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Ch. 34

Bunny sat in his warren idly painting his egglets, as his mind continued to wander back to Nona. She'd left so abruptly; how much of their conversation had she heard? He'd practically confessed everything to Jack right then and there. Had he scared her off? More importantly, who was this Aiden fellow?

Placing his supplies aside, Bunny set out to find her. He needed to explain.

...

Nona remained huddled in her chair watching the fire burn with her sore red eyes as her thoughts continued to ruminate over her lost friendship; it tore her heart to shreds. But now, she had no more tears to cry. In fact, Nona was starting to wish they had let her drown after all.

With a heavy sigh she leaned back, recalling the stinging sensation as the ice cold water engulfed her, the ache in her lungs, the bliss of sinking...of dying.

She glued her eyes shut as Pitch's cruel words started to play through her mind.

Worthless, Useless, Deceitful, Unworthy, Frightening, Unloved!

Pulling her legs tightly against her chest Nona continued to watch the flames dance in the hearth, as her thoughts grew ever darker. Death seemed so much more appealing than what she was enduring now.

Wearily, she rested her head upon her knees, allowing her mind to run wild; she needed to escape.

...

When Bunny finally arrived at Nona's sanctuary, he knew something was up; the entire area was desolate. Even the trees were oddly still. Carefully, he started off towards the house, when group of greyhounds promptly cut him off.

"Crikey!" he cried, as he leapt out of the way. "Ya little buggers! What'd ya do that for?!"

They just sat down on in front of Bunny, eyeing him suspiciously.

He brought a paw to his face in irritation; her phantoms had startled him to say the least, and he wasn't in the mood for games.

"Look, I need to find Nona." He grumped.

They didn't budge.

Bunny rolled his eyes. "Look, it' important, alright?"

Reluctantly, one of them started to escort him to the house.

...

Nona's eyes were wide with fear as she scanned North's face, his brows furrowed in disappointment. "Nona how could you do this?"

She could feel her heart race "I-I don't understand..."

"Nona, you know that love is forbidden between Guardians!" Tooth cried.

She finally noticed of the angry glow of the moon, and her breathing quickened. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she exclaimed, locking her eyes with Sandy.

"We didn't think we'd need to." Jack laughed.

Her eyes went wide. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He rested his staff on his shoulder. "Oh come on Nona, isn't it obvious?"

She shook her head and he laughed even more. "I guess you have been hanging around the Kangaroo too much." he scoffed. "You've become a little too hopeful."

"Jack..." She whispered in disbelief. Frankly, a slap in the face would have hurt less.

Tooth hovered closer with a frown. "No one could love you like that Nona, especially not Bunny. Relationships distract us from our duties."

"Is our love not enough?" North asked.

"No, it's not like that at all! I-I just feel safer around him!" She sent Bunny a pleading look; he could explain this mess.

North crossed his arms. "Do you not feel safe with us?"

"No, I-I mean..." she threaded her hands through her hair. "Please this is all just a big misunderstanding!"

"Nona, admit it! You loooove him." Jack hounded.

Bunny's his ears flattened against his head.

Nona shook her head vigorously. "No! Please Bunny, I swear your friendship is enough. We can go right back to the way things were. You'll see, it will be just like-"

"No."

She froze. "What?"

"I can't do that Nona."

Her eyes were glossy with unshed tears "Bunny, please I beg of you..." she choked "I can't lose you."

He just lowered his head as he turned away. "You already have..."

Suddenly Phil grabbed hold of her. "No please, wait!" she screamed as he dragged her out of the shop. "Bunny!"

...

In a matter of seconds she found herself sprawled out in the frozen snow, her face wet with tears.

"Oh this is too precious!" Pitch's voice rang.

Clambering to her feet, Nona felt the panic course through her veins, as she frantically wiped away at her face. "Stay away from me Pitch!" she growled, feigning bravery.

In an instant she could feel his arms encircle her waist, as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "Now why would I do that?" he cooed, his breath caressing the shell of her ear

"Stop!" she screeched as she stumbled forward into the snow.

In one swift movement, Pitch had her arms pinned above her head, smiling down at her wickedly. "Nona, why do you always try to resist me?"

Using his free hand, the nightmare king began tracing her lips; she squeezed her eyes shut in revulsion, as fresh tears trailed down her cheeks. 'No no no no no! This isn't happening!'

Abruptly, Pitch brought his head down next to hers. "Relax." He said with a dark laugh as he adjusted his weight.

Nona felt her stomach churn; glancing over to the side, she met his sinister yellow eyes. He was smiling!

She flinched as she felt him move his hand lower down her cheek, her jaw, her neck, her chest, hovering just above her left breast. She couldn't help the cry that escaped her lips. "Please don't..." she pleaded.

"This is your fate Nona." He whispered, his lips pressed against the pulse of her neck; she gasped as a black blade was thrust into her heart. Kissing her neck once again, Pitch twisted the blade sharply causing her to scream in agony as it scraped against bone.

Abruptly, he rose up with a laugh, locking his eyes with hers. "Face it Nona, you were destined to die alone with a broken heart."

...

Nona awoke with a start. Clutching the material above her heart she released a shaky breath as she tried to ease her nerves. That nightmare had seemed far too real for her taste.

Unexpectedly, one of her phantom phased though the door. "I thought I gave you orders to stay away!" she snapped; her nerves were too frazzled to deal with intrusions.

"I'm afraid I can't do that mate."

She frowned, never turning away from the fire. "What are you doing here?"

Straightening up, Bunny gathered his composure before resting on his haunches beside her. "Nona, there's something I want to ask you."

"What?" she spat.

He cleared his throat. "How much did ya hear?"

"Is this about your conversation with Jack?"

Bunny nodded his head.

"Well I certainly heard enough to know how you really feel." She scoffed, resting her head on her arms

Bunny's ears drooped. "But I thought... I mean, before you fell through the ice you were going to say-"

"I was near death! What did you expect?" she cried, gripping her hair in frustration. "I wish I hadn't said anything in the first place!"

Bunny turned away, as he tugged his ears back. "You mean... ya regret it?"

"Only every waking moment!" she cried, bringing her hands to her eyes.

"It's 'cause of Aiden, isn't it?" his voice was faint.

Nona sniffed, turning to face him. "What?"

Bunny released a heavy sigh. "I'm not the one that who really makes you feel safe, it's Aiden. I'm just his replacement."

"What on earth would give you that idea?"

He turned towards her but he never met her gaze. "After what ya said to Jack."

Nona scrutinized his face. "Ok, well I don't remember so what exactly did I say?"

Bunny slumped forward. "Jack mentioned something about your father and... marriage."

Nona's eyes went wide.

"Look it's obvious ya loved the guy, but Nona... I can't take his place."

She just stared at him in disbelief. "Of course you can't, because Jack already has."

He frowned.

"Bunny," she chided "I already told you how I feel about Jack."

He rolled his eyes with a grunt, as she turned to face fire. There was a brief silence before she spoke again with a laugh. "Aiden was my kid brother."

Bunny's furrowed his brow. "But all that talk about marriage..."

She stared at him in confusion. "You mean North didn't tell you?"

He shook his head.

"It was an arranged marriage; I was promised to some gent named Norville."

He cringed. "Norville?"

She released a sad laughed. "That's what I said. But they were doing it out of love; they knew that no man in his right mind would willingly marry me."

In a single bound he was in front of her with a stern expression. "Jack said you thought your father was right."

Nona sank down in her seat, trying to avert her gaze. "That because he is. My affections nothing more than a nuisance to you."

"What are ya talkin' about?"

Nona pulled her hood down further, attempting to hide her pain. "Oh please, I heard what you said to Jack."

His eyes went wide with realization; she'd only heard the tail end of the conversation. "Nah mate, you've got it all wrong."

She turned to face him, eyes brimming with tears. "I-I can change I swear! I'm fine with just being friends; we can pretend like nothing was ever said. Look, I know I'm a pest but-"

Bunny flinched. "Hang on a minute, you are many things to me Nona, but a pest isn't one of 'em."

She sniffed, locking onto his gaze. "But you said..."

He smiled at her softly, green eyes twinkling with mischief. "There's something I've been meaning to tell ya."

Nona self-consciously shifted her gaze away, bracing herself for bad news. "What's that?"

No sooner had she uttered those words before she felt Bunny's lips pressed to hers; her eyes went wide as he pulled her forward, tangling his paw into her hair to deepen the kiss.

Abruptly he pulled away with a smile. "I'm in love with ya Lottie."

Nona just blinked in complete shock, her heart thundering in her chse "Y-you..." she couldn't finish, before he gave her another peck on the lips; she felt her breath caught in her throat, as her cheeks turned a rosey hue.

Bunny pulled back with a chuckle, before he caught sight of her tears. "H-hey now-" But Nona cut him off as she launched herself into his arms with a snivelling laugh. "I love you too."