End of chapter 8:
He pulled away and stepped back to take it in. With the brown cloak, it looked complete. Jack pat Jamie the snowman's head and bid it farewell. He summoned the wind and left with his staff. The brown dot in white got smaller and smaller until he was too far away to see it anymore.
And with that, he forgot he had ever created such a beast.
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"Bunnymund!" North exclaimed, patting his forehead with a white and red handkerchief. Christmas was in eleven days and he was forever worrying about Jack Frost. "I never 'sought I vould be 'appy to see you."
Bunnymund kicked snow from his feet and gave Santa a look. "Right, well, I'm here whether ya like me or not, ya dill. And I've got news for ya."
North looked at the Easter Bunny hopefully. "Is Jack Frost? You found him?"
"...Can I see your Christmas list?" Bunnymund asked absently, rubbing his paws together for a spark of warmth.
"Vat? I need to know about Jack Frost, rabbit!"
"Yeah, I know, crikey! Just let me see the list."
"Vhich vun?"
Bunnymund frowned. He tried to imagine which list Jack Frost would be on. "...The naughty list," he finally decided.
North sighed deeply. "I vill be right back. But you must tell vhat you know of Jack Frost!" He turned around to find the list.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Bunnymund muttered to himself.
While North was gone, Bunnymund looked around the workshop and stepped in to stretch a little. He yawned, and suddenly felt much better despite achy muscles and a slight headache. Bunnymund then vowed to himself to never go out in the snow again, unless it was absolutely necessary- snow on Easter was the bane of his existence. He helped himself to a seat and noticed that there were carrots on the table. His stomach growled appropriately. Bunnymund reached for a carrot and nibbled with delight.
He heard a small crash from behind the door, and almost went to investigate when North busted in, holding a scroll of paper that could easy have been a mile long. Bunnymund's nose twitched and he held out his unoccupied paw.
"Zere you are. Now tell me, please!"
"Patience, old man!"
The rabbit carefully opened the list and searched for the F's. To his dismay the names were not alphabetical by the surname but by what the child was called. He found the J's and had to read about two hundred Jacks before he realized that Jack Frost was not in the naughty list. Bunnymund felt weak in the knees. Did that mean he wouldn't be on the nice list either? Was he even a child- could he be a shapeshifter? Had Jack Frost deceived him?
"North, I need the other list," Bunnymund said quietly. "The nice list..."
"Vhat!" North was exasperated. He plopped himself down in a big chair and shoved a cookie into his mouth. "I give you naughty, juu say no, I vill not give nice till you tell me vhy."
"I can't explain it," Bunnymund articulated, "until I show you!"
North fell silent and gave Bunnymund a look of chagrin. It was a while before he complied, figuring that whatever Bunnymund had to tell him, it couldn't be bad since he wasn't jittery or worried, just a little irritant. He asked a Yeti to bring in the nice list, which, when put next to the naughty list, was overwhelmingly long. With the population growing each and every day, Bunnymund wondered how North pulled it off. There were a billion people in the world right now- goodness knew how many there would be in fifty or a hundred years. Two billion people was plenty, if you asked him. Even that was pushing it.
"Thank you," Bunnymund said forcefully, and again looked through the list with sore eyes. Upon reaching Jack Fryar, he was thoroughly convinced that Jack Frost had been lying to him. He wasn't an ignorant little kid. He was a shapeshifter, and Bunnymund let him go. Shit.
"We- we've got a problem, North," said the rabbit, feeling his throat go dry. He stared at the names and put down the list, looking back up at North.
"Vhat is it?" said North impatiently. "Vhat, tell me!"
"I caught Jack Frost," he answered, "and it was just a kid, probably sixteen, seventeen."
Santa Claus's eyebrows shot up. "He's vhat?" Apparently, he'd had the same image of Jack Frost in his mind that Bunnymund had had. Old, creepy, ugly, not very nice at all.
"A skinny little thing. But when I looked through this- this list, and the other list, neither one showed Jack Frost. And so..." Bunnymund trailed off, leaving North to assume the worst.
"Let me see," he said, and picked up the nice list with the utmost care. His eyes scanned over the names at an incredible speed. That must have been how he was able to get through each year- an amazing reading speed.
Bunnymund watched anxiously and chewed his carrot until he bit his paw. It was painful but he hardly took notice because North looked up and proclaimed loudly, "Aha!"
"What is it?" Bunnymund asked eagerly.
"Wery interestink. Ze name is here!"
North pointed one large finger at the name Jack Frost on the nice list. It was between Jackson Old and Jared Padalecki. The Easter Bunny stared at it curiously. What was going on? He voiced his concerns.
"Has only 'appened vunce before, Bunny." He cleared his throat and looked anywhere but the other Guardian's face. It not only upset him to admit it, but the reason Jack Frost had caught their attention was just cruel. North took a deep breath and said, "The boy is a ghost."
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A/N: Because when is a better time to reference Supernatural?
Thank you for the support and ideas. Always looking for more!
…I have a very serious question I'd like to ask ya'll. If you're curious, PM me. In all seriousness.