Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rise of The Guardians characters.

Jack was violently flung to the ground from where he floated. HE, he had written so far in the fog of his breath on the girl's window; since he was the very embodiment of winter, no matter how hot it was where he was his breath never failed to fog up the glass. HELLO was his goal. He'd had no idea why he was doing this, why he was being so stupid. Sure, drawing pictures in the frost had worked to get Jamie to believe, but Jamie was a child and the only one who still believed in the other Guardians at that. This girl was an adult, and he'd succeed in making her think she was mad before making her believe by doing all of this. He was being selfish, he knew, trying to fill in the blanks in his own mind. Not very Guardian-like behavior.

And that was as far as he had gotten before feeling the wind beneath him give way as he dropped to the ground. He felt the furry large hand grabbing his iced blue hoodie and he reached back to claw at it. "Bunny! Put me down!"

"What do you think you're doing, mate?" Bunnymund asked, dangling Jack at eye level.

"Let go of me, okay?" Bunnymund let him down and Jack reached back to smooth out his hoodie while glaring angrily at his fellow Guardian.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting something," Bunnymund said in a condescending tone, knowing full well what he had done.

Jack glared at him some more. "Seriously, Bunny, you have got to let the Blizzard of '68 go."

"This isn't about the bloody Blizzard and you know it. What do you think you're doing, Jack?"

Jack brushed off his shoulders and smoothed out his hoodie with a glare. "Having a little fun," he replied. "What, is that against the rules now too? Because fun is my center, and if I recall it has saved all of us more than once."

"But this-" Bunny canted his head toward the window, referring to the girl inside-"is going to put someone in a lot of danger. She's a human, Jack. And an adult at that. Tooth told us all about the rest of your memories, but hanging around her nonstop is not going to bring them back."

"Then what is?" Jack asked, exasperated.

Bunny ignored the question. "We can't care too much for humans, Jack. Children being the exception. We put them in danger when we care too much."

"What danger?" The Guardian of Fun shot back. "We defeated Pitch. We're guarding childhood and keeping the world free of fear. What other danger is there?"

"Don't forget, Pitch has come back before. I'm not saying he's going to be able to come back again, but we can't be careless. And there will always be evil that we have to protect the world against, whether Pitch-"he spit the name, like it was a sour taste in his mouth-"is around or not." He grabbed the back of Jack's hoodie again, ignoring the freezing cold that radiated off the boy.

"What are you doing?" Jack cried, clawing once again at the furry paw clinging to his back.

Bunnymund smirked. "We're going to the North Pole. If I can't get through to you, maybe North can."

"Why can't you all just let me figure this one out on my own?"

Bunny sighed in exasperation. "Because," he said pointedly, because he'd just told that thick-headed boy his reason and it had gone in one ear and out the other, "if Pitch gets involved, it involves all of us. And none of us are willing to take that chance."

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Only for you, Bunny, I'll let it go."

Bunny snarled at him. "This isn't a game, Jack."

"I know that! And anyway, I highly doubt Pitch will come back. But I promise I'll go have my fun somewhere else. I'll figure out this memory thing another way. Now, if you would please put me down once and for all."

Bunnymund lowered Jack to the ground. "We're on your side, Jack. But I'm not quite sure I believe you're just going to let this go that easy. You're stubborn."

"Scout's honor," Jack said, holding up a hand. He was going to let it go and not try to make contact with the girl again... for now. He had a plan though, even if he had to go somewhere else to see it through; he was going to try to get the Man in the Moon to help him out. He hadn't really helped Jack before when he'd been going through all his 'why am I here?' life questions, but then he had turned around and told the other Guardians he wanted Jack to be one of them. Tooth had already tried to help him out in her area of expertise, memories, but this time she couldn't, and it was obvious now North wasn't going to let Bunny-not that Bunny would anyway-or Sandy help.

Des walked outside in nothing but shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top, hands on her hips. She wasn't going to say anything just in case no one was out there and the neighbors thought she was crazy, but she was still going to look for the boy all the same.

She walked right up to her window and glanced up at it, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight with one hand. No one. She looked in the tree near her window, thinking he probably hadn't had enough time to get away after the prank and would be hiding up there. Nothing.

She sighed, asking herself why she would even entertain this crazy notion anyway. A prank or her imagination, that's what she kept telling herself, and that's what she was sure this was, however, she didn't care enough to find out if this was a prank or not.

"Whatever," she mumbled as her phone rang. Myra was once again on the other end, asking if she was okay and why she hadn't called back yet and what was taking so long.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. It's this freaking heat. I'd take even a breeze at this point. But, as you've pointed out, a white Christmas is way too much to ask for. I just wish genies were real. That would be my first wish, and then my next wish would be that I would stop going crazy."

Jack was, in fact, hiding in the tree near the girl's window, listening to her phone conversation. He hadn't left yet, for a few more moments of nostalgia, and then she'd walked outside looking for him and of course not finding him.

"...a white Christmas is way too much to ask for. I just wish genies were real..." her melodic voice floated up to him. Jack knew he would come back and grant her wish before he even consciously thought it.