Hello again everybody! Sorry for the major delay. Long story short: I got caught up in life, became depressed and lost all inspiration and confidence in writing. It was a bad year.

But, I'm getting better now and I finally got up enough confidence to start writing again! So, yay!

Seriously though, I AM sorry. If you guys are still reading my fic, I promise I'll try to update more regularly! So, bear with me please!

Warning : This story may contain trigger warnings concerning death and the characters may be a bit OOC. Venture forth at your own peril.

It starts with a dinner…

The Guardians were having a get-together luncheon (to ensure that Sandy could attend with a clean conscience) to catch up on each other's affairs. North was laughing at a joke Sandy was miming to him; Tooth was beaming with ill-disguised pride—

—and Jack and Bunnymund were staring at their food in horror.

"Is roast beef supposed to look grey?" Jack whispered to Bunnymund.

"If it is then I'm a bunyip (1), mate."

"Something's oozing out of it! Is that pus?" Jack hissed digging his fingers into Bunnymund's forearm.

Slowly, they started edging away from the table, hoping beyond hope that Pitch suddenly decided to appear to wreak his vengeance on them – and save them from a terrible and horrible death via food poisoning.

"What's wrong, you two? You haven't touched a morsel of food!" Tooth exclaimed, turning to them.

Jack and Bunnymund paled.

"Well…you see…erm...how can I put this, Sheila? The food...the food is…" he trailed off as Tooth nodded for him to continue.

And Bunnymund lost his nerve.

"Jack has something to tell you!"

Jack stared at Bunnymund with wide, comical eyes filled with betrayal.

"Oh, is that so? Well, what did you want to tell me, Jack?"

And Toothiana turned her beaming smile on him. How in the world could he shatter her beliefs? More importantly, what would she do to him after he told her?

Jack felt a cold shiver run down his back. Licking his dry lips, he had just decided to give the truth to her straight (and start running like hellhounds were after him), when North—bless that fat, fat man—suddenly burst out laughing.

The others— minus Sandy who was grinning— stared at him as if he had finally gone senile. North's laughter slowly dissolved into low chuckles and he beamed mirthfully at them before saying—

"I can take no more, eh Sandy? My tummy says I should assist for them, yes?"

Sandy nodded jovially at North.

Slowly, North got up and took Tooth's hand.

"North, what are you doing?"

"Sheila, you remember night 200 years ago when you invited me for dinner?"

"Well, yes! You were very charming back then!" Toothiana exclaimed, eyes glowing with nostalgia.

"Yes, well, it is sad duty of mine to inform you that your cooking skills have—what is the word—," he trailed off, looking at Jack and Bunnymund's dumbfounded faces.

"Ah, yes! Your cooking skills, she has deserted you altogether."

And then he started laughing jovially again, acting as if he couldn't feel his hand getting crushed by Tooth's grip.

'Will not be able to design toys for one week, at least.' He internally noted.

"Fine, be that way! Don't eat my food! See if I care!" Tooth huffed, letting go of North's hand and throwing herself back in her chair. She looked dejected with just a hint of anger; tears were pricking at the corners of her eyes.

And all Jack and Bunnymund could do was to sigh in relief.

"Oh, fine!" she exclaimed. "I won't cook for you uncultured fools ever again."

And, huffily, she started clearing up.

… it gets complicated with a question …

It took a few hours, but Toothiana finally calmed down enough to start light conversation with Sandy, whilst shooting half-hearted glares at a sheepish North.

Bunnymund, on the other hand, was getting the cold shoulder from Jack.

"Look, mate, I admit I was a bloody right bastard to do that to you—"

"Traitor."

"—but, Sheila , she, well, she doesn't take kindly to criticism about her creations."

"So?"

"What I'm trying to say, frostbite, is that well, maybe… it would have been better…if I hadn't acted like a…like a…., you know, a drongo (2)."

Silence.

Bunnymund sighed and shook his head.

"What I'm trying to say, mate, is that I should have done the right thing and manned-up and—"

"If this is an apology, you're not doing a very good job, you know," Jack snorted, beginnings of a grin forming on his face.

Bunnymund gaped at him.

"You're an annoying little frostbite, aren't you? Always playing tricks on poor innocent Easter bunnies."

"But you love me anyways, don't you," Jack snorted out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, y'gumbie. We good, frostbite?"

"Always, kangaroo."

Bunnymund snorted in contempt at the word, but decided to let Jack go for now. They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes before North's voice rang out in the room.

"Today is November, yes? The second day of month, yes?"

"Sure, North," Jack answered back. "Why do you ask?"

"It is nothing. I am just remembering ritual that some people carry out on this day. It is called All Souls Day I heard. A Christian ritual if I am remembering correctly. People go visit loved ones graves on this day, I heard."

"Really?!" Tooth exclaimed and— in a move that she would immediately regret— turned to Jack and said—

"Don't you want to visit your sister's grave?"

Tooth's eyes widened as her mind registered what she said. Her hand rose to her mouth.

The silence was heavy and palpable; you could have cut a slab of it and spread it on bread if you wanted to.

After moments that felt like hours, Jack got up.

"I don't even know where her grave is."

And he left.

….it climaxes with understanding…

It had been two weeks.

Neither hide nor hair of Jack had been seen in his usual haunts and Bunnymund was starting to grow frustrated.

"Honestly, Sheila, do we need to attach a brain-to-mouth filter on you?" Bunnymund snapped after another day of fruitless searching.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? I wasn't thinking at the time!"

"You damn right you weren't thinking! And don't apologize ta' me! Apologize to—frostbite?"

Tooth whirled around at Bunnymund's voice and exclaimed in relief to see Jack standing behind her, looking a bit tired, but not much worse for wear.

"Oh! Jack, how are you? I'm so sorry I said that to you! I have no idea what I was thinking! You have no idea how much I've been beating myself up about this! And I want you to know that I intend to watch what I say from now on! Please—"

She was cut off as Jack held a hand up and smiled weakly.

"It's alright, Tooth. It was a mistake, one that anyone could have made. I'm okay. It's all okay," he reassured her.

And as Tooth sighed in relief and started going on again about how sorry she was, Bunnymund could see that it wasn't alright.

It really wasn't.

…..it winds down with compassion…

Bunnymund twitched his whiskers. He hated the snow, but this was important. He had to do this.

"Hey, frostbite, you out here? Because if you are, I would appreciate it if you would tell me instead of leaving me to freeze my whiskers off!"

He snorted when no answer came back before and turned to go when a packed snowball hit his right shoulder. He turned around quickly only to be met with a face full of snow.

"Oi! Frostbite! Don't make me hurt you, you dill. (3)

"Fine, fine. Don't get your knickers in a twist, kangaroo," Jack said jumping down from the tree to stand a safe distance from Bunnymund. He had a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

Bunnymund's eye twitched.

"I am the Easter Bunny, not kangaroo."

"Whatever you say, jumper," Jack quipped back at him.

Bunnymund took a deep breath before throwing a piece of fabric at Jack.

"Put that over your eyes. I have a surprise to show you."

Jack quirked an eye at him.

"You're going to lead me into a river, aren't you?

"It's winter; all the rivers are frozen over, y'dill!"

"Then why do I have to put this on?"

"Will you just do it before I stuff you in a sack like last time?!"

Jack saluted him with a crooked grin, before shrugging and putting the blindfold on.

"Since you ask so nicely, darling," Jack joked, practically vibrating with ill-disguised excitement.

It made Bunnymund wonder if he was doing the right thing, but he shook it off and went on with the plan.

"Come on, you ankle biter (4)."

"I am not that small!"

….and it ends with acceptance—

"Bunnymund, what is this," Jack choked out; blindfold hanging limply in his hand.

Bunnymund gritted his teeth and held a firm paw clamped on the frostbite to ensure he wouldn't fly off. Jack needed to do this, whether he wanted to or not.

They were both standing in front of a tombstone located at the back of one of Burgess' smaller cemeteries.

The tombstone was mossy and decrepit, the words hardly legible. All that Jack could make out was:

Chloe Ann Overland

"What is this?" Jack choked out again, eyes wide and almost wild-looking.

Bunnymund heaved a sigh.

"This is your where your sister was buried. It took a little digging and I probably scared the daks (5) off a bunch of humans with all the books I went through in that archives of theirs; they probably think it's haunted by know," Bunnymund joked weakly.

Silence.

Bunnymund hurried on.

"The thing is…. I found out where she was buried and I figured that …y'know…"

"….figured what….," Jack whispered out, voice harsh and shaking.

"I figured that it was time you visited her and—"

Bunnymund's free paw curled into a fist as he steeled himself.

"—and accepted the truth."

"Truth?! What truth is there for me to accept?! What could I possibly achieve from standing here in the dark and cold?! What truth could I possibly get from staring at my...at her grave?!"

Jack was practically snarling at him at this point, trying to push Bunnymund's paw of him.

Bunnymund growled low in his throat, strengthening his grip and using his other paw to hold Jack's face still so that he could look into Jack's eyes.

"The truth that she isn't coming back; not now, not tomorrow, not in a hundred years! The truth that she is gone and you will never see her again!"

The anger in Jack's eyes had dimmed to be replaced with a kind of cornered animal look.

"….stop it, please," Jack whimpered as he feebly continued pushing at Bunnymund's paw.

Bunnymund sighed again, his eyes drawn downwards in anger at himself.

Anger at the situation.

Anger at fate.

"I'm sorry, snowflake, but…you have to face this. You have to face the pain first before you can start to move forward again," Bunnymund said gruffly, his eyes filled with just as much pain as Jack's.

Tears were falling onto the ground.

"She was part of your past, an important part, yes, but a part that is now over. You claim that you remember her and I am not gonna' dispute that, but…but—

Here Bunnymund stopped and drew a shuddering breath. He glanced at the moon and sent up a silent plea—

Please let this be the right thing to do.

—before continuing as resolutely as he could.

"—but it's time for you to start to remember with less pain and more happiness. It's time to remember about the moments you laughed and cried and loved each other without being weighed down by sorrow. It's time for you to face your grieve—"

Jack drew a sobbing breath.

"—and move on. Enough running away, snowflake."

Jack looked at him with tears running down his face. A second went by and then another. Bunnymund tried to stop his paws from shaking.

And then, with a sense of relief the winter spirit hadn't felt in a long time, Jack threw himself at Bunnymund and started sobbing into his fur.

It's time to move on.

—and a bit of gratitude.

Bunnymund opened his eyes slowly. It felt like it was caked with at least 3 layers of dirt. Blinking, he realized that everything was white and glowing and empty. He realized he should feel panicked, but he found that he couldn't really feel anything.

"Where am I?"

His voice echoed back at him.

He felt a presence behind him and whirled around to come face to face with….nothing.

"What's going on here?"

Suddenly, a voice that was light and smooth cut through the nothingness; a voice that seem to come from right next to him; a voice of a woman in her prime.

"I would tell you, but I doubt you would be happy with the answer."

"What? Don't make fun of me, y'dill!" Bunnymund shouted into empty space, his anger at being insulted lighting a fire in his previously apathetic soul.

The voice laughed.

"You are a feisty one, aren't you? Well if you simply must know, you fell asleep and now you're dreaming. Your mind was wide open so, I'm using this opportunity to say thank you."

"…what?" Bunnymund gaped, gobsmacked.

The voice laughed again and Bunnymund got the sense that it was moving away.

"Wait! Where are you going?!"

The voice stopped chuckling and for a less than a second, for a fraction of a moment, Bunnymund thought he saw a woman in her early 20s looking at him over her shoulder with a Cheshire cat grin and then, his eyes shut against his will and he felt himself falling into darkness.

For helping him to grieve, I cannot thank you enough.

(1) Bunyip – mythical outback creature

(2) Drongo – a dope, stupid person

(3) Dill – an idiot

(4) Ankle biter – small child

(5) Daks - trousers

So, what do you guys think? I tried my best so please make me happy and leave a review or a bit of constructive criticism for me! Cookies for all of you! ^.^