North looked on as his fellow guardians began to gather in the globe room. He promptly greeted each one of them, walking over to Sanderson once he floated down from his plane.

"Hello Sandy. I'm glad you could make it." A fury of sand pictures emitted over the small man's head, telling him he was very busy.

"I know, I know! But would I have called you all here if it wasn't an emergency?"

"Alright North, this had better be good." Bunnymund grumbled, trying to get the feeling back into his feet. Tooth gave orders to her fairies quietly in the background, she only stopped and looked up in surprise as North uttered the next few words.

"The Boogeyman was here! At the Poll!"

Everything went quiet as the words sunk in, taking their affect. "Pitch?" Tooth asked wearily. "Pitch Black?"

North nodded gravely, Bunny hopping next to him, one of his unpainted eggs in his hand. "What..whaddya mean Pitch was here?"

"Well, I saw Black Sand cover the globe!"

"Hold up. Black Sand?"

North nodded again, swiping his hand around him as he continued. "And then a shadow!"

Bunnymund raised a furry eyebrow, unfazed by the other Guardian's words. If anything, he was angry. "I though you said you saw Pitch, North."

The Toymaker rubbed the back of his neck. "Well..not exactly. But I can feel it! In my belly." As if to clarify, he placed his hands over his midsection, causing Bunny to shake his head in frustration and glare at him.

"You mean to tell me you brought me here, three days before Easter, because of your Belly?"

As the two began to argue, and with Tooth too busy giving orders to her mini fairies, no one saw the beam of light coming from the fully moon above them.

No one except Sandy.

The guardian of Dreams looked up, the bright light moving slowly towards them. After moving his eggnog away from a pesky little elf, he tried to get the other guardians attention. Even trying to whistle, only for a sandy music note to appear above his head.

His agitation quickly grew, waving Toothiana over and pointing. For a moment he thought she understood until..

"Sandi ego, sector four, quadrant six!"

Sandman dropped his arms in dismay. Frowning and deciding he had had enough, he grabbed the elf that before tried to drink his eggnog and gave him a fierce shaking, the bell on his head ringing loudly.

The elf landed with a thump as he dropped. Pointing to the arrow above his head, Sanderson motioned to the moon, the light now almost completely enveloping them.

North laughed at the familiar calling. "Sandy, why didn't you say something?" He never caught the look of slight rage on the small man's face or the dreamsand smoke coming from his ears.

"It's been a long time old friend!" North called up to the Man in the Moon. "Tell me, what is big news?" The beam of slight swept across the tiled floor, stopping in the very middle. The large crest began to glow as it bathed in the Moon's shine, splitting apart and pushing the large blue crystal up. The crystal itself began to absorb the white light, a figure beginning to appear above it.

"You know what this means?" Tooth asked excitedly.

"Manny is picking a new guardian!"

Bunnymund huffed. "Why? Since when do we need help?" Even with the annoyance in his voice, Aster was more than curious as to who he would choose.

Please not the groundhog.

They all watched as the figure became more clear, a hood pulled over his face and a crooked staff in his hand while his other was stuffed inside his sweatshirt pocket.

"Jack Frost." North said, somewhat surprised. "Must be big problem is Manny wants Jack to help."

"Ehh..I take it back. The Groundhog's fine."

The Russian toymaker laughed as he clapped Bunnymund on the back. "Fear not Aster, I'm sure Jack will be perfectly fine." He whistled loudly for two of his yetis, handing them a sack and his magic snow globe.

"Find Jack and bring him. He has been chosen!" The two nodded, throwing the globe and jumping into the swirling vortex of colors.

Bunnymund rolled his shoulder, trying to relieve the ache North had created when he had hit him. He froze and ears twitched when he heard The hope guardian speak.

"Sandy, if you keep drinking all the eggnog you will get sick!"

Mr. Bail sat, head forward and held in his hands as he waited. Tears stung behind his eyelids but he refused to cry. Not now.

His head shot up when the doctor stepped out of the room, her long blonde hair falling over her shoulders. The woman sighed, putting away her equipment as she looked the man in the chair.

He got up, moving to her and asking desperately, "How is she?" again the woman sighed, unsure how to tell him what she knew.

"Lucy's fever has rose dramatically, and no matter what medicine I give her...she shows no signs of recovery."

The man's worst fears were proven correct, his clasped hands fell to his sides as he looked down. He wasn't sure how to react to everything. "And..you still don't know what it is she has?"

She shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately not. All we know is young children between eight and twelve are able to catch it."

Bail ran his fingers through his hair, tears near spilling as he took a shaky breath. "How..how many?"

"There have been seven reported deaths within the past week, George."

Seven.

Seven children were dead because of this virus.

George slipped back into the chair, his head falling back into his hands. The blonde laid a gentle palm against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry..I wish their was more we could do."

Without looking up George spoke through his fingers. "How long does she have?"

The woman sighed softly. "A few days at most. However..I would not be surprised if she didn't make it through the night." When he made no move to get up, she grabbed her medical bag and walked to the door.

Cold wind and snow blew in as she opened to outside, taking one last look at Bail before shutting the door and leaving. A silence, thick like Summer's humid nights, rested upon the house as the hunched over man sobbed quietly. He didn't need to look up as the soft patter of feet came closer.

Out of habit, he reached down, his hands brushing against the soft fur of Bunnymund. The rabbit now took up nearly half his forearm and weighed a little over five pounds. The bunny reached up into the petting, having been observing from the other side of the room. He wasn't sure who the other lady was or why she was in his mistress' room, but he knew when something was wrong. He jumped into the man's lap, back legs kicking to try and pull himself up.

George helped the rabbit onto his leg, the big green eyes looking into chestnut brown ones. He scratched behind one long ear before picking him up gently.

Lucy's door creaked as he pushed it open, Bunnymund resting on an arm. The small child lay in bed wheezing softly. Her skin was sickly pale and a feverish red had spread across her cheeks. She opened her eyes at the noise and smiled weakly as her father came in with her bunny.

"Hi sweetheart. Are you feeling any better?" He asked gently, sitting at the other side of the bed and letting Bunnymund hop from his arms. The rabbit hopped over to Lucy, sniffing at her curiously before his ears drooped. Bunnymund curled up against her shoulder, sensing something was wrong.

Lucy coughed violently, coveting her mouth as she clutched her stomach in pain before falling back on the bed, her wheezing becoming worse. "Not really daddy.." She croaked.

George looked down, more tears forcing their way to his eyes but he quickly wiped them away and smiled at her gently. "Rest up Lucy and maybe The Sandman will bring sweet dreams." The weak smile that crossed his daughter's face again made his heart ache and she nodded, eyes closing.

He leaned up and kissed her forehead, feeling the heat that came with it before pulling back. "Goodnight Lucy. I love you.." He whispered, tears running down his cheeks. Lucy nodded gently, her breathing thinning. "I love you too daddy.."

George stood up, blowing out the candle and walking to the door. He turned, taking in the sight of his daughter wrapped in her blanket with her beloved Bunnymund curled against get neck. He closed the door gently, resting against as he took a shaky breath.

His boots thumped gently against the wood floor as he grabbed his coat, pulling it around him tightly. Wind whipped around him as he stepped out into the night, hurrying through the snow to get where he was going.

The moon's light lit his way to the carpenter where the older gentleman was just cleaning up. He looked up upon seeing his old friend and grinned. "George Bail, never thought I'd see you in here."

George nodded quietly, loosening his coat. The other at the counter knew something was wrong and he put down his tools. "George? Is everything alright? How's Lucy?" He was taken aback as the young man lifted his head, eyes red from crying and his shoulders dropped. "Oh George.."

Bail shook his head. "She hasn't..yet..but the Doctor said..that it will be soon." He said, voice cracking. "That's why I'm here Phillip..I'd like to order a coffin for my daughter."

"Bunny!" Aster shook his head out of the sudden memory, a shiver creeping up his spine. She turned back to the others and hopped closer. "Sorry. Just..I was somewhere else for a moment." He looked up to the still glowing crystal and coked his head. "What's goin' on?"

"That's the thing, we don't know!" Tooth said quickly, trying not to look away from the crystal. To everyone's astonishment another figure began to appear above the crystal.

North's eyes narrowed. "Manny, what are you doing?"

The figure slowly became clear. A child, a little younger than Jack by the looks of it, materialized above their heads. Her long curly hair draping down her back, eyes bright and her smile wide.

What made everyone gasp however, was what she held.

As the girl finally appeared, they could see her arms were folded and in them she held...

A bunny...