Here is a collaboration between Redbat132 and myself!
Enjoy and Happy Easter! :)
"Jack, are we there yet?" Lea asked, whom had her eyes covered by a blindfold while flying with Jack Frost.
"Almost," The Guardian of Fun replied, real eager to show his human friend where they were heading.
Easter was less than a day away, and Lea has offered to help Bunnymund paint the eggs for the children that find them.
And, since Jack has already been to the Warren before, he took the liberty to take her there personally. Even somewhat help her out, just in case.
Also, the reason Lea had a blindfold on was so Jack could surprise her…Well, that, and it's so no humans can find the secret entrances that lead to Bunnymund's home.
Once they started to slow down and touch land, Jack grabbed Lea's hand and went a few paces forward until they stopped.
"Okay, we're here! Go ahead and take off you blindfold!" Jack exclaimed.
By the time she did, Lea was speechless on where she was. The blonde teen took a moment to study the beautiful, green landscape.
Although it's still cold from where she lived, this place was warm, colorful, and full of plant life. The plants had a radiant glow that reminded Lea of her wooden toy when illuminating at night. There were even stoned-like structures surrounding wherever she and her Winter friends ended up in. Massive eight-foot-tall egg statues with faces were sitting down on the soft grass, guarding one of many tunnels that lead to different locations above ground.
Lea thought for sure that Jack took her into another planet or dimension where it's always Spring. Even though she didn't say it, Jack can already tell that Lea was enjoying the view.
"This is where Bunny lives?" Lea asked, who was still amazed by what's around her.
"Yep. We are literally standing in the undergrounds of Australia," explained Jack before chuckling and sitting down on one of the giant egg statues. "Which really shouldn't be much of a surprise since he is the Easter Kangaroo."
Lea chuckled at her friend's comment. She always thought how funny Jack kept calling Bunny a Kangaroo because of his accent. "I can't imagine why. So, where do we find the eggs?"
To answer, Jack used his staff to point at a gorgeous patch of tulips.
The tulips slowly opened to reveal white eggs that each had a pair of legs and began moving. The sight of this really astonished Lea. She followed the eggs until she stopped to watch them go through flowers that released puffs of different colors; turning the eggs from plain white to colorful. They then jumped into a purple stream and came out with a few multicolored features that really stood out. If they weren't pretty enough, the eggs slide down through some vines, creating different patterns on each of them. Lea couldn't believe nor keep her eyes off any of it.
"Wow. Bunny must run a pretty unique system here. And I thought North's workshop was out of this world," studied Lea.
"You should see Tooth's Palace. It's amazing," Jack recommended, giving another one of his amusing yet caring smiles.
Lea nodded her head while she continued checking the eggs. She bent down to look at them passing by her path. She admired the significant details on every egg. It seemed a little unusual to watch eggs walking around to be ready for Easter, but Lea didn't mind nor care. Jack soon flew closer to the young blonde teen and bent down next to her while placing his staff on his shoulder.
"Enjoying the little show?" Jack asked, still watching the eggs.
"Yeah. I can't believe Bunny creates Easter like this. Speaking of the Guardian of Hope, where is he, anyway?" Lea asked, looking around.
"Over here, Sheila!" Bunny called from atop a grassy hill. He was sitting on his perch painting an egg.
"Hi, Bunny! Why are you painting that egg?" asked Lea, already moving up to get a better look on what the Guardian of Hope was doing.
"Yeah, Cottontail. I thought you use your home to make the eggs," Jack agreed, calmly standing up next to Lea and following her.
"I do, but I occasionally enjoy painting the eggs myself to show how important Easter is," Bunny explained, already looking at Lea. "I heard from old Frostbite that you have a creative talent in painting. Is that true?"
Lea nodded her head while getting her backpack to get out her pink creative toolbox. "Sure is. A true creative artist always come prepared."
"Great! We'll need all hands-on deck!" Bunny let out a whistle and several eggs scurried toward Lea.
"Wow!" Lea laughed in enjoyment, seriously going to have fun with this as she got down to open her box to reveal many stickers, colored paints plus skinny brushes, markers, sewing stuff, and so on.
While getting started, Nightlight got out of the backpack and walked over to see what Lea was doing. He was amazed at the new place he was in and tugged her shirt to ask where they were.
Taking a small glance down to see it was her Childhood Companion, Lea smiled and said, "Hey, Nightlight. We're in Bunny's Warren and I'm helping him paint the Easter eggs. This might be a while and I definitely don't want to lose my focus. Why don't you explore around the place with Jack watching over you?"
Understanding, Nightlight smiled and nodded his head before going to Jack.
"Nightlight! Give me some!" Jack offered his fist and the two friends shared a fist bump. "Let's go mess with some eggs!" Jack laughed as Nightlight followed him.
Lea rolled her eyes yet smiled a bit. "Jack will always find a reason to have fun. It's like he's the Guardian of Fun without trying!" She began painting one of the eggs.
After a few hours, Lea and Bunny finished making their handmade painted Easter eggs. While Bunnymund's style was his usual traditional patterns, Lea's were brightly colored and filled with different unique patterns around each of them. Some either had prints of sunflowers, tulips, butterflies, plaid, stripes, and many other designs. All were different colored and not one matched any of the others.
"Wow, Bunny! Your eggs look amazing!" Lea complimented, very happy that she got to help out the Easter Bunny.
"These goodies aren't half as lovely as your batch!" said Bunny, whom was impressed on how Lea's painted eggs turned out. "Wanna help me send them off?"
"Send them off? You mean deliver the eggs to the surface personally?" Lea asked, slightly having doubts about doing that.
"You bet! So, you in?"
Lea gulped, having small disturbing flashbacks of herself running in the streets, tripping, and Easter eggs dropping plus cracking on the ground. "Uh, I'm sorry Bunny, b-but I'm gonna have to say no. I-I should probably go check on how Nightlight is doing and make sure Jack hasn't ruin too much of your hard work."
She quickly walked away and tried her best not to look back to see Bunny's face.
"What was that all a-" Bunny was cut off when he saw a horde of sloppy-painted eggs scrambling around. Bunny's eyes narrowed when he saw frost speckled on them. "JACK FROOOST!" The Guardian of Hope roared as he traced the source of the issue.
Meanwhile, Lea sighed as she walked through the Warren alone.
"I can't deliver those eggs. Not after what happened last time," Lea lowly said to herself out loud, lowering her head down in sadness.
Deep down, Lea was still upset about her tempt in helping plus saving Easter for the kids and nearly humiliating herself last year. The event was too embarrassing to a point that she never wanted to let it happen again.
"Bunny is the real Guardian of Hope, not me. I'm way too clumsy to do what he does," Lea kept talking, already stopping to study the beauty of the landscape to help cheer her up.
"It sure is beautiful here, though," Lea said, smiling a little.
Just as she was enjoying the incredible landscape environment, something else started to catch her attention from the corner of her eye. Lea turned her head to see something glowing under a tree trunk that had bleeding heart flowers; which happened to be one of her favorite plants. Curious, the blond teen got down and reached for it with her right hand.
Once in her gently grasp, she brought it close to her to see it was an Easter egg she had never seen before. It was green with a wavy gold line around the center–filled with detailed floral swirls attached.
"Huh? What's this doing under a tree? Shouldn't it be out walking with the other eggs?" Lea questioned, using both hands to feel it carefully.
To her, it actually felt a little heavier than the other Easter eggs she finished painting. There was something different about this particular egg she found.
Suddenly, the egg began to glow that should have been blinding but wasn't. It caused Lea not to look way. She was mesmerized by its beauty, unaware of a bright warmth taking hold over her to a point that the blonde teen passed out and dropped the egg without damaging it.
After becoming unconscious, Lea managed to land on top of a group of finished moving Easter eggs behind her. Luckily, they didn't break from her weight. However, the eggs were scurrying towards one of the exits that reach topside of the Earth with Lea on board.
With that happening, Jack and Bunny were having their own argument with Nightlight in the crossfire.
"Here's egg in your face!" Jack laughed as he threw an egg at Bunny. The Guardian of Hope dodged it with ease. Luckily, the egg landed in the purple river from breaking.
"What is the matter with you?! You always have to-" Bunny scolded, only to feel a tug at his foot by Nightlight that interrupted him.
"Make things more fun and interesting instead of same old boring? I agree," Jack replied, grinning while leaning his weight on his staff.
"No, Frostbite. I stopped because Lea's little toy was getting my attention," Bunny contended.
Nightlight was frantic because he saw Lea from a distance being dragged into the tunnels. But the others don't know that.
"What's wrong, little guy?" Jack questioned.
Nightlight decided to charade what was happening! He imitated Lea being carried off by the eggs, but to Jack and Bunny, it looked like Nightlight was break dancing with fire ants in his undies.
"Man, how does Lea manage to understand him?" Jack asked out loud, seriously confused here.
Furious, Nightlight ran over to where Lea was being taken away, but it was too late! She was gone!
"Whoa! Hey! Nightlight, where are you going?" Jack hollered, already flying over to find Nightlight with a panicking look on his painted face at the exits. "Look, if you wanted to see the eggs going to the tunnels, then you could have just pointed it out," he said.
Nightlight covered his face in frustration and sadness, already on his knees. How will he find Lea now when she could be anywhere in the world? And how can he even get through to Bunny and Jack about that?!
Like an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the noggin, Nightlight got out his staff and wrote what he saw in the dirt.
As soon as the Guardian of Fun read what Nightlight wrote, Jack's eyes grew wide. "Bunny! Get over here! We got a problem!"
Bunny hurried and read the message out loud: "Lea was knocked out and taken away by the eggs through one of the tunnels?!"
Nightlight nodded his head, finally glad that they see the trouble.
"How did that happen?! What could have caused Lea to end up in that predicament?!" Jack questioned.
Realizing he didn't have time to explain nor had the slightest idea either, Nightlight ran down the tunnel Lea went through while Jack and Bunny followed.
Unfortunately, there were so many tunnels that it became hard for Nightlight to figure out which row of eggs had Lea.
"Okay, we can't just keep moving without knowing where Lea is. She could be anywhere in the following continent tunnel's countries or states!" Jack exclaimed, realizing this chase was getting nowhere. "We need to know Lea's exact location."
"How, mate? Unless you have something to track her, it could be a long while to find her and I have a system in setting up Easter," Bunny argued.
Just then, Jack had an idea. "Actually, there might be someone who could help us out. But first things first, we need to get Lea's bag and then hurry to New York."
Liking what Jack Frost has in mind, Nightlight hurried to climb on the Guardian of Fun and ride in his hoodie. He truly hoped that they would find Lea.
Little did they knew, Lea's body started to glow like the egg she found and slowly began to change while being carried in the tunnels...
At a book store in New York City, Katherine was in her rocking chair reading a book while drinking hot cocoa. Her shop was closed and she was enjoying the peace and quiet.
"Kate! We need your help!" Jack hollered, already going through the door that caused a major ruckus.
Bunny used one of his tunnels to get to the bookstore to see where Katherine was.
Katherine, whom remained calm, lightly sighed and put her hot cocoa drink down on top of a nearby table. "I had a feeling you three boys would show up. Even when I started to believe things would be quiet," she said, lowering her book on her lap.
Nightlight scurried into the store and started charading what happened to Lea.
Katherine stared. "Looks like you're break-dancing with fire ants in your undies."
"Yeah, we thought the same thing, too. But that's not what he's saying," Jack explained. "Lea has been knocked out in the Warren, was dragged by Bunny's Easter eggs, and is somewhere in the world. We were hoping you could help us out."
"Oh, I know. I'm just messing around," Katherine lightly chuckled and stood up. "As luck would have it, I was reading about the event and know exactly where she is."
"Okay, Miss Psychic! Where is she?!" asked Bunny. "This is the last kind of trouble I want on my day!"
"Not psychic. Just have stories that show me what's going on," Katherine corrected, still unfazed by Bunny's yelling. "And to answer your question, she's somewhere in Kansas. However, I should probably warn you that Lea is having an interesting 'hare' day."
Jack looked at Katherine, as if she had three heads. "What are you talking about?"
Katherine smirked playfully. "You'll find out soon enough. But before you leave, there's something I need to discuss with Bunny privately."
The Guardian of Imagination took Bunny to a private room in the back filled with shelves of locked books. "What's up?" asked Bunny.
"I wanted to warn you that whatever you're about to face involving Lea, it's going to shock you. And for Lea, it's only going to make her upset than before," Katherine explained. "Do you recall her behavior when you asked her in assisting you to help deliver the eggs personally?"
Bunny blinked, looking back on Lea's strange behavior. "Yeah, she was acting rather odd. Why is that?"
"It's because that she's still traumatized of what happened involving last Easter. The day that Pitch succeeded in making everyone lose hope," Katherine gently answered. "Around that event, Lea saw the children in her city sad and tried taking matters into her own hands in saving that holiday. Along with getting them to believe in you once more. To shorten it, Lea spent nearly a whole day plus night making Easter eggs, tried doing an early morning run to the park in hiding them, but tripped in the last minute that made her lose the eggs she worked hard creating."
Bunny gasped. No wonder Lea has been acting weird.
"I know. Lea became devastated when she realized that she doesn't have enough eggs for the kids after accidentally cracking her own Easter eggs," Kate nodded her head in agreement while continuing. "She thought that all her hard work in bringing back the kids' hope was ruined. But even so, she still decided to just go to the park anyway and try to think of something to explain to the little kids on the Easter Bunny not showing up again that will probably be disappointing. She tried hiding what was left of her few eggs around the park and waited for the kids to show up. By the time they did, Lea was about to tell them the bad news until you showed up and gave out your late-minute hope elements around the park when they weren't looking. That caused the kids to see that the Easter Bunny did actually came and began looking for your eggs that left Lea surprised yet happy. Even though she was relieved that Easter was saved, Lea had her doubts in making personal egg deliveries after what happened. Thought she was too clumsy to be any help in doing a task like that."
"Crikey! I can't believe it!" said Bunny, having a hard time believing any of this. Who knew that Lea went through so many lengths to get children to believe in him? The blonde teen may have more heart and confidence than he thought.
"In order to help Lea, you need to show her the ways of being a Pooka…Your clan plus kind," Katherine explained, aware of what happened to them. "Only then will she understand and face her doubt."
Bunny exhaled a long sigh. Never did he expect an Easter like this. "Jack is right, you're not making any sense! Can you at least be less cryptic and just tell me straight what you mean on that last statement?!"
"I would, but I've already said enough on what you need to know. Besides, Lea needs you, Nightlight, and Jack Frost," Katherine said, already getting out of the private room with Bunny following while grabbing a golden globe at her desk. "I suggest you three take the route I'm about to give in about a few seconds. It's much faster and will lead you exactly where she is,"
Focusing deeply, the globe showed the place of her choosing and dropped it to become a magic portal.
"Wish me luck, Kathy. I'm going in." Bunny said, already moving. "Come on, Frost!"
"Right behind you, Cottontail!" Jack hollered, grabbing Nightlight and going through the portal before it disappeared.
"Goodluck, you three. I know you will set things right. You always do," Katherine said, giving a determined smile.
The Guardian of Imagination had full confidence that the two Guardians plus Nightlight can handle this task.
Twenty-Minutes Earlier…
Lea slowly opened her eyes to see that she was looking at a clear sky. The blonde teen got halfway up to see she was no longer at the Warren but in a different forest next to a farmhouse.
"Ugh…What happened? Where am I?" Lea asked herself, rubbing her soft face with her furry four-fingered hand.
Wait…is that my hand?! Lea realized in thought, making sure she wasn't seeing things by shaking her head to wake up.
Her eyes were not deceiving her. Lea literally had furry golden pawed hands with dark reddish-pink nails!
Just in case, she hurried to a nearby lake to see her reflection. Lea nearly screamed in panic when seeing herself.
For what she saw from her own reflection was a big, golden furred rabbit just like Bunnymund! There were even hints of light blonde around her mouth, neck, and feet. She was around six to seven feet tall with dark gold butterflies plus flowers patterns on both her furry forehead, ears, shoulders, and upper legs. Her chest was furry and in the shape of a heart, had a golden fluffy tail, and her nails plus toes on her feet and paws were painted dark reddish-pink colored. Her golden furry ears were down instead of up and the ends were curled in. She wore a light brown leather belt printed with leaves and a blooming light blue leather flower attached to her right waist belt, leather necklace holding her crystal from Sage around her neck, leather bracelet that had her other crystal from North on her left wrist, and leather anklets on each foot that had three charms; her red square, green triangle, and purple diamond charms on her right ankle with the yellow circle, blue hexagon, and magenta pentagon charms on her left ankle. The only other noticeable features that reminded Lea of her once human form were her autumn brown eyes and a small golden curl on top of her forehead.
"Oh, no…No, no, no, no! This can't be happening! I'm a female Easter Bunny?!" Lea shouted in panic, moving around in circles before stopping and taking a few deep breathes. "Get it together, Lea! Now is not the time to freak out. You can solve this. I just need to rethink what happened, figure out where I am, and look for Jack and Bunny. They might know how to undo this curse…I hope,"
So, Lea wandered off deep into the forest. She couldn't make heads or tails of where she was. "What am I gonna do?! I'm a giant rabbit and I'm lost!"
Just then, her bunny-ears were picking up a snapping twig sound that made Lea stop and look back. "What was that?!"
Lea screamed when she saw several shadowy figures coming from the darkness.
"Oh, please let it not be more remaining Nightmare creatures Pitch left in this dimension!" the blonde bunny girl begged under her breath.
But her hope fell short when a pack of wolves emerged. Real wolves! Their eyes flashed as drool trickled down their snarling maws.
"Aw, man!" Lea groaned, slowly taking a few steps back while staying calm. "N-n-nice, doggies. I'm not looking for trouble. I'm just a little lost and looking for my friends. So, why don't you all just go and-".
Before finishing her statement, the wolves growled and started pouncing that caused Lea to make a run on all fours...Which she had no idea she could do.
"AAAAAAHHHHH! I TAKE IT BACK! I'D RATHER WANT TO FACE PITCH'S NIGHTMARES INSTEAD OF THIS!" Lea screamed, running as quickly as her new rabbit feet could take her.
The blonde rabbit's heart was beating as much as her movement. Despite being terrified out of her mind with a pack of hungry wolves chasing her tail, Lea was amazed at how fast she was going. Sure, she had done lots of runs back home in New York but nothing like this before. Especially on all fours.
If I wasn't becoming a wolf's meal, this would be so exhilaratingly awesome! Lea thought.
When she felt one wolf super close in nipping at her tail, Lea jumped in startlement that caused her to bounce on the trees and do different flips which made her go further away from the pack.
Whoa! I didn't even know I could do any of those moves! The blonde rabbit girl alleged, still running.
Just then, Lea noticed a path full of thorns and rockslides coming up. Around them where strong large trees with branches above those obstacles. Smiling with an idea, Lea kept running at full speed until she too a leap on grabbing one of the branches and kept jumping across them like a bridge, leaving the wolves that were chasing her behind.
"WOOHOOHOOOOO! Aw, yeah!" Lea laughed, doing different gymnastic moves only professionals could do while still moving across the path from above.
She started going from single flips and twists to double flips and twists. Even start doing triple of her new tricks and went high on the trees until Lea could see civilization. She also saw a farmhouse with kids going back inside for the next day and the Easter eggs walking plus hiding for the little ones to find them.
But alas, the blonde furry female's luck was not hers today.
Lea's foot hit a brittle branch that snapped and couldn't hold her weight when coming down from another jump, causing her to fall off rapidly.
"This is gonna hurt!" Lea deduced to herself, using her arm to shield her face on crashing down.
But, what she failed to see while covering her face was Jack, Bunny, and Nightlight coming out of a portal that were right where Lea's gonna land.
"Okay, Jack. This is where Lea is suppose to be. I'd say we split up and cover more ground," Bunny suggested.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. You take the low ground while I search high. I bet I'll find her first before you, Cottontail," Jack bragged, hanging his staff on his shoulder like a scarecrow with Nightlight sitting on his hood.
"Oh, really? Ya want to do this race again, mate?" Bunny asked, feeling challenged.
While the two Guardians were bickering once more, Nightlight noticed something big and golden colored hurdling toward them from above and tried warning Jack by tugging his hair with one hand and pointing at the flying object with the other.
"Not now, Nightlight. Can't you see I'm about to show Bunny how I'm gonna win this game with him losing badly?" Jack said, not paying attention to the Wooden Toy's warning.
"No way! If anything, it's the other way around!" Bunny argued.
Facepalming, Nightlight quickly leaped from Jack's hood to Bunny's shoulder and tugged him away from the splat zone by pulling on his whiskers.
"OW! Nightlight, what are you doing?!" Bunny yelled, moving a few steps back in trying the grab the little guy but was quick enough to avoid being nabbed.
Jack just laughed at this. "Looks like he's agreeing with me on finding Lea before-".
The Guardian of Fun was cut short on his sentence when that golden-colored blur crashed into him and ended up tumbling around the ground until they both hit a tree with whatever hit Jack on top of him.
That made Bunny and Nightlight stop, staring at the whole thing. Once feeling the little toy let go of his fur plus whiskers, the Guardian of Hope turned his head to look at Nightlight, whom was standing on his left shoulder and using his spear-like staff to point at the crash.
Bunny stared. "We really gotta pay attention to what the ankle biter's trying to tell us."
Nightlight crossed her arms and gave a look to Bunny that says 'Gee, ya think?!'.
Lea groaned as she rubbed her sore head. "Worst. Easter. Ever," She looked down and gasped to see herself sitting on Jack. "Oh, man! Jack, are you okay?! I'm so sorry!"
Hearing that voice, Nightlight quickly got out of Bunny's shoulder and hurried over to the gold-colored bunny in happiness.
Bunny followed Nightlight and gasped, nearly choking on his own scream at what he saw.
After getting off of the temporarily knocked out Guardian of Fun, Lea saw two more familiar faces. She was mostly happy to seeing her Childhood Companion.
"Nightlight! You and the other Guardians found me!" Lea replied, already picking Nightlight up and hugging him.
Jack finally came to and staggered up. "Oh, man..." He gasped as loud as Bunny when he saw Lea, whom happened to be slightly taller than Jack himself yet only half short compared to Bunny's height.
"Uh, Bunny? Who's your furry friend?" The Winter Spirit asked.
"Jack, it's me! Lea!" the golden furred Pooka exclaimed, watching Jack's eyes wide on hearing her voice.
The Guardian of Fun quickly looked at Bunny while pointing at Lea. "You're seeing this too, right? Tell me this is all just in my head from the crash and I'm only hallucinating Lea as a giant rabbit like you."
Bunny shook his head. "You're not hallucinating, mate. Cause I'm seeing the same thing."
"Lea! How did this happen to you?!" Jack asked, visibly stunned.
"I don't know! One minute, I was exploring around the Warren and finding some glowing Easter Egg. And then the next, I wake up around a forest covered in fur and find myself running from a pack of hungry wolves!" Lea answered, freaking out as much as her friends.
The mention of what Lea found made Bunny's hair stand on end.
"Uh, what do you mean 'glowing Easter Egg', Sheila?" asked Bunny.
"I found some egg glowing under a tree trunk that had bleeding heart flowers covering it," Lea answered. "The egg was green with wavy gold floral swirls around the center, and seemed a bit heavier than any Easter egg I ever felt."
Jack looked at Bunny, seeing the shocked look on his face. "Did you misplace an egg like that?"
"That was no ordinary Easter egg. It's a special Relic that was supposed to be hidden in the Warren," Bunny answered, having a hard time believing any of this. "But how can it glow right now!? Let alone turn Lea into a Pooka?! That Relic hasn't been active in centuries!"
Lea sighed. "Don't ask me. I'm lost enough as it is."
"Same here," Jack said.
Bunny groaned, placing a hand on his furry forehead. "Right. Neither of you know about what I'm talking about. Well, I'll explain later. Right now, we need to figure out how to turn Lea back to normal."
"Please tell me there's some kind of Easter cure for what I'm dealing with," Lea hoped.
Jack chuckled. "What's the cure? Carrot soup?"
Bunny and Lea frowned, clearly not amused by Jack's joke.
"Way to be speciesist, Frost," said Bunny, glaring daggers.
"Not funny, Jack! I don't want to be a female Easter Bunny for the rest of my life!" Lea nearly shouted, placing her furry paws on her face to hide the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm no hope bringing! Just the opposite! It's last Easter all over again!"
Bunny put a hand on Lea's shoulder. "This isn't anything like that, Lea. Don't think like that."
"Bunny, you don't understand! I tried stepping up to help kids back home in New York from losing hope on you when no Easter eggs came. I convinced them you didn't show because you were sick and would show up the next day," Lea explained, letting her tears fall on her furry cheeks. "I thought I can bring back that hope by making some Easter Eggs and hiding them early in the morning. But...but I tripped and destroyed my eggs. I...I failed."
"So? You broke a few eggs? That doesn't mean you ruined Easter forever," said Jack. "That's not nearly as bad as what Pitch did to Easter."
Bunny looked down, dark memories of that Easter haunting him.
"You really need to put things in perspective, Lea," Jack continued. "The world's a lot bigger than you think, which means there are folks worse off than you. I mean, look at me. Three-hundred years ago, I was actually a normal teenager just like you. Then one day, I saved my sister's life, but I ended up losing my own."
Lea slowly started to calm down, still having a few tears running. "You kind of make a good point. You were willing to sacrifice yourself just so you could save your sister from falling in the ice. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm too clumsy to even make a simple egg delivery without breaking any," she added, frowning.
Bunny shrugged. "Eggs break all the time, love. But you can't let go of that hope. Especially when there are dozens of more eggs out there."
"...I guess," Lea sniffled, rubbing her rabbit-like nose.
Jack hugged her. "Don't worry, Lea. You just gotta believe in yourself. Just like the kids believe in us."
Lea gave a small smile before gently hugging Jack Frost back. "Thanks...I'll try."
While watching the two teens hug things out, Bunny thought back on what Katherine told him earlier before leaving the bookstore.
"I think...I think I understand now," The Guardian of Hope muttered quietly to himself.
Nightlight looked at Bunny, overhearing him plus wondering what he's talking about.
"Okay, Lea. Since your just like me. I'm gonna show you the ropes. Okay?" Bunny replied, already walking up to her.
Lea gave a salute. "Yes, Sir!"
Nightlight jumped in joy, ready to help plus cheer Lea on with moral support.
"So, what's the first step?" Lea asked.
"First, let's test your speed. See if you can catch up," Bunny dashed off and Lea followed right behind him.
Grinning, Lea kept going on all fours again to the point she around the same speed she did when running from the wolves but less terrified.
Jack grabbed Nightlight and started flying after them.
Bunny and Lea stopped in the middle of a clearing. "Now, let's test your tunneling," Bunny tapped his foot twice and a hole opened up.
"Whoa! Wait, I can actually do that?!" Lea exclaimed.
"Well, that's what this training is for," said Bunny. "Give it a go."
Taking a deep breath, Lea tapped her foot twice on the ground, only for nothing to happen in front of her.
"...I don't think it worked," the Pooka Female admitted sheepishly.
"HEY!"
Lea turned around and saw Jack and Nightlight stuck in a hole.
"Did I do that?!" Lea gasped.
"Looks like you did," Bunny grinned, holding back a laugh on how amusing this was with Jack stuck.
"Great! Now can you please get me out of here?!" Jack questioned, struggling to get himself out of the hole he was stuck to.
"Uh, um, okay. How do I undo this?" Lea asked herself, nervously tapping her foot without realizing it.
The hole became wider and forced Jack and Nightlight out. Although the toy landed on the ground perfectly, the Guardian of Fun didn't.
"Thanks..." Jack said with his face in the dirt.
"Sorry, Jack! I didn't even realize I was doing that," Lea called out, starting to get anxious on failing her first tempt in making a rabbit hole.
"Just keep your cool, Sheila," Bunny said calmly. "If you lose your cool, you lose yourself," he advised.
The blonde Pooka took his advice and kept cool.
"Okay...Let me try again," Lea closed her eyes and tried concentrating when tapping her foot twice on the ground to have a hole appear in front of her...for real this time.
"I-I did it! Yes!" Lea jumped, a little too high as she was several feet in the air! She panicked for a second, but remembered Bunny's advice and skillfully landed on her feet.
"Got a little excited on finally getting that right back there," Lea giggled in embarrassment, rubbing one of her curled-up ears. "So, what next?"
"Well, shouldn't we find a way to get you back to normal?" asked Jack, after getting up and dusting the dirt off his clothes. "I mean, it's gonna be hard for you to have a social life being covered in hair."
"That's exactly what we're doing, mate," Bunny retorted. "Kate told me that I have to show her the ways of my kind in order to reverse whatever has happened to Lea. At first, I didn't understand. But now, I know what to do. We have to help Lea face her doubts on what happened last Easter by training her to make an egg delivery."
Lea narrowed her eyes, knowing what she's about to do will not be easy but is the only way to get her back to normal. "Then let's do this, Coach."
In Central Park, it was dark. Easter morning was approaching. And eggs were ready to be scattered.
When arriving there, Lea felt her heart racing. Many regretful memories were starting to come back in her mind on the events involving this holiday.
A slap on the back broke Lea out of her trance. "Just keep your eyes on the prize, Lea," said Bunny. "Focus."
"Right...Eyes on the prize," Lea said, rubbing her furry arms anxiously.
After helping out on setting up where all the eggs were hidden, Bunny and Lea hid behind the bushes to see the kids in New York super excited in the Easter Hunt starting.
In Lea's opinion, it actually felt interesting to be in Bunny's perspective. She wondered if he ever saw her doing these traditions when she was small.
"Look at these eggs!" said a little girl. "They're beautiful!" Her eyes lit up as she held one of Lea's hand painted eggs.
Lea felt herself glowing as the children praised the eggs she painted with her heart.
"Hey, this one is cracked!" said a little girl, holding the cracked egg.
Lea turned her head to notice that one of the eggs did had a crack! It was sky blue with a few green patterns around. And the crack was located somewhere around its side center.
"A cracked Easter egg? I-I don't understand. How could I have missed that?" the blonde teen gently said to herself, starting to lose her joy.
"Remember, Lea," Bunny whispered, getting Lea's attention, "There will always be more eggs," He gave Lea a basket of beautifully painted eggs. "Here. Show that lil' ankle biter these goodies."
Just as she was about to grab one, Lea stopped and thought of something. "No...I have a better idea,"
The blonde Pooka grabbed a tiny bottle filled with super-fast dry glue, a few paintbrushes, and some gold paint from her creative box she brought when coming here before going in.
"What are you doing?!" Bunny hissed, but it was too late.
Lea hopped right up to the little girl with the broken egg.
"Hi, there, little one," Lea said, giving a caring smile.
The little girl gasped, nearly dropping her egg. "A-A-Are you the...Easter Bunny?!"
Lea chuckled. "Not exactly. I'm more of a... distant relative of his. I came to help him out this year and heard you had a cracked Easter egg."
The girl's eyes sparkled with hope. "You can fix it?"
"Not only fix it, but slightly improve it," Lea explained, laying down her left paw towards her. "If that's okay with you."
"Of course, it's okay!" the girl chirped. How could she say no?
Once the little girl placed her egg in the golden colored Pooka's paw, Lea turned around and sat down on the grass so the child couldn't see what she had in store.
What is she up to? Bunny thought to himself while observing Lea from behind the bushes.
He wasn't the only one watching this while being curious. Jack was laying on top of the tree branches to keep an eye on the whole Easter event with Nightlight next to him.
"Now this just got interesting," the Guardian of Fun said, giving one of his fun smirks before turning to Nightlight. "Think whatever Lea is doing will end up well?"
The wooden toy nodded in reply without hesitation while smiling. He knew his best friend long enough that she had ways of surprising others in a good way.
"Yeah, me too," Jack agreed, chuckling deeply to himself while he kept thinking on the possibilities of Lea's intentions.
In less than a minute, Lea finished what she had to do and turned around back to the little girl that was patiently waiting for her egg.
"Here you go. I really hope you like it," Lea said, placing the egg back in the girl's palmed hands with a hopeful smile on her furry face.
Once getting the egg back, the girl became mystified to see her broken Easter egg fixed! It looked like it was never dropped in the first place. The only thing that seemed different was an elegant golden flower on where the crack was.
The girl's face seemed frozen. Frozen with an emotion Lea wasn't sure of.
"I...I..." she stammered.
Lea waited for the worst.
"It's...BEAUTIFUL!" the girl squealed. "Oh, thank you!" she gave Lea a big, warm hug.
Lea couldn't help but smile and hugged back, feeling happy that she brought back the young girl's hope from her fractured Easter Egg.
"You're welcome," The female Pooka said, giving a playfully nuzzle on the little kid.
"This has been the best Easter of my life!" said the little girl. "I don't care what anyone says. I'll always believe in the Easter Bunny!"
"Good. That's what I'm counting on," Lea said, chuckling a little.
The girl's smile fell a little. "I guess...this is goodbye?" she asked sadly.
"Hey, don't be sad. As long as you still believe in the Easter Bunny, I'll always be here," Lea assured, touching the girl's chest on where her heart is while giving a caring smile. "Besides, you have your egg as something to remember the both of us by."
With her smile returning, the little girl gave Lea one last hug before she heard her mother calling her. Lea felt hopeful as the beaming girl skipped over to her mother.
Just before Lea was about to leave, she heard the little girl's voice again.
"Oh! Wait! I didn't get your name!" the young child hollered.
The blonde Pooka took a moment to think of it before turning around the face the girl again.
"Hope. Call me Hope," Lea said, giving a smile before hurrying back to her friend.
Once in the clear, Lea was welcomed to the open arms of Bunny. Her mentor gave her a hug as big as the girl's. "You made this the best Easter ever, mate."
Lea could feel her furry cheeks warm. "It was a team effort, Bunny. I had good friends showing me the ropes and help me understand. I didn't want you to throw away such a perfectly good piece of art. That, and the egg reminds me of how I was; feeling flawed," Lea answered, smiling a tiny bit. "Instead of replacing it with something new, I thought I'd tried reserving the egg and repair it. Although the crack is still there, the egg has a unique image that show's its beauty."
"Sounds a lot like you, Sheila," said Bunny, giving her a nudge.
Lea just giggled, only to suddenly feel a familiar warmth in her body and glowed for a few seconds to see that she was back to normal.
"Yes! I'm me again!" Lea laughed in enjoyment, already jumping up to express how happy she was.
"Glad to see the real you again," Bunny replied, who couldn't help but smile at his human friend back to her human self.
"Thanks. Guess after everything that happened, it took me a while to realize that just because I'm clumsy and that I mess up more than once, it doesn't mean it will stop me from helping others. My flaws are what make me beautiful on the inside and out. Whether I'm a human or a Pooka," Lea chuckled again, nudging Bunny back by hip bumping him. "Same goes for two particular Guardians I know who can't help but get at each other's nerves and turning everything to a competition."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Bunny, looking away.
"Oh, come on! Nightlight told me how you and Jack were about to compete in finding me before I accidentally landed on Jack! You even both competed each other in collecting the children's teeth!" Lea argued, folding her arms. "And must I remind you of the events involving Jack messing with your eggs?"
"Okay! Okay! Frost and I have a track record for competing," Bunny replied.
"And a track record for arguing," Lea smirked. "With one of them involving me when first meeting all of you that lead to breaking Nightlight by accident. But, to be honest, those are one of the equalities I enjoyed being with you two. Despite having disagreements, you and Jack are like brothers that look out for each other."
Bunny was silent for a moment. "Well...that maybe a stretch, but I guess it's something like that," Bunny looked around. "Speaking of which, where is the little snowflake?"
Probably on higher ground watching the kids. And possibly causing some mischief, too," Lea guessed, knowing the Guardian of Fun all too well. "I know Nightlight's with him."
Somewhere in the park, Jack watched Nightlight dance with some happy, giggling children.
"Enjoying yourself, Overland Frost?" a female Guardian's voice asked.
Jack looked up to see a familiar face sitting on a tree branch. "Hey, Kathy!"
Chuckling, Katherine got a cup of tea from her handbag and too some sips. "Hello, to you, as well. I must admit, Lea has taken Easter a lot better than last year's. Especially since her actions from the first one brought my attention and got me interested in seeing her personally around Winter."
Jack leaned lazily against his staff. "So, I assume you have something to do with this?"
"To do with what, exactly? You need to be a little more specific," Katherine stated.
Jack gave her a look. "Don't play dumb. You knew this would all happen to help Lea get over her ghost of Easter Past."
"Somewhat. However, the only thing I did was help guide you, Bunny, and Nightlight in the right direction in finding Lea. The cracked egg situation was all you," Katherine replied, stirring her tea a bit.
What nobody knew, except Katherine, was that the egg Lea helped fixed happened to be the same one Jack threw the other day at Bunny after messing with his Easter eggs in the Warren.
When Jack threw the egg that missed Bunny but landed in the purple river. Around there, the egg lightly hit a rock that left a small fracture that wasn't noticeable until it moved a little and sat down to hide at the park, causing the crack to grow and be seen.
"Hmm. Well played," said Jack.
"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me," Katherine assured, giving a playful smile.
"Hey, Jack!"
Jack turned and gasped to see Lea back to her old self again!
"I did it! I faced my problem and I'm back to normal!" Lea exclaimed, twirling around in happiness. "This has been the best Easter ever!"
"We can see that," Katherine smiled, jumping down from the branch and landed on the ground gently. "Congratulations, Lea. I knew you and the other Guardians could do it."
Lea gave Katherine a big hug. "Thanks for believing in me."
"Of course. It's what friends are for," Katherine replied, hugging Lea back. "You know, there's still some time left for you to find a few Easter eggs Bunny left around here."
Lea finished hugging and looked at her Guardian friend. "I don't know, Kate. You really think it won't be weird for someone my age to do that?"
Katherine shook her head. "Not at all, my dear. It doesn't matter how old you are. It's how you feel inside. The holidays can still be fun as long as you want them to be. And don't let anyone tell you different."
Smiling a bit, Lea nodded her head and began looking around for some Easter eggs. Around her search, she managed to find a pink Easter egg. It had a magenta color on top, outlining five diamonds. It also had orchid-colored waves on the sides. But what really stood out was the image in the center. Three red shapes took the form of a tulip, having a golden stem attached with leaves.
The blonde teen gave an admired smile on what she found. It was unique and reminded Lea of the beauty of Springtime.
"Now it's the best Easter ever," Lea said to herself.
Redbat132: Hope you all enjoyed this story. And for those who want to know more about that Relic Egg Lea found in the beginning of the story, it's one of the five pieces of the Moon Clipper, the Man in the Moon's space ship that was built during the Golden Age, that fell to Earth and were lost for centuries in the last battle of the Golden Age against Pitch and his Fearlings. It is said that if the five pieces were brought together, they would become the most formidable weapon against Pitch.
However, only four were found by the Guardians (way before Jack Frost became a Guardian) and the last relic from the Moon Clipper has yet to be discovered for many centuries. Until they could find it, each Guardian kept one relic and reserved their Moon Clipper pieces safe from getting in the wrong hands.
Not much is known about what other secrets the relics have. Just that the combined power of the three relics with the Dreamsand is extraordinary. Their collective energy is nearly nuclear, but smooth and efficient rather than destructive.
I'm still figuring out how to plot and plan all of this. But hopefully , with some help from RD, Steel, Goldie, guestsurprise, and everyone else into RotG, I might be able to get something.
