A/N: Reupdate. Fixed a couple of typos, etc. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters, ideas, or quotes. This is pure fanfiction.

End of chapter 6:

Jack turned around and began to walk away; Bunnymund did not stop him. He walked some more, slowing down with each step. He'd only gone a few feet before stopping completely and clenching his fists. Damn. Jack reluctantly looked back and let out a sigh of defeat. They stared at each other for a long while; Bunnymund shivered but Jack stood in the snow, barefoot, completely silent, completely still.

"Alright," he finally said. "ask away."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

They created a small clearing, and with a wave of his paw, Bunnymund could sprout grass and flowers where they sat. Jack dropped to his knees and stared at the petals in amazement. They were beautiful; so many different colors in such a tiny thing that sprung from the cold ground. He'd never seen flowers before. Because Bunnymund had been weary of the wind, Jack help up his hands and asked it to leave them alone. It complied, and he thanked it in his head, wishing for his staff as well, so he could not only ask favors of the wind, but ride it as well.

"What's your name?" Jack asked, crossing his legs.

"Bunnymund, already toldja. I'm askin' the questions, mate."

Jack held up his hands. "Hey, sorry, just wanted to start the conversation already."

The rabbit looked at Jack and crinkled up his nose in confusion. This was a boy, a teenage boy, not the monster he'd been expecting. It was a skinny little kid. Bunnymund was a little relieved because Jack Frost did not have huge claws made of ice nor skin of snow, and while his hair was white, he looked normal otherwise. Bunnymund felt rather daft because he hadn't noticed the non-human scent before; he supposed the cold weather might have affected his sense of smell, even though it was refined and near-perfect compared with his, ah, former self.

"Well?" Jack said.

"How old are you?" he asked, not because it was important to save Christmas, but out of sheer curiosity.

"Let's see..." Jack paused for a moment and looked down at his fingers, counting by fives. He looked up and confidently said, "I'm thirty-two."

The Easter Bunny was taken aback. He looked at Jack incredulously. "You're what?"

"Thirty-two," Jack repeated, as if it were obvious, as if it weren't strange.

"You're bloody sixteen!" he almost shouted. "You're a bloody kid!"

"Hey," Jack laughed, "I looked the same when I was sixteen."

Bunnymund was beyond confused. He backtracked and held up his paws and shook his head. This didn't make any sense at all. Bunnymund took in a deep breath and tried to confirm with a weak-spoken, "Thirty-two years old?"

"Years?" Jack asked, frowning slightly. "I'm thirty-two days."

Something in the rabbit's eye clicked to comprehension. He looked at Jack differently, like he was a new species of insect. Thirty-two days… days. "Thirty-two days old?" he repeated, finding it hard to speak.

"Yeah," Jack answered, head suddenly full of worry. Was that not… normal? Jack almost laughed at the thought- there was nothing normal about him. No one except for a giant rabbit could see him, he could control ice and snow, he could fly, and the moon spoke to him. He didn't know anything about "normal" or "abnormal" until he saw how the people in the village acted. They didn't look up into the sky every night searching for answers. They went about their boring little lives baking bread and building fires, paying taxes and yelling at children. Jack actually felt glad that he didn't have to live like that.

"Well then, where were you thirty-three days ago?" asked Bunnymund defiantly. "You had to be doing something."

The answer seemed obvious to Jack. "I didn't exist."

"Jack," Bunnymund said, voice akin to parental, "have you ever seen a baby? A little ankle-biter? In that town- Burgess?"

Jack nodded, smiling. He liked babies. They were funny; had big eyes, full of wonder. "Yeah," he said.

"Those are thirty-two days old. When you're thirty-two days old, you're a baby. And a very fresh one, at that. You are not a baby." Bunnymund had to be firm. Jack needed to understand. "Where did you come from?"

"I just... woke up."

"Exactly as you are now?"

"Yeah. No shoes- everyone in town has something on their feet. Not me. And, also, wearing these clothes. They're kinda tight."

"Where did the clothes come from?"

"I don't know."

Bunnymund stopped for a moment to take in the look of Jack. He had to get to the bottom of this, if not for saving the children, then for his own benefit. How on earth could Jack Frost exist? There had to be a logical explanation. Every other magical creature he'd met had been from somewhere, done something memorable. The rabbit took a deep breath. He decided to start from the beginning.

"What's the first thing you remember?" he asked gently.

Jack frowned and looked at the grass. He closed his eyes, and settled back into a position that helped him remember.

"Darkness," he mumbled. "It was dark... and cold." I was scared, he thought.

"Then what?"

"Then I... I saw the moon. It- it was so big, and it was so bright. It... it seemed to chase the darkness away." I wasn't scared anymore.

"Nothing before that?"

"No." I didn't know anything. I could hardly even think.

"What about afterwards?"

"My staff. I picked up my staff and ran around. I could create ice patterns- they were really fun to make. They were beautiful." Jack looked at the flowers. "They were amazing."

Bunnymund groaned. "Are you serious? That's all you remember?"

"Yes," Jack said.

"What about your name?" he asked. "Your story doesn't make sense. How can you know your name if that was your birth?"

"I didn't know my name for thirteen days," said Jack. "The moon told me."

Bunnymund could feel his train of thought crash into oblivion. He felt his throat seize up and his head felt light. The moon? He must have meant the Man in the Moon. The Man in the Moon spoke to him? Bunnymund tried to remember. Thirty-two minus thirteen equaled nineteen. That seemed right; he'd been looking for Jack Frost for nineteen days. Everyone, everyone, heard his name just over two weeks ago. The Man in the Moon told the entire world Jack Frost's name. Why?

"What about the people?" Bunnymund asked weakly. He rubbed his paws together and conjured more flowers for a colorful comfort. "What did the people tell you? In Burgess?"

Jack laughed, and the rabbit was confounded. "What do you mean, 'what did the people tell you?''" He laughed again.

"I mean just that," he said. "I'm bein' clear as a diamond. Did people think it was strange that you didn't know your name? Or that it was spoken in the heads of everyone? What did they think of ya?"

There was a long silence, and Bunnymund was getting impatient. "Well?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Not a bit!"

"People can't see me!" Jack almost shouted. "They don't look at me, they can't hear me, and they walk right through me. I'm invisible. It's like I don't even exist."

It was as surprising for Bunnymund to hear this as it was to see Jack as a young boy. He knew that the village folk heard the name and spoke it. That was how he tracked down the place; condensed vocalization of the specific words Jack Frost for a prolonged period of time... this didn't make any sense.

"Your name," he said. "Did they say it?"

"They think that I'm some evil spirit," Jack said dismissively. He'd learned how to laugh it off in his days of absence, because otherwise it would have felt too lonely and sad. "That's why I left, I was sick of it. So I left. And then you kidnapped me, and held my staff hostage."

"Jack," Bunnymund pressed, worry etched onto his somehow comically fluffy face. "Jack, you can't just appear one day. It's not scientifically possible. And you got the attention of the Guardians. That's not easy. You ever cause any bit a' trouble, mate?"

"No," he answered, but Bunnymund could tell he was lying from the way he acted. Jack was too young to know how to lie properly. He was too young to know how to do anything properly. Where did all that knowledge come from- speaking, especially?

"No trouble at all?"

"No."

"Snowballs?"

"Maybe- maybe one, or maybe two."

"Injuries?"

"No," he said, but Jack's ashamed face told Bunnymund all he needed to know. There was no point in beating around the bush right now. He needed to tell Jack what not to do, and if it was ever needed, he'd come and talk again.

"Jack Frost, listen closely," Bunnymund said, coming in closer and leaning forward. He checked for the boy's attention. "Listen. Try to not attract attention. I don't know what you are, or who you are, but you're very powerful. My job is to protect children, do you understand?" Jack nodded. "Good. If you create blizzards, snowstorms, anything, that threatens to harm anyone? We're gonna have to find you again. And stop you."

This left neither one with a particularly easy feeling. Bunnymund felt a little guilty and Jack was nervous. Jack bit his lip and nodded, but something told him that mischief would play a major part in his life.

Bunnymund stood up, and tapped his foot on the ground. The feeling of being pulled through the magic portal was nauseating to Jack, but they landed in the dirt rather softly, and Bunnymund handed Jack's staff to him.

"Thanks," said Jack.

"Where are you headed?"

He shrugged. "Wherever the wind takes me."