-Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and support of this story. This is the final chapter, with an epilogue at the end that I hope you all enjoy. I love you all so much and I hope that your own writing is sucessful, so please, sit back and enjoy-

-An Oak Tree in the Forest- Bunnymund's p.o.v****

We didn't know. We couldn't have known. It all just happens so fast, when you finally meet the person causing the person you love so much pain, you don't notice anything else around you. How could you? How could I have known, Boston, if you didn't bloody tell me?! If you'd done something, I wouldn't have kept attacking him, I wouldn't have...he wouldn't have...

Yelling at her in my mind wasn't going to do much of anything. Not when it really didn't matter. Not when she was so damn still, laying in my arms as I fidgeted, trying to do anything to contemplate exactly what had just happened. She lay in my arms, her head laying on its side with her forehead pressed to my stomach, arm laying across her stomach and the other pressed between us. Her hair lay in her eyes, limp and lifeless...

No. No no no. This...this could be her. It could never...never be her, this wasn't the girl I'd known, I'd fought with. Her skin was pale, fragilely human, mortal, her hair now just a yellow blonde color, no light refracting from it or anything else, no electric current running through her like there always had been. Just a dull, still little girl with a peaceful face. Because that's what she was now, right?

There were no conflicts, no confusion. No one trying to kill her. No one arguing with her. No spirits hating her. No holes opening up beneath her. There was just this...this horrible peace that she was in, so...so nothing, just this gorgeous girl that used to be an immortal. Was this how she looked before she died? Before she was re-created?

Then I wasn't sure how someone could do something like stabbing her. Never in a million years would I ever think that I'd be even able to touch something this special, this beautiful. Even in a peaceful death that had been anything but peaceful, she still had some sort of an edge about her. This girl, this small little girl who weilded such insain power, this girl that we all loved. This girl I used to hate.

This girl that changed us. That made us laugh. That made us love her. That shot me with electricity. That played with Sophie and Jamie. She gave us memories of her, that no good gumby! She gave us memories and then just expects us to let her die and end them, and end all of them? Well bloody hell, then she shouldn't have ever made us care about her in the first place!

"Ye can't do this sheila..."I whispered, shaking my head as my body convulsed, my breath coming ragged through a lump in my throat.

"No...no we have to fix this. We have to try! We can't just let her...let her-"

"She already did, Tooth."Jack's voice cracked in pain, the others around me almost silent, still as statues. And I froze at his voice, at his words. She already did...?

"Bloody hell...she can't have..."I choked out, a pain so horrible ripping through my heart. I was loosing her. I couldn't lose her damnit! I bloody loved her too damn much to let her just die!

"Look at her! Sh-she's...she's dead! Because we weren't listening to her! And now look what we've done!"Jack screamed, his voice cracking and hitching as I heard the tears fall to the floor, frozen in time as memories assaulted me, memories that hurt with every sting, with every wonderful time we'd had together, when we never thought we'd ever have to go through this.

We were all so sure...so how did this happen?

"Es...es job of Guardian...to protect ze children..."North whispered numbly, tragically. I gave out a bitter laugh suddenly, shocking even myself at how horribly empty it sounded. I was the one holding her. I was the one feeling nothing, no pulse, no heartbeat, no current.

"Some bloody Guardians we are."I spat out bitterly, gritting my teeth as every possible feeling inside of me shattered, falling like the box of memories, never being put back together again. If I couldn't even protect Boston, how could I ever protect mortal children?

"But..but..."Tooth whimpered, sniffing and falling to her feet on the ground in my perefrial vision. And we were all silent, looking at all of the shattered pieces of our lives. Of the decision we'd made. Not to just attack Birchley, but even before then. Back when we'd asked for her help against Pitch. A decision we made that we couldn't have possibly known would end in this...

"So is this how you repay her?"

We all froze, shocked as Pitch spoke for the first time in a surprisingly kept-together tone. My head snapped up, glaring at him through a haze of unshed tears and pain, seeing his standing there with a scornful, narrow-eyed glare cast on all of us.

"She allowed, for the first time in over a thousand years, for people to get close to her. She cared about all of you, and so you just let this happen?"He spat at us, eyes narrowed in fury as shadows flamed around the brim of his cloak. I grit my teeth, a frustration building inside of me as Jack screamed, seeing for the first time that the Winter Spirit was completely torn apart, body tensed and face wet and red with tears and anger.

"We know!"He shouted, ice flaring out around his feet, "We know that we let this happen! That she trusted us-"

"It wasn't just that she trusted you!"Pitch screamed back, completely facing Jack with a furious look on his face, a pain in his eyes I hadn't seen before. Because I'd forgotten how much she really did mean to him, no matter what they'd been through. Boston had that kind of effect on people, where no matter how hard you tried, you ended up loving her. And no matter how hard you wanted to, you could never stop.

"She protected you! All of you! And she never gave up, did she?! Never once, because she loved you all too much! Because you meant something to her! Because that's why Manny chose her to be your Guardian, because she would never stop fighting for you! And you can't do the same to her?"He demanded, everyone numb and silent at his words, words we never expected from him.

He paused, giving us each a glare before finally landing on me, sneering and saying,

"What about when you all were weak, defenseless? The ones you guarded, the children, stood up to face me and save you. If little children can do that, then why can't any of you?" The silence was painful, painful with guilt. With annoyance, that Pitch of all people had to tell us this. With guilt, because had we really just almost given up on her? On the one person who guarded the Guardians?

And we couldn't return that?

"...I have an idea."Tooth said, her voice having an unusual amount of firmness and authoraty than usual. I looked over, seeing her face stern and determined as she quickly moved to the shattered box, kneeling down and looking up at each of us. "Collect all the teeth, then we need to put this thing back together again!"She demanded, confusion filling my mind as I wondered if Tooth had thought this out at all.

"Bloody hell, Tooth, how'r we suppose ta' do that?"I demanded, still cradling Boston in my arms. She looked over at Jack and asked in a persuasive tone,

"Jack, didn't you tell us that when Pitch broke your staff, you were able to put it back together again?" I paused, body going numb with shock for an instant, before something finally began to feel inside of me. Something I was familiar with, something that I didn't want too much of in case this didn't work, but bloody hell it was our last option! So I took this hope, and I stood with Boston in my arms.

"Well?"I shouted, looking at everyone who seemed to be in some sort of a supor, "Get to it, ya gumbies!" It was like someone flipped a switch, everyone suddenly scampering around and calling out, picking up teeth and shooting over to hand them to Tooth, who was counting and mummbling furiously under her breath as she took the bottom section of the box, which remained intact as a small, curved, half-tube.

I quickly carried Boston over, crouching next to Tooth and looking down as she barely noticed me, North running over, short of breath, and handing over two small teeth, which she ferverently took and muttered,

"Bicuspid, incisor 2."Then placed them into the tray-like surface before I asked, seeing Pitch walk over and hand over another tooth,

"This really gonna work?" She didn't even pause as, for the first time, Tooth actually cursed,

"It better, Manny damnit!" I paused, shocked as both Pitch and I exchanged an equal look of surprise, looking back at Tooth as she continued to ignore us.

"One's missing!"She exclaimed suddenly as Sandy and North gathered on the other side of Tooth, Jack suddenly sliding up on a streak of ice and plunking one last one in, making everyone else sigh in relief.

"There! That's all of them...but how are we supposed to get all of these pieces together?"Jack asked, seeing the large, shard-like pieces of the once-tube. It was my turn to come up with an idea, half out of one lighting up in my mind and the other half out of sheer desperation, wondering if time were of the essence.

"Put them togetha' one-by-one, freeze 'em togetha mate!"I insisted, and Jack nodded in a panic, Sandy and North now working together to take the pieces and put them in their places.

"No no, zis one goes there! Look, es perfect match!"North insisted as the two moved along, Jack lightly touching the cracks between the pieces with his staff. Pure ice criss-crossed over the openings, filling them up like cement as the coffin-like tube slowly formed into a familiar shape. I watched, pulling Boston as close to me as possible, feeling her face in my fur as her body slowly grew colder.

I tried to warm her, running a paw slowly up and down her arm and keeping her close to my pelt, heart in my ears as it pounded, North and Sandy's hands shaking.

"Okay, vere es the last corner?"North asked almost calmly, looking back at Sandy who had been handing him the last few pieces. I looked up, Sandy quickly looking around him with a panicked look on his face. Bloody hell, we didn't have time for this!

"Find it mate!"I exclaimed, everyone looking around and trying to find a glint of anything golden.

"Oh, for Manny's sake, it's right here you bunch of buffoons!"Pitch shouted, reaching under North's knee and pulling out the last sleek, golden shard that would fit perfectly in the triangle-shaped space on the tube that now looked like someone had super-glued it together sloppily with ice, which in theory was what we had done.

Pitch threw the piece at North, who clumsily caught it and placed it in the space, Jack freezing it in and then letting out an audible sigh of relief.

"Okay, there we go, now I just have to...well...I'm not sure what I do, really."He mummbled nervously, and I glared at him with all of my pent-up fury.

"Ye don't bloody know?!"I demaneded as he laid his hands on the top of the tube. He glared down at it, closing his eyes and exclaiming,

"I just have to...to want it to be put back together and then it is! Or at least that's what happened...just watch and shut up!" I stepped back, seeing the frustration written on his own face as he tensed up, jaw tightening and eyes squeezing shut. His entire body seemed to tighten, stringing like a bow about to release an arrow.

I watched, breath caught in my throat as I prayed to anything that this would work, that this would bring her back...because I didn't want to imagine a world without her in it, let alone live in one. Frost slowly etched across the ground, like veins of ice on the ground as his face blushed a bit from concentration, teeth gritting, everyone watching and waiting as...

"Help him!"Tooth exclaimed suddenly, placing her own hands on top of Jack's, closing her own eyes tightly. North paused a second, then placed one of his hands to dwarf one side of the tube, Sandy squeezing in and touching the very end. I shifted Boston, reaching a paw down and balancing her in my arms with the other, placing it over the icy-cold tube.

Something caught my eye, and I looked up for just a moment, pausing at what I saw. Pitch was kneeling, panting in his own weakness, and yet had a hand placed firmly on the last empty spot on the tube, closing his eyes as I saw a desperation. Desperation, something I never thought I'd ever see from him. Something that only Boston could bring out of a person.

I looked down at her, seeing her sleep without breathing, without living. It had been minutes, but I didn't want one more to go by where I wasn't allowed to see her eyes, to talk to her, to bicker and play and...and live. Live with her, for as long as this existance would allow us.

And so I closed my eyes. And in that moment, something happened as every Guardian focused on the tube, all of our hands creating a pattern of the people who loved her, who stood by her, who weren't giving up. Suddenly, I heard the gasps of all those around me as a current of memories smacked us right in the face, swarming through our minds and playing like bits and pieces of movies behind our eyes.

But these memories weren't our own. They were foreign, new, and it took me a moment to realize that these...these were Boston's memories. From when she was alive...

The first one started like a flash of lightning, one little girl sitting in the grass of a hillside. She was the picture of innocence, slightly peach-colored skin with one or two freckles on either side of her little nose, wide and curious light-blue eyes flickering across the fields as she had her long, shoulder-blade length, white-blonde hair braided by another older girl.

This one I knew instantly, because it was the girl I was holding and yet couldn't feel, as if all that existed was this memory. Boston, kneeling and dressed in a brown shirt made out of some ancient material, a rope cinching it around her waist with no sleeves and matching brown pants that hung low on her waist. Her hair was a yellow-blonde, like now, and skin a pale white.

But that wasn't what surprised me. What surprised me wasn't any of that. It was her eyes, the eyes she had before she died. They weren't the yellow I was used to, but instead a blue that was just as vibrant, bright like her own two lights right on her face. It was a blue that I couldn't fully explain, so deep, right, vibrant, that it made it hard to look anywhere but there.

"Alena, what's that?"The little girl asked, and I instantly knew who the little one was. That was Safa, Boston's little sister. Looking at it now, they had the same nose, the same cheek bones, and some similarities in the tone, Safa's much more light and innocent than Boston's more rough, confident one.

"Hm? Whatcha talkin' about, Safa?"She asked, not straying from braiding her sister's hair. Safa pointed over in front of her, something small and blue sticking out of the blades of fresh, soft grass.

"That sissy! It looks like...like a really pretty egg!"Safa exclaimed, Boston stopping for a second and looking over her younger sister's head with her eyebrows raised. Slowly, a smile spread across her face, a mischeif and light dancing in her eyes just like they did when they were yellow and bright. She laughed, shaking her head at her little sister and finishing up the braid by tying what looked like a ribbon in the end, Safa turning around in a huff and exclaiming,

"Stop it! Don't laugh at me! That's what it looks like!" Boston calmed down, shaking her head and sittin on her butt,

"I know! I know, sorry. C'mere, I'll tell you a story."She said calmly, opening her arms as Safa quickly scampered into her lap, Safa's brown dress matching Boston's pants and shirt, her eyes alight with wonder and excitement as Boston wrapped her arms around her.

"What kind of story!"Safa exclaimed, jumping up and down on her butt as Boston rolled her eyes in the amused way she did when Jack did something stupid. She reached forward, snatching up the egg and holding it with her arms around Safa, the younger of the two looking at the egg like it was a treasure, eyes wide and mouth open.

"One about this little egg here. Now I'll have to hurry, we don't want to be late home...Mother wouldn't be happy..."Boston said, her voice straining to sound cheerful at the end as I saw something flash across her eyes, knowing Safa couldn't see her and frowning, a tension and pain written in her eyes as she said this, sending something twisting in my gut. Her mother...

"Okay!"Safa exclaimed, and Boston's face immediatly lit back up, smiling softly down at Safa as if she were her own child, the same way she'd looked at Sophie.

"Now, do you know how this egg got here?"Boston asked, Safa shaking her head and saying,

"No, how Alena?!" Boston chuckled and leaned over, resting her chin on Safa's shoulder as she said in a hushed voice,

"A magical creature, one that goes and leaves eggs once a year, for the children to find." Safa gasped and exclaimed as if it were the most wonderful thing in the world,

"Really?!"

"Of course!"Boston laughed, Safa reaching out and picking up the egg, Boston's hands resting on her sister's knees.

"What's its name?"Safa asked curiously, and Boston's grin softened, saying airily,

"The Easter Bunny."

Before I could see Safa's reaction, or properly have my own, the memory switched. Now we were in some cabin, Safa standing behind Boston as she chopped something up on a wooden counter.

"Alena, what's wrong with Mommy?"Safa asked in all innocence, Boston stopping for a moment. Her face was dark, serious, and troubled, eyes narrowed at whatever it was she was doing. For the first time, I noticed the bruises on her arms, the bruises looking like fingerprints.

"Nothing, Safa...she's just sick because Daddy's gone."Boston said, her words strained and obvious lies to anyone but an innocent little girl.

"Alena? Now that Daddy's gone, is something bad gonna happen to us?"The little girl's question was full of innocence, a pure and easy question that could only be asked by a small child. Boston put down the knife and turned quickly to her sister, kneeling down and grabbing the young girl's shoulders.

"No, nothing bad's gonna happen to you, understand?"She said in a serious tone, "I'll never let anything bad happen to you, I'll always be with you, okay?" Safa frowned, tilting her head to the side and asking quietly,

"But what if something happens to you?" Boston paused a second, eyes clouding over and telling that this was obviously something she'd thought about, worried over. Finally, she brushed a lock of pure-blonde hair from her sister's face and said softly, reassuringly,

"Hey, nothing's gonna happen to me, so long as you keep me right here,"She poked Safa's chest, "And right here,"She poked Safa's head, making the little girl laugh and lighting up Boston's face, the smile returning, "Then I'll always be able to protect you, okay? You just have to keep believing in me."

"Like the Easter Bunny?"Safa asked happily, and Boston laughed, pulling the younger one in for a hug and nodding.

"Yep, just like the Easter Bunny."

"Hey sissy?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever meet the Easter Bunny, will you tell him I say hi?"

"Sure thing, sweetie."

The next memory seemed just a black screen at first, until a massive slam made my heart jump into my throat, body twitching while I was still caught in this coma-like state, watching all of these memories from a third-person point of view. The slam was a door, and as my mind adjusted to the sudden darkness, I made out that it was nighttime and the little cottage the girls had been in was actually built in a crook of a massive rock, almost as if they were too poor to live in a village and had to make their own home here, safe from the elements.

There was screaming, but I couldn't make it out. It just sounded like someone was playing a scene from under water, and we were above the water, trying to make out muted sounds as the waves washed over them, seeing the image perfectly clear now. Boston was pressed against the side of the rock that jutted sideways from the back of the house, her eyes writ with anger and fear.

In front of her stood a woman, her wild, dirty blonde hair sticking out greasily and dirty from the ponytail it was haphazardly pulled into. Her face was middle-aged, lines and sagging written across her features, black eyes that barely showed a pupil, wearing a long-sleeved, brown dress that went to her ankles. But that wasn't what I noticed. That wasn't what made my blood run cold and everything instantly fall into place.

I can't even try to describe to you the utter horror I felt as I realized exactly how Boston had died. Why she never told us. Why it was so surpressed that the memory was actually damaged, the voices and screaming snuffed out, the darkness thicker than it should have been. It was something I'd never understand, how a mother could do that to her child. I'd never really thought into it, who had actually killed Boston, but something like this...I'd never expected it, and it sent a horrible chill through my veins, made me feel sick to the point where I had to take in a shaky breath.

The worst part was that you can't look away when something's in your mind. So I saw all of it, couldn't even close my eyes. Saw the mother mouth the word 'die', and then rushed at Boston too fast for her to react. The knife slid into a spot I knew well, a spot that would have a twin thousands of years later. And then there was a stillness, Boston's eyes wide, jaw clenched, the mother pausing with a horrified look on her face.

With a jerky movement, the mother pulled back, the dagger sliding back out and being thrown somewhere out of sight, the woman, the creul, sick woman who dared to look pained and anguished, turned and sprinted away, around the rock as if afraid something would happen to her. Leaving her daughter.

Boston leaned back against the rock, but ended up falling to her knees and, eventually, onto her side. She was convulsing, both hands pressed to the wound as a dark substance stained her fingers, curling up as another movement caught my eye. A little girl, running from the cottage and over to Boston, kneeling down as, suddenly, their was noise again.

"Sissy! Sissy what's wrong, are you sick?"Safa asked, too young, too innocent to know what blood meant, what it looked like. Boston rolled over, Safa moving and placing Boston's head in her lap as she sat cross-legged, looking down at her older sister. Her older sister who, despite everything, was still trying to act strong. Not one damn thing had changed when she became immortal.

"Y-yeah sweetie, I'm real sick right now..."She said, actually sounding happy though her voice came out in struggled noises. Safa tilted her head, not knowing how incredibly tragic this was, not knowing her sister was dying in her lap.

"Sick like Mama?"Safa asked, and Boston shook her head.

"Nah, not sick like Mama..."

"Sick like Daddy?"Safa asked, and Boston paused, then nodded.

"Yeah,"She said in an agreeing tone, "Sick like Daddy, sweetie."

"But Daddy died because he started coughing a lot for a long time. You're not coughing."Safa pointed out, and Boston laughed again, the pain stifled in her voice as one hand fell to the ground, the other laying limply over the wound. There was too much blood now...way too much...

"No, your right, it's a different sickness."She agreed, and Safa frowned.

"Sissy, does this mean you're gonna leave like Daddy did?"She asked sadly, and Boston paused before nodding twice, looking up at Safa and saying, voice hitching halfway through,

"Y-yeah Safa, it does...you're gonna have to take care of yourself from now on, okay? I wont be here anymore, I'm going away, so you've got to be a strong girl for me."

Safa shook her head, saying in a matter-of-fact voice, as if nothing in the world were wrong, as if no evil could work its way into her,

"You're not gonna go, sissy, remember? I'll keep believing in you, just like the Easter Bunny, and that way you'll be here forever. Right?"

"...Yeah, you just keep believing in me, okay?"Boston said, her voice turning into a whisper and still catching and hitching, reaching up a shaking, slow hand to brush away the bangs from Safa's eyes. "Don't you dare ever let me leave, not even when you become a big, strong adult, alright?" Safa nodded eagerly, smiling and saying,

"I promise sissy!"

"Good girl..."Boston said, her hand slipping back down to her side, Safa brushing her fingers through the short locks of her older sister as the memory slowly faded to black, turning into just two silouhetts, and then finally nothing.

It broke, the trance we were all in, snapping each of us back at the same time as all of our eyes flew open, the most painful lump in my throat I could ever imagine, looking up to see tears streaming down Tooth's face, equally broken looks on the faces of Jack, Sandy and North. Pitch just looked down, letting out a tired sigh with darkened eyes, as if what he'd seen had put all of the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"...Hey, Bunny...?" A current ran through my body, making me twitch and freeze, eyes wide as the voice rang in my ears. The voice I never imagined hearing again. The voice that came from the most amazing girl, the girl that now lay in my arms looking up at me. The girl with the glowing skin, with the bright, vibrant, yellow eyes, with the shimmering hair. The girl that the moon chose.

The girl I loved, her eyes flickering up to mine as everyone silenced, my body shaking as I felt tears fight their way to my eyelids.

"Safa says hi."She said, in a groggy voice that was still so clear. And I laughed. And slowly, everyone else did, too. Even bloody Pitch gave a small smile, shaking his head incredolously.

"What's so damn funny?"She demanded, and that only made us laugh harder, until real tears streamed down Jack and North's faces, Boston actually sitting up on her own and looking around, confused as I kept my arm around her back.

"You are, Nightlight."I teased, and she whipped her head around, giving me that beautiful glare that I greedily took in like air to a suffocating man.

"You, my dear, need to get over that nasty habit of dying you seemed to pick up,"Pitch mused, almost happily, "I don't think I can survive much more of it." Boston stuck her tongue out at him as we all just kind of sat there, laughing and crying and letting her think we were crazy for a second. Because we didn't really care.

Because we had her, and we were never letting her go.

-At the Pole- Boston's p.o.v****

"Oh, you're sure you can't stay? After all you did, we'd love to have you!"Tooth said chipperly as Pitch stood awkwardly in the overlook where we'd cornered him trying to escape, me just smiling at how horribly uncomftorble he looked.

"Um...no. I'm afraid you are all too chipper for me. Sickeningly so."He said, blinking and looking around at everyone.

"Aww, not even gonna give us goodbye hugs?"Jack teased, leaning on his staff as Pitch shot him a death-glare, shadows raising up around him. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, a feeling of pure energy that I hadn't felt in so long now that the light inside of me was on like a freaking gigawatt, saying calmly,

"Calm down jackass. Just be glad they like you enough to actually let you leave, and don't just shove you into a sack and cart you off."I shot them all a look that North, as always, chose to ignore.

"Pitch, if you ever change mind, we vill be glad to have you visit!"He exclaimed, and without warning, pulled Pitch into the largest bear-hug I think I've ever seen. Now it wasn't the fource of the hug, nor the happy exclamations that North was making, that made that moment one of the funniest fucking things I'd ever seen.

It was Pitch, wriggling and squirming as he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT! I WILL UNLEASH NIGHTMARES UPON YOU THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU'VE NEVER SEEN EVEN IN YOUR MOST TERRIFYING DREAMS!"

"We vill miss you too!"North exclaimed in a happy sob, making me lean over and grab my knees from the fource of my laughter, comforting electricity running up my arms and down my neck as I did, Pitch using his hands to try and pry himself from North's grasp. Finally, he succeeded in slipping downwards and jumping away from the man, smoothing this cloak and glaring with the fury of ten suns at the large, laughing elf.

I finally calmed down, taking in a breath and whiping a tear of laughter from my eye, before walking up to the King of Nightmares and punching his arm lightly. He turned to me, raising an eyebrow as I shoved my hands into my pockets.

"Better damn well not be another 900 years before I see you again, jackass."I said, using our way of communicating to tell him that I did, honestly, want him to visit. Maybe it wouldn't be right away, but when I said I wanted us to be friends I'd meant it Manny damnit! His gaze softened and he mused,

"I'll be busy taking care of a particular Fall Spirit, turning his life into a living hell from which he will never return...but I might drop in for some tea."

I smirked at him and punched him in the stomach, making him roll his eyes.

"Must you abuse me? Honestly, I wish these fools luck in taking care of you and thank them for keeping you out of my hair constantly. Now shoo, I need to be off, the nightmares will worry."He chirped like a mother, turning me around and lightly shoving me back to where I was standing next to Bunny, Pitch raising one of his hands as the shadows jumped and began to encircle him.

Right before he was gone, he turned to Bunny and said in the calmest, most nonchalant voice possible,

"Oh, and if you hurt her I will skin you while you're still fully concious." And with that, he was gone. Bunny shivered next to me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Suck it up, he only half means it."I mused, turning and walking away to where the elves were causing havoc.

"Half-means it, bloody hell does that mean?"Bunny asked, North shouting down at the yetis to get the elves under control, Jack laughing and soaring down to join them. Tooth began to chirp away orders at her mini-faries as she flew in the air, Sandy streaching and yawning, laying down on his cloud for some sleep.

"He'll probably come up with something better than just skinning you."I mused, shrugging as Bunny followed me down the stairs.

"Sheila!"

-Epilogue-

-The Warren- Boston's p.o.v****

Bunny streached, yawning and shaking snow from his fur as we walked back into the Warren from one of the tunnels, the electric sparks around me dancing and warming my skin.

"Bloody Frostbite, next time I see 'im I'll wring his bloody neck!"Bunny exclaimed, referring to the blizzard Jack had just put us through this Easter. I'd helped out, not expecting that snowstorm either, but focusing much less on it than to the reason why I'd delivered some of the eggs this year.

Part of it was for Sophie, to give her one personally. The other part, well...that part was much more terrifying. Because I'd thought about it and changed my mind on it more times than I'd care to admit. Because every fiber of my being was terrified beyond the reasonable levels that it should have been.

"Oi, gumby."I mocked, Bunny groaning and turning around, paws on his hips, the early-morning sunlight reflecting off his blue pelt, ears up and eyebrow raised. I walked up to him, heart pounding loudly in my ears and feeling like a schoolgirl in front of her crush. I coughed and pulled the small egg from my pocket, painted a bright yellow with nothing else on it, just a yellow base.

"Ye fergot one?!"Bunny exclaimed, and I shot him a glare of annoyance.

"No! It's for you, you jackass!"I snapped, holding it out. He paused, a look of surprise crossing his face for a moment as I shoved it into his stomach again, him actually reaching down and holding it this time.

"Why?"He asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Just open it before I smack you so hard you'll wake up next Easter."I threatened calmly, and he turned, crouching on his haunches with the egg in his hands. I turned and walked around him, not stopping until I could see over his shoulder.

My pulse pumped through my veins and, as he cracked the egg open, I paused. Thinking about how far I'd come since this whole, crazy journey began. I'd never expected this to happen, and if I had I sure as hell would have fought harder than I had...but that made me glad that I was oblivious to how these people would affect me. Because everything that had happened leading up to this...it was worth it.

Maybe Manny was right, thought I'd never admit it, that the events leading up to this and everything beyond this were curcial in making me who I was. So I watched, reassured, as Bunny pulled out the little folded up piece of ripped-out paper, placing the egg shell on the ground and slowly, curiously, opening up the folded book page.

I remembered the poem as one I liked, one of the last ones Pitch and I had read. I could recite it myself, reading it as Bunny did.

Wait for me, and I'll return

Only wait very hard.

Wait when you are filled with sorrow...

Wait in the sweltering heat.

Wait when the others have stopped waiting,

Forgetting their yesterdays.

Wait even when from afar no letters come to you

Wait even when others are tired of waiting...

And when friends sit around the fire,

Drinking to my memory,

Wait, and do not hurry to drink to my memory too.

Wait. For I'll return, defying every death.

And let those who do not wait say that I was lucky.

They will never understand that in the midst of death,

You, with you waiting, saved me.

Only you and I know how I survived.

It's because you waited, as no one else did.

"What's this fer, sheila?"Bunny asked as he finished.

"It's a poem I read once."

"I get that, but why's it in tha egg?"

"...You waited, didn't you?"I asked, and he paused. Slowly, he turned, still sitting on his haunches and looking up at me with those beautiful emerald eyes, sparkling in the dim sunlight, a mildly confused look on his face. And I just smile and tackled him, Bunnymund letting out an 'omf!' as I knelt and interlaced my fingers in the soft chest fur, pulling his face to mine.

I kissed him suddenly, quickly, feeling his lips on mine for just one second before pulling away and looking him in the eye, his legs around me as I knew, in this instant, that I'd definitly chosen him.

"Sh-sheila?"He stuttered, eyes wide as I grinned and ran my right-hand fingers through the fur on his cheek.

"Well, you can stop waiting."I mused, and saw the realization kick into his eyes as I leaned in closer, whispering the words that were saved for his ears and his only, then, now, and as long as my lucky streak could hold out, into the future.

"I love you."

There wasn't even a second to spare between me saying that and Bunny tackling me backwards, arms wrapped around me and lips instantly on mine, for just a brief moment, before he pulled back just a centimeter and whispered,

"'Bout bloody time." I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, him leaning down and whispering in my ear, nuzzling my neck as his warmth lay over me, breathing in the scent of chocolate and grass.

"I love ya too, Nightlight."

"Boston."

"Punk."

"Fluffy."

"Outlet!"

"House Pet!"

"..."

"HA!"I laughed, seeing his stumped face as he tried to come up with another name and failed. He huffed and rolled his eyes, sitting back as I sat up, nuzzling my face in his chest fur, his arms slowly encircling me. I relaxed, the Warren slowly waking up around us as we just sat there for a long, long time, until the sun was fully up and children were out gathering Easter eggs.

"North wanted to see us. Wanted to throw a party for Easter."I said, Bunny laughing.

"Bloody suck-up."

"You'll get to kick Jack's ass."

I looked up, smiling as Bunny did, his eyes glistening in one of the most beautiful things I'd ever see for the rest of my existance, sparks travelling down my neck as I looked deep into them...

I'd begun this journey looking at the city lights of Boston, thinking that they were the most beautiful things in the world...

Now, in this man's eyes, in the eyes of all my friends, of my family, I'd just found my new Boston Harbor. And I'd make sure these lights would never go out.