-Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the sequel to Spark. If you're new and haven't read Spark, the original, then I suggest you go back and read that first. For the other faithful reviewers and readers, I sincerely love you all for supporting these works, and I hope I've created a sequel to rival the original. There is one song that I am currently listening to, and it inspired so much of the story involving Bunny and Boston that I highly ask of you to listen to it. The song is called 'Near to You' by A Fine Frenzy. I do not own the Rise of the Guardians but believe me I wish I did. 3-

-North Pole- Bunnymund's p.o.v***

"FROSTBITE!"I lunged for the sorry spirit, only to have the little imp dodge out of the way, laughing as he did and causing me to slip, once again, on the ice coating the floor of the overlook. My fur bristled as I scrambled like a newborn giraffee to just stand up, slipping and making it that much harder to look intimidating.

"C-C'mon! It's time for ice skating lessons!"The Winter Spirit laughed, and I reached back, pulling out a boomerang and throwing it hard, Jack's eyes widening before he quickly ducked, the weapon flying over his head. He straightened up with a cocky grin and opened his mouth to say something, only to have a loud 'thunk' ring out, as the boomerang came right back and knocked the teenager off his staff.

I caught it just as he fell to the ice, attacking without giving him time to recouperate. I landed on top of him and we began to struggle, him out of a game and me out of putting the little frost fairy in his place.

"I'll teach ya ta trick a rabbit!"I shouted, using my list of martial arts techniques to put him in a headlock, trapping his hands with mine around his neck. He struggled and kicked, but to no avail, making me smirk down in victory.

"Bunny! Stop hurting Jack!" I kept smirking as Tooth darted up to us, hands on her hips and giving a dissaproving glare.

"Aw c'mon, I'm just teachin' Frosty here a lesson!"I tried, but she frowned at me and gave me her 'no-nonesense' look. When she did this, she was about three seconds away from beating the shit out of us with a wooden spoon. Not keen on feeling the wrath of Momma Tooth, I begrudgingly let go of Jack, the spirit taking in an overly-dramatic gasp of breath and exclaiming,

"Oh Tooth, thank Manny you showed up, he was trying to kill your favorite!"

I scoffed and tried to stand, slipping again and shouting,

"Frostbite, just what in the hell were ya thinkin', icing ova' the entia' bloody workshop?!" Below us, yetis shouted out angrily, crashes and breaking toys ringing out as elves cheered sled down the railings. This was what I got, right in the bloody morning, after North calls us for one of our monthly meetings. Jack had iced everything, from the ceiling to the floor, even the bloody globe had a thin layer of icy death over it.

I did not need this, and I was about three seconds from wringing the smiling spirit's throat as he retrieved his staff and floated in the air, along with Tooth.

"Aww, c'mon Cottontail, I was just trying to lighten your sour mood!"Jack exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes, walking past the two.

"I don' have a sour mood."I retorted, only turning when Tooth said quietly,

"Well...I have noticed that, ever since Boston left, you've been a bit...grumpy...-er..."

I turned and looked at the two, Tooth looking awkwardly at the floor as Sandy flew up, rubbing his eye and yawning, looking around and making a question mark above his head. I ignored him, choosing instead to cross my arms and frown at the two. I wanted to be angry with them, but part of me knew they had a right to make those assumptions. I had been a bit...'grumpy', as Tooth put it, but there was a perfect reason for that.

Boston. She wasn't even here and the sheila was driving me up the bloody wall. Even thinking about her now had an effect on me, able to still perfectly imagine her eyes, her hair, and above all, her attitude. That little firework, that completely infuriating woman who turned my life into a beautiful mess, had made the last eight months complete hell-on-Earth for me. And she wasn't even bloody around to do anything!

It was just the memory of her, and that painful twinge of sadness at her being gone, of utter longing that I despised, that I never thought anyone could make me feel. But, even after being the most irritating, infuriating creature alive, electrocuting me, giving me major mood-swings, fourcing me into a state of emotion I'd thought completely impossible, openly hating us, making me sick with fear when she almost died, forcing me to see her in a new light, mocking me when I was a dropkick-pet, and then openly rejecting my saying the three words I assumed EVERY female wanted to hear, and now leaving me with a major question as to what exactly was going on between us...

"Bunny misses her!"Jack interrupted, and I growled, fur bristling as the winter spirit laughed and flew into the air, me taking a few steps forward and about to rip him a new one, a massive bellow rang out, followed by a loud thud that shook the steps behind Jack and Tooth. Jack's face visibly paled, even more than it already was, and I smirked, crossing my arms.

"Vat...vat es the meaning of this?! Why es floor all slippy-slidey?! Jack, jokes are not funny thees close to Christmas!"North shouted, stumbling his massive, clumsy frame up the steps, gripping the railing for dear life as I managed to stifle the snort rising from the sight. Jack backed up a bit and laughed nervously, North finally making it to the overlook as Tooth fluttered over, taking his arm and leading him over to Jack, North's face stern, yet not as stern as he was trying to make it seem.

Freakin' Snowflake'll get off easy, being like a bloody son to the big elf.

"Jack Frost, can I just ask, why?"North tried, and Jack touched down to the ground, not slipping as he actually looked perfectly at home standing there.

"Well...ya see, I just wanted to do a favor for my friend Bunny!"He exclaimed, and I raised an eyebrow angrily.

"Come again?"I spat, and Jack turned around, smiling that 'oh look how innocent I am' smile. "Yeah! We all know you've been upset since Boston left, what with you having a MASSIVE crush-"

"Snowflake!"I shouted, warning him that if he dare go any further that I'd skin him alive and save his teeth for Tooth. Quick as a snake, he switched sentences, leaning on his staff as he said,

"I just wanted to lighten you up a bit! Sorry about the workshop, I'll fix it." If that boy's charm could kill, we'd all be dead by now. North's face immediatly softened and he exclaimed heartily,

"Well, I do like idea of breaking Bunny of angst-"

"Oi!"

"But workshop must be fully operational! Christmas es right around corner!"North exclaimed, and Jack nodded, spinning the staff expertly in his hands and smiling.

"Show pony."I mummbled, watching as he finally stopped and slammed the staff into the floor, the ice around it cracking jaggedly and spreading, like veins along the iced-over surfaces, quickly and efficiently as cries of yetis and elves came from below. Soon, every surface of ice was cracked and fading, leaving only a colder-than-normal feel to it.

"Oi, Frostbite, don' think I'm don-"

And then the bloody lights went out.

I froze, looking in the darkness but seeing nothing more than black, the sky outside already darkened by nighttime, Manny taking refuge behind a few clouds. I could hear the gentle flutter of Tooth's wings somewhere ahead of me, which meant North was there too.

"Frostbite!"I shouted in frustration, looking to where I remembered him being last. Whatever he was playing this time was NOT gonna go without punishment, from North or me.

"It isn't me!"Jack called, innocently, "Where's Sandy?"

We heard a gentle ringing of an elf hat floating up the railing, stopping somewhere to my right, Sandy announcing his arrival from the fireplace, where he was spending a curious amount of time sleeping lately.

"Es okay! Lights can go out all time, much snow outside! Probably just circut breaker."

"Wait...so you mean you live in a magical workshop full of yetis and elves and a kick-ass sleigh...and you still get your energy from Circut City?"

"Yes. Es bad?"

I heard an audible thump of Jack's head against his staff, me rolling my eyes.

"Well,"I said, "Someone wanna go fix it?"

There was a silence as the others presumably waited for someone else to volunteer to go wandering around the workshop in complete darkness, a silence that mildly unsettled me, my senses on overdrive, making sure no elf would try to pull anything, or Jack-

Bloody hell, there's a breath on the back of my neck. I could feel it, the fur standing on end and a creepy tingling sensation running down my spine. Crikey, keep calm Bunnymund! You're 6,1, master of tai chi and the ancient art of-

"Boo."

"CRIKEY!"

I threw myself away from whatever was behind me, rolling into a summmersault and spinning, both boomerangs out and at the ready as, as suddenly as they had turned off, the lights flew back on.

And my stomach immediatly dropped, hearing the all-too familiar laughter before I saw the owner of the voice, turning head-over-heels in the air.

"Bahahaha! Y-you s-should ha-have s-seen your f-f-face!"

I lowered my boomerangs, glaring with my ears plastered to my head in embarrasment, a heavy frown on my face as I looked at the girl and, all at once, couldn't fight back all of the old emotions that came in waves, washing over me as I tried to maintain a look of annoyance.

But damn, if she wasn't the exact same girl. And damn, if I hadn't missed her.

"Boston!"Jack shouted, shooting from my side and immediatly tackling the former Guardian of Dreams to the ground, Jack laughing and Boston shouting,

"Owch, Frostbite! Watch it!" But while she was saying it she was laughing, rolling over and shoving Jack off of her, yet not with the gusto I expected. Absentmindedly, as my ears stood once again, one of them twitched. Something was off about her, I could just feel it. I looked at her, seeing just normal Boston at first, sitting there as Jack rubbed his head and play-pouted, Tooth and North flipping their lids at having their daughter/sister-figure back, Sandy waving emphatically at Boston.

But something was definitly wrong. I looked harder, and noticed that she didn't seem as...lively, as she normally did. She slouched her shoulders, and not in the bored or 'teenage-rebel-without-a-cause' way that she normally did. It looked...tired. Yes, that was it, she looked exauhsted, like she'd just been through a week without sleep or food. Her hair, while still vibrant, seemed to hang more in her face than normal, and there were almost dark circles under her eyes, just barely tinted a darker color. Her lids were a bit lower than usual, though she was trying to maintain a normal-facad.

I saw right through it.

"Oi, sheila."I said, crossing my arms as she looked up at me, and for a moment I had to remind myself to not just stare at her eyes, that I had to know what was wrong, because I'd never seen her like this. I'd seen her crying, sleeping, and happy, but never...tired. She was always glowing, always dangerous, always energetic and alive. Seeing her tired was...unnerving.

"Hm? What's up Cottontail? Need a diaper change?"She mocked, but her voice seemed too breathy, a bit labored. So much so that I completely ignored the jab at my minor little jump and gave her a sizing look.

"Somethin's not right here, ya look like ya just went ten rounds in a ring."I mused, and saw a quick, almost uncatchable, flash of surprise, before she went back to her lopsided-grin and raised an eyebrow.

"There's a dirty joke in there somewhere, I just can't find it."She said, but Tooth came to my aid.

"Bunny's right, is something wrong sweetie? You look a little tired."She cooed sweetly, Jack standing next to Boston and looking down, curious. Boston looked at each of us, an almost wary and bemused look in her eyes, as if she expected to actually get something past us, the ones who knew her better than anyone...

Well, not anyone. There was still one man that knew her perfectly, and I quickly shoved him from my mind. It was ridiculous to be...fine, jealous...of a man who was slowly gaining all of his power back in some hole in the ground. And yet...

"Fine, got me."Boston sighed, breaking me from my thoughts. She gave a bit of a submissive smirk at us and, way too slowly and shakily, got to her feet, me resisting the urge to step up and help her. She shoved her hands in her jean pockets, Tooth falling to her feet next to me. I could feel the worry of the others radiating off of them, my stomach tightening a bit, wondering what could make her like this.

"Well, I was gonna be gone a bit longer than this, but due to recent events I had to cut my absence short. See...I need your help."She said, and my eyes widened.

"Wait, Boston is asking fer our help?"I asked jokingly, and she rolled her eyes,

"Yeah, like you weren't doing the same eight months ago!"She shot back, and I silently glared, her shooting one back at me.

"Why do you need help? Es someone bothering my little Boston?"North asked, sounding like an overly-protective father. Boston's eyes got wide and she stuttered,

"You're l-little...what..."She paused, and then managed to crack a smile, shaking her head and musing, "You're still a crazy bastard."

"Oi, jus' tell us what it is that ya can't handle on yer own, sheila."I teased again, loving seeing her little playful smirk as she spat back,

"Well, if you want to know, Fluffy," Damn her... "..."She paused, looking away for a moment and getting my attention. A small frown formed on her face, and I tensed up, wondering what was so bad that she would actually ask for our help. We were friends now, or whatever Boston and I had going on, but for her to ask others to help her after thousands of years of isolation and fending for herself...

I was right. Something was seriously wrong.

"You guys remember that fall spirit that I may or may not have horribly mangled about a thousand years ago?"She asked, and we all nodded as she frowned, looking down a bit as she said in a troubled voice I'd never heard her use before, "Well...he recovered. And I guess he was pissed off. Like, majorly, and he's had a long time to plan his revenge I guess because...well, if it were anything I could handle I wouldn't really be here."

"What did he do?"Jack asked worriedly, tilting his head to the side as Boston took in a deep breath, something dark clouding here eyes for just a moment as a dark feeling settled inside of me. She flickered her eyes up to us and said,

"He stole my memories."

I froze, body tensed up as a million questions ran through my mind, feeling anger flicker in my chest as I thought about how precious memories were to Boston, how horrible they'd been, how protective she was of them.

"But that's impossible!"Tooth exclaimed, "I would have known-"

"He's had them for awhile."Boston interrupted, waving her hand in a tired motion, silencing Tooth. "Listen, I know it's all really confusing right now, but I don't have any energy to exlain it at the moment. Tomorrow I'll tell you all everything, I promise, but this is the basic gist that I can give you:

"This fall spirit stole my memories, and he's had them for awhile. He hid them in a forest so I wouldn't even know they were missing from where they were supposed to be, and only recently did he finally take them."

"Why would he want your memories?"Jack asked, and Boston sighed again.

"A few thousand years ago, my past wasn't as well-kept a secret as it is now. A few spirits knew that my memories, my path, were the reasons I was chosen as a Guardian. They are a defining factor in who I am. Back then, I didn't know it, but the path I had to take and the memories I had were all necissairy for me to become who I am today, to have the center that I have. I told you guys that Manny spoke to me when I was having that nightmare, right?"

"Yes,"North said behind me, "You said Manny told you center was 'to protect those closest to you'."

"Yeah,"Boston said tiredly, "That was my center that he saw when he created me. He said it was so strong that I was meant to be more than a Guardian, and he led me on a path that would lead me to being the person I am now, to be able to protect the ones I care about."

"Wait,"Jack interrupted, "If you're meant to be more than a Guardian-"

"Not the point."Boston interrupted, and my ear twitched again. I remembered a conversation, eight months ago, when Boston seemed to not even dance around, but completely block me from asking, a certain question. If Manny did tell her that she was meant for something more, clearly he told her what...

As this explination went on, I was getting more and more questions that I felt wouldn't be answered tomorrow, when she tried to clear things up.

"So, what's the point?"I asked, and her eyes flickered to mine for a moment, something hidden behind them, like a knowing, before she continued.

"My memories make me who I am. Essentially, they give me power that I lack from believers...Sandy."She looked over to the little man, who was still yawning and nodding to her. "You've been feeling different lately, right?" Sandy gave her a surprised face and images flashed across his head, 'how did you know?'

A grim, yet light-hearted look crossed her face, as she explained,

"We're basically twins, made for the same purpose out of essentially the same things. You're being affected because..."She trailed off, clearing her throat and looking at us uncertainly, hands buried firmly in her pockets as we waited, something horrible twisting in my gut.

Finally, she sighed lightly, saying in a non-chalant, light tone,

"I'm dying."