Jack could feel the steam from the tub of water as he finished filling it up. He sighed as he looked over the small tub. It was likely it was going to take a few baths to clean this mess. North and his yetis hadn't bothered to install a very large bathtub in his new house.

In the past, Jack had often dive into a fresh snowbank or pond if he found he was needing a bath. Granted, since he had the option, Jack had been using it more and only sparingly with his animals.

He did groom them by brushing their fur when need be, and clip their nails, but for the most part his animals were quite good at cleaning themselves...except for today. Jack eyed the large bottles of soap the yetis had given him, which they used for their own fur, before turning to lean against the doorframe.

Jack gave a disapproving glare at the guilty party that sat in front of him. His normal entourage of snowy white animals were currently a collection of every colour in the rainbow. Gerda still seemed to be tempting to brush the bits of dried pink paint from her fur. Vanilla and Balto looked as if they could care less that they were now bright shades of orange and green. Rime fluffed her feathers to be rid of the blue and yellow paint covering his wings and head. Blizzard was chewing on his tail that was now green, and Crystal seemed to care less that she was purple and blue.

They looked as if they had divebombed straight into a rainbow.

"Alright, you guys," Jack scolded with his arms folded and gestured to the tub. "Bath time! Who wants to go first?"

Crystal hissed as she ducked behind the safety of Balto, who gave a growl as the others took a step back.

"Hey, you brought this on yourselves when you decided to go playing on the workfloor, after I told you not to," Jack argued, using a tone he recalled his own mother using when he had gotten into trouble.

Jack should have known to keep a better eye on his animals when he brought them to the workshop, but North insisted they would be fine.

Oh, how wrong he had been. Jack wasn't sure how it happened, except from what the yetis told him, his animals had chased the elves onto the work floor and knocked over a whole shelf full of cans of paint onto themselves. The floor turned into a giant puddle of colours, with all of his animals and some disgruntled elves standing in the middle of it.

The only ones who were still clean were Marshmallow and Snowflake. Thankfully, the big polar bear had been taking a nap out in the snow bank, while Snowflake had been in the stables playing with the reindeer. It would had been triple the mess if they had been involved too.

North had offered to help Jack clean, but the boy insisted he should do it. His pets were his responsibility and therefore he would clean them up. Plus, he felt bad enough for the yetis having to clean up the spilled paint. Besides, from the glares some of the yetis gave Jack, he felt it would be safer to bathe them at his place.

"So, I'll ask again," Jack stated. "Who wants to go first-Hey!"

All his animals tried to make a getaway. Jack wasted no time and leaped for one, but only managed to snag Vanilla. The fox squirmed as Jack scooped her up into his arms and dragged her into the bathroom. Vanilla refused to give up though, and clung to the doorway. Her claws dug into the wood and refused to let go as the boy tugged.

"Oh, come on," Jack exclaimed as he pulled and could see claw marks being left behind. Was she always this strong? "It's not such a big deal!"

He pulled at her, slowly seeing the paws loosening. "The longer you take, the longer this will be-"

Vanilla let go, and Jack found himself flung backwards as he lost his balance. He kept his grip on his pet as he fell into the bathtub. He coughed as he scrambled to sit up, splashing bath water over the tub. Vanilla poke her head through the water and looked up at her owner.

"Okay," Jack said, wiping the wet bangs from his eyes. "We'll both take a bath."

Vanilla hastily jumped out of the tub, shook herself out and dashed out of the door. Jack sighed, letting his arms dropped into the water in defeat.

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Thanks mainly to the benefits of bribery, an hour later, Jack had managed to lure Balto into the bath. The dog seem content to chew a bone as he let his owner wash him and scrub the paint out of his fur. Blizzard was a tad more tricky, however, using his favorite ball proved effective to lead him into the tub. The others though, refused to even get near the bathroom or Jack.

The winter sprite grumbled as he finished drying Blizzard off with the towel and slumped onto the floor. "This is going to take years to get done at this rate," Jack muttered as he felt the snow leopard cub paw at him to play.

There was a knock at the door. "Jack, it's me," Tooth called out. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, but it's not exactly tidy," Jack called as he sat up and scooped Blizzard into his lap.

Tooth entered along with a group of her fairies and flashed a smile to Jack, until she saw the state of the room. Jack knew it was a mess. Thanks to chasing his animals around for the last several hours, chairs had been knocked over, bits of food and been spilt from bowls and each animal was peeking at Tooth from their chosen hiding hole.

"Oh, dear," Tooth said as she glanced to Rime who eyed her from the safety of a book shelf. "When North told me what happened, I thought this might be the case."

Jack sighed as he let Blizzard lick his hand. "He told you huh?"

"It was hard not to once I saw the mess on the work floor," Tooth said as she sat next to Jack. "But the yetis have it all of it cleaned up."

Balto came over and nudged Tooth's hand and she responded by stroking one of his ears. "But I take it you haven't had as much progress?"

Jack sighed. "It would go faster if CERTAIN HELPERS would just let me wash them!," Jack called out for his pets to hear. Gerda poked her head out from behind a chest, sneezed and then quickly darted back into her hiding place.

"Great," Jack mumbled. "Even Gerda is being snarky, and she's the quiet one."

Tooth laughed as she patted his shoulder. "How about the girls and I lend you a hand?" Her fairies flew to Jack's side and chittered excitedly. Jack frowned, and kept his hold on Blizzard who was now eyeing them like they were his new toy.

"I appreciate the offer," he replied, "but their my responsibility. I should do this-"

"Jack, it's also my responsibility to take children's teeth, but that didn't stop me from taking help when Pitch stole my fairies right?" Tooth interjected and smiled. "And it's the same case for Bunny, Sandy and North. There's no real reason any of us can't ask for help."

Jack went quiet as he thought. That was true, and he knew the others would lend a hand if he needed it. Yet, a part of him felt he shouldn't get use to relying on that.

"I know you're right," Jack stated as Blizzard started to wiggled. "I guess I'm just more use to doing things on my own even when I don't have to."

"That's understandable," Tooth said softly. "But, even still, there's nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it." She gave a small smile. "It's what family is for right?"

Jack sighed and nodded. Since the battle with Pitch, the Guardians had been making more of an effort to act not just as protectors, but as family to each other. It was nice, but it was still taking a while for Jack to wrap his head around the matter.

"Yeah, that's true-" He was cut off as Blizzard broke free and started to paw and leap at the fairies. The little creatures looked more amused than scared as they fluttered back and forth just out of the cub's reach.

Jack shook his head and he turned to Tooth. "Okay, can you please help me wash these guys? It'll be New Years before I get them all washed at this rate."

Tooth laughed as she rose. "Sure, I'll tackle Rime since cleaning feathers are more my department, and my girls can help with the others."

Jack raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Um...no offense, but aren't the fairies kind of small to help?"

"Yes," Tooth replied, "but that's why they make good bait." She nodded her head to the fairies.

One of them chirp and darted towards Vanilla who was peeking out from under the bookshelf. The fox would have dived back under, but upon spotting the fairy, her ears twitched.

The fairy drew closer, and quickly pulled back when Vanilla pawed at her. Enticed, the fox crawled out of her hiding place and chased after the fairy. Jack covered his mouth and chuckled as the fairy fluttered, keeping up with the game as she lured the fox into the bathroom.

"I suggest you hurry," Tooth advise. "Once she tricks Vanilla into jumping into the bathtub, you'll need to hold her steady to keep her there."

"Thanks!" Jack shouted as he ran to the bathroom. He made it just in time to hear a big splash, and to see a little wet fox staring at him.

"Hey, I warned you about chasing things," Jack scolded as he grabbed the bottle of soap and took hold of Vanilla. "Now, hold still. It'll go a lot faster this way."

Vanilla growled, and held an expression that greatly resembled a pout, which only made Jack laugh harder.

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"Okay," Jack said as he finished drying off Gerda. "That's all of them."

Tooth sighed in relief as she picked up the wet towels. "That's good, I would have to wash these towels for us to do anymore." She looked to Jack and grinned. "Although, with that said, you look like you could use a proper wash yourself."

Jack tilted his head as she glanced into a mirror hanging on the wall. His hair and clothes were both covered in soap suds, and he saw he too had bits of dried paint he needed to scrub out of his hair. He laughed as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Yeah, guess I could use a bath."

At the moment, Marshmallow entered the cabin and moved towards Jack the second she spotted him.

"Hey, Girl," Jack greeted as the polar bear sniffed him over. "You missed all the fun...Hey, what are you doing-ACK!"

Suddenly, Jack found himself knocked onto the floor and pinned by Marshmallow's paw. The bear grunted as she sniffed the boy's hair, and then stuck out her tongue. Jack cringed, recognizing the signs, but was unable to escape Marshmallow's hold.

He lifted his head at his large pet. "Girl," Jack warned, "don't even think about it- YUCK!" Marshmallow's tongue went right over Jack's hair. He winced as he felt the bear's spit shape his hair into a peak.

He glanced over to Tooth and the fairies for assistance, but every single one seemed too preoccupied at laughing at his misfortune.

Tooth wrapped her arms around herself as she giggled. "This is too cute!"

The other animals seemed to agree as they watched curiously. Jack sighed as he pleaded with the bear as she then moved to lick at Jack's face. "Marshmallow!" Jack whined as he tried to push her off again, but the paw refused to budge. "I don't need a tongue bath."

The bear seemed to disagree as she continued to keep Jack pinned and lick his hair.

"She probably thinks of you as her cub," Tooth said as she tried suppressed her giggles. "She just wants you clean because she loves you."

Jack sighed as the bear tackled his hair again, as he decided that he was going to need a proper bath from all of this 'love' he was receiving.