I honestly don't even have an excuse at this point, so I'm going to move on with the author's note.

This story was originally going to be a one shot, but now I'm on chapter 5. I'm not sure how many chapters will be left. My writing style has changed so drastically in the past few years, I feel like I'm writing an entirely different story sometimes.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, I don't think you know how much it means to me. Those reviews have helped me from a bad place, because they're always so positive, and I can't thank you enough for that.

I'd also like to thank everyone who gave me advice to handle the friend I was talking about in a past chapter. We're friends again, but not nearly as close as we were, which is a little sad because I've known him forever. It means the world to me knowing that you guys actually care about me.

This chapter is going to be pretty dark. I just found out my best friend is leaving in a month for college, in Boston, and I'm very torn up about the fact my rock is going away…

Bummymund's POV
His words have been playing through my head for two weeks.

If this is what the Guardian of Hope is really like, I'm glad I lost my hope 200 years ago! I would hate to be one of those suckers who still believes that the fluffy Easter bunny actually cares about children!

Flinching at how loud the memory was, I look back down at the boy in my nest. It's only been two days since the last incident, and my neck was still bruised, but I barely felt it anymore. It's not like I ate anything. I've been sick to my stomach since I saw him in the ally way. If I tried to eat anything, I would definitely throw it back up.

I signed, shaking my head and letting my ears flop down loosely at the side of my head. I watched his face as he slept, noting that the cuts on his face were healing nicely, and probably wouldn't leave any scars. The dumb child cut up his wrist again, slicing through the bandaging. He even hid it from me.

I glanced over at the small pile of bloodstained grass in the corner. The boy passed out, and I didn't realize he was bleeding again until the grass of my nest started to turn red. That was yesterday. He spent a whole night with open gashed on his arm.

Probably not th' first time 'e's been alone with open wounds. How many times 'as 'e woken up alone, bandaged 'is wounds alone…. Tried to die, alone.

A tear worked its way from my eye and soaked into my fur. In the other room, a clock chimed, and I stood.

I've made it a habit to make something for Jack to eat at noon exactly. That way, if he wakes up, he has something to eat, and if he doesn't, it can last until morning. I looked at the counter and sighed again, taking the plate with yesterday's ham sandwich on it and dumping the contents out the window. One thing I learned was my egg guards like to eat real food. They've been noticeably quicker, so I don't mind giving them the extra food.

I started preparing a salad when I thought I hear voices coming from my room. Creeping over to the door, hoping Jack was awake, I started listening. My heart stopped when I recognized the voice.

Jack's POV

I woke up again, feeling light headed and sore. My wrists were re-bandaged, and I noticed some of the grass in the bed was new. I guess I bled on it. Glumly, I took a look around, noticing Bunny cleaned up the disaster I created in my rampage.

I brought my knees up to my chin and buried my face. There was no way to fly out of here, not with all this warmth and not when the Wind couldn't get in. I felt my hope of escape disappear when the sound of a creaking chair alerted me to the presence of someone else. Not looking up, I addressed Bunny, hoping to apologize.

"Look Bunny, I'm sorry I trashed your room. I can pay you back next Easter. I'm fine now, so can I please leave? The heat is starting to get to me"

"Oh Jacky, you're far from fine." A dark voice purred from the table. My head shot up and I finally saw who was there.

He was tall, even siting down. His face was grey, but he had yellow eyes. His hair was slicked back, and his cloak matched it almost perfectly. I vaguely recognized him.

"You're… the boogey man, aren't you?" I had seen him around a lot back when I first came out of the lake, but he always kept to himself.

"I prefer the name Pitch Black, my young spirit. But that's not why I'm here. I've been watching you for some time, and I wanted to talk." He moved to stand, but stumbled a little on his way to the bed. He sat on the edge, barely making a dent in it. "You see, Jack, you and I have the same predicament. You were unsuccessful in your last attempt, I'm going to assume." He didn't look smug while stating the obvious, but almost remorseful.

"Of course not… I've tried everything under the sun." My eyes filled with tears, tears that were too warm to leave their usual icy tracks down my unusually rosy cheeks.

"Jack, do you know who the Boogey Man really is?" He wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the eggs on the windowsill. His voice was open, vulnerable, but his eyes were guarded.

"I don't really remember much… I remember he scared the children back when I first came out of my lake, but that's all I ever knew. If the villagers didn't know much, I didn't know much."

"Do you think fear is a bad thing, Jack?" it was a mere whisper.

"Sort of? I mean, I've seen kids who had bad nightmares and wake up crying, or kids who are afraid of spiders or the dark, and they almost always cry. I can't stand to see a child cry…" Pitch whipped around to face me.

"You think I like seeing them cry?!" His eyes were bright and shining. "You think I like having to scare children? You think I like being me? Well I don't. I hate it. I hate me…" He began to trail off as a tear made a darker line down his grey completion. "But you know what? They need fear. We need fear. It keeps us alive. It kept humans alive when they weren't on the top of the food chain. Children are afraid of spider, and height, and the dark, because they could be injured. Spiders can be poisonous, young children could never survive a fall from a high place. Who knows what - or who - could be lurking in the dark, ready to pounce. I protect the children, but they still don't-"

His voice was getting louder and louder until it broke, cutting off his sentence. More and more tears stained his pallor skin, tinting the water and his cheeks faintly black. He shook his head and stood up, pacing back to the table.

"You know how it feels, don't you? To be walked through? To be forgotten? To be a myth parent's tell their children to make them behave?" I nod, my face betraying no emotion, because there was no emotion to betray.

"And you know how it feels," My voice is hoarse, "To want to end it, but are unable. To be mocked by the Moon, knowing it'll never end." He gave me the solemn nod I was expecting.

"My magic refuses to let me die. I try and try, and it heals my wounds every time. I try making knives and swords out of my nightmare sand, and nothing. It hurts, but it doesn't kill. My magic refuses to let me die."

"What if you used someone else's?" Pitch looks at me just as confused as I felt. "Never mind, it was a dumb idea."

"Wait, hold on. That might work." He was staring at his hands in wonder. "Can you – can you form a knife, right now?" I wanted to, gods know I wanted to, but I shake my head.

"It's too warm. Everything keep melting. I'm going to melt soon, I can feel it." The hopeful light dies from Pitch's eyes, and is replaced by something different. Determination.

"Come with me Jack. I can get you out of here, back to the snow. And you can create again." He held out a long hand, and I hesitated. Bunny has been so good to me, putting up with my bull since I passed out. He's bandaged my cuts, and has been making me food. I always pretended to be asleep when he came in, but I could smell it cooking.

He seemed to trust me, kind of, and I don't want to mess that up.

I looks back to the outstretched hand, and hesitate.

"Please Jack. I need you." Something sparked in my chest, a long ago memory, or maybe the longing of being needed. I steeled my nerves and took his hand.

"Hopefully, our next try is our last." His voice was grim but had a pinch of glee, the prospect of all the pain ending in the horizon. I smiled, coldly. Hopefully.

Bunnymund's POV
I heard that silky voice, and my heart dropped. Pitch was back. I rushed to the kitchen and sent out the Northern Light, hoping the other Guardians got here soon. I had cut off almost all contact with them since the day Jack flew off. Thankfully, the snow globe portal opened up in my kitchen after no more than ten minutes.

"What is the matter-?" I cut him off with a hand gesture and pointed at the door. The four of us crept closer, and made out a sentence.

"Hopefully, our next try is out last." Everyone's faces went white at the sound of Pitch's voice, and Pitch talking to Jack? Horrifying to think about.

Next try? Watta they talkin about in there? And it hit me. What has Jack been trying and trying to do?

"Bloody hell, he's asking for help to kill himself." It was a whisper. I could barely hear it myself, but that might have been because of the roaring in my ears. Acting on impulse, I slammed the door open. The lock was still broken from two days ago.

Just as we entered the room, a gust of wind swept through the room, leaving it empty. Sandman walked over to my nest and picked up a pinch of something between two fingers. Letting it fall slowly, the black sand turned golden in its descent, but not before the Guardians put two and two together. Jack was gone, and Pitch had him.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Pitch had my Jacky Boy. He was going to help Jack kill himself. Jack was going to be gone forever… and I never made it up to him.

He's going to die hating me.

Jack's POV

Pitch brought me to the South Pole, and I started crying in relief as the cold air washed over me. I used my staff to create snow designs in the air, and laughed as they fell into my face, healing what was left of the cuts on my cheeks.

Standing a small distance away was Pitch, looking at me with a strange look in his face. It was a mix between confusion, acceptance and adoration almost. He took a step towards me and held out his hand again.

"Jack… please help me. Help me be at peace for the first time of my existence." Remembering why I was here, I nodded grimly, the joy bleeding from my face. I reached inside myself and felt the magic swirling around like a blizzard. I channel it to my staff, my extension of my being, and began to craft.

It started with the hilt, and grew upward. I could feel the snow kicking up my hair and hood, but all I could focus on was what was in front of me. Next came the handle, delicate but sturdy, perfect for long, thin hands.

In the distance, I vaguely heard bells. I kept going. The blade began to form, razor sharp and strong as any iron or steel. The glow began to fade from my core as I let the magic slip back where it came. The snow and wind died down, and I was left feeling a bit drained.

I presented the knife to Pitch, and with a look of pure awe, he carefully took it from me. Tears began to overflow his eyes, cascading down his face like a broken damn.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." He murmured, staring longingly at the sharp blade. Looking up at me, his eyes told me he didn't forget. Lacing the ice knife in his robe, he began to call up black sand. The handle was twisting, like two snakes intertwined. The blade was thin, but gleamed razor sharp in the dying sun. He handed it to me, hilt first, and I eagerly took it.

He took a step back and nodded in my direction.

"If this is not the last time we meet, I apologize for failing you. But if it is, I hope we can meet again in where ever it is we go once we finally burn out."

"Let's hope on that" I nod back and turn away. I felt him leave, but I needed to prepare myself for what I was about to do.

I flew to the nearest cave, all of which was been explored by me at some point. I felt a slight twinge, knowing that if this worked, I would never be able to explore these caves again. Shaking my head to strengthen my resolve, I walked in and looked down at the knife.

I pulled up my sleeve and looked at the bandages Bunny had so carefully wrapped over my cuts. Another pang of regret, but pushed it aside. Unwrapping the bandages, I let them drop to the floor, not noticing The Wind pick them up and sweep them out of the cave.

I made an experimental cut on my wrist, and cried out. The foreign magic must be reacting badly with my own, but it was bleeding so heavily, I knew it would cause some major damage. Without any more hesitation, I made three more cuts on my wrist, feeling my stress and anger drip out of my body with the vibrant crimson blood that was quickly staining the icy ground.

I took a deep breath, then another, steeling my nerves. This is what I want. This is what I've wanted for two hundred years, and now I can finally be at peace. I pushed the thoughts of the Warren out of my head. Pushed away the thoughts of hoe Bunny cared for me, fed me, didn't kick me out. Pushed them all far away.

I grasp the handle in both hands and raised it above my head. I closed my eyes and soaked in the cold one last time before I brought the knife down into my chest with all my might.

Bunny's POV

We found him two minutes too late. His body was still warm when we found the cave, the blood still seeping out of the wound in his chest. We gathered around the crumpled body of the child and mourned.

We had failed to save him

I had failed to save him.

The thought cut like a knife, and I fell to my knees. I gathered the small child up in my arms and carried him outside. I laid him on the snow, knowing that's where he was the most comfortable. I looked up at the Man in the Moon and fell to my knees again, tears mingling with the freezing blood on the boy's jacket. Turning my head back up to the sky, I howled.

I cried for Jack, I cried for letting him lose his hope. I cursed the moon, cursed him to Hell for letting such a thing happen to someone so innocent.

I must have knelt there for hours, for when a delicate hand fell onto my shoulder, waking me from my grief, a light layer of show had accumulated on Jack. I looked back to Tooth, who's usually beautiful face was red and blotchy. She used her head to gesture at the other two. The snow globe portal was already open, and I could see my Warren though it.

Suddenly, I was exhausted. I dragged myself up and took a step towards the portal, then another. I risked a glance back at the body – back at Jack , and let one more tear slip down my cheek before jumping into the vortex.

Epilogue

It was Easter again. There hadn't been snow on Easter for several years, and yet the Easter Bunny always kept an eye out of unruly white hair and smiling blue eyes. He never saw them. He finished putting the eggs out for this year, leaving just one in his basket.

He tapped his foot on the ground twice and opened a tunnel to the same place he's went at the end of every Easter for the past five years. The tunnel let out in front of a cave, way out in the middle of the South Pole.

He took the final egg from his basket and held it up. It was icy blue, with snowflakes covering it. Every year, Bunny made a new one, and every year, he left it at the mouth of the cave. At first, the other Guardians thought it was unhealthy to keep going back to where it happened, but gave up soon after the realized their words wouldn't stop him.

Bunny only let himself cry on this day of the year. And only when no one could see him. He dropped to his knees and sobbed. He blamed himself to this day for the boy's death, and would live with the guilt for as long as he lived.

"Um excuse me?" His head shot up in horror. His mind was playing tricks on him again. "Sir? Are you the one who keeps putting the eggs by my cave?" Slowly, ever so slowly, Bunny looked up into a pair of shining blue eyes, only just covered by wild white bangs.

He looked to be around seventeen, wearing brown pants and a blue hoodie with an intricate frost design right in the middle of the chest. Bunny stood, and took a step forward, almost stepping on the egg.

"Look out!" The boy dove to get the egg and quickly flew inside. He reappeared in a moment, but to Bunny, it felt like a lifetime. "I've collected those eggs every year. Don't smush it!"

"Jack…" His voice was barely a whisper. They boy's eyes widened and he too took a step forward.

"You know my name?" Bunny nodded, dumbstruck. The child's eyes lit up with pure joy as he took to the air, flying around in ecstasy. "Oh I knew it, I knew it! The moon told me if I waited, someone would come for me!" His laughter filled the sky, and large snowflakes rained down.

Bunny held his paw out to the boy, and he took the large paw in his small hands, rubbing his cheek on it.

"Thank you." The boy's words were music to Bunny's ears. "Thank you for coming for me." The rabbit's heart melted, and he placed his other paw on Jack's head.

"I would neva leave you behind, Snowflake."

End

And that's a wrap! I was going to split this into two chapters, but I knew it might never had been completed if I waited to write the second chapter.

It's been an emotional roller-coaster, and now the ride has come to a close. I just wanted to give another thank you to everyone who kept with the story though its long breaks and everything. It means the world to me.

I'm kind of sad to see it go, but it's such an accomplishment to finish a story.

Until next time,

~Starlight