Giving Way to the Light

Chapter Nine

Bunny was furious. At first I thought his fury was directed at me, but then I realized he was cursing himself out.

"How could I 'ave been such a bloomin' idiot?" He paced back and forth in front of the Guardians and I, a look of complete and utter distress on his face. I actually felt kind of bad for the guy. Sure, all of this was sort of his fault, but he didn't know any better. He thought he was protecting a child from a malevolent spirit. Instead, he had attacked the spirit who was trying to stop the malevolent spirit. It was ironic, but true.

"I should'a known better. I shouldn't have attacked Vera. I'm supposed ta be a Guardian of all Children, even immortal ones." I started in surprise.

"Oh ho. Wait a minute there cotton tail," I said. "I am NOT  a child. You don't need to be beating yourself over that too."

"Aiy, I know yah are few hundred years old, but you're like Jack, an immortal teenager."

Now Jack looked up indignantly. "Hey!"

"I'm older than both of you," I said pointedly.

"Really?" Bunny asked, crossing his arms and smirking. "How old are you then?"

"1,022 years old," I said nonchalantly. Instantly, Bunny's face went from one of amusement to one of sputtering disbelief.

"WHAT?" He exclaimed.

"And you don't look a day over 200," Jack snickered, enjoying the flabbergasted look on the Aussie's face.

"But that would make you one of the oldest ones here!" Bunny said.

I nodded. "After North and Sandy, yes. I am."

For the first time since I had met him, I saw him smile and shake his head in wonder. At least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore.

I glanced at a clock and noticed I had been away from Christopher Robin for a whole twenty minutes; twice as long as I said I would be. I jumped to my feet and everyone looked at me in surprise.

"Is something wrong?" Tooth asked.

"It's nothing, just," I gestured lamely at the door. "I didn't want to leave Christopher alone for so long. If he were to wake up in a complete new place all alone..."

North nodded. "Go ahead Vera. Ve vill talk amongst ourselves and tell you plan later."

In other words, they wanted to discuss whether or not they could trust me and my story while I wasn't there. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and nodded, taking my leave. It wasn't until I was out the door and in the hallway that I realized I didn't know how to get back to the Hospital Wing...

Just down the hall though, was a group of elves. They appeared to be playing tug-of-war over a plate of cookies; the same plate of cookies I'm sure that North asked for hours ago.

"Um, excuse me," I said, getting their attention. They all looked up at me, and their eyes widened a bit. I winced, thinking back to the way I had likely terrified a handful of them just the day before, and I could only imagine the word had spread to the rest of them. Still, I cleared my throat and spoke with the kindest smile I could muster. "Could one of you please tell me which way the Hospital Wing is?"

They all blinked stupidly at me, faces void of any expression before they all grinned and pointed in different directions. Each one of them insisted that their way was the right way, so I had no idea what to do... I'm pretty sure the Hospital Wing wasn't in the laundry hamper though.

"Yer not gonna get any answers out'a them, sheila," Bunny said from behind me. I turned to look at him in surprise. "They couldn't tell yah the difference between a dog and a tea cosy. They've got a few kangaroos loose in the upstairs paddock if yah know wha' I mean."