OHMY LOOK AT THIS LONG CHAPTER *falls on the floor* I really really hope this is a good chapter because this is the longest chapter I've written so far and I just want it to be good enough omg how do I even write Bunny and Winter in the same chapter without going insane? *cries* and you guys will be probably be confused and I wish I could explain everything in just one chapter ;v; anyway, thank you all for your wonderful reviews and I'm sorry if I forgot to reply to someone. And heeeey we're almost at 40 chapters! All thanks to you guys, really!

Skypeoplephoenix732: I noticed I didn't reply to your previous review but many thanks! ;v; and I'm glad you understood and enjoyed what I'm trying to do~ thank you so so much for your lovely reviews!

If you have any requests, let me know!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians.

Summary: In which Bunnymund meets Winter properly.

34. Forgive

Bunnymund had always been a practical being.
To him, people could never change. They were what they were and end of story.

Aster had never noticed how much he had changed after Jack Frost invaded his life. In fact, if he had payed a bit more attention to things around him, he'd have noticed how the Guardians themselves had changed. He'd have noticed how often they reunited now, calling meetings over and over again only to check on each other and be sure everything was okay and to see if there was nothing trying to harm the children over the world again. He'd have noticed how Tooth went back to field, collecting teeth herself, how North's toys seemed to have a bit more of wonder and magic on them. How Sandy's dreams were now always filled with fun and curiosity. How his googies had more patterns on them, blue and white and snowy.

He'd have put a bit more of faith into Pitch Black, someone who always took what he wanted and destroyed what he hated without a single drop of guilty on his veins.
He'd have noticed how the dark spirit had changed oh so slowly, becoming the father he once had been in a long time ago, times that had been lost and found again.

When Aster finally noticed it, it was just too late.

Jack Frost was gone, and he had taken his little tricks with him.

After finally taking the vows of guardianship and joining their 'little weirdo group', the boy had became an important part of their lives. He was a constant, even if he couldn't stay quiet in the same place for more than two minutes. With his childish happiness and easy smile, it was hard not to want to be around him. He was an immortal child that would never grow up, and he was also a strange kind of glue that made them stick together like a family they had been once. Jack made them remember what it really meant to be a Guardian of Childhood, the reasons they were who they were.

And now that he was gone, Bunny could see the effects of his absense as clear as day. He could see how easily they had fallen into the old ways, worrying more about their works than about the children they were supposed to protect from evil. Even Pitch Black had became quite unbearable after weeks of pure nothing, angry and dangerous almost all the time, snapping at the minimal thing. Tooth was the only one that dared to approach the Boogeyman, the only one that could soothe him and make him calm down because 'Jack still needs you'.

They had failed Jack, and what hurt the most was the realization that Jack, a child that they had neglected for three hundred years, a child that had his hopes destroyed by the very Guardians that swore to protect it by all costs, was gone for good and that was their fault. It hurt to know that Aster had lost another little brother.

They should've protected the winter child since his first breath as Jack Frost.
If they had failed their own child, how could they protect every child over the world?

His grip on the blank googie tightened more than he had expected, yet Aster realized his mistake in time, relaxing his muscles before he shattered the poor little creature that had nothing to do with his sudden anger and frustration. There was so much going on his mind since they had found Jack. They had waited patiently to summer to come to an end, for Pitch had ensured them that Jack would wake up once the overheated season was over, once it was cold enough for him to come back.

And when the winter child had waken up, they had so been sure everything would be fine because they'd never allow the child to be out of their sight again-

But to their utter despair, Jack Frost once more was gone, replaced by a strange creature that sometimes seemed not to have feelings at all, sometimes seemed to feel countless things at the same time.

Hope was such a fragile, weak thing that shattered at any harsh touch.
How was he supposed to be the Guardian of Hope, when his own kept breaking and cracking day after day?

"Aster?"

The Pooka snapped his head up just too quickly, the muscles of his neck screaming against the movement.

Blue eyes that resembled a snowstorm stared right into his own emerald eyes with such an intensity that it made Bunnymund feel uncomfortable. But to his surprise, the child-like thing just looked away as quickly, a soft trail of frost covering his cheeks as if he was just blushing. Small, pale fingers fidgeted at the end of the blue hoodie, as if he couldn't keep his hands still for longer than a second. It was always terrifying to see Jack without his staff, but then Aster would remember that child floating inches away from the warm ground of his Warren wasn't Jack Frost. It was just something else locked within his body, keeping their immortal child away from them.

"Why're ya here?"

"I-I know I shouldn't be here..." Jack's voice was always as soft as a cold breeze, lacking the childish energy from before. Another reason to Bunny to dislike that stupid creature that refused to bring their real Jack back. "Too much cold inside. Hope is meant to be warm, but now it feels wrong, writhing, wriggling."

"Shut it up, creepy. Stay out of mah mind and my Warren."

"I can help..."

"I don't wanna yer help!" The child backed away at his sudden outburst, looking so lost and young and hurt that Aster really felt bad for yelling at him. It was the same, painful expression Jack had held on that Easter fiasco, when they had believed he had betrayed them and then pushed him away without allowing him to tell his side of the story. "Just stay away."

"Why... do you hate me so much? I did... nothing wrong..."

"Ya keeping Jack away, mate. That's bad enoug' for me."

"I'm not bad! I'm helping him!"

And then it was Bunnymund's time to step away, eyes wide in surprise and fear. That was the first time in weeks that he had heard Jack speaking loudly, looking as fierce and angry as a blizzard. The wind swirled around him dangerously, threatening to bring the same snowstorm raging in those blue eyes right into his Warren and destroy all his precious work. Fortunately something seemed to caught the child's attention and he relaxed visibly, the cold air and danger disappearing as quickly as it had showed up. Jack moved softly, eyes shining in awe and curiosity as he looked around, focusing on the warmth, the flowers, getting lost in the nature involving him. He watched as some googies ran away from his cold, seeking shelter behind Bunny.

And he laughed.

It was a laugh full of happiness, excitement and amazement.
A child's laugh.

Aster felt his ears lowering against his head, the shame hiting him as painful as a stab on the back. He had been making the same mistakes all over again, judging Jack Frost without even trying to stop and listen to the child. It didn't matter if that wasn't the Frostbite he knew, it was still a child.

"It's not your fault. They'd have died anyway."

A shiver ran down his fur at the quiet words that meant more than he'd like to understand, and then he noticed those intense blue eyes staring past him, as if looking right at his very soul. Jack floated closer, slow and cautious as if his mere presence could make the Pooka flee. Small fingers touched his paw, the coldness spreading through his fur in tender waves, bringing with it a tranquility he didn't know he could still feel. His defenses crumbled under that sweet touch and he allowed himself to get lost in that snowstorm.

"The stone is cracked, crushed, jagged." The words seemed to twist the old pain that had rotted within his chest. It hurt, yet he couldn't pull himself away from the frozen hand holding him in place. "The kit would have been safe if he had listened, but kits don't listen to anyone."

"Stop it..."

"You keep going back, seeking, searching but home is long gone, lost in shadows. He wishes he could change the past, bend it to his will and right his wrongs. Now he can see more, he remembers how it feels like to lose a family. He could've fought the darkness. He could've had be strong but the nightmares were stronger."

Aster just stood still, waiting for the words to sink in so maybe, just maybe they could make a little sense.

Jack couldn't be talking about Pitch Black... could he?
The Boogeyman never felt guilty for anything he ever did on his life. He didn't weep for his lost loved ones as Bunnymund had done.

But Aster had watched Pitch tire himself out over and over again while searching Jack Frost. He watched as the older spirit wandered through the Pole day and night, scared and hurt and desperated. Bunny had felt the new, fragile hope that blossomed inside Pitch when Jack was finally back. And he was still waiting patiently for his winter child to come back, treating that strange creature as docile as he'd treat Jack.

"He knows that enduring is pain. He hurts for you, for all those he could've saved but didn't. He wishes you could forgive him."

The cold touch on his warm fur disappeared, yet the breathtaking feelings stayed behind, coursing through his body and mind slowly, allowing him to taste the poison coming from the old wounds buried deep inside, unravelling the rotten knots keeping the pain there, fresh as ever. It hurt and burned, yet he knew it was for the best. The anger, the rage and agony were just too much for him to keep swallowing over and over again.

He meant Hope. New life, new beginnings.
How could he bring Hope if he was always so hopeless?

The winter child offered him a gentle smile full of compassion.

And when the Pooka finally understood what had just happened, the last of his defenses fell down, crumbling to dust right in front of his eyes but he couldn't bring himself to care. He would never forget what Pitch Black had done, he couldn't simply brush off his family, his past as if they were nothing. It didn't mean he should keep dwelling on what had happened so many eons ago, it didn't mean he should keep feeding himself on the distasteful poison that was anger and never-ending hatred.

He had a new family. People that cared for him, that were always there whenever he needed them. He could cherish and mourn the family he had lost, but he shouldn't be blind to the one he had got now. They weren't related by blood but by love and that was stronger than anything else.

Aster finally let the breath he didn't know he was holding out, the strange feeling of peace and calmness washing over him in a second. Oh how long had it been since he felt so hopeful, so full of life. Emerald eyes met blue ones for a long, quiet moment and then the giant bunny smiled, placing a paw over the white hair of the child.

That wasn't Jack Frost, but it surely wasn't as bad as he had believed either.

"Thank ya, Frostbite. Sorry for yellin' at ya before."

"You miss him. I can understand."

The child smiled once more before his attention got caught by something else, and Bunnymund simply watched his precious googies being chased away around the Warren by a winter, joyful spirit.

He wasn't sure of what would happen tomorrow or in the next time he'd meet Pitch Black, but he was entirely sure of something.

The next Easter would be the greatest of them all.

Thank you for reading!
See ya~