Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG…so there…

If you were to ask any of the Easter Bunny's friends what they thought of the Pooka, more than usually you would the get answer that he was loyal, stubborn, short tempered, antisocial, but he also had a big heart that had a supremely soft spot for children and anything he deemed adorable. Amongst those who knew him, they would say that he probably didn't have many friends due to his cautious nature on whom he allowed into his life, but one thing that not many knew was that Aster had a best friend whom he enjoyed having frequent lunch dates with. Who was it you ask?

Mother Nature…

Mother Nature had a soft spot for the Pooka, mostly because he protected and represented her favorite season. Spring was a time of new beginnings, where flowers bloomed, and the trees dressed in their best while the meadows put on a show for any passerby willing to stop and look; it was truly a time of wonder and beauty. And so the spirit often found herself stopping by the warren in order to enjoy one of Bunny's homemade teas, or just eat a cucumber sandwich, which was always accompanied by talking.

Their conversations could be as light as discussing egg designs based on the colors presented that spring, or go as deep as baring their souls and discussing the things that they kept hidden from everyone else due to their reputation. Today was just such a day where Mother Nature came for a visit, and within moments had ascertained that there was something very wrong with her best friend.

"Bunny?" Mother Nature said in a voice laced with concern as she sat down at the table in the kitchen "What is wrong?"

"Huh?" Aster's ears twitched in a way he knew betrayed his attempt to fool the spirit with nonchalance "what do you mean?"

Mother Nature, or Rhiannon as her friends knew her, merely smiled in fond tolerance of the Pooka's tough façade "Well for one thing you haven't stopped sighing the entire time I've been here, and for another you keep staring off into space or out the window, which only makes you sigh again."

Bunny heaved yet another sigh, and ran a paw over his ears "Can't hide anything from you for long, can I?" he asked sheepishly.

Rhiannon smiled as she watched her friend set down two steaming tea cups, and after Aster had sat down, she took one of his paws in her hands "No old friend" she said with a smile "You cannot hide anything from someone who has known you as long as I, now to use a modern colloquialism, 'Spill it'."

"Ah Rhia…" Bunny sighed "I'm sure you know about the prank that Chikashi played on us about a month back?"

Mother Nature nodded "Yes, I believe he turned your newest guardian into a baby Pooka."

"Yeah…"

Rhiannon watched her friend, her keen eyes taking in every detail as he buried his face into one paw, his ears drooping sadly as he heaved yet another huge sigh. "Bunny," she smiled "I'm not trying to be insensitive, but this is getting ridiculous. Tell me what is bothering you, and no more beating around the bush!"

"I just miss having the kit around!" Bunny finally blurted.

"The…kit?" Mother Nature asked in an amused tone.

"I meant Kid!" Aster backpedaled, his ears plastered to the back of his head in indignant, albeit weak, correction.

"Sure you did" Rhiannon chuckled softly "So according to what I have heard, you were the one who took care of him, correct?"

"…Yes…" Bunny admitted grudgingly.

"So would I be right in assuming that you are struggling with the paternal feelings you have developed for your comrade?"

Bunny stayed silent, his troubled green eyes staring into the depths of his tea as if somehow the murky liquid held the key to all his problems. Mother Nature sighed as she gazed at the distressed form of her dearest friend. His ears were down, and his eyes were dull. He looked miserable, and probably hadn't even been eating due to the evidence of his coat lacking its gloss, and his waist seeming even slimmer than normal. Standing up, the ancient spirit stepped behind the unhappy Pooka and wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug.

"It is not a bad thing to care for another person" she said softly "especially when that other person needs a father as much as Jack does. He may be three hundred and sixteen years old, but that does not disqualify him from needing a parent. He is trapped in both the mind and the body of a child for all eternity, and whether he or anyone else is willing to acknowledge it, he is definitely in need of an adult who will volunteer to step in as the father figure that all teenage boys need."

"But" Aster's voice cracked, causing him to clear his throat before continuing "He doesn't even remember our time together, he thinks I'm just another member of the team, and there is no way he would accept me as a father figure."

"He already respects you" Rhiannon replied with a smile quirking one side of her mouth "and whether you know it or not, those pranks are his way of testing you, because he knows that out of everyone, you are the one most likely to set boundaries. Children will never willingly admit it, but they crave boundaries, and rules, and fences because it makes them feel safe, like someone actually cares about their welfare enough to keep them accountable. Sure they will complain, and maybe even throw a tantrum, but in the end they are happy that there is someone who loves them enough not to let them live a life alone doing whatever they want. Jack feels that from you, and that is why he is drawn to you. He may subconsciously already view you as a parental figure."

Bunny bowed his head as sorrow washed over him, and Rhiannon fell silent, knowing that she had said what she could; now she could only let him think on her words.

Later that night, Aster walked into one of the many rooms in the sleeping quarters of his warren. It had been one that he had made for Jack while the spirit was still trapped in the body of Snowball. He had gone all out with the painting and decorating, but since the little guy left, he hadn't stepped even one paw inside that room since. Overhead a beautiful night sky had been painted in shockingly realistic grandeur, while all around, Bunny had furnished the room with furniture he had carved from a mahogany wood that was a deep dark red and glossed so bright, it shined like a ruby. The nest had been lined with white feathers and lush green grass that would never die or wither. But the centerpiece in the room had been something that Bunny had created out of a moment that he readily admitted to be pure insanity.

Hanging up in one corner of the room, was Jack's very own Pooka armor. It had wrist gauntlets that matched Bunny's except instead of a topaz jewel in the middle of the leather, it had a bright sapphire with a stunning star in the middle, and the outer edge of the leather gauntlet was decorated in silver studs. Bunny had even gone so far as creating special leg guards as a personal joke considering Jack didn't like shoes. But the thing he was most proud of was the leather holster he had created for Jack's staff. It was much like his pouch in that it was slung across his chest, but he had studied the shepherd's crook during that week with Snowball, and was able to design a functional pocket that would keep his staff across his back so he could run with it not getting in his way as a rabbit.

Who knows why he had made the ensemble, Bunny had rationalized it as his way of being on the safe side should the spell not eventually wear off, but after his talk with Mother Nature, Aster knew it to be a reason that ran much deeper than just mere rationalization. He enjoyed being a father, and somewhere in his heart, he actually wished that it would stay that way. Walking over to the reminder of all he had dared hope for during that fateful week, the Pooka felt a large ball of emotion get lodged in his throat. His paw gently caressed each piece of armor, each detail had been lovingly crafted for his baby, every moment spent making the armor was used imagining what he would look like in it as a grown Pooka, and as the material gained shape beneath genius paws used to crafting works of art Aster could honestly say he had poured himself, heart and soul into the delicate buckles, and designs burned into the leather.

With a broken sob, the rabbit sat on the floor in front of his creation, one part of his brain berating him for his weakness, the other part crying out for just one more day with a fellow Pooka, someone who looked and smelled like him, a family. Tears made dark wet tracks on the bunny's grey fur as he struggled to control the unbearable sobs wrenching from his heart and crawling up his throat. Looking up through the window he had installed in Jack's room, Bunny gazed at the moon with misery filled eyes.

"Look Manny" he said softly his voice gravelly with the effort it took not to crawl into a ball and weep "I know I haven't been the best guardian, and I haven't been as much of a team player that I could, but I'm begging ya; I'm so alone, and I'm sick and tired of it. I protect the kids like I should, but at the end of the day, I can't deny that I feel alone. I see those kids only once a year, and in the middle I'm by myself. I may protect the kids, but they aren't mine, and it isn't like I can take one home ya know. I miss my family, I miss having a tyke to take care of, and worry after, and I miss having someone look up to me as a father. I know I don't deserve it, but please, I don't want to be alone anymore. If you can do anything, help me…"

All the pain of being the last of his kind had been pressed down deep, justified as being unnecessary in light of how he was needed by the children of the world; but in that moment, sitting alone in a dark room that was lit only by the light of the moon, a lonely rabbit sat in anguish grieving for his lost loved ones and the loneliness that plagued him now more than ever.

…

North sat in his workshop, a delicate ballerina danced across the table top, her icy feet gliding across the wood as her creator watched. Just as she lifted one leg in the air in a graceful pirouette, a yeti barged into the room knocking the dancer off balance and sending her to shatter on the floor. North slowly leveled a glare at the yeti, chin quivering with the barely suppressed rage he felt.

"Vhat" he said in a thick accent induced by his anger "is so difficult to comprehend about the concept… of KNOCKING?!"

The yeti stared at the broken ballerina in abject horror before beginning to garble in yetish. His arms flew about as he began to describe what was so urgent that he had completely forgotten his agreement to knock. North listened with a face painted with strained tolerance, before his eyes became wide at the news. Bolting to his feet, he stumbled out the door, and sprinted down the hall towards the globe. Upon reaching it, the large man was both surprised and excited at the soft glow coming from the moon signaling an audience with MiM.

"MiM!" North bellowed happily "To what do I owe honor of visit?"

"Something has been brought to my attention old friend," Manny replied in his translucent voice "and I feel that it would not hurt to get involved this one time."

"Oh?" North was surprised, MiM so rarely interfered with the affairs of others, much less spoke to anyone, it was pretty shocking just to hear him say that he was planning something of that sort "And what may I ask, are you going to do?"

"Aster is falling into the depths of sorrow due to the loneliness of being the last of his kind, his light is flickering out. In order to save him, I must stretch forth my magic and cause a past problem to resurface."

Father Christmas furrowed his eyebrows as he considered MiM's words before his eyes brightened in understanding "You are going to turn Jack back into a Pooka, but for what purpose? He cannot do job as Pooka, and what would Jack say? He might not wish to become a Pooka!"

"It is not a permanent transformation" Manny replied in a patient tone "But there are similarities between the two of them. Jack wishes for a family, people who love and care for him, and Bunny is longing for the same."

"Are we not family?" North cried his arms stretching in frustrated confusion "Am I not father to winter spirit?"

"You are a wonderful father figure" MiM consoled "But while you guard Wonder, Bunny guards Hope. Jack Frost has just come out of three hundred years of isolation, and he still contains all the wonder of a child, but his own insecurity created a deep void within him, a depression that makes him doubt his own worth, what he needs is Hope."

North felt his anger deflate as he considered Manny's words and acknowledged the truth in them. Massaging his temples, the large man finally grumbled "And how long will Jack be in this form?"

"Until both find what they are looking for."

"Which is…?"

"A family that gives them the strength to live, and Hope to face the future as they are…"

….

Far away near a lake in Burgess, a young winter sprite skated forlornly around the lake that he had only recently learned was the lake he drowned in. The old darkness of depression was creeping into the corners of his mind as he dragged his staff behind him in a dejected silence. He hated his own weakness at allowing these feelings to overwhelm him, especially now that he was a guardian, but Jack couldn't stop the emotions that begged to be acknowledged. Worries for his present, sorrow for his past, and fear for his future all clamored to be brought to the forefront of his mind. He wanted to tell someone about the pain he felt, but a nagging insecurity in the back of his mind informed him that no one would care, or would call him weak. He didn't want that, he wanted to fight against the suffocating darkness that threatened to snuff him out every time he was by himself, he wanted many things, but that didn't mean he got them. That last thought caused spicy anger to burn through his veins, and the boy gave an angry turn that spread a thick wave of ice in every direction, the boy threw his hood off his head, and glared defiantly at the moon.

"Look Moon," he shouted his voice tinged in both anger and sorrow "I know you made me a guardian, and that's great, and yeah we're one big family…kind of… but I still feel completely alone. I don't get it! You created me to protect the kids, but 90% of them can't see me, and the ones that do aren't always around, and don't get me started on the guardians! They're always busy, so now with the prospect of actually having a family, and them not having time for me, I'm even lonelier now than ever! Will you…" Jack struggled to find the words so deeply etched into his heart before finally shouting his pain "Will you just make something CHANGE?!"

It was then that a white hot pain lanced through his body causing Jack to cry out and crumple to the ground. His bones stretched, and his muscles felt like they melted into wax as they pulled in new odd directions along with his skeletal structure. Needle like pinpricks prickled across his skin, making Jack clench his eyes shut. A cry of pain echoed around the lake as a bright light shot down from the moon enveloping the winter spirit, and changing him into something else entirely. He writhed in agony as he felt his skull shift, and his nose flatten. Finally the pain ended, and Jack lay on the ground in a trembling ball, his teeth chattering from what he hoped was shock.

He couldn't explain it, but for some reason he felt…COLD!

Rising unsteadily onto his hands and knees, Jack felt his brow furrow in confusion when he realized that his feet, no, his entire leg felt different, strange even, alien. Looking down, Jack almost screamed when he saw two fuzzy white paws sticking out of the sleeves of his hoodie. Shuffling across the ground to the edge of the lake, the sprite was shocked to find not his usual pale features staring back up at him from the glassy ice, but the face of a teenage Pooka with white fur and blue eyes.

A sudden urge to completely wig out was successfully swallowed as the boy stumbled to his feet, and investigated his new body. With trembling hands…er…paws, he fearfully followed the line of his head, and then traveled up his ears. A muffled cry of disbelief and terror squeaked past his pink lips, and Jack could only kick a snow bank in angry frustration. He had been turned into a bunny, and not just any bunny, a Pooka.

Once again staring up at the moon, Jack stomped the ground with a powerful hind leg and shrieked at the top of his lungs;

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!"