Heeeeey everybody! This one is a request from Allyance and is a companion piece to Ch.7 (and wow wasn't that one ages ago. I feel old. Do you feel old? I feel old)

Disclaimed.

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Buried Hatchet

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1968 – Easter Sunday

Of all the rotten things Jack Frost had done over the couple of centuries Bunny had known him, this was undoubtedly the worst. It seemed no matter where he looked, there was nothing but white as far as the eye could see. The budding greenery of spring had been entirely consumed by it, alongside every painstakingly painted egg hidden among it. There would be no Easter in this city this year – no kids running about finding eggs and hope. Jack Frost had seen to that. And it very well could be the last mistake he ever made.

Bunny ploughed through the snow with a single-minded determination. There was no way in hell he was going to let Frost get away with this. And despite the blizzard blanketing his senses, he knew exactly where he'd find him. Frost would be the eye of the storm, just like he always was.

Frost was, ironically, the only splash of colour amidst the white. The brown of his clothes stood out in a way they never would have if not for his latest malicious 'prank'. But he was well out of Bunny's reach, and likely out of earshot.

"Frost!" he bellowed anyway, punctuating the name by hurling one of his boomerangs at the oblivious brat. But the wind – ever Frost's loyal sidekick – snatched weapon and word away long before they could reach their target. Bunny could already tell finding the boomerang later was going to be a right pain in the arse.

Bunny prepared himself to try again, but at that moment Frost turned his head, wide, horrified eyes easily meeting Bunny's furious ones. Good, Bunny thought. Ya should be horrified.

He could just make out the sight of Frost's mouth moving, but the words themselves were lost to him. Instructions, he assumed, as the wind immediately surged, carrying Frost far from the mess he'd created, and fanning the ever-growing flames of Bunny's fury.

But it was a mild inconvenience at best; Jack Frost made no secret of just where it was he always returned to.

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Present Day – Easter Sunday

Bunny guided another batch of googies through the park, hyper-aware that he was being watched. There were only another thousand or so to hide – he'd finished in record time thanks to Jack, who would be somewhere in Germany by now with the last of them. It was weird, having help with Easter from a winter spirit he'd once wanted as far away from his holiday as physically possible. How times had changed.

"Is there somethin' ya want from me or are ya just admirin' the view?" he asked at length, not even bothering to give his audience a glance.

"What, a guy can't sit in a tree in his own hometown without being accused of stalking?"

Bunny did look up then, too surprised by the comment to be amused by the disgruntled expression on the other's face. "This is your hometown?"

Lleu leaned forward, all signs of offence replaced with a grin. "Yep! Metz born and raised!"

"I didn't know you were French."

Lleu's grin devolved into a smirk. "Peut-être que je ne voulais pas que tu saches."*

Bunny raised a brow but didn't bother commenting. Lleu had never struck him as smart enough to be bilingual, but it seemed anything really was possible. He straightened, stretching as the last googie settled into place between the roots of Lleu's tree.

"That's it for France," he mused aloud. "Best give Frostbite a hand with the last of 'em."

Lleu leapt down from his branch, visibly surprised. "Snow Cone's helping?"

"Has been for the past couple'a years. He's not half bad at it." A pause. "If ya tell him I said that I'll bury ya up to ya neck in sand and leave ya there."

Lleu lifted his hands defensively but his expression remained surprised. "I figured you guys were getting on better since he'd become a Guardian but wow I never thought you'd let anyone help with Easter, least of all a winter spirit."

"You and me both, mate," Bunny chuckled. "If you'd've told me a few years ago he'd be a regular visitor to the Warren, and I'd enjoy the company, I'd have thought you'd gone bonkers. …Well, in your case more bonkers. 'Specially after '68."

Lleu stilled. Bunny half expected him to comment on the jab at his personality, but instead all he got was a hushed, "'68?"

Bunny frowned at him. "Yeah. Blizzard of '68. Completely ruined Easter in the area that year. I was bloody furious."

Lleu looked like he'd just been told the exact time and place of his death.

"…What?" Bunny hedged.

"You didn't…" he hesitated. "Please tell me you didn't retaliate."

Bunny sighed. He wasn't proud of it now that he'd gotten to know Jack, but at the time… "Tracked him back to his lake," he admitted. "He never even got a word in. I'd figured at the time he'd done it just to piss me off, but now I know him, that doesn't feel right." Maybe he should mention it to Jack. Find out the truth, even if they had finally buried the hatchet.

If it was even possible, Lleu stiffened further, his hands clenching into fists. North had told him a horror story about angry seasonals once. Bunny had laughed at the time – Lleu? Scary? – but he was rapidly starting to reassess his earlier conclusion. He'd never felt as threatened by a nature spirit as he did right then. For a long moment he half expected Lleu to combust, he was so tense and his eyes so firey – but just before he had the chance to even consider making a run for it, the tension drained from Lleu's body, and he sagged, running a hand through his hair with a self-depreciating laugh.

"I guess we're both idiots," he said, letting his gaze drop to the ground between them.

Bunny stared at him. He wasn't entirely sure it was safe to breathe let alone talk.

Lleu looked up and met his eye. "It was my fault."

Bunny blinked, caught off guard. "Uh… what?"

"'68? Yeah. My fault."

"Last I checked, mate, ya weren't capable of creating an ice cube let alone a blizzard."

Lleu gave him a strange look that Bunny couldn't quite decipher. "How much do you know about seasonal spirits?"

That felt like a very loaded question. "I know you're basically the embodiment of your seasons," he began carefully.

"It's a lot of power to control," Lleu added. "And a lot to contain in a small body. Sometimes, if we're not careful, we leak." He shifted, letting his gaze travel up to the branches overhead. "The last time I leaked significantly, a monsoon took out half a town. And that was mostly just because I was upset. When your emotions get too strong, your focus gets divided. It's a lot harder to stay in control like that." He returned his full attention to Bunny and cracked a grin, but it was just a shadow of his normal one. "Contrary to popular belief, I am technically an adult – was one when Mom approached me," he said. "But Jack? He's the best there is at what he does, but he's still just a kid – in mind and body."

Bunny narrowed his eyes. "Where're ya goin' with this?"

Lleu smiled in fond exasperation. "You of all people should know kids tend to feel things more intensely than adults. And in terms of raw power, Jack's the most powerful of the four of us. '68 happened because some complete jerk did his absolute best to hurt him and succeeded."

Bunny felt cold. "What does any of this have to do with you?" he found himself asking, though he had a bad feeling he already knew the answer to that.

"I'm the jerk."

He'd kind of seen it coming, and yet it still blindsided him. He didn't really know Lleu – they had barely even seen each other before Jack had become a Guardian – but in the brief moments they'd interacted, it had been abundantly clear that, somewhat ironically, Lleu was competing with Jamie Bennett for the position of Jack Frost's #1 Fan. So what he was saying now made no sense whatsoever.

As if having read Bunny's mind, Lleu smiled sadly and continued, "I underestimated how starved for attention he was. I couldn't let him keep hurting himself; I was trying to help him. I made it worse."

He felt like someone had pulled a rug out from under him. "No," Bunny finally found his voice. "I'm the jerk."

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1968 – Easter Sunday

Frost was sitting slouched at the edge of the lake when Bunny finally caught up to him. It didn't seem like he'd even noticed his arrival. Bunny wasn't going to give him a chance to run again.

In two bounds, he'd cleared the distance between them. A rough hand reached out and spun Frost around, and he took vindictive satisfaction in the way his defensive reaction slipped into horror when he realised just who it was that had grabbed him.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?!" Bunny immediately growled.

Frost gaped at him, apparently lost for words. His eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"Do ya have any idea what you've done?!"

"I–"

"Thanks to you, Easter is ruined for thousands of kids. That prob'ly doesn't mean much to ya, seein' how ya don't care about anyone but yaself, but those kids are gonna wake up this mornin' and they're not gonna find a single egg. Hell, they're not even gonna be able to go outside! And all this for what? Attention? There's a reason no one can see ya, mate, and after this stunt? Ya don't deserve to be seen!"

Frost stared up at him, jaw working silently. Bunny didn't know what pissed him off more – that he wasn't saying anything, or that he looked like the victim here. He shoved Frost back hard, and he stumbled back until his heel collided with the still-frozen surface of the lake.

"I hope you're bloody happy, Frost. Cause no one else is. Now get out of spring, and if I ever see your face on Easter again you'll regret it."

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Present Day – Easter Sunday

Jack looked up as Bunny approached, a content smile on his face as he gestured with his staff at the backyard they were standing in. "All done, Cottontail!"

True to his word, Bunny could see glimpses of coloured eggs hidden around the yard. The kids who lived there would have a blast when they eventually got out of bed. Jack had done a good job.

Bunny returned his attention to the boy himself, Lleu's words and his own regrets echoing in his ears. God, he'd really screwed up. "Frostbite," he started.

Jack frowned at his tone, but there was no sign of any fear or defensiveness that he used to show. "Yeah?"

Bunny hesitated. They'd buried the hatchet years ago, and even if metal didn't degrade, he wasn't keen to dig it up again. He sighed, and reached up to ruffle Jack's hair. "Nice work, kid."

*"Maybe I didn't want you to know" -courtesy of Google Translate. I apologise to any French speakers if I completely botched that :T

Guest Review Responses:

Abby6666: Aw thank! Sorry it took so long

Pyrite Alchemist: (Ch.48:) The entire chapter is a wild ride hahaha (Ch. 57:) SAME (Ch.108:) I have read Magnus Chase and so I do understand XD

Iloveanimals: Sorry but no ^^; Got too many requests to write and not enough chapters left to expand on new requests. But it might be mentioned in passing in future. We'll see

Painapple: Well you would know (jks love you)