Sorry it's so short. I cut it so that I could stuff some info in later chapters. Enjoy. :)
"Well, look who decided to show up."
"It's great to see you too, Bunny. I hope you didn't miss me too much," Jack retorted with a witty smile as he walked toward the globe in the center of North's toy shop where the rest of the Guardians stood. Over the past seven years they have been seeing each other more and more and it hadn't been long before Jack began to see them as his friends, or even family.
"Don't hold your breath, mate," the Easter Bunny said, scrunching up his pink rabbit nose. "Some of us have better things to worry about than wayward Guardians."
"'ey! 'ey! 'ey! What happened to the camaraderie?" North asked, his loud, brassy, Russian accent getting in between Bunny and Jack.
"Our 'camaraderie' died last Easter," Bunny growled.
Jack rolled his eyes. "It was just a joke! I apologized."
Bunnymund clenched his paws, his tall frame leaning up over Jack, glaring at him. "You froze me! On Easter! The biggest day of my career! I was doing double time the rest of the day!"
Jack scowled. He wasn't in the mood to fight with an over-sized rabbit. The whole flight up north he kept picturing Jamie's crushed expression and it was biting at him.
"Get over yourself, Bunny. Kids don't care about eggs anyway."
"Jack!" Tooth Fairy and North cried, "That wasn't nice!"
Jack looked from Tooth to Bunny and back again. Even though Bunny tried to hide it behind his tough exterior, Jack knew he was hurt.
"I'm sorry, Bunny. I didn't mean it. I'm just having a rough day."
Tooth fluttered over, peering at Jack's face with concern. "I knew you seemed off today, Jack. What's wrong?"
"Yes, Jack," North said as he placed his giant hand on top of Jack's head and messing his hair, "Tell us what's wrong."
Sighing, Jack said, "It's Jamie. I'm disappointing him. He needs me. I want to be there for him, I want it more than anything. But I'm not human like he is. I can't be there for him in the way that he needs me so I'm constantly hurting him."
There was a pregnant silence that followed until Tooth gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, Jack," she cooed, "I'm sure everything will be fine in the end. I wish I could help you but I've been out of the field for so long…humans are honestly a mystery to me sometimes."
"Don't worry, Jack!" North said confidently, giving Jack a pat on the back that almost toppled him over, "You and Jamie will work things out. I can feel it in my belly," he added with a wink.
"He feels everything in that damn belly of his," Bunny grumbled.
"So what am I here for?" asked Jack, "There has to be a reason for this meeting other than my relationship issues."
"It's Sandy," North said.
"What's wrong with Sandy?" asked Jack franticly, for the first time realizing that the Sandman was nowhere to be found.
"Oi! Nothing's wrong! He's going on vacation!"
"Vacation?" asked Jack, "We can do that?"
"Apparently," Bunny shrugged.
"Of course we can! After hundreds of years of working day after day, even when it gives you immense joy, you need a break. So today is the day that the Man on the Moon will pick Sandy's replacement!"
Jack cocked his eyebrow. "'Replacement'?"
Bunnymund explained, "The Sandman doesn't have the same type of job as the rest of us. North and I can miss a day or two and still stay on track. Even if Tooth goes on vacation, she has plenty of fairies who will be fine on their own for a bit. But the Sandman works every night, all by himself. If he just disappears so do dreams."
"What about me?' Jack teased, smirking as he leaned on his staff.
Bunny scowled, "I'm sure the children of the world will survive without a few snow days."
"Careful, Bunny. You might damage my fragile ego."
"Fine with me. In my eyes you need to be taken down a few pegs, Frost."
"Boys, boys, boys!" Tooth scowled with a smile. "Stop fighting. We have work to do."
Jack chuckled to himself. "Alright, alright." And Bunny responded with a "Humph".
The four Guardians gathered around the pale stone that was set under to skylight. With a mix of excitement and anxiousness, they all waited as the light from the moon began to glow. It flooded down like a beam, glowing on the stone as it began to rise, revealing an ice blue crystal. Shining under the moonlight, the shape of a figure began to form. It was hazy at first before slowly becoming clearer and clearer.
"Is that..?" Tooth asked, her green, yellow, and pink feathers glowing iridescently.
"I don't believe it," North added with eyes wide with wonder.
Jack was silent, just gazing at the shape before him. It was like someone had taken picture from his mind and painted it before him. Every feature was the same, from the wide, bright eyes, to the welcoming lips which had been pressed to his just hours before.
"It's Jaime."