Hello hello!

This one is dedicated to the lovely regularshow565 who requested: 'a chapter on Bunny helping Jack with a fear of his'. I hope you like it :3 (I'm not happy with the ending, but I didn't want to just waffle on about processes and stuff...)

I wish I had a Bunny to help me overcome my fear of drowning D: (alas, Jack, I know exactly what you're going through (minus the knowing-how-to-swim part)

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians

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Stronger than Fear

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Jack stared at the lake in front of him. Winter was coming to an end and that meant the ice was melting. By the end of the week there would only be a few pieces of ice still bobbing along in the water and he would have moved on to either Antarctica or the Arctic to wait out the season. But there was still time.

In a few weeks it would have been exactly a year since their first Guardian/family vacation. Jack fully expected them to plan another one, but with the way the last one had gone, he couldn't say he was all that thrilled. It was, after all, his fault (but mostly Bunny's) that everything had gone to Hell in a hand-basket.

What if they wanted to go some place with water again? What if they wanted him to join in whatever water activity they were doing? What if someone more twisted than Pitch tried to take advantage of his fear? He didn't want to let the Guardians down. Not again. There was only one thing for it, then.

He had to overcome his fear of drowning.

Jack gently leaned his staff against a tree before pulling off his hoodie. Then, staff in hand (like hell he was going to try anything without it), he took his first tentative steps towards the partially-melted pond.

The water was freezing, not that he particularly cared, as it lapped over his bare feet. He forced himself deeper and deeper until the waves caressed his knees. Then, with a deep breath, he sat down.

"Okay, Jack, you can do this," he told himself, his grip on his staff tight in case he suddenly needed to escape. "It's just a little water; you command ice and snow, why should you be afraid of a little water?"

The wind ruffled his hair in a silent show of support.

"Thanks, wind," he murmured. "Okay, here we go."

Ever so slowly, Jack leaned backwards, allowing the frigid water to soak into his shirt until only his head and shoulders were above the water. This was the easy bit, though, he knew. The fear wouldn't fully kick in until he was completely submerged.

Shoulders under.

"You know what?" Jack sat back upright like a wound spring. "Maybe I should do this where the mermaids are or… or tomorrow when there's less ice…"

The wind billowed around him, scolding.

"Ugh, I know. You're right," Jack sighed. "No excuses."

Shoulders back under.

He stayed like that for a good few minutes, trying to work up the nerve to let his head fall back.

"Gotta do it quick. Just like a bandaid."

Jack sucked in a lungful of air and plunged himself completely under the water, the surface a mere few millimetres from the tip of his nose.

It was like someone had flipped a switch. The mild fear that had been clinging to him from the moment he'd started thinking about the water contorted into an all-consuming terror that pulsed through his veins and froze his limbs. He'd barely been under for more than a few seconds before he shot out of the water like a rocket, hovering above the lake in the wind's gentle embrace.

"Bad idea," Jack said in a voice that shook like the rest of him. "Very bad idea."

There were probably a million better people he could have gone to. And yet Jack still found himself drawn to the Warren to find Bunny. Although, on reflection, perhaps Bunny wasn't such a poor choice after all. Tooth would cave to his unease far too easily, North probably wouldn't take it all very seriously or, if he did, would be a little too concerned and wouldn't force him like he needed, and Sandy would crumble and wash away in the water. No, Bunny was the perfect choice. He cared enough (he hoped) to help him through, but was stern and no-nonsense enough to meet him verbal blow for verbal blow.

Of course, what he hadn't considered before landing on the soft green grass and seeing the army of eggs running around was the time of year. It was just coming into spring – Easter would be very soon. At that thought he almost turned around and left again but was stopped by the very kangaroo he'd come searching for.

"Oi, Frostbite. What are you doing here?"

Jack spun around to see Bunny with an egg and paintbrush in hand. "Um, nothing," Jack replied. "I was just about to leave, actually."

Bunny frowned at him in suspicion. "You wouldn't come all the way down 'ere without a reason. 'Specially through the start of autumn."

Jack had to concede he had a point. But he couldn't in good conscience ask Bunny to help him; not when the Pooka had so much work to do.

"Really, it's nothing. Sorry to have bothered you," he said sincerely, letting the wind carry him back off to his lake, leaving a mildly confused rabbit in his wake.

Jack sighed as he sat against the base of a tree. The lake was almost completely thawed now. May would arrive soon and shoo him away if he hadn't already left. Yet he couldn't bring himself to leave. As much as it pained him, he was determined to overcome his fear, and he couldn't very well do that at either of the Poles, where the only water was deep and more than likely to be completely frozen over. Once spring was in full swing it would be too warm and there was no way he was even going to consider trying autumn; he was in Ceres' bad books already.

Really, he'd been alone for 300 years without anybody, why did he suddenly need help now? No, he could overcome this by himself. Suddenly filled with determination, Jack once again took off his hoodie and stepped out into the water. But this time he would start with something a little less threatening.

Regardless of what anyone thought, he did know how to swim – he'd learnt in this very lake, for goodness sake. So, when the water was at waist-height, he reclined backwards and allowed himself to float weightlessly. Limbs splayed, he let the gentle breeze blow him across the surface, the wind not needing him to tell it to keep him away from the centre where the water was deepest. When he'd finally relaxed to the point that the fear was just an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, he decided it was time to move on to something a little more challenging.

Taking a deep breath, Jack rolled over so that he was face-down in the water.

And promptly sank below the surface.

Everything he'd ever learnt about swimming was tugged away like the ebb of the tide as the fear took over all rational thought. Limbs thrashed as he struggled to return to the surface. When had he drifted so far that he could no longer touch the bottom? He cried out to the wind, his hand still gripping his staff, but all that escaped him was precious air; so far under the wind could no longer reach him.

His struggles grew weaker as his oxygen deprived lungs screamed and black dots crept across the edges of his vision. So that's how it would end? Stuck unconscious at the bottom of the lake indefinitely?

Jack let his eyes slip closed, no energy left to fight the settling churn of the waves. His grip weakened on his staff but he was only vaguely aware of its familiar weight disappearing from his hand.

Something grabbed him and all at once he was rising, tugged upwards and out of the water. Air pressed in on him and he took grateful gasping breaths as he coughed up what must have been half the lake. He subconsciously registered that he was now on dry land, his staff lying beside him, and that someone was talking to him, but the words were a low drone in the background.

When he finally stopped trying to cough up a lung, Jack slowly raised his head to thank his saviour, only to come face to face with a rather drenched and worried looking Easter Bunny.

"Bunny?" he croaked.

Bunny seemed to sigh in relief. And then the worry was gone.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?!"

"…Wha?"

"What the hell were you doing in the middle of the bloody lake?!"

But his sluggish mind couldn't seem to get past the fact that Bunny was here, and not at the Warren where he should be working for Easter. "Bunny… what are you doing here?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Bunny practically writhed in anger. "I came lookin' for ya after ya ran off; 's'not like you to come all the way to the Warren for no reason – didn't even pester me. And what do I bloody find? You drownin'. You should know better than to go out onto the lake when the ice's melted," he paused for a breath. "Speakin' of which, why was it melted in the first place?"

Jack blinked. "Because spring is coming?"

"You know what I bloody well mean, Jack. Doesn't matter what season it is – you stand on the water and it freezes."

It was coming to Jack's attention (his mind was finally catching up to him) that Bunny was angry because he was worried. He had to admit, if it had been the other way around, he probably would have reacted in the same way. It was all rather suggestive if you didn't know the back-story. His 'visit' to the Warren probably wasn't helping matters.

"Thank you," Jack said. "For pulling me out, I mean."

Some of Bunny's anger dissipated but he was still thoroughly ticked off. "Mind explaining what happened?" he asked in a way that was clearly not a question.

"I was trying to get over my… my fear of drowning."

Bunny stared at him.

Jack looked away self consciously.

"Is that why you came to the Warren?"

Jack nodded. "You said that if I ever wanted to, you know, get over it, that I could ask but I forgot that you're really busy this time of year and I didn't want to bother you over something so trivial."

Bunny was staring again. And then he slapped him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Jack glared.

"You dill," Bunny shook his head. "I'll admit that it's not the best time, but don't feel like you have to keep everything to yourself. You're not alone anymore. And if it's a problem to you, then it's not trivial. Got it?"

Jack nodded.

"Good. Now, if you can hold ya horses for a few more weeks, we'll have all year to sort you out, a'right?"

The overgrown rabbit was true to his word; a mere few days after Easter the two of them were once more standing at the edge of Jack's lake. Bunny had grumbled something about spring and winter not supposed to be there, as well as a few muttered comments about wanting to overcome his fear in 'the lake he bloody died in' but other than that protests were few and far between. Besides, Jack was sure May wouldn't mind – it was for a good cause, after all. And unlike Ceres, she wasn't as quick to chase him off from what was the closest thing he had to a proper home.

"So it's only when your head goes under that's the problem, right?" Bunny asked, eyeing the no doubt freezing water. The winter spirit wouldn't mind, but he was a different matter. But he'd promised to help and he wasn't going to back down now, and certainly not because of a little cold water.

"Or when it gets so deep that I can't touch the bottom," came Jack's quiet reply. He'd taken his hoodie off and left it with his staff just shy of the lakeshore at Bunny's insistence. While the Pooka knew that it was a comfort thing to have the stick in hand, he also knew that it would probably hinder him more than help. Besides, he had no intention of letting anything happen to the kid.

"Right then," Bunny nodded. "That's clearly what we need to work on. So why don't we start by getting your face wet?"

Jack stared at him.

"I don't mean sticking your head underwater," he huffed. "Just splash your face a bit; you don't even have to be in the water."

The look turned mildly incredulous.

Bunny rolled his eyes, scooping up a handful of water and hurling it at the winter spirit's face. Jack spluttered, glaring at him. "You wanted my help," Bunny told him.

Jack sighed, clearly not happy about it but relenting anyway. He had wanted the kangaroo's help.

"Right. Now that your face's wet–"

"And thank you for that."

"–we can move on." Gritting his teeth in preparation for the biting cold he knew he was about to experience, Bunny stepped into the water. Even though it was spring now, the water hadn't had enough warm days to heat up and he knew that, while it wouldn't bother Jack, he would have to be careful not to stay submerged too long if he didn't want to catch a cold. "Come on."

Jack only hesitated for a moment before joining him a short distance in, barely deep enough to reach the boy's knees. "What are we going to do now?" he asked, his voice betraying his nervousness.

"I just want ya to lie down," Bunny informed him. "At this depth your face will still be above the water."

Jack nodded stiffly, lowering himself until he was sitting before slowly leaning backwards, a paw on his back in a show of support and to let the kid know that Bunny was right there.

"Shut your eyes," the Guardian of Hope instructed. Jack glanced at him momentarily before obeying. "I'm gonna pour a bit more water over your face; just to get you used to the feeling, a'right?"

"Okay."

With one paw still steady beneath Jack, Bunny began to trickle small amounts of freezing liquid over the boy's face, noting the way he flinched slightly at the contact. He repeated the process a few more times until the tension started leaving Jack's muscles and he no longer reacted.

"Try to stay relaxed; I'm gonna move you a little further out, but only enough so you've got more room," he hastily added when Jack's whole body stiffened and his eyes opened wide.

"O-okay."

"S'alright, Frostbite. I'm not gonna let you drown."

"I know."

The show of confidence spurring him on, Bunny gently guided the winter spirit further out, letting him know everything he was doing as he was doing it to both reassure the kid and to keep him calm. There were no real problems throughout the whole time until he had Jack roll over so that he was face down, his body still floating.

Even with Bunny holding him up, Jack stiffened, his buoyancy disturbed so that the water could no longer support him. The water was still shallow enough that all he would have to do would be to sit up, but Bunny was hoping it wouldn't come to that. He spoke words of encouragement and reassurances, and was pleased to find that Jack didn't give in until he'd run out of air.

It was small progress, but progress none the less.

When Bunny started to lose feeling in his paws and the shivers started, he decided to call it a day, organising with the youngest Guardian to meet there the next day. Jack didn't mention it, but it was clear that he was grateful for the break.

Nearly a month later, Jack was both surprised and proud that he could sit completely submerged under the water at a depth that was greater than he was tall without more than a death-grip on Bunny's arm. The Pooka was confident that in less than another month he'd be able to do it on his own. His goal was to overcome his fear enough that when the time came that the Guardians planned another holiday, he would be able to join them disaster-free and he honestly believed that with Bunny's help it would happen.

He really owed the overgrown rabbit, not just for helping him with his fear, but also for reminding him that just because he was used to being alone didn't make him okay, nor did it mean he didn't need anyone else. There was nothing wrong with asking for help and his problems were important, even if they didn't feel it. He wasn't alone. Not anymore.

Guest Review Responses:

SaiyanPrincess: Your teacher sounds mean :/ Don't they understand that there is only so much work we can do?! Not okay, teacher. Not okay. Haha yeah, was a little predictable XD I'm glad you enjoyed it, though ^w^ Thank you! It really is a fantastic book. Highly recommend. I don't condone procrastination (but I do it all the time anyway so I guess I kinda do... *cough* I mean what?)