sparklehannah : I sent you an PM as you logged with your account last time ;)

This week we meet with Jack and Bunny again ! It's one of the first OS I wrote for this fic, so don't be surprised if the writing style isn't the best by the way.

Timeline : October 2017
Characters : Jack & Bunny
Words : 1075

Jack looked into amazement. He may have come here only once, but it was as colorful as the last time. The Warren was really wonderful.

"What 're ya doin' here ?!" An angry voice shouted.

With a wide grin on his face, Jack turned over.

"Hi Bunny ! How you've been ?"

"How did ya came here ?" Jack bit his cheeks hard in order to not laugh.

"North. He gave me a snowglobe when I said it's been awhile since I saw you."

Bunny muttered something about irresponsibility but Jack didn't catch more.

"Well, now that ya saw me, ya can get out !" He grunted.

Jack pouted.

"Oh please, let me have one look at least ! I won't do anything I swear !"

"Don't ya have work to do ?" Bunny asked with skepticism.

"It's Fall, I'm not really needed." He shrugged.

Bunny stared at him for a while but finally sighed.

" 'Kay, ya can stay." He added however before Jack took off, "But don't get in my way !"

Jack smiled widely and flew to the rivers. There were no eggs to be painted this time, but they were as beautiful as always, full of different colors. On the grass, ants were harvesting food, while insects were foraging the glowing flowers. He could even hear birds singing.

The Warren was so full of life.

A sudden thought struck him.

"Hey Cottontail !" He called.

Grumbling, the rabbit appeared at the edge of the hill.

"What do ya want ?"

"What are you doing here by the way ?"

"Are ya stupid ?"

"Duh, there's a reason I asked. I understand you get ready for Easter, but you can't seriously do that all year !"

"Come here."

He was surprised at the sharpness of his tone, but followed him nonetheless.

Bunny led him to a cave at the end of the Warren. He pushed aside the branches that were guarding the entrance and let Jack have a look.

There were thousands, no, millions eggs, smaller than the ones he saw at Easter '12.

"So, you're growing eggs."

"Of course I am, ya seriously didn't think they were from animals."

Jack frowned at his slightly disdainful tone.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot eggs were growing on trees."

"Magical eggs, Frostbite. They can't rot. I would explain how it works but I think it's a little complicated for ya. And no, they don't grow on trees."

"Hey !" He took offense at the jibe. "I'm not stupid !"

"Really ? I thought so for a moment."

Jack glared at him. He would have gladly retorted something vicious but their current topic still intrigued him.

"So, you're growing eggs, all year ?"

"Yes. They're fragile, it's really difficult to raise them. Less than a half make it to Eater."

Jack nodded absently. Something had caught his eyes.

He could distinguish figures on the bottom wall. He flew over to get closer and realized they were rabbits, like Bunny.

"Bunny ? What's that ?" That was when he noticed his fellow Guardian had already come by his side. He was gazing at the painting with a longing look in his eyes.

"That's my family." He finally said softly.

Jack shouldn't be surprised, really. There was nothing strange for Bunny to have a family at some point in time, all of them came from somewhere after all.
He just couldn't grasp the idea of his comrade being young enough to cuddle in his mother's arms.

He resumed his staring. There were eight of them, in different shades of grey and with different patterns on their furs, but Jack still noticed the similarities between them.
It wasn't hard to understand that if the older two were his parents, the eight others must have been his brothers and sisters then.

"What happened to them ?" Because even if he was quite naive sometimes, he fully realized they couldn't still been alive.

"They were killed."

He didn't expect such finality in his tone.

Jack glanced at him, but Bunny was keeping his gaze ahead of him, straight at the picture. Jack wasn't sure he was really watching it.
He opened his mouth to bring some comfort, but stopped before he could make out words. What would he said ? Being sorry couldn't bring back the dead.

He bit his lip nervously. He wanted to know more, how and why did it happen, but he didn't think it was very wise. Even in other circumstances, the Guardians rarely talked about their past.

"I had a sister." Even years later, he wouldn't know what possessed him to divulge this information at such a bad time. Right then, it was the only thing he could think of.

"Her name was Grace. She was five years younger than me. She was annoying alright, she was crying all the time when we were young, but I loved her. I wish... I wish I could have done more for her." He whispered the last part.

Bunny didn't answer, Jawk wasn't even sure he heard, but he still felt like a weight got off his shoulders.

"I was the youngest." Bunny finally said quietly after what felt like hours.

Jack looked up in surprise.

"The youngest ? Really ?"

"Yeah, Pookas lived for almost three centuries, so Isna, the oldest, was already thirty-two an' a mother herself when I was born. However, it didn't prevent all of us to be close together." He paused. "My mother was pregnant when… when it happened. I never got the chance to know my little siblin'."

Jack looked at his feet.

There was more to the story, of course, but for once he felt like he didn't want to know. It was extremely sad and he could never imagine the pain that Bunny must have been though.

He gesticulated for an instant.

"I think… I think you would have made a good big brother."

He didn't dare to look at Bunny next, but he swore he could still feel his gaze piercing his gaze. The silent seconds that followed wree deafening.

"Can you repeat that ?"

"You heard me alright." Jack gritted his teeth, his eyes away from the Pooka, and flew out of reach before Bunny could finally grasp what he just said.

He had never been so embarassed in his life.
Didn't mean he regretted it, though.