Dark and Light: Blood Moon- Chapter 28

Authors note: hey guys last official chapter today- hold on what?... It's the last ... Official chapter today... Wow its come so fast! But yeah this story and series is actually coming to a close tommorow... It's weird to think that ... Still I really hope you like this chapter since it is the last official one- still got an epilogue to tie the ends together but yeah...

Please review- I'd really love to know what you guys think and I apologise for all the previous emotional trauma I put you through and I can't believe you've stuck with me this long so thank you you're all amazing! (Its not even the last update and I'm rambling^^) but yeah I'll see you tommorow with the last ever installment of Dark and Light

Bunny's fur enveloped him, as he wrapped his arms round him... and he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time... Warmth.

All his immortal life he'd been cold- it was never uncomfortable, it just was... But now... After three hundred years, he could remember... What it felt like to be warm. He'd known it once, when he used to sit with his sister beside the open fire in their little hut... and the memories of those fireside moments warmed his heart as much as the thick, grey fur surrounding him... He'd never hugged Bunny before- the closest they'd got to any kind of affection had been playful shoves and punches... It felt nice.

Emotion seemed to swell and calm within them all at the same time. Bunny's long held grief and heavy guilt meeting Jack's joy and calm relief. It felt like they'd gone into that embrace broken- and now, inside of it, were becoming whole once again. That simple, powerful action healing the wounds on their hearts.

The shadows of Jacks painful, twisted past finally left him- and clouds of loss and regret were finally parting over Bunny's heart. The embrace spoke in a way beyond words. A simple message- to both of them.

"It's okay".

Nothing more- nothing less. No 'I forgive you' because there was nothing to forgive- no 'everything going to be alright now' because who knew what the future held. But for now.. It was okay... The shadows were gone. They were finally together once again. At long last, something within them finally mended... and they felt complete.

They could finally put the past to rest... and move on. It was time for a fresh start. A new beginning... and Bunny more than most knew about that- Easter was about fresh starts after all.

The older Guardian loosened his grip and let the the moonbeam float before him. He let a grateful smile spread across his face, as the moonbeam shone like the sun. It'd been a long time since he'd smiled- it seemed like his whole world had stopped with Jack's death. But now, knowing that the youngest Guardian was alive once more, he felt as though he could finally carry on with life again. That was good. He missed the way things were before the moon turned dark.

It had all been so happy and calm- it almost seemed like a dream. Just a few minutes ago, those times had felt like an eternity away- but now seemed only like the weeks it had been. Everyone had been so miserable lately- wait, everyone! North! Tooth! Sandy!

"The others!" Bunny suddenly remembered, standing quickly. "They don't know! They think you're still dead- we've got to show them!" He exclaimed, turning- then paused. A slow, gentle smirk spreading across his face as he was about to do something he hadn't done in ages.
"Come on.. 'Sunny boy'." He joked, before he ran off- hopefully towards the other Guardians. He kept glancing beside him at the moonbeam that streamed beside him- as though still struggling to believe it was really there (or possibly to double check it wasn't just an illusion of his mind).

"Sunny-? Oh that's it. It is on Dingo Chow. You're gonna be sorry for that you Digeri-dunce- I've been working on these for years!" They passed a really strange looking arch with all kinds of strange materials set into it, and his mind suddenly switched topic.
"Where are we going?" He wondered. No response. "Hey- Spring Loaded Koala, where exactly is this?" Jack flickered to him, only to have the same silence answer him. "Hello? Earth, er- moon to rabbit?" He called out, irritably. " Oh he remembered. He couldn't understand him- he didn't know a word he was saying... Wait... He couldn't understand a word he was saying! A mischievous glint appeared within his glow. This could be fun.

"You stink of rotten eggs!" He flashed. "Christmas trumps Easter! You paint like a three year old!..." He taunted, going on and on with all the choice phrases he knew would get right under his fur. They were wasted on the completely oblivious rabbit, but that didn't make it any less hilarious. It just made it more brilliant!

He casually zoomed ahead and flipped back to throw the taunts to his face. Having all round vision really did make flying backwards a breeze- damn it! Another pun he couldn't use! He guessed he'd have to make do with some kind of 'eyes on the back of his head' thing
. "- Kanga-." He froze. He was still facing backwards, but he saw them long before he turned to face them.

The three Guardians all turned as they heard Bunny's arrival...Then they saw him.

His breath was stolen. Taken away- just like that...

Tooth gasped, as she cupped her hands around her mouth in disbelief. North's eyes went as big and round as baubles. Sandy looked like he was so in shock his mind had phased out of reality, and he needed a prod to bring him back to himself

... North... Tooth... Sandy... Wow... He just... He'd almost forgotten how beautiful they were. He seemed to notice every small thing he had taken for granted about them. Things that were almost nothing, but that he loved so much... The slight swish of Tooth's headdress as she turned... The glittering of Sandy's sand... The eternal wondrous glint in North's eyes...

The tiny things he never really paid attention too, but suddenly seemed the most beautiful things in the world... Had Tooth's feathers really been that green? Had Sandy been that small? He was sure North's beard hadn't been that long, had it? Somehow he knew that it had been. They were different to how he'd seen them in his head before this. His mind's vision couldn't nearly compare to the real thing... It was like seeing them all anew... and it was simply beautiful.

All of them- the people who he'd literally given up everything for- seeing them again... There was no better feeling in the world. He'd been through quite a rollercoaster of highs and lows in his lifetime and he had no doubt that this moment, right now, was by far the peak. Nothing else came close. Not getting his first believer- not even escaping the darkness for the first time-... because he thought he'd never see them again... He'd thought it would be goodbye the moment he touched that core...

But here he was... Finally where he belonged... With them. The Guardians. His self adopted family... And wasn't there a little, blue alien who once said: 'nobody gets left behind'? He wasn't leaving them behind... ever. Death itself couldn't keep him away.

Seeing all of them in front of him... he felt exactly how they looked- slowly filling up with overwhelming happiness, as shock slowly receded. He flickered a simple message to them- something only he would ever say.
"Hey guys... Ice to see you." He flashed. It was such an awful pun- even by his standards- but there could be no doubt now... they would finally know it was him. They turned to North for the translation who looked like he'd been poked between the eyes.
"It's him.." He whispered, dazed- tears suddenly spring in his eyes as a smile suddenly spread across his face.

No. No- stop it. He could not deal with this now- stop with the shiny eyes- oh, and Tooth's teary face. He was trying to stay cool- keep calm. He could not resist Tooth's puppy eyes. Stop. He swore if they found a way to make a moonbeam cry, they were cleaning up the puddles. No- he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't crying- he wasn't going to melt into a puddle in front of them. He was not going to dash over there and sweep them up like a tearful school girl.

Oh, who was he kidding.

Seeing all their emotions bubbling up on their faces- the beautiful, disbelieving joyous- the hope- relief- love. It was just too much. He just couldn't deal with all their wild emotions- feelings that were somehow getting transferred to him as well, until he found himself hyped up on pure joy. The energy buzzing throughout his being as every positive emotion flooded him at once. He couldn't hold it back. Forget acting cool- forget everything! His heart was in command, and it ignored his common sense.

He flew towards them- having no idea what he wanted or was going to do. He probably would've charged them or embraced them, if not for two things. His suddenly discovery that moonbeams were a lot quicker than he thought, reaching several hundred miles an hour at top speed (which he may or may not have been travelling at)- turning was really was not very easy when the world blurs and everywhere could be forwards.

He realised all this as he sped towards the Guardians, and ended up at the wall. And he didn't stop there.

Ow! What the-? Wall- floor- outta the way! That's a yeti! Toy pile! Phew-AH! Flying elf- banister- no idea what that is- oof! Random flying thing- ow- another one- ow- another! Why does North have these things?! This is like aerial pinball! Oh shi- taki mushrooms- oh-ah-ee-ah-ow- woah! Out of the way- no control! Toy pile! Crash! Uh oh- ow! That's a floor- no wait ceiling- since when do he turn up? Owwwwwww- skidding across the roof is not fun- move away- waa! Ah- ow- ow- another flying thing! Jeez- did he stop this thing?! Brakes! Stopstopstopstopstopstop- woah!... Whew, finally... It's a good things moonbeams couldn't throw up- he'd been on the wind's wildest roller coasters, but that was just nauseating... He tried to stop his head spinning... What was he looking at? Oh- that was the roof. He managed to reorientate himself and gather what little sense he had left.

Man that was crazy. He had no idea what had happened- what had he?... On second thought- don't look down. It's safer that way. Unfortunately, he couldn't help but see the carnage he'd caused even if he didn't look.

It looked like he'd just caused the latest toypocolyse. There was massive damage on every floor below him-wreckages of smashed and crashed flying things were dotted about everywhere. It seemed like he'd managed to knock almost every yeti over like bowling pins- and the ones that weren't on the floor were helping the others up. Elves pancakes were splattered everywhere- it reminded him of the time they managed to get their hands on a miniature catapult- they all looked like red, jingle bell wearing starfish... and the toys damage... He didn't even want to go there. The phrase 'toymageddon' was appropriate...

Oops.

Uh oh, he thought. Really not good. He was in for it this time. Time to fall back on rescue plan A, and do what he normally did in this situation. Fly for your life, and hide in a pile of snow for the next few days- he might have to make it a few weeks for this one, he'd messed up big time. Yeah- best go now, before North goes crazy.

He dashed towards the hatch they always left open for the moon (hey, that means he now has his own personal entrance to the Pole now- sweet), zipping towards it as fast as he could- ow... and overshot, smacking into the wall beside it. Gotta get used to this, he thought silently, before correcting himself and trying again- this time only bumping the edge of the hatch. He'll get the hang of it... eventually... Hopefully.

He streamed out into the night- only then realising how dark it was outside. It was pitch black out here (no intended reference to disco fever boogie man), and the stars were out in their thousands- maybe even millions, who knows- he wasn't exactly going to take the time to count them... He was in so much trouble. He paused listening, intently... Then he snickered, laughing uncontrollably- even from way out here he could still hear North's despairing cry as he saw his trashed workshop. Once a trickster- always a trickster. He didn't even have to try to cause trouble- he was just that good.

He should probably fly as fast as he could, but, really, he had no reason to hurry. He had hyper speed, he was fine. So, he just leisurely flew about the northern mountain ranges- getting a bit of moon flying practise- and enjoying the novelty of watching his glow light up the sides of the mountains.

He noticed that as one side lit up, the other was thrown into shadow... But that was okay. Just as long as that light remained, it didn't matter that the shadows did too- and for as long as shadows existed, so too would light. People could get bogged down with the fact that there was evil in the world, but the truth was there was plenty of light around too. Even in the greatest of darkness...

He shifted his gaze to the great, glowing rock in the sky- always shining, even in the blackest of skies- it had alwaus been a reminder to him that light could be found in every darkness. He felt relief an contentment spread through him as he watched... it was pure white- free from the red that had tried to control it once.

He had to admit, whoever thought of making him into a miniature moon- be it Sebastian, Ombric or Katherine-... they had a great sense of humour.

The moon: a glowing, white hovering ball that had been taken over by the darkness, turned red and, after a great struggle, finally broken free from it. Everything he'd just said could've easily been about himself- they both knew the power of darkness, just as they both knew the strength of the light. But at long last, they were both back to where they were meant to be. Free from the shadows. Fighting on the side of light.

The lingering shadows of Jack's past were finally gone.

At long last, Overland was dead... But Jack Frost, well... he planned on staying a lot longer.