Alright so before we start this is one crazy AU.

Bet you didn't expect that when you clicked on this, did you?

Today was the day.

Okay, so he may have said that yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, but this time he really meant it. He was going to do this.

She was just another tooth fairy. There were millions of them. What separated her from the pack? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Besides maybe a big heart, a caring nature, an open mind, an innate optimism, a great personality, and a perfect IQ. And she was beautiful. Toothiana was beautiful, and kind, and patient, and not to mention Toothaline's favorite.

Jack sighed.

That's what made it so hard.

He slipped underneath a sleeping child's pillow, retrieving a bilateral incisor from beneath its cotton depths.

She was perfect in every way, shape, and form. And he —

Well, he didn't want to dwell on that. It would only throw off his game.

"You've got to do this," he told himself, "It's now or never, alright?"

He slipped the tooth into the stomach pocket of his hoodie.

The fabric was made to look like the other fairies' feathers, but it felt artificial and pretentious as his skin brushed passed it.

Okay.

He was different from the other tooth fairies.

The only reason Toothaline took him in was pity. That was it. She pitied him, somewhere deep down in her take-no-prisoner heart. He would say he didn't need it, but that'd be lying.

"Come on," he murmured to himself as he flew closer and closer to the Tooth Palace, "You're not going to chicken out again."

But he was. And he knew that he was.

Jack had only talked to her a couple times. And a lot of the other tooth fairies hadn't liked that one bit.

Toothiana was one of them. He was not.

They just reminded him of that, was all.

Toothiana didn't know. How could she? She was an important fairy with a lot of responsibilities. Why would she concern herself with how his pants got ripped or who gave him that black eye?

The only things they had in common were size and wings. Other than that, they were as different as night and day.

"Just tell her that you like her. Jeez."

But he couldn't.

She was good natured. She wouldn't laugh in his face. She would turn him down nicely. The pain would go quick, like ripping off a band aid. He just had to summon the courage to grip the flaps.

"Hey, Toothiana." He practiced, "Look, I've seen you around a lot, and you're really nice and funny and you're perfect and I love you but it's never going to work between us, is it? Because I'm this clumsy little screw up and I'm invisible to you and even if I wasn't, I'd be the worst kind of visible. Like the bugs that hit you in the face when you fly and I'm probably just annoying you and I'm sorry, okay?"

He raked his fingers through his teal locks.

"I'm not any closer than the day I started, am I?" He gave a scathing laugh as he approached the Tooth Palace. There were other fairies, zipping around, carrying quarters and teeth, flying through the air in a gorgeous array of teal and blue and purple and black —

Wait.

Black?

Glittering black darted out among the other colors, swallowing them whole and taking a monopoly in the sky.

"Wha —"

And suddenly, it hit him. He was taken by the black, and it felt like he was being pulled under in a rip current, turning and turning without end, drowning in it all. It was down his throat quickly, and he choked and sputtered, but it only sunk further down, sticking to him and making his mouth incredibly dry. Terrible thoughts began to circulate, every nightmare he had ever had played back, over and over, so quickly he felt like his head would split

There was a biting cold all around his chest, and then it was all over. All of it was gone, but his wings felt like they had been broken off his back. He blinked back the terrible black, and found a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him.

"Are you okay, little baby tooth?"

"Jack." He corrected, but nodded nonetheless.

From the girl's hands, he tried to look around at what was happening. Phil was there. He didn't come to the palace often, but he had heard Toothaline complain about him before. And then there was Mel, the Easter bunny. Or at least he was supposed to be, in retrospect Easter Humpty Dumpty might be a name better suited. And the Sandman. Don't let the unicorn horn on his head scare you, he's actually a really nice guy.

The girl, he didn't know. Her hands were freezing, and she shoved him into his pocket.

It was probably in his best interest, what with that… nightmare sand on the loose, but that didn't mean he couldn't be angry about it.

There was a commotion, he could feel the girl move and he could hear muffled voices, but he didn't actually know what was going on until he ventured outside of the girl's pocket.

His wings still worked, thank Manny.

"My fairies. He took my fairies. And the teeth. Everything, everything is gone."

Well, she was right about that, Jack agreed.

He fluttered over to her desperate to offer any comfort he could.

"Oh. At least one of you is alright."

She took Jack in her hands, running a thumb over his hair.

He just stared at her, disbelieving.

Since when was anyone ever that relieved to see him? Since when did she even care?

He felt like going back to the other girl as a sign of rebellion, but he was just so shocked that he couldn't even move. Also, her hands were a lot warmer.

"The big four, all in one place. I'm a little star struck." Came a booming voice.

Jack flew back into the girl's pocket, missing most of their conversation and the identity of the speaker.

There were noises and movement, lots of movement, and he jammed his eyes closed and just wished more than anything that he could somehow press pause. He just wanted some time to think. One second he was trying to muster up the courage to talk to the girl he secretly admired and the next he was being attacked, rescued, and finally praised by a woman who he had supposed hated his guts.

That's a lot for anyone to take in all at once.

But he gave himself only a few moments of reprise before going back out into the brawl.

He had barely adjusted his violet and turquoise eyes to the light when a nightmare man was lurching toward Toothaline.

His mind screamed at him to go and help her, but his body moved backwards, hiding behind the white trimming on the girl's fur coat.

"Oh, don't be nervous. It only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know."

"Afraid?" Mel asked incredulously, "Of you? No one's been afraid of you since the Dark Ages!"

"Oh, the Dark Ages. Everyone miserable, terrified. Such happy times for me. But then the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my fear with your wonder and light. Meanwhile everyone wrote me off as just a bad dream. Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of, there's no such thing as the boogeyman! But that's all about to change. It's your turn not be believed in."

"Estrian!" Toothaline shouted. The rest of them pursued him, but he left in a puff of black sand.

"He's gone." Phil grunted.

Mel began to talk, but Jack decided to stay by the cold girl in blue out of curiosity.

"I'm sorry about the fairies."

Toothaline snorted.

"Don't be. You've got nothing to be sorry about." She dragged her knees to her chest.

"I know. But I still am. It's terrible. You must miss them a lot."

"…It feels like a part of me is missing." She croaked out after a while.

Jack folded his arms across his chest, sitting down on the girl's shoulder.

Okay, so his five seconds of fame were over. She was back to ignoring him.

"Jack." The girl said suddenly, "What about Jack?"

He thought Toothaline would scoff at that or even worse, ask who was Jack. But she just had this little surprised look and her eyes settled on him. She held out her hand, giving him a warm smile that looked so out place on her lips. He moved to the other side of the girl's shoulder, ignoring her completely.

He.

He just wanted to know if Toothiana was okay, where she was, if there was anything he could do to get her back. Yes, the attention from Toothaline was great. If he didn't note the fact that it took every last one of her fairies being taken for her to finally pay him any mind.

"Wha —"

"Looks like he's taken a shining to you, Emma." She sighed, ignoring her first instinct to reach after him.

"Really?" she tucked in her chin and whispered so only Jack could hear, "First time she's ever spoken to you, huh? You shouldn't feel bad, she's got hundreds of you to keep track of. Also it's my first time, too."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She smiled, giving Jack a knowing look.

Jack smile back, for the first time what felt like forever.