Mary tried to muffle her giggling as she glanced up at her brother. He grinned back at her. The two of them were situated behind a strategically placed shrub in Bunnymund's Warren, waiting for the Pooka to fall for their latest prank.
"This is gonna be awesome." Jack whispered, snickering. "Jamie even lent me his camera!"
"Of course he did, this was your best prank idea yet!" She responded eagerly. She leaned forward, peeking out at the tunnel Bunny was going to come out of.
"Any minute now..." he murmured, getting the camera ready.
"I can hear him!" Mary said suddenly. "He's here!"
Jack barely had time to shush her before the Pooka bounded out of the tunnel.
Bunny had no time to react. One minute he was bounding out of a tunnel, the next he was sliding on ice he hadn't seen. "Jack Frost!" he yelled, trying to keep his balance as he slipped across the ice. His ears picked up faint sounds of barely contained laughter coming from a bush that he could have sworn hadn't been there before. His eyes widened as he realized he wasn't just sliding across some ice, he was sliding down a hill in the direction of the Dye Pools.
He barely had time to groan before the icy slide deposited him in the colourful water.
Bunny came out of the Pools seething. He glared at the shrub as he shook himself dry, sighing as his fur immediately fluffed out. He froze for a moment as he heard a small click followed by laughter.
"Frostbite, get out here. You too, Mary." Bunny commanded, crossing his arms as menacingly as possible. The two miscreants revealed themselves, both choking on laughter.
"That was... The funniest thing..."
"Best prank you ever... And on camera, too!" they burst out in giggles again.
"What, what's so funny this time?" Bunny asked, glaring at them. "I only slipped on some ah your ice, which I've done many times, an' fell into the Dye Pools... Oh." He groaned, looking down at himself.
His fur, usually a nice light gray, was now a beautiful shade of pink. And it was still fluffy.
"Oh, it's on, Frostbite. It's on." He growled, staring at the mischief-makers. They exchanged looks, and Mary grabbed her brother's hand. Bunny's eyes narrowed and he thumped the ground, already opening a tunnel to Burgess. He jumped in, mentally cursing Mary's teleporting skills just as the siblings disappeared.
Jamie was waiting for them. "Did it work? Did'ja get a picture? I wanna see it!" He chanted, bouncing on his bed.
Jack chuckled at his excitement but winced slightly as he heard ringing in his ears. "Ah, Mary, let's stick to flying now, please!" Mary nodded, clutching at her own ears. "And yeah, it worked. You should have seen his face, best prank ever!"
Mary's eyes lit up. "He'll be here in a second, you'll get to see his face in person!" She laughed.
Jack smirked. "Oh, and by the way... Here's your camera. If Bunny asks, I never had it!"
Jamie opened his mouth to reply, but a very irate Bunnymund popped into the room before he could. The three of them took one look at the fuchsia rabbit and doubled over in hysterics.
"Wha's so funny about this, eh?" He said, glaring at them. "You jus' stay still, now, an' I'll just..." He pounced, just barely missing the winter spirit. Jack grabbed Jamie's hand as Mary climbed onto his back.
"Hey, Wind! Take me to North's!" He yelled as he jumped out the open window, pulling Jamie and Mary with him.
Some time later found them perched on top of North's globe, where the frustrated Pooka couldn't reach them. North, Sandy, and Tooth watched in amusement as Bunny and Jack exchanged their customary threats and insults.
"If ya don' geddown here right now, Frostbite, I'll-"
"You'll what? Throw an egg at me?" Jack smirked, knowing the rabbit wouldn't dare.
"Maybe I will!" Bunny bluffed, glancing nervously at North. He didn't want the big man to make him clean the globe. Again. He thought back to a previous accident and shuddered.
Mary rolled her eyes. It was time to intervene as any little sister would. "Mom, Jack and Bunny are fighting again!" She called. Then she realized what she'd just said and cringed, staring at Tooth.
The Guardian of Memories looked like she was close to tears, putting her hands over her mouth and widening her eyes. "She called me Mom!" She gasped, darting around excitedly. "She called me Mom!" The boys stopped arguing to see what would happen.
"Tooth, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Mary began.
"No, no, I'm happy! I'd love to be your mom!" Tooth squealed, sweeping her up in a hug. "Same for Jack! And Bunny, too!" She cried, darting over to hug Jack as well, before rushing around the room in excitement, beaming widely at everyone she saw.
Jack smiled at her words and Bunny protested, holding his arms up. "Tooth, whadd'ya mean, 'Bunny too?' I don't... I'm not a kid!"
Tooth whirled, facing him. "Nonsense! You're Jack and Mary's older brother! That makes me your Mom, too!" North's eyes lit up, and he smiled hopefully at Mary. "Does this make me Dad?"
When Mary nodded shyly, he laughed. "Sandy, did you hear that! I am a Father!"
Sandy smiled excitedly, flashing some dreamsand images at North, who stared at the pictures for a moment before chuckling. "Of course you can be Uncle, Sandy!"
The golden man grinned, clapping happily, and Jack gazed proudly around the room at his odd family.
I can honestly say I never expected this to last so long. I thought I'd write seven, maybe eight chapters, and end it there, but here I am, concluding at chapter 18. I want to thank all my readers, you guys are amazing. And I also want to thank all the awesome people who reviewed, reading those makes me smile every time. I know I responded to all of those that I can, thanking them, but I wanted to make sure the people I can't respond to (You know, the anons and the people with blocked PMs.) know I really appreciate it. :D I wish I could give you a more spectacular ending, but I am awful at writing the end of anything. I've done what I can, anyway. I would love to write a sequel or some thing, maybe a drabble series based on this? But for now at least, school has to take priority. Sorry this last chapter was so late, I got off Winter Break on Monday and hadn't had time to write until now. I hope you liked it. Anyway, thank you, everybody. This has been awesome. :)