In His Eyes

Prologue

"After three hundred years, this is his answer. To spend eternity like you guys, cooped up in some hideout, thinking of new ways to bribe kids? No! That's NOT for me! No offense."

"Ho- how's that not offensive?"

Emerald green eyes of the Easter Bunny darted from one fellow Guardian to another, in search of any reaction, seriously offended, anger and annoyance welling up in them. Jack shifted around aimlessly, his back to the others.

"Yeh know what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet. I mean, what's this clown know about bringin' joy to children, anyway?"

Bunny scratched his neck, carelessly, not even looking at the frost spirit, thinking that the conversation is over. North puts his hands on his hips, but doesn't attempt to stop the argument. Toothiana hovers in the air, slightly worried, but neither she or Sandy, who had a sleepy smile, interfere.

No one sees how the back under a blue hoodie tenses up. Jack's eyes close for a second, only to open again, with a spark of bitter mischief and a smirk on his face. A fading one. He turns around to face them again.

"Have you ever heard of a snow day? I know it's no hardboiled egg, but kids like what I do."

A smirk dancing on white lips, and nothing could say that Jack wasn't sure about it. Nothing, except for the flicker in the crystal blue eyes.

A little shadow.

Doubt.

"But none of 'em believe in ya."

The grip on the staff tightens. The smirk was dissapearing. They glare at each other, the Pooka from above, as he stood up in his full height of 6 feet.

"Do they? You see, you're invisible, mate. It's like yeh don't even exist." Bunny sneered into Jack's face.

A barely audible sigh, a shaky nod and Jack looks away. The last of the smirk turned into something more like a pained grimace now. Not that anyone cares to see why.

"Bunny! Enough!" the Tooth Fairy interjects.

Bunnymund has a satisfied smirk on his face, of being the winner of this conversation. He doesn't care to see the expression on Jack's face. Everyone were about to turn away, when the argument continued.

"No, no, the Kangaroo's right."

Jack raised his finger in a 'Wait a second, you' manner. While doing it he for some reason lowered his head for a moment. When he raised it there was an innocent look on his face.

North looked at Jack with pity, furrowed his brows and closed his eyes, knowing what was going to happen next. Tooth covered her mouth with one of her feathered hands and soundlessly fluttered away to a safe distance from the pair.

"The… the what? What'd ya call me?"

Bunny's voice dangerously low and his eyes narrowed. He started approaching threateningly.

"I am not a kangaroo, mate." he said shaking his head.

"Oh,"

A renewed snicker from the Winter Spirit as he looked around, shrugging, and walking towards the Easter Bunny, impudently.

"And this whole time I thought you were."

The distance between the two was promptly shortening.

"If you're not a kangaroo, what are you?"

Jack looked directly at Bunnymund, with what seemed to have only stupid mischief, but was instead carefully hidden fury and hatred in his narrowed blue eyes.

Bunny's ears went flat. They were inches away from each other.

"I'm a bunny. The Easter Bunny. And people believe in me."

There was silence. Heavy and thick silence. And that's when he saw.

Bunnymund saw.

In Jack's eyes. In his eyes. In the eyes of a child.

Loneliness

Despair

Self-hatred

Pain

So much of it.

And he, E. Aster Bunnymund - Guardian of Hope and Protector of Children, just filled that child's eyes with dark hopelessness.

Bunny's eyes widened and he suddenly stepped back and inhaled shakily.

Jack's eyes were strangely glassy. He was looking in another direction, stone faced, his teeth clenched and hands griping the staff painfully hard.

There was silence.

"Are you happy now?"

That quiet, innocent question was left hanging in the air. There was silence which was broken only with the sound of Bunny's sharp inhales.

Silence.

"I thought so."

A gust of icy and aggressive wind and the place where the Winter Spirit, the future newest Guardian should've been, was empty.

A/N: Hi everybody!*winces*I know, I know, I should be writing the next chapter of 'Conversations in a Closet' but I really needed a break from it. So I made this little angsty one-shot... *gulps* I hope it's okay... And so angsty:D Very very angsty! I can feel the angst in my veins! Doesn't everybody love angst? I do:3

If you're even reading this, you just made me extremely happy;)

Love, peace and cookies

River Melody

Here have a cookie;)*hands cookie*