Heartfelt (Bunnymund x Reader)

Chapter 7 - Marches

This chapter is dedicated to @creeperific135yt because of her beautiful comment: "...please update it for This Little Mate" - people like you make me want to continue these stories.

I finally found this story's files that I lost a long time ago, but unfortunately they were incomplete... It was a bittersweet moment. "Some" is better than nothing, though.

Listen to the Rise of the Guardians soundtrack if you haven't already. It's truly amazing - Alexandre Desplat is fantastic. "Easter" is particularly beautiful.

Anyway, here's another chapter! Sorry it took so long... Yeah...

- Kenzie

You awoke bundled in a mound of blankets, your head nestled in the softest of pillows. You sat up and rubbed your eyes, blinking sleep from them. You waited for weariness to take over your senses again, but none came.

Bunny's face appeared in the doorway, and a smile tugged its way onto his face. "You up yet, little mate?"

"Yeah." You yawned. "What time is it?"

He walked over to you and lifted you from the bed, then carried you to your room. "Time for you to get ready for the day."

He set you down on the ground, ruffled your hair, then left the room, closing the door after him. You walked to the closet, put a new outfit on (leaving the pajamas on the ground), then walked out. Bunny was running his paw over his ears.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready for what?" you asked.

He just grinned.

Two large Easter eggs made of stone appeared in the main doorway, which was apparently the front door. Surprised, you took a step away from them. Scowls were carved into the stone, and they looked ready to crush anything that upset them. They continued marching forward. You wrapped a hand around Bunny's arm and started pulling him away.

"(Y/N), these are Sentinels," Bunny explained, placing a paw on your back to reassure you. He crouched down to your height. "They help protect my warren and Easter eggs."

You looked at him, who was gazing up at the stone eggs with deep respect. You wondered why he was so infatuated with them. "But, Bunny..."

He looked at you, his green eyes meeting your (E/C) ones.

"They're kind of scary, don't you think?"

Bunny stared at you for a moment. His eyes seemed to go hollow, as if remembering something important. About you? About himself? His whiskers trembled, and he glanced towards the bedrooms.

His paw left your back and he righted himself abruptly. You were thrown off guard, and you stumbled. He didn't seem to notice. He walked over to the Sentinels, whispered something to them, then turned back around. His green eyes weren't very welcoming anymore.

"Do ya need anything?" he asked, his voice harsh.

You winced. "N-no."

His eyes bore into yours, making you quake in slight fear. You averted your gaze and instead found fascination in your shoes. You wiggled your toes inside of them. Did I say something wrong?

He blew out a deep breath of air from his nose, then turned and started towards the doors. You stared after him, unsure of what to do next. The Sentinels continued to stare at you. Bunny continued walking, seemingly unaware of your feelings. Suddenly, you were mad. You scowled after the trace of the Pooka that still seemed to hang in the air, then spun around on your heel. You huffed, then marched over to the Sentinels.

"Stop staring at me!" you yelled.

They shifted awkwardly, as if stones had feelings.

You pressed your hand against the cold surface of the living rock. "Stop it!"

The Sentinels started moving their legs wildly. You watch in horror as they started towards you again, this time in a uniform march-like rhythm.

Memories flashed behind your eyes. They were terrifying at first, the things you didn't ever want to relive, and they slowly came faster and faster. It was a new kind of fear, something you'd never felt before. Fear - that four-letter word of such simple terror - was something you'd always dealt with, but this was different. This was threatening.

"Bunny!" you screamed.

The Sentinels kept marching.

The fear bubbled up inside of you. Your parents, your former friends, the animals that seemed to die in your care. The things you thought you loved that always left. The fear rose and rose, higher and higher, until it was unbearable.

You screamed. Your voice carried out through the building, out through the warren. In the morning gloom, where Bunny was trying to cool his hot temper once again, he heard your voice. It cleared his mind. He dropped down on all-fours and started sprinting back up to the house.

He burst through the doors just in front of where Jack was appearing via snow globe. Bunny sped over to the Sentinels, pushed them aside, and blocked you from the stone eggs. There was something about them that Bunny had never seen in them before, something evil.

Evil.

Bunny put his paws on the stones, then pushed them away. His muscles rippled under his thick pelt. He growled at the Sentinels. You stared at his glaring green eyes in surprise. What was it that accompanied the anger?

"What do you think you're doin'?" Bunny demanded of the rocks. "You're scarin' (Y/N)!"

The Sentinels slowly backed off, both with the force of Bunny and their own judgement. They seemed to be in awe of their own behavior, even though they were only rocks. What had just happened? You shook your head, as if that could clear it.

"Bunny..." Jack murmured. "Something's wrong."

You put your hand in Bunny's paw and stood next to him the way a child would stand next to his mother, though now there was something else between the two of you. Bunny didn't push you away this time - he didn't even hesitate to wrap his paw around your small hand.

"What is it?" Bunny asked.

Jack looked down, his eyes glazing over with pain. "North needs to see you."

Boring chapter with a cliff-hanger - yay!