A/N: Hey everyone! I'm really sorry that I haven't posted earlier, it's been a month now and I know how upset you are with me. But I finally have this chapter up, and the plots coming into action, yay! xD Thank you so much for being patient with me, I love you all. xD The next chapter will be up before Valentine's Day to make up my lateness with this one, so enjoy!
Karma walked out of the kitchen with an innocent smile plastered on her face, but the mischievous part was given away by her gleaming and enchanting silver eyes. Three drinks were in her hands, and she was balancing them quite well, she then placed the drinks down on a small wooden coffee table. She heard Jack laugh, and North join in on the laughter while the other Guardians were silent with shock in their eyes. Karma laughed along with North and Jack thinking that they were laughing with her, still on the whole situation where Bunnymund called her a 'beaut', she couldn't have been more wrong though. They were laughing at her, not with her. So when she started to laugh with Jack and North, their laughs grew louder. That was when Karma noticed her shadow on a wall.
Her shadow looked different, and she prayed that it was just her imagination, that it was just some trick, some horrible trick that her mind thought of.
It wasn't.
She still looked like a human, but she had extra …parts... on her. She looked in the mirror with horror written all over her face. Jack lost it and laughed harder, while North lowered his laugh to a chuckle. She had Bunny ears on her, they were same cream color that they were when she was a small rabbit, and she had a bump under her clothes, more than likely a fluffy cottontail. Now to the other occupants of the room, this seems like a funny situation, but for Karma, this was serious. She was losing control of her powers, the last time this happened, something horrible happened. Karma touched the tip of her new ear, still stunned about the whole predicament, she didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but something was about to go terribly wrong.
The others sensed that there was no humor in her eyes, there was confusion in them, worry, sadness. North was the first to stop his chuckling, then Jack stopped laughing a few seconds afterwards.
Karma was about to do something that she never thought she would have to do, but she knew she had to.
"Amala." Karma spoke breaking the silence with a smile on her face. "I want you to go upstairs and explore around, see what room makes you comfy and go lay down for a nap, okay?" Karma said while patting Amala's head. "If you need anything, just come to me and I will try my best to provide it to you." Amala was about to protest against what Karma had said, but she saw the seriousness in Karma's eyes and did as she was told.
When Karma heard an audible click from a door from upstairs she released a breath she didn't she was holding. She glanced at her reflection again from the mirror that was in the living room. The mirror was a medium size and had a gold frame around it. She was screaming in her mind, she was actually scared. She didn't want to know what had caused her to lose control of her powers, but if she had to guess it would probably be related to Amala and her mother. She didn't want to think pessimistically she didn't want to think that something bad did happen to Punita. She wanted to go on a rampage, she felt so guilty, like somehow whatever had happened to Punita was her fault, and it probably was. Her fist balled into a tight fist, and everyone else in the room could feel the frustration seething off of her.
The room was silent for a few minutes before finally Karma made a swift turn on her heels and crossed her arms while she gazed at each other the Guardians that were before her. She shifted her weight onto her one of her legs.
"I will join you guys." She said with anger in her voice. "Something serious happened, and the last time this happened to me" She said while making a motion to her bunny ears,"Something serious happened, and I do not want a repeat of that." She sighed while shifting her weight to her other foot. "But you guys have to do something for me." She added.
"And what would that be?" North questioned a serious glint in his eyes.
"Help me find Amala's mother." She said while pointing her head towards upstairs.
"Why?" Came Bunnymund's simple question.
"Do you want me to join, or not?" She growled, annoyed that they were questioning her when she said that she would join them for a simple favor.
"No, not real-" Bunnymund's comment was cut off by North.
"Yes, and we will help you child," North said nodding his head. "But we need little more information about ze child."
"Her mother is 36 years old, she looks just like Amala. She was last seen about 5 days ago by Amala." Karma said while turning her head to avoid look at the Guardian of Wonder. "Amala said that bad men were chasing after her and they grabbed her mother."
"Well maybe her motha' got inta some trouble. Maybe she owed 'em something and she didn't pay up." Bunnymund said simply.
Karma was furious at his statement; Punita was not a bad person. With amazing speed she was in front of Bunnymund anger dripping off her voice.
"Don't you ever accuse Punita of committing some act of sin!" Karma warned while getting in Bunnymund's face. Her eyes narrowed and her ear's twitched in agitation. "You do not know her, so don't you go and say stuff about her! She is one of the purest human's that I have ever met." Karma's eyes started to darken. "I would do anything for her. She was a very good friend of mine, and if you ever say something like that again, I will rip you a new tail."
Now Karma may have over done it with the threats, but Punita was one of the few people that treated her with kindness. She was like a sister to her, she was her family. Karma had always been overprotective, and you could bet that even if you made one tear or a one small frown appear on a person she cares about then she would get pissed.
"Was?" Bunnymund said with a glare in his eyes.
Karma immediately backed away from Bunnymund when he made the comment. The reason most obvious was because she wasn't expecting the word to escape his lips, a word that sent her head spinning with memories. But there was another reason, a reason she only knew. When she was in his face, their noses were only millimeters apart and she could feel his intense stare on her. She truly saw how bright and beautiful his emerald eye were, even when they were filled with a glare that was directed at her. She could feel heat from him, and that heat made her uncomfortable because it brought an unknown feeling to her. She wanted to be wrapped in his arms, she wanted him to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, and she just wanted him to be there besides her keeping her safe. She mentally shook the image from her head. She was acting like a teenage girl! Like she wanted her life to be one of those romance novels!
"Yes, was…" Karma spoke her voice tight. "I didn't want her to be hurt by me, or other people that want to hurt me." She sighed. "I wanted her to be away from the chaos that I create, I wanted her to be safe." Her fist started to clench again. "But it looks like I became too attached." Her fist went loose and sadness took over her features. "It looks like someone noticed." Her sad features soon twisted into angry ones as she punched a nearby wall. "DAMNIT!"
Everybody jumped when she punched the wall. There was so much negative energy in her, so much guilt. She then turned to the last beings she ever thought she would ask for help.
"Will you help me look for Punita?" she said not look at them, her pride hurting immensely. "Don't do it for me, do it for Amala." She said while turning to then her eyes casted down towards the floor.
"If we have time after whatever we need to do for Manny." Bunnymund said.
"There may not be enough time!" Karma yelled. "She has been missing for 5 days! She sent her daughter out to find me to help her. She only had 5 more days left until we figure out if she made it or not!" Karma then started to flail her arms around. "I don't want to wait! Whatever Manny has can wait a day or two! Someone has her right now! She could be in serious trouble!" Karma was about to continue until North interrupted her.
"They have her because they know you will come and get her." North warned. "They are using her against you Karma, how can you be so blind to that?"
"I don't care if they want me, I need to save her. I will not have Amala growing up without a mother who so desperately prayed and wished for her only to live! " Karma huffed angrily. "I broke my rules for Punita and if you think I am going to stop now, you have another thing coming."
"Broke your own rules?" Jack questioned curiously. "What were your rules?"
"Don't get close to humans" Karma said seriously. "Humans are always bad news, even if they mean good or bad. I need to do my job fairly, and to do so, I can't have anyone get close to me. I can't afford it." Karma sighed and looked at Jack in the eyes. "I am a lower form of Justice; I must treat everything and everybody equal. I am a lower form of Death, I can make people have serious illnesses if I want them to, but I cannot bring death upon them. I am lower form of Mother Nature, I can help people get pregnant but it all depends on mother and the persons own body if the life of the baby should be lived out."
"I have a lot of power that I cannot abuse, and I made it a fact to not abuse it. But when I met Punita for the first time, I felt some type of higher being in her. I was originally just supposed to help her have good fortune by bringing a large sum of money into her life by the lottery she was playing. But when I figured out why she was playing, she changed my views of humans, she showed me that there were still good people in the world at heart. She wanted to play the lottery so that way she could have money for a surrogate mother so that way her and her husband could have a child together. She was infertile. I originally took pity on her, it is sad when it happens to other women as well. I one day was following her to see if she did deserve the money, and I heard her talking to a friend. She wanted to have a child so bad, to feel it kicking in her stomach, to see the baby on the screen from a screening, to hear its heart beat. She wanted to hold it when the baby was first born; she even said that she would have the child naturally if she could!" Karma shivered. "She was so sad that the only way she could have a child was through another woman, she even started to tear up. I had never seen another woman more passionate about having a child. Not only that, but almost everyone in the town said nothing but good things about her when I questioned them about her. Nothing bad, everything good. I begged Manny and Mother Nature to have the ability to bear a child. Mother Nature was hesitant at first, but Manny convinced her to let my wish be granted." Karma took her eyes off of Jack to stare at the other Guardians for the next part she was about to say. "She and her daughter are the faces of innocence of Mankind; both can do extreme good for their community, for their country, for the world."
"You really care for 'em." Bunnymund stated a soft chuckle in his voice. "What do you say guys? You wanna help this damsel in distress?"
"I am not a damsel in distress!" Karma huffed but she stilled looked at the other Guardians anxiously waiting for their response.
"I am in!" Tooth giggled.
"Count me too." Jack said coolly.
Sandman shook his head yes, and she looked at North waiting for his approval.
"Such dedication to these humans, of course I say yes!" North cheered.
Karma cheered inside acting like a giddy little girl, but on her surface she had a calm exterior.
"Well, I don't know about you guys but I am thirsty!" Jack said.
"Yes! Let's drink!" North cheered.
"Haha, well here ya go!" Karma said with a smile in her eyes while she grabbed for two of the three cups that she had placed on the nearby coffee table. Now, one would have been grateful enough to go back and change the drinks out with …less spice... But don't forget, they had laughed at her and Bunnymund, so that was when 'karma' kicked in.
"Bunnymund, you want some to?" Karma said while looking his way.
Silence filled the room when Karma called Bunnymund by his real name rather than 'Cotton Tail', but the silence was soon gone when North and Jack started to choke on their drinks.
"Wa-Water!" Jack choked out, his eyes starting to water.
"That is water." Karma smirked evilly.
"Bur-Burns!" North said while holding his throat.
The two beings soon toppled to the ground gasping for air, better yet a cool refreshing drink of water. Karma didn't think that she had made the drinks that spicy, but then again she was used to it. Karma then looked at Bunnymund and shrugged her shoulders and held out the drink to him.
"Ya really think I am goin' ta' drink tha'?" Bunnymund chuckled, while looking at North and Jack tripping over each other to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. "I can't believe you did that even after we agreed to help ya, mite."
"I regret nothing." Karma chuckled. "Plus, I am sure you are enjoying this as much as me." Karma winked at him. "They were teasing you and me! I thought you would be grateful!~" she giggled as Jack and North shoved each other out of the way to get water from her sink.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Tooth said while sipping on her juice. Sandy just looked at the scene with a dumbfound expression.
"Nah, they can wait." Bunnymund said while winking at Karma. "I think ya are starting ta grow on me, Karma."
"Haha, don't get too fond yet. I might just come and bite ya in your furry little arse." She winked back.
The two began to laugh with each other, Bunnymund's laugh making Karma's heart race. What was this affect he had on her? She kept on questioning the feeling, they had only known each other for hours, and he had this affect on her. She blamed it on the accent.
"Give me yer worst." he chuckled.
"As soon as you give me a reason to, I will!" Karma said slapping his back in a playful manner.
-:-:
Sandy and Tooth stared with deadpanned expressions at the comical scene that unfolded before them with the two guardians that were falling over each other for water. Their gazes were soon averted to a different more, shocking scene- Karma and Bunny...
Flirting.
They looked at each other with wide confused eyes. Did they know they were flirting? They both thought that they hated one another, and yet this whole deal was happening! They wouldn't confront them about the act though, they would deny it with a heated argument about how they both disliked each other. They both knew what they saw, they didn't question it, they had seen many beings go through the stage they were gong through right now. The confused feelings, the unexplained warmth in their chests, the happiness they would feel when they were near each other, the spark in their eyes and the flirty smiles they would send one another. They knew the difference between love and like, and they knew when emotions would developed in love. They knew they would fall for each other more than the other Guardians because of the duty they were placed with. Tooth had the memories of people's first loves, and Sandy created the dreams that were full of the strong emotion. They didn't know when or how they would fall, but they knew one thing would happen eventually.
Love will find a way.
And that is all they needed to know in their hearts for they knew they needed each other more than they know. The Guardians knew about Bunnymund's sad tale of the downfall of his races, and Tooth knew Karma's tragic and sad tale of her human life. They could relate to each other more than anyone else. Plus the way their personalities clashed was quite adorable, they would learn a lot from each other.
Tooth and Sandy smiled at each other, both promising to keep a secret that was not spoken with words, but with emotions through their eyes.
A/N: How was it? Finally, right? Haha, don't forget to leave a review~! The next chapter will be up by the 14th~! xD
