Jack finally found Bunny weeding a patch of garden. It seemed Bunny spent a lot of time tending to gardens, weeding and coaxing and feeding and watering.

It looked like a lot of work to Jack, and vague memories of a life before being a spirit told him it was, but not necessarily bad work.

He was still going to stay away from the plants he wasn't sure could take a frost, though. Big difference between doing that on accident to a plant outside to harming something in the Warren. That almost felt like sacrilege.

Jack watched Bunny work for a minute before he swooped down and blew a cold draft over the back of Bunny's neck.

Bunny screeched, fur standing straight up and his ears snapping to attention as he jumped several feet in the air.

Jack was sent spinning through the air by the reaction and he howled with laughter as he tumbled.

"Bloody show pony," Bunny grumbled, freezing for a second after the words slipped out, as if afraid that it was still too soon for insults, even affectionate ones, but Jack kept laughing.

He swooped down to tap Bunny's nose with a laughing "Boop!" and flitting back up just out of reach. "Hey Bunny," he added.

"Hey, Jack," Bunny replied with a sigh and a fond smile. "What was that about, ya loon?"

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. Saw the opportunity and took it, I guess." He drifted back down to the ground, crouching on a rock near Bunny. "Doin' somethin' important?"

Bunny shrugged. "You're more important. What's up, Snowflake?"

It was Jack's turn to shrug. He crossed his arms, resting them atop his knees, and dropped his chin onto his crossed arms. "Just wanted to drop in, I guess. Spoke to Tooth, a little. Hey, you're super old, right?"

Bunny snorted in only half feigned irritation at the question, drawing himself up. "What you gettin' at, there, young'un?"

Jack let out a short giggle at that, slipping down on his rock to sit with one leg dangling, other knee drawn up and an arm resting on that knee. "Just thinkin'. Dunno about you, but after the last week, I was wondering if there's like a, spirit of therapy or something. And if they'd be, yanno, up to date or still ancient in their approach."

Bunny paused, tilting his head as he thought it over. "Gotta be somebody," he mused. "Even if they're new. Ya want me ta put out some feelers?"

Jack shrugged again. "So long as you guys don't blow me off I might be okay. Not ready to talk about it yet."

"We'll be here when ya are," Bunny said.

Jack grinned. "Really are soft, huh? Even with all the tough front you put on."

"Yeah, well, you keep it to yourself there Snowflake. Hard enough ta get respect when people see a big rabbit as is," Bunny grumbled.

"Like I get any," Jack snorted, and waved his hand. "Safe with me Kangaroo."

Bunny gave him a glare, if a mild one. "Thought we were quittin' wit' the kangaroo jokes," he said warningly.

Another short giggle, and Jack stuck out his tongue.

Then he paused, looking down at Bunny. "They bother you like Frostbite did me?" he asked. Bunny paused as well, thinking it over for a moment, before shrugging.

"Suppose not. Not my favorite nickname, but can't say I hate it that much," he said, scratching at an ear. "But you didn't come to talk about tha', did ya, Jackie?"

Jack sighed and slid down the rock, leaning on his staff. "I guess not," he said, glancing up at Bunny though his bangs. "I mean...I didn't really come to talk about something in particular, just...needed to talk, yanno?"

"About all the stuff we shoulda told ya before, yeah. And in general." Bunny crouched and Jack sat next to him, both of them attempting casual but a touch too tense to pull it off.

"So, Tooth says her courtship includes flying. Anything we did together that could've counted?" Jack asked bluntly.

Bunny paused, thinking it over. "Most Pooka don't, anymore. Didn't. Not sure which one's right anymore," he said. "Big on logic, they are. 'M not a proper Pooka anymore, ain't been in centuries. Last I was around 'em, it was all contracts and legalities. Long time before that, was the chase. Tryin' to catch each other. Lettin' yourself be caught. Circlin' each other. Puttin' on a show."

"Like with the coats?" Jack said lightly, and Bunny's ears twitched.

"Ya ain't the only one needin' a bit a courtin'," Bunny said, looking anywhere but at Jack. "Been a long time since we did anythin' married-like, folk need a little fussin'."

"Aw, that's sweet," Jack said, and Bunny whipped around to snap at him for teasing only to find Jack smiling at him honestly. "No, really, it is. See, soft. Good soft."

Bunny grumbled but reached out to ruffle Jack's hair. "Didn't get a lot o' that after ya woke up, did ya?" he said quietly. "Yer a right gumby but ya deserve it anyway."

Jack huffed out a chuckle, looking up at Bunny from under that paw. "Yeah, well, Winter's not really known for being soft," he said, just as quietly. "Can't afford it."

"It's getting there," Bunny said. "The more people have places to be safe, the more they like it. Like th' kids and all the games you start."

"Leading them home was always so hard when they couldn't see me," Jack said, shifting until he could lean against Bunny.

Bunny had to pause at that. "I never heard about that," he said. "You led them home, Jackie?"

"Sometimes I'd just get this feeling like there was someone lost in the woods," Jack said, not looking at Bunny but out across the Warren instead. "I'd have to do things like snowballs or snowmen or frost animals to lead them out of the woods home...or to a real home, sometimes."

"...yer jus' full of surprises," Bunny said softly, a cautious arm going around Jack's shoulders. "Why do ya let everyone think so bad o' ya?"

Jack shrugged. "Spirits gonna think what they want. Too much effort to correct 'em. The ones that matter take the time to learn about the real me."

"Still are, Snowflake," Bunny said as Jack leaned against him. "Still are."


Jack found himself dozing in the Warren, and let himself. It wasn't often he got to nap in the springtime warmth without being harassed by Spring spirits wanting every last bit of Winter gone.

Probably going to be less likely now that Bunny was obviously approving of him, and none of them had had the power to make him leave, just to annoy him into going, but still.

Bunny was weeding again but still nearby, and that was nice too. To be able to just be near each other, comfortable in the presence of the other.

They may not have been getting into the really emotional talks yet, but sheesh, these were draining.

The Warren was quiet, but a calm, soothing quiet, not like the sterile quiet of the Snow Queen's Palace, and Jack was just on the verge of drifting off into a doze when Bunny's voice roused him.

"Hey, Jack?"

Jack roused himself and propped himself up on his elbows to look at Bunny, who was crouched back on his heels again, looking out over the Warren with a distant look on his face.

"What's the word, hummingbird?" Jack asked.

Bunny glanced over his shoulder at Jack, and the look on his face set Jack off into giggles, falling back onto the grass as he giggled and snorted.

"I will never understand Earth humor," Bunny grumbled, but there was amusement laced under the irritation. He turned to better face Jack, using his front paws to come closer. "Jack, you haven't brought it up, but...how are you doing? Dealin' wit' the whole...I ain't processed it all yet."

Jack's laughter died off and he stared up at the false sky of the Warren silently.

"I don' know what it was like, in there," Bunny said, still gentle, "but I know what it was like when..." he paused, rubbing a paw over his face, and took a deep breath before continuing. "Ah, sometimes it was almost easier when ah didn't let myself have emotions. Not as worth it. When ya went cold on us. When she made you go cold. Felt like mah heart stopped. Well, sort of. Can't properly explain it. An' it musta been so much worse, I don't know how ta help ya but I want ta. I let things fester before an' it's never clean when it finally gets looked ta."

Jack wrestled with a rush of anger. No, Bunny didn't know what it was like, and was he trying to compare the pain?

No, he wasn't, he was trying to communicate, but the flash of anger must have shown on his face as Bunny hadn't said anything yet. Sparking a fight would have been so very, very easy at that moment, only a word could have done it.

Because it felt like he was complaining about how much Jack's kidnapping hurt him, and Jack fumbled with his words as he tried to explain that.

Bunny waited, though his ears flickered from time to time, letting Jack dump it all out. Finally Jack stuttered to a halt, words failing, and Bunny huffed softly.

"Sometimes I really don't know wha' I'm doin'," he murmured, loping that last bit closer to Jack. "Sometimes I don' think I'll ever understand. I ain't compairin' pain, Snowflake. Unless it's ta say that while we were hurtin', you had to have it worse. We were so scared."

Jack leaned back against Bunny, the insult fading. "I don't think I've ever heard you admit that before," he said softly. "Even when...you know. Easter."

Bunny huffed again, but this one was more amused and short than the last. "Yeah, well. Image and all. Don' let Pitch know yer scared. Bad enough he kin feel it."

Jack huffed out a laugh of his own, but it was bitter enough to come out as a small puff of frost. He stared at the dissipating cloud before he started speaking, feeling as if it were someone else talking, not him. "It was so cold," he said. "I haven't been cold since I came out of the lake. But when her ice shards started taking over...I was so cold. And I couldn't...so numb. And cold."

Jack curled in on himself as he spoke, clutching at his arms, trying to get warm. "I...knew who all of you were, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. She wasn't allowed to hurt you, but it wasn't...good."

Bunny shifted, gently pulling Jack back until he was leaning against Bunny's chest, against warm, so warm, soft fur.

Jack felt something begin to thaw and leaned farther back against Bunny and into that warmth. "Then there was Baby Tooth. When she cried on my eyes and then kissed them, she melted the ice shards. Love. It's always been what melts the Snow Queen's ice, and I love that little fairy. Platonic, I think that made it stronger."

"Even before getting into how we hurt you right before she did," Bunny murmured into Jack's hair.

"That didn't help," Jack admitted. "I do...I'm pretty sure I love all of you, but it was pretty painful right then. Still is, a bit."

Bunny nuzzled at Jack's hair. "Ah, right buch a' nupties, ain't we? Tryin' not ta hurt ya and hurt ya worse instead."

"Yeah, well, no more secrets, and it'll get better," Jack said, tapping Bunny's nose.

"Gonna do our best. It's like Katherine said, we don't know what you don't know, but we ain't keepin' anythin' from ya on purpose anymore," Bunny said.

"That's all I'm asking," Jack said, leaning back against Bunny again. "Stay like this a bit? I still feel cold, remembering."

"Love to, Snowflake," Bunny said simply, squeezing Jack gently. "Nothin' I'd like more right now."


Jack had to move eventually. Both he and Bunny weren't suited for staying still for long periods of time.

They stayed like that longer than either had expected, both too content to move, but they eventually had to.

Jack set off on the Wind, ready to search out Sandy. These little talks weren't the only ones they were going to have to have before everything was smoothed out, but it was a start, and Jack was surprised to find he felt better after each one.

May as well see if he could keep that streak up.

Sandy was going to be hard to find. Technically, he had an island, complete with sand castle and mermaids, to call home, but giving good dreams to children meant he had to travel the world on a nearly constant basis.

Jack wasn't quite sure how it worked, since Sandy could leave it alone for a day or two to focus on something else and yet the kids still had sweet dreams, but they immediately began having nightmares when Pitch took him out.

Then again, Pitch probably had something to do with that.

Right now, Sandy could be anywhere it was dark, where kids were likely asleep by now...which was a fairly large area.

Somehow, it was like there was a new sense, telling Jack which way to go to find Sandy. North had mentioned something like that, once, he vaguely remembered. About being able to find each other. The question was, was Jack starting to feel it because he knew about the marriage, or because he was starting to come to terms with the idea, or because he was admitting, even if it was a sideways confession like the one he'd given to Bunny, that he was starting to love them.

If 'starting to' meant 'didn't want to think about life without them in it' at least. Jack was pretty sure he'd started to fall a good while back and just hadn't let himself admit it, since it was still strange to him to admit he cared about anyone like that, let alone this many people. There hadn't been anyone before to love romantically, he wasn't entirely sure what it should feel like.

Off in the distance, Jack spotted the glowing golden cloud that meant Sandy and put on an extra burst of speed to catch up with him.