I don't own RotG.
I refused to talk. I refused to eat. I barely felt anything. I was numb. I lost my uncle, the one who cared for me when I was little. The others were holding a ceremony for him but I just couldn't go. Jack couldn't either. We sat together by the window, Jack's arm around my shoulders, my head resting on his chest. Jack pressed his finger to the window and the frost that appeared formed the shape of Sandy. I closed my eyes. I heard footsteps approaching but didn't look up.
"Are you alright?" North asked Jack, aware that asking me was pointless since I clearly wasn't.
"I just, I wish I could've done something." Jack said, eyes fixed on the frost figure.
"You did." I whispered.
"Done something? Jack, you stood up to Pitch. You saved Freya. You saved all of us." North said.
"But Sandy wo-"
"Would be proud of what you did." North said. I shifted to let Jack up as he pulled down his hood.
"I don't know who you were in your past life, but in this life you are Guardian." North continued.
"But how can I know who I am, until I find out who I was?" Jack asked, stress weaving through his words. I stood and took his hand, giving him a look. He sighed.
"You will. I feel it, in my belly." North said. We walked to the Globe Room.
"Look how fast they're going out." Tooth said, watching as the lights blinked out. I frowned.
"It's fear. He's tipped the balance." Jack said. I nodded. I walked forward and placed a hand on the slowly spinning globe. Jack stood next to me. There was a nervous tension in the air.
"Hey, buck up ya sad-sacks. Come on! We can still turn this around!" Bunny said. I looked to him before slowly smiling.
"Easter is tomorrow." I said. Bunny nodded.
"And I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!" Bunny said. I nodded and looked to Jack. I tugged on his hand as North led us through his workshop.
"Bunny is right. As much as it pains me to say old friend, this time Easter is more important than Christmas!" North said as we walked.
"Hey! Did everyone hear that?!" Bunnymund said. I smiled slightly.
"We must hurry to the Warren. Everyone, to the sleigh!" North said. I stopped walking with North and stopped at Bunny's side.
"Ohh no, mate. My warren my rules." Bunny said.
"Buckle up." I said as a large rabbit hole appeared under our feet.
"Shostakovich!" North yelled as we fell into the rabbit hole. I whooped in laughter and ran down sides of the tunnel. Bunny, Tooth, Jack, and I arrived in the light of Warren gracefully while North and his yetis crashed to the ground.
"'Buckle up.' Is very funny, Freya." North chuckled. I grinned.
"Welcome to the Warren-" Bunny said. His ears perked and he sniffed the air. "Something's up."
"I sense it too... Or, rather I hear it." I muttered, grabbing my bow and stringing an arrow. I heard a shrill scream come from one of the tunnels and lowered my weapon. The guardians, yeti's, and eggs bellowed out their loudest battle cries and went to charge.
"Wait!" I yelled as a small girl came giggling out of the bushes. Everyone froze and I face palmed.
"Sophie?" Jack asked.
"Elf, elf, elf!" Sophie chirped, chasing an elf around.
"What is SHE doing HERE?!" Bunny exclaimed. North checked his pocket.
"Ah, snow globe." North said, mildly embarrassed. I face palmed and put away my bow.
"Crikey! Somebody do something!" Bunny said, watching the small girl chase the elf.
"Don't look at me, I'm invisible, remember?" Jack said.
"Don't worry, Bunny. I bet she's a faerie fan." Tooth said confidently. "It's okay little one."
"Birdie!" Sophie giggled, dropping the elf with a little clap.
"Awww! You know what, I got something for you. Here it is." Tooth pulled something out of nowhere. "Look at all the pretty teeth with little blood and gum on them!"
Sophie screamed and ran away.
"Blood and gums? When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?" Jack asked as I walked over to Sophie as she stuck he head in a tunnel.
"Peek-a-boo!" She giggled. I laughed and picked her up, tickling her stomach.
"Pretty!" She squealed, reaching for my blood red hair. I laughed.
"You're pretty." I said. I put her down and she ran around again.
"We are very busy bringing joy to children! We don't have time..." He paused. "...for children."
"If one little kid can ruin Easter, then...we're in worse shape than I thought." Jack said, forming a snow flake. Sophie giggled and chased it around.
"Weeee! Weee, weee, weee!" Sophie giggled. It led her over to Bunnymund. The snowflake landed on Bunnymund's nose, it's magic taking hold almost instantly.
"You wanna paint some eggs? Yeah?" Bunny asked Sophie as a flower opened to reveal an egg with legs.
"Okay!" Sophie said.
"Come on then!" Bunny said.
"Rimsky Korsakov! That's a lot of eggs." North said in shock. I leapt over a stream of walking eggs to stand next to Jack.
"Uh, how much time do we have?" Jack asked me. I shrugged and grabbed his hand.
"Come on, check it out." I said, pulling him after me.
"Weeeeee!" Sophie yelled.
"Woooohoooo!" Bunny exclaimed. I smiled as I saw Sophie clinging to his back as he hopped around. Magic flowers blasted the eggs with color as Bunny passed.
"Alright troops, it's time to push back. That means eggs! Everywhere!" Bunny announced. North stood atop the Sorting Stones and waves to Sophie as she passes by on her back.
"Heaps of you in every high-rise, farm house, and trailer park!" Bunny continued.
"In tennis shoes and cereal bowls!" I led Jack over to the multi-colored stream.
"Oh, there will be bathtubs filled with my beautiful googies!" Bunny said. I laughed as an elf that shoved an egg into the stream got tackled by a stampede of eggs. I watched as an unlucky egg got stuck in a whirlpool. North plucked it from the stream and examined the swirls on the egg, its little legs kicking like mad.
"Okay, that's little strange." North said.
"Naw, mate-" Bunny said. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as I saw Bunny. Butterflies fluttered around him and eggs stood at his feet. "That's adorable."
"Is that a flower behind his ear?" I whispered to Jack. He snickered. North placed the egg back in the herd as a technicolor elf waddled by. Jack and I climbed atop a group of sentinel egg.
"There will be springtime! On every continent! And I'm bringing hope with me!" Bunny said. I leaned my head on Jack's shoulder with a smile. We hopped off the eggs and walked through the arch, over to Bunnymund.
"Not bad." Jack said. I smiled as Sophie yawned and fell asleep.
"Not bad yourself." Bunny said with a smile, glancing at our entwined fingers. I blushed slightly and looked to the swarm of eggs heading through the tunnels.
"Look, I'm sorry about that whole, you know, the 'kangaroo' thing." Jack said.
"It's the accent, isn't it?" Bunny said, standing with Sophie in his arms. North and Tooth came up behind us and smiled at the sight of Sophie. I almost asked where Sandy was but bit my lip in remembrance. Bunny's face softened as he watched the sleeping child.
"Ah, poor little ankle-biter. Look at her, all tuckered out." Bunny said.
"I love her!" Tooth said.
"I think it's time to get her home." I said, examining her sleeping form. "Her parents are sure to notice her absence."
"You're right." Bunny said, going to hand her to me. I shook my head.
"I can't. What if I run into my dad? He'll go for my blood, no doubt. And the trauma of-"
"Say no more, I'll take her." Tooth said. Bunny handed her the sleeping girl.
"How about I take her home?" Jack offered.
"Jack, no! Pitch is-"
"-no match for this." Jack said, twirling his staff.
"Which is why we need you here, with us." Bunnymund said.
"Trust me, I'll be quick as a bunny." Jack said. I frowned but nodded to Tooth, who handed off the sleeping child. The Guardians headed for the tunnels but I hung back to talk to Jack.
"Jack, please. If Pitch attacks here..." I said, unconscionably placing a hand across my collar bone. Jack sighed and shook his head.
"I'll be quick, I promise. Don't worry. Pitch won't hurt you." Jack said. I hugged him, careful not to squish the sleeping child in his arms. I let go and took a step back.
"I hope you're right." I said. He smiled slightly and Baby Tooth squeaked, pointing to Sophie and then the sky. She sat in his hood as he took off.
"Come on, Lovey." Bunny said. I turned to him and sighed, rubbing my arm. I felt like something bad was about to happen. I followed Bunnymund, not really watching where I was going. A loud anguished whiny caused me to snap out of my trance. I looked up to see a stampede of nightmares barreling towards me. I screamed as they slammed into me. I hit my head on a rock and that plus a stamp to the skull caused me to black out.