Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians in any way, shape, or form. Just my own imagination. :)
Easter was drawing near. Bunnymund hadn't left his Warren in almost two weeks, so focused was he on preparing for the upcoming holiday. It had been years since his first true failure (that nonsense Jack pulled back in '68 didn't count), but the memory of those kids walking right through him as if he didn't exist continued to haunt him. Even now, he shuddered to think of it; it was definitely an experience he didn't want to relive ever, ever again.
Hopping along the path to double-check on his dye pools, the Guardian of Hope pushed the painful memory aside and refocused on the present. As long as his googies were pristine this year, he told himself, everything would be fine.
Long ears suddenly perked as they caught a distant sound. Was that…giggling? Bunnymund's front paws lifted off the ground as he rose to sniff at the air. He caught a scent, but it was so incredibly strange a frown touched his mouth. He was certain he'd never smelled anything like that before in his entire existence, but somehow the scent was still vaguely familiar, as if he ought to recognize it.
Huh.
Bounding along the path, the Pooka followed the invisible trail set by his sensitive nose and ears. It ended at the base of a large tree, near a pool of pastel yellow dye. Crouched low, Bunnymund sniffed and strained with all his might to hear that voice again, but just couldn't detect anything amiss. That was weird. He was certain someone was…
"Hello!"
He nearly leapt out of his fur. A yelp actually escaped him before he could stop it, and he spun in mid-air to land in a defense stance, boomerangs held above his head aggressively.
The child giggled. "You're funny!"
"Am not!"
The response came to him almost by reflex; he was so used to defending himself against Jack's playful jibes, he'd grown accustomed to giving brusque, almost childish retorts. Despite being intended to make the frost spirit shut up and leave him alone, such responses always made Jack laugh, and this child spirit's reaction was no different. Tiny hands pressed to her mouth as she giggled heartily. Bunnymund glared at her.
"What do you want, kid?" he asked gruffly, finally lowering his boomerangs.
"I wanna watch."
"I'm busy."
"I know. I wanna watch."
He growled low in his throat. "Do your parents know where you are?" Even if North and Jack hadn't told him all about their little visitor, he would've easily guessed that this was Pitch and Starfire's child. Bunnymund couldn't imagine the two of them allowing their daughter to wander unaccompanied, especially to a Guardian's realm; no doubt the little ankle biter snuck off while they weren't looking.
The girl confirmed his suspicions with a cheerful, "Nope!" Then she added, "But they won't mind. I can take care of myself."
Bunnymund eyed the little spirit for the moment, his doubt apparent. She just stared back at him, a beaming smile on her dark gray face.
"Fine," he relented at last. "But don't bother me."
"Yay!"
Is she ever gonna go home?
Glancing over his shoulder, Bunnymund studied the strange little spirit. When he agreed to let her stay, he'd suspected she would soon grow bored of his Warren and go home to the dark. At the time, that had seemed like the simplest way to deal with the situation, as it assuaged the child's curiosity without upsetting or insulting her, which would naturally infuriate Pitch and Starfire and make Bunnymund's life more difficult. Instead of growing bored, though, the girl seemed positively thrilled by virtually every single thing in his realm, from the silliest little stone to the tallest of trees. He shook his head. That had been a sight, all right: the Nightmare King's daughter nearly breaking her neck to stare wide-eyed at a distant treetop, her mouth hanging slightly agape as she studied the vivid green leaves.
Well, at least she got something from her mother apart from that ridiculous hair.
Far from losing interest, it was starting to look like the ankle biter was never going to leave.
Bunnymund's attention returned to the dye pool, only to be drawn away moments later by suspicious giggling. The girl was now crouched on the ground, and it was the Pooka's turn to stare as he realized his little googies were crawling all over her.
"Oi!" he called indignantly. What the hell were they doing, those nasty little traitors? They were supposed to be focused on helping him, not making nice with the loiterer!
"They're so cute!" the girl cooed, laughing as the eggs walked all over her outstretched arms and danced across her knees and, to Bunny's horror, even perched on top of her head.
"Go on now!" he ordered, shooing the eggs away with brisk waves of his paws. They scattered, but didn't go far. They lingered just out of reach, their attention centered only on the strange child spirit.
"Bye-bye!" she called to them, and only then did they obey the Guardian's command and return to the dye pools where they belonged. He shook his head in mind disgust then glared down at the one responsible for his current headache.
"You too," he snapped. "Go home!"
She turned large olive green eyes upon him. He was so much taller than her, especially with him looming over her seated form, but she was in no way intimidated. If anything, her smile appeared to widen.
"I like it here," she informed him happily.
"That's nice," he retorted tersely. "Now go home."
"Nope."
He ground his teeth in frustration. "Won't your parents wonder where you are?"
"Daddy might, but they promised I can go out on my own once I can teleport."
Bunnymund pressed a paw to his face in disbelief. "I don't think that means you can just sneak off, kid."
"I didn't sneak. Onyx knows I left."
"Onyx ain't your mom and dad."
"Neither are you, but you care."
"Course I care. Do you know how pissed your parents are gonna be when they find out you've been here with me this whole time?"
"Are you going to hurt me?"
He paused, frowning. "Why would I hurt you?"
"I don't know." She looked so serious all of a sudden. Even that beaming smile—an almost permanent feature on her face—disappeared as she watched Bunnymund closely. She repeated, "Are you going to hurt me?"
"Of course not," he replied honestly.
Just like that, the smile came back in full force. "Then they won't be mad." A fingertip pressed to her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a little annoyed 'cause they don't like you, but not mad."
He couldn't help it. A bit of a laugh escaped Bunnymund's mouth as he shook his head, completely nonplussed by the child's simple logic. "You know, you're something else kid."
She grinned, displaying pointed teeth. "I know!"
Shaking his head again, Bunny returned to his work. Right now he was making sure all the color in his dye pools was the right consistency. It was a silly thing to do, as the paint hardly ever needed adjusting, but he always double and triple-checked everything, just to be safe.
A movement in his peripheral vision made him jump. It was the kid again, squatting down near the edge of the pool with her chin on her palms and elbows on her knees, watching him closely.
"Do you do this every year?" she asked with genuine interest.
"Sure do," he replied.
"Why?"
"Gotta make sure it's just right."
"Why?"
"So the eggs come out right. Don't want them fading or losing their paint before the ankle biters find them, do I?"
"I guess not," she said on a sigh. Bunny nearly uttered a sigh himself. He was starting to grow tired of all the questions. "Do you live here all by yourself?"
He nearly fell into the dye pool. He hadn't been expecting that question at all. "Yes," he said shakily.
"Why?"
"Just because." His voice was steadier that time, but he really, really wanted her to stop talking about that. He had the uneasy feeling this particular conversation was careening down an incredibly uncomfortable path.
"It's so pretty," she complimented, then immediately sucked all the pride or satisfaction he could've gleaned from the praise by adding, "Why don't you share it? Daddy shares with Mama."
"Your parents are married," Bunny mumbled. He walked away, leaving her there by the dye pool. He knew it was rude, but he figured it was the safest way to get her off the topic before his mind became anymore clouded by dark, depressing thoughts.
"Why aren't you married?"
By every light of the moon, she was following him. Had she been just a little bit older, he would've told her under no uncertain terms to just rack off and leave him alone, but seeing as how she was only about four or five he supposed it was natural for her lack any inhibitions when it came to her curiosity.
The things I do for these ankle biters…
"Most spirits aren't," he carefully explained. "Your parents are a rare exception."
"Why?"
Bunny's shoulders slumped. This was truly the most taxing conversation he'd ever, ever had, and talking to either Jack or Tooth could be downright exhausting at times. One never seemed to slow down, and the other was always looking for ways to purposefully aggravate him just to get a bit of a laugh.
"Listen kid." Stopping on the path, he turned to look down at the child, who'd stopped too and stared up at him, listening intently. "Your parents love each other deeply, that's why they're married. Other spirits like each other, just not in that way. We can be friends, but we don't live together or have families. It's just the way things are."
There. That ought to be enough to settle it once and for all.
Boy was he wrong.
"So you've never loved before?"
"Woah, now!" he said hastily, lifting his paws as if to ward off further inquiries. "I ain't answering that. Quite frankly, it ain't any of your business."
She pouted cutely, her bottom lip poking out.
"Besides," he continued, completely unaffected by her blatant attempt to sway him, "you're too young to be bothering with stuff like that. Whatever put that in your head in the first place?"
"Your glimmer.
A confused frown arrested his mouth. Glimmer? The hell was that? And why was it telling her about his love life?
"What about it?" he asked guardedly, refusing to acknowledge that he didn't know what a glimmer was.
"It's really quiet and gray."
"So?"
"That means you're lonely."
Bunnymund's eyes widened. Crouching low so he was at eye-level with the child, he told her quietly, "Listen kid: I ain't lonely. I've got Jack and North and the others."
"This is different," she mumbled, looking down at the ground.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know." She sounded both upset and frustrated by her inability to properly explain. "It's just different."
An awkward silence fell between them. Bunnymund shuffled his feet and glanced around the Warren, fishing for a way to get them onto a less sensitive topic. A thought came to him suddenly, and he brightened.
"Wanna see something cool?"
The girl grinned. "Yes!"
"Come on then," he encouraged, taking her hand in his paw. He led her through the Warren, chuckling quietly to himself as he watched her head turn this way and that to take in all the new scenery. She heard their destination before she saw it, and squealed loud enough to make Bunnymund cringe.
"Really?! Really really?!" She jumped up and down on the spot, and nearly tore his arm from its socket as she practically dragged him down the path. When she spotted the waterfall, she squealed again and let go of his paw to run at lightning speed towards the pool.
"Oi, hang on!" he called after her. "The water's a bit—"
Too late. The child spirit had already thrown herself into the shallows, only to shriek in shock and clamber back out again a half-second later.
"Cold," he finished, shaking his head. He hopped down the path as the girl kicked off her flooded shoes and wrung water from the hem of her dark purple dress. (Luckily she hadn't dived straight in, so she was only soaked to the knees.) As he approached, he mumbled to himself, "You're just like your father."
Busy stripping off her cold, soaked socks, the girl wasn't really listening. "Huh?"
"You're impulsive," he bluntly informed her, which earned him a bit of a glare. The girl stuck out her tongue at him, which made him chuckle. Then she ran back to the water's edge and threw herself down onto her stomach on the grass. Her nose practically touched the surface as she stared down through the crystal-clear water to the smooth pebbles sparkling at the bottom.
"Pretty!" she cooed. The way she said it reminded Bunnymund an awful lot of little Sophie Bennett when she'd first seen Tooth Fairy.
That was here at the Warren too, he remembered. The thought made him scowl. What is it with kids just letting themselves in here, anyway?
Pushing aside the annoyance he felt at having his privacy continuously invaded, he focused instead on enjoying the peace and quiet after such a trying afternoon. The girl entertained herself for quite a while by playing and splashing with her hands before she grew brave and dipped her bare feet into the icy water. A bit of a shudder was all the discomfort she exuded; after that, she leaned back on her hands and relaxed, slowly flexing her knees and ankles as she idly watched water pour over the falls. The tiny whirlpools created by her movements danced lazily across the surface before vanishing away, the whole effect strangely soothing to witness.
A Nightmare's call eventually broke through the tranquility. Bunnymund couldn't see or sense the creature anywhere nearby, but the sound still made him jerk and reach instinctively towards his boomerangs. He had to force himself to relax. After so many centuries of fighting Pitch, it was definitely taking quite a bit of time to kick those old reflexes.
Upon hearing her father's mare, the child spirit's head dropped back as she emitted a heavy sigh. "Apparently I'm late," she mumbled. With great reluctance, she pulled her feet from the pool and reached for her socks.
"I was wondering when you'd notice," Bunnymund said, feigning annoyance.
"Meanie." Tugging on her shoes, she grinned up at him. "I'll come back."
He made a noise at the back of his throat that was somewhere between a groan of disbelief and an annoyed growl. "Do you have to? I've got a lot to do."
"I know, but I wanna see the egg parade!"
"Para—?" Oh. She meant on the eve of Easter when he sent all the googies up the tunnels to the surface. The Pooka scratched at his ears, feeling a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden. He wanted to tell her no, but wasn't sure how to go about doing that. He wasn't even completely sure why he didn't want her there, but as he considered it carefully, he realized it was probably 'cause the one time he let other spirits participate in Easter preparations, everything had gone horribly, horribly wrong.
The girl was staring at him, and it took Bunnymund a minute to realize he'd dropped down onto all fours subconsciously and that his ears were drawn back against his head.
"Don't worry," she said reassuringly. "Easter won't be lost again."
His brows drew together in confusion. How did she know what he was thinking? Scratch that, how could she possibly know with such certainty that Easter wouldn't get ruined again?
He asked her, but she just shrugged.
"I just do." Her smile returned. "So I'll come back for Easter, okay?"
Bunnymund dragged his paws over his face with a loud groan. He just couldn't win with this kid, could he?
"Fine, fine, just get your parents' permission this time." He doubted Starfire and Pitch would willingly allow their child to participate in his holiday preparations, so that was his final desperate attempt to keep her out of the Warren so he could concentrate.
Unfortunately, the girl didn't seem at all bothered by his demand. She readily agreed with an exuberant "Yay!" It made Bunnymund seriously reconsider what he thought he knew about Pitch Black and Starfire as parents. Did they honestly let their kid just walk all over them?
Great…
He staggered back a bit as he suddenly found himself in the middle of a neck-crushing hug. When those tiny arms finally released him again, she told him, "I'm Layla, by the way."
"Oh…" He hadn't known that, and honestly didn't know what to say in response.
Skipping off a few steps to put some distance between them, the girl—Layla—waved and called back to him, "Bye-bye!" Then she summoned a shadow portal and vanished away, leaving an incredibly exhausted and downright bewildered Pooka behind.