A/N

Hello everyone! I have returned to ease the suspense...for the time being :)

Enjoy~

Easter Sunday

Bunny sat, frozen where he was, still clutching his Easter basket and his chest where the little girl had walked through him. Images and words kept floating in and out of his conflicted mind.

"There's no such thing as the Easter Bunny."

Nightmares stomping and crushing weeks of work. Crushing hope.

"Jack!"

Tendrils of shadows wrapping around an unsuspecting winter spirit.

"Not everything's gone."

The Nightmare King's malicious grin.

"I have someone I know you've been dying to see."

Broken egg shells littering the tunnel paths.

A muffled scream.

Accusing eyes.

"Jack!"

Bunny blinked. That voice. That wasn't in his head. That was Tooth! The Tooth who was here, right now!

And she just shouted Jack's name.

Bunny shot his head up, looking to where he'd heard the fairy's voice, and against all odds…Jack was there. Jack was there! Bunny got up and sprinted towards the young spirit, relieved beyond what he would've ever believed he could've been to see the spirit. He was fully intended on grabbing the spirit by his arms and inspecting him for any damage Pitch may have inflicted on him. He didn't care how Jack had made it back to them. That explanation could wait. He just wanted to make sure he was oka-

"Bunny wait!"

North reached out and grabbed Bunny by the scruff of his neck, instantly stopping him in his tracts.

"North! What are ya doing?! We gotta make sure he-" Bunny stopped his struggling when he turned and actually got a good look at the winter spirit…and it was not an easy sight to swallow.

Jack stood straight and confident in his posture, his right hand gripping his staff in a determined manner. His hood was up, and his gaze lowered, but Bunny could see the tight set to his jaw. Separating them, was a sheet of ice on the ground that appeared jagged and harsh. It looked as if the kid had thrown it at them when North, Tooth and the mini fairy had initially rushed to him.

Bunny was immensely confused. What was Jack doing?

Tentatively, North sat Bunny down, knowing he now had to time to assess the situation and see what he and Tooth had.

"Jack, mate…what're you doing?"

Jack looked up at him with dark eyes. Eyes that were angry and made him look nothing like the Jack they'd had such a short time to spend with.

"I'm not a Guardian."

Bunny didn't know what he had been waiting for Jack to say, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Jack…" Tooth said, trying to fly closer to the boy, but he backed up a step and raised his staff slightly.

"I'm not a Guardian." He said, more firmly, looking them each in their eyes with such intense darkness and sadness, that they had to hold back a collective whimper.

"What are you talking about?" Bunny asked, unsure of where this was going.

"I'm a slave." Jack said plainly, that neutral gaze from the Tooth Palace returning, and his words reaching their ears and stating such a terrible lie as if it were a fact. "I'm a worthless spirit taken in by the mercy of my master. And I belong by his side."

Bunny stared at Jack incredulously.

No.

No!

NO! There couldn't be any possible way that Jack actually believe the lies he was spitting off.

"Jack-" Bunny said, attempting to move closer to the boy, but he shifted, fully facing the pooka and placing his staff in between the two of them.

Bunny forced himself to stay put, bringing his paws up in a placating gesture. "There's absolutely no way you believe that brainwashed crap ya rambling off." He said, searching for any cracks in the winter spirits mask of anger and neutrality. A twitch of the lip or brow. Anything.

But Jack's expression only grew darker.

"Why should I believe the brainwashing crap you're trying to feed me now?"

"Because it's not brainwashing." North said, picking up as it seemed that Bunny could not. "Man in Moon chose you-"

"Then why wouldn't he tell me that himself?" Jack spat back, his disgust so thick it almost seemed to be dripping off his lips.

The Guardians had nothing to say to that. They could not speak for their creator's actions.

"Why did he let a lot of things happen?" Jack said, and for once, his expression became less neutral and they could finally see some of what was going through the young spirits mind. His eyes reflected pain and a hurt so deep that they wouldn't even know how to begin to soothe it.

That is…if they ever got the chance.

"Mate," Bunny tried again, not moving from where he was, but lowering his ears and leaning towards Jack a bit. "We can't answer for Manny. We don't know why he's chosen to do anything. But we can say that he's never made a mistake. You were chosen for a reason-"

"Well there's a first for everything." Jack said, his voice so low that Bunny had to lift one of his ears to hear him properly. "Maybe I'm that first."

"No!" Tooth said, looking almost as heart-broken as when Pitch had emptied her Palace of everything and everyone she protected and held dear. Her mini circled about her head, looking as if she were trying to calm her mother. "You're wrong Jack. Won't you please stop this. We have to stop Pitch and I promised that we'd get your teeth back, so stop th-"

"I've already gotten my teeth." Jack said, glaring at the fairy and her mini. A moment later he pulled out a golden canister, wiping the disbelieving look off of the fairies faces and replacing them with shock. "My master gave them to me-"

"He is not your master!" Bunny raged, cursing the Nightmare King through grinding teeth.

Jack looked at Bunny with a depressed smile.

"Yes. He is." He said, crushing the Guardian's with the weight of his easy correction. Shattering their hearts with how believable he sounded. How factual it sounded.

Bunny looked around at the others and saw them caving in to the pressure of Jacks words. Saw them resigning to the idea that they wouldn't be able to save this child. He could feel them start to believe that saving Jack was futile.

But Bunny couldn't accept that.

There was more! He just knew it like how North could feel things in his belly, Bunny could feel it somewhere within him that they weren't seeing something. That Jack wasn't telling them something.

For the first time, Bunny really looked at Jack. He looked beyond the surface of emotions Jack was so easily presenting them with and dug deeper. Bunny saw the sadness shift. It wasn't exactly sadness directed towards himself, but, rather, towards them. He saw regret and pain, as if what he was doing was actually hurting him. He saw so many dark emotions that it nearly floored him when he finally made contact with the light that was setting off that voice in his head telling him to look further.

Hope.

Past the neutral façade and bitterness, Bunny saw a tiny light of hope swimming in those crystal blue eyes. A hope that Bunny would see through his act.

And just as quickly as he had glimpsed it, the emotion was blanketed in doubt and wishful thinking.

"I belong with my master." Jack piqued up, stuffing his tooth canister back into his pocket and snapping Bunny out of his revelation. "And he only sent me here to correct a mistake."

Before the Guardians could ask what he was talking about, Jack shot out a powerful spark of blue energy that sent the three of them flying backwards. Feeling as if he had been hiking through a blizzard, Bunny shot his head up just in time to see Jack snatch the mini tooth fairy out of the air, and step into the waiting embrace of one of the Nightmare King's shadows.

"No!" Tooth shrieked, flying to where the pair had disappeared and collapsing against the ground in a sobbing mess.

Bunny ran to her. He knew what it meant to her when he had handed her the mini tooth fairy after Jack had saved her. He knew the little fairy represented that small bit of hope that Tooth had been clinging too, and that which helped keep her sane.

So he could feel her devastation as Jack ripped her away.

"Tooth!" Bunny said, collecting her in his arms. "Tooth, it's okay. It's okay."

"How is this okay?!" She shrieked. "Jack isn't helping us. He's Pitch's, and he believes it."

"No! He doesn't!" Bunny said, shocking both North and Tooth. They stared at him, worrying for his sanity. He had been through a lot today. Losing Easter and finding out that Jack was lost to them as well couldn't have helped his mentality.

"Bunny…" North started, not wanting to anger his friend. "Jack said-"

"I don't care what he said, I saw what he didn't say." Bunny argued, watching the concerned looks of his friends face blend with confusion. "He doesn't believe he's Pitch's…but Pitch does have a stronger grip on him than we thought."

A/N

Wahoo! Suspense over! Not too much of a cliffy this time either XD Thought you guys deserved a break from all of that! But I'm so excited because I have so much planned from here on out, and it's gonna be so great!

Guest Review Responses:

Geminalupus: hahaha you get a starring spot in the guest reviews for not logging in. EVERYONE HAS TO SUFFER IF I DO! (jk, not that serious, and you're amazing and I love you, but it has to STING!)

To the Guest who said: Oh no oh no no no no no no what is going to happend now!? And, again: please please pleaaaaaaseeeee! For all you love update! Aw! So much excitement! Thank you so much you sweetie! And I updated! Isn't that cool? Does this help? haha...

Awesomeness: I UPDATED! Sorry it wasn't the "NOW" you were probably hoping for XD

sparklehannah: Ah! Again, you have floored me with your incredible kindness! You confirmed for me everything I wanted the readers to feel, and I'm so happy to know that it came across for a least one person :3 And really!? Wow! The best? Awww! I'm so honored! Thank you! And did you guess the favor/task correctly? I want to know how omniscient you are XD And you more than deserve the compliment, my dear! You give me enough to spare! :3 Thank you!

Thanks to everyone reading this! Your enthusiasm is so motivating and I can't get enough of it all! You guys are just fantastic! Really! Thank you so much for all the wonderful support, and I'll see ya soon~