Once the white cleared from his vision he noticed that he was in front of a cabin in a small village, and even though it was clearly within the village, it had a good bit of land behind it. However, that wasn't his main focus. What was his main focus, was that he felt strange. He looked around and noticed that he could feel the ground beneath his feet and the warmth of the nearby fire on his skin. Before he could revel in this strange feeling some more, almost in the blink of an eye, the other guardians showed up and it was as if they were really in the time period. It didn't look like the pole at all, and if anything about how his body feels is any indication, they weren't at the pole anymore. "So...what is this?"
"Mind travel. Like time travel...actually, it's extremely similar...but instead of just taking you to random points in time, it takes you to the time and place that is relevant to the person's mind." Tooth answered.
"So...we can walk around and interact and it won't actually affect anything?"
"Not exactly. You can interact with some things...but most other things, you'll just phase right through." Bunny explained.
Jack nodded his head at Bunny in understanding. "So...what's the first stop?"
"The same place we all started in journeying through our memories. Our birth." Tooth smiled at him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey what year were you born, Jack?"
"I was born on the twenty fifth of December in the year 1700."
"Wait...I thought you were just exaggerating last year when you said you had been waiting for three hundred years for an answer...It's 2013 now...That makes you three hundred and thirteen." Before he could add anything else in his stunned state at the revelation, they all heard an infants cry echo through the night, and they noticed a man rush into the house that the cry was coming from, and snow began to fall as the wind picked up slightly. "Let's go." Bunny suggested and they quickly phased through the house, and walked into the only bedroom with light coming from it.
"Oh...Hannah, he is beautiful. What a beautiful boy you have!" The midwife said as she finished up washing the infant. "A full head of hair to boot..." The midwife handed the woman the infant and her tired expression turned into one of bliss.
Jack watched with his own wide eyes as he remembered this woman to be his mother, and he took notice at how she had long maple colored hair, and her eyes were such a bright shade of brown they were practically the color of maple leaves in the fall. "Hello, my sweet boy. I'm your mother, Hannah, although...you should really only call me mother."
"Your boy is born on the twenty fifth of December. Your child has quite a special birthday." The midwife added. "What is the child's name?"
Hannah looked at the man who rushed in and smiled at him fondly. "James, come here, love." The man went to her side silently with eyes wide in wonder and hope. "What should his name be?" She questioned as she placed the small infant in his arms.
"Jackson. His name will be Jackson Frost Overlander."
"Frost?" Hannah laughed out weakly. "Why Frost, love?"
"Well, the second I heard his cry it started to snow. I thought it appropriate."
"It sounds wonderful." Hannah agreed.
Jack felt his heart become instantly content and pleased. He looked to his fellow guardians and they seemed to feel the same as they all held relaxed smiles as they gazed at the scene before them. "So...MiM wasn't completely lying when he said my name was Jack Frost. Did he do the same thing with the rest of you?" Jack asked his friends.
"We all had a little bit of our original names placed into our guardian names." Bunny answered with a smirk.
"Were...I hate to ask this, because it sounds really personal...but were you all human once?"
"Yes, we were." Tooth answered. "MiM transformed us into the forms you see and gave us our small helpers. I have my fairies, Bunny has his sentries, North has his elves, and Sandy has his Sand and his cloud."
"Okay...so what were your real names?"
"My name was Alannia Fair Toothiana. My family wanted my name to sound as magical and as memorable as possible." Tooth answered proudly.
Jack nodded in surprise and noticed Sandman point to the top of his head. Jack read the letters as they were spelling out a name and smiled to himself when he found that Sandy was trying to tell him his name. Once he was finished he read the name with slight amusement and shock. He hadn't expected Sandy's name to actually have Sandy. His name read Sandy Edmond Thompson. "Interesting" Jack said and earned a pleased look from his golden friend.
"My name was Nicholas Northward." North answered. "However, even though most of my name is my guardian name...The only one here who's full human name is their Guardian name is Bunny."
"Do I have to North?" Bunny's ears went back in slight embarrassment.
"Yes, you have to. It's the least you can do as we're going through his memory."
"Speaking of which...why has everything stopped."
"Because you started talkin'. It'll continue with ya memories when you say 'Let's continue.'" Bunny answered, and then groaned. "My name was...is...Elliston Aster Bunnymund. Usually I just went by E. Aster Bunnymund, or Aster, or just Elliston. However, one day a dear friend of mine found it highly amusing that if he put my first initial next to my middle name and took off the last four letters of my last name...it spelled Easter Bunny. He was the only one allowed to call me that...that is...before I was made into a guardian and MiM told me my name."
"So..." Jack chuckled lightly. "You were born to be the Easter Bunny." Jack stated, but unexpectedly received a wide smile from Bunny that he hadn't seen since he enchanted Bunny last year with his snowflake of fun down in the warren when Sophie got in.
"I suppose you're right. Which would mean you were born to be Jack Frost. Ya old man said that when he heard you cry it began to snow."
"You're right." Jack replied with amusement building in his chest. "Say...are we really going to go day by day or year by year...or will it be moments that are significant to me...or were significant to me."
"They will be memories that meant a great deal to you. Where your strongest emotions were felt, where you were most yourself, monumental moments, moments that may include us and those will be the most powerful memories. So, no...it will not go day by day, but there will be quite a lot of memories to go through." Tooth explained carefully.
"Alright then...let's continue." Jack said and the scene before them did just that.
"Hannah, he's gorgeous."
"He looks like you." Hannah mused.
"Don't even joke. He looks nothing like me aside from my ears and nose. Everything else is all you, my dear."
Hannah chuckled at her husband as he still held Jack in his arms. "If you say so, love."
"I do say so." He stated with a wide smile.
Suddenly a cold winter wind pushed open one of the windows and rushed through the house before it left almost as quickly as it came. "We must keep him warm."
"I agree." He replied as he gave Hannah the infant once more and moved to close the window.
"W-What was that!?" Bunny shouted as he grabbed Jack's arm as the feeling washed over him and his entire body. He felt a cold wind but he himself wasn't cold.
The other guardians looked at Jack who was breathing slightly heavier than usual and held a hand to his heart. "That was...That was the wind."
"Yeah, no kidding, mate." Bunny rolled his eyes and was about to say something else when Jack quickly shook his head.
"No...you misunderstand...I can communicate with the wind. We...sort of talk to each other in a way. I can't explain it...it's strange...but that was definitely her. She..."
"She was welcoming you to the world." North said as his hand was also over his heart. "I heard it. She said 'Welcome little one. I will be with you always.' That's not possible though...you weren't the Jack Frost we know now until later in life so how could she speak to you when you were born a normal human?"
"I...I don't..."
"No one can remember this far back, Jack." Tooth stated as she looked at him with sympathy. "However, we all heard it and felt it. Maybe it has something to do with how you existed for so long without anyone...well..."
"Without anyone believing in me? Yeah...let's hope we find that one out. Let's continue."
At his words the scene changed in a bright white light and as it faded they noticed it wasn't winter, but spring. They looked around for Jack, wondering what version of him they'll see, but then they saw a slightly more interesting sight off in the distance just outside the village and towards the pond. "Hey...those are my googies." Bunny stated with pride as his eggs walked into their places and then they all heard doors begin to open. "It's Easter!" Bunny shouted in excitement. "Wait...why would we be here?"
"Remember Bunny...if it involves us...then we will see it. Now, where is little Jack anyway?" North questioned, but he was quickly answered as a door behind them opened after the rest. It was the same house Jack was born in.
"Jackson, come here..."
"Ma...Ma...Ma! I want to go get eggies!"
"I know you do." She giggled. "But you know what your father and I said about trying to keep you warm."
"It not even cold!" They all walked closer to get a good look at the small version of Jack and noticed that his hair was still a beautiful medium shade of brown and his eyes were a golden brown.
"Yes, but it's been windy. With how small you are, I'm afraid you may blow over."
"I won't fall over! I strong! I wanna go get eggies!"
"I know...say...what color are your favorite eggs?" She asked as she snuck a small over coat over his shoulders.
"The really bright gween ones! They super pwetty!"
"That's nice, love." She said as she gave little Jack his basket that seemed to have a handmade stuffed bunny inside. "Now, you go and collect your 'eggies' and be careful. Aunt Layla is going to be watching you while your father and I clean the house."
"Thank you Ma!" The boy beamed and then quickly noticed he had a coat on. "Hey! I no need coat!"
"That's up for debate...another time. Go and have fun, Jackson."
The toddler beamed up at his mother and ran towards where the other kids were gathering. However, he didn't make it too far when he tripped on a rock and almost landed his head on one of the large rocks that were placed around the fire that roared at night. Then, the wind picked up and knocked him away from the large rock and landed him on his back. "Ow..." Little Jack rubbed the back of his head and almost on instinct the guardians did the same.
"You know..." Jack groaned out as his head hurt from the fall. "This is going to be really awkward."
"We know, mate. We all had to go through it..." Bunny stated as he finally brought his hand down. "The curious thing at the moment is that the wind came to your aid and kept you from getting a much more serious injury."
"Yeah...Let's continue."
Little Jack stood up and brushed off his close and giggled. "Thank you, wind." He muttered as he ran once again towards the other children.
The guardians, Jack included, were all stunned, but didn't say anything. "Jackson, there you are. We've been waiting for you."
"Sorry, Aunt Layla." He smiled up and started hopping up and down pretending to be a rabbit.
"Are you pretending to be the Easter bunny?"
"Bunny Bunny Bunny!" He chanted with laughter as he continued to hop.
"Do you really like Easter that much?" Layla asked with a grin on her face and fondness in her eyes.
"It's my favorite howiday!"
"HoLiday. There's an L sweetie."
"Ho...Holiday? Holiday!"
"Very good!" Layla patted little Jack's shoulder and crouched down to him. "Can you tell me what part is your favorite about Easter?" She questioned and noticed the curious look on the boy's face as if he couldn't quite decided just yet. "Is it the eggs?"
"No...not that..."
"Is it the colors?"
"Not that either..."
"What about the hunt for the eggs?"
"No..."
"The sweets afterwards?"
"No..."
Layla looked at the boy curiously and looked at her husband who shared her curious and confused expression. "Then...what makes it your favorite holiday?"
"Hmm...Well...I really like the Easter Bunny even though I not seen him yet...but...I guess...Hope."
"Hope?" She questioned, astonished at the four year old's answer.
"Yeah...I always feel hopeful when Easter comes. Hopeful that Ma smiles, Hopeful that I can play with my friends, Hopeful that there's lots of colors, Hopeful that everyone is happy, Hopeful that the plants are happy, and Hopeful that the Easter Bunny is happy. He gives kids like me all over the wide world all these eggs...that's a lot of eggs. He must work really hard. Also..."
"There's more?" She laughed out.
"Yeah...Also...as much as I like winter I love watching spring arrive. There's new beginnings and new life! New plants and animals! It's...more than pwetty...it's..."
"Beautiful?" She asked.
"Yea! That word. It's Bootiful."
She giggled and shook her head. "Jackson, repeat after me. Bee..."
"Bee..."
"You..."
"You..."
"Tea..."
"Tea..."
"Full..."
"Full..."
"Good now put them together."
"Bee...you...tea...full...Be...autiful...Beautiful!" He jumped up and down in excitement. "Beautiful! Easter is Beautiful!"
Jack glanced a look at the guardians and noticed how much joy was in their eyes. "Ahem..." He started and noticed the joy quickly shifted to curiousness, and wonder as the scene stopped. 'It seems they go back to their normal selves when I stop the scene.' He thought to himself.
"Mate...I had no idea..." Bunny started, but couldn't finish. His heart felt full and a strange mist was coming from his eyes and it was starting to irritate his fur.
"You...you were just tiny four year old Jack." North said as his astonishment reached his Wonder filled eyes. "You had so much understanding..."
Jack let out a short chuckle as he noticed that Bunny of all people was looking at him with a look of not only shock, but confusion. "Hey...this may sound weird but is it possible for me to be able to talk to one of you without the others hearing? It's not bad I promise, I just want to talk to Bunny."
North had a proud and surprise smile as he nodded. "All you have to do is say full name and we won't be hear or see anything you say. It will be like you stand still until you done."
Jack nodded and looked at Bunny who seemed slightly worried for some reason. "Elliston Aster Bunnymund." After he said his name he felt a physical shift almost. He looked at his other guardians and it seemed as if time had stopped around them.
"Well Jackson Frost Overlander, you wanted to talk to me?"
Jack looked to where Bunny was standing and where he thought he heard Bunny, but there was a man in his place. A human man. He was well built and had lightly tanned skin. There were Tattoos that perfectly matched the ones Bunny had plus a few more going up and down his arms and the exposed side of his chest. The man in front of him wore a beautifully decorated cloth that held different shades of reds and oranges along with some green here and there. The cloth went from the right shoulder to the left hip and continued down into a split cloth that laid gently over black pants that, to Jack, resembled a Genie's pants, and he was barefoot. They had some red decoration and appeared to be baggy. He looked back up at the man in front of him and noticed there was a slight smirk on the man's face, he had Bunny's impossibly green eyes as well as black hair that seemed to spike and go down to the middle of his shoulders. "I...I was actually wanting to talk to...wait...you can't be..."
The man in front of him smirked mischievously as he slowly walked forward to Jack. "Tell me, Frostbite...what can't I be?"
The eyes and the smirk were one thing...the tattoos another...but the voice and the nickname were a dead giveaway, and Jack nearly fell in shock. "Y-You're Bunny!?"
"Well..." The man in front of him looked at his own form and opened and closed his hands as if testing them out before returning his gaze to Jack. "In this form I suppose you could just call me Aster. What did you want to ask me, mate?"
"I...I...YOU'RE BUN...er...Aster!?" He shouted out, already knowing the answer, but he still couldn't believe it.
"I think we've established that." He chuckled as amusement was evident in his eyes. "This is somewhat of what I looked like when I was a human. Now come on...we got a lot of memories to look through..."
"You um...right...It's just...when you...well...when we found out my favorite holiday was Easter and the things my four year old self said...you seemed a bit off."
"I was...am...It's a bit hard to explain, mate." Aster stated as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Something's been off about you since we left Jamie's...what's wrong?"
"Well...I noticed something his mother said...she's right...there is something sad in your eyes and it...it almost doesn't belong there, mate. Then, I see...feel what you feel...the honesty in your words, the joy in your heart, the pure...hope in you...It's almost overwhelming, mate. You're so...it sounds funny, but you're so pure here...and it just makes me remember what Jamie's mother said, and I'm wondering...what happened...what went wrong...I know I'll find out...but still..."
"Wait...what do you mean it's overwhelming?"
"Well...you see, we all saw each others memories...like we told you. We all saw North's and tooth's and Sandman's, and mine...but even with their childhood and everything past that...nothing has ever been this overwhelming. Nothing has felt...this pure. Not even from North's memories and he was here before Me, Tooth, and Sandy. You're a wonder, mate. The thing is...we don't know why, and as far as we know, the wind itself hasn't talked to anyone aside from MiM and mother nature, and even then she did as they said...she's acting on her own with you. Aside from all of that...the other stuff that makes it overwhelming is the amount of emotion you carry in your heart and soul, Jack."
Jack looked up at Aster with wide eyes. "The amount of emotion in my heart and soul?"
"We feel what you feel...remember? To us...or at least to me...it feels as if nothing can get you down. It feels like...if you tell them I said this you'll be wearing a boomerang in your shoulder."
"I promise...what is it?"
"It...feels like a never ending song is going on inside your soul, and it has a powerful and upbeat tune that can't be heard by anyone else but you...however, even with us being here...I don't hear the music, I can only feel it...There's also the fact that both your heart and soul...they feel like...all at once...everything we represent. I represent Hope, North represents Wonder, Sandy represents dreams and imagination, Tooth represents memories...good or bad...and usually a child would only feel one or two of those at once...but it's like you feel...and are...all of them at once." Aster laughed slightly and shook his head. "Crikey...it was a helluva lot easier to talk to you when I was rabbit. Anyway, that's why I was practically speechless when you stopped the stream of the memory. Now...like I said...we have a lot of memories to look through. To change me back and get them back you have to say my name again."
"O-Okay..." Jack had more questions but he figured that he would wait to ask them. "Elliston Aster Bunnymund."
Right before his eyes there was a bright glow for a brief moment and Aster was once again Bunny. "That's better. Sorry, I haven't been in human form in a very long time."
"Wait...you saw Bunny in his human form?" Tooth questioned with a jealous whine in her voice. "I wish I could see it!"
"Same." North agreed as he crossed his arms with a surprised grin.
Sandy nodded his head as fast as he could to say that he wanted to see it too.
"Wait...I thought you all journeyed through his memories...didn't you see him then?"
"Yeah, but it's not the same. We saw who he was then...not who he is now. Our human forms...our bodies retain the same shape and hair style but that's all we keep. Our clothes, eye color, tattoos, hair color...those all change. We have different human forms now. They are only similar to our original ones in the shape aspect...for example I know Bunny is very well built and muscular, and he has spiky hair that goes down between his shoulders...but that's all I know about his human form. You're the first to see it. It's almost kind of personal." Tooth stated with a small hint of jealousy in her tone.
"Way to make me feel violated by a damn winter sprite." Bunny joked and gave a short nod to Jack. "Just kidding, mate. Now...what do ya say we continue with yerr memories?"
"Let's continue." Jack said as he returned Bunny's smirk.
AN: I made up their names on the spot as I was writing. The only one I didn't have to make up a whole lot was Bunny's...I only made up his first name...I had seen him being called E. Aster Bunnymund so...I just created a first name...ANYWAY, Please don't be harsh on the names. :) Oh, and I wasn't entirely sure if Jack's last name was Overland or Overlander...I've heard it both ways...so I chose the last one. I also made it to where the other guardians were human before becoming guardians...so slight AU...I think...anyway, Thanks for reading this little side note. :)