AN: Ugh, you guys would not believe the bad luck I've had these past few weeks! I caught the flu which really sucked! THEN, all of last week I had exam finals at school so I had to study a butt load of information for my eight classes.

(1/16) - Haha, I was still in high school when I wrote that AN. SO glad I'm not anymore.

RECENTLY RE-EDITTED (1/17/16)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Alice: Madness Returns

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Little Wonders ~Rob Thomas

~O~

"Hey, Tooth?"

The fairy stopped her rapid chattering with her mini-fairies at the sound of the winter spirit's voice. She looked over at Jack from her perch on the main fireplace mantle. He was sitting near the globe's control panel with Baby Tooth and his trademark staff nearby. In his pale hands was the remote controller for the jumbo-sized airplane. Strands of his white hair hung loosely in front of his eyes as he examined the controller, trying to figure out the controls.

"Yes, Jack?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Tooth smiled as she flew over to him, her wings making that hummingbird chime. "What's on your mind?"

"What's with Bunny and Alice Little?" He asked.

"Liddell," Tooth corrected before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, that's kind of a long story. Where should I start?"

"The beginning is always a good place," Jack said, finally taking his eyes off the remote controller.

"Don't get smart with me, Jack Frost," Tooth lightly scolded. She crossed her feathered arms in a slight huff, but there was an obvious smile in her voice. "As I'm sure you know, as Guardians, we protect the children of the world and guard their faith. We watch over every single child no matter who they are, or where they come from. We try to care for all the children equally, but there's always one special child that comes along and a Guardian sometimes ends up forming a strong, personal bond with that child."

"Kinda like me and Jamie?"

"Exactly like you and Jamie," Tooth nodded. "Each one of us has, at one time or another, formed a special bond with a child, and for Bunny, Alice was his child."

Jack's eyebrows raised in slight interest. It was hard for him to imagine Bunnymund having a relationship with a child similar to the one he had with Jamie. Jack cared for all the children in the world, but he knew that Jamie would leave an everlasting impression on him. Jamie was the first kid to believe in him, after all. After the incident with Pitch Black, Jack quickly found himself falling into the role of big brother again. During the colder seasons, he spent a lot of his time playing with and showing off his powers to Jamie and his friends. He became the leader and the protector of his little band of misfits.

Whenever Jamie had a math test he forgot to study for, Jack would freeze the school doors shut so Jamie could have a little extra time before class to cram information. And whenever a bully decided to torment Jamie or any of his friends, Jack was there, ready to bury the bully in a pile of snow slush from the roads. He wasn't allowed to hurt a child, of course, not that he ever would, but he couldn't see the harm in teaching a few nasty ones some manners. If anything, he was doing North a favor by "helping" a couple of naughty children be a little nicer to their smaller classmates.

So again, it was hard for Jack to imagine ol' stick-in-the-mud Bunnymund acting the same way Jack did with Jamie; like an older brother.

He looked over at Tooth. "Do you remember your child?"

"Oh, of course! You never forget children like that," Tooth smiled with a gleam in her pink eyes. "I remember little Aasha like it was yesterday."

Jack put down the airplane remote and shifted in his seat. A handful of Tooth's mini-fairies flew down and landed on Jack's hoodie, they sensed a story coming on. He chuckled at the fairies as they rushed to get comfortable. Tooth rolled her eyes and smiled before she took a seat next to Jack on the control panel.

"It was a little over four hundred years ago, before I stopped going out into field. I didn't have as many fairies then so I was doing a lot of the tooth runs by myself. It was a typical lateral incisor run. I pushed open the window and snuck in as quietly as possible. Her curly hair was all over the place and she was tucked under a colorful quilt, sleeping so peacefully. Well, at least I thought she was sleeping. She was a lot like Jamie when he used to try and stay up late so he could see the Tooth Fairy, the little scamp. Believe me, tons of children try to play possum so they can see me, but they always end up falling asleep anyways. So it surprised me when she popped up like a daisy when I went to get her tooth from underneath the pillow. We just stared at each other before Aasha gave me the most triumphant smile I have ever seen on a nine year old! She immediately started asking me a million questions, talking a mile a minute."

Jack watched as Tooth got lost in her memories. He always saw the Guardians in a different light when they talked about the children. It was like watching someone flip on a switch. They would turn from these super busy stiffs, and into spirits that were actually fun to be around. His friends were once so busy with their gift-giving duties, they had almost forgotten how to be around children. When Sophie was accidentally transported to Bunny's warren, they had no idea how to handle her. Tooth gave a valiant and noble effort, but she probably ended up scarring Sophie for life, just a little bit.

If someone asked him, Jack thought it was much more important to be able to play and interact with the children, instead of bribing them with material gifts. But that was just his opinion. Jack Frost didn't need toys or candy to help him make things entertaining for their young wards. He was the Guardian of Fun after all.

Then again, children believed in the other Guardians more than they did in him, so maybe the others were on to something here. To Jack's knowledge, only Jamie and a handful of his friends truly believed in him. And even though he was extremely grateful for those few believers, it still depressed him from time to time. However, the feeling never lasted that long. Dwelling on the negatives of his situation constantly just wasn't in Jack's personality.

He also took comfort in the fact that it was like that for every Guardian at first. It took a little time for a spirit to become well-known, some longer than others, like himself. 'Rome was not built in single day!' North once told him. 'Do not worry Jack. Things will get better for you. I can feel it, in my belly!'

"Even after all these years I still remember her beautiful smile," Tooth said, finishing her story and the mini-fairies all started clapping. Jack chuckled before he joined in too. He felt bad for letting his mind wander a little during her story. He didn't do it on purpose, his attention span was just really short for an immortal eighteen year old.

"So what happened to Aasha?" Jack asked after the small fairies calmed down. "Did you know her for the rest of her life?"

"Yes, but sadly she didn't know me," Tooth sighed. "The last time I talked to Aasha was when she was thirteen."

"Really? What happened?"

"The same thing that happens to all children eventually," She said while giving him a small, sad smile. "She grew up."

"She stopped believing in you?"

Tooth nodded and looked down at her tiny feet. "I guess someone must've convinced her that I was just imaginary, or maybe she convinced herself. It happens to the best of them at some point."

Jack slowly blinked before he looked over at the fairy. "I'm sorry, Tooth."

"Oh, it's alright," She smiled again, wiping away a single tear from her cheek. "Aasha grew up to be a strong, beautiful woman with a wonderful family. She had a very happy life and that's all I ever wanted for her. And even though we couldn't talk anymore, I still checked up on her from time to time. The most important thing was that I was always there for her, even if she wasn't aware of it."

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at the remote controller in his pale hands.

"Do you think the same thing will happen with Jamie?" He asked. "The part about him forgetting me, I mean."

Tooth laughed. "After the adventure you guys had together? Never! I don't think anyone could ever forget about you, Jack Frost. Jamie will grow up one day and there's no way to avoid that, but becoming an adult doesn't mean he has to stop believing in us. He will always be able to see you Jack, if he's willing to believe you're there. I want you both to remember that."

"Thanks Tooth," Jack smiled. "I will."

Tooth was about to get up and go back to work when she noticed the uneasiness in Jack's expression and the hesitation in his icy blue eyes. He had more on his mind.

Out of all the Guardians, Jack knew the least about Bunny. He even knew more about Sandy, which was unbelievable since Sandy could only use sand signals to communicate. The cranky rabbit had his life story locked up so tight in his head, there was no way Jack could trick him into accidentally spilling something interesting about himself. Jack was a very curious person, always has been and always will be.

"What was Bunny like with Alice?"

Tooth was thrown by the question. Jack could be immature at times, and oblivious to other people and their needs if they got in the way of his fun, but he wasn't stupid, not by any means. He was able to pick up on the smallest things even if there was barely any information provided.

Tooth herself was only aware of the basic facts about Alice Liddell's life and her relationship with Bunny, and North and Sandy probably didn't know much more than she did either. However, they did know that Bunny's choice to separate himself from the children was mostly because of what happened to Alice and his failure to help her. He never wanted to get too attached to a child ever again. When Bunny played with Sophie while they were preparing the Easter eggs two years ago, that was the first time in a long time that Tooth had seen Bunny let go and act like his old self again.

Tooth and North didn't have a good excuse explaining why they had become so detached physically from the children, other than that they had become too wrapped up in their jobs. Sandy was a different story. He has been the same old Sandman for centuries. Even though he constantly had to fly around the world and spread dreams almost non-stop, he always found the time to stop and spin an extra special dream for a child who really needed it.

Bunny, however, was the only one who chose to pull away. It was a decision that nearly made him sick, but he felt that it was something he had to do. He was determined to never feel responsible for not preventing a tragedy of a child again. But Bunny would still leave a couple of extra Easter Eggs for a child who was being left out of the Easter Egg hunt, or make an egg easier to find for another child who was having trouble finding any before his friends.

No matter how physically distant the Guardians got from the children, they never stopped doing the small stuff. Tooth never stop giving out coins of higher value to the kids that were extra good, and North and Bunny never stopped leaving extra gifts for the children from struggling families. It was the small stuff that kept the faith alive in children even when they couldn't see the Guardians.

But going back to Jack's question, Tooth wasn't entirely sure how sensitive this whole Alice situation still was to Bunny. There used to be times where Bunny would snapped at anyone for even mentioning the girl's name. Tooth knew that he probably wouldn't appreciate her telling someone about his supposed past failings, especially if that someone was Jack Frost. Bunnymund was a very private rabbit.

"He was truly the Spirit of Spring when he was with Alice," Tooth eventually said, her voice cracking a little. "The way you saw him two years ago with Sophie, that was nothing compared to how he used to be. I know that it's hard to see him as anyone other than grumpy old Bunnymund, but believe me when I say, he wasn't always like that."

"What changed?" Jack asked. He listened to everything Tooth said at this point, hanging on her every word. She was right, it was hard for him to see Bunny differently from the pooka's usual cranky demeanor.

Tooth sighed as her wings lifted and hummed, pulling her up into the air. Her fairies reluctantly flew off Jack's hoodie at their leader's silent command for them to follow. The soft wisps of air from all those beating wings made Jack's hair blow into his face, tickling his skin. Tooth didn't want to sound too cryptic because of Jack's curiosity, but she knew it wouldn't be right to tell him the straight truth.

"I can't really say, but I hope nothing like it will ever happen to you and Jamie, or any other child for that matter," She hoped that Jack would pick up on the hint to stop prying, which he did. She looked up at the workshop's skylight that revealed the beautiful moon. "Bunny will be back soon, and hopefully with Alice. I should get back to work."

The two guardians exchanged a temporary goodbye before Tooth flew off towards another section of the workshop to regroup with the rest of her fairies. Baby Tooth chose to stay behind and sit on Jack's shoulder. She let out a worried squeak when she noticed the perplexed expression on the winter spirit's face. Jack was pulled out of his thoughts by Baby Tooth tugging on his hoodie string. The mini fairy hovered a few inches from his face with the blue string in her tiny hands.

"I'm fine, Baby Tooth," He said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I was just thinking."

He still had more questions than answers, but he decided to let it go for now. Today had been both physically, and mentally exhausting for him. The real reason he was late to the meeting wasn't because of traffic, as shocking as one might find it. Jack just got a little distracted. He gave the North side of the United States a little early snowfall, even though he promised the other Guardians, more specifically Bunny, that he wouldn't cause any more unseasonal winter weather. But Jack just couldn't help himself sometimes.

During the warm seasons, Jack usually stayed either at the North Pole, or at his "domain" in Antarctica. His makeshift home in the icy desert consisted of only a large, artfully constructed ice cave that he had carved into a glacier a few years back, and a seemingly endless amount of penguins. The penguins were fun to play around with, and surprisingly better at Poker than he initially thought they would be, but Jack was a people person. He got bored easily when he was alone. While he was making his way to the Pole, Jack noticed that some of the states were cold enough for a little snow. He didn't cause that much snow to fall, only enough for a decent snowball fight. The snow would melt by morning at the very latest.

Jack reached over and picked up the controller for the jumbo sized airplane. The plane wasn't big enough for him to be able to ride in it, but that didn't take away any of the fun from the fact that it was an over-sized toy airplane. Jack flipped on the power switch and a tiny green light blinked on.

"Now let's see what this thing can do," Jack smirked.

Baby Tooth sighed and shook her head as if to say, 'Oh boy, there he goes!'

~O~

Contrary to popular belief, a rabbit hole wasn't the only way one could travel to and from Wonderland. Incidentally, Bunny only uses the rabbit-hole marbles to travel to Wonderland, not from it. Deep within the Red Kingdom, Alice set up a large, floor-to-ceiling mirror that acted as yet another portal. It was this mirror that Alice and Bunny used to travel back to the North Pole.

The looking glass portal opened up just outside the main doors of North's Russian palace. Bunny suggested that they arrive there because he didn't want to startle the elves and yetis, but that wasn't his true reason for the suggestion. Well at least, not entirely the reason. The elves and yetis probably would get startled if they appeared out of nowhere, and North wouldn't be too happy if there was a panic among his workers during hours.

The real reason for his suggestion was that Bunny didn't want Alice to become too overwhelmed. He knew that he wasn't giving Alice enough credit, and that he was probably being a little overprotective, but this whole situation was very delicate. This was Alice's first trip outside of Wonderland in over a hundred years and Bunny needed this visit to go smoothly, or else Alice would never become Guardian. In fact, the girl wouldn't even consider it. She would simply just brush it off and refuse to address ever again.

So to say that Bunny was stressed about this whole ordeal would be a serious understatement.

Alice, however, was a little more relaxed then her pooka friend. Bunny told her repeatedly, much to her chagrin, that St. North's Workshop was very secluded from the rest of the world. She trusted that Bunny wouldn't lead her into any danger, so she allowed herself to let go of some of her anxiety and focus more on observing her new surroundings. This was a great opportunity and privilege after all. It's not everyday one such as herself gets to take a tour through the prized workshop of the famous Santa Claus.

Alice recalled the Christmas tales her older sister, Lizzie, used to read to her when she was a little girl. She would curl up in her sister's lap with her beloved stuffed rabbit in her arms while Lizzie read her, Twas the Night Before Christmas. She remembered helping her mother bake gingerbread cookies, and how her mother would scold her whenever Alice spilled flour on her new holiday dresses. And her father's voice rang clear in her head as he told Alice about the jolly man in red.

'Alice! You should be in your bed by now. Hurry along now, child, or Father Christmas will fly right over us. You don't want him to skip our house just because a certain naughty girl didn't go to bed when she was supposed to, do you? No, of course not. Off you go. Goodnight, my Liddell girl.'

Thinking about her family and memories no longer sent Alice into violent, guilt-filled breakdowns, but they did make her eyes sting and her heart ache painfully. She still had those violent mood swings from her memories of the fire, Rutledge Asylum, and the orphanage, but after a hundred and thirty years, they've become easier for her to control. her entire mind became easier for her to control.

The two friends stood outside the front doors. Alice looked at the gray pooka standing next to her and his nervous expression.

'By the look on his muzzle, one would think that it was Bunnymund's first time out of Wonderland and not mine,' She mused with a smirk.

"Well? Are we going in soon?" She asked, this time out loud.

Bunny jumped at Alice's voice. He looked at her and realized that they were just standing there. He took a deep breath and hopped from foot to foot, as if he was getting ready for a big race. Alice just rolled her eyes and put her hands behind her back, waiting patiently for her friend to finish.

"Alright, are you sure you want to do this, Half-pint?" Bunny asked for the seemingly hundredth time.

"I seriously doubt I would have much of a choice otherwise," Alice said with a hint of snark in her tone. "After all, the great Man in the Moon has chosen me, and heaven forbid I allow his orders to go unheeded."

"A simple yes or no would've gottin' your point across just fine," Bunny huffed after an annoyed pause. "The sarcasm was a little unnecessary."

"I'm sorry," She apologized softly, holding back a smile. "I'm positive I want to do this. I wouldn't have left my Wonderland if I wasn't."

Bunny gave a nod before knocking on the gigantic doors. The doors opened with a mighty heave and a gray yeti appeared in the entrance. The yeti had a flat expression on his face, no doubt ruing the day he was placed on door duty, but once he saw who was on the other side of the doors, he reeled back in surprise. He started to grumbled to his brothers in their unique language before he stepped aside and gestured for the two spirits to come in.

Bunny walked straight past the yeti while Alice gave the large, furry creature a curious look. The yeti caught her eye and gave her an enthusiastic wave. Perplexed, the young woman politely waved back before increasing her pace to catch up with Bunny. She would have to make a note to examine these strange creatures more closely some other time.

The front hall of the workshop was obviously not as exciting as the main area of the complex, but it certainly wasn't lacking in any of the Christmas spirit. The halls were thoroughly decked with garland, red banners, candles and boughs of holly. The atmosphere of the workshop had an overwhelming scent of pine trees and gingerbread. A couple of elves milling about the carpeted floor suddenly stopped and stared at the new visitor as she and Bunny walked by. Little smiles let up their faces and the elves quickly started following behind them in excitement. Bunny almost laughed when he noticed the tiny new entourage Alice had following closely behind her.

The young woman didn't even notice the small creatures yet. She was too distracted by the colossal hallway they were walking through. The hallway reminded Alice of the ones in the Red Kingdom, except the workshop walls and railings were made out of lofty wood instead of cold, hard marble. She found that she liked the wood better, it gave the domain a cozier, more welcoming feel to it. The décor was certainly more festive than the Red Kingdom's, all happy spirits and wishful tidings.

Bunny saw the sudden lift in Alice's expression and the ease in her walk as her green eyes scanned the hall, taking in every last detail. The pooka smirked as he thought about her reaction to the rest of North's domain. The Russian was truly a man ahead of his time, in both spirit and ambition, and it shined like a beacon in the beautiful home he had crafted for himself and his workers. It was an architectural marvel that world knew only through myths, and even then those myths failed to capture the complex in all its wonderful, amazing glory.

When they reached the end of the hallway, a few yetis pushed open another pair of doors and Alice let out an audible gasp at the scene behind them.

They stood in the entrance of the main room of the complex, the Workshop.

As usual, the place was buzzing vivaciously with activity. The yetis pounded away at their stations, building and testing the toys while the elves did...whatever it was they usually did. Alice leisurely walked towards the center of the room where a gigantic globe hovered overhead in the very heart of the workshop. With her mouth slightly open and her hand held up near her lips in shock, Alice slowly turned in circles as she tried to take in everything all at once. She was in a complete state of awe at the beauty and passion flowing around her. She never knew such a wondrous place could exist outside her Wonderland.

The main appeal of the workshop for Alice wasn't the toys or the interesting creatures (although being an animal lover, she considered the yetis a close second best). No, it was the fact that this place was real. It existed in the real world and more importantly, it wasn't crafted by Alice's imagination. It was crafted by someone else's, a truly beautiful mind. Not in the literal sense like Wonderland, but the structure, the foundation, the décor - the whole idea came from someone else. Alice deeply revered the amazing craftsmanship and already she held a deep admiration for the creator of this place, who she could only assume was Nicolas St. North.

Bunny crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk. As Alice looked up towards the giant globe, she held up one of her small hands above her head and allowed bits of gold confetti to collect in her palm. The pooka pulled his gaze away from the girl and looked up towards the fourth floor of the workshop where he knew North's office was, and as if on cue, the door swung open with a loud bang and Bunny saw a familiar figure march proudly out of the room and make its way towards a nearby staircase.

'Alright, here we go,' Bunny thought as he walked over to Alice.

By now, she had noticed the small legion of elves following her around and she was sitting down on the floor with her legs tucked underneath her, observing their odd behavior. She laughed when two of the impish helpers started having a frantic slap fight, pushing and shoving each other until they finally tired themselves out. One particularly brave elf scurried up to Alice with a Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookie and shyly presented it to her. The little guy blushed bright red when she took it with a soft Thank You.

"Havin' fun?" Bunny asked as Alice tucked the cookie into her apron pocket.

"Oh Bunny, aren't they just the most curious things you have ever seen?" Alice smiled while reaching out and lightly tugging on one elf's bell hat. The elf got a goofy smile on his face before fainting dramatically, his fellow elves glaring at him in jealousy. "Certainly less gruesome looking than my card guards."

The pooka opened his mouth to comment on the obvious crush North's elves had on her, but he stopped short when his rabbit ears picked up the jolly codger's booming voice coming down from the second level of the workshop, and he held out a paw to help her up off the floor. Once standing, Alice smoothed out the front of her dress.

"You ready, ankle biter?" Bunny asked. She placed her hands behind her back and nodded. "Good, because here comes North."

She looked in the direction that Bunny was pointing and saw a large man pushing his way through a crowd of yetis. She cocked her head to the side curiously as she heard a deep, powerful voice scold some of the elves that were apparently blocking his path, scattering dangerously underfoot.

"Oh, and one more thing," Bunny leaned over and whispered. "Don't get alarmed, but North can be a bit-"

Nicholas St. North suddenly pushed through the last of the yeti crowd. Alice was able to get a good look at the mountain-sized man before he walked straight up to the pair without any hesitation and picked up a bewildered Alice by her waist like she was as light as feather. He held her up at eye level and placed a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"-forward," Bunny finished with an irritated mumble and a sigh while Alice stood there shocked.

"Dobro Pozhalovat, Alice Liddell!" North announced in his usual loud and proud way. "Welcome, to the North Pole!"

AN: Ha! Finished! I originally wanted this chapter to include the introduction of all the Guardians but when I got to this part, I absolutely had to end the chapter here. It was too funny and prefect to pass up! I hope my description of North's workshop was good enough. We don't see too much of the workshop other than the main room and I also don't have the movie to use as visual refresher.

(1/13/16) Fun fact: In the original draft of this chapter, back when I first posted it for those of you who remember, the name of Tooth's child was Jenny, but I changed it to Aasha. If I'm not mistaken it's an Indian/Hindu name that means "smile". I decided to make Tooth's child hail from the same country as Tooth. The meaning behind her name is just a fun, little tidbit I wanted to add.

If you see any grammar or spelling mistakes in the chapter, let me know in a review and I'll fix them.

~Scorpiofreak~