Angel in the Snow
Chapter Two
You're so lucky…
Bunny tried to catch him but once outside Santa's workshop he couldn't see Jack anywhere. North joined the rabbit outside and placed a hand on his shoulder. He told Bunny to give Jack some time to let things sink in as this was a huge change for Jack to adjust to. Bunny agreed and decided to head back to his Warren and try to adjust to the change himself. He still had all his abilities so he was able to make a tunnel and head back to his warm home. He went over to a mirror and looked himself over. His face was angled and he had a round nose kind of like Jack's except it didn't look as childish. His ears were still grey and still worked properly and the mark on his head was no longer there for whatever reason but the markings on his arms had turned into tattoos.
He really liked how he looked and couldn't thank North enough for what he had done but if only Jack didn't act the way he did he would have felt a lot happier. "He's just a kid," the newly formed man thought. Bunnymund was kind of right, Jack was a kid mentally and physically but he was still hundreds of years old but still acted like a teenager. Though he was at the right age where his hormones were under control luckily. Jack…Bunny thought of how Jack acted, he just…ran off. Bunny was expecting at least some form of happiness from the young man but that was shattered. He had to talk to Jack, he just had to. Bunnymund opened a new tunnel that lead to Jack's lake and went straight to it.
Jack was sitting in the middle of his lake sulking. He had no clue why but he was furious with Bunny. At the same time he felt extremely guilty. Jack felt like he caused Bunny to do what he did. Jack had no clue if what happened was reversible or not and if Bunny still had all his powers. He felt like a complete asshole and hated himself, he was the spirit of fun yet he wasn't having fun now. Jack caused someone close to him to change themself for him, at least he thought. He hugged his knees while his staff lay next to him on the lake and thought, thought of how he could make it up to Bunny, apologize somehow.
During his long thought process he heard a noise from behind him and grabbed his staff in reflex. He thought it might be Pitch so he readied himself for a fight but what he next saw made him drop his guard. Popping out from the ground he saw Bunnymund, the human. Jack still held his staff and backed away from the figure, he didn't want to be near Bunnymund yet, he still wanted time to think. Bunny kept advancing, being careful as he made his way onto the icy water. He reached out a hand and called for Jack to come to him but Jack didn't want any of it. He kept backing away from the man, forgetting that he could simply fly away while he held his staff. Bunny kept inching forward; he wanted to talk to his friend and have him understand but was failing. He tried telling Jack why he changed his appearance but Jack still didn't listen.
The winter spirit wasn't paying attention to where he was going as he back away from Bunnymund. As Jack continued backing away Bunny was watching where he was going. He saw there was thick tree branch on the ice that even Jack would trip over despite how elegant his movements were. Bunny yelled to try and warn his friend but only made Jack back up even faster and trip straight over the branch.
His staff left his hands as he flailed them in the air above him and plummeted through a patch of thin ice. Jack didn't know how to swim but still struggled to get to the surface. He gasped and accidentally inhaled a lot of water and his attempts at getting to the surface decreased even further. He kept clawing and kicking at the water, trying desperately to get to the surface. His mere attempts were useless as his lungs continued to fill with water. Jack was scared; he thought he was going to meet the same fate he did when he died all those years ago while he was human. His movements got slower and eventually stopped. Jack let out one last breath of precious air and let the water take him. Before Jack lost consciousness he barely heard a splash and saw darkness over the hole he fell through.
Bunny, despite hating the cold and being in the water, jumped in and swam after Jack who was sinking slightly faster than when he first fell in. It wasn't fast enough to keep Bunny from grabbing him and bringing him back to the surface. Once the spirits were back on land Bunny checked Jack to see if he was breathing or even had a pulse for that matter. When Bunny discovered the one person he loved had no pulse he immediately attempted to do chest compressions on the small figure. He didn't entirely know what he was doing but saw it enough times to get an idea of what to do. Bunny gathered that he at least had to do thirty chest compressions and help Jack breath twice but didn't know anything further from that.
Bunny called out to Jack who remained motionless on the snow-covered ground, "Come on Frostbite! Wake up…!" he called out, tears forming on the edges of his green eyes. The man continued doing compressions and breaths for what seemed like hours though it was two minutes. Bunnymund was ready to give Jack two more breaths but he heard a sound come from the smaller figure and then saw the spirit move. Jack coughed and sat up rapidly but felt an extreme pain in his sides and fell back down. Bunny leaned over Jack and called his name; he was extremely worried for the young guardian and was desperate to know he was okay.
Jack weakly opened his eyes and looked at his savior. He was confused as to why Bunny even saved him, Jack thought Bunny hated him. "You saved me Kangaroo…?" he said weakly. "I thought you hated me…" he coughed.
The man chuckled lightly, "Frostbite I don't hate you. I almost thought I lost you there mate, I was scared outta my mind…" he laid a hand on the shaking boy's head, smiling like an idiot. "Let's get you to North's," Jack tried to protest by claiming he was fine and sat up again. Unfortunately Bunny had broken a couple ribs by pushing down too far with his chest compressions so sitting up wasn't an option. The newly turned man scooped up the smaller in his arms and brought him to the North Pole.
North probably got too worried as when he saw Jack was even paler than usual he took him from Bunny and put him straight in the infirmary. He had his yetis help get an x-ray prepared and all sorts of other things to ensure no severe damage was done to Jack. Bunny was sitting out in the workshop twiddling his thumbs and the most nervous he had ever been. Amidst the chaos that was caused North managed to have a quick word with the Easter spirit. "What happened," he asked gently as he sat by the tearing up spirit.
"I went to talk to him, set things straight. He didn't want to hear and back up…Then I saw a branch behind him…I tried to warn him but he tripped right over it and fell through…" Bunny choked out.
The gentle man gave the Easter spirit a huge and told him he did the right thing by saving Jack and by trying to talk to him. He assured that Jack was still young mentally so something like Bunny suddenly appearing human would confuse him a bit and he wouldn't like it. North went back to running tests on Jack and was relieved when there were only a couple broken ribs and that majority of the water in his lungs was expelled. Since Jack was guardian he would heal quickly. North had some yetis wrap Jack's torso up in bandages and give him a respirator to help him breath better. While the young spirit was sleeping North took the calm to talk to his old friend.
"Maybe try to explain when he is awake and can't hurt himself…" he joked lightly.
"Yeah…" Bunnymund sighed.
North and Bunny continued to talk for a while and the older spirit explained what it would be like to have a human body. The Easter spirit listened carefully since his new body would take some getting used to. He had all of his abilities and still had his ears but since he didn't have fur he would need to train his body to get used to the cold if he were to visit North or Jack, especially Jack. After the two finished talking Bunny went into Jack's room to be with him and make sure he was okay.
He entered the room and found a still sleeping Jack on the bed. Jack looked so peaceful on while he slept. If it weren't for the respirator Bunny thought Jack looked like a snow angel. His pale skin and snow white hair completed the effect. The older guardian sat in a chair and watched Jack as he slept, admiring him. Bunny thought of how he would explain to Jack why he changed exactly. Even though it was mainly because he had feelings for Jack but, because a part of him also wanted to have a human form. He had been a giant rabbit for literally all his life; he was never a human in his past life. It fascinated him how the guardian much smaller than him was so strong and powerful. He wanted to experience having a human body, but he wanted to keep his ears, he loved them too much to be rid of them.
That was what Bunny would tell Jack, maybe then he'd understand. He sat and watched his angel sleep and waited for him to wake up. Though he had dozed off a bit later and Sandy must have known what happened because Bunnymund was having the best dream he'd ever had. He and Jack were together and happy and he was in true bliss. The Easter spirit even smiled while he slept, maybe even blushed a little, though his dream was interrupted when he heard a familiar voice.
"Kangaroo…?" Jack said sleepily.
The man jolted awake and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to the boy and smiled. "Yeah Frostbite?"
Jack looked down, his respirator fogging up when he exhaled. "I-I'm sorry…for making you change to a human…"
Bunnymund looked at the boy in confusion. He was at a loss. "What?! You didn't make me change," he chuckled. "I chose to do this." He continued to explain to Jack what he already prepared in his mind. Going over each detail and reassuring Jack it wasn't his fault. Jack listened carefully and tried to sit up to look at Bunny better but to no avail. The man sat next to Jack on the bed and continued to chat with him. The smaller spirit smiled as they talked. He felt relieved to know Bunny didn't hate him but he also felt nervous because he stilled felt attracted to the older spirit. He wasn't sure how to tell Bunnymund and didn't want to just yet.
The pair continued to talk for some time before Bunny made a sigh. Jack asked if anything was wrong and the taller man laughed weakly. He said it was nothing yet sighed again. The younger kept pressing for what was on his friend's mind and Bunny couldn't help but laugh at how adorable Jack was being. "You're too cute Frostbite," he chuckled and placed a kiss on the younger's forehead. Realizing what he had just done his face turned rose red and he sat straight up and stared at the wall, not even able to process what he just did. Jack was also just as dumbfounded and the same shade of red. He wasn't really expecting Bunny to do that, he just lay in his bed and stared blankly into space. The young guardian wasn't sure of how to comprehend the event that just happened.
Bunnymund took several deep breaths and calmed down. "Uh…sorry about that mate…" He scratched the back of his head and blushed as he looked at the floor.
"Hey Kangaroo…" Jack said through his respirator.
The man twitched his ears slightly but faced Jack, "Yeah Frostbite?" The boy motioned for Bunny to come closer to his face and once their faces were only separated by Jack's respirator he ripped it off and captured his friend in a deep passionate kiss. Bunnymund leaned in closer to get more of Jack but was careful to not be on top of him. He slid his tongue into the younger's mouth and Jack entwined his own tongue with Bunny's. The older spirit ran a hand through Jack's hair and pulled himself away. Jack tried to protest but Bunny put the respirator back on the boy.
"It's too risky to do that with the condition you're in mate," he said gently as he caressed Jack's face. "When you're better maybe, but take it slow okay?" Jack nodded but his eyes said he was sad they had to stop kissing. Bunny still sat on the bed with Jack and ran his hand through the other's hair a few times. Jack smiled and gazed at Bunny with loving eyes.
"I'm not gonna leave Frostbite," Bunny chuckled, giving the boy another gentle kiss on his forehead. He carefully pulled his injured guardian on top of him and ran his hand around Jack's back in small circles. The circling motion was to relax Jack and have him fall asleep. The pair laid there like that for an hour until North showed up.
