Love Guardians Part 6: Love Bunny

Honesty

(Reader's POV)

My family that just arrived walked in and greeted me. We all grabbed our things and started heading to my house. Mom took us to a park where she hid the eggs the kids painted, and some of Bunny's were hiding there too. My mom just thought that the kids were playing tricks about the eggs Bunny painted, but I knew the truth. I watched the kids get their eggs as I sat next to a tree Bunny was hiding behind.

"This is the part I've always enjoyed." He took a peek at them. "Hearing their joy as they find an egg."

I smiled. "They are pretty happy."

"No, Darlin, they're not just happy. They're overwhelming happy. They're full of a light we call belief and hope. I don't know what it is about eggs and chocolate, but it reminds me of how pure children really are." He softly laughed.

"You really are the guardian of hope."

"I don't say it for nothing." He looked out at the children. "Now I can rest for a while."

"Yeah. Easter is pretty much over." I froze after I realized what I just said. I stood up and went into the blind spot. "Bunny, are you going to be leaving?"

He looked at me. "What are you talking about?"

"You said you were going to spend your days in the warren after Easter was over. You said that after Easter I'd never see you again."

He looked away, closing his eyes. "Listen (_your name_), I... I'm a guardian." He opened his eyes, looking away. "I protect the hopes and dreams of children. I protect that little light in their eyes."

"So you're leaving because--"

"Listen Darlin. Please just listen." He sighed. "It's not because you're not a child anymore. It's because you can be used against me."

"But, Bunny, I would never hurt you."

His eyes locked with mine. "I know you won't, but Pitch will. He will use you against me, or he may do worse."

"Like that girl."

He nodded. "June. She was a human that I fell in love with. She was everything to me." He looked off. "She gave me hope that I could have someone to love. She gave me this hope because she wasn't like the other teenagers of her time. June believed in a world of light without darkness. She believed in me. And I engulfed myself in her ideas. I fell in love, but that was my downfall. One day, June and I went into the forest to practice her aim with arrows. I let her use my boomerang so her arrows wouldn't go to waste." He looked down at the ground. "For a small moment, I let my guard down. Pitch snuck up behind me and hit me. He grabbed June and started taking her up into the trees. I climbed up quickly and grabbed her hand. I pulled her out of his reach, and we all began to fall because I didn't land on a branch. June's head hit a branch as we were falling. She told me she saw red everywhere, and Pitch laughed. He said it was my fault and tried to hit me with his scythe, but I dodged it and it deeply cut her arm. She screamed my name as I kicked Pitch away from her. We all landed, and I held Pitch by his neck. He laughed and told me I was careless, that I had lost the most important thing in the world. I froze and could hear June breathing very slowly. She called me, and Pitch ran away laughing. I went to her and could see blood covering her neck. There was a puddle of blood by her head. She held her hand out to me, and I held it. Her blue eyes were becoming darker. The light was slowly leaving them. She told me she hadn't given up hope on the world. She said she hadn't given up on me. I asked her what she meant, but her eyes were closed, and her slow breathing had stopped." Bunny looked at me. "I didn't really know why Pitch was after her, but when I was at her funeral I figured it out. She was my hope, and if she was gone I wouldn't have any. And so where would the children get their hope, if the guardian of hope didn't have an ounce of it left?"

I held Bunny's hand. "Bunny, I'm sorry, but... I love you. I want to be with you whenever I can. I want to be able to spend some time with you everyday."

He smiled. "I love you, (_your name_), but to be with you is easier said than done." He lifted my chin up. "It's not just a battle. It's a war."

"Isn't love supposed to be worth fighting for?"

He sighed. "I just don't want you to die."

"What about the other guardians? I'm sure they've fallen in love. Maybe they can help." I smiled at him.

"They have fallen in love before, but I'm not sure what came of it."

"Can't you ask them?"

He slowly nodded. "I guess I could. After all, many years ago, Jack needed my help. Maybe it's time I ask him to repay that."

I smiled at him. "So see you again after today?"

"Sure thing, Darlin." He winked and kissed me slowly.

"Bunny."

"Yes, Darlin?"

"Thanks for being open and honest with me."

He grinned. "Anything for you, Darlin."