A/N Whoohoo! Finished. Sorry it took so long. I like this chapter but I think the very beginning might need tweaking, if you could let me know what you all think, that'd be great. Hope you like it! A note on adding Flora; a lot of stories have Aster competing for Jack's attention but you hardly see stories when Jack has competition for Aster's attention, so I wanted to give him some. I also couldn't have his confession go too smoothly but didn't want it to get too angsty either.

A voice called to Jack from somewhere in the room and he sat up in bed, stretched with his arms above his head and eyes closed. "I'm up." he called back to the voice. "Been up for hours." he finished tiredly.

"Mm, hmm." Jack heard through his sleep haze before he laid back down. "I'm just resting my eyes." he said with a yawn.

"And we're going to be late." Aster replied, his voice finally registering in Jack's head.

Jack yawned again. "It's not like we have far to go." The two Guardians had spent the night at North's, sharing Jack's usual room.

"Which is why we don't have an excuse for being late." Aster countered from his spot in the doorway.

Jack groaned as he sat back up. "Fine," he replied, yawning once more. "I'm up, happy?" he asked shortly, blowing a strand of stray hair out of his eyes.

"Hardly, yer still in bed." Aster stated firmly.

Jack glared at the other spirit. He huffed loudly before throwing a pillow in Asters's direction but missed him completely. He climbed out of bed and searched for fresh clothing. "I don't see why North has to have Guardian meetings so early, and didn't we just have one anyway?" he asked as he dressed.

Aster shrugged. "Yes, normally it's a two or three times a year thing but North called us together again for a reason."

Once he finished dressing, Jack eyed the bed longingly. "I've got time for five more minutes don't I?" he questioned as yet another yawn slipped from his mouth.

Aster groaned. "No." he replied flatly. "Ya know what I don't get?" he asked, annoyed, as he left his spot near the door to the bed where Jack had fallen back on. "Ya lived alone for some time after ya became a Guardian, how did ya manage to get to the meetings on time then?" he grabbed the winter spirits' arm and helped him into sitting position.

"Don't know." Jack mumbled as he slowly stood up. He slumped into Aster's body, burying his face into the other spirits chest and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Aster wrapped his own arms around Jack's back and shook his head. "Probably got lazy as time passed." he joked.

Jack nuzzled his cheek against the soft fur of Aster's chest before snorting. "Probably." he replied in agreement. He looked up and meant Aster's eyes. "Bunny," he began, his tone suddenly serious.

"Hmm?" Aster watched Jack and waited for him to speak, feeling a twinge of concern at the sudden change of mood.

Jack eyes looked hopeful and he sounded sad as he spoke. "would you.." he paused for a moment.

"What Jack?" Aster questioned patiently and a bit worried.

"Carry me?" Jack said as he rested his head against Aster's chest once more.

"What?!" Aster asked in disbelief before smiling warmly at the other spirit. "K" he said as he rearranged his arms around Jack and easily lifted him off the ground. Jack laughed as he looked up. Aster meant Jack's bright eyes and whispered. "Ya know what I think Jack, I think ya should" he paused. Jack waited with a smile on his face until he felt himself hitting the bed roughly. "Carry yer self." Aster finished before leaving the room.

"You're no fun!" Jack shouted as he sat up on the bed he had been tossed on. After a moment of laughter he followed the other Guardian out of the room.

North had more or less called the Guardians together to recap the last couple months because of everything that had happened. He also made another apology for betting on his friends and had asked, now that they had gotten both Sandy and himself back for the bet, if things would return to normal. Everyone agreed that it was time to move on.

After the short meeting, Jack gathered Tooth and Aster together to share the story of Sandy's sleigh-ride. They both knew Jack had interfered with the ride days earlier but never did hear the story. Since North seemed to have heard about it from Sandy, Jack figured it was only right to fill the other two Guardians in.

Aster and Tooth laughed as Jack told his story, motioning with his arms while he told it. "Well, it seems like they learned their lesson." Jack finished, beaming at his two friends.

"Hopefully." Tooth replied after a small giggle.

Aster looked at Jack proudly. "Ya did good, Snowflake." he said as he wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders. Jack's face flushed slightly and he smiled as he glanced up at Aster.

Tooth giggled again and the other two looked her way curiously. "Snowflake," she said cheerily as she held her hands in front of her. "That's too cute."

Aster, just realizing he had never called Jack that nickname in front of anyone before, ducked his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well.." he trailed, unsure of how to continue.

Jack coughed to interrupt, saving Aster from anymore embarrassment. "We should head out."

"Yeah, I'll go get the stuff." Aster said quickly and left the room to grab the few things Jack and him had brought with them.

After Jack and Aster said their goodbyes they made their way to the front door. Jack turned to Aster before heading out and with a gleam in his eyes, that seemed to be his trademark, he said, "Hey Cottontail, race you."

Aster laughed. Jack and him raced often and he didn't think he would ever tire of it. "Yer on."

The remaining Guardians watched the two dash out the door and chuckled at their friends. "They're so cute." Tooth remarked happily.

"Jack's gotten faster over the years." North spoke up. "But Bunny, no doubt, still wins most of the time." Sandy nodded his agreement.

Tooth shook her head. "I don't know, I'm sure Jack wins his fair share of their races."

"It could be tested easily enough." North began cautiously. With a raised brow he looked at his fellow Guardians. "If anyone cares to bet?"

Tooth and Sandy looked at North in dismay. They sincerely hoped he had been joking but just in case, without a word, they swiftly walked away. As they left they heard North call out to them . "It was joke!"