There's something to be said about those who never seem to learn their lessons; namely, a certain E. Aster Bunnymund.

"It was an accident, Bunny!"

"Harm not done, Bunny. Go. Apologize to Jack, now!"

The Sandman's only response was an image of a clearly upset Jack and an exclamation mark. Bunnymund got the message, but he could not understand why Tooth, North, and Sandy were ganging up on him, the victim of Jack's "snow and fun times", as if he was the one at fault.

. . . . .

It was pretty early to be preparing for Easter, but Bunnymund had lots of googies to paint for billions of egg hunts around the world. Besides this act being a part of his duty as the Easter Bunny, Bunnymund actually enjoyed decorating his Warren and the eggs as a hobby. Yes, a day in his spring infused home with his paint brush in hand and the gentle heat of the sun brushing against his fur-

Soothing.

And it reminded him of something even more refreshing: the sound of a certain winter spirit's laugh which he was able to hear quite often these past years. After Jack became a guardian officially they'd grown considerably closer. The winter spirit made it a point to visit the Warren often and Bunnymund did the same for Jack's lake.

"Bet he'll fly in soon..."

As if Jack had heard him, there he was walking down a newly made ramp of ice leading straight to Bunnymund.

"Missed me?"

"And if I did, Frosty?"

Bunnymund wasn't shocked when Jack paused, a little longer than necessary, to form a reply. Then he grinned at the Pooka with blue eyes filled to the brim with mischief.

"How couldn't you?"

Suddenly, a snowball landed right on Bunnymund's nose and he spent a good two hours chasing the blighta around his home while being assaulted by snowballs, and mini-blizzards before it happened.

Chasing Jack, playing with him, was so grand, so energizing, so...

Fun.

And distracted as they'd been, neither Bunnymund nor Jack noticed how close they were to a group of googies until it was too late. It felt as if it happened all to slowly to be reality.

Bunnymund tackled Jack with a grin of his own. The winter spirit gasped at first, but began to laugh when the Pooka's fur brushed his face. Hearing the beautiful sound, Bunnymund gazed down at Jack and the winter spirit looked back. Jack's eyes were expectant, hoping, and the Pooka had planned to satisfy them both but he couldn't have. Not then, when he heard that noise and panic consumed him more than anything else.

Cracking.

Jack had crushed a few of his googies when Bunnymund tackled him to the ground. In his haste to possibly repair them the Pooka had roughly shoved Jack away as the fear of...

"Too late now."

...rattled his mind. It all came back to him so fast. Thousands upon thousands of broken shells laying in the tunnels leading out of the Warren. No eggs to be found at a single Easter egg hunt. Children returning home disappointed as they walked through him because they no longer believed.

"Why weren't you there? All of them, gone-"

He was reliving that ruined Easter too abruptly, too quickly, too early to not be ravaged by it. At the back of his mind, Bunnymund knew Jack still felt guilty about it and that it really hadn't been his fault, but it had hurt.

"I hadn't meant to...Pitch...my teeth...I-"

"Save it! Even if you got to Jamie in time, all of my work! Dead. Gone!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Don't ya stare at me like that with those eyes of yours. Look what ya did to my googies just now!"

"I didn't mean to hurt them. I didn't even see them! You tackled me."

"Get. Out."

Jack's eyes never sparkled so brightly until that moment: two dams of unshed tears.

"Gladly."

A/N: Oh, hey there! Here's an update!

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