Watching the Bennett children as they slept peacefully, Jack wondered what was taking Bunny so long. The Pooka had been gone for a while.
How long does it take to check what's happened? he thought. He remembered what Bunny had said; his tunnels didn't open if there was any kind of danger on the other end. Bunny had tried to open one leading to the Bennett home, and it hadn't opened – which meant that something had happened.
Jack tried not to fear the worst, but he couldn't help it. Whatever had happened, it had to have been something bad. But what could have happened? I hope their Mum's OK... The young Guardian looked over at the two sleeping children, wishing and hoping upon the Man in the Moon that their mother was all right. Losing a parent was the worst thing that could happen to a child, and Jamie and Sophie had already lost their father a year before. Losing their mother as well...
A tunnel opened up nearby and out hopped Bunny. Jack got up from where he was sat on a rock, and when he saw the hopeless expression upon Bunny's face...his heart sank. If the Guardian of Hope looked like that, he knew things had taken a turn for the worst. "What happened?"
"Their home..." Bunny began. He took in deep breaths, trying to remain calm and not lose it. Jack hadn't seen him like this since Easter had been ruined. "It's...it's gone."
Jack just stared at the Pooka with wide eyes. "Gone? What do you mean 'gone'?"
"It was in flames," said Bunny. "I stayed long enough to find out what happened. According to the fire fighters, a faulty plug exploded in the living room. The fire alarms went off, but only the neighbours heard. No one got out. The kids were here, obviously, but...the mother..."
Jack looked down at his feet. He remembered what Jamie had said; his mother had taken sleeping pills so she didn't wake up in the night, and as he'd said, 'not even a fire engine could wake her up'...
He looked behind him at Jamie and Sophie, who were still sound asleep and unaware of the tragedy that had befallen them. "But...how... How could this happen? They were there...hours ago... If they had been in there...if we hadn't come and brought them here they would've...would've..." He began to take in deep breaths as panic gripped his entire being.
Bunny realized what was happening and placed his paws upon Jack's shoulders. "Mate, calm down. Calm down!" Jack dropped his staff and collapsed against Bunny's side.
"But if we hadn't visited them, or if we'd taken them back earlier-"
"They would have made it out," said Bunny. "They would have heard the alarm and made it out. Jack, you need to calm down. What's important now is that they weren't in there; they were here, and they're safe."
Jack's breathing slowed, and he looked over at the children. Bunny was right; the children were safe in the warren and away from danger. But that still didn't take away one important fact. "They may be safe, but their mother's gone, and we need to get them back so people know they're alive."
"No." Bunny shook his head. "Things are still chaotic there. Sending them back now will do them no good. When things have calmed down, maybe... But they need to be eased into this." He let go of Jack and looked over at the children, as well. "We need to get them to North. Call the other Guardians."
Jack frowned while picking up his staff. "It's that serious?"
"We're all fond of these two kids," the Pooka explained. "The others would want to know what happened. When we're together we can decided on the best course of action...and the best way to tell them."
With a nod of agreement, Jack walked over to where the children still slept. He knelt down and for a few moments, he watched them sleep; there were so peaceful... It was what Jack liked about kids; how they could remain so innocent even when their world was falling apart around them. Jack sighed before he gathered Jamie into his arms and picked the boy up. His weight didn't bother Jack this time.
Bunny did the same with Sophie before tapping the ground with his foot. A tunnel opened up, and with a painful glance in Jack's direction, Bunny hopped inside. Jack followed.
North had been happily eating cookies and working on his latest creation when a yeti knocked on the door. "Come in!" The door opened, and Phil stood in the entrance with dozens of elves around his feet. "See? It's better with knocking."
The yeti blabbered gibberish – at least it would be gibberish to anyone else listening. But to North, the blabbering made perfect sense and he rose to his feet.
"Bunny? Jack? Children?" This he had to investigate. The elves parted as he walked out of his office and into the main part of the workshop, by the fireplace next to the globe.
There he found that Phil had been right; Bunny and Jack were stood in the room, laying down the sleeping Jamie and Sophie Bennett on the couch which had been brought in by two yetis. North tilted his head in confusion, and when the two Guardians turned, their looks meant that something was up. And whatever that something was, it wasn't good.
"North, we have a problem," said Bunny. "You better call the others."
North knew that out of all the Guardians, Bunny was the one who was least enthusiastic about getting together with the others. And North knew that when Bunny – of all people – suggested calling the other Guardians, it meant something serious was up.
With this, North immediately strode across the room to the control panel and summoned the other Guardians.
No words were exchanged while they waited, and North respected this. Bunny and Jack didn't want to say anything until Tooth and Sandy arrived. Instead the two Guardians kept their eyes upon the Bennett children, who were still sound asleep on the couch. It made North wonder what had happened; had Pitch attacked the children?
Tooth was first to arrive, still commanding her Mini Fairies even as she was arriving at top speed. "Two in Sydney! Three in New Zealand! Four in Tokyo!" Baby Tooth was by her side, and seeing Jack across the room, she immediately flew over to him and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.
Jack's worried expression disappeared for a few moments as he greeted the fairy. "Hey, Baby Tooth." The little fairy landed upon his shoulder.
"What's up?" Tooth questioned. Then she saw Jamie and Sophie. "Why are they here? What happened?"
That was when Sandy arrived, and hearing Tooth's question, he created a question mark above his head while glancing in North's direction.
"I don't know," said North. "But they do." He turned towards Bunny and Jack.
The two exchanged glances before Bunny hopped forwards, knowing he would be able to tell the story better than Jack; he had a better hold over his emotions. "We were visiting the kids like normal. Tonight they wanted to go to the warren, so I let them."
"Burgess was hot," Jack spoke up. "They couldn't sleep. The warren was cooler for them."
"We painted some eggs, had a run around..." Bunny continued. "Some hours later they fell asleep. They haven't woken up since." He gestured to the sleeping kids behind him. "So Frost and I decided to take them home. But when I summoned a tunnel...it wouldn't open."
The other three Guardians exchanged worried glances. They were all aware of the fail-safe Bunny had on his tunnels.
"Bunny went to go see the problem." Jack averted his gaze to the floor; he knew what part of the story was coming next, and didn't want the other Guardians to see his face in case a tear formed in his eye.
Bunny didn't notice. He was too busy trying to get a hold of his own emotions. "I went up there to check it out; I came out a tunnel behind a bush, and...the house was in flames."
The eyes of North and Sandy widened while Tooth gasped, covering her hands over her mouth. "A fire? But... What about the mother?" she asked.
The Pooka lowering his head was enough of an answer.
"So why bring children here?" asked North.
"We couldn't send them back up there!" Bunny argued. "It's a mess! Chaos! It's bad enough that they've lost their mother; they don't want hundreds of neighbours who they've probably never even talked to before coming up to them and saying 'sorry for your loss'. They're kids; these things need to be handled gently."
North could see Bunny's point, but... "So are they going to suddenly appear out of nowhere? Just pop up?"
Bunny paused. He hadn't thought of that.
Thankfully Jack had. "Jamie sometimes visits his friends in the middle of the night. A midnight camp out, he calls it. The mothers hate it. Jamie could say he was doing that – and if need be got separated from the others – and for some reason Sophie followed him."
"But...how do we tell them?" asked Tooth.
They all exchanged glances. None of the Guardians had experienced the pain of telling someone a tragedy had occurred. They all brought joy to the children of the world; telling kids something like this was new to them.
Then Jack remembered something. "I think I can remember what happened when their father died. I was still invisible to them, but I was in the area and I was...curious. Their mother sat them down at the table; they knew that their father had been ill for some time, and I think Jamie realized that something had happened. At first their mother said she was there for them, and that they were in this together. Then she told them outright, in the softest way possible. Jamie cried. Sophie didn't, but I don't think she understood what was going on; she was young."
Bunny looked over at the little girl he had become so attached to. "I don't think she'll understand now, either."
"That still sounds hard." Tooth fluttered with worry, her feathers looking less bright than usual. "I don't think I could do it."
"Just remember that they have to know, and it would be worse to keep it from them," said Jack. "Jamie acts older than he actually is. He'll...he'll understand."
"I'll understand what?"
All eyes turned on the boy who had finally woken up. He rubbed his eyes, let out a yawn and then focussed his full attention on the Guardians, giving them a questioning look. Jack knew it was now or never and knelt down in front of him, before resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Jamie...I just want you to know that no matter what happens we're all here for you." He gestured to the Guardians behind him. "We're all in this together, OK?"
Jamie's smile left his face immediately. "What happened? Mum told me the exact same thing when...when Dad died." Behind him, Sophie let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes, before they blinked open to look at Jack as well.
Jack sighed and looked down, before his blue eyes met once again with Jamie's brown ones. "There was an accident."
"An accident?" Jamie spoke. "What do you mean?"
"Your house... It caught fire."
For a few moments Jamie just stared at him. "Caught fire?" He sighed. "I guess...things can be replaced. But what about Mum? Is she all right?"
Jack couldn't reply. The hope in the boy's eyes silenced him; he didn't want to be the one who made that hope go away. But his look and his silence was enough of an answer, and the hope faded anyway as Jamie looked between each of the Guardians behind – all of whom looked just as hopeless as Jack did. "She's... No..."
Tears formed in the boy's eyes, and suddenly he attacked Jack's middle, hugging him tightly as he cried into his jumper. Jack didn't hesitate to wrap his own arms around the boy, comforting him instinctively like he had done many times years ago with his sister.
"Jamie..." Sophie tapped her brother's shoulder, unsure what was going on. "Why you crying?" She began to sniff, tears forming in her eyes, as well. "If you cry...I cry..."
Bunny hopped over to the girl and allowed her to fall into his arms, and he held her close to him as she cried, too. It was all the Guardians could do.
