Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Bleach. I'm just having fun mixing up the toys in their sandboxes. This takes place a year after the Rise of the Guardians movie and is RIGHT at the beginning of the arrancar arc in Bleach, the night Grimmjow and his buddies make a mess of Karakura town. I know the time of year probably doesn't match up (I haven't read those chapters of Bleach in a long while, so I honestly can't remember when it takes place. Be my luck it's nowhere near Spring, though) but humor me a bit, will ya? I promise it won't hurt.

.oOo.

Bunny stared at him, shrewd green eyes skeptical in every way.

Jack, for his part, did his very best to look completely sincere and earnest. It helped that he wasn't lying or trying to trick the Pooka at all. Most people that knew Jack, including the rabbit in front of him, thought that he didn't care about much, just how to have fun and play pranks. But contrary to the popular belief, the boy did care, and at that moment, with his request to the Easter Bunny, he was surprisingly invested in the answer.

Finally, finally, Bunnymund sighed, heavy and long-suffering, and said, "A'right! Fine, you can help with Easter."

Jack gave an excited whoop and flipped backwards onto a moss-covered boulder in celebration.

"Oi!" Bunny shouted to get his attention again and pointed a threatening finger straight at him. "But if you mess anythin' up, I swear I'll-"

"I promise!" Jack quickly exclaimed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "This is gonna be great! C'mon! We gotta finish the eggs, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he leaped off of the boulder and zoomed deeper into the Warren to help the egglets paint and prepare themselves for the big day.

Bunny, more anxious for this year's Easter than he had been in a long time, still spared a moment to look after the boy. It was the very same reason that made him recoil from Jack's request to help that convinced him to say yes. Just one year of getting to know him as someone other than an irritating troublemaker let Bunny see just how much Jack wanted to make amends for his devastating distraction the previous year.

That wouldn't stop Bunny from keeping a close eye on him, though, as he chased after the boy.

.oOo.

Jack was actually kind of surprised, and probably wouldn't admit it to Bunny, that he was having a lot of fun. He'd been given a rundown of the plan ("I swear if you get lost I'm leavin' you behind-" "Relax! I know my way around! I'll just let you deal with the tropics, how's that? I don't see those much.") and a handful of rules ("Don't go putting 'em anywhere dangerous! Don't need the ankle-biters breakin' bones trying to fetch googies outta rain gutters or something.") but really what was needed was directing the little egglets to their places. He'd tell them where to hide and they'd skitter off in place. Once settled, they'd lose their twiggy little legs to become normal, non-moving, hard-boiled eggs, just waiting to be found. Sometimes he'd give them a boost to their hiding spot, but still it went quickly enough. A lot of fun was to be found in being creative with the places to hide, and of course trying to keep up with Bunny.

They started in New Zealand, the country to be first to greet every new day and moved westward from there. Most of Asia, Bunny told Jack, would go by pretty quick, since a lot of folks there didn't celebrate Easter, which he thought was a crying shame. Jack was actually fairly amused by how much the Pooka was telling him about the holiday; need-to-know and otherwise. Bunny clearly loved what he did as much as Jack loved snowball fights, which was saying something, and the boy was becoming more and more glad he had offered to help.

They had split up in Japan, hitting mostly backyards, small church lots and even inside some apartments, since community-wide egg hunts in public parks weren't really done.

Jack was in someone's garden, loving all the new hiding places he was finding amongst the manicured flora, when he felt…it was almost like someone had called him, but not with a voice he could actually hear. He paused briefly in what he was telling the egglets, then shook it off to finish issuing the rest their orders.

That's when he felt it. Like the wind at his back, it was a rush of power that felt like his but not. He spun around, lifting into the air at the same time and was somewhat shocked at what he saw. There, part of the way across town from him, rose a solid pillar of ice into the sky. It was huge; reaching all the way to the clouds and it had to be bigger around than he could stretch his arms.

Instantly he was streaking toward it, burning curiosity dragging him forward. Halfway there, though, as the pillar just barely began to crack and crumble at the top, Jack remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Easter! He couldn't let himself be distracted again! Just as he was about to turn around, kicking himself for his foolishness, he spotted something faint within the column - was that a person? - before it continued to crumble apart.

"Okay, I just gotta see who made that thing," he promised to himself. Then he'd get back to work.

And stick to his promise he did. Finally he reached where the base of the pillar had formed, just as it finished crumbling away into a fine, frosty dust. Jack lighted upon a rooftop to peer down at the street for the culprit. Closest to the base stood a dark-haired girl wearing traditional-looking black clothes. She had a sword in her hand - Really? A sword? Jack didn't think anybody but North still carried the things nowadays - which she quickly sheathed, silencing the faint call at the back of Jack's mind. He studied her face closely, memorizing it before leaping back the way he'd come. There were only one or two more places to hide eggs, after all, then he needed to move onto the next town.

He would come back, though, to find out just who that girl was, with the sword that spoke to him.

.oOo.

Jack was honestly a little surprised that Bunny didn't mention anything about the ice pillar. He must not have seen it, since it had only been there for a few seconds. He was sure that if the rabbit had seen anything that hinted at Jack slacking off, he wouldn't be shy about sharing it.

The kangaroo was right, though, and they burned through the rest of Asia pretty quickly. Jack made the mistake of using the "K" word out loud in Australia, though, and Bunny promptly felt the need for a visual lesson.

"A'right, that's it! C'mere!" Bunny growled before advancing on the boy.

Jack would deny to the end of his very long days that he shrieked. It was more of a yelp, thank you very much.

He just couldn't outrun the rabbit, though he gave it his best shot. A large paw grabbed him by the base of his hood, with a healthy chunk of the scruff of his neck included.

Bunny dragged his captive, squirming and struggling and not shrieking in protest, down a relatively short tunnel, so they came back up quickly. He shoved Jack's head forward until he was nose-to-nose with a very startled and confused marsupial.

"That, mate, is a kangaroo," he stated smugly.

The poor animal made a strange noise as it backed away from the wide-eyed spirit staring at it. With a laugh, Bunny let go and Jack immediately straightened up and made a show of fixing his hoodie, though the older Guardian could hear the chuckles he was trying to smother. Then with a huff he lifted into the air, finally facing the rabbit.

"Come on! We've got work to do! You're acting like you're on holiday or something!" then he spun around and took off to the nearest egg-hiding village. He didn't even try to hide the smirk when he heard the Easter spirit sputtering behind him.

And so the night went, heckling each other, all in surprisingly good fun, while also working as fast as possible to hide the millions of eggs. Jack honestly did lose track of time and place as he just let himself embrace the rush of racing the edge of morning. He was quick to call dibs on Burgess, though, which Bunny let slide with only a token grumble. Didn't stop him from hiding a couple extra-pretty googies in one special little girl's room, though.

Jack couldn't help but burst out laughing. It was tooth collecting in reverse! And so it was a surprise to him when it was on a remote Pacific island (it was only for one house on the island that they were really there for) that Bunny strolled up to him ever-so-casually, looking so pleased and smug it should have been illegal. It gave him such pause that he realized, "Wait, are we done?"

The Pooka just couldn't seem to stand it anymore and leapt into the air, pumping his fist with a crow of victory. "And with time ta' spare!" His excited display floored Jack so much that he couldn't react at all when Bunny suddenly grabbed him around the shoulders and roughly mussed his hair. His startled shout was much belated and mingled with Bunny's relieved laughter that may or may not have had a touch of hysteria to it. Of course he couldn't stop himself from laughing, too.

He had done it. Maybe it didn't make up for his mistakes, per say, but he had done what he promised and had apparently done it well.

"C'mon!" Bunny suddenly shouted excitedly. "This's the best part!" And without waiting for an answer, dragged the laughing boy behind him into a freshly opened tunnel.

They came out at an unidentified park – Jack had seen so many parks that night that he had thoroughly lost track of which was where – and ducked behind some bushes so the child-believers wouldn't see them. And there was a crowd, too. The hunt had apparently just started and there were children of all ages scrambling all over the place, giggling and shrieking with excitement. In no time at all there were shouts of "I found one!" coming from all corners of the park.

Bunny practically glowed.

Then they were down and up another tunnel to witness the progress of another hunt. Then another and another and another, until Bunny's feverish excitement seemed to relax into relieved contentment. Jack was honestly a little surprised at how happy he was just so see how happy Bunny was. It was the kind of happy he got when he managed to make grumpy kids have fun on a snow day.

Well, maybe it wasn't so much a surprise then, considering how grumpy Bunny usually was…

"So we did pretty good, huh?" Jack nudged him in the side, grinning cheekily.

Bunny snorted good-naturedly. "Mate, you still have a thing or two ta learn about hidin' eggs."

Jack huffed, faking offense, "Hey, I just need some more practice, alright?" As soon as he said it, though, he realized just how weighted that comment was with implications

"Oh, yer gonna need more than jus' that!" Bunny scoffed easily, but not because he ignored the significance. He just took it in stride. "But we can start there."

They looked each other in the eye, something passing between them, underneath the banter and deeper than either was willing to express out loud. A chance to heal, learn and grow beyond their decades upon decades of animosity.

Jack felt his heart clench in his chest at an idea he hadn't let grow too much over the past year. Or at least, he thought he hadn't let it grow. A year ago, he had helped the Guardians, become one himself, shared a camaraderie that he'd never really felt before. But he hadn't let himself grow too attached; he didn't think he should do that lest it all came to an end, unlikely thought that may be.

Now, though, he couldn't help himself as his heart seemed to clench and swell at the same time. He just couldn't seem to stop the growing in his heart of…hope.

Bunny's eyebrows rose at the same time his ears did, his smile becoming more broad and sincere. He knew his business, after all, and recognized that light in Jack's eyes.

"C'mon," he said, laying a paw on the boy's shoulder. "Looks like it's gonna be a fine Easter. Let's go get somethin' ta eat, huh?"

.oOo.

Author's Note: Yeah, I know there wasn't hardly any Bleach involved in this chapter (you practically have to squint to see it) but I needed to make sure Easter was properly taken care of before I let my plot get away from me and do illogical things, like let Jack and Bunny investigate an ice-pillar phenomenon while they're supposed to be SUPER BUSY. Besides, I didn't want them to stick around in Karakura with all the rest of the craziness that was about to explode all over the place. Literally.

And...well, I may or may not be obsessed with Jack-Bunny brotherly-type fics. I just love that relationship between them and I couldn't help but indulge myself a bit. I hope it doesn't distract from where I want to take the story, but I couldn't bear to just leave it at "And they spent the rest of the night hiding eggs." And I really really really wanted to do the kangaroo thing. I saw an artist to a little comic like that and I had to hijack it. XD