I said I wasn't going to do this. Apparently, I was lying.
Bright laughter echoed from one of the tunnels to North America. Bunny turned in time to see Jack sweep through the entrance on the wind, graceful as a bird. He came to a halt in front of Bunny, hovering long enough to brush a kiss over the other's furry lips before landing lightly on the grass of the Warren. He gripped his staff with one hand. The other he kept concealed behind his back.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jack," Bunny greeted. He proffered a large, oblong box covered in deep red velvet and bound with a satin ribbon. He laughed at how eagerly Jack accepted it. In so many ways, Jack was still a child at heart, and what kid didn't love sweets?
"Just can't get away from the egg-shaped thing, can you?" Jack teased.
"Oi! There is no more perfect shape in the universe than the egg. It's the cradle of life for a reason."
"Whatever you say, Cottontail," Jack agreed indulgently. "Hey, I got something for you, too. I know you can't have chocolate, but I think this is even better anyway."
Jack brought his hand out of hiding and proudly presented Bunny with a heart-shaped box of frosted ice about twelve inches across. It didn't seem designed to open, but the front of the box was perfectly transparent. Bunny peered inside and froze, eyes wide.
"Jack," he said slowly, "mate, you're gonna have to help me out here. What, exactly, is this?"
"It's a shadow box," Jack explained. "I made it so it wouldn't melt, ever. I didn't know if you'd want to put it on the wall or on a table or what, so I didn't design it with any hooks or anything, but I can add them. Just let me know what you want."
"Right, right… but what is it I'll be displaying?"
"Well, it's a heart," Jack said, as if it were obvious. "That's what people really give each other on Valentine's Day, isn't it? I just took it a bit more literally."
Bunny gaped at him. It took a lot to kill a spirit, he knew. Given time, they could regenerate almost any organ, but that was no reason to… "Jack, are you saying this is your heart?"
Jack laughed. "Of course not! You've already got my heart. No, this is Pitch's heart."
"Pitch?" Bunny breathed in horror. He sat down hard and stared at the frozen heart in his hands.
Jack knelt beside him. "I know you probably don't remember, but a couple of weeks ago you got drunk and told me what happened with Pitch and your family. I wanted to make sure you knew nothing like that will ever happen with us."
"Jack," Bunny gasped, "that's not what I w—"
Not what you wanted? A treacherous voice whispered in his mind. Liar. You've wanted something just like this for a very long time, and you know it. You've wanted it ever since the day Pitch attacked. That was the whole point of shutting down your emotions for all those millennia, wasn't it? Because it was driving you crazy, to want this so badly and know you'd never have it.
"We can't kill him, but he can't kill me, either," Jack said, gently stroking Bunny's ear. "I can remind you every year, if you want."
"That—that won't be necessary," Bunny replied. He looked up to meet Jack's earnest, autumn-sky blue eyes, and the corners of his mouth tugged upward, just a little. "But I do love it, Jack. Thank you."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Bunny." Jack wrapped his arms around Bunny and squeezed tight.
"You too, Frostbite. Ah, what do you say we keep this between ourselves, though?"