Chapter 18
The Complete Opposite
"G:1, Egg:0," said Sandy.
Tooth tried to keep from laughing, but failed as she smacked him lightly on the shoulder and covered her mouth.
"You two were so mean to him!" she scolded through a smile.
Sandy shrugged smugly.
"Egg, G, checkmark, fireworks."
Tooth shook her head, but couldn´t get rid of her grin.
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Their eyes went back to the flower patch. They both stared at it for a moment, welcoming the laughter back into their bodies after so many somber hours.
Tooth took a deep breath and picked one of the puffy white carnations for herself, holding it carefully. She settled back onto the ground and fluffed the petals a few times before breaking the peaceful silence.
"Don´t tell North, but it was hard for me to get used to being the only girl. I know he tried to make me feel included by inviting me to go drinking with both of you. . ."
Sandy chuckled and Tooth blushed another smile.
"But I think I just needed some time," she finished, letting her own laugh join Sandy´s silent one.
The breeze picked up, swaying the bright colors back and forth in a gentle waltz. The bees quieted slightly, and the heaviness blew gently away from the two sitting figures.
"You know, they´re complete opposites, North and Bunny. . ." said Tooth with a frown.
Sandy nodded. He had noticed this fact many, many times over the course of many, many years.
"I remember liking North immediately," she chuckled. "I could barely understand his accent at first, but even with that, he was easy to get along with."
A fond smile warmed Sandy´s face as a candy cane formed above him.
Tooth furrowed her brows.
"Now that I think of it, I should´ve been comparing Bunny to you, not to North."
Sandy looked surprised, and he made a question mark above his head.
Tooth´s cheeks reddened.
"I didn´t know at the time, but you two are both from different planets, and you are closer in age to him than North is, right?" she asked.
Sandy grinned and gave a 'so-so' gesture.
Tooth bit her lips as her cheeks darkened further. A giggle escaped her, and she cringed slightly before speaking.
"Well, at the time. . . I thought he was a human who had turned into a rabbit after becoming immortal," she confessed. "I figured that´s why he was so grumpy!"
Sandy let out a snort as his smile squished his eyes and her laugh rang throughout the space.
The wind picked up again, turning the flower waltz into a swaying ballet routine. If the bluebells had been real bells, they would´ve tingled and chimed with wiggling enthusiasm along with the two guardians that admired them.
A frown waited to appear on her face until the wind had settled and the flowers stood still again.
"And then I found out that he was the only one left of his species."
The mood dampened significantly as the echo of Primula's identity settled onto their shoulders, pushing their heads down by a few degrees.
". . . Do you feel out of place here sometimes?" she asked looking at Sandy.
His head tilted to the side as he blinked in thought.
It didn´t take him long to purse his lips and shake his head no.
Her frown deepened.
"I hope Bunny feels the same way you do. You look human, at least, as much as any of us do-" she said, smoothing down some of her feathers "-but he doesn´t look like he belongs here at all. . ."
Sandy frowned too.
"You know, now that I think of it. . . he´s the complete opposite of you and Jack too. . ." she admitted.
The stillness settled again, and they stared at the flowers long enough for a real hummingbird to come and begin his feast.
Sandy´s eyes followed it as it passed from flower to flower, until it lingered at a certain cloud-colored one.
His eye caught the chosen white bloom, and he took a second to admire it´s graceful petals and rose-like structure. Its name whispered itself through his mind, echoing a few times until he paid attention to it.
When he finally did, his train of thought exploded, and he did a double take.
Nope. It wasn´t his imagination.
He must´ve assumed that all of the white flowers were carnations at first, but now that he really looked at them, he realized his mistake. One of his eyebrows perked up as he remembered his purpose for being there in the first place.
Honey eyes wandered over to Tooth, and he did his best to keep the surprise from showing on his face as he decided what to say.
Tooth met his stare, but furrowed her brows a bit when she saw his conflicted expression.
"Sandy, what´s wrong?" she asked kindly.
He flashed a smile and took a deep breath.
"Flowers, ?"
Tooth glanced at the flower patch, and back to her friend.
"What about them?" she asked, confused.
Sandy pursed his lips for a moment and drummed his fingers before a lightbulb appeared over his head.
He got up and pointed to a yellow tulip, and then looked at her with a question mark.
Her head tilted to the other side.
"That´s a tulip," she said carefully.
Sandy nodded enthusiastically, and then he made the tulip shape over his head.
"Tulip, smile," he said, holding a hand out as if it contained information for her to look at.
She narrowed her eyes a bit.
"Yes, those are the ones that he said represent sunny smiles. Would you like one?" she asked politely.
Sandy smiled but shook his head. He quickly floated over to one of the overlooked white blooms and pointed at it, and then looked at her carefully with another question mark above him.
Tooth fluttered over, her eyes on the flower he was indicating to.
"I´m not sure what those ones are called, but if you want some I don´t mind if you take a few," she offered.
Sandy paused and watched her delicately. When she didn´t say anything more, he blinked and signed a word above his head.
"Meaning, ?" he asked.
Tooth frowned.
"He didn´t tell me what these ones mean. Why do you ask?" she probed gently.
Sandy wasn´t sure if he should be relieved or saddened, but he had been in a blue mood for long enough, so he simply shrugged and made the word "Beautiful" over his head.
Tooth bent down to pick a few of them.
"They are very beautiful, you´re right. But I like the carnations better. They´re so fluffy and now that Jack´s one of us, they make me think of snowballs," she said lightly.
She smiled at Sandy as she handed him a small white bouquet, which he delicately added to his single bluebell stalk.
They hovered over the flower patch for a minute more, before Tooth perked up and looked toward her office. Sandy followed her gaze.
"Well, it´s been nice talking to you Sandy, but my fairies are getting a little flustered," she said politely.
Sandy nodded and opened his arms for a hug, which she easily gave.
"I´ll talk to you soon, ok?" she said, patting his hand with her own just before she darted away.
He sent her a thumbs up, as she disappeared from view.
Once she was gone, the Sandman´s eyes returned to his bouquet.
The white gladiolas reflected the sunlight very nicely.
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Jack squeezed his staff. Those weird statues would look so cool if he covered them with snow. He could even make it the sticky kind and shape it on their heads to make them look like those funny smart men from a few centuries ago. What were those hairdos called? Flour wigs? Baking powder wigs? Something like that.
He let out a grunt and squeezed his staff harder. He wasn´t here to work! And besides, he´d surely get his head bitten off if he made it snow on this turf.
Shaking his head at himself, he flew down so that he was closer to the ground, looking for something Eastery.
Ha, that´s funny. It´s Easter Island, you can´t get more Eastery than that.
Lowering further, he was greeted by bright green grass sprouts, flowers, and general tropical plants.
No sign of Bunny.
He plopped down onto the ground, fanning some air into his sweatshirt as he glanced at the sun´s position. It was nearly at its highest; he had been here for a few hours already.
He felt his nose scrunch up. No wonder Bunny didn´t have any friends! He made it impossible to contact him, even if it was only to apologize—at least, without using a snowglobe. Apparently even Sandy could only get into the Warren with one of North´s gadgets.
Anti-social much?
Very much.
Jack reached a brook, freezing it without a second thou—OH NO! He glanced around, scrambling away from his crime and hiding his staff behind his back.
He held his breath, his eyes darting over the wild grasses.
All was silent.
He checked his surroundings once more.
Nothing.
A rock of guilt slammed into his stomach. Either Bunny hadn´t noticed, or he was too angry to care.
Standing still, the young man evaluated his options, fanning himself once again.
Just then, wind fluffed his hair up, cooling his face and pulling his mind away from his preoccupation.
North was probably right; Bunny would be fine. Jack kicked at a clump of dirt. He probably shouldn´t have come all the way out here anyway.
Glancing back, he saw his thin ice sheet begin to crack as the brook warmed.
He had apologized once already, hadn't he? Maybe that would have to be enough for now.
"Wind?"
A cold breeze hugged him.
"Let´s go somewhere cold!"
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To these magnificent people:
Guest: Hello my friend! Thank you for letting me know about your updating pace preferences; I´ve got plenty of material to post, so no worries there! It´s just staring at the words on a computer screen and doing the final editing that is making the posting process difficult for me. Hopefully with the end of the semester in sight, I won´t have to do so much studying, which should help my eyes and headaches. Anyway, I´m so glad that you are enjoying the story; I was very nervous about posting it, but your input makes it worth it, so thank you again. I was very sad to hear about the death of your father; I´m so sorry for your loss. I´ve yet to have a close relative of mine pass away, but it seems like a terrible trial to go through- and even more so in your case, since there was so much tension coming from Rachel that you also had to deal with. She sounds awful by the way, and I can see why you would be so angry with her. I´m glad that you stood up for yourself though. I honestly can´t see how that situation could have possibly become a win-win for anyone, especially since her actions assisted the cancer. I´m so sorry for your loss, my friend.
Chris: Hi there, thanks for leaving a review! I agree, the Trying To Say chapter is very sad. However, there is a lot of fluff in this story to balance out the sadness. I hope you keep reading and enjoy the story!
What do you think?
1. Out of the 4 guardians, who do you think knows Bunnymund the best, and why?
2. Any guesses as to how Bunnymund became a guardian? This will come up later, but I´d love to hear your theories.
3. What assumption do you think Sandy has made/been making about Bunny, and do you think he´s correct?
4. What is your opinion of Jack after the events in Trying To Say (2 chapters ago) and seeing how he feels about it now? If you could give him advice, what would it be?
5. Who is your favorite guardian and why? Which one are you most similar to, and in what ways?
Thank you for reading! I´d love to hear your feedback. Have a great week!