"Come on, Baby Tooth," Jack whined, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. Excitement was coursing through him like electricity, because just a little over an hour ago was when he started seeing dots, then color tones, then light. At first, he had thought it was his mind going, finally cracking, he thought. But then when he saw Baby Tooth snuggling up to him, not only feeling her, but seeing her too, his chest swelled with happiness and a heavy weight had been mercifully lifted from his shoulder along with the darkness of his vision. He cried in relief, tears streaming happily down his pale face as he thanked the Man in the Moon, thanked God, whoever he thought was up there looking down on him. His first reaction was to call out, to yell, to scream, to let someone know that he was going to be alright, that he could finally see again. But then he thought of Pitch, and thought of what was important in the moment. So now he was here, watching Baby Tooth as her brow scrunched in determination, her little arms crossed. She squeaked defiantly, puffing out her small, feathery chest before turning her back on him. She would not give in, no matter how much he pouted.

"Baby Tooth…" he cooed as he raised his hand to pet her. He gently stroked her little head, smoothing out the feathers. His fingers were refreshingly cool, and as light as the breeze of flying through a cloud. She loved flying through clouds. Her stern posture slowly started to melt, her body wasn't so tense and even her wings slowed down, just a bit. Her face transformed similar to that of a cat's when getting scratched in the right spot. She even started to purr like one, little high pitched chirps rumbling through her chest. He smiled as he felt her relax under his touch. All her thoughts suddenly fluttered away as she leaned into his petting, her eyes rolling back and twitching in delight as she let out a soft sigh.

"Baby Tooth…" he repeated, really working the petting now, lightly raking his finger nails through her crown feathers. She hummed in response, hardly listening.

"Where's my staff?" He whispered ever so softly, and she hummed, but then her eyes shot open, her whole body freezing as the beat of her wings picked up the pace to the point that they could probably cut and shred through paper. Her little cheeks blushed red in anger and embarrassment that she had let him get the better of her. She turned and poked at his finger with her sharp little beak.

"Ow!" he cried, bringing the finger up to his mouth as she started squeaking furiously at him and it was probably good that her mother wasn't there to hear. After hearing a good amount of her rant, he held his hand up.

"Alright, alright. Sorry, Baby Tooth. I just…I wanted to protect my family." He sighed and half leaned against the wall of his bedroom and on his crutches, (made for him by North) wincing as he jostled his leg. She stopped and her anger softened. She chirped at him curiously, asking him what he meant.

"I just…don't want Pitch hurting anyone else. But If only I had my staff, I could stop him, I know I could." He stopped and paused, a sigh rattling through his chest. "Or at least give him what he wants." He lifted his head in Baby Tooth's general direction with a look of determination on his face. "I understand if you won't help me Baby Tooth, I understand your trying to protect me, but I'm trying to protect them…and I'm going to whether you help me or not."

Baby Tooth squeaked in surprise and alarm when Jack found his feet and pushed himself off the wall and made it to the door of his room with determination. With a pause and another sigh, he listened to the silence of his room, wondering if he'd ever be in this room again. Wondering if he would succeed, but he couldn't back down now, he felt he needed to do this. With a frown and a firm brow, he twisted the knob and the door opened with a quiet click.

The sky was stained red and black, like blood and ash. The air was stale with sweat, burnt wood and skin, of singed fur and tears. The ground wasn't there anymore, it was too far buried under rubble and ash and burning coals of wooden beams. What once was green, was smoking and glowed red and orange and fell apart to add to the ruins. The only sounds that ghosted through the air was the soft crackling of dying fire, of the wind blowing mournfully with the black smoke. Once this place had been a sanctuary of sunlight and the laughter of children to him. I once was made of games and moss trails and a pair of pretty eyes. But now it was everything he didn't want it to be, of everything he fought, everything he hated. Nothing was alive, there was no hope, and everything was dead. Tears flooded his vision as the depression settled in and drowned out the rage. Once he may have fought, but then he had someone to follow, someone to fight alongside with. But not now and not ever again.

Now he was the only one left.

He had been too late.

He sunk to the ash, no longer grass, and stared out at what was left of the place he once called home. His ears flattened hard against his skull, trying to block it out, as he closed his eyes and burrowed into himself, hiding from it all, telling himself it wasn't true. They weren't dead, He wasn't alone, and He wasn't al-

"K-Kangaroo?"

Green eyes flashed up at the broken sob. No, oh God, please, not him too.

But there he was, collapsing against the side of a broken piece of a house. His white hair was stained crimson, his face tight with pain and confusion and something else, but after a moment of staring in horror, Aster realized what it was. Anger, hate, sadness, God, he looked so scared. His look glared with an accusing burn that seemed to beam directly from his icy eyes.

"Jack?"

The frost child stared at him, emotions flashing across his face as fast as fluttering wings. He was clutching his torso with a bloody hand, as if he could hold in the muscles trying to pour out of the large hole. Aster moved like he never had before, rushing to him as the boy coughed, and doubled over in pain, gasping as blood leaked down from his mouth. Aster reached him and pulled him into his lap, paws torn between stifling the blood flow or cradling the precious head, wiping bangs and blood from the boy's eyes. The poor boy was gasping loudly and painfully, fully open mouthed like a fish out of water as he coughed and choked on blood and smoke. His eyes wide and staring, unseeing up at the red sky. Aster felt the dread of helplessness, suffocating his heart. All he could do was call the boy's name and cradle his head, trying to help in any way he could to ease the child's pain. But the boy no longer heard, no longer saw, and would soon no longer breathe.

"You…w-…too l-late." He managed to gasp out with his last shuddering breaths. And only when the boy's body went lax, and his unseeing eyes stared up at nothing, and his breath stilled forever, only then did Aster let his tears fall.

All that could be heard was the burning of life, the sobbing of an older brother and the cruel twisting laugh of a dark shadow. All where only laughter and love should be heard.

Bunnymund felt the tears coming before he gained consciousness again and he awoke with a choked gasp before emotionally dissolving into a downpour of heart-broken sobs. Too many times had he witnessed nightmares of his old life, of his own kind dying, being slaughtered until only he was left. But this one had been by far the worst, both emotionally and vividly. Fear coursed through him, not for himself, but for Jack. Where was Jack Frost? Was he safe? Did he know that the grump of a Pooka cared?

Bunnymund leapt up from the borrowed bed at North's and wiped away the stubborn tears quickly and rushed for the door. He had to check, he had to know that Jack knew he cared. Whatever else were older brothers for?

"I still don't see it." Jack pouted for the fourth time, squinting his eyes, seemingly trying to command them to enhance in vision, to make him just see it already! "Where is it?!"

Baby Tooth rolled her eyes and fluttered in front of the winter spirit's face and sat on his nose, and closing one lavender eye, stretched out the length of her little arm and pointed.

Jack followed the trail of her tiny arm that pointed to a large pile of long timber that rested on a set of bars nailed against the wall of a stall, above the reindeer that was below, currently munching happily on a pile of hay. The pile appeared to be for fire wood, to heat the stables when the season reached the coldest point in the dead of winter. And according to his little friend, Jack's staff was hidden within them. Jack tried, he really did, to see but he just couldn't.

He gave out a frustrated huff, "Where?!" he whined, and Baby Tooth set aside a mental note to say something to her mother about getting Jack glasses or at least checking his eyes. But maybe she just had better vision as a species or his vision wasn't still at its best at the moment. Finally giving up on his eyesight, Baby Tooth flew the distance between them, over the large reindeer, and placed her tiny hand on Jack's staff and turned to him, giving him a look that clearly said, "Right here moron!"

Jack's eyes smoothed out from his squinting and widened with hope and realization. "It is there…It is there! I owe you one Baby Tooth!" He exclaimed excitedly and Baby Tooth rolled her eyes again as if saying, "I know."

Now the only problem was getting to it with healing ribs, recovering vision and a leg set in a cast without be trampled by a half ton animal. Jack shuffled cautiously toward the gate of the stall and placed his hand over the latch when the reindeer currently occupying it raised its head from its feeding and snorted loudly, rearing his head at him as a warning. Jack's hand stopped and he froze before he could touch the latch, his eyes wide and never leaving the beast who stared right back challengingly.

"Baby Tooth," Jack whispered, his eyes never moving, his whole body rigid and he forced down a gulp of pain as his bad leg started to tingle uncomfortably. "Distract it or something." He whispered.

Baby Tooth squeaked fearfully and pointed to herself with wide eyes.

"Just do it!" Jack whispered back hoarsely. Baby Tooth gulped before puffing out her little chest and gathering her courage. She buzzed around the reindeers head like an annoying little bee and the beast flung its head around in rising anger.

"Don't tick it off! Just distract it!" Jack whisper-yelled with a huff of frustration. Baby tooth stopped to hover and squeak angrily at him, protesting that she was try her best when the Reindeer's head swung and hit her, causing her to chirp loudly and crash into the stall wall.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack's anger melted immediately into concern and he instinctively reached for the latch and only when he had slid it open and slung open the stall door had he realized what he was doing. He saw her on the straw bedding of the stall floor before being forced to look up when the reindeer reared and kicked out it dangerously powerful hooves, pawing at the air while it snorted, making it look like smoke was puffing out of its nose in anger. It screeched and roared something terrible and Jack could only stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as it charged.

"Jack? You in there mate?" Bunny asked, rapping lightly on the boy's bedroom door. He hated to wake or disturb the boy at this hour, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get any sleep if he didn't check to just make sure the boy was okay.

"Jack?" He whispered and slowly opened the door only a crack, seeing if he was asleep. All he saw was black at first, so he watched until the colors started to bleed into his vision as his eyes adjusted. He blinked a couple times, making sure he wasn't missing something because he couldn't see Jack. He opened the door a bit more, the hinges creaking lowly. But his eyes didn't lie and the realization made his heart drop and his breath halt.

"Jack?" But like before, there was no answer because he was talking to an empty room.

Jack had attempted to step aside but when the reindeer charged, it brushed past him roughly, shoving him into the dirt packed ground of the stables, his crutches clattering down over him. After frantically crab walking back a few feet (more like using his arms to drag his body with only the use of one leg to help,) he hissed as his bad leg ached noticeably now, he was using it far too much, as Bunny always grilled him about keeping it elevated. He was starting to wish he had listened and just stayed in his room, he would be able to see North and Tooth, Sandy and Bunny again. But he wanted them safe more than anything, so he shook his head and grasped the side of the stall tightly, his fingernails digging into the polished wood as he struggled to stand, leaving the crutches to lie on the floor. He watched wearily as the reindeer had trotted furiously down the stable, passing the other stalls, which caused uproar from the others. Jack winced at the thought if North killing him for this, that is, after Bunny killed him for getting killed by Pitch. But he set his jaw and told himself this was not a kamikaze mission, this was not a self sacrifice, as long as he could help it, he just wanted his family safe.

The thought brought him to gasp as he pulled himself up fully and leaned against the stall door for support. "Baby Tooth!" He cried worriedly, quickly hobbling, half stumbling over to the open door of the stall and preparing to find the worst. But he was surprised when he was met with a smirking Baby Tooth holding up his long shepherd's crook, balancing its butt on the stall floor. She chirped proudly and let it lean into his grasp.

The ice in his veins seemed to chill and anything that was slowing to slush and his body felt as if it had freshened over with new ice, making him feel stronger than he had in weeks. He breathed in deeply, not too deeply because of his ribs, but deep enough to be content without pain and let it out with a small smile, gazing down fondly at the oldest friend he had. He remembered back to the cold moonlit nights in snowy woodlands, with only the wind and the staff to comfort him. He often talked to them in those days, and even found himself talking to them still, for they had been his comfort when he had none. The wind, the staff, the cold and the moonbeams of cloudless nights.

He realized he had been standing a while, just thinking and staring at his beloved staff when he looked up to find Baby Tooth staring at him expectantly. Maybe she assumed he would have laughed with joy or jumped up in excitement or perhaps even cry. He nearly did. He huffed out a teary laugh and smiled brightly up at her, tears shining in his joy-filled eyes. She smiled back at him.

"I guess that's it then. Thank you, Baby Tooth." he said simply and turned to take off but stopped when he realized Baby Tooth was determined to follow. "Whoa, whoa, no, you're staying here, its safe here." He said firmly, pointing toward the ground, confirming his statement.

Baby Tooth chirped angrily and tossed her chin up, her arms crossing.

"I mean it Baby Tooth; I don't want you getting hurt again so you're staying at the Pole." The memory of Pitch holding Baby Tooth in his grasp and throwing her tugged at his brain and he wasn't about to let that happen again. If he was going to confront Pitch, it was to protect all of them, his entire family. Without staying to hear her protests, Jack grasped his staff in hand, and called upon the wind and flew down the corridor of the stable before bursting out through the door, high, high into the starry night sky. The wind through his hair was heaven, the biting cold was comforting and blue energy practically hummed through the wood in his staff. Like a bird released from its cage, he flung himself through the air, hardly noticing the pain it caused his bruised and broken body. He was far too happy to notice now.

Fear pulsed through Bunnymund's veins; his ears were alert, his nose twitching nervously. Relax, don't panic he told himself, because for all he knew, Jack could've just gone down to the kitchen to get a drink or perhaps stepped outside for some air if he had another nightmare. Or he might've just needed to take a leak, so Bunny kept his fur and ears intact, telling himself everything was alright.

The way Bunny had it figured, was wherever Jack was, it would take him a while to get there. So he couldn't have been gone long before bunny got to the room. The bed sheets had been neatly pulled back, no sign of a struggle or kidnapping of some sort so Bunny began his search, walking quickly and silently through the corridors of the Pole, his green eyes sharply scanning the halls for any sign of the frostbite. He checked every bathroom, knocking lightly before cracking open the door, and apologized quickly when there was a surprised and angry roar of a sleepy yeti occupying one of them.

He skimmed quickly through the kitchen and the worry started to build more in his chest, suffocating his fast-beating heart. He had made it back up to the main level, wracking his brain for where the elemental spirit would be. He nearly jumped out of his skin when North's voice boomed from the open elevator.

"IS IT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR GOOD NIGHT SLEEP?!" His Russian accent thick with sleep and anger as he exited the elevator and stomped through the hall in a rather comical outfit of red footie pajamas and a bright red robe messily tied around him. Bunny stepped back out of the huge man's way as he barreled past him with Phil trailing behind him.

"Oi, North, you seen Jack?" Bunny asked, ignoring how red the man's face was.

"No, I vas trying to sleep!" North exclaimed and continued down through the corridor. Bunny followed; perhaps whatever had upset North had something to do with Jack.

"What happened?" Bunny asked curiously.

"Reindeer escaped in zee stables, probably elves' fault." He grumped and continued to stomp to the stables with an unhappy scowl, Bunny and Phil sharing a glance before following after the usually jolly spirit.

Jack thought hard about where Pitch might be and wondered if he just chose a random spot and called, would Pitch hear him and come? After much debate, Jack decided to go to the place he felt most safe, where he felt he had the most advantage.

He landed gingerly down upon his pond, the melting ice refreezing immediately as his feet flattened out over it, and favored his bad leg. He was unsure of what to do for a moment, would Pitch sense he was there if he just waited or would he never know? It was night, Pitch's play time, Pitch's hours to terrorize and scare, but Jack didn't know if he was near or not. He could be grooming his nightmares in China for all he knew. But there was a time difference, so Jack thought he would sit and wait, perhaps a nightmare would spot him and alert Pitch or the Nightmare King might just happen to stumble upon him. So with great care and slowness, he lowered himself upon the ice and sat, his bad leg layed out before him. if he needed to move right away he could summon the wind, so there was no fear in his mind about being taken by surprise. He hummed, he drew on the ice, he didn't worry about being quiet, he was actually a little louder than he usually was on his own.

He played ice tricks for himself, he told the wind stories and he sang and did all the things he used to do for all those years alone, and to tell the truth, they made him feel a bit down when originally, they had been ways to cheer himself up.

He counted the stars, stroked his staff fondly and waited for Pitch.

The stable was a loud circus of yeti's and rope and halters and one wild reindeer on the loose. To Bunny, it was a Christmas-y rodeo and he would have been laughing until his sides hurt had it not been for the worry still dampening his spirits. As Yeti's tried to corner the beast and manage to get a rope, a halter, something on it and get control over it, North was inspecting the stall with carful blue eyes, taking in every inch, searching for clues.

"How on earth did reindeer get out…?" North mumbled as he checked the latch, to see it working perfectly fine, no breaks or even scratches adorning it. "Someone must have let 'im out."

Bunny hadn't been fully listening; he was busy looking over the rest of the stable. He stopped when his eyes landed on the stall's nameplate.

"Uh…North?" bunny asked, his eyes narrowing at the name on the plate, trying to remember. "When we hid Jack's staff, which stall did ya' say ya' put it in?"

"I told Phil to put it in…" North looked at the stall name plate and read it aloud. "Donner's." North's eyes flew up to the rack of long timbers stored up above the stall on the back wall and squinted, looking carefully. Bunny stepped around the stall to get a better look at the wood when he nearly stumbled over something and stopped mid-curse when he saw what it was.

"Jack's staff is not here." North announced, his eyes widening.

Bunny felt his heart beat speed up, felt it hammer against his chest in a wild panic as he picked up the pair of crutches and held them out for North to see.

The Pooka swallowed heavily and confirmed dreadfully, "Neither is Jack."

There was a pregnant pause before North turned, yelling orders to the yetis to hook up the sleigh, get the reindeer under control and to get them tacked up. Bunny stared down worriedly at the crutches in his grasp, not sure whether to move fast, go and find him, search high and low or to simply stare at the crutches in confusion and concern. He ended up doing the latter. A small chirp brought him out of his stupor and caused his ear to twitch at the sound before turning to see Baby Tooth sitting on the ledge of the stall door. He narrowed his eyes in confusion before stepping closer toward the little fairy-hummingbird hybrid. Baby Tooth was wringing her hands and avoided Bunny's soft gaze, a blush of guilt creeping up around her beak. Bunnymund dipped his head, eying her little trembling form.

"Baby Tooth?" He asked gently, and jumped in surprise when she exploded into a feathery ball of loud wailing and tears. She squeaked loudly and guiltily, spilling out everything she knew. Either Bunny was intimidating or Baby Tooth knew she had done something wrong. Probably both.

But alas, Bunny couldn't understand her, and regretted not paying attention when Tooth had briefed them on fairy language many, many years ago.

"Whoa, whoa, Sheila, slow down." He soothed and Baby Tooth hiccupped and swallowed, gathering her emotions and tears and slowed down. She pointed to the crutches in Bunny's paws and chirped.

"Jack?" Bunny guessed and she nodded encouragingly. She then pointed to the pile of large sticks on hanging on the wall and chirped again.

"Staff?" She nodded and fluttered her wings. Bunny didn't take any notice, being so used to her wings moving, so Baby Tooth flapped her arms up and down while fluttering into the air slowly.

"Jack got his staff and flew away?" Another chirp and Bunny furrowed his brows. "But to where?"

Baby tooth made a scary face and growled, at least, she tried to. It came out more like a buzzing purr.

Bunny watched closely, confusion littering his features and tilted his head curiously. "He went to the zoo?"

Baby Tooth shook her head no, and chirped again, making a different scary face. Then she made a frightened face.

"He went to go scare someone? Jamie maybe?" Bunny guessed, but Baby Tooth sighed and looked around in defeat before spotting a shadow of a shelf on the wall, the corner adorned with a shimmering cobweb. She fluttered up toward it and hid in the shadow, making a point of it by flying in and out of the shadow repeatedly. Then she hopped out and neighed like a horse then twisted her little fingers together and gave a evil chirping chuckle with an mad grin. Bunny had never seen anything so wrong as that. Then it finally clicked and felt his fear double tenfold.

"Pitch? He…he went after Pitch?!" Baby Tooth chirped and nodded vigorously.

"Damn it, Frost!" Bunny growled, knowing what exactly he was doing and he'd be damned if he was about to let Jack give himself up for the safety of North, Sandy, Tooth, and him along with everyone else Jack held close in his icy heart. With a quick thump, thump of his foot, the ground caved in and hollowed and a tunnel appeared. Without a second thought of North and his red pajamas, and with Baby Tooth right behind him, Bunny bound through the hole and raced as hard as he could and maybe even a little harder. He was headed to the one spot he could always find Jack, and that was the spirit's 'home'.

Jack felt pathetic as he jolted out of sleep, disappointed with himself that he had fallen asleep when he should've been on his best guard and looking out for Pitch. He groaned as he sat up, popping the kinks out of his back and shifting his bad leg carefully. He had lost track of how long he had been there, but judging by the stars slowly starting to fade, it would be sunrise in little less than an hour. He didn't see the point in getting up just yet; it hurt too much to do so anyway. So he sat and watched the trees, watched the stars disappear and watched the ice form and curl beneath him. He had missed his sight, more than he ever thought and he was so very happy that it had come back. Jack's face suddenly flooded with realization. If he told Bunny that his 'special carrot soup' really had worked, there would be no living with the Pooka. The thought of Bunny scolding him playfully and saying "I told you so" with a wink, made the corners of his mouth lift up into a small, fond smile.

The smile didn't leave his face as he turned to look around at the beauty of the forest in the waking morning, but fell completely when he spotted a dark figure standing silently across the ice. Jack stared at the Nightmare King for a moment before grasping his staff tighter and slowly starting his way to his feet. He looked at Pitch through his silvery bangs, shining in the fading moonlight and set his jaw. A ghost of a smile played on Pitch's lips as he examined the boy up and down.

"I knew the Guardians had much to do with children, but I didn't know they needed them to fight their battles for them."

"This isn't about them Pitch, this is between you and me. Stay away from them."

"Now where's the fun in that, Jack? I refuse your plea." Pitch drawled, slowly starting his walk over the ice toward the injured winter element.

"It wasn't a plea; it was an order, Pitch." Jack demanded, standing as tall and as straight as he could, though he felt as if his leg was about to give out at any moment. He silently prayed it stayed strong. Pitch stopped directly in front of Jack, glaring down at him. Pitch was blocking the waking morning light the sun had yet to bring, Jack within his shadow.

"It was a…what?" Pitch whispered, glaring down at the young man like a master to a rebelling dog. Jack swallowed hard and silently cursed the sound it obviously made. He cursed the frost in his hair daring to melt into sweat. He cursed the rigidness of his hands as they clenched tingly around his staff until his knuckles where white. He raised his chin bravely, staring the dark King down with an icy glare.

"I said, Stay. Away. From them." He held his shoulders square as his voice had dropped an octave, trying to sound brave and intimidating. And he thought he did, and he felt a small bubble of pride grow within his heart. He thought he was rather convincing.

That is until Pitch's eyes sparked and suddenly flamed with the fire of rage. That was when he wanted to back down, wanted to move, God, did he want to run. But he didn't, he didn't falter, he didn't flinch at Pitch's voice yelling out angrily, "How dare you!"

He didn't even blink when the first fist came down upon him with bone crushing force and rage.

Bunny ran and ran, not caring when he accidently trampled a poor egg he passed in his tunnels, not caring when Baby Tooth started to falls behind, unable to keep up with him. He burned his muscles to their max, flooded his lungs with air and then pushed it out along with his strides. His heart pounded hard against his chest, pumping blood throughout his body and set adrenalin to fire within his veins. He was all muscle and claws and buck teeth and rage with only one purpose in his heart, mind and soul.

He was going to bring the thunder and make it rain.

And Pitch was going to drown.

Now most people here would just type that Jack felt pain. Pain. Pain everywhere. That all he felt, heard, and saw was pain. But that is overused and boring. Jack is about having a fun time and right now, he was going to have the time of his life. Grey fists of iron rained down upon him, bruising, scraping, breaking, shattering, hurting, and Jack smiled and laughed through the pain as best as he could, perhaps letting a giggle of pain escape him every now and then. Because he didn't care about what happened to him, it wasn't just about him anymore, it was about everyone he loved and about everyone that loved him. He hadn't had that happen in three hundred years, and he was more than happy to get a beating for that, to have a meaning in life, to give his life for a noble cause. So he let Pitch beat away, but he fought back too. He fought for them.

He punched for North.

He kicked for Sandy.

He bit for Tooth.

He shoved for Jamie.

He laughed for himself.

And he froze for Bunny.

He froze like never before, frost spider-webbing in every direction on the ice. Pitch growled at the ice crawling up his arms and stiffening his robe. He kept bending his arms to free them of solid frost casts. He was standing over Jack, who was sprawled upon the ice on his back, gasping as blood spilled from between his teeth but he smiled up at Pitch, his body broken, but his eyes burning brightly with plenty of fight. Pitch glared down at him, his own lip bleeding and his eye already swelling. He looked down at the child in hate and disgust. He reached down to grab a fistful of bloodstained silvery hair and pulled Jack up to meet his eyes. With a deep voice, thick with anger and power and hate he spat at the boy. Jack didn't cower away but met his fiery glare with that of his own.

"You're going to go out of this world the same way you came into it Jackson Overland Frost…" Pitch growled, his voice so deep and angry and full of hate as the blood from his lip splattered upon the porcelain skin of the frost child. Jack's eyes widened at his human name, the name given to him the day he was born, not resurrected. At first he thought Pitch was going to somehow break the ice and drown him, the way he came into the world. But the ice was too thick from all of Jack's power and Jack understood with horror what he meant just as Pitch whispered it into his ear as his long-fingered hand pulled out a dark gritty dagger from under his robe.

"…Screaming and covered in blood."

And Jack watched as the dagger was raised along with the morning sun and it glimmered with a strange beauty that Jack was glad for. His last vision would be of the sun on ice and black sand. He closed his eyes and let his body go lax against Pitch's iron grip and drew in his last breath. It was of ice shavings, of blood and of hot breath. But he was happy, he was dying in peace, because all those years of loneliness had led to a family, and he was able die for them. For that he was happy and he couldn't ask for any more than that.

"NO!"

A voice roared and suddenly Pitch was gone, flying across the ice. Jack opened his eyes and was blinded by the morning light. But he could feel the fur and smell the carrots and hear the accent to know who it was. Weeks on end without his vision had taught him that everything was alright; everything was good when that fur, that scent, and that voice was around. Then his eyes adjusted and he smiled weakly up at none other than his friend, his brother.

"You stay away from him, you no good rat bag!" Bunnymund roared at Pitch, his body hunched protectively over Jack, the dark fur on his neck and back bristled, his teeth bared in a savage manner, his claws burrowing into the ice. Jack could see Pitch in his peripheral vision, on his butt, leaning back on his arms in shock, the black dagger now a pile of sand. His golden eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in a breathless stupor. Bunny stood to his full height, looking more intimidating and powerful than ever. Pitch seemed at a loss for words and scrambled back across the ice as Bunny enraged and flaming mad took long powerful strides up to the cowering king. Before Pitch could crawl away, Bunny had him by his hair and his robe, pulling him right into his face.

"You wanted to send us a warning, mate?! Well im just returning the favor. If you ever come near Jack again, if you so much as look at him wrong because you can't help but be the selfish evil bastard that you are, im telling you, right now, you will have hell to pay. So take this warning from us guardians to you, fromme to you. The next time you hurt Jack Frost, if you ever come near him again, I swear to Manny I will. Kill. You."

Jack had never heard Bunny so angry, so full of rage. To be honest, it scared him a bit. The way the Pooka's teeth ground out the words, the way he manhandled Pitch. Bunny picked Pitched up and swung him around only to let go and let the shadow fly and Pitch was gone into thin air before he even landed. Bunny stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, letting his fur settle back down someone and let his muscles unhinge as the adrenaline pumping through him slowed and his heart didn't pound quite as hard as it had. But that concerned feeling that clenched its icy hand around his heart returned and he spun around and bounded to where Jack lay and kneeled next to the broken boy, his paws, shaking from the adrenaline rush, immediately went to cradle the boy's head delicately.

"Jack?" his voice rough and full of his accent. He was still trying to calm his anger. Bunny did a quick check over the boy, but stopped when Jack lifted a hand weakly to catch Bunny's attention. Bunny took the weak hand in his paw and looked down worriedly at the boy he had learned to love as his brother.

Jack just blinked in the sunlight and at the sound of distant sleigh bells. He smiled tiredly up at Bunny.

Bunny smiled back when he knew Jack would be fine, everything was going to be alright, everything would always be okay as long as they had family. And they would always have each other.

Bunny gingerly brushed bloodied hair from Jack's face and smiled fondly at him.

"Let's go home, Frostbite."

Fin.

OMG.

ITS DONE.

LONGEST CHAPTER EVER.

Now, im sorry for the very long wait, but it was because I was writing a grand finale chapter. That was it. lol

O my gosh you guys, thanky you so much for all the support through this! I love you all!

FREE VERTUALS COOKIES ALL AROUND! xD

And im planning on writing a prologue chappie, plus I think im going to a ONESHOTS SERIES.

AND HERES THE FUN PART: THE 500TH REVIEWER WILL GET TO SEND IN A REQUEST FOR A ONESHOT!

The rules are NO SLASHES/PAIRES OF ANY KIND and NO CROSSOVERS or OC's! GOOD LUCK! AND MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR….if you got that quote, YOU MY FRIEND ARE AWESOME.

Right, SparkleWolf7000 signing off, I'll see all you crazies later!