Hai everyone!
*doges items* yes, I know that some are you are anxiously waiting for me to upload the next chapter of The Rise of Jack Frost for this lovely fandom or my other story Red Demon Eyes for Hetalia. So, I'm going to tell you a little story.
Once upon a time, an idiot*aka ME* destroyed the USB cartage that held all of the chapters, prompts, and ideas for stories.
The End.
But seriously, I had all of my stories in there. And one of the chapters for The Rise of Jack Frost was like twelve pages or something and I can't remember a single word of it or any of the stories, for that matter. The SD card might be still alive, that's the good thing. But until that's fixed, those stories are on hiatus or something. Sorry! ^-^" Trust me, I would really love to get back to writing those two stories, but I am really not in the mood to write a chapter that's twelve pages or something. So here's an Easter Special to say sorry.
Disclaimer: Bunny?
Bunny: Alright sheila. *turns to audience* Iggy-bunny does not own Rise of the Guardians.
Me: And happy Easter!
Bunny: That too!
Jack: CHOCOLATE! Om nom nom nom...
Me: Om nom nom nom...
P.S. Bunny refers to adult pooka Bunny and Aster refers to human child Bunny
Oh, this was bad.
So very, very bad.
So very, terrifically, horrifyingly bad.
Why?
Because Jack Frost, bringer of winter, Guardian of Fun, and the king of kicking Pitch's ass was officially screwed.
It all started yesterday. Jack had decided to go and help Bunny prepare for Easter, feeling very remorseful about what happened in '68 and in '12. Sure, 2013 had been a pretty safe year, but Bunny had quite literally locked himself in his warren after North's Christmas party and didn't come out until the end of Easter 2013. Now that Bunny had a year and a half to sort of calm himself down, Jack decided to go and visit Bunny. After all, they were on sort-of-friendly terms and Jack wanted to make sure the pooka still didn't hate his guts (because he honestly liked the pooka a lot, as in the brother Jack always wanted).
When he got to the Warren, Jack was confronted with a distressed-looking Easter Bunny, who was pacing back and forth constantly between rows upon rows of unpainted eggs, looking more disheveled than he did after '12. Jack knew that Bunny was slowly losing his mind, but he didn't know how much the two Easter disasters affected him. After seeing the upset state that his…friend…was in, Jack absolutely insisted that Bunny went back into his little hole in his not-so-little warren and take a nice long nap to feel refreshed and ready for the next day's ultimate Easter preparation boom.
That's when everything went to pieces.
Jack was looking for spices to cook Bunny an out-of-this-world-meal (Jack was surprisingly a very good cook, everyone loved his snowflake cookies) and he had stumbled onto what he thought was a sauce. Since it didn't have a label on it, Jack decided to taste it. It tasted fine to him, so he decided to do what any other curious, irresponsible, and reckless 300 year old teenager would do even if he was divine in the art of cooking: put it into the food. So that's what he did.
Then he and Bunny decided to have it for dinner and they actually engaged in a conversation. A conversation. A decent, not competitive, conversation. Jack was literally bubbling with happiness while he was talking to Bunny. Just the thought of Bunny not trying to pound him into dust filled the winter spirit with happiness. Then they both toasted to Easter and Winter, and Bunny even agreed for Jack to make it snow on Easter. Snow! On Easter! Bunny's one holiday!
Whatever happened next, Jack didn't really know about, nor care to think about, but as soon as he woke up the next day, today, he was dead-beat tired, and a bit hung-over. All he could think about was drinking and having fun and laughing along with Bunny, and man did his paws feel sore.
Yes…paws.
As soon as Jack's mind registered that little tidbit into his brain, he proceeded to freak out and grab his staff like it was a safety blanket. Paws? Since when did he have paws?! Since when did he have fur?! And since when did he have a giant fluffy white tail?! The facts just befogged his mind, and he knew if most, if not all mortals, were to wake up one day looking like a giant fur ball, they would freak out, so in his perspective, it was perfectly fine for him to be a bit freaked out, as in, destroying everything in sight freaked out. It was only until after Jack decided to stop running…err…hopping, around that he decided to look at a mirror and see that he was, in fact, a Pooka. A giant, 6' 1", snow white Pooka who was giving the little hole in the warren a nice blizzard.
After Jack was done getting over the fact that he was a giant, white, winter kangaroo, he decided to think things over. He was a giant kanga…Pooka who could wield snow powers, and also had absolutely no control over his giant, bouncy legs. Now Jack was a very deductive boy, and he was like the Sherlock to the guardians' England. He could easily remember that it had all happened overnight, and that he had put that mysterious potion into the food, and that he gave it to Bunny, and that they had eaten it and started dancing around like drunken fools…
Oh moon…
Bunny
At this point, Jack was full on freaking out. He started hopping, over, under, around, and sideways around Bunny's little hole in the ground, just about ready to pee himself because he lost the one spirit who has been running Easter since the beginning of Jack's existence, who's holiday was tomorrow, and who Jack had been able to convince to make it snow on the one day he wasn't allowed to by said lost spirit. And now he was officially screwed because that said spirit had disappeared into thin air. What if Bunny hated him now? What if Bunny was going to dig a hole and leave Jack in there to die? What if Bunny made it so that Jack never made it snow on an Easter Day again?! He was so caught up in his thoughts that he totally forgot to notice the small clump of gray hair jump onto him and cling onto Jack like his life depended on it. After Jack had managed to get the – whatever it was – off his back, he turned around to face it. It was a small, six year old boy, no taller than three and a half feet, with bright green eyes and grey/light grey hair. "'Ello!" the boy had exclaimed. He had a light Australian accent.
"Huh? Who're you?" Jack had asked.
The boy giggled. "No one," he had said.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm serious kiddo, who are you?"
The boy then giggled and started running had bouncing away from Jack. "You'll have to catch me first!" he had exclaimed. He then proceeded to make a beeline for the nearest chocolate factory and started literally hopping around the place.
And so it was on. Giant Winter Kangaroo vs. pint-sized little boy. And Jack had to admit, it was a pain trying to catch the boy. After all, Jack had just gotten used to having oversized legs, and he literally had no idea how to fly, and now he had to use those oversized legs to catch a boy who was as tricky and sly as he himself was. Jack found himself feeling extremely sorry for all the crap that he had put the guardians through just trying to have fun with them, and the guilt increased as he thought of what Bunny would say.
Finally, the boy tripped on a canister of chocolate, not only spilling the chocolate everywhere, but also landing Jack and the boy in a bat full of chocolate. Now, fur is like hair, and no one likes getting gum in their hair. Well, getting chocolate in your fur was more or less of the same situation, and Jack didn't like it – at all. He was sooo pissed at this little pest that had wandered into the warren that he stood up, grabbed the little twerp by his arm, and gave him one of his best glares and growled, "Now who the hell are you?"
The boy had whimpered and cried, "M-my name's E. Aster Bunnymund! I'm really sorry! Please don't hurt me! I was only trying to have some fun!"
That was where Jack was now, pondering over his predicament and the terrible fact that he had, undeniably, turned the Easter Bunny into a six year old human boy who, most likely, had no idea that he was the Easter Bunny.
And that was why Jack was officially screwed.
Jack slowly put E. Aster Bunnymund down and sighed. "Sorry kid, I've just been really busy lately and I don't have time for any games. I really need to get working now…"
"I'll help!" the boy exclaimed. "I'll help you! Just leave it to me!" The boy proudly jabbed at himself and grinned cheekily, allowing a chuckle to escape Jack's lips. "Alright kid, but first we need to take a bath," Jack said still laughing. He picked up the hyped-up child, who was currently shouting praises of happiness and relief. "And by the way, my name's Jack Frost."
"Cool! Call me Aster!"
Once they had gotten to Aster's home, Jack decided to try to be as non-uncomfortable as possible as he undressed Aster and set him in the bath. Aster frowned for a couple of seconds as he stared at the water around him. "What? What's wrong?" Jack asked frowning. He hoped the water wasn't too cold – he couldn't give Aster a proper bath if the water was hot or even mildly warm. Jack stared at Aster, his left ear twitching. "Aster?" he asked.
"Bubbles."
"What?"
Jack could almost giggle at the sight on the pout on Aster's face. "Not enough bubbles," Aster pouted. The boy ran out of the bath and started running around looking for some soap. "Hey!" Jack exclaimed. He started hopping around, trying to get Aster back into the bath where a butt-naked-seven-year-old-covered-in-chocolate-boy belonged. He finally found Aster seated in front of a sink watching soap bubble in the water. "What are you doing?" Jack asked.
Aster looked up at Jack with wide, but stern eyes. "Bath didn't have enough bubbles," he replied. Jack smiled. Even as a kid, Bunny, or Aster, always liked to be precise. The white pooka scooped Aster up in his arms and laughed. "Don't work kiddo, we'll get you some bubbles," he said. he carried Aster back to the bath and dropped him in. he then found a bottle of shampoo (why did the kangaroo even have shampoo? Don't bunnies just lick themselves?) and dumped it into the bath. Aster laughed happily and started playing around with the bubbles.
Jack chuckled as he watched as he watched Aster play with little soap bubbles, trying to imagine the stoic Easter Bunny covered in chocolate and playing with bubbles. Suddenly, Aster slammed his hands on the water, and a wave of water splashed in Jack's face. He coughed the water out and teasingly glared at the little boy who feigned innocence and puppy eyes that were almost as big and as wide as Jack's own puppy-eyed stare. "Oh, so you think a sopping bunny is funny, huh?" Jack dared.
"Yeah!" Aster exclaimed. He giggled again.
"Well then," Jack smirked. He pushed with his paws and sent a wave of cold water Aster's way. Aster shrieked in delight as the two of them began to engage in a water-splashing battle. Jack laughed happily. "No, no! I surrender!" he exclaimed. He put his paws up and laughed even more as Aster showered him with water.
"Okay, okay, you win!" Jack exclaimed. He picked up a towel (again, why did Bunny have this stuff?) and wrapped it around Aster, sobering up a bit and thinking on what he was going to do now. He couldn't exactly tell the other guardians because they would a. freak out and b. kill Jack. 'Okay, let's get the facts straight,' he thought as he started to dry Aster. 'It's a day before Easter, more than nine-thousand eggs have to be painted before tonight, and the Easter Kangaroo, the one spirit who has been doing this thing ever since I was reborn as a spirit, has turned into an five year old boy, and I've turned into a giant 6' 1" pooka. Now I have to paint those said over nine-thousand eggs before tomorrow without the other guardians knowing and I also have to watch over Aster…I mean Bunny and I also have to go around the world to make it snow one last time for Jamie. Shouldn't be too hard, right?' He chuckled at his own dry joke. Then he picked up his hoddie that did not fit him anymore and put it over Aster. "How's that, little guy?" he asked.
"Great!" Aster exclaimed. He started twirling around in the hoddie. "Wee! Look at me!" he exclaimed. Jack laughed and cuffed his head. "You're looking pretty fly in that sweater of yours," he said. He started to walk away when he felt something tug at his fur. He looked back. Aster was still behind him, the puppy-eyed face back. "Wait! Where're you going?" he asked.
"Huh?" Jack said. "Oh, I'm going to paint these eggs…"
"For what?"
"For…um…Easter."
Aster cocked his head to one side. "What's Easter?"
Jack's large ears almost deflated as he listened to the terrible atrocity of having the Easter Bunny have no idea what Easter was. "Let's talk about why we're painting the eggs. You did say you would help me, didn't you?" he asked. Aster's eyes shone. "Alright!" he exclaimed. He fist-bumped the air and started running. "Hey, wait for me!" Jack exclaimed, bounding over to the boy.
Jack finally caught up to Aster. "So, ya wanna see how you paint an egg?" Jack asked. Aster nodded frantically and Jack couldn't help but sigh happily as he say Aster's eyes widen at the sight of an egg popping out of a flower. "Woah," Aster murmured. Jack chuckled and tapped Aster on the back. "What?" the boy said. He then turned around and saw the thousands of eggs running and scurrying about. "Woah! Jack, what is this?!" he exclaimed.
Jack smiled and ruffled the boy's head. "Why don't you find out?" he dared. He grabbed Aster and threw him on his back. "Hang on kid!" he exclaimed. He started bounding over rocks and little hills, laughing along with Aster as the boy clutched onto Jack's white fur. Jack felt himself soaring over the air as he bounded onto rock after rock. 'Man, if this is what it feels like to hop all over the place, then no wonder why Bunny loves being a bunny!'
"Hey, what's that?" Aster exclaimed. Jack skidded to a halt and looked around to see what Aster was staring at. He grinned as his eyes lay on the colored-rainbow river of sorts and put Aster down. "This is where all the eggs are colored," he said. He grabbed one of the eggs and sat down. "Hm. Don'tcha think that some of these eggs need a bit more painting?" he asked.
Aster grabbed another egg and sat down along with Jack. "Yep!" he exclaimed. "But…we don't have something to paint them with." The boy frowned.
"Don't worry kiddo," Jack exclaimed. He hopped away and no more than five minutes later he came back with a set of paintbrushes in his hand. Jack was *ahem* 'watching' Bunny one day and found out where he had kept his paintbrushes. Now Jack was thankful for stalking Bunny every now and then so that he could make his younger, human version happy. "Wow! This is the best Jack!" he exclaimed. He grabbed one of the paintbrushes and started painting the egg, an expression on his face like the one that the normal looking Bunny had when he was painting eggs. Jack chuckled as he thought of the equal-looking expressions on both the pooka-adult Bunny and the human-child Aster. He was just still confused as to why he was the one who retained his memories and Aster did not. 'I shouldn't be thinking about that now,' Jack thought. 'Right now I have to prepare for Easter.' He left Aster and started hopping around the warren.
Although Jack rarely visited the Warren because of Bunny's efforts to keep him out, Jack knew what to do and not what to do in the warren. He knew what Bunny's job was and what to do with all of the chocolates. First, he went to clean up the mess that Aster had made while running away from him. After he had done that, he went on to start up the machine to make the chocolate. He then began to walk steadily around the giant chocolate make machines, observing them carefully as he had seen Bunny do years before he had even met the guardian of hope, long before he had even thought of annoying him.
He had first heard about Bunny from a couple of spring spirits who didn't mind the cold as much as the other spring spirits did. As soon as he heard about the spirit with the grumpy attitude who apparently helped the children Jack so fondly loved, he decided that it would be a good idea to try to find this E. Aster Bunnymund and get him to tell Jack how to get believers. It wasn't easy, but soon enough, Jack found himself watch the Easter Bunny as he prepared for Easter, year after year, creating large vats of chocolate, and painting egg after egg after egg. Jack marveled at the sight of the warren, of the hope that the Easter Bunny brought so much, that in fact one day Jack decided to help the Easter Bunny by making it the most beautiful Easter ever by having the eggs get sprinkled by snow so that they glittered in the Sunday sun.
That event would be soon called 'The Blizzard of '68.'
Jack sighed as he remembered that fateful day. He let out a sad chuckle as he once again hopped around the containers of chocolate. It was so funny how the roles had suddenly been changed and Jack was the pooka and Bunny was the human child. 'Haha, I wonder if I'll start acting like Bunny. Heh. Then it'll be the end of the world…'
Suddenly, the egg golems that were always guarding the Warren burst into the chocolate factory causing Jack to almost have a heart attack and fall into a batch of chocolate. "What?! What's going on?!" he exclaimed. The golems started looking back and forth from Jack to the exit that they had made. Somehow, Jack could just barely understand what they were trying to say. "Aster?!" he exclaimed. He hopped away from the batches of chocolate and started hopping faster and faster towards the rainbow-coloring river. What he found absolutely shocked him to the very core.
Standing there, horror in his bright green eyes, was Aster, with at least one thousand eggs broken and surrounding him. "What in the world?" Jack murmured. He hopped up to Aster, his gaze stern. "What happened," he growled.
Aster flinched. "Uh…"
"I said," Jack growled through gritted teeth, "What. Happened."
Suddenly Aster burst into tears. "I-It was an accident, I swear!" he exclaimed. "I-I was only trying to help, a-and I thought that I could hurry up the eggs and m-make them go faster, 'n then I saw that you weren't here, I…" Aster cried again and buried his face in Jack's fur.
"Aster…" Jack began, trying to hold his frustration in, "Do you realize what you've just done?"
Aster shook his head and Jack sighed. "Aster, I have less than twelve hours to get all of these eggs painted, these chocolates fixed, and hide all of these eggs so that my best friend who may or may not hate me won't try to kill me because this might be the third time I ruined the one day that means the most to him, and you just destroyed a thousand eggs that I need or the world will kill me, and I may lose the only family I've ever had in three-hundred years," Jack said. If looks could kill, Jack's steady gaze would have killed Pitch at least one thousand times.
"B-but…"
"Aster, just LEAVE!"
The hope from Aster's eyes dimmed as the boy stared up at Jack's stone cold ones. "I…just…I'm sorry," he murmured. He started walking away from Jack, his head hanging low. "I just thought…I could scare the scary horses away…"
Jack's ears shot up in surprise. "What?" he exclaimed. He bounded over to Aster. "What did you say?"
"The scary horses," Aster murmured. "You didn't see them?"
Jack shook his head and kneeled before Aster. "Tell me what happened. And don't leave anything out."
"O-okay," Aster sniffed. "I was painting the eggs, and I was trying find ways to make them move faster so that I could paint them faster. Then I realized that you were gone 'n I got scared. I started lookin' for ya 'cause I wanted to know where you were. After a while, I started to get really scared 'cause it looked like you weren't coming back. Then all these black horses started ta' come around, 'n I decided to try 'n save the eggs. They didn't destroy all of 'em, but…I um…accidentally…did…"
Jack sighed and put his paw on Aster's shoulder. Nightmares. He should've known. "It's not your fault kiddo. Those black horses are really something to be feared. But next time, don't do it on your own, okay? Ask me for help. It's not right to do things on your own all the time."
Aster nodded and sniffed. "So…so you're not mad?"
"Well, I am a little upset," Jack said. The hope deflated out of Aster as Jack continued. "But I should have been here. After all, I said I would stay here to paint some eggs." Aster's eyes brightened up again and he started hopping up and down. "So are ya going ta' paint eggs with me right now?" he asked.
Jack nodded. "I don't see why not!" he exclaimed. He watched as the other eggs started getting back in line. 'I only hope that those nightmares didn't destroy too much. I think I'm going to have a little talk with Pitch when this is all over,' he thought. He grabbed a paintbrush and started painting the eggs along with Aster. As he watched Aster concentrate on painting the eggs, he couldn't help but smile. Aster was so childish. It was hard for Jack to believe that this boy would grow up to become the stoic Easter Bunny. Still, it made him wonder. If Aster was this little giggling child before, then why did he grow up to be so serious? Something bad must have had happened and…oh yeah.
Bunny was the last of his kind.
Jack had heard it from North. North had said that Bunny's whole race had been wiped out by Fearlings, creatures that Pitch had used before he used Nightmares. Jack didn't know how old Bunny was back then, but however old he was, it must have done a lot to make him so grumpy all the time. After all, he himself still felt loss at the thought of his sister. He sighed as he remembered all the good times he had with her, but quickly shook out all of the thoughts. Now was not the time to be reminiscing on the past. He turned his direction back to the egg and continued painting the egg.
Soon, five hours had passed and Jack and Aster had painted half of the pile of over nine thousand Easter Eggs ('sounds like a line from a Japanese TV. show,' Jack thought) and Aster was still painting. Meanwhile, Jack was lying on the ground, a paintbrush in one paw and an egg in the other. "I. Hate. This," he groaned.
"Get up Jack, we still have about four thousand to go," Aster scolded. Jack looked up at him. "And who's the older one of the two of us?" he dared.
"Shut up Frosty," Aster muttered. Jack's ears perked up and he looked at Aster wide-eyed. "What did you just call me?"
Aster looked up at him in surprise. "I-I just called you Frosty, s-since you leave frost wherever you go," Aster murmured. "Is that…a bad thing?"
"Not at all," Jack said, relief flowing through him. "As long as I can call you kangaroo, that is."
"I'm not a kangaroo!"
"The accent betrays you, 'mate'."
Aster pouted before his face turned into a confused pout. "Frosty?"
"Yeah?" Jack asked.
"What's Easter?"
Jack remembered that he still had to tell Aster what Easter was. "Well…it's a holiday…where kids from all over the world celebrate. Kind of like Christmas," Jack said with a chuckle. "Some people celebrate this day because it's their family tradition. Others celebrate it because it's part of their religion, and others just like to think of it as the start of spring. But most people celebrate it because its fun, and the kids love it because the Easter Bunny comes around to hide eggs."
"What's the Easter Bunny?"
Jack had to suppress a laugh. "The Easter Bunny's a giant bunny who hops all around the world spreading hope and Easter eggs to children everywhere," he said. Aster's eyes were wide. "What does he look like?" he asked.
"Well, I say the Easter Bunny looks almost exactly like me, but he has gray fur, and he has green eyes."
"Kind of like me!"
Jack chuckled. "Yes. Kind of like you," he said.
Aster frowned. "But…if he's the Easter Bunny, then why isn't he doing his job?" he asked.
Jack laughed nervously. "He…uh…got sick…"
"So he asked you to do it for him?"
Jack let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, he did," he said. He grinned. "Now come on! We still have to paint all of these eggs before the day's done!" he exclaimed. Aster laughed.
For the next couple of hours or so, Jack and Aster laughed and talked as they continued painting the eggs. Aster asked about the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, Santa, the Man in the Moon, and even the Boogeyman. He also commented about some things like 'Well, the Tooth Fairy should know that chocolate is yummy and kids like it more than they like brushing teeth!' or 'Easter sounds like a better holiday than Christmas' and even 'The Boogeyman sounds like a drama queen' which made Jack crack up and start laughing leaving a confused Aster to wonder what the heck was going on. Finally, all the eggs were done and Aster and Jack watched as they were sent on their way through the tunnels. "So, they go through there?" Aster asked.
"Yep," Jack said. He grinned. "Pretty cool, huh?"
Aster nodded and looked up at Jack with wide eyes. "Frosty!" Aster exclaimed.
"Yeah?" Jack asked. He turned to Aster.
"Here."
Jack's eyes looked down and saw a tiny little egglett sitting on the palm of Aster's hand. He picked it up. There were little blobs of white – snowflakes – dancing around the egg and blotches of green dotting the bottom. Jack turned the egg over and saw a giant splotch of white in the form of a giant bunny and a little stick figure with grey on its head. Jack let out a chuckle. "What's this?" he asked.
Aster's face turned red. "It's for you. I-I made it myself."
Jack's eyes widened as he looked up to the boy. "This is…for me?" he asked. Aster nodded. "Well…I…um…thank you," Jack murmured. He reached down and pat the boy on the head. "Thanks Kangaroo."
"No problem Frosty."
Jack laughed, and as he did so, he felt the wind running through his fur. He felt himself being lift slightly upward and a giant light burst in Jack's heart. He grinned. "Now for one more task."
"What is it?"
"My favorite. Hop on kiddo!" he exclaimed. Aster jumped onto Jack's back and grinned. "Where're we going Jack?" he asked.
"We're going up!" Jack grinned. He crouched down, his giant pooka muscles tensing. "Hold on!" he exclaimed. He released the tension in his legs and sprang up, laughing as the wind carried him up and caressed his fur. "Woohoohoo!" he exclaimed. He spread his arms wide and started twisting and tumbling thought the clouds, laughing as the wind blew through his fur, almost forgetting the human bundle that was holding on for dear life. He looked back at Aster, who was clutching onto Jack's fur tightly. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.
"T-too high!" Aster exclaimed. He buried his face in Jack's fur.
"Aww, it can't be that bad!" Jack exclaimed. He dived again.
"No! Stop! Please!" Aster screamed.
Jack looked back and his heart dropped as he watched the boy cling onto him for dear life. He slowed down and took Aster into his giant furry arms. "Hey, hey, easy there Kangaroo," he murmured. He held the trembling boy in his arms. "It's okay…we've stopped falling. Hey there, shh, it's all right," he whispered. Aster clutched onto Jack's fur tightly. "Jack…you scared me," he murmured.
"Well, I'm really sorry," Jack said. He held the boy tightly in his arms, thinking of a way to make Aster feel better again. "Hey, do you want to watch something cool?" Aster looked up at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
"Can it be on the ground?"
Jack chuckled and tapped Aster's nose lightly with one of his furry fingers. "No, but it's still really cool," he said. He put Aster back on his back and started flying closer to the ground. "Watch closely now!" Jack exclaimed. He held out his staff in one hand. Aster watched as it glowed a bright blue color. Then something awesome happened.
Little flakes of ice started to fall to the ground gently. Jack watched as Aster's eyes were filled with wonder at the sight of the snow. Aster even seemed to have forgotten about his fear of heights. "Snow?"
Jack shrugged. "Well, a little."
Aster's eyes shone. "So that when everyone goes outside to play, they'll see all of the snow and the pretty eggs that we made, right?" he exclaimed. Jack nodded and laughed. "Yep! They'll see all of the designs that we made!"
Everything was silent for a moment. Then: "What if they don't like it?"
Jack frowned as Aster continued. "What if they don't like the pictures that we painted? What if they hate it? What if they hate us? What if they…"
"Hey, hey, easy there little buddy," Jack said. He stopped flying for a brief moment and picked Aster off of his back. Aster snuggled into Jack's chest. Jack ruffled his hair. "It doesn't matter if the paintings are good or not, what matters is that you put your heart into it. Didja' have fun making those eggs?"
Aster nodded. "Yeah."
"Did you have hope while painting those eggs?"
Aster nodded. "Mmhm."
"Then that's all that matters, Roo," Jack said. He smiled and ruffled Aster's hair again. Aster let out a little yawn. "Oh, someone's sleepy!" Jack exclaimed.
"Am *yawn* not!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever you say captain," he said. Aster snuggled into the winter kangaroo's chest. "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"After you're done, can we go to the warren again?"
Jack nodded. "Yep."
There was another pause. "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
Silence. Then, "You're the coolest big brother ever."
Jack's heart almost stopped beating. "I am?" he asked. But Aster was fast asleep. Jack smiled at the boy and continued on spreading winter and snow before spring finally took over. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he soon lost control of almost all of his senses just by thinking about what Aster said.
He even forgot about the dream sand that was following them.
What lay before Sandy was the absolutely, positively, cutest, most adorable thing in all of the spirit world.
He was currently at the warren after making a few rounds, letting some dream sand go astray and fighting off nightmares. Now that he had a break, he could finally see that dream that kept on moving with the wind.
Which led to the warren.
Which led to this.
Laying before Sandy was a seven year old boy with gray hair wrapped up in a too-big-to-fit-him hoodie next to a giant, white, furry pooka. Both were hugging each other very tightly and the boy had somehow buried his face into the giant pooka's chest fur. Sandy quickly got out his camera and took a picture. Yep, he would be using this as blackmail somehow.
Suddenly a glowing light emitted from the two beings. Sandy had to fly out of the way to get to shield himself from the light. As soon as the light had dimmed out, Sandy flew back to the pair only to not find a gray haired boy and a white furred pooka but a gray furred pooka and a white haired boy instead. Sandy raised an eyebrow and looked up at the moon. The moon shrugged.
Family bonding time?
Sandy laughed. And the moon laughed along with him.
All Bunny knew was that Jack Frost was so dead.
He had been pounding his head on a wall for at least twelve minutes straight and somehow he couldn't manage to get that headache out of his head. Probably because he was beating his head on a wall. "Oh, bloody Frostbite, I swear to the moon I will kill you," he muttered. That stupid little brat had gotten him drunk and now he had the worst headache in all of the spirit world and he had just found himself wearing Jack's too-tight-for-him sweater. Great. Just great. As if that weren't enough, now he had to get to Easter…
EASTER!
Bunny's eyes widened. "Easter! 'Ow could I forget?!" he exclaimed. He started hopping up and down and all over the warren. "Oh no! I have to go and check the chocolate, paint the eggs, plant the flowers, help the other eggs…"
And then he realized that none of his little 'googgies' were responding to him.
Now eggletts were very organized creatures. They liked to be painted a certain way, to go through a certain tunnel, and each egglett from birth knows that you don't listen to the giant rabbit a day after Easter. And Bunny knew that. So that could only mean…it had been Easter already.
Proceed a very spaztastic Bunny.
Now Bunny was hopping frantically all over the place, trying to figure out what had happened yesterday, but all he could remember were little words and glimpses
"Not enough bubbles."
"Oh, so you think a sopping bunny is funny, huh?"
"So, ya wanna see how you paint an egg?"
"It's not your fault kiddo. Those black horses are really something to be feared."
"T-too high!"
And the one most occurring line: "Next time, don't do it on your own, okay? Ask me for help. It's not right to do things on your own all the time."
What exactly had happened?
Bunny started pacing back and forth until a ray of sun bounced off of a silver camera and shone in Bunny's face. "What?" he murmured. He grabbed the camera and looked through it. Most of them were just pictures of sand animals so he could easily deduce that this was Sandy's camera. Bunny rolled his eyes at almost every single picture. That is, until he reached the last two.
The first picture was of an eleven year old boy who had gray hair like his fur cuddled up next to a giant Pooka with snow white fur. 'What?' Bunny thought. Was there another pooka somewhere out there in the world? Bunny had no time to think about that, however, and he quickly brought up the next picture. It was he and Jack, bloody Jack Frost, cuddling up together in the same position as the human and the pooka in the picture before him.
And then Bunny remembered. He remembered becoming a human, and all the fun he had while playing around with the Easter eggs, the fear in fighting the nightmares and getting scolded by Jack, the wonder, hopes, and dreams that he had while he listened to stories about the guardians from Jack's perspective, and the hope that he carried with him as he watched the eggs walk out to the tunnels. He remembered how Jack teased him and played with him and comforted him after the tiny nightmare attack. He sighed and put down the camera. He then walked over to a special little spot on the warren and cleared the foliage. He looked up.
The lights had never seemed brighter.
Bunny eyes widened as he stared at the giant glowing globe right in front of him. "But…how…did Jack…" he began, a little lost for words. He smiled and touched the globe. "Looks like you did it Frostbite."
"Did what?"
Bunny turned around and stared at Jack. Jack started to slowly back away. "Ah…Bunny? Bun-bun?" Jack whimpered. Bunny walked up to the poor boy, who seemed to believe that he was going to die in a few seconds. He stared at Jack for a few moments, thinking about what to do, then suddenly…he hugged Jack. He, the Easter Bunny, guardian of hope and children, hugged Jack for what it seemed like an eternity. When he was done, he looked down at Jack, a grin on his sheepish face. "Thanks mate," Bunny murmured.
"Thanks? For what?" Jack asked.
Bunny rolled his eyes. "For yesterday. Easter, I mean." He smiled down upon the boy. "Thanks," he said.
"Oh, no problem," Jack muttered. His hand twitched on his staff. "Uh…I um…I better get going," Jack murmured. He started to fly away when Bunny grabbed his arm.
"Uh, aren't you forgetting somethin' mate?"
Jack turned around and Bunny pointed to the dark blue hoddie around his body. Jack blushed as he remembered that he had spent a whole day technically in the nude, and now he had no idea where his clothes were except for his hoddie and now he was very, very screwed. "Uh…whoops?" Jack grinned.
Bunny rolled his eyes as he grabbed Jack's staff in one hand and Jack in the other. "Bunny!" Jack exclaimed. He started kicking. "Let go!"
"Hah! You still are going to pay for turning me into an ankebitta'," Bunny barked. Jack groaned. "Can't you just at least find me my pants first?" the winter teen moaned.
"Why? You see me naked every day."
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE A GIANT RABBIT!"
"Well, there was also yesterday…"
"YOU WERE A SIX YEAR OLD HUMAN! Wait…you remember?"
Bunny nodded. "Just in glimpses though, nothing too big," he said. Jack nodded and sighed. "You know, it was kind of fun having you as a little brother." He grinned. "You were always so jumpy and excited all the time that I almost forgot that you were Bunny! You seemed so…not grumpy!"
"Haha, very funny Jack," Bunny said, shrugging it off. He looked down at Jack. "You know…you were a pretty good big brother…you know…just for that day at least…"
"Well, you were a very cool little brother," Jack said, grinning. He then frowned. "I'm sorry. I almost ruined Easter again, and after all those other Easter's that I've ruined, I'm really sorry and I hope you forgive…"
"Frostbite," Bunny interrupted. Jack stared at him "That Easter's already gone. It's in the past now, just like '68 and all other Easters before that. And besides, the warren looks wonderful and not like it's been mauled by Pitch's nightmares. You shouldn't blame yourself too much, Frosty." He sighed. "It's not your fault anklebitta'. Those black drongos are really something to be feared. But next time, don't do it on your own, okay? Ask me for help. It's not right to do things on your own all the time." He looked around himself.
Jack eyes widened in surprise and laughed. "I should really start taking my advice more often, shouldn't I?" he grinned.
"Just the good advice, please," Bunny groaned.
There was a pause. "You know, you were kind of a pest of a little brother though. You acted like me almost all of the time."
Bunny smirked. "Was I a pain?"
"YES."
Bunny laughed. "Now that you know what it's like being me, are you going to stop being such a pain?"
Jack smirked and laughed. "Nope!" he exclaimed. He grabbed his staff and started to fly away from Bunny, laughing at the pooka's cries of 'Frostbite!' and 'Get back here!' Later, the two spirits would celebrate the joy of life and Easter, and they would admire the beauty that held in the snow-sprinkled ground and the eggs seated carefully in the snow. Then they would go egg hunting with Jamie and Sophie, and after that, they would go to Santoff Clausen to celebrate Pitch's defeat and congratulate Bunny on a job well done. Then both spirits would agree to never ever speak of what happened that Easter, not because it was embarrassing (well, it was a little) but because they wanted to preserve the magic of that special moment when Jack was the Winter Kangaroo and Bunny was the curious little human boy and they had spent the whole day preparing for a new year of life, love, wonder, dreams, memories, fun, and most of all, hope. To preserve the brotherly bond that they had formed and hold it sacred to their hearts.
Until Sandy showed the other guardians the pictures.
"SANDY!"
Bunny: I'm still going to murder Sandy for showing the guardians the pictures...*looks over to me and Jack still eating chocolates* Well...um...I think Iggy-bunny would say review right about now...so um...review and get some Easter chocolate or candy or whatnot.
Me: MINE.
Bunny: 0.0 okay...-_-
Me, Jack and Bunny: Happy Easter!