Part one of a new little arc that wasn't supposed to be an arc but somehow ended up being one.
They were already well into spring, yet it was snowing outside. Not just a little bit of snow, either. A small snowstorm. Sophie frowned. This wasn't the kind of heavy snowfall they got when Jack decided to stop by on his way south to give them one last snow day. No, this particular snowstorm meant the Spirit of Winter was upset.
She pulled on her coat and her boots, wondering what happened. Had he gone south already and come back? Maybe he had gotten into an argument with Bunny. But they rarely resulted in him coming all the way back here to sulk. Maybe this one had been pretty bad. She ran, getting upset over knowing Jack was upset.
What she found at the lake wasn't what she expected. At least she wasn't expecting it at the moment. But she had known it was coming. She sighed, walking the last few steps separating her from where the winter spirit and the Pooka sat by the frozen water. Bunny was rubbing his arms in the cold, but he wasn't actually complaining.
"Hey, Bunny! Jack!" She tried to sound more enthusiastic than she was, but she wasn't sure she pulled it off.
The two Guardian exchanged a look before Jack pushed Bunny slightly. The Pooka grumbled and stood, turning to face her.
"Hey, there, Sophie. I hope you liked Easter this year."
"It was great."
There was a moment of silence as Bunny and Sophie both looked at their feet, neither willing to speak of what actually mattered. Jack sighed and stood as well.
"Hey, Sophie. I'm gonna be leaving for the summer. Be good, alright?"
She laughed a little at that.
"I'm good when you're not around, Jack."
Jack chuckled. Bunny narrowed his eyes at him, likely wondering if the Guardian was a bad influence on her or something. The atmosphere was not quite as tense as it had been a moment ago. Sophie took a deep breath and decided to cautiously approach the subject.
"So, you came to say goodbye?"
"Yeah. We came to say goodbye."
"I said I would do this, Snowflake."
"Well, do it, then!"
Bunny cleared his throat and shuffled in place. Then, he placed both furry hands on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Sophie. I know it can be hard to accept, but you're not really a child anymore. And before the year ends, you'll be an adult. It's time... I mean... What I'm trying to say is—"
"I get it."
"You do?"
"You're saying it's time I stop believing in you. In all of the Guardians."
Bunny and Jack exchanged a look. The younger Guardian gave the other an encouraging nod. Bunny looked back at her, a little misty eyes.
"So, you understand what we're asking you? That you... let go?"
Sophie had known this would upset them. She remembered how it had been, when her brother had stopped believing. She knew she wasn't ready for that. She might never be. But she could not just tell them that. She didn't want to hurt anyone just because she wanted to be a child forever.
"I understand."
"So, you'll do it?"
"How do I do that? How do I just stop believing?"
"You only need to want to," Jack answered. "It's not like if you tried to stop believing your mother exist. We're not meant to be believed in forever."
They both looked so sad, like they wished they could stay with the children they cared for long after they had stopped being children. Sophie drew them both into a hug. It might be the last chance she got. They shifted a little until they weren't so uncomfortably squished against each other before returning the hug. No one spoke a for several long moment. She was in no hurry to move.
"Promise me one thing." Sophie said, breaking the long silence.
"What?" they both asked at the same time.
"Never let me walk through you. Ever."
"It's a promise," Bunny said
They sat back near the water, still holding on to each other, and watched the sun set. She woke up in her bed later, not remembering falling asleep. She walked to the window. It had stopped snowing outside.
"So I guess this is goodbye, then."
Bunny had not spoken since they had returned to the Warrens. He sat on a grassy hill, holding his sketchbook. For all the time he had spent there, all he had actually sketched was a sunset. Jack just didn't know what to do. So he sat next the Pooka, trying to be silently supportive.
Losing Sophie was hard on all of them. They had grown fond of the girl when she had somehow found herself in the Warrens, all those years ago. She was the one who had reminded the older Guardians what it was like to actually spend time with children. Bunny had been especially close to her, perhaps because she was such a fan of him. He would asked Jack about her when he visited and even sometime leave the Warrens to go see her, always finding some excuse to be in the area. But that would be over, now. The Easter Bunny stared at his sunset, not speaking.
"Bunny... are you going to come back with me when I return north? To visit Burgess one last time?"
Bunny stayed silent for such a long time that Jack wondered if speaking about that had been a good idea. But, finally, the Pooka heaved a sigh, lowering his head and bringing the sketchbook to his chest.
"I'll come. One last time."
Jack nodded. It would do Bunny some good, to see her one last time. And to confirm that it was over. At least he hoped it would. Jack sighed. He would miss Sophie. He would still see her often, in Burgess, so at least he could keep an eye on her, but he would miss her coming to his lake to hug him after the first snow. But, after Jamie, he had been prepared for it. It still hurt, but he had come to term with the situation years ago. He could handle this.
One thing he could not handle too easily, however, was the heavy silence hanging over the Warrens. He was the Guardian of Fun, it was hard to sit next to someone so gloomy and do nothing about it. He should be doing something about it. Without warning, he threw his arms over the Pooka, startling him.
"What the—"
"Easter Bunny, hop, hop hop!"
Bunny snorted, planted his hand on top of Jack's head and tried to push him away. Jack hung on.
"Get off me, Frostbite! Now, before I throw you in a paint lake again."
Jack smiled against the Pooka's fur. Bunny was back too his usual grouchy self. This felt like a victory.
Why is it that, when I try to do something with Sophie, it always ends up longer than it should be? So, have a new arc. That's what I'll be doing this week-end, it seems. I wished I had time to write more, but I spent several hours making a digital hair painting tutorial and ran out of time. Looks like my little comic will wait a bit, too. There's not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a week-end.
Also, there's a ridiculous amount of sighing going on in this chapter.
