Jealousy.
Toothiana hated the word. Jealousy brought out the worst in people, and it sometimes turned them into unrecognizable monsters.
But she didn't like to think of herself as the jealous type. But with Jack recently spending all of his time with Baby Tooth and the other mini-fairies, she had begun to think otherwise.
'I should probably tell him to go. He's been distracting the fairies.' Tooth thought as bottom lip curled upward in a pout. 'And he's been spending an awful amount of time with Baby Tooth. A small part of me wishes…'
The fairy queen shook her head to rid herself of her previous train of thought.
'I must not think about such things! I have a job to do after all!'
She was pulled from her reverie when she heard a laugh and a series of happy chirps in the distance. Tooth watched as Jack and Baby Tooth came into view; they were chasing each other as if they were playing a game, similar to tag or hide-and-seek.
"You can't catch me Baby Tooth! Try to keep up!" Jack laughed as he soared effortlessly through the air. Baby Tooth followed close behind him.
"Jack!" Toothiana called.
The Guardian in question turned his head to look at the fairy queen that had caught his attention. His mouth tilted up at the corners, forming a big grin.
"Hey Tooth!" he replied, flying over to greet her. "What's up?"
"I'm trying to put this delicately as I can, Jack, but," the fairy queen bit her lip. "could you spend less time with the fairies? They haven't been able to focus with you around."
The teenage hellion raised an eyebrow at this. "I can do that. But what's the matter? You don't seem like your usual self."
Tooth looked away as a small blush made its way onto both of her cheeks. "I just can't have my mini-fairies distracted is all."
But Jack wouldn't be fooled. With a smirk that didn't go unnoticed, he held up his hands in mock surrender.
"All right, all right." The winter spirit responded. "I'll leave them alone. But something tells me you have an ulterior motive for this."
His smirk grew wider as Tooth's face took on the color of a ripe tomato. "I-I do n-not!" she stammered, still unable to look at the teenage hellion in the eye.
"Your actions tell me otherwise." Jack murmured as he flew closer to her. Placing one hand beneath her chin, he tilted her face upward so she could get a good look at him.
"You're jealous." he spoke softly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Wrapping her up in an affectionate embrace he continued, "Why didn't you say so earlier? I would have spent more time with you if you had just asked."
Mustering all of the courage she had, Tooth whispered into his shoulder, "I was so busy tending to my fairies and giving them orders that I just now noticed. I'm sorry."
Jack let out a soft chuckle as he gently pecked her on the lips, "There's nothing to be sorry about. Now, why don't we go spend some time together?"
Taking Tooth's hand and giving it a small squeeze, Jack shouted, "Winds! Take us to the skies!"
As the wind gathered the pair up in its currents, an audible gasp escaped the fairy queen's lips. She called to Jack over the roar of the winds, "Jack! Where is it taking us?"
"Wherever!" the winter laughed before continuing, "Just let the winds guide you! And no using your wings! The currents won't drop you, I promise! You're light as a feather!"
But Tooth remained uncertain. Her vice-like grip on his hand never wavered as the two Guardians continued to ascend thousands of feet in the air.
"I'm still not sure about this!" she cried.
Jack looked over at her before giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Just trust me. Now, I'm going to let go."
He flew away from the fairy while doing a series of complex turns and flips, but not before shouting an ecstatic "All right!"
Closing her eyes and clenching her small fists, Tooth stopped flapping her wings and gave in to the winds that surrounded her.
Opening one eye in slight hesitation, Tooth let a loud gasp escape her lips. She was flying! She was soaring along the wind's currents!
Jack was right! The experience was phenomenal! She felt so light, so free, so alive!
Tooth let the winds carry her. In no time she perfected Jack's every movement, even inventing a few of her own maneuvers in the process.
The couple flew in sync with one another, intertwining their fingers as they circled each other in the air.
"I didn't know this would be so much fun, Jack!" Tooth exclaimed. The teenage hellion beamed at her and gave her the most brilliant smile he could manage.
"What'd I tell you?" he laughed, giving her fingers an affectionate squeeze. "All you had to do was trust me!"
The two Guardians continued to fly for what seemed like hours. Finally, Jack brought the fairy queen back to the Tooth Palace, much to her dismay.
Tooth's lips formed a big smile as she wrapped the winter spirit in a fierce embrace. She pulled away from him and caressed his face with one hand.
"I can't thank you enough, Jack." she murmured as her companion leaned into her touch. "I'd like to do that again sometime."
"Of course, Tooth. Anytime." Jack replied, his face mirroring the queen's affectionate expression.
"Well, I better get back to my fairies." she spoke with a slight hint of hesitation in her voice, not wanting to leave her fellow Guardian just yet.
Just as Tooth pulled away, Jack quickly took hold of her hand. "Tooth! Wait!" he nearly shouted.
Moving his hand to scratch the skin on the back of his neck, the winter spirit uttered, "Tooth, I lo – "
Before Jack could finish his sentence, Baby Tooth flew in between the two of them, letting out a series of loud chirps and squeaks in an attempt to scold her mother.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Tooth sighed and flew over to Jack to kiss him softly on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Jack." she whispered tenderly.
"Goodnight, Tooth." he responded, giving her a wonderful smile that nearly made her heart jump out of her chest.
Unbeknownst to them, as Jack flew away and Tooth went to tend to her fairies, giving them orders left and right, a benign figure shone brightly down on the couple, offering them a gentle smile and his final blessings.
Hey guys! I apologize for not writing for over a month. It wasn't hard to find inspiration necessarily, it was just a matter of putting my ideas into words.
So, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this! I kind of like how this came out. :)
As always, please, please, PLEASE remember to review if you can and don't hesitate to send me a PM if you have any fic requests or if you just want to chat! I like getting messages! :D
Thank you all for your kind comments, favorites, and alerts! They make me so happy, you have no idea.
I wouldn't have gotten this far without you all!
I still need to write part 2 of 'Being Sick Isn't So Bad, Is It?' Grr. I don't know what I'm going to write for it, though! So if you have an idea, please let me know!
Take care, and until next time!
- beyondtheskies