Happy belated New Year!

Sorry about the super late update! My mind was so concentrated on Talent Show that I completely forgot that I had started another story. I can't believe I haven't updated this since last year! O.O I really need to get my priorities straight.

I own absolutely nothing.

Jack spent the next few weeks practicing his parts alone, taking the fact that the Guardians had never lost at the Winter Concert seriously. Then, he was sure of his parts, he went over to the other Guardians to rehearse with them.

On the first day, he went over to North's first, to ask him about how he should do the dance moves. North told him to sit down on the edge of the stage, and to watch. "You will have to do these moves in the first song," he told Jack, "so you better start a-practicing on them." Jack nodded, and focused his eyes on North, thinking that he was ensuring his memory of the moves. He stared in awe and mostly shock as North somehow managed to do a series of advanced ballet movements that he had seen even advanced ballerinas struggle with. He was surprised that such a big man could be so graceful and flexible. No- not surprised. His jaw was reaching his chest by the time North was done.

"What?" North asked when he had finished, see Jack's gaping mouth.

"Where- where did you learn that?" Jack stammered.

"Ah, it not matter. What does-" Jack yelped as North picked him up by his hoodie scruff and plopped him down on the stage. "-is that you learn to do it, Jack Frost."

"Um...okay."

"Now, let's try and do the fermé. Is the easiest, yes?" North did the move, a deceivingly easy looking move, where he jumped, then closed his working leg to the other.

Jack tried to imagine himself doing it, how his legs would move, where he would put all of his body weight. He took a deep breath, and leaped forward-

And somehow ended up on the ground on his back.

"Ah..." North sighed, bringing his hand down the side of his face. "We have a long way to go."

"Cue the 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' song," Jack groaned.

As the day went on, and Jack's jacket got even more dusty, North suggested that he went to Bunny, to make sure that they had their terzetto in order. Jack agreed, feeling sore from all the times that he had somehow managed to kick himself and land on the floor. He wasn't the most graceful when it came to dancing, he had realized early on. He sorely hoped that he would have all the moves down by the time it came to dance with everybody.

"Hey, Bunny," he greeted when he landed in the Warren, his guitar strapped to his back.

Bunny was sitting on one of the nearby rocks, painting one of his eggs. He glanced up, then looked back down at his egg. "Well, whadduya know. The Frostbite actually came."

Jack rolled his eyes as he rested his staff against the Easter Egg Island egg statues. "Come on, Cottontail, let's get this done with."

The pooka put the finished Easter egg on top of the pyramid next to him, then pulled out his song sheet from the grass as Jack took out his from his hoddie pocket. "You ready?" he asked.

"Kind of. Let me just find the starting key." He slid his guitar over his shoulder, which he had been finely tuning every single day. He strummed a cord, and made sure to memorize the sound. "That's it, right?" he asked Bunnymund.

"Sounds like. You done yet?"

"Sheesh, keep your fur on, I'm ready."

"Okay, one three. One, two-"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Is North going to be singing the bass line? Or you?"

"Does it really matter, mate?"

"Yes."

Bunny exhaled in irritation. "North's singing the bottom line. Now will we get on with it?"

"Sorry." Jack began to strum his guitar, reading the notes on the sheet on his lap. He started tapping his foot to keep beat. "Okay, one, two, three-" They began together.

"I feel my body shivering
Every fiber of my being anticipating
That you and me, we are making history..."

"And then North will be repeating history, right?" Jack asked in the pause. Bunny nodded.

"And as a member of the human race,
I want to free my mentality and use my ability
To get to where I-"

"Hold on, mate," Bunny interrupted, getting up from his rock and went over to him. "You're going too high on 'free' and 'use', and it's not a sharp on these notes on the guitar." He pointed to them on his sheet. "It's 'free my mentality and use my ability'," he sang, correcting Jack's wrong notes.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay, mate. Everybody's nervous their first time." He gave him a reassuring pat on the back before sitting back down on the rock. "Let's go again. From the top." Jack nodded, and they went again.

"I feel my body shivering,
Every fiber of my being anticipating.
That you and me, we are making history..."

"And as a member of the human race.
I want to free my mentality and use my ability
To get to where I want to be-
I want to be free...
I want to be free..."

The rest of their rehearsal was spent correcting wrong notes and pitchy tones on both sides. Bunny could easily tell that Jack was getting frustrated. "Mate, you can't master a song in day," he said impatiently.

"But it's not that hard of a song!" he exclaimed. "Look, it's made up of-what? Five notes? Six?"

Bunny rolled his eyes. "It's gonna take time, mate. Just give it time." Jack glared at him, then sighed, his head falling. For a fleeting second, Bunny felt a flash of pity towards the teen. He sighed. "Look, mate, why don't you go over to Tooth's? Sheila's bound to be going berserk, all those solos North gave her. Could do with some company."

"Okay." He slid his guitar over his back and picked up his staff. "I'll be back tomorrow," he called as he jumped into the air, and flew to the tunnel that led him out.

"Oh joy," Bunny muttered, though a slight smile curled his lip.

Practice with Tooth had gone a lot more smoother than with the other male Guardians. He was only in the chorus, and the notes were easy- though the pronunciation was slightly difficult in Waka-Waka. Tooth, who somehow knew how to speak every language, patiently corrected him. In truth, most of the time, it was Jack calming Tooth down. She was stressing more her parts than Jack had been earlier. It was a welcoming feeling for Jack, to know that someone was just as nervous and edgy as he was, that he wasn't the only one making a big deal out of it.

The sun was beginning to rise by the time Tooth was completely satisfied with her singing jack's opinion, although he had told her three hours ago- or four?- that she sounded perfect. "I'm so glad I have you here," she said to him, and flashed a smile at him that nearly made his heart stop. "I swear, if you didn't come over today, I would have gone insane," she moaned as she flopped on to his bed.

"Then it's a good thing I did, because I don't think Bunny can sing falsetto," he grinned as he knelt beside her.

She laughed, flinging her arm over her face. "Oh my goodness, could you imagine Bunny singing a falsetto? Just-" She broke off, laughing even more.

"I'm not sure if it's possible, but I think, if he somehow did, the world would explode."

"I think implode is more like it," she giggled, then clasped her hand over her mouth with a gasp. "Oh, Jack! You're making me bad! Look at us, teasing Bunny!"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," he reminded her.

She shook her head, still struggling to stifle her laughter. "So, how are you coming along with your solos?" she asked as she sat up, and looked down at him.

He shrugged as he laid down on the bed next to her, trying to ignore the brush of feather against his sweater. "Eh. It could be better. I'm having a bit of trouble with the harmonizing notes, but Bunny's helping me out with that, surprisingly."

"Not just the duet you have with Bunny. What about the solo that North gave you for the closing of the show?"

"That? It's...It's coming along just fine, no problem." He was lying. The song was coming along terribly. And it would be his luck that it would be the only song that he was doing completely solo until towards the end. Nobody would be backup-singing, or chanting, or even dancing behind him. It was only him. Well, except Sandy, who would be playing various instruments, but that didn't count.

Though, if he was honest with himself, he had most of it covered, but there was one part where he had to hit not only an extremely high note for him, but hold it for ten beats! Normally, he would have been able to cover it, with a little extra breath, except that there was no chance to take a breath any time before.

To his relief, she didn't ask if she could hear him. Instead, she glanced over at him, almost a little hesitantly. "So, um, did...did anything happen with that?" She nodded to his chest.

He glanced down to see what she was referring to, and saw the crystal necklace that Tooth had given him peeking above the collar of his jacket. He had almost forgotten that it was there. He pulled it out and twisted it between his fingers. It glowed slightly, but nothing had happened. "Nothing incredible," he said as he let it drop, "but I've been having some weird dreams."

"Dreams? What are they about?"

"Nothing in particular. People with white hair, crystal caverns, cities made of glass." He withheld the fact that the people with white hair also wore the same necklace as him, that the crystal caverns glowed on strange creatures beneath them in the water, that the buildings of glass were spires that scraped the sky. She would think they were just crazy dreams. Not to mention, there was this girl that kept on appearing, in almost every single one. He couldn't remember what she looked like for the life of him, but each time he woke, it was with the certainty that she was the same one. He suspected that she was even the one in the flashback, but he couldn't remember her face either.

"They don't really seem to have any type of storyline or whatever to them," he continued, swinging the necklace on his finger. "It's like...almost like they're memories."

"Maybe you're seeing Atlantis before it sank," she suggested. "They had cities of glass and crystal catacombs under the surface. Perhaps..." She trailed off.

"Yeah?"

She shook her head. "Never mind, it's stupid. So, Jack. Can I hear your song?" she asked, changing the subject.

He shook his head. "Nah. You'd have an earache."

"Please?" she pleased, drawing her knees up to her chest, looking just plain adorable as she looked up at him with her round amethyst eyes. Jack felt a throb in his chest, and knew he couldn't lie to her.

"Okay, okay, so there's this one part that I have a bit of trouble with."

"Well, maybe I can help," she offered. "Go ahead and sing."

"I don't know if that's-"

"Jack," she said sternly.

He sighed. "Fine." He rolled of the bed and cleared his throat.

"If we believe, we can achieve anything
Including the impossible. This I know...
So let's lift up our heads, yeah.
And raise the flag, yeah yeah-
And scream like you want to win!
Now let the games begin-!"

His voice cracked in the middle of the last word, and he groaned, pressing his forehead against the palms of his hands.

"Come on, Jack, you almost had it that time," Tooth said encouragingly.

"Thanks," he muttered, knowing that the fairy was only trying to make him feel better.

"I don't know why I can't get it!" he fumed, pacing the room. "I've tried every day, all night! I've done the warm-ups, taken the herbs, drunken the tea, and nothing ever seems to work!"

He swung his staff angrily, and it hit the fireplace, which made ice formations crawl around the mantelpiece and freeze the fire.

"Jack!" Tooth exclaimed, surprised at the sudden burst of fury. But all of the frustration from earlier, the boiling emotions inside now exploding in pyroclastic fury.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I've tried everything, but I'm gonna make us all look like a bunch of idiots when we get up on stage!" He swung it again, and this time a bolt of ice flew from it, tearing through one of the paintings on the wall.

"Jack, stop!"

"And then, for the first time in a thousand years, we'll lose the Winter Concert! All because of me!"

Tooth flew in front of Jack, and shoved him roughly against the wall, and he gasped. She winced as she did so, not wanting to hurt him, but she didn't know any other way to get his attention. "Jack! You are NOT going to fail at the concert!" she told him firmly. "You are going to rock it like no other Guardian! You're gonna be able to do this if you just believe."

His eyes flickered up to meet hers. "But what am I supposed to believe in?" he croaked, "if I can't believe in myself?"

She hesitated, then answered, saying the words that felt right deep in her heart. "Believe in what matters most to you," she replied softly. "What drives you."

He gave her a wry smile. "My center?"

"No, not your center," she disagreed. "Your…your passion. What inspires you. What drives you," she repeated

Jack frowned. "I would say Jamie, or the kids, but I don't think that that's it right now."

"Well, I hope you find it soon. Or else, we're all going to absolutely suck at the concert."

"Hey, that's not fair!" he protested.

"Life's not fair." She gave him a small smile. "You'll get it eventually. I promise." Then, even though she knew that she shouldn't, she fluttered up a few inches and gently kissed him on the cheek. She heard his breath quicken, but he didn't say anything. She rested back on to the floor and gently patted him on the shoulder, thinking that the usual ruffle of the hair would be too much affection for him. "Get some sleep," she said softly. "You'll need it for tomorrow."

He sighed, and nodded. "But, um, you're kind of, uh, really close to me."

"Huh?" she looked down, then realized that their chests were touching. Embarrassed, she flew back and ran a hand through her head feathers. "I'm sorry. Um, uh...goodnight," she stammered as she rubbed her arm and began to fly towards the door.

"Goodnight, Tooth," he said as he got ready for bed, pulling off his hoodie and laying it on the chair. "See you in the morning."

She nodded and hurriedly left before he could take off his shirt. She didn't want him to see her swoon at his muscular chest like last time. He had teased her enough about it already.

Jack waited until Tooth was out of the tower to throw back on his hoodie and shirt, then went over to the window, and whispered, "Wind!" An answering breeze brushed against his face. "Take me to the lake!" The wind curled around him, and swept him up into the sky.

He flew through the frosty air until he reached Burgess. But he wasn't visiting Jamie. Jack flew through the forest until he had reached the lake where he had drowned, though he'd rather not remember that.

His bare feet dragged across the frozen lake as he slid on the ice to the other side until he reached the half-hidden house on the other. He had been coming here for the past few nights working on his new home. He had made impressive progress, if he didn't say himself. It was four stories high, nothing major, and about twice as long as a school bus. Not to mention it was made of never-melting ice. It had taken him a while to perform the trick on such a large scale, but it had come out really well. It looked like a magnified cottage.

Jack walked up the stairs to the porch and laid his staff on the chrysalis bench he had made before turning to the front of the house. Tonight he would be working on the windows.

The ice spirit took a deep breath and began his work on the space next to the door. He made the ice thinner in a perfect rectangle, adding an ice formation that twirled intricately around and over the window. He sighed in satisfaction when he looked at his work. He then flew off to add some more around the house.

Just like always, his mind began to drift to Tooth. He wondered if she was going to sleep tonight, or was going to be collecting teeth. Then he wondered where she slept. She had never taken him to her room. The again, why should she? It was probably the only place where she could get peace and quiet from her duties and fairies. He had no right to go and disrupt that. But it still didn't make him any less curious about it.

Which reminded him of how he had been lately around Tooth. He could no longer deny that he was feeling something with the fairy, something he was sure that he hadn't experienced in his life, even when he was alive. Love. The word popped into his head suddenly. His hands, which were moving across the window he was currently working on, froze.

Love. The word felt foreign to him. "But it feels right," Jack whispered to himself. He leaned against the house and put a hand on his head. "I love her," he said to himself. Suddenly, a huge grin appeared on his face. "I love her," he said loudly, then shouted, "I love her!" A strange giddy feeling filled him, and he began to laugh. "I'm in love with the tooth fairy. I'm in love with the tooth fairy," he repeated. Every time he said it, that same feeling flushed through him.

He had no idea that Baby Tooth had come back up to his room to check on him, and had seen him fly away. She had told Toothiana and they both followed him to Burgess. They were now watching him from the trees at that moment. Tooth's eyes had widened at the sight of the house, and, instead of leaving or confronting him, like she should have, she watched him work. And now she was gaping at him as he shouted out his love for her, a hand over her mouth.

If Jack knew this, he probably wouldn't have done that. Or what he did next.

He flew on top of the house, his feet making ice snowflakes hanging from the side of the foot. He gazed up at the moon, and began to sing in a soft voice,

"So many times out there,
I've watched a happy pair
Of lovers walking in the night….."

Jack sat on the edge of the roof and looked at the town. He could faintly spot two people walking close together, holding hands. The moon shone brightly on them, and he almost laughed. How fitting.

"They had a kind of glow around them;
It almost looked like heaven's light…"

He sighed as he stood up and turned his gaze back to the moon.

"I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow,
Though I might wish with all my might.
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for heaven's light…"

Tooth sat on one of the lower tree branches, her eyes watching the young spirit intently. Suddenly, Jack smiled and slid off the roof down on to the lake.

"But suddenly an angel has smiled at me
And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright…"

He started to work on something in the ice that Tooth couldn't see, though she could see the grin on his face.

"I dare to dream that she
Might even care for me,
And as I ring these bells tonight….."

Using the same power that he had used to make a snow bunny for Jamie, he lifted his hands, and out came...a snow Tooth, every feature perfectly replicated. She smiled at him and held up her hand to him. The real Tooth's eyes widened as he continued,

"My cold dark tower seems so bright….."

Jack reached out to touch her hand, and she fell away into a pile of snow. He didn't seem upset, though. Instead, he turned around, the grin still on his face and sang to the moon as it shone done on him,

"I swear it must be heaven's light…"

He stood there for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Tooth felt a strong tug of yearning in her chest, a longing to fly down there and embrace him, to tell him that she loved him, too, but she was afraid. Afraid that she might be wrong, that it wasn't her that he had made a snow figure of, it was actually some pixie or sprite, that he might reject her. So she only turned away, hiding the smile on her face as she flew away.

Baby Tooth, on the other hand, didn't follow her queen. She curiously flew out of the tree branches, and chirped to Jack. He whirled around, startled from the sudden noise, then smiled when he saw it was just the little fairy. "Hey there, Baby Tooth," he greeted, skating across the lake to meet her. She waved at him as she flew into his open palm. "How are you?" he asked as he continued to skate barefoot around the lake. "I haven't seen you in a while."

She shrugged, then pointed behind him, a questioning look in her eyes. "Hmm?" He turned and saw that she was pointing at the ice house. "That? That's my new home," he told her. "It's almost done. I just need to fill it up with stuff." She chirped questioningly. "You know, like couches and paintings and tables. Maybe one or two workshops." She raised a little fairy eyebrow. "Hey! I have work to do, too! I've been trying to separate my powers so that I can put different types of fun spells on people. And I also need a huge map so I can actually plan out my snow days instead of just doing it whenever." She twittered her approval and he laughed. Suddenly, she shivered. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You don't like the cold that much, huh? Come on, let's get you back to Tooth Palace."

Jack slept fitfully, tossing and turning on his bed. Sweat beads crawled down his bare arms and chest, though he shivered as if struck with cold. But he wasn't aware of either one of these things. He could feel something coming. He didn't know what it was, only that it here for him. Something tugged at the edges of his mind, seductive and shimmery. Not quite darkness, but not one of light, either.

"Awake," he heard a soft voice. Upon command, his eyes snapped open. The room was dark and empty, exactly like how it was when he had closed his eyes. Except...He squinted in the darkness, and could see that his window, which he could have sworn he had closed before he had went to bed, was wide open. The moonlight poured through the open window, a breeze making the curtains float ominously. For a few seconds, he laid in his bed, unsure of what to do. Then he heard the voice again. "Rise."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, then pulled off his covers and stood up. "Come to the window," the voice whispered. He did as it asked and peered out the window. He couldn't see anything except for the flutter of tooth fairies as they darted throughout the palace. "Follow my voice. Do not let them see you." As it spoke, he could hear a faint, light humming that made his heart and mind soar. He inhaled quickly as he felt the feeling swiftly leave him. No, he thought desperately. Don't leave. Without thinking, he grabbed his staff from beside it, and did as he was told, not knowing whether or not he was going to come back- not caring either way. All he could think about was that voice, the angelic voice in his head.

The sound led him to the tallest mountain of the several that surrounded the palace. Jack landed atop the peak, feeling slightly bewildered as he found himself alone and with no sound. "Turn around, bright eyes," it whispered. "Turn to me, so that you may see me."

Jack held his breath as he slowly turned.

And saw his Angel of Music.

To be honest, I forgot what I was going to originally write for the ending, and ended up writing this. Well, at least I remember everything else, right? I do remember that the next chapter is when Jack impresses the other Guardians with his major improvement, and they think it's all him but it's actually- wait! I can't tell you yet! You'll have it read it yourselves!

Please review if you want me to continue.