AN: SO sorry that updates for this story are so slow! My muse for Bunny and Alice has been down lately, but I did finish my outline for this story so hopefully that'll keep me on track from now on.

Anywho, as always, I like to try and incorporate all the guardians whenever I do a ROTG/AMR pieces.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, or Alice: Madness Returns. If I did, Bunny and Alice would have the cutest relationship in all of animated movie history. Am I right people?

November, 1861

"I just make tiny suggestion, Sandy. If you give children Christmas dreams year-round, then children will remember to be nice and my nice list will be much, much longer!"

Sandy rolled his eyes and took another long drink of his eggnog as North tried, yet again, to convince the Sandman to help with the Russian's constant schemes to boost Christmas' already dominating popularity over other the holidays. He always pretended he was thinking in the children's best interest, which he was, but he couldn't hide the slight playfulness that gleamed in his sky blue eyes that told Sandy that his intentions weren't entirely selfless.

North's smile slowly dropped when he realized that the golden spirit wasn't falling for his antics. "Come on, Sandy! I thought we were friends."

Sandy gave the large Russian an exasperated smile and wagged a small finger at him. Sand symbols appeared above the Sandman's head of other popular holiday icons like turkeys, four-leaf clovers, and of course, Easter eggs.

North watched the symbols dance above his friend's head before he let out a defeated sigh and leaned back into his chair.

"I know, I know, old friend," North breathed in slight defeat. "You must be fair and distribute dreams accordingly. Even though Christmas is obviously much better, there still must be balance."

Sandy laughed soundlessly and shook his head at his large friend's charming and lovable nature. North just couldn't resist throwing in that jab at the end, could he? Sandy even believed he saw the Russian pout like a child as North let out a huff at another failed attempt to make candy canes and gingerbread men appear in the dreams of children all the time, instead of only once a year.

Deciding to let the matter drop (for now), North motioned for a nearby yeti to crank up the dining hall fireplace and bring him another plate of cookies. The plate that was currently sitting in front of him only had chocolate chip mint cookies left on it. Peppermint was delicious and one of North's favorite flavors, but plain old mint, for some weird reason, was a bit too much in his opinion. Bunny always argued that there isn't a difference between the two, but North and Tooth argue that there is a huge difference.

As one of the kitchen yetis brought out a new plate of cookies and North thanked his worker, the Russian looked at the large clock to his right and stroked his beard in thought.

"Hmm, strange."

Sandy looked up from his chalice and a question mark appeared above his head.

North pointed towards the clock. "My invitations for eggnog and cookies said to meet at Santoff Claussen at seven o'clock. It's nearly eight! Where are those two?"

A small sand figure shaped like a certain Tooth Fairy formed on top of Sandy's head. The figure quickly buzzed back and forth frantically while Sandy gave the figure several, tinier fairies for it to command and direct.

Understanding his meaning, North nodded his head and picked up a fresh ginger snap. "Yes, I understand if Tooth is late, she always is when not called to Pole for emergencies. She gets caught up in work and loses track of time, but Bunny...he's never late for our gatherings, is he?"

Sandy shook his head and North pursed his lips in thought. Perhaps he should go and check on the pooka. It wouldn't be much of a hassle for him to use one of his snow globes to travel to Bunny's warren. There really wasn't any excuse that North could think of that would justify Bunny being late. It was well past Easter and far too early to prepare for next year's Easter.

Not that there was anything wrong with Bunny being a little late for cookies and eggnog. North's invitations weren't mandatory or anything to that effect, otherwise, they couldn't really be called invitations. It was just very unusual for the pooka to not be on time. He was the fastest creature on Earth which really helped with his punctuality. He could be late if he wanted to though, North wouldn't get upset.

Still, the Russian started feeling a bit anxious about Bunny's failure to show. It just wasn't like the him at all, but before North could get up from his seat and rally up Sandy for a small - and a little unnecessary - search party for his fluffy friend, the doors of the dining hall swung open and in came the Easter Bunny.

"Sorry I'm late, mates," Bunny announced as he made his way towards their end of the long dining table. "I lost track of time."

"Ah, Bunny! There you are! Sandy was starting to get worried!" North laughed, ignoring the glare from the Sandman, before standing up to greet his friend with a rough, affectionate pat on his furry back. "What could you have been doing that would make you lose track of time, Bunny? It is nothing but downtime for you until next year."

"I got hobbies, mate. Sometimes I get distracted by those," Bunny grumbled before sitting down in the seat across from Sandy. The gray pooka nodded his head towards the Sandman in greeting. "Hey Sandy."

The golden spirit waved enthusiastically back at him.

"What kind of hobbies?" North asked curiously, sitting back in his own seat at the head of the table.

"The distracting kind. Now butt out," Bunny replied sharply, grouchy as usual. "Is Tooth here yet?"

North shook his head. "No, not yet...You know Bunny, very funny thing happened other day."

"Oh yeah?" Bunny asked disinterestedly as he picked up a frosted sugar cookie and sniffed at it haphazardly before taking a small bite. "And what's that? Did the elves get into the pastry kitchen again?"

"No, Tooth came to Workshop looking for you."

"She did? Why would she come here if she was looking for me?"

"That's what I thought," North admitted as he stroked his long, white beard. "But apparently, when she stopped by your Warren for a visit, you were nowhere to be found."

For a moment, Bunny stared blankly at North as he thought back to the past few days. He honestly had no idea what the Russian was talking about. If Tooth stopped by for a visit, she surely would've been able to find him easily, just like all the other times she visited outside of Easter. Bunny has been practically holed up in his Warren for the past month, leaving only to collect a few spices and herbs that didn't grow in his hidden, floral sanctuary - as surprising as that might sound - and to sneak in a real quick visit with-

Bunny's eyes suddenly widened and he sucked in an involuntary breath, causing him to choke on the bit of cookie still in his mouth. North and Sandy gave the pooka funny looks as he coughed roughly and thumped his balled up paw against his chest, trying to dislodge the chunk of cookie caught in his throat.

Oh lord, that didn't sound very good.

He must've been visiting Alice when Tooth came to the Warren looking for him.

"O-oh, she did?" Bunny stuttered out after righting himself enough to answer. "I was...probably just out for a quick run. Sometimes I go a bit stir crazy when I'm cooped up in the Warren too long."

"Mmm, is that right?" North hummed while him and Sandy exchanged growing smirks.

Bunny gave them both an unimpressed sneer before snatching a chalice of eggnog from a nearby yeti. The yeti garbled angrily at the pooka for taking his drink but did nothing to get it back, instead he went back into the kitchen to get another drink.

Sandy waved his hand to get Bunny's attention. Once he had it, a small sand symbol formed above his head of a curvy, female figure standing in a flashy pose. Bunny's eyes widened and he choked again - on his eggnog this time. North burst out into a loud fit of laughter, rocking back and forth in his chair with unrestrained glee as he laughed blatantly at Bunny's expense.

"Is Sandy right, Bunny?" North teased. He reached over to slap Bunny on the arm but the annoyed pooka quickly pulled away. "Do you have yourself a new lady friend?"

'Well, in a manner of speakin', yes,' Bunny thought miserably while he growled outwardly, "No!"

"What? Trying to make Tooth jealous?" North asked coyly before he started laughing again. The lady figure above Sandy's head morphed into an angry Tooth Fairy with puffed out feathers. Sandy covered his mouth with both hands to hide his smile.

Bunny was practically grinding his teeth. He hated being teased, especially by North. The large man knew exactly what buttons to push when it came to angering the Easter Bunny. "Oh rack off! Both of you! I'm not trying to make Tooth jealous and I do not have a new 'lady friend'!"

"No! He has something so much better!"

At the sudden sound of Tooth's high, excited voice, the three guardians jumped and looked up just in time to see the Tooth Fairy buzz through the open window near the ceiling of the dining hall, followed by several mini fairies. She swooped down and flawlessly pulled up seconds before she hit the table.

Floating inches above the dining table, Tooth hovered proudly with her chin held high like she had just accomplished something great. North and Sandy sat up straighter in their seats, excited that their iridescent friend finally made it to their little get-together, but the knowing smirk the colorful fairy threw in Bunny's direction almost made him squirm in his chair.

North swiftly stood up and spread his arms out wide, hoping to get a hug from his hyperactive friend. "Tooth! Is so good to see you! Come, give me big hug. I'm so glad you were able to come!"

North beckoned with his fingers for her to come forward for his hug but Tooth shook her head. "Let's save the hugs for later, North. You-" Tooth drawled somewhat accusingly as she sharply turned towards Bunny and pointed at him with her finger. "-have a lot of explaining to do, mister!"

Her tone wasn't negative in any way, and there was an obvious smile on her pretty face, so Bunny knew he wasn't on the fairy's blacklist, but that teasing gleam in her pink eyes didn't sit well with the pooka at all.

"Look, sheila," Bunny said calmly. "If this is about the other day, I'm sorry I wasn't in the Warren when you stopped by. I needed a little exercise so I went out for a quick run. I would've stayed if I knew you were comin'."

"Oh you are such a lair, Bunny!" Tooth laughed before putting both hands on her wide hips. "I know exactly where you were and you definitely weren't out for a quick run."

Bunny's jaw dropped and he stared at Tooth, speechless and unable to move like a deer caught in headlights.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Bunny stuttered nervously, ignoring the confused and questioning looks he was receiving from North and Sandy.

"Yes you do, you fluffy lair!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!" Bunny stressed firmly as he stood from his chair and slammed his paw on the table.

"Alright, I'm confused," North interjected shaking his head. "What are you two talking 'bout?"

"Nothing," Bunny snapped, sending Tooth a warning glare which she promptly ignored. "We're not talking about anything."

Tooth rolled her eyes before she hovered closer to him. "Oh Bunny, it hurts that you felt you needed to hide this from us, from me."

"Again, sheila, I have no idea what you're talking about," Bunny shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Sorry."

That's it Aster, play dumb. Tooth couldn't possibly know about Alice, no matter how omniscient she likes to pretend to be when it comes to the personal matters of her friends. She was talking about something else, not Alice.

"I had one of my girls follow you, Aster."

Crap.

"You what!?"

"Sorry, but it had to be done," Tooth claimed flippantly as she held her hands up in surrender. "You wouldn't tell me on your own, so I had to take matters into my own hands."

"Oh, I see," Bunny glared, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. "You visit one time when I'm not there and you immediately take it upon yourself to spy on me? You know, I would've expected that sort of thing from North, but not you, Tooth."

"I'm still the room, Bunny," North spoke up from where he and Sandy were watching the other two spirits bicker about something they clearly weren't in on. When he went ignored, the Russian let out a sigh and sat further back in his chair. Sandy reached over and gently patted him on his tattooed arm.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Tooth asked indignantly, her hands moving to rest on her hips again.

"Exactly how it sounds, sheila."

Tooth flew closer to Bunny until there was barely an inch between them. She reached out and sharply poked his furry chest as her feathers fluffed up in irritation. "Don't try and turn this around, mister. It hasn't just been one time you weren't there when I stopped by for a visit in the past year. It's been three times."

Bunny's ears perked up and he blinked at the fairy. "What?"

"The first time was Easter," Tooth begun as she lowered herself to sit on the edge of the table. "I popped inside your Warren real quick, just to congratulate you on another successful Easter. I knew you would be done with your egg runs but when I got there, I couldn't find you. I thought maybe you were somewhere running off steam, so I decided to come back later. Of course, I ended up getting distracted by work and didn't come back until a few months later, but when I eventually did, I still couldn't find you!"

"So? Maybe I was out collecting herbs or something," Bunny suggested offhandedly before sitting back in his chair. "Did you ever think of that?"

"You and I both know you weren't out collecting herbs, Bunny," Tooth sighed. "The third time I stopped by and you weren't there, I started getting suspicious, but since it's nearly impossible to get you to admit to anything you don't want to, I assigned one of my girls to pooka watch."

Bunny's eyes trailed upwards to the small group of mini fairies buzzing around the fireplace mantle, waiting on standby for tooth collecting orders from their mother. They started to cowering behind each other when they noticed the Easter Bunny's glare. "Which one?"

Tooth waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention back. "That's not important."

"Wait, wait, wait," North chanted, shaking his hand and pushing his way back into the conversation. "I am very lost right now. What exactly is this about?"

"Bunny has a kid!" Tooth announced loudly before breaking out into a fit of excited giggles.

North and Sandy's eyes widened simultaneously as they exchanged bewildered glances.

"Does he now?" North smiled brightly, giving the busted pooka a long glance before looking back at Tooth.

That was quite the news. North was beginning to doubt he'll ever live to see the day Bunnymund found himself a favorite child, and that was really saying something since he was immortal.

The Easter Bunny wasn't as naturally gifted at interacting with children as the others were because of his grumpy disposition and reclusive lifestyle, so it didn't seem very likely that the pooka would ever know the joy and excitement of forming a deep connection with one of their young wards, just as they all had at some point or another.

Of course if someone were to ask whether or not the guardians played favorites with the children, out of principle alone, they would have to say no, but then they wouldn't necessarily be telling the truth. So instead of using the full term, "their favorite child", they shortened it to just "their child". It sounded much less controversial that way since the guardians were suppose to love and care for each child of the world equally.

The three elder guardians were excited at the prospect of Bunny finally finding a child. It wasn't unusual for a favored child of one guardian to receive extra attention from the rest of them, even if the child wasn't actively aware of it, like an extra present or two at Christmas, or a coin of higher value under their pillow for a lost tooth.

Bunny, however, wasn't nearly as excited as the others when it came to having his private business suddenly aired out like dirty laundry without any warning beforehand. Surprise, Surprise.

He couldn't voice his complaints out loud of course. That would be like shooting himself in the foot. The others would probably just poke fun and tease him about being jealous or something, which wasn't even in the slightest case. It wasn't like Bunny was trying to keep Alice a secret from the other guardians because some small, childish part of him didn't want to share the girl with the others. That wasn't it at all...

Bunny just wasn't ready for the teasing that would surely arise if his friends found out that big, cranky Bunnymund chose a little girl as his kid. Not that she was his kid...

He didn't doubt that Tooth's mini fairy tattled on him and told her queen everything she found out from spying on Bunny with Alice - which, in retrospect, probably wasn't every much since Bunny didn't know a lot about the little girl either - so he knew Tooth was already well aware of Alice, but he still prayed that she wouldn't say anything more to North and Sandy.

But of course, that would be way too much for the pooka to ask for when it came to the meddling Tooth Fairy.

"This is great news!" North bellowed loudly as he stood from his chair and reached over to pat Bunny roughly on the back. "What's the little lad's name?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Tooth chimed lightly in a sing-song tone. "It's a girl."

North stalled for a moment in added surprise before he let out another one of his unhinged laughs. "Moi deti, truly?" He asked the fairy and smiled even brighter when she nodded with unrestrained glee.

Oh God, Tooth had been just dying to tell Sandy and North the news. Honestly, she had no idea how she managed to not scream it out as soon as she entered the room. No one could really blame her for being excited though. Bunny had finally found himself a child! It was amazing news! Although, granted, Tooth expected the pooka to connect with a boy, one as rowdy and nature loving as Bunny himself, but she supposed there was no sense in splitting hairs about it. There wasn't anything wrong with Bunny finding a female child. Just extremely unexpected, and undeniably cute.

Sandy pulled a thoughtful face while scratching the top of his head, thinking back to the last time he saw Bunny in person. He then reached up and tugged gently on Tooth's tail feathers. When she looked down at him, a sand figure of the little girl Bunny showed him a few months back, appeared above his head.

Tooth leaned in closer to get a better look of the sand figure and gasped when she realized who it was. She put her hands on her hips again and gave the Sandman a light scolding look. "Sandy! You little rascal! Did you know about this?"

The stout spirit blinked up at her, silent as always, as he thought about it for a moment.

Yes, obviously he knew about Alice since Bunny was the one that showed her to him, but he didn't know Bunny had continued seeing her. Although, in hindsight, part of him knew he should've expected it. So as an answer to Tooth's question, Sandy just waved his hand in an uncertain, 'kinda' manner.

"Ugh!" Tooth rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and tossed her hands in the air. "Men! Why do you always insist on hiding things? You're absolutely horrible at it!"

"I wasn't aware of this," North pointed out helpfully before fixing a seething Bunny with a playful smirk, suddenly in the mood to get the pooka's dander up. It was always so funny to see Bunny get flustered and frustrated over the smallest things. He made it just too easy sometimes. "So Toothy, tell me bout this girl of Bunny's."

"She's not my girl!" Bunny snapped.

Tooth just shook her head at him before hovering up to North with lights in her fuchsia eyes. "Oh North, she's just the most beautiful little thing! With these little hands and big, big greens eyes! Oh! I just wanna pick her up and squeeze her in my arms!"

"Do you think she's on my Nice list?"

"I don't know much about her yet, but I bet she is."

"Tell me name then, I'll go check now."

"Bunny, what's Alice's last name?"

"How am I suppose to know?"

Bunny was suddenly the center of attention again. Everybody was giving him a funny look like he had just grown a third ear right in the middle of his other two. Even some of the wandering yetis were looking at him. "What?"

Tooth laughed uneasily before her face grew stern again. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Uh, I don't...know?"

"Are you serious Bunny!?" Tooth groaned contemptuously while resisting hard against the urge to pull at her crest in frustration.

"What? I never thought to ask! And even if I did, she probably wouldn't tell me. She doesn't say much about herself, surprisingly."

"She's your child for Moon's sake! You should put more effort into finding out these things!"

"Hey, I never said she was my child," Bunny pointed out gruffly before nodding his head curtly in Tooth's direction. "You did. You're readin' way too into this, mates. Just like I knew you all would. And at the risk of soundin' cliché, this whole mess isn't what it looks like. I don't have a child, and nor will I ever have a child. I think it goes without saying that I'm not like you guys."

"And what is that suppose to mean?" North cut in, more confused by the pooka's comment than offended. It was true after all. Bunny was a bit of a black sheep in their small herd of guardians.

"Yeah," Tooth added, clearly offended.

Sandy was hardly paying attention to the conversation at all. He had long since pulled the plate of Christmas cookies over to his side of the table.

Bunny's ears drooped and he shook a paw at them. "No, not- I didn't- just- I meant that- that I'm not like you guys when it comes to the kids. I'll paint millions of eggs for them every year until I'm exhausted and I'll fight with everything I got in me to protect them, but interact with them? Play with them? Come on, you know I ain't good with that stuff. I'm only a good guardian from a distance."

"But Bunny-" Tooth gently held up a hand to interject, but Bunny only shook his head.

"No sheila, I appreciate what you were trying to do...whatever it was you were trying to do by completely invading my privacy...but it wasn't necessary. Seriously, it wasn't. Don't do it again."

"I'm not sorry."

"Alice isn't my kid. I visited her a couple times because I felt sorry for the little ankle-biter, but I'm done. The last time was...well, the last time. I'm not going to visit her again."

North furrowed his brow in forlorn confusion as he exchanged looks with Tooth and Sandy. "Why not?"

Bunny only shook his head and pulled himself up from his seat. "Because I make it a point not to get attached to things, especially things that get older and die. That's just common sense. Why you all would set yourselves up for that kind of trouble is beyond me."

"You make is sound like we chose to get attached," Tooth huffed as she crossed her arms. "Well let me tell you something, Mr. Know-It-All Pooka, it's not a choice. It just happens."

"Well, let me tell you something, Ms. Can't-Mind-Her-Own-Damn-Business Fairy," Bunny sneered childishly while he stomped his foot against the ground to open one of his tunnels. "It doesn't happen to me."

And then the Easter Bunny was gone from sight. His tunnel closed up behind him before anybody could say or do anything to stop him. Tooth had zipped forward a few inches in an attempt to stop the pooka, but when she realized she had been too slow, she made an indignant sound in her throat. She grounded out an apology to North before curtly excusing herself from the room. Tooth didn't appreciate being so effectively dismissed by Bunny. There had been no real reason for him to be so shortcoming with them. It wasn't their fault he was so tease intolerant!

She really needed to go sort some teeth or something before her feathers started falling out from being rolled up so many times in one evening. Stupid pooka, that was feather abuse!

North only watched as the peeved fairy left the dining hall through the same window she entered barely twenty minutes ago. He shook his head at the ruined evening as Sandy patted his arm gently in silent support, promising with just a smile that he would stay and drink eggnog with the Russian. North returned the Sandman's smile with a thankful one of his own before letting out a sad sigh. "Oh Sandy, why do I get feeling that something is going to end badly for Bunny?"

Sandy frowned deeply at his friend's unexpected, and surprisingly depressing comment. What on earth made him think that?

When he asked the large man with his sand symbols, North only shook his head again, dismissing his own remark with the wave of his hand. He motioned a nearby yeti to bring in more cookies and eggnog as he tried to lift the atmosphere of the room back to the warm level it was suppose to be.

The rest of the night went on to become a nice evening of catching up with a very old friend. True, North would rather have all his friends there, but he decided not to press his luck. Sandy was a busy spirit after all.

North did hope though, that the sour situation that seemed to have developed between Tooth and Bunny earlier that night, would sort itself out soon. He didn't like seeing his friends fight.

He also hoped - for reasons he couldn't quite fully grasp - that Bunny was telling the truth when he said that he wasn't going to see that little girl again. The Russian's belly just went crazy whenever he thought about it, he really didn't know why. He just knew that something wasn't right. He never doubted his belly.

But despite the pooka's very best efforts, Bunny found himself wandering into Alice's backyard less than a week later.

AN: Geez, I need to get better at updating this story. Was this worth the wait? I don't think so...

Anyways, I wanted to show Bunny being reluctant in this chapter. He's obviously in denial about the fact that he's getting more attached to Alice. That was the sort of thing that the other guardians did, not him. It'll only come out as a huge, depressing twist of fate when he realizes that he had gotten far more attached to Alice than the others ever did with their kids.

Also, sorry for any mistakes in the content. I think something weird is going on with my save button.

~Scorpiofreak~