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"Jack! Bunny!"

Jack turned his head and saw Tooth flying towards them, beaming. Bunny looked up and smiled back at the fairy, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You're both okay!" Tooth flew straight into the other guardians and hugged them tightly. Jack laughed and hugged her back. As Bunny wrapped his arms around them all, Jack felt a happiness that seemed to spread through his entire body. It had been too long since he had hugged someone like this; even before he fell into a coma, before he got impaled by Pitch, Jack had only ever hugged the guardians when he had been upset and even then, it was never him that started them.

But to be squashed on the middle of a hug, laughing? It felt amazing to the spirit. Even though the guardians weren't complete yet, it still felt,

Nice…Jack thought through his laughter, this feels nice.

The hug didn't break for a while, and when it did, it was only because Tooth saw all of the dirt and rubble that was littered in Jack's hair and Bunny's fur.

"What happened?" The fairy asked, breaking the hug to get a better look at her two companions. "Why are you both covered in dirt?!"

"Easy, Shelia." Bunny said, shaking himself to try and get rid of some of the rubble. Jack yelled as the dirt showered over him instead. "Sorry, Frostbite…it was just because of a rock slide, no need to worry."

"A rockslide?!" Tooth nearly screamed, staring at them wide-eyed. She suddenly bean herding the two guardians against the oak tree. Bewildered, they did as she wanted, sitting down on the gravel and grass. The fairy sat down in front of them, eyes narrowing.

"Tell me what happened. Now, or I swear I will-"

"Okay!" Jack replied hastily, raking a hand through his hair. "It sounds a lot worse than it actually was…"

So they told her what happened in the tunnel: how Bunny heard Jack come in, Jack freed Bunny- Tooth winced when they described the shackles that had held the rabbit to the wall.

"Why did he do it though?" She asked. Bunny shrugged.

"No idea. He just came in, said some things then buggered off." He answered. "Besides, I didn't have them on for long before Frosty here broke them."

"Do you think…you know…" Tooth began, biting her lip.

"Think what?" Bunny asked.

"That Pitch's getting pissed." Jack finished grimly, resting his chin in his hand. Tooth nodded.

"Now that two of us have been freed…he's going to get suspicious…" she said, looking at them both. "I mean, he's going to know by now that we didn't just escape on our own."

"But will he know it's Jack that's doin' it?" Bunny asked no one in particular, glancing at Jack from the corner of his eye. The spirit didn't seem too fussed, however, even though his life was on the line. "What if he knows it's Jack? What then?"

—

Ruins. That was what he returned to. Ruins. Ruins of his fortress, his prison, his retreat; it was just ruins.

The ground had literally caved in, leaving an odd looking dent. Remains of his nightmares left patches of black against the snow covering the landscape.

Freshly fallen snow.

The truth crashed upon the Nightmare King like a tidal wave. Freshly fallen snow. Freshly fallen snow. Freshly fallen snow. But it only snowed before he killed Jack Frost, before he won; yet it had just been snowing.

You never found the body. The voice in the back of his mind nagged, and now there is proof that he is alive.

"NO!" Pitch Black tore up the snow and the ice in front of him, his nightmare sand churning through the ground and rocks and exploding it upwards into the cold air. The ice and rock cracked open, revealing the maze of tunnels hidden underneath. They too were in ruins.

Pitch's yellow eyes searched the ground, looking for anything to show how the Easter Bunny managed to escape and create a landslide and destroy his nightmares without any weapons. But, like the fairy's cell, there was no evidence, none. Just some broken chains covered in dust. Pitch lowered himself down into the ditch and studied them harder, searching…

"Frost…" Pitch muttered darkly, tracing the spiked frost patterns that cut through the nightmare sand. His eyes flared and he crushed the frost in his hand. "Frost!"

How? How could he? He watched him die! But now, he was alive and actively releasing his prisoners in the process, gaining believers, winning…

"It won't be that easy, Jackie." The Boogeyman muttered, a grin forming onto his face. He was already ahead of him. He had seen the other two guardians, and they were still trapped. He would go to the nearest to here, and wait. He would send all of his other nightmares to the unguarded one.

"It won't be easy anymore." Pitch raised himself out of the ditch and mounted his nightmare once more. "If you want to create trouble, then so be it! But believe me, Jackie, you will loose this battle, just like you lost the last…nothing can defeat me, not even you." He kicked the Nightmare with his heel, and took off into the air, leaving the ruins behind him. Nicholas St North was closest…he would wait there.

—

The three guardians were lying beside each other, their hands (or paws) covered in dirt. Around them, the Warren was almost the same as it was before; the gravel and egg shells had gone and some small, unsteady eggs were moving clumsily around the grounds, others were sliding out of flowers, shells covered in colourful patterns.

Jack, Bunny and Tooth has been working all afternoon cleaning up the Warren (which was momentarily interrupted by a snowball fight) and recovering any eggs that had managed to survive. Bunny had taken care of the flowers, bringing the ones seemingly dead back to life. The oak tree, though it couldn't be fixed, had been cleared of all of the rubble blocking the roots, and the rooms that were inside it had been refurbished to their original state.

Now, exhausted, the tree guardians were lying in the grass in silence, enjoying the other's company. Bunny and Tooth had closed their eyes, but Jack kept his open, refusing to sleep. It wasn't because he didn't want to, it just was because-

"Ya still awake, Frosty?"

Jack jumped slightly, turning his head to the rabbit next to him.

"Not tired."

"Liar."

Silence returned, and the spirit looked back up at the darkening sky.

"Why aren't ya sleeping, Frostbite?" The Pooka asked, looking at him. Jack shrugged, still not returning the gaze.

"Don't shrug, Okay?" Bunny propped himself up on his elbow, staring at him. "Look…ya helped me out a lot today, an'…I want to help you now. Please." Maybe it was because the Pooka was being gentle, or the fact that he said please, but Jack found himself turning to the rabbit.

"I…I just…" Jack cut off, shaking his head.

"Go on."

"I don't want to not wake up." Jack muttered, biting his lip. "I don't want to wake up and find…I don't want to find out that I have missed another seventy years." Bunny listened, staring at the spirit with a mixture of emotions.

"Sounds stupid, I know…" Jack muttered.

"No it doesn't." Bunny answered, shaking his head. "I felt just like you do now…when my race got slaughtered."

Jack stared up at the Pooka, not knowing what to say. Bunny almost never talked about his past life before the guardians, but North had told him in private about some of his history. Things that Jack never wanted to happen again.

"I felt like if I went to sleep, I wouldn't be able to save anyone else, just in case something happened whilst I was asleep…and there would be nothing I could do to save them."

"I'm sorry, Bunny…"

"Don't be. Things happen, and once they happen, no matter how much you bother yourself about it, they will still be apart of history." The Pooka soothed. "An' you have to learn to live with it, and not fear it. It may sound hard, even impossible now, but ya must do it. Ya must move on." Jack still looked nervous, so Bunny spread out his arms. "Come 'ere."

Jack scooted closer, leaning into the Pooka's embrace.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Frostbite."

The spirit smiled, closing his eyes.

"I forgot how fluffy you were, Kangaroo." Bunny chuckled, nudging the spirit with his nose. He could still feel a nervousness coming from the boy in his arms.

"Oh, and Jack?" He said, looking down at the spirit.

"Mmm?"

"If ya do fall asleep for too long, I'll wake ya, I promise."

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