A Sandy Winter
Chapter 20: Jack and Bunny Talk
"Talk about what?" if Jack was nervous he certainly didn't show it, almost relaxing in the pond as he put his hands behind his head and looked up at the much larger animal.
Bunny glared at him. "You not telling me that you needed cold for starters."
Jack snorted. "Bunny, I'm a winter spirit and your Warrens are underneath Australia. That alone should have explained everything to you. But I promise; next time I'll tell you."
Bunny wanted to say that there wouldn't be a next time but was forced to concede that Jack did have a valid point. He really should have thought about that instead of focusing on how to get rid of Tooth. "All right, I'm sorry," Bunny growled.
Jack's eyes flew wide open in amazement and he turned his head around to gape at Bunny. "Huh," he said at last. "If Sandy were here he'd probably faint from astonishment." At the mere mention of the little dreamer Jack's face crumpled and he looked remarkably on the verge of tears. "I want Sandy back," he crossed his arms and stuck out his bottom lip.
All of Bunny's panic came flooding back in a rush. Was Jack fixing to cry? Now?! Suddenly Sandy couldn't get back soon enough. Seeing the first tears leak out of Jack's blue eyes Bunny looked around wildly in an attempt to find something to grab the boy's interest then his own eyes lit up when he spotted something. "Would you like to learn to paint eggs?" he asked quickly.
Jack's tears disappeared and he looked at Bunny hopefully. "Really?" he breathed. "I can paint your eggs?"
"Just a few," Bunny said, already wondering if he was going to regret this. "And no silly designs either."
Jack pouted for a second then cheered up. "Kids love silly designs," he stated even as he began to climb out of the small pond.
"How would you know?" Bunny asked before he could stop himself. "I thought you were invisible."
Jack's smile faded. "Just because they can't see me doesn't mean that I don't spend time with them," he hissed. "I spend all of my free time bringing them snow days and having snowball fights with them. As long as the kids are happy then I am too. Now where are those eggs?"
Bunny could only stand there, dumbfounded. The kids couldn't see Jack but he still went out of his way to make them happy? Suddenly he could see why the Moon had chosen Jack to be an Immortal. He genuinely cared about the children, even when doing so meant hurting himself. He shook himself out of his thoughts when he realized that Jack was still waiting for an answer. "The eggs are this way, mate," he said, his voice oddly gentle as he led Jack through the Warrens.
To Bunny's everlasting surprise Jack was not only a decent painter he was an excellent one. He was a little clumsy at first but quickly caught the hang of it; even going so far as to point out flaws in Bunny's egg! He didn't do it again. His designs were good though and he had a pretty good grasp of what the kids liked and didn't like. Apparently there was some kind of war going on so they had to be careful of what color they painted the eggs too. Gray and blue were out as well as yellow stripes and the word 'Freedom'. It was all very confusing to Bunny but Jack patiently explained it to him, although some of the details were very…interesting not to mention downright gross especially when Jack started describing some of the battles that he had seen take place. Although that did explain the unusual amount of snowstorms in the southern United States and why a lot of lights had vanished off the Globe at once, scaring North so badly he had summoned them all together thinking that it was Pitch until Sandy had explained that a group of children had been killed by soldiers. They had lit candles for the children then returned to their respective homes. Now, Bunny wondered, how could Jack stay so optimistic and so…childlike after witnessing all of those horrors? The boy was obviously built out of sturdier stuff than he had originally thought. But it wasn't always a bad thing to be wrong; sometimes it was good. Not that he would ever admit that of course but he smiled to himself anyways as Jack launched into an amusing tale about how he had made the poor soldiers wander around the snow for hours, lost beyond hope and mused that maybe Jack Frost was a halfway decent kid after all.
A/N: Jack is about 114 (he was 14 when the Moon made him). Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciated it! I'm hoping to reach 500 by the time this story is finished (have no clue when that will be by the way but hopefully not too much longer). And don't worry; Jack will soon be on his own again (for about a chapter or so anyways) and then Sandy will return! Yay! And then…well I have to figure out the end of this story and maybe work in Pitch as well but I warn you; I don't write very good battle scenes! They suck! I am much better at writing fluff (like this story). Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or suggestions just let me know!