Wow! So, this story did so much better than I thought it would! Thank you to my wonderful readers. To those who reviewed under an account name, I responded to you in a PM, but there was a guest review, so I'll respond to that here :)

Heart: ~I am actually continuing this, and I am updating this because it just takes a couple of clicks while I'm cleaning my room. I'm glad that you enjoyed this, but I don't know about a sequel, as I do not have many set ideas with this story. I have a general idea, but have yet to type more than chapter 3.

Many thanks for all the favourites, and reviews and the follows! You guys made me cry with your loves. Now, on to necessities... I do not own Rise of the Guardians, nor do I own any of the mythological characters that are stars of this incredible Dreamworks Production.

I love all of you, and would love many, many more notifications :) 3

~Nox

Jack knocked on the door to the large wooden structure that belonged to the Russian bringer of Christmas and it was instantly pulled open. Standing on the other side was a large yeti who was giving him a questioning look. "Hey, Phil, is North around?"

The yeti said something in his garbled language that Jack pretty well understood as a "What are you doing here?"

"I really need to see him. It's important," Jack said with a small frown tugging at his pale lips. "Please, can I see him?"

Phil stepped back to allow Jack entrance into the building and led him to the office where his boss was busy on new toy designs. Leaving Jack at the door, the yeti returned to his post as guard, wondering why he had let the frozen boy into the workshop.

Jack took a deep breath and opened the door without knocking. Unfortunately, when he did, he accidentally smashed into an icy prototype that was zipping around the room.

A cry met his ears and then a shout. "How many times must I tell you knock?" North yelled without actually looking up to see who it was at the door. Jack had caught a glimpse of what the toy was before it had smashed the door, so he pointed his staff at the pieces and repaired it before the old man could yell some more. Leaning on his staff, Jack watched as North's eyes widened at what he had just seen. "Only one man can do that." North said softly, turning around. "Jack Frost!"

Barely having enough time to register what North was doing, the man was across the room to the door and had picked the teenaged spirit up off the ground in a crushing hug. Gasping for breath, Jack awkwardly patted the older man's shoulder. "Heya, North. It's good to see you, too. Mind putting me down though?"

"Oh, sorry, my boy," he chuckled, placing Jack back onto his bare feet. Walking back over to the prototype still on the floor, Nicholas St. North bent over to pick it up and examine it. "Good job on repair. So what can Santa do for Jack Frost?" he asked sitting down behind the big antique wooden desk that was covered in toys and blocks of ice.

"I'm not really sure. I just feel weird. Every time that I sit down and relax, I let my mind wander, but then I start thinking really weird things. Some of it is nice, but then some of it is confusing. Don't ask me what it is because I'm not gonna say," Jack said looking at North, who looked like he was going to ask a question. "It's nothing bad, I don't think, but it's kind of embarrassing. They're just thoughts right?" Jack turned around to face the older man, "I just don't understand it. These thoughts make me feel weird things, things I've never felt before." The boy slumped down in the chair across from where his friend was sitting and looked at him with pleading eyes, eyes that asked for help from the man he looked up to.

"Alright, Jack. You ask me for help, I help. What do you feel that is not weird?" The old man looked at the child expectantly.

"I don't understand."

"You say you feel weird. I ask what else."

"Well, my stomach ties up in knots, and my heart feels like it will jump out of my chest." Jack whispered, not looking at North sitting across the table. "It gets hard to breathe and my throat feels like it's closed." He took a deep breath before continuing, finally looking up to meet the blue eyes of the Guardian of Wonder. "I don't understand why I feel this way, North. What do I do?"

Nicholas St. North was quiet for a moment, studiously watching his young friend. Looking even closer, he could tell that Jack was thinking about whatever had him feeling this way, and North could just see the faintest tint of blush creeping up on the boy's cheeks. Ah, so that's what it is, the jolly man thought. "Well, my boy, you think of someone when you think thoughts like this?" Jack nodded slightly, and North continued. "Cupid's arrows have hit you hard, yes. You are in love!" The old man beamed at this thought. Maybe the child would finally be happy, North mused.

Jack Frost looked panic stricken at this latest revelation. "Wh-what? How could that be? How could I be in l..." he stopped and took a breath before finishing that thought. "How could I be in love? How can you tell?" It didn't make sense; he couldn't be in love... not with... Jack's thoughts continued to stray towards dangerous territory, before North's voice sounded again.

Smiling, North remembered many centuries ago when he felt the exact same way as Jack, and he remembered the having this same conversation with his own father. "Because, Jack, I felt the same way as you once." At the shocked expression on the boy's face, North couldn't help but laugh heartily. "Yes, I was in love once. She was amazing, and she was my world. I would do anything for her." His eyes glassed over as he was absorbed in his memories.

"Did she die?" Jack asked quietly.

North was startled at the question. "Hmm? No, she didn't die," he chuckled lightly as a bemused look came over the winter spirit. "No, my wife is alive; she is an immortal like us because I asked Manny. I told him that I could not live without her, so he made her immortal as well." He smiled softly before asking, "Would you like to meet her?" Jack nodded slowly, unsure what he was getting himself into and followed the large Russian from the workshop.

As Jack was led through the workshop to a part of the home that he hadn't ever been in, he couldn't help looking around. Deep in the heart of the North Pole at Santa's workshop were so many things that Jack had never seen. Suddenly, Jack stopped at the door to a long room lined floor to ceiling with small cubbies. Walking slowly into the room, Jack noticed that there were all sorts of old toys neatly placed on the shelves. "What's this, North?"

A small laugh sounded behind him, but it wasn't the jolly Russian that he was expecting, but rather a female. "What does it look like, Jackson Frost?" she asked.

Jack spun around quickly and looked at her. They were right about the same height and he looked straight into her brown eyes that looked at him softly. This must be Mrs. St. North, Jack wondered. "Well, they look like old toys. Am I right?"

"Very good, Jack. These are Nicholas' biggest hits over the years. As the children fall in love with the toys, he puts the ones that do the best in here. His crown jewels, if you will," she laughed lightly. "Don't look so surprised, dear, I know who you are. Nicholas has spoken very highly of you for years, as have your other friends."

At those words, Jack raised his eyebrows at her and then let his head droop with a sigh. "The others probably are angry with me for avoiding them for all these years, aren't they?" Jack felt his throat clog with unshed tears. "They probably hate me."

"They don't hate you, Jack. They worry about you. Sanderson looks for you every night. He searches for your dreams."

"I don't sleep. I... I can't," the boy stammered out.

The woman looked deep into the boy's icy blue eyes. In them, she knew exactly what he was talking about. He doesn't sleep because of nightmares. Oh, dear... She wanted to pull him close and hold him, to tell him that everything was going to be alright, and to love him like he needed. "Toothiana flits about on her rounds trying to find any clues as to where you were, and Aster... well, he is up here walking in the snow every day looking for anything, always talking to the North Winds. He always asks the same questions: 'Is he alive?' 'Is he safe?' 'Is he healthy?' 'Is he happy?'" She watched the child's face as those words sunk in, penetrating the stupor that the recollection of nightmares brought. His eyes darted back up to the woman's face, wide and extremely childlike.

"He's asked that?" Jack couldn't believe it.

"He and Nicholas both. Each day they ask her about you. It's the only thing that has kept Aster doing his job and not going out searching for you himself. He never visits anymore, keeps to himself. I worry about him." Looking off into the distance, she whispered, "he's always so alone. He told me once, a long time ago, perhaps 70 years or so ago, that one of the only things that got him through the days was trying to figure out what tricks were going to be played on him next." She turned to look straight at Jack, "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

All Jack could do was nod. So the old kangaroo enjoyed the pranks? Or at least enjoyed the break in the monotony of them. "Why?" was all he could ask, he was so lost in his own thoughts.

A voice from behind him decided to take over the explanation. "Bunny is last of his kind. Pitch killed them all many centuries ago. It hurts him to talk about it, but that is all I will tell you. Bunny must say if he wants you to know more," North said finally speaking up.

Jack was shocked into silence as this new information sunk in. Bunny was really alone... he had nobody. But Jack's tricks helped him? He always seemed like he hated them. "Bunny always seemed like he hated my pranks," Jack wondered aloud.

North's booming laughter filled the room. "Oh, he did. But they were something to look forward to, something to look out for, something to take his mind off of being alone. That doesn't mean that he liked them, they just kept him on his toes."

"Oh."

"Jack, sweetie, you must understand, we, the guardians, are Aster's family, but he only lets us in so far. But with the events of the past couple of decades, maybe he'll let you in a little more," she said, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Please, Jackson. Will you speak with Aster?"

The young winter spirit looked at the St. Norths long and hard. "I'll speak with him after Easter. Let him get through the holiday without ghosts of the past showing up. Don't tell him I've come back yet, I'll tell them each when I'm ready. But yeah, I'll talk to the big kangaroo." Jack pulled out his signature smile that made Tooth and her minis faint each time. "And don't worry, the old roo won't know what hit him, but I'll let you in on it. I think a snowball to the nose would be fitting," he cackled with laughter at the thought of the rabbit's face covered in snow. "Mrs. North?" he asked after his laughter died down.

The woman turned slightly with a smile, "Oh, Jack, please, it's Marie. What is it, dear?"

"When I left twenty years ago, did any of them say that they would miss me?"

"Each and every one of them said that. I was the one who told them to let you have space to sort out whatever it is that had you running from us. Will you forgive me of that?"

"Of course. I needed the space to figure out who I was, and who I am. It was a bit traumatizing to handle the memories, but I needed to do it on my own. Thank you for letting them know that I needed to be alone." Jack leaned over to Marie and gave her a hug. It was one of the first hugs that he had received in a very long time and Jack nearly lost it.

"Good. Come, you can help me make dinner and tell us about your adventures and where you have been for so long." Marie grabbed his hand and led him through to the kitchen where the Norths and Jack Frost began to make a family meal.

Bunny was exhausted. He had managed to get all the baskets made and all of the chocolate was finished, but the thing that he was most proud of was a little egg that was covered in fern like frost designs very reminiscent of a certain winter spirit's artwork. He decided that this egg was too special to put out on Easter, so he decided that he would make it into an egg warrior. Using some of his magic, the little egg stood up and bowed as all of the warriors did. "I'll name you Fern, after your designs." The egg bowed again. "You're dismissed. Report to Tuli and Blade for your duties."

Bunny stood up and stretched, his six foot tall muscular frame rippling with power and strength, and looked up to the dark sky where the moon was shining. Not even bothering to ask what had become of the young guardian that had been missing for the last twenty years, Bunny allowed his shoulders to slump and his ears to droop. Over the years, Bunny had realized just how much the teen spirit meant to him over the centuries. Sure, the pranks were never really fun at the time, but the only one that was real damaging was the Blizzard of '68, but nothing detrimental came from it. Jack always made sure that Bunny was never hurt and that no children stopped believing in him, so all of the pranks were for attention, and after everything that the oversized rabbit had learned the young spirit had gone through, he couldn't blame the kid.

However, like most, Bunnymund didn't realize what he had until it was gone, and now? Bunny had a hard time facing his life on his own. The pranks had helped get him through the years because they kept him on his guard. They gave him something to look forward to. They broke the day to day monotony of his life. It was interesting to catch himself thinking this way, but it was true, and he was tired of being the tough guy when he realized that he wasn't. He was a lonely rabbit, the last of the Pooka species, and with the disappearance of Jack Frost, that loneliness slapped him hard in the face.

Walking into his burrow, Bunny washed his paws of the paint from the eggs of the day and grabbed some carrots and lettuce to eat. Not wanting to continue thinking of the past, he looked at his Globe of Belief and decided to check on some of the people who believed in the Easter Bunny. A group of small lights in a very familiar town... Burgess, Virginia. Bunny remembered the adventure that had occurred just after Easter twenty years ago. Pitch had nearly won, until one little light made itself known. The last child who believed in any of the Guardians was the older brother of the tiny girl who had broken into the Warren that very same year... Jamie and Sophie Bennett. That was a hard year for all of them, with Jack being the scapegoat for Bunny's distress when the rabbit was walked through as if he wasn't even there. So when Jack came out of the Bennett's house with young Jamie, everyone was surprised, and when Jamie called Bunny "cute," the little shrunken rabbit saw red and jumped at Jack, kicking his legs thinking that he put the kid up to saying that. However, when Jamie told Bunny that it was Jack that kept his belief in the Easter Bunny alive, well, the Pooka's red haze turned into a blurry blue as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. That was when he felt his attitude change towards the child spirit. That change had continued manifesting over the years to where it was today. He couldn't think about Jack Frost without his ears folding back and his eyes shifting. The rabbit's heart would flutter and his stomach felt like a bird cage. It didn't make much sense, but being the last of his kind, he wasn't going to question something that he never thought he would feel.

Now looking back at his globe, Bunny saw Jamie with his family, and felt his whiskers twitch as his lips turned up in a smile.

"Daddy, how long until Easter?" a small child asked his father.

Jamie Bennett, now twenty-nine years old, chuckled as he tucked his son into bed. "Not long now, E.B. The Easter Bunny will bring you a bunch of candy and eggs that you have to find." Jamie smiled at the boy, who was now four years old and old enough to hear the story. "You want to hear a story?"

"Yeah! Please?" The boy looked up at his father with big brown eyes.

"Okay, well, did you know that I know the Easter Bunny?" The child shook his head. "Well, when I was a little older than you, I actually met him. He, and his friends, Santa Claus, Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman, were all working together to stop the Boogeyman from taking over the world. I was the last child to believe and they were protecting me from the Boogeyman, whose name is Pitch. Together, we, and a bunch of my friends at the time, defeated Pitch and watched Jack become a Guardian. Do you remember meeting Uncle Jack a couple of months ago?" E.B. nodded, and Jamie continued his story, "well, Jack made this huge ice slide right through town that we all rode on to get away from Pitch."

"Were you scared?"

"Yeah, I was. Everyone was."

"Even the Easter Bunny?"

"Even the Easter Bunny. Although, if you see him, he'll probably say that he wasn't. He was little at the time because too many children had stopped believing in him, but that's all better now."

"Because of you, Daddy," E.B. shouted, jumping into his father's arms.

"I suppose so, but I'd say that the real hero was your Uncle Jack. He made sure that I still believed."

The small child's eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open. "You almost stopped believing?"

Jamie's brown eyes filled with sadness, as he remembered. "Yeah, I almost did. You know your rabbit, well, that used to be mine. I was sitting on my bed, yelling that I wanted to believe, but that I needed proof that I wasn't crazy." Jamie picked up the toy that they were talking about. "When nothing happened, I threw the rabbit across the room, and as I ran over to pick it up and apologize to the toy, I saw a light flickering from my window. I looked over and there was frost covering the whole window. Now, it wasn't odd to see the frost in general, but what was weird was that an egg magically was drawn in the frost. All I could do was stare at it, and then a little fluffy bunny was drawn underneath it. What was really cool was that the bunny came to life and started hopping around in the air in my room."

I just laughed, watching it play, but then... snow started falling in my room. 'Jack Frost...' I whispered. I heard someone behind me say 'Did he just say...' and I said it again. 'Jack Frost?' And the voice responded, 'He did! He said it again. He said my name.' I turned around and my mouth fell open because there was your Uncle Jack standing there. He walked up to me and asked 'Can you hear me?' I nodded. 'Can you see me?' I nodded again. The look on Uncle Jack's face was the happiest I had ever seen. Then he started talking about a sledding accident that I had had a couple of days before that. That's when I found out that the reason I had lost my tooth to the sofa that had hit me, was because Jack made this huge ice track."

At this, E.B. had to interrupt his father. "Do you think Uncle Jack can make me a sledding track?"

"You'll have to ask when you see him next year. It's too warm now for him to come make snow, you'll have to wait until winter time comes again." Jamie hugged the boy who was still in his lap where he had jumped earlier in the story. "Well, so, Uncle Jack told me that they were all real!" He began tickling the boy to emphasize the point. "All of them, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, him, and all the other ones that people talked about... they are all real! As we were talking about it, something outside caught your Uncle Jack's eye. A sleigh with reindeer went across the moon and then crashed right outside the house. The others had all come to find me and protect me, to make sure that I still believed. We met them outside and they were all so sad, the children of the world had stopped believing and it affected them badly. But the one who was affected the most was the Easter Bunny. Normally, he is taller than your Uncle Jack, the Easter Bunny is six foot tall and is really good at fighting, but he was the size of Tinsel."

E.B. scrambled off Jamie's lap and ran over to the corner of his room where a small fenced in area sat. A little bunny hopped around in it and the boy was stunned. "But Tinsel is so small. I don't get it."

"When the children stopped believing, the Easter Bunny lost a lot of his powers, and it made him into a tiny bunny. I made the mistake of calling him "cute," and he jumped off the sleigh and ran up to Uncle Jack, asking if he wanted to fight and then he did a bunch of fast little kicks to Jack's leg. I told him that it was because of Jack that I still believed, and, will you get this, E.B.? The rabbit nearly started crying!" Jamie had crossed the room and picked up his small son and carried him over to his bed. Placing the boy on the soft mattress and tucking him in gently, Jamie continued. "Then Pitch showed up, and I was really scared, but Uncle Jack knew what to do. He knelt down and looked me in the eyes and said 'We're gonna have some fun.' I knew then that I would be okay, and when Uncle Jack hit Pitch with a snowball, we all escaped on the track that he made. We beat Pitch that night, and all the children began believing in all the Guardians again." Jamie leaned over and kissed E.B. on the forehead and whispered in his ear, "I want you to make me a promise... I want you to promise that you will never stop believing in the Guardians. They have done so much for our world, for the children, and if you keep believing, you will always keep what they represent... hope, wonder, dreams, memories and fun. You understand?"

"Yes, Daddy. Goodnight. I love you," E.B. hugged his dad and gave him a kiss before lying down and going to sleep.

"I love you, too, Ethyn Bristol. Get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning." As Jamie turned to leave, he flipped on the nightlight that he had given his son after a particularly nasty group of nightmares when he was two. Turning out the main light, he noticed his little sister, Sophie, standing in the doorway. "Hey, how long were you there, Soph?"

She smirked at her older brother. "For the whole story. That was always my favourite one. Each time I hear it, all I can think is 'Easter Bunny, hop, hop, hop!' Jack decided to remind me of that one when he came to visit last, cause E.B. decided to ask about the Easter Bunny. Jack was surprisingly well behaved when he was talking about him and it made me smile." She sighed softly. Even after all these years, I still remember every Easter that Bunny would bring eggs. It'll be nice to see him put those down again for E.B."

Jamie knew what she meant. Sophie was a widow, her husband having just passed away about three days before she found out that she was pregnant with her first child, a little girl, but she wouldn't be born before Easter, so when Jamie's wife had left a couple of months ago, and Jamie moved him and his son into the house with Sophie again, she was excited to see her favourite Guardian again. "You need sleep, Sophie, it's late, and unfortunately we both have to work tomorrow. Bed." He grinned at her and kissed her cheek.

"Shesh, alright, alright, Jamie, I'm going." Sophie's laughter rang out clearly as she turned to go to her room. "Goodnight, Jamie."

"Goodnight, Sophie. I'll see you tomorrow," Jamie said softly to his baby sister, before retreating into his own room for the night.

Once Sophie was in her own room, she released a single tear as she thought of the memories she had of her favourite Guardian. "Goodnight, Bunny... wherever you are. I hope I'll be able to see you again."

With that, the scene went dark and Bunnymund smiled at the memories of the two children that had quickly become the favourites of all the Guardians. Raising a large paw to his face, the rabbit realized that he had been crying as he had watched, and then he made sure that he would give young Ethyn Bristol Bennett the best Easter ever. Bunny looked at his route and figured out a way to make Burgess the last stop that he made, that way, he could personally observe the four year old's big Easter egg hunt. It would be perfect... for E.B... for Jamie... and for his li'l ankle bitter, Sophie... he'd make sure of it.

So, in the summary, I asked if anyone wanted to venture a guess as to who the mystery person is... Anyone want to play a guessing game? xD either way, they show up next chapter, so bear with me. I said earlier that there is really no particular direction that this is going, I just started writing cause I didn't want to do my finals, so just go with it, and I'll do my best not to disappoint.

And if anyone has any suggestions or ideas that they would like to see play sometime out in this story, or possibly another story (I have four more stories that I am working on getting off the ground for Rise of the Guardians) just review or send me a PM

Always and forever,

~Nox