Sorry, I meant to have this out last night, but I let myself get distracted. I'll give I was a bit tired because it was a long day, but still...

Ok, This chapter is much shorter than the others, because originally it was intended to go on either the end of the last chapter, or the beginning of the next one, but I found that was making them much too long even for me (and I'm not known for writing short chapters after all :P).

I want to say thankyou to those anonymous readers who gave reviews. I always make it a priority to reply to all reviews I receive for my fanfics, but since I can't answer anonymous reviews, I'm going to say thankyou here! :D...plus another thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, even if I could answer before XD

Anyway, just some sweet fluff that I hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters, only the plot of this fanfic.


A small chirping filled the warren, echoing everywhere despite the size of the place.

The sound was just another way the warren brought calmness to its guardian.

Bunnymund glanced with a faint smile to the direction of the sound. He'd found an injured bird one time, and had brought it back to the warren to heal. He wasn't sure exactly how the bird had ended up becoming a permanent resident, but it didn't seem to mind, and neither did he. It was so tiny in this huge place that sadly, he didn't see it very often, but it sang almost every day, and that was enough of a comfort. Dark as it sounded, he'd first found the bird quite a few years ago; it surprised him that it had lived this long. Perhaps the magic of the place had extended its life?

He watched as a couple of eggs trekked alongside one of the paint rivers, chuckling when one tumbled in. He hopped over and scooped it out, admiring the red and yellow mix now covering it.

"Now that's a beaut alright," He carefully lowered it, watching as it darted off after the rest.

With a content sigh, he stood and headed back towards the main area of the warren, choosing to take his time and walk rather than hop. He didn't get to come around to the beautiful outskirts of the warren as much as he would've liked, so it was always a shame when he had to focus on his work, most of which happened in the central area.

Oh well, such was the life of a guardian, and he had a very large magical garden to tend to.

He passed through a narrow passage in a large cliff face, deciding at the last second to turn down an alternate path, which led him to a small opening right in the middle of the rock wall. There grew a lovely cherry blossom tree, next to a small pool of water that trickled from a gap in the cliff, into a rocky basin. The water itself was translucent as most water was, but no matter how often he saw it, Bunnymund still loved the strange, gold shimmer this particular water gave.

A small group of eggs were roaming around the small area, and a couple were even climbing awkwardly up to the pool, and jumping in.

Unlike a good majority of the other water sources here, this one didn't paint the eggs, nor did it damage the artwork already covering them. As each of the eggs sprang out, they shone gold for a few seconds, before returning to their normal state.

This was one of Asters most private places. Eggs could last quite a long time within the sanctuary of the warren, but as Bunny had once reminded North, they were still perishable.

Not here though; This water kept the eggs fresh and new as long as they were dipped in it regularly. He used it only for eggs that truly held some meaning to him, such as the very first egg he'd ever painted.

He smiled as he picked that particular one up; a messy mix of green and yellow, showing even he'd been an amateur at one point.

Next he picked up one that was a mix of blue and purple; a gift from someone important long ago…

He glanced over all of them, frowning when one was missing from his count. His concern didn't last long though, as he soon spotted it huddling in the long grass.

"What's up? A little timid about joining your friends?"

He picked up the beautiful egg that Jack had given him the other day. As it padded over his palm, he had to wonder about the troublemaker.

It had already been two and a half days since the fight at the lake, and by his prides liking or not, he wondered how Jack was doing.

He'd travelled through the portal to find North waiting and ready to bellow at them. The large man had been quickly shushed though by both the guardians of hope and dreams, as Jack has stirred a little.

Figuring it was better to just get it over with, Bunny had handed Jack over to Tooth and Sandy to care for, so he and North could…speak…

…His ears were still ringing from that conversation…

He hadn't gone back and seen the boy before leaving the pole, and now his conscience was starting to berate him for it.

He tilted his paw, letting the egg slide off into the water. It bobbed along until it reached the edge, and padded out. It glowed momentarily like the others, before returning to normal as it scurried off. Aster himself took a pawful of water and splashed it over his face. It wasn't what made him immortal or anything, but it was refreshing anyway.

He went to dip his paw back in, when his ear twitched. He turned swiftly, sniffing the air.

Something had invaded the tranquillity, and he thought he might know what.

He bounded back to the main area without detours this time. The egg golems stomped around anxiously as he raced past, perhaps already aware of the so called problem.

Finally he made it to the tunnels, and sat up straight upon the hill, one paw ready on a boomerang just in case…

…But it quickly dropped, as his hunch was proven correct.

He could see Jack standing a few metres into one of the tunnels still lined with ice. He looked like he was just staring at the wall, focused on something there.

"OI!"

Jack started quite loudly and…rather dramatically. His staff knocked the tunnel wall, and sent a burst of ice all the way back to the entrance.

The spirit of fun cried out in frustration, ruffling his hair, before turning to glare towards the entrance. He stormed out and quickly found Bunny.

"Thanks a lot cotton tail! Now I've gotta start that one again!"

"And just what exactly is it you're starting?" Bunny questioned sceptically as he quickly closed the distance between them.

"Ah, keep your ears on…" Jack waved him off as he moved back to the entrance of the cave.

Very carefully, he placed his staff against the tunnel wall, and closed his eyes. He breathed in and out deeply as his eyes furrowed a little.

Bunny was standing with his arms crossed as he watched him, but almost jumped as he watched a faint glow rise from where the staff touched the wall, whilst the ice around it slowly began to fade. A large gap of the rock under the ice was revealed, before Jack gasped and pulled back, taking a deep breath.

Bunnymund was honestly amazed, though tried not to show it too much.

"I'd been wondering if you could de-frost things as well…" He finally spoke, moving just close enough to admire the work.

"Yeah well, being Jack Frost, my task is usually creating ice and snow, not removing it. Even after three hundred years, I haven't had very much practice."
"You manage to manipulate blizzards well enough."

"Different skill all together, one I get more than enough practice at."

Jack moved along and began defrosting the next part of the wall. Bunny waited until he took another pause before speaking.

"How long have you been at this?"

"Uuuh…" Jack halted, looking curious by the question himself.

Hadn't he been keeping track?

"…As long as it took me to get a couple of totems and that tunnel over there done?" He finally shrugged.

Aster glanced out to the tunnel he'd indicated to. He recalled that one hadn't been nearly as bad off as the others, but watching the rate at which it was taking Jack to remove the ice, even that one must've taken a couple of hours to finish. And now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall seeing any of the frozen totems yet today.

It was a relief, but also concerned Aster; knowing the stubborn winter spirit, he probably hadn't taken a break between tasks.

'Wow, I must've been out on the outskirts longer than I thought,' He realised, knowing it was the only way he could've not caught on to Jack's presence sooner.

"Take five mate, You've still got plenty of time between now and Easter."

"Eh, I'm on a roll," Jack joked.

Bunnymund just rolled his eyes impatiently, and grabbed Jacks arm. The boy protested, but was pulled out of the tunnel, and forced to sit on a grass hill.

"You go exhausting yourself again, and it'll just take even longer," Aster stated as he also sat.

Jack purposely groaned like one his age would when being told off, and laid back in the grass. A sharp chirp made him sit right back up though, and he reached back into the hood on his jacket.

"Whoops, sorry Baby Tooth. You were so quiet, I forgot you were there," Jack chuckled apologetically as the tiny fairy shook her head.

"Heh, can't be away from your side, can she?"

"Ha-ha, according to Tooth, she was curled up beside me most of the time I slept."

"And how long was that?"

"About a day and a half…the other half being spent on explaining "my side of the story" to North," He added a playful roll of the eyes.

Bunny had figured Jack would be interrogated by North the second he woke up. Santa was truly a good parental figure towards Jack; Caring, wise, very firm but fair…

…Bunny wasn't that type of role model in the boy's life, and in all honesty, that suited him just fine. He preferred the idea of having a troublesome younger brother…though those feelings would remain more private that his secret egg collection.

"So how long did he yell at ya for?"

Jack shared the cheeky chuckle.

"My head still hurts from it…"

"'suppose he's the one who sent you here; Your punishment?"

He was surprised when Jack looked slightly offended.

"Actually, this is me avoiding punishment," Jack stood back up, swinging his staff around before resting it against his shoulder, "Besides, I never planned on leaving things as they were."

He plucked a wandering egg from the ground, looking it over with only half interest.

"I would've fixed it already if you hadn't been so grumpy."

"Could say the same straight back to you, frostbite," Bunny frowned, standing as well.

For a moment the rivalry flared back up, frowns exchanged as temptation and consideration tried to will their actions into the usual routine; i.e. see who would draw first, and who'd get the first actual strike.

But their egos were no match for the memories of the last few days.

Jack breathed out heavily, stepping back first; North had been right, he didn't want to keep fighting with Bunny…

…argue with him? Of course…compete with him? He couldn't do without their rivalry!...Have an occasional tussle? Sure, why not…?

But fighting fist to fist, cruel word to cruel word? That was something he'd never wanted.

Bunny followed his actions, his ears lowering a bit shamefully.

"…sorry…" Jack mumbled honestly.

"Likewise…" Bunny replied.

Looking for a way to break the awkward silence, Bunny turned back and took the egg Jack was holding.

"How'd you do this?" He asked earnestly when he realised it was one of the ones Jack had decorated the other day.

"Huh? Oh, I'll show you."

Though surprised, Jack almost seemed eager to do so. Bunny followed as he flew off to one of the rivers.

"Oi! Steady on, it's not a snowball, you're not MEANT to break it!" He scolded when Jack grabbed a blank egg, and tossed it playfully into the river.

"Have some fun Bunny," Jack just laughed, making the rabbit sigh heavily again.

"Do you even know how to do anything else?" He grumbled, though not in a way intended to insult.

Jack picked the egg back out, laughing when it shook excess yellow paint off its shell.

"Ok, here we go…"

Jack went quiet as he twirled his hand. It was no surprise as he created a single, large snow flake. He seemed more focused on it than usual though, and the flake became a lot more solid without losing its shape. With careful guidance, he had it press firmly against the egg, before swiftly drawing it away.

Bunny was amazed to see a perfect snowflake imprint in the paint.

"See? You just have to use it like a stamp…though it's gotta be strong enough not to just break on impact," Jack almost…almost…sounded like an excited child showing their parent what they'd made.

"Hm, not bad, but the frost patterns…?"

"…are a lot harder to get right," Jack finished for him, pouting a little.

He brought the egg back up, and tipped it feather light with his staff. A twirl of frost circled the egg, and looked really amazing. Smiling a bit, Jack then defrosted it quickly, like he'd been doing in the caves, but frowned when he looked at the finished product.

"Aww…the frost melted too fast and ran through the paint again…" He grumbled, and held the egg out to Aster in disappointment.

Aster admitted it wasn't the best of the bunch, but it wasn't bad either. He was about to say so, when Jack stood and circled on the spot, looking around.

"Where's that one I gave you at the lake? That was the best one I did…"

"It's wandering around here somewhere," Bunny shrugged as he set the yellow egg down.

He kept his cool well, but there was no way he'd tell Jack where he'd really put it; way too awkward, he'd never hear the end of it!

"So what was your punishment anyway?"

"Hm?"

"You said you were avoiding punishment, what did North have planned?"

"Don't know; I took off as soon as I heard someone suggest cleaning the yeti's rest room…"

"Crikey…didn't think even North could be that cruel."

"Well he already had me clean out the reindeer stables."

"At this time of year? Rough luck mate."

"How do you know? You've done it before?"

"Not a chance, but I've seen what they look like right before Christmas."

Jack raised a curious eyebrow.

"What about you? I can't see North letting either of us off after the mess we made at the pole…"

"Other than a serious ear bashing, nothing so far. He'll probably make me clean up the paint once their work load gets back on schedule and I wouldn't just be under their feet. For now at least, I'm just grounded to the warren."

"But…he can't actually make you stay here, can he?"

"No, grounded more translates as keeping out of trouble, or else," He added the last part with a roll of his eyes that actually forced Jack to supress a chuckle, "It's fine. I never really leave the warren much at this time of year anyway."

"Too cold?"

"Too right."

The two shared a mutual silence for a while. The peace of the warren was calming even to the energetic winter spirit.

"I suppose I'll be right there getting rid of the ice as well. I had to get rid of some of it before I left because it was starting to melt and drip on the work benches."

"Hm, suppose that's fair enough," Bunny answered calmly.

Jack nodded in agreement.

"Oh well, back to work," He stretched and cracked his shoulders.

Hard work may have clashed with his fun loving personality, but he didn't do so well doing absolutely nothing either.

Bunnymund let him go, for a while just watching as he set back to defrosting the tunnels. He hated to admit it, but for all his mischief and attitude, the youngest of the guardians was a determined, hardworking little scoundrel.

He looked around at all the defrosting left to be done, and almost felt it a little too harsh…

An ear flickered as an idea came to him. He dug beneath the large cuff on his wrist, and pulled something out.

Jack breathed out heavily as he managed to uncover a patch about four square metres large, before he glanced over his shoulder. Bunnymund had entered the tunnel, and stood in front of the opposite wall.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying something out."

His curiosity peeked as he saw the pooka open his paw.

"What're those?" He inched closer.

"Something I tested out against that nightmare, which I now think might be safe enough to use in here."

Aster selected one of the colourful items, about to use it, when a second thought sprang to mind. It curled around in his head for a while, pros and cons weighing against each other, before a devilish smirk crossed his face.

"You did make a bloody mess of this place frostbite, recon it'll take ya awhile to get it cleaned up."

"Yeah, I'm aware, thanks for the news flash cotton tail," Jack rolled his eyes, and decided to go back to his side of the tunnel.

"I guess North won't have to worry about any trouble from you before Christmas now,"

"Well I'll try and fit him in on my schedule somewhere, but between making frost on the surface, and getting rid of frost down here, I can't make any promises…" Jack grumbled, tapping the base of his staff on the ground impatiently.

"Hm, not the holiday season you expected hey," Aster persisted, glancing over his shoulder.

He knew the winter spirit was getting annoyed at him, and he had to admire that he was keeping his cool this well.

"Perhaps a little motivation is in order,"

Jack gave an annoyed grunt, and turned around.

"Look cotton tail, if you want me to feel motivated about my work…"

He halted as he found the pooka directly facing him, arms crossed smugly.

"You'd have to wait awhile…" Bunny stated calmly, watching one of the little creations move along his arm, "…but how'd you like something to look forward to?"

He turned his gaze up to the boy, his smirk widening.

"…something, fun?"

Jack's annoyance was replaced by curiosity, and his infamous spark of mischief.

"Moi?" He mocked surprise.

His own smirk quickly rose to match Bunnymunds.


Not sure if I should've put Bunnymunds special pool in the disclaimer section or not, but...*shrugs*

The next chapter will be the regular length, but it will also be the last chapter... :'(

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and as before, the next chapter will hopefully be just a few days away! :D

Thanks for reading!