Nonexistent (Rise of the Guardians)

6. Anything But Rickety and Old

"Sooo..." Tooth started awkwardly.  She forced a smile as she glanced back and forth between me and the rabbit, while Sandman sipped from another goblet of eggnog. His sparkling golden eyes flitted between us as we stood, leaning against opposite walls of the room, with our arms crossed over our chests and identical glares on our faces.

"Allie! What do you do for fun?" Toothiana asked. Her violet eyes pleading with me to break the silence.

I shrugged and thought about it for a moment.

"I'm an inventor. I made these," I said, pointing to my goggles, which had a number of little hooks and dials that made different lenses slide into place so I could see certain things. There were magnifiers, red and blue 3D vision lenses, and several other doohickies that had several different functions.

"But mostly I just help Jack with his whole 'bringing winter' thing. Because what's winter without wind, right?"  I plastered on a smile.

Bunnymund scoffed, glaring at me as he stomped over.

"That's not all you do, mate. You make people lose important things by blowing them away."

I shrugged carelessly.

"You make already cold days more freezing with your ridiculous wind chill."

At this I barked a laugh.

"And you create wind storms and tornadoes that wipe out entire cities, endangering hundreds of lives and destroying homes." He stated matter-of-factly. Toothiana's eyes widened in shock, and Sandman's head snapped up at me with surprise.

"Okay, that was an accident-"

"Remember that hurricane in Louisiana in 2002? Wiped out almost all of New Orleans? Well we have Alex here to thank for that! She's a bloody natural disaster!" He gestured to me ferociously, like a lawyer blaming the accused of ten times more than she actually did.

"How was I supposed to know that storm would go so crazy?! I tried to blow it back out to sea!" I protested. Bunny looked like he was having a field day, watching me flounder around looking for an excuse as the other Guardians in the room watched in tense silence.

I took a breath. "Look, I know I'm not the most comfortable with my powers, but I've improved since that happened!" I reasoned. Bunnymund scoffed.

"I may cause trouble sometimes, but that's not all I do. I make warm breezes for flying kites. I bring in clouds for shade in summer, and rainstorms when it's dry. I bring in warm ocean winds in spring, and swirl flurries of snow around children in winter. I know you all make kids happy in your own ways, but I do, too." My face grew serious and threatening, my golden eyes flashing dangerously as I bristled angrily. I spoke slowly, emphasizing each word through clenched teeth.

"I am so much more than a natural disaster."

Sandman's face returned to its former pensive state, and Toothiana smiled a bit at me with her brilliant white teeth before turning around and continuing to chatter to her fairies. I must have effectively shut Bunnymund up, because he returned to his sulking position against the wall.

We had a long awkward silence, all of us trying to figure out how exactly to break it.

None of us had to do it though, because one of Toothiana's fairies suddenly zoomed in through a puncture in a window, twittering frantically and waving her arms around. She flew up to Tooth, squealing loudly in her little fairy language, and Tooth's face grew shocked and scared.