Chapter 4

Thankyou for the reviews. More would be appreciated! (I am such a review hoe lol) so right next chapter is underway!

Marceline: Nope never heard of the song, tis a happy coincidence!

Night-Fury: My faithful reviewer!

Jack awoke after a deep sleep and when he opened his groggy eyes and scanned his surroundings, he gave a little moan as he realized he was in the guest room of the North Pole, remembered why he was there and worst: Bunnymund was at the bottom of the bed.

"Hello Bunny." He said in a raspy voice and tried to clear his throat.

"Morning sunshine." Said Bunnymund and put a paw on Jack's chest as he tried to get up. "Stay put."

Jack looked down at the thin cotton sheet covering him and played with the fabric between his fingers, too embarrassed to look up, finally he said, "I'm sorry."

Bunnymund shrugged. "We're sorry we let it get that bad."

"I was trying to be a good Guardian," justified Jack and a thought struck him and he looked around quickly, "where's my staff?"

"Sandy has it." Answered the Pooka and Jack gave a frown. The four Guardians had discussed it. As trustworthy as Toothiana was, Jack would just have to bat his eyelids and flash his pearly teeth and she would be a goner. Bunnymund hadn't wanted the staff, just thinking of what the child might get up to in a bid to get it back didn't bear thinking about. North was strong-willed but Jack wouldn't rest if he thought the staff was on the property and he could find it. Sandy seemed like a good choice.

Bunnymund saw the cogs turning in Jack's mind and put a stop to the thought process. "You're not getting it back till we say so."

Jack gave a huff and turned to face the wall, arms crossed against his chest. "You guys are over reacting."

"After the stunt you pulled last night and the way you behaved I think you're the only one over-reacting here." Stated Bunnymund, "you can try as many stunts as you like but as you saw, I'll have you out like a light again."

Jack glared at him, "you caught me by surprise! I could so take you on Rabbit."

Bunnymund smiled at the "rabbit" reference, it showed Jack wasn't completely against them and some part of the child knew they were doing this for his own good. "Here's a crazy thought, why don't you just follow our lead and relax for a few days?"

Jack's eyebrows shot up, "you relax?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"I may work hard but even I know when to cut loose." Said Bunnymund, wondering if the boy thought he was some workaholic grouch.

"What now?" asked Jack.

"When was the last time you ate?" asked Bunnymund. Jack immediately responded, "yesterday." The Pooka glared at him, "lets try again. When did you last eat?" Jack sighed, "a while ago, ok?" he added defensively, "I've been busy!"

Bunnymund just shook his head, "I'm going to the kitchen to get you a sandwich, Phil's outside and he's going to come in and take you to the bathroom and make sure you take a bath."

"I don't want a bath!" cried Jack. Bunnyund reached over and pulled a small twig with a leaf on it from his snow-white hair. "You're taking a bath mate."

Half an hour later, a much cleaner Jack was munching on a sandwich in light blue and white striped cotton pyjamas given to him by North while his other clothes were being cleaned and holes stitched by a yeti. Bunnymund passed him a glass of milk and Jack gulped it down. When he was done, he fell back onto the large soft pillow with a contented sigh.

"That was good." He admitted.

He gave a wide yawn and gave a startled look to Bunnymund, "I just woke up! How can I be tired?"

"Listen to your body kid. I'll let you nap for an hour and then wake you up. Sound good?" Jack nodded and was already starting to dose off.

As promised, an hour later Bunnymund woke him up and led him to the lounge, where North and Tooth were waiting expectantly. Tooth rushed up and fluttered around him, "did you sleep well?"

Jack nodded and cleared his throat, looking at North and Tooth he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"Iz good Jack, come and sit." Said North, indicating a chair to his left. "Where's Sandy?" asked Jack, taking a seat. "Off sending some ankle-biters to the land of nod." Replied BUnnymund. "Now onto the good part!" cried North and brought out a train set he had placed on the table. The three guardians tried to get Jack involved and participate but while he was polite, he kept gazing off. After awhile North sighed and tried something else, "How about we go outside?"

Jack nodded and they made their way outdoors into the snow. He gave a slight grin at the dark green scarf and mittens Bunnymund was wearing. "I wouldn't laugh mate," he growled, "you're still in your little boy blue pyjamas!" Once again they tried to get him involved, they started a small snowfight but without Jack's energy it soon stopped. They tried making a snowman and while Jack helped, he obviously wasn't having fun.

Later they were all indoors as night fell. Sandy appeared and there was a tense moment before Jack reached over and gave him a brisk hug. Toothiana and Bunnymund took Jack to the kitchen to help prepare hot chocolate and Sandy took North aside and gestured along with his symbols.

North shrugged, worry etched on his face. "He slept, he ate, we took him outside and I brought out some toys but he isn't feeling it Sandy." He shook his head, "I don't know what to do, eez problem!"

Sandy looked thoughtful and using his sand, he showed a watch.

"Give eet time?" confirmed North and was met with a nod. "Iz all we can do. We will have dinner soon and ask Jack what he would like to do."

After the hot chocolate and a few minutes of general discussion, they all went to the dining room. Jack's eyes widened at the sheet amount of food, it looked delicious. He tucked in and had a little bit of everything. He cast a glance at Bunnymund, he was still slightly annoyed by the Pooka. After all, he had tied him up and dragged him down a tunnel. He scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and eyed the Guardian of Hope who was tucking into a salad. He flicked the spoon and gave a smirk as it landed directly on his forehead.

"Wha-"cried Bunnyund and his eyes narrowed at the little troublemaker sitting across from him. "Did you just-"

His question was cut off as another helping of mashed potatoe landed on his face. There was absolute silence at the table. A dozen elves who were standing on the table looked at eachother, scooped up a pea in each hand and looked at eachother before throwing the little green missiles at eachother.

"Food fight!" yelled Jack.

It went on for several minutes and no one was spared. Phil emerged with various vegetables sticking out of his fur, Toothiana was covered in jelly and North's beard was no longer white. Bunnymund had been hit worst and he had a sneaky feeling the others had used the food fight as an excuse for revenge for his snarky comments over the years. They all had Jack pinned and he grinned at them wickedly and tossed the carrot still in his hand at Bunnymund, it fell short but the intention had been there and the Pooka felt perfectly justified as he picked up the large bowl of trifle and dumped it all over the frostbite's head.

There was silence as the now released Jack and everyone else stared at eachother. Jack's tongue darted out and he licked some of the whipped cream off the top of his lips. "Mmmm. Good stuff" and cracked up laughing.

Soon everyone joined him and North returned a pudding-splattered Sandy's thumbs up.

They were making progress.

Soooo let me know what you think! This had a bit of fluff in it. Might be angsty in the next chapter. REVIEW PLEASE.

WIldkitkat

:3