For Jackrabbit Secret Valentine 2014 as a gift to Bunnyholmes! Hope you like it! Happy (late) Valentine's day!

This was a stupid idea. I should turn around now while I can.

"Hey Frostbite!"

Crud.

Jack shifted the flowers in his hand to behind his back as he glanced over to where Bunny's voice had come from. His heart beat rapidly as he took a deep breath. 'No going back now,' he thought as he saw the pooka come over the hill.

Over the past two hundred and eighty-one years, nine months, and twenty eight days (not that Jack kept track or anything) that Jack had known the Easter Bunny, Jack had developed a great respect and fondness for the giant rabbit. He was one of the first "people" Jack had met that could see and hear him and he was the first that didn't prove it by attacking the winter sprite. The Aussie, might have yelled a lot and acted like a grump, but he never raised a hand against Jack. He had sometimes even let Jack get away with "stealing" one of the eggs the kids had missed. And on those very, very rare occasions that Jack had caught Bunny hiding in the bushes, watching the children scour the park, field, or wood for eggs, and getting this peaceful and (dare Jack say it) adorable look in his eyes, Jack couldn't help but just sit back, hidden in whatever tree he had landed in, and watch the rabbit soak in the joy of his holiday, even as a voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he had never (would never) feel that joy.

The winter spirit didn't realize just how far he had fallen until April 14, 1968, or the Disaster of '68 as Jack called it. It had started the day before when he found out from some forest spirits that a witch had taken up residence in the woods outside one of Burgess's neighboring towns. Not the green and wort-covered type that killed people over fashion accessories, but one of the ones that looked like a kindly old grandmother and lived in a rotting old cabin covered in black magic symbols and idols and was spelled to look like it was made of cookies and candy to unsuspecting children; the kind that found children a lot tastier than the treats their house was supposedly made of. The storm had started out small, just enough to keep the kids close to town and out of the woods, but when Jack finally tracked the witch down (and wasn't it just wonderful that she had to be the type of witch that used fire magic) he lost control of the storm in the midst of the fight. Looking back, he should have called off the storm before facing her, but he hadn't and because of him, every Easter egg hunt in most of the Northeastern U.S. had been called off. What had hurt the most was when Bunny had tracked him down afterwards. Jack couldn't remember exactly what the rabbit had said, as he had been far too distracted by his eyes. Those mossy green orbs that had always been annoyed, focused, or calm depending on the situation, had glared down at Jack with a look full of resentment, frustration, and - not hate exactly, but similar - that had hurt something deep within the winter spirit.

Brokenhearted, the sprite had decided hours later, curled up high in a snow covered tree with tears leaving icy trails down his cheeks. Somehow, without realizing it, he had fallen in love with the furball and now he had lost any chance he had.

As the years passed, Bunny did everything in his power to avoid and ignore Jack. That is until one day, nearly forty-four years later, Bunny approached him. At first, Jack was hopeful, but the little spark was crushed as he realized Bunny was just as angry as ever and it was completely destroyed when he realized that not only Bunny, but all the Guardians had only approached him because the big man in the sky told them to. He tried to stay strong and put on a cheerful face, matching all of Bunny's jabs in attempt to dull the pain, but when those eyes he both loved and hated to look into came in close, well, he was lucky North called him away.

However, things started looking up as he stayed with the Guardians. Bunny stood up for him at the Tooth Palace and he thought they had fun collecting the teeth. He even managed to share a moment with Bunny after painting the eggs. Then he went and ruined it again, disappearing right when the Guardians needed him. Of course he discovered, alongside the Guardians, that Pitch had used a type of sympathetic magic on Jack's teeth to lure him into the Boogeyman's lair, but that didn't mean Jack felt any less responsible. All he could think about was that one short second when Jack had seen North and Tooth without their large rabbit companion and feared the worst had happened to Bunny because he hadn't kept his promise.

Over the ten years that had past since then, Jack's relationship with the spring spirit had improved greatly, forming into a friendship consisting of playful roughhousing and lighthearted bickering.

Jack thought it was time to try to "take their relationship to the next level" and chose today to try. Why today? Because it is February 14th, the Feast of Saint Valentine, Single Awareness Day, Cupid's Time, or more commonly, Valentine's Day. Of course, Jack couldn't just gets roses and chocolates for bunny. The Bunny who spent his off time finding and painting rare flowers for inspiration for egg designs and the Bunny who made the best chocolate in the world wouldn't be impressed by something so… boring! Jack wouldn't even be impressed and he definitely wouldn't be Jack Frost. He spent weeks searching through North's library, Burgess's public library, the public libraries around Burgess, and even the almighty Google on Jamie's computer for books and websites about flower meanings until he finally settled on a generous bouquet of blue irises, variegated tulips, and arbutus flowers along with three stalks of purple hyacinths.

At least, Jack had thought it was time, but now, staring up at the approaching pooka, he wished he could just disappear. "What if"s ransacked his mind, tearing down every bit of the small amount of confidence he had managed to gain.

What if he doesn't return my feelings? What if he's just putting up with me because I'm a guardian? What if he still doesn't like me? What if he hates me? What if he laughs? What if -

"Oi mate, how ya doin'?"

"W-wha- oh, uh, fine. You?"

Bunny raised an eyebrow and stopped in front of the sprite. "Good. Whacha up ta down here in Oz? Shouldn' ya be up givin' the ankle biters 'snowballs and fun times'?"

Jack shuffled back, free hand coming up to run through his hair. Nervously he stuttered out, "I - yeah - I w-was - I mean…"

Bunny's eyes narrowed and he looked over the boy before focusing on the hand hiding behind the boy's back. "Wha's in yer hand?" he asked, suspicion thick in his voice. It wouldn't be the first (or twentieth) time he had caught the boy in the middle of setting up some prank.

Jack shuffled nervously again before sighing. It's now or never. Never looking up from the slightly frost covered grass beneath his feet, Jack slowly pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing the bouquet and the simple glass vase North had helped him make (and if Jack hadn't denied it when North assumed it was for some snow spirit girl he had a crush on, well, he hadn't confirmed it either).

Bunny stared at the flowers in shock before looking up at the - Was Frostbite blushing? - winter spirit's face in confusion. Was it supposed to be a prank? If it was, Bunny was missing the joke.

Jack glanced up at Bunny before dropping his eyes and swallowing. Jack cleared his throat and swallowed again before saying, "Bunny."

Oh moon, was that high pitched noise my voice?

Jack cleared his throat another time before finally looking up at Bunny and saying in a (thankfully) normal voice, "E. Aster Bunnymund, will you be my valentine?"

Bunny's jaw dropped and he gaped at the boy as he mentally check that - yeah, it's Valentine's day alright so that wasn't a prank. But this had to be a joke… right? Bunny took a step forward and took the flowers. He ran a finger over a petal as he took note of the different flowers used, then looked back up the Jack. Is it healthy for a winter spirit to be that red?

"I knew you really liked flowers so I tried to get the meanings right. Sorry if I screwed up," he said, muttering under his breath, "again."

Bunny frowned, his hearing picking up the last bit, and glanced down at the flowers again. "Three?" he asked, thumbing a hyacinth bloom.

"Yeah," Jack said, watching the pooka and trying (and failing) to figure out what was going through his head. "One for '68, one for '12, and one for, you know, being me, in general."

"You're Jack Frost. You make a mess wherever you go."

Bunny frowned and plucked off one of the blooms, slipping it behind the boy's ear.

Jack raised his hand to the flower and gave Bunny a questioning look. "Wha-"

"For, ya know, being me, in general," Bunny said, his smile gentle. The look was so reminiscent of those times Jack watched Bunny oversee the hunts that he couldn't help but smile back. Bunny carefully set the vase down before wrapping Jack in a hug. "Ta, I'd love ta be yer Valentine Frostbite."

Jack looked up at Bunny in amazement before burying his face in Bunny's ruff.

Bunny glanced down at the flowers. Who would have thought? Not Bunny, that's for sure, but he couldn't say the affection wasn't returned. Though he wasn't as sure of his feelings as Jack, Bunny had began feeling something for the little frost sprite. It had started after Jack had returned that fateful Easter. The thought that after everything the guardians, Bunny especially, had done to the sprite, he still came to their aid, keeping the last light believing. Bunny isn't sure he could be so forgiving. But a few missed Easters, especially one that wasn't even Jack's fault? That he could easily forgive, and had years ago.

Bunny smiled and nuzzled snowy locks.

For those wondering, two hundred and eighty-one years, nine months, and twenty eight days before Valentine's day of 2022 (when this takes place), was Easter of 1740 (April 17). BTW: I love how you can't even look up "Easter 68" to find the date without getting hits for RotG fanfiction. You go fandom!

Flower meanings:

Blue irises - belief; hope
Variegated Tulips - beautiful eyes
Arbutus flowers - "thee only do I love"
Purple hyacinths - I am sorry; please forgive me

Side note, while looking up the flower meanings, I discovered that asters mean patience, love, daintiness and good luck. In a Jackrabbit related note, I also found out they are sometimes called frost flowers and there is even a type called a frost aster (reason behind pic and name).