore.
He turned and was a bit taken aback by what, or rather who, was standing in the entrance to his Warren.
Jack stood in the entrance, almost afraid to come any further. He held his staff tightly to him and leaned heavily on it, doing his best to avoid looking at anything that wasn't the ground in front of him.
"Hey there Frostbite! Come on in!" Bunny called to him.
Bunny wasn't an idiot. He could tell by the posture that the kid had something important to tell him.
Jack jumped slightly but listened, walking farther into the warmer atmosphere of Bunny's home.
Bunny made sure Jack was following before leading the boy to his more private quarters deeper in the Warren.
V_V_V
Jack was now sitting at a stone table, a plate of assorted vegetables in front of him, and Bunny was sitting across from him with a plate of his own.
"You can tell me why you're here on your own, I won' rush mate, but I'm hungry, an' it'd be rude if I ate in front of ya." Bunny had said to him when he had given the younger spirit the food.
Now that he was here, Jack had once again lost his nerve a bit, but was slowly finding it again.
This needed to be said.
Jack needed help.
"When I said the last time was fifty years ago I was lying." Jack began, rolling a carrot around on the plate, not looking at Bunny at all, even though he could feel Bunny's gaze on him.
Bunny didn't say a word though, and Jack continued.
"I... I just get it into my head that I'm not wanted and that I would be better off... gone... and then I go and... try," Jack kept playing with that carrot, still avoiding looking at the other spirit in the room.
"What did you try to do?" was Bunny's only question. He figured that the boy brought it up for a reason.
"I... You're not going to like it..." Jack said. He was surprised when a paw reached across the table and covered the hand that was still fidgeting with his food. He looked up into concerned green eyes.
"Please tell me Jack, I promise not ta get upset with you," Bunny said gently.
Jack looked like a lost little boy right now, and all Bunny wanted to do was gather the boy in his arms and protect him from everything that had harmed him. But Bunny knew that it wasn't that simple. These things couldn't be rushed.
But this was a start.
"I... I went to the Empire State Building in America... The one with the pointy needle like top... and I threw myself onto the point... I figured that the point would keep me bleeding until there was either nothing left, or I had a whole in my chest that was too big to fix... I stayed like that for two weeks... The wind figured out how to push me up and off the point after that and then I started to heal immediately. I still have a scar." Jack said.
He pulled his hand out from underneath Bunny's paw and pushed up the fabric of his hoodie to reveal a smooth white stomach, and large circle of scar tissue that blossomed in the middle of his chest.
The only reaction that Jack saw from Bunny was a slight widening of his eyes, and a small sharp intake of breathe.
Bunny however had about a million thoughts going on in his head at once. How had they not noticed this sooner? What else wasn't Jack telling them? What other scars was he keeping hidden from them with that hoodie of his? Could Bunny really deal with this?
Jack pushed his hoodie back down.
"You said I could come to you if I felt like that again... Does the offer still stand?" Jack asked.
Bunny didn't have to think about this one.
"Yes. As long as ya need Jackie. I'll be here. You'll get through this. I'll help ya." Bunny tried to catch Jack's eye, and when he did, he continued.
"Do ya want the others to know? We don' have ta tell 'em if ya don' want ta."
Jack shook his head vehemently.
"Please don't tell anyone else. I don't think I'm ready for all of that." He pleaded with his words and his eyes.
"All right, not a problem. Now for my next question. Do you want ta live here in the Warren for the time being, just ta be on the safe side. If ya start feeling any kinds of ways you can come get me and talk to me sooner that way, day or night. Course, that offer stands regardless of whether ya want to stay here or not," Bunny said.
"I... I appreciate it Bunny... Are you sure I won't be imposing?" Jack had resigned himself to the idea that the other may want him around to keep an eye on him before he got here anyway.
"Naw, it's Fall, I ain't doin much, so I got plenty of time, and plenty of space. I'm sure we can find ya a comfortable room that ya can turn into your own private wonderland." Bunny said with a smile.
"That sounds really nice actually." Jack said, suddenly tired.
"Well, let's go figure that out no, eh? No time like the present." Bunny got up, as did Jack and they exited the room together.
V_V_V
It was after Jack had already settled into his new room in the Warren, and long after Bunny had left that Jack realized why he had needed the Easter Spirit's help more than the others.
Hope.
It was what Bunny protected, and spread.
It was also what Jack needed the most right now.
He had once heard that the first step to fixing a problem was admitting you had one, and that the second step was seeking help.
This wasn't much, but it was a start.
V_V_V
Alright, that's it for this. I hope the ending lives up to your expectations everyone. Now that this is done, I'm going to focus on other projects. I already have one in the process of being written, and I have a few requests I am going to be filling, so that's it.
Thank you for reading, and please leave me a review. I always like to hear what people think, and if you can find anyways in which I can improve, I would appreciate it. Thank you and have a great day.
