This takes place between Lullaby and Artistic Contemplation.


"Jamie, Hurry up! There's not going to be any eggs left."

Jamie rubbed his eyes, yawning. It was way too early to be out here on a Sunday morning. He didn't know how Sophie could be so awake. Must be something about being a kid. He used to be the same.

"Calm down, Soph, it's still early. There'll be plenty left."

The park soon came into view, with it's large sign held up with yellow and purple ribbons announcing the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. Kids ran around, looking under bushes and in flower beds. Sophie sprinted to join them, as if they would find the very last egg in the time it would have taken her to walk there. Jamie shook his head and continued at a more moderate pace. There was no emergency. The eggs were hidden there for the kids and, at fourteen, Jamie Bennett was not a kid anymore. Whatever his mother thought. So he would leave them the eggs and just watch.

He wasn't the only one with that idea, he discovered soon. In addition to the parents accompanying the younger kids, he saw a familiar girl sitting on a bench, holding a book that she wasn't actually reading. Grinning, he waved at her.

"Good morning, Cupcake!"

"Good morning Jam—" Her own greeting was cut short when Sophie screeched and ran to hug the bigger girl.

"Cup! I didn't see you."

"I'm not surprised. You looked in a hurry," Cupcake answered, ruffling her hair fondly.

Sophie was always happy to see Cupcake, whenever she came over. The two of them had easily bonded over things such as fairies and unicorns and other such things that Jamie couldn't really comprehend. He usually steered clear during those time for fear of being asked to participate in a princess tea party again. One time had been enough.

"Right! Because I want to find eggs. I need to go, now. Talk to you later!"

And with that, Sophie was gone again. Cupcake laughed and Jamie couldn't help but smile at his sister's enthusiasm. He let himself fall on the bench with an exaggerated sigh.

"Ah, to be so young again."

"What are you talking about? That was exactly you this fall when the first snow came."

"What? I wasn't that over-eager!"

"Yes you were."

"Happy Easter, guys!" a new voice interrupted the argument.

"Jack!" Jaime shouted, jumping to his feet and spinning around to see the Guardian of Fun hovering behind them. "I didn't think you'd come back, you've been gone over a week and it's spring now and—"

He stopped at the sound of Cupcake's laughter. She held her sides, almost bent over as she struggle to catch her breath between peals of uncontrollable laughter. Jaime blushed. All right, maybe he was acting like an over-enthusiastic kid, after all. That was embarrassing. Jack landed on the ground in front of him, looking between him and Cupcake with a bemused smile. Jamie glared at the girl, daring her to explain.

"It's good to see you again, Jack," she said when she caught her breath.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't about to miss the Egg Hunt, I—"

"Jack!"

"Soph!"

Once more, Sophie ran to them for a hug. Jack was looking as excited as she was, peeking into her basket and turning in his hands the few eggs she had managed to gather in this short a time, as if searching for one in particular. The winter spirit had a large grin on his face and a childish, wide-eyed expression. It made Jamie want to grab a basket and start hunting for eggs.

"I managed to make a lot of eggs this time, so look extra hard and you could find one, OK? I'm sure Bunny hid some in Burgess."

"Alright! I'll go look."

And with that, she was off again. Jamie couldn't help but admire her energy. She had been looking forward to the Egg Hunt for weeks. Jack followed her, flying around the park, waving to kids, peering into baskets and sometime cheering when he saw that they had found one of his own, with as much enthusiasm as the kids looking for eggs. When he was done with his exploration, he returned to the bench where Jamie and Cupcake were waiting.

"Do you want a basket?" Jamie asked with a laugh.

"Nah, I promised Bunny I wouldn't touch the eggs. They're for the kids, he always tells me," Jack answered, laughing as well. He didn't seem to mind. "But I can look to see what everyone got. I'm hunting eggs in my own way."


Jamie almost had to drag Sophie out of the park when it became obvious that no more eggs hid there. In the end, hunger convinced her it was time to go home. So she hugged Cupcake again and followed him. She walked slowly, more concentrated on the content of her basket than on where she was going. Jack floated behind her, looking over her shoulder. After a full inventory of the basket's content, she was disappointed to realize she hadn't found a single one of Jack's eggs.

"But you found more eggs then anyone else, at least," Jack said with an encouraging smile. Sophie smiled back.

"That's because I know the Easter Bunny." Jamie snorted, pushing the fence's door open when they reached their houses. Jack landed lightly on top of the fence as Sophie pushed to door close again.

"Are you leaving, now?" Jamie asked, always reluctant to see his friend go.

"For now, yeah. I'm going back to the Warrens. Someone needs to make sure Bunny isn't already trying to prepare for the next Easter, you know? That Pooka doesn't know how to have fun. But I'll be back. I can give you one more snow day before I leave."

"Give him a hug for me?" Jamie thought that Jack would object to Sophie's request, but a mischievous grin spread on his lips.

"Of course, Soph. I'll give him a hug for you."

Jamie wished he could come to the Warrens and see that. He doubted Bunny would be happy at whatever Jack was planning to do. Shaking his head, he climbed the steps leading to the front door. He was getting hungry as well. Just as he turned to wave Jack goodbye, he spotted something colorful in the potted plant by the door. Curious, he looked closer.

It was an Easter egg, yellow, with purple flowers and little blue dots. There was something familiar about the hard-edged, six-petalled flowers. They looked like they could have been carved from ice and the dots reminded him of falling snow. Jamie held up the egg with a grin.

"I think that's one of yours."

Jack blinked, flew up to him and took a closer look. Sophie came closer as well, curious.

"Yes, it is! Bunny actually hid it here? He must have wanted you two to find it."

What ensued was a complete search of the front yard. If Bunny had hidden an egg here for them, chances were they would find another one.

"Here! I got it, I got it!" Sophie jumped to her feet from the sandbox, proudly holding up her discovery. She inspected it carefully before placing it on top of her other eggs in the basket. Jamie didn't miss the soft smile on Jack's face before he flew back to his perch on the fence.

"I'll be going, now. I've got a bunny to hug."


Happy Easter! I ended up cutting an extra scene at the end for lack of time, but I'll write it as a separate chapter when I come back.

That's the last chapter for a while. I'll come back some time in May, but likely not at the beginning of the month. I'll likely take a little break from writing after Camp NaNo. So goodbye for now!