Song: Hopeful

By: Bars and Melody

Start song at (1)

North was the first to arrive, followed quickly by tooth and Sandy. They waited for about 15 minutes, but Bunny never showed up.

"Now where he get off to?" Tooth wondered aloud.

"I don't know! It's not like Bunny to not show up." North said.

Sandy created a perfect replica of Jamie's house.

"You could be right Sandy," North nodded in agreement. "He did go to Jamie's so it is entirely possible that he still there."

"Well, should we go get him?" Tooth asked.

"I think so. After all I have important news to share."

Sandy created a question Mark above his head.

"I may have found out vhat has kept Jack from guardian meeting." North explained.

"Does it have anything to do with it being Thanksgiving day?" Tooth added.

North nodded his head, not the least bit surprised that Sandy and tooth had figured out what day it was as well. "I'm honestly surprised that ve did not know dis beforehand!"

Sandy looked sheepish. He showed an image of Jack scolding them as a little Sophie chased a butterfly.

Tooth looked sheepish, they had told Sandy about what happened after he'd vanished during the fight with pitch. And he tended to agree with Jack's assumption that the guardians spent way too much time away from kids and the outside world. He was the first to admit that he had let his work, and the few moments he allowed himself to sleep, to monopolize his time. Tooth for her part had been getting out a little more with the girls in the field. But this instance of having Thanksgiving sneak up on all of them, rubbed it in that they were still far from involved.

"Yes!" North half grumble half agreed. "We need to get better but right now we should find the other two members of our group."

"You seriously didn't know it was Thanksgiving? I mean come on Bunny, your holiday jumps around to but you always know when that's coming." Jack accused.

"That's different! I have to know when my holiday is. It's my job! But Thanksgiving, well, look unless the day is solidified on the calendar I'm too busy to keep track of it." Bunny defended.

"That sounds like a pretty weak excuse. Almost as weak as North's excuse that you are all too busy bringing joy to children to have time for children." Jack put a hand to his face in exasperation. "Man I know you guys needed some help but seriously!"

Bunny puffed up his chest, his fur fluffing out in defiance. He opened his mouth to retort only for Sophie to start cuddling close to his chest. "You're so fluffy!"

This got the attention of the other young kids and even some of the preteens. "Can I feel?" Tiffany asked. Before Bunny could answer a multitude of hands were petting him and several arms were hugging him. "He's so fluffy I'm going to die!"

That statement put an already strained group of adults over the edge. The hilarity of the in dignified Bunny surrounded by petting hands coupled with the "ooo's" and "aah's" made such a scene that aunt Greta even took a picture of it as she jiggled and jerked from laughing.

Eventually Bunny melted and a smile of pleasure broke out over his face, he even began to purr!

There was one person in the group however, who wasn't enjoying the antics surrounding Bunny. "Leo?" Asked Aunt Stephanie, of her son. "What's the matter honey?"

"It's nothing?" Leo said.

"I got a feeling it's something." Said Jack as he came over to be a part of their conversation.

"Really, I'm fine." Leo tried to assure them, but his fake smile gave him away.

"Look buddy, if you don't want talk about it I'm not going to push you." Jack said putting an arm around the boy's shoulders. "However, if it's something that is causing you this much pain, I'd like to help."

"I know you would, both of you!" Leo said looking both at Jack and his mom. "But, I don't know if there's anything you can do. I don't want to make things worse by antagonizing them." This last part he said barely above a mumble.

"Bullies? Has my stories about bullying brought you down?"

Leo looked like he wanted to reassure Jack, but at the same time what Jack had said was at least partially true. He realized he just backed himself into a corner. If he explained about the bullying that he'd been put through in school, he had a feeling that his family would try to step in. They had tried to step in with Bunny after all. But Leo feared that if anyone outside of the bully or him tried to step in and change things that his tormentor would only redouble their efforts. Jack's explanation about why bullies acted the way they did, and his promises of things in the future being different, didn't necessarily help him at the present moment! All that to the side, it wasn't Jack's fault that he was being bullied, and making his many greats uncle feel like he'd hurt Leo wasn't going to solve anything. In the end he decided to be truthful.

He took a deep breath, and in a quiet voice told Jack and his mom what he'd been going through at school. He had only meant to give them a brief description, but after he started talking things just kinda came out and he ended up telling them everything.

Jack was thoughtful after Leo finished his explanation. The boys seemed emotionally wrung out after all he had confessed, and Jack didn't blame him! There were things he himself had yet to tell the guardians let alone his family about his 300 years. He'd kind of glossed over a lot of the stuff in order to keep his family from the worst of it. Now he realized he'd made a mistake, by glossing things over and telling about the reasons why and promises of the future he'd made it seem as if there was nothing to be afraid of in the present. And inadvertently told Leo, and anybody else who was currently being bullied that they were weak, or something to the effect, for letting the bullies get to them.

Luckily, he knew of a way to correct his slip-up.

Eventually Bunny realized that he'd turned into a purring bundle of fluff and tried, pretty much unsuccessfully, to reclaim his dignity. "Okay, okay, that's enough." He shuffled backwards and finally disentangled himself from the arms and hands of the kids. Only then did he realize that Jack seemed to have slipped away. A quick scan found him talking with a mother and son a little ways toward the back of the room.

Before Bunny could go and investigate Jack took the boy's hand and gently led him back to the main group. "Everybody, I have a confession to make. You see, I haven't been completely honest." He took a quick glance at aunt Greta and then returned his gaze to the group as a whole. "I told you about how I was pushed around and called mean things, but I didn't mention the full extent of the bullying I received in my 300 years. I have been the victim of a few hands-on bullies as well."

Bunny's ears shot up, he'd had no idea that Jack had gone through any kind of bullying, he'd convinced himself that Jack's songs and stories were either secondhand information, or had gone no further than simple name-calling.

"You mean like with the Minotaur?" Jamie asked.

Bunny's jaw dropped, Minotaur he thought!

"That was one occasion I guess, but I was thinking more along the lines of situations where I was mobbed, or outnumbered, or even when it was only one spirit bullying me but they found just the right things to do to hit me where it hurt."

Now Bunny's ears were tucked against the back of his head his tail, if it had been longer, would certainly have been between his legs by now. He was curling in on himself, not from fear this time - like when he'd been stared down by aunt Greta- but from sadness. There was so much more to Jack Frost, Bunny now realized, then met the eye. There was so much more to him- even then- first, second, third, or fourth impressions told you about the kid.

"But… Your… How…!" The boy Jack had been talking to earlier stammered.

Bunny wasn't sure what the kid was going on about, but Jack seemed to know just what he was trying to say. "I held onto hope. And I held on to a good friend." The wind, who had been incredibly quiet all evening suddenly came into the room and played with Jack's hair.

Everyone, even Bunny, smiled to see the wind's antics with the winter spirit. The family had been wondering if she would be joining them that evening, and was happy to see she was nearby as always.

The wind seemed to whisper for a bit and Jack pumped his fist in excitement! "Alright! I was so hoping you'd want to give that a try!" Jack went over to Grandpa Bennet and asked to borrow his Guitar.

"Sure thing." Grandpa said. "Just be gentle with her."

"Don't worry!" Jack promised. He placed the guitar on the carpet, leaning against the wall. "Ok Wind."

The wind swirled around the instrument and the strings started to vibrate like invisible hands were plucking them. (1) The wind also created an amplifying effect that sent the music through the whole house and outside it as well.

Jack put a hand to his throat and started to hum. His voice seemed to amplify and when his started to rhyme it definitely could be heard as well, if not better then the wind's playing. " Please help God, I feel all alone. I'm a kid on my own, I cry tears writing this song. I don't want to leave home, people wonder why I'm alone. To scared to hollar, I walk around with sweat around my collar. I don't want stress but my life's a mess. The names you call me they hurt real bad I can't help but get mad. Don't want to fight I want to learn! So bullie tell me what I've done!"

Jack took his hand away form his throat and it changed into a much deeper sound as he switched to singing. "But I'm hopeful, yes I am, hopeful for today! Take this music and use it, let it take you away. Just be hopeful, hopeful, and he'll make a way! I know it ain't easy but that ok! Cause I'm hopeful!"

His hand returned to his throat, his higher voice coupled with the acoustic effect as he rhymed about the different things that bullies tended to say. Then he rhymed about a wish for guardian angels and the fear of facing bullies.

The deep voice effect returned as he sang about being hopeful through each day. The family was clapping along and Bunny even found himself tapping his foot. But more importantly, Leo looked more and more hopeful and confident as Jack went on.

The Guardian of Hope had to admit that Jack was a real nack at things like this. He wasn't sugar coating the things Bullies did and at the same time he was showing how to keep the hope! So much so that Bunny added his voice, deep and in perfect harmony with Jack's, as the uplifting chorus came again!

"But I'm hopeful, yes I am, hopeful for today! Take this music and use it, let it take you away. Just be hopeful, hopeful, and he'll make a way! I know it ain't easy but that ok! Cause I'm hopeful!" Bunny continued the chorus for one last round as Jack held out his Hopefuls and punctuated them with raised fists.

He went quiet again as Jack did one final verse of rhyming. "What I wear is all I have, I travel around I live from a bag. Yo mister bullie help me please! I'm flesh and blood, except me please!"

Well that's chapter 49! What do you all think? Thank you to all my followers, favoriters, and reviewers!